Human Thriving, Thriving as a Human, or Just Simply Thriving – Why We May Feel Stuck.

As a Whole Health and Wellness Practitioner and Guide, I would say thriving in any circumstance requires not only building resilience but more importantly focusing on controllable factors, maintaining mental agility and conserving nerve energy. Thriving takes awareness and intentional focus.

Turn on the radio in the car, streaming services at home, internet surfing and most likely the news, the information will be less than desirable; local news, national news, international news, the world seems to be in a chaotic dance. A constant triggering chaotic dance that can wreak havoc on our “operational systems,” specifically the amygdala (emotional processing) and the hypothalamus (command center, sympathetic nervous system). Why would this matter…

Organic: When injured, inflammation is a natural response that triggers an immediate, short-terms surge in immune system activity to protect against potential injury or infection. This acute response involves the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to activate the immune system and mobilize immune NK cells to affected tissue to heal wounds or infections. This is our primordial response to injury. And while short-term (acute) stress primes the immune system for immediate threats, prolonged activation (fight or flight stressors) can lead to immune suppression and chronic inflammation.

Chronic: When the fight-or-flight response is persistently “on,” the brain-to-immune communication becomes detrimental as chronic high levels of cortisol eventually reduce the production of white blood cells (lymphocytes), making the body more vulnerable to viruses and infections; taxing immune suppression response. Chronic inflammation, where prolonged stress leads to a sustained release of inflammatory chemicals, cause wear and tear on tissues and is linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune flare-ups, in addition to unintentional anxiety, and many other health risks. If we are not running away from danger, hypervigilance for example, and the related stressors that are released into the body leads to impaired recovery in many situations. In the gut the results of chronic stress can lead to a shutdown of specific glands that alter our gut microbiome and further weakens a healthy immune response.

As a living-breathing human an effort must be made to settle the nervous system, allowing the body to shift out of “fight-or-flight” and into a self-correcting state. Being intentional would serve the purpose of effectively lifting oneself out of the gravitational pull of the emotional blackhole, back into the present reality of what is and what can be: in the present moment. Here are suggested strategies and action steps.

“You can’t heal within the same environment where you got sick”

Thriving Strategies include: (1) setting strategies to set strict boundaries on news consumption, (2) establishing daily routines for structure; practicing mindfulness; cultivating strong, supportive relationships, (3) embrace adaptability by viewing challenges as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable obstacle.

It may seem as if the world may be largely perceived as lacking authenticity and sincerity; lacking sincere living beings (we have been since the beginning of time a negatively biased species), yet there is hope. It is not as if all civility in the world has somehow disappeared, there are plenty of examples of the good in all of us. Human Thriving accentuates the need for tangible sincerity, realistic true-hearted thought and having no expectations of what is or what may be. Human Thriving is a process in itself.

Action steps include: (1) regular meditation inducing relaxation reduces stress and prepares us for the tasks at hand, (2) embracing gratitude and showing acts of kindness shifts focus to positivity, enhancing mental health, reducing triggers, (3) constructive thinking to help overcome obstacles and find solutions to everyday challenges. To thrive humans, require intentional engaging in new experiences to keep the mind active and promote a growth mindset.

Unfortunately, chaos overwhelms the nervous system, triggering high-alert survival modes like anxiety, hypervigilance, or, conversely, emotional numbness and freezing. Consequences being that chronic chaos, whether perceived or not, keeps the body in a constant “fight-or-flight” state, releasing stress hormones like cortisol that fuel restlessness, fatigue, and a reduced ability to feel calm, plus tears down the immune system.

Impact of Chaos on Nervous Energy

• Hypervigilance (“On” Mode) is when the brain is constantly scanning for danger and stays in a state of high arousal. This often results in overthinking, panic, or a feeling of being on edge which can lead to Chronic Hyperarousal (Wired but Tired). In this state of constant exposure to unpredictable stress causes the nervous system to adapt to a high-alert state, resulting in a “chaos addiction.”  The brain becomes reliant on cortisol and dopamine spikes, making calm, stable environments feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

• Addiction to Chaos:Chronic stress can trick the nervous system into finding calm situations uncomfortable or boring, causing it to unconsciously seek out, or create more chaos. Chaos causes the nervous system to constantly scan for threats. This heightened state of alertness can lead to physical discomfort, muscle tension, and even neural sensitization, commonly experienced as nerve pain.

• Frozenness and Shutdown: When overwhelmed by too many stimuli, the nervous system may shut down, leading to apathy, depression, or dissociation.

• Internalized Chaos: Unresolved external chaos can create internal mental and physical turbulence, manifesting as rapid heart rate, muscle tension, and shallow breathing.

• Energy Depletion and Burnout: Long-term exposure to chaotic environments creates chronic, unrelenting stress. This forces the nervous system to remain in survival modes (fight, flight, freeze, or fawn), consuming immense energy and leading to burnout, exhaustion, and physical symptoms like palpitations or digestive issues.

• Reduced Capacity: Energy that could be used for creativity or connection is instead used to suppress internal chaos, leading to emotional exhaustion.

• Reduced Cognitive Flexibility: While minor, controlled chaos can aid brain function, chronic chaos prevents the brain from entering the “edge of chaos” state, which is optimal for calm, complex thinking. Instead, it locks the brain into rigid survival routines.

The Dysfunction related to chaos

States of chaos affects your nervous system in two distinct ways, as an external environment that triggers stress and as an internal biological state necessary for high-level brain function. When your surroundings are chaotic, whether simply due to a cluttered home or an unpredictable lifestyle—your nervous system interprets this as a lack of safety. We may go into survival mode which triggers the amygdala, launching “fight, flight, or freeze” responses. This keeps your system in a state of high arousal to avoid the anxiety associated with underlying turbulence. Cortisol spikes are also linked to living in a cluttered or disorganized environment, all which can lead to inflammation and mental fatigue. We experience cognitive overload since a chaotic environment forces the brain to split its attention among multiple “attention magnets,” effectively reducing your working memory capacity and making it harder to focus (humans do not do multi-tasking well). In the end we can experience chaos addiction, where our nervous system may become wired to view turmoil as “normal.” Consequently, stability can feel unsafe or boring, leading to a subconscious drive to recreate crisis to feel “regulated”. All of this activity when not related to a perceived emergency floods the system with stress hormones that instead of healing an injury, cause damage to our immune system and therefore internal tissues.

Keep in mind that the only chaos that our brains operate in as a healthy state is at that critical point between total order and total randomness. Yet modern flight triggers are often psychological, emotional, or social, rather than purely physical threats such as work deadlines, social media stress, traffic, financial insecurity, public speaking, and interpersonal conflicts.

Social & digital triggers may be one of the most influential in our triggered lives. People are often “attacked” by negative or intense social media comments; by social, political, or news-related conflict; by perceived social judgment or inadequacy; by fear of missing out (FOMO) or constant connectivity, by bringing up unresolved past trauma, leading to hypervigilance.

Break the Cycle

Restore nerve energy. It is necessary to actively train the nervous system to accept safety, which can involve grounding techniques, such as identifying sensory input (sights, sounds) in the immediate environment to signal safety to the brain.

As Human beings, one key factor as to how we are being affected by the advancements in technology and the ever-growing field of “staying connected” is that we seem to be in a state of perpetual stimulation to our central nervous system that throws us into non-urgent action, creating anxiety and for example the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), and new yet understood modern afflictions of our innate Fight or Flight behavioral response.

In modern society, the fight-or-flight response—originally evolved for immediate survival against physical predators—is frequently triggered by psychological and social stressors, unresolved past traumas and other hypervigilance triggering factors.

In Summary, constant perceived chaos impacts nerve energy by shifting the nervous system from a calm, regulated state into a chronic, high alert “wired but tired” mode, leading to long-term health issues, fatigue, anxiety, and a craving for more uneasiness. Constant turmoil forces the body into persistent sympathetic activation (fight-or-flight), causing physical exhaustion, cognitive decline, and difficulty experiencing restful, parasympathetic states; plus the major consequence to your good health.

To your Whole Health and Wellness, naturally!

Dr. Sixto J. Sicilia

Holistic Health & Nutrition Practioner

Founder, issimoUSA