08/06/2026
Your body runs the same alarm system for a bad email, an exciting surprise, or real physical danger, the same adrenaline, same cortisol.
What actually determines the impact isn’t the type of stress. It’s how long it lasts, and how your brain interprets it.
That’s why a stressful year at work can settle in your body the same way a hard pregnancy can, not because they’re the same event, but because your nervous system stayed on alert for too long.
That protection often shows up right here. Your body doesn’t know the type of stress. It just knows you’re stressed, so it protects what matters most.
Your ribs guard your heart and lungs.
Your stomach, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas need protecting too, so your body holds it here instead.
It’s not a flaw, just your body, doing its job for longer than it needed to.
This is the part of the body I spend most of my time with. The parts still holding on, long after the stress that first asked them to hold. Not to fix it.
To listen to it, and help it finally feel safe enough to let go.
