Regulate is a 7-month online program that teaches you how to develop, navigate and heal your body’s relationship to stress. Through Functional Medicine lab testing, personalized protocol, lifestyle changes and 1:1 sessions, you will repair your body’s cortisol rhythm to restore vitality, regulate hormones and increase overall wellbeing and presence.

There’s no mistaking that these times have been incredibly challenging for so many on our planet. The compounded stress of the collective is palpable. People have lost friendships, jobs and even loved ones. Fear, grief and anxiety seem contagious and stress seems addictive. 

The challenges placed on our nervous systems are relentless.

• The constant bombardment of stressful deadlines and headlines.
• The replay of stressful events from yesterday, last year, childhood, etc.
• The anticipation of stress to come.  

We seem to be living in a constant state of survival mode, on autopilot, controlled by stress.

Your body responds to stress with a beautiful chain of events within the HPA Axis (Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Axis).

When you experience a stressful event, your brain sends signals to your adrenals to release cortisol and adrenaline to modulate your body which enables you to respond powerfully to danger.

Once the stressful experience is over, there is a feedback loop that tells your brain that the danger is over and you can return to rest. 

However….If you are in a constant state of stress (even perceived stress or anticipated stress) for a considerable amount of time OR you have experienced a major stressful event like trauma, that feedback loop can become broken and the brain’s stress signal gets set to “Always On”.  Cortisol then remains in constant flow and there’s no one telling the body to turn off the faucet. We call this HPA Axis Dysfunction. (Often mistakenly referred to as Adrenal Fatigue).  

The major causes of HPA Axis Dysfunction:

• Emotional Stress (ie. grief, fear)
• Chronic pain or hidden inflammation (ie. gut infection)
• Dietary/Nutritional Stress (ie. skipping meals, yo-yo dieting, excessive caffeine use, etc)
• Poor sleep hygiene 

These stressors on the system increase cortisol levels and if not managed begin to damage the HPA Axis.  Over time this constant flow of cortisol becomes debilitating and breaks down your other body systems causing numerous kinds of illness and health related conditions, including hormone imbalance, poor digestion, sleep issues, chronic fatigue, autoimmune conditions, etc.

Eventually, high cortisol leads to low cortisol and dis-regulated sex hormones. When all of our master hormone (pregnenolone) is routed towards survival (cortisol), then many of our other hormones (ie. progesterone, DHEA, estrogens, testosterone) suffer, causing a broad array of symptoms. Trust me, from experience, this is a very uncomfortable way to live.

How does it work?

Our goal is to address the stress response in your physical body while resetting your life (and patterns) around stress. This means taking a long, hard look at your life. Not just looking for where you can reduce stress but look deeply at how you are relating to stress. Stress is an inevitable part of life, yet it’s the way we think and feel about stress that really makes a difference.  

When you regulate your stress response on the physical level, you create a window of opportunity where you can change your whole life.  Together we will investigate the underlying cause(s) and develop a 6 month plan to address your relationship to stress, work, productivity, boundaries, food, etc. With lifestyle changes that promote a calm nervous system as well as dietary and supplement protocols to re-establish balance, we will improve your capacity to navigate the personal (and collective) stressors of life. Your system will naturally begin to respond to stress with more grace and ease. 

Through addressing the physical, emotional and mental aspects of your stress response, you can achieve lasting overall health benefits such as more consistent energy throughout the day, improved sleep, emotional stability, regulated hormones, improved digestion and absorption of nutrients, etc. Repairing your body’s cortisol rhythm restores vitality and increases overall wellbeing and presence. 

This course provides an introduction into how Functional Medicine can bring more comprehensive care into your everyday life. This program is not a quick fix, it requires a commitment to yourself and to your life. Your individualized supplement protocol will work most effectively if you follow it with consistency. The lifestyle recommendations are an ongoing commitment and great importance is placed on adjusting your current relationship to stress. Depending on the severity of your lab results, it may take up to a year on supplements to correct an imbalance. Furthermore, depending on your results, you may require further testing. 

Most people facing HPA Axis Dysfunction require an individualized supplement protocol, and adhering to this plan is critical to recovery. This course is designed for those ready to commit and not requiring or desiring more in-depth support. If you believe you would benefit from a greater amount of individualized attention and care, please see my 9 month Program called VITAL. You can also choose to transfer into VITAL at any time throughout this program.