You're listening to life kit from NPR.
Hey, everybody, it's Marielle.
We had an episode recently about what to do in the moment when you are feeling completely overwhelmed.
You need to stop the racing thoughts and slow your racing heartbeat.
But one thing we learned was that while it's really important to ground yourself in these moments, that's not where the work ends.
Because if youre constantly having these days where your fight or flight response is triggered, theres probably a reason, some underlying cause of your stress.
It could be your health or the health of someone you love.
It could be a relationship thats falling apart or the fact that you cant pay rent or a fear for your safety.
These are things that never quite go away, so that fight or flight response is always on at a slow hum in the background.
Thats doctor Aditi Narukar.
She's an internal medicine physician at Harvard, and she wrote a book called the five Resets.
The five resets has been laid out to be a roadmap, a roadmap to.
Recovering from chronic stress, because stress doesn't just make us feel terrible in the moment, it can also have ongoing effects on our bodies.
It puts us at higher risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes.
And it can also increase inflammation in our bodies and weaken our immune systems.
NPR health correspondent Ritu Chatterjee talked to doctor Narukar.
And on todays episode, theyre going to walk us through these five resets and how they can help you live a healthier, less stressful life.
Aditi says a key part of lowering ones stress is finding ways to rest and recover.
Rest and recovery are not just nice to have luxuries.
They are essential for our brains and bodies, and particularly for the biological features of our brains and bodies to thrive.