The absence of boundaries in our lives can impact us emotionally, physically, and professionally. It can even result in chronic stress, which is a silent destroyer of immune function. Chronic stress activates the body’s stress-response system, continuously pumping out cortisol. Elevated levels of this hormone have been shown to negatively affect the overall activity of white blood cells, the primary defenders in our immune system. These cells not only produce antibodies but also participate in a variety of mechanisms that neutralise pathogens and infected cells. The more stress you are under, the less effective your immune system will be.
Professional Burnout & Workplace Boundaries
Let’s put that into a work context. If you consistently work overtime, under high pressure, or are so conscientious that you tend to stay plugged in and check emails over the weekend or until midnight, it might be time to set some professional boundaries. Despite feeling drained, we might fear saying no to additional tasks or setting limits on our availability. When your work/life balance looks like this, work can become a chronic source of stress rather than a fulfilling way to spend your time (or just the source of your monthly paycheck).
Chronic workplace stress is linked to reduced immune function, making you more susceptible to illnesses like the common cold or even more severe conditions in the long term.
Defend Your Strategies:
- Create a ‘priority list’ of your daily tasks and commitments, and don’t be afraid to say no to what is not on it. Learning to diplomatically decline non-essential obligations can significantly reduce stress, thus safeguarding your immune system.
- Integrate pampering rituals into your weeks to alleviate stress and take care of yourself – why not an evening with our Unwind bath salts and
- To gently and naturally support your immune defences, consider exploring our, composed of a tea, tincture and supplements
Sleep & Rest: Nature’s Best Medicine
The importance of sleep for optimal immune function is supported by a plethora of research. Don’t underestimate the transformative power of a good night’s sleep when it comes to fortifying your immune system. While you’re wrapped up in dreams, your body is hard at work releasing cytokines, proteins vital for immune responses. This isn’t just idle chit-chat among cells; it’s a full-on strategy meeting where your body coordinates its defenses against potential invaders. Think of sleep as your body’s nightly war council, where key players like T-cells and white blood cells gather to plan their next moves. Skipping this essential gathering—say, by cutting your sleep short or sacrificing its quality—means missing out on critical communication that helps your immune system function at its best. In the high-stakes game of your health, sleep has to be a priority.
Defend Your Strategies:
- Set a sleep schedule and stick to it, even on weekends. Eliminate screen time at least an hour before bed to promote the secretion of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
- Try our Deep Sleep tea in the evening, and/or a couple of our about half an hour before bedtime, and experience natural, safe, non-addictive herbal support to help you fall and stay asleep.
- Diffuse our Deep Sleep essential oil diffuser blend in your bedroom an hour or so before you go to sleep to create a relaxing, serene atmosphere, and/or spray our peaceful Sleep Better Pillow Mist on your pillow.
Exercise: The Delicate Balance
There’s plent of research out there highlighting how regular moderate exercise enhances immune response. But if you are a keen athlete, it’s important to also bear in mind that excessive physical exertion can do the opposite. Overtraining leads to an ‘open-window’ of impaired immunity (Nieman et al., 2019). So do integrate regular physical activity into your weeks, but be mindful not to overdo it and give yourself time and space to recover.
Defend Your Strategies:
- Maintain a balanced exercise regimen. Aim for regular moderate exercise during the week, interspersed with some strength training. But don’t forget to allocate time for rest and recovery.
- If you are looking for a natural source of support for your workouts, try our Muscle Restore & Recovery mix, a powerful workout powder designed to optimise muscle performance and recovery, whether pre- or post-workout.
- Our Joint and muscle range of products (featuring herbal-powered teas, capsules, balms and bath salts) can help you feel flexible and comfortable with movement – they can be useful in particular if you suffer from arthritis, or if you are recovering from sprains or strains.
Finding Calm and Setting Emotional Boundaries
When we think about defending your, it’s important to realise that you need to have some to defend in the first place! Multiple studies support the positive impact of mindfulness and meditation on the immune system. For instance, studies show that mindfulness meditation increased the activity of natural killer cells (Fang et al., 2010), crucial players in viral and cancer defence. On the active side, you should aim to incorporate calming, mindful activities into your weekly routine. You should also consider what emotional availability means to you.
Emotional Availability
Everyone is energised and fatigued in an emotional and physical sense by different things. If you’re the kind of angel that’s always available for friends and family, even when it emotionally drains you, you may have felt the strain. If you’re someone who finds it hard to set emotional boundaries and say ‘no’ every now and then, those heightened cortisol levels could be wreaking havoc on your immune system. It’s interesting to look at this through the lens of two classic personality types: introvert and extrovert.
INTROVERTS, EXTROVERTS, AND YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
When it comes to emotional availability, one’s disposition—be it introverted, extroverted, or somewhere in between—plays a role in how stress manifests and subsequently affects immune function.
INTROVERTS
If you lean towards introversion, emotional availability can sometimes be more taxing. Introverts tend to need solitude to recharge their emotional batteries. Being accessible to friends and family, then, might cause a disproportionate amount of stress compared to someone who’s more extroverted. Your body’s stress-response system doesn’t distinguish between “good” or “bad” types of stress; it just releases cortisol. So, even if you’re helping a loved one through a difficult time, if you’re not setting aside time for yourself, you could be doing more harm than good—especially to your immune system.
EXTROVERTS
For extroverts, the equation might look a little different. Emotional availability often comes more naturally, and social interactions can be a source of energy rather than a drain. However, this can also be a double-edged sword. The danger here is overcommitting and spreading yourself too thin. Your innate ability to handle more social interactions doesn’t negate the physiological stress that can occur when you’re pulled in too many directions. That constant hum of activity can cause cortisol levels to spike just as easily as it can for introverts, but for different reasons.
THE MIDDLE GROUND: SETTING HEALTHY BOUNDARIES
Whether you’re introverted, extroverted, or a mix of both, setting healthy boundaries is the key to balancing emotional availability with self-care. And since chronic stress from either end of the spectrum can weaken your immune system, you’ve got a solid health-based reason to put yourself first every now and then.
Defend Your Strategies:
- Begin your meditation journey with just 10 minutes per day. The focus should be on regularity rather than length. Utilise mindfulness apps or guided sessions to maintain consistency.
- To create the perfect serene haven for your meditation, consider using our Grounding oil at the beginning of your practice – this aromatherapy blend has been mindfully crafted to support you to feel balanced, centred and grounded.
- Try a few cups of our Balance tea, a herbal adaptogen blend that helps alleviate stress and increase your resilience to it.
We’re Here to Help You Set Boundaries
The quest for a balanced life necessitates the setting of healthy boundaries. Remember, drawing lines isn’t about closing doors; it’s about making time and space for what truly matters. By incorporating these science-backed strategies, you are not just defending your but building a strong foundation for your overall wellbeing.
Let our team help you take the first steps in defending your. Here are a few products you might want to try:
Defend Tea: Your first line of defence in preserving your. While the modern world inundates us with stressors that can compromise our immune system, this herbal blend comes fortified with nature’s own warriors like vitamin C-rich Rosehip and the antioxidant power of Elderberry. Topped with the adaptogenic prowess of Tulsi, this tea not only equips your body to ward off illness but also serves as a daily ritual to draw clear boundaries against stress.