08/28/2025
😮💨 If you’ve ever heard the expression “that took years off of my life” after a stressful event— turns out that’s true!
Telomeres are at the end of our chromosomes in our DNA, and are required for cell division in the body. 🧬 Stress, and long term chronic stress can enormously accelerate the rate of telomere degradation. Once the telomeres degrade they can’t divide anymore. If we want to talk somatic and molecular— this is it. Stress, if not mitigated, degrades the body at a cellular level and INCREASES aging.
A study was done on parents of children with chronic medical problems, and on parents with healthy children— both were showing evidence of telomere degradation following unresolved parental stress.
Now the stress of the parents can’t necessarily be objectively compared, as stress levels are subjective— but the body perceives them the same. 😮
Both groups of parents believed they were under 10/10 stress… and if you believe you are under intolerable levels of stress, you create that reality. You create that reality and it shows up in the physical— in your body and your environment. 🤯🍂
This is a positive finding though— if you can change your relationship to and perception of stress, you can potentially reduce the rate of telomere degradation. Stress reduction leads to cellular health. 🧬✨
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Where am I going with this?
🧐 How can we change our relationship to and perception of stress?
🍃There are so many ways, but one easy way, which is free— is mindfulness. Being present. Look up MBSR— mindfulness based stress reduction. (Comment if you want a deep dive on MBSR, free. I’ll send my resources.)
“Stress accumulates in our body. The way we eat, drink, and live takes its toll on our well-being. Lying down and bringing gentle awareness to our breath, we can realize rest and recovery for our physical body.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh, How to Relax Mindfulness Book
(Continued in comments…)
