You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

Hey everybody, it's Mariel.

We all get stressed, right?

And one thing I've learned through our reporting at LifeKit is that while it's really important to ground yourself in these moments, that's not where the work ends.

Because if you're constantly having these days where your fight or flight response is triggered,

there's 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 that's falling apart or the fact that you can't 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. That's Dr. Aditi Nurukar. 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 Retoo Chatterjee talked to Dr. Narukar.

And on today's episode, they're 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 one's 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.

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