Mon, Jul 15, 2013
As a Doctor of Chiropractic I have had the opportunity on numerous occasions to teach people about stress, how to identify it in themselves and how to deal with it. Recently I found myself in an overwhelmingly stressful state. I was getting Married in a month, Moving and starting my practice. Now you may be thinking that these are all wonderful things, which they are! However, just because they are good does not mean they do not contribute to high amounts of stress. All to often we may deny the fact that we are stressed because we believe stress is only associated with difficult and negative tasks such as: An overwhelming project at work, Death or sickness in the family, Financial hardships and so on. However there are actually 3 main types of stressors: Chemical, Physical and Emotional.
Stress is the number 1 trigger to the leading cause of death which is Heart Disease. Part of this is due to the physiological response that being stressed puts us in. When we are stressed the body activates its “Fight or Flight” mechanism. This is the state where your body focuses on getting you out of a potentially harmful situation. Basically you go into survival mode. When this happens the body shuts down all of its digestion for example to allow your energy to go toward survival. This is why many who are in a long term state of stress find that they gain weight or have digestive issues. Anything that is not necessary for survival will be put on hold until you are able to come down from the stressful state.
There are several ways to alleviate stress and manage stress that the body is placed under. Exercise is one of the best with practices like yoga being included to help take the mind off the troubles of the day and focus on the moment and relaxing. The chiropractic care offered by my San Clemente Chiropractor office is another great way to alleviate the stress we place on the nervous system every day. Many of us find ourselves with long commutes in traffic to then sit at a desk with a computer for 8-10 hours a day. While this may not seem too overwhelming you may ask yourself why it is that you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus at the end of the day? Posture is a huge physical stressor on the nervous system. Sitting all day hunched forward and then slouching on a long commute only add to the stress that we come by on a daily basis. Regular Chiropractic care helps not only support but create positive and correct postural traits and habits alleviating that extra stress that we place on ourselves each and every day. Bowel and bladder function stabilize and Heart rate decreases.
I hope you have found this informative. If you have any questions about stress please feel free to leave a comment below or contact us.
I also offer a similar, more in-depth version of this subject that I present to Offices and Youth Groups for my lunch and learn Program, a free public wellness service . If you would like to have me come to your business, workplace or group please feel free to call me at (949) 284-6620