Reduce Your Stress, Improve Your Health

More than ever before, we are aware that emotional stress is rampant, and negatively affecting our health. Hurricanes and fires, serious health problems, social conflict and more, it weighs heavily on our minds, and contributes to conditions like anxiety, depression, insomnia, and eating disorders, to name just a few.

It is not surprising that when times are tough, people worry – that’s human nature. It’s the ability to rebound from being upset, to be resilient and spend as little time as possible being unhappy, that safeguards you from the harmful effects of stress.

What happens when you are anxious? You go into contraction, where your muscles tighten, your posture curls forward, and your organs are compressed. Circulation is reduced, blood pressure goes up, and there is a generalized feeling of malaise. When it happens suddenly and passes quickly, your body is able to return to some semblance of normal.

But when this anxiety lingers, your muscles, posture, organs and blood pressure stay distorted from normal, and this is one of the reasons we tend to get sick in times of adversity – our bodies are overloaded, and unless we find ways to reduce or eliminate the stresses, we risk becoming ill or even worse.

Fortunately, there’s a lot we can do to manage our anxiety, and it starts with a hopeful belief that things are going to be okay and being grateful for what you have. Just those two ideas are enough to drop your stress significantly and start the healing process. Later this month, we’ll talk about how chiropractic adjustments and BrainTap can help reduce the negative consequences of constant stress, but for now, hope and gratitude — try them on and see what happens.