Stress. In the simplest terms, stress is the reason why we recommend weekly adjustments for our practice members. Stress, in its many forms, causes disruptions in the body's ability to communicate properly with the brain. When the brain cannot communicate with the body through the nervous system, we call this a subluxation. As a chiropractor, when I adjust you, I am removing the subluxation, or interference, allowing the body to communicate better with the brain.

Stress isn't always what it seems, though. For many people, when they hear the word “stress,” they think of only emotional stress. This is the “I'm stressed out!” type of stress, often similar to overwhelm. While emotional stressors certainly play a role in our overall health, they aren't the only type of stress that affects us. There are 3 main categories of stress, Thoughts, Traumas, and Toxins. Also known as the “Three T's.”

In this week's blog, we will be covering the first “T” thoughts. This category includes the emotional or mental stressors that negatively impact our health. Emotional stress can put our body into a chronic state of “fight or flight.” Simply put, your body acts like it is experiencing an emergency all the time. When your body is experiencing a true emergency, it will divert blood flow to the arms and legs to help you fight off the crisis or run away from it; this also requires increased breathing and heart rate. While this can be extremely helpful in an actual emergency, it is downright exhausting. If your body is under constant emotional stress, you will not only feel exhausted, but your health will also suffer.

While it is easy for most people to understand emotional stress, here are a few examples:

buying/selling a house
change in relationship status
job/career change
children…need I say more
financial concerns
difficult family dynamics
caring for a loved one

While some emotional stressors are in our control and can be changed, many are just part of life. Regular chiropractic adjustments can help your body better adapt to emotional stress.

Other ways to help reduce the effects of emotional stress…

Breathing

Box Breathing is a great technique to help calm the body and reset the nervous system to a state of calm. Learn more about box breathing here.

2. Meditating

This can be tricky if you haven’t done it before. Click here for my favorite 10 Minute Meditation for Beginners.

3. Having Fun

Doing something you love, creating joy in your life, can really make a difference in your overall stress levels! Make sure you make time for FUN!

If you want to see how your body handles stress, we perform several nervous system scans during your initial visit to help us calculate how your body is doing. You can join our waitlist here.