April sees Stress Awareness month across the globe. How many of you are aware of the stress your body may or may not be under? How do you judge whether you are stressed or not?
This is a slightly longer post than usual, but proportionate to the insidious problem that is unacknowledged or undiagnosed stress in our society!
Some people use how they feel as a determinant of how stressed they are, or are not. Depending on how long your body may or may not have been under stress for can actually alter how accurate this can be. At Chiro Connect we use a few different ways to test physiological stress- i.e. the stress your body is under whether you ‘feel’ stressed out or not.
One of these ways is testing Heart Rate Variability- the measurement of the timed gaps BETWEEN the individual heart beats. The higher the variability of your Heart Rate (i.e how different the timed gaps are between each heart beat), the higher your resilience and adaptability to stress and the better your future predictions of physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Another way is testing for the quality of your brainstem function, which includes testing for retained primitive reflexes and functional cranial nerve tests. Your brainstem is home of the flight/fight/freeze responses- if your brainstem is overactive/ dysfunctional it means your body is likely under physiological stress. We test this in adults as well as children as part of our regular assessments.
So what can you do about it?!
Here are our top tips to stress less!
Chiropractic Care (of course)
One of the cool theories about how chiropractic care works is that it stimulates brain function in such a way that it helps to override the stress response and help the more rational part of your brain come online (the prefrontal cortex specifically, which helps to control the stress response). So, getting adjusted regularly is a great way to help your body manage stress.
FLOWtherapy
This non-invasive therapy uses a combination of compression, far infrared and deep pressure to encourage relaxation, sleep and energy.
You can find out more about FLOWtherapy here, at www.streamhealth.co.nz.
HeartMath Appreciation Exercise:
This simple exercise only takes a minute- perfect for busy people! Experiencing the feeling of appreciation can facilitate healing of the human body and spirit.
Heart Focus: Focus your attention on your heart area, and breathe a little deeper than normal, in for 5 or 6 seconds and out 5 or 6 seconds.
Heart Breathing: Imagine breathing through your heart. Picture yourself slowly breathing in and out through your heart area.
Heart Feeling: Activate a positive feeling as you maintain your heart focus and breathing. Recall a time you felt good inside, and try to re-experience the feeling. Remember a special place or the love you feel for a close friend, relative or treasured pet. The key is focus on something you really appreciate.
You can take this exercise and your Heart Rate Variability training to the next level with regular guided practice using HeartMath’s Inner Balance program, and the practitioner program available at Chiro Connect.
Appreciation Breaks:
Take two or three appreciation breaks each day – ideally in early morning, during work, school, returning home or before bed. Just follow the above simple steps. It takes as little as two minutes to achieve mental, emotional and physical balance.
Appreciation List:
Make a list of things you appreciate – people, places, activities, pets – and choose one or two each morning to hold in your heart during the day. Choose an item again at night to hold in your heart while you rest.
Appreciation in the Moment:
Keep your Appreciation List close all day, in a pocket or purse, by your computer or elsewhere. In stressful moments, choose an item that can quickly evoke appreciation. It can turn a stressful day into one that flows – in 30 seconds or less.
Calm App
One of our favourite recommendations- guided meditations, sleep stories (for adults and kids!), chill out music and the excellent ‘breathe bubble’. Sure, this is a paid-for App, but in our experience it is worth every penny!
Diet & Supplementation
This is completely personal and unique to each individual, but there are a few standards. Reduce coffee, alcohol and sugars. Drink more water! Magnesium and B vitamins are fabulous at helping to support through stressful events. It’s worth talking to your chiropractor or naturopath for recommendations specific to you.
Yoga and Meditation
The Team at Stream again help us out on this one. Utilising yoga and/or meditation for calming the mind is an age-old practice still useful in this busy and fast-paced modern world of ours. Talk with Shannon about 1:1 sessions, attend a class near you, or do your own home practice. As with all of these suggestions, regularity and consistency are key!
Pick one or 3 of these things to incorporate into your daily/ weekly/ monthly life, and see how you ‘feel’ after a few weeks or months. It’s well worth it!