Is stress avoidable?

Marriage, New House, New Baby, Promotion at Work…..These aren’t your typical forms of stress; these are pretty happy times!  But these examples are life changing and therefore STRESSFUL as we adapt to the major changes.  Stress is all around us, some of it exciting and good and some not so good.

It is impossible to get through life avoiding stress; the truth is, it’s always going to be there.  It can leave your head spinning and if long lasting,  it can be harmful to your health and well-being.

What is your stress level?

Stress is very interpretive.  What’s stressful to one person might hardly upset another person.

Stress is not measurable, yet it is hard to deny its existence.  However most of Western medicine fails to take stress into consideration in the overall level of health of an individual.  Height, weight and blood pressure are all measured, but there is no “stressometer.”

Although it’s immeasurable, stress does create a physiological response.  As you might know, when you feel stressed, your muscles tense up, the stress hormone Cortisol rises, blood pressure goes up, perspiration increases along with a number of other responses.

Over time these frequent responses can lead to sickness and disease.  In fact, what do we call stress?  The Silent KILLER – because it’s the number one trigger to the number one cause of death.  The number one cause of death is heart attack in the United States and most of Europe.

You can live with high cholesterol or high blood pressure, but if you have a high stress environment along with those things going on, it’s not a good situation to be in.  Therefore, you MUST learn to manage your stress.

Manage Your Stress

Physical exercise is one of the best things you can do to decrease your stress. Studies show that 20 minutes per day of stress relieving activity can decrease your stress level. If you can’t fit in 20 minutes daily, you should put in a minimum of one hour per week.  Start to schedule these types of activities into your routine:

• Meditation and prayer
• Music without lyrics
• Yoga
• Massage therapy
• Nap
• Read a book
• Be Optimistic
• Plan and prioritize
• Eat healthily
• Give yourself ample time to complete a task
• Know your Limits and learn to say “no”
• Talk to a friend
• Feeling nervous?  Consciously slow down  your breathing
• Laughter!

Chiropractic and Stress Management

Chiropractic care has been shown to benefit those with chronic stress. A healthy nervous system maintained with chiropractic care allows for the body to more easily adapt to a stressful environment.  This decreases the potential for physiological stress response which over time can lead to disease.

Your brain and nervous system are your master control of your body.  All other systems depend on your nervous system to function properly.  Since stress affects nearly every system, a balanced nervous system will allow a healthier stress response.

Chiropractic can also reduce the potential dangers of stress.  For example stress can lead to prolonged muscle tension, which can affect the structure of your body and put pressure on the nerves.  Good chiropractic care benefits the heart, reduces headaches, help with breathing, improve sleep quality, along with many other beneficial effects.

Chiropractic also helps a variety of health conditions, such as low back pain, neck pain, arthritis, high blood pressure, depression, sports injury, auto injury, headaches, ear infections, insomnia, fatigue, carpal tunnel, sciatica, and a number of other conditions.

To learn more visit our Minnetonka Chiropractic Office, located at the intersection of Minnetonka Boulevard and County Road 101 on the border of Minnnetonka and Wayzata MN.  We have helped hundreds of patients achieve a higher level of health! Call our office at (952) 681-2863 today!

See more at www.reliefplusmn.com