Sure I’m Stressed. Aren’t You?
By Murray Galbraith, DC

Ask almost anyone if they’re stressed and what do you think they’ll say? Of course I’m stressed! Isn’t everybody? Most people never stop to figure out what area they are stressed in: physically, mentally/emotionally or chemically. Yes, people are not just “stressed.” There are complex mechanisms occurring in your nervous system that create and maintain stress. But you are in control of it. Yes, you CAN control it and even bring yourself out of a stressed state.

Some time ago, we talked about the ILLNESS – WELLNESS CONTINUUM. We talked about the fact that you were either moving toward one or the other. This is a response in your nervous system that gets you going one way or the other, toward life or death. You are either in FIGHT OR FLIGHT/PROTECTION or GROWTH AND REPAIR. You are either in FEAR or you are in LOVE, but you can’t be in both. It’s one or the other.

When you are in FEAR or FIGHT OR FLIGHT/PROTECTION, you are REACTING. It’s controlling you. You are “listening” to the voices inside you of all the horrible possibilities that you can imagine. The default responses that are designed for short-term survival have taken over. This is normal, but only for a very short period of time like minutes; not hours, days, weeks or months.

You can change that by “talking” to your body and let it know that you are going to switch to a different, healthier program. Sometimes that “talk” is you actually talking to, telling your body and mind that you are now switching to a new, healthier, more resourceful program of YOUR choosing. After all, who’s running you – you or “they?” If it’s they, you’re in a heap of trouble. “They” can only run you if you give them permission. Don’t! You CHOOSE a new program, one that moves you toward life.

So how do you do that? Well, if we’re talking about MENTAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS, it’s pretty easy, believe it or not. Three simple things you can do; change what you’re focusing on, change your breathing (from fast to slow or vice versa) and change your body’s position or posture (like stand tall with your chin slightly elevated). Try to be stressed in this position. It’s pretty hard to do.

If you’re being affected by CHEMICAL STRESS, it takes a little longer because you have to flush that out of your system. First, make sure you’re hydrated with water. Not with all those silly “vitamin and smart” waters. Please, God didn’t make your body to run on “smart” water. He made you run on H2O. If you think of your body as a “hydroelectric power plant,” water is the “hydro” part of the equation. Your brain and nervous system especially must have adequate water to run. When the lake is dry behind the dam, how much power can the generating station produce?

Next, watch what you’re feeding your body. If you can catch it, pick it, or dig it up, it’s probably good for you to eat. That would be fish, fowl, meat (grass fed), fruits, berries or vegetables. If it has a label, be suspicious of it. The simpler, more natural the foods, the better your body does. For instance, eating the recommended number of servings of raw fruits and veggies per day (10-13, yes not a typo) will greatly reduce the stress in your body and cause a return to GROWTH AND REPAIR mode. When you get in this mode (here’s some good numbers): Alzheimer’s risk decreases 76%, heart disease decreases 70%, all cancers decrease 30% and a Swedish study shows you add an additional 14 YEARS to your life! Yes, it’s OK to say “WOW!”

Next, keep poisons and toxins out of your body as much as possible. Pesticide and herbicide residue on produce, medications, synthetic vitamins, plastics and a whole host of other nasties add to the toxic burden we carry, like rocks in a backpack. The bigger the burden, the more rocks in the backpack. If you start taking the rocks out, the load gets lighter and stress goes down in your body.

And from the PHYSICAL STRESS department, the easiest thing to see on yourself (with the help of someone looking at you from the side) is FORWARD HEAD DISPLACEMENT, or FHD. UCLA research tells us that if your ear is forward of the center of your shoulder, you’re shutting off 30% of the blood and oxygen to your brain. This FHD posture fires off CORTISOL and CATECHOLAMINES, the STRESS HORMONES, which causes a cascade of some of the most common complaints most Americans suffer with: high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, muscle spasms, lowered immune function, decreased short term memory, emotional outbursts, digestive problems, lowered growth hormone production, accelerated skin wrinkling, feelings of anxiety, heart stress, lowered sex hormone production, muscle wasting…need I go on?

Getting the proper chiropractic care can correct FHD and begin reversing these problems. THE GOOD NEWS IS your body is a SELF-HEALING, SELF-REGULATING ORGANISM that KNOWS HOW TO KEEP ITSELF HEALTHY if you will provide the right environment inside and out. You do THAT and you will be rewarded with a body that will last as long as the Designer intended it to last. AND not on a bunch of drugs or oxygen or using canes and walkers, but HEALTHFULLY!

Just don’t wait until your warranty is up. START NOW. God bless!