Stress Relief Tips

As our busy high season now slows down it is time to focus on ourselves, doing the self care that supports our body’s renewal and repair. This is the time to replenish ourselves after all we have been through this past season.

In our busy lives with our full schedules we can either gear up, call upon our reserves and rise to meet the activities, or choose to feel overwhelmed or burdened by these busy schedules. Have you ever noticed some people thrive and are enlivened by what their lives bring them and other people seem depleted, and feel victimized by what life throws at them? This is because how we feel about the situations we find in our lives depends on how we perceive them, and the significance we make of them depending on our history and beliefs.

Our Bodies express how we perceive our environment. When we feel safe and peaceful our breath becomes fuller, our large muscles relax and our life force moves inward, and brings us into balance or homeostasis. This is activity of our Parasympathetic nervous system. When we experience a threat, real or imagined, our breath become shallow and our muscles contract, this is our Sympathetic nervous system. Our physiology now moves away from homeostasis to an adaptive state in an attempt to deal with the threat to our survival. These adaptive states, or patterns, are meant to be life saving at that moment, but when we get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system we become depleted and worn down.

Each time we react with our sympathetic, fight or flight response, our body goes on alert, our adrenals release adrenaline and cortical steroids, our heart rate and blood pressure elevate, blood is diverted to our large muscles and away from digestion, our cholesterol levels raise and our platelets get stickier so we can quickly clot any possible wounds sustained during the fight or flight. Just the perception of something as a threat automatically creates a stress response right at the level of our spinal cord without our conscious mind’s input. Our nervous system holds the adaptive stress patterns as tension in our spinal cord.

When we have been able to release the adaptive patterns from our spinal cord we can perceive the same situation as safe and meet it with ease and grace. The times when we are responding to a situation with our parasympathetic system, we experience joy and enthusiasm, excited to take on the challenges. Now our body is bathed in endorphins, serotonin levels increase, elevating our mood, lowering our blood pressure and heart rate, increasing our cell mediated immunity, increasing digestion, assimilation, and our body’s healing and repair.

If we habitually perceive and respond to our life as threatening and overwhelming we are stuck in the sympathetic system. Over time you can see how depleting this can be. The key is to become aware of these stress patterns and make different choices to bring ourselves back into ease. We can make choices to enhance our parasympathic nervous system. Receiving regular chiropractic care and massage is a wonderful gift to yourself. This can help your body release any stored spinal tension so your vertebral column can realign itself, reestablish flexibility and return to functioning with your parasympathetic nervous system. Using meditative relaxation techniques as well as asking yourself important questions such as “am I mentally making more of this situation than necessary?” Gaining the courage to say ‘no’ when your plate is already full as well as deep breathing excersizes can all help to reduce anxiety.

Lexi Fisher can be reached at Abundant Health and Wellness Center at 760-327-4041.


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Stress Relief Tips By Lexi Fisher As our busy high season now slows down it is time to focus on ourselves, doing the self care that supports our body’s renewal and repair. This is the time to replenish ourselves after all we have been through this past season. In our busy lives with our full schedules we can either gear up, call upon our reserves and rise to meet the activities, or choose to feel overwhelmed or burdened by these busy schedules. Have you ever noticed some people thrive and are enlivened by what their lives bring them and other people seem depleted, and feel victimized by what life throws at them? This is because how we feel about the situations we find in our lives depends on how we perceive them, and the significance we make of them depending on our history and beliefs. Our Bodies express how we perceive our environment. When we feel safe and peaceful our breath becomes fuller, our large muscles relax and our life force moves inward, and brings us into balance or homeostasis. This is activity of our Parasympathetic nervous system. When we experience a threat, real or imagined, our breath become shallow and our muscles contract, this is our Sympathetic nervous system. Our physiology now moves away from homeostasis to an adaptive state in an attempt to deal with the threat to our survival. These adaptive states, or patterns, are meant to be life saving at that moment, but when we get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system we become depleted and worn down. Each time we react with our sympathetic, fight or flight response, our body goes on alert, our adrenals release adrenaline and cortical steroids, our heart rate and blood pressure elevate, blood is diverted to our large muscles and away from digestion, our cholesterol levels raise and our platelets get stickier so we can quickly clot any possible wounds sustained during the fight or flight. Just the perception of something as a threat automatically creates a stress response right at the level of our spinal cord without our conscious mind’s input. Our nervous system holds the adaptive stress patterns as tension in our spinal cord. When we have been able to release the adaptive patterns from our spinal cord we can perceive the same situation as safe and meet it with ease and grace. The times when we are responding to a situation with our parasympathetic system, we experience joy and enthusiasm, excited to take on the challenges. Now our body is bathed in endorphins, serotonin levels increase, elevating our mood, lowering our blood pressure and heart rate, increasing our cell mediated immunity, increasing digestion, assimilation, and our body’s healing and repair. If we habitually perceive and respond to our life as threatening and overwhelming we are stuck in the sympathetic system. Over time you can see how depleting this can be. The key is to become aware of these stress patterns and make different choices to bring ourselves back into ease. We can make choices to enhance our parasympathic nervous system. Receiving regular chiropractic care and massage is a wonderful gift to yourself. This can help your body release any stored spinal tension so your vertebral column can realign itself, reestablish flexibility and return to functioning with your parasympathetic nervous system. Using meditative relaxation techniques as well as asking yourself important questions such as “am I mentally making more of this situation than necessary?” Gaining the courage to say ‘no’ when your plate is already full as well as deep breathing excersizes can all help to reduce anxiety. Lexi Fisher can be reached at Abundant Health and Wellness Center at 760-327-4041.