Stress and How it Effects the Body

Stress, stress, stress! This word has become a badge of honor in today’s society. It almost seems that if you aren’t stressed then you aren’t working hard enough. We are here to squash that theory completely. Throughout this blog, you will learn about the different types of stress, how they impact your health, and our favorite things that we have discovered throughout caring for our practice member to combat stress.

Last year was filled with ups, downs, twists, turns, curves, corkscrews, and everything in between. As we transition into this new year we want you to know that the “new normal” does not have to mean constantly being exhausted, cranky, anxious, and living with constant pain in your neck, head, and shoulders. It is possible to get out ahead of our stress and overcome the symptoms that come along with it.

Before we dive deep into the science of how stress effects our bodies and action items to help combat it, we have to understand the 3 different categories of stress. The 3 different categories are physical, chemical, and emotional. Physical stress includes activities such as working out, daily activities, falls, bumps, bruises, scars, sometimes our jobs, birth trauma, breastfeeding, wrangling kids etc. Chemical stress includes all things ingested, all things put on our skin, and all things we breathe in. Emotional stress includes work stress, schedule stress, mental stress, relationship stress, family stress, etc.

Now, to fully understand how these 3 categories impact our health, let’s talk about the actual process our body undergoes when encountering all 3 of them. When we experience stress from our busy, sometimes crazy lives our body responds in the same way as if we are running from danger. An area in our brain called the hypothalamus is triggered, telling our adrenal glands to release stress hormones and activate the “fight or flight” response. All systems of the body begin to listen to this command causing our heart rate to increase, our breathing patterns to change, and for blood to rush to our heart and muscles so that they are ready for action. This type of response is meant to be a quick, get away reaction to a threat..not a chronic state of living. However, what we are seeing more and more of in our office while performing neurological scans on our practice members is that this quick, get away reaction is turning into stuck patterns of chronic stress leading to a lot of different problems. We see this pattern in almost every adult that comes in and now we are even starting to see stress and significant symptoms in kiddos dealing with focus challenges, sensory challenges, anxiety, depression, etc.

Health care providers and research journals have gone as far to say that stress is a silent killer. In fact, 75% – 90% of doctors’ visits are related to conditions caused by stress. To take it another step deeper, the longer the stress has to snowball in one’s system, the more significant the impact it can have on one’s daily life and overall health. Dealing with constant stress can lead to an imbalance in hormones and a body that is in a constant state of inflammation. This can increase one’s risk for autoimmune diseases, digestive disorders, mental disorders, decreased immune function, weight gain, and even heart disease or cancer.

We hear the daily stories and see the daily effects stress has on parents and kiddos every day in our office and are fortunate enough to get to walk along side them and guide them through healthy ways to overcome this stress. We see the ups, the downs, the wins, the obstacles, and everything in between. And the most rewarding part is that we get to see these families heal, watch their bodies restore back to normal function, and see smiles + laughter return to their faces. With that being said, our biggest reason for focusing on this topic and sharing this blog is so that we can share some of the most popular strategies we have found in our office with families just like yours, going through the same stress that you are going through, that will help guide you to overcoming your stress.

1. Exercise – this seems like a no brainer, but how often are you actually exercising? If this is one that you have under control, rock on! 💪💪 Skip this section and keep staying active! If this hasn’t been a strong suit of yours, know that it’s okay and you can start simple! One of the most underrated strategies for overall health and decreasing stress is going for a walk. Start by going on intentional walks!
2. Spend time with a loved one - we’re not talking about throwing on a movie or watching Netflix or youtube videos together. Put the technology away, have dinner together, talk about life, dream, and be present with each other. Spending quality time with your loved one and feeling what it is like to be loved can and will decrease stress! This can also be done with the full family, have a game night and forget about the rest of the world for awhile.  
3. Find community, preferably a community of like minded individuals that want to progress in their health and decrease their stress levels. As humans, we are meant to do life together, to be in community, to have relationships, to connect, and to feel. When these things are taken from us, stress levels increase and that completely shifts our physiology. Together, we can make a lot more headway than trying to do it alone.  
4. Meditate – take slow, conscious breaths while meditating to help you focus only on yourself. Don’t get frustrated if it is hard at first. The mind is like a muscle, the more you work it the easier it gets. 🧘🧘  
5. Get Scanned + Adjusted – receiving a nervous system scan allows your Chiropractor to locate + quantify your stress and develop a plan to remove it. We imagine that all of our True Light families would agree that this is a vital part of their wellness routine to help alleviate stress.  
6. Keep doing what got you to this blog post and continue to search for answers! Search for strategies and tactics to alleviate stress and promote overall  

We are at a turning point in the health care field where everyone is shifting to a more proactive and preventative approach to their health and wellness! If you are looking to start down that journey or have already started but are looking for more, let us be your guide, reach out, we would love to answer any and all of your questions! The health and wellness journey is our passion and you are our why, so please do not hesitate to reach out!

Love ♥️ + Light ✨,

Dr. Kelsey