We are reaching the time of year where people have increased stress. Due to family gatherings, shopping, giving gifts, cooking meals and/or traveling. We place a lot of thought on materialistic things, when it should be a happy time, and it is very easy to become negative.

Negativity breeds stress and stress plays a huge part in how healthy we are. Stress leads to high blood pressure, heart problems, ulcers, eating disorders and obesity. It can also lead to hair loss, missed periods, fertility problems, and sleeping problems just to name a few.

Your Body Response

Your central nervous system (CNS) is in charge of your “fight or flight” response. In your brain, the hypothalamus tells your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol (cortisol helps make you fat). These hormones increase your heart rate and send blood rushing to the areas that need it most in an emergency, such as your muscles, heart, and other important organs.

When the perceived fear is gone, the hypothalamus should tell all systems to go back to normal. If the CNS fails to return to normal, or if the stressor doesn’t go away, the response will continue. Chronic stress will then become a problem.

• Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
• 75% to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.

Chronic stress can actually shorten your lifespan! Science has now identified that stress shortens our telomeres, the “end caps” of our DNA strands, which causes us to age quicker.

Ways to Crush Negativity

• Write down all your negative thoughts and physically throw it away in the trash. Once you talk about what is bothering you, you always feel better.
• Assess if the negative thought or whatever you are going through. Will matter next week, next month, next year? If it won’t then just LET IT GO!
• Figure out where the negativity is coming from. If it’s music your listening to, shows you are watching, people you’re hanging out with, or situations you put yourself into, CUT them from your life. Change the station or channel. Make different decisions for your day.
• When you wake up, instead of “hating” a Monday or not wanting to get out of bed, be positive. Today is going to be a great day! Positive thinking produces positivity. (*Read or listen to “The Power of Positive Thinking”.)

• Get moving. Start an exercise program. Anything from a walk around the block to going to the gym.
• Declutter your life. When you have a messy house, it has been proven you are more likely to be less healthy and more depressed than those with a clean house. (Check out the psychology behind cleanliness at Psychology Today)
• Pray or meditate. Think of all the wonderful things in your life and cast out all the bad. Change the way that you think. (This goes back to starting your day positively.  😉)
• GET ADJUSTED! Yes you knew I would say it! Adjustments are calming, reduce stress and make you feel better!

Chiropractic

You can actually think yourself sick. If you have someone around you that is sick, you can focus so much on them being sick that you in turn get sick. This is due to worrying (stressing) about getting sick that you actually decrease your immune system and then become sick. The inverse is also true. You can think yourself WELL!

Chiropractic care finds the root cause and works on correcting the problem. (Whether it be pain, illness, stress, not sleeping, ect.) Chiropractic adjustments also help boost the immune system by calming down the CNS. When your nervous system is functioning as well as it can, you have less sickness, pain, and other health problems.

I always urge my patients to commit to a wellness care (meaning a monthly or bi-weekly adjustment) program. This keeps your body’s ability to stay healthy and in top shape. It also helps you bounce back from an injury quicker, because you have a healthier “spine” and are able to talk about any minor aches or pains before they become serious problems.

I heard an amazing saying this week while listening to a podcast.

The truth in that statement is astounding. You go to the dentist for cleanings and checkups. You spend tons of money on the best face makeup, cleansers, creams and lotions. Why do you not get your spine checked to keep you healthy?! Think of all the money you would save if you got adjusted just once a month. Your health would go up, your doctor visits for sickness and health problems would go down.

To decrease your negativity and stress level, give us or a chiropractor around you a call! You will be amazed at how much chiropractic care can change your life and attitude. If you have any questions on whether chiropractic can help, reach out and I would love to answer any questions you have.

~Dr. Lacey~
Carder Chiropractic Clinic, INC.
El Reno, OK 73036