Stress has gotten a very bad rap lately. It is blamed for many of our chronic diseases, for the breakups of families and the failures of businesses. Yet, certain types of stress are essential to life.
If we don’t put stress on our muscles and use them, they waste away. If our bones do not get stressed from weight bearing they begin to lose their strength (osteoporosis). If our brains do not get stressed by continual learning and new experiences they begin to lose their capacities as well.
Forces in nature tend to be destructive. Water wears away rock. Sunlight changes water into vapor. Fire burns. Events in our life cause changes as well. Births, deaths, marriages, graduations, etc. Outside forces cause change.
Internal forces are constructive and allow us to adapt to changes and to external forces in our lives. Our internal forces are our inner strengths and capacities. Our nerve system helps us to adapt to changes in our external environment and also regulates what’s happening within our body. Our immune system adapts us to various bacteria, viruses and other irritants or organisms in our environment.
We also have internal systems to help us deal with mental and emotional stresses as well.When our inner resistance, our inherent internal systems, are stronger than external stresses, we continue to adapt and grow. Where we run into trouble is when external stress is greater than our inner ability to adapt to that stress.
Our internal resistance needs to be stronger than external stress in order for us to not be harmed by external stresses.
Understanding how stresses work, what can we do to allow ourselves to adapt and thrive to the best of our ability? A lot of focus is put on reducing external stresses. This is a good thing, especially when it comes to the self-imposed stresses in our life. However, external stresses are and always will be present.
What we really need to focus on is increasing our inner reserves and our inner ability to adapt.This is done in many ways. First and foremost, Chiropractic adjustments free the nerve system to adapt to changes both internally and externally. It is one of the greatest ways we can help ourselves cope with stresses and reduce the damaging effects on our bodies.
We increase the inner resistance of our bodies by giving it healthy nutritious foods with few to no toxic chemicals. We increase the strength and health of our bodies by exercising them - aerobic exercise (sustained activity for 20 minutes or more which raises heart rate and breathing), strength training and flexibility/stretching. We increase our mental capacity by learning new things, by reading books, by challenging
ourselves mentally.
Finally, we increase our emotional capacity by getting in touch with ourselves - who we really are, what our values are and living by them. We increase this capacity by accepting ourselves and understanding that it’s not what happens to us, but how we react to what happens to us that counts most.
This in a nutshell is the Chiropractic Wellness Lifestyle.
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