Better Brain Solutions and STRESS

Understanding how the brain and nervous system work in response to stressful situations may be the key to better health. Certain action steps may have a direct result of improved functioning of your central nerve system, which directly improves the functioning of all your other body systems.

A structural or postural alignment problem can cause an effect  called a "facilitated segment." This is a section of your spinal cord that is being bombarded by too many nerve signals. These nerve signals arrive at the wrong times and in too great a quantity. Stress Headaches ,physical pain and other diseases and disorders can develop as a result of a facilitated segment.

Stress makes facilitated segments (and their effects) worse. By bringing awareness to your overall posture and aligning your spine this helps to reduce and resolve these irritated segments of your spinal cord. As a result, the stresses in your life have less physiological impact. You become better able to interact with people and situations, and become better able to manage stress.

We live in stressful times. The economy is tough, global conflicts rage, severe weather events are affecting people in every corner of the globe, and our numerous technological devices don't seem to be making things any easier. Of course, this is nothing new. Every generation thinks theirs is the best of times and the worst of times. But the result is that people everywhere have high levels of stress.

Sometimes we use our higher brain and create stress that is good for the body. Mechanical stress, such as exercise, causes your muscles and bones to become stronger and your nerve system to become smarter. Taking on a new assignment at work or taking a challenging class in school may be stressful, but the effort involved in achieving a successful result will cause you to grow and develop in ways that you might not have imagined.

After all, the great philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"

Chronic, ongoing physical and mental stress, the kind that affects us every day, is not good for us. Chronic stress causes real psychological and physical problems. People undergoing chronic stress may develop anxiety, which if not managed effectively may lead to depression.

Extreme stress may lead to a variety of systemic disorders and diseases, including arthritis, inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's disease, gastrointestinal problems such as peptic ulcer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even heart attacks and stroke.

As we are all subject to numerous stresses every day, both personal and work-related, it's very important for us to develop strategies that will be successful in helping us manage ongoing stresses.

The most important method for managing stress is to attempt to focus your point-of-view, your frame of reference, on the present moment. Our minds are constantly in motion, constantly at work creating new thoughts and new scenarios regarding some potentially stressful situation, or rehashing old conversations, old conflicts, and old problems. Many times focusing on problems that we have no influence or control over yet we stress ourselves out.

The result is that we're almost never at peace. When we try to sit down and relax for a bit, it's never too long before our minds start bringing up the exact things we'd like to be able to forget or ignore, at least for a little while. Most of us can't flip a metaphorical switch and shut off our incessant stream of mostly negative self-talk. But we can learn to remind ourselves to return to the present, to come back to this moment, the one that's happening now.

The best way to do this is to ask yourself this question; what I'm thinking about right now?"

If you can see that what's happening now is that you're sitting in a chair reading the newspaper, you have a good chance of being able to let go of what your mind is talking to you about. Say to yourself, "I'm right here, right now, and none of that other stuff is actually happening right now."

This will help you create some distance from your self-talk, and the self-talk may even recede into the background for a while. The feeling of calm you might then experience is one you can build on. The more you practice returning to the moment, the more power you gain in being able to manage the stress in your life.

Better Brain TIP OF THE WEEK:

Practice the mindfulness technique of being %100 present at least 3 times in a day

Suggestions-be in tune with all of your senses

·       While eating focus only on smelling, tasting and chewing each bite in silence

·       Sit quiet with your eyes closed and tune into listening to the sounds around you

·       Go out in nature and look at all the colors and movement of life

·       Sit at your desk or work station and feel the stress points in your body then make a postural correction to feel more comfortable

References:

Bener A, et al: Association between psychological distress and gastrointestinal symptoms in diabetes mellitus. World J Diabetes 3(6):123-129, 2012

van Dijk, AE, et al: The association between prenatal psychosocial stress and blood pressure in the child at age 5-7 years. PLoS One 7(8):e43548, 2012

Pereira VH, et al: Stressed brain, diseased heart: A review on the pathophysiologic mechanisms of neurocardiology. Int