Imagine you’re an early human in ancient times, sitting around a bonfire next to a river, grilling meat with the family. The sun is setting and it’s quiet.
Suddenly, an ancient alligator comes flying out of the river on the attack!
What happens in your body?
First, you get a shot of adrenaline. Your muscles clench, your heart starts racing, you’re instantly sweating, you get tunnel vision, and blood rushes to your vital organs.
Your emergency survival mode has been activated, giving you the energy you need to scoop up your family and run to safety.
In the perilous existence of early humans, our fight-or-flight response was extremely helpful when we were being attacked.
Nowadays, we face a different set of potential dangers. Modern-day threats are usually not as life-threatening as they were for our ancient counterparts.
But our stress response is the same.
When our boss gives us unwelcome feedback or we discover an expensive parking ticket on our windshield, the switch can flip. Our ancient survival system can get triggered even when it’s not really needed.
While you may not actually be running for your life, many stressful situations can feel like an emergency.
As you ruminate on life’s day-to-day stressors, you may develop pain or discomfort. Stress causes your muscles to stay contracted, which can result in tight shoulders, headaches, and lower back pain.
Your body is trying to keep you in a ready position to fight off a wooly mammoth or sprinting leopard at a moment’s notice!
When your body holds its clenched position, awkward angles can create new stressors as the body works against itself, trying to avoid pain and maintain equilibrium. This only adds to the original stressors by creating new stress and pain in the body.
In a nutshell, our stress response can cause problems that can spiral, and the long-term effects of stress on our bodies can lead to serious illness.
Some of us gravitate toward some not-so-healthy tools that bring temporary relief but ultimately do more harm than good. We might not even be aware that we’re avoiding exercise or reaching for an extra glass of wine every night to numb or avoid pain.
Ultimately, when we set the intention to reduce the stress in our lives and optimize our body to manage stress, we can feel empowered to make some healthy changes that will make a huge difference.
We’re fortunate in that we have a great understanding of how the stress response works.
Have you thought about getting some professional help in this department?
You may think of the chiropractor as someone who simply restores balance when the body gets out of whack.
Of course they do! And you should seek treatment for misalignment that’s causing problems, for all the reasons mentioned above.
But you may not realize that a chiropractor can also work with you to address the causes of your body going out of whack in the first place.
They can do an assessment and then work with you on a holistic plan to address your:
With more tools in your toolkit, you will better manage the specific stress of your life in your specific body.
Which will reduce your stress and spark a positive chain of events!
Ultimately, you may not have actual predators chasing you (we hope not)! No matter what is stressing you out, we recommend working with a chiropractor to integrate stress management techniques.
Leading you to better health and a happier life.
Contact us today to learn about Atlas Brain and Body and the many conditions we treat. 828-253-0700
Dr. David Nygaard, MS, MBA
Board Certified Atlas Orthogonist
Atlas Brain and Body
(828) 253-0700
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