Trying to Make Choices From a Stressed State

Have you ever been totally stressed out and felt the world was collapsing down on you? Did it feel like the more you stressed the less you thought clearly and the more helpless you felt in that situation?

Well we have all been there. One definition of stress states exactly what happens and why it causes us to lose control.

stress

7.	Physiology. a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

So having any kind of stress would therefore interfere with our normal ability to respond. In other words we are not clear headed, not "in the game".

In my Chiropractic office I have seen how stress can wreak havoc on the body. People who stress about the pain or symptoms they are experiencing in their health take longer to heal and suffer more.

So what can we do. BREATHE. "Wait a second" you might be thinking, "I already do that". Well think about this; what happens when we are stressed? We tense up and stop breathing. We become constricted. The very thing we need most of we get less of, oxygen. That in of itself causes us to increase our level of stress because unconsciously we think we might be dying..since we are not getting what we need to live..oxygen.

So breathe..... Take 5 deep belly breaths. Follow that with normal breathing...then take 5 more deep belly breaths. Repeat this until you can feel your blood pressure start to lower and your mind become more clearer. Its amazing that something as simple as breathing can help us create the options and choices we didn't have a few moments earlier.

Wishing you the best,

Dr. John Zipp