Stress Can Make You Sick!
This is part of our series on stress and anxiety, where we cover basic physiology, the neuroscience, and how acupuncture can help you redirect the normal stress towards a better state of health. How Stress Can Make You Sick is a video that explains how all the body systems are affected by stress, which may act as a wake up call to change some behaviors and habits.
Stress is not only a state of mind, it’s experienced in many parts of the body. Stress speeds up the aging process and suppresses the immune system, making you more vulnerable to disease and robbing your birthright to a good quality of life. Are you motivated to look at the stress in your life and start bringing it under control?
From TED-Ed creator Sharon Horesh Bergquist:
Headaches, IBS, insomnia, brain fog, high blood pressure, palpitations, and frequent colds are just some of the physical byproducts of chronic stress.
We need our bodies to step up and react to real stressors when they present. The damage of prolonged, unrelenting everyday stress wreaks havoc on your body, which is beautifully illustrated in this video.
Think about the stresses that trigger you daily and whether you can make changes in you and around you that help bring things down a notch or two. Experience what it’s like to live in a little more calm for a little while and see if that suits you better. Some lifestyle changes like adequate sleep, quiet time alone, choosing a “cleaner” diet, and exercising regularly. These are the foundation which can gradually be incorporated for long term changes.
Acupuncture can help bring you into a calmer state because it has a strong effect on the nervous system. Research has demonstrated its modulating effect on neurochemicals of the nervous and endocrine systems to even out our response, experienced as slower breathing, calmer thinking, and smoother emotions. This natural result is tangible and simply feels good.