Since 1990 I have been studying and practicing holistic medicine, whose central tenet is that the body, when in balance, has the best chance of maintining health and fending off illness. And although we are in the midst of a pandemic and socially isolating, there are things that we can all do to give our bodies the best chance to maintain health.
How a body responds to the presence of a pathogen depends on many factors. These include our external environment. But equally important is our internal environment; the state of digestive health (gut permeability), the dampening effects of chronic anxiety and stress, the energetic balance of the meridian system, the effects of spinal misalignment, etc.
I recall an analogy from chiropractic school of a hospital at the bottom of a cliff and a fence at the top. That fence represents healthy living, supported by Complementary and Alternative Medicine. I am grateful for the fence, which may help keep me me from going over the edge. And I am equally grateful for the hospital at the bottom, should that happen.
Below are some tips from our In-house Neuromuscular Therapist (NMT) and Health Educator Channing Gronner. I hope you find them helpful:
Tips To Relieve Stress During This Stressful Times
“These are from a website called healthline.com that has several ideas and I threw in a few of my own ideas that go along with them. Enjoy!”
– Channing Gronner, NMT
Cardio
- Cardio helps with lowering stress hormones such as cortisol (which is produced by the adrenal glands during the Fight or Flight stress response)
- Helps you sleep
- Helps your confidence
- Helps to turn off your thoughts which can run wild and make us more stressed then we need to be
Supplements for calming and grounding your system:
- Lemon Balm
- Omega 3 fatty acids
- Ashwagandha
- Green Tea
- Valerian
- Kava Kava
Scented Candles – Can also be used as aromatherapeutic baths and/or showers
- Lavender
- Rose
- Vetiver
- Bergamot
- Chamomile
- Neroli
- Frankencense
- Sandalwood
- Ylang Ylang
- Orange or Orange Blossom
- Geranium
Less Caffeine – A little bit every now and then is okay
- Caffinated Tea’s
- Coffee
- Chocolate
- Energy Drinks
Hobbies – Doing things you like to keep you busy with the ability to release stress through creativity
- Write it down- journaling
- Painting
- Singing
- Dancing
- Creating art
Chewing Gum – This was actually in there!
- Promotes blood flow to brain
- Chewing harder and really making a deal of it helps
- Possibly making a game out of chewing the gum- moving it from side to side of the mouth with your tongue
Spending time with friends and family – This was in there before the Covid-19 so I made up a few more ideas
- Zoom
- Skype
- Calling people
- Texting People
- Emailing People
- Staying connected in any way possible
Laughing
- Boosts the immune system
- Watching Comedies
- Reading comedies
- When spending time with friends and family, tell jokes
Assess what you can and cannot control and find a balance
- We cannot control what will happen with the Covid-19 and how it will effect our lives
- We can control how we feel about it, and we can control how we react to it.
- We can still do the best we can with what we are given
- We can still be loving and caring about how we communicate and act
Getting things taken care of in your life that need to be taken care of
- Pay bills- check with banks about loans if need be and ask renters, insurance, etc about reductions, or late payments
- Don’t procrastinate, get it done now- procrastination can cause more stress
- Create To Do Lists
- Set Realistic Deadlines
- Prioritize by importance and time sensitivity
Yoga- Kinda goes along with Cardio and Mindfulness
- There are a lot of online classes right now
- Helps with Blood Pressure
Mindfulness
- Staying in the Present Moment
- Meditation
- Helps with anxiety and depression which are very stressful
- Deep cleaning
- Cooking
- Doing the dishes
- Reading out loud
- Doing Laundry
- Doing menial tasks help keep us in the present moment and focused 150% on what we are doing, keeping us mindful about what we are doing.
Cuddling- Long hugs, from 2-5 minutes
- If you are staying with family or close friends during this time, make sure you are both clean and hug each other
- If you have a pet, hold or hug them- Pets are exceptionally aware when their human is not feeling well and will sometimes cuddle with you- Let them
- If you are not staying with family, or if you live alone, you can still hug yourself
- I practiced this on myself the other day. I set my timer for 3 minutes and I hugged myself:
- I rocked myself, I patted myself and I rubbed my hands up and down on my back to comfort myself,
- After about a minute and a half I noticed that my breathing got slower and deeper and I began feeling more relaxed
Music – Music is incredibly healing
- Slow paced music is recommended, but any music you like will do the trick
- Just close your eyes and listen to the music
- Dancing and/or singing along is good too
Deep Breaths – Try to go for 5-10 minutes
- Focusing on slow deep breaths activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System which promotes relaxation
- Inhale through the nose from the belly and Exhale out of the mouth
- Inhale until you can’t anymore, Pause for a second and Exhale until you can’t blow out more
- However long you Inhale, double that time for the Exhale: In for 3, out for 6
- Focus only on your breath