LESS STRESS

            Research studies have shown that people perceive their stress levels to be quite varied.  On a scale of one to ten, respondents run the full range for what they believe their stress levels to be.  Sadly most people see themselves in the higher ranges rather than the lower ones.  Why is there such a wide variation and more importantly, why is it that most people perceive their stress levels to be high?  Is it the economy?  The world situation?  Life in general?  We really have no way of comparing the stresses of life today with 100 or 200 years ago.

            It has been suggested that stress is not caused by the events or circumstances of life but by how an individual responds to those circumstances.  Unpleasant events and circumstances have been described as adversities which when not dealt with result in stress.  Hans Seyle, PhD, a world famous neurologist who did work in this area over a generation ago, described adversity as stress and the inability to handle that adversity as distress.  He theorized that stress was good.  We all need some adversity in our life in order to grow, to adapt, to be able to handle greater adversities as they occur.  In the area of health, developing permanent immunity is merely a matter of handling the adversity of a disease so the body can learn to fight off the microorganism every time it comes in contact with it in the future.  Permanent immunity makes you a stronger person.  (Perhaps artificial immune procedures, while often making one immune to that disease, weakens the overall function of the body’s immune system by not subjecting it to adversity.)  Lifting weights is a stress but if done properly with the right amount, this adversity can make a person stronger.    Even emotional stress, if overcome, often makes us stronger.  People even say, “Well if it doesn’t kill me, I’ll be stronger for it.”

            We realize that certain adversities just cannot be overcome.  They are just too overwhelming.  Whether it is emotional, physical or chemical, if any given adversity is too great it will result in stress and that stress will reduce the quality of your life.  Yet between insurmountable adversity and that which no one would even give a second thought to are the vast array of circumstances, events, and situations in life that cause tremendous stress in some people and do not affect others.  From that we must conclude that there is a factor or factors inside of people that makes one person better able to handle adversity and not allow it to become stress and others less able to handle it.

            One of those factors is the vertebral subluxation.  How well you adapt to all types of stress is dependent upon the proper function of your nerve system and vertebral subluxation not only reduces the ability of the nerve system to work as well as it should but it is another stress upon the body compounding the stresses that you already have.  In this day and age when people are constantly faced with adversity and potential, stress-causing factors, why would you want anything like a vertebral subluxation that can reduce you body’s ability to handle the adversities of life.  Further, if you do have a vertebral subluxation would it not be wise to have it corrected as soon as possible?  That is why regular chiropractic adjustments are so important.

How well you adapt to all types of stress is dependent upon the proper function of your nerve system.

Clearer Thinking

Concentration and Memory

Science has only very recently begun to realize the relationship between the organs and the other parts of the body.  In a push toward specialization in health fields during the second half of the 20^th century, the interrelationship and interdependence of the body’s parts was all but lost.  Now the tide is turning and people are realizing how important it is to address every aspect of the body in order to experience true health, maximum potential and overall well being including the ability to think clearly, concentrate and remember things.

            Some educators have realized that for students to do well in their studies, especially in the lower grades, it is important that they get a good breakfast, one that has protein rather than one that is full of worthless carbohydrates from sugar.  Of course, others think the answer to our many sugar-high, grade-school students is to prescribe some drug for them.  The corporate world has begun to realize that by providing exercise for their executives, not only will they be healthier and have less absenteeism but that they will also be mentally sharper and more productive when they are working.  We have all experienced the drowsiness and mental dullness that follows a big Thanksgiving Day meal, when our digestive systems make significant changes in our body chemistry.  Alcohol not only affects your mental abilities when it is in your bloodstream but in sufficient amounts will affect your mental activity even the next day (we call it a hangover).  Get a bad night's sleep and your mental sharpness will likely drop a noticeable level the next day.

            All of the above examples of things that can affect our ability to think clearly are quite obvious and easy for us to understand.  What is more, if these examples are true in the perceptible realm, then they are also true in the imperceptible realm.  Any change in body chemistry whether it is due to over-the-counter medication, alcohol or even poor eating habits is going to adversely affect your mental acuity, your memory, your reasoning ability, your reaction times, and your ability to focus and concentrate.  Perhaps the decrease is not noticeable to you but it may be to your boss or to those around you.  Sometimes it is noticeable to us.  When we are “coming down” with the flu or a cold, we realize that our mental productivity is down.  However, more often it is not noticeable or at best we realize that we are just not “up to par” that day.

            The reasons for this may be numerous.  One of these reasons is invariably vertebral subluxation.  When your spine is subluxated your nerve system is not able to work at its full potential.  Your nerve system is interrelated to every other system in your body.  Every system is dependent upon a full complement of mental impulses in order to work properly.  You cannot be fully energized without a good nerve supply.  You cannot digest your food properly without a good nerve supply.  Your body chemistry is less than it should be and your mental ability is decreased.  You probably do not even notice it or if you do, you usually relate it to “having an off day.”  Well no day should be an off day.  Our bodies were created and meant to work properly all the time.  If you want the most out of life then you want your mental faculties to be working their best, all the time or at least as much of the time as possible.  That can only happen if you are seeing your chiropractor on a regular basis so that subluxations can be corrected before the cumulative affects of them rob you of your mental alertness.  Sure you are going to have off days because of wrong choices you make like staying up too late, lowering your body’s resistance, or not eating well, but that is all the more reason to make sure that your mental alertness on the job, in the car and in relating to people is not impaired by vertebral subluxation.

Our bodies were created and meant to work properly all the time.

The Statistical Truth

•We rank #2 in diabetes (Nauru is #1)

•We rank #1 in strokes

•We rank #9 in cancer

•We rank #13 in heart disease.

•This is not a ranking based on successful prevention and treatment, this means that we lead the world in deaths from these diseases.

What are you doing today so you won't be one of these statistics?

How Is Your Energy Level? High or Low?

Why is it that some people seem to be able to go like the Energizer bunny and others can’t drag themselves out of bed in the morning?  It is because all of us naturally have a varied amount of energy or vitality.  Some of us were born with a 12-volt battery and some with only a six-volt.  Some people simply have more energy than others.  Often we classify these with a lot of energy as “Type-A personalities” or say they are “hyper,” but the fact is most of us would love to have the energy that they have, if only to be more productive.    Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about that situation.  It would seem though, with few exceptions, that everyone should have the potential to get out of bed in the morning and carry on the activities of a busy day without feeling like they are dragging an anchor behind them.  Some people maintain that their lack of energy is due to not being able to get to sleep early enough.  They just cannot get all their tasks done by a reasonable hour.  For many of them, that inability is due to a lack of energy throughout the day that causes them to go at half speed.  So the cycle continues until and unless they get more energy.

            There are a few things one can do to have more natural energy.  Most of those things are activities that we should be doing every day in order to be healthy.  Eating good, nutritional food supplies the fuel that the body makes into energy.  Proper rest allows the body to rejuvenate and recuperate from the day’s activities.  Exercise is also important.  There is one more less known but equally necessary component to having the maximum amount of energy your body can have, that is a nerve system that is free of interference.

            Whether you have a 12-or 6-volt battery running your body you will want to make sure that all the voltage available is getting through.  You can put high-octane gasoline in your car but unless the electrical system is working properly, you car is not going to have any more power.  Eating good food supplies the fuel but your nerve system enables it to be turned into energy.

            Regular chiropractic adjustments are absolutely essential to a properly functioning nerve system.  When one of the bones subluxates (misaligns in a certain way), it interferes with the important message/energy flow to the organs and cells of the body.  There is no way you can expect to have all the energy you were meant to have.  Can your car get along on six cylinders instead of eight?  Sure it can.  Do you want it to?  Probably not or you would have bought a six-cylinder car.  Can your body get along with less than a full complement of natural energy?  Sure it can but do you want it to?  Like your car, a body that is not working as it should will eventually break down or develop some problem.  Keep your nerve system free of vertebral subluxations and keep your energy level high.