Don’t allow stress to interfere with your enjoyment of the holiday season
Although the holidays are known for being “the most wonderful time of the year,” they can also be the most stressful time of year for a lot of people. The holidays can be an exceptionally stressful time if you are dealing with family conflict, busy schedules, work deadlines, hosting responsibilities, grieving a loved one or shopping for the “perfect” gift. All of these things can increase your stress response and prevent you from fully embracing the most joyous things about the holidays – the delicious food, the holiday events, community gatherings, a break from your day-to-day life and an opportunity for celebration.
In this day and age it is easy to dismiss stress as something that ‘everyone is dealing with.’ While it’s true that many people are stressed, normalizing it only makes us more accepting of it and less likely to seek treatment for it. Stress (especially chronic stress) is a risk factor for physical illness (such as cardiovascular disease) and mental health disorders (such as depression).
How does stress affect your body and mind?
Stress disturbs the balance between your sympathetic nervous system (aka fight or flight response) and your parasympathetic nervous system (aka rest and digest). Being stressed means you are perpetually in fight or flight mode. Acupuncture works to reset your nervous system to help you shift from fight or flight to a more relaxed parasympathetic state. This is why most people feel a sense of deep calmness, relaxation and euphoria after treatment.
Acupuncture has also been shown to improve symptoms of adrenal fatigue. Your adrenals are small glands that sit on top of your kidneys located in your lower back. Their function is to secrete cortisol (aka the stress hormone) into your bloodstream to help you function in times of acute need. From an evolutionary perspective, this short term boost of cortisol serves its purpose temporarily, but chronically being in this heightened state will require your adrenals to work overtime to produce cortisol and this will eventually lead to burn out, fatigue and exhaustion.
The Best Ways To Manage Stress Naturally:
Don’t let stress interfere with your holiday plans or prevent you from enjoying everything the holidays has to offer. Here are some ways you can manage stress and help shift your body into a parasympathetic state:
- Acupuncture
- Meditation
- Journaling
- Yoga
- Breath work
- Reducing caffeine and other stimulants
What to expect on your first Acupuncture visit:
Acupuncture is a pillar of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a great treatment option for those who are looing to focus on their overall health. Your Initial Visit will consist of an assessment, health history and acupuncture treatment. We will take an in-depth TCM assessment to discover the root cause of your stress and how it is manifesting for you specifically. We will also discuss any other issues that you may be experiencing at the same time and determine your body constitution. This allows us to create a customized acupuncture point prescription that will help you get the most out of your treatment. We will also look at your lifestyle and find ways that we can improve your sleep, diet, exercise etc to compliment what we are working on and give you support on the days you are not at the clinic.
If this is something you are interested please give us a call to schedule an appointment: 905.553.9255 or book online via our website: www.besthealthacupuncture.com
Additional Resources
Click the link below to read our feature article in City Life Magazine HERE
Location:
2174 Major Mackenzie Dr. Vaughan, ON L6A 3Y8 www.hhccentre.com
About the Author:
Amanda Barone, B.Sc, R.Ac, R.Kin
Registered Acupuncturist and Kinesiologist.
Read her full Bio HERE
