Relieving Holiday Stress With Chiropractic Care

Let’s be real, I enjoy the holidays, but hot dog, it’s a lot. A lot of coordinating for adults and it’s a lot of stimulation for kids.  Wellness during the holidays quickly falls to the bottom of the list, but we think it shouldn’t! Regular adjustments during the holidays can be so helpful!

Quality of sleep, immune function, transitions for kids (hello winter break,) and gut health can all suffer when under stress, but a balanced nervous system can arm you with your best defense to weather the storm the holidays can be!

Typically when we think of stress, we think of anxiety we have around certain aspects of our lives. This time of year it’s commonly whose house you’re going to for dinner, what present does little Bobby want, where am I going to find time to bake, or getting the family to look half decent for the Christmas card photo. Stress isn’t a bad thing! It’s absolutely necessary for growth. But if we can think of stress in a bit of a different way, maybe it won’t seem so overwhelming. ⠀

Stress can be thought of as anything that the body has to adapt to. On the emotional side, the FEELING of stress stimulates cortisol (a hormone) release, which kicks on that flight or fight system. Your body is always looking out, so when cortisol is released it’s like “woah man, we in danger?” ⠀

The body ALSO has to adapt to physical and chemical stressors as well. Ever been to the gym? Fallen down? Been in a car accident? Drank alcohol? Used sunscreen? Those are all circumstances that your physiology needs to change to adapt to. ⠀

When all is working well, these stressors are just little hiccups. When your nervous system is out of wack and it just can’t adapt anymore, BOOM! This STUCK in that flight or fight mode thing happens. ⠀

Cortisol that is being released for a long period of time starts to do harm to the body. Then we get symptoms. ⠀

What’s stressing you out right now??