Hurricane in a Tea Cup

Did you know that 90% of all doctor visits are for stress related pain and symptoms? 90%! This includes all disease processes that are a direct result of a stressful lifestyle such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, digestive disorders, among many others. In fact, I believe that almost all symptoms are a direct result of a combination of one of three forms of stress:

1. Physical: something I am doing or not doing
2. Chemical: something I am eating, drinking, breathing, or being exposed to
3. Mental/Emotional: something I am thinking or feeling

I am now going to contradict myself and say that stress does not cause any of these problems. In fact, I think stress is a good thing. Stress forces us to grow and become stronger. In fact, without stress, we would probably all be on a couch somewhere watching T.V. Take exercise for example. Exercise stresses the muscles that are being worked. The result is that the muscles come back stronger. How about the body’s immune system? The immune system is stressed by bacteria, fungus, and different viruses such as the common cold and flu. The result again is that the immune system comes back stronger and is better prepared to fight off that virus if it sees it again.

Stress is in our best interest, helping us grow. However, when our body becomes overwhelmed by chronic stress, it begins to shut down. The body fails to cope and adapt to the stress. This is where the real problem results. So in order to stay healthy it is beneficial to reduce some of the unnecessary stress in our lives, but it is essential to our survival that we become better able to cope, adapt and respond to stress.

Gratitude is a powerful means to improving your ability to cope and adapt to stress. By changing the way we perceive life, we dramatically change the way our body responds to the situations that life throws at us. When, mentally, we are stressed and overwhelmed, every little change or unexpected event that occurs in our day becomes a tidal wave. A great teacher of mine described this as a “hurricane in a tea cup.” Despite the insignificance of the situation, our body-mind reacts as if this were a life-threatening event. This most often occurs on the subconscious level because this is where our survival instincts operate. On the contrary, when we operate from a state of gratitude, it is much easier to see things for what they are and to properly label them as life threatening or not. We begin responding instead of reacting to events. We begin to operate from the cortex (thinking brain) as opposed to the midbrain (survival brain). Research is beginning to back this theory up. Studies have shown that people who are more optimistic have higher counts of blood cells that protect the immune system. When your immune system is functioning at a higher level, you are less likely to get sick from anything ranging from the common cold to cancer. That is really amazing!

From a chiropractic perspective, it is perceived that every action that occurs in the body begins in the brain. Whether that is movement, balance, and coordination, or heart rate, blood pressure, digestive function, respiration, and immune function, the brain is the starting place for all of this information. It only makes sense that the state of being that the brain is in would therefore have an impact on the overall state of the body. Your thoughts affect your body’s behavior!

So how can we be grateful? For starters, one of the most powerful ways I have found is getting adjusted using Flow. Flow works by helping the body physiologically shift from a state of stress and survival to a state of ease and healing. This makes a state of gratitude easier to achieve and maintain. Another one of my favorite things to do is to have a gratitude journal. Try spending five minutes at night writing down all the things you are grateful for during the day. When you wake up, you can review the list. By simply doing that alone, you are beginning and ending your day from a state or gratitude. I have seen that change peoples lives. I personally like to maintain a mantra, a phrase I repeat in my mind throughout the day. The mantra I like to use right now is “I love you.” Imagine the effect repeating “I love you” throughout the day can have on the way you perceive the world around you. You can learn more about this technique from the book, "Zero Limits" by Joe Vitale.

The Holiday Season itself can be described as a "hurricane in a tea cup," thus t is a very important time to make a special effort to maintain balance in our lives. Entering the holiday season, I find myself grateful first and foremost for my family and for the love of God. I am also grateful for everything I have been given in life including a wonderful career as a chiropractor that I absolutely love. I am grateful for the smiles I get from practice members as they sit up from the table noticeably feeling more peace and ease in their life. I am grateful for the magnetism of the mountains here in Tucson and the serenity they bring to my life. I am grateful for my teachers in life who have guided me along the way and continue to do so. This list goes on and on.

What are you grateful for?

Blessings,

Dr. Jonah