“The absence of stress is incompatible with life
since only a dead man makes no demand
on his body or mind.”- Hans Selye
It’s heard all over, that word stress. Work stress, relationship stress, physical stress, family stress, stress, stress, stress, STRESS! Unfortunately, this word has taken on an exclusively negative meaning in our culture. This week, I would like to go deeper into the TRUE meaning of stress and its origins. I want to help take the bad reputation this word has developed and give it back its true meaning.
What if I told you that whether you experience stress as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, is determined based upon how your nervous system perceives, processes, and interprets that “stressful” event? Yes, that means that stress doesn’t have to be bad!
You see there are two different origins of the word stress, dis-stress and eu-stress. Dis-stress meaning bad stress and Eu-stress meaning good stress. Now I know what you’re thinking, “how the heck can stress be good??”.
Let’s look at the word a little differently though. Let’s look at it as stimulation instead. There are a lot of situations where you find yourself in a stimulating environment. Anything from a hard fall, harvest time near farmland, gluten to someone who is gluten intolerant, new love, a new job, new responsibilities, exercise, or that healthy shake (or not so healthy milkshake) are all forms of stimulation to your body.
Now to someone with a healthy nervous system, this stimulation won’t negatively impact their ability to function, and if it does, it won’t be for long. However, a person with an unhealthy nervous system will probably have more trouble processing those exact same stimulations. The point is, that stress can be any of the above. What makes your body determine whether a stimit is a dis-stress or a eu-stress is how your nervous system processes that stimulation.
As you can see stress can be something that moves your life in a new direction, and if you are processing it properly, it could be a good direction. But what happens when the system doesn’t have enough energy to process the feedback of this new or ongoing stimulation? That is when your life shifts towards a not-so-good or fun direction. A simple example is the person that thrives under work stress and gets the promotion, verses the person that crumbles does not.
So how do you make sure your nervous system is processing stress properly? You can look at your posture, your heart rate, your tension in the muscles and connective tissues surrounding the spine. If you don’t know how your nervous system is functioning, don’t you think it is important to find out?
Let us help! We offer free consultations to help you find out how to get started living a healthier lifestyle. Call the Awaken Chiropractic team at 405-515-9355 or email us at [email protected] to schedule your visit or a loves ones today and start learning how to take on stress with an optimally functioning Nervous System.
