Tips for Healing When You Feel Stressed

Tips for Healing When You Feel Stressed

Regular selfcare is a practiced resource for when life gets overwhelming and stressful.

Stress can impact the body in many ways if it goes unaddressed. First and foremost, it is important to recognize stress, confront it, and then take steps to manage stress to stop it in its tracks. It’s time to discover techniques for healing and feeling better when experiencing periods of high stress.

Be Mindful

When it comes to stress reduction and healing your mindset matters. Negative thoughts are the fuel for stress. Being caught in a pattern of negative thinking can cloud your mind and prevent you from finding solutions and a path forward. Mindfulness can ground you and help you to find the clarity you need. If you tend to be a pessimistic thinker, getting into mindfulness can seem daunting at first. However, there are some simple things you can start doing to help you get started with being more mindful. One way is to set aside time to relax with a mindful session. Take ten minutes out of each day to be grateful for the opportunities in front of you without allowing negative thoughts to creep in and bring you down. Another way would be to write down what you are thankful for in a journal. Doing so can help you stay positive. Additionally, you can even learn about different types of therapy that can help you to be more mindful and reduce stress. Having effective strategies to rely on can help keep stress in check.

Unwind With Massage Therapy 

Why not pair mindful therapy with massage therapy? Bodywork can be very relaxing and help you to feel better. Put stress behind you and unwind with a massage. Trying something like cupping can be worthwhile and not only helps you to relax but has benefits for the body as well such as improving circulation. Massage can help you be more in tune with your body overall, and help your muscles relax. For instance, a massage is an excellent form of self-care. It allows you to dedicate time solely to your wellness and helps you to slow down and rest. It is important to have relaxing activities built into your schedule which can help you to value your health and mental wellness. 

Make a Change

Often stress is caused by lifestyle factors. For instance, a lack of work-life balance, toxic relationships, and even negative self-talk just to name a few. Certain lifestyle factors can keep stress high and never-ending. Don’t be afraid to make a lifestyle change that can help lower your stress levels. For instance, address relationships that may not be healthy, set boundaries within your personal and professional life, try something new, and take steps to replace unhealthy habits with positive ones. Making a change may be difficult at first, but start by taking little steps and it will be easier to make the transition into your new routine. For example, some changes could be 

• Getting to bed earlier

• Embracing positive self-talk

• Striving to be more organized

• Trying mindful eating 

Get Relief With Movement

Strive to move your body each day to form a healthy habit that will help you feel better. 

• Take a walking in the morning even if it’s around the block a couple of times

• Incorporate tai chi movements (balance, movement and breathing)

• Use music that makes you happy and dance like no one is watching!

According to a study, “regular exercise is associated with emotional resilience to acute stress in healthy adults.” Therefore, do your best to work and move your muscles to stay physically and emotionally healthy. You may wonder where to begin or how to get started with exercise, but there are some great activities you can try that don’t involve a dedicated trip to the gym. For instance, you can go for a power walk to get your heart pumping, or even try doing calisthenics workouts in your backyard or a nearby park. Whatever you choose to do, make exercising fun, and pick something that resonates with you. 

Start your journey to healing today. Don’t flounder and suffer from built-up stress and pressure. Get started with managing your stress by trying one of these tips. Once you master one, you can build upon your skills to help your mind and body feel better.

Autoimmune Conditions Seem To Be On The Rise...How Can Acupuncture Help?

Having an autoimmune condition really sucks. It usually takes years to figure out what is wrong and often no one believes that you actually have pain or suffer.

Many people with autoimmune conditions find Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine gives them relief. #acupuncture #painrelief #rheumatoidarthritis

What are autoimmune diseases?

Autoimmune diseases are an abnormal inflammatory response related to chronic illnesses. and they are on the rise in the us. According to AARDA (American Autoimmune Disease Related Association), close to 24% of the US population has an autoimmune condition. 

Environmental factors such as pesticides, and our food are a source of toxicity and inflammation. 

Conditions like MS, Crohn’s disease, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, and Rheumatoid arthritis can have good days where everything is normal and days or weeks where you feel like your life is hijacked.

How Can Acupuncture Help?

Studies have shown it to be beneficial in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis, because of the anti-inflammatory effect, anti-oxidative effect and regulation of immune system function.

What causes autoimmune conditions to get worse?

Our lives are extremely stressful and stress hormones disrupt our immune system to then over respond and attack the body. 

Stress and stress hormones of fight or flight increase inflammation in the body and make it hard for the nervous system to rebalance. This is one of the underlying reasons why autoimmune conditions are so hard to treat. Once triggered the body becomes hypersensitive and can develop more sensitivities and triggers. Emotionally this also makes the worse.

Poor sleep will also interfere with the immune system and will inflammation, digestion and mood. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Are autoimmune diseases on the rise or is there more awareness than there used to be? 

There is more awareness about autoimmune diseases, but it is not always clear that the illnesses are autoimmune or a passing event. So many doctors don’t test patients for the autoimmune antibodies or 

Are there any theories about why?

There are lots of chemicals in our environment and pesticides, plastics, beauty products as well as processed foods and these are linked to increases in inflammation. Studies show that processed foods cause more inflammation in the body. 

Why are autoimmune commons, and so common in women?

Women have more nerve receptors as well as hormonal fluctuations compared to men.  Hormonal cycles along with stress can lead to more inflammation and contribute to chronic conditions autoimmune related illnesses such as fibromyalgia.  Research has shown estrogen plays a critical role in affecting pain receptors,  and inflammation. 

When do autoimmune illnesses typically surface and why they are they so difficult to diagnose?

Typically autoimmune conditions will surface after an event, such as the flu virus that can disrupt the intestinal flora and in turn cause an autoimmune response. Autoimmune conditions can also show up years later after suffering from mono or strep where the body never fully recovers and then over time develops more inflammations. This is what makes them so difficult to diagnose because the symptoms may come and go, and seem to be harmless, like a little allergy or digestive upset.

Something like food poisoning, can later cause chronic digestive problems such as IBS or colitis. 

Gut bacteria is crucial for our immune system and when it is out of balance our entire body suffers from a lowered immunity and a dysfunctional immune response. 

Why a Balanced Immune System is the Key to Total Body Wellness

Health is not a matter of luck. It is something you create.

The immune system is a regulatory function meaning that it is in a state of “dynamic balance” this is something that is observed in the Daoist principles of Chinese and East Asian Medicine. Using the metaphor of Qi or life energy flow helps to look at health as vital energy.

Wei Qi is the defensive Qi that surrounds us and protects us from illness that are referred to as “evil” pathogens.

For the most part we don’t notice our immune system at work unless we get a runny nose , a rash or a fever. A well balanced system just works, this is know as homeostasis.

When a person has a balanced immune system, they may not notice any “symptoms” because the immune system is able to recognize immediately pathogens surrounding them and escort them out or “kill them”. Their body can sense when there is something off and respond rapidly to auto-regulate. 

Getting sick is really our immune system responding to an attack and it just happens that we are the battlefield where the attack is taking place.

In Asian culture, the practice of cultivating health and longevity, this involves practices that strengthen the mind body connection. There are principles that support the development of optimal health and wellness. The 8 principles in East Asian medicine are. food, exercise, meditation/mindfulness, acupuncture, herbs, bodywork, cosmology (season and planetary influences) and Feng Shui (the art and science of placement).

How to work with the genetics you were born with so you can take charge of your health destiny.

You are born with a constitution (genetic predisposition) that has strengths and weaknesses and as you develop nutrition, activities, behaviors environmental factors influence your health and wellbeing.  

Scientific research shows that environmental factors play a role in our immune system in the form of epigenetics. Environmental chemicals, nutrition, emotional and stress challenge the immune system and your body chemistry can turn on certain genes that later can become chronic diseases. 

A balanced immune system does not mean you won’t get “sick” The symptoms we call sick such as, a runny nose, sneezing, fever, cough, sweating, vomiting and diarrhea are the body’s way of getting rid of a virus or bacteria. 

This means making sure to get proper nutrition, exercise, sleep as well as cultivate mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.  

The idea of “boosting” is really more like making sure that the immune system is supported so that your body will do what it does best balance and heal, and will have energy when it encounters a pathogen or virus.

• Start now even if it is a baby step!

• Hydrate with water and avoid sugary drinks, caffeine and alcohol

• Foods that are plant based and anti-inflammatory

• Food that is nutrient dense so that the body can absorb and metabolize easily

• get regular exercise, this helps with circulation and mood

• sunshine and vitamin D

• probiotics to balance your gut flora

• getting restorative sleep

• relieving stress, acupuncture can immediately shift the brain chemistry to rest and digest

• keeping a healthy weight, relieve strain on joints, the heart, lungs and kidneys

• mindfulness practice of meditation to help calm the brain

Essential Self care with Self Breast Massage

Self Breast Massage is an important part of self care.

A massage is something that needs to be recognized as having great therapeutic value. Even going for massage as “pampering” will help the immune system by stimulating the nervous system. A breast massage is something that is generally not offered in a massage session because it is considered intimate touch. In the US, breast massage is considered illegal in most states with a few exceptions. 

This can make both the receiver of breast massage and the therapist feel a bit awkward and the need for very clear communication, boundaries, consent and trust.

A therapist can teach you how to do breast massage for yourself and it is a wonderful self care practice.

A breast massage as a health practice needs more attention because the breasts contain glandular tissue, lymph nodes, blood vessels, nerves, ligaments and ducts. This area of the body is a meeting point on the body but does not have a muscle to help with lymph circulation. Pectoral muscles are under the breast.

• Breast massage helps to improve lymph flow, the lymph nodes in the breasts are directly connected to lymph nodes in the armpits and close to the subclavian vein where a  lymphatic vessel drains. 

• Lymph glands collect fluid, waste material and things like viruses and bacteria that are in the body tissue outside of the bloodstream known as metabolic waste. This needs to be eliminated. 

• Doing regular breast massage also helps with swelling that may be uncomfortable during certain times in a woman’s cycle which can be tender and painful.

• Help to identify possible lumps or dense tissue that may need attention.

• Relieve muscle tension in the chest. The breasts have ligaments and connective tissue that connects to the chest muscles such as pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. This connective tissue is also what gives the breasts their shape.Massage will help to relax the muscles of the chest that get very tight because we do almost all our activities like typing and lifting etc. in the front of our bodies.

• Relieve Mastitis, which is inflammation of the ducts in the breast, studies show women with mastitis have a higher risk of breast cancer.

• Relieve clogged milk ducts during breastfeeding.

• Post mastectomy swelling.

Self breast massage:

Seated 

• Situate yourself and be seated with one hand above and one below the breast cupping it. Give a gentle squeeze and feel all around the circumference of the breast. You may notice there are areas that are more dense or sensitive. 

• Massage back and forth and around keeping support of the breast. With the opposite hand e.g. right hand on top of left breast and chest with pressure move towards the left shoulder across the pectoral muscles. The left hand is supporting the breast. When you get to the armpit, grab the pectoralis muscle at the armpit and squeeze gently and massage, this is called “milking” the muscle. The fingertips will be in the armpit under the pectoralis muscle and the palm and thumb are on top of the pectoralis muscle. Do this a few times and then switch to the other side.

• Most women may feel sensitive as this area of the body does not get a lot of attention. 

• With both hands do gentle circles with the fingertips under the collar bone starting mid body and move outward toward the shoulder. This is where the subclavian muscle is and also where lymph drains.

• Massaging from the middle of the chest (breast bone) outward will help to relax the pectoral muscles and move fluid that may be on the centerline.

• Be gentle and use less pressure, the area tends to be sensitive.

Lying down 

• Raise one arm over your head and let it relax, if it is uncomfortable support it with a pillow. 

• You can use some coconut oil or sunflower oil as a lubricant, massage each breast one at a time starting in a circular motion from the nipple to until you are on the outer edge of the breast and stroke upwards towards the armpit. 

• Do this several times then switch to the other side.

How can ginger and ginger tea be beneficial for your health?

Ginger tea can improve your digestion and support you immune system.

Drinking ginger tea has many health benefits, in addition to being caffeine free ginger has many medicinal properties. Helping with nausea and settling an upset stomach are only some of the benefits.

Ginger (root) tea has great antioxidant properties and has shown to have anticancer potential. 

Ginger can help fight colds and bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Together with some lemon and honey it is a powerful addition for a cold remedy.

Pain relief from osteoarthritis in the knee.

Improve heart health by lowering cholesterol lowering and lowering blood pressure.

Ginger is an aromatic spice and comes from the zingiberaceae family that includes turmeric and cardamom. Ginger is used in food and drink for flavor and medicine because they can the stomach and in It was one of the first spices to make its way to Europe during the spice trade.

Chinese cuisine: You will always find a little ginger and garlic blending flavors and it will assist in digestion and overall health.

Chinese Medicine: Ginger (Sheng Jiang) is found in most of Chinese herbal formulas together with licorice because of its effect on the gastrointestinal system. It helps to improve the delivery of medicine by helping with digestion and absorption.   

Ginger has so many health benefits and can easily become part of your immune boosting toolkit.