How does stress affect your immune health? 90% of all health conditions that end up at the doctor start with stress.
Stress can be good, but it also can be very bad if it’s on-going. Why?
When your body is under stress, it shuts down your immune system. It goes into protective fight or flight mode. This mode is a good thing if you’re fighting off a bear or you have to run to save your life, but on a daily basis, that’s not a good thing.
In addition to shutting down your immune system, it also:
- Shuts down your digestive system.
- Changes the way you think, focus, concentrate and communicate.
- Makes it very difficult for your body to be able to heal.
How to Combat Stress Through Positive Thinking
You must start your day off with positive thinking on what you want to do. The last thing you want to do is start off your day by looking at emails. This will immediately put you in a reactive state because you start off the day with everybody else’s agenda.
You want to start off with yourself first. And then, think about all those things in your life that you can control.
You can’t change the weather. You can’t change it if there’s traffic right now. You can’t change if a tree falls on your car. But, just by changing your perspective and taking a different mindset, you can reduce the stress of a lot of those things that you can’t change. This is what we call, “maximizing your mind”.
How to Combat Stress Through Planning
You must realize what things you can change to reduce your stress. Put together a plan of action that helps you to be able to do that on a regular basis. I recommend putting together what I call a “work plan”, which is actually a schedule.
Now, it’s not scheduling every second of your day. You are deciding what are the top two or three outcomes you want to get from today, and where are you going to schedule those in to make sure that you’re getting those done first so you’re successful.
It’s not a bunch of tasks! It’s about accomplishing outcomes and reducing stress. You can get a lot more done and you can get far more results and have a tremendous effect on your health.
How to Combat Stress Through Putting Yourself First
Finally, you must take time for yourself. Things like yoga, massage, and exercise are all great to naturally reduce stress. Maybe watching a funny show on TV or enjoying a conversation with a friend or a family member makes you happy. Or perhaps you need some rest? A 20-minute nap in your day can reduce the effects of stress!
These are tips that you can start applying so you can start reducing that stress. Applying these tips will have a tremendous effect on your health moving forward.
JOIN US AT OUR NEXT COMMUNITY EDUCATION EVENT IN ROCKLIN, CA
Have you had the opportunity to join us at one of our community education events yet? If not, we hope you enjoyed this short clip about immune health. At the full immune health event, Dr. Tim Smith from New Life Chiropractic in Rocklin taught how to safeguard your immune system so you can sail through the upcoming winter cold and flu season. The presentation went over the top 5 immune-busters including:
- stress
- spinal subluxation
- toxins
During the community education events, Dr. Tim sifts through all of the knowledge out there to bring you key information about how to get healthy and stay that way. Enjoy all 6 clips from the series!