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Stress

The only thing that makes stress stressful, is what makes it last. Stress, or how our body responds to stress, is an amazing set of bodily changes to help us survive the here and now problem, here and now.

The instant bodily changes give us a 'lift' both mentally and physically, so our body and mind is in a hightened state and better equipped at dealing with temporary emergencies. This is why we often never 'feel' stressed at the time.

It is only when prolonged stress keeps us in this 'lifted' state, that we are seldom 'at ease' that the situation eventually leads to 'dis - ease'

This is because your heart & blood vessels, your brain and your muscles are working harder. Every functioning part of our body is strained to keep up with the forced demands of the heightened state and just like the economy, what goes up must come down, or after the boom is the bust and bits of your body shut down.

You could say health is like a credit card, if you borrow too much against your health, eventually something will suffer.

One of the biggest reasons the stress becomes a semi permenent fixture in people's lives is due to how our body physically adapts to the strains. The extra load leads to extra muscle tension and this adds extra strain to the body.

By having a good massage or a thorough osteopathic treatment for example, you can relieve the tension and strain and restrictions or pain, that often develop as a result of physical & emotional stress.

Oakwell Osteopaths and all the therapists at Prestbury Holistic Centre have over 17 years of experience in treating a multitude of symptoms many of which are due to stress.

Everyone's skeleton is unique, because each of us has an individual physique that slowly adapts over the years to the damands of life, work posture, emotional situations and a history of accidents or traumas.

When stress adds it complications and tension, this can often be 'the last straw on the camels back' and be the reason why our body finally shows signs of strain when it seemed to work fine before .

Our osteopaths focus the treatments on each individual minor issue, making the complicated, simple. They look at the 'bigger picture' as a whole and address each separate strain in the body's and how each strained bit inluences another. A more thorough treatment allows the body's healing ability to reach its optimum rather than just feel better for a while.

Acupuncture, Reflexology and some of the best massage skills available, are also available from very experienced therapists to ensure that the most tailored treatment for each person is at hand.

Dis-ease, heart disease, strokes, depression, anxiety, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, insomnia, non specific unexplained infertility and even some forms of cancer may be attributed to by stress.

Then consider the significant damage inflicted by smoking, overeating, alcohol, and drugs - all frequently used to cope with stress - it becomes clear that we are in the midst of a major epidemic with serious, sometimes fatal, consequences.

How can I manage stress better?

Here are some tips and techniques you can use to help you cope with stress resulting from events like divorce, financial strain, career-related pressures, negative work environment, and losing your job, caring for a sick relative or loss of a loved one, children getting in trouble or many of the other reasons we may feel overwhelmed by stress:

  • Eat a balanced, nutritious diet
  • Reduce caffeine and sugar
  • Get enough sleep
  • Develop a support system and/or connect with others
  • Exercise regularly
  • Do not self-medicate with alcohol or drugs
  • Take a few minutes each day to do something for yourself.
  • Take some "me" time: meditate, read a book, go for a walk, practice yoga, etc or take a warm bath and stay in it to relax, not just to wash.
  • Keep a journal to put your thoughts and feelings on paper to help work out solutions
  • Think about how you can change your emotional response to better cope with stress?
  • Have realistic expectations of yourself and others
  • See problems as opportunities
  • Express your feelings instead of bottling them up
  • Do not try to control events or other people
  • Ask yourself: "Is this my problem?"
  • and almost most importantly....
  • Maintain your sense of humour

If you would like to see what we at Prestbury Holistic Centre can help with please view our website or feel free to give us a call