The BIGGEST MISTAKE you can make in handling stress is…..

Using Pick-Me-Up’s to boost your Happy Messenger, while continuing to pile on the stress.

When you do this, you “Ride the Wild Roller Coaster”: Sometimes feeling well, mostly feeling ill, never achieving balance.

What you should do is……

Stop using the Pick-Me-Up’s, lower your stress level, and give your body a chance to re-balance itself.

Then you can achieve balance, feel well, and STAY well.

OVERSTRESS IS TREATED BY BALANCING YOUR SPINE AND REDUCING YOUR STRESS LOAD

Here are TEN SIMPLE WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR STRESS LOAD IN ADDITION TO CHIROPRACTIC CARE……

1. MAKE YOUR LIFE REGULAR….as “clock work”

If you suffer from OVERSTRESS, you have disrupted the function of your Body Clock. Re-setting your Body Clock is vital if you are to feel well, sleep soundly, and awake refreshed. Give yourself a definite wake up and sleep time. This sets a frame of reference for your Body clock. It will take two or three weeks to synchronize your Body Clock to your schedule. So, stick to your schedule!

But what if I try to go to sleep at 10 p.m. and I can’t fall asleep? Or what if I fall asleep but keep waking up during the night?

Sleep difficulty is the hallmark of OVERSTRESS. When your Body Clock stops working, you may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Or conversely, you may feel sleepy all the time. Either symptom may be produced when the Body Clock stops working. It all depends on which “position” the Clock was in when it stopped: wakefulness, or sleepiness.

So, do not expect to have your sleep problems go away until your Body Clock is working again. Go ahead and set yourself a reasonable wake up time and bed time. Do the best you can to stick to these times. As you lower your stress levels, your Body Clock will begin to work. It will then match its cycle of wakefulness and sleep to the times that you have set for it. Remember, this process will take at least three weeks, so stick firmly to your time schedule.

But what if I put myself to bed at my bed time, and I just lie there without falling asleep?

If, after 45 minutes, you have not fallen asleep, get up and read a book or do something around the house. Sooner or later, you will feel sleepy and fall asleep. Keep putting yourself to bed at your bed time every night. As you reduce your stress levels, your Body Clock will begin working. Your Body Clock will gradually match your chosen sleep schedule. In the meantime, be patient and work to reduce your stress levels as much as possible.

If You Must do “Shift Work”

Your Body Clock will always try and synchronize itself with your daily schedule. If your job requires you to work varying shifts, however, you may have difficulty getting your Body Clock to match your shift. When properly synchronized, your Body Clock tells you to be awake for your work, and tells you to go to sleep after work. If you do evening work, your Body Clock will shift itself so that you will be awake for evening work, and be able to sleep during the day. But this change requires two or three weeks to occur. If your employer rotates your shift more often than every two or three weeks, your Body clock will always be mismatched with your work requirements. You will be trying to work when you body wants to sleep, and trying to sleep when your body wants to work.

This will make it practically impossible to restore the proper functioning of your Body clock.

If you are OVERSTRESSED, you should avoid “shift work”. If you MUST do “shift work”, try and work at least three weeks at each shift before rotating to a new one. And always make sure the direction of shift rotation is “morning to evening to night to morning again”.

Do you remember that the untrained cycle of your body clock is 25 hours? Because of this, it is always easier to stay up later, than to try and force yourself to go to bed early. So never try to rotate shifts from “night to evening to morning”. Your Body Clock will blow a fuse.

If your Work Involves Air Travel to Different Time Zones:

Those of you who do frequent long distance air traveling will be familiar with the condition known as “Jet Lag”. Jet Lag occurs when you board an airplane and rapidly move to an area where the local time is more than three to four hours different than the time on your Body Clock. You might, for instance, board a jet in Hawaii and fly to New York. When you arrive in New York, it might be midnight New York time, but only 6 p.m. on your Body Clock.

All your body rhythms: temperature, stress fighting hormone, sleep cycles are now out of synchronization with your local time zone. Now you are trying to go to sleep when your body is still awake, and trying to work when your body expects to be in bed. It will take two or three weeks for your Body Clock to harmonize with your new surroundings. During that time it is not unusual to be fatigued and to feel “not with it”. We call this feeling “Jet Lag”.

If you are OVERSTRESSED, you should avoid inter-time zone traveling. But if you MUST change time zones, try to wait at least three weeks between trips. And when you do take that trip, and you arrive in a new time zone, it will be easier for you to adjust if you stay up later, rather than trying to force yourself to sleep when your body wants to be awake.

If you Work Indoors:

Your Body Clock requires exposure to daylight during the day in order to remain synchronized with your local time zone. Normal fluorescent lighting does not have the same light spectrum as daylight, hence it will NOT help your Body Clock to properly set itself. If you are a person who arises when it is dark, works indoors all day, and goes home when it is dark, your Body Clock may become out of phase with the world around you – giving you a case of permanent “Jet Lag”. Because of this problem, manufacturers of fluorescent lights have begun producing “daylight spectrum” fluorescent lights. These lights will allow your Body Clock to synchronize itself with your work schedule.

If you work indoors, try to work by a window. If you cannot, then see if you can have “daylight spectrum” fluorescent light bulbs installed. It really helps.

As an alternative for people who never see the sun, one can sit facing 600 watts of daylight spectrum fluorescent lights, three feet in front of you, for one hour. Do this at the time that you wish your Body Clock to learn to wake you up. You may eat breakfast, read a book, or watch television, but the light must be facing you. (Caution is required with light therapy in people with manic depressive disorders, skin that is sensitive to light, or medical conditions that make the eyes vulnerable to light damage—consult a physician first)

Note that persons living in northern climates lacking in sunshine may have the same problem of permanent “Jet Lag”. It is so common it has been named “Seasonal Affective Disorder” or “SAD” for short. For these people the above suggestion will be equally helpful.

2. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK TODAY

You must give your body adequate time to repair itself, and to regenerate Happy Messengers. If you are having symptoms of OVERSTRESS.

• Fatigue

• Aches and Pains

• Anxiety

• Problems sleeping

• Lack of enjoyment of life

• Depression

• Give your body a chance to heal itself.

• Every morning make a list of things that you want to get done……

• THEN, CUT OFF THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE LIST!

3. LIGHTEN UP YOUR LOAD OF SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS

Let someone else do the holiday dinner for the family, or make it a pot luck on paper plates. Only go out once this week. Tell your visitors from out of town (who always expect to stay at your house) to call you “just as soon as they get settled in a hotel room”.

SAY “NO” A LOT MORE OFTEN TO REQUESTS FROM OTHERS OF YOUR TIME

4. POSTPONE MAKING ANY CHANGES IN YOUR LIVING ENVIRONMENT

• Remember, CHANGE IS STRESS. So relax, postpone any big moves or changes for awhile.

• Postpone remodeling your home or apartment

• Postpone moving to a new house or apartment

Making a change in your living environment, even if it is a change that you are excited about, is a major stress. It will add a minimum of 25 stress points to your life, and, if it is a financial strain, may add as much as 65 stress points!

When you consider that you would like to reduce your stress level to 150 or below, you will see why postponing a change in your living environment will be very helpful in obtaining that goal.

5. REDUCE THE NUMBER OF HOURS YOU SPEND AT WORK OR SCHOOL

If you are a “workaholic”, or a “school-a-holic”, you need to reduce the energy drain you are placing on your body. Work or school more than 40 hours per week adds 40 stress points to your life. TAKE SOME TIME OFF !!

6. THE OVERSTRESS DIET

Keep Your Blood Sugar Steady

People who are OVERSTRESSED almost always begin to use sugar as a Pick-Me-Up. Their blood sugar goes up and down wildly. Thus, the most important dietary consideration is to keep your blood sugar from swinging high, or swinging low. In order to feel well, you must level out your blood sugar, avoiding the “sugar highs”, and the “sugar lows”. Take your sugar in the form of complex carbohydrates, such as cereals, rice, pasta, bread, and potatoes. These foods, comprised of tightly interlinked sugars, are broken down slowly by the body, releasing their sugar over a long period of time. Eating frequent small meals, instead of a few large ones, also helps keep your blood sugar stable.

Eat more Vegetables

Your brain’s production of one of the Happy Messengers, Serotonin, is sensitive to your diet. Eating more vegetables, can increase your brain’s Serotonin production. This increase is due to improved absorption of the amino acid L-Tryptophan. (Vegetables contain the natural, safe, form of L-Tryptophan also, but when you eat meat, the L-Tryptophan has to compete with so many other amino acids for absorption that the L-Tryptophan loses out. The net result is that you get better absorption of L-Tryptophan when you eat vegetables.

In other words – eat a salad for lunch.

You should also take a good multi-vitamin and mineral preparation.

Here is a formula which is representative of such a vitamin. Such a vitamin is available at most any drug store. It is best to take such a vitamin once each day.

7. REDUCE YOUR USE OF PICK-ME-UP’S

Beware of Cue Reactions

To cut down on your intake of Pick-Me-Up’s, remove them from the house, and any other place that is within easy reach. Do not forget to clear your desk drawer at work, and the glove compartment of the car. Even though you want to reduce your sugar, caffeine, tobacco or alcohol consumption, just the sight of a cookie can lead you to eat it; just the sight of a beer might lead you to drink it – before you even have a chance to stop yourself.

8. AVOID ALLERGIES

Allergy is a major source of stress for some of us. If there are certain things that trigger YOUR allergies, you should avoid them.

9. START AN ENJOYABLE EXERCISE – REST YOUR MIND

Begin an exercise that you enjoy, preferably, do something that brings you into contact with other people. The value of such exercise, three times a week for 20 minutes to two hours, cannot be over emphasized. Enjoyable exercise, in moderation, boosts your HAPPY MESSENGERS in a smooth sustained fashion. It will make you feel better right away!

Exercise has another beneficial effect. Most people, when exercising, do not worry. They are actually resting the nerve cells in the brain that worry, giving those cells time to renew their stores of HAPPY MESSENGERS, so they can function normally the next time they are needed.

There are other ways of “resting your mind”. Dancing, listening to music, reading, working on a craft, playing a musical instrument, meditation, self relaxation, and biofeedback also relieve stress. Any activity which concentrates your attention on a subject other than life’s problems will help rest your mind. This rests the “Problem Solving” part of your brain, allowing it to regenerate HAPPY MESSENGERS and renew itself.

10.STOP YOUR PUT-ME-DOWN’S

Tranquilizers and calmatives will prevent your body from restoring its Happy Messengers. Unlike Pick-Me-Up's, which can usually be taken in modest amounts without harm, Put-Me-Down’s should be avoided altogether.

By reducing your stress load, stabilizing your blood sugar, improving your diet, avoiding allergies, and getting some exercise, you will find you will not want tranquilizers and calmatives.

Before stopping any prescription medicine, however, always, check with your doctor. We do not want you to accidentally stop a heart medicine or anti-epilepsy medication abruptly. Also, many of the Put-Me-Down’s must be tapered down slowly, rather than stopped abruptly. Ask your doctor before you make any change in medication.

(If someone has given you Put-Me-Down’s to help you sleep, particularly the ones in the Valium family, you may have a real problem stopping them. They are best tapered off very slowly, and under medical supervision. Even then, the withdrawal symptoms from these drugs are very unpleasant. The chief withdrawal symptoms are inability to sleep, and vivid disturbing dreams. If you try to stop them on your own, you may experience sleeplessness that is worse than ever! Then you may erroneously conclude that you need more, not less of the Put-Me-Down! It is very easy to be trapped by Put-Me-Down’s).

OVERSTRESS CAN LEAD TO DEADLY DISTURBANCES OF YOUR BODY’S SYSTEMS AND MAY SHOW UP AS:

• Thyroid Disease

• Calcium imbalance (too much or too little)

• Anemia

• Diabetes

• Manic-depression (Bi-polar disorder)

• Liver Disease

• Kidney malfunction

• Vitamin deficiency

• Hormone deficiency

• These are just a FEW examples of physical illnesses that you might not be aware of – but which cause enough stress on you body to create OVERSTRESS.

Your doctor should do a thorough history, and a complete physical examination, including tests on your spine and nervous systems.

ELIMINATE YOUR PICK-ME-UP’S ENTIRELY

If cutting down your Pick-Me-Up’s did not get you off the “roller coaster” of Pick-Me-Up high and Pick-Me-Up low, then you need to ELIMINATE Pick-Me-Up’s entirely. You need to get off the “roller coaster” in order to start feeling well.

ELIMINATE FOOD WHICH CAUSE BAD REACTIONS

If a certain food makes you wheeze, or gives you a stuffy nose, or diarrhea, or red itchy bumps on your skin, you should obviously avoid that food. Any allergic reaction of this type is a stress on your body, which will contribute to your OVERSTRESS.

There is another type of food reaction you should avoid. ANY FOOD THAT YOU CRAVE OR BINGE is a brain active food. You are craving or bingeing it because it is directly affecting your brain.  Most of the time these are foods,which contain the Pick-Me-Up’s, sugar or caffeine. But sometimes the substance in the food is corn, milk, or yeast protein. Many people have sensitivity reactions to corn, milk, or yeast containing products. The protein in these substances directly affect brain messenger function. If, by this point in the book, you are STILL not feeling well, try a corn-free, milk-free, and/or yeast-free diet. (Consult a dietician, or your doctor for a source of recipes).

VISIT A PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR

An experienced counselor can be of great help! It is often possible for a counselor to pinpoint stressors, which you may have overlooked. Counselors can help you handle general life problems in ways that produce less stress. You should specifically seek instruction in cognitive therapy, assertiveness training, self-relaxation, biofeedback, and meditation. These techniques are very useful in reducing stress by teaching you how to “rest your mind”.

Places where you might find an experienced counselor. Referral from your doctor, your church, local hospital, community mental health program, or local college health service.

REDUCE YOUR STRESS LOAD:

• Reduce the pace of change in your life

• Reduce the social obligations

• Reduce work or school obligations

• Postpone changes in your living situation

• Say “No” more often

• Eliminate possible food or environmental allergens

• Reduce environmental toxins

GET OFF THE “ROLLER COASTER”:

• Diet: Take a multivitamin, mineral, trace element preparation; stabilize your blood sugar; eat more vegetables.

• Exercise: Twenty minutes to two hours, three times a week

• Stop Your Pick-Me-Up’s (consult your physician)

• Stop Your Put-Me-Down’s (consult your physician)

DO A “REST FOR YOUR MIND” ACTIVITY:

• Exercise

• Recreational reading, arts, crafts, music

• Dance

• Meditation

• Yoga

• Biofeedback

• Self-Hypnosis

• Religious counseling

HELP YOUR BODY CLOCK RE-SET ITSELF:

• Set regular sleep times

• Avoid time zone shifts or rapid changes in your work shift

• Use daylight spectrum fluorescent lights to set your body clock’s “awake time”

THREE RULES TO PERMANENTLY CONQUER OVERSTRESS

RULE ONE: LEARN TO READ YOUR BODY SIGNS

Learn to check your body frequently for signs of OVERSTRESS. Watch for the telltale disturbances in your sleep pattern, as this is usually the earliest sign of OVERSTRESS.

You must learn to read your body signs in much the same way as the diabetic learns the early warning signs of abnormal blood sugar. In order to cope successfully with diabetes, the diabetic has to learn to read his body’s signals. If he has a constant thirst, fatigue, and excessive urination, that means the sugar is too high. If he has shakiness, irritability, and perspiration that means the blood sugar is too low. In order to live with diabetes, the diabetic must understand what these signals mean.

Likewise, if you are a person who is prone to OVERSTRESS, you must learn to look for its earliest warning signs. As soon as your sleep patterns change, or you experience fatigue, lack of enjoyment of life, anxiety, multiple aches and pains – that is the time to go through the OVERSTRESS checklist. Should you experience such signs and symptoms, consult a Chiropractor to ensure your spine and nervous system is intact. Spinal nerve pressure does NOT have to be obvious, and its effects can be life threatening.

RULE TWO: EXCHANGE YOUR STRESSES

Keep your stress level below your individual OVERSTRESS point by “exchanging stresses”. If a new stress comes into your life, then make room for it by eliminating or postponing another stress. This way, your total stress level remains low.

The natural tendency is for people to let their stresses pile up rather than exchanging them. In this fashion, OVERSTRESS gradually occurs. With the development of OVERSTRESS, the person starts using more and more Pick-Me-Up’s, taking off on the wild roller coaster of ill health.

IN ORDER TO STAY HEALTHY LEARN TO EXCHANGE YOUR STRESSES.

RULE THREE: USE YOUR TOOL BOX

You now have a “TOOL BOX” full of ways to deal with your OVERSTRESS. Whenever your body shows signs of OVERSTRESS, you can use the tools from this book to help set yourself back on the path of well being.

If you are feeling ill from OVERSTRESS, remember that the troubled sleep, fatigue, aches, lack of enjoyment of life, and panic attacks are caused by chemical changes in your brain. Effective treatment is available now.

You are encouraged to learn more about stress and how it can affect your body by contacting us.

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