From the wildfires that have ravaged our city to coronavirus concerns, we’re all enduring significant stress these days. Add lack of school or lack of childcare, trying to juggle work demands and carving out family time, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed. While there’s little we can change outside of ourselves, we can proactively seek to prioritize our health, specifically reduce stress.
Practice Self-Care
There are various actions you can take to take care of yourself. Here are some suggestions:
Keep your daily routine
Whether you regularly stretch, do yoga, meditate or pray, maintaining a routine represents a constant in your life and can set the tone for your day.
Create an oasis of calm
Perhaps you’re a parent staying in your cousin’s living room, an evacuee from the fire or a teacher teaching from your kitchen table. What can you do to create safe surroundings that allow you to have more peace and calm?
Some simple things to do are lighting candles, finding a quiet space to retreat to, journaling or reading a book. Small actions like these can reduce stress.
Get adjusted
The chiropractic adjustment is one of the most powerful things you can do for your body. That’s because by removing interference in your nervous system, your body can function optimally and you’ll also feel a reduction in stress.
Stay Active and in Community
Although it can tempting to retreat from world chaos and cocoon inside a safe space, isolating ourselves is one of the worst things to do. That’s because loneliness and depression can set in. Now, more than ever, it’s vital to engage with others-practicing social distancing of course.
It’s also a good idea to get out in nature if you’re not near any smoky areas. Check air quality at different times as it can change throughout the day. Try to exercise outdoors if you can, but if the air quality is poor, you’ll need to do your workout indoors.
If you’re like a lot of people who are working remotely, you may spend a good portion of your day sitting. As sitting is considered the new smoking, consider purchasing a standing desk or getting up every half hour or so to take a quick walk-even if it’s just inside your house.
You also can do some stretches to ease stress and tension.
Release Emotions Positively
There are three ways we release emotions: movement, through sound, and through sharing our feelings through our voices, by acknowledging them. If we’re only doing one of those three things, we’re probably helping ourselves more than you thought.
However, imagine the benefit you can get from doing all three in a day. For example, you can work out in the morning, listen to some music and talk about the day with your partner, other family member or friend. We also encourage you to share your frustrations and even make sounds. These include sighing, groaning or even yelling, all of which can be therapeutic.
Activate Your Voice to Help Heal
Did you know that some of the strongest healing goes through activating your voice? It’s the connection between the cervical spine and the heart, but also a more empowered self. Any trauma, defeat or doubt will build tension.
Express all those feelings while they build up in your neck and throat. Expressing that vocally even without words, or even just bringing caring, compassionate hands over a place that’s holding tension with a loving touch can be helpful.
Though we’re living in uncertain times, we are here to help you navigate health and life.