Stress is a huge problem in our society.
Of course you already know this, but let me throw a few statistics at you.
A 2015 study by the Australian Psychological Society found a whopping 35 percent of Australians have a ‘significant level of distress’ in their lives, while 26 percent of Australians report an above-average level of anxiety. What’s stressing us out? Personal finances (or lack of them) is top of the list, impacting 49 percent of us, followed closely by family issues (45 percent). Personal health, trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle or having issues with the health of others close to us also cause us a lot of stress, according to the study.
What effect does stress have on us?
Stress of any level affects our energy, and our ‘inner world’, if you like. That stress then flows to our external environment – for example, when a mother with small children is stressed, quite often the children will be out of sorts as they are picking up on her stressful energy.
Stress can be emotional, physical, structural, mental, and/or spiritual just to name a few. We describe it in a range of different ways, though. “I’m overloaded.” / “I’m overwhelmed.” / “I’m under too much pressure.” / “I’m so wound up.” If stress is not dealt with, it can affect our daily life, become a burden and starts to affect others around us.
Oh, and the really fun stuff happens when stress affects our body, activating the nervous system releasing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. This then plays out as the ‘Fight’ (Anger, I want to fight you) response and ‘Flight’ (Fear, I need to run away) response or ‘Fright’ where we freeze and can’t take action at all. This then affects our heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, metabolism, muscle tension, mood – and can lead to things like panic attacks.
Sound familiar?
How do kinesiologists treat stress?
We work with the person to determine what the stress actually is, and how to defuse it and change it. We also help the client to become aware of their stress and what triggers it, which is the way to move forward. Awareness is the key. The kinesiologist creates a safe environment for the client and tunes into the mind/body through the tool of muscle testing. Which is a cool way to ask questions and get clear answers with your mind and body through the subconscious.
You cannot be a conscious creator of your life if you are not aware of the situations, people or things that may be having an affect on you. There are three different stages of stress to be aware of:
- Alarm response. This occurs when a person feels alarmed or when something doesn’t feel right. You feel challenged or a loss of control. We struggle to make things happen in order to regain control. We may just think about the issue and take no action.
- Vigilance or Adaptation response. This happens when a person starts to adapt their behaviour to the stressful situation instead of dealing with it effectively and appropriately. We are constantly looking over our shoulder for danger.
- Exhaustion response. The exhaustion stage occurs when we fail to manage our ongoing stress. We cannot cope. Our biochemistry no longer copes. Disease can set in as a consequence of this stage. We may then make a healthy recovery, or dive into a mal-adaption, which leads to unhealthy behaviours physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
We need to manage our stress by managing our expectations, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs and to take responsibility for ourselves on all levels of our being and lives. That ensures you have the power and the confidence to create the life you want and maintain a happy, healthy wellbeing.
We need to address the stress at the ‘alarm’ stage before it takes control of us and drains our resources.
How to manage stress with kinesiology?
Seeking a kinesiologist for sessions is highly effective for stress levels and silencing that ‘monkey chatter’ you may have going on in your mind (we’ve all been there!). There are other ways you can manage your stress levels in general or in between sessions. Here are some suggestions:
- Make self care a priority. It isn’t vanity, it’s sanity
- Practice yoga, meditation and mindfulness
- Try to move your body with a little exercise every day
- Engage in art and creative pursuits (adult colouring in books are great for stress relief!)
- Go hug a tree! Studies show exposure to nature can reduce stress levels
- Go to bed around 10pm. Good sleep is essential for managing stress
- Establish boundaries at work to create a better work/life balance
- Declutter your home or work desk. You’d be amazed at the mental clarify a tidy space offers
- Give yourself time alone to recharge whenever possible
- Take a salt water bath or swim in the ocean if you’re lucky enough to live near the beach
- Use essential oils
- Regularly clear the energy in your space by burning sage or Palo santo (I sell these in Toorak)
- Become aware of yourself and your emotions. More information here on emotional awareness
- Educate yourself with a self-development program.
Often people will ask me what they can do to maintain a sense of well-being and reduce stress between sessions. Below is a online self development program to help you create your own self-care tool kit of techniques. Each one is designed to bring down stress and manage your own energy. Find out more here.
Still not sure where to start? A kinesiology session is a great place to begin. Make a booking now!
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