Feeling stressed? Emergency scenarios like the Jesusita Fire activate your sympathetic nervous system’s “fight or flight” response. This physiological reaction produced the wide eyed adrenaline pumping push that helped you to quickly get out of harms way. Now that the primary threat is gone we should be able to return to our normal state. Unfortunately, due to the quantative nature of the Gap Fire, Tea Fire, Jesusita Fire and the stresses of everyday life, some of you may be finding it especially difficult to step off the roller coaster and get back to your sense of balance.

Signs that your body may be holding the “fight or flight” pattern include:

• Anxiety
• Poor Sleep
  
• Digestive Disturbances
• Elevated Heart Rate
• Heart Palpitations
• Shallow and/or Rapid Breathing
  
• Immune Imbalances (colds, flus, allergies)
• Difficulty Urinating

None of these symptoms are not going to kill you, but they are enough to keep you from feeling your best. So how do you change the pattern?

The best way to deactivate your sympathetic nervous system is by activating the opposing side – your parasympathetic nervous system. Your parasympathetic nervous system has the power to quickly relax your stress and ease your tension. So how do you stimulate it?

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is well known for its parasympathetic nervous system promoting and serotonin releasing effects. This is the reason most of you fall asleep during your sessions

Deep Abdominal Breathing

This simple technique sends feedback to the brain to slow down the sympathetic response and upregulate the relaxing parasympathetic response.

Yoga / Qi Gong / Meditation

Stretching, deep abdominal breathing and slowing the mind. Ever wonder why the yogis and monks are so peaceful?

Extra Sleep

Your parasympathetic nervous system is especially active during sleep. Give yourself permission to soak up a few more hours than normal over this week.

Fish Oil Supplementation

The British Journal of Nutrition recently discovered that DHA- rich fish oil helped to balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Add it to the laundry list of beneficial effects of this powerful substance. Extra strength enteric-coated fish oil capsules(no fishy burps!) are always available at the clinic.