MAINE, USA — Stress, unfortunately, has a way of impacting all of us in one way or another. Maine chiropractor Allyson Coffin has some tips to get us more relaxed and even reverse stress's effects on our brains.
"When the body is stressed, we start to get pain," Coffin said. "Our head hurts, our back hurts, we get headaches all the time, and those are just like incredibly common ones. Other people might have [a] heart attack. It's bad for you."
Certain emotions release certain hormones from our bodies. Hormones like adrenaline and norepinephrine are considered "good," but others, like cortisol, can actually make it even harder to relax. Coffin said if you were going to the Olympics or something similar, those hormones would actually work in your favor, but it's not healthy for day-to-day life.
"Science shows that it affects our mood and it also decreases your cognition so you can't remember things," Coffin said. "A long period of stress is really just bad for the body."
Coffin used a plastic brain model to show us how it works in stressful situations. Our brains are about the size of two fists and the piece at the very front is called the frontal lobe and acts as a calming, protective device. Coffin described it as a cozy blanket. On the inside of our brain is what's known as the amygdala. Coffin said this piece is needed in fight or flight situations, using the scenario of having to lift a car off of a person as an example.
"We don't need it all the time and for most people in our society, it's really over-reactive, and so that causes an increase in high-stress hormones," Coffin said.
Luckily, there are ways to combat stress and lessen the blow we take to our bodies and brains over time.
First, Coffin suggests meditating.
"Some people get scared of meditation because it seems like 'I don't know how to quiet my mind, it's hard'," Coffin said. "A simple way to do it is to put your hand on your belly, right over your belly button, and then you take a deep breath in with your eyes closed."
Coffin also suggests practicing that deep breathing exercise three times to help lower your stress hormone levels.
Another way to reduce your stress is to sleep, Coffin said. Sleep is our body's natural way of resetting, and during that time, you want to increase hormones that make you feel calm, such as oxytocin or serotonin.
"Don't be on your phone all night; that's going to make you stay awake," Coffin said. "If you keep your phone off and get rid of lights, that will help you a lot when you're sleeping, and also deep breathing will help you get back to sleep if you're waking up in the middle of the night."
Coffin said she has heard from those who are so stressed they can't turn their minds off.
"Those are hard things that we have to overcome because being stressed out all the time is not good for us, and then, in turn, it's not good for the other people we hang out with." Coffin said.
In that case, one thing Coffin will recommend to her clients is another breathing exercise.
"Some of us get stressed when we're transitioning from, let's say, work to home," Coffin said. "If you just do three reps [of breathing] before you get out of your car or before you open up your laptop to work, that'll put you in a decreased stress response."
Coffin said the more we do these things, the more we create new neural pathways to our brain, ultimately undoing the damage stress can cause. It takes time and patience, but Coffin said it could change your life for good.
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