This Holiday Season, Combat Stress with Physical Activity

Cheer or fear: the holiday season can induce both feelings…

The extent to which one or the other predominates is probably going to have a profound effect on your stress levels during the holiday season. Yes, there is plenty of good cheer to go around, but there is also the dark side of consumerism to contend with, the financial strain on the wallet, and the myriad christmas engagements that put a strain on your schedule. It’s no wonder that we sleep and exercise less, and eat poorly during the holidays; all of this put together is the perfect recipe for the S-word: stress.

Using the power of physical activity to reduce stress levels

It just makes sense: if your body feels better, your mental state improves. Exercising releases endorphins, which literally block the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Because pain contributes to stress (and vice-versa), reducing one will improve your experience with the other. Furthermore, stress manifests itself physically by causing muscle tension- exercise, and in particular stretching, combats muscle tension.

What’s more, exercise improves circulation, which allows the nutrients and oxygen you consume to circulate throughout your body and reach all the parts of the body in need, including your brain! This holiday season, you can get your exercise in the simplest of ways: 10 minutes at a time.

• Get outside for a brisk walk in the cold weather to get your heart rate up.
• Yoga or stretching for 10 minutes improves muscle elasticity and boosts circulation
• High intensity interval training allows you to get the same benefits of a longer exercise in a shorter period of time.

For even more stress relief, check in at your Ramsey chiropractor

Our natural modalities restore spinal alignment, improve range of motion in the spinal joints and boost circulation even further to help you find even more stress relief this Christmas. If the stress of the season has got you down, make sure to stand up and shake out the tension- it’s amazing what even this simple act can do for relieving stress.