Life today includes many opportunities to experience stress. How we respond determines our health.
Perhaps you are just back from vacation where you were able to get some R & R and really “chill out.” Now you are wondering how you can keep that “stress free” feeling in the face of a changing world and a struggling economy.
In ancient times, our stress response, also known as fight or flight response, provided us with energy to preserve life during difficult situations, such as an attack or threat by wild animal.
Modern day stress is considerably higher, more frequent and more consistent than what our predecessors experienced. Our body’s natural response to stressful situations is to activate all of its available resources for survival. With the increase in physical, emotional and mental stressors, our stress response gets “locked in”, even when the stressor is no longer present, resulting in the depletion of the nervous system, lymphatic system and especially the kidneys and adrenal.
There are many things people do to relieve stress….some good, like exercise, meditate, and spend time in nature…some not so good, like eat sugar, smoke cigarettes, and drink alcohol. All of these “options” provide temporary “relief” from the “lock-in” stress.
Acupuncture, on the other hand, offers a drug-free alternative to address the root cause of your stress response.
- A “locked-in” stress response produces depletion in the organs, glands and even the cells of your body. Acupuncture can remove the blocks to the flow of energy and restore vitality where there is depletion.
- A “locked-in” stress response produces lack of flow or stuckness that manifests as tension or constriction. The most common response to acupuncture treatment is the feeling of relaxation. As we address the root cause of your stuckness, you are able to sustain the feeling of relaxation for longer and longer periods of time.
- A “locked-in” stress response at the emotional level produces lack of choice. By opening up your energy so that you have more rage in emotional response, you regain the option to choose your response to whatever you experience in the world. And choice leads to mastery of any situation.
- A “locked-in” stress response at the spiritual level makes it hard to see possibilities for there is only resignation and darkness. There are special acupuncture points on the body called “Windows to the Sky.” When that special window is opened, the Chinese say, the light from the heavens once again can shine down on your soul and your ability to see possibilities through the stress manifests.
So, if your response to the world in which you live looks like any of the varieties of “locked-in” stress described above, there is hope. With the aid of acupuncture you can expand your range of response to your world and regain your health. Let us help.
Daniel Ebaugh, M.Ac., L.Ac.
301-920-0801
