Stress
We live in a constant state of fluid exchange
with our environment. Whether conscious or not,
our bodies, minds and spirits are consistently
being asked to respond and react to stimuli all
around us. We call this stimuli stress. In fact,
the very definition of health encompasses how
adeptly we are able to respond to stress. But
within this, we need to understand what stress
looks like, how it affects us, and how we can
better cope with and adapt to the challenges it
puts before us. After all, we cannot change the
waves; we can only learn to better navigate through
them.
Acute vs. Chronic Stress
For the vast majority of our time on this planet
as a species we had a very obvious and recognizable
type of acute stress involving survival. We needed
to run away from physical danger; we needed to
hunt for game, protect ourselves and our tribe.
The part of our Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
that aids us in this is called our Sympathetic
Nervous System (SNS), or what is commonly called
our Fight or Flight Response. When we
sense danger, our heart rate increases pumping
blood away from systems non-vital to survival
to our limbs to feed our muscles so we may then
either fight the stressor or flee; our respiration
rate increases to better oxygenate that blood;
our pupils dilate for better vision; our hands
and feet begin to perspire to help release some
of that heat and our mouth dries as our resources
are diverted away from digestion. This is a very
appropriate response to acute stress. Even today,
though we may be habituated to freeway driving,
the alertness we have on the road is a hint of
such an appropriate survival response to stress.
Our bodies are very well-designed to respond to
and recover from such acute physical stress.
But long gone are the days when we had big bears
chasing us around the forest, where physical danger
was a regular and prominent occurrence in our
daily lives. Instead, we have created dozens of
small and, at times, imperceptible bears constantly
attacking us from all angles. They take the form
of pollution, poor food choices, long work hours,
overuse of stimulants, poor sleep habits, the
constant on-the-go pace of our hectic work lives,
and the general low-grade psychological stress
and strain that such living inflicts on us. We
have become so accustomed and acclimated to these
chronic stressors that we tend to overlook how
damaging they are to our overall health and well-being.
When stressed, our adrenal glands that sit atop
our kidneys secrete a hormone called cortisol,
which acts on our entire body to produce the physiological
changes active during the fight or flight response.
Again, in the acute handling of stress, cortisol
is our friend. But if we are living in this stressful
state, constant secretion of cortisol can over
time decrease bone and red blood cell formation,
protein and collagen synthesis, immune function,
blood sugar handling, and kidney function. In
fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a system
that is not adversely affected by long-term chronic
stress.
The Chinese Medicine Perspective
In Chinese Medicine, we speak of the relationships
between organ systems. And by systems I mean that
an organ like the liver has a channel or meridian
associated with it along which the acupuncture
points lie. It also has various functions and
connections to the larger body. So for the sake
of clarity, when I speak of the organ I will call
it “liver,” but when I speak of the
larger system, I will call it “Liver.”
The Liver is the traffic cop of the body, ie
the Central Nervous System. When it is happy and
healthy, traffic flows smoothly in all
directions, nerves are even. When it is having
a bad day and is experiencing the tightening,
contracting, erratic influences of stress, you
start to see traffic jams, fender benders, too
many cars over here and not many over there. Confusion
and panic sets in. Fight or flight. Your nerves
are frayed and fuses get short.
In the body, the Liver is responsible for the
smooth flow of energy to all systems.
So when it is stressed and not functioning smoothly,
it can “attack”:
• Itself: toxic build-up, high blood pressure,
irritability, anger, vision problems, elevated
liver enzymes;
• your Stomach and Spleen: indigestion,
heartburn, acid reflux, Irritable Bowel Syndrome,
Colitis and Crohn’s, intestinal dysbiosis,
etc.
• your Heart: palpitations, insomnia,
anxiety, unusual sweating, canker sores;
• your Lungs: decreased immunity, allergies,
asthma, decreased respiratory function;
• your Uterus: Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS),
painful or irregular periods, clotting, fibroids;
• and most damaging of all, the Kidney:
low
back pain, adrenal fatigue, exhaustion and
overall depletion.
In fact, some of my Chinese teachers in school
say that the main difference between treating
American patients and Chinese is that here, it
is all about stress. Sometimes I feel that in
addition to the therapeutic effects of my treatments,
just getting my patients to come to my quiet,
stress-free, and relaxing office, turn off their
cell phones and disappear for an hour and a half
is reason enough for people to see me.
What Acupuncture
Can Do to Help
To counter the tightening and contracting quality
of stress, you promote circulation, in the form
of exercise, massage, meditation, and acupuncture.
Most of the points I use are located from the
knee and elbow down. In other words, in addition
to the points’ own individual functions,
because of how far away from the center they are
located, they help spread energy away from the
center, thereby relieving tightness and constraint.
Two of the most common points used for stress,
when used bilaterally, are called the Four Gates.
When energy flows smoothly in and out
of the gates of our home, we can come and go as
we please in a state of relaxation. The first
point is Large Intestine 4 (He Gu, Mountain
Valley) and is located in the muscle tissue between
each index finger and thumb. This point is like
the aspirin for the body as it relieves pain anywhere
in the body by strongly promoting the free flow
of Qi, or energy in the body. Its partner is Liver
3 (Tai Chong, or Great Rushing),
named for its strong influence on the flow of
Blood throughout the body. It is located in the
depression between the big toe and the second
toe. When used together, they can release tension,
ease the nervous system and strongly promote the
smooth flow of Qi and Blood throughout the body.
No matter what your stress-induced pattern is,
I customize your treatments to respond to your
needs. First and foremost, we relieve tension,
or “Spread Liver Qi.” Then, we seek
to offset the damaging effects such stress has
been inflicting on you and your body.
Stress is necessary; it motivates us and helps
us make clear decisions about what lifestyle is
right for us. But when left unchecked, misunderstood,
and the deleterious affects simply denied, long-term
chronic stress wreaks havoc on our health and
well-being. It is up to each of us to look within
and realize that we do indeed have a choice about
how we cope with chronic stress. No one is immune
from its affects, and with a little awareness,
we can find more skillful ways to handle it. Acupuncture
offers us one such way.
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