Sunday 21 December 2014

You Choose What You Stress About!

Stress is a fear based response to a situation.

A situation on its own is never a problem but how that situation affects an individual is - 
thought, emotions and the behaviours you respond with are the true stressors.

We know that it's the individual's mental, emotional and physical response to a situation that causes stress as different people respond differently to different situations. 

For example, a rollercoaster ride for one person may cause a huge stress response as they may think "it's dangerous", feel scared of heights and their body may tremble, whereas, someone else may think "this will be fun", feel happy and smile. These 2 differing responses cause 2 very different reactions in the body - emotionally, chemically and physically. 

One = stress, the other = joy

So even though it may not feel like it we really do choose what we stress about - perhaps not consciously and usually so quickly that we are not even aware of it. 

Our perceptions created from past experience, family laws, cultural conditioning and religious/spiritual beliefs all create the responses we choose to different situations.




Tuesday 9 December 2014

How stress affects the body.

What causes my body to feel the way it feels when stressed?

Why does my stomach churn, my chest hurt or my head ache?

What is really going on to bring about these physical changes?

Our nervous system is what reacts to stress. Dr John Bergman states "we live our life through our nervous system" and  "there's only 3 stressors, physical, chemical and emotional, and your body responds the exact same way to all 3."

The following is my very simplified explanation of the body's response to stress:

There's a system in the body called the Autonomic Nervous System that controls the internal organs and the stress response, it's made up of 2 parts - one that triggers activation, arousal and mobilisation called the autonomic nervous system and the other called the parasympathetic nervous system that has the opposite effect by creating calm, growth and rejuvenation.

When we are at ease, sleeping, resting or relaxing the parasympathetic nervous system is activated eg. heart rate is slowed down, digestion is functioning, blood is flowing freely around the body. 

When we are stressed the autonomic nervous system kicks in to keep us safe. It activates what it perceives as necessary for survival and deactivates what is unnecessary in the short term, eg. the heart beats faster, blood pressure increases and blood flow is diverted to the muscles making us ready to overpower or outrun the threat, however, it also slows down digestion and other systems including the reproductive system and the immune system as these are not required at times of stress. 

This is why when you are in a stressed state you feel your heart race, pressure in your head, your muscles tense or stomach feel queasy - you have not chosen any of these responses the body has altered itself automatically and you feel the effects physically.

This stress response is a primitive, protective function of the body, it is a natural and healthy way in which the body prepares us to deal with threats. It becomes a problem however when we remain in a stressed state for long periods of time which is so often the case in modern life.

From the very basic explanation above we can see how continually operating from an autonomic perspective could cause long term serious consequences like problems with digestion, trouble sleeping, infertility and poor immunity. 

Like with all things in life we need balance to maintain health, we need to turn off  the autonomic nervous system and let our parasympathetic nervous system take over so we can rest, recuperate and reclaim wellness.



To listen to Dr John Bergman's interview on Extreme Health Radio please click on this link:  http://www.extremehealthradio.com/ep-342

and if your interested in learning more about the stress response the book that I found the most comprehensive is "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers", Robert M Sapolsky and it is available from:
http://www.booktopia.com.au/why-zebras-don-t-get-ulcers
http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Why-Zebras-Dont-Get-Ulcers
or as an e-book from:
https://books.jbhifi.com.au/Book/why-zebras-dont-get-ulcers

Sunday 23 November 2014

What is Spiritual Healing?


Spiritual Healing
is not about doing anything to heal your spirit it’s about


allowing your spirit to heal you.

Your spirit (or soul) is always stable, secure, strong and sure so if you’re feeling
unstable, insecure, weak or unsure this may be a sign that you’ve lost connection to your spirit.

Disconnection to spirit can happen when you become overwhelmed with the things occurring in your life - when you’re grief stricken, worried, anxious, angry, frustrated, over thinking, bored or stuck. These emotions are not felt by the spirit.
Your spirit is always at peace, it is the part of you that is always OK no matter what.

When you’re in the depths of your despair (in whatever form that may take) try to find within you that place of peace - be quiet and still….just wait, beneath all the noise, emotions and stories of your lives it’s there.

Even if you get just a fleeting glimpse of that stillness and peace within you’ve
reconnected to your spirit, reconnected to that stable, secure, strong and sure part of yourself that’s always there and by sensing that, even for a moment, you begin to heal.



Wishing you health, harmony and happiness



Thursday 20 November 2014

Heal Yourself

Heal Yourself

There are many things we can do to help heal ourselves. Those things we've heard many times before like eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep and drink enough water - all good ideas but how about just stopping for a moment and listening to what you really want or need to heal...
You may need
  • a good cry to release your sadness
  • a physical workout to ease frustration
  • meditation to calm an active mind
  • a detoxing diet to help your digestion
  • a soak in epsom salts to relieve sore muscles, or
  • a massage to relax and unwind.
For 1 week, 1 day or 1 moment focus on you - what will clear away the cobwebs or shine a light on your path to healing...
                                   What do you need to do?
    Who do you need to do it with?
                                        How will you make it happen?

Follow your bliss
Take Your Time
Smile at Yourself
Listen to Your Favourite Song
Read a book
Talk to someone who makes you feel good about yourself.
Watch a Funny Movie
Light a Candle
Walk Barefoot on the Beach
Pet an Animal
Watch a Sunrise or Sunset
Dance
Have a Bubble Bath
Go for a Swim
Write in a Journal
Laugh
Get out in Nature

Thursday 13 November 2014

The Power of Healing Words

There is real power in words.
The words we hear and the words we use when talking to ourselves or others affect our mood, our behaviour and our biology. To test this out think of the last time you were complimented - how did you feel? Now think of a criticism you recently received - do you notice any different reactions in the body to these 2 situations?

For this month try choosing words from the following list to enhance your healing or the healing of another.

If you catch yourself using words that disempower or criticise stop and swap them with something that uplifts the spirit instead - Be kind to yourself and those you care about.

Love     Hope    Forgiveness   Abundance   Ease    Harmony   Joy   Optimism   Kind   Resourceful   Calm   Determined   Alive   Relaxed   Happy   Conscious    Balanced   Intuitive   Faith   Strong   Unique   Worthy   Safe   Thriving   Vibrant  Youthful   Valuable   Wise  Compassionate   Grateful   Achieving   Nurture
Glowing   Secure   Versatile   Enhancing   Positive   Glowing   Beautiful  Knowing   Peace   Spiritual   Empowering   Growth   Change   Friendship   Laughter   Fun   Reflection   Time   Quiet   Stillness   Reflection   Allow   Give   Simplicity  

Monday 10 November 2014

How do you heal yourself physically?




If you have a physical symptom, illness or pain and you take a pain killer and it lessens or goes away have you physically healed or just numbed a symptom?
Have you ever wondered why we have physical symptoms or illness?

Do we experience pain because our body needs a pain killer...of course not
Pain, illness and symptoms are not just problems that need to be numbed they are clues that something is not quite right with the body. So try to listen to your body's clues and investigate what they're really trying to show you before you silence them with avoidance, medications or temporary relief.
For true long lasting physical healing find and treat the underlying source of dis-ease instead of just eliminating the symptoms.





Monday 3 November 2014

What is Healing?

What does it mean to be healed?

In her book 'Why People Don't Heal and How They Can' Caroline Myss PH.D states "Even after healing, we have to keep working on our healing. Healing is not a process that has an ending."


What do you think she means by this?

What does healing mean to you?

To me healing is feeling at peace, I feel at peace if I am unaware of any "negative" aspects of life like illness, pain, upset, anger or fear. I don't feel healed or at peace if my body has pain, my mind is overactive, I'm worried, stressed, frustrated or sad....
my life of ease becomes a life of dis-ease.

Does this mean that to be fully healed would be to have peace at all times?  Is this possible? Would we even want this?

I don't think I would because I feel there are reasons why our peace, or wellness, is disrupted. On a physical level we may get a headache to tell us we are dehydrated and remind us to drink some water, on an emotional level we may feel so angry or frustrated about something that we're moved to create changes that could improve our life or someone elses, and on a mental level our mind may be racing and over-thinking to keep our thoughts and focus on an issue that needs to be understood and resolved.

Situations like these disrupt our peace and cause dis-ease for good reason but if we do not act to resolve those situations and return ourselves to a a life of ease then we struggle i.e. the headache may become a migraine, the anger becomes a tightening of the muscles leading to joint or back pain, the over-thinking may stop us from sleeping and lack of sleep leads to a whole lot of physical, mental and emotional problems. Like Caroline states "even after healing, we have to keep working on our healing" as situations will continually arise that require this.

So healing does not mean never again being ill or being completely cured of all dis-ease it means having the understanding that dis-ease is not a bad thing, it's really an alarm to get us to look at what's underneath our symptoms and to work on that. Once we have this awareness disruptions to our peace can be seen as opportunities to learn, grow and create change and having this awareness helps us heal and move on - as we work on our healing we are healed.


What areas of your life require healing?

How are you creating that healing?

We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions or answers in regards to this please reply below or by email admin@reclaimwellness.com.au or comment on facebook www.facebook.com/2reclaimwellness.