Energetic Medicine & Stress​

Dr. Hans Selye, M.D. (1907-1982), a medical researcher of stress and it’s varied effects on the endocrine, immune & healing systems, wrote a book The General Adaptation Syndrome, (GAS), demonstrating that whether we were there and experienced a situation first hand, just thought about it, watched a movie, T.V. or radio program, or remembered a childhood memory or trauma, the human body responds to this input instantaneously.

What is Stress?

The word “Stress” comes from the Latin root meaning to bind up & drawn tight. Happy events & memories fortify ideal functioning, stressful events initiate a stress response in the brain chemistry, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, respiratory rate, compromising immune function & the body pH becomes more acidic and inflammatory, which impacts our healing potential as chronic stress can cause adrenal exhaustion and lead to other issues.

I was teaching a seminar in which we did a demonstration on the power of words and thoughts using Applied Kinesiology as a feedback tool. A volunteer stood in front of the audience and spoke the common phrase “No Problem” his muscles went weak, then the audience looked at him and collectively said “No Problem” and again his muscles went weak. “No Problem” is a big problem. For several years this common response was being said everywhere I went; the cashier at the grocery store, etc. So I tested “With Gratitude”, “My Pleasure”, “Your Welcome”, all tested very strong additionally when spoken by the audience to the person in the front of the room, all muscles were strong. Fortunately now some people are breaking the pattern and vary their response. It is very interesting that words spoken to us have a profound effect on our BodyMind equal to or more potent than what we choose to speak, depending on the source; a boss, parent, spouse, … who is saying it? We had another volunteer imagine a happy memory (vacation, hobby, relationship) all muscles were strong! A negative, stressful memory can cause total weakness in muscles tested. As we experience our feelings, relationships, challenges, changes & our life, it is important to remember that all emotions have their place; courage & fear, assertiveness & being in the flow, ability to respond, aggression & anger, joy & grieving, compassion & over-caring, concern, pensiveness & worry, releasing, forgiveness & the ability to let go or the inability to let something go. The importance is to not get stuck in one emotion, see the big picture, come back to our center and free our resources to live a full, richer life.

The amygdala is located in the midbrain, a part of the hippocampus & is associated with instinctual, primitive, automatic fight, flight or freeze response, interpreting what something means. A stress response to an experience whether real or imagined, initiates an instantaneous cascade of neurological, physiologic, chemical events. Since we are wired in the womb, everything that effects our mother, her epigenetics, hormones, blood sugar, brain & body chemistry, sets the foundation for our BodyMinds response to life and its challenges. Add in our childhood experiences, familial epigenetics, multiplied by our learned behaviors, from all sources sends our BodyMind into our learned, programmed pattern, again. This reliable, & consistent response in the amygdala, stimulates the reptilian brain, to anger, frustration, fear, hurt, pain, envy, jealousy, and other compromising repetitive emotions. To Fight, to Flight, or to Freeze. Some people have a hair trigger for the setting off of this response and others have a higher set point that activates this stress response. Destructive and negative emotions and feelings can exacerbate and reinforce this pattern as does cultivating a higher set point, which creates a buffer to reactivity and a stronger healthier more resourced life. Through daily movement, meditation, conscious breathing & mindfulness practices, we can change a foundation that redirects the BodyMind and rewires our pattern. Chronic habituated ignition of this pattern, wires the brain into crisis mode where everything is a crisis or a crisis waiting to happen and we respond from this heightened state. Some patients while relaxing with acupuncture needles at the end of a treatment have a furled brow and frown when we come to remove the needles, expressing outwardly their internal self-talk and body process. These same people say life is good and they are happy, but there is no smile or joy in the facial expression. It is a blessing to have a feedback tools that validate or disprove concepts, ideas and common assumptions.

Our body contains over 70% water and in Dr. Masaru Emoto’s book Messages from Water, (www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal) shows pictures of crystallized water reflecting energetic expressions of thoughts, words, music, pictures, prayers, cities, continents, people, and artwork. All the different and varied crystals, some of the energetic expressions could not form a crystal or a complete crystal. Why is that? Thoughts are things, and everything we do matters. How we spend & invest our time yields a bounty of evidence that is reflected in the form and function in our BodyMind & energetics. The physics of the water taking shape as seen in his books and in the body reflect a vibration whether it is of a higher vibration and expression of health or health compromising, Chi depleting, and inflammatory event. Overtime we witness this in the body posture, flow of Chi, blood, body fluids & the level of health and well-being. The scientific research by Dr. Emoto and other sources demonstrate the structure of water and its materialization is influenced by our choices, directing this life transforming opportunity! Choosing our words mindfully, improving the expression and reflection in the body & mind, by balancing our hormones, nervous system and regenerative potential. There are many books written on the premise that thoughts are things and where the mind goes the Chi flows.

I have a patient who recently was complaining of abdominal bloating and gas. He eats fresh organic veggies, gluten free with few grains, good oils, grass fed proteins, exercising, and consciously taking his supplement program. Upon examination he developed spleen deficiency due to over thinking, weakening his digestive system and potential. His challenge was that he was overly mental, having recurring intense thoughts while eating, continually devitalizing his capacity to digest food. His prescription was to be present with eating , chewing his food well, enjoy the flavors, food, textures, smells, in a relaxing quiet environment, with calming music in the back ground (or silence), but no T.V., intense emotional conversations, no reading books, newspaper, or magazines, just eating with enjoyment and appreciation. Solution implemented, gas and bloating have resolved.

Homosapiens, Latin for “Wise Man” emerged approximately 200,000 years ago. There are rules & laws to survival & wellbeing that are epigenetic and non-negotiable, getting us back to the basics and essential needs of our BodyMind. As an example, when you buy your cell phone, there are instructions, it was manufactured in a certain way and following the directions allows us to utilize this technological device to its highest capacity. Our BodyMind has requirements as well:  sleep, nourishment, movement, rest, hydration, fun, play, love, companionship, nontoxic environment, learning & growing, etc…. Our life can be what we make it if we find our unique instructions and take a proactive approach to life. This is self-care, most of us didn’t get the instruction manual to our BodyMind. We do what we learned, what we were taught, which is not optimal wellbeing. For some of us, it is survival at best.