As we begin transition from winter to spring, it is common that patients begin to experience some anxiety. Here are some acupressure points you can stimulate to help relieve your anxiety and help return your body to a more calm state.

Points (F) — Third Eye Point (Yin Tang)
Location: Directly between the eyebrows, in the indentation where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead. Benefits: Calms the body to relieve nervousness.

Points (G) — Sea of Tranquility
Location: On the center of the breastbone, three thumb widths up from the base of the bone. Benefits: Relieves nervousness, anxiety, chest tension, anguish, depression, hysteria, and other emotional imbalances.

Most people when they think of acupuncture they think of needles and assume it must be painful. On the contrary, an acupuncture treatment is actually relaxing and calming! It may be hard to believe that being stuck with pin thin needles could create euphoria but believe it. Majority of our patients fall asleep on the treatment table and all leave their sessions feeling calm and renewed. Still having doubts acupuncture can help you without causing pain?…Read this article from a reporter about his first experience with acupuncture here.

A few excerpts: “My thoughts were stuck on the experience; I was still wondering if it provoked relaxation or if it was all in my head. I then remembered how I came into Miller’s office feeling uptight, tired and mentally rundown and how I was not feeling that way at the moment. Maybe something had happened, I thought.”

“For those who still think it is all in the mind, Miller pointed to an animal example of a prize racehorse that was experiencing paralysis in half of its vocal chords. The horse’s career was about to end, but its vocal chords improved following acupuncture treatments and the horse carried on racing.”

I decided my next blog post should be about stress as I was feeling a lot of it this week. We all have stress but does anyone really know what to do about it? We all come to accept a certain level of stress in our everyday lives because we think it is just part of how our modern life is meant to be. In a way this is true because there will always be things in our lives we can’t change even though we wish we could. Stress is always going to be a part of our lives.

Our bodies have certain mechanisms for responding to moments of danger as a means of survival. When we are stressed, our fight or flight mechanisms kicks in so we can escape danger. The adrenal glands send out cortisol which sets up a whole chain reaction. In order to flee, our muscles need nourishment, so blood is taken away from digestion and sent to the muscles.  The muscles tense up and you get ready to run- your neck tenses, shoulder hunch up, fists clench, knees bend and your back arches like the start of a relay race. Your brain stops thinking and goes into reaction mode. Your reproductive organs stop functioning because they are not needed. This is all a very good thing if we were being chased by a mountain lion BUT what if there is no danger? Our body will tell us to run while we are sitting in traffic, fighting with our spouse, or trying to frantically finish up work before a deadline. That shot of cortisol has no outlet. All of the same physiologic things happen to our body but we don’t actually run or fight.

Over time, chronic stress begins to take a toll on our body. Ulcers, digestive problems, sexual problems, sleep problems, weight control issues, high blood pressure and anxiety are some of the many problems that come from chronic stress.  This being said, it makes it even more critical that we find ways to cope with stress. There are many choices but three basics help everyone: cardio exercise, deep breathing and relaxation.

Regular cardiovascular exercise disperses the cortisol because it gives our bodies the physical release it needs to eliminate it. Deep breathing is such an easy thing to do and really helps. Deep breathing helps release the muscle tension by moving oxygen and blood through the tissues and clearing the cortisol out.  Conscious relaxation exercises will also help calm you down. You can relax with a cup of tea, light a candle, listen to soft music, or take a bath- whatever you find helps release the tension.

If those things don’t help, it is time to seek professional help to get a handle on the stress and keep you balanced. Acupuncture treatments can help keep you centered and balanced as well as massage or supplements. Stress is always going to be a part your life but there are ways to make it a smaller part.