I had one of those days earlier this week, you know the ones where everything that could go wrong does?
Starting with my car being stolen, then it chucking down with rain on my walk to work, stepping on the kids Lego (we all know this is a deadly injury barely survivable) then all three of my children waking up through the night on separate occasions. Someone was out to get me!
We all have someone in our life which is trying to hinder our success and growth, it is our brain.
If you have read this column before you know that our brain is hardwired for one thing. Survival.
Forged in the ages of sabretooth tigers, mammoths, starvation and the scarcity of eligible Neanderthal women in the neighbouring caves our brain puts keeping us at the top of the to-do list.
Surely this is good I hear you say? Well, for the most part, to be constantly ready for action the brain wants to cut corners and keep energy in reserve where it can. This leads to the formation of habits. Repetitive programming that requires much less brainpower than new tasks or situations.
Great for tying shoes, brushing teeth, learning instruments not so great for overcoming fears, developing new friendships, moving to a new school, working out or losing weight.
You see our brain is out to get us. let’s say, you want to lose weight, the first day or two when we take in less food than we need (the only way to lose weight btw), our brain thinks we are starving so ups our hungry hormones, makes us more sluggish so we conserve energy and directs us towards food with easy quick energy (all the stuff that got us in this mess in the first place)!
Habits are controlled by the subconscious mind or autonomic nervous system. The life we lead means we experience stresses (physical, chemical and emotional eg, gravity, pollution and understanding the governments COVID-19 rules). Our brain protects us when these get too much for us by stopping our spine from moving (known as a subluxation), this also reduces the information the nerves in that area send to the brain. So our already ‘on alert’ brain is going to react to our environment in a MORE protective way.
Getting your spine and nervous system checked by a Chiropractor regularly (or at least once to start off with!) is a great habit to get into just ask our patients! Below are some others that we recommend our patients do on a daily basis.
- MOVE YOUR SPINE: movement of the spine gives 80% of the nutritional needs of the brain
- BREATHE: in and out through the nose (without letting the chest rise) for 2-3 minutes, great for times when feeling overwhelmed or stressed
- CHECK YOURSELF: after you wake up just mentally check in with yourself before you check in with the world (either by doing the breathing above or practising some gratitude)
- WATER: Pure, filtered ideally, 300-500ml/1.2 pints/97 shots, before any else goes in your mouth in the morning.
- GO OUTSIDE: even sticking your head out the window will allow the light, the sounds and the air to get to your brain. Proven to reduce stress and start the day right
- SQUEEZE SOME WALNUTS: squeeze your gluteal muscles (posh name for ar*e) around 20-30 x repeat for a million sets, activate the things you sit on all day.
- FATS ME UP: eat some fat (nuts, fish oil, flax seed, steak, eggs (esp the yellow) or avocado), your brain and nervous system is made up primarily of fat so refuel it.
Dr Gareth Ward DC MChiro Chiropractor
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