Stress clouds our thoughts disrupt our sleep and cause poor judgment in multiple areas of our lives.   It can lead to overeating, weight problems, obesity, high blood pressure, headaches, digestive issues, and a host of other physical and mental issues.  This in turn can lead to our being less productive which can end up in a vicious cycle leading to even more stress and more poor choices and behaviors.  The answer is to find better ways to keep our minds focused and clear.   Here are three effective and easy ways to bring focus to your mind and clear your mental fog.

1. Exercise-  it can be as simple as going for a short brisk walk. About any whole body, movements will do.  It can be to do some push up, or sit-ups,  walk to the bathroom, and take the stairs if you can.  Just find ways and reasons to move your body.  It does not have to be a full workout.  Just do something physical.  I believe it allows the body to go into a fight mode rather than the flight response.  It is the flight mode that mentally has us in a fear and unresourceful place in our hearts and minds.  The key here is to stop the unwanted emotional unresponsive states which cloud our good judgment with paralysis.
2. Refocus your mind after your movement.  Identify the monster by giving it a name.  This is done by taking a piece of paper and defining what your problem truly is.  Write whatever you are thinking about no matter what it is and no matter how crazy it may look or sound.  You will find that this alone will give you perspective.  I like to call this "externalizing the monster!"  You want to give definitions to your thoughts and ideas so you can see them.  You want to know what your monster looks like and behaves so you can know what you are going to tame. This should only take a few minutes not days.  You can always clarify your understanding of your Mental Monster as you go to tame it.
3. Identify the potential solutions to each stress-producing problem that your Monster is causing in your life now.  This is how we tame our emotional monsters.  That is not to say whether the monster is real or not.  That is because anything we believe to be real we give power.  To find out what you know could be possible solutions to each aspect you have identified with your monster.  This is where you will be spending 80-90% of your time.  It is about empowering yourself to know some steps to take.  Can you see this is again about movement?

It is when we don't know what to do that we lose our focus and clarity.

One of the best ways to handle stress is to address the physical stress that is in our body with a Chiropractic adjustment. This clears out disruption of energy in our spine and nervous system which also gives clarity to the mind and allows our bodies to move with more ease and less physical and mental stress.

Call our Asheville Chiropractor office at 828-299-4555 to schedule your appointment.  We have been serving the Fairview Chiropractic needs and our surrounding areas for over 20 years.

Till next time Dr. Mathew Stockstad, BA, M.Div, DC

See our website at:  http://www.ashevillepainreliefcenter.com

Dr. Stockstad is a sought-after speaker and educator.  Feel free to call his office to schedule an event with him.