April: Stress Awareness Month (Also, a sick joke from the Universe)
Fun Fact: April is “stress awareness month” and it seems all too coincidental. I don’t know about everyone else out there, but over the past 3 weeks, it’s been interesting to see what has happened in my own body and mind. I’ve gone in waves of total disbelief, shock, denial, ignorance, anxiety, total indifference and calm. And all of that leads to a hearty amount of emotional baking and eating … cookies… oops.
This whole process of isolation has brought up a lot in people. Whether its fear of the unknown or anger in how it’s playing out. The range is wide and all of those emotions can be translated into stress in the body. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), every major organ system has an emotion attached to it. For example, according to TCM theory, the liver is the angry organ, the heart is the organ of joy, the spleen is the organ of worry, the kidneys are the organ of fear, and the lungs are the organ of grief. I believe in our particular situation, it’s quite possible that all organ systems are out of balance, but usually people have a particular pattern of how stress shows up. You just have to be able to read the body like a map: WHAT happens to you when you get stressed?
Some people are really good at identifying exactly what they are feeling. Some are pissed! They’re neck and shoulders bunch up or their digestion is upset. Some completely lose their appetite. Some get short of breath and sad. Some get heart palpitations and can’t sleep. No matter what your symptoms are, it's important to identify them. I often ask people in clinic: “what happens to you when you get stressed?” A lot of people truly don’t know. I would encourage you during this time to try to identify WHAT happens in your body when you get stressed. That might give you a little insight into how to help yourself process it through.
Because I personally have been going through the gamut of emotions, I try to identify exactly what I’m feeling that particular day. My therapist once told me that you should always “ride the emotional wave” so you don’t rob yourself of those feelings. People often reach a breaking point when they stuff everything down and don’t allow themselves to feel it. And that, my friends, is what we’re trying to avoid!
This is a list of things I do, according to how I’m feeling, to help move through the stress. Maybe it will spark some ideas of how to deal with your own feelings based on how stress shows up in your own body:
If I’m angry: I go for a run, hike, or do a hard workout. In TCM theory, the liver’s energy often gets “stuck” which can lead to anger. If that’s the case, you better believe I’m going to try to MOVE as much as I can to try to shake the feeling. Sometimes it even makes me run faster… And Curly (our puppy) loves the extra mileage outside!
If I’m sad or feeling a sense of loss (grieving): These emotions are usually felt (for me) in the chest. The heart and lungs are the most affected, so I take the time to be still and silent and feel the loss. This usually looks like me sitting, crying, listening to sad music (because it helps me emote) and taking some deep breaths. Give me 20 minutes like that, while snuggling my puppy, and I almost feel immediately better.
If I’m worried: My mother always said that worry was like being in a rocking chair. You’re moving, but you’re not going anywhere. So this is when I start on little projects around the house. If I can complete something, like organizing a closet or cleaning the kitchen for the umpteenth time, then I feel more accomplished and can take the worries off the brain. In the case of the quarantine, I’ve done little things, like minimizing all big monthly expenses, in order to help us feel more financially stable to ride this thing out. Those small steps end up making a big impact on my brain and body. Also, again, puppy snuggles make all worries go away.
If I’m scared: I am one of those people that paralyzes in fear. The only way for me to break the spell is to talk to someone. I’m a verbal processor, so I have to have that contact with someone- anyone- a best friend, a therapist, my husband or mom, to talk to in order to get me out of my funk. I would talk to Curly, but he doesn’t really talk back, so snuggles again, definitely help. If you don’t have anyone to talk to, please reach out to one of us! This time of quarantine and the COVID is scary, so if you need to talk to someone about it, just call!
That being said, I also always use acupuncture and Chinese herbs to help me with stress! Since we can’t offer you acupuncture right now, what are some other offerings we have? Do a virtual visit with us and score some herbs along with some good acupressure point ideas to push on yourself. If you’re in desperate need of something more, we have ear seeds available for safe pick up as well. Yuko’s recent newsletter talked about the benefits of auricular acupuncture (or pressure in the case of ear seeds) and how it’s extremely beneficial. If you’ve seen me, you know I use ear needles on everyone! It helps reset the nervous system. Please ask if you are interested in picking some of those up and we can make that happen for you! We can even draw you a little picture of the ear and show you where to put them.
We hope all of you are staying healthy and sane in this wild world we’re living in. We’re doing our best to reach out to patients and check in, but please reach out to us as well! Tell us you’re ok and that you’re hanging in there. We are taking this time to be extra communicative and available. Be well Alpenglow family!
