The stress response is a normal physiological response that allows us to adapt to the environment. Not all stress is negative. But when it goes on too long, it becomes a problem. There are many sources of stress that are detrimental to your health: worries about the upcoming holidays, along with ongoing stressors of health, work, family, relationships, and finances. You might feel stressed from being overworked, a poor diet, or poor sleep. And You also feel stressed when your spine is subluxated or misaligned, as this irritates the nervous system. Here are eight, simple ways to reduce stress.

Daily Strategies to Deal With Stress:

Connect: The most important connection is the one you have with yourself. As soon as you wake up in the morning, check in with yourself. Dig deeper than glad, sad, or mad. Are you feeling anxious, depressed, lonely, excited, optimistic, or energetic? Acknowledge whatever you are feeling. Continue to check in with yourself throughout the day to see how you are doing. You are a human being and all your feelings are valid.

Thankfulness: When you express gratitude for just being alive, you instantly go into a state of love and appreciation for everything that life gives you. When you add health, family, friends, home, job, blue sky, and green trees to your list, your energy and joy grow exponentially. Heartfelt, specific gratitude is transforming. Write 3 things you are thankful for every day for a lasting mood boost.

Express: Reach out to those you care about in a real, heartfelt way. Share your feelings with the people you feel safe with. Keep it real. Sometimes we sugarcoat our feelings because we don’t think others can handle it. Check in with your peeps about how they are doing. We are hard-wired to feel safe when we connect to other people. Feeling lonely is extremely harmful to our mental, physical, and spiritual health. When we isolate, we naturally feel fear, as if our very survival is threatened.

Exercise: The human body is meant for motion. And all joints need to move. When we move, we generate a tremendous amount of energy which also lowers stress levels. Even a 10-minute walk makes a big difference. Do the exercise you like for maximum benefit.

Adjustments are a powerful re-set to a stressed-out nervous system. Since your nervous system controls every single function in your body, your whole-body benefits. Proper spinal motion alone generates most of the energy used by the brain to produce serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. These chemicals have an extremely positive effect on our mood, our outlook on life and our immune system.

Deep breathing calms your body and tells your brain that all is well, there is no need for fight or flight. Its simple and helps lower stress immediately.

Adequate sleep helps lower stress levels and balances the nervous system. The average adult usually needs 8 hours/night.

Healthy food, free of toxins and chemicals helps alleviate stress and sympathetic dominance. Watch the sugar, caffeine and alcohol to minimize stress.