The power of stress

Well, it has been quite a spectacular few days, with a definitive boom in new members of the Core Concepts in Chiropractic Nutrition tribe !!

I am so excited to get them learning and get results for them and their patients in clinic.

This movement is starting to feel really special and it will grow and grow as the world of nutrition and functional medicine continues to expand.

Learning new information and then actually implementing in clinic can be challenging, and it can cross-over into downright stressful at times.

If you listen to the media or look it up online, stress is a killer.

And there is no doubt spending your life in sympathetic overdrive, burning out your fight/flight system 24/7, 365 days a year is going to cost you.

But there is nuance to this discussion, and nuance is something I feel we have completely lost within the mainstream media and social media.

Everything is presented in such a black and white way, binary, either-or, tribalistic terms these days.

For COVID-19, if you do not want total lockdown with zero personal freedom left, you must therefore be a heartless bastard that wants to lick granny until she gets COVID-19 and you can sell her house.

The devil is in the detail and life is complex.

Here is the truth, stress is a part of everyday life and you cannot avoid it.

If you cannot handle any stress without getting a migraine or “IBS” or having to spend a day in bed, by definition you are not well in many ways.

If you are standing on one leg, I could push you over with my little finger – thus you are finger sensitive.

So you avoid them and you are better, kind of.

But how about we help you put your leg down and then maybe you’ll be a bit less sensitive to fingers?

When it comes to stress it is all about context.

If you are metabolically in a good (or at least decent) state then you will cope with the stress of life far, far better.

And we can do that very easily with supplements, diet tweaks, and lifestyle advice.

But here is something else to consider, if the life events that are putting you under stress gives you some kind of meaning in your life, there is not the same harmful effect.

In short, we cannot hide from stress completely, it is not realistic and frankly, life would be boring.

But are the things stressing you out, the things that give your life meaning?

Here is the important lesson:

Chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid stress. 

So go after what gives your life meaning and trust in yourself to handle the stress that comes with it. 

The new members of our tribe will find it uncomfortable and a little stressful when they start implementing nutrition in the clinic.

And that is OK because this work will give your life real meaning.

Plus we have a thriving Facebook group to support them and they can email me anytime they want to ride out the tough bits.

When you diagnose that first grossly vitamin D deficient patient and hit them with a bolus dose of 50,000 iu and see their energy and vitality come back in days, pain dropping, depression lifting, it is truly amazing.

That patient with crazy neurological symptoms, chronic pain, and depression with “normal” B12 levels (according to the GP, ignoring the guidance) who suddenly feels the fog lift and those tingly bits stop tingling, you will remember them, forever.

Check the NHS guidance here with my added notations from the B12 module:

Those are the patients I will remember when I am old and telling my grandkids about my work & life.

You will not be telling them about what a high patient visit average (PVA) you used to have (unless you are a narcissist).

ACTIONS TO TAKE

– Recognise that stress is a normal part of life, and it’s getting you ready to perform!

– Design your life the best you can to do activities  & accept challenges that give your life real meaning.

– Stop licking granny, that’s just weird.