Anxious? Stressed?

 

Anxious? Stressed? How can you help yourself to relax, reset and renew?

 With light of recent events most people are anxious, stressed wired and tired. Many people are looking for ways to cope with the new stressors in society. This has also shown up in our children. Many parents are reporting higher anxiety, stress and poor coping skills.

Here are a few ways you can help alleviate anxiety and feel better so you can focus and reset.

1.      Breathe! A simple way to relax your mind and brain is to focus on breathing. An easy exercise is box breathing. You will breath in for 4 counts, hold for 4 counts, breath out for 4 counts and hold for 4 counts. With children do counts of 3.

2.      Meditate, there are many apps such as CALM that will help teach and guide you to slow your mind down and reset

3.      Sleep. Are you sleeping well? 8-9 hours a night? Have you set up good sleeping hygiene with a cool, dark room with no phones or EMF devices in it? Do you have a regular sleeping schedule?

4.      Eating well. Are you eating on the run or taking time to eat and enjoy and chew your food with no distractions? Are you chewing your food for proper digestion? Taking a digestive enzyme, digestive bitters or lemon water after a few bites of your meal with greatly enhance your absorption of key nutrients such as iron, magnesium and zinc which are often depleted in many children and adults. Eat whole foods and refrain from packaged chemical ingredients. JUST EAT REAL FOOD! Avoid sugar and processed foods.

5.      Water intake. Many people are not consuming enough water, out bodes need 3-4 liters per day for healthy cells. Low water intake will make you tired, sore, foggy brained and constipated.

6.      Bowel movements. Are you regular? Meaning 2-3 bowel movements per day within 8 hours after a meal? Refer to the Bristol poop chart to see if your bowel movements are healthy. Many people are depleted in magnesium and other key nutrients and probiotics that affect bowel movements and gut health.

7.      Move your body. Start with a 10 min walk or some form of exercise, put it in your calendar and make it an appointment and build to 30 min per day. Chiropractic care can help you to move your body and help you feel better physically and emotionally. Many patients state they feel emotionally better after an adjustment.

Dr. Joelle Johnson BSc, DC, FICPA is currently talking her certification in childhood and adolescent neurodevelopment and is located at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, 142 Erickson Drive, Red Deer. T4R2C3 403-347-3261 www.family1stchiro.ca

 

Headaches and Migraines

Migraines are the third most common disease in the world, currently ranked 7th as the most disabling disease. 

Anything from bright screens, loud music or lack of food and water can all be triggers for one of these uncomfortable aches. They are so common that most people just accept them as a part of their life and pop a painkiller so that they can carry on with their day, rather than trying to find and address the cause.

 Just because they are common does not mean they are normal. 

Frequent or not, head or neck pain caused by migraines and tension headaches are not something to live with and endure. No one should feel miserable and irritable, desperately trying to find something to make them go away. Many headaches are caused by damaged structures around the neck like joints, ligaments, muscles and cervical discs, all of which have complex nerve endings. Our highly qualified and experienced chiropractors are trained to find, examine and correct the musculoskeletal problems that lead to headaches. They have several specific techniques which can help improve the function of the neck and make headaches and pain killers a thing of the past.

If you like to discuss your headaches in further detail. Contact Dr. Elton Clemence at the clinic at www.family1stchiro.ca or call us at 403-347-3261 for consultation and to set up a time to have your spine and nervous system checked.

Returning To A Normal Life

 

For many of us, the past few months have been spent in the comfort of our homes. Away from work, friends and family, at a much slower pace than before. But, with restrictions beginning to tentatively lift, some people may be feeling a little anxious about returning to normal life.

Lockdown has been difficult on our bodies, both physically and mentally. That's why at Family First Chiropractic, are doing everything possible to support people who are struggling. This is the time to focus on our health and come out of lockdown fitter than before. Here are some tips on how to navigate through this season of change:

Maintain new-found good habits

We all had the opportunity to break the cycle, adopt new habits, behaviors, learn a new skill or take up a hobby during lockdown. As we start to return to normal, life will get busy again. Then again taking care of your health is usually the bottom of the priority list. Lets try to maintain some of the positive habits from lockdown, whether that's exercising or cooking healthy meals at home, keep your health priority, and you will reap the rewards in the long-term. 

Listening to and honoring your body

Prioritize what's best for your body. Embrace rest days and gentle movement. Keep going on walks, take breaks from work to stretch for 10 minutes and try to end most nights with a gentle yoga flow. It's important to listen to your body and give it what it needs. Your body will thank you for it, especially when the world returns to its usual hustle and bustle. 

Meeting family and friends

Meeting loved ones we haven’t seen for weeks, except virtually, is likely to be the first thing many of us will want to do. Make the most of this opportunity to spend more time than ever with friends and family, and value it. Continue to love, appreciate and embrace the great outdoors, meet up for walks and bike rides.

Getting life back on track

Getting our lives back on track after lockdown will be both exciting and daunting for many of us. While we will find ourselves needing to embrace new ways of living and working, it’s important to stay positive and view the lifting of lockdown as one step on the road back to how we wish to live.

Remember, for you to be your best self with your family, friends and work during a time like this, you need to take care of number one. It's difficult to embrace lockdown restrictions being lifted if you are tired, in pain or unable to focus. 

At Family First our aim is to make a meaningful and lasting impact on your health and quality of life by relieving you of pain and enabling you to live your life to it’s fullest. We believe in natural healing and the body's ability to heal itself. By gently realigning your spine over time and thereby reconnecting and maintaining the integrity of your nervous system, healing takes place. 

Our goal is to get you feeling and moving better as quickly as possible, by fixing whatever is causing your pain, so that you can get back to doing the things you want or need to do.

Relieve pain. Live life to the full. 

Dr. Elton Clemence is a Chiropractor at Family First Chiropractic and Wellness, located at 142 Erickson Dr, Red Deer AB. www.family1stchiro.ca 403-3473261 to book an appointment.