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Alternative Treatments for Chronic Stress

Stress is an everyday word that you can encounter too often in this busy, fast-moving world. While a week’s worth of stress may easily be relieved after a Friday night with friends, stress over long periods of time can result into a wide array of conditions, encompassing physical, mental, and behavioral aspects.

Stress is the body’s response to the pressure perceived from our surroundings. While a small daily dose of stress might be normal, exposure to excessive stress for a prolonged period can lead to more serious diseases and behavioral disorders.

Chronic stress is one of the known culprits for developing anxiety, depression, asthma, heart issues, diabetes, and even for premature death.

Conventional versus Alternative Treatment

Conventional medicine often focuses on treating the mind and the body separately. But in most recent studies, more scientific evidence shows the interconnection between the body and the mind through certain metabolic, hormonal, and biochemical changes that the body undergoes when it is under stress.

On the other hand, proponents of alternative treatments have long since believed that the body reacts differently when the mind and body are in a state of imbalance.

Primarily, the focus of alternative medicine is to treat the body and the mind as a whole, creating a unified balance that promotes relaxation and reduces stress.

All Natural Methods to Relieve Stress

Aromatherapy

Ever heard of lavender and bergamot? These are just two of some popular essential oils that are known for producing aromas found to be effective in relieving stress and muscle tension. Other extracts from certain plants and flowers can bring this wonderful effect to anyone who has inhaled the scent. For an even better result, combine aromatherapy with massage.

Massage

Swedish, Shiatsu, Thai – these are just some of the most popular massage techniques that are used worldwide. In general, massage therapy helps relaxes the muscles and improve blood circulation. This not only reduces stress levels, but alleviates pain as well.

You can go from gentle to deep tissue massages, depending on your tolerance. However, if you suffer from any musculoskeletal condition, make sure you to seek your doctor’s advice first to ask if massage is appropriate for you.

Meditation

Meditation is an ancient practice in Asia that was used to maintain peace and tranquility. It offers a wide range of physical, emotional, and mental benefits, including the relief of stress.

Meditation involves different principles and practices, but commonly involves deep breathing exercises and repeating positive thoughts mentally.

Aside from helping the person achieve a calm state of mind, the deep breathing exercises also offer added benefits such as increasing the intake of oxygen-rich air. And oxygen feeds the cells, thereby aiding in healing of the body and mind.

Yoga

Yoga is sometimes considered as a form of meditation and vice versa. The discipline combines physical and mental aspects to control stress, involving specific poses and controlled breathing aimed at unifying the body, mind, and spirit.

Just like meditational practices, yoga can relieve and prevent chronic stress through relaxation techniques.

Acupressure and Acupuncture

These two ancient Chinese arts of healing are based on the concept of life energy or “chi”, which stimulates the body’s own healing ability. Any malady that the body acquires is attributed to the interruption in the flow of chi, when the body’s natural pathways are blocked.

Acupressure and acupuncture are aimed at freeing the pathways from these blocks by working on certain points. Whereas acupressure uses finger pressures on those points, acupuncture employs insertion of very fine needles through the skin on the same points.

Hypnotherapy

Through hypnosis, the power of the unconscious mind is unlocked, which in turn offers relaxation and a renewed, positive outlook that combats stress.

Final Thoughts

Every person develops their own unique way to cope with stress, and alternative treatments only present a few of these options. It is best to engage in a practice that you enjoy and can commit to in order to see long-term results. Finding the source of the stress by utilizing intuition and gentle healing techniques can create a new reality. Book a session and explore your current reality so you can expedite the creation of a new you.

Alternative Therapy for Heart Disease

It seems amazing that an organ as strong and as resilient as the heart can be slowed down and diseased, but this is a very real possibility that affects more people than you may imagine. In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States each year. This equates to 1 in 4 deaths. Each year 720,000 Americans have a heart attack. 205,000 of these heart attacks are in people who have experienced one previously.

Heart disease costs the United States $108.9 billion each year, including expenditures for medications, health care services, and lost productivity.

Heart disease is often tackled by modern medicine by prescribing drugs and surgery. Unfortunately, the treatment plans for this condition can be just as frightening as the condition itself, which causes many people to ignore their symptoms and avoid medical help.

Luckily there are alternative therapy options for those suffering with heart disease that are both natural and effective. When used in concert with conventional medicine these options can increase the probability of healing success, and can go a long way toward prevention of heart disease.

What Happens When You Have Heart Problems

Heart disease is defined as any condition that prevents your heart from working correctly. Over time, heart disease can cause a deterioration of the heart’s arteries and vessels, dramatically increasing your chances of heart attack.

Coronary heart disease is the most common type. It is defined as the hardening of the arteries on your heart’s surface. The hardening of these arteries is caused by plaque accumulating on the artery walls and this plaque is typically caused by too much bad cholesterol in your system.

When left unchecked, the plaque can continue to build up and narrow the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through the heart and the rest of the body. This makes the likelihood of a blood clot, heart attack, or acute chest pain very high.

When these conditions are not treated or improved, they can lead to sudden death. It is important to maintain heart health in order to maintain a healthy body. There are many everyday practices and habits that can lead to heart disease and these often start when you are young and build up gradually.

The Road to Heart Disease: Risk Factors and Prevention

One of the most prevalent risk factors is family history. If heart disease is part of your genetics, you might be at higher risk for developing this disease yourself. However, there are still preventive steps that you can take to protect yourself against future problems.

If your family history is clear, there are still measures you can take to minimize the risk of heart disease later in life. Here is a list of the factors you can control, and how you might manage them:

Avoid high levels of low-density lipo-protein cholesterol, also known as bad cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipo-protein, also known as good cholesterol
Avoid high levels of triglycerides, which can increase when you consume too many fatty foods and take in excess calories.
Avoid or quit smoking
Exercise more regularly
Avoid a high fat diet
Monitor high blood pressure
Monitor ongoing stress, anxiety, and depression
Monitor weight gain to avoid being overweight and obese
Monitor diabetes

Alternative Care

The best alternative medicine for heart disease is prevention. Stop it before it starts, and stay on top of symptoms and risk factors.

Most modern medicine becomes necessary once heart disease exists, but by simply trying alternative preventative practices and treatments you might be able to avoid the damaging effects of this condition.

Alternative Methods for Heart Disease Prevention

Consult with a holistic nutritionist that will teach how to eat smart and fill your diet with healthy foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. These include fish, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.
Consult with a holistic practitioner that can help assess your individual needs and provide a customized treatment plan to get you on the road to general health and wellness.
Practice regular exercise a few times a week and get regular check-ups to stay on top of your heart health.
Dietary Treatments: Learn to avoid foods high in fat and cholesterol
Chelation Therapy: This treatment rids the body of heavy metals and is often used for mercury poisoning. It adds the amino acid EDTA to your body, which can help remove dangerous blockages from the arteries
Stress Reducing Exercises: Engage in Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, and other similar exercise routines.

Schedule your next session to evaluate your body’s toxicity level and nutrition needs.