Relieving Stress with Alternative Therapies
By Craig Amrine
Stress shouldnʼt be feared. The stress-response is a natural process that the body undergoes to help it cope with change. When we encounter an immediate threat, a series of chemical
reactions are triggered by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) commonly known as the “flight-or-flight” response.
These reactions are designed to be a self-limiting process involving the hypothalmus, pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. Grouped together, this system is called the HPA-axis. The ultimate result is the release of excess amounts of two hormones: Epinephrine (Adrenaline), and glucocorticoids (Cortisol).
Adrenaline is a fast-acting hormone that:
- increases heart rate
-dilates the pupils
-increases breathing volume
- raises our alertness and clarity of thinking
-reduces blood to our skin and digestive system
-increases blood to our skeletal muscles
- makes us less sensitive to pain
All of these reactions were designed to enable us to fight harder or run faster…thus
increasing our chance for survival.
Cortisol
Cortisol acts a bit different. Cortisol stimulates an increase of glucose (sugar) in the blood to provide a source of extra energy. Glucose is the main source of energy used by both the brain and muscles. Instead of getting this sugar from carbohydrates (food), cortisol triggers a breakdown of muscle and fat. Cortisol also temporarily redirects certain immune cells and processes from the blood out into the surface tissue where they are needed in anticipation of an immediate attack or threat. This results in lower immune and inflammation functions in the blood and joints. Like adrenaline, these are all designed to increase our chance of survival during an immediate threat.
Our Response to Chronic Stress
Normally, when the threat is removed, our bodies can revert back to their normal and “unstressed” state. Our adrenaline and cortisol levels lower back to their normal levels.
Our blood pressure lowers, we get hungry again, our immune and inflammation
responses come back to normal, and the hyper-alertness will fade and let us sleep
easily.
Unfortunately, many of us have jobs or lifestyles that expose us to high-levels of stress on a daily basis and are unable or unwilling to find ways to relieve this stress. How do our bodies deal with this chronic state? While excess levels of adrenaline and cortisol are wonderful for coping with an immediate attack, they can cause some serious health problems if left unchecked.
Prolonged release of adrenaline, for example, can lead to:
- tremors
- insomnia
- digestive disorders
- excess sweating leading to dehydration and neuroendocrine disorders
-heart palpitations
-high blood pressure
Since adrenaline breaks down very quickly (half-life @ 2 minutes) however, these health risks are not usually a long-term problem.
Chronic stress is much more likely to lead to prolonged release of high-levels of cortisol. High cortisol levels are now being shown to cause a large number of health problems and has been shown to:
-depress cartilage and bone formation
-inhibit inflammation, prevent vasodilation
-alter digestive function
It is also linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, damage to the hippocampus (part of the brain responsible for short-term memory), secondary infections resulting from a suppressed immune system, and an increased rate of miscarriage.
In time, of course, the body can become insensitive to these elevated levels or even reach a state where it exhausts itʼs supply of stress hormones. By this time, the stress response is now completely unregulated and confused. It is suspected that this condition plays a large part in modern auto-immune diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
How We Lower Stress
Canʼt we simply “think” these treats away? If it were only that simple! In an ideal world where we have all mastered transcendental meditation, I would suppose that chanting this mantra is all we would need. Unfortunately, few of us are so skilled. As a result, many turn to drugs, both recreational drugs and prescription anti-depressants and anti- anxiety medication. The dangerous side-effects and high-cost are leading many to look elsewhere, however.
Safe and Effective Alternatives to Drugs
There are several ways to lower the effects of stress that are both safe and inexpensive. Probably the two most simple are through diet and exercise. Regulating the amount of simple carbohydrates (sugar), eating more fruits and vegetables, cutting back on the caffeine and alcohol, and eating several small meals rather than feasting on a few huge ones can help reduce high blood sugar levels…the primary effect of excess cortisol.
Exercise is also a wonderful means to also help lower both cortisol and blood sugar
levels. Meditation, interacting with pets, yoga, and even listening to music can all help to lower stress.
When simple solutions are not enough, however, acupuncture is an incredibly powerful tool to regulate the stress response.
Stress, Anxiety, and Traditional Chinese Medicine
A strong link exists between the emotions and the internal organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Emotions such as fear, joy, anger, and worry all have a specific organs they are associated with. For example, extended bouts of anger, irritation, resentment, or bitterness can lead to problems with the liver. While these organ-emotion connections may at first seem odd, it is clear that TCM has always known that emotional health is strongly connected to physical health.
In TCM, acute stress would be seen as fear and would directly affect the kidneys. It is interesting to note that the adrenal glands lie directly on top of the kidneys. In TCM, fear exhibits symptoms including palpitations, insomnia, and dry-mouth. These symptoms look very much like our recognized symptoms of excessive adrenaline release.
Chronic stress, and the release of excess cortisol, would be associated with both worry and pensiveness in TCM. This would also include over-thinking, brooding, obsession and excessive nostalgic thoughts. We see these emotions as directly affecting the spleen and possibly the lungs and heart. Symptoms include tiredness, poor appetite, stomach pain, possible heart palpitations, and weight gain.
Aside from these primary symptoms, the patient will simply feel “stressed”, “burned-out”, have panic-attacks, or canʼt sleep.
Acupuncture for Stress Reduction
I repeatedly tell new patients who come to me for stress relief that I cannot remove
stress in their life. I can, however, change how their bodies react to stress. To put it simply, we work on convincing the patient that these stressors arenʼt really that much of a threat. In other words, we can convince the body to simply ”Donʼt worry and be happy.”
Acupuncture is a incredibly effective tool to reduce stress. Patients will often fall asleep on my table during a treatment….and leave the clinic feeling deeply relaxed. How is this possible? It is well documented that acupuncture can stimulate the release of endorphins; hormones that are responsible for relieving pain. It also has been clinically proven to lower stress-related cortisol levels. The theory behind this is that it modifies the autonomic nervous system to lower the release of cortisol levels during prolonged stress. The general sense of well-being may also be attributed to increased levels of mood altering neuropeptides including melatonin, serotonin, and dopamine.
From a Chinese Medicine perspective, we do two things: Calm the mind and treat the underlying organ system that may be affected.
This results in both an immediate feeling of relaxation or calm as well as increasing the patients resilience to future episodes. Interestingly, studies show that acupuncture can also raise cortisol levels! How can it do both? The current research suggests that this largely depends on the acupuncture points used as well as the underlying condition of the patient. Overall, it appears that acupuncture has a “self-regulatory” effect that can blunt excess cortisol levels during high stress, but also boost cortisol and nor-epinephrine levels during times of exhaustion.
Letʼs face it, we live in a stressful time. We can “endure” and hope that the stock market will recover, we get our jobs back, global warming will end, our kids will avoid drugs, our relationships will improve……and in doing so, struggle with all the potential health risks associated with chronic stress. Or, we can find ways to rise above the chaos. Acupuncture is a great way to begin this process.
Craig Amrine is a licensed acupuncturist in the state of Arizona (L.Ac.) and has received his Masters of Science degree in acupuncture from the accredited Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture (PIHMA) in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also a nationally board certified Diplomate in Acupuncture with the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), and operates a successful clinic in Tempe, Arizona. His clinic, Hidden Rhythm Acupuncture, uses a combination of both traditional methods including the use of acupuncture, cupping, moxabustion, tui-na (body-work) as well as modern techniques using electrical stimulation and cold-laser therapy to treat a host of afflictions ranging from physical pain to respiratory, digestive, sleep, or neurological disorders. For questions or comments, he can be reached through his website at www.hiddenrhythmacupuncture.com.
Thanks for a very interesting article about stress. I would like to put my two cents in to recommend Transcendental Meditation, which I have been practicing for a while with very good results. Among the many things I liked about TM is that it was one of the most researched forms of meditation, with over 500 scientific studies. I found on http://www.tm.org that TM has been effective in reducing anxiety, lowering cholesterol, and helping people to stop smoking, and I feel I have gotten very goods results from it from both the physical and psychological health point of view.
Thanks for this interesting article on stress – its negative effects and some solutions. I have been doing TM for years and have nothing but good effect from the twice-daily practice. It reduces stress, keeps me healthy and happy. And it is completely effortless to do, and so simple to learn. And what I also like about TM is that there are over 600 studies showing how good it is for my mind and body, making it the most researched stress buster around. Have a look at the web site http://www.TM.org for all scoop on the Transcendental Meditation program.
JustAThought56 –
“The technique that Transcendental Meditation (religious-political organization) teaches is common, and can easily be taught without
all of the ridiculous TM trappings. The benefits realized are
identical. “TM” takes an ancient and widespread practice,
imposes a layer of pure drivel over it, then packages it
and sells it as uniquely theirs and charges for the drivel.
It is profoundly dishonest.”
============
bismillah001 –
“Meditation is a powerful thing; it would be
great to expose children to this treasure. I’m
not really sure “TM” is the best avenue for that, though.
Basic Theravada meditation (I think a.k.a. “insight meditation”)
would be better. Children needn’t have any facilitated
association with Mararishi Mahesh Yogi or any other ‘guru’ figure.
That should have nothing to do with meditation, in my opinion.”
- – - – -
TM history —
Robert N. Bellah meets with Robert Winquist, a well-known
TM movement insider and faculty member of Maharishi International University. Robert Bellah was Ford Professor of Sociology and Comparative Studies, UC Berkeley and author of the highly regarded book “Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditional World”. During the meeting, as related in his sworn affidavit for the (1977) New Jersey Court case, he “expressed [his] opinion that TM definitely seemed to be a religion and I wondered why the people in the TM movement denied its religious nature. [Winquist] replied by affirming that it is certainly true that TM is religious, but stated that they didn’t admit that to
be the case for public relations reasons.”
- – - – - – -
note: “Transcendental Meditation”, due to the “Puja” (chanting & worship) initiation ceremony & other religious factors,
was banned from being taught in public schools by a U.S. District Court ruling. The Court ruled that Transcendental Meditation was “a religion”
– see ruling of The United States District Court, District of New Jersey, Docket No. 76-341 (H.C.M.) Civil Action, in the case of Alan B. Malnak. et al., Plaintiffs, v. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, et al., Defendants, in a summary judgment issued October 19, 1977, followed by an order and judgment, filed December 12, 1977.” Subsequently, this federal ruling was upheld (in 1979) by the U.S. Appeals Court (Philadelphia).
- – - – - – -
BE INFORMED:
“An Open Letter from a
(former) TM Initiator” —
What you should know about
the “Transcendental Meditation”
religious-political Organization —
history, beliefs, practices,
marketing tactics & deliberate deception:
view webpages =>
http://www.trancenet.net/personal/abe/abe12097.shtml
and
http://trancenet.net/groups/tm.shtml
_____
Here are 2 illustrative
TM-organization websites
re: separate TM instructional strands
for “ladies” — to engender
enlightenment & “ladylike” behavior,
to groom delicate, feminine-trait girls
who walk five steps behind
the (always) male leaders -
note: several women formerly involved
with the TM movement have reported about
rampant sexual discrimination =>
http://archive.tm.org/explore/vedic_education/msu.html
and
http://www.maharishiuniversityofenlightenment.com/
=============
note: “enlightening” excerpt from a website
concerning a range of pertinent topics:
TM history, practices & agendas =
=> http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Transcendental_meditation_-_Criticisms_and_controversies/id/2085021
(Part 1) “Transcendental meditation
– Sexism and the TM organization”
“According to historian Stanley Wolpert (A New History of India, sixth edition, Oxford University Press: 2000), — ancient Vedic society was undeniably patriarchal, and this characteristic is reflected in the present structure of the TM organization. Although women are not barred from becoming teachers of TM, they are rarely seen in positions of political leadership, especially at the highest and most visible level of the organization. Evidence of discrimination against women can be seen in the failure to include women as ministers when Maharishi proclaimed his Global Country of World Peace (all of the 40 appointed ministers were men) and in the failure to include female spokespersons in the discussions that accompany Maharishi”s weekly televised press conferences.”
————–
(PART 2) — “Sexism and the TM organization”
“This is because Maharishi has outlined three acceptable “paths” for women in society: 1) marriage and motherhood, 2) monastic celibacy (in his “Mother Divine” program), and 3) engagement in a life-supporting profession or occupation that does not strain the allegedly delicate nervous system of female physiology. Also, in live and televised presentations sponsored by the TM organization, females are patronizingly referred to as “ladies” (not “women”) while men are called “men” (not “gentlemen”). TM apologists point out that even married women are called ladies as a sign of respect and married men are at other occasions called gentlemen also as a sign of respect, but fail to appreciate that gender bias is inherent in the organization”s failure to consistently apply the corresponding term “gentlemen” to males. Over the years, the TM organization has implemented a deliberate policy of segregating the sexes in its parochial schools, course facilities, assemblies, etc., and in doing so, has placed itself outside the mainstream of American life.”
=====
* key overview
of the “Transcendental Meditation
religious-political organization:
=> http://skepdic.com/tm.html
“Patrick Ryan, a graduate of “MUM” (Maharishi University of Management) and a practitioner of TM for ten years, founded a support group for former members (TM-Ex).”
According to Mr. Ryan –
“In its advertising, TM emphasizes the practical benefits of meditation – particularly the reduction of stress. TM promoters show videos of members from all walks of life testifying to its benefits. TM sales pitches are full of blood pressure charts, heart-rate graphs, and other clinical evidence of TM’s effectiveness. Not mentioned is the fact that scientific tests show similar benefits can be obtained by listening to soothing music, or by performing basic relaxation exercises available in books costing a couple of dollars. After a TM student pays up to several thousand dollars (currently) and receives his own personal mantra to chant, he is told never to reveal it to another. Why? Because the same “unique” mantra has been given — on the basis of age — to thousands of people.”
_______________
Here is a direct quote from an article published in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA):
“Ex-members say that the TM movement trains them in the kinds of deception noted here. “I was taught to lie and to get around the petty rules of the ‘unenlightened’ in order to get favorable reports into the media, ” said one. “We were taught how to exploit the reporters’ gullibility and fascination with the exotic, especially that [which] comes from the East. We thought we weren’t doing anything wrong because we were told it was often necessary to deceive the unenlightened to advance our guru’s plan to save the world.” — see reference article
re: “T.M.’s Deceptions” — http://www.rickross.com/reference/tm/tm2.html
_____
* In perspective: — There are secular stress-reduction strategies/techiniques, including meditation (with a ‘mantra’), visualization, structured relaxation, mindfulness, & breathing exercises (”Chi Kung”) etc. which are well-researched, medically recommended, very effective, and beneficially appropriate for public schools as part of a non-sectarian health ed. (wellness) program. These life-skills plus well-being & study-enhancers can be taught (& practiced) within a knowledge-seeking educational environment which is open to students asking questions and encourages honest discussion — which fosters resilient focus & mindFULness — (rather than mindLESSness or fascist no-questions-asked rote obedience, as per the TM cult).
_____________
Here are VERY INFORMATIVE websites
from TM investigators & ex-TM members
who provide insider info. of the facts
(behind the facade)
re: the “Transcendental Meditation” religious-political
organization, including: deliberate deception,
fascist organizational framework, pay-to-play crowned Rajas,
duped & fleeced (advanced TM) ‘Sidhi – flyers’,
sexual discrimination as to women’s roles,
violations of the U.S. Constitution (as per
U.S. District Court & U.S. Appeals Court rulings),
& the organization’s obvious
penchant for bullying & censorship, etc. —
=> http://minet.org/
=> http://tmfree.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-open-letter-to-mr-goldstein.html
=> http://www.suggestibility.org/
**** Also, this RICK ROSS INSTITUTE
useful website provides a compendium of news articles
from various sources
about T.M. organization,
history & issues –
(click) => http://www.rickross.com/groups/tm.html
Acupuncture techniques are beneficial for alleviating stress for all types of people,
including single women, moms & their children too,
see article –
http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/news/20031015/acupuncture-calms-moms-stress-anxiety
Acupuncture techniques are beneficial for alleviating stress for all types of people,
including single women, moms & their children too,
see article –
webmd.com/anxiety-panic/news/20031015/acupuncture-calms-moms-stress-anxiety
_______
Thank you for the feed and comments everybody.
There’s lots of meditation techniques that can positively affect the stress response. TM is simply the most well known. Even simple controlled breathing has been shown to be effective.
Aside from the acupuncture, Chi-Gong and even Tai-Chi are wonderful activities that help lower chronic stress. During our training in Chinese Medicine, both Tai-Chi and Chi-Gong were an important part of our education. As I mentioned in the article, and several of you readers already know, there are many many ways to lower stress. Unfortunately, a lot of my patients complain they lack the time and patience for these periods of “time-out” to simply sit and breathe