Winding Down The Brain – Part 2

Following on from last month’s newsletter, here are some more practical ways to calm the busy brain:

1.    Chiropractic Adjustments
A healthy posture comes from a healthy foundation and for human beings that foundation is our spine and nervous system. Posture is not cosmetic, it’s indispensable to the way we function. Every part of the body requires information from the brain in order to work. This information travels from the brain, down the spinal cord and out through the nerves. The spinal bones are there to protect this delicate system.

Chiropractors assess the body to detect any abnormal motion or position of the spinal bones, pelvis and skull that may be affecting communication between the brain and the body. Chiropractic care restores function to the spine and removes interference from the nerve system, which in turn allows the body to function the way it’s designed to! Your Chiropractor will also often help you with your posture challenges.

2.    Posture Correction
When posture is compromised, a feedback loop opens, telling the brain that we are tense and hunched up – something must be askew. To correct posture, sustain these solutions:

A.    Make your desk or working space ergonomic
It is easy to set your desk and computer up ergonomically – just match the above imagine. Use thick books or foot stools to adjust your work station to give you all those beautiful 90-degree angles. If you are spending a lot of time looking at a laptop, make sure you are looking straight ahead, not up or down at it. By looking straight ahead, you avoid the posture hunch that generally comes with use of a laptop. Laptops are exceptionally useful for travelling or transportable use so don’t make it the problem, embrace an ergonomic solution and remember to get up often and move the body.

B.    Use a posture rehab device
By lying on a posture rehab device and doing stretches recommended by your Chiropractor, you can open up the whole chest cavity. For some reason, this area often sends messages to the brain that you are tensed up. Using the posture pole rehab device for 15 minutes, at least once a day, can help break a feedback loop that tells your mesencephalon (your four-wheel drive) that fight, or flights is imminent. Whilst you are on the posture rehab device, why not do some meditation or listen to some chilled music to rest the mind and wind down the brain even more?

C.    Be aware of your posture whilst walking and sitting
Visualise there is a balloon attached to the top of your head and a hook in your chest, pulling your chest up and out. (You are standing like a proud child with a medal on their chest). When the chest is in this posture, it allows for greater oxygenation and nerve flow. Consequently, the hips and buttocks will be tucked in, reducing any lumbar lordosis. By reducing that forward head posture, we look taller, more self-assured and most significantly feel more confident (hip-hip hooray!) Being in this upright posture also opens up the nerve pathways that flow through that upper chest/back area. We shut the feedback loop that tells our brain we are in strain.

Another essential facet of calming the Red Nucleus is physical exercise. While working out at the gym for instance, a large amount of people work on tensing up those muscles at the front half of the upper body. This is the worst thing you could do in an already wound up state. Bypass anything that winds up the pectoral muscles at the front of the body or that move your head forward. Focus instead of toning the extensor muscles between your shoulder blades, and on stretching the muscles at the front of your chest.

3.    Supplements
When it comes to supplements, we suggest you introduce high quality supplements that have been recommended by your health care practitioner. A well-known supplement that is often easily absorbed and many people benefit from is Magnesium.

Magnesium is an extremely important mineral in the body which is involved with over 300 metabolic reactions. These include energy production, nucleic acid production (human DNA), protein synthesis in the body, iron transports, cell signalling and structural functions in cell membranes, bones and chromosomes. Magnesium is an anti-stress nutrient and essentially it is involved in everything!

Lifestyle factors such as alcohol, caffeine, the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy may cause loss of magnesium in the body. A number of these may be tough to avoid hence taking a good quality supplement will assist what has been depleted.

Furthermore, vitamin D needs to be at an acceptable level in order to absorb magnesium. If you think your vitamin levels may be low, consult your healthcare practitioner for testing. In its natural form, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin absorbed from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. If due to environmental factors or personal reasons you are unable to get a healthy dose of regular sun exposure and from getting tested your levels are low know there are some high-quality Vitamin D supplements out there. For more important on this refer to our recent October 2018 newsletter.

There are plenty of very poor to very good supplements on the market and its easy to feel a little lost at sea. Therefore, check in with your trusted healthcare captain (professional) when purchasing a specific supplement. When it comes to magnesium here are 5 types that are easily absorbed and used by the body.

1.    Magnesium Phosphate
2.    Magnesium Amino Acid Chelate
3.    Magnesium Citrate
4.    Magnesium Orotate
5.    Magnesium Di-glycinate

We have now almost covered all of our practical ways to calm the busy brain however to finish we will run through lifestyle factors and meditation in the next newsletter.

Recommended Reads

• The 100 Year Lifestyle by Dr Eric Plaskers
• SD Protocol ‘Achieve greater health by learning to balance your physical, chemical and emotional wellbeing’ by Dr. Wayne Todd (also stocked in our practice!)