stress Archives - AZupkaCounseling

June 16, 2025 by Alan Zupka

Why Does Exercise Reduce Stress?

Rewriting the Story of Stress Through Movement

Stress is not just a feeling; it is a story the body and mind begin to tell when they perceive pressure, overwhelm, or imbalance. As a therapist, I often guide clients in exploring the narratives they hold around stress and well-being. One of the most powerful tools I encourage people to integrate into their daily lives is exercise. With a physician’s approval, movement can become a meaningful part of your stress management story, supporting both your emotional regulation and physical vitality.

Here is how exercise supports emotional and psychological resilience:

1. Exercise Encourages the Release of Endorphins: Endorphins—natural chemicals produced by the brain, help ease pain, lift mood, and buffer stress. When you move your body, your system produces more of these powerful messengers, promoting a greater sense of well-being. From a cognitive-behavioral perspective, these physiological changes can help shift negative thought patterns and make it easier to engage in more adaptive coping strategies.

2. Movement Enhances Sleep Quality: Poor sleep often reinforces the cycle of stress and emotional dysregulation. Research shows that consistent physical activity improves both sleep onset and sleep quality. Improving your rest gives your brain the reset it needs to manage stress more effectively and interrupt rumination cycles that may keep you up at night.

3. Mindful Distraction and Present Moment Awareness: Exercise can serve as a form of embodied mindfulness. When you focus your attention on your breathing, posture, and movement, you give your mind a chance to pause from looping worries. This practice redirects your thoughts and helps cultivate a sense of agency, reinforcing a narrative of strength and presence.

If you are new to exercise, it is essential to begin gently. Movement should be a compassionate act, not a punitive one. Listen to your body and honor your limits. Choosing an activity that brings you joy, whether it is dancing, yoga, walking, swimming, or something else, will increase the likelihood of staying engaged with your routine. Remember, there is no “right way” to move; what matters is how it supports your emotional and physical well-being.

When Movement Alone Is Not Enough

Sometimes, even when we add healthy habits like exercise into our lives, stress can continue to feel overwhelming. If you find yourself stuck in the same stress cycle despite your efforts, I invite you to reach out. I help individuals reconnect with their strengths, reshape unhelpful thought patterns, and revise the internal narratives that hold them back. Together, we can work toward greater clarity, balance, and meaning in your life.

You do not have to navigate this journey alone. Contact me today to begin a conversation about what is possible.

April 29, 2024 by Alan Zupka

Managing Stress: 5 Effective Strategies

Did you know that chronic stress can have serious consequences on your health? It’s true—stress can make it difficult to sleep, weaken your immune system, and lead to other problems like heart attacks, strokes, anxiety, and depression. Plus, stress can cause irritability, lack of motivation, and difficulty concentrating, thereby negatively impacting your work and personal relationships.

If you’re feeling stressed, one of the best things you can do is speak to a therapist who can recommend stress relief techniques that are tailored to your specific circumstances. But in the meantime, we’ve compiled the following five strategies for stress management.

1. Eat a Nutritious Diet

It’s very common for stressed individuals to turn to comfort foods, which are typically high in fat and sugar. But it’s important to stick to a balanced diet, even in times of stress. Research shows that certain foods can impact stress levels—for example, lean proteins and herbal teas can help reduce stress, while refined carbohydrates and caffeine can make you feel more stressed.

2. Exercise

Stress often causes chronic fatigue, and if that’s the case for you, you may have a hard time summoning the motivation to work out. But it’s important that you find a way to incorporate some type of physical activity into your daily routine. Exercising can stimulate the body to produce endorphins and reduce its levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

3. Establish Boundaries

Do you often feel stressed because you’re being pulled in too many directions at once? Setting healthy boundaries may help. For example, at work, this may involve shutting down your computer at a certain time each day, speaking up when you have too much on your plate, and avoiding office gossip.

4. Make Time to Relax

When work, school, and family obligations become overwhelming, you may feel like you don’t have any time left over to focus on yourself, but it’s important to carve out time for self-care and relaxation. Think about what brings you peace—whether that’s going to the movies, getting a pedicure, or working on a jigsaw puzzle—and set aside time to do that on a regular basis.

5. Meditate

Research shows that focusing on what’s going on around you and letting go of any intrusive thoughts and feelings can greatly reduce stress levels. One of the best things about meditation is that it can be done almost anywhere, so you can employ this technique whenever you start to feel stressed throughout the day.

Need Help Coping With Stress?

If you’re looking to improve your stress management skills, we can help. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

November 27, 2022 by Alan Zupka

Stress’s Physiological Impact on the Body

The old saying goes, “Into every life, a little rain must fall.” Stress is like rain. A little of it can be a good thing. But too much can cause havoc and devastation.

Our bodies are designed to handle a little bit of acute or sudden stress. But when stress is prolonged or becomes chronic, it can devastate our health.

Here are just some of the ways stress can negatively impact your body:

Respiratory Issues

Prolonged stress can lead to respiratory issues such as shortness of breath. Individuals who do not have an underlying respiratory disease may not be very impacted. But for those with pre-existing conditions such as COPD and asthma, stress can dangerously exacerbate the situation.

Heart Health

When we are stressed, we are in fight or flight mode. This causes our heart to beat faster and our blood vessels to dilate. In short-term scenarios, these physical manifestations help get us out of danger.

But for prolonged periods, this can put a lot of stress on our heart and blood vessels, potentially leading to a heart attack or stroke.

Gut Health

Did you know that 80% of your immune system is located in your gut? It’s incredibly important to ensure your gut is healthy!

But chronic stress can wreak havoc on your gut by changing the beneficial gut bacteria, and a change in this bacteria can negatively impact your mood. Consequently, when you’re already feeling stressed, the last thing you need is also to feel depressed.

Sexual Health

The nervous system influences both the male and female reproductive systems. When we are stressed, our sexual hormones can get out of balance, and we can lose sexual desire. Men may find it hard to achieve and maintain an erection. Stress can also make it hard to conceive and affect a woman’s menstrual cycle.

As you can see, stress can really negatively impact your physical health. While we cannot stop the rain from falling or stress from entering our lives, we can practice healthy stress management. That means eating right, getting enough exercise, and getting quality sleep each night.

SOURCES:

October 9, 2022 by Alan Zupka

The Three Types of Stress

Stress is a normal part of life. And a little bit of stress can actually be a good thing. For instance, when we lift weights, we are stressing our muscles, helping them to become bigger and stronger. Similarly, little bits of mental stress can help us become more skilled and resilient.

But too much of any type of stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and overall health. The following are the three main types of stress according to the American Psychological Association:

Acute Stress

Acute stress occurs suddenly and out of the blue. Your boss may throw you a big project to finish under a tight deadline. Or you just barely missed a bad car accident. You will experience an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and perhaps a migraine for a short period.

Episodic Acute Stress

These are mini-crises that happen to some people on a fairly regular basis. Some people take on too much responsibility or are somehow overburdened in their life, and so they live in a constant state of tension.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress results from serious life problems that wear us down for months or years. There is really no let up with this type of stress. Chronic stress has been linked to heart disease and stroke.

Chiropractic to Help Beat the Effects of Stress

Seeing a chiropractor won’t magically make you immune from stressful events in your life. But regular chiropractic care can help your body deal with the effects of stress on your body. Whether you need help with tense muscles, ease headache symptoms, or get a better night’s sleep, we can help you hold onto your health and well-being.

If you’d like a free consultation, please give us a call or stop by our office.

Remain Curious