![](https://croixviewfamilychiropractic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/shell.jpg)
As a chiropractor I see how stress affects the body on a daily basis. It is common that people will hold tension due to stress in either their shoulders and upper back or down in their hips. These are big joints in the body and the muscles surrounding them get tense and tight. When I walk into a room I can see the stress in their posture or the way they are sitting and then when I feel their spine. Because we live in the Midwest our automatic response to “how are you today?” is usually something like “oh, I am fine”. My response to that is well your body is telling me otherwise so what’s really going on. Then they spill that they are having a stressful event in their lives and they want to know what my magical power is that I knew that without them telling me. It’s quite simple, I feel it in their body. Again, as a chiropractor I get to help the physical body to relax but that’s not quite enough. Dealing with stress in a healthy way is something I talk to my patients about on a daily basis. It comes down to what can you let go of? As a type A person who has always had a problem dealing with stress, I know that what I ask of people is not easy. But I also have the pleasure of seeing that when we do let go it has a powerful effect.
If you are a patient in the office, you might know the whole team at Croixview Family Chiropractic including myself, Dr Jen and all the lovely chiropractic assistants went to San Diego for a chiropractic conference a couple weeks ago. While we were there each member of the team got to practice the art of letting go. I wanted to describe the exercise we all did so that you can think about how it could look in your life. We got to do a lot of team bonding while we were out of town. Every single one of us has different life circumstances and different levels of stress that come from different experiences. The common ground is we all have something we can let go of and we did just that. We each spent time deciding what is one thing or belief about ourselves that does not serve us. We went to the beautiful Mission Beach and found a perfect shell to be a symbol for that thing we want to let go of. Each of us put out intention into the shell and then threw it into the ocean. Personally, I found this incredibly freeing. The hardest part can be choosing what you need to let go of. Deep down I think we all know what that is for us personally.
This is something you can do with your whole family. Maybe you throw a rock in the river, a snowball in the park or anything else you can think of that works for you. You don’t have to even pick something large, it could be small, the only thing that matters is it is personal to you. Have some fun with this exercise. By decreasing something that causes you stress you will be one step closer to the person you want to become. We would love to see what you come up with feel free to share it to our Facebook page and we will be cheering you on. So, what can you let go of?