Adapt to the Normal You Want

Posted by: The Balancing Center

The first week I lived near the El, I thought I would go crazy from the constant, disruptive rumbling. The second week I lived near the El, a guest asked me, “How do you sleep with that noise?” and I answered, “What noise?”

Humans are fantastic at adapting to their environments and mental, physical, and emotional circumstances. We tune out background noise, adjust to the fluctuating temperatures of the seasons, and can live fully without the full use of our bodies. The human capacity to adapt is remarkable--so remarkable that we often take it for granted and do not even remark on it!

Humans also adapt exceptionally well to pain and discomfort. When we are in a suffering state for long enough, our bodies come to accept that suffering as normal as part of its remarkable survival mechanism. If my body thinks it is under a constant threat, then my constant state of emergency response will become my new normal. I won’t look for an alternative solution because why would I? According to my body, everything is just fine. If I haven’t been able to stand up straight for over half my life, then that crooked view would grow to seem normal.

Which is your "normal?"

Having a misaligned spine is an example of a threat to your body. And you might not even know you are under a threat if you have been misaligned long enough. But even if your body thinks everything is fine, the stress of that misalignment is taking its toll.

Increased stress leads to increased cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that regulates countless bodily functions, including blood pressure, blood sugar, and the immune system. Too much stress and too much cortisol can lead to high blood pressure, hyperglycemia, suppressed immune function, thyroid troubles, weight gain--you might have heard this list before. At some point we might even grow accustomed to hearing that list of “bad things” thrown at us from every healthy corner of the Internet.

We have certainly grown accustomed to using medication to ease us into normalcy. But that’s not the point. Neither is the point the laundry list of scary things that can happen because of increased stress. The point is, you might ask yourself what pains or discomforts in your life and your body have you come to accept as normal? And is that really the “normal” you want or need? If so, then awesome. But if not, then what kind of normal do you want? What can and will you do to create that new and (hopefully) better normal for yourself?

One option would be to see if your neck is out of alignment and if you have been living under the low but constant level of stress that can cause. Getting back into alignment and balance can help unravel several other issues and problems that appear in your life--clearing the way for your body to relax and heal itself from the inside out. Now, what if that were your new normal?