Stop Stress Before it Stops You

Stop Stress Before it Stops You Jim Poole, MBA, President and CEO of Solace Lifesciences Dr. G. Blake Holloway, M.Phil, ND, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Solace Lifesciences

A Google search for “stress” returns 590,000,000 results. Take an hour and review the content listed in the first few pages of results and a simple theme resonates – stress is bad. We already know stress is bad. The problem is – what can we do about it? Leading research institutes, government agencies, top hospitals, and health experts all seem to agree that adopting healthy habits (e.g., relax, do fun things, think positive, meditate, avoid stressful situations, etc.) is the best way to manage your stress. Seriously? These are the solutions from some of the brightest minds to help solve the number one contributor of disease and, most likely, the root cause of your death.

How easy is it to pause and do breathing exercises when you get stressed out or overwhelmed with fear or anxiety. The problem with these solutions is that they seem simple and almost obvious on paper, but in practice they are nearly impossible. When your body gets overwhelmed with stress/fear/anxiety, your body’s fight-or-flight response gets activated and you lose all power to think rationally or process information. It’s not impossible to interrupt this response by pausing and practicing a mindfulness technique or breathing exercise, but it’s highly improbable without years of training and unusual discipline. It is critical to your health to create habits to effectively manage stress, maintain balance, and increase stress resilience. But how?

Let’s first understand why stress is the silent killer. According to research at Stanford University Medical School by Dr. Bruce Lipton, a renowned cell biologist, stress is a major factor in over 95% of all cases of disease. How stress is perceived provides a clue as to what is really involved when stress causes disease. In the majority of cases, it is not physical stress that is the main cause of disease, but mental and emotional stress. According to Dr. Lipton, although we may be born with genetic predispositions towards certain types of illnesses, Dr. Lipton states that it is actually our habitual thoughts and beliefs (along with what we are exposed to in our environment), not our genes, that have the most influence over whether we get sick or not. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, heart disease, cancer, and stroke accounted for more than half of the deaths in the U.S. in 2013 (1,339,150 of 2,596,993 deaths). All of these disease states are stress related.

Here is the primary issue with stress for people today. The “stress response” is designed to preserve us in the face of life-threatening danger. When our lives are at risk, the stress response kicks into action and activates the “fight-or-flight” system. This system initiates a chemical reaction that floods the blood stream with cortisol and activates our major muscle groups, senses, and vital organs to perform at peak levels to fight, flee, or freeze. This all happens without any ability to reason or think through our “next move” – it’s completely automatic and subconscious. This system has worked for thousands of years and is highly refined and sensitive. Every time we encounter an intensely stressful situation (real or perceived), the fight or flight system is activated and away we go. Our midbrain does not discriminate whether we are in a life-threatening situation or not. So, when you have a conflict at work, or an argument with your spouse, or your teenager won’t listen to you, or you are late to a meeting and there is highway construction up ahead, your body behaves like your life is in danger and floods you with cortisol. In these circumstances, this phenomenon is over-kill, unhealthy, and seemingly outdated. But the problem is how can you override human survival programming.

There must be a way to help cope with stress in today’s lifestyle. Here is what the experts at the Mayo Clinic recommend.

You can learn to identify what stresses you and how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally in the face of stressful situations. Stress management strategies include:

• Eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise and plenty of sleep

• Practicing relaxation techniques such as trying yoga, practicing deep breathing, getting a massage or learning to meditate

• Taking time for hobbies, such as reading a book or listening to music

• Fostering healthy friendships

• Having a sense of humor

• Volunteering in your community

• Seeking professional counseling when needed

Again, these suggestions all seem simple enough and certainly can provide benefits, but what if there was a better way? What if there was a technology that was simple to use, works immediately, and works in all circumstances? What if there was a way to rescue us from over-reacting to ordinary daily circumstances and guide us out of “survival mode” when it is not a life-threatening situation?

NuCalm® is the world’s first and only patented neuroscience technology clinically proven to lower stress and improve sleep quality without drugs. This technology gives you the power and control to slow down and recharge when you need to. NuCalm predictably and quickly “flips the switch” from high cortisol and adrenaline to deep relaxation. This allows your body to stop the flood of cortisol and transition away from the stress response and into deep relaxation and restoration. NuCalm quickly slows down your mind and body and activates your brain-heart-lung connection to optimize diaphragmatic breathing, oxygen-rich red blood cell flow, optimal healing, and muscle recovery. With NuCalm your mind wanders and your body idles in its optimal healing state. In 30 minutes, or less, you can go from stressed and out of control, to a state of deep calm and balance. Every single time you do a NuCalm treatment, your body will achieve balance of your autonomic nervous system. Your physiology will be optimized and your mind will be clear and focused. Stress will not interfere with your decision making. NuCalm also provides the neurophysiology and biochemistry necessary for improving sleep and managing circadian rhythm dysfunction. By restoring autonomic nervous system balance, NuCalm helps restore your body’s natural rhythms, allowing you to heal and optimize your biological systems to achieve peak performance.

Some unique advantages of using NuCalm include: it’s all-natural (no drugs, no recovery time), it’s simple to use (minimal training), it stops the stress response within minutes, and the effects last hours and sometimes days. Regular use of NuCalm will help build stress resiliency and improve sleep quality.

“NuCalm has proven to be a remarkably reliable tool for helping to modulate cortisol levels and inflammation. NuCalm quickly takes people out of their catabolic breakdown mode and shifts them into a healthy build-up mode so they can heal and recover as quickly as possible. When people are in a balanced nervous system state, they respond instinctively instead of reacting impulsively, and thereby can perform at their highest level.” – Julie Burns, MS, RD, CCN, Nutritionist for the Chicago Blackhawks and CEO of SportFuel, Inc.

Since October 2014, NuCalm has been a fundamental therapy at the Hippocrates Wellness Comprehensive Cancer Wellness Program in West Palm Beach, Florida. Dr. Janet Hranicky, head of the Comprehensive Cancer Wellness Program, has seen that effective stress management through repeated NuCalm use can alter the psychoneuroendocrine regulation of the immune system to improve the immunosuppressive status of cancer patients.

"I incorporated NuCalm in the Comprehensive Cancer Wellness Program because of its proven ability to remediate stress at the midbrain level without drugs or psychotherapeutic intervention. There is extensive research in the literature that shows a strong correlation between stress, psychological factors, and cancer. Evidence exists linking an individual’s stress response to, not only the development and course of cancer, but also to their response to treatment, as well.

I focus a lot on cognitive behavioral interventions - helping people think healthier, to have healthier emotional responses, to have healthier, richer, more meaningful experiences and awareness to the things in their life so that they’re not upsetting themselves in the ways that they previously used to. My experiences have shown that people can only think themselves well so much, before they encounter a roadblock, because what really becomes important is neural coherence in the brain.

The preliminary results of our NuCalm research study are indicating a definite impact on strengthening the parasympathetic nervous system and down-regulating stress physiology, as evidenced by pre and post testing of patient Heart Rate Variability (HRV). NuCalm relaxes the body within minutes, creating a state of deep relaxation which allows the old limbic area of the brain to experience a state of perceived safety and comfort. This feeling of safety and comfort triggers a parasympathetic response and the chemical changes physiologically connected with it. When the old brain is calm and feels safe, the frontal cortex can experience synchronicity and flow throughout the entire organism and allow the person to go into a state of deep relaxation - perhaps, deeper than they might have gone for a long, long time. That state, we know, is a healing state. Going into and having periods of deep, restorative rest and relaxation is hugely important for getting better, getting well, and for creating optimal health and wellness. For most patients, there has been a chronic stress physiology involved with cancer, both before the diagnosis and, then, for sure, secondary to having a diagnosis. The NuCalm state of deep relaxation allows for recuperation and a reboot of the system that can provide the resiliency necessary to come back to where regeneration can occur. Regeneration occurs when we can bring down the stress physiology because the immune system, the hormonal system, and all of the healing mechanisms will begin to buoy back up and begin to self-regulate again. NuCalm can create regular states of deep relaxation and comfort to attain the coherency in the brain necessary for regulating balance and homeostasis for health. This state of relaxation and comfort is pivotal to the work I do in psychoneuroimmunology in cancer."

– Dr. Janet Hranicky

Through Dr. Hranicky’s CCWP and vision, NuCalm is being used today to help manage stress for cancer patients and their families. Here is the story of Jackie and Greg that continues to inspire us all.

“In June 2015, I attended the CCWP. Dr. Hranicky worked with Jim Poole, CEO of Solace Lifesciences, who educated us on the NuCalm technology. NuCalm seemed too good to be true… that I could do this easy 4-step process and become relaxed within minutes, and better yet, achieve the theta healing state. I called my husband, Greg to come attend the next demonstration and experience this for himself. We were both blown away by the experience of NuCalm and left the demonstration feeling relaxed, clear headed, and filled with positive energy.

Greg and I were dealing with intense life changes and NuCalm couldn't have come at a better time. Six years earlier, a stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis turned our lives upside down. I was forced to close my optometric practice of 25 years, and Greg shut down his business in order to care for me. At the same time, the housing bubble burst, and we lost our investment properties, our home, and our health insurance. We persevered, and I recovered only to be confronted a few years later by a diagnosis of stage 4 metastatic cancer to the spine. The pain and the cancer required me to have 7 vertebrae fused with 17 inch Harrington rods down both sides of my back in a 9 hour surgery. This, of course, labeled me disabled, terminally ill, and I was given 6 months to get my affairs in order. Our children were about to enter high school and college. Greg decided to move us south to Florida where, at least, I would be safe from falling on ice.

In Florida we learned about the CCWP, just as Solace Lifesciences was preparing to do a study on the effects of NuCalm and stress on cancer patients. The day I heard Mr. Poole lecture, and experienced NuCalm, literally changed our lives. One month after purchasing our NuCalm system, I learned that the rods in my spine were both severed after just being inserted 9 months earlier. How could this be? How will I endure another 9-hour surgery and recovery? Fear and panic consumed me immediately! I began feeling instant unbearable pain where there was none prior to seeing the X-ray. I used my NuCalm right there in the doctor’s office, and it completely relaxed me and reset me emotionally and physically. I regained my composure and was then able to ask appropriate questions rather than blurting out emotions. We decided that the surgical correction could wait until there were complications. I'll never forget the overwhelming feeling of being "broken," and how NuCalm helped me cope immediately.

One week later, my mother suffered a stroke. I used NuCalm to, not only handle my own concerns, but I also NuCalmed my mother in the hospital during her recovery. She recovered in record time to the amazement of everyone. The people who observed her recovery started asking how we were managing all of this. It’s simple really… stress negatively impacts healing and recovery, and NuCalm lowers stress.

Greg and I now live in the present moment and respond to life's twists, rather than reacting to them with useless drama and emotion. A “6 month to live” diagnosis turned into 2 years of living life in the present and enjoying each day. NuCalm has helped me manage stress, avoid unhealthy food choices, avoid a second spinal surgery, and stay alive. I believe this is the secret to our success and wellness. The quality of our lives was so enriched by attending Dr. Hranicky's CCWP and meeting the makers of NuCalm. Without NuCalm, the anxiety of living with a terminal illness, an unstable spine, and loss of financial freedom, would have been too much to process. When our lives seemed to be in pieces, NuCalm brought us peace, comfort, and clarity. Thank you Solace Life Sciences! Your vision and compassion for helping others is noble and inspiring."

– Dr. Jackie Campisi

Brother Craig Marshall was a yoga monk with the Self-Realization Fellowship for 35 years and lived in an ashram. He became a swami and traveled the world, lecturing on meditation techniques, how to develop intuition, spiritual progress, and balanced living. During those years, Brother Craig meditated over 100,000 hours in private and group meditations, using various techniques plus devotion, as instructed by the organization’s founder, Paramahansa Yogananda, who wrote the classic book, “Autobiography of A Yogi”.

Here are Brother Craig’s personal observations about NuCalm.

“I started using NuCalm about 3 months ago, and use it almost every day. I have experimented with using it at different times of the day, while lying on my bed, for 30-60 minutes per session.

I find that, EVERY TIME, I find myself refreshed, energized, optimistic, focused, and somehow CLEAR about whatever activity I engage in following my NuCalm session. My family members regularly comment that I look “relaxed, calm, different”, and they see a decided shift before & after my use. I feel that I have greater creative energy, but that this energy comes from a different & deeper place than my ordinary will power and agendized to-do list (which generally feels like “obligation”).

When I come out of sessions with NuCalm, I don’t feel groggy or disoriented, as I generally do after a mid-afternoon nap. Instead, I feel like a new person, ready for whatever comes next, but in a mood of what I would call “refined creativity and calm expectation.”

I would add that there are subtle, but distinguishable cumulative effects. I sleep deeper at night. I have greater positiveness and calmness in my normal emotional life, and I feel a confidence that comes from having a tool that can so consistently and directly change my state of consciousness in a way that “deepens” my consciousness.

I also have used NuCalm before my regular meditation practice, and know that it focused me and “sets the stage” for deeper states of consciousness in a faster and more effective way than just closing my eyes and focusing on my breath until my mind slows down.

Before I started using NuCalm, I had experimented with many concentration and meditation techniques, including several different types of breath work, as well as journaling, visualization, affirmation, plus prayer and various simple rituals. I have done yoga postures and various energization exercises, as well.

NuCalm, for sure, gives me an “edge” in my spiritual practice, which I could best describe by taking OFF the “edge” of my normal daily consciousness and centering me in a deeper and healthier part of my true Self….”

– Brother Craig Marshall

One of the big challenges with stress is that you cannot see it. You can certainly feel it – psychologically, emotionally, and physically. You can see the impact of stress in many forms physiologically – cancer, heart disease, diabetes, IBS, auto-immune diseases, etc. But, the impact of stress is not immediate and when we don’t feel stressed, we generally don’t consider developing a stress management strategy. As a matter of fact, most people have never considered a stress management strategy. Well, if you value your health, if you value your relationships, if you value having peace of mind, you may want to develop a stress management strategy that is healthy, easy to do regularly, and satisfying to your happiness and emotional needs. It’s imperative to your health to be able to manage stress and not be managed by it. The interesting thing about developing a healthy, regular stress management activity is that when you can effectively manage stress - sleep, diet, and exercise activities get easier. Removing stress is addition by subtraction. Make 2016 the year you learn how to manage stress. Your life depends on it.