We’d like to wish you Happy Holidays, and we sincerely hope that you have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year celebration. Not only is it the beginning of a new year, but it is the beginning of a new decade. So those new year’s resolutions are perhaps even more meaningful.
Happy Christmas from Excel ….and stay safe and well!
It’s been another good year for us at Excel because we’ve been able to help more of our clients to recover from injury and disability. We have been able to assist our clients to achieve their health and wellness goals with our first-class rehab gym and our Yoga and Pilates classes. We’re thrilled that we’ve added even more Pilates classes in the last few months. We’re also delighted that we have a new and experienced Physiotherapist, James Konstantakopoulos who will be joining us in early January.
This is the time of year that we reconnect with family, friends (and ourselves), and take some quiet time away from the hustle and bustle. The Christmas holidays are a real treat that most Aussies treasure, whether we spend our days at the beach, at the movies, reading a book or just doing nothing! Yes, unproductive time can be very productive! It helps the body and mind to slow down and get out of that ‘flight or fight centre’ that is often pretty revved up through those crazy days leading up to the holidays.
During that flight or fight (as well as freeze and fawn) time our body’s sympathetic nervous system (SNS) goes into overdrive. That means that the part of our nervous system that regulates healthy stress hormones that deal with regular activity levels stays switched on for longer. Stress hormones that generally help us, such as adrenaline and cortisol, can go into overdrive. The result of this is that we wind up with an increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, more anxiety and less sleep. Even though Christmas is lovely, it can also be quite stressful, as we have high expectations of ourselves and others that can’t always be met. For those of us who are alone, or who are experiencing Christmas without a loved one for the first time, it can be tough.
The counterbalance to the SNS is the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). That’s the mental place that we enter on about the third or fourth day of our holiday. The PNS is activated during rest and enhances our enjoyment of that rest time. We enjoy our food more; we sleep better, we get more connected to others, and our true selves.
Not surprisingly, we see more injuries when the SNS is activated. That’s because people are stressed and tired, and they are rushing, often lifting poorly, or too heavily, being generally more accident-prone.
That’s one reason that we think it is essential to keep our practice open during the holiday season. There are usually, unfortunately, a few injuries that occur during the holidays. Acute injuries such as back strains, ankle sprains or wrynecks should be treated soon after they occur so that you can enjoy the rest of the holiday season. We have a range of tapes and braces to help support an acute injury
We don’t want you to injure yourself over the Christmas period! So take the time to destress, relax, and enjoy all that it has to bring. That way, you can reduce your risk of injury and let the body and mind recover. Our clients often have a break from their sports or gym routine, so a bushwalk, ocean swim or bike ride can be a great change to your regular exercise routine. And if you’re one of our clients, don’t forget to do your stretches!
We will be open throughout the holiday period, except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. So if the unexpected should happen and you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having had an injury, then our Physio’s will be here to help, call us on 1300 650 510.
