MIND-BODY

The universe gives us stress and it is our job to cope with it. Hans Selye described stress as the result of any demand on the body, be it mental or physical. This description encompasses the stress we don’t like to admit that accompanies positive situations such as weddings. Frankly, how many times have you heard of the bride coming down with a cold right after her wedding?  There is plenty of scientific literature to back up the relationship between stress, driven by either positive or negative factors, and physiological mechanisms involving the immune, cardiovascular, endocrine, and many other physiological systems in humans.

PAIN

One of life's greatest challenges is coping with pain.  This aversive sensation is frequently compounded by fear, particularly when the source of the pain is unknown.  Similar to aversive emotions like anger and anxiety, the purpose of pain is to motivate.  Pain motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future.  By understanding our pain, we perceive it with less adversity.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are a group of connective tissue disorders that can be inherited and are varied both in how they affect the body and in their genetic causes. They are generally characterized by joint hypermobility (joints that stretch further than normal), skin hyperextensibility (skin that can be stretched further than normal), and tissue fragility.  https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/