STRESS REDUCTION:

• Take a flower essence Spray:

Take Dealing with Stress Spray.  This essence helps realize stress is part of everyday life but you can deal with it effectively and be happy about your decisions.  The Spray is designed from flower essences. Brand: www.mmbotanicals.com Click on Emotional, Dealing with Stress, and click on the spray.

Take Relieve & Restore spray. For situations where the body is under extreme stress, physical or emotional, from shock or injury, whether by accident, surgery or failure of any if its vital systems. This  Spray is designed from flower essences. Brand: www.mmbotanicals.com  located under “Physical”, Click on Relieve & Restore, Aura Spray

• Change diet. Eat more fresh produce and protein and less refined sugar.

• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine.

• Avoid alcohol.

• Get enough sleep.

• Exercise, even light exercise provides improvement. Update your iPod with nice music or a free Podcast (www.iTunes.com) and take a walk. Buy a workout video and/or workout machine. Join a gym.

• Buy a bicycle and actually use it.

• Have a massage. There are many different kinds: Swedish, cranial-sacral, deep-tissue, Reiki, etc.

• Take a warm bath.

• Take a nap once in a while.

• Get a pet.

• Workout in the garden.

• Perform housework. Sometimes the repetitive motion of the vacuum or of mopping the floor sooths the mind.  Perform jobs around the house. The satisfaction of having a small job done can release endorphins and reduce stress regarding the big jobs.

• Reward yourself with something you like to do or experience.

• Perform aroma therapy.

• Listen to good music on CD or iPod or read a favorite book or do both.

• Meditation, visualization, guided imagery, self-hypnosis, Progressive Muscular Relaxation (Tense all muscles and then one by one relax them), Perform bio-feedback, etc. The Wild Divine has a great meditation/biofeedback computer program that teaches people how to relax in 15 guided steps. Click here for the Healing Rhythm Program.

• Breathing: This is the one involuntary body function you can consciously control. The first step is to simply bring your breathing under control:

Exhale completely.

Then slowly take a deep breath in through your nose.

Expand your diaphragm/belly to bring air into the lower portion of your lungs.

As you gradually fill your lungs from bottom to top, expand your chest.

Even lift your shoulders for a last bit of fresh air .

Then relax and let the air flow smoothly out of your body.

Pull in your stomach at the end to expel the last bit of stress.

Then begin another breath.

• Do something cultural like go see a movie or a play, visit a museum.

• Go to church or pray.

• Take a trip but ensure it does not add more stress. Good trips might be a cruise or an all-inclusive resort.

• Visit a naturopath, acupuncturist, or a therapist that specializes in balancing the body to balance your hormones and neurotransmitters.

• Do yoga (also good for back problems)

• Go shopping but do not go overboard in buying things.

• Veg out and do nothing for a day and don’t feel guilty about it.

• Learn something new such as speaking French, standup comedy, how to fix your bicycle, making digital movies, etc.

• Try to determine the cause of the stress and try working on reducing one aspect of it.

• Volunteer: Go visit some kids in a foster house or elderly people in a nursing home and cheer them up. Volunteer in a soup kitchen. Help inner city kids to read.  Organize a charity event.

• Go out to lunch/dinner with a friend and talk about it. Sometimes just talking about it helps.

• Host a football party or attend a party and just have fun.

• Join a sports or activity club such as bridge club, chess club, hiking club, softball club.

• Spend a day watching a marathon of movies such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy or all movies with Michael Keaton in them.

• Buy an energyboard from www.grander.com and relax with it.

• Buy an alpha-stim. This little machine is portable and can be used for 20 – 30 minutes to reduce stress and anxiety. www.alpha-stim.com

• Cocoa powder. www.beyond-a-century.com code order: 880.5 cocoa extract. This is pure cocoa without sugar; dissolve in a bit of water and drink it. Dosage: ¼  teaspoon. Too much will give a headache.

• Ashwaganda, also called Indian ginseng, 500 mg helps reduce stress levels.

• Ginseng may help relieve symptoms of stress and reduce cortisol levels; one or two 200-mg Sports Ginseng capsules daily are recommended.

• Consider conventional medications such as SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants if natural therapies fail to relieve symptoms. www.smart-drugs.com sells prozac and paxil without a prescription.

Disclaimer: this information is not evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please visit your health practitioner for specific information.  Herbs might alter prescription drug doses.