Stress Relief Tips Archives - Page 2 of 9

What Would Help You Manage Stress?

There are lots of strategies.

Time management
Breathing techniques
Yoga, exercise and other physical activities
Biofeedback
Massage
Stress games
Journal, visualize, and use affirmations
Spend time in nature
Pet a dog
Engage in an enjoyable activity
Meditate

The list is long and this is just the beginning. But where do you start?

I would like to help but I don’t know what you need to make a plan to manage stress.

What is your biggest obstacle to managing your stress? What would be most helpful to you?

Do you know what you need to do but can’t fit it in? Or do you have no idea where to start? Do you need regular reminders?

Do you prefer to relax your body (like using yoga, massage or breathing)? Or do you prefer to manage your stress (like setting boundaries, managing your time, and saying no to stressful obligations)? Do you need to re-prioritize your life to include enjoyable, nourishing activities?

Leave a comment below with your ideas, worries and suggestions.

I’m developing some stress management solutions designed to help you. Your comments will help me.

Thank you.

And stay posted. I’ll have something new for you soon.

By Julia Rymut;

Yoga for Stress Relief

Yoga is excellent for stress.

Doing yoga for stress relief is one of the most effective ways to move back into a calm frame of mind, and it can do it almost instantly. Yoga stretches and relaxes the body and calms the mind. It can change a crazy day to a peaceful one. It grounds, centers and puts you back inside your body so that you can accomplish what you need to do.

Yoga can relieve your stress by:

increasing your oxygen flow
slowing or stopping the lists of things-to-do in your mind
giving you a chance to do something nice for yourself
keeping your body in good working order to better cope with stressful situations

Yoga stress relief is one of my favorite tools for stress. I have done many yoga classes and many yoga styles. After a good yoga class, I feel fresh and relaxed, much like the “glowy” feeling after a sauna.

Choosing Your Yoga Class

If you have never done yoga, the many teachers, studios and traditions can be daunting.

To pick your first class, you might make convenience your most important consideration. Can you get to the class easily? Is the location convenient? Can you afford it? Sometimes work places or your hospital/clinic provide classes which fulfill these qualifications.

Once you have done enough yoga to know the difference between triangle pose and warrior pose, you may want to pick a particular style and study it more deeply.

Some yoga traditions will emphasize that they are relaxing or restorative. Often these classes will have quiet, longer poses. The poses will often emphasize forward bends and they will be supported. The classes will slow you down by being, well, slow.

However, to reduce stress, consider this: sometimes one can relax by focusing deeply on vigorous poses as well–but the key is focus.

If you are competitive with yourself or your neighbor, or if you turn your mind on and “think” too much, active yoga classes will be one more thing in your energetic day. You’ll become cranked up and euphoric, and take that rush with you when you leave the studio.

So if you can go deeply into your yoga practice, don’t limit your stress relief to just restorative yoga.

Here is a list of some popular yoga styles:

Iyengar yoga

My favorite yoga style is Iyengar. My first yoga classes were Iyengar and perhaps I’ll never love another school as much as this one.

Iyengar yoga is best known for its use of props. Props are used to allow you to get the benefits of a pose, even if your body can not get in the position completely. Some people love the props, others hate them. Depending on the instructor, the props can make a pose more deep or they can be a nuisance that you fuss with.

For me, the props are the least important part of Iyengar yoga. Iyengar yoga is taught with very precise instructions about how to move and position the body. I often feel very deep movements which I have never experienced (translation: I often come home very sore!). My poses are better and my body becomes more limber.

Because of the precision, Iyengar yoga is good for focusing the mind. My undisciplined thoughts focus on my body, and then body and mind come together.

Anusara Yoga

Anuara yoga has its roots in Iyengar, and teaches precise poses, however it is slightly less technical and more heart centered. In the classes I have taken, it is definitely supportive, with people clapping when someone does a difficult pose.

Bikram Yoga

Bikram is called “hot yoga” because it is done in a hot room–a very hot room. The heat helps your muscles to relax and your body to detox. Be prepared with an extra set of clothes for after class, because you will not want to wear your soppy yoga attire home.

The same set of poses are done in each class. This sequence is designed to be an overall body workout, a tonic of sorts, which balances the whole body and detoxes the system.

By Julia Rymut;

Online Yoga and Stress Management

Yoga and stress management go hand in hand.

Yoga relaxes the body, stretching the muscles, oxygenating the blood and relieving sore, tense knots. Having a relaxed body will automatically lift your mood.

And in addition, yoga helps train your mind to be quiet by focusing on your pose. You concentrate on one thing, and all the little worries of the day melt away. You become grounded and peaceful with yoga. Stress Management becomes automatic.

How to Begin with Yoga

Classically, the best way to learn to do yoga is with a teacher.

Teachers help to focus you on your pose. They give you corrections in your posture, but more importantly, a teacher can give you insight about your practice. Are you pushing too hard or are you too lax?

Sometimes yoga poses create an inner battle. A teacher can help you with this. Years ago, every time I sat in Gomukhasana (Cow Face Pose), I would go nutty. My stomach would clench; I would tense my jaw; I felt like crawling out of my skin. Having a teacher helped me through the pose. In class I stayed in the pose longer, and gradually I learned how to cope with it. Without my teacher, yoga and stress management would have been contradictory.

Once you know how to do yoga, the next ideal yoga and stress management plan is to have a personal practice.

Practicing on your own allows you to go deeply and listen to your body and inner voice.

As ideal as classes and personal practices are, they are not always practical. The cost is high; the time commitment often impractical. Sometimes, you can’t find local classes. And we don’t always have the discipline to practice yoga entirely on our own.

The bridge between having a teacher and an active personal practice is an online yoga class.

Online Yoga and Stress Management

Online yoga classes offer an excellent way to practice yoga, have instructions and do it at your own pace and convenience. You are both alone and supported. Yoga and stress management both become possible.

Online yoga reduces the stress of getting to class. No longer do you rush to class after work, fighting traffic and then try to sit calmly on your mat. If you are uncomfortable in a class setting, from body issues to shyness, online yoga avoids those problems.
Online yoga gives more detailed instruction than a book, and you can tailor it to a more personal program than a TV show. By choosing your class, starting and stopping the video, and repeating sections or entire classes, you can make sure you really understand an instruction before you go on.
Many online yoga programs offer a forum and other community interaction, so you have a ready source of help, support and information. You are not alone, wondering why your back hurts in Ustrasana (Camel Pose). You can ask a question and get feedback.

Online yoga gives you training wheels to start your own personal practice. By using videos or audio instructions, you practice practicing on your own. You have guidance and independence.

I have an online yoga program that I highly recommend.

My Yoga Online

My Yoga (affiliate link) is a robust online yoga program.

Here you have many different instructors with many different backgrounds. You can see videos of many yoga practices, and choose a practice that fits your time and health needs. You view the videos as you wish, in any order, at any time. It is a huge library of yoga videos.

Typically, the videos are a voice over while one or two people do the pose. Many of the videos are yoga sequences–one yoga pose flowing to the next and the next.

My Yoga has a wealth of information, from yoga philosophy to healthy living, from pilates to T’ai Chi. If you want to learn about yoga, you can help here. The site is like yoga and natural health course.

Combine Yoga and Stress Management

Yoga is a great gift to quiet your mind. Stopping the blah, blah is one of the first steps to stress management. Yoga and stress management are truly two great sisters for your health.

My Yoga Review

By Julia Rymut;

What’s Your Happiness Project?

In “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, Gretchen decides that she wants to be happier. It’s not that Getchen was unhappy in her life. It’s more that she thought she should be happier. She had a great husband and great kids. She had money and her career was on track.

So why was she wasting her years kvetching and grumping at the people around her?

Gretchen decided to embark on The Happiness Project.

Gretchen is an ex-law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and she has a very organized, legalistic mind. She makes a calendar of goals and embarks on a year of increasing her happiness.

The Happiness Project fascinates me.

Gretchen’s story brings up a number of questions which have teased me for years.

What are reasonable expectations for happiness?

How committed are we really to being happy?

And how much of happiness is our circumstances, and how much is our attitude?

Creating Your Happiness Project

Gretchen begins by finding 11 key areas in her life which she wants to improve–marriage, parenthood, friends, eternity, attitude, work, play, passion, energy, money and mindfulness.

If I made my own list, my “Things to Work on to Increase Happiness” list would be: health, spirituality, time to do nothing, creativity, connection with friends, adventure, beautifying my environment, family, prosperity, clothes, nature and love.

What’s your list? What 11 things would you make a commitment to improve if you knew you’d be happier at the end?

Make Your Commitment

Gretchen took her 11 areas to improve and assigned each of them a month in the next year. Each month she set specific goals to improve these areas.
When the new month came, she added to her list until finally, by the 12th month, she was working on the whole picture.

When I think about doing that, I come up with a million excuses why I won’t do it. “It’s too much work.” “I’ll loose interest.” “I don’t have that much extra time.”

But how crazy is that?

Why won’t I commit to myself to work in the areas that I already know would help me be more happy? Even if I’m not more happy at the end of the year, I know I won’t be less happy for working on them.

In my own little mini-Happiness Project, I have been jogging for the last 3 days. This is a minor victory, not only because 3 days is a short time but also because I used to be much more athletic.

But still, I have run 3 days more than I ran the week before. I’m counting it.

I am committed to living a life of abundance and beauty and ease and connection. My commitment must extend farther than just ideas–I need action.

What are your key areas to improve to create an environment fertile for Happiness?

And how committed are you to them?

By Julia Rymut;

Ways to use Essential Oils to Relieve Stress — Part 3: Ingestion

Of the ways to use essential oils to relieve stress, internal use offers some of the most profound effects, and yet it is the least recognized. Find out how to ingest essential oils in a safe, effective way.

There are three main methods of using essential oils to relieve stress: topically, by inhalation and by ingestion. In this final part of our series, we will learn about how to safely use essential oils internally.

Tips about using Essential Oils to Relieve Stress

Among the ways to use essential oils, the least understood is internal use. Yet, when used properly internal use offers potent therapeutic benefits. The essential oils of the plants can support our organ systems, and balance our metabolism. Using the oils internally offers a way to increase the potency of the oils. And all of this is great if you are working to prevent or reverse the harms of chronic stress.

1. What essential oils are safe to use internally?

2. How do you find quality essential oils?

3. How do you use essential oils internally?

4. Which oils should I use internally?

5. When do I use essential oils internally?

6. What are the advantages of taking essential oils internally?

7. What precautions should I take with internal essential oil use?

1. What essential oils are safe to use internally?

There are two main considerations when choosing an oil to use internally.

First, you must check if a particular essential oil is certified as GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) by the FDA. If the oil is on this list, it will be safe to be used internally.

The second, and equally important consideration is the quality of the oil. Most essential oils, even the ones at health food stores and especially the ones at a bath and body shop, are made for the perfume industry. They can be adulterated with many chemicals to extend the oil or alter the scent. Even the term “natural” has no official meaning and may not guarantee the oil’s purity.

To judge an essential oil, you must ask:

–Is the oil genuine? Is it 100% natural (no synthetic additives)? Is it 100% pure (no similar essential oils added)? Is it 100% complete (not decolorized, recolored or deterpenated)?

–Is the oil authentic? Is the oil from the specific species listed on the label?

The best essential oils for internal use are from small production facilities who carefully produce their oils with a vision of aromatic healing. Each batch should be processed slowly, carefully and at low temperatures. And each batch, like a fine wine, will reflect the particulars of that harvest. The best oils will very in small ways from year to year.

The quality and purity of essential oils are important because they assure that you get the true benefits of essential oils, that you are not ingesting chemicals and that you are assured a predictable action from the oil.

Only use essential oils you trust.

2. How do you find quality essential oils?

The quality on any particular oil is difficult to assess, even to aromatherapists. Using spectrometers, companies can make sure their oil supply is pure on a gross level, but many chemicals can be added to an essential oil so that the spectrometer results mimic a pure oil.

The best way to find quality essential oils is to find a supplier you trust, and let them make the assessment. Ask questions about the oils–what do their labels “pure” or “natural” really mean? Do they know the farmers who raise their crops? Do they use low temperature distillation? Find a company which takes pride in the therapeutic value of their essential oils.

3. How do you use essential oils internally?

There are many ways to use essential oils internally.

–You can add a drop of oil to a glass of water or a teaspoon of honey. For example, a drop of lemon will make your water taste great. A drop of peppermint will taste good and ease stomach upset. Be prepared for a flavor blast!

–If the flavor is too strong, you can put a couple drops in a gelatin capsule and take that. Start with only a 2-4 drops until you know how your body will react.

–For those who enjoy the strong flavors, you can put a drop directly under your tongue. I use this with Thieves blend as a cold preventative. Peppermint will freshen your breath.

–And finally, one of the fun ways to use essential oils to really take advantage of the essential oil flavors is to cook with them. Some of the healing properties may be lost with the heat of cooking, but the flavor will be fantastic. Add oregano or basil to your tomato sauce. Add black pepper to your salsa (this is really good). Add lemon to your home-made lemonade and decrease the sugar. The lemon will make a tasty drink the kids will love.

For certain conditions, the French have other ways to use essential oils. They will sometimes use essential oils rectally or vaginally. Suppositories are especially effective for lung conditions because the oils are absorbed by the rectal veins and by-pass the liver on the way to the heart-lung circulatory tract.

4. Which oils should I use internally?

A starter list for you:

Longevity blend. Longevity is absolutely one of my favorite oil blends and I use it regularly to counteract the effects of stress. It is a very strong anti-oxidant, which helps your body repair the wear and tear of stress. It also contains oils which contain anti-tumural properties, support immune function, decrease the stickiness of blood cells and prevent degradation of fats in brain, heart, liver and kidneys.

This blend comes in a capsule form, so it is one of the easiest ways to use essential oils internally. The capsule is designed to dissolve in the intestines to maximize the absorption of the oils. Take Longevity daily to tonify your body, and balance your metabolism, counteracting the damage from stress.

Thieves blend. This is a great blend when your immune system is run-down because it is extremely anti-microbial.Take a drop or two under your tongue or in a capsule when you feel a cold coming on. It may prevent a cold or lessen its effects.

The Power of Essential Oils to Prevent a Cold
One winter my family joined my friend’s family in a cabin in northern Wisconsin. Nine of us were in close quarters for 4 days as my friend’s son came down with a cold which eventually became pneumonia. Only my friend and I took Thieves during those days, and only we stayed well. The other seven people all got sick. Thieves worked great for us.

Lemon. I use lemon to flavor my water so that I can drink my daily requirement. I avoid sugary drinks and keep my water intake high.

Grapefruit. I put grapefruit in my water when I want to curb my chocolate cravings (which, of course, escalate under stress). When my chocolate cravings becoming too consuming, I reach for the grapefruit instead.

Peppermint. If anxiety has your stomach churning, try a drop of peppermint in your water to sooth and calm your digestion.

5. When do I use essential oils internally?

Using essential oils therapeutically delivers potent healing directly into your body. Anytime you need major physical support , you can take essential oils internally.

There are two philosophical ways I use essential oils internally. Some oils I use regularly for health maintenance. For example, I regularly take Longevity or drink grapefruit.

Other oils I only use as relief for a specific health crisis. I don’t hesitate to take Thieves if I’m getting sick. And if I had a major disease, I would absolutely use essential oils as a part of my health plan.

6. What are the advantages of taking essential oils internally?

Whether essential oils are used internally, topically or by inhalation, the healing properties of the oils will enter your body. There is some debate about which of the ways to use essential oils is most effective, however. When using essential oils internally, digestive juices of the stomach may alter the effectiveness of the oil. However, the same could be said about the oils penetrating the skin when used topically.

In general, for emotional issues, I would inhale the oils as my first action, and then use them topically. For physical complaints, I would use them primarily either topically or internally. For a major disease or health crisis, I would use them all three ways.

It is important to remember, however, that no matter how you use the oils, you will be getting the health benefits from them. Do what is best for you, your body and your comfort level. Experiment. See what works and what doesn’t.

7. What precautions should I take with internal essential oil use?

Make sure your oils are GRAS.
At first, use only a drop or two. Later when you know how your body reacts, you may wish to increase it.
Use common sense–essential oils are very potent. Do not drink a bottle! This would seem obvious, but remember, anything in large doses is bad for you. If you have very young children, keep the bottle in a safe location, just like you do for any remedy.
Use pure oils only.
Epileptics and people with high blood pressure should consult with their doctor. They should use caution with high ketone oils like basil, rosemary, sage and tansy (tansy is not on the GRAS list anyway).
Pregnant women should consult with their doctor. They should avoid sage, fennel, and hyssop.
Do not give essential oils internally to children under 6.

This completes our series of using essential oils to relieve stress. Essential oils are one of the best tools for a stressed mother. She can regain her sanity while enjoying the prescription for her health.