Ok, I’m going to try to stay off my soap box over this one.  I understand as a reformed smoker it’s important to keep an open mind on the subject.  So does smoking actually help with Stress Relief?  When I think back I remember when I felt stressed and wanted to calm down my first thought was generally to light up a cigarette. 

The right answer on getting rid of stress may be some type of Natural Stress Relief, but for a smoker it isn’t always that easy, especially since smoking is an addiction.  So what actually happens to make you feel so good?  Nicotine is a type of stimulant and one of the main ingredients in Cigarettes.  It releases a chemical in the brain called Neurotransmitters that regulate your moods and help to make you feel better after every cigarette.  But the down side is after a period of time the good mood disappears and you must have another cigarette to replace that feeling.

So, smoking in affect causes stress, simply because you experience stress if you don’t have one, and places you in a position where you need to constantly top-up your nicotine levels to continue feeling good.  In other words, you become addicted.

Here are 3 reasons smoking causes stress:

—> Stress Relief is only temporary: You will need to smoke another cigarette after a while to stop your body from experiencing withdrawal stress,

—> Smoking doesn’t actually solve your problems: They’ll still be there until you deal with them,

—> Smoking actually causes stress on your body – Studies have shown once you give up smoking your level of stress actually decreases.

It also appears work related stress has an impact on smoking … A recent article release by ninemsn in Australia shows 70% of smokers start smoking when they start in the workforce.  Also, men working over 50 hours per week are twice as likely to smoke then other workers.  In this article Dr Tony LaMontagne found smoking rates were closely linked to Stress. 

What’s the answer?  There’s no simple answer.  Obviously governments, employers and unions need to find ways to offer stress relief techniques other than smoking for their employees. 

But if you’re an individual looking at giving up there are always a number of different options.  You can use patches or gum, or you could be a hero like me and just go cold turkey.  If you use the cold turkey approach you will need different natural stress relief techniques to help your body’s withdrawal symptoms and to control the existing stress in your lifestyle.  You could try a good stress relief CD, exercise, relaxation breathing techniques or many other different stress management techniques.  By making your environment smoke free you’ll reduce your stress at work and will over all feel better for it, I know I did.

After a really stressful day there’s something strangely appealing to running a hot bath and soaking your troubles away.  But few people understand the true benefits on your body of this simple yet satisfying Stress Relief Technique. 

Water after all, is nature’s healer as it has positive effects on your skin and muscles. It helps to stimulate nerve reflexes and it calms your internal organs.

Combined with a stress relief CD a hot bath is the perfect Natural Stress Relief technique to release that built up tension.

But wait there’s more. A recent study from the Mayo Clinic found soaking in a hot bath provides similar benefits to exercising without all the extra strain on the heart.  Soaking in a hot bath increases your heart rate while it lowers your blood pressure. How does this work?  When you first get into a hot bath it speeds up your heart to send blood to the surface and disperse extra body heat into the air.  After a couple of minutes the warm blood causes your blood vessels to dilate, which decreases the resistance to blood flow and lowers your blood pressure.

A few other benefits of a hot bath include:

—> Overcoming Insomnia

—> It stimulates sweating and the release of toxins

—> With the addition of Epsom salts it helps arthritis and rheumatism

—> With sea salt it promotes healing and prevents infection

—> Promotes Stress Relief and Relaxation

When you’re feeling really stressed give a hot bath a go. It will release your built up tension.  While soaking you can read a book, meditate to a stress relief CD, listen to music, or simply just sit and relax.

A Journal (or Stress Diary) is a great Stress Relaxation Technique that many people had amazing success with.  It is a set method to record the thoughts and situations that stress you and is a way of putting your stress into perspective. 

It is used to identify, record and resolve any parts of your life that you feel stress. 

More about that in a moment.

Here are a few reasons a journal is a great Relaxation Technique:

—> It helps you to put your thoughts into perspective

—> You may see the things that were worrying you aren’t as big as what you thought

—> It can be used in the future for you to look back on

—> It transfers the stress from your mind to another place for you to reflect on

—> You can use it as a way to identify solutions to your problems

—> It is major step to stop your stress controlling you.

As a big fan of Natural Stress Relief keeping a journal is designed for you to record the areas of your life that stress you and to establish a plan going forward. 

A few of the points you should record in your journal include: 

—> A list of situations where you feel stress in your life (eg. Moving home, person you work with, driving home in the afternoon, high demand in one area of your life, etc.).  Be as specific as possible.

—> List how you handle the stressful situation/s

—> Evaluate whether these responses are healthy, unhealthy, appropriate or inappropriate.

—> List plan of resolution.  You would normally find this by exploring different Stress Management Techniques or Relaxation Techniques.

Used in combination with a Stress Relief CD and other Stress Relief Techniques  can give great results.  For instance after you listen to the Stress Relief CD or learn a new Stress Relief Technique you can record your thoughts in your journal.  Remember, it’s your own personal space so keep it in a safe place.  Finally, be honest with yourself and it can become useful to overcoming the different areas of your life you experience stress.

A study released by the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows the meditation produces long term lasting benefits including changes in the immune-system function as well as changes in the brains electrical activity.  Meditation has been used as a stress relaxation technique for many years now but the long term benefits for your brain and body are truly amazing.

The study looked at 25 employees where they underwent an 8 week meditation training program.  At the end of 8 weeks, flu shots were given to each participant and 16 other employees.  When they measured the level of antibodies still present in the meditators they found them to be significantly higher than the non-meditatiors.

When they measured the level of brain activity they found it to be 50 percent higher in the left frontal regions of the brain.  The left frontal region of the brain is associated with positive emotions, stress relief and reduction in anxiety panic attacks.

This form of natural stress relief should be practiced around 20 mins a day to gain maximum benefits.  The long term benefits include: improved clarity of thought, ability to handle stressful situations better, improved immunity to sickness improved health and an increase in the electrical activity in the brain.

Yes a pretty simple title and, yes it’s true … In a world of constant change and innovation we’re putting too much pressure on ourselves and our colleagues to perform. A lunch break may not seem too important, but this form of Natural Stress Relief can ensure you take a break to rejuvenate and come back focused on the task at hand. 

Why should I take a break?  Stress at work and work related stress are on the rise.  The numbers of people experiencing stress because of the length of hours they work is going up.  For instance take a look at this article on Japanese workers.  The article showed that 355 workers became so sick from overworking they dropped dead. This is an increase of 30% over the last year. Now I understand this is an extreme example yet it shows the importance of taking a break.

What do I mean when I say take a break?  Well for starters, it doesn’t mean sitting at your desk eating your lunch while working or even surfing the net.  You have to sit somewhere other than where you work.

Here are a few suggestions on what you could do in your lunch break:

1.      Go for a walk

2.      Talk with some friends

3.      Listen to a stress relief CD

4.      Complete a puzzle

5.      Read a Magazine or book

6.      Go to the Gym for a quick workout

7.      Listen to some music

These are just a few of many things you could do.  I enjoy playing a game of table tennis, or going out for lunch with friends.  For some this may seem insignificant but these stress management techniques are an excellent way of taking a break. By the way, a break does not include going to the pub

The key here is to allow your mind and body to relax and rejuvenate.  After your break you will come back focused and ready to tackle the task at hand.  This combined with other stress relaxation techniques will guarantee a more happy and healthy YOU!

With so many different methods of Natural Stress Relief available, why does meditation stand out from the crowd? 

Still incredibly underutilized, Meditation is an excellent stress management technique for centering your mind and body.  It helps reduce high blood pressure, anxiety attacks, Stress Levels, Hypertension and in some cases is an excellent source of preventative medicine.

So what is Meditation?  The short version of a potentially really long explanation would be to say – it is a mind body practice using breathing and focusing techniques to create a ‘Relaxation Response”. 

If used appropriately and frequently meditation is an excellent way of reducing your stress levels.  Using a guided meditation in the form of a Stress Relief CD can help improve the focus and benefits of the meditation.  Many Stress based meditations lead you through a series of relaxation breathing techniques and include some handy tips for relaxation techniques for anxiety. 

How often should you meditate?  There are a few factors that determine how often you should meditate; the level of pressure in your job, how often you use other methods to release built up tension, your level of health and the amount of time you have available.  If you feel as if your life is out of control, or you’re under massive amounts of pressure, I find taking out about 30mins a day for at least a month to assist in the refocusing of the mind.

There are many Stress Management Articles available to provide you with more information and benefits of meditation on the Internet.  I recommend using a type of relaxation program to guide you through a set process of Stress Relief.

Not getting enough sleep is not only annoying it can have a massive impact on your health, relationships and overall well-being. From mood swings to depression, making mistakes to loss of productivity, sleep deprivation is definitely not fun.   

9 Stress Relaxation Techniques to Enjoy a Good Nights Sleep!

1. Go to bed and get up at the same times each day.

If you find that your sleep patterns are not consistent, then set a time each day that you can consistently get into the habit of going to bed and getting up. Of course there will be times that you don’t stick to this pattern but make sure that you only break it for exceptions, rather than as a rule.
 

2. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, beer, wine and alcohol 4-6 hours before bedtime.

In fact, avoid any chemicals that may act as a stimulant a few hour prior to bedtime.

3. Don’t exercise within two hours of bedtime.

Unless of course you are doing some activity like yoga or tai-chi that is going to slow down your mind and body. Ideally exercise in the morning after awakening or in the evening after work.

4. Don’t eat large meals within two hours of bedtime.

It’s hard to fall asleep when your body feels bloated or uncomfortable from eating too much. Stick to light snacks before bed such as fruit or salad.

5. Don’t take a nap later than 3pm.

Taking an afternoon nap is okay as long as it’s only for about an hour and that you take it before 3pm. The later you nap, the harder it will be to go to sleep at night.

6. Sleep in a dark, quiet room that isn’t too hot or cold for you.

Unless you have issues with sleeping in the dark, make your room as dark and quiet as you can handle. The less light or sounds you have to distract you or annoy you, the easier it will be to fall asleep.

7. If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something quiet or read a dull book.

There’s nothing worse than laying in bed at night listen to the sound of your own thoughts rambling on or watching the same spot on the roof you’ve been looking at for what feel like forever. Instead, get up and do something boring or read a book that you’ve been putting off reading because it bores you. You’ll be surprised just how quick you get tired.

8. Enjoy a relaxing bath.

There’s nothing better than laying in a warm bath to slow down your mind and relax your body in preparation for sleep. Add in several drops of lavender oil and you’ll have the perfect recipe for a good nights sleep. The best time to do this is about 30 minutes before bedtime.

 9. Try a simple open eye meditation like gazing at a candle flame with your eyes open for a few minutes.

This is guaranteed to slow your mind down. Here’s something interesting I learnt in meditation – blinking means thinking. So the moment you stop blinking, you’re setting yourself up to turn off your thoughts so your mind and body can start to slow down and relax.  

Open eye meditations are a simple way to gaze at something for a few minutes before going to bed. This allows your brainwaves to start to slow down and send messages to your body to prepare for sleep. 

Natural Stress Relief Begins With You  To give yourself the best shot at changing your sleep patterns, start with a firm resolve to make it a priority. Your body wants to sleep, that’s what it’s designed to do. It’s not natural to stay awake longer than is required to perform your daily functions.  

Sleep will come when your body returns to its naturally balanced state. Find out what’s causing the disturbance and then do whatever it takes to change or remove it. Then sleep will descend upon you like leaves falling out of a tree in autumn. 

To your great life and health…

I am a solid supporter of many great relaxation techniques and stress relief techniques.  A good Relaxation Technique can go a long way to repair any damage caused by long term stress.  But you can imagine how amazed I was when I discovered of all things Chocolate actually helps in lowering stress in the body.

Further more, chocolate has received some bum reviews in the past about its effects on things like acne and tooth decay.  But scientists are now discovering although Chocolate does contain sugar it also contains properties that work against the sugars tendency to produce tooth decay.  It has also been proven that chocolate neither causes or worsens acne.

But wait there’s more! Why does chocolate taste so good?  There are a lot of chemical reactions going on in your brain every time you pop some choc in your gob.  Chocolate contains endorphins and polypeptides, which bind the neuro-receptors in the brain to give relief from pain. Chocolate also contains several vitamins – B1, B2, D, E and is high in magnesium and potassium. 

Just like anything you eat that tastes damn good there are a few conditions.  Although Chocolate is a form of Natural Stress Relief the benefits are more noticeable in dark chocolate, and you must enjoy chocolate in moderation.  In other words, don’t go to the shop and buy a 1kg block of chocolate, go home and devour it all expecting to feel complete stress relief.  If anything, it will have a negative impact on your waistline.

Ok, here comes the party pooper!  Why not try combining some chocolate with a well balanced exercise program, a few stress management techniques or even a few relaxation breathing techniques. 

I can imagine some of you visualizing your relaxation breathing technique combined with chocolate … breath in gently and hold 1,2,3 … breath out slowly 1,2,3 … take a piece of chocolate 1,2,3 and EAT!  Remember, Moderation.

So for all you fans out there who feel the need for a little Stress Relief, crack open a bar of chocolate (dark chocolate preferably) and celebrate with me in a toast to, Chocolate.

The weekend is a time of recovery and relaxation. It is the time where you should rebuild your energy in waiting for what the next week will bring.  With that in mind here are 7 quick Stress Relief techniques to ensure you have a great weekend.  All of these techniques are forms of natural stress relief and can be used and time and any where.  So here they are:

1.      Use breathing exercises – When you’re feeling stressed it’s important to stop for a minute and take a breath.  Effective Relaxation Breathing Techniques have proven to promote relaxation and stress relief.

2.                  Physical Exercise – What better way to release built up tension than to sweat it out.  This Natural Stress Relief technique is a great way to use physical activity to express any frustration you may have experienced during the week. 

3.                  Yoga – A controlled meditative method, Yoga and Stress Relief have always been closely linked.  Yoga is also a really good way of improving your general health with other valuable benefits.

4.                  Stress Management Articles – You can always learn new valuable information from articles, e-zines and magazines specifically related to stress relief.  Always keep an open mind and understand you only need to learn one new tip for the whole article to be beneficial.

5.                  Socialize with Friends – It is very important to have friends and people you can relax with and just talk.  There is no better way to relief stress than to sit and chat about your week and listen to your friends talk about their week.

6.                  Learn new Relaxation Techniques – New stress relaxation techniques are an excellent way to discover new methods to experience Stress Relief.  There are always new methods bought to light and the discovery of old proven methods.  Always keep an eye out for a new technique that could make the world of difference.

7.                  Stress Relief CD / Relaxation CD – Experiencing a guided relaxation can help to release built up tension and repair any previous damage done by stressful situations in the past.

Whatever relaxation technique you use make sure you invest the time to relax over your weekend.  If you haven’t taken a break in a while, then do it this weekend.  I have always found I am more focussed after I take a break.

The society we live in today is all about the quick fix, and there are always many different quick fixes available for many different illnesses, especially Stress Relief.  Which is better; Natural Stress Relief or the Medical Treatment?  I would never say one is better than the other (even though I have a strong opinion on the subject) as that would suggest this post is favouring one side, and that’s not the point of it. 

You see, one of the best ways you can gain an understanding of the best Stress Relief Techniques is by discovery through knowledge.  Using this method you’ll normally learn the best method for you. 

Also, keep an open mind when seeking Stress Relaxation Techniques.  There may a technique or method you may be unfamiliar with and you may shut your mind off to it.  By keeping and open mind you will be presented with a greater number of choices and you will understand why one method is more effective than the other.  As a supporter of Stress Relief, Relaxation Techniques and Stress Management I believe finding the right method will be the difference to experiencing true Relaxation or loosing hope after trying something that wasn’t right for you in the first place.  This will give you a solid foundation to understanding the best Stress Management Techniques and will help you to answer if Natural Stress Relief is really a better option for you.