When you allow stress to affect your wellbeing, you set yourself up for anything to happen.  One of the more common health issues you face are ulcers.
With Stress you can also experience the following:

• Backaches
• Pain in the neck
• Pain in the muscles
• High blood pressure
• Chest pains

Warning signs of stress include changes in your appetite.  You may be experiencing stressed if you’re not eating as much and experience  lost weight.  Or you’re eating more than usual and gaining weight.

You may be feeling tired or drained even though you had enough rest.  Often you’re more concerned about problems that you can’t control or wondering how they’re going to turn out.  You’re not sleeping well, if at all.

Your muscles are aching or your have headaches that won’t stop.  You can’t concentrate on the situation at hand and allow yourself to be constantly distracted.

Here are a few practical tips on how you can help yourself eliminate your stress.
1.    Keep the lines of communication open no matter what the subject
2.    Resist the urge to overreact to negative situations
3.    Begin an exercise program
4.    Have family fun time—see a movie, go out for coffee, go shopping
5.    Talk to a counselor
6.    Be aware of physical and personality changes

One  of the most well known  way to treat stress homoeopathically is through the use of St. John’s Wort.  This herb has been used to treat stress and anxiety for years.  There is an indication that it is very effective in treating mild anxiety and depression as well as stress.  It naturally releases serotonin and has both mood stabilizing and calming effects.  St. John’s Wort is available in most drug stores and health food stores.

When it comes to herbal remedies, the five well known and not so well known stress fighting herbs:

• L-Theanine  is the major amino acid found in green tea. It has historically been used for its relaxing and anti-anxiety effects.
• Ashwagandha is an Indian herb known as Winter Cherry. Indian ginseng. Ashwagandha appears to reduce stress-induced increases of corticosterone, blood urea nitrogen, and blood lactic acid.
• Rhodiola Anti-stress by increasing resistance to the harmful effects of stressors, increased work capacity, decreased fatigue and improved learning and memory. Roseroot extracts also demonstrate potential for improving learning and memory.
• Eleuthero, Siberian Ginseng  is found to enhance athletic performance and reduce stress.  In addition to its effect on stress, Eleuthero increases energy, helps to balance the immune system and increases cognitive function.
• Echinacea – Native Americans relied on this herb for symptoms of respiratory distress. It’s widely sought after today to combat symptoms of colds and flu. Echinacea is also a common ingredient in commercial cough drops, although the amount in that product is less than what you could get in an herbal formula. Echinacea is also important in supporting the immune system function.

If you want to incorporate more herbal remedies in your medicine cabinet, these are herbs that are easy to find and use. If you are suffering from stress, try Bliss™ a natural herbal remedy.

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If you feel stressed out and forgetful,  relieve your brain’s overload during times of chaos and tension.  When your concentration wanes, it’s up to you to rein it in and regain control.

Don’t isolate yourself, make sure you socialize with friends and family.

If you have a long commute, you might consider listening to an audio CD with a narration like a fiction or non-fiction book.

And break up other routines that you have, if you’re used to buying your lunch at the office cafeteria, brown-bag it instead and sit outside under a tree to enhance your senses and give your memory powers a much-needed boost.

Stress Management can improve your memory.  Stress doesn’t have to cause your memory to  deteriorate.  As long as you give your mind a workout the same way you would your body, you’ll have a healthy memory that allows you to remember the important things during times of stress and anxiety.  Healthy Mind, Healthy Body, Healthy Life.

It is no wonder holiday stress has reached epidemic proportions.  We receive message after message telling us just how important every single thing we buy and do is with respect to having a good holiday season.  We constantly look for a way to capture that elusive sense of holiday satisfaction—often with a wad of cash or a credit card.

There’s nothing wrong with spending within your means to have an enjoyable holiday.  It is, after all, a time of giving and a time of celebration and some level of cost is probably inevitable.  However, there are ways to increase your enjoyment of the holidays without spending one extra dime.

One great piece of holiday wisdom is the simple reminder to “think about ideas and people instead of things.”  Even the most free-spending Christmas shopper, when asked, will tell you that the holidays are a time to reflect on the messages of the season and to spend time with loved ones.  The spirit of the holidays can be  clearly communicated by a simple hug or a quality conversation.

Too often, we use things as our means of expression instead of using ourselves.  By retaining a focus on people and ideas instead of things, we find can begin to really communicate the message of love that underlies everyone’s understanding of the holidays.  A hug, a conversation or a walk around the block with a loved one doesn’t cost a dime and can be the best way to build holiday cheer, pleasant memories, and an appreciation of the holidays.

Volunteering your time and energy to a charitable cause can increase your appreciation of the holidays and allows you to truly embody the spirit of giving that underpins the season.  This simple act of kindness can be truly transformative not only for those who benefit from the gift but also for those who are willing to volunteer.

If you want another strand of Christmas lights and they fit into your budget, go ahead.  Feel free to pick up that great toy for your child and the expensive knick-knack for your spouse.  But remember that there are a few things you can do that won’t cost you a anything and can really increase the quality of your holiday season.  Remember to think about people and ideas—instead of things.

Stress is far more dangerous than we thought. You’ve probably heard that it can raise your blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of a stroke in the distant future, but recently a health insurance brochure claimed that 90 percent of visits to a primary care physician were stress-related disorders.

Health Psychology magazine reports that chronic stress can interfere with the normal function of the body’s immune system. And studies have proven that stressed individuals have an increased vulnerability to catching an illness and are more susceptible to allergic, autoimmune, or cardiovascular diseases.

Doctors agree that during chronic stress, the functions of the body that are nonessential to survival, such as the digestive and immune systems, shut down. This is why people get sick.

Stress often prompts people to respond in unhealthy ways such as smoking, drinking alcohol, eating poorly, or becoming physically inactive. This damages the body in addition to the wear and tear of the stress itself.
Although there is no definitive answer to any of the stressor you may experience listed are a seven coping mechanisms that may support your ability to manage stress.

7 Tips

1. Know how to relax and log to of tension
2. Eat right and exercise often
3. Get enough sleep
4. Become more organized
5. Know the difference between what truly important and what is not and don’t worry about the unimportant things
6. Know what’s important and live according to your own values
7. Have a good sense of humor

Stress is a part of daily life.  It’s how we react to it that makes all the difference in maintaining our health and well-being.  Pressures occur throughout life and those pressures cause stress.  You need to realize that you will never completely get rid of stress in your life, but you can learn coping techniques to turn that stress into a healthier situation.

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For many of us, nothing seems simpler than calling someone up to chat.  While we may intend for the call to be short and professional, there is a good chance that you’ll spend a lot longer on the phone than you thought you  would, and before you know it, the day has sped by and your efficiency has gone out the window. The work you intended (your intentions are always good in the beginning aren’t they?) to get done is put off until later.  Have you ever experienced this?  Most of us don’t think about the phone as a source of stress.  But if it’s effecting your business and the bottom line then the phone use may be out of control and a cause of stress.

How much time are you spending on the phone?   When you’re on the phone, you’re breaking your concentration. Once you finish the call and head back to the task at hand, it takes about a half an hour to refocus on what you were doing prior to the call.  If you put together all the time you devote to calls during the course of the day, from getting the number, to talking on the phone, to getting back to work how long does it take?  The time that you actually spend “on the phone” just might surprise you.

If you have to be on the phone to do business i.e. call prospects frequently just the opposite is true.  You can evaluate your productivity by how much time is spent avoiding the phone. Even if you live with your phone in what seems like attached to your ear. In order to combat the time wasting telephone and start making your phone calls and make your other tasks more productive for your business, try putting this practice into place:

• Determine how often do you take calls
• Are the number of call detracting you from your work or contributing to your bottom line
• Does the phone ringing distract you and you feel the need to find out who’s calling

Here are some tips control phone use:

• Turn the ringer off if the phone ringing is distracting
• Set up the times when you will make your calls
• Set up a rough call time limit based on your average call time
• Make sure you know  what topics need to be discussed before you call

The phone is a tool to make your business more productive.  If that’s not happening, it’s time to develop a better use of this invaluable tool.   Remember, your time is precious and your business is important, so don’t let the telephone distract you anymore than it has to.

Are you letting fear control your life?   Self-talk will help you to do anything you want when your use positive thinking, on the other hand, negative thinking can prevent you from doing anything you want.  The choice is yours.  Overcome fear systematically with  self-talk.  Once you realize what is causing your fear, you can move to self-talk  techniques to change the situation..

First let me share what self-talk is not.  It’s not some mumble jumble.  We do it all the time but we just don’t know it.  Unfortunately, most of our natural self-talk is negative.  Most of us believe in positive thinking, and that’s good.  But deciding to only think positively for the rest of your life won’t work.  After all we’re all humans and bound to slip up every now and again.   But positive thinking can work if your negative thoughts are immediately replaced with positive one.  Wanting to be a positive thinker isn’t enough, having a positive attitude isn’t enough. You need the positive words to go along with it.  What I’ve learned about self-talk is it’s not hypnosis or subliminal but a repletion of the positive ideas concepts and affirmations that you say, or listen to over a period of time.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Instead of getting out of bed in the morning and saying “I wish I didn’t have to get up,” with your new self-talk say “it’s a great day to be alive”.  Or for those of us that have  to make cold calls instead of saying “I’d really don’t feel like making calls today,”  with your new self-talk try saying  “I excited to make these calls because I know I will make a great new connection today”.  Remember your rephrasing your old self-talk with new ones.  One more example so I know you get the picture.  Instead of saying “I’m so tired today I feel like going to bed”,  with your new self-talk say “I have a lot of energy today”.

Now the changes won’t happen immediately or overnight.  This will take some practice and skill to change your thinking and mindset.  When your with another person you might want to use self-speak silently, when alone you can feel free say it out loud or even have a conversation with yourself.  But remember when you find yourself getting off track by negative thoughts creeping in regroup and get right back on path.

Use positive thinking and self-talk to reprogram your mind to think positive. Don’t let your conscious and subconscious mind tell you that something can’t be done. If you use self-talk, you’ll soon learn that you can do anything you want and succeed by being positive.   Use positive thinking and self-talk to stay in control. Tell yourself that when you master confidence and self-esteem you can master anything.

If this was helpful let me know.  Add a comment in the comment area below this  sentence.  Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to know about self-talk.

When endorphins kick into your body, your stress immediately diminishes.  It’s your body’s way of delivering natural pain relievers, even if that pain is emotional.  But exercise has more benefits.  It builds muscle tone and flexibility. The more you move, the more you’re capable of doing. That’s why it’s so important to gradually develop an exercise routine so that don’t damage muscles by trying to do too much too soon.

During exercise, there’s more oxygen getting to the brain and a higher level of serotonin  which improves your mood.  As the activity level increases, so does an incredible sense of well-being.

Taking your exercise to the next level is the way to keep you in endorphin delight. Once you experience it, you’ll want even more. Endorphins trigger an euphoria that are somewhat addictive in a good kind of way. And if you are exercising outdoors, you get another positive emotional lift from the sunshine and fresh air.

Try exercises that are rhythmic.  Running, walking, jumping rope, bicycling or swimming these tranquilizing activities influence the brain and keeps the endorphins flowing. Even after the activity is over, there is a lingering positive impact which continues for several hours afterward. Exercise in the morning and you’ll find your begin the day with a natural high.

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The perfect stress storm –

Overstuff to-do list – can be a harrowing for many who feel like they’ve failed in some way if they weren’t able to accomplished everything they set out to do
Over-achiever – Some people who suffer extreme symptoms of stress wind up that way because they can’t seem to achieve all of their tasks.
Type A personality – Have you ever been called (or called yourself) a Type A personality. We laugh it off but their kind of perfectionism you strive for can cause you endless amounts of stress if you fail to meet your own  demands.

Ask yourself how you normally react if you can’t continually be working on something.  Is it virtually impossible for you to sit still and relax?  What if your cell phone is turned off or you don’t have access to a computer for email – does it send you into a panic?

People like this rely heavily on being able to take action, and when they aren’t constantly achieving more, they become more stressed.  The stress builds as your schedule grows even larger. 

Soon, you have to schedule things months in advance – with no room for rest and relaxation, which your body needs to unwind and relieve the stress of helping you achieve all of your goals.

Take that rigid schedule and start scheduling some stress-busting activities just as you would an important business meeting.  Since you are dedicated to a to-do list, ensure that a portion of those tasks are meant to help you calm down and block out the rest of the tasks on your list.

Pick something you would enjoy, but only do if you had the time.  Now, you will have the time – and it will be implemented into your schedule as a “must-do,” rather than a possibility, which never materializes.

You might want to start small and let your stress-reducing activities grow.  Schedule a 15-minute walk outdoors or a 20-minute bubble bath.  Once you learn to embrace the down time, it will be easier for you to expand it into a longer event that’s meant to improve your mental health by ridding your mind and body of the stress of your day.

You need to take the same level of commitment and dedicate some time to caring for your body and mind. Create your own perfect storm with the 3 R’s of stress relief.
Reveal - Identify stressors that affect our daily lives;
Release  - Eliminate the stressors of which we can free ourselves;
Rejuvenate - Learn to deal with stressful situations in a healthy way

Hopefully you found this information helpful.  If you did, how are you going to use this information.  I would love to know.  Please take a minute to comment in the space below this sentence. Let me know if there is anything else you’d like to know about stress relief.

Isn’t it strange that you get to look forward to that tranquil screen saver just to see the great outdoors.  Fresh air and nature just isn’t on your schedule.  You may not even realize that a drawer full of anti-acids and aspirin isn’t a fraction as good for your stress and tension as spending time outdoors.  

Want to live in a Drug Free Zone – go outside calm your nerves.  The only way to get the full benefit of nature is to experience it firsthand. You can’t read about it, see photos or watch it on television and get the same stress-relieving effect.

Stop saying that you don’t have time. Unless your chained to your desk you could take your brown bag lunch and eat outside. Or you could drive to a park and have lunch there. And instead of taking a coffee break, go outside and walk around the parking lot  -don’t take too many deep breaths though but least you’ll feel a lot better when you get back to your office. You’ll get more healthful energy from fifteen minutes outdoors than a triple shot in a latte. 

And while you’re outdoors, stop, look and listen. Stop your brain from running at full tilt  thinking about your task list or replaying that last irritating phone call. Look around you - really look.  

What do you see? A tree – what kind of tree? A bush with flowers? Touch and smell the flowers. Did you see a squirrel playing under the tree? Watch him - squirrels tend to be entertaining and if you bring peanuts, the squirrel will put on a show for that treat.  

Do you hear birds chirping? How many different kinds of birds do you see?  If you look at everything closely, you’ll see things in nature that you haven’t noticed since you were a curious child. Those things never left, you just stopped looking. 

Are you still sitting there? Well what are you waiting for?  It’s so easy even a child can do it!

I hope this made you think about how you can handle stress.  Let me know how you’re going to put this information into action.  Leave me a comment see the link below this sentence?