Managing Stress
Managing Stress in today's hectic lifestyle is challenging. Here are some suggestions to help!
Meditation
Meditation is a fabulous way to not only calm your entire being, but did you know that over time, meditation actually physically alters the brain structure? It's true!
If you are not familiar with meditation, I recommend trying Jack Cornfield's Meditation for Beginners (please note I have not financial incentive from providing this link). This will help you ease into the process of clearing your mind and flowing into the peaceful, blissful state of stillness.
Here is a study conducted with 92 participants, 46 who were experienced meditators and 46 who were not familiar with meditation
http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/content/8/1/27.full?sid=70c3d140-a5f0-488a-b7ca-82b785f6ea49
Their brain structure changed:
"significantly greater cortical thickness in the anterior regions of the brain, located in frontal and temporal areas, including the medial prefrontal cortex, superior frontal cortex, temporal pole and the middle and interior temporal cortices. Significantly thinner cortical thickness was found in the posterior regions of the brain, located in the parietal and occipital areas, including the postcentral cortex, inferior parietal cortex, middle occipital cortex and posterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, in the region adjacent to the medial prefrontal cortex, both higher fractional anisotropy values and greater cortical thickness were observed. Our findings suggest that long-term meditators have structural differences in both gray and white matter."
So, if you meditate on a regular basis, your body will naturally be more relaxed ALL of the time, and allow you to pass through stressful moments with more ease, calm and compsure than before. This not only helps you mentally, physically and emotionally, but it garners respect and curiosity by others regarding "how do you do it?!" (remain so calm, that is!).
Music
Music literally touches us, and can heal us. There is a genre of music whose purpose is "sound healing". Here is a listing of music I play in the studio as part of massage, many of which have a dual purpose of sound healing. Listening to these recordings either while resting or doing your usual activities can literally boost your mood and help you feel nurtured. I hope you find these recordings helpful.
Quick Chair Massage
For a regular, affordable pick-me-up, get a chair massage from a practitioner you are comfortable with. There are many chair massage providers, but a common complaint I hear is that the therapists are "too rough". A 15 minute or 30 minute chair massage can literally lift some weight off your shoulders by releasing tightness and tension that binds (measured in pounds) your muscles and skeletal structure. Releasing this area, which is the most common place we humans carry stress, can help you feel like you "can breathe" and carry on much lighter in both physical and mental state. Get a regular tune-up with quick chair massages and you will thrive instead of just getting by, all for an affordable rate, with no fuss or oil to wash off later.