How About Natural Relief Remedies for Stress Relief?

It seems like just about everyone is leading busy, hectic lives. Now, more than ever, people are looking for ways to deal with stress. And, for many, herbal stress relief is the answer they have been looking for.

Using herbal remedies and treatments to deal with illnesses and ailments has become very popular in the last few years. People have come to value natural solutions over chemical or artificial ones. And herbal remedies are the ultimate, natural solution for whatever is ailing you.

There are two herbs that are known, and have been proven, to be effective against stress. They are ginseng and kava kava.

The Stress Relieving Power of Ginseng

When it comes to stress, it’s not so much the stressful situation you have to deal with that are the problem, but how you react to them.

When you are faced with a stressful situation, and you react to it with fear, anxiety, or tension, your adrenal gland starts to pump out stress hormones. These hormones are fine in small doses. But, if these hormones are pumping through your system for a prolonged period of time, they can actually weaken your immune system, raise your blood pressure, put strain on your heart, and cause you to feel extreme fatigue.

Ginseng helps make your reaction to stressful situations less intense, so you to stay more calm and in control. The result is a reduction in the amount of stress hormones that are released into your system.

If you are already experiencing the effects of stress, like fatigue or poor concentration, ginseng can help with that, too. This herb can help boost your energy, as well as improving your mental alertness. Ginseng can also help improve your overall mood and sense of well being.

Fight Stress with Kava Kava

If you are feeling really stressed, nervous, or anxious, taking some kava kava could have you feeling calmer and more relaxed in as little as half an hour.

Like ginseng, kava kava can help to reduce your reaction to a stressful situation. So, if you are nervous about giving a speech, taking this herb can help to calm you down, and stay calm and in control through your presentation.

Kava kava can also help soothe frazzled nerves and relax tense muscles. It is the perfect herb to have on hand after a busy day at work. Not only will kava kava help you relax, it will also improve your mood.

There are many good techniques you can use to manage stress. But, if you are looking for herbal stress relief, ginseng and kava kava are the perfect places to start.

Hypnosis? It Can Work for Stress

Part of a plan for Stress Management may include either hypnosis or self-hypnosis, as a way to reduce and eliminate the symptoms of stress. A person under hypnosis is experiencing a trance like state, which allows them to enter into either the “theta” or “delta” states of consciousness.

These states are the equivalent of either light or deep sleep, and allow for the hypnotized person to experience an “altered state” of consciousness.

Hypnosis can be effective in managing stress, whether the state of hypnosis is assisted by a licensed Hypno-therapist, or whether the state is induced by the person entering into the hypnotized state.

Since many people are uncomfortable with the idea of being hypnotized by someone else, self hypnosis is often used as a part of a stress management plan.

In order for self hypnosis to take place the individual must be in a comfortable position, and be free from outside distractions. The individual should begin with some relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, followed by releasing any tension in the muscles, one at a time, beginning with the feet and toes, and proceeding over the entire body.

When entering into a self hypnosis state the person is simply allowing the subconscious mind to take over, while the conscious mind enters into an “altered” or “quiet” state of being.

In order for self hypnosis to be effective, the conscious mind should impart a “purpose” or “intent” to the subconscious, before the actual hypnotic state is achieved.

It is also important to set a time limit on the hypnotic state, generally 15 to 20 minutes. The subconscious mind will respond to the suggestion, and cause the individual to return to the normal state of consciousness at the prescribed time.

Are You Overwhelmed?

You are feeling completely stressed out. Work demands, a hectic family life, commitments you have made to friends and relatives. There are so many things you have to do, and it just doesn’t seem like there are enough hours in the day to it all. You need a few quick stress tips to help you regain control.

Well, you are in luck. Here are three quick and easy things you can do restore some of the order to your busy, frantic life.

What Do You Really Need To Do?

One of the major causes of stress is having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Finding ways to either eliminate some of the unnecessary To-Dos from your life, or at least make them easier, can take a lot of the pressure off of you.

Does rushing home to make dinner for your family make the hours after you get off work even more hectic? Instead, why not make a week’s worth of dinners over the weekend and put them in the fridge. After work, all you have to do is heat them up.

Think about the things you do every day, and try to eliminate or simplify as much of it as you can.

Learn To Delegate

There are some things on your daily To-Do list that you simply can’t skip or pass up on. These things must get done.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be the one to do them.

Think about the things you do every day that could be could be done by someone besides you. Who else could you ask to do them instead?

It’s Okay to Back Out

Some of us find it hard to say no. You might worry that, if someone asks you to do something, and you refuse, they will get mad at you. Or they’ll decide you aren’t the nice guy they thought you were.

But agreeing to take on extra commitments when you know you already have more than enough on your plate can be a major cause of stress. So learn to say no without feeling guilty about it.

If you have already agreed to do something, but have come to realize that this added commitment is just too much for you to handle right now, it is okay for you to back out. Go to the person you made the commitment to, and explain the situation. You can even try to help find someone to take your place. Chances are, they will understand.

Feeling overwhelmed by your hectic life? These three quick stress tips will help you decrease some of your daily burdens, and regain some of the peace and calm you have lost.

Get Better Sleep the Easy Way

More often than not, how to get better sleep is among the common questions that working people think about. This is because they rarely experience it because of too much stress or being too busy in their work. If you are one of those who are having problems when it comes to sleeping, here are some of the ways that can help you get better easier:

1. Develop better sleeping habits. Like everything else, developing good habits helps a person accomplish a certain task at hand. For those who are prone to not sleeping well at night, it would be best to start developing good habits that would help him or her get better sleep. Good sleeping habits might include daytime routines such as eating the right foods, exercise, and enough napping in the afternoon. Experts say that eating the right foods would help a person be lulled into sleep without so much hustle. If one wants to get better sleep, he or she must avoid eating foods that contain ingredients that stimulate the nerves and the senses such as those with caffeine content. To help the body relax, enough physical activities such as exercise should also be done at day time so it will somehow exhaust the body and let it crave for rest at night time. Although napping is good to some people, it can be bad to those who are having sleeping problems because they have a tendency to "over nap" that which will eventually affect their sleeping at night.

2. Enough amount of daily exercise can help a person to get better sleep. Aside from health benefits, regular exercise also helps a person get better sleep especially at night. This is because it lets the body work just enough so it would want to rest at night. Strenuous activities such as workouts are not really necessary if one is not used to it. Simple exercises such as brisk walking or light yoga activities are enough to help to get better sleep at night.

3. Come up with you own personal sleeping plan. Above anybody else, you should be the one who knows your body. If you are having problems sleeping at night, you are the first person to identify what is the problem and try to address the issues properly. If you are having trouble sleeping, analyze what may be the problem. If it is something that you can handle, try to do the things that will help you overcome it. You can do this by coming up with a personal sleeping plan that will really work for you. You can plot the activities that you can do and try to implement them during nighttime. If the specific plan doesn’t work today, try another set of sleeping plans the next night and then another one for next, next night. By doing this, you can discover the techniques that would work for you.

4. Create a good sleeping environment for yourself. If one wants to get better sleep, the easiest way is to create a comfortable, nice, and cozy sleeping environment. If you are having trouble sleeping and you have tried all the techniques available but those did not work, why not try re-arranging your bedroom. Figure out is something inside your bedroom that hinders you from getting better sleep. Check if your bed still suits the needs of your body and if not, try replacing it. Check if there are some things that catch your attention and make it hard for you to sleep, if there are, try removing them for a while until you are able to sleep better.

How to Develop a Stress Management Plan

A stress management plan does not necessarily require a lot of time and energy. Many times it is just making a commitment to reduce the level of stress in your life, by taking a few small, but meaningful, steps toward improving your overall health and well-being.

A good place to begin your stress management plan is by identifying 5 activities that you really enjoy participating in. These can be anything from reading a good book, to taking a long walk on the beach.

If you have hobbies that you enjoy spending time on, be sure to include these in your list. Other options could be things you have always wanted to do, but never got around to, or things that you used to enjoy, but haven’t had the time for lately.

The one stipulation is that these are activities which are not related to work, or another source of stress in your life.

Make a list of at least 2 things that you almost always do, that you either probably shouldn’t be doing, or can live without doing. This list can include things like bringing work home from the office, doing your teenagers laundry, cooking huge meals during the week, after working all day etc?

These are things that will not cause the world to fall apart, if you stop doing them.

Make a list of at least 2 things that you probably should have done by now, but didn’t. Things you have been putting off, or problems you have not been dealing with directly.

If you’ve been meaning to call your insurance agent for the past few weeks, but haven’t, if you’ve been thinking about dusting the cob-webs on the front entry way for a month, but haven’t, write those things down.

At this point your 3 lists will now become a goal sheet. Your stress management plan will look like this

This week I will

-Spend at least 15 minutes every day doing one of the things I enjoy. (List the 5 things you wrote earlier under this section.)

-Eliminate 2 needless tasks from my list of things to do. (List the 2 things that you wrote earlier under this section.)

-Tackle 2 things that I have been putting off for a while. (List the 2 things that your wrote earlier under this section.)

Do You Know How to Relax From Stress?

One of the best ways to deal with stress is relaxing. Taking just 10 or 15 minute break away from your hectic life can do your mind a body a world of good.

But, surprisingly, many people don’t seem to know how to relax effectively. They know how to take a short break away from the stresses of work, or running after hyperactive kids. But they don’t know how to use that break to give them the most benefits.

So, how do you relax the right way? Here are some tips.

Let Go of the Tension

If you have been on your feet all day, sitting down for five or ten minutes can be a huge relief. But if you are sitting in your chair as stiff as a board, and already thinking about having to go back to work in a little bit, you aren’t really relaxing.

When you sit down to take your break, forget about the work you will have to get back to once the break is over. Make a conscious effort to let go of the tension. Put your feet up, if you can. Relax those stiff muscles. You can even slouch in your seat if you want to.

A good way to relieve stress is by relaxing your body.

Don’t Think

Many people use their breaks to think. They think about all of the things they have to do after work, or once the kids are off to school. Or they think about how they will deal with the problem that came up before their break.

Typically, thinking about things like work-related problems or your busy schedule aren’t very relaxing.

During your break, try occupying your mind with something that won’t add to your stress. Read a romance novel or an entertainment magazine. Or spend the time playing with a stress relief toy.

Rethink Those Errands

The purpose of a break is to give you some time to relax and re-energize, so you can face the rest of the day with renewed energy and pep. However, if you spend your breaks running errands, you aren’t giving yourself time to relax or re-energize.

So, before you spend your break running errands, reconsider. Are these things you absolutely have to do during your break, or can you do them at another time?

Learning how to deal with stress is critical. But things can get so hectic, some people feel almost guilty for taking a moment to relax. However, by doing so, you will actually make yourself better able to deal with the stresses of daily life.

Have You Got a Clue What Stress Is?

Stress has almost become an unavoidable part of modern life. Unless you quit your job or drop out of school, cut all relationship ties, and decide to live in a cave out in the wilds, chances are you are going to have to deal with one kind of stress or another on a daily basis.

And a little stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, without it, most people wouldn’t feel the urge to get things done, achieve new things, or accomplish their goals.

But it is when stress gets out of control that the real trouble begins.

What Is Stress Exactly?

Stress is your body’s way of dealing with the outside dangers and challenges life can throw your way.

If you are walking down a dark, deserted street, your body will release hormones and chemicals that will make you more alert to your surroundings, and ready to flee to safety at a moment’s notice.

If you have an important project due in the morning, and you are going to have to stay up all night to finish it, the same chemicals and hormones will keep you awake and alert, and give you the extra boost you need to work faster.

In certain situations, a little stress is okay. But you can have too much of a good thing.

When Stress Gets Out of Control

When you are dealing with one demand or challenge after another, it can leave your body in a high state of stress. And those chemicals and hormones your body releases to help you deal with challenging situations can actually be harmful in large, prolonged doses. And, as a result, you can experience all sorts of physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral problems.

Some of the physical symptoms can include headaches, chest pains, diarrhea, sleep disorders, skin breakouts, fatigue, and high blood pressure.

The psychological symptoms can include anxiety, irritability, depression, forgetfulness, and poor concentration.

Stress can also be blamed for many relationship problems. When you are feeling tense, anxious, or overwhelmed, you are much more likely to yell at your spouse, snap at your children, demean your coworkers, or take offense at innocent comments made by friends. And all of this can put a strain on those important relationships.

So, what is stress? It is a condition that can affect every area of your life, from your physical health, to your relationships with friends and family, to your work life. That is why learning to manage stress is a critical part of leading a healthy, happy life.