Natural Stress Relief

Here are Some Natural Stress and Anxiety Relief Tips

A lot of the time people are far too busy to bother with natural stress and anxiety stress relief and try to find a quick fix in a bottle.  But stress and anxiety can greatly impair your health and your way of thinking, which in turn affects not only you but your family and anyone else who depends on you.  Being healthy can cost less in the long run and give you more energy to get done the things you want to do as well as the things you need to do.  Some investment in time and energy now to learn natural stress and anxiety relief methods can pay dividends in the long run.

Know When to Call the Doctor

Why pay a doctor’s bill and then be told something he or she didn’t already know.  So here is how you can tell if you need to go to see a doctor about your stress and anxiety levels:

Always call your physician if you are you having trouble eating and/or sleeping, if you feel overwhelmed or constantlt tired, if your worries are running  constantly through your mind that you can’t relax and if you think that if you stop worrying, it’s somehow wrong, that is the guilty feeling often associated with stress. Evaluate these symptoms honestly.  If you suffer from any or all of these symptoms, make an appointment with your health care professional today.  Follow his or her advice closely and try to squeeze in these natural stress and anxiety relief exercises as well, you will feel the benefit for sure.

More Oxygen, Please

Pay attention to yourself or ask someone you trust to tell you how you breathe under stress, are you normal in that respect.  If you pant or hyperventilate, or breathe a lot faster than usual, this cuts the oxygen supply in your body, and your body puts out distress signals for you to get more oxygen that might contribute to your anxiety, it certainly won’t help it anyways.  When you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath, slow down, calm down.  Take many deep breaths for natural stress and anxiety relief.  This minute or so of taking time out to breathe deeply will give your body a time-out and help calm panic.  It will also lower your heart rate and blood pressure during one of these stressful times.

Some people find it difficult to breathe deeply for natural stress and anxiety relief.  This is normal and nothing to worry about.  If you have this problem, keep a small dark glass bottle of essential oils nearby.  Sniffing the essential oil will make your body instinctively take deeper breaths.  Some recommended oils that encourage deep breathing are lavender, frankincense and tea tree.

Bergamot works for some, but not for others.  Scent is a very personal thing; take some time to sniff essential oils sold in a health, fitness, occult supply store or your local pharmacies.  Some large chain supermarkets carry essential oils in their organic departments these are also a good source of advice too.  They are made from natural plant and fruit extracts and oils, making them truly organic and natural solutions for stress and anxiety relief.

Massage therapy

Learning about Massage for Stress Relief

There is a very popular comedy program in the UK called Smack The Pony, recently they had a skit set in a masseur’s office. The masseur tried a new essential oil said to be the world’s most relaxing. She poured it on her client’s back and began to massage and the back turned into squishy putty!  This is obviously an exaggeration, but shows that massage for stress relief can effectively relax your body, mind and soul.

The Healing Touch

Skin on skin contact is one of the most ancient of cure-alls.  A kiss on a boo-boo, sleeping in your parent’s bed after a nightmare, or petting your dog can lower your blood pressure, make you breathe steadily and help your body’s natural healing powers.  Massage for stress relief is not just for feeling good, but for overall body health.  Rock star Peter Gabriel insists on having a full body massage by a female masseuse before he can face going out on stage.  Even if you have never attended his pre-show massages, you may have seen him command a stage for over two hours of intense physical and emotional performances.

Yeah, But Peter Gabriel Can Afford It I hear you say

You don’t have to get a professional full body massage every time you’re stressed out.  What do you instinctively do if you bump your elbow?  You hold it and rub it. Just with personal explorations of what strokes soothe your body and what strokes don’t; you can give a quick massage for stress relief to yourself or to that of a loved one it’s much easier to massage yourself with warm hands lubricated with warm oil or lotion to prevent chafing.

However, be careful not to massage cuts, wounds, broken limbs or burns as you may do more harm than good, trust me I know.  Massaging for stress relief is to relax muscles, stimulate circulation, and generally calm you down.  If you have constant back problems, trying a professional masseuse can help alleviate the pain, if your doctor approves that is.

There are many “Massage 101” books, periodicals and websites to help you learn some of the massage techniques and these have helped many others.  Your community college or YMCA might even offer free to low cost massage classes and seminars.  Massage for stress relief is something you have to practice in order to remember it and in order to become good or effective at it, but even the mistakes can feel good sometimes.

Massage for stress relief can be found in many forms. There are massage machines available, from a one-battery operated finger-shaped vibrator to huge chairs that massage your whole body with a series of vibrations and movement.  These machines are recommended for people in too much physical pain to exercise regularly or for the infirm and for people who are house bound.