Stressed? Some solutions that really work

Feeling stressed? Headaches? Trouble sleeping? Feeling overwhelmed?

There are several actual physical solutions that relieve symptoms of stress.  And I’m not talking about drinking tequila, imbibing recreational drugs, or quitting your job.  I’m talking about ways to settle your body down.  Actually I’m talking about neuromodulation.  By neuromodulation, I mean taking your autonomic nervous system into the parasympathetic, or slowed-down, mode.

1. Have some magnesium.  Take a magnesium supplement, either capsules or water-soluble.  Buy a quality product, with more than one chelate: for example, magnesium citrate, gluconate, and lactate together.  I suggest taking 100mg at a time.  Too much magnesium will cause diarrhea.  You can also apply magnesium to your skin via cream, spray, or epsom salts bath.  You can even soak your hands or feet in a warm epsom salts solution.  Magnesium calms nerves and muscles.  Many people report magnesium supplementation reduces or eliminates migraine headaches.
2. B vitamins! Take a balanced formula, and some extra B12.  A good whole food source of B vitamins is liver.  You can actually take capsules of dessicated liver.
3. Diaphragmatic breathing.  One of my very favorite wellness consultants, Dr. Justin O’Brien, says it like this: “One’s breathing style and nervous system walk hand in hand.”  You can just google diphragmatic or belly breathing, but a recent email from Justin lists a couple of resources from his own work(highly recommended!): “pages 44-46 in my two books Running and Breathing and pages 46-56 of Superconscious Meditation explain the process and its overall impact on health and well-being..”
4. Meditation, pretty much any kind.  Some people will feel instantaneous relief; some take longer to feel the benefits.
5. Almost any really good bodywork or energy work can take your stress levels way down, and some practitioners believe working with your body’s energy fields can cause much more than temporary relief.  These include therapeutic massage, Reiki, Shiatsu, and Integrative Manual Therapy.
6. Yoga practices usually neuromodulate in the calming direction.  In particular, restorative, Yin, and Nidra classes can be amazing.
7. Receiving light via Sukyo Mahikari is a Japanese practice that many find amazingly stress-reducing.  I highly recommend it.  Google Sukyo Mahikari.
8. My personal favorite, because it’s absolutely easy peasy do-it-yourself: inversion!  Get yourself to a chair or couch with enough floor space in front of it to lie down.  Also get a pillow for your head, and a firm cushion at least 4″ high.  Alternately, use a stack of towels or blankets.  Place the cushion or stack directly in front of the chair or sofa.  Lie down, placing your hips on the cushion, your legs(bend at hips and knees) on the chair, and your torso on the floor, using a pillow for your head and neck.  Because your hips are higher than your heart, the circulation change causes an immediate relaxation response .  When you’re especially stressed–panicked, even–the effect is quite remarkable.