Just Stress Relief

Massage is a great way to get stress relief, especially if you commit to a program of massages over a month or two. Aromatherapy massages with essential oil are often designed to relieve particular stresses, whether they’re physical, mental, or emotional. 

Taking the time to indulge in the occasional stress relief massage can prove beneficial not only for short-term stress relief, but for long-term health care.  A stress relief massage will relax the muscles, allowing oxygen and nutrients to flow to stressed areas, as well as releasing toxins.

The American Massage Therapy Association can provide help in finding a qualified massage therapist in your area through their online locator.  But if you can’t afford to visit a licensed massage therapist, there are other avenues to consider.
 
There are numerous books teaching basic stress relief massage techniques, most of which are quick and easy to learn.  If you are married or in a relationship, perhaps you can convince your partner to join you in learning some stress relief massage techniques.  You both may find stress relief massage can quickly become a sensual massage and it can become a cheap and fun way to relieve stress and increase the romance in your relationship.

There are even techniques you can learn to give yourself a massage.  One of the most common and effective areas that needs attention is the face and scalp.  Most people overlook the benefits and relaxation that can be attained by simply rubbing the scalp.   

Foot massage for stress relief   

One of the most satisfying forms of stress relief massage is the foot massage, because you tend to use your feet in some way in almost every activity you perform throughout your day.  This type of stress relief massage can be performed by a licensed massage therapist, or just as easily at home by your partner, or even by yourself. 

[tags]stress relief, massage, aromatherapy[/tags]

Everyone’s stressed. There’s no way to avoid it with the pressures of job and family, but some of us handle it better than we do. How do people “cure” stress?

The solution lies in not allowing stress to build up. When we’re under stress, our bodies develop hormones to help us to run or fight. These hormones damage us over time.

Most individuals under stress will let it build, ignoring it for too long. They cite the need to get a work project completed, or view their situation as unchangeable. “That’s life,” many will say. But no form of ill-effect is inevitable, nor is it necessary or wise to passively accept one.

Become aware of stress

The first step is always to increase awareness in two directions – outward and inward. Be conscious of your internal state and evaluate it as realistically as possible. Be objective about external circumstances. When you recognize a circumstance as legitimately worrisome, reacting with concern and a degree of stress is normal and healthy. Unreasonable fear and obsession are not.

Then, take a moment to breath – literally. One of the most common reactions to stress is tension, usually muscle tension. The neck muscles will stiffen and breathing will often be more shallow. Focus on this, check for it and, if present, consciously loosen up neck muscles with a gentle side to side motion of your head. Take a deep breath or two.

There’s no need to overdo the exercise. You’re not practicing yoga (although yoga is a great stress reliever) and you don’t want to hyperventilate. Slowly move the head and shoulders and relax the chest muscles. A slow deep breath or two is often enough to break the tension.

But those suggestions are effective primarily for acute stress – the type that is produced by an isolated event and lasts a short time. For chronic stress – that which results from ongoing circumstances and evaluations and persists – additional techniques are needed.

Something as simple and old-fashioned as a walk in the park can be helpful. It’s not simply an old wives tale that fresh air and sunshine can be relaxing. It’s also true that moderate exercise helps relieve many of the accompanying physical symptoms of stress.

Playing music of certain types is helpful. Seeing a comedy on TV or at the movies is beneficial. Laughter is a great mood lifter. A creative activity can be helpful, especially if there is some accompanying physical activity. It could be as simple as making a birdhouse or as advanced as painting or sculpture.

A talk with a sympathetic friend could be useful, but it’s a good idea not to spend too much time talking about the circumstances causing stress or the stress itself. A good airing is beneficial, but too many times it’s an excuse to obsess over the problem. Some people are too much inclined to seek out only those who will reinforce negative evaluations.

Just keep in mind that these are all techniques to help relieve symptoms, they don’t address the underlying causes. As such, they are only one (albeit important) component in curing stress. For that, more in-depth action is needed.

[tags]stress, stress relief, yoga, music[/tags]

You can beat everyday stress, but chronic stress takes a more focused approach.

Stress is the result of both external and internal factors – what happens combined with how you evaluate its seriousness and your ability to cope. A lost job, a dissolved marriage, a serious illness or any of hundreds of other circumstances can prompt stress. But for those to result in stress, especially long-term, an individual has to evaluate them and him or herself in a certain way.

A person who feels confident in his or her ability to quickly overcome hurdles (and at a modest ‘cost’) is much less likely to feel stress for long. A person who identifies situations realistically, and who believes they have the capacity to deal with life’s inherent difficulties may feel challenged. But that is normal life and a healthy reaction, it is not stress.

Chronic stress is harmful and very few harmful conditions are ‘natural’ in the sense that they are inevitable, nor are necessarily devastating, or can not be overcome. If life were predominantly disasters we couldn’t cope with, insurance companies wouldn’t make the fortunes they do.

So, to deal with chronic stress well it’s necessary to have an objective view of the actual damage external circumstances entail. Many situations in life result in a loss of values, a loss (temporarily) outside our control. But companies that experience business reverses do recover, injuries heal, relationships mend or form between new partners, new friends are found.

Even losses that are permanent – an amputated leg, the death of a loved one, a bankrupt business – are not equivalent to the loss of life or hope. Individuals can, and do, compensate. Time alone doesn’t heal all wounds, but thought and effort can go a long way toward doing so.

When an individual focuses on what is valuable and possible, acute stress is minimized. When thought and effort combine with a realistic attitude toward the inherent hurdles in life, chronic stress is all but impossible.

It isn’t advisable to have a Pollyanna attitude that ‘everything is always ok, no matter what’. Bad things do happen and realism requires seeing that. But that same realism can be the basis for seeing things in perspective. Things may be, in fact, as bad as they seem. But, they rarely have to stay that way.

Acknowledging what is real and recognizing that it’s possible to create or acquire new values to replace a loss are key to avoiding long term stress. Long term stress, which often accompanies or leads to depression, tends to be self-reinforcing. You feel bad, so things look bad. Things look bad, so you feel worse.

Objectivity and re-committing oneself to the achievement of values is essential for breaking the cycle. But recognize that gaining those values is an achievement, one requiring thought and action. Rarely do they simply arrive in some equivalent of a winning lottery ticket.

[tags]stress, stress relief, chronic stress, long term stress[/tags]