Wellness Tips and Tricks in this Busy Season
By Jeanne McCarthy-Caparso
Life is full of stress-at home, at work, in the news. For many people, stress is so commonplace it has become a way of life. Stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it can help you perform under pressure, rise to meet challenges and motivate you to do your best.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process.
If you frequently find yourself feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, it’s time to take action to bring your nervous system back into balance. You can’t completely eliminate stress from your life, but you can control how much it affects you. Relaxation techniques activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress levels and a boost in your feelings of joy and serenity.
Bella Toccare de Spa & SalonTop 10 Tips for Daily Serenity and Calm
1. Reconnect with nature. Take a walk and get some sunshine to help you refresh, relax and reconnect to all living things.
2. Deep cleansing breaths. Take slow, deep breaths in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. This will bring oxygen to muscles; your heart rate can decrease as your breath gets deeper.
3. Connect with others. Spend time with positive people who enhance your life. Laugh with family and friends. Laughter truly is good medicine and will help to balance all the seriousness in life.
4. Pray or meditate. Having time to be still within yourself for 10-30 minutes allows your mind to reach a peaceful place. 5. Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea. An herbal, organic, caffeine-free tea, such as Aveda’s Comforting Tea, includes licorice root and peppermint to steep you in calm.
6. Light scented candles. Aveda’s Caribbean Therapy soy candle creates a sanctuary at home with aromas of amyris, vetiver, bay and lime.
7. Get enough sleep. Use aromatherapy—an oil such as Aveda’s Lavender or Vanilla Singular note oils in a warm bath before bed calms the nervous system, helping you to fall asleep and stay asleep.
8. Do something you enjoy every day. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy—get a good workout, write in your journal, play with a pet, work in your garden.
9. Schedule relaxation time. Get a massage, facial, manicure or a pedicure. Go to a movie, curl up with a good book, listen to music. Do those things that best help you to decompress.10. Make your well being a priority. You cannot help anyone else unless you have taken care of yourself.
