healingways
Simple Stress Busters Natural Ways to Slide into a State of Calmness
by Kathleen Barnes W
e all encounter everyday stressors and usually find our own ways of defusing
them. However, when chronic stress remains unresolved, it extracts a toll on health that may range from heart disease and stroke to obesity, gastro- intestinal problems and depression. Thankfully, Natural Awakenings has uncovered inviting ways to regularly de-stress that naturally make us feel good. Here are some refreshing ideas for immediate rest and relaxation. Eat Mindfully. Chocolate can be
an excellent antidote to stress-related binge eating, advises Dr. Susan Lord, an integrative physician in Great Bar- rington, Massachusetts, who leads mind-body medicine programs at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, in Stockbridge. “We rarely eat mindfully,” comments Lord. “We’re usually gulping down our food while watching TV, ar- guing with the kids or reading a book.” She often leads a meditation in which participants are allotted one small piece of chocolate that they must eat slowly and consciously. “Most people discover they have never really tasted their food,” she says. “They are pleas- antly surprised to discover that they feel satiated and satisfied on every level.” Lord’s teaching is supported by a study from an Oregon Research Institute affiliate in Albuquerque, New Mexico, showing that people lost significant amounts of weight by eating
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slowly and mindfully. Accordingly, Kripalu has encouraged eating in silence for nearly 40 years, a practice Lord heartily recommends to her pa- tients for one meal a day. Walk a labyrinth. A meditative walk on a labyrinth may be just what the doctor ordered, says physician Esther Sternberg, professor of medicine and research director at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. “A labyrinth differs from a maze, which has high walls and many dead ends,” notes Sternberg. “Walking a maze is inevitably stressful; a labyrinth has the exact opposite effect. There is only one path in and one path out. You go to the middle, meditate and walk back out. It’s a perfectly calming walking meditation.”
In physiological terms, Sternberg explains, the deep breathing induced by labyrinth walking activates the va- gus nerve, which prompts relaxation. It does this by interrupting the brain’s stress response and halting the release of adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol from the adrenal glands. Our ancestors built labyrinths as early as 4,000 BCE. They exist to- day in churches, healing centers and backyards all over the world. Finger labyrinths, even as simple as an outline printed on a piece of paper, also have proved to be effective relaxation tools, says Neal Harris, a licensed clinical
professional counselor in Barrington, Il- linois. His study confirming its relaxing effects was published in the Annals of Psychotherapy & Integrative Health. Shake (or laugh) it off. Anyone that has ever felt like exploding from tight shoulders, indigestion, headaches or other conditions caused by accu- mulated stress can benefit from Lord’s recommendation to experience a whole-body shake.
“Just stand with your feet firmly planted and start shaking—first your feet, then your legs, arms, head and neck and eventually, your whole body—for at least two or three min- utes,” she counsels. “You’ll shake off all of that tension, energize every cell and probably start laughing, another great stress reliever.” A good belly laugh is likewise a powerful stress reliever, according to a study by researchers at Indiana State University, in Terra Haute, published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Results also showed that laughter increased production of the protective cells that boost immune function. Create a memory garden. For
Sternberg, her personal place of peace is an unconscious re-creation combin- ing the sights and smells of her grand- mother’s garden with the comfortable “at home” feeling of her parents’ deck and mementos from a happy time in Crete. At the center of Sternberg’s
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