12 Natural Remedies for Anxiety and Stress

Whether you are upset over money, health, work, family, love or whatever, feelings of anxiety and stress are not just unpleasant their are a detriment to your mental, emotional and physical health as well as your spiritual development and a blockage to a higher state of consciousness. 

There are many safe non drug remedies, from mind-body techniques to supplements to calming teas.  Some start working right away, while others may help lessen anxiety and stress over time.

• Chamomile:  If you have a jittery moment, a cup of chamomile tea might help calm you down.  You can also take it as a supplement.  In medical studies, patients with generalized anxiety disorder who took chamomile supplements for eight weeks had a significant decrease in anxiety symptoms compared to patients taking a placebo.
• L-theanine (or green tea): L-theanine is an amino acid found in green tea which helps curb a rising heart rate and blood pressure.
• Hops: Yes, it's in beer, but you won't get the tranquilizing benefits of the bitter herb hops (Humulus lupulus) from a brew. The sedative compound in hops is a volatile oil, so you get it in extracts and tinctures—and as aromatherapy in hops pillows.
• Valerian: Some herbal supplements reduce anxiety without making you sleepy (such as L-theanine), while others are sedatives. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is squarely in the second category. It is a sleep aid, for insomnia. It contains sedative compounds; the German government has approved it as a treatment for sleep problems. Valerian smells kind of nasty, so most people take it as a capsule or tincture, rather than a tea. If you want to try it, take it in the evening—not before you go to work! Valerian is often combined with other sedative herbs such as hops, chamomile, and lemon balm. 
• Lemon Balm: Lemon balm has been used at least since the Middle Ages to reduce stress and anxiety as well as help with sleep.  While it is generally safe, be aware that some studies have found that taking too much can actually make you more anxious.  So follow the directions and start with the smallest dose.  Lemon balm is sold as a tea, capsule, and tincture.  It's often combined with other calming herbs such as hops, chamomile, and valerian.
• Exercise: Exercise is safe, good for the brain, and a powerful antidote to depression and anxiety, both immediately and in the long term.  If you exercise on a regular basis, you'll have more self-esteem and feel healthier.
• Passionflower: In spite of the name, this herb won't help you in love.  It's a sedative and some studies find that it can reduce symptoms of anxiety.  It is not recommended to take for longer than one month at a time.
• Lavender: The intoxicating (but safe) aroma of lavender may be an emotional anti-inflammatory.  In on study, Greek dental patients were less anxious if the waiting room was scented with lavender oil.  In a Florida study, students who inhaled lavender oil scent before an exam had less anxiety.
• Breathe!: Did you know that you can't breathe deeply and be anxious at the same time?  There are many different breathing exercises and meditations but here is a simple one that I use.  Breathe in through your nose for a count of 8...hold your breath for a count of 4...now exhale for a count of 8 and hold again for a count of 4...Repeat.
• Get Hot: Ever wonder why you feel so relaxed after a spell in the sauna or a steam room?  Heating up your body reduces muscle tension and anxiety.  Sensations of warmth may alter neural circuits that control mood, including those that affect the neurotransmitter serotonin.  Warming up may be one of the ways that exercise, not to mention curling up by a fire with a cozy sup of tea, boosts mood. Feeling stressed, try soaking in a hot bath.
• Get Out in Nature: The Japanese call it Shinrin-yoku, which means "forest bath".  You and I know it as a walk in the woods.  Japanese researchers measured body changes in people who walked for about 20 minutes in a beautiful forest, with the woodsy smells and the sounds of a running stream.  The forest bathers had lower stress hormone levels after their walk than they did after a comparable walk in an urban area.
• Meditation: Anxiety and stress are both caused by thinking about either he past or the future.  So stop thinking and focus on the present moment.  If you are new to meditation here are Two Simple Meditation Techniques That Anyone Can Do.

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Law of Attraction and Weight Loss

This article is an extension to a previous article that I wrote entitled "Law of Attraction Wake Up Call, Why it May Not Be Working For You".  If you have not yet read that article then I suggest you do so before continuing on with this one.

Ok, so we all understand the concept of the Law of Attraction and we have our goals set and we meditate and visualize on those goals daily and mentally project the positive vibrational match to our goals out into the universe.  Now I want to talk a little bit about how to strengthen and reinforce those mentally projected positive vibrations with the actions that we take and with the daily habits that we have.

If the actions that we take are in conflict with the vibration that we are trying to form in our minds then the universe is getting mixed signals from us.  In this article I will focus on one of my goals as an example which is to lose weight.

First of all let us first address why someone would have the desire to lose weight in the first place.

If your only desire to lose weight is because of the idea that society or someone else has put into your head that you are somehow less of a person because you weigh more than someone else then stop right now.  The entire idea of trying to lose weight to please or impress someone else or the world around you is a strong negative frequency in and of itself.

If you are happy with your body the way it is then you don't need to focus on losing weight, you need to focus on letting go of the idea that what other people think of you has anything whatsoever to do with your happiness.

Now for me, my desire to lose weight is for me and me alone.  When I was younger I was an athlete and I couldn't gain weight if I tried.  But for a long period of time I let myself go mentally, emotionally and physically.  When I look in the mirror it is a reminder of how I let myself get distracted from the person I wanted to be.  And I want to lose weight to be more healthy and happier with myself.

So lets get back to how to use our actions and daily habits to reinforce the vibration that we are creating mentally.  For example, we may be doing a great job in visualizing ourselves being more skinny and more healthy but if we are doing so while sitting on the coach stuffing our faces with cookies and candy then our actions are projecting a much different vibration than that which we are projecting mentally and are in conflict.

I made the decision to lose weight about a month ago and of coarse I meditate and visualize daily on that goal which is very important.  Some people spend hours a day in rigorous exercise and starve themselves but never lose weight because they do not create the positive frequency for the goal of losing weight.

You do not have to work out like an Olympic athlete  or starve yourself on a bird's diet however changing your daily habits just enough to reinforce the mentally projected vibration for your goals is very important.

Now there is no magic formula that will work for everyone but I will tell you what I did to give you an idea of what works for me and why it works and you can decide from there what actions will work for you.

First of all I knew that I needed to make some changes in my diet.  I used to drink soda all day long.  So the first thing I did was replace the soda with bottled or filtered water.  And most of the time I add a slice of lemon to my water.  See my article entitled "18 of the Best Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water" for more information on why I do that.  I may still occasionally have a soda when I go out to eat and I also drink coffee in the morning but I drink mainly water throughout each day.

I also eat a salad and a bowl of soup almost every day.  And when I get a sweet tooth I go for some fresh cut pineapple or maybe an orange or a banana instead of cookies or candy.  I have not completely cut anything out of my diet.  I just make what I feel are more healthy choices more often.

Now as a result every time that I take a drink of water throughout the day and every time I eat something healthy I know that I am doing that because of the decision that I made and the desire I have to become more healthy and to lose weight.  And those actions throughout the day reinforce the mental vibration that I project during my meditation and visualizations.

In addition I have also commented to doing some sort of physical activity on a daily basis.  This may be going for a walk or doing some sort of light exercise around the house.  I usually put on some music that makes me feel good and may do some aerobic type dancing or other exercise that I feel good while doing.  And I only do this for a few minutes daily but by doing so, just like with the dietary changes, I know that I am doing these things because of my decision and desire to lose weight and further reinforces that vibrational frequency.

Now I have had the desire to lose weight for a long time and visualized that desire but never lost a single pound.

I made these changes to my daily habits and actions about one month ago and have lost 11 lbs so far.  And every time I step onto the scale and see any progress toward my goal I get excited and feel much better about myself.  The more excited I get about the last pound I lost, the easier it is to lose the next pound.

And never let yourself get depressed because you are not losing the weight as fast as you might like to.  Any progress is still progress.  Be excited each day that you are closer to your goal then you were yesterday.  You will be surprised at how the momentum picks up along the way and how your vibrational frequency continues to grows and get higher and higher each day instead of feeling like you are starting over from the bottom each day.

UPDATE (1/16/14):  Stepped on the scale yesterday morning and I am down to 220 lbs. (down from 236 lbs.) And I have had to tighten my belt by another notch to keep my pants from falling down....:)  Still have a ways to go but really excited about the progress so far!


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Tremors of Psychitude: One Little Trick to Find Purpose and Motivation

by: Leo Babauta
via: zenhabits


Today when I asked people what was bothering them, the two most common responses were related to:

• Finding meaning and purpose
• Finding motivation

As it turns out, those two things can be solved with one little step.

Here’s the step: help someone else.

This sounds exceedingly simple, but it’s the shift in focus that really makes a difference. Let’s say I was having trouble finding the motivation to write … to solve that, I might tweet something asking people what problems they’re having. Then I move from “how do I solve my problem (of not being motivated)” to “how can I help these people”?

I’m not bogged down by my own distractions or guilt or laziness anymore … I’m focused on doing something good for someone else. Now I’m excited! The words just pour out of me. This is a hypothetical scenario, of course.

Finding Meaning and Purpose

If you feel stuck in your life, or confused, because you don’t have a clear direction and have no way of finding that direction … shift your focus from yourself.

Instead of thinking, “What should I be doing?” or “What could I do to give my life purpose?” … try asking:

• What could I do to help people in need?
• What pain are other people feeling that I could help with?
• Who do I care most about, and what problems do they have?
• Who are my current customers, and what can I do to help them more?
• What problems are out there that strangers might have, that my particular skillset could solve?

When you start asking these kinds of questions, your focus shifts from your confusion and problems, to the confusion and problems of others. And when you start solving them, you have purpose. It’s gratifying to help others. It fills you with a sense of meaning and appreciation.

It sounds too easy, but it works 100% of the time. I will give you your money back if it doesn’t.

Getting Pumped with Psychitude

We might move through the day as if in a fog of blueness, slogging through mud, in a slump, feeling no motivation to do anything useful. This is a problem I imagine people of yore didn’t deal with as much. I’m not sure what in our modern condition causes this lack of motivation, but when I figure it out, I will write a poem about it for you.

But the cure is simple and pure and lovely: help others.

Can’t get off your butt to do something useful to your career and life in general? OK. So forget about your life, your career, your little set of problems. That’s a self-focus that doesn’t do anything for you.

Instead, move your focus to others. What pain are other people feeling? Can you help in some small way? Can you ease their suffering just a little? Can you put a smile on someone’s face? Can you change someone’s life?

When you change someone’s life for the better, even just a little, you feel amazing.

This shift in focus … it rocks your world. It sends tremors of psychitude throughout your body and mindbrain. It’s quite nice.

A Few Other Steps

OK, I know I said just one step is needed, but a few other little things to consider:

• Simplify your day. Do less. Pick just one thing to focus on.
• Clear distractions. Shut off the Internet. Turn off notifications.
• Move in one small step. Don’t tackle the whole damn project. Just get started.
• Get more sleep. Lack of sleep, too little water, too much stress, and too much caffeine are causing your headaches.

Good. Do those few steps, and shift your focus to others, and your mind and entire being will be rocked with psychitude like never before.


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How to Stick to a Habit When Life Falls Apart

"If you're going through hell, keep going."   ~ Winston Churchill

We’d like to think that making positive life changes is a straight line from beginning to where we want to go.

But life has taught us differently.

Experience shows us that you can start a new habit (let’s say working out) and things go great for awhile, and then life gets in the way. Things get messy. Things fall apart. We have a few bad days, or a huge project to work on at work, or relationship problems, or a family crisis, or we get sick.

What do we do when life gets messy and our habits fall to the wayside? Well, give up, obviously.

Actually, I take that back. We tend to give up, because when things get in the way and we mess up on our habits, it’s a little discouraging, even depressing.

But it doesn’t have to be. There are a few things you can do instead:

1. Breathe. Pause for a moment, breathe, focus on the breath. Know that you are OK, in this moment. Give yourself a moment’s space to think about what’s going on in your life, and who you are.
2. Give yourself a break. If things like relationship problems get in the way of your habits, allow yourself to pause the habits until you get your life in order and let your mind rest. Rest is important. Get plenty of sleep — this is important, because when stressful things are happening in our lives, our bodies and minds need plenty of rest to heal.
3. Know that every habit has bumps in the road. There’s never a perfectly smooth path with no bumps. Seriously, no habit goes on a perfectly straight line — at least, none that I’ve created, and none that anyone I know has created. Expect the bumps, and don’t let them end everything.
4. Allow yourself to experience the messy. Things will always come up, life gets messy, painful things happen. That’s OK. Give yourself the space to experience the pain with the joy, the mess with the beauty.
5. Find a friend to help you get on track. It’s great if you can do habits by yourself, but it’s even better if you can find a friend who will do it with you, or at least hold you accountable, and help you get things back on track once things clear up for you.
6. Keep smiling!. That’s the most important thing. Smile, and you’re doing it right.

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How Our Thoughts Create Our Reality

Dr. Joe Dispenza claims that every time we learn something new, hundreds of thousands of our neurons change, which affects the state of our physical body.
 
Dr. Dispenza is known worldwide for his original theory of the connection between mind and matter. The scientist gained his greatest fame after the release of his acclaimed documentary We know what makes a signal in 2004. His research helped disclose the extraordinary possibilities of consciousness and its ability to create synaptic connection with a strong concentration.

Just imagine: with each new sensation, vision or emotional experience a new connection between two of more than 100,000 million brain cells is inevitably formed.

But to really make changes, one needs to concentrate on the reinforcement of the conditioned reflex. If, within a short period of time such an experience takes place again, the connection will be strengthened. If the experiment is not repeated for a long time, the relationship will become weaker or disappear altogether.

Science regards the brain as something static and fixed, but in fact it has a strong ability to change. Recent studies in neuroscience have shown that the effect of each body experiences in our thinking organ (fatigue, fear, joy, cold) acts to change our brain.

“What if just by thinking we make our inner alchemy out of the normal state so often that the self-regulation system of the body eventually considers this abnormal state to be the normal one?” – Asks Dr. Dispenza in his book Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind published in 2007.

Dispenza insists that the brain is not able to distinguish between a physical sensation and an emotional experience. Thus, when our minds are always focused on the negative thoughts, our “gray matter” can easily be deceived and bring the body into a painful state.

Dispenza proves his point with the help of the experiment, during which the volunteer pressed a springy device with his ring finger for an hour a day, during four weeks. After the experiment the finger became 30 percent stronger. At the same time, another group of volunteers had to imagine doing the same, but in fact they never saw or touched the device. Four weeks later their fingers were also strengthened by 22 percent!

For years, scientists have been studying the ways in which consciousness controls matter: from the placebo effect (when a person begins to feel better after allegedly taking drugs) to the practice of Tummo (the practice of Tibetan Buddhism, as a result of which the practitioners are sweating, meditating at a temperature below zero). Such an influence of the practice on physical condition is just a by-product, which appears as a result of chemical reactions between neurons.

The research of Dr. Dispenza was interrupted by the onset of the crisis in his life. When riding a bike the doctor was struck by a car. To gain the ability to walk again, he had to go through a procedure that might be causing him chronic pain for life.

Dispenza decided to challenge science and get himself out of this situation through the power of his thoughts, and it worked. Nine months later Dispenza was able to walk again. Inspired by this success, he decided to dedicate his life to exploring the mind-body connection. 

Determined to explore the ability of the power of mind to treat the body, Dr. Dispenza interviewed countless number of people who had experienced what he calls a “spontaneous remission.” These were people with serious illnesses who had chosen to ignore the traditional treatment, but never fully recovered. Dispenza came to the conclusion that all these people had the understanding that their thoughts determine their health condition. When they focused on changing their thoughts, their diseases disappeared in an incredible way. 

Regardless of the fact that Dispenza managed to demonstrate the ability of thoughts to transform the physical condition, yet many are skeptical about his ideas. His theory of “faith in one’s own reality” seems to be related to pseudoscience and does not sound very scientific.

Perhaps science is not yet ready to recognize that the physical condition can be changed with the help of the power of consciousness, but Dr. Dispenza, however, argues that this is really happening.

“I don’t expect that science will allow us to go further because if we do, then it will turn into a form of religion. We should remain “outsiders” and do something supernormal. When we have complete confidence in our abilities, we will create a new science”, says Dispenza.


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Expanding the Envelope: A Method for Beating Anger

If someone were to ask me, "What is the largest problem that you have every had to deal with in you life?", I would have to say Anger, no question about it.  And sadly enough, I have no doubt that everyone that has ever been in my life would agree rather quickly that anger is the biggest problem that I have every had to deal with as well.

Here’s what I’ve been learning about anger: it’s purely because of selfishness.

Almost every time we get angry, it’s because something isn’t going our way.

I’ve been practicing a method for beating this selfish anger, it's called Expanding the Envelope of Compassion.

Before we talk about the method, let’s look at why anger is so selfish. Here’s what happens:

1. We want something a certain way.
2. Other people (or occasionally, the Universe!) don’t give us that something in that certain way.
3. We get mad.

This is like a little kid who doesn’t get his way. Exactly like that little kid, except we’re grown-ups and are supposed to know better. I’m no different — I get angry just like everyone else. We act like little kids because the part of our brain that’s getting mad is really no different than a scared, selfish child.

Let’s say we’re working and someone interrupts us: bam, so pissed off! Life is suddenly a boiling rage. OK, maybe we’re just annoyed. Why are we so annoyed/Hulk-enraged? Simply because we wanted to continue to work uninterrupted, but some buttwad has ruined that perfect fantasy.

Or let’s say you want something from your spouse (love, attention, sex, support) and they don’t give it to you. Grrrr! How could they! We want something and we expect them to give it to us, and we think, “Why don’t they? It would be so easy!” No different from a kid who wants that Rocky Road ice cream and throws himself on the floor kicking and screaming when he doesn’t get it.

Here’s the thing, though: the other person doesn’t have the same fantasy as us. The person who interrupts us isn’t as concerned about us working without interruption. While that fantasy is our universe, it’s not theirs. Their universe is about getting something else done, and they need to interrupt us to get that done (or maybe they want to tell us a joke, which is probably very clever I’m sure).

Our spouse’s universe isn’t to give us sex or support. Maybe that’s part of the universe, but the spouse has other things going on, other needs.

Our universe isn’t everyone else’s universe.

Expanding the Envelope

OK, we get it. Anger is selfishness, wanting something and then throwing a tantrum when we don’t get it, and our universe isn’t everyone else’s universe. Now what?

A method that works for me is what I think of as Expanding the Envelope. Widen the envelope of your perspective, from what you think is important to what the other person sees as important.

If you want something, that’s one small bit of awareness … but widen that awareness to include what the other person (or people) want, what they’re going through, what their problems are.

Even if the other person is being a complete jerk, if you can see it from their perspective, you might realize they’re having a hard day, or maybe even a hard life. That doesn’t excuse whatever they’re doing, but you can have some more empathy and compassion for them. If you can have an envelope of compassion for yourself and others, it helps with anger, frustration, and disappointment.

What helps to do this is to become the watcher of your anger, rather than the participant. When we get an angry impulse, we tend to act on it — lash out, show irritation, give a frustrated response like “Seriously?!”

Note: If you use a phrase like, “Seriously?!” or “WTF?!” or “Really?!” then that’s a sign you need to change your outlook. It’s a sign that you think people should behave the way you want them to behave, and when they don’t, you’re frustrated/irritated/angry.

Instead of acting on that impulse, just watch it. Become the observer. When you do that, you put some space between yourself and your angry impulses, and in that little space, you have room to decide. How will you respond? What’s going on here? Why are you so angry about something so unimportant? What fantasy/ideal are you holding onto that you didn’t get that’s making you angry?

And as you consider your response, you can then Expand the Envelope. Take some deep breaths, calm down, consider your actions. Consider the other person’s point of view, why they might be behaving this way. Don’t think, “They shouldn’t act that way” but instead think “Why would someone act that way?”

Now, Expanding the Envelope a hard thing to do on a regular basis. As you widen your envelope of awareness, do it like reducing the sugar in your coffee. Gradually.

A very powerful revelation about anger is that no other person in the world has the slightest bit of power to actually "Make Us Angry".

Whenever we get angry, most of the time we tell ourselves that we are angry because some other person made us angry, or they just pushed my buttons.  But the truth is that the only thing anyone else can actually do is provide us with the opportunity to get angry, whether it is their intention to make us angry or not.  There is no magic button to throw us into a fit of uncontrollable rage.

Bottom line is that anger is a choice that each of us make.  No matter what the situation, it is our choice whether to respond by getting angry or not.  And if we have chosen to get angry it is only a matter or choice to stop being angry.


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The Habits of Happiness

by: Leo Babauta
via: zenhabits.net

"Happiness is not something ready made.  It comes from your own actions."  ~Dalai Lama

I’m not one who believes you can be happy all the time, but I have learned you can be happy much of the time.

And that’s not something that depends on how your day is going or how others treat you — it depends on what you do on a regular basis.

I remember being unhappy most days, at one point in my life. It wasn’t because I hated the people in my life — I had a lovely wife, great kids, other wonderful family members and friends. It was because I was unhappy with myself, and that caused growing debt problems, unhappiness with my job, health problems and more. I felt like I couldn’t change any of that.

Then one day I sat down and made a list.

I make a lot of lists — it’s one of my favorite habits — but this list seemed to have a magical power. It was a list of the things I was grateful for. Amazingly, there were a lot of things on the list, from things about my wife, kids, relatives, and friends, to things about my job, about nature around me, about my life.

This list was magical because I went from feeling a bit depressed about everything, and hopeless and helpless, to much happier. My mindset shifted from the things I didn’t like or didn’t have, to the things I was really happy I had. And I was in control.

Since then I’ve experimented with a number of habits and have found a couple things to be true:

1. A handful of activities can actually make you happy.
2. If you incorporate them into your life on a regular basis (make them into habits), you’ll be happier regularly.

And those might seem to be small realizations, but actually they’re huge.

The Habits That Make You Happy 

So what habits make you happy? Try doing these on a daily basis, and see if you get the same results: 

1.  List 3 Good Things. Eva & I started a daily evening ritual, at about 7pm each day, where we take a moment to tell each other three good things about our day. We didn’t invent this, but it serves as at least one time in your day when you focus on what you’re grateful for. This can create a mental habit of gratitude that you can use other times in your day, when you’re focused on the things you don’t like or have — when you feel this, think about something you do have, that you love. Find a way to be grateful, and you’re happier.
2. Help Someone. When we focus on ourselves, and the woeful state of our lives, we are self-centered. This shrinks the world to one little place with one little unhappy person. But what if we can expand that worldview, and expand our heart to include at least one other person? Maybe even a few others? Then we see that others are suffering too, even if that just means they’re stressed out. Then we can reach out, and do something to reduce their stress, put a smile on their face, make their lives easier. Help at least one person each day, and you’ll find your entire perspective shifted.
3. Meditate. I’ve called this the Fundamental Habit, because it affects everything else. Meditate for just 2 minutes a day, and you’ll create a habit that will allow you to notice your thoughts throughout the rest of the day, that will help you to be more present (unhappiness comes from not being present), that will help you notice the source of anxiety and distraction. That’s a lot that can be accomplished in 2 minutes! Sit every morning when you wake, and just notice your body, and then your breath. Notice when your mind wanders, and gently return to your breath. You become the watcher of your mind, and you’ll learn some useful things, I promise.
4. Exercise. Everyone knows you should exercise, so I’m not going to belabor this point. But it really does make you happier, both in the moment of exercise (I’m exerting myself, I’m alive!) and throughout the rest of the day. Exercise lightly, if you’re not in the habit yet, and just for a few minutes a day to start out. Who doesn’t have a few minutes a day? If you don’t, you need to loosen up your schedule a bit.

There are a number of other habits that also help: mindful eating, drinking tea, doing yoga, socializing with others. But these incorporate meditation (they’re more active forms of meditation), and exercise and helping others and gratitude (if you’re doing it right). So I wanted to list the most basic habits, and then you can expand to other areas.

How do you form these habits? One at a time, starting as small as possible, with some social accountability.

Set these habits in motion. You’ll notice yourself becoming more present, more grateful, more other-focused. The shift that results is nothing short of a miracle.

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