Easy Tips For Natural Stress And Anxiety Relief western environmental consultants

The pace of modern life can be frightening, can’t it? We’re so used to rushing here and rushing there that we often forget about such things as natural stress and anxiety relief. Much easier to reach for a bottle of pills or medication to lower our stress levels! But since these don’t deal with the root of the problem, maybe we should have a serious look at our response. After all, stress can make us miserable – and even kill us! So why not invest some time learning about natural stress and anxiety relief?

What About The Doctor?

Many people are reluctant to visit their doctor. After all, no one wants to hear bad news – ignore it and it will go away! – but equally, no one wants to pay good money for something they already know about. So when is it a good idea to consult the doctor for stress and anxiety relief?

Let’s say you’ve noticed a loss of appetite and you’re not sleeping well. In this case you should seek medical advice. If things are worse and you feel suicidal or see no point in going on, then get down to the surgery! Even if you’re not quite at that stage, but your life is being ruined by anxiety and depression, you need to put on that appointment. Listen carefully to the doctor’s advice and follow any treatment, but perhaps it’s time to look into some methods of natural stress and anxiety relief.

Fill Your Lungs!

Here’s a suggestion. During times of stress or anxiety, notice your breathing pattern. If you know from experience this will be difficult, you can ask a friend to watch it for you. Short gasps, hyper-breaths and a general disruption to normal breathing are symptoms that all is not well. Since these tend to stifle the free passage of oxygen to the brain, a vicious circle can be set up: you feel even more stressed and panic can quickly set in.

Therefore, when you feel overwhelmed or in a panic, make an effort to slow down. Slow, regular and deep breaths will provide natural stress and anxiety relief. The heart rate will stabilize, any increase in blood pressure will subside – and you’ll instantly feel better! This calmness will help you cope with the situation.

However, it’s not always easy to start this deep breathing for natural stress and anxiety relief. In that case, try this tip. Open a bottle of essential oils. Put it to your nose and sniff! The aroma of the oils will instantly help you to take deeper breaths. This is an instinctive reaction.

It’s easy to find these oils in stores and on supermarket shelves. The most frequenttly used are tea tree, frankincense and lavender. Bergamot is another, but not everyone likes it! There’s nothing artificial or synthetic about these oils, since they are extracts of fruits and plants. This puts them high in the rankings of natural stress and anxiety relief items. And it’s well documented that just holding that little bottle will calm you when you’re under stress. You know it’s there if all else fails!

Stress Relief Through Music Therapy western environmental consultants

We’re told that in the western world today the majority of people suffer from some degree of stress or other. If this is so, no wonder finding solutions to stress is a growth industry. Thankfully, many of these solutions are highly effective, and none more so than music therapy. Stress relief in both adults and children – even in some pets! – has been greatly enhanced by music therapy.

This is nothing new, the healing powers of music are well documented. We can read about it in the Ancient Greek myths, and there’s a story in the Bible of the king’s depressive state being helped by David’s harp music.

Tell Me More About Music Therapy!

There are different types of music therapy. Some involve playing music, but we’ll focus on the type that involves listening to music for the purpose of helping the listener to relax and be calm, and so gain anxiety and stress relief.

This goes hand in hand with meditation, and involves such techniques as deep breathing and mental imagery. It’s known that music works on many levels of the brain and significantly changes moods and hormone functions.

What Makes Music Work In This Way?

In the months before birth, a baby is surrounded by warmth and security in the mother’s womb. The most reassuring sound is the mother’s heart beat. Medical experts now claim that when we’re in a relaxed state the regular beat or rhythm of music rekindles feelings first experienced before birth.

The slow, rhythmic pulse of relaxing music may reflect the feelings first enjoyed when our lives were stress and anxiety-free. Thus we can withdraw for a while from the causes of our stress and anxiety to an imaginary place of refuge and safety.

When choosing music as therapy, either for yourself or others, you must choose carefully. Music can be a great stress reliever or a great stress producer! Avoid the tendency to pick music just because you like it. This can have a value, but for deep relaxation and stress relief you need to be more discriminating. And picking ‘relaxing’ music you hate because you think it will be good for you can have the opposite effectK

Fortunately, professional music therapists can guide us here. They recommend music that has a rhythm of less than 72 beats per minute – that’s slower than the heart beat. If the music goes in cycles or repeating segments, so much the better.

Some of the most effective genres of music are known to be:

* Classical pieces

* Celtic

* Native American rhythms

* New Age music

Bear in mind that different styles of music can affect the mind differently:

Sad country music won’t make you feel better if you’re already feeling down!

When your brain is in overdrive and your energy depleted, listening to hard rock may not be the best prescription! But if you’ve been bored out your mind at work and have lots of pent-up energy, it could be just what the doctor ordered.

When you’ve to do something on your own and it threatens you, music from your childhood or teenage years can be highly reassuring.

Natural ‘music’ – such as the sound of rippling water, birds chirping or children at play – can promote relaxation, as can the sounds of bass drums and flutes.

The Best Way To Enjoy Music Therapy

These tips will help you get the most from your music therapy:

* Set aside a minimum of 20 minutes in a place where you won’t be bothered by others

* Relax, either sitting or lying down

* Alternatively, go for a walk in a quiet, relaxing spot and listen to your music through you iPod or portable CD player. Here you can practice regular breathing and enjoy some exercise

* Remember to choose music that suits your particular requirements; you may like to consider music with guided meditations on themes such as self-motivation, stress relief, decision making

* Daily sessions are best, but if this not possible do them as often as you can

Better health, improved relationships, enhanced moods, stress relief: these are only some of the benefits of music therapy. Just watch you don’t become addicted!