Spring into Positivity
Are you ready? Are you feeling it?
Spring is HERE!
Spring is the season of renewal, warmth, and fresh energy. Spring symbolizes growth, new beginnings, and a chance to reset.
Yes, spring is about trees budding, daffodils popping up, irises saying hello to the sun, and all the beautiful colors around every corner of your yard, garden, and trail or road you walk or hike on.
I love all those colors, the glorious songs of the birds, and the precious new young animals that are showing up. It brings me joy and big smiles.
Especially right now. We all want and need the uplifting experience of spring amid everything happening in the world. If you’re feeling stress, distress, a state of unknowingness of what is next, or maybe even the angst of confusion and frustration, you’re not alone.
I’m spending time with clients who want to live easily and calmly – even amid all the craziness.
So, this is what I’m discovering, and here are my ideas for you!
Embrace the Energy of Spring
First, let’s recognize that the change of seasons, especially spring, can inspire personal growth and positive changes. The mind and body can step into a discovery of rejuvenation and regeneration so you can focus on new goals.
Part of the effects of this seasonal shift are the psychological and physical effects of moving towards longer days, increased sunlight, and more outdoor activities.
Find Your Full Body Smile
To uplift your mood and promote well-being, get your mind and body connected. And do so with easy self-help acupressure and Jin Shin Jyutsu. Your body wants to smile, and you can help your body “feel the smile and experience it as overall positivity.”
The trick is to find the smile within you and to help it show itself.
I’m talking about the smile that your body wants to experience when it’s in a state of balance and harmony, when your energy is FLOWING. The flow helps all layers and parts of you to live in a place of being prepared for what you’re going to ask your body to do and be prepared for whatever might be coming around the corner – physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.
I’m talking about KNOWING where that smile is located WITHIN you. You can discover where the smiles are by doing your energy balancing daily, so you and your body are on the same page – knowing and believing that you’re working together to bring health, happiness, joy, peace, quiet, calm, ease, and overall “loving life.”
An Emotional Uplift
When your body feels an Emotional Uplift, the effects of stress can be reduced, your mood can be improved, and your energy can be increased. These specific acupressure points will promote positive emotions:
- Give yourself a hug by touching your upper arms. That energy balance area is all about breath, calm and heart health (both physical and emotional).
- Touch the inside of your knees or upper thighs will access breath and “being able to go forward with whatever you want.”
- Hold the outside of your knees will allow your body to feel rhythm, strength, and peace. HERE is the ultimate positivity!
Feel your Body’s Joy
When your body Feels the Joy, it will “smile from the inside out.” To help that happen, use these energy points:
- Touch your forehead, right fingers on the right side, and left fingers on the left. You will be connecting with “all-knowingness.”
- Hold your fingers at the base of your skull, your right fingers on the right side, and your left fingers on the left side. You will be connecting with “consciousness and awareness.”
- Jumper Cable, which is gently cupping each thumb and finger in turn, for several good breaths. This stimulates energy flow, and it balances all emotions.
The practice of acupressure is all about Self-Love and Body Connection.
When you tune in to your body’s needs and foster a deeper connection with yourself, you are indeed the best partner you could ever be with your body. The one person you will have the longest relationship with is yourself, so make it the absolute best ever!
Now make your body SMILE!
Let me help you! To book an in-person or virtual acupressure session, visit my online calendar and choose your time. https://calendly.com/deborahmyerswellness
How to Ditch Your Anxiousness
Oh my! There is so much going on around us, and it’s so easy to be in a state of reaction.
Are you experiencing any anxiousness, especially since there’s a significant place of not knowing what will happen next?
That kind of anxiousness and uncertainty can affect your overall body’s health and wellness during your waking hours and sleep time.
It’s essential to keep up your body’s ability to care for you. Your body, physically, mentally, and emotionally, needs to know that it’s prepared for what you’re going to ask it to do and prepared for whatever might come towards it.
You need to know that your body is there for you – and that you are capable of handling everything in your day-to-day personal and business life, family, community, and the world.
You and your body are phenomenal partners, and YOU can make a difference by having simple daily practices that cultivate well-being.
From that place comes the confidence that “I’ve got this!”
No matter what is going on in your body and your days, you and your best partner (your body) can be in rhythm, strength, and peace.
Are you ready to have access to information that gives you the confidence that you KNOW what YOU can do for yourself?
I have an answer for you!
IMPROVE SLEEP HABITS
Let’s address your sleep first because if anxiousness and uncertainty affect your waking hours, they also affect your sleep.
Are you sometimes waking up feeling low on energy and vitality and not having had enough rest? Some self-help acupressure can help.
Here is an energy tip that can assist you in moving through your life more invigorated by improving your sleep patterns. It will help you fall asleep and help you go back to sleep.
It may take time to repattern your body if it’s been “stuck in not giving you good rest” because of the old pattern your body has been in.
My suggestion is to be patient and keep on
- Do the Daily Clean Your House Flow® before or at bedtime
- When your head is on the pillow, hold your fingertips at the base of your skull (right fingers on the right side, left fingers on the left side). Hold for several deep breaths.
- Then start doing the “Jumper Cables”. Hold each thumb and finger (gently cupping) for at least several deep, calming breaths. If you’re not asleep by the time you finish holding the fingers of the second hand, repeat the sequence until you fall asleep.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for what you can learn to help your body when it’s awake and moving through the day or when it wants to give you a good night’s sleep.
Are you ready to learn a LOT more about supporting your body?
I invite you to my upcoming 10-week comprehensive course!
GPS for Body, Mind & Spirit 2025 will give you tons of information and energy management approaches to become a true partner with your body.
Discover simple and easy self-help acupressure techniques that you can use anywhere, anytime, simply by using your fingertips.
Feel how you can:
- Balance emotions
- Increase self-esteem
- Reduce stress and tension
- Relieve pain
- Recover from trauma
- Improve vitality
- Elevate mental and physical performance
During each class, we’ll take a deep dive into the elements that open and move energy pathways, so you can have a comprehensive understanding of how and why Jin Shin Jyutsu and acupressure work:
- How energy pathways function in the body
- Improve your ability to “listen” to the energy
- Unlock your ability to balance the energy flow
- Make positive changes in your whole being
Head on over to this web page to get all the event details and to register:
GPS for Body, Mind & Spirit Details
For a limited time, you can save $500 with an Early Bird ticket. When you check out, use Promo Code GPS_EARLYBIRD to get your discount.
Give your body, mind and spirit this gift for a less stressful and more vibrant life.
Is pain taking over your life?
I understand all too well about life altering pain! I’ve had times when a part of my body hurts so much that it’s all I can think about.
I remember what transpired in my garden when I lifted too many heavy pails of water one afternoon. I should’ve known better. Right? Well, I injured my shoulder and arm by doing too much.
We’ve all done it. And afterwards, we can be so hard on ourselves! “Why wasn’t I smarter than that?”
But when the pain really kicks in and starts to affect how you’re thinking and what you decide to do and not do, it’s time to investigate possibilities of “what can I do about this pain and help my body heal?”
It’s one thing to have pain resulting from a physical injury like what I just described, or pain from a physical ailment. We can usually wrap our minds around those kinds of issues that create pain in the body. And if we don’t push our body to keep on doing, and if we help the body let go of the inflammation, we can often help healing take place.
It will usually take some extra attention, and of course, I’m suggesting you make use of self-help acupressure to help get on the other side of a pattern of pain.
Emotional Anguish
What if you’re living with the pain for so long, and it just becomes what you expect? And then what happens if your mind and emotions play into that way of being?
What if the pain is happening because of emotional trauma, like losing a loved one or exposure to violence? Or what if the pain is a result of feeling lost and isolated and maybe anxious and depressed?
That kind of pain can be just as debilitating because it’s often harder to figure out what is hurting and how to fix it.
Pain can create such deep, intense feelings that the senses get all caught up in “this way of living.” Well, your body would appreciate if you had another way of dealing with it and helping it not go in that direction.
You CAN change the patterns of how you talk to yourself and how you treat anything going on in your body and help it release old physical, mental, or emotional traumas.
Read on…
Self Conversations
Here are some possibilities of conversations you could be having with yourself about emotions and feelings in association with living with pain:
** Concern and worry
“What is happening with my body? What do I need to do to get rid of this pain?”
This state of unknowing can lead to extreme nervousness and then confusion. And then it becomes almost too easy to go to “what am I doing wrong?” And, when you get caught up in that place, you start questioning yourself about almost everything?
When you’re stuck in that negative mode, it’s important to change your way of thinking to “what are some other possibilities?” That way you’ll increase your chances of getting answers as to how to take care of the pain and many other issues going on in your life. You and your body are now living in the space of believing that you ARE doing everything right to take care of you.
** Major fear that life is going to get really impacted
“What will happen if this pain doesn’t go away? What if this leads to something even worse?”
That sense of “feeling and being out of control” can lead to anxiety. And that’s one pattern we want to help our bodies not experience because it will cause aggravation of pain. Anxiousness is more like a “moment in time.” Being in a state of anxiety can become an issue that can become a project that then needs to be remedied.
The key is to help your body recognize that you and your body together CAN change the trajectory of thought patterns and improve your emotional state of being.
** Frustration and anger
“This pain is driving me crazy. I’m so frustrated that I can’t do what I want to and need to do.”
Significant irritation at how you have to live day-to-day with pain can create belief patterns that cause you to feel like you’re unable to change something that could make a difference in your activities, relationships, and life – personal or business.
** Sadness and grief
“Life is so empty, and I can’t find a way to be happy.”
When pain takes over your day-to-day existence, you can all too easily begin to “miss how things used to be.” When the energetic body recognizes that you’re missing an integral part of yourself and can’t locate what you’re searching for, the body starts feeling like something has been lost. Then comes a state of sadness and grief for what’s missing.
A life that doesn’t seem happy creates an unhappy body. A body that’s experiencing lots of pain is most likely not in a state of experiencing joy and happiness.
** Trying too much and trying too hard – efforting
“My body doesn’t want to do what I need it to do. Everything seems too hard to do, and there’s just not enough time to do it all.”
When pain takes over the body and causes life to feel overwhelming, even expected and often simple daily activities take too much energy and can deplete your overall vitality. If you had vitality and the ability to be an “energizer bunny,” and now that’s missing, you and your body are experiencing a significant sense of loss and not knowing how to live in the world.
Energy Balance
So why this lengthy description of emotions and feelings when we’re discussing pain?
Pain causes so much “stopping us in our tracks” that emotions need to be addressed as we travel the journey of helping our bodies release the symptoms of pain and what is holding the pain IN the body.
When you dive into all that can be affecting your body, you’ll travel through all the systems and places that are being reactive –
- Respiratory
- Digestive
- Elimination
- Muscular
- Skeletal
- Vascular
- Cognitive
- Emotional
Additionally, you will connect with your
- Adrenal
- Endocrine
- Immune
- Lymphatic
- Nervous systems
so they can easily support your WHOLE body fully.
For instance, you may notice that when you’re experiencing a stretch of pain, it’s harder to get a full inhale and exhale. Your breath MUST open up to help spread the energy and be able to let go of ALL that’s in the way of change and healing.
Breath
Do this energy flow to open your breath AND to release the tendency for inflammation to be present in the body when there is injury, ailment, trauma, distress, and the emotions that are talking back. Doing this energy flow will also help your body rediscover easy and comfortable movement:
Right hand – hold fingers on the left elbow
Left hand – hold fingers on the right elbow
Left hand – move fingers to the base of the right front ribcage
Right hand – move fingers to right chest below collarbone
Inflammation Release
Do this simple energy hold to remind the body that inflammation can let go and not be a pattern.
Left hand – hold fingers on the outside of the left knee
Right hand – hold fingers on the outside of the right knee
Be in Flow
Follow with this simple energy flow to remind your body to be in flow and breath and calm!
Right hand – cup your sternum directly below the collarbone
Left hand – hold your fingers on your tummy below your navel
Use these acupressure flows using light gentle touch to get back into an energy balance for your body, mind, and emotions.
What I just shared with you is just the tip of the iceberg that I will be covering in the upcoming THE GREAT PAIN ESCAPE workshop!
>> Get all event details and register<<
Magic in Your Own Fingertips
Have you ever known someone you just can’t get enough of? Someone that’s wise, and funny, and inspiring. For me, that’s Vilma Ginzberg.
I’ve worked with Vilma for over 13 years. She is a retired psychologist, an exceptional writer, and a poet laureate. I relay that information because even though she’s almost 97 years old, Vilma can still express her thoughts and have conversations consistently full of information and insights.
I am inspired every time I see her, and genuinely hope to be like her as I mature into her age.
She’s generous, too. In the beginning of one of my books, “Easy Self-Help Acupressure for Grown-Ups”, she wrote,
“Using Deborah Myers Daily Clean Your House Flow routine is better than being a couch potato. This routine, done daily like brushing your teeth, is easy and rewarding.”
When I recently saw Vilma, we discussed my work with schools and students of all ages, plus workplace wellness programs. I commented that I love helping others discover how to balance their energy daily so they get from where they are to where they want to be.
As I continued doing the energy flows with her, Vilma said that she felt the energy flowing, and it felt like magic. Then she elaborated,
“You know. We carry this magic in our back pockets all the time. Often, we just sit on it instead of pulling it out and making use of it.”
Vilma had hit the nail on the head!
We both started laughing because, as you may know, one of my favorite comments is that we walk around with our fingers 24/7. We just need to pull them out of our pockets and make use of our fingertips to touch energy balance points and help our bodies find physical, mental, and emotional balance and harmony.
Vilma wanted me to show you our holiday picture. I brought the headbands along because I wanted to see that girl smile!
Yes, Sit on Your Hands!
Vilma and I also talked about how one of the Daily Clean Your House Flow® steps is sitting on your hands. That energy balance point is all about vitality and helps your body discover alignment.
When that point is in balance, we are genuinely pulling the magic out of our back pockets and connecting with all the possibilities that are ready to happen. We just have to give those possibilities a chance to show up.
Then there’s the pose that is sitting on one hand and holding the other hand on the opposite shoulder. That pose helps the body release blocked energy and move the energy throughout the body, allowing the meridians and channels to flow easily and effortlessly.
That is when the organs and body systems can fulfill their tasks, and your body experiences balance, rhythm, strength, health, comfort, stability, and happiness.
Can you see that when you help your body be prepared for whatever you want it to do, it WILL respond by taking you forward?
A Special Gift from Vilma
Here is the poem that Vilma wrote for me after the very first time she came for an in-person acupressure session.
healing hands
for Deborah Myers
© Vilma Ginzberg 09-22-2010
you invite me to your table
padded curved and angled
to accommodate my bone-outlined
flesh-defined body of exhaustion
I spread myself atop it
my yesterdays of try-to’s
planked across its ridges
unfinished have-to’s
making stiffened bridges
of old intent preserved in rock of habit
I hardly feel your first fingers
your touch puff-wing light butterfly-soft
don’t you need something more jack-hammer-fisted I wonder
slow as morning light washes over doubt
melts layers of thought-armor
polishes the rusted jadedness
softly subtly slowly they come
subtle awakenings
stirrings of flesh and feeling
worlds entire fall apart while other worlds congeal
universes faint away
give birth to new constellations
you move soundlessly around this altar to life
where I am both sacrificial lamb and sacrament
soon I am as a sauce spilled on shapeless sheets
our mutual though silent rejoicing fills the empty spaces
outside the nearby window finches feed
gratefully on your thistle-seed
and some small uncaged bird in me
chirps again
Let’s pull your MAGIC out of your back pockets so you can achieve whatever you want to have happen in 2024!
Yes, I do in-person session at my home in Santa Rosa, CA, but I also help people to learn how to do self-help acupressure themselves.
Check my online calendar to see what might work best for you. Go to Deborah’s Calendar!
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY
Start your year off with a gift to yourself
Is there something you want to achieve or exceed at this year? In your business, personal, or school life?
Let’s get you on the right path to manifest your dreams at my new Do Anything Better workshop!
At this 3-session class, you’ll discover easy self-help acupressure techniques. This experience will open the door to better performance, balanced emotions, and overall life improvement by learning how to manage your body’s energy.
Get Frustration Out of Your Picture!
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
One of the most frequent phrases I’ve heard lately is, “I’m so frustrated!” Are YOU frustrated and finding that it’s hard to stay focused, handle everything on your plate, and get things accomplished? It only makes sense if you find yourself in that place! We live in a world with high levels of uncertainty, confusion, stress, and disruption. Most people find it easy to get distracted by the troubles going on around them. They want to get things done. We’re in for more unsettling moments for a while longer, so it’s pretty essential to get on the other side of the frustration.
Change Your Patterns
You can lower the temperature in the room and make it through the commotion. It would help if you were kind to yourself, remain calm, figure out what needs to change, and give yourself time to implement the changes. To help you let go of dissatisfaction, let’s consider some ways that allow you to feel relaxed and experience ease.
- Make a list of what you love to do to relax
- Designate times during the day that are all about “relaxing and taking care of me.”
- Have a meditation practice
- Have an exercise program
- Eat sensibly
- Get restful and rejuvenating sleep
- Plan, organize, and prioritize what you want to and need to accomplish; make it realistic
- Explore ways to balance your emotions and feelings
Balance Emotions and Feel Empowered
Feelings are important because they give you information about what you need to address before getting bigger and taking over. Whether it’s frustration, worry, fear, sadness, or efforting that is creating upset, you can help minimize these discomforts before they take your breath away.
You CAN manage and balance your emotions throughout the day, so stress doesn’t have room to hang out!
Here are some ideas for you:
1. If you don’t know about it, the Daily Clean Your House Flow is a nine-step self-help acupressure flow that you can do in 10 minutes a day. Many folks spend over 10 minutes because they find it a super-simple way to relax, meditate, experience deep breathing, let go of many aches and pains, and balance emotions.
2. Jumper Cabling, the last step of the Daily Flow, is all about balancing emotions and taking the punch out of stress. Gently cup each thumb and finger—each connects to helping the body experience calm and ease.
Get Frustration Out of Your Picture
To reduce frustration and the effects of frustration:
- Cup the middle fingers
- Right hand—hold fingers at the right base of the skull
Left hand—hold fingers at the outside of the right wrist. - Right hand—cup the forehead with fingers on the left side
Left hand—cup base of the skull with fingers on the right side
To get the step-by-step of the Daily Clean Your House Flow, look for the purple button on my website “Learn the Daily Flow” and click the button to start your free download.
Please let me know if you have questions! And I’d love to hear about the results you get when you create YOUR daily practice of balancing your energy!
I wish all of you a beautiful, prosperous, joyous, and VERY Happy New Year! It’s possible when you allow yourself to experience life with ease and calm.
Heart Talk Series Webinar
Whole Earth Hub Heart Talk Series Webinar
Join us on June 26, 2019, from 7 to 8:30 pm PDT
Meet the Speakers for the Heart Talk
Watch a video preview
Heart: Diana Borge
Mind: Marjorie Favuzzi
Body: Deborah Myers
Spirit: Jan Kucker
Register for the Webinar
It is easy and free. We will use Zoom. To join the call, click on the link below.
You can join by phone, tablet, or computer. Give yourself 5-10 minutes to test your connection.
We want to share four easy techniques to connect your heart, mind, body, and spirit. Join us for this Heart Talk. It is our gift to you. Feel free to share this with one person you feel would benefit.
Ah(choo) Spring!
Are you sick and tired of the symptoms of allergies?
Feeling any of these symptoms:
- sinus congestion
- sneezing
- headaches
- itchy watery eyes
- itchy throat
- a stuffy or runny nose
If you are constantly dealing with any or all of those miserable symptoms, you are most likely noticing a loss of productivity. These symptoms impact sleep and vitality in a big way. Spring grasses, weeds, and tree pollen (allergens) can bring on those pesky discomforts. If you are like me, you don’t want to hide inside. You want to enjoy what Mother Nature has created for you.
3 easy ways to reduce the misery of seasonal allergies
Follow along and learn how to reduce reactivity to the pollen floating around outside.
Use acupressure to relieve allergy symptoms
Jasmine came for a Jin Shin Jyutsu session feeling uncomfortable and lousy. Swollen, weepy eyes. Her head hurt. Jasmine had intense sinus congestion. She had been doing all the right things to boost her immune system: lots of self-help acupressure flows and drinking lots of water. It seemed like an uphill battle and she was on the losing side. She left our 90-minute session in comfort and ease. She could breathe deeply. Her face was no longer puffy, and her cheekbones reappeared.
Why did Jin Shin relieve Jasmine’s allergies?
Our bodies are made of energy. Energy needs to flow. Conditions, illnesses, and injuries are evidence of blocked energy. Acupressure helps energy flow. It allows the body to let go of symptoms and heal.
Now, when Jasmine does her daily self-help acupressure, she will notice the benefits more readily. And everything else she does for herself will help her body be happier, healthier and more comfortable.
Hydration! Drink lots of water!
Allergies have a tendency to dry out our systems. It’s important to hydrate your body. Avoiding dehydration will boost your immune system and help maintain normal histamine levels. Read more about it in this article from mytapscore.com, http://bit.ly/2JtBbuM
Lubricate your body adequately with good fluids, including electrolytes, and all layers and levels of your body will notice the difference. Your physical, mental, emotional, and energetic levels will all cooperate with each other and bring health.
Eat anti-inflammatory foods
Beat seasonal allergies the natural way by adding anti-inflammatory foods to your grocery list. Pineapple, which contains the enzyme known as bromelain, fish oil, and fresh ginger are just a few that will reduce allergic reactions.
Check out a more complete list at http://bit.ly/2Jvs2Sq
To read more about seasonal allergies go to https://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/seasonal-allergies
Got Questions about Allergies?
Leave a comment below or contact me directly.
Wishing you a beautiful and enjoyable spring without the misery of allergies!
Getting Your Breath Back with Easy Self-Help Acupressure
Life can throw us curves of all sorts! We don’t plan on those, and we don’t necessarily see them coming our way. One such event was the October 2017 fires. And no matter how YOU were individually impacted, the experience most likely affected your breath, your emotions, your sense of well-being, and maybe your physical health.
Our Bodies Remember Trauma
As we get closer to the one-year anniversary of that terrible time for Sonoma County and Napa County, your body may be experiencing memories of distress. Also, it hasn’t helped that we’ve had other fires raging north of us.
People are using phrases like, “I’m waiting with baited breath” and “I’m wondering how much more I can take.” Some folks realize that they’re not processing information with ease, similar to what they were experiencing one year ago after the fires. And many are trying to figure out what they need to do to regain their vitality and productivity. Fatigue is running rampant because sleep isn’t restful and rejuvenating.
None of those symptoms are unusual after trauma and chaos. And when we re-experience the memories of the traumatic event, our bodies get even more stuck in the patterns of the symptoms.
Reduce the Impact of Trauma
We can help our bodies let go of the symptoms and the tendency to hold onto those patterns. By balancing our energy, we can create new patterns of balance and ease that our bodies will see as more desirable.
Self-help acupressure is a natural, effortless way to remind your body how to be in breath, how to let go of stress and anxiety, and how not to take on stress. You can relieve discomfort and pain, balance your emotions, boost wellness, and improve performance in your daily activities.
Daily Practice
A daily practice of balancing your energy allows you to become a partner with your body. Rediscover your breath, boost your immune system, improve your focus and clarity, increase your vitality, let go of overwhelming thoughts and handle your feelings. You will find that your body feels healthy and full of life when you get your breath and energy back.
Here are a few energy tips that will help you reach health and vitality: To open the breath and calm the whole system:
▪ Hold thumbs with opposite hands
▪ Hold index fingers with opposite hands
▪ Fold arms across chest and hold opposite upper arms
To relieve respiratory distress, such as holding breath or coughing:
▪ Hold the right base of the rib cage with right fingers
▪ Hold right chest below clavicle with left fingers
▪ Switch and hold opposite sides
To release jaw, mouth or throat tension, such as clenching or holding breath:
▪ Cup sternum directly below clavicle with the right hand
▪ Place left fingertips in a vertical pattern below the navel
I hope that you make use of these suggestions! to get your breath back. They can really make a difference!
Sonoma Strong
And to learn even more, join me at the Sonoma Strong Healing Fair on Saturday, September 29th at the Veteran’s Building in Santa Rosa. I’ll be presenting at 11:30, offering more suggestions on how to get your breath back.
I’ll also be teaching in the Kids’ Area at 1:00 and 3:00. I look forward to seeing you there! In the meantime, wishing you ease.
April is Stress Awareness Month
Isn’t it crazy that we actually have a “National Stress Awareness Month”? Guess that shows a lot of people are dealing with some sort of stress in their worlds.
What is stress?
How do we best define it when it is so different for everyone? What can we do to reduce the effects of it so our bodies don’t go into reaction? And what can we do to actually have a sense of control so stress doesn’t seem to be running the show?
I’ll give you some historical background about how stress came to be recognized as a “condition” in our country. Then, I’ll share some easy-to-use self-help acupressure energy tips for changing how we can transform stress from a negative to positive. Transforming stress is a bit different from how Western medicine suggests we can manage it! And, when we get to that place of management, we truly are partners with our bodies.
Stress Awareness Month
It has been held every April since 1992. Sponsored by The Health Resource Network (HRN), a non-profit health education organization, Stress Awareness Month is a national, cooperative effort to:
- inform people about the dangers of stress
- successful coping strategies
- harmful misconceptions about stress that are prevalent in our society.
Medical Definition of Stress
In a medical or biological context, stress is a physical, mental or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. Stresses can be external (from the environment, psychological, or social situations) or internal (illness or from a medical procedure). Stress can initiate the “fight or flight” response.
The state of mental or emotional strain or tension from adverse or very demanding circumstances can be so recognizable that others notice. We even hear comments like “he’s obviously under a lot of stress” and “she really needs to figure out how to manage her stress.”
Stress can cause or influence the course of many medical conditions. These include psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety. Medical problems can encompass poor healing, high blood pressure, headaches and migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, and many others. We now have “stress management” recognized as an effective treatment for many medical conditions.
To read more about stress and how the Western medical world defines it, go to
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20104.
Transforming Stress
Articles that include tools for self-assessment, resources, and programs, can be found on the website for The American Institute of Stress. The organization is all about awareness, education, and collaboration.
Go to https://www.stress.org/what-is-stress/.
Stress as a Project
Personally, I like to look at “stress” as a “project that can be transformed.” The term stress was coined by Hans Selye in 1936. He defined it as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”. If we look at stress as “the rate of wear and tear on the body,” it makes sense that increased stress can actually accelerate the aging process.
And who wants that? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather walk around in a body that does not have major reactions to stressful situations. All of the experimental and clinical research confirms that the sense of having little or no control is always distressful, and that’s what stress is all about.
Energy Tips to Manage and Transform Stress
Here are my self-help acupressure energy tips that you can use to manage stress. They will allow you to be a partner with your own body. Because stress can take the breath away and cause us to wait with bated breath, follow along to learn how you can have full expansive breath. You’ll be way ahead of stress and its ability to affect you.
To help let go of stress, open up breath, release tension and increase vitality:
1. Hold upper arms by folding arms across the chest
2. Right hand — cup sternum directly below the collarbone
Left hand — hold fingers in a vertical pattern on your tummy
3. Right hand — hold the base of the right front ribcage
Left hand — hold fingers on the right chest below the collarbone
4. Gently cup thumbs
More than an Ounce of Prevention
The Daily Clean Your House Flow helps you stay in balance and get in front of stress. Doing the Daily Clean Your House Flow prepares your body for what you’re going to ask it to do now and for what might come at it (even major stressful traumatic events). Do the Daily Clean Your House Flow at least once a day. It will create a strong foundation for you to be able to be the best partner you can be with your body. I have been doing it daily for more than 20 years, as have many of my clients, friends, and family. This one practice is the best antidote to stress and you can do it anywhere, anytime. The more you do it, the better you will feel.
Do your part to Make Stress Awareness Month Obsolete
Share this post about the Daily Clean Your House Flow with the people you care about through your social channels, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You’ll be glad you did your part to lower the stress in the world.
Heart, Romance and Recover
Heart and romance
February is all about heart health, both emotional and physical.
Each year on February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special “valentine.” The day of romance we call Valentine’s Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the fifth century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia. No matter the history, it is the day that gives many a BIG reason to recognize and celebrate those heart connections with loved ones in their lives.
AND you still have time to get that extra special gift for that special person in your life!
February is Heart Health Month
This is the month we’re made more aware of how we can improve the health of our hearts so we can decrease the chances of heart disease.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. It is an equal opportunity killer which claims approximately 1 million lives annually. The good news? It is also one of the most preventable. Making heart-healthy choices, knowing your family health history and the risk factors for heart disease, having regular check-ups and working with your physician to manage your health are all integral aspects of saving lives from this often silent killer.
Read more about how to make a BIG difference in having a heart-healthy life.
https://www.theheartfoundation.org/heart-disease-facts/heart-awareness-month/
Giving Service from the Heart
Here’s another “Heart Connection” — and it is doing something really big for the community.
My dear friend and colleague, Dr. Shiroko Sokitch, director of Heart to Heart Medical Center in Santa Rosa, has created an amazing event that is FREE and available online to help you deal with physical and emotional challenges after a traumatic event, like a disaster, an accident or a death in the family.
This event is entirely at no cost and it will be yours to keep when you sign up for it. It’s all about being able to heal no matter where you are or what is going in your life. Register to hear talks by healthcare experts February 12– 19.
The Disaster Recovery Online Summit
This event is here to help those who have endured the disasters we’ve recently experienced—fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and others—to help them heal and overcome, physically and emotionally, the impacts of living through a disaster.
After a traumatic event, people begin to go back to their daily lives, but it doesn’t mean they’ve completely healed. And, far too often, there are very few resources that address the emotional difficulties and latent health issues that such events can cause.
Health care experts will provide advice on helping children cope, anxiety, mindfulness, self-healing, mold toxicity, even disaster recovery itself.
Get complimentary access to these talks about traumatic recovery now
These 32 talks are yours FOREVER! Meaning, you’ll gain access once they’re unlocked on February 12, and retain it for whenever you need to address trauma for yourself, or anyone else.
No purchase required and no commitment necessary for you to participate.
My interview with Dr. Shiroko on Tuesday, February 13th at 6:00 pm
I’m honored to be participating in the Disaster Recovery Event! Dr. Shiroko will be interviewing me on Facebook Live Tuesday, February 13th at 6:00 pm (Pacific Time). Tune in to hear my suggestions for how we can make use of Easy Self-Help Acupressure to help deal with the stress and challenges of traumatic events. I’ll give you energy tips that can make a big difference in the quality of life.
Go to Dr. Shiroko’s Facebook Page.
