Stress Relief Mind-Body Program
Simple Steps to Natural Stress Relief:
Download the Natural Stress Relief Workbook: Read it through.
Stress Evaluation: See what your stress score is before you start, and then re-take it at the end for some good news.
Listen to the Body Scan Audio: Available to your phone. If you only do one thing, listen to this Body Scan Relaxation audio 20 minutes every day for 5 weeks.
Program Tools
Introduction – Simple Steps to Natural Stress Relief
Questionnaire – So how stressed am I anyway?
Learning a 20-minute Stress Relief Technique can improve how your body and mind responds to stress by slowing your heart rate, reducing your blood pressure, slowing your breathing rate, increasing blood flow, improving the immune system, lessening muscle tension and much more.
We know stress is harmful to our health … the toll it can take on our quality of life can be devastating. Learning how to switch-off stress on a daily basis protects us on many levels. Decades of studies on the impact of negative stress has shown that it can change us genetically, change our brain chemistry, suppress our immune system, and create a pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic (supportive of cancer growth) condition in our bodies.
The good news is we know how to switch stress response off! It has been proven over and over again in numerous studies. (See references below.) This simple, effective program can greatly improve your quality of life and literally be life-saving. If you could bottle it like a drug, it would generate billions of dollars in sales a year. This program, which is simple to follow and easy to incorporate into your daily schedule can add years to your life. The information contained in the link to right of this page can help switch off those negative genes, calm inflammatory responses, inhibit angiogenesis and give us a new perspective.
All you need to do is commit to 20 minutes a day.
Stress steals so much more from us than 20 minutes a day, yet if you commit to the simple Guided Relaxation Technique daily it can be profoundly life changing you and give phenomenal results.
The Audio, Body Scan Relaxation Technique: This is the heart of the Natural Stress Relief Program, methodically scanning the mind through the body, connecting and relaxing as you go. Remember 20 minutes a day for 5 weeks will get you the positive results. It takes 5 weeks daily to be able to produce a relaxation-response at will and turn-off the switch that produces the fight-or-flight response. The goal is eventually not to need this audio, but to do a memorized version as your own narrative to your relaxation response.
We are over-stimulated, over-worked and over-tired. The fast pace of today's world has left us little time for many of life's simple pleasures such as a relaxed meal or even a good night's sleep. Medical research shows 60%-90% of doctor office-visits are stress-related and are a direct cause stress / tension headaches. Our bodies are constantly moving towards a state of natural "balance," yet we often don't pay attention to our body's signals and we push past our limits. Over a prolonged period of time, this behavior can create imbalance in the body and may show up as headaches, muscle stiffness, spasms, myofascitis and soreness that often impede the blood flow to the head. Too much stress can create havoc in biochemical and bioelectromagnetic flows in the body. Studies show us what common sense could tell us: stress will make us ill, and relaxation can help us. I always recommend to my patients 20 minutes a day of a progressive relaxation technique, alongside taking supplements.
One of the goals of this program is to help you find your own point of balance and to learn to re-balance when stress has disrupted your natural rhythms. The goal of this program is to 'own' your own ability to relax. This program encourages you to look at what "balance" means for you, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Maintaining your own balance can particularly help in times of stress, so that simple tension does not turn into chronic illness. Stress has been indicated in numerous physical and emotional imbalances including: problems with infertility and menstrual cycles, sex drive, thyroid problems, diabetes, infection and suppressed immune system, coronary spasms, Type-A behavior, skin problems, stroke, respiratory ailments, urinary tract infections, uterine function problems, motor system distresses, mental and cognitive distress, emotional distress, behavioral disturbances, and mental illness.
Associated Articles
Book – Balance: What You Need to Know to Re-Balance Yourself and Your Corporate Culture
An in depth look into the concept of balance as applied to corporate cultures, measuring collective stress and its impact on company health.PowerPoint Presentation – The Cost of Stress for Business
Herbal Formulas for Stress & Anxiety
Stress-Relief, $35.99
Supports the body/mind to better adapt to, and alleviate the harmful impact of Stress*
Stress is an epidemic, 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress. When we are under stress, our body shuts down the free and easy flow of energy causing constraint that may show up as a ‘short fuse’, frustration, irritability, even anger. Emotional constraint is known in Traditional Chinese Medicine as ‘Liver Qi’ Stagnation because the organ-system known as the liver is most sensitive to stress and our emotions.
Quantity:
Tranquil, $35.99
Calms the nerves and eases anxious feelings*
Anxiety is defined as “an unpleasant emotional state ranging from mild unease to intense fear.” Anxiety, however, differs from fear in that fear is a rational response to a real danger. Anxiety often lacks a clear, realistic cause, and thus results in a constant “free-floating” feeling of fear and worry. Tranquil is a calming formula that includes some world-class herbal stars. This classic Traditional Chinese Medicine formula is centered around Ziziphus, a popular sedative that calms the heart while nourishing its “yin”.
Consider Integrated Medicine
We strongly suggest you consider these gentle interventions that can have a profound and supporting impact to our Natural Stress Relief Program. If that you would like to pursue one of these options, ask around and see if you can get a personal referral from someone you trust. You can also follow the links below to make an appointment with a practitioner near you. Get the support you need to make these efforts life-changing and enduring.
Stress Relief Progressive Relaxation Research
Benson-Henry Institute clinical findings include:
50% Reduction in Visits to an HMO. After a relaxation-response based intervention which resulted in estimated significant cost savings. Behavioral Medicine, Volume 16, pages 165-173, 1990.
80% Lowered High Blood Pressure, 16% off BP Medications Patients in the relaxation response group were more likely to successfully eliminate an antihypertensive medication. The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2008.
Relaxation Therapy Similar to Stage 1 Sleep RT may exert their therapeutic effects, in part, through cerebral energy conservation/restoration.Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 2004.
64% Decreased Stress and Anxiety Lower levels of perceived stress and anxiety and increased stress management behaviors, compared to scores of 44 10th graders participating in the wait list control group. Annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2009.
31% Improvement in Severe PMS Over a 5-month study. Obstet Gynecol 75(4): 649-55.
Increased Fertility. The group was able to cope more effectively with the demands of infertility treatment. Annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2009.
Chronic Pain Patients Reduce their Physician Visits by 36%. The Clinical Journal of Pain, Volume 2, pages 305-310, 1991.
Open Heart Surgery Patients have Fewer Post-Operative Complications. Behavioral Medicine, Volume 5, pages 111-117, 1989.
100% of Insomnia Patients Reported Improved Sleep and 91% Either Eliminated or Reduced Sleeping Medication Use. The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 100, pages 212-216, 1996.
Infertile women have a 42% conception rate, a 38% take-home baby rate, and decreased levels ofdepression, anxiety, and anger. Journal of American Medical Women's Association. Volume 54, pages 196-8, 1999.
57% Reduction in PMS reduction in physical and psychological symptoms. Obstetrics and Gynecology, Volume 75, pages 649-655, April, 1990.
Increased Self-Esteem: High school students exposed to a relaxation response-based curriculum had significantly increased their self-esteem. The Journal of Research and Development in Education, Volume 27, pages 226-231, 1994.
More Effective at School Inner city middle school students improved grade score, work habits andcooperation and decreased absences. Journal of Research and Development in Education, Volume 33, pages 156-165, Spring 2000.
*Disclaimer: The wellness information on this site is intended only for general informational purposes and not intended as medical advice or a substitute for advice from a medical professional. It has not been reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We encourage you to seek advice from a competent medical professional regarding the applicability of any recommendations, with regard to your symptoms or condition. If you are currently taking a prescription medication, you absolutely must work with your doctor before discontinuing any drug or altering any drug regime. No doctor-patient relationship is established between D’Arcy Wellness and you, by reason of your use of this site, or under any circumstances whatsoever. Individual inquiries about medical issues, or sensitive or confidential matters should be addressed to the appropriate health care professionals.