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Spa Corner
If you are like me, there is rarely time or money for time at a spa. So let's create our own little corner of spa-bliss. Grab a cup of tea or water, turn off your cell phone, back away from the computer, leave it all behind for a few minutes of stress-busting!
Cooling hand wash...
Cleanse and soothe hands with this spa favorite! Liquefy 1/2 cucumber in a blender and add a splash of witch hazel for a refreshing hand treat.
Give your hair and body a boost...
In a warm shower, tilt head back and drizzle about 2 Tbs. olive oil over damp hair. Massage your neck and shoulders, then scalp with the pads of your fingertips, to distribute the oil. Wash hair with a eucalyptus shampoo, allowing the heat to diffuse the herb's scent as you deeply breath in. The warm steam will loosen tight muscles, the olive-oil scalp massage will relax your body and leave your hair shiny, and the eucalyptus aroma will invigorate you!
Cure your tension headache...
Fill your bathtub with several inches of hot water. Add 2 tsp. of mustard powder and soak your feet for 10 minutes. It may seem strange to treat your feet when it's your heat that hurt, but the myrosin in mustard helps draw blood to your lower half. Because a headache is often caused by blood buildup in the brain, this redistribution can ease the pain in minutes.
A whiter smile...
Rub the pith (inner white part) of an orange peel over your teeth for 15 seconds. The d-limonene in the peel lifts surface stains without wearing away enamel. The effects should last a few days, but the trick is gentle enough to use all the time.
Brighten your skin...
Make your own face cleanser. Combine 1/2 cup of boiling water, 2 tsp. of crushed fennel seeds, 1/2 Tbs. of fresh thyme and the juice of half a lemon. The phytoestrogens in fennel reduce puffiness and the tannins in thyme are a natural astringent. And since lemon is a wake-up scent, you will love using it in the morning.
Skin-smoothing mask from your kitchen...
Blend 2 TBS. canned pumpkin, 1/2 tsp. honey and 1 tsp yogurt. Pat on face, leave on for 10 minutes, then rinse. The enzymes in the pumpkin remove dull skin cells, making skin soft and smooth.
Dry feet? Try this tip...
Scrub your feet with a blend of 1/2 cup cornmeal and 3 TBS. olive oil. Follow with a think layer of Vick's Vapor Rub. You won't believe the difference!
Soothe your feet...
1. Slice an orange and a tangerine and drop the slices in a large basin filled with
warm water.
2. Drop golf balls (or marbles or smooth stones) in the water.
3. Dip in your feet, massaging them against the balls for 10 minutes.
The citrus scent will instantly energize you, while the rolling foot massage triggers the release of stress-reducing serotonin.
Instant nail brightener...
Many spas use this nail soak (1 Tbs. hydrogen peroxide, 1 cup warm water) to whiten and brighten nails quickly. |
 Stress happens. You cannot eliminate it from your life, but you don’t have to be tangled up in it, allowing it to complicate your days and frazzle your nights. You can take charge of anxiety-filled circumstances, approaching stress in a way that freedom and peace can rule your daily life.Let this story-filled
With replenishing encouragement, personal examples, and inspiring words to live by, Mary transforms the promises of the twenty-third Psalm into easy-to-implement practical steps that will give you the keys to escape the grip of stress. This book will teach you how to:
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Experience the power of rest in dealing with stress
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Learn how to manage fear
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Pinpoint and correct the major stress points in your life
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Create a plan for preventing stress
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Deal with stress in the workplace.
Life is sooo daily! 
But fortunately, so is God.
Let this story-filled, humourous, and practical approach to dealing with life's pressures inspire you to accept God's gift of stress-living as you trust Him for every need of every moment.
"Stress management is a spiritual discipline," says Mary Southerland, a popular speaker who has found nine practical strategies to balancing her own busy life."
~ Harvest House Publishers
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Stress-Busting Diet
Meet Ellen Briggs, Food Consultant, and Sally Byrd, N.D., authors of Are Your Kids Running on Empty? and Mom, I'm Hungry. What's for Dinner. Ellen and Sally are contributing authors to Escaping the Stress Trap.
From Ellen and Sally:
Drink water. The Lord created you, all of you. Your body, brain and muscles are 75 percent water. Your lungs are 90 percent water. Skin, blood, kidneys and digestive juices are between 80 and 86 percent water. The toxin removal organ, the liver, is 69 percent water. Only your bones contain a small amount of water, between 22 and 25 percent.
In order to nourish the trillions of cells comprising all the systems in your body, you must drink a lot of water. An easy to remember formula: drink half your body weight in ounces. For instance, if you weigh 144 pounds, drink 72 ounces or 9 cups of water a day. When you are losing water due to physical activity or heat, drink more. If your mouth feels dry, you are about 3 percent dehydrated. When you lose 5 percent of your water supply, mental and physical performance declines by about 30 percent, is mal-nourished and stressed. Consequently, internal systems break down. You were created to be God’s efficient, well-functioning servant. You are the steward of the temple He gave you.
Drink tea. God made wonderful teas to calm your mind and body. A cup of hot tea from the following list will help you settle and calm down.
- Chamomile: relaxing anti-inflammatory
- Valerian: for high emotional stress
- Siberian (Eleuthero) Ginseng: supports the entire body during every-day stress
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Check out these unique Stress-Busters...
- Take a class in belly-dancing
- Make a "not-to-do" list. Write down those tedious tasks you have decided to ditch, such as answering the phone during dinner.
- Go bowling
- Stop nail polish caps from sticking by applying a thin coat of petroleum jelly on the outer edges of the cap the first time you use a new bottle.
- Bugs stressing you out? Grab a dryer sheet from the laundry room and wrap it around one of your belt loops before heading outside. The terpineol andf ethyl acetate in fabric softener repels some of nature's worst pests.
- Here's how to wake up on the right side of the bed. Lying on your back, bring both knees to your chest, then let them fall to your right side. Hold for a few breaths, repeat on the left side. This simple exercise will "unkink" your sleepy muscles.
- Eat an apple before bedtime.
- Hang a shower curtain with colorful polka dots.
- Have a silly session.
- Keep houseplants. New research shows that houseplants can soothe dry skin (Boston Fern), help you breathe easier by removing toxins from the air (Spider plant), and help you sleep like a baby (Gerbera daisy). Keep houseplants within 6 - 8 cubic feet of where you work, sleep of spend long stretches of time. The body responds to flowering plants of any color by boosting oxygen flow to the brain, resulting in relaxation.
More Stress-Busters
- Stand or sit, stretch your arms out from your sides, and shake your hands vigorously for about ten seconds.
- Briskly rub your hands together until they feel warm. Then cup them over your closed eyes for five seconds while you breathe deeply. The warmth and darkness are comforting.
- When people are under stress, they tend to slump over as if carrying a burden. Doctors say that slumping restricts breathing and reduces blood and oxygen flow to the brain, increasing muscle tension and feelings of panic and helplessness. Straightening your spine has just the opposite effect. It promotes circulation, increases oxygen levels in your blood, and helps lessen muscle tension, all of which promote relaxations and reduce stress.
- Tensing and then relaxing muscle groups one at a time is a great stress-buster.
- Stop gritting your teeth. Stress tends to settle in certain parts of our bodies, the jaw being one of them. When things get hectic, place your index fingertips on your jaw joints, just in front of your ears; clench your teeth and inhale deeply. Hold the breath for a moment, and as you exhale say, "Ah-h-h-h," unclench your teeth. Repeat.
- Have a good cry. Tears resulting from sadness, anger, fear, or joy vary chemically from those caused by chopping onions and are one of nature's methods of removing chemicals built up by stress in the body.
- Carry a pocket-size Bible with you to read in waiting rooms.
- Clean house. It gives you a chance to work off steam while completing a task.
- If a task takes less than 10 minutes to do, do it now. Otherwise, all of those little jobs will accumulate, creating a big stressor.
- Make a practice of throwing away or giving away one thing each day. Stuff can be a great stress producer.
- Get up 15 minutes earlier
- Every day do something you really enjoy.
- Unplug the TV, computer, phone for a “mini-vacation”.
- Keep an extra $10 and one blank check in your wallet.
- Build “space” into your schedule.
- Make friends with non-worriers.
- Laugh more.
- Live in the present.
- Learn the art of taking a nap.
- Journal.
- Rid your life of clutter.
- Hug an animal.
- Pray.
- Memorize and meditate on scripture.
- Listen more and talk less.
- Take a bubble bath with candles and soft music.
- Go for a 15 minute walk.
- Remember that it’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
- Learn to say “no”.
- Allow extra time to do things and get places.
- Live within your budget.
- Take a deep breath in to the count of nine. Hold for a count of nine. Exhale to a count of nine.
- Give up on perfection. Perfection was meant for Heaven...not Earth.
- Learn to take one ten-minute power nap each day.
- Do your most unpleasant or most difficult tasks first and during your high energy time. I am not a morning person. My highest point of energy is during the late night hours. I can accomplish a great deal during those high-energy times. If you are a morning person, bless you, and arrange your tasks around that time.
- Divide large tasks into a series of small tasks that are more manageable.
- Pray like a child. I pray about everything from finding a parking place to the greatest crisis in my life. The Father wants an ongoing conversation with His children. Take every frustration, every fear, every problem to God in prayer. It is the ultimate stress-buster.
- 23rd Psalm. Beginning today, read Psalm 23 once a day for a month. The powerful truths of this psalm will calm your fears and reduce stress.
- Laugh a lot! Find ways to bring joy and laughter into your home. Laughter reduces tension, alleviates pain, promotes healing and, in general, is just good medicine! Watch funny movies. Buy a Christian comedian's CD and keep it in your car. Ask each family member to bring one funny story to the dinner table to share.
- Listen to music. Listen to classical music because there are no words to focus on. Can't stand classical music? Buy an instrumental tape of your favorite kind of music. Some music can make you want to sing and dance or sigh in relief, while other music can actually create more stress.
- Don't lose that key! Keep a duplicate car and house key in your wallet and give a copy to your neighbor.
- Remember that the best things in life aren't things. Our posessions are either idols or tools, depending upon the place they hold in our lives. Keep this truth in mind while doing your holiday shopping.
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