Stress……some of us deal with it better than others, some have more stress than the rest of us, and some have stress thrust upon them!  Stress can show up in many different ways; upset stomach, tension headache, acid reflux, neck pain, eye strain, panic attacks, feeling frazzled, high blood pressure, forgetfulness, sadness, anger, overeating, undereating, increased smoking or drinking, worry, depression, skin disorders, sleep problems and ultimately heart disease and autoimmune disorders.

“Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response”, says healthguide.org.  We all have some version of stress.  Some is ok, stress can help you in times of emergency or when life requires you to be on your toes.  Chronic stress and emotional stress are the triggers for health problems.  The body doesn’t know the difference between physical and psychological stress, so it will react the same way to everyday stress as it would to a life or death situation.  

How do you react to everyday stress?  Do you hold it in, you know, way down in your stomach, do you react or do you respond to the situation?  There is a difference between reacting and responding.  Reaction is just the way it sounds….you react.  That could be with anger, frustration, yelling, blame, or any of the symptoms listed above.  A response is a conscious solution to the problem.  When something frustrating happens, taking a deep breath, looking at the problem and thinking…”OK, this just happened.  What am I going to do now”? 

But it doesn’t always work that way, does it?  The body responds to stress quickly.  Negative thoughts creap in, the tension starts.  So how about some alternatives for the moments when the answer isn’t there right away?  Here are some things that I always work for me for those “life’s uncertain” moments. 

Change your mind:  Change your mind, change your life.  Positive thinking can go a long way.  Fake it till you make it.  Change the negative thoughts in your head to positive ones.  Yes, you can!

Laughter:  Watch a classic comedy movie.  Laughter can stimulate your organs, soothe tension and stomachaches and activate and relieve your stress response.

Have a good social support: Friends and family who are there to give you a sense of belonging, self worth and your friends can be there to alert you to potential stress situations.  Be grateful to your friends and family for “being there” for you.

Relaxation techniques: Yoga, meditation, and tai chi can slow your heart rate, lower blood pressure, increase blood flow, improve concentration and reduce anger and frustration.  If you can’t make the time for a class, just sitting still and closing your eyes and counting will help. That old saying, “count to ten” when you are ready to explode, is a great way to go.

Exercise:  A simple 20 minute walk can go a long way to relieve stress and its effects.  I just got back from my walk and my mind is fresh for writing. 

Healthy eating: Wheatgrass juice will clear the mind, clear the fog of the day.  Eating a living food diet gives the body the energy to heal. 

Understanding your sources of stress can lead you to the solution.  Will the above work for you or do you need something more?  Seek help from a physician or therapist when it seems life’s ups and downs are just too much for you to handle alone. 

Here are some natural alternatives to take for stress relief:

Nux Vomica: can help with irritability, sleeplessness and headaches.

Bach’s Rescue Remedy:  Natural stress relief.  I always have this on hand.

Find out what works for you.  Daily stress can be reduced in intensity.   Listening to a stress reducing cd in your car on the way to and from work can help to alleviate the stressors of the day.  When you arrive home, changing out of your work clothes and just spending 5 minutes or more sitting and breathing. 

Relax, breathe….I wish you peace

Are you prone to canker sores? Rejoice, friends – we’ve got some natural solutions for preventing and healing these pesky, painful little things.

What are canker sores?

Canker sores are small surface abrasions found on the inside of the mouth that can occur several times a year. They come and go within a week or so, on average. Canker sores can be brought on by fatigue, stress, fever, menstrual cycles, nutritional deficiencies and sensitivity to certain foods.
They can be as small as a BB, or as large as a quarter, but they usually feature a white, fleshy, sensitive center surrounded by a light red border. In almost all cases, they hurt (or at the very least, are extremely uncomfortable!)

Rid yourself of canker sores the natural way

For anyone who’s familiar with them, you know that once you get a canker sore, the only thing you can do is wait for it to disappear. In the meantime, try these little tricks and tips for minimizing the pain and the chances of a canker coming back*!

A well-balanced, nutritious diet and lifestyle is vital. Canker sore are just another reason not to smoke or chew tobacco. Researchers have found that reducing stress can speed up the healing time drastically – so get to the gym, do some yoga, and take it easy when a canker is present. There’s also evidence that refined sugar, processed foods and in particular citrus fruits can contribute trigger canker sores.

Get more Vitamin B12. Doctors have suggested that another canker sore trigger is vitamin B12 deficiency. Prominent B12 donor foods include clams, salmon, tuna, and other seafood. Breakfast cereals (remember to avoid high sugar!), cheese, and dairy products also contain B12, but not as much as fish. You can always bulk up on B12 through supplements.

Watch what you put in there! Studies by researchers have produced a growing list of things to avoid putting in your mouth to induce or exasperate canker sores. First, avoid eating spicy foods, if you can stand to. Also, try to avoid (or lesson) the amount of iron intake you’re feeding yourself – unless of course it’s been prescribed by your doctor. Do eat more salads, onions, and fresh or raw vegetables, and don’t use toothpaste that contain an ingredient called “sodium lauryl sulfate” – a common sulfide.
Now, how about some remedies? According to researcher Dr. James Bach, author of Prescription for Natural Healing, you can speed up the healing time for canker sores drastically by applying these natural oils directly to the surface of the sore:

• Tea tree oil
• Menthol or clove bud oil
• other topical painkillers that contain ingredients like goldenseal, licorice, myrrh, or lysine

These topical remedies are backed by scientific research, Bach says, and can be found at your local CVS. Apply these oils twice a day to the sore – about every 12 hours, but at the very least, before you go to bed.

Oh, and one more tip to help relieve the pain of canker sores the natural way. Swish your mouth warm salt water regularly – you’ll immediately feel relief and speed up the healing time significantly.
*Doctors, researchers and the medical professionals alike know only one thing about what causes canker sores – that nobody has figured out what causes canker sores. Unfortunately, they’re here to stay, but that doesn’t mean you can’t heal them the natural way!

Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep?  These problems could be short term, lasting for less than 3 weeks, or a chronic condition.  Insomnia could be due to anxiety, mental stress, nutritional deficiencies, poor sleep habits, physical disorders like sleep apnea (a breathing problem), or a reaction to medications.  A good night’s sleep consists of four or five 60-90 minute cycles, REM (rapid eye movement) and four stages of light-to-deep non-REM sleep, in order to achieve physical and mental well-being.

Here’s something I didn’t know, minimum daily requirements for sleep are genetically determined.  Your sleep pattern will stabilize in early adulthood and vary from 4 to more than 10 hours in a 24 hour period.  I am a 8-10 hour sleeper.  My daughter is a 10-12 hour sleeper.  She started that when she was a baby and continued through her teens, although college life has drastically changed that pattern!  Before I started yoga, I was experiencing levels of insomnia, waking up at night and obsessing over what was coming up the next day or analyzing what happened yesterday.  It seemed I had fallen out of my habit of being a good sleeper.  And that was exactly what happened.  I was under high emotional stress and getting up at night and going downstairs to eat something had become my new pattern.  I had to retrain my brain and body.  Yoga helped with that.  It calmed down my “monkey mind” and reminded me that I could get back in control of my sleep pattern.  I started rituals before sleep.  Going through the day and being grateful for all that happened and setting an intention to have a good night’s sleep before I closed my eyes.  Turning my clock to face away from me was another way I stopped obsessing.  I no longer looked at the clock when I woke up in the middle of the night.  So many people tell me they wake up at a certain time every night.  I ask them, “How do you know what time it is?”

I believe the best sleep is achieved between the hours of 10 and 2 am.  Avoiding caffeine, heavy meals, and strenuous exercise for 3-5 hours before bedtime can help you fall asleep.  Limit mildly stimulating factors like alcohol and nicotine.  James Balch, from his book, Prescription For Nutritional Healing, says…”Foods like cheese, chocolate, sauerkraut, bacon, ham, sausage, eggplant, potatoes, spinach and tomatoes contain tyramine, which increases the release of norepinephrine, a brain chemical stimulant, causing insomnia”. Try relaxing with a warm bath or shower, soothing music or reading.  Get up at the same time every morning, if you have to nap, limit them to one hour and go to bed one hour later.  Increasing foods that contain iron and copper may improve your sleep.  Dried beans and fruits, red meat, nuts, tofu, also may help you maintain sleep. For nervous tension that creates sleep problems, try carrot juice combined with apple, grape pear or pineapple.

Want to try a supplement?  Thinking there’s something else missing?  Try B complex, Vitamin C, or some natural alternatives like herbal teas containing chamomile, hops, passion flower, peppermint, rosemary and valerian root.  I lived on the homeopathic remedy of Nux Vomica for a long time.  And there is that one ingredient, which by now should be in your cupboard and is called the Vermont remedy, 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar with honey and water.  Massage?  Pinch just above the bridge of the nose, and inch behind each earlobe, the center of the nape of the neck or massage the sole, heel, sides, ankle and the tops of your feet.  Here’s the best remedy…deep breathing!  Slow, deep breathing….full belly breathing.  Set your intentions for the night and do some slow counting backwards from 100.

And here’s Louise Hay’s take on insomnia..Fear, not trusting the process of life.  Guilt.  Your mantras for the evening?  I lovingly release the day and slip into peaceful sleep, knowing tomorrow will take care of itself.

Wishing you sweet dreams.

If your symptoms persist, please visit your doctor. The information written here should not take the place of your primary care doctor.

My 96 year old grandmother just passed away.  It’s very interesting to watch how we all want to avoid the “break-down” and prove to ourselves that we can get through an emotional time without the tears.  Or it could just not be the right time to cry.  Even at 96, her death was unexpected, so most of us were just trying to get through the service and everything that had to be done.  Once the adrenaline rush had dissipated, and we returned home, my daughter and I suffered through a 24 hour stomach bug.  That’s when the tears came and I was able to start to experience the grief and sadness of loss.

I rarely get sick and with the exhaustion of the week, I’m sure my defenses were quite depleted.  Eating a high raw diet and not being home is difficult to say the least.  Plus we are Italian, do I need to say more?  I ate fruit and just one meal, but that was too much combined with the emotion of the week.   After my daughter got better, it was my turn.  I don’t like being sick.  Who does?  Every muscle in my body ached.  I couldn’t walk, it hurt to move.  When I decided to finally let go and let the “bug” win, I cried.  I cried for all the times in my life when I hurt.  I cried for my grandmother.  I cried because I was in pain.  I cried because it felt good to cry and I felt better after I did.  I relaxed.

Why cry?  Simple reasons…. a response to pain or for more complex reasons.  Crying helps you become aware of emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, or grief.  Holding in tears only allows those feelings to bury themselves inside your physical body.  Eventually those feelings cause an overload of stress hormones and when levels get high, crying can release this and help you feel better.  People cry after receiving happy news too.   The feeling of powerlessness or the inability to influence what is happening can also lead to crying. 

How you cry is a factor too in relieving stress and actually feeling better.  There are the simple tears, the sobbing cry or the flat out wailing, beat on your pillow, cry.  The emotional insight to your tears could be the deciding factor on whether your tears are being beneficial to your growth, personal and spiritual.  For me, I’ve had times when the crying was just crying, and I got nothing out of it.  But when the tears came like they did when I was sick, I know they were helping me heal.  I could feel the stress I’ve held onto for so many years being let go of.  When you cry and don’t project that crying onto someone or something else, you can feel the sadness and grief on a deeper level.  We all have sorrow.  We need to release it.  Sometimes, as during my grandmother’s service, it’s just not appropriate to wail.  Tears? Absolutely. 

Take the time today or tomorrow, or this weekend, to cry.  I know when I’m in need of a good cry.  I watch a sad movie, or a love story.  That works!  Then I take the time to “feel” my tears.  To allow those tears to come from the depths of my pain.  Then I go even deeper into the sadness, the grief.  It’s all the same.  Sometimes the length of my crying is very short.  It doesn’t matter how long, as long as you are getting “in touch” with the emotions.

Donna Bergonzi-Boyle