A natural cure for stress and anxiety

Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

Stress and anxiety have a variety of causes but the chemicals that are released in the body are the same. Adrenalin and cortisol are the big chemical messengers but they are many more.

These chemicals are designed to get us to either fight the threat or run away from it. What often happens of course is that we have these feelings whilst in an office environment and neither fighting or running seems appropriate there.

So go for a walk. As you exercise, your body will use up the unwanted chemical messengers and your anxiety will naturally diminish.

A diary is a useful tool for change

A journal or a diary might not seem like a powerful tool for personal change and realization, but it is.

Most change happens gradually and yet what we want and what we notice are the big "crash, bang zing" changes. As a consequence we tend to disregard positive gradual change and that also stops us being a joyous about the change as we should be. There just wasn't enough "crash bang zing".

To avoid this problem I recommend that you keep a journal or diary to record your thoughts each day. From day to day it may seem as if little has changed or improved but as you review a week or a month at a time those positive changes become so much more clear.

A diary; simple eh? But so useful.

Some days are for thinking and some for doing

Some days with your mind as sharp as a razor, clear strategic thinking is easy and insights are gained into the most difficult problems.

Then there are the days when it seems hard to marshal your thoughts into a logical sequence. Days when just keeping going is a major challenge. This what I call a plodding day; a day when things get done mechanically, without much thought.

The trick is to recognise which day is which. Trying to do your thinking on a plodding day is counter-productive and results in frustration.

Likewise, doing a plodding job on a day when your mind is fizzing with new ideas will not deliver the best results either.

So match your tasks to how you feel and be more productive whatever kind of day you are having.

Champix (Chantix) and cravings

I met someone recently who decided in the Autumn of 2008 to stop smoking. He had already tried going cold turkey, patches and nasal sprays and knew that they did not work for him.

So he went to the Quit Smoking Clinic at his family Doctor surgery where they prescribed Champix (also known as Chamtix in the USA).


After about 2 weeks of taking the drug he stopped smoking; so far so good. His stomach was knotted with pain each morning and his digestion was not working like it used to but he had stopped smoking.

By January 2009 this man was desperate, because the Champix had done nothing to deal with his cravings. He may not have been smoking but he still had in place all the old links and associations with smoking.

He went back to his Doctor who said why not give the drug another go? The man was not keen, he remembered the stomach cramps. Then as almost an afterthought, the Doctor added "you could try hypnosis for the craving".

What a shame the Doctor did not mention this to the man last October! There would have been , no drugs, no side effects just the change to becoming a non-smoker.

Sadly, at least here in the UK, Doctors are not able to prescribe hypnosis as a quit smoking aid.

When hypnosis has been demonstrated again and again to be more effective than all others forms of therapy for smoking, why is it not something that a Doctor can write a prescription for?

An old method but still a good one

Half way through January those New Year resolutions may not have the power they once had at the start of the month.

Here's an old technique but still a good one for when you are trying to stop doing something.

Take sturdy elastic band and put it around your wrist; we want the blood to keep flowing, so make sure it is not too tight.

Now each time you have that thought cross your mind that you want to stop, pull out the elastic band and let snap back on to your wrist...ITS GOING TO HURT!

You will begin to associate 'that' thought or action with the pain of the band snapping back into place and pretty soon your unconscious mind will build the connection that this unwanted thought or action will lead to pain; it wont take long.

Then those unwanted thoughts or actions will occur less often. Used in conjunction with other methods this will help you stay on track with those New Year resolutions.

Try it today.

Quick tip for the day

Put your important documents on a memory card or stick so that you can access them wherever you happen to be.

Many of these devices have password protection built in ; use this if you are carrying scans of personal ID documents.

Sunday Night-preparing for the week ahead

Do you plan for the work week ahead or fly by the seat of the pants?

A little bit of planning goes along way to avoiding disasters; so tomorrow morning, before you dive headlong through the front door to start your day, take a few moments out.

Think about what you need to achieve your plans for the day and then make sure you have it.

I could tell you the story about the trip to the airport and the sudden realisation that I didn't know where my passport was but you may be able to guess that stress that I instantly felt.

So what do you need for your perfect Monday?

Saturday-a time to catch up

It's Saturday morning and after a busy week it's good to catch up with those things that somehow got left behind in the hurly burly of life.

The new video I created (see the post below) is being viewed on YouTube (Google video is yet to show any results) so hopefully in some small way, I've helped a few people to relax.

My plans for next week involve re-editing the Self Hypnosis Handbook that I first put together in 2005 and have only ever given away to personal therapy clients. I plan to offer the book as an e-book download but am wondering whether I should create a printed version as well. What do you think?

Have a great weekend

No doom and gloom here!

There has been so much doom and gloom in the news recently that I thought I would do one small thing to turn back the tide.

Even though many people have only been back at work for a few days, news reports are saying that we feel as stressed out now as we did before Christmas.

Ok, let's change that. Watch the video below for 8 minutes of de-stress relaxation and let me know how you enjoyed it. Let's call this a credit crunch busting relaxation video. By the way, the pictures are from Yosemite in the USA.

Anxiety, food & Dementia

In the next week or so the UK government is going to outline its strategy for dealing with Dementia in England. On the BBC Breakfast TV show this morning an expert was asked what step we might all take to stave off this illness.

His response was that 20% of dementia could be avoided altogether by ensuring that you eat a diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables ensuring that you get lots of anti-oxidants and vitamins, Vitamin C in particular.

In previous studies vitamin B3 has been show to be helpful as well in reducing a damaging protein that causes Alzheimer's disease. B3 is found in meat, fish and potatoes.


It seems that with each new study that is published diet seems to form an ever more important role in the prevention of disease.

In my own one to one therapy work I see many people with raised levels of anxiety leading to a lack of self confidence and sometimes panic attacks.

So here are three simple, diet related ways to lower your overall level of anxiety;

1) How much tea, coffee or cola/energy drinks to you take each day. If you are up to 8 cups of coffee a day or several cans of Red Bull, the caffeine will be doing its best to over excite the brain. Try reducing the amount of caffeine you drink, or for at least part of the day switch to a decaf version.

2) Related to point 1, some people just do not drink enough liquids throughout the day. For most people about 1.5 litres (about 2.5 pints) is enough and this can be almost any non-alcoholic, un-caffeinated drink. Water, milk, fruit juice, and fruit infusions will all do the job just fine. Being correctly hydrated will ensure that you brain is working most effectively for you.

3) Consider taking a multivitamin and multi-trace element supplement. If your diet is not quite as good as it might be then these low-cost additions to your diet will ensure that you have the building blocks you need to reduce anxiety. A low level of Magnesium for example is often cited as leading to increased anxiety.

The good news is that taking these simple steps will also help reduce the risk of you having dementia later in life.