Ginger Tea

Sometimes despite our best efforts not to, we get sick. A good example would be me right now. So this will be quick.

Being stressed out can lead to a weakened immune system and get you sick more frequently, but whether stress caused your cold doesn't really matter once you have it. What matters is getting rid of it and ending the feelings of crappiness. Because being sick can be stressful on its own.

There are a million things out there to take to speed your recovery or prevent the cold from getting worse but one that I particularly like is something my dad makes at the first hint that someone in his house is getting sick. Its called ginger tea and its magical.

The ingredients are as follows:
A piece of fresh ginger about the size of my dad's thumb. If you do not know my dad, use another man's thumb for reference.
4-5 cups of water (or however much water fits into the teapot in which you will be steeping the tea)
about 2 tbsp lemon juice
honey to taste
2 big pinches of cayenne

According to dad some people add a scallion, but he doesn't so neither do I.

So here's what you do. Slice the ginger. Boil water and pour into teapot. Add all ingredients. Let it sit and steep for a five minutes or so. Then drink it all yourself. I'm not promising that you will be cured immediately of whatever ails you, but it sure will help with a cold. Feel better!

Holidaze

For a lot of people the holiday season is a big cause of stress. Trying to find time to buy gifts, inevitably leaving it to the last minute, not knowing what on earth to get your sister's brother in law who you have to get a present for, and oh my gosh we have aunts and uncles coming this year? Did I need to buy something for them too? Not to mention its the end of the year and work is crazy and everyone is ready to kill each other and you definitely need a vacation. And seriously if I have to hear that Wham Christmas song again I might vomit.
Ahh.... the holidays. They're good stuff.

But actually they kind of are! And there are things you can do to make them less stressful for you and the people around you.

First, drink. Water. I know have harped on this before but water is especially important around holiday time because often there is a lot of non-water drinking going on and alcohol makes you get dehydrated even faster than usual. But even if you're not drinking booze, be sure to stay hydrated!

Second, proceed as usual. Try and keep some of your daily routines undisturbed. Things like going to bed and getting up at your usual time can help make life seem less hectic.

And third, smile! It's Christmas, not the end of the world. Even if its driving you nuts, frowning and being angry about it wont help anything. And actually, smiling even when you're not that happy can trick your mind into cheering up. If you can't force it, try holding a pencil between your teeth. Seriously.

Day 4: Still bouncing

Although I still clearly need to upgrade to a bigger ball, I think this one is actually doing me some good! My back has been hurting a lot less this week. Of course, there could certainly be mitigating factors. For example, my boss is convinced my back pain is caused entirely by stress. Therefore, if my stress decreased this week as well (and it has a little, just by coincidence), maybe the decrease in pain is due to that. Whatever it is, I am sticking with my bouncy ball because its definitely not hurting. And its fun to bounce!

Day 2 of bouncing

I have learned how to slouch on the ball. This will have to be addressed. Also, I think I might need a bigger ball.

Bounciness Update

Due to a number of trips out of town and a nasty forgetfulness problem, this morning is my first morning on the bouncy yoga ball. But I have to tell you, its awesome! I've only be on it for 3.5 hours, but I can never sit in the same position for 3.5 hours. I am constantly leaning back, leaning forward, sitting crosslegged, putting my feet up and my laptop on my lap, etc. etc. But with this thing I have been sitting up, and occasionally bouncing a little for an entire morning! crazy! and worth sharing I think. So the first impression is a good one.

Classical

Something that helps me feel calm and happy, especially while I am working (or cleaning, which, in my view, is a form of work for sure), is listening to classical music. If you don't own much of it yourself, or you are listening at the office and dont have any of your own music there, this link is really good. Thanks, Fred, for introducing me to it.
Of the sites listed I have tried www.icebergradio.com which is really good. www.Beethoven.com, which, despite the name, plays music other than that composed by Beethoven, plays good stuff but has annoying commercials.

Get Up and Stretch

Hello Tuesday!
As I'm sure you know, its Less Stress in the Office Day. Sorry I bailed on destressing your office environment last Tuesday but I was out of the country and had limited access to the internets. In fact, I spent most of the day last Tuesday in a cold room in a rather uncomfortable chair working half in French (bonjour!), a language, btw, which I do not speak. But that's neither here nor there.

The point is that sometimes we have to work in conditions that are less than ideal. Perhaps we have been given a job but not all the tools to do it, or a deadline that seems impossible to meet, or a language we really don't speak. But its work, and its hard sometimes. As my Dad has pointed out to me in the past, that's why you get paid to do it. A good point, I think.

So how to reduce the stress that comes with infuriating work tasks. There are lots of things you can do, but today we are just going to focus on one that is fast and easy. It won't change the task at hand, but hopefully it will change your outlook.

1. Get up from your desk.
2. Stand with your feet together, shoulders back, and head held high.
3. Inhale through your nose as you bring your hands out to the sides and then up as high as you can over your head.
4. Stretch stretch stretch up!
5. Exhale as you drop your arms, head and body reaching down towards the floor.
6. With your head hanging loose down by your knees, grab your elbows and just hang there for 30 seconds or so. Don't forget to breathe!
7. Now go back to whatever you were doing.

Note: Just to state the obvious, if there is any reason you think you cannot or should not do this then don't. Maybe do a different stretch that you can do instead.

The Food Channel and Golf

Generally I am against TV. Mostly because I love it. I wouldn't be against it if I were better at turning it off, but I'm not, so I am. And in general I don't think it counts as a particularly healthy stress reducer. But there's an exception to every rule.

I was talking to Kara the other night about the food channel and how i find watching the food channel to be very calming and she said, "you should blog about that." And I think she was right. So here I am.

Sometimes on a Sunday afternoon and its rainy and nasty out and you don't have anything in particular you need to do and you just want to chill. Lie on the couch. Be lazy. Do nothing. Drift in and out of sleep. Well let me tell you, the food channel and golf are heaven to me when I am in that mood.

I find both watching people play golf and people cooking strangely relaxing. Golf usually has those announcers who talk nice and slow (because if you're a golf announcer you better talk slow because it goes on forever) and in low voices because you can't disturb the golfers. And I can drift in and out of sleep and still follow the game without feeling like I have missed much. Of course, if you follow professional golf with great interest this may not be as relaxing for you (although, I swear, some of those announcers have voices that are hypnotic). If that's the case, might I suggest the Food Network?

Once again, totally soothing! Its harder for me to put my finger on why. Maybe its because for me cooking, especially cooking that doesn't involve pasta or eggs, is challenging. And even stressful. But on TV its effortless. Everything is measured out. No one has to do the dishes. Nothing comes out burned or overcooked. Its like a magical land! mmm.... I feel content just thinking about.

So that's my tip. Next time you are in need of doing nothing for a little while (which is an important stress reduction tool!), but you're brain isn't quite ready to turn off for a full on nap, try golf or food. On TV.

PS. If you attempt to cook any of the things on the food network I am certain it loses all of its stress relieving capabilities.

Ripping Off the Band-aid

I woke up this morning and my teeth were clenched. I hate that. I hate it because then I know I have been grinding my teeth in the middle of the night. And what causes that? Stress. Obvi.

So as I relaxed my jaw I tried to get rid of my stress. What happened to be stressing me this morning was a decision I had been putting off making. It was one of those decisions where no option seemed to stand out as the right one, and I didn't want to make a choice I regretted. Option 1: Give up something fun, but have more time for everything else. Option 2: Do everything. Or rather, go crazy trying.

So I went ahead and made a choice. It doesn't matter which I picked. The point is that agonizing over deciding was causing way more angst than either decision would have caused. So I had to just make up my mind. And we'll see what happens, but hopefully I wont grind my teeth tonight.

My point is, don't put off things that stress you out. That won't make them go away. Instead it just gives you something ruminate about (ruminate on? I don't know.) And you end up extending the stressiness. Just go ahead and rip off the band-aid.

Point number two is, if you grind your teeth at night its a good thing you're reading this blog because that means you are trying to relieve your stress and that should definitely help. (Well, either that or you're related to me. Hi Mom and Dad!)

Note: If you do grind your teeth you can also get help from your dentist. And going to the dentist is always a good thing.

Flying

I am about to get on plane to Canada and while I don't feel particularly stressed about it at the moment, I imagine I will as soon as we hit that first bit of turbulence. but I can't blog from the air so I figured I might as well cover this ahead of time.

Even if flying doesn't bother you, airports can be stressful places these days. Racing to catch flights, long security lines, delays, cancellations, etc. It's generally not fun.

So Medium Wellness has some air travel stress relief tips to help get through the inevitable pain in the ass of traveling.

1. Bring something good to read. Distractions are key. If you have a good book time waiting for a flight (and time on the flight) can go by a lot faster.

2. Don't dwell on things you can't control. No matter how much you may think you would do a better job running the airlines than people who are doing it now, the chances are they probably aren't going to let you take over. In fact, there really isn't going to be anything you can do to change air traffic patterns. So why get angry about it? Instead, focus on things you can change, like your attitude. It might be hard to do, but if you decide the flight delay isn't going to get you down you just might be right.

3. If turbulence freaks you out, do your breathing. Focus on inhaling slowly and then exhaling slowly. Keep doing this. This will help relax your body and also gives you something to think about besides the bouncing of the plane.