Maybe it’s the last week of work before the holidays and things are moving massively fast with a lot to do. How do you manage to de-stress and regain control? When the pressure increases because the workload is piling up? So that you don’t crash-land at the beginning of the vacation… Starts with getting sick, a classic. It’s hard to see clearly when you’re stressed – so here are my top 7 tips.

1. take small breaks every day.

Letting go of the outer and centering in the inner. Because we get tired of all the fragmentation on the outside, and only by shutting down the outside and sinking into silence (meditation, nap, powernap etc) do we break the stress spiral. Microbreaks are very beneficial and absolutely necessary.

2. stop and just breathe

Breathing breaks several times a day are enormously vitalizing, and counteract acidification and stiffness in the body. Breathe deeply with your abdomen and draw the air in and out through your nose with slow breaths. Chest breathing becomes stress breathing and you should breathe with your abdominal muscles and through your nose only! People stress breathe today, which means they breathe too much, which is de facto exhausting.

Land in the body (from the head) with the help of breathing and close your eyes for a short while. It stimulates your inner self to shut down the outer. Breathing is the first and most important way to calm our body… (which is at least 300,000 years old according to recent archaeological findings, and they looked just like we do today!)

• If you have time to spare, read about how nasal breathing can help you stay alert here!

3. Look far away

Look out of a window… Letting your gaze wander far away is beneficial. Switch to daydream (trance) mode for a while… Fixing your gaze on a screen is very hard on your eyes and brain in the long run. Get up, stretch and yawn often. You get NO more done because you sit down hour in and hour out…. You work more efficiently when you take these small daily micro-breaks.

Stretch your head up and turn it a little so you don’t get stuck in “vulture neck”.

• Catyoga is a simple way to get your body flowing on the spot. Read about Catyoga here!

4. go for a quiet walk in nature

It is very beneficial and calming to spend time in nature, especially now with all the budding greenery. Note: I mean walking and not running because the idea is to slow down the system and counteract the warm-up. Slow movements calm the brain. Yin yoga is good too, so feel free to stop and stretch out by a tree. Best of all is to be in calming and healing nature!

• Read when you have time: why nature reduces stress.

5. Calm and quiet stress training – 3 minutes

Did you know that we have two bodies in one? The stress body, which allows us to perform at our best and quickly get out of a threatening situation. And on the other hand, we have the Calm and Tranquility body, which we are designed to be in almost all the time. Because all the body’s automatic processes are designed to work optimally in the Calm and Rest phase. But today, many have been “kidnapped” in the stress body, and stuck there. Especially after the last challenging year.

Take three minutes and do my new Calm and Quiet method – AVB – where you stimulate your breathing by holding your sternum for a minute, then calm your whole body by holding the vagus point at the back of your neck where it attaches to your body, and finally hold your abdomen.

• Read about how you can calm your system in three minutes with the help of super-simple Calm and Tranquility Training here! Very good for children to do too.

6. do the Blissful body method 3 minutes

Break the stress, negative thoughts, worry or general anxiety on the fly by taking three minutes and doing Blissful body method i.e. breathe deeply a couple of times and shift your consciousness to the heart, bringing up positive feelings or emotional memories. Stay with them for a few minutes and let them fulfill you, because it quickly switches your mind from a state of stress – when you are in your brain – to a relaxed state when you function better – it is scientifically proven.

The heart communicates with the body’s cells at the speed of light and only by shifting your consciousness to the heart in this way and bringing out positive emotions – can you quickly turn stress into calm.

• Read about how to easily do Blissful body method in three minutes

What you feed your brain becomes your reality!

7. rinse out the stress!

Last but most importantly: stress causes constipation, acidification and mal-fermentation in the body! So do something radically active to put a stop to this by flushing out your entire gut with an Alkaline Flush – bicarbonate of soda and epsom salts – which provides a gentle but effective bowel movement. And since toxins and debris from the WHOLE BODY disappear through the gut, you are greatly helped by emptying it out from time to time.

Rest, water and heat are simple and classic healing remedies. Add on top of that an Alkaline Flush that includes bowel movements, fasting, fresh air, exercise, ice cold shower and rest – and you have an effective recovery! This is a very effective cure after an intense work week, so that you do not have to wake up completely exhausted on Saturday morning. Do it now – and it could prevent you from getting sick at the start of your vacation! Or start your vacation with this new NyStarts cure.

• Read about the One-day NewStart program

Have a great Midsummer week!

Dr. Sanna Ehdin