Stress Relief Without Drugs by Jane Thurnell-Read

This is a fantastic tip from Touch For Health to help you when you're stressed, angry, anxious or upset.  Try holding your frontal eminences. These are bumps on your forehead that many people hold instinctively when they're upset. For those of you who don't do this naturally, let me help you locate them:

• Feel up from the middle of your eyebrows going towards your hairline.
• Your forehead comes outwards before it curves back in towards the hairline. Hold your forehead at the points where it is furthest out - about 3cms (1.25 inches) above the middle of each eyebrow.
• While you hold these points think about the stressful event. It can be something that has already happened, something that is about to happen, or something you fear may never happen!

Gradually you should find that the stress lessens. You can use it for small things. You can also use it if you're struggling to do something - lose weight, complete your tax form, give up smoking, talk to your boss, etc. You can also use it for helping you find peace with traumatic eventsin your past. If the thoughts/images are too overwhelming initially, imagine you are watching it on a TV - you can always switch it off if becomes too stressful - you're the one in charge.

You can watch it in black and white if that feels easier too. Use it to defuse anything that you feel anxious, stressed, angry or fearful about. You may want to do it several times covering different aspects of the problem. You can do them one after the other, or at different times, whichever feels best for you.

As you hold the points and think about/imagine the event, you will probably start to feel calmer - you may even find that you start to feel a little bored thinking about this scenario that previously stressed or angered you so much.

Why does it work? These particular points on the forehead, known as frontal eminences, are reflex points with connections to the central meridian (involved with the brain), the stomach meridian (and your stomach often churns when you're anxious or angry), and the bladder meridian (trips to the loo/bathroom are often necessary when we're apprehensive).

I recently explained this self-help technique to a business colleague - a keen mountain biker who'd had a serious bike accident at 30 miles an hour and had broken his skull and collar bone. This is what he wrote to me later:

"I don't know how to thank you enough for the technique you described to me over the phone the other day, it helped me enormously!"

The following week he sent me this message:

"Your tip worked once again last night - went out (in the pitch black with my Light&Motion 'daylighter' light) and did some serious single-tracking and downhilling!!! I never thought I'd be doing that again - ever! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was brilliant!!!!!!!"

It may be hard to believe that something this simple could be effective in removing anxiety and stress, but try it and see. It really is an instant stress relief tip.

You can get regular health and happiness tips from this author via a personalised Google home page. Follow the simple steps from Google listed here.

Copyright 2006 Jane Thurnell-Read