Self Help Tips
These are some of my favorite techniques for working on myself and my clients due to their simplicity and effectiveness.
Hand on the forehead
This is a super great technique for stressful situations and emotions!
1. First, rate your stress level on a scale of 1-10.
2. Lightly hold your left hand on your forehead to help calm anxious thoughts. (The right hand may also be used if necessary, but the left may be a little better due to the electrical polarity). If there is also fear involved, place the other hand on the back of the head for extra calming. These points help your brain re-categorize the thoughts from stressful ones to just regular thoughts.
3. Go ahead and focus on your stressful situation for a few minutes. Just replay it in your mind. You have permission to wallow for a little bit!
After holding for a couple minutes you will probably notice that your mind begins to wander and you are no longer able to focus on the stressful thoughts. Sometimes this may be all you need.
4. If you need more, you can continue holding the points while visualizing how you want the situation to be. You can use this on past, present, or future situations. A future situation might be if you are nervous about an upcoming event. Sometimes it's helpful to do before bed when you can't get your mind to shut off.
5. Rate your stress level again after doing the technique.
Ear Unrolling Technique
This is good for loosening up your neck. It also works well for giving you a boost in the afternoon, or any time of day if you just need a reset.
Start by turning your head each way and noticing how far you can go and where the tight spots are.
Now massage all around the outer edge of your ear, almost like you are trying to smooth out the curled edge. Do this 3 or 4 times, or for a minute or so.
Re-check your neck tightness. Repeat if needed.
You can also massage the entire ear first thing every day to get off to a good start.
Injury Release Technique
This helps release physical injuries from your cellular memory, which eases restrictions and loosens you up.
Start by checking your flexibility. The easiest way is to check your neck like you did above. (If you do these techniques close together, you might not notice quite as much difference because your neck will already be loosened up from the previous technique.)
Hold your hand on an area where you had an injury.
Stretch the back of your neck 4 or 5 times while holding the spot. (you can also stretch the back of your ankle if you have neck problems). Include things like:
-shots/vaccinations sites
-Ankle injuries
-Mammograms
-Root canals or dental work
-eye or cataract surgery
-surgery of any kind
-broken bones
-concussion
If you want to get really detailed you can even do cuts, scrapes and bruises. But starting with the things listed above will make a big difference. Now re-check your neck flexibility.
Lymphatic Techniques
The lymph system is basically the body’s sewer system. It disposes of unwanted things like viruses, bacteria and toxins. If your lymph system is moving slowly, it is like a sludgy or clogged drain.
So step 1 to drink plenty of water! This will keep the lymph fluid actually fluid, to keep washing the gunk out. If you're a little dehydrated your lymph fluid may flow more like a little stream during a drought-not well!
Make sure you get plenty of exercise and movement. The lymph system does not have a pump (like the heart pumps the blood). It only moves with our movement.
Also, you can gently bounce up and down on your toes for a few minutes.
You can use a medium soft brush and brush your dry skin. Brush towards your heart.
There are a lot of lymph nodes in the armpits and where the legs connect to the body, so you can also massage these areas with light to medium pressure.
Increasing your own spinal flow
Deep breathing helps boost the flow of your spinal fluid. It will be an extra boost if you visualize the flow increasing and flowing smoothly around all the bones of your spine, neck and head.
Neck and Headaches
You can sometimes help your neck and headaches by giving a little attention to the top bone of the neck, the Atlas, or C1.
Lay on your back.
Find the round bone bump behind the lower part of your ears.
Let your thumbs or fingers slide off the bone into the dip just below it.
Gently and slowly press one side, then the other. Keep alternating. You can tilt your head back and forth a little at the same time if you want. Watch on YouTube here.
Hand on the forehead
This is a super great technique for stressful situations and emotions!
1. First, rate your stress level on a scale of 1-10.
2. Lightly hold your left hand on your forehead to help calm anxious thoughts. (The right hand may also be used if necessary, but the left may be a little better due to the electrical polarity). If there is also fear involved, place the other hand on the back of the head for extra calming. These points help your brain re-categorize the thoughts from stressful ones to just regular thoughts.
3. Go ahead and focus on your stressful situation for a few minutes. Just replay it in your mind. You have permission to wallow for a little bit!
After holding for a couple minutes you will probably notice that your mind begins to wander and you are no longer able to focus on the stressful thoughts. Sometimes this may be all you need.
4. If you need more, you can continue holding the points while visualizing how you want the situation to be. You can use this on past, present, or future situations. A future situation might be if you are nervous about an upcoming event. Sometimes it's helpful to do before bed when you can't get your mind to shut off.
5. Rate your stress level again after doing the technique.
Ear Unrolling Technique
This is good for loosening up your neck. It also works well for giving you a boost in the afternoon, or any time of day if you just need a reset.
Start by turning your head each way and noticing how far you can go and where the tight spots are.
Now massage all around the outer edge of your ear, almost like you are trying to smooth out the curled edge. Do this 3 or 4 times, or for a minute or so.
Re-check your neck tightness. Repeat if needed.
You can also massage the entire ear first thing every day to get off to a good start.
Injury Release Technique
This helps release physical injuries from your cellular memory, which eases restrictions and loosens you up.
Start by checking your flexibility. The easiest way is to check your neck like you did above. (If you do these techniques close together, you might not notice quite as much difference because your neck will already be loosened up from the previous technique.)
Hold your hand on an area where you had an injury.
Stretch the back of your neck 4 or 5 times while holding the spot. (you can also stretch the back of your ankle if you have neck problems). Include things like:
-shots/vaccinations sites
-Ankle injuries
-Mammograms
-Root canals or dental work
-eye or cataract surgery
-surgery of any kind
-broken bones
-concussion
If you want to get really detailed you can even do cuts, scrapes and bruises. But starting with the things listed above will make a big difference. Now re-check your neck flexibility.
Lymphatic Techniques
The lymph system is basically the body’s sewer system. It disposes of unwanted things like viruses, bacteria and toxins. If your lymph system is moving slowly, it is like a sludgy or clogged drain.
So step 1 to drink plenty of water! This will keep the lymph fluid actually fluid, to keep washing the gunk out. If you're a little dehydrated your lymph fluid may flow more like a little stream during a drought-not well!
Make sure you get plenty of exercise and movement. The lymph system does not have a pump (like the heart pumps the blood). It only moves with our movement.
Also, you can gently bounce up and down on your toes for a few minutes.
You can use a medium soft brush and brush your dry skin. Brush towards your heart.
There are a lot of lymph nodes in the armpits and where the legs connect to the body, so you can also massage these areas with light to medium pressure.
Increasing your own spinal flow
Deep breathing helps boost the flow of your spinal fluid. It will be an extra boost if you visualize the flow increasing and flowing smoothly around all the bones of your spine, neck and head.
Neck and Headaches
You can sometimes help your neck and headaches by giving a little attention to the top bone of the neck, the Atlas, or C1.
Lay on your back.
Find the round bone bump behind the lower part of your ears.
Let your thumbs or fingers slide off the bone into the dip just below it.
Gently and slowly press one side, then the other. Keep alternating. You can tilt your head back and forth a little at the same time if you want. Watch on YouTube here.
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This is a good point for headaches. Massage it for a few minutes as soon as you feel a headache starting. If you like essential oils, you could also put a drop of peppermint, lavender or rosemary oil on this spot (dilute appropriately).
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These tips are not to be considered medical advice. While generally considered safe, not everyone is the same. You should do your own research and check with your doctor or health care practitioner.
Beat the Clock - 6 Tips for Adjusting to Daylight Time
Tuesday’s Tip
Starting tonight, prepare for the “spring forward” by going to sleep 15 min earlier each night. Set a reminder alarm on your phone (and stick to it! ;-)
Wednesday’s Tip
Magnesium is a nutrient that’s really important for healthy sleep. Magnesium helps relieve stress and calm your nerves. It also helps regulate the levels of the sleep hormone melatonin. This helps prepare you for sleep, and produces deeper, more restful sleep. You can get it as a cream or spray to apply to the skin, in powder form to create a fizzy bedtime drink, and in supplement form as well.
Thursday’s Tip
Lavender oil is a popular remedy for sleep enhancement. Lavender helps by soothing the nervous system and relaxing your mind. Diffuse it in your bedroom or apply a drop to the acupoint Spleen 1, located at the bottom corner of the big toe nearest the outside edge of the foot (see image below). This point is great for quieting a restless, worried mind.
Friday’s Tip
I hope no one stays up until the middle of the night to turn the clock forward! But just in case you do, or if you wait until the next morning, change the clocks before going to sleep on Saturday. This will help you get to bed a little earlier than you otherwise might (if you’ve slacked on Tuesday’s Tip ;-)
Saturday’s Tip
Chase the morning light.
Spend as much time outside Sunday morning to preserve and regulate your internal clock – aka your circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm relies on natural daylight for cues of when our bodies should be awake vs sleepy. Exposing oneself to daylight as early as possible after waking up can help reset the sleep-wake cycle - and lead to better sleep.
Sunday’s Tip
Practice good sleep habits.
This is ESSENTIAL, especially today and the rest of this week.
Stick to your daily schedule as much as possible – wake up at your normal time, eat at your normal mealtimes, go to sleep at your normal bedtime, etc. Take a nap if needed but don’t make it long – limit to 20 minutes.
-Limit the amount of caffeine and/or alcohol you have, especially closer to bedtime.
-Avoid blue light exposure at least an hour before bedtime
-Avoid eating or snacking after 7pm (notice if you wake up less groggy this week when you try this tip!)
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