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4 things you can do NOW to stop stressing

Do you ever stress?

Or should I ask: “Who DOESN’T stress?”

You’ve been told to relax, chill out, meditate, eat healthy, exercise, yada, yada, yada…
but all that advice is just too abstract.

So what do you do? You ignore it. And then you stress about stressing !

 

The most powerful way to reduce stress is to go out into nature.

Yet maybe you are short on time……
If you only have 1-2 minutes, why not bring nature to YOU?

 

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Get your own stress-free Mediterranean stones!
Click on the photos to shop now.

Nature inspires and calms us with her beauty.

Even the humblest of insects are amazing.
Doesn’t everyone just adore ladybugs?

LADY BUG cross stitch embroidery

These tiny cross-stitch wall hangings
are made with lots of patience and love by Gala of GalaBorn.

Click on any photo to get them now!

GREEN BEETLE cross stitch embroidery

cross stitch embroidery

What kid doesn’t love bugs?
Wouldn’t this set look adorable in your child’s bedroom?

Click on the photo to shop!

*Here are 4 proven tips to do FOR ONLY 1 MINUTE at a time (really!) to drastically reduce stress:

  1. *yawn* Chances are that just reading this word will make you yawn. Yawn once and the next 10-20 will follow. You will feel energized afterwards. No kidding! The difficult part will be to stop yawning 🙂

  2. Run in place. Start slowly. Then rev up. Run (jog, hop, hey, why not dance?!) for 60 seconds. Go on, pretend you’re a little kid again! Your body will thank you for it.

  3. Close your eyes. Roll your head around  in a full circle S-L-O-W-L-Y in one direction. Gently. You don’t want to pull any neck muscles by accident! Switch directions and do the full circle going the other way.

  4. Pet your own hand. Sounds funny? Yeah, it may but this is soothing and relaxing. Caress your hand and forearm like it was your favorite pet. Switch hands. Repeat. Nice, huh?

 

Are YOU going to try any of these tiny-yet-powerful exercises???

Let us know in the comments BELOW ↓

(Or you are one of those lucky people who don’t stress?  Let us know how you perform such miracles!)

*These tips are taken from Words Can Change Your Brain by Mark Robert Waldman and Andrew Newberg.
Waldman had his MBA students practice these simple relaxation exercises for 10 days in a row.
He claims that their stress levels reduced over the course of nine months.

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Green ice cream, anyone?

August. HOT.
No A/C.
Green ice cream, anyone?

I love to read recipes but I rarely follow them.
You can make this by eye, like I did.
Strange color? YES!
You’ll be amazed how delicious it is!
Do I need to say it’s healthy, too?

green smoothie ice cream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

START preparing at least day ahead.

Ingredients:

***1-1/2 cups raw spinach (buy the fresh leaves and pop the bag in the freezer at least the day before)
***2 ripe bananas (peel & cut into chunks. pop them into a freezer bag at least the day before)
***your choice of almond milk, rice milk, oatmeal milk, coconut milk
***optional sweetener: 1 TBSP maple syrup -or- 4 dates -or- 4 prunes

Put the frozen raw spinach in the blender. Add the liquid of your choice, to cover, this will probably be about 1  cup. When it’s smooth, add the frozen bananas,  more liquid, and any optional sweeteners. Blend until smooth. Spoon into bowl or mason jar. Eat with a spoon or drink it with a straw like a smoothie.

You can also use frozen mango, frozen pineapple, frozen apple, frozen pear….Cut the fruit into bite-sized chunks and put it into a freezer bag at least a day before. Use your favorite fruit or a combo.  Experiment & have fun!

Bon apétit!

Thanks to Simple Green Smoothies for the inspiration 😉