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5 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress

5 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress

 In our fast paced world, stress is something we live with – day in and day out. It isn’t going away. We need to learn to live with it – and get the upper hand. Or it will take its toll on our health.

Stress is defined as our reaction to the external environment as well as our inner thoughts and feelings. It isn’t only what happens to us that creates stressful feelings, but it’s how we feel about what happens to us. Learning to control our thoughts through meditation, yoga, and other mind quieting techniques can be very helpful in reducing stress levels. Like the Buddhists say, become the calm in the center of the storm.

During times of increased stress, our body’s nutrients are used more rapidly to meet these needs so we require increased amounts of many of these nutrients. The antioxidant vitamins A, E and C, the B vitamins and the mineral zinc, selenium, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, sulfur and molybdenum are some of the nutrients that are commonly depleted by stress.

Fortunately there are a number of ways to prepare the body for stress. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  1. Meditate, pray, or do yoga each morning. The simple technique of quieting the mind, following the breath, and relaxing the body can put you in the right frame of mind for getting through a stressful day with a positive mental attitude. 
     
  2. Show Some Love

    Induce the relaxation response by cuddling your pet, giving an unexpected hug to a friend or family member, snuggling with your spouse, or talking to a friend about the good things in your lives, (Transforming Stress by Deborah Rozman, PhD) When you do, you’ll be reducing your stress levels.

    Why? Experts say social interaction helps your brain think better, encouraging you to see new solutions to situations that once seemed impossible. Studies have also shown that physical contact — like petting your dog or cat — may actually help lower blood pressure and decrease stress hormones.
     

  3. Breathe Deeply: Feeling stressed evokes tense, shallow breathing, while calm, is associated with relaxed breathing. So to turn tension into relaxation, and change the way you breathe.

    Try this: Let out a big sigh, dropping your chest, and exhaling through gently pursed lips. Now imagine your low belly, or center, as a deep, powerful place. Feel your breath coming and going as your mind stays focused there. Inhale, feeling your entire belly, sides and lower back expand. Exhale, sighing again as you drop your chest, and feeling your belly, back and sides contract. Repeat 10 times, relaxing more fully each time.
     

  4. Reduce Caffeine Intake: Consuming caffeine too late in the day can affect sleep quality, which impacts stress levels. Consuming too much caffeine in general can make you more emotionally reactive to stress. Learn how much caffeine is too much.
     
  5. Time Management: Honing your time management skills can allow you to minimize the stressors that you experience, and better manage the ones you can’t avoid. When you are able to complete everything on your “to do” list without the stress of rushing or forgetting, your whole life feels easier.

Reflections from a Drug Court Graduate

Personal story written by someone in their first year of the Drug Court program. This person graduated Drug Court more than 6 years ago and is still clean and sober living in Grass Valley in the home he and his family bought 2 years ago:

“Thank you, drug court,  Thank you for life!  This is a subject I have become very passionate about. So much so, sometimes I have to choke back tears of gratitude.  Drug Court has done so much for me. It has become more than something for me to skate thru for the next couple of years so I don’t have to go back to prison. I have to admit those were my thoughts at first. Once I got to South Placer and my head cleared I wondered “And then what would I do? Go back to my old way of life? Why would I want to go back to doing what got me here in the first place? None of this came easy for me. I didn’t just wake up one morning full of honesty and willingness. I had to change my whole thinking process. I did a lot of pretending at first. I told myself over and over that I wanted to be clean and sober. That I could do this. That I believed in a God. I talked myself into all of this. Because today I do believe it. I had to retrain my brain. The thoughts and actions that were once foreign to me are becoming natural. I am learning how to have a life I haven’t dreamed possible for over 30 years. I used to think it was me against the world. Especially the law and judicial system. Us and them. I have since changed my outlook on life. I am part of the world today. I thank the law for arresting my self-propelled spiral to Hell and Drug Court for giving me the love and support to learn how to live. Today, there is no us and them, only we. I take great pride in what Drug Court is doing and consider it the most awesome privilege to be allowed to be a part of it.

When I truly saw my life for what it really was it was devastating. It shattered every image I had of who and what I was and laid bare my soul. And when I saw that thing I had become it sickened me so much that I wanted to change. I realized that I was a lie I had created to keep myself from seeing the truth. That I had become a despicable creature that would do just about anything to feed his addiction. I had no morals, no compassion. I cared not one bit for anyone or anything that couldn’t do something for me. I despised that person so much that I became willing to listen. Someone told me that if I wanted different results to do the opposite of what I used to do. I became open-minded enough to listen to suggestions on how to change those behaviors. Willing to do the work required to implement those changes in my life. There is no magic wand that is going to pass over you and POOF! you are all well and wonderful now. Life is not going to change for you. You have to change your life yourself. One tiny thing at a time. The very first change you have to make is do not use no matter what. Because without that change there can be no others. You have to be filled with enough disgust at what you were to want to become something else. And when you feel like you have done all that you can do, do a little more. And when you are done and just know that there is no way you can do anything else, do a little more. Today I do all those things I used to consider lame. I am happy today.  Today I consider it a special privilege to be allowed to be in DC. A privilege to go to meetings. A privilege to have been allowed to go to CORR. A privilege to be able to go to school and have a life. A privilege to have been shown how to live life clean and sober and not to spend the rest of my life in prison.

Dan’s Story of Inspiration and Hope

It’s August, 2005, and I had just finished 60 days of in-patient rehab at a facility in Santa Ana, Ca. I knew I was an alcoholic for the first time, and I was still coming to grips with my “disease.” My world had been turned upside down.

The re-hab consisted of three after-care houses in surrounding neighborhoods, and a main house (which doubled as a second rate detox) where clients would stay in their initial 30 days. I had no place to go after completing my own treatment so asked the facility staff for a job; their singular response was, “do you cook? We need a cook.” Glaring straight at the Director, my only response: “Oh yeah…I cook. You need a cook, no problem.” My internal response: “Oh shit..I don’t cook!” I believe they knew that, but I was on survival mode, on fire for sobriety and would do whatever it took to stay the course. I didn’t feel ready to leave. Deep down, I was fascinated by it all….this new environment, these new friends, these AA meetings. Intuitively, I also felt great things might be possible. There was a definite fire burning inside.

I lived in one of the transitional re-hab houses and my job everyday was to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to the 20+ primary re-hab patients. My house held the “garage” where all the food for the program was kept. I practically lived in there, trying to course and map out the next meal;  pick it, bike it over one mile on a broken down beach cruiser, cook it, serve it, do the dishes. Three times a day. That was my schedule.  I got by – barely – on reading directions for recipes & pretending to be confident in the kitchen. I hung a sign, “Do Not Enter” so no one could see the panic.

When I was in phase II of the re-hab program (my second 30 days) the powers-that-be let me begin “running” for an hour everyday in the afternoon. I had run track/cross-country in college and had run approximately 6 marathons in years previous. I just felt this incredible pull to begin running again. I found a nearby grassy park and did endless laps around the camps of homeless in the middle. They got used to seeing me there and as the weeks progressed, I was getting my running form back. The environment itself was depressed, but the actual act of running, and the endorphins it produced, was paradise. Running became my daily calming mechanism and helped me get out of my own head – a sometimes difficult task for alcoholics. That’s putting it lightly.

Those daily runs gave me a mind-altering serenity that had been lost at the bottom of a bottle for some time. I would drink to forget. Now, I was running to remember – so I could live again. This was the time my mind began shifting gears, and thoughts of “what’s possible” replaced the treadmill of negative tapes and days gone by. My wall was beginning to come down. My running opened a flood-gate of thought and contemplation I never thought possible.

Pre-rehab, my father had found me in a motel in Orange County, Vodka bottles strewn everywhere and suicide not far off. On a 4 day binge, I didn’t know what time it was, let alone whether the sun was coming up or going down. Dates and time were worthless to me. Within two hours of his arrival, he had me in re-hab in Santa Ana; a collaborative effort between him and my Mother. Regardless of how I got to that dark place (that is a book in its own), my alcohol abuse had been progressive and now – in that motel room….it had me hand in hand with the devil. I literally thought it was over, my soul was empty; it was just a matter of how I was going to get my body to shut down. But, 30 days later, I was running laps in that park in Santa Ana. I felt like a walking/running miracle.

That first re-hab gave me 4 primary gifts: An introduction to the 12-steps, a small but new beginning in a relationship with a God of my own understanding, a solid work-ethic and it uncovered, from beneath a rock, a passion I had left behind – my running. That passion would grow, but not without a few more self-induced, incredibly harsh life-lessons.

One year and two months later, I was back in re-hab for a second time. I had made the lethal mistake of dumping my sponsor, not going to meetings and truly believing I could “handle” a pint or two, here and there. Ironically, this thought process came right after I had completed my first “post-rehab” marathon (6 mo. after Santa Ana). This was my first experience with the “I deserve it” attitude so many alcoholics display after getting some time under their belt and a few successes. We forget quickly and lie to ourselves – as we buy into our own undisputable bullshit as re-lapse takes its shape. As I would find out, many of us believe we’re too intelligent to have any kind of addiction or “disease” that controls our self-destructive ways. Of the many, I was one.

Once again, my running suffered and I ended up the same way and in the same place I began this journey, but worse: sitting in a dark room, Vodka bottles littering the floor and closet. This time though, I had introduced a knife to the fray; I wanted to make sure I bled out this time, just kind of disappearing into black, not to wake up.

An intervention by my parents at 3am got me to an appointment the next day with a man named Ron Israel, an addictions counselor (who, to this day, continues to be my mentor, life-coach and example in sobriety). I was fascinated by this man. There was a spirituality to him that just drew me in. I was shaking and baking badly, bobbing back and forth – arms crossed, legs together, trying to muster enough energy to even talk while my tremors amplified. I was in full withdrawal, down to 130lbs from a norm of one-sixty. In a 6ft. frame, I was a skeleton. He stayed on topic with God – and how he saw great things for me if I’d just “let go”, accept my disease of alcoholism and learn to deal with the shame and grief I had buried deep down. I ate his words up like I was starving emotionally (and I was). Ron asked me one question at the end of our session, “so, what do you want?” I replied simply, “I want what you have.” That was enough.

With that, my second go-around was at an excellent re-hab in South Orange County, called Able to Change Recovery (ATC), based in Laguna Beach and Dana Point. The counselors there (including Ron Israel and Billy Grow – both have amazing talents to inspire!) challenged me in ways I had never been challenged. They also made me realize that living sober and “in recovery” is a full-time job that never ends. It doesn’t have an on/off switch. The disease of alcoholism is not “cure-able” and is always with us. Baffling….cunning…powerful. The positive note is, we can all have lives that are way, way beyond what we ever imagined. With a personal, self-defined and educated program of recovery, we create our own mental and philosophical armor – one that is personal to each and helps, rather than hinders, when life gets tough. Down the road, when service calls, newcomers benefit from the experience of your armor; as you do from helping them fit their own. In our weekly sessions, Ron continued to hammer this point home – and I was absorbing it. Spirituality and faith in God were also regular topics and my personal convictions grew stronger.

I ended up working for ATC Recovery for four years after my treatment; and no, not as a cook! I began as a house manager at one of their “re-hab” houses in Laguna Beach. Located on Coast Highway, directly across from Thousand Steps Beach, I was able to work with (on a daily basis) newcomers in their first 30 days of sobriety. It was here I realized that alcoholism and drug addiction do not discriminate. One day, a major corporate CEO might check in, the next day a police officer, the next a broken down 19 year old who had been sleeping on park benches. Some work days I would be picking a heroin or meth addict up at the airport or visiting future clients in the local detox – the hospital just one block from our house. AA meetings were every morning, one block away, 7-days a week. I was there.

I literally met thousands of people at those AA meetings over the years. I was on the quiet side the first year, still finding myself, but I was learning – and learning a lot; observing more than talking. How recovering alcoholics interpret what AA “is” in their lives, is as varied as a fingerprint. It’s unique to the alcoholic himself. Don’t get recruited into another’s footnote of meanings & interpretations; make your own, and mold those meanings to fit your life in sobriety. AA is an amazing community, unlike any-other on the planet. Is it spiritualy based? For me….absolutely. For a fellow alcoholic who’s agnostic? Perhaps not; but what other organization could have those two people come together and agree on the same underlying goal (staying sober)? Pretty amazing if you really think about it. Different paths to the same goal…in unity.

Eventually, ATC Recovery moved me into the office as an “Insurance Manager” and “Phone Lead” helping alcoholics and addicts who were reaching out; giving guidance on matters of education, detox, travel plans – but most importantly, I could – and would – listen and relate. I was dealing with callers who needed help and didn’t have answers. We were a 24/7/365 re-hab, so being on-call late at night and on holidays wasn’t uncommon. My cell phone went everywhere I did and work never really shut down. I may get a call from a meth user in Montana at 3am, or an intravenous heroin user from North Dakota at midnight, or perhaps a suffering drunk (like I once was) from Lynchburg, Tennessee. I learned to remain patient in dealing with people and situations that went way beyond the scope of “everyday” normality. That said, those situations became my “normal.” I was beginning to relate to this “disease” on a whole new level.

After transitioning to the office 9am to 5pm for phone and insurance work, I remained a “house manager.” Work hours never really stopped. Phone work never stopped. Dealing with confused and angry clients in their first 30 days….never stopped. It takes a certain “type” to do this work for a long period. Somehow, I knew I was that “type.” So did the company & they kept me moving. I was a “grinder” and that trait parallels how I train and run. In a high-functioning inpatient re-hab, everday is a storm; a wind-tunnel of constant change, unpredictability and “perceived” urgency. Long runs in the mountains were a key ingredient in coping with the personal stress.

Sometime in my first year, the owner of the company, Saralyn (also a runner/marathoner), took me under her wing and signed me up for the San Diego Marathon. I trained hard, putting in 60 to 70 mile weeks (running in the morning and at night) and we ran the event together, June 1st, 2008. I was hooked on running again – and grateful to be back doing what I loved. Memories of running around that landscape challenged park in Santa Ana – a few years back now – always stayed with me. I felt as if I had made it though a true hurricane to get back to this point – to be given another chance. Grateful in a true meaning.

The following year, (2009), I ran marathons at Orange County, Long Beach & Catalina Island. My training had increased and I began running nearly every night, in the hills above Laguna Beach. It wasn’t unusual to come back from training runs at 11:30pm or 12:00 at night; drenched in sweat, thoughts flowing, analyzing new & unique ideas that weren’t there a few hours before. My night runs in the mountains were almost spiritual in orientation (and well-known by now) but the perspective I gained from them cannot be rightly described. My co-workers thought I was a little “skewed” up-stairs, no question. My views on sobriety, spirituality and what’s possible were now taking shape.

Ron Israel continued working with me and his guidance involving how God works in our live’s was taking hold. “Everything is as it should be” was a philosophy I would value more than gold. I began studying metaphysics, too, and took a wide interest in exploring the explanations of the fundamental nature of “being”, necessity and possibility. I had two years of sobriety now, after my second trip to re-hab, and my mental landscape was changing; expanding into unexplored and unique territory. I continually kept my mind’s eye focused on “what’s possible” in sobriety and recovery. I saw few limits.

I ran my first “Ultra-Marathon” in November 2009, at Montano De Oro, on the Central Coast of California, not far from San Luis Obispo, where I had gone to college and worked as an editor for 7 years. It was a 50K (32miles) and I had a new “love” – Ultra Marathons and trail running. I was passionate and fascinated by the longer distances in the mountains. They required a “survival mode” mechanism, a lot of detailed planning and a level of persistence that goes way beyond “ordinary.” My training turned from “hard” to borderline “extreme.” But, it paid off. In March 2010, I ran the Old Goat 50 miler in Southern Cal., and followed that up with another 50K at Montano De Oro; then another 50 miler, in July 2010, at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run. Three weeks later, in August 2010, I traveled to the Bay Area and ran my first 100 mile Ultra, at the Headlands, across from the Golden Gate Bridge and S.F. An incredible setting to run in! A life-long dream, I had finally done something that I thought was “impossible” in my own life. The race had taken me just over 28 hours to complete, non-stop. My sister, Laurie and good buddy, Dave, had “crewed” for me and I couldn’t have done it without them. I now had 3 1/2 years of sobriety.

When I crossed the finish line to complete my first 100 Mile Ultra (finishing in the top 40), I knew my life was on yet another course. I knew I would make a major change, and soon. I felt it immediately and I was smiling wide at the finish line, even though my body was a complete wreck and I was hallucinating almost non-stop from sleep deprivation.

During my time at the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 Mile Ultra, just one month previous – in July 2010 – I heard an inner voice telling me to move here – to Tahoe. I wanted to run the trails full time. I felt like I belonged in the mountains, sky overhead, quiet in the forest like I’ve never experienced. My time in Tahoe had truly been spiritually uplifting; the experiences multiplied on my long runs in the mountains and Lake Tahoe itself simply drew me in. Money didn’t matter, “things” didn’t matter. Becoming a gypsy “minimalist” was what I was craving deep inside. I felt ready to leave the constant demands of 24/7 inpatient re-hab work. I was ready for transition and I felt strong and proud in my program of recovery. My mentor and counselor, Ron, would reiterate, “our darkest memories hold the keys to opening new doors to the brightest of futures.” As alcoholics, we shouldn’t strive to “forget”; but instead, we “remember” so we can live. I believe that to be true.

Coming back from the Headlands 100 miler (the greatest personal athletic accomplishment of my life), I gave 6 weeks notice at work and sold everything I had. I was moving to Truckee to stay with friends and re-charge emotionally. I was spent, in every department, but ever cautious to protect and nurture a program that helped me to 4 years of sobriety.

In October, 2010, I got my entire life down to one full backpack and a few thousand in the bank from the sale of all my possessions. I left for Truckee to take some “life” inventory and get as much mountain running in as possible before winter. When I left ATC Recovery, I owned nothing of physical worth….but I felt like the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I was “light” again. I was a “minimalist” in every aspect. I felt better than I ever had! The most expensive possession I owned upon arrival to Truckee were my running shoes. One of my all time best friends, Roger, who I grew up with in Sunnyvale, Ca., took me in and gave me a place to stay. With four years of sobriety, January 7th 2011, “what’s possible” was still evolving! I had cleared the table and was starting over. Sobriety allowed me the option to do that.

My new mission – one that I truly feel called to – is to begin “giving back” through my running. Charity work is part of that, but providing inspiration to others battling alcoholism and addiction; that is the nucleus of how we pull others along and back into a life of meaning and purpose. My sister, Laurie, recently said to me, “This is what it’s all about – right here. Giving back, with whatever talents you were given.” She’s right and I was thankful for that reminder.

As adults, we often lose sight of what truly “inspires” us as we buy into societies definition of what “success” really is. Our daily “grind” often blinds us to what really matters. Alcoholics and addicts in recovery are some of the smartest, most creative people I’ve ever met and had the honor of being around and working with. On a collaborative level, there’s very little we can’t do together. The recovery communities in Placer and Nevada Counties are powerful, powerful resources of giving, education and direction.

On June 18th and 19th 2011, I will be running a solo 144 mile event 2x around Lake Tahoe, which will raise money for CoRR’s Alumni Fund, helping the children of mother’s in recovery. I hope you’ll pledge (per mile) and be a part of making this event a success for the kids, their mothers and those in addiction and recovery seeking a little inspiration along their own path.

My next sanctioned Ultramarathon will be the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Mile RRCA National Championships, which I qualified for and will be running this summer, July 16th and 17th! CoRR supporters, family and friends are always welcome to visit my personal blog on the web: http://xxxrunning5150.blogspot.com/

Summer 2011 should be an epic adventure and certainly a sober one to remember!

Thanks to my family for believing in me, your endless patience, faith and positive energy: Lou, Margaret, Laurie, Jean, Jerry, Steve – and to all my friends who have stuck by me, especially Dave, Roger and Andy! Laurie – my sister – you’ve always been there. Amazing. My rock.

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll pledge to this important and inspiring “collaborative” effort! God bless…

The Right Nutrition Can Aid in Recovery From Addiciton

Think of your brain as the Internet. Every brain cell is a different PC that needs a modem (or, in this case, a synapse) to connect to all the other cells on the neurologic network. But as any IT expert can tell you, plugging in the right wires is only half the battle. Power has to be turned on for the machine to be able to function.

Chemical messengers called neurotransmitters must be running at peak performance for information in the brain to be processed correctly. Four specific neurotransmitters handle all communications relating to our emotional well being and tranquility: serotonin, endorphins, GABA, and dopamine.

Genetic Mutations Set the Stage for Drug and Alcohol Addiction

When the synapses or neurotransmitters fail to function like they should, transmission gets garbled and we begin to feel intense loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depression. Most often this malfunction happens because of genetics. In fact, an estimated 33 percent of people have some type of genetic predisposition to addiction.

Drugs and alcohol make us feel good because they stimulate neurotransmitter functioning, which is why we keep going back for more. It is a false sense of euphoria, however, because addictive substances eventually deplete the neurotransmitters necessary for healthy functioning.

What’s more, drug and alcohol addiction impedes on the uptake of vital nutrients our body needs to stay alive. When drugs take over, changes in appetite bring malnutrition which exacerbates the awful symptoms we try to avoid. We can’t get enough because we never actually feel good anymore.

Prime the Body and Mind for Successful Recovery From Addiction

If you could jump-start your body into feeling good again without the need for addictive substances, you could essentially erase all cravings and free the mind to focus on behavioral and cognitive improvements.

Amino acids have been found to be the stuff neurotransmitters are made of. Supplying the body with an abundance of specific amino acids can help restore their functioning, reduce cravings, increase sensations of wellbeing, and minimize relapse.

Brain Food for Recovery

Amino acids are found in foods high in protein. Below is a list of specific amino acids that have been shown to alleviate symptoms of addiction, and the most commonly available food sources from which they come:

• L-tryptophan – Egg whites, spirulina, atlantic cod, raw soybeans, parmesan cheese
• L-5 hydroxytryptophan chromium salts – Minute traces in turkey and cheese, supplements derived from the seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia
• L-Glutamine – Meat and dairy products, beans, beats, spinach, parsley, and cabbage
• L-phenylalanine – Cow milk, goat milk, aspartame sugar substitutes
 L-tyrosine – Cheeses, spirulina, soy protein, egg whites, salmon
• Phenylalanine – Meat, poultry, fish, soybeans, dairy products, nuts and seeds

The body is a sucker for sweets and carbohydrates when it’s lacking other vital nutrients. Replacing sugar and refined starches with just some of the foods listed here can help restore balance and emotional integrity to an otherwise stressful situation.

Along with psychological and spiritual therapies for overcoming addiction, nutritional support and dietary supplements are quite literally the food our brain needs for enhanced recovery.

Tell Us: What’s your favorite recipe using some of the foods mentioned above?