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Natural Herbal Remedies for Stress Management

Topic: Assertiveness TrainingBy Garth Delikan is the UK's leading lifestyle expert, as seen on BBC TV and in the national media. To learn more about Garth and to download his FREE Top Tip's for Success eBooks visit his website at http://www.GarthDelikan.com Like my FaceBook page http://www.facebook.com/Thelifestyleguyfanpage?ref=hlPublished Recently added

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Natural Herbal Remedies: St. Johns Wort Although often easily accessible from your GP, there are many well-established reasons why taking an antidepressant drug to deal with stress is not a particularly smart move.

However, there is absolutely no reason why you should do so because St John’s wort is widely believed to provide exactly the same benefits as leading antidepressant brands like Prozac without the side-effects. Indeed, in some countries in Europe (particularly Germany), St John’s wort is prescribed as a treatment for anxiety, stress and depression far more commonly than antidepressants for this exact reason.

Passionflower Passionflower in herbal form is a substance that is believed to have been used for hundreds of years to treat anxiety and insomnia. In more recent times, studies have indicated that the effects of passionflower are very similar to those of benzodiazepine drugs, although using passionflower tends to prompt a far higher improvement in job performance and less drowsiness than leading drugs such as Mexazolam.

Using passionflower is an extremely effective way of combating the worst effects of anxiety and stress completely naturally. Valerian Whilst the herb valerian is most commonly known as a treatment for insomnia, there are indications that it can also help to relieve the worst symptoms for patients who suffer from stress or anxiety as well.

As a general rule, valerian should be taken an hour or so before retiring for the night and you will need to take your dose for two or three weeks before you start to feel any appreciable beneficial effects. However, because valerian is considered to be a fairly strong herbal remedy, you should not take it for more than three months at a time. Both capsules containing valerian extract and teas are available, but most people who use valerian prefer to take it in capsule form as the smell of the tea can apparently be somewhat off-putting. Possible side-effects that you should be on the lookout for are mild indigestion, slight light-headedness or palpitations and possible headaches.

However, as it is best to take valerian before going to bed, the majority of people suffer no adverse side-effects whatsoever. They do however enjoy significant benefits in terms of anxiety reduction and a better night's sleep, so valerian is a herbal option worth considering if you suffer from anxiety or stress.

Calcium and magnesium It is generally believed that you are more likely to suffer from stress if you do not have enough of certain trace minerals in your regular diet. In particular, most stress experts agree that having sufficient calcium and magnesium in your diet is essential to limit the possibility of becoming a stress victim.

Of course, you can use dietary supplements to make sure that you consume enough of the necessary trace minerals, but it is generally a far better idea to try to increase the amount of foods or liquids that you consume which contain these essential trace elements. By doing so, you effectively ensure that there is no way in which you can take an overdose of minerals, which is not something that can necessarily be said if you are supplementing your diet with pills or capsules.

There are plenty of websites where you can find information about both calcium and magnesium rich food and liquids, with this page as an example of the former and this of the latter. However, if you want to find more information, run a Google search for ‘calcium rich foods’ or a similar search for foods that contain plenty of magnesium.

Aromatherapy as avoiding stress is all about learning to relax more effectively, aromatherapy can be a big help in reducing your tendency to suffer stress. By adding essential oils to your bath, infusers or as a massage oil, you can limit your susceptibility to stress and anxiety by regularly increasing your capacity for relaxation and serenity. Oils that can be of great assistance in aromatherapy for stress reduction include lavender, jasmine, geranium, cypress and sandalwood.

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About the Author

Part one: An idyllic and perfect world!

A career in graphic design and page layout spanning over twenty years, a successful career in a large London advertising agency, beautiful wife, gorgeous adorable kids, wonderful home, his and her cars, motorbike, holidays and a reasonably comfortable and balanced life.

Everything I had ever worked hard in my life for, but to be honest it never ever seemed like hardwork because I was having such a great time and literally enjoying every minute of it.

Work was fun and enjoyable and home life was wonderful!

Then I was to make the fateful decision that was going to change the course of my life forever!

I set up my own multi media agency based in London’s trendy Carnaby Street, exciting times indeed but unfortunately due to a bad choice of business partner after three years of trading the business went bust!

Then just like the “twister” in “The Wizard of Oz” the universe decided I hadn’t been “listening hard enough” and decided to not only wreak total havoc in my life but to destroy it completely.

One week into the liquidation and hugely stressful talks with solicitors and constant infighting with my “business partner” my then wife who I had been married to for over twenty years decided to drop the bombshell that she didn’t want to be married anymore either.

Kaboom!

There and then my life ended, I had lost my business, my wife, my children, my confidence, my self esteem, I had hit rock bottom with huge debts and no willpower left to make a fight of it. My rock, my cornerstone, my anchor, my family had been ripped away from me with no chance whatsoever of reconciliation.

There I was, a grown man having to go back and live with his Mum (bless her) because I felt I had nothing to live for and just had this huge emptiness inside of me.

Part two: The comeback!

If anything I’ve always been a fighter and more importantly a “doer”, an action man who likes to get things done and has always lead from the front and taken whatever action has been necessary to see things through to completion.

I’ve worked out almost daily since I was 21 and always been into a healthy lifestyle and whether it was weight training or kickboxing I’d always found that it was my daily workouts that kept me sane, centred and focussed, so deciding to become a kickboxing instructor was a logical step.

I had so much fun teaching and training people in every major gym in London that I decided to add to my skills and become a personal trainer and nutritionist/weight management coach. This proved to be an excellent choice and major factor in shaping the career and lifestyle I now follow.

Within a short period of time I had a successful clientele across London, training clients in their own homes in Mayfair, Kensington, Chelsea and Knighsbridge.

The one factor that was constant in this was the fact that you’re not just a trainer to your clients, you become a confidant to everything that’s good or bad in their lives, and I found that even though I had the experience to listen and give out “sage advice” I didn’t feel qualified to do so.

Gaining my diploma in life coaching was the next major step in my life which then lead to a natural progression (for me at least) to becoming NLP qualified (neuro linguistic programming) and an advanced clinical hypnotherapist a fantastic combination which I found it to be one of the most awesome tools in helping to facilitate positive change in peoples lifestyles.

With my background and life experiences I know I have the perfect combination of tools and strategies to move any individual or organisation forward and have been doing so for over ten years.

Part three: Now!

I run corporate workshops on Personal Safety, Confident Life Skills and Managing Workplace Stress through Emotional, Physical and Nutritional Well-being.

I was approached by Sopexa the international marketing company to head their lifestyle campaign on French cheese “Vive le Cheese” and shot a lovely video with celebrity chef Sophie Wright http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZYqvWRGEaY

I’ve done numerous talks on radio around personal safety, healthy lifestyles and confidence building and body language.

After seeing my fun and educational YouTube videos I was approached by TV production company Knickerbockerglory TV to appear in their new genre of comedy show “Boom Town” which is due to air for six weeks from August 14th at 10pm on BBC3, with repeats shown on Saturday also.

I continue to expand and am concentrating and focussing on becoming the UK’s leading Lifestyle Expert.

Natural Herbal Remedies for Stress Management

About the Author

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