Take a vacation every day with two easy tricks

A vacation every day? It sound’s like the stuff dreams are made of that few actually do. But we don’t have to be a lottery winner, travel writer or retired to take a little time for relaxation that can be even more meaningful than a trip out of town.

“One of the most common complaints in medical practice is excess stress or conditions related to it,” says Dr. Victor Sierpina MD, Professor of Integrative Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in TheDailyNews. “It is estimated that stress plays a role in more than 70 percent of primary care visits. Work, home, financial and family stress all can adversely impact our quality of lives.”

Dr. Sierpina has several simple measures to integrate regular stress relief into our daily lives that we can do right now. At home, work, school or any other place or situation we might be in. None of them take long, cost anything or require any planning.

Here are a couple of them that you can do right now, when you need a little vacation or when actually traveling:

Just three breaths. It is easy to still the mind for just a few moments by deciding to focus on your next three breaths. Just let go of all competing thoughts, images and distractions for the length of three breaths. It is not as easy as it sounds, yet learning this technique can help you put together repeated moments of stress relief like a string of pearls throughout the day.

Soft belly. When you breathe, make your belly “soft” by letting loose of tension there and let the breath gently expand the tummy.This allows the lungs and diaphragm maximum excursion, slows breathing and initiates a profound feeling of relaxation.

Dr. Sierpina is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Holistic Medicine and was recently recognized as one of the Best Doctors in the USA in Family Medicine. He is recipient of two NIH grants supporting his educational and research efforts in integrative medicine. Read other tips by Dr. Sierpina.




Flickr photo by alancleaver_2000