No surprises here, but taking time to practice simple relaxation techniques can help you sail through the holidays, having your friends wonder how you get so much done, and still remain so cool.

You can find a gazillion great stress management resources out there.  Here are a few to get you started.  Find ones you like and use them regularly.

Consistency seems to be the kicker here.  Getting the hang of using relaxation exercises means getting into the HABIT of using them.

Impress yourself, your friends, family, and colleagues: Become amazing and mysteriously capable of staying calm amidst the chaos.

You can improve your bottom line, your relationships, your grades, and certainly your quality of life.  Start checking these out, and then springboard into your own discoveries.

Enjoy the peace.

Breathe! — increases everything good.

Send your friends here and start a trend.

Smile, it increases your face value.

Breathing Relaxation Exercise In less than 5 minutes, you can be breathing slower and more deeply, energizing all your systems.

(Note:  DO NOT listen to any relaxation exercises while driving,
operating machinery, or performing activities
which require you to be alert to task!)

Here’s a longer one, with nature sounds and cool music.
Amazon Rainforest Relaxation Video (26-min)

The river (4 min) This one has Native American voice, filmed in Slovenia.

Relaxation – Tranquility – Reiki – Mind Body & Soul 4 (5-min) Classic relaxation music style.  Great Reiki affirmation at the end.

Stress Beats Holiday Stress (5-min) David Riklan gives seven tips from Relaxation and Stress Relief in Five Minutes of Less.

Buy them, get them at the library, watch on YouTube, make your own.  Use ‘em!  These videos may encourage you to explore more stress management habits, such as better sleep patterns, or yoga, or mini-mental-vacations.  We will post more relaxation tips for you in the future.

Which of these (or one you discovered) is your favorite?
Happy Peace-Breathing Holidays!

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else,
you will have succeeded.
— Maya Angelou

Of all the things to try, this is perhaps the most interesting.  And in the long run, maybe the most powerful.  Making connections is so basic, yet for all its common sense, we let it fly right out the window and are left feeling alone, trapped, and isolated.  What a curious trick we play on ourselves.  And the smarter we are, the harder we fall for this one.  After all, we should be able to pull our own selves out of the pit, right?  Partial baloney.

Connections support us in shoring up resilience.

They can actually make our rugged individualism work better.  Seems counter-intuitive.  But our ability to help ourselves is strangely related to our willingness to accept help from others.  The best results come from figuring out  the when, who, and how of good connections, and in finding a good balance of power.

There are offers for ‘relationship’ all over the place.

So many, in fact, that even billboards ‘talk’ to us.  We cannot escape the calls for involvement in someone else’s agenda.  Give to my worthy cause, help me make my quota, win the contest, fight the bad guys, cure warts, save the wild things.  Just when the year-end bills roll in, the mailbox is full of notes from people begging to have a relationship with us.

Those are not the types of connections we’re talking about!

There is a difference between impersonal communication and the relationships which include real dialog and offer personal support.  A billboard will never listen to you.  Neither will a solicitation, not even one for a good cause.  Not even one from your very favorite cause.

However, helping others is known to be a part of happiness.  So how do we decide which connections can help us be strong-hearted?  One of the best resilience builders comes from the go-power of personal connections and mutual support.

It’s the support from people who care about us,
and are willing to listen to us,

that strengthens our resilience and chases away the blues.  And offering that to others is the second half.

Giving and helping are great ways to experience the benefits of supportive connection.  Being a gracious receiver is equally powerful.  Both are halves of the same whole.  It’s having good relationships with close friends, family members, acquaintances, peers, teachers, and others, that is important.  If one of your sources is unavailable or unwilling, there must be others in your system to whom you can turn.

When we lose someone in our supportive connections loop,
we have to find a way to connect again — with a new link.

Think of at least three persons you can count on, and if you need to build up your social support system, begin right now.  Build a second tier, and envision a third.  Not to worry, just start adding one connection at a time.

Some people develop those connections by being active in social or civic groups, faith-based organizations, shared-interest groups, study groups, mastermind groups, exercise groups, book groups, attending classes, or helping with local projects which benefit the community.  If your are beginning a new project, like mastering a new skill, or starting your own business,

the success rate shoots up fast when you have a
good mentor or partner

— someone to hash out ideas with, and someone to whom you feel accountable.  The willingness to be connected benefits both parties.

You can see different levels of understanding this concept all around you.  For example, some neighborhoods have block parties every year, while others have residents who don’t even know who their neighbors are.  Some people start a new enterprise and fall prey to the discouragement of flying solo in the learning storm, while others are soon flying solo with great success, exactly because they found connections and other resources which helped them to do so.

Look at your own relationships in different contexts.

Friends, family, acquaintances old and new.  Who has a positive outlook?  Who is doing pretty well with the attitude thing?  Which ones like themselves and enjoy other people?  Who could laugh and cry with you?  Who can forgive and heal from hurt?  Who is able to do what they say they will do?  Who can manage to live within their means?  Who can try new things?  Who has hope?  Who makes you feel good about yourself?

These are the ones to run to!

These are the connections which will help you practice good skills, hopeful world views and healthy habits, and keep you from spending too much time in fear and worry.  Tend these connections and add someone like-minded if you lose one.  Be that person for someone else.  Reclaim hope.

Stay resilient by making good connections.

Natural and ancient remedies for today’s dilemmas abound!
You need only look all around you to see what I mean.
— Soangetaha

We hear such news from scientists, naturalists, health writers.  We read it in blogs by self-taught horticulturists and in books and journals by tenured professors and physicians.  It seems everyone has something to say about new discoveries of old wisdom.  Hey, wading through all those opinions and data can be frustrating!  No wonder we get tired from the seemingly endless task of searching for good answers. 

Who has the pearls?

Well, what do you say?  Perhaps your thoughts about such things are as wise as any data gem to be found.  Maybe they’re the wisest thoughts on the planet!  Not feeling so wise?  Think comparing yourself to those folks who have studied for years might be a little presumptuous?  Preposterous?  An explanation is in order.

There is no one on earth who knows you as well as you do.  That’s the good news. The bad news is that every one in the marketplace seems to want to talk you out of the good news.  Instead of giving you ways to access your own sense of judgment, they want to tell you how you feel, what to think, who to vote for, and Oh Lordie, what to buy.  And half the time, we hardly catch them at it!  If it is really going to make us feel better about ourselves, look better, or more easily please or impress others, we want it!  While there are many wonderful things which help us live better lives,

the best tools
are those which encourage us to maximize our own strengths.

After all, we are the ones out there trying to navigate the maze.  Help!  The best resources facilitate success by taking advantage of our own natural talents, desires, interests, and strengths, and by using all that great energy to move us forward. 

Choosing the best resources is personal.
Finding ones that fit our individual learning style can be priceless.

Oh yeah, that Fountain of Youth.  Thought I forgot?  How could anyone forget?  We are all supposed to be looking for that?!  Go, Sr. Ponce de León!

Ever notice how old you feel on days when you feel bad?  Now think of how young you feel on days when you feel good.  Pretty different.  In fact, we can feel as much as 10 or 20 years younger (or older), in less than 24 hours!  Amazing.  Certainly is powerful stuff. 

How much energy we feel effects what we can accomplish, how we handle stress, how we treat others, and all the little decisions we make about how we take care of ourselves.  Is anything more relevant to a sense of youthfulness than how we take care of ourselves?

See if you can imagine the fountain of youth as your fountain of youth. A sense of youthfulness would include feeling optimistic and hopeful.  It would include a sense of wonder and curiosity in learning new things.  Think of all the new information absorbed daily by youthful brains.

Learning new material and developing new skills
is a very good way to keep your brain young and happy.

Reflect on your interests, and then gather the tools and resources to help you further those interests and flourish.  Moving toward your ideals and goals is a youthful endeavor.  Learn something new, especially something that helps you realize a dream.

If you remember how to practice those things, you will be practicing your own Fountain of Youth.  No kidding.  An ancient and natural remedy for today’s dilemma right in your own modern psyche! It is up to you to discover what’s in Your Fountain.  Gather the things that will help you.

Choosing the best resources is personal.
Finding ones that fit our individual learning style can be priceless.

Go find real pearls.

Cultivate your inner strengths and choose some of the great tools and resources available to maximize your natural gifts, develop new skills, and get some of your dreams realized.  Wow.  Do it.  Soon you, too, will be saying, “21^st Century Fountain of Youth Discovered!”