Ultimate Stress Reduction Plan

To ease into the first day, follow these 4 simple Day 1 rules: Start a gratitude journal and write in it for 5 minutes each day, even if you’re just jotting down 3 things for which you are grateful. People who stop and take note of what is right in their lives are more active, healthier and more resilient in times of stress.

Take 10 slow, deep conscious breaths this morning and evening.

Smile when you make eye contact with another person. It will make you BOTH feel better.

Before you created your stressors list, remember to spend 5 minutes today writing in your gratitude journal.

Create Your Stressors List: Today let’s identify some obvious and not-so-obvious sources of stress in your daily life. Big worry-inducers like the mortgage, family health problems, and work deadlines are probably top of mind for a lot of people. Other less obvious sources of stress and tension can plague you as well.

Naming the problem is the first step toward solving it! So what stresses you out? Today it’s time to pinpoint those smaller, yet still bothersome, sources of stress so you can begin to manage them mindfully.

Personal finances are one of the most common sources of stress. Don’t let it undermine your health and well-being! Take Real Age Financial Stress Quiz to find out:

• What level of financial stress you have in your life
• Which financial pressures are causing you the most concern
• What you can do to manage stress now and fend it off in the future

Write in your gratitude journal

It’s no use talking about stress if you don’t take a look at your physical health. Your overall health, sleep patterns, and daily eating habits are major players that can influence your ability to manage stress. Don’t worry: you don’t have to tackle all of your health problems in one day, but take some time to decide which of your personal health areas need the most attention, and begin fixing them today.

Start with The Dr. Oz Essentials:

• Find a Doctor and Schedule a Checkup: Make sure you choose the right physician.
• During your first visit, there are key questions to consider: when you go to their office, do the other patients … look like you? Is the doctor board certified? Remember, the word “doctor” means “teacher,” so it's a 2-way street. If you come up with the right person, you're on the right path.

Get the Appointments You Need:

• See you dentist every 6 months.
• See your ophthalmologist every 2 years.

Waist Size: Suck in and measure your waist at your belly button. It should ideally be less than half your height – about 40 inches for men, 37 inches for women.

Blood Pressure: Ideal blood pressure is approximately 115/75. Do whatever is needed to get it there. If the systolic (top number) is 130 or above, or if your diastolic or second number is 85 or more, alert your doctor

Cholesterol: You want your LDL, or lousy cholesterol, to be less than 100. You want your HDL, or healthy cholesterol, to be greater than 50. Get your triglycerides below 100.

Resting Heart Rate: Your heart rate at rest is the key, and you can usually find this number on blood pressure monitors. Take your pulse BEFORE you get out of bed in the morning (with your blood pressure) and strive to exercise enough so your heart rate is as close to 60 (or below) as possible.

Blood Sugar (HG A1C): A simple finger stick will reveal your blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar is high, it's like scraping glass shards along the insides of your arteries – yes, it’s that bad. That's what those sugar molecules do inside of you.

Vitamin D: More Americans are deficient in vitamin D than any other vitamin. Vitamin D can help a person prevent cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autoimmune ailments and thyroid problems. You can get enough through 15 minutes a day of sun exposure during the summer or a daily vitamin D supplement with 1,000 units. Take it with food as vitamin D needs fat to be absorbed.

C-Reactive Protein: Measuring C-reactive protein will indicate if your body is full of inflammation and irritation. If you've got gingivitis, prostatitis, vaginitis, or almost any other -itis, your C-reactive protein level will be high.

Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH): If you have unexplained weight gain, your hair has changed or your libido's off, the #1 thing to check is thyroid stimulating hormone. It tells us whether your thyroid gland is functioning normally.

Write in your gratitude journal

Our personal space reflects our state of mind. We can’t control the entire world around us, but we can control the space we live in; we can make our home into a sanctuary, one that helps calm us at the end of a stressful day.

That extra clutter in your home may be weighing you down more than you think. If you had to step over piles of junk just to get to your computer, it's time to act. A bit more space can free your mind and boost your positive energy.

Here are some tips for creating a stress-free home:

• Pick a time. Schedule a time that works for the whole family. Getting everyone involved means everyone can have a say on what stays or goes. Plus, the whole process goes faster with all hands on deck.
• Toss or sell anything not used in 12 months. This is a rule to live by – if you haven't used an item in the last year, it’s unlikely you need it. Get rid of it!
• Ban other people’s junk! We have enough clutter of our own – so starting today ban other people’s clutter from your home. This means returning any borrowed item – and if your children are grown with homes of their own, ask them to come and pick up their stuff.

Write in your gratitude journal

You cannot overestimate the importance of social connections in dealing with stress. The quality of your relationships influences the number of immune cells you have, and therefore affect your body’s ability to resist disease and cancer.

Anything that gets you together with other people on a regular basis -- community groups, volunteer organizations, athletic teams, or purely social events -- can all help decrease stress and make you feel younger.

Today, commit to being more social!

Write in your gratitude journal

Nurture one relationship by calling an old friend.

Stress destroys your sleep patterns, and a lack of sleep leads to more stress. It's a vicious cycle. Take the Sleep Health Assessment like the one found here to find out what's preventing you from getting a good night's sleep. This is one of the most important things you’ll do to take control of your stress.

Sleep hygiene refers to the habits and routines (or lack thereof) that you establish around bedtime. Good sleep hygiene choices, such as having a consistent bedtime and engaging in relaxing activities in the evening, improves the quality of your sleep and decreases stress levels. Poor sleep hygiene choices, such as watching television in bed, exercising too close to bedtime, or consuming alcohol or caffeine late in the evening, may hinder your ability to fall asleep and/or stay asleep.

Write in your gratitude journal

Bask in the commitment you’ve made to controlling your stress and reflect on everything you’ve done in just one week.

Make time for yourself: Find thirty minutes in today, just for you, that is "me time."

Try some relaxation exercises, like the self-massage:

This is a great little trick. By tensing and relaxing your muscles, you can give yourself a full body massage (well, as close as giving a massage to oneself can be) and release your stored physical stress. While sitting or lying down, concentrate only on tensing the muscles of your feet as much as you can. Then, after a few seconds, release the tension. Move up from your feet to each muscle group one at a time. Focus on your legs, stomach, back moving up to your neck, arms, face, and head. Take deep slow breaths as you do this. When you’re done, give yourself a few minutes to relax – and congratulate yourself for a terrific massage!

Write in your gratitude journal

You’ll be better at stress management by being “mindful”—that is, really paying attention to the present. Try the following techniques to help clear you mind and focus on the present.

Go on a news fast.

News is important, but often stressful. Taking one day a week to shun all news can do us good. If anything really important is happening, you’ll hear about it, but the peace and quiet can be good for your stress levels.

Yoga, yoga, yoga.

Clearly, we can't say it enough. Yoga could very well be your ultimate de-stress technique (and it's also a great physical exercise). It lowers blood pressure and heart rate, decreases stress hormones, and increases relaxation hormones like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. You can get the benefits of yoga in a single pose or in a full-fledged class. All in favor of downward dog, say ohm. Try the 20 minute Dr. Oz yoga routine

YOUR body Scan

Here’s how to do it: Focus on every part of your body, which will help you to relax:

• Lie down Close your eyes and notice your posture
• Think about the natural flow of your breath, focusing on air filling and leaving the lungs
• Notice your toes -- any tension, tingling, or temperature change?
• Move to thinking about your feet, heels, and ankles, all the way up through the knees, thighs, and pelvis
• Continue with each body part—going through both the front and back of your body as you work your way up -- finishing with the throat, jaw, tongue, face, and brow

Chi-gong

• Rub your hands together to warm them (and gather chi).
• Place each palm over the respective eye.
• Press the center bone that sticks out on top of each eye with each index finger.
• Press the outside corner of your eye at the bone.
• Press the bottom center of the eye on the inside of the bone.
• Press the inside of each eye.
• Use your thumbs to push where the jaw and cheekbone meet at the temporomandibular junction.
• Pinch the ears around the pinnacle from the top to the bottom.
• End the sequence with the move called “Beating the Heavenly Drum,” by tapping the back of your head nine times with your hands; the thumbs rest on the neck as an axis as shown below.

Write in your gratitude journal

Continue doing mindfulness exercises in the morning or before bed.

Exercise.

Simply put, physical activity is one of life’s greatest stress relievers. Stress causes our body to build up extra energy, preparing us for fight or flight and exercise burns energy and reduces our stress levels. Exercise metabolizes stress hormones in our blood and increases levels of our body’s built-in anti-anxiety hormones, making us feel calmer.

Do the Dr. Oz 20-Minute workout

Write in your gratitude journal

Do mindfulness exercises in the morning or before bed.

Do exercise in the morning or afternoon at least 3 times per week.

Choose stress-busting foods.

Embrace that homework assignment! Did you ever realize that school actually reduces your stress and makes you younger? Counterintuitive as that sounds, keeping your mind active helps keep your body young and relieves stress. People who are more educated tend to keep up with activities that make them younger. Mental activity is like muscular strength so that it diminishes with age if we do not use it. Education, either formal or informal, keeps your mind in shape and your stress levels in check.

Get Enrolling

Taking a class in something you’re interested in, whether it’s philosophy, cooking, knitting or computers.

Go to a museum, start a new book, take a trip, or develop a new interest like playing a musical instrument. Creating lifetime learning doesn’t mean you have to love school.

There are many ways of stimulating your mind that don’t require getting grades. If you have an interest in something, explore it.

Write in your gratitude journal

Do mindfulness exercises in the morning or before bed.

Do exercise in the morning or afternoon at least 3 times per week.

Choose stress-busting foods.

Mantras are words or phrases with spiritual meaning and research shows that they can help you cope with a wide range of problems, including anxiety, stress from traffic and work, insomnia, and unwanted thoughts.

Mantras are an ancient and near-universal tradition. They are personal, portable, and a perfect stress-reduction technique for people who say they don't have time for stress-management techniques. But before choosing one, be clear on its purpose. Here are some possible reasons for choosing a mantra:

• To calm yourself from stress in daily life
• A personal mantra can help change your personality for the better
• To quiet your mind from internal chatter
• To chant a prayer for peace or for protection
• To reduce negative energy, or to dispel anger

Here are some examples of mantras:

• Buddhism: Om mani padme hum
• Hinduism: Rama rama (Mahatma Gandhi's mantra, Bormann says)
• Judaism: Shalom (peace)
• Islam: Allah
• Native American tradition: O, waken tanka (O, great spirit)
• Christianity: Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, or Hail Mary
• "Sweet harmony" and "take it easy" were examples of mantras not tied to any particular tradition.

Congratulations! You are a graduate if the Dr. Oz Ultimate Stress Reduction Program! Now, just keep it going by integrating what you’ve learned these last two weeks into your daily life!

Write in your gratitude journal

Do mindfulness exercises in the morning or before bed.

Do exercise in the morning or afternoon at least 3 times per week.

Choose stress-busting foods.

Use your Mantra

Exercise your brain at least a few times a week with a good book, museum or class

If you find yourself frequently feeling angry, embrace anger management with these tips from Dr. Oz.