How to Look Younger and Have Less Stress

Intrigued already aren't you? Well this is a simple exercise that I learned through my acting classes. (and yes I have been in a movie before, but that's for another post).

We have over 80 muscles in our face. Our facial muscles are tied directly into our brain through our facial nerves, more directly than most muscles. What does that mean? Well it means how we use our face dictates how we feel. That is why when you smile you feel good and when you frown you feel bad. The act of smiling actually causes your body to release endorphins( those feel good hormones responsible for that runners high or that great feeling after making love).

"Ok I got it, now tell me how to look younger and have less stress," you might be thinking. Well, all you have to do is relax your face. Take a few minutes to do this right now. Think about your checks, feel them and now let them drop down, let them melt down like warm butter. Next your forehead, feel the tension just melt away. Now the muscles around your eyes. Now feel the corners of your mouth relax and drop down. Just keep focusing on your face feeling more and more relaxed.

Doing this simple exercise a few times a day will really cut down on your stress. Also relaxing the muscles will help reduce those nasty lines we all get as we age. So you don't need fancy electronic machines to massage your face, you can relax it yourself, with just your mind.

The more you do this exercise, the easier it gets and the quicker you can get into that relaxed stated. So try it three times a day for the next week and see how you feel.

Til next time.

Sending you the best,

Dr. John Zipp

The Stress of Unfinished Business

Have you been meaning to do something, but never get around to doing it? Maybe its cleaning out the back seat of your car. Maybe its talking to your spouse about an annoying habit that she has( like that constant smacking every time she eats popcorn during a movie). Or maybe its just returning a few phone calls to people that you really don't want to talk to but know you should at least call back.

Now let me set the record straight before some of you who know me start to shout "Hypocrite!". I have my fair share of unfinished business. But what I do know is that by taking care of the majority of it, my life stays less stressful.

So what do I do? I do a mental inventory every couple days or so about what keeps looping in my head. You know, those little thoughts that pop up every few minutes or so that say, "you know, you really should pay that bill today, or you know, you really need to call you mom back". Those thoughts.

If those same thoughts were looping around in my head last week, then I know I must take care of whatever it is right now( or by the end of the day at least). If I don't then my head keeps getting more and more crowded with more and more things that need to get done. And what happens when things get too crowded? Well just think about being in an elevator. At first your by yourself, OK no problem. Then two people come on board, still no problem. Now a third person, now its getting a bit cramped. Now ten more people from the convention in the hotel just ran to the elevator at the last minute to get on board. That's when the claustrophobia really sets in which leads to massive amounts of STRESS. That scenario is what happens in our minds everyday unless we learn to take care of our unfinished business.

So go check your mind and let me know how crowded it is in there.

Wishing you the best,

Dr. John Zipp

The Stress of Always Looking

If you are anything like me, you are someone who is always searching for the answers. The problem is, we can get stuck always searching and never become happy with any of the answers we find. In my early years I would go from seminar to seminar trying to figure out the right way to live my life. In my middle years I would go from seminar to seminar trying to figure out the right way to live my life. Now( well still in my middle years), I decided that I know enough.

So you can see how we can stress ourselves out trying to be perfect, trying to find out all the right answers. The secret is realizing that you already have all the answers. More than likely you know enough to come up with the right solution. If you don't, that is where a good coach comes in. A good coach points you in the right direction for the answers you need, and then makes sure you follow through. Mostly what a good coach does is uncover the answers you already have. They help you discover your own inner talents and resources. By doing that, you start to take the stress of searching off your back.

P.S.

Now I stated in the beginning of this post that I know enough. I wanted to let you know that I do not know everything. So if you are looking for someone that knows where those keys you lost back in 1998 are, that person is not me. I still do my fair share of studying and researching, but when it comes to making decisions I am confident in what I know and confident in where to go for help if I need it.

Wishing you the best,

Dr. John Zipp

Trying to Make Choices From a Stressed State

Have you ever been totally stressed out and felt the world was collapsing down on you? Did it feel like the more you stressed the less you thought clearly and the more helpless you felt in that situation?

Well we have all been there. One definition of stress states exactly what happens and why it causes us to lose control.

stress

7.	Physiology. a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

So having any kind of stress would therefore interfere with our normal ability to respond. In other words we are not clear headed, not "in the game".

In my Chiropractic office I have seen how stress can wreak havoc on the body. People who stress about the pain or symptoms they are experiencing in their health take longer to heal and suffer more.

So what can we do. BREATHE. "Wait a second" you might be thinking, "I already do that". Well think about this; what happens when we are stressed? We tense up and stop breathing. We become constricted. The very thing we need most of we get less of, oxygen. That in of itself causes us to increase our level of stress because unconsciously we think we might be dying..since we are not getting what we need to live..oxygen.

So breathe..... Take 5 deep belly breaths. Follow that with normal breathing...then take 5 more deep belly breaths. Repeat this until you can feel your blood pressure start to lower and your mind become more clearer. Its amazing that something as simple as breathing can help us create the options and choices we didn't have a few moments earlier.

Wishing you the best,

Dr. John Zipp

The Stress of Trying to be Perfect

Have you ever heard the saying, "Nobody's perfect"? Well it is a very true statement. We live in a world that is constantly changing. Fashion styles change, music changes, even how we speak changes( English is the largest language in the world because of its ability to constantly change and add new words).

So what does all that mean? It means it is virtually impossible to be perfect by today's standards. Why? Because the standards we live by are changing at the blink of an eye. What was perfect 5 minutes ago is old news today. So why try to live up to other people's standards? Let's try living up to our own standards and ideals.

Here are some basic ideas to think about to help you get out of the "trying to be perfect" mode.

1. You are never finished for the day. There is always more to be done. Realize that and do all you can, when you can, and let the rest sit there until the next day.

2. You will never get everything right. Yep. Never. Why? Because it is not you that is the judge, it is everyone else and there are too many opinions to try to appease. It would be impossible to make everyone else happy. As soon as you make one person happy, another one will be unhappy for what made that first person happy. So what is the solution. Do your best. Let that be your new motto. "I will do my best". If you do your best, there can be no regrets, no stress about what you should have done, because you did all you could.

3. Remember what you think is perfect now won't be perfect in 5 years. Remember those great hairstyles of the 80's. You thought those were perfect didn't you( I remember seeing you with that mullet and spiked up hair). Well perfect is perfect right...that means it shouldn't change. But again we do change, times do change. Instead try doing what feels the best to you now. Dress in the way that makes you feel your best. Do your work how you feel it should best be done. There will always those that disagree, naysayers. As long as you did your best, again, no regrets and no stress.

Wishing you the very best,

Dr. Zipp