By James Lemire, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

January 27, 2014

• Stress is toxic to your health
• Get rid of tension and heal your body at the same time
• Why your bedroom MUST be a sanctuary

To kick off the New Year, Dr. Lemire is sharing his “5 R’s for optimal health.” The 5 R’s are the foundation of the program he uses at his clinic. And they offer a unique approach to helping you live a happier, healthier and longer life.

Today I am very excited!

You, my friend, are in the fifth and final phase of completing your New Year’s resolution to live a longer, healthier and happier life.

If you have been following my alerts, you’ve probably taken steps to implement several of my recommendations. Here’s what we have covered so far…

1. Recognize the underlying cause today’s most common health concerns.
2. Remove anything that is contributing to poor health.
3. Replace toxic elements with foods and nutrients that nourish your body.
4. Regenerate your body from head to toe.

Each of these steps is vital to your continuing good health. But the last step – revitalization – is the one that will help keep you on track when life throws curve balls at you.

I’m talking about stress, tension and emotional roadblocks that occur when life gets tough.

Stress is a toxic state to be in.

This negative force drains your energy and contributes to heart disease, diabetes, depression and anxiety. It doesn’t do anything good for any of us, but we still tend to become stressed out over day-to-day events. So it’s time to get a handle on it.

Some of the exercises you learned about in the previous issue, such as Tai chi, Quigong and Yoga, can help. But if you are constantly dealing with stress, anxiety, irritability or depression, there are several additional ways to regain control of your emotional health.

Therapeutic massage. Who doesn’t like a massage? They feel great. They are relaxing. And when you are on the massage table you can feel the stress oozing out of your body. Then, for the next hour or two, you feel like a million bucks.

That’s all good and well. But you may have a lot more to deal with than a single moment of relaxation can fix. If you want to keep feeling like a million bucks for more than a few hours, what you really need is a therapeutic massage.

This isn’t the type of massage you get at a spa or resort. Instead, it’s one that is specifically geared for your personal health needs.

When you go in for a therapeutic massage, you won’t just have a single moment to relax and de-stress. You’ll get a whole health experience.

On your very first visit, your current health status and chronic pain issues will be assessed. Then, the massage therapist will incorporate a wide variety of advanced therapeutic techniques to address your specific health problems.

So on one hand you will get instant gratification. Stress, pain and muscle tightness will all be worked out as they typically are with any massage.

But when all elements are incorporated you will also gain long-term benefits specifically geared to your needs. You will also experience improvements to your circulatory, lymphatic and nervous systems.

CranioSacral Therapy (CST) is a terrific way to normalize and rebalance your body. And if you’ve never tried it before, you’ll be surprised at how deeply relaxing and soothing it can be.

CST involves gentle manipulations designed to free up restrictions in the soft tissue that surrounds your central nervous system. This releases negative tension that is buried deep down inside of your body.

Well now, that sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Just imagine how loose and relaxed you’ll feel after a treatment. We don’t get enough moments like that in our lives.

We also don’t get enough moments like these that come with added benefits. And I do like the extra benefits that come with CST! Here’s why…

As your tension fades away, your body starts to “self correct.” Pain and other physiological dysfunctions begin to disappear. Emotional difficulties become less apparent. Energy levels start increasing. Physical performance advances.

Ultimately, CST can help you with more problems than you can count… chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, migraines, immune disorders, back and neck pain and many other health problems.

At the same time, it helps relieve stress and free you from emotional difficulties.

Acupuncture seems to have become something of a marketing gambit these days. It’s constantly being “hawked” as a quick and easy way to lose weight or quit smoking. In all truth, it can help with both of these things. But the quick-fix way it is presented has made some people forget the true value of acupuncture.

This ancient form of Chinese medicine has been scientifically proven to stimulate the release of powerful internal opiates called endorphins. These are your feel-good hormones and they naturally occur in your body. The more of them you have, the more euphoric you feel.

That’s part of what makes acupuncture so effective when it comes to weight loss and smoking. But it has so much more to offer!

The release of endorphins doesn’t only produce a feeling of euphoria. They are also the most powerful pain relievers known to mankind, enhance the immune system and reduce stress.

Now, no conversation about stress would be complete without talking about getting a good night’s sleep. Everybody is so busy zooming through their lives that they often forget how important it is to recharge their bodies with some good, old-fashioned sleep.

I believe electricity and gadgets both play a big part in our inability to get into bed on time… or sleep a full night.

It’s not uncommon for people to have all kinds of electronics in their bedrooms these days. And it’s no longer just a TV, digital clock and lamp like it was when I was younger. Today many people have their computers in their bedroom along with smartphones and iPads on chargers next to their beds.

We are too connected to get good sleep.

And it’s not just the light emitting from these devices that causes a problem when it comes to quality of sleep. They generate electromagnetic and radio-frequency fields as well. This can have a negative effect on your body and disrupt your sleep cycle.

When you don’t get a proper night’s sleep, it can have a profound effect on your ability to handle stress and emotional difficulties.

That’s why I recommend turning your bedroom into an electronics-free sanctuary each night. About an hour before you want to fall asleep just turn off the TV, cell phone, computer and whatever other gadgets you have in the room. Then relax and meditate or read until you are ready to fall asleep.

Once you start doing this regularly you’ll not only sleep better. You’ll also wake up with more energy, less stress and a clearer mind. This means you’ll be better equipped to handle whatever curve balls are thrown at you during the day.

Getting rid of toxic stress, anxiety and tension is a critical step toward revitalizing both your physical and emotional health. And when you combine these de-stressing tips with the other steps I have shared with you, you have everything you need to live happier, healthier and longer than you ever dreamed of.