Stress Free for Good: 10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness

by Frederic Luskin, Ken Pelletier, Andrew Weil (Foreword by)

Overview

Ten Minutes to Learn One Minute to Practice Ten Seconds to Work

Imagine if you could . . .

• Radically reduce stress
• Increase your physical vitality
• Improve your quality of life

Now you can. We live in an age of stress. Each day at work and at home as we struggle to take care of the basics, constant stress significantly affects our ability to lead healthy and happy lives. We struggle with stomach pain, headaches, mood swings, fatigue, depression, high blood pressure, and even heart failure. Not only does stress damage our physical and emotional well-being, but our relationships and productivity suffer as well. What, if anything, can we do to stop this cycle?

There is a multitude of books, magazine features, TV programs, videotapes, meditation classes, and seminars, all aimed at stopping stress. But until now there has never been a scientifically based program that not only starts working within seconds but also creates a foundation to help remove stress and the symptoms associated with it from your life for good.

Dr. Fred Luskin and Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier spent years at the Stanford University School of Medicine developing ten proven skills for eliminating the stress, anxiety, and pain that occur in daily life. Delivering skills that have been honed and tested among a diverse group of Americans, Stress Free for Good is easy to use and starts working immediately. Offering more than just the promise of breaking even and eliminating daily stress, these ten skills provide a foundation for living a healthier and happier life. This is not only a practical and accessible guide to conquering the stress in our lives once and for all, it is also the last stress aid you will ever need.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061752933
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/13/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	775 KB

About the Author

Fred Luskin, Ph.D. is the author of Forgive for Good and one of the world's leading researchers and teachers on the subject of forgiveness. He is the director of the Stanford Forgiveness Project, a series of research projects that investigate forgiveness methods. He holds an appointment at the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation as a senior fellow and is an associate professor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He lives in Palo Alto, California.

Dr. Kenneth R. Pelletier is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine and at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and a lecturer in family and community medicine at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco. Pelletier is the author of several books, including the international bestseller Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer; Sound Mind, Sound Body; and The Best Alternative Medicine. He is chairman of the American Health Association and is a vice president of Healthtrac.

Read an Excerpt

Stress Free for Good
10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness

Learning to breathe fully and deeply may be the single greatest gift you can give your body and your mind. Not only does belly-breathing reduce stress chemicals and muscle tension, but it also allows your body to relax enough for positive emotions such as happiness to appear. The goal of the Stress Free program is a life of contentment, health, and happiness. Learning to breathe slowly, fully, and deeply is the cornerstone LifeSkill. For almost all people we have worked with, belly-breathing on its own is enough to both reduce stress and increase happiness.

LifeSkill Exercise:
Breathe from Your Belly

Purpose

The purpose of this LifeSkill is ...

• To teach you the simplest form of stress management.
• To remind you that you have a remarkable body that can be taught to relax.
• To help you balance your nervous system.
• To show you that belly-breathing helps you think in more productive ways.

Practice

• As you inhale, imagine that your belly is a big balloon that you're slowly filling with air.
• Place your hands on your belly while you slowly inhale.
• Watch your hands as they rise with your in-breath.
• Watch your hands fall as you slowly breathe out, letting the air out of the balloon.
• As you exhale, make sure your belly stays relaxed.
• Take at least two or three more slow and deep breaths, making sure to keep your attention on the rise and fall of your belly.

Tips

• Make sure you practice every single day.
• Sometimes practice for five to ten minutes at a time.
• You can practice even when you're not under stress -- for example, while you're sitting in your car, watching TV, walking for exercise, or sitting at the computer at work.

Application

Use this LifeSkill ...

• When you feel angry.
• Before getting on an airplane if you're nervous.
• When you need to pause and think before speaking, to avoid saying something you might later regret.
• When you need help falling asleep.
• Whenever you notice that your breathing is shallow, rapid, tight, or tense.

"BREATHE FROM YOUR BELLY" LIFESKILL:

Breathing slowly and deeply into and out of your belly is a signal to your mind and body to let go of stress and improve your health and happiness.

Stress Free for Good
10 Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness. Copyright © by Frederic Luskin. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	Introduction	1
1	The Birth of LifeSkills	19
2	Stress: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly	37
3	Breathe from Your Belly	63
4	So Much to Appreciate	75
5	Tense to Relax	91
6	Visualize Success	103
7	Slow Down	117
8	Appreciate Yourself	133
9	Smile Because You Care	149
10	Stop Doing What Doesn't Work	163
11	Just Say No	177
12	Accept What You Cannot Change	193
13	No Time Like the Present	209
	Afterword	219
	Acknowledgments	224

What People are Saying About This

Christiane Northrup

“The life skills presented so beautifully here can heal you and reawaken you to a life of joy and fun!”

Rachel Naomi Remen

“Luskin and Pelletier offer us simple, commonsense, scientifically tested ways to reduce stress in the midst of our busy lives.”

Richard Carlson

“A major book to help us combat this problem once and for all.”

Dean Ornish

“Like a wise friend, it distills decades of research into ten practical and powerful stress management skills.”

Editorial Reviews

Properly tuned, our nervous systems support our dreams and objectives, say mind/body experts Luskin (Forgive for Good) and Pelletier (Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer). Here, they attempt to provide a new game plan for optimizing health, well-being, and performance. Unfortunately, their "10 scientifically proven LifeSkills" are nothing more than a rehash of what's been around since the 1980s: deep breathing, positive imagery, slowing down to pay attention, and just saying no are some of the exercises prescribed. The two chapters on appreciation should have been combined to hold the reader's interest better. To their credit, the authors emphasize an easily overlooked point-that daily practice of the techniques is crucial to overcoming poor emotional habits. And the section on long-term Type 2 stress is valid for its mention of the illness that can result when we don't attend to ourselves. An optional purchase for larger public libraries with a demonstrated interest in stress management.-Lisa Liquori, Syracuse, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Luskin and Pelletier offer us simple, commonsense, scientifically tested ways to reduce stress in the midst of our busy lives.” — —RACHEL NAOMI REMEN, M.D., author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather's Blessings

“A major book to help us combat this problem once and for all.” — Richard Carlson, Ph.D. Bestselling author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and Easier Than You Think

“The life skills presented so beautifully here can heal you and reawaken you to a life of joy and fun!” — Christiane Northrup, MD, author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

“Like a wise friend, it distills decades of research into ten practical and powerful stress management skills.” — Dean Ornish, M.D. author of Eat More, Weigh Less

From the Publisher

The life skills presented so beautifully here can heal you and reawaken you to a life of joy and fun!

Christiane Northrup

Like a wise friend, it distills decades of research into ten practical and powerful stress management skills.

Dean Ornish

Luskin and Pelletier offer us simple, commonsense, scientifically tested ways to reduce stress in the midst of our busy lives.

RACHEL NAOMI REMEN

A major book to help us combat this problem once and for all.

Richard Carlson

"Luskin and Pelletier offer us simple, commonsense, scientifically tested ways to reduce stress in the midst of our busy lives."

Rachel Naomi Remen