Tagged: stress relief

Three Ways to Freedom

Posted on By: Laura Bozarth
Three Ways to Freedom

“A life lived in fear is a life only half lived.” -Unknown

I came across that quote this week and it really struck me. Fear is a driving force in so many decisions that people make and though it can be healthy at times, most of the time it leaves us in a state of half satisfaction, half deciding, and not really where we want to be. We fool ourselves into thinking that it’s safe because it feels good and then we get to stay exactly we’re at.

It also confuses our bodies which want to be fully alive, not just [...]

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Letting Go of Normal

Posted on By: Laura Bozarth
Letting Go of Normal

 

I spent a lot of time in the last two years wishing my life could go back to normal. Some days I longed for normal so badly that it made me cry. It wasn’t that I was just in pain from being injured in an accident; it was the frustration that I could no longer do some of the things that were normal to me.

 

In my career as a mind-body coach I watch people long for normal all the time. Many of my current clients suffer from IBS or digestive disorders. They talk often about wanting a normal life. [...]

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Why Connection Is Important For IBS Relief

Posted on By: Laura
Why Connection Is Important For IBS Relief

Like everyone else who saw the news on Monday afternoon, I was completely shocked at what happened at the Boston Marathon. I felt sadness for the families who lost loved ones. I also found myself feeling anxious and a bit scared. My husband was in New York City on September 11 and had to rush through the streets that were full of debris from the fallen buildings. We had friends who lost family members that day. At that time we also lived in the area of New Jersey in which the anthrax mail attack happened. I remember clearly being [...]

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Self-Care and IBS Relief

Posted on By: Laura
Self-Care and IBS Relief

We hear often in the self-help world how important self-care is. However, we don’t do it enough and it’s because we don’t know how. I think we have a perception that there’s a right way to do self-care.

 

I laughed inside when my client thanked me for not telling her to do yoga and pilates. That’s the funny thing about self-care; you don’t have to do anything. I notice a lot of people putting self-care into their routine as a forced thing. Then they feel tired out from it and forget the fun stuff.

 

The interesting thing is that self-care is [...]

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The Power of Breathing for IBS Relief

Posted on By: Laura
The Power of Breathing for IBS Relief



Listen, are you breathing just a little and calling it a life? ~Mary Oliver

 

That quote from Mary Oliver really got me thinking. I often talk to my clients about the importance of breathing but I’m not always sure if they fully understand the importance of it.

 

For a long time I didn’t either. I would do a short meditation and take quick deep breaths if I felt stress but I really wasn’t consciously aware of how I was breathing. It was actually through the process of being in pain that I became aware of the lack of air I was [...]

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Body Language, Superheroes, and IBS

Posted on By: Laura
Body Language, Superheroes, and IBS


I just watched the Amy Cuddy, social psychologist and assistant professor at Harvard University, video on body language.

 

She talked about body language and how it affects our entire lives.

 

It got me thinking about how body language affects our reaction to discomfort.

 

She discusses successful people having higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol. And how the way we posture our bodies can naturally produce these two things. So high-power poses can produce good hormones, which equals feeling confidence and success where as low power poses increases our cortisol levels, which is our stress hormone. So staying in a [...]

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4 Easy Ways to End Pressure and Get IBS Relief

Posted on By: Laura
4 Easy Ways to End Pressure and Get IBS Relief

How many times have you heard people say they perform best under pressure?  In our society the idea that applying pressure to a situation will reap the best results is very prevalent. It’s such a part of our psyche that we do it subconsciously. For many of us it’s a part of life, basically second nature.

 

For most people with IBS when the pressure increases so does the IBS symptoms. For years I put tons of pressure on myself without noticing how intensely it was affecting my digestive problems.

 

I just thought pressure was a natural part of life.

 

I’m not here [...]

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Understanding Your IBS Pain

Posted on By: Laura
Understanding Your IBS Pain

When I first became a coach I worked with people who were stressed about their career. When I coach people who are dealing with a lot of stress I ask them to go into their bodies and notice where they feel stress or tension. I typically get one of two responses; either “can’t find anything”or they find aches and pains that they never knew were there. They often want to run back into their minds and discuss all of their life stresses.

 

I simply told them for one week try stopping once a day and notice what you are thinking [...]

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