Stress, emotional tension and anxiety when unwarranted are probably a major cause of heart disease, high blood pressure, migraine and a host of other nasty ailments. This just-over-100-page book teaches a seven-day course to reduce stress. The talented authors wrote the guidelines in an easy-to-follow way. The book can prove beneficial to those who carry out the lessons.

Divided into three parts, the first of which teaches you how to develop your sever day programme of relaxation and the concept of the 'relaxed core state' Part two helps you to build a relaxation programme day by day, detailed with clear sketches and exercises. Finally, your personal relaxation plan. If you feel the world is getting on top of you, read this book and build your survival programme.

This is one of the best self help books on relaxation we have seen.

It contains a seven-day plan for reducing stress and achieving instant relaxation which includes a whole series of breathing and posture exercises, focused eye movement techniques, affirmations and visualisations ” All designed to facilitate access to what the authors call our “relaxed core state'.

The book is full of easy to follow exercises and instructions, (many NLP based), and culminates in the creation of a Personal Relaxation Plan.

The plan is flexible in that it allows individuals to choose from a “menu' of different anxiety reducing methods, but still within the framework of a goal orientated action plan.

The authors combine more traditional relaxation techniques with NLP based exercises in an accessible, straight-forward way and the book is interesting in that it offers explanations as to how and why the exercises actually work.

A bit different in approach to the usual relaxation “workouts' - especially the inclusion of the customised personal relaxation plan, which should help to embed the various techniques into everyday routines.

As therapists, we have been able to integrate the various exercises into both homework assignments for our clients, and in relaxation and stress management workshops.

We all feel stress and we probably all have clients who are stressed too.

This book is crammed full of practical tips and exercises that can be used to cope with and diminish stress levels. Split into 7 chapters, each covering a specific stress coping skill it is very easy to read and gives the reader several different ways of dealing with stress " you can just choose which one(s) suit you, or your client, best. The book covers behavioural, emotional, physical and mental ways to combat stress in the workplace, at home and anywhere else too.

The third part of the book is a Personal Action Plan which you could easily adapt for your clients to use as part of their therapy or for homework assignments " or you could use it yourself and see just how effective it is!

A very useful tool for any therapist, particularly given the stresses that seem to accompany "life' these days.

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