Stress management is a hot catchphrase in natural health these days. However, many people do not realize that effective stress management starts with brain enhancement. How a person thinks about themselves and their environment, and what they value, affects how they interpret a particular situation. If they interpret it as stressful or dangerous, their brains send signals to their bodies to create a fight or flight stress response. Getting this process under control can make a huge difference in people's overall level of stress.

To change this habit, people first have to change the information they hold in their brain, the information that influences how they interpret their inner and outer environment. While a stress response is necessary in certain situations, for many people it has become a mental habit. This leads to a state of chronic stress and ultimately to the development of various stress-related diseases. Enhancing the brain by developing a more positive mental outlook reduces or eliminates the stress response and enables solutions to problems to be found.

Much advice has been given about how to think positively. One can repeat positive mantras or look for a silver lining in a difficult situation. Aerobic exercise, which sends oxygenated blood and endorphins to the brain, can also help the brain become more positive. It is also well-documented that deep abdominal breathing and stretching can create a calm mind that is resistant to negative thoughts and stress.

However, according to Ilchi Lee in his recent book, Brain Wave Vibration: Getting Back into the Rhythm of a Happy, Healthy Life, the simplest way is to simply shake away negative thoughts or brain waves, leaving behind positive ones that the brain naturally wants to produce. This sort of exercise can be performed almost anywhere by anyone. Performing it even when one is not stressed can create a more calm and productive response to potentially stressful future situations.

This exercise is known as Brain Wave Vibration. It can be performed simply by shaking the head to create a vibration in the brain. As the head and neck relax, this vibration can then travel down the spine to the entire body. One can even add visualization to this exercise to make it more effective. Just imagine a light that starts in the brain and travels over the entire body, pushing away stress and tension from the body. In addition to changing thinking patterns from negative to positive, Brain Wave Vibration relaxes tension in muscles and organs, further helping to reduce the effects of stress.

Used as a simple method of natural health maintenance, Brain Wave Vibration has been shown to quickly clear the mind, making way for the positive mindset necessary for stress management. Michela Mangiaracina