Seven ways to get your energies flowing

Sleeping isn't the only way to recharge your batteries. I don't particularly like sleeping, so I need other ways to get my energies flowing. Here are seven ways I have found both helpful and fun. Try and make time everyday for at least half an hour to indulge in these healthy pursuits.

1. Move your body
All forms of exercise are great for relieving stress, and it works in many ways. Firstly, it releases endorphins, the body's natural pain relievers that improve your mood. It also removes the build up of adrenalin that can occur if you are stressed and relaxes your muscles by warming them up. If you're not very sporty (like me!), try dancing and going for walks.

2. Picture this
At the end of the workday, imagine your stress liquefying and running out of your body so that with each step, you leave a coloured footprint that represents your stress. Then, notice that the further you walk from work (whether in the home or outside), the fainter the footprints become - until the stress has disappeared.

3. The scented touch
A massage with essential oils is absolutely heaven! When you breathe in the oils, they send a direct message to your brain via your olfactory nerves, where they affect the endocrine and hormonal systems via the hypothalamus. Odours have an amazing effect on our emotional states, because they hook into the "emotional" or primitive parts of our brains (the limbic system, also known as the rhinencephalon - the "smell brain"!). Aromatherapv massage benefits the physical, the emotional and the psyche. Create your own massage oil by adding up to 30 drops of a blend to 30 ml of pure vegetable oil, such as grapeseed or almond. The massage oil can he used for a full massage or spot massage at pressure points for quick effect. Anyone offering?

4. In comes the good air
Babies breathe naturally, but most children learn that shallow breathing seems to reduce feelings of emotional pain. Think of the furious child who holds her breath. These emotions don't go away, though. They accumulate in the form of stress and tension in the solar plexus, where they can cause all sorts of physical ailments. Shallow breathing also depletes our intake of oxygen, which can cause anxiety.
Relearning how to breathe is an important step in releasing stress. Try practicing natural breathing for five minutes a day. Imagine your breath rising from your feet and travelling up your body to the top of your head as you inhale. On the exhale, feel your breath descending again to your feet.
Do this also whenever you feel yourself getting tense. Lean back in your chair and just breathe.

5. Sound advice
Since so many sounds can be stressful - the 3 a.m. wail of your baby, the 6 a.m. screech of your alarm clock, the 6:10 a.m. screech of your alarm clock, the 6:20 a.m. screech of your alarm clock - it's only fitting that other sounds should serve to soothe. Why not take a 20-minute "sound bath" anytime your knickers are in a twist? Put some relaxing music on your stereo, then lie down near the speakers with knees slightly bent and allow the music to wash over you. The washing imagery is important; you should feel the music rinsing away the day's stress from your tired body.

6. Laugh it off
Laughter is a very effective stress-buster. When we let out a belly laugh, our bodies let out endorphins, those painkilling darlings of the exercise set. Related to morphine, endorphins make us feel good, which in turn makes us more resistant to stress. But it's not enough to sit back and wait for a coworker to fall facefirst into a custard tart. Humour must be actively sought out. One easy way to do this is to imagine how the writers for a TV sitcom might handle your most stressful "snags."

7. Craft it
The power of creating a bedcover, a garden or a cake can't be underestimated, especially if it reflects some aspect of you. It's great when the project turns out well, but there's also value in the doing. The act of concentration can become meditative, even trance-like, and mind clearing.