01. EMOTIONAL FREEDOM TECHNIQUE (EFT) is a form of psychological acupressure. Gentle tapping with the fingertips is used to transfer kinetic energy onto specific meridians on your head and chest while you think about your specific problem and voice positive affirmations. This works to clear the "short-circuit" — the emotional block — from your body's bioenergy system, thus restoring your mind and body's balance, which is essential for optimal health and the healing of physical disease.
02. MASSAGE affects your nervous system through nerve endings in your skin, stimulating the release of endorphins, which are natural "feel good" chemicals. Getting a massage has been shown to relieve pain from migraines, labor, fibromyalgia and even cancer; reduce stress, anxiety and depression; decrease symptoms of PMS; and can provide arthritis relief by increasing joint flexibility.
03. MINDFULNESS. Practicing "mindfulness" means that you're actively paying attention to the moment you're in right now. Mindfulness training has been found to reduce levels of stress-induced inflammation, which could benefit people suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma. Practicing mindfulness meditation for just four days can decrease pain responses in your brain.
04. BIOFEEDBACK allows you to monitor your biological changes, thereby helping you achieve a deeper state of relaxation and teaching you to control your heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension through your mind. Biofeedback is often used for stress-related conditions, such as migraines and tension-type headaches, fibromyalgia, back pain, depression and anxiety. Applied Psychoneurobiology (APN) is another version of biofeedback using guided imagery that facilitates an intimate dialogue with your subconscious mind.
05. PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION (PMR) is achieved by tensing and relaxing all the major muscle groups, one at a time, from head to toe. By learning to feel the difference between tension and relaxation, you can more actively disengage your body's fight-or-flight response, which underlies most pain, depression and stress.
06. TAI CHI. While practicing, your mind is meant to stay focused on your movements, relaxation and deep breathing, while distracting thoughts are ignored. Part of the allure is that it's so gentle, it's an ideal form of activity for people with pain or other conditions that prevent more vigorous exercise. You can even do tai chi if you're confined to a wheelchair. The medical literature shows tai chi helps reduce depression, anxiety and stress.
07. BREATHING TECHNIQUES. Deep breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which induces the relaxation response. Dr. Weil's 4, 7, 8 breathing technique works as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system. The Buteyko Breathing Method helps improve oxygenation of your tissues and organs, including your brain, and can be particularly helpful to quell a panic attack or control anxiety.
08. HYPNOSIS is a trance-like state in which you experience heightened focus and concentration, can help decrease pain by altering your emotional responses to your body's pain signals and your thoughts about the pain. Contrary to popular belief, you do not relinquish control over your behavior while under hypnosis, but it does render you more open to suggestions from the hypnotherapist. In addition to managing pain, cognitive hypnotherapy has been shown to lessen depression and anxiety better than cognitive behavioral therapy.
09. MUSIC THERAPY triggers activity in the nucleus accumbens, a part of your brain that releases the feel-good chemical dopamine and is involved in forming expectations. At the same time, the amygdala, which is involved in processing emotion, and the prefrontal cortex, which makes possible abstract decision-making, are also activated. Studies reveal listening to music results in less anxiety and lower cortisol levels among patients about to undergo surgery than taking anti-anxiety drugs.
10. YOGA has been proven to be particularly beneficial if you suffer with back pain, and can also be of tremendous benefit for your mental health. According to recent findings, yoga appears to have a positive effect on mild depression, sleep problems, schizophrenia (among patients using medication), and ADHD (among patients using medication). Some studies suggest yoga can have a similar effect to antidepressants and psychotherapy, by influencing neurotransmitters and boosting serotonin.
11. VISUALIZATION techniques or guided imagery can serve as an important tool to combat both physical pain and depression by imagining being in "a better place" and promoting a state of relaxation. Ideally, you'll want to immerse yourself as fully as you possibly into your visualization, using all your senses: seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, and feeling, as using all your senses changes levels of brain chemicals, such as serotonin, epinephrine and endorphins.
12. MANTRA. The repeated incantation — a soothing or uplifting word or phrase of your choice — in a rhythmic fashion can help you relax in a similar way as mindfulness training. The focused repetition, also called autogenic training, helps keep your mind from wandering and worrying, and engages your body's relaxation response. In one study, migraine sufferers were able to decrease the frequency and intensity of their headaches using autogenic training. Other research suggests it may provide helpful longer-term effects on symptoms of depression.
13. NEURO STRUCTURAL (INTEGRATION) TECHNIQUE (NST). Using a series of gentle moves on specific muscles or at precise points on your body creates an energy flow and vibrations between these points. This allows your body to rebalance itself. The main objective is to remove pain and dysfunctional physiological conditions by restoring the structural integrity of the body. In essence NST provides the body with an opportunity to reintegrate on many levels, and thus return to and maintain normal homeostatic limits on a daily basis.
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