A lot of natural substances and herbs are being marketed today as effective remedies for your stress but a recent study say that these products are most likely not the things that can help you with your tensions.

There is only little evidence that these natural and herbal products work well long-term and there are also claims that it does not necessarily mean they are totally safe because they are herbal. Here is a closer look to some of the most common herbal supplements people use to relieve stress:

Lemon Balm

According to small studies, the lemon balm can help improve one’s mood and also promote calmness. One research was able to establish that about 1,600 mg is enough to help someone calm down for more than six hours. Lemon balm is also considered as relatively safe.

Kava

The kava herbal supplement is formulated from the kava plant roots found in the South Pacific. There are studies which proved that kava supplements do not lower anxiety significantly. It has also been said that kava might be to blame in liver failure cases. Kava is not a recommended supplement by experts.

Passionflower

Passionflower has been used in stress relieving studies and was proven to be effective in lowering anxiety levels in mice. Study in humans is still limited to one research. The study done in 2001 established that about 45 drops everyday of liquid passionflower has the same effects as the stress drug oxazepam. More studies are recommended before it can be tagged as effective and safe for humans.

Valerian root

The valerian root has been used for sleeping and anxiety disorders. Combining St. John’s wort with valerian root was proven to be as effective as the drug diazepam which lowers anxiety when used for about two weeks. Other studies though did not show the efficacy of valerian root so further research is needed. Plus, some studies found out that valerian root is related to blurring the user’s vision and also alters the normal rhythm of the heart.

Everyone deals with some form of stress in one way or another at home, school, or work. Here are some practical tips which can help you handle stress:

Eliminate your sources of stress

As much as you can, get rid of your sources of stress. It can be as simple as dealing with long lines in the supermarket during weekends, you might want to schedule your trip on another day when the lines will not be stressful for you. Clear all the clutter at home or in the office which may get in your way.

When you are running late, stop and think

You might be running late and all the stress might ruin the rest of the things that you need to do. It might be best to pause for a few minutes and list down how you will prioritize stuff. Be realistic and do not try to do too much.

Avoid stressful activities

If looking for a gift or playing a certain sport stresses you out, then do not go. Decline if you are invited to predictably stressful scenarios for you. The point of shopping or recreation is after all to relax and if at the start you will already be stressed, then there is no point of going.

Focus on one task at a time

Some say that multitasking helps them do more at work but studies have found otherwise and you might end up doing less at the end of the day. You might want to focus one task at a time and avoid the stress of the workload at hand.

When it comes to your pet, it can be difficult for you to find remedies that are all natural and remedies that truly do make your pet a better pet.  Well, Bach flower remedies are fantastic to deal with negative thoughts and feelings in pets.

When your pet is not feeling well mentally, it can be stressful for you, especially if you are linked to your pet.  Personally, my pets are my children and they are definitely linked to me, so when one of them is sick or depressed, I know it.  That is what Bach flower remedies can do to assist your pet.

Basically, having them drink water with flower essence is a fantastic way to calm your pet down and make sure that they do not freak out or are scared.

When it comes to your health, a lot of it has to do with what you eat and what you drink.  If you happen to eat a lot of fatty foods, most likely you are going to not feel at your greatest all of the time.  Did you know that you can still eat chocolate and it not become fattening?

Dark chocolate is one of those chocolates that has a ton of different benefits and to be quite frank, is actually extremely good for you.  Now, you can not overdo it of course, but if you have a little bit every day, you will see a difference.

Dark chocolate has a lot of antioxidants in there and to be honest, it is packed full of things that are healthy for you can will make you glow!

If you are like many people out there, you may have a very hard time believing some of the new age treatments out there.  In this blog – we not only focus on things and natural ways that you can relieve stress, but we also focus on your overall health and feel – and all of it is natural.

While some people are believed to be healers of the earth, a lot of the new age stuff is based on energy.  That is what Wave Therapy is all about –balancing and increasing how your natural energy flows – which in turn, will provide you with a better sense of feeling and overall, make you feel better.

Wave Therapy is a fantastic way to influence female hormones and can actually stop the pain and discomfort of periods as well as menopause.

We all know that precious gems are something that many, many want to find in order to make jewelry out of – however, did you know that they can actually help with your stress as well.  Whenever your spirit is not in check, you can actually use precious gemstones to help with spiritual healing.

This is something that has been around for quite a while and was practiced by every culture from Chinese all the way to Indian.  The ancient beliefs are now actually used in a lot of modern crystal therapies and have been proven to work wonders on your body.

We all know that stress is something that can take over our life, but if you take care of it via spiritual healing via precious gemstones, I can promise you will feel better.

Have you ever noticed that when you are at your least stressed, you are usually socializing with your friends?  Well, I noticed that too and honestly, I think that is one of the secrets!  I think that the more you surround yourself with positive people, the better off you are going to be and that is why socializing is by far one of the best options whenever you are feeling really stressed out.

You should always make sure that you have a friend that you can count on and trust to pull you out of the depths and will truly make you feel better.  If you find that you have friends that are very negative, you might want to consider just how good of friends they really are.

Being positive is something that you can catch and if everyone around you is positive, I can promise you will feel a heck of a lot less stressed!

Whenever you think about being stressed out, it can all be tracked back to one thing; lack of sleep.  To be completely honest, most people in the world suffer from some type of insomnia and to me – it is a huge deal.  I know that if I do not get at least six hours of sleep, I am not going to be in the greatest mood.  I also know that I get more stressed out.

Did you know that there are many different natural treatments that you can use for insomnia?  For example, aromatherapy is something that has been used for centuries to treat insomnia and you can use it too!

Combinations such as sandalwood, ylang-ylang, neroli, chamomile and margoram are fantastic to use whenever you are having trouble sleeping.  Think about that the next time you are up too late and only get three hours of sleep!

While most people do not associate music with any sort of therapy, it really is.  Think about it – whenever you are stressed out, what is the first thing that you usually do?  For me?  I turn my music onto a song I know is going to cheer me up or at least match what mood I am in.  Music therapy, while it might seem strange is a great way to relieve some of the stress that you might be feeling due to your job, home or even just life in general.

Music therapy can actually promote wellness, eases pain and actually helps with the expression of feelings, enhances a lot of memories and finally can truly improve your communication skills – which is something that a lot of people need right now.

Whenever you are feeling stressed out, just run yourself a bath, slip your iPod on and let the music just take you away to a place that is not stressful at all!

When you are having a bad hair day or you are dealing with something like dandruff – I know that it stresses me out.  My hair is something that I take a lot of pride in and to be honest, it is something that I look forward to washing, straightening and looking good … however, if you have dandruff, you are probably constantly looking at your hair and stressing out about it right?  Well, no longer!  There are tons of different ways to eliminate dandruff and calm yourself down.

One of the greatest ways to get rid of dandruff is by using shampoos that contain tea tree oil.  This particular oils is one that adds in a lot of oil to your hair without weighing it down or making it greasy – it just overall improves your scalp, which is what causes your skin to flake off – a dry scalp.

Another thing that can help your scalp and your dandruff problem is focusing on making sure that you are getting enough zinc and B vitamins – that way you can make sure that you are moisturized and your scalp is in good shape!