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Review and promotion copies, cover and author photography, and interviews available upon request.
Contact: Flo Selfman 323.653.4555
Floself@aol.com Say Yes to Less Stress – Mind & Body Techniques That Work
"Getting rid of stress is not that hard to do," says Santa Barbara-based natural health specialist Dr. Kathy Gruver. "You can choose your response to stress. You can learn to let it go."
Dr. Gruver, who has a PhD in Natural Health and is author of the new book Conquer Your Stress With Mind/Body Techniques, says, "We can't control what is outside of us, but we can change what we think, what we do with our bodies and what we eat, and we can be healthier, stronger and lead less stressful lives. It's very simply a conscious choice we can and must make for ourselves."
Dr. Gruver says, "Every major area of our lives offers us the opportunity to make conscious choices that have a significant effect on how we feel, how we look, and what we can accomplish. Your mind and body are yours and you get to decide what you have them do. You can take charge of stress any time you want."
"We have to realize that stress is not really the problem; it's our reaction to it. As soon as we learn to control our reaction, the stress isn't as detrimental to us. We create our own stress with thoughts. We think about 60,000 thoughts a day and 50,000 are negative. Our brain can't tell the difference between what we're thinking about and what is really happening; this is why we have to be very careful what we're daydreaming and fantasizing about."
Here is a sample of just some of the numerous mind/body techniques she describes to reduce and control stress.
Control Your Reaction to Stress! You have the power. You have to choose to exercise it. Realize that stress is not the problem. Our reaction to stress is the problem. Learn what you need to do to control your reaction. As soon as you gain control, stress is no longer detrimental.
Out with the Bad and In with the Good. Say No to Negatives. Don't create your own stress. Push the negative thoughts away. Always have a list of good, positive ideas, pictures, and things you love nearby. Whenever a negative though comes up, choose to push it away and choose to focus on the good and the positive. So, rather than saying "I'm not getting sick," say, "I am healthy and well." This boosts the immune system and stops the cycle of negative thinking.
Direct Your Daydreams! Take control of your mind and body. Focus on the things you want to see happen in your life. If you find your mind wandering, acknowledge it, and then push it away! Focus on what YOU want it to focus on instead. Visualize actively! Draw, doodle, write poems, do whatever turns you on and helps you turn your ideas into plans, plans into actions, actions into reality. Change your life and your health for the better.
Take Baby Steps! Get Healthier Slowly and Steadily. Use the healthy activities that you already do in your life as a mind/body practice. Things like yoga, tai chi, massage, running, dance can all be used as a meditation.
Do Mini-Meditations Several Times a Day. Think you can't meditate? You can now! There are simple mini-meditations that take just a few minutes to learn and can be done anywhere. They erase the stress response and help return our stress hormones and chemicals to normal. If I can do it, you can do it!
Pay Attention To What Your Body Is Telling You. Often, the body parts that are misbehaving are hinting at our stress. Do you feel like your hands are full and then develop carpal tunnel? Who is the pain in your neck? Are you shouldering the burden or feeling like you can't stomach something? Observing these common phrases can be the key to identifying and releasing our stress.
Don't Reward Yourself for Bad Behavior. When you are sick, don't languish and enjoy being in bed any more than necessary. Don't soak up the attention and consolation people give you for mistakes, painful experiences, or unforeseen accidents and illness any more than necessary to get back on your feet. . There are better ways to get love and attention. Choose health!
Conquer Your Stress with Mind/Body Techniques
Kathy Gruver
List $16.95
Paperback 215 pages
Infinity Publishing
ISBN-10: 0741496194 ISBN-13: 978-0741496195
Conquer Your Stress with Mind/Body Techniques discusses the history of the stress response and how it affects us today. The book contains practical tips for decreasing the the body's reaction to stress and offers simple techniques to increase your health by lessening your tension. The book is a treasure trove of easy methods that can be done at home or in the office and gives a multitude of choices of professional therapies you can incorporate into your life.
For more information visit www.thealternativemedicinecabinet.com
About the Author
Dr. Kathy Gruver is an award-winning author, natural health speaker, educator and practioner. She has earned her PhD in Natural Health and has authored two books on stress: Body/Mind Therapies for the Bodyworker and, just published, Conquer Your Stress with Mind/Body Techniques. Her book The Alternative Medicine Cabinet was selected as a winner of the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards and finalist for the Indie Excellence Awards. It will be a national TV show with Gruver as host, debuting late 2013.
She has studied mind/body medicine at the famed Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Harvard Medical School and pursued further education at The National Institutes of Health. Gruver has been featured as an expert in countless publications including Yahoo.com, Ladies Home Journal, Massage and Bodyworks Magazine and Massage Magazine. She has written dozens of health and wellness articles and contributing posts. She has appeared as a guest expert on over 150 radio and TV shows including NPR, CBS Radio and Lifetime Television and has done dozens of educational lectures around the country. She has also served as an expert witness for massage negligence and ethics cases.
A recent winner of NAWBO's Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards and nominee for the Gutsy Gal Awards In Santa Barbara, Calif., Kathy maintains a massage and natural health practice there, also offering phone and email health consultations. She has also produced an instructional massage DVD, Therapeutic Massage at Home; Learn to Rub People the RIGHT Way™, and is a practitioner with over 20 years of experience.
What People Are Saying
Kathy Gruver is her practical best as she tackles our culture of stress, its repercussions and how we each can reclaim our personal health to create a culture of wellness in our own lives. The steps Dr. Gruver introduces to engage more fully in healthy conversations with ourselves is a simple yet powerful tome; one that will be a well-thumbed addition to my library.
-Darya Bronston, Inventor of the CoreFitnessRoller and?The CoreBody Reformer, Founder and CEO of Annovium Products
This book emphasizes once again the important role of mind-body medicine as a tool in a number of conditions, first and foremost stress. It helps understand a variety of important factors in the healing process, such as the doctor-patient relationship, the positive therapeutic alliance, the power of words, attitudes and behaviors of health professionals. It reminds us that the patient must be both cured and cared for.
-Fabrizio Benedetti, University of Turin Medical School, Author of Placebo Effects
I love this book! I couldn't put it down because I relate to so much of it. I'm eager to change my old ways of dealing with stress.
-Deborah Hutchison, Founder Gutsy Gals Inspire Me®
An enjoyable and applicable treatise on the many different techniques and methodologies in use today, and is punctuated throughout with her signature style of insight, humor and examples. This is a must-have encyclopedia for anyone wishing to understand and apply mind and body healing.
-Steven Brynoff, Traditional Naturopath
Review and promotion copies, cover and author photography, and interviews available upon request.
Contact: Kathy Gruver Tel: 805-680-1984 Email:
drkathygruver@gmail.com