Stress Reduction Technique

The body’s natural relaxation response is a powerful antidote to stress. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, visualization, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and yoga can help you activate this relaxation response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress levels and a boost in your feelings of joy and serenity. What’s more, they also serve a protective quality by teaching you how to stay calm and collected in the face of life’s curveballs.

Starting a relaxation practice
A variety of relaxation techniques help you achieve the relaxation response. Those whose stress-busting benefits have been widely studied include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, visualization, yoga, and tai chi.

Learning the basics of these relaxation techniques isn’t difficult. But it takes practice to truly harness their stress-relieving power: daily practice, in fact. Most stress experts recommend setting aside at least 10 to 20 minutes a day for your relaxation practice. If you’d like to get even more stress relief, aim for 30 minutes to an hour.

Getting the most out of your relaxation practice
Set aside time in your daily schedule. The best way to start and maintain a relaxation practice is by incorporating it into your daily routine. Schedule a set time either once or twice a day for your practice. You may find that it’s easier to stick with your practice if you do it first thing in the morning, before other tasks and responsibilities get in the way.

Don’t practice when you’re sleepy. These techniques can relax you so much that they can make you very sleepy, especially if it’s close to bedtime. You will get the most out of these techniques if you practice when you’re fully awake and alert.

Choose a technique that appeals to you. There is no single relaxation technique that is best. When choosing a relaxation technique, consider your specific needs, preferences, and fitness level. The right relaxation technique is the one that resonates with you and fits your lifestyle.

Hot Cocoa

Hot cocoa is a deliciously warm and comforting drink that I like to serve with lots of little white marshmallows floating on top. Unlike hot chocolate that combines milk with semisweet chocolate, Hot Cocoa starts with good unsweetened cocoa powder combined with sugar and just enough milk or cream to make a smooth paste. Then hot milk (skim, 2%, or whole) is added to this cocoa paste and stirred until it is thoroughly blended. Sometimes I like to place the hot cocoa in a blender (or you can use an immersion blender) to make it nice and foamy. Finish your hot cocoa without a large handful of marshmallows (store bought or homemade) or else a dollop of whipped cream.
You may not know it but cocoa powder was invented back in the early 1800s by a Dutchman named Coenraad Van Houten. He made a press that could extract the cocoa butter from the chocolate liquor, leaving a dry cake. This cake was further dried and processed to become unsweetened cocoa powder. Van Houten then went on to discover that if the unsweetened cocoa powder was treated with an alkaline solution it produced a cocoa powder that was darker in color and softer in flavor than what he began with. It became known as 'Dutch-processed' cocoa powder. The reason I tell this story is Dutch-processed cocoa powder is what I use to make my hot cocoa. While you could use regular unsweetened cocoa powder I find the flavor of Dutch-processed makes for a mild yet flavorful drink. Droste is the brand I use and you can sometimes find it in grocery stores, or else at specialty food stores or on line.

Hot Cocoa: Place the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is nice and hot.

Meanwhile in your mug or cup, make a paste with the cocoa powder, sugar, and cream. Pour the hot milk into the cocoa paste and stir until combined and smooth. You can place the hot cocoa in your blender (or use an immersion blender) to make it nice and foamy.

Garnish with marshmallows or softly whipped cream.

Makes 1 - 8 ounce (240 ml) serving.


Hot Cocoa Recipe:

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk (skim, 2%, or whole)

1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I use Droste of Valrhona)

1 tablespoon granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons of cream or milk

For Garnish:

Marshmallows or softly whipped cream

Sources

Bigelow, Fran. 'Pure Chocolate'. New York: Broadway Books.: 2004.

Bloom, Carole, 'All About Chocolate'. New York: MacMillan, Inc.: 1998.

Rinzler, Carol Ann. 'The Book of Chocolate'. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977.