Tip of the day for the rest of your days...

The holiday season is just around the corner and we have all got one thing in mind. Holiday shopping. Joyous yet chaotic. Exciting yet stressful. You're in the middle of a mall and you're about to blow your top. So what do you do? Simple: Give yourself an ear massage to relieve the stress!

The idea of ear massaging to relieve stress goes way way back from many parts of the world. The Inuit had a form of ear massage to calm their infants. In China, there's a whole system of massaging and healing with JUST the ears alone. But since I'm studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture I'll focus on the Chinese method and idea. According to traditional medicine and acupuncture, the ears alone have accupoints corresponding to parts of the rest of the body; the internal organs, extremities and the head. The earlobes represent the head of your body and thus we'll look into what to do with the lobes. In Western terms, massaging of the lobes moves the tentorium membrane in your head which relieves stress.

So what can you do to relieve stress quick time? A simple massage is to place your thumbs behind your ears starting at the top and with your index fingers in front, wipe down along the rim from the top of your ears and when your index and thumbs reaches your earlobes, gently pinch, pull down and let go of your earlobes. Do this several times. Then afterward pinch your earlobes and massage it in gentle circles. Do this until you feel you're ready to take on the long lines and hustle and bustle of holiday shopping! (Remember to keep your breathing steady, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth when performing your massage.)