I love working out at home and I love working out with DVDs.

Here are my favorite meditation and yoga DVDs.

Nadia Narain's Beginners Meditation and Mindful Stretching. This is a nice combination of just sitting/being and easy, gentle stretches.  It's a great way to relax, quiet the mind, let go and come back to center.

Another favorite of Nadia's is Everyday Yoga for Stress Release.
This DVD has three 20 minute practices. Each practice is designed for a different purpose. The first practice is an easy, gentle yoga flow. The second is more energetic and incorporates some of the common, basic yoga poses. The third is for times when one is anxious and stressed.

The third DVD I love so much is Mimi Solaire's Deep Stretch Yin Yoga. This is a longer practice where you hold poses for a long time. It is fantastic in establishing deep relaxation and bringing back a positive attitude.

I love these DVDs because they are easy. When you're stressed and overworked, the last thing you need is to do something demanding, something that asks some more of you. These meditations and stretches give to you, calm you down, nurture you and bring you back to feeling good about yourself and life. I highly recommend them.

It's easy to get stressed and overwhelmed in our society. The Internet has provided endless diversion and makes it really difficult to continually discern between important and unimportant and what nurtures us and what doesn't. Then, of course, there are all the other modern-life stresses. And the worst scenario, when something not-so-pleasant unexpected happens and throws your life into extreme stress and chaos.

There are three things I do that help me get through super stressful times that really work for me. Maybe they will work for you. If you do not resonate with these solutions, take time to discover what works for you that way you are ready for those extremely stressful times.

1. I Take a Bath. My naturopath friend recommended baths 45-60 minutes to relax and clear toxins from the body. In the bathwater she recommended 1/2 cup Epsom Salts and 1 cup Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar. Your health provider may recommend different quantities. It is very important to know that Epsom Salts are potent and can be toxic, so you need to know what is best for your body. Sitting in the bath a long time gives the Apple Cider Vinegar time to extract the toxins from the body. I had a hard time sitting in the bath that long. The solution is to not make the water as hot. In normal times, when I take the bath, I don't feel a whole lot of change. I feel better in many ways, true, but the times I feel it most is when I am really stressed. The bath changes my attitude, lifts my spirits, takes away to stress aches and pains and establishes general well being.
2. Tea. I drink 1 1/2 cups hibiscus tea, loose leaf. It has the same results as the bath, without the detoxification. It lowers blood pressure, calms me and establishes optimism and well being. Again, not a big deal under normal circumstances; big deal during stressful times. You might find another kind of tea works better for you.
3. I listen to Pandora Music. It's free, with a little commercials or about $60/year with no commercials. I have a subscription and it is heaven. During stressful times listening to new age music on Pandora literally feels like someone is caressing me and telling me that things will be all right. You can create stations according to artist or song. My favorite artist stations are: Anugama; Liquid Mind; Deuter; Dean Evenson; Sayama.

Of course yoga and meditation are fantastic, but I find during super stressful times, this is difficult and it's difficult to find the time. Same is true for inspirational reading. My mind simple can't take it in. So, for me non-mental, non-time consuming approaches work best for extremely stressful situations.

You can try some of my favorites, however, I'd recommend spending a little time discovering what works best for you. What is certain is there are ways to calm down and get relief from extreme stress.