Introduction

How can I raise a healthy child in an at-risk world?

How can I put the sizzle back in my marriage?

How can I get out of debt?

How can I get what I want from any relationship?

These unanswered questions, and so many others, run through the minds of most people. Life is complicated. Where can you turn for answers? Bookstore shelves are lined with every topic imaginable, but who has the time to pour through the mounds of self-help material to find the answers?

I thought to myself, "Wouldn’t it be great if there were one book that offered simple answers to plaguing questions across many topics?" I knew I could fill that need. My years as a therapist and public school teacher, my education, and my own life experiences have guided me to the solutions that many people are striving to discover.

Life’s Little How To Book is a simple self-help encyclopedia that provides straightforward, easy to understand solutions and advice for life’s most nagging challenges. From how to remain desirable to your mate to how to get the job you want, Life’s Little How To Book addresses issues we all face and offers simple, concise suggestions for how to deal with them.

Sample Chapter 1:

Reduce Your Stress Simply

Stress is an everyday part of life. You can't avoid it, but you can do certain things to alleviate it. In our society, people try to reduce stress in a variety of negative ways, such as taking over- the-counter drugs, overeating, and watching television. I'm going to suggest some positive steps you can take to reduce stress. First of all, consider your answers to the following questions:

Do you often get a headache?

Do you notice yourself holding your breath?

Do your shoulders and back often feel tense?

Do you have trouble sleeping?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have the symptoms of stress. If you don't heed your body's warning signals and do something about your stress, you may end up with a stress-related illness such as heart disease, cancer, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, impotence, chronic low back pain, and respiratory problems. You need to focus on positive ways to reduce the effects of stress. The following are suggestions of what you can do:

Exercise. Exercising regularly is one of the most effective ways of reducing the tension in your body. Examples include bike riding, weight lifting, swimming, and jogging. Pick an exercise program that you enjoy, which will keep you motivated, and one that you are physically capable of doing. Be careful not to overdo it or to do an exercise that might exacerbate any existing physical problems or injuries.

Practice deep breathing. When we're stressed, our breathing is often shallow and short. Taking long, slow, deep breaths can prevent you from tensing up and developing a headache. For two weeks practice the following deep breathing exercise three times a day for fifteen minutes: Take a comfortable position and put one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. Slowly breathe in through your nose, hold it for a couple of seconds, and then slowly exhale through your mouth. If your chest rises more than your stomach, you're breathing from your chest, which is one of the symptoms of stress. Be sure to breathe from your abdomen. Practicing this exercise regularly will help to change your breathing pattern. Then, when you catch yourself stressing out, you can stop and breathe deeply for a few minutes.

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