Book Excerpt: meQuilibrium

Title: meQuilibrium: 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer, and Happier

Authors: Jan Bruce, Andrew Shatte, Ph.D., and Adam Perlman, MD, MPH

Publisher: Harmony (February 3, 2015)

Ordering information: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Life can be stressful.

You don't need us to tell you that. And you probably don't need us to tell you the reasons why. Mile-long to-do lists, demanding workloads and pressing deadlines, having to do more with less, juggling our kids' complex schedules, caring for aging parents, relationship conflicts...even reading this list can cause stress!

It's not news that chronic stress takes a toll on the quality of our lives. It muddies our thinking, impairs our judgement, damaged our health and our relationships, and, perhaps most pointedly, makes us miserable.

Up until now, the prevailing wisdom has been to allay stress with a pill, a massage, a vacation. But we're not here to teach you how to relax. We don't promise you that the answer is a new breathing technique or suggest you just power off your devices for an afternoon. Certainly, these quick fixes offer a welcome respite in the moment, but the results are fleeting and leave you right back where you started. "Stress relief" isn't our goal. We're looking to create long-term, deep-rooted, sustainable calm, no matter what life throws at you.

Here's the short list of what else we're not going to suggest you do to get rid of stress:

Find a new job

Work less

Move to a more peaceful environment

Leave your relationship

Slash your to-do list

Invest in a complicated time-organization system

Give up anything you love to do

Why? Because you actually can't annihilate stress. It's not possible; stress is an undeniable factor generated by busy, modern lives. But you can learn to manage it peacefully—and you don't need to radically change your life to do so. If you think about it, stress often stems from trying to balance the things we value most: our family involvement, work, friends, caring for our health, the activities that bring us joy. So you see, this isn't about getting rid of stress but rather shifting your response to stress. And that changes everything.

Don't miss the opportunity to hear Adam Perlman, MD, MPH speak at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium Annual Conference February 23-25, 2017 in New York City. Click here for more information.