What is a Stress Monkey?

The Urban Dictionary defines Stress Monkey as one who behaves like a panicked monkey when placed under minimal stress. Another way to think about Stress Monkeys relates to the phrase a monkey on our back, meaning something that weighs us down and makes life difficult (also sometimes referred to as an albatross around our neck). Either way we look at it, a Stress Monkey is something we'd rather not be or have. By practicing Holistic Stress Management, we can get to a point of being a Zen Monkey instead—or Stress Monkey-free, if you prefer.

Who Puts the Guru in Stress Monkey Guru?

A practitioner of Holistic Stress Management, Christina Rutheiser is also a Holistic Healthcare Practitioner with an emphasis on Holistic Nutrition. You can read more about her credentials and practice here.

More About StressMonkeyGuru.com

Stress Monkey Guru offers holistic stress management programs where we help clients improve their health and wellness by developing their stress management skills and nourishing the body and spirit through holistic self care.

Our 6- 8- and 10-week programs use a range of modalities within a holistic framework to help manage stress without the use of drugs, intensive psychotherapy, or an overwhelming time commitment.

Holistic Stress Management Programs

Programs include:

• Introduction to Holistic Stress Management (8 weeks)
• Correcting Stress Hormone Imbalance (10 weeks)
• Coping with the Stress of Infertility (10 weeks)
• Happy Mom, Relaxed Baby (8 weeks)
• Healthy Body, Calm Mind (10 weeks)
• Managing Stress & Insomnia (6 weeks
• Reducing Stress & Calming Anxiety (8 weeks)
• Stress & Weight Management (10 weeks)
• Workplace Stress Reduction Coping Skills (8 weeks)
• Reducing Clutter / Reducing Stress (6 weeks)
• Stress Relief for You and Your Companion Animal (8 weeks)
• Stress Relief & Self Care (8 weeks)
• New Year Resolutions in Stress Reduction (8 weeks, January–February)
• Spring Cleaning Your Stress (8 weeks, March–April)
• Back to School Wellness & Stress Relief (6 weeks, Sept to mid-October)
• Coping with Holiday Stress (mid-Oct through Dec, 10 weeks)

For descriptions and pricing of programs, click here. (Click the name of the program for details.)

Every program has essentially the same type of components, though the content will vary based on the focus of the program and the individual's health needs and goals. Programs are priced as a package (and must be paid in full at the time of registration).

For this paid commitment, clients get the following:

• one 30-minute consultation per week to assess successes and challenges (each session ends with a free optional guided breathing exercise so clients can end the consultation feeling immediate relief)

• email support for questions they may have throughout the week

• a FOCUS packet containing 5 new modules each week:
  Fill up on this... (a simple and pain-free nutrition swap)
  Ohm.... (an easy breathing exercise to practice)
  Consider this! (information to read about program-specific issues)
  Unload (a brief journal assignment or other “let it go” exercise)
  Shake it! (a very simple 5-10 minute stretching/movement goal)

Why is stress a problem?

According to The American Institute of Stress, “A 1996 Prevention magazine survey found that almost 75% feel they have “great stress” one day a week with one out of three indicating they feel this way more than twice a week. In the same 1983 survey only 55% said they felt under great stress on a weekly basis. It has been estimated that 75–90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems.” (http://www.stress.org/americas.htm)

Stress undermines and affects all other health goals. With the current economic challenges as well as life in general, there will always be things that can stress us out. Even good things that happen in life (new home, marriage, having a baby, getting a promotion) create stress which can have an impact on our health and emotional outlook. We cannot eliminate stress from our lives, but we can greatly improve the ways in which we learn to manage our reactions to stressful situations.

Stress Monkey Guru offers one-stop shopping for a range of modalities within a holistic framework to help manage stress without the use of drugs, intensive psychotherapy, or an overwhelming time commitment. We offer 6-, 8-, and 10-week programs tailored to specific situations and customized to the individual clients.

Holistic Mental Health Care

There are holistic health practitioners who will include stress management in their practices, and there are psychotherapists, psychiatrists and meditation teachers who will focus on stress relief, but no one is addressing stress management in a comprehensive, drug-free, holistic way that takes into account nutrition, movement, breathing/meditation, journaling and holistic health support with, if appropriate, natural herbs and supplements.

Stress Monkey Guru offers a multi-pronged approach to relieving stress symptoms with a focus on both the mind and body to develop coping skills which can also help with anger management, anxiety relief, hormone imbalances, weight management and overall wellness.