Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Holistic Bio Spa is excited to have our dear Jaqui Karr back! Here, she tells us everything she knows about how to get rid of stress and avoid sickness with holistic treatments.

When it comes to our messed up food supply and health, not a whole lot shocks me. But every once in a while I come across a fact or a study that has me screaming "Whaaaat?"

Autoimmune diseases affect 78% of women versus only 22% men. Is that something? That's insane! And I'll tell you why it happens in one word: "stress!"

Unfortunately, women generally don't handle stress as well as men do. We internalize, we hold on to things, we think about them too long, we just don't let things slide like men do. (For the boys that crashed the party and are reading this... yes, I know, you guys hurt too sometimes. I'm just talking in general about how we handle stress. Now please go back to doing boy stuff and stop reading this.)

Think about it: when a break up happens, what do men do? Go for a beer with their buddy, watch a game, look for their next girlfriend. And what do women do? Yeah, I know... I would need 44 pages to list all the stuff we do. So all I'm going to point out is that we don't simply forget it and move on.

Enough about what we have been doing wrong. Here's your checklist on how to handle life (and its stresses) better:

1. Don't try to find the answer to everything.

You don't have the years! Not to mention the job of "god" is taken. Your job is to live your life in the most pleasurable way possible. Don't try to solve all the mysteries and figure out why "he did that" or "she said that" or "the boss doesn't appreciate anything." They did, they didn't, they never will. Their actions are theirs to own, not yours to solve. Move on.

2. Breathe.

You hear it a lot, just like you hear "you should drink a lot of water," but you don't do it. Let's all start doing it (both breathing better and drinking more water). When something bothers you: stop, take a huge deep breath, and ask "Will this matter in 10 years?" Then keep taking long deep breaths. Just s-l-o-w your brain down. Hmm. Suddenly the "big problem" is a minor annoyance and not worth your time.

3. De-stress!

Do things that will remove stress from your body and mind. I like to take walks, but I can't always stop my thoughts when I walk, I need a distraction altogether from life. That's when I hit the spa. Audrey Hepburn said "Paris is always a good idea." Well, the gorgeous icon should have also said, "A spa day is always a good idea."

And there's more to it than just the relaxation...

Stress embeds itself into body tissue. No good. You don't want the wrong stuff embedded anywhere in or on you. It's like carrying around a really bad tattoo. A skilled massage therapist (like Addy at Holistic Bio Spa) knows how to get into your sympathetic nervous system and release all that stress. Just like food and air toxins get into your body and need to regularly be cleaned out, so does stress!

Speaking of food and air toxins, get a foot detox bath while you're there. It's like dusting the house, you have to do it regularly. Plus, I find an hour of massage isn't enough. I don't decompress completely in just an hour. So I like to start with a foot detox bath, at the end of which I feel calm and distant from my regular life – and then I go into a massage. It's such a superior experience.

Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up about how you handle things.

That's what got us into that 78% to begin with! We're really good at beating ourselves up about every little thing. It's a bad habit and we all need to break it. Come on Chicas! We can do better. Commit right now: let's make a sister pact that we will all take better care of ourselves.

This isn't just about feeling good for a day. This is about avoiding the serious illnesses that hit when you go through chronic stress. That's really what an autoimmune disease is: it's your body way over-taxed and it snaps like an elastic and breaks. So it's up to you to do something before it breaks. You have to help lighten the burden. When they say "stress kills," they're not kidding.

Here's my favorite half day at the spa:

• Foot Detox
• Deep Tissue Massage
• Facial

Of course I want to walk out looking smashing! Don't you? Call The Holistic Bio Spa at (322) 221-1607 or click HERE to schedule your appointment TODAY!

About the Author:
Jaqui Karr is a successful, media-featured Certified Sports Nutritionist, Certified Vegan/Vegetarian Dietitian on a quest to help millions looking for a better lifestyle find the diet they need to support a healthy way of living. Visit her website for a flexible diet plan that works for you!

---

Open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm, the Holistic Bio Spa is located in Plaza Marina, Local B-10, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México. For more information, click HERE, visit HolisticBioSpa.com, call 322-221-1607 or email info(at)holistic-bio-spa.com.