My daughter sends me the best text messages.  My favorite was “The damn hamster died.”  I think that was Fluffball III.  I saved that message on my phone until I destroyed the phone in the washing machine this summer.

Yesterday she sent me this one:

                           “Did you happen to buy every bottle of “Panic Button” from Wegman’s?!  None left for me :(“

No, I did not. I advised her to tell customer service she did NOT find what she was looking for.  And to look panicked.  (This is what we call mother-adult daughter bonding–she knows she can always turn to me for expert advice.)

I immediately called my other daughter…who had previously been gifted with some much needed “Panic Button”…to see if there was a website where we could place an emergency order.  And indeed there was.  www.auracacia.com  We not only can order Panic Button and Chill Pill, but they sell a Calm Baby fragrance that newest little granddaughter  (and her parents) could surely benefit from.  And a car charger fragrance diffuser so that one can be Chill while driving.   There was even an article on using aromatherapy in the classroom.  (That was tempting, but I have suffered through enough student-inflicted fragrance attacks to know better than to add my own spray to the mix.)

Well, somebody must have spoken to somebody at Wegman’s because today the aromatherapy shelf was re-stocked with both “Panic Button” and “Chill Pill” essential oil blends.  Whew!  Just in time for Monday’s rush hour.  I bought a bottle of Chill Pill oil to add to my personal bath salt blend and a couple of sprays for gifts.

I wish I could blame the need for anti-stress products and services on the school year.  The sad fact is that some of us are just wired kind of tight.   People who are naturally “chill” don’t need chill pills.  They know how to relax.

Yesterday, while taking a three mile walk, I had a revelation about walking.  It was a big deal to me to walk three miles three months after total hip replacement.  The bigger deal, though, was walking that first mile as relaxed as could be, arms just swinging away, and nothing—absolutely nothing–hurt.  It was amazing.

Well, the entire walk wasn’t quite that amazing.  Eventually various muscles started to complain and I had to tell myself to relax the hips, relax the hips. It wasn’t as easy to do as it was to say.  When I got home, I did some googling to figure out what exactly was hurting and came across some amazing advice: constructive rest.

According to the various articles and videos I saw, constructive rest involves lying on the floor with knees up and feet flat on floor.  A pillow between the knees and a scarf to tie the knees together will keep the legs from splaying.  A book under the head will align the neck.  And then…just lie there for fifteen minutes.  Oh, I so seriously can do this.  I am willing to commit to this.  I am absolutely in favor of scheduling time for my body to do absolutely nothing.

One of the articles I read said that some people have a hard time with constructive rest.  They twitch and spasm like they’re having a seizure.  They beg for permission to do something productive while lying there.  I had no such difficulties.  I was perfectly comfortable lying on the floor with my legs tied together and a book under my head.  I think that perhaps I am cut out to be an expert at constructive rest.

It’s that time of year:  the new fall schedules are underway but my brain and the weather are stilling thinking summer. Every year I wonder how I am going to cope.  This year my strategy is to stop striving so hard. Let’s hope I can succeed without asphyxiating everyone around me with Panic Button spray.