From the Wichita Eagle Beacon

MONDAY
April 7, 1997
12:20 a.m. CDT

Sonja Milbourn uses a fingertip thermometer to check the temperature of her hands. The warmer her hands, the more relaxed she is. (Anthony Reed photo)

IT WORKED FOR ME

Name: Sonja Milbourn, El Dorado

Personal: 38, married, three children, instructor in the Center for Independent Study at Butler County Community College.

Problem: High blood pressure and migraine headaches. Her father died in a car accident at age 31, and Milbourn speculates that a heart attack could have caused it. "I just watched my blood pressure move up as I approached 31." Her headaches started at age 9, and they were "very classic migraines, with the aura and extreme nausea."

Both problems worsened as she planned a marriage and, four months after the wedding, faced pregnancy. Her doctor suggested she start blood pressure medication, but she decided, "No, I think I can probably do something about this."

What she did: Started practicing what she taught. One of the classes she offers is stress management, and she began using the techniques. She also worked to lessen her perfectionist attitude towards life.

How she did it: She knows that the warmer you feel and the heavier your limbs feel, the more relaxed you are. So she tries to create those feelings.

She makes an active effort to clear her mind whenever possible and to relax her face. Visualization -- seeing a pleasant place in your mind or imagining someone rubbing your shoulders and neck -- works for her. So does taking the temperature of her finger, then taking it again after listening to a relaxation tape. "The warmer you are, the more relaxed you are."

The more she worked on relaxation, the less she needed external aids to reach a relaxed state. Her last migraine was when she was pregnant with her third child, and that migraine was the only one she's had for years. Her blood pressure is down to a normal level, even though she weighs more now than she did when it was a problem.

Once, while hospitalized, she practiced her techniques. She had on a heart monitor and kept setting it off when her heartbeat dropped to exceptionally low levels.

Her hints for success: She recommends "Mom's Vicks therapy." She rubs Vicks Vapor Rub all over her face, then covers it with a warm moist washcloth and then with a towel. She's done it so often that she now can re-create the feeling of warmth just by thinking about menthol.

Fingertip thermometers like Milbourn uses are available for 80 cents each from Conscious Living Foundation. Call (800) 578-7377. The non--profit organization also will provide a catalog of other stress-management products.

It Worked for Me is an occasional feature on people who have found a way to improve their physical or mental health. To suggest a person to be featured, call Karen Shideler at (316) 268-6674.


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