Accompanying a friend to a job interview, I recap the lessons Dr. Amy Wechsler, dermatologist and psychiatrist, who, like me, believe in the mind-body connection, and how important it is to be our best in these crucial hours.

To add to the anxiety of the situation, just look at the traffic we faced. That’s why we had to take the next offramp!

I still get scared when I see it, after facing the worse traffic jam in the history of the country in 2005 while fleeing Hurricane Rita …

Well, be brave…

Fortunately, we had followed the tips and preparations of a super ‘expert’ on the subject. It helped a lot, and I have to share it with you:

Here are some ‘little things’ that are extremely important for you to do before the ‘long awaited’ or at least the most needed interview… Remember, she is a psychiatrist and dermatologist.

A few days before the interview …

1 – Practice good posture and especially the position of your hands. Her suggestion is to sit in front of friends while dining with them. This will greatly reduce your anxiety, nervousness and insecurity in front of others.

2 – If you are one of those who perspire a lot when nervous or turn red, talk to your doctor, he can give you a remedy with beta blockers to calm the nervous system. Some musicians use this combat stage fright.

3 – If you’re like those who sweat just in your hands, apply CertainDri the night before (antiperspirant with aluminum chloride).

Minutes before the interview:

1 -  Mints are indispensable at this time. They increase salivation not leaving you with that sensation of dry mouth and freshen your breath.

2 – Breathe through your nose and inhale through the mouth for 30 seconds, it regulates the air from your body, helps you feel more relaxed and talk more confidently.

During the interview ….

1 – Keep eye contact with whom you will talk to as soon as you enter the room and avoid staring at corners.

2 – During the handshake, let the interviewer release his first hand.

3 – Cross your ankles, not your legs, because cross-legged it’s easy slip into a slouched like position.

4 – Straighten your back during the questions, this will ’buy you time’ and your appearance will look better because the longer we sit, the greater the tendency of having a sloppy appearance.

It worked for my super shy friend, she got the job and now we are celebrating!

Spread the word! just click the Tell A Friend below.

After a stressful day, which I had no control over, I thought, “just because I am feeling stressed out doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy life on the rest of this beautiful Autum day! Come on dogs!! The world is full of cactus needles, but we dont have to feel like them!”

I remember reading one day, I don’t know where, that ‘we can’t have a good day without having done a good deed for someone who can’t pay us back’. Well, my dogs, you can’t contribute to that, but at least in the meantime…

There’s nothing more relaxing, magical destressing than to live near the sea… and to have health to enjoy. I love it.

The sea calls me, lives in my heart and does not pay rent…

And it’s so good to be surrounded by my little creatures who love life… and the street!

Also, sometimes to change our mood, we just need to change the scenery…

Every time I get to the beach and start walking, something ancestral leads me to take off my shoes, and bury my fingers in the sand and play with what I find.

Treasures of the ocean left on the beach. Gifts of nature just to look at. I’ll move it with a stick and… Nothing is interesting if you are not interested, but I’m interested in EVERYTHING. Life IS the greatest gift of life. Hmm… Never mind  

Splendid! COLOSSAL! ENOURMOUS…!  They come around the corner …

Oh, this is called Valde… Is it Walderez …?!?!

Ha….. Similar, but not the same and not so pretty as my name.

The land should look much better seen from the ocean, as the ocean of the earth…

And I’m passionate about tugs. They’re so cute with their love handles around them, like us…

My God …! It’s scary to live near a port terminal…! Valdivia and Valdardena! Will there be a war? I don’t know… will they collide…?

Oh, oh… And me on the beach thinking about another day in paradise.

Oh no! At least we don’t have pirates ….

We don’t have control over the wind, but we can adjust the sails …

Whew… what a relief …

Gigantic, buuut… I love the tugboats and their little tires.

Go Valdivia … We are all in the same boat, in the ocean. May the calm sea make good sailors of you…

I think ships are the closest things to dreams that the hands of man have ever built.

The sea has no god, except God himself. And do not doubt the orders of Captain!

Sometimes life is sinking + stranding events, but we can not forget to sing when we are in the lifeboat. Because each one of us has a ‘key’, which can open the gates of heaven or hell.

All this in less than 10 minutes of a normal day. And what a treasure it is! May I not pass this day thinking about a more ‘perfect day tomorrow’.

So, when anxious and burdened with negative thoughts, I recommend to anyone who can: go to the sea, it can drown out everything with the great sound of its waves and help us to have peace within ourselves again.

Back in my little corner, I could still see the Valdivia. I wish you fair winds and calm seas, Valdivia… We are under the same sky, but with different horizons.

Bless you as you go! Look at everything as if it were the first or the last time,… and enjoy the small things, because one day they may have been ‘great’.

Why is it that we like the sea so much…? It must be because it has this great power to make us think about what we need to think about.

A tired dog is a happy dog. After this adventure, look at his smile!

Life is great!

A day at sea is worth much more than a month in the city….

Living on the beach is different, time doesn’t pass hour by hour, but moment by moment.

Listen this: maybe the old story of Pinocchio is not just a ’story ‘…

According Dr.Alan Hirsch, “When people lie, the cells that are within our noses swell and spread histamine that makes it itch. As a result, the liar often touches or itches his nose. Other things he says is that they lean forward or use words like “I could not…”  instead of the contration ‘couldn’t’. Or they might say “…even though I really wanted to have called you… blah, blah, blah ..” instead of “I could not call yesterday …” all this, to put more emphasis on the lie they are trying to preach.

Interesting isn’t it?

Who doesn’t want to detect a lie?

I do! And have learned from life, a few little secrets from now on will not be so secret… And I’ve also seen that, Shiloh, my little dog, tries to fool me or lie about food – but that’s a subject for another day.;-)

But today, Toby will help me with her expressions. Here he’s questioning… doubtful. Just look at his gaze.

Ok, my observations are: if a person laughs just with their mouth, while the rest of the face shows a different type of emotion or feeling… It is deception for sure! And you can see it if you’re alert at those times when you have doubts about something in question.

Another thing: changing the subject quickly!… The liar will feel more laid back, relaxed and happy with the change, while the someone telling the truth will get a little confused and quickly want to go back to the original subject. And look in their eyes, of course, always.

Groucho Marx, the comedian, thinks that the way to tell if the person is being honest with you is if you ask her and she says “YES “, you know that she is lying.

For me the truth is not afraid of questions. Half-truths are lies and if you want to ‘stretch the truth’, you’re’ exaggerating…

Now there is also another side to the story: if the truth is told with evil intentions, it overcomes all the lies you could invent.

I would like to teach you some tricks to look thinner, taller and elegant. What I call the “Clothes Diet’… Because clothes are inevitable things, not frivolous things and always want to say something. We even consider them, if you would… ‘furniture of the mind’ that appear.

I learned these tricks in my childhood, watching the customers of my mother’s boutique, who was not only an excellent tailor, but also in such style she was beyond the perfection of fashion! I believe that ’fashion’ is what you adopt, even when you don’t know you yourself, even when you do not have a style, it might even be something you buy… but please, style, we must have! Our clothes have a kind of ’strange’ POWER, not merely made to keep us warm or to keep us from being ‘indecent’, but to dress us with elegance.

Thus here are the tips from this observer:

1 – Forget the baggy clothes! It is a big mistake to think that baggy clothes make you thinner. Dress in well aligned cloths with a good cut, and nothing tight. Actually, a good seamstress or tailor can be your best allies, making very inexpensive clothes seem to have cost a fortune. A good cut is much more important than using dark colors in order to ‘align’ the silhouette.

2 – Take care of your foundation – ie, the underwear that holds you together and that always makes you look thinner! Just be sure that this does not cause any rupture of internal organs. So do not forget, these ‘unmentionable’, never discussed in public, except in entire pages of magazines

3 – Use a belt - that sounds crazy, but if you have a little belly, the right thing to do is to put a belt on! Not too high, because that’s outdated; also not too low which looks sloppy, but right in the middle. Visually, this creates a shorter torso and lengthens the lower body.

4 – Accessories - Ladies, if you are not very happy with the lower part of your body, do not use eye-catching bracelets, because when your arms go down, attention also goes down… The best thing is to use beautiful earrings and necklaces.

5 – Coats – These are a great way for women to disguise the hips or belly. Use those which go down just above the knees and are well made, well structured and aligned in the shoulders, and use it open thus creating a vertical line from top to bottom. In this way, jackets greatly reduce the hips and give you a sleek, more refined silhouette.

Ahhh… People rarely notice anything wrong in the way you dress, especially if you also use a beautiful smile! And when in doubt, always use red and high heels, that don’t endanger the health of your feet, because they’ll favor you.

Because… have you ever noticed: beautiful shoes have very good effect on your head, but exactly the opposite effect on your feet…?