stress

Benefits of Meditation

Why is meditation so good?

1. It helps you relax as you forget about the cares of the day. As you relax, your blood pressure goes down. The tension in your shoulders starts to seep away.

2. It distracts you from day-to-day worries.

3. It creates a sense of calmness.

4. People who meditate become less emotionally involved and more able to care for people. A recent study showed that when non-meditators were shown photos of people in distress or injured, they turned away or were repulsed. But meditators felt more compassion rather than revulsion and were able to be more caring.

5. Meditation allows you to focus more easily on the task at hand.

Is meditation the only way to have all of these benefits?

Nope.

Tai chi, yoga, stretching and even knitting or gardening can help you relax, feel better and get rid of stress. But meditation is one more natural tool that you can add to your self-help toolbox of things that are good for you.

February 28November 7

Work Place Stress? 7 Strategies To Reduce Work Stress

Do you have stress at work?

There are physical as well as emotional stresses. Some stressors make us feel powerful, in charge and are fun, and some make us feel anxious and cause pain.

If we run on stress-fuel most of the time, we need to give our bodies a break.

1. Watch your posture. When we slouch, we can’t breathe as deeply. We don’t get as much oxygen into our brains and bodies. Slouching makes us tired and stressed. Slouching makes our backs ache.

2. Feel your “sit bones” on the chair. Center yourself so your weight is equal on both sides. You want to feel your sit bones equally. Rock slowly and gently, rolling on your sit bones from front to back, front to back. This relaxes your back and neck. Let your head move slightly forward as your round your waist backward. When you round your tummy forward (closer to your knees)let your head move over your shoulders.

3. Get more sleep. If you are not sleeping as much as your body needs, your stress level will go up. You will be more easily irritated. Arrange your evening or morning schedules so you can get 30 or 60 more minutes of sleep.

4. Grab a funny story or joke to share or to laugh privately about. Laughter makes stress hormones go down. A good laugh is like a massage from the inside out. Sharing something funny makes us feel better.

5. Pretend you are chewing gum. Keep your lips together, teeth slightly apart. Open and close your jaw without opening your lips. Your teeth should stay apart. This relaxes tense muscles around your jaw and temples.

6. Sit up and close your eyes. Roll your eyes around. With your lids closed, look up and roll your eyes in a complete circle. Roll your eyes in the opposite direction, in a complete circle. Do this several times in each direction. Eyes have muscles, and they can get tired. This relaxes the muscles around your eyes.

7. Take a “re-focus break.” Stop what you are doing and look around. Look at something at a distance. Look at something very close, perhaps your hand. Look far away again. Re-focusing helps tired eye muscles and gives us a quick mini-break.

Lots of little breaks reduce stress and actually help us be more productive, because we have less discomfort. When we take a lot of mini-breaks, we feel better and we get more done, not less.

Now you have several strategies you can use to reduce your stress at work.

Which will you use first?

In my experience, the people who are more proactive get the most benefit from a stress reduction program. Get started now!

“Because You Deserve To Feel Better!”

February 28November 7

Work Stress–7 Steps To Get Rid Of Stress At Work

Work stress can cause pain, just like all stress can.

Since we don’t like having pain, we want to eliminate as much stress as possible.

Here are seven steps to start lowering your stress level now.

1. Start reducing your stress level outside of work. When you are calmer at home,that will carry over and you will feel more calm at work. The same tools that work at home will help you feel less stressed at your job.

2. Learn how to breathe for relaxation. Practice at home in bed. At work, sit up straight and do the same deep belly breaths you practiced in bed. Count to four on the inhale, slowly, hold for four, and exhale to the count of four. Let your neck relax. Let it rock gently front to back as you breathe. Repeat several times.

3. You are very good at what you do. Remember that. Keep reminding yourself. You are good! Negative self-talk causes stress.

4. Take frequent stretch breaks. Get your arms up and back. Open up the front of your body like a cat or dog does when they stretch. This will get the blood flowing again, you will feel more energized and less stressed.

5. Lift your shoulders up and roll them back, while your arms are hanging at your sides. You can do this often at your desk. It helps release muscle tension in your neck and shoulders. Less muscle discomfort equals less stress.

6. Learn to meditate, visualize or pray. Take a few minutes every hour to recharge your mind by going to your safe place, in your mind, for a mini-break or to bask in the warmth of God’s grace. Sit up straight, close your eyes, breathe. Relax.

7. Be grateful for the day, your job, your wonderful body, your life. Gratitude knocks out negative thoughts. Negative thinking causes stress. Think, “I am grateful for…” Say, “I am so fortunate that…”

Which of these tips will you incorporate into your life today?

Will you practice breathing tonight, so you can do it tomorrow? Will you practice rolling your shoulders to reduce your stress?

Choose any three of these tips and use this stuff.

“Because You Deserve To Feel Better!”

February 28November 7

Work Stress–7 Ways To Get Rid Of Stress At Work

Work stress can cause pain, just like all stress does.

Since we don’t like having pain, we want to eliminate as much stress as possible from our work place and our life.

Here are 7 ways to begin lowering your stress level.

1. Start reducing the things that stress you outside of work. When you are calmer at home, that will carry over and you will feel more calm at work, also. The same tools that work outside of work will help you at your job.

3. Remember, you are very good at what you do. Remember that. Keep reminding yourself. You are good! Negative self-talk causes stress, so talk yourself up!

6. Learn to meditate, visualize or pray. Take a few minutes every hour to recharge your mind by going to your safe place, in your mind, for a mini-vacation or to bask in the warmth of God’s grace. Whatever makes you feel peaceful will work.

It is possible to reduce your stress. Just give yourself some practice time and see the results.

And when your stress is less, your pain will be less also.

And, that’s a good thing.

“Because You Deserve to Feel Better!”

November 12November 7

Does Stress Cause Pain?

Could it be that stress causes pain?

Yes it does. Here is how it works. We each have a central nervous system (CNS.) Our CNS governs everything in our body.

Think of it this way: Your nervous system is a highway. The impulses, or messages, that travel on your CNS are the cars.

Everything is going fine, your cars are all travelling smoothly along the highway.

Ow! Banged my big toe into the table leg. That’s okay, all the cars are still moving right along.

Dang! Another notice from the bill collector! All the cars are still moving right along.

What do you mean, you want a divorce? Tire might be getting flat.

I have such a cold! Cars are still moving pretty good.

Fender-bender. That’s going to cost me plenty. Traffic is getting heavy.

What a headache! Uh-oh. One of the cars just slid into the median.

The dog died. A bunch of other cars are slamming on their brakes to try to avoid a pile up.

Just slammed my hand in the door. I think I broke my finger. Big pile up on your highway. Cars are screeching to a halt, some are smashing into others. Traffic is stopped.

The highway is overloaded, and nothing is moving smoothly now.

We function great when we have no problems. We do pretty well when we have only a few problems. But when a lot of things are going wrong and we feel stressed…

Our CNS – our nervous system highway – begins to show symptoms of overload. We begin to have pain.

If we cannot relieve a lot of the stress, it is possible for our pain to become chronic – we have it all the time.

However, if we can remove any of the stressors in our lives, our pain can diminish and become less. Each stress that we get rid of will lower our pain level.

The more stresses we can get rid of, the more smoothly the cars on our CNS highway will start to travel again.

So, the car gets fixed, we get a new dog, our cold goes away, our toe heals. Our stress level goes down.

To help our CNS highway work better we have to do some things to straighten out the cars and get them all moving again.

You get a nice massage, take a soak in the tub, get lost in your favorite music to relax by, talk to your favorite friend, work something out, finish a project that’s been bugging you, take a brisk or slow walk, sniff some lavender oil or a relaxing blend of aromatherapy oil.

You do some stretching or deep breathing while relaxing. You take a walk in the softly drizzling rain. Clean a closet or a drawer. Hum or sing or read or laugh. Watch a kid or a puppy or a cat. Garden or dance.

Talk with a therapist or counselor, take a nap, or volunteer.

Distract from the stressors or correct them.

Anything we can do to eliminate or negate any stresses we have will help us to feel better.

The less stress we have, the less pain.

And, there are basically two types of stress.

1. The jet fighter pilot. You have stress but it is good stress. You are in control.

2. The prisoner of war who has no control.

Good stress can feel energizing and powerful.

Repeat after me: I am the jet fighter pilot!

Yes, you are.