Stress Busting 101

Quote of the Week-December 1, 2009

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:00:24 +0000

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”- Lao Tzu

Stress Relief Tip of the Week-November 30, 2009

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:00:49 +0000

As we enter the busy holiday season, and with the concern about H1N1 and influenza, it is very important to make sure you take plenty of stress breaks. Taking 5-10 minutes 3 to 5 times a day to de-stress and relax, getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, drinking plenty of water and taking a good multi-vitamin can help to keep you healthy during the craziness of holiday shopping, parties and events.

You can do stress relieveing deep breathing exercise sitting at your desk or in your car. Parking farther away from store or mall enterances and walking farther helps to give you a short exercise break that can reduce stress. Take an extra walk around the mall or discount store to get an extra boost of stress relieveing exercise as well. Even walking in place while watching television can help you to reduce stress.

So now let me ask you this. What are some other ways that you can incorporate stress reducing exercises into your daily routine? Get creative and you will be much happier and healthier this holiday season

Taking a Time Out

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:10:12 +0000

With Thanksgiving this week, the jokes about family squabbles around the Thanksgiving table abound. This time of year can be stressful, especially since everyone’s schedules are even more packed than normal with shopping, family get togethers, travel, parties, school events, exams, projects and more. With all of the extra obligations, it is easy to find that your temper is shorter than normal and that you tend to get irritated and annoyed much more easily than usual. Arguments with family members often increase as the stress increases.

If you find yourself getting into frequent arguments with your kids, spouse, partner or other family member, you may want to try a time out. Now, this is not the kind of time out, where you send your kids to their rooms to “think about what they have done”. This is a time out for you. When you feel that your anger and frustration is climbing to dangerous levels, give yourself a time out to separate yourself from the situation. Let your family member know that you need a time out. Go into a separate room, where you can have some peace and quiet and take 10-15 minutes to do a little breathing and allow yourself to release some of the tension from the situation.

When you take a time out, you will find that allowing yourself to decompress before confronting the situation often prevents you from saying things out of anger that you simply don’t mean. It allows you to deal with situations in a much healthier way, for you and your loved one.

This simple trick will help not only to reduce your stress, but it can also improve your relationships. Try it the next time that you feel an argument coming on. Your health will be better for it!

Quote of the Week-November 24, 2009

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:38 +0000

“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency.”- Natalie Goldberg

Stress Relief Tip of the Week-November 23, 2009

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:30:39 +0000

This is a great week to practice gratitude. Being thankful for everything in your life…..both good and bad is a great way to reduce stress. Remember that there are always lessons to be learned in life’s difficult times, and of course, in the good.

Practicing gratitude is just that…..practice. Here’s a great exercise that you can use to build gratitude. Each day, write down a list of three things that you are grateful for. It can be something small, like a picture in your wallet, or larger, like your spouse, children, or house. Take a few moments and think about how each thing on your list makes your life better, or teaches you valuable lessons. Occasionally, try to include something that isn’t as pleasant. What are the lessons that you’ve learned from a divorce, or a challenge at work. How has it helped you to grow or change?

You will be amazed at how incorporating more gratitude into your life can help you to handle stressful situations more easily.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Importance of Gratitude

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:02:53 +0000

It’s hard to believe how quickly this year has passed and that next week we will be celebrating another Thanksgiving already. After spending a lot of time on the phone finalizing plans for Thanksgiving dinner with my family, I began thinking about Thanksgiving and what the day is really supposed to be about. We enjoy watching parades and football, getting together with family and friends and eating…….lots of eating. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and more. And then of course, collapsing on the couch having to undo buttons on our pants because we’ve eaten way too much.

But it’s really so much more than that. The Pilgrims celebrated the first official Thanksgiving in America in 1621. The three day feast was held to thank God for allowing them to survive their first year in the New World (over half of those who made the journey to America died the first winter here due to starvation and the bitter New England weather). It was also to celebrate and show gratitude to the Indians who had befriended the them and who had shared their knowledge of planting and harvesting. The whole celebration was about gratitude.

There is a quote that I love from Brother David Steindl-Rast which says:

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy-because we will always want to have something else or something more.

We live is a society that is used to complaining……about everything. It seems that nothing is ever quite good enough. And if bad things happen, the complaints start flying. But so often we forget to have gratitude, even in the difficult times.

At one time in our marriage, like so many couples, my husband and I were having some difficulties. At the time, it seemed as if we were headed towards divorce. My best friend asked me if because of the problems I regretted marrying my husband. She was very suprised when I said no. Even though there were challenges at the time, I learned a lot about who I am and I really grew and became stronger because of that time. I was very grateful for the lessons I learned at that time. Luckily, my husband and I were able to learn some really powerful lessons and as a result, not only are we still together, but our marriage is stronger than ever. I am still grateful for that time, even though it was painful and stressful.

And how often do we take the things in our life for granted. We want a better car, a better house, better clothes, better….everything. Take the time to be grateful for the things that you do have in your life. The roof over your head, the clothes on your back, the food in the cupboard, family and friends who love you.

Every night I practice gratitude. I will pick three things in my life (anything from a candle on my coffee table to my family), and I consciously express gratitude about it. I take the time to think about how each item makes my life better. I enjoy the candle because it is pretty, it smells good, and it gives off soft, warm light. With my family, I think about how they love me, even when I’m grumpy, and how they are always there for me. This little exercise always bring out the feelings of gratitude and has helped my gratitude grow by leaps and bounds.

When you make the choice to practice gratitude, you will notice that your stress level will decrease significantly. When all you do is complain about the problems, the negativity increases your stress. But the positive energy that is created by practicing gratitude can override the effects of stress.

So this year, when you are gathered at the Thanksgiving table, try practicing a little gratitude. Really think about what your are grateful for…..even the difficult things. And always remember that no matter how bad things may be, they could always be worse-and you still have a lot to be grateful for.

Stress Relief Tip of the Week-November 16, 2009

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:57:59 +0000

So often when we are stressed, we turn to caffeinated beverages like colas and coffee to give us the energy to keep us going. Unfortunately, the caffeine can be more detrimental to your health when the stress is piling up. Although caffeine can increase your energy level, it also increases your heart rate and respiration and can cause anxiety, the jitters, insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, and nausea, which can ultimately increase your stress level. Caffeine also acts as a diuretic and can actually cause you to lose more water than you gain by consuming the caffeinated beverage. This can lead to dehydration. Dehydration will cause you to be more lethargic and to lack the energy you need to get through your stressful situation.

So my recommendation is to skip the caffeinated beverages and choose water, or caffeine free herbal teas. Your body will thank you and ultimately, you will be able to face the stress much more effectively.

Stress Relief Tip of the Week-November 9,2009

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:21:17 +0000

If you are finding that you are experiencing a lot of stress, a great way to help reduce your stress level is to soak in a hot bath. Simply add 1-2 cups of epsom salts and 1 cup of baking soda to a hot tub full of water. Allow yourself to soak for at least 20 minutes. If you are fighting a cold or the flu, add a couple of ginger tea bags to the water. The ginger will probably make you a bit red for a short period of time while you are in the tub, but won’t cause any problems.

Stress stops the flow of lypmh in your lymphatic system which can lead to health issues. This simple soak not only helps to relax you, but helps to detoxify your body and helps you to feel better. The last time I was sick, I used this soak and within a couple of hours, my sore throat was almost completely gone, and the congestion I had been experiencing in my head, was draining away. But most of all, I was extremely relaxed and felt much better!

Do make sure that you drink a glass of filtered or distilled water before your bath and drink another glass or two after your bath to help flush out even more toxins. Also, if you wrap yourself up in a warm bathrobe or a good pair of sweats and a sweatshirt, you will continue to draw out toxins for several hours after your soak. Less toxins in your body will make you feel even better!

'When you make your piece with authority,
you become authority.'

 - Jim Morrison
Musician

Busting the Clutter

admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:03:34 +0000

We’ve all had a house that is cluttered. A pile of mail that we need to address, clothes stacked up, dirty dishes in the sink and covering the counter tops, little things that simply need to be put in their proper place. But did you know that clutter can actually significantly add to your stress level, and ultimately compromise your health and well being?

Often, we put off clearing the clutter because we are simply too busy with other more important tasks to get to the clutter piles. And then when we look around and see the clutter, we simply get overwhelmed and our stress increases. We keep telling ourselves “I really need to clean that up!” but somehow, it continues to pile up and we get even more stressed out.

A clutter free living environment helps to reduce stress. When our home is relatively free from clutter, it allows us to breathe and to focus on the more important tasks ahead of us.

So how do you tackle the clutter? The best way is to focus on a smaller cleaning task rather than becoming overwhelmed by looking at the big picture. Plan on conquering one room at a time, and break it down even further to finish one task in your focus room at a time. When it comes to the family, get them involved. Set up a cleaning list for each family member. Then have each family member complete one chore at a time-if you give them more than one, then they can get overwhelmed and you’ll find that they will tend to procrastinate more, so break it down. Even the younger children can help with things like putting toys away, or throwing dirty clothes in the hamper.

Incentives work well for the kids, so encouraging them to help with cleaning with the promise of a special treat, toy or movie can go along way. Of course, there is always the incentive of the allowance. Many parents assign monetary values to different reoccurring chores. If the kids complete that chore, then at the end of the week, they will receive an allowance based on the work that they completed. Don’t forget to give them praise and positive reinforcement for a job well done. It will go a long way to helping them to be more cooperative in the future.

Put together a goal sheet for clearing the clutter. Break it down into small enough pieces, so that you aren’t having to clean for hours at a time. Allot a specific, and achievable amount of time to do some cleaning. When you write down your cleaning goals, it will give you a greater sense of focus and allow you to really see what you are accomplishing as you cross each task off of your list.

My husband tends to be a very messy person. But I am fairly organized. And to top it off, he hates to clean. What I realized was that he did not actually hate cleaning. He was allowing his things to pile up so much that he was feeling very overwhelmed, and in turn it really stressed him out. When he couldn’t stand the mess any longer, he had so many things on his to do list, that he simply didn’t know where to start. So often times, he ended up not doing anything.

Once I recognized that it was the overwhelm and the resulting stress that were the real culprit, I began having him decide what was the most important cleaning task for him to finish first. Then I had him focus on that one task. If he began wandering away from that task, I helped him to get back on track. But breaking the cleaning down into smaller pieces, it has allowed him to be less overwhelmed and stressed out, and he’s actually volunteering to clean more often, and our house in general is much more organized.

So try putting together a plan to bust your clutter. You will be amazed how much better you feel and you be able to reduce your stress level and improve your well-being and your life!

How Noise Can Make You Sick

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:29:21 +0000

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the kind where the kids are crying, the dogs are barking, you have the vacuum cleaner running, the television is blaring, one of your teenagers had the music up very loudly, the washer and dryer is running and the dishwasher is going. And with all of that noise, you just want to scream. You long for a few moments away to quiet the chaos in your house and in your mind.

When you are being inundated with large amounts of noise without interruption for an extended period of time, it can rob you of your peace of mind and your feeling of well being. Most people are completely unaware of how exposure to too much noise effects us, mentally, emotionally and physically.

Now, most people are aware that exposure to noise that is too loud can create a loss of hearing. If you go to excessively loud rock concerts, your ears will probably be buzzing for a while after you leave the venue. Factory workers, airline workers and those working in construction also need to take precautions to protect their hearing.

But in everyday life, we come in contact with a great deal of noise that can actually work to compromise our mental and physical health.

Some sources of noise pollution that can be found in your home are:

*Appliances such as your washing machine, dryer, mixers, dishwasher, coffee grinders, food processors, microwaves and vacuums all contribute.

*Entertainment sources-Television, stereos, video games, computer speakers, mp3 players. When used with moderate to high volumes, they can have negative effects on us.

*Family-shouting, crying, singing, clapping, stomping of feet, coughing, sneezing and snoring.

*Pets-barking, whining, meowing, fighting, panting.

*Others-toilets flushing, running water, heating and air conditioning systems.

Outside your home:

*Vehicles-car horns, large trucks, airplanes, motorcycles, helicopters, tractors and buses all contribute highly to the noise pollution problem.

*Any outdoor machinery such as generators, lawn mowers, leaf blowers and such contribute.

*Sporting events, concerts, movies, restaurants can all be very loud and overload your system.

Even the small and irritating sounds like a faucet dripping, someone chewing food or a clock ticking can overwhelm you if you are already overwhelmed by excess noise.

So many of us have become so used to being surrounded by sound on a continuous basis, that we cannot recognize how the overabundance of noise is creating stress and eventually health problems for us.

Even the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recognize the growing health problem that is created by noise pollution.

According to the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Community Noise, noise is an increasing public health problem. Noise can have the following adverse health effects: hearing loss; sleep disturbances; cardiovascular and psychophysiologic problems; performance reduction; annoyance responses; and adverse social behavior.

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/noise/

If you find that small noises are irritating to you, if a ticking clock, or the chewing of a family member is becoming irritating to you, it may be a buildup of stress from all of the noise that you have encountered throughout your day. You must do something to counteract the negative effects of noise induced stress in order to protect your health.

If you live in an area that experiences a lot of traffic or airport noise, you can counteract that with the use of a white noise machine that can mask some of the detrimental traffic or heavy machinery sounds.

Music is also a powerful tool that can be used for undoing the negative effects of sound pollution. Soft, soothing music on your stereo or mp3 player can actually help to soothe you mentally and help to calm you psychologically. Soothing music, or the sound of rain, or the ocean can also help to improve your mood and help you to concentrate better when working on projects or reading. Amazingly, soft nature sounds or music do not contribute to noise pollution stress, but have a positive psychological effect and can quickly reduce your mental and physical stress.

Taking some quiet time each day can also be very helpful. No television, no loud music…….just silence.

Meditation and deep breathing exercises can also be effective in helping you decompress and let go of some of the excess stress caused by noise pollution.

Also, if you do need to use loud appliances, earplugs can be a great way to reduce the amount of noise that is getting into your system.

If you have problems with noise waking you up while you are sleeping, try using a white noise machine, a fan, or listening to a soothing CD of gentle rain falling, the ocean or other sounds of nature. Earplugs are beneficial in helping to cover excessive traffic noise, or the snoring of a spouse or significant other.

Also, if a family member listens to the television or music too loudly, suggest they use headphones. You can purchase headphones that plug into most televisions and stereo systems for very little, and wireless headphones are available as well.

Be proactive in combatting the effects of stress in your life that are caused by noise. Not only will you feel better, but you will find that you have more energy, a better mental attitude and better concentration. You will get much more done and you are guaranteed to by healthier for it!