Google Tech Talks April, 23 2008 ABSTRACT This practical session on meditation teaches the technique of awakening the subtle energy from the position of the nervous system and the energy centers using positive affirmations to attain self-realization. Objectives: •Understand the mechanism which causes stress in life and at work •To gain control and mastery over stress •To release the energy for living a creative and satisfying life. •To optimize one’s potential and resources at work •To understand the changes that take place post meditation. •To empower others around us. Benefits of meditation: •Improves health, memory and concentration •Enhances communication and inter personal skills •Relationships become harmonious •Problem solving skills and creativity are enhanced •Peace of mind, contentment & joy are felt from within. This transformation takes place naturally and spontaneously through the awakening of the energy centers. She will conclude the session by going through research findings on meditation and stress management. No mats are required. This meditation is performed while sitting on a chair. Speaker: Dr Villy Doctor Ms. Villy Doctor has a doctorate in “Psycho-Biological Changes that take place through Meditation.” She ran a counselling and vocational guidance center where she helped people deal with problems like drug abuse, alcoholism and personal plus business stress. This is where she saw the difference meditation makes. She has spent several years studying …
Posts Tagged ‘Managing’
Managing Stress and Psychosomatic Disorders Through Meditation
Monday, November 8th, 2010How does Islam guide us in managing stress?
Friday, August 13th, 2010
This lecture on “How does Islam guide us in managing stress? by Professor Rafik Beekun and Dr. Tahar Salaat is a very short excerpt from the Islamic Management Series lectures which have been designed to help leaders of Muslim organizations become effective, Insha Allah. The series is on DVD covering 10 lectures based on the training workshops which Professor Rafik Beekun, University of Nevada, USA, has conducted globally with Islamic for profit and not for profit organizations and masajid. Each lecture was professionally filmed in front of a live Muslim audience, and the whole DVD set (10 DVDs) includes about 13 hours of lectures (with separate viewable slide show, and individually accessible modules) on the following topics: 1. Leadership from an Islamic Perspective Vol. 1. [2 modules: Defining leadership, and The Leader as Coach and Delegator] 2. Leadership from an Islamic Perspective Vol. 2. [2 modules: Leadership and Emotional Intelligence in Islam, and Developing effective leaders] 3. How Does Islam Guide Us in Managing Stress? [6 modules: What is stress? Three approaches to stress, Sources & effects of stress, Stress coping mechanisms, Islamic coping mechanisms, and Preventive stress management] 4. Managing Conflict in Islamic Organizations [6 modules: What is conflict? Conflict management, Levels of conflict and the conflict process, Conflict resolution techniques, Step-by-step process for resolving conflict, and Constructive functions of conflict] 5. Business …
Managing Work Stress
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
www.christian-life-coaching.org Quick Tips for managing Work Stress during the Financial Crisis and maintaining the work-life balance during economic hard times. From James Thomas at www.Christian-Life-Coaching.org
Managing Stress Naturally
Monday, March 22nd, 2010With the increased demand of today’s rapid paced society, often we find that our immune systems become more compromised than ever before, our bodies suffer from a number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and the effects of all stress types can manifest themselves in a number of ways. However, getting help with stress and using holistic medicines, natural nutrition, and other alternative medicine practices can play in important role in our physical, mental, and emotional health.
While many of use are not taught at an early age how to manage stress in our daily lives, we often find ourselves looking for help with stress later in life. As the pressures of our daily demands at work, home, or school mount, we find that managing stress and learning new stress management techniques are vital to our performance and well being. The effects that being overstressed can have on the body can cause symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as decrease our body’s own immune response, which can make us more prone to certain illnesses and diseases. In addition, the cortisol effect caused by stress in our bodies can deplete our bodies’ essential nutrients and cause a number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Those who have learned to manage different stress types through holistic medicines and natural nutrition have already discovered that these methods help with stress and that stress management is essential to greater peace of mind, wellness, productivity, and performance. While managing stress is no easy task, and there is no magic pill that can eliminate the psychological stress that we all can face daily, learning about natural nutrition and incorporating a few simple stress relief techniques in your daily life can have a profound impact.
When it comes to daily exercise, nearly all forms of exercise will improve your body’s sense of balance and help with stress, but it has also been proven that methods such as Yoga or Tai Chi can also improve your moods, provide greater help with stress, and allow you to remain more at peace throughout the day. While these forms of exercise are easy to do and can be performed virtually anywhere without the added cost of equipment, you can also incorporate a simple meditation or prayer time into your daily routine that will also help with stress and allow you to remain more focused. In addition, hypnosis therapy has also proven to be beneficial at centering the mind and can also help with stress throughout the day.
Natural nutrition is also a great way to help with stress and ensure that your body is performing at its peak potential to ward off the threat of illness or disease. In today’s society, we are inadvertently exposed to a number of toxins in the form of preservatives, caffeine, and sugar that can all threaten our physical health. Eating natural foods is the best way to ensure that your body’s resources are best spent fighting off other forms of bacteria that can cause illness. Supplementing with fish oil or consuming foods that are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids can also help with stress, as they reduce the cortisol reaction in the body caused by stress. Another nutritional factor to help with stress is to ensure that you are eating the proper amount of B vitamins in your daily diet.
Discover the natural secrets to stress relief. Visit http://www.southwestfloridachiropractor.com right now!
Understanding and Managing Stress
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010Stress is destructive to health and relationships. Stress is experienced when a person feels demands and expectations that exceed perceived available resources. Resources may relate to time, money, skill, tools, etc. The perception of the imbalance between the demands and resources and potential future adverse consequences for failing to meet the demand or expectation does not have to be correct in order for the situation to cause stress. That is, false understandings or beliefs can cause significant stress. Therefore any event or thought that causes a person to perceive a threatening demand is a potential source of stress.
It is true that on this planet there are situations that need to be reacted to and in the absence of stress, our species would never have survived. Accordingly, a positive aspect of stress is that it alerts you to a threat and provides you with increased levels of energy and motivation to help in coping with the threat. However mishandled stress or too much stress causes strain and can be devastating for you.
The negative effects of stress are numerous and perhaps we don’t even know them all. However, they include fatigue, irritability, anger, difficulty concentrating, a lower immune system, a variety of serious physical health problems, insomnia, depression, anxiety, loss of personal relationships, over eating and drug and alcohol abuse.
There is no one way to deal with stress. Stress may be reduced, eliminated or managed by addressing one or more of the underlying components of stress. For example you might reduce demands by planning ahead, increasing available resources, just saying “no”, finding ways to increase efficiency. Or, you might reduce the stress emotions by taking a break from the stressful situation, relaxing, exercising, getting a massage, taking a vacation. Or, you might eliminate or mitigate the impact of the consequences of failing to meet the demand by preparing for the consequences (e.g. having a savings account or buying insurance), changing your priorities (so what if the car doesn’t get washed?), accepting what can’t be changed, putting energy towards improving the situation.
You need to have the correct perspective concerning the demands you face. You need to be aware of your capabilities, resources, and the real consequences of failing to meet a demand. You need to see things accurately without distortions. Believing something is terrible when it is only just unpleasant can cause unnecessary stress.
There is scientific evidence that suggests that the experience of stress in the past magnifies how you react to stress in the future because stress actually alters your body and your brain. You can become sensitive to stress and then even the smallest stressor can invoke reactions in your brain and body that cause your brain to treat a small incident as a life threatening event. Because some stress is requisite for humans, your body is designed to provide an appropriate reaction to stress depending on the degree of the threat. However, when you become sensitive to stress due to earlier stress experiences, your body’s response that is designed for life threatening events is activated by ordinary trials and tribulations of life such that you respond inappropriately (in other words, overreact). This sensitivity to stress may begin during childhood. It is likely that the impact is greater when it is initiated during childhood.
It is of extreme importance that you become aware of your body so that you can sense when it is getting stressed and either reduce the stressors (i.e. demands perceived to exceed resources and perceived negative consequences) or take time for meditation, yoga, exercise, gardening, reading, writing, listening to music, going for a walk. Also, the knowledge about being sensitive to stress due to past stress experiences (i.e. the life-death reaction to inconsequential matters) is helpful, if it applies to you, because you can use logic and rational thoughts to understand why you’re reacting as you are and to correct this behaviour if you feel yourself overreacting to stressors.
You are vulnerable to stress and will experience stress; but you do not have to be its victim. You have the ability to control stress and what you permit it to do to you. http://www.yourowndevices.ca
Managing Stress without the Use of Drugs
Monday, March 15th, 2010In today’s fast paced environment, many people are under a lot
of stress. Women are even more susceptible to the strains of
everyday life. Some are single mothers that work full time jobs
and then come home and care for their baby. They are over
worked, underpaid and under extreme stress.
Many women go to their family doctors complaining about
headaches, lack of sleep and mood swings. The doctor will calmly
explain to them that they have stress problems, and to take a
few days off, and then prescribe them a drug to alleviate the
symptoms.
While the drugs may work in the short term, it doesn’t treat the
root problems. When you stop taking the drug, the stress will
still be present. And who has the time to put their feet up and
relax, especially if you have a toddler causing mayhem at home?
So what are the alternatives?
Well there are many and we will explore a few of them in this
article, but the first thing you have to do is figure out the
cause of your stress. Stress can be caused by many things. What
is stressful to one person can be joyful for the next. For
instance, speaking in public can cause some people a lot of
anxiety, but to some it is a joy.
Once you have located the reasons for your stress try to think
of ways to alleviate it. Here are some more helpful tricks and
tips for managing stress levels without the use of drugs.
Take a Deep Breath: The reason why stress causes headaches in a
lot of cases is because when a person is under significant
stress they will tend to breath shallowly, or hold their breath
without even realizing it. Your muscles then get a lack of
oxygen and you cramp up in such places like your neck and
abdomen and you get a headache. Sometimes it just makes you feel
uptight.
If you feel a headache coming on, or you feel uptight, stop and
check your breathing. Take a few minutes to rest and take deep
breaths through your nose and out through your mouth.
Talk to People: Being lonely is a terrible thing, and this can
cause stress all by itself. Try joining a club or something you
enjoy that will connect you to other people. Sometimes just
talking and having fun can do wonders for your stress problems.
Regular Exercise: It has been scientifically proven that
exercise helps relieve stress. Try joining a gym, or just going
for a walk each night. You will boost your energy level making
it easier to cope with the stress of daily life.
Managing Time: Nothing causes stress like being late for an
appointment. Avoid this unnecessary stress by planning your day.
Insure that you have enough time to get to all of your
appointments. Maybe invest in a day planner.
Body Break: Your mind and body are one. Make sure that you eat
proper nutritious meals, and sleep well at night. Avoid excess
sugar and caffeine. These foods will give you a temporary high,
but will cause you to crash later. A body that is properly
maintained will be better able to cope with stress.
Avoid The Use of Illegal Drugs: Many people turn to alcohol and
drugs to relieve their stress. While it may seem that these
things are helping with your stress they are really harming you.
Not only are they wrecking your body, but they are only a
temporary fix. When you wake up in the morning, the problem that
you were trying to escape will still be there.
Change Your Surroundings: Make sure that you are as comfortable
as possible. If your chair at work is causing your back to hurt,
change it. If your bed is causing backache and lack of sleep,
change it. Why put your mind and body under stress that can be
easily avoided.
Go to Your Happy Place: Try daydreaming for a minute if you feel
stressed out. Imagine a sunny beach, or a quiet cottage. Imagine
the tastes and sounds. A few minutes of imagined vacation can do
wonders for your mental outlook, and relieve stress.
These are just a few techniques that will help you cope with
your stress levels. Try concentrating on the positive aspects of
your life, and not the negative. Without some stress life would
be boring, but too much of anything can kill you.
Managing Stress – How to Effectively Deal with Pressure
Sunday, March 14th, 2010At some time or another, we all experience stress. Sometimes it stems from family, relationships, or work; but regardless of its source, it still feels the same. Stress cannot be avoided, however, we can learn to effectively manage and prevent it from overtaking our lives.
The first step to coping with stress is to recognize its source and to identify what it is about this source that is causing you distress. As mentioned earlier, stress can come from many different reasons that is why it is helpful to explore these sources and why they can be troubling.
Probably the most common source of stress comes from the family. Families are made up of individuals, each with their own unique personality. When you place these different personalities together, conflict will undoubtedly surface and cause stress. Individuals will also experience distress when a family member becomes ill or engages in self-destructive behaviors.
Family-related stress is perfectly normal and most people can overcome the pressure in due time. However, if you find that you or your family is unable to cope with the stress, it may be time to seek professional counseling to help open up the channels of communication again.
Another big source of stress is relationships. We can experience tension with a loved one because each person has their own way of doing things and interacting with others. When one person fails to meet the expectations of the other, conflict can arise. Problems can also occur during the course of normal (or abnormal) life changes, such as divorce, illness, and work-related issues.
If you think that you and a loved one are having difficulty managing stress, it may be time to sit down and have a heart-to-heart. Sometimes the best medicine in the world for a heavy heart is just being to express yourself openly with someone you care about who will listen.
A final – but not last – source of stress that many of us will encounter stems from work. Many people are not happy with their current job, have interpersonal conflicts with coworkers or the boss, are not being paid enough, feeling powerless or undervalued, and the list can go on indefinitely. .
The best way to deal with job-related stress is to identify what’s causing the stress and determine if you have any control over the situation in order to make changes, if not consider working in the dental field and helping others.
Effectively managing the stress you experience in the various areas of your life is possible with the right tools and mindset – discover what’s holding you back from overcoming your stress today.
Manage Your Stress By Managing Your Time
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Are you one of those people who wishes you had a 30-hour day? Do you long for having enough time to homeschool your children, cook gourmet meals, tend a garden, care for a large, five-bedroom house, play the piano, and sit by the fire reading a good book? The fact of the matter is many Americans today are operating under a time crunch. We simply don’t have enough hours in the day to accomplish all that we want to.
The situation creates an enormous amount of stress. We may feel as if we are constantly operating under a deadline. We may feel fatigued and frustrated, and we may wonder if we are missing out on much of life because we spend so much time doing and not enough time thinking.We’re stressed at work, stressed at home, and stressed at our son’s soccer match.
The irony is, the more we do, the more behind we seem to get. We are constantly on the run, yet we may feel as if we are accomplishing very little. As a result, our pessimism grows. We may become short-tempered, especially with those we love. We may feel as if we are constantly running on empty.
The good news is there is hope, even in the midst of what might seem a hopeless situation. We can get control of our lives and control of our time. It may take a little bit of effort and time, but it will be well worth it in the long run. The first step we need to take is prioritization.
Many people feel as if they lack time to do the important things in life simply because they do not take the time to prioritize. Write down a list of your goals for the week, for the year, and for the next five years.
When you do your initial brainstorming, you can list the goals in any order you like. Then go through the goals and rank them in order of importance. After that task is completed, figure out just how much time you would need to accomplish each goal. You may find that just five minutes here or there can make all the difference in the world in achieving the items on your priority list.
Next, learn to multi-task effectively. That time you spend waiting in the line at the drive-thru window could be spent balancing your checkbook. Or the time you spend paused at the cash register could be used to read a book or a magazine. In general, you should not think of lines as time-wasters. Rather, consider them opportunities to accomplish some small, yet important, tasks.
In order to be effective as a worker, spouse, and parent, you’ll need some alone time. Get an appointment book and actually schedule a block of time just for yourself. Your alone time could be spent praying, re-evaluating your priorities, charting your progress, or just fixing yourself a nice dessert. Just be sure that you have some alone time each day. Otherwise, you’ll be shortchanging yourself, and you’ll feel more stressed as a result.
Don’t be afraid to say no. You cannot be a cub scout leader, girl scout leader, fundraising chair, and prima ballerina all at one time. You’ll need to pick and choose your assignments, both your professional assignments and your personal ones.
If you simplify your life, you might be surprised at how much time you’ll gain and how much better you will feel. Sometimes, it takes some backbone to say no. You might disappoint someone. But, in the end, you’ll be much better off, knowing that you have not overcommitted yourself.
You should consider your time to be as precious as the President’s. There are a number of duties which make demands on your time, those you love and those you don’t care for. By employing some innovative scheduling techniques, you can set aside the time for those things that are truly important to you.
You’ll be less stressed, more relaxed, and better able to cope with the challenges you encounter on a daily basis. As you become less stressed out, you might find that your children, spouse, and friends follow your lead. And your world will become more harmonious as a result.
Managing Well Being to Naturally Manage Stress
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Managing stress is becoming more important as our environment becomes more tension-inducing every year. From traffic jams to work-related stress, there are more stimuli that can make the heart race and the adrenaline flow than at any time in the past.
What is the best way to improve physical and psychological well-being?
Exercise is a proven stress-reliever. It releases endorphins that counteract stress hormones, and improve mood. It’s always difficult to start an exercise program, so it makes sense to start gradually and work your way up. Stretching and flexing the muscles in the neck, back, shoulders, arms and abdomen help to take away tension and make it easier for the muscles to relax. Exercises that improve cardiovascular function benefit the heart and lungs and affect the blood. This causes chemical changes in the body and the release of and balance of hormones that improve overall mood. Starting and sticking with a regular exercise plan also encourages a healthy concept of self, giving one a better outlook on things and a line of defense against stressors.
There are also relaxation techniques, or exercises that are extremely helpful in managing and reducing stress. One such technique is trying to touch the shoulder to the ears. Hold your shoulder for a few seconds and then let the shoulders drop. Rotate one shoulder toward the rear and then the other, do each shoulder up to ten times and then do both shoulders together.
Another exercise that is good for relaxing and good for the body is to lie down with knees bent, press the back down so that all parts of the back touch the surface, while doing so pull in hard on the stomach muscles. Then just relax them. This helps to let go of tension as well as firm abdominal muscles and strengthens the back. Many people find specific exercise programs such as Pilates, tai chi and yoga to be very relaxing.
Getting adequate sleep can do wonders for the body and mind. Just going to bed a half an hour earlier at night, or taking a short nap during the day, can reenergize the body and recharge the mind, If you’ve had enough sleep, you can make clear, thoughtful decisions.
If a nap is not possible make sure you take time to relax or take a break. Even a fifteen minute respite from work, school, or regular daily activities is advisable for quiet, privacy and introspection.
Taking a brisk walk or even just going outside or to another room, the change in scenery can eliminate existing stress or to counter it before it gets to be too much.
It is also necessary to eat properly. Eat an adequate and nutritious breakfast each day. Hunger cannot only leave you less able to cope with stress but can also be considered a stressor in itself. It is also important to make sure to eat a well balanced diet for optimal health.
Avoiding or reducing the consumption of caffeine containing substances is a simple and effective way to reduce tension and stress. Caffeine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system in a similar fashion as stress as do other substances like alcohol and tobacco that people often use as a means of reducing stress.
Managing Stress Through Yoga
Friday, March 12th, 2010Contrary to common belief, yoga is not just all about experiencing pure ecstasy through the union of the mind, the soul, and the body. It is also about dealing with one’s self and an effective means of stress management.
Today, most yoga practitioners and teachers believe that apart from providing relaxation and peace, yoga is about the seemingly limitless capability of a person to be in control and unite with him or her inner self. With these underlying principles, yoga can be an effective way of stress management if used properly.
Be definition, the word yoga came from a Sanskrit term which means union or joining. It is considered as almost an ambiguous term because it encompasses a wide range of purely physical disciplines to purely spiritual. When people talk of yoga, the term asana is always mentioned. Asana is known as one of the eight types of yoga wherein mental and spiritual well being than are prioritized compared to physical endurance. Today, the two words have become almost synonymous to modern-day yogis because they embody the same concept: relaxation though meditation.
If you’re planning to practice yoga as a form of stress management, it shouldn’t be as confusing as it seems because you don’t need to learn all the concepts and philosophies behind it. This ancient tradition that requires deep meditation has been proven as an effective way to relax, what you need to learn are the basic information you will need for you to apply the concept in your everyday life.
Starting out with yoga
People have different reasons and purposes for practicing yoga. This is because through yoga, people may explore the almost limitless possibilities of health and relaxation. Since this ancient form of exercise can help people delve into depths of the meditative practice for spiritual discipline, it can also be used to manage stress and maintain physical and emotional health.
If you are going to use yoga as a form of stress management, it is best to understand your main objectives and your level of interest because these can definitely help you find the right yoga program.
The first thing that you have to bear in mind before you totally indulge in practicing yoga is setting and determining your goals. You can do this by knowing first what are the possible health and fitness benefits you can get from yoga. Most yoga practitioners agree that the major potential benefit of yoga is to relieve stress.
Apart from this, it can also increase of strength and flexibility, creation of balance as well as the improvement of breathing and overall posture. On the spiritual aspect, yoga can serve as an exercise that can help you soothe your nerves, calm your mind while increasing your focal and concentration skills.
After determining your goals, it is best to undergo a general check-up. This is very important because it will help you know your limitations when it comes to practicing it. Discussing with your physician the advantages and disadvantages of yoga in your total health and well being is very important to ensure that you will not suffer from any complication. Since yoga involves physical endurance, you might also want to visit an orthopedic before you undergo a class to avoid injuries that will come with the postures and positions.
Aside from knowing your goals and updating your overall health status. You must also consider the qualification of your yoga instructor, your physical and emotional limitations. The best time suitable for you to practice yoga, the basic yoga poses before slowly advancing to the difficult positions, and proper equipment and clothing to be used before using yoga as a means of stress management.
