I know that many of you will be thinking what will meditation do for me, why is it so important and of course ‘I don’t have time to sit around trying to clear my head, I’m busy’. Well let’s be honest here, do you suffer from stress, now think about this a little more, because the answer is yes and if you’re not sure about that read on and think a little more…and don’t forget to check out my recommendation for easy stress relief.

Why Are We All Stressed?

With modern day living comes the hectic and ever demanding pace of live, it’s no wonder that many of us feel stressed and overworked and how many of us take this home with us, how many others feel the impact of the stress we feel?

Our stress and tiredness of everyday life lead us to the feelings of unhappiness, frustration and a lack of patience when it comes to dealing with even the most simple every day routines. Not to mention the impact that all this has on our health, the tiredness that we feel, the ever nagging inner voice reminding us that we need to do this and that and the other. Or the demands of our boss, our clients, our family and friends all add up to making life one big stress ball.

‘I’m stressed out’, ‘work is one big stress’, ‘I’m under too much stress’, ‘the kids are stressing me out’, these are all phrases that we are all too familiar with and it is also an acceptable part of every day life.

How Do I Define My Stress?

Stress is hard to define as it means different things to different people; however, one thing that is perfectly clear to all of us is that stress is a negative emotion, negative energy as opposed to positive.

Stress can be both physical and mental. Physical stress could be the result of a lack of sleep, or a poor diet and even an effect of an illness. Mental stress can be worrying about money, or how you’re going to survive retirement, or from experiencing a devastatingly emotional event such as the death of a family member, or being fired from work.

Our Natural Stress Response System

But did you know that much of our stress comes from less dramatic everyday routines. Obligations and pressures which are both physical and mental are not always that obvious to us and in response to these daily strains our body automatically invokes a stress response which floods your body with chemicals which increases your blood pressure, your heart rate, the blood flow to your muscles, your metabolism and your respiration. All of these responses are natural reactions so that our bodies are ready to react quickly and effectively under high pressure situations, termed fight or flight. Now whilst a stress response is useful in true emergency situations when you need to be on alert, it can considerably wear your body down when constantly active.

We are all continuously reacting to stressful situations, which is termed stress response, but without making adjustments in our lives to counter the effects. Stress can cause physical, emotional and behavioral disorders which affect our health, vitality and peace of mind; and of course it also affects our personal and professional relationships. Stress is also the key cause to many minor illnesses such as insomnia, headaches and backaches on top of the life threatening diseases such as high blood pressure and even heard disease.

It is also very true that every person handles stress differently, take for example a major life decision like changing careers, or moving house. I know some of you are cringing at the thought, but I also know that some of you would relish the thought. Whatever may be overwhelming to some people might actually be seen as a welcome change to others. An even simpler example is sitting in traffic, some people find this too much to tolerate tooting their horns and screaming out for more coffee, whilst others just take it in their stride maybe with the help of a little music, or a happy thought.

So what’s the answer? Well, aside from the inexhaustible amount of drugs available to reduce stress, which include free side effects I may add, there’s one very simple and natural way to reduce stress that takes 10 to 20 minutes of your day and has no side effects, meditation.

Our Natural Relaxation Response System

Earlier I mentioned that the secret to reducing your stress is by making adjustments in your life to counter the effects of stress, well this is done by evoking a relaxation response within you.

A relaxation response is a state of deep rest that is the opposite of the stress response. The relaxation response brings your body back into balance by deepening your breathing, reducing the stress chemicals in your body, slowing down your heart rate and relaxing your muscles. It also increases your energy, improves your focus, relieves headaches and other aches and pains, heightens your problem solving skills and boosts motivation and productivity and the best news is that with a little practice anyone can gain from these benefits.

Recommendations

As many of you out there are new to meditation and I am certain that there are also many of you who don’t want to get into depth of how to meditate or what form of meditation to use and want a quick head start, I would recommend you begin with an affordable audio meditation. I use several and one that is particularly good for stress relief is Totally Tranquil by Holothink and you can pick up a free ten minute demonstration by clicking on, or copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://holothink.com/hg/?a=V1L0R1YlpM

also increases energy and focus, combats illness, relieves aches and pains, heightens problem-solving abilities, and boosts motivation and productivity. Best of all – with a little practice – anyone can reap these benefits.

deepening your breathing, reducing stress hormones, slowing down your heart rate and blood pressure, and relaxing your muscles.

a state of deep rest that is the polar opposite of the stress response.
this is known as Just ten or twenty minutes a day of meditation will bring relief from chronic stress and also increase your tolerance to it.

Remember, each person handles stress differently. Some people actually seek out situations which may appear stressful to others. A major life decision, such as changing careers or buying a house, might be overwhelming for some people, while others may welcome the change. Some find sitting in traffic too much to tolerate, while others take it in stride. The key is determining your personal tolerance levels for stressful situations.
Stress can cause physical, emotional and behavioral disorders which can affect your health, vitality, peace-of-mind, as well as personal and professional relationships. Too much stress can cause relatively minor illnesses like insomnia, backaches, or headaches, and can contribute to potentially life-threatening diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease.

Stress can also be mental: when you worry about money, a loved oneÕs illness, retirement, or experience an emotionally devastating event, such as the death of a spouse or being fired from work.
However, much of our stress comes from less dramatic everyday responsibilities. Obligations and pressures which are both physical and mental are not always obvious to us. In response to these daily strains your body automatically increases blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, metabolism, and blood flow to you muscles. This response, is intended to help your body react quickly and effectively to a high-pressure situation.

With the hectic pace and demands of modern life, many people feel stressed and over-worked. It often feels like there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Our stress and tiredness make us unhappy, impatient and frustrated. It can even affect our health. We are often so busy we feel there is no time to stop and meditate! But meditation actually gives you more time by making your mind calmer and more focused. A simple ten or fifteen minute breathing meditation as explained below can help you to overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance.

Meditation can also help us to understand our own mind. We can learn how to transform our mind from negative to positive, from disturbed to peaceful, from unhappy to happy. Overcoming negative minds and cultivating constructive thoughts is the purpose of the transforming meditations found in the Buddhist tradition. This is a profound spiritual practice you can enjoy throughout the day, not just while seated in meditation.

Hi there,

http://www.morphogeneticmeditation.com is a new social network site for meditation. It is based on morphogenetic field theory, which encompasses theory of a collective consciousness. The aim of my website is to bring people together whether you are new to meditation, or a meditation guru and arrange group meditation across the globe.

Yes, that’s right, I want to have people collectively meditating on any chosen topic at the same time anywhere in the world and thus improving your success with meditation and also manifestation. I want to prove to the world through your success that the collective consciousness exists and so I want you to share your success with everyone.

We are also going to arrange times for everyone on the site to get together at a predetermined time and meditate on peace, love and happiness and raise awareness of the collective consciousness.

At http://www.morphogeneticmeditation.com you will be able to add a whole host of content including video, pictures, music, your own blog, submit articles, post classified advertisements, post upcoming events and of course make friends, chat, learn and meditate. MorphopgeneticMeditation.com is your very own meditation social network so come along and have some fun at http://www.morphogeneticmeditation.com

Come and join us in our quest to make this world and your world a better place to live in through collective meditation.

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We all have heard of the harmful effects stress can have on our lives. Although we can never totally eliminate stress we must be able to manage stress, and find stress relief, especially the prolonged stress which will indeed cause many ill effects on your health.

In many ways we can eliminate much of our stress by the way we perceive things. There are many things in life in which we have little or no control over. Things such as traffic jams and the way others act. If we react to these things in a way that adds stress to our lives many of our bodily functions shut down and prevent our bodies from keeping ourselves healthy and youthful.

Much of our stress can be relieved by the way we perceive things. In many cases we are stressed out by things we have no control over. If we can do something about a situation then we should act on it to resolve the problem. If the situation is out of our control we would be better off just accepting it for what it is and focus our attention on something more pleasant or something that will enhance our day and our lives.

The body reacts to stress by producing a flood of chemicals that shut down important but not vital functions to survival. This constant supply of stress produces hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline which in turn suppress the release of our natural growth hormones and other healing hormones that help your body heal after stress.

Some ways you can control the amount of stress you encounter is to monitor a few things about the so called stressful situation you are in. Firstly ask yourself, am I in control of the situation that is upon me. Like I said earlier if the situation is beyond your control you must let it go. If there is something you can do about the situation then you must be in action and do something to resolve it.

Secondly you could identify to what extent your stress is the result of your interpretation of the situation, which in fact, relates to your beliefs and judgments. If you are caught up in the story of “this always happens to me” or are you always trying to prove something to yourself to reinforce a limiting belief you have about yourself or others. This can be a harmful cycle in which you will always generate unwanted stress in your life. Pay attention to see if the same situations comes up and you get stressed out about similar things. Awareness to our beliefs and judgments can open doors to freedom within our consciousness.

The third thing that one can do is to learn to consciously adjust your reaction to what is happening in our lives. Learn to be calm in situations, to be focused and powerful in dealing with stressful issues. When we react all the time we are not in control and not being in control can add to feelings of recklessness. An out of control feeling is definitely a situation which can cause stress.

Besides the few perceptive ways to deal with stress just mentioned one can also start a program which will be more proactive and help you put your mind and body in a state that more readily handles situation as they arise. Proactive stress management techniques can be addressed with knowledge. Through personal development books or courses that teach you to be in more control of your life and to accept others for who they are, you can eliminate about fifty percent of your stress.

There are also courses in anger management if you feel you have an issue with anger. Many times anger is the end result of other emotions such as disappointment, jealousy, fear, or other emotions. Not being able to communicate this in a healthy manner and really understanding your emotions can lead to anger in almost any area of your life. The recognition of these emotions and the ability to communicate them to yourself and others can be a big stress releaser and put you in better control of your emotions and your life.

Of course eating well and exercising help your body to deal with stress. The release of good hormones through things such as yoga, aerobic, meditation, breathing exercising or weight lifting greatly help your body deal with stress, firstly by having a means to release the stress through the physical activity and secondly these activities enable the body to produce the healthy endorphins and healing hormones into your body.

Other ways to reduce stress is to engage in something you love to do. Get your mind off the situation that is causing you stress. By having a hobby that you just love to do such as gardening, playing a musical instrument, stained glass or whatever gets your mind focused on something you love. Usually something creative opens you up a totally different space within you.

And of course my two favorite thing to relieve stress, laughter and good supportive friends. Go see a funny movie or go out with supportive friends to a comedy club. Spend good quality time with them and share your love, don’t complain about your stressful situation unless you discuss it to find possible ways of resolving the situation and then end the conversation and have some fun.

Listen, stress can kill you and the more and more scientist explore this issue the more and more they know that almost all disease can manifest from stress and ill thoughts. Choose to deal with stress in a positive way. Find the way to incorporate stress relief practices into your life and help you mind, body and spirit live a healthier more fulfilled life.

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It can be quite daunting taking part in stress management course if you are not sure what to expect. A lot of people do not approach with an open mind – which is vital for success.

Many people will assume that stress management courses are not necessary because they perceive stress management as common sense. My experience suggests that these people are, in fact, misinformed and they could benefit greatly from attending this type of course.

The reason for this is that a stress management course is not just about managing personal stress. It is also about learning to identify, control and benefit / reduce the stress of others.

If you are thinking of attending or recommending a course on stress for your organisation or small business, my advice is to make sure everyone (including yourself) approaches it with an open mind.

The content covered in the course will vary but the course outline will largely contain the same topics. Here is a brief outline of a typical stress management course:

- Why it is important

- The cycle

- Internal and external influences

- Optimising your state

- How to tune your state up and down

- Building resilience through exercises and nutritional awareness

- Problems vs outcomes and how to deal with both

- Awareness – How you make other stressed

- Building minimum stress teams

In the first half of the course will cover topics that will go over the definition of stress, recognising the symptoms and understanding why the management of it is important.

The second part of the stress management course will begin to focus on the factors of stress and how to recognise influences of stress (internal and external) using a variety of methods and techniques.

Following this, the stress management course will begin to help you develop skills on how to handle stress for yourself and others around you (employees, staff, etc). This part of the stress management course is very important because it gives you practical methods that have been to proven to relieve stress. From experience, members usually find this part of the course most exciting due to active participation.

The final part of the course focuses on some advanced methods of stress training such as building minimum teams, improving awareness and how to deal with problems and outcomes.

Stress management courses are available onsite (A trainer will travel to the organisation) or at specified training facilities. We’ve found that onsite training has been a popular choice for large organisations and also small businesses.

More Stress Course Articles

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Stress management courses are frequently used by major public and private organisations as a tool to aid their managers in dealing with personal and the stress of other employees.

The reason for this is that a stress management course is not just about managing personal stress. It is also about learning to identify, control and benefit / reduce the stress of others.

If you or your employees suffer from stress, it should not be ignored. If left unchecked, it can have a significant effect on your health and wealth. Companies also have a legal duty to take action. And it’s in their interests to do so, given that a stress-free workforce is happier, more efficient and more productive.

The content covered a stress management course will vary but the course outline will largely contain the same topics. Here is a brief outline of a typical course:

In the first half of the course, you will cover topics that will go over the definition of stress, recognising the symptoms and understanding why stress management is important.

The second part of the course will begin to focus on the factors of stress and how to recognise influences of stress (internal and external) using a variety of methods.

Following this, the stress management course will begin to help you develop skills on how to handle stress for yourself and others around you (employees, staff, etc). This part of the course is very important because it gives you practical methods that have been to proven to relieve stress. From experience, members usually find this part of the course most exciting due to active participation.

The final part of the course focuses on some advanced methods of stress training such as building minimum stress teams and awareness and how to deal with problems and outcomes of stress.

Stress management courses are available onsite (A trainer will travel to the organisation) or at specified training facilities and workshops. We’ve found that onsite training has been a popular choice for large organisations.

Costs per group will vary but most course trainers charge around 1000 gbp – 2000 gbp per group.

The general feedback from large organisations who participate in stress management courses have been very positive and have found the training material to be very beneficial and effective at dealing with and improving employee productivity.

Many of the larger companies such as Microsoft and MSN integrate some form of stress management into their human resource training as they recognise the importance of being able to deal with this commonly overlooked problem.

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Larry Crane discussing how he arrives to the idea of Release Technique Abundance Course to get rid of stress, depression, fear, anxiety and all type of health issues. Live longer and healthy with Release Technique Unique Abundance Courses.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

This video shows me taking my dog, Summit, through a stress agility course. Stress agility is much different than sport. The goal of this is to put mental & physical stress on the dog and handler as they conquer the course together. It is extremely bond & confidence building for the dog.

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When we are in a state of stress, adrenalin flows and blood pumps through our heart at a faster rate than normal because we can feel under threat. Causes of stress can be created when there is so much to be done and not enough time to complete everything in a timely manner. Putting ourselves under pressure to appease another person (boss, co-worker, wife, children, friends) can also create stress.

Stress affects everyone differently. There is a range of different ways how stress can play out in our lives. Emotionally, depression and anxiety can lead to anger and tension. Our thinking is also affect by a lack of concentration and feeling hopeless, issues with self esteem and self confidence as feelings of not good enough become strong. The side effects of stress can include changed behaviour patterns as a remedy to improve how we feel. This can include increased drinking habits, gambling and weight problems.

How we individually handle stress depends on the circumstances and situation. Just thinking about something stressful (for example, being in circumstances that are new and make us feel uncomfortable) creates stress. There are many strategies available to learn to cope with stress more effectively. Being able to understand and learn to prepare when something is going to be out of our control is a good starting point.

One of the best cures for stress is exercise. Not only does exercise make you feel better physically, it can improve your mood and make you feel happier. The benefits of exercise can also include more energy and it can be fun while improving the health of your heart at the same time.

Practising meditation can also help to relieve stress as well as manage stress. Another very successful technique to overcome stress is to use deep breathing when feel stressed. By stopping for a few minutes and taking time out with a few deep breaths can be a great relaxer.

Learning to cope with stress will also assist with your general health and happiness – take a deep breath and remember to always smile! A smile is another easy and simple way to reduce stress to make you feel so much more at peace and calm within.

Learn to deal with your stress through our online program; The Challenge of Happiness.

Visit www.challengeofhappiness.com today.

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This article shows why stress management training at work is important – it reduces sickness, staff turnover and increases productivity – and some of the elements that make stress training courses effectiveness or otherwise.

Stress  Management

In the businesses, NGOs and government organisations I work with there are two kinds of people –those who admit there is stress in their lives and those in denial. Both may suffer but the latter cannot address what is a crucial workplace issue (in the UK the Health and Safety Executive make it a legal requirement for employers to address it is considered so important irrespective). Happily macho attitudes are dying out as people realise the impact stress can have on health (most of the Western World killers are stress related), efficiency/productivity (studies show that stressed people DO NOT work well) and relationships at work and at home.

Stress training is becoming recognised by businesses as valuable as if done well it decreases staff turnover (churn-rate), increases effectiveness and reduces absenteeism. As well as being an ethical stance, providing stress management saves organisations money. What then are some of the barriers relating to stress training? Aside from prejudicial attitudes that stress can make one weak there is also a misconception that people work well stressed. Some positive arousal or eustress  can of course be beneficial – but most people in modern organisations that I see are well beyond this daily and working on adrenaline and heading towards burnout. The concept of “sustainable working” is often a useful one for managing stress, as is the distinction between “live relaxation” (like an athlete) and “dead relaxation” (like a unconscious drunk).

Other barriers to stress management include time and cost. Short targeted courses funded by government grants can help with both of these.

What Makes Stress Courses Effective?

Some stress training is effective and some is not (as measured by participants in feedback or by “hard measures” like staff sick days). Here are some of the things that make workplace stress management training courses effective if included:

Choose an Experienced Provider

Would you do dentistry “in house” or ask your mechanic to do it? Of course not, it pays to get a specialist in to address stress at work and the same is true of investing in an experienced and specialist stress training provider. Of course I am biased but the real test is that paying customers agree.

Adequate Pre Course Assessment Was Done

Stress training will only work if it is targeted to the organisations  needs. Public stress courses are possible but if the trainer is talking directly to the concerns of delegates after having done thorough research this is superior. A pre-course stress management questionnaire would be a minimal measure.

Stress Training is Interactive and Fun!

Interactive and experiential training will alleviate the problem of tired or bored delegates not taking anything in, and gain crucial buy-in.

Stress Course Has an Embodied and Integral Perspective

Talking about theories of stress is not enough as stress is an embodied phenomena and this much be addressed. Similarly looking at any one angle on stress is insufficient as psychological, biological, social, cultural, environmental and organisational aspects must all be considered for effectiveness as these elements are all involved. Ken Wilber’s integral model is the most complete theoretical overview I know of.

Stress Management Training Enables “Real-World Transfer”

Training often has a bad reputation as in many organisations people will go on a course, then promptly forget everything they have learned. It is important that stress training embeds learning in real-world applications. Follow-up e-mails and revision sessions are also effective.

This article is of course just a brief introduction to stress training and what makes stress management effective, but I hope it has been a helpful start. There are several government grants for stress training currently available in the UK so please get in contact to benefit your productivity, health and relationships.

Mark Walsh

Integration Training

Brighton, East Sussex, UK

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