Stress (and all the emotions that contribute to stress) can look like a confusing mass of unwanted sensory signals that block our ability to remember things and persuade our logical minds we're in 'the wrong'.  Writing things down, both about the content of our emotional responses and the process we see unfolding when we experience our stresses can show us that there actually is a logic to it all.

When we feel stressed probably the last thing we want to do is sit down and write about it - but it can actually be key to 'agreeing with ourselves' as opposed to getting tangled up in self-criticism.  Behind every strong negative emotional response there's a perfectly valid 'good' motivation - usually, anyway.  Journalling is an affective tool for self-discovery and for releasing emotional issues (if I get really annoyed about something my most effective technique is to sit down and write a 'formal letter' outlining all the details of the situation - then I keep it to one side for a while and decide later whether or not to send it).

Hope you enjoy the article below from Doreene Clement.

Regards - Carl

Journal Your Stress Away

By Doreene Clement

Writing down our thoughts and feelings, as in keeping a journal or diary, is a proven method to relieve stress and improve well being. The expression achieved through writing in a journal on a regular basis, or during times of high stress, helps to clarify and focus what we are actually feeling and experiencing. Putting down on paper what we are frustrated about, worried and concerned with, helps us to begin to understand in a clearer, more concise manner, what we are going through. That understanding can help us to realize what actions we can then take to work through the stress.

Journaling on a regular basis about daily events, joys, and struggles alike, can actually help us to face our day, and solve our problems with less stress. When we record our days on paper, or on the computer, we are processing our feelings, fears and joys, as we are writing.

To help with the stress in our days we can create a routine and journaling system for ourselves. Ask yourself a daily morning question upon rising. This becomes a check into the day question, and writing the answer down, can be a great way to focus the day. For Example - "What am I going to do today that will support just me?" Or - "What am I going to do today at my work, (or with friends, or family), that is different than I have done before?" Another idea - "What one thing do I want to accomplish today that I have not had time to do?" We can ask the same question each day, or ask a new question.

We can also create a journal to record what we need to keep doing, stop doing, do less of, or more of. For example - "I need to stop playing old broken records from my past that no longer apply and no longer serve me. I am enough. I do not have to live in fear. We can journal on that topic alone, until it feels finished."

Another journaling idea is to define what is causing the stress: Whatever or whomever.

For example - "Bob really bugs me when he misses deadlines."

Or - "I never have enough time to fit it all in, family, friends, work, fun."

Or - "I am in way over my head on this project."

Next in your journal write about and define the why.

"When Bob misses deadlines it makes me look bad. I can't enjoy my weekends when Bob has a project due on Monday, because I keep worrying Bob won't come through."

Then ask why again to those answers, and write them down.

"I hate to look bad in front of my peers. It is embarrassing to me. I don't like to be embarrassed. I don't need/deserve that."

Then ask why again. Keep writing, then asking why to thoseanswers. What can be found is the real reason(s) for the stress. After the reason(s) are revealed then processing the root of the stress is easier to address. Then journal about those feelings.

Journaling is something we can all give to ourselves. Find a quiet time in the day, and a quiet place to journal. Set the journal where you will see it every day. Using a notebook, a blank book, a favorite journal, or a computer, any of these all serve as outlets for expression of stress. Through journaling we use that outlet of expression to help us see, process and

understand our stress. Through journaling the toll stress takes can be reduced or eliminated.

Copyright Doreene Clement All Rights Reserved

About the Author: Doreene Clement, a cancer victor and author of The 5 Year Journal, is currently writing a new book, Blessed, about her life and her cancer experience. For more information www.the5yearjournal.com 480.423.8095 Copyright 2005 OMDC, LLC All Rights Reserved
Feel free to pass this along to your friends. About Journaling, www.the5yearjournal.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=4589&ca=Self+Help

[TABLE=9]

Bad Stress to Eustress Article ..

A while back I was on the way to the gym when a group of youths decided to give me some verbal abuse as I cycled by ... one of the best workouts I've ever had ... thanks guys!

Do you have a favourite way of turning bad stress into eustress? Please leave a comment below.

Regards - Carl

Good Stress is Not an Oxymoron: Don't Take Stress Management Too Far Or You'll Die of Boredom

By Elisabeth Kuhn

We know all about the negative effects of stress, including everything from heart disease to diabetes to divorce to insomnia to suicide. Given all the bad press stress gets, it's easy to believe that stress is an evil that must be purged from our lives at all cost.


We continually seek out the latest in stress management techniques to achieve a less stressful life. To some degree, this is a good idea - constant negative stress should be reduced whenever possible. However, there's another side to stress - a positive side that's frequently overlooked.


Mental health professionals and doctors even have a name for positive stress: "eustress". Eustress refers to the constructive stress that helps keep you motivated and driven in all aspects of your life. For example, an athlete may find a big game stressful, but the nerves and excitement of this eustress encourages him or her to push harder and play better.


In this case, stress is a temporary response that brings about positive changes - such as the drive to play better. This is a very different phenomena than a long-term type of stress that eats away at the athlete's health and well-being.


So maybe you're not a world-class athlete - that doesn't mean you don't experience eustress in your own life. Maybe you get the same rush from performing in a community theater presentation or use the boost of stress to help inject energy into an important presentation at work. Perhaps you're someone who turns the stress of gaining weight into an impetus to spend more time at the gym.


Having a small amount of stress in our lives drives us to excel in everything we do and it enables us to feel content with life and the choices we've made. Therefore, getting rid of stress entirely is not only impossible - it wouldn't be healthy to do anyways!


We also need small amounts of stress in our lives to respond to the various threats and dangers we occasionally encounter. In this case, stress is part of the fight-or-flight response - a holdover from our primitive ancestors. When we detect the presence of danger, our bodies kick into high gear.


They release the hormone cortisol which increases the level of sugar in our blood. Our breathing rate increases and oxygen fills our muscles in preparation to either fight the threat or flee from it. Without this physiological response, we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves nearly as well against all sorts of dangers and intrusions.


While it's clear that too much stress can wreak havoc with your overall health, doctors and mental health specialists have found that too little stress can also be harmful. Negative stress causes a wide range of emotional and physical problems that can inhibit your energy and drive.


On the other hand, as long as it's reasonable and not excessive, a certain amount of stress plays a positive role in helping us fulfill our dreams and in enabling us to protect ourselves in times of danger. This eustress can give you the determination that's needed to work long and hard to accomplish your goals and will better equip you to handle the negative stress in your life.


About the Author: And if you want to achieve a little bit more balance between good and bad stress, you are invited to get Elisabeth Kuhn's FREE report with seven stress-reducing strategies. If you want Elisabeth's full-sized version instead, with lots more strategies (including an introduction to EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique), here's instant stress relief.


Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=268162&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet

3 Surefire Strategies to Look and Feel Better

This author's talking directly to me today - I've been rushing around like a bluebottle all week and haven't been to the gym for a week and a half and feel pretty yuk. You know, it's a fact I've noticed with Holistic Therapy tutors at work that they all look ready for the 'knackers yard' as they rush around trying to teach everyone else how to get every one else relaxed.

I gotta chill and get me to the gym more. Please go check out this lady's site. I'm off there now myself - but do it slowly.

Regards - Carl

3 Surefire Strategies to Look and Feel Better
By Diana Fletcher

Stop doing so much... Stop trying to do so much... Stop believing you can do so much

You truly believe deep down that you can do everything you want to, don't you? If you just can find the right system, make enough detailed lists, organize and strategize in the most skillful way, you will get everything done once and for all. But you can't, it is not possible in this fast-moving world for us to keep up. So if you truly want to feel better and look better, you have to stop.

Stop doing so much, stop trying to do so much, and stop believing you can do so much. It is possible to stop, but first you have to understand the importance of stopping. We are a nation of exhausted people. We have become a nation of overweight people, and now our children are becoming diabetic; we have high blood pressure, heart problems, insomnia and depression, these are not diagnoses that indicate healthful looks and vigor.

We don't look good and we don't feel good, and we will not live the long and happy lives that we are meant to live, if we don't make some changes. We spend our time hurrying and scurrying, and trying to get more and more done. We are trying to pack more and more into each day. It is impossible to fit everything into a day that we want to, yet we stubbornly keep trying. The reality is we cannot do it all! So, we need to focus on what we really, really want to do. We need to prioritize our lives, not just the items on a to-do list. We need to concentrate on what truly will make us happy and healthy, those are the things we need to do well.

Take the time to think about this: Why is it so important to try to do so much? Isn't it actually kind of silly that we work ourselves to the point where we cannot sleep, we are eating poorly, and we don't exercise? We run around to activities and do tasks that add nothing of fulfillment to our lives! We don't have time for what is truly important, our families, our friends, our rest and our health.

This could be the most cost effective, most economical way to look and feel great! So if this sounds good to you, STOP!

Diana Fletcher © 2009

Certified Life Coach, author, and speaker Diana Fletcher is The Stress Reducing Expert. She is a master at helping her clients and students reduce their stress and live healthier, more balanced lives.

For fun and easy ideas of how to improve your health and lower your stress level immediately, visit http://www.DianaFletcher.com and receive 25 Simple Tips to Reducing Stress, or register for one of Diana's free monthly teleseminars today. For regular tips and information, read Diana's blog at http://dianafletcher.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diana_Fletcher http://EzineArticles.com/?3-Surefire-Strategies-to-Look-and-Feel-Better&id=2532029

The Difference Between Your Right and Left Neo-Cortex

You are a conversation - a mixture of what's going on between six main minds that make up your totality.

Your six minds are your:

• Semantic Mind (your body)


• Ascending Reticular Activation System (ARAS)


• Reptilian Mind


• Limbic/Mammalian Mind (where your unconscious mainly lives)


• Left neo-cortex(logical mind)


• Right neo-cortex (pattern or picture mind).

In this video we look quite deeply at the difference between two of these minds:

• the left neo-cortex


• the right neo-cortex

I hope you never have to find out the difference between the two by going through what this lady has gone through - but she finds it fascinating!  There's a real brain used here - you have been warned!  A humorous but very touching presentation I'll remember for a long time to come.

How it feels to have a stroke

Anxiety Reduction Technique - Get the Vacuum Cleaner Out

This is a specialised visualisation technique you can use (I describe another you can use in a previous post - Evaporating the Sherbert Dab - in this post).

Who will find this technique useful?  Anyone with an emotional state 'approaching' or who has gone through a systematic desensitisation process and is concerned the condition will return.

'Getting the vacuum cleaner out' is useful when you're just starting to feel the  nip of an emotional discharge biting at your conscious mind and you start to think 'oh no, I'm starting to feel ... (insert whatever feeling it is) again'.

OK, here's the technique:

Imagine you've got a vacuum cleaner inside of you (if you've got a real one inside of you get the doctor's immediately - this is an imaginary vacuum cleaner - do not try to practice this in reality - it is a visualisation technique that involves, mainly, the ARAS (your Ascending Reticular Activation System), your right neo-cortex (your patterning mind) and your Semantic Mind (your body).  It doesn't involve a real vacuum cleaner.  Phew.  I'm glad we got that straight.  Oh, and if you have a phobia of vacuum cleaners you may want to try working with an imaginary brush and dustpan instead.

OK, so as soon as you feel the slightest bit of anxiety or whatever emotion it is, you get the imaginary vacuum cleaner out.

Create a quiet space in your day for some alone time and go through your body and mind with the vacuum cleaner looking for any spots of 'emotional dust'.

If you are able to use the imagery gained from the 'sherbert dab' post I've linked to above you can imagine yourself vacuuming up sherbert dab.  By the way, the 'Evaporating Sherbert Dab' technique is for intense emotional blockages, the Vacuum Cleaner is for the fainter emotional sensations.

Spend some time searching and whenever you find a pocket of anxiety - suck it in.  Feel it, experience it, acknowledge it.  Keep 'vacuuming' it in and eventually it will be gone.

If you're 'vacuuming' an unpleasant set of mixed emotional responses keep sucking them in until you've experienced the 'knuckles and bones' of the emotions and eventually they will fade.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 'Get the Vacuum Cleaner Out' technique.  Any questions or comments?  Nooooo-oooooooo ... don't forget under the coffee table ...

Regards - Carl

Just for Fun ... Stop It!

I've watched this several times ... it's always funny ... I want to go see this doctor.

Hee hee hee. By the way ... I don't believe this technique works ... healing from any one of the problems mentioned takes time ... and I'm sure the sufferers would just love to be able to do to what the doc suggests ...

Mad TV Bob Newhart Skit - Mo Collins - Stop it

Stress Reduction Tip - Slow Down to Get More Done

This is another tip from Michael Neill (and although we all probably 'know' this how many of us actually do it?).

"Be quick, but don't hurry" - John Wooden

SLOW DOWN TO GET MORE DONE

When we take the pressure off ourselves to be exceptional - that is, the exception to the rule - we recognize that "good enough" is nearly always good enough, and that no matter how hard we try, we will never really be able to do more than one thing at any given time.

This does not mean we have to always go slowly - just that when we are willing to slow down, we are often able to make much quicker progress on what matters most in our lives.

Several years ago, I had child psychologist and author Alfie Kohn as a guest on my radio show. At one point, I asked him if he had any tips for how to be a more caring and effective parent when you were in a hurry. His answer, tongue only slightly in cheek, was 'don't be in a hurry.'

While I laughed at the time, the more I thought about it the more I realized what excellent advice that is, not only for parenting but for pretty much any area of our lives.

When we are in a hurry, we tend to get sloppy and things go undone or worse still, half-done. Our best intentions often go out the window and our values shift, expediency and 'getting stuff done' leapfrogging their way up the list above such old-fashioned priorities as treating people with respect, doing things right the first time and even enjoying the process.

Stress is a hurrier's constant companion, as there's never enough time and there's always too much to do with it. As time gets short, tempers get shorter, and a frayed nerve often snaps in the face of a loved one.

While there are any number of 'outside-in' approaches to getting more done with less stress, effective time management evolves naturally out of our understanding of the 6th secret:

No matter what seems to be going on in our lives,
we don't have to do anything.

"That's insane", one client told me when I first introduced this idea. "I don't know about you, but I have to go to work in the morning."

"Do you?" I responded. "What would happen if you didn't?"

"If I didn't go to work, then I'd lose my job!"

Ignoring the likely fallacy of that statement, I continued.

"So you choose to go to work because you want to keep your job?"

"Fair enough," he said, though he didn't look happy about it. "But I have to eat! If I don't eat, I'll die!"

"OK," I replied. "So you choose to eat because you want to live?"

The reality is, every single thing you do or don't do is a choice. And while personally I'm a big fan of making choices that lead to things like money and food, nowadays in most cultures you don't even have to do that to survive. If you never got up from where you're sitting right now, someone would eventually come to check on you, if only to find out what that extraordinary smell was.

And at that point, if you continued to choose not to move or speak or feed yourself, some other people, (usually dressed in white with friendly smiles and a lot of upper body strength) would come by and scoop you up, give you new clothes to wear and a lovely padded room to live in. They would even feed you more than enough to stay alive, though admittedly the quality of that life would be somewhat less than what you are probably accustomed to.

So the corollary to our secret ("you don't have to do anything") is this:

Everything that you do (or don't do) is a choice.
Given that, why would anyone ever choose to do anything they didn't want to do?

Two reasons:

1. Because they think it's necessary to do that thing in order to get or maintain something that they want

2. In order to live up to an idea or ideal of how they think they're supposed to be in the world

In other words, we do what we do (and don't do what we don't do) either because we want to, because we think it is a pre-requisite towards getting something else that we want (i.e. because we "have" to), or because we think it will make us into the kind of person we want to be (i.e. because we "should").

The question 'why?' gets a bad name in some coaching circles because when it's asked about anything which happened in the past, the answer is invariably a story filled with confabulations that could usefully be edited down to the phrase "because it seemed like a good idea at the time".

But when we ask the question in the present about what we are planning for the future, we quickly get an insight into our motivation.

If we hear a lot of 'need to', 'have to' and 'musts', we may have fallen into the trap of thinking there's something we have to do to survive. If there are lots of justifications and rationalizations, chances are we're doing something because we think it will help us to reinforce our self-image or live into the kind of person we 'should' be. But when the answer is some variation on 'because I want to', chances are that we are following our inner wisdom.

The more quickly you can recognize the difference, the easier it will be to recognize it as a choice and if you want to, choose something different.

Today's Experiment:

1. What are the three things which you most urgently need to get done?

2. For each of those things, ask yourself the following questions:
• What would happen if I did (get it done)?
• What would happen if I didn't?
• What wouldn't happen if I did?
• What wouldn't happen if I didn't?
3. Experiment with putting each of the following sentence starters before each task on your to-do list this week. Notice how each one makes you feel and whether it inspires you to take positive action:
• I have to...
• I should...
• I want to...
• In this moment, I choose...
Example:

My task is to finish the Christmas shopping. Here's how my experiment might look...

I have to finish the Christmas shopping. (Feels true, but icky)

I should finish the Christmas shopping. (Still feels true, feels not only icky but less likely to happen than before)

I want to finish the Christmas shopping. (Actually, this is true as well. Feels true, but not necessarily imminent)

In this moment, I choose to leave the Christmas shopping until tomorrow, at which point I'll be able to get it done with a minimum of bother. (Ah, peace... :-)

Have fun, learn heaps, happy holidays, and happy exploring!

With love,
michael


Copyright © 2008 Michael Neill. All Rights Reserved
MNCT 640
Slow Down to Get More Done
December 22, 2008

Stress Management in a Recession - A Simple Technique

I think this is a tough technique to learn.  I've been affected by recession twice in my lifetime - for 3 years when I was 19 in the 1980's and couldn't get a job (not even a floor-scrubbing job) and ended up doing voluntary work that eventually led to working as a nightclub doorman and then as a full-time postal delivery worker.  Then I had another period of two years in the 1990's where I decided to go into full-time education for two years after being laid off from Raleigh (the UK bicycle makers where I used to be a frame assembler).

I never looked back after those two years in college training as a secretary - but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't changed my mindset - the first recession I saw my situation as 'disastrous' and the stress made me ill, the second recession I saw as an opportunity to do something more in line with who I was.

At first the technique described in the video may appear too simplified for some - but what it clearly explains is that most of our stress and anxieties are built around things that have not yet actually happened.  That scenario building mechanism in our heads known as the 'imagination' can be our best friend, or our worst enemy

We must deliberately take steps to reduce our stress-related thinking (for most of us 'catastrophisation' is a natural inclination and although designed by nature to protect us against potential dangers it can turn against us unless we deliberately work at separating real threats from imaginary ones).

I would also recommend this technique for changing your stress levels when thinking other people 'may' be thinking or saying unpleasant things about you behind your back - it doesn't matter whether or not they actually are - it's more important you don't think they are!  When it comes to negative stuff deal with what is actually happening, rather than what you  imagine could be happening - and foster a habit of building positive possibilities in the imagination - I think that's the underlying principle here.

Hope you find it useful.

Stress Management in a Recession - Tips To Reduce Your Stress

Stress Reduction Tip: Breathing Exercise

Found this interesting video on YouTube (you may want to check out the website listed on the video) - starts off with some interesting stuff.  Apologies for the quality of the picture, no idea where the streaky lines come from - but the content is good.

If you have any similar tips to share please post a comment, ta!

Carl

Weighing the Effects of Suppressed Emotions

Found this excellent article below on the suppression of emotions; there's only one thing I'd argue with and that is the assumption that being overweight necessarily means a person has emotional baggage (I know many very skinny people who have more emotional baggage than any overweight person I've met).  But then I would argue the point as I'm overweight and therefore biased.

Hope you find the article useful and please go check out Hana's other material and links.

Regards.

Carl

Weighing the Effects of Suppressed Emotions
By Hana Rubinstejnova

How do feelings become suppressed?

Feelings become suppressed when we feel restricted in some way in expressing them. To understand the full extent of our emotions is a material for a whole book. Some researchers state that: 'We are emotional beings'. There are many areas of our lives when we feel particular emotions coming up. Let's just talk about suppressing of these unwanted emotions.

Sadness, joy, happiness, frustration, anger, grief, etc. Each one of these words has a power to create a feeling in our body even as we only read them aloud in our minds.

The feeling that we feel when we are sad or grieving has a natural need to be expressed appropriately. This expression of the feeling allows its natural exit from our mind and body. Whereas when we feel threatened or embarrassed to naturally express our internal emotions they are forced to stay inside our body.

Emotional Packaging

Now, these feelings trapped in our body need to be kept under control somehow, otherwise we would be constantly feeling them. Naturally, our body is magical and very cleverly designed so this has been prearranged.

The best way to package these emotions, so they can be stored in a safe place where they will cause the least damage, could be called 'fattening'. The protecting material here is a body fat. And the best place for their storage away from life sustaining organs such as heart and lungs is around abdomen and thighs.

Sometimes there are too many suppressed emotional issues that need to be stored and kept under control. That's when the areas of fat tissues gets expanded and more places utilized for this distribution of unwanted 'emotionally charged matter', leading to further problems associated with an overweight body.

Trigger points and Letting Go

Now, with these emotions nicely 'handled' inside, a few years later, you are enjoying a relaxing massage or driving a car listening to music on the radio, when suddenly out of nowhere comes this long forgotten feeling.

What to do when they come up?

1) In the first scenario, you will be quick to push it back inside, out of your awareness and maybe later on you'll even have some nice sweet or fattening snack to make sure that unsettling feelings stay deep down in their place.

2) In the second scenario you become fully aware of the feelings that so suddenly came up in your awareness and allow yourself to 'soak in it', to feel it's full charge (if you are driving stop the car when it's safe to do so). Depending on the extent of this feeling and it's association with a past event you may feel the need to cry or to express it some other way. Now, the key is to give in to that emotion and feel it. Feeling what you were supposed to feel when the event happened will give you an opportunity to let that emotional burden go and free yourself from further issues associated with that suppressed feeling.

Signs of suppressed emotions

Are you currently overweight and can't find a reason why?

Are you having regular conflicts with people around you, trying to remember afterwards what was it all about and why did you get involved?

Are you feeling frustrated about your life and people you have to deal with?

If so, you will want to bring your awareness to these situations. Next time, when you find yourself just before such an event occurring, you will have an awareness that it is your emotional 'package' what affects your behavior in that particular situation, not necessarily the people or circumstances around you.

To read more self-improvement articles visit http://onebodyonelife.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hana_Rubinstejnova
http://EzineArticles.com/?Weighing-the-Effects-of-Suppressed-Emotions&id=2416905

Powerful Sermon: Stuck on a Misery-Go-Round? Let It Go

This mp3 lasts somewhere in the region of 30 minutes and although it concerns mainly women and the need to let go of relationships that are hurting them it applies to men and so many other areas of life.

I first listened to it a couple of years back and pulled it out of my browser bookmarks this morning to have another listen.  Truer words were never spoken.

Please leave any comments below. Click below to listen (ps -:
on some computers this mp3 sounds like a 'sonic duck' - if it does I apologise but all is not lost - click here to go the 'theonlineword' site - type '5246' in the search box at the top left corner - the sermon is provided at the site in different media formats and with a supporting pdf.

Notes on Positive Psychology

Came across this excellent article that summarises and provides links to various useful happiness-related sites and self-tests.  Some of the headings I want to write stuff about in future posts with my own twist on things - quite a lot to take in all at once and 'use immediately' but over time you can deliberately integrate this material into your daily thinking.  Please comment on anything that particularly stands out for you (and go check out that site listed at the bottom of the article).   Was it useful?

Notes on Positive Psychology

Regards - Carl