Guest Post: 6 Ways to Beat Stress for the Holidays and Year-Round

Wednesday, November 1st is International Stress Awareness Day

Here are some tips from Dr. Bradley Nelson, veteran holistic physician and bestselling author of “The Emotion Code”.

6 Ways to Beat Stress for the Holidays and Year-Round

Stress affects everyone, damaging our health and relationships. Here are Dr. Nelson’s tips for reducing stress in your life:

1. Plan ahead and be flexible about your expectations. Think about your plans for the upcoming holidays. Everyone else has expectations and sometimes they won’t match with yours. Plan for spontaneity. If you allow the plans that others have to be a part of what brings you joy, you’ll have more fun as everyone shares ideas and activities. Be the one who makes the holidays fun for others and it will be more joyful for you.

2. Be aware of what your body needs. This includes healthy food, plenty of water, rest and exercise. So don’t throw your routines out the window when you’re on vacation. Get plenty of exercise so you’ll feel good. Continue eating healthy. You’ll feel better about yourself if you’re really taking care of your body!

3. Decide to take care of yourself emotionally. You may need specific things such as the emotional support of a spouse, a lunch date with a friend or even just some time alone. Decide how busy you want to be ­– or not be! Say “no” to trying to do too much if it interferes with your health, family time or if it feels like it’ll cause too much stress for you.

4. Communicate with love. If you’re feeling stressed by interactions with family or others, take a breather. You might go outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air. Be kind to everyone, including yourself. Give hugs. Make sure you’re not overreacting. None of us communicate perfectly. Try to see what others are really mean, not just what they say. Give them the benefit of the doubt because it’s likely no offense was meant. Ask for clarification and react appropriately, with kindness, love and forgiveness. Some people really don’t have a handle on their behavior but it doesn’t have to affect how you feel or be your problem.

5. Choose Your Emotions: Most people have this mistaken belief that our emotions choose us; that we are at the mercy of whatever emotions we tend to start feeling. But the reality of it is, no matter what the circumstance is, we always are choosing our own emotions. It’s important to recognize that fact. You don’t always have control over what happens to you but you can choose to respond proactively.

6. Identify and release “trapped emotions,” unresolved feelings from past negative and traumatic events emotional baggage can cause us to make wrong assumptions, react emotionally and contribute to anxiety, depression and most forms of illness.

About Dr. Bradley Nelson: Dr. Nelson has lectured internationally on the natural healing of chronic illness and successfully treated patients from across the US and Canada for more than 20 years. He has trained more than 3,200 practitioners worldwide on how to help people overcome unresolved anger, depression, anxiety, loneliness and other negative emotions and the physical symptoms associated them. Dr. Bradley Nelson is one of the world’s foremost experts in the emerging fields of Bioenergetic Medicine and Energy Psychology. His bestselling book "The Emotion Code" is helping people all over the world to improve their lives easily and quickly. Download a free copy of The Emotion Code in both audio and .pdf versions, including step-by-step instructions for working with the body's healing power at www.EmotionCodeGift.com or the app that works on iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices (a version for Android is in development).

Available for purchase for Kindle at Amazon.com.

Click image to view on Amazon.com

Image source: Pixabay

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Guest Post: 4 Reasons Bosses Should Encourage Meditation At Work

4 Reasons Bosses Should Encourage Meditation At Work

                       

                       

The co-worker two cubicles down who appears to be nodding off may not be indulging an afternoon nap after all.

                       

Instead, he or she could be in a state of meditation, and the bosses likely are happy about that – or at least they should be.

                       

“It’s not uncommon now for big corporations to encourage meditation during breaks and even hold meditation events during working hours,” says Dr. Barbara Cox (www.drcoxconsulting.com), a consulting psychologist and coach who specializes in working with innovative leaders and organizations.

                       

“Research shows there are significant effects on physical and mental health for people who practice meditation, self-hypnosis and other stress-management tools.”

                       

Among the benefits:

                       

• Improved ability to manage stress. Life is filled with stress and the average work day can provide a host of new triggers that add to stress, whether it’s a demanding supervisor, a difficult client or uncooperative co-workers, just to name a few. “Stressful situations are going to happen,” Cox says. “So the question becomes how well you can handle the stress. Meditation can assist in that.”

• Increased quality of sleep. Meditation can help people with their sleep issues, according to research by Harvard University, Northwestern Memorial Hospital. That doesn’t mean meditating only before bedtime. It also helps to practice meditation during the day, so you can more easily get into that relaxed state at night. “And if you get a good night’s sleep,” Cox says, “you’re more likely to perform well at work the next day.”

• More mental energy. People can often feel tired during the work day, even if they don’t have a physically demanding job. One reason is mental exertion, some of which goes back to all that stress, Cox says. Meditation can help restore both your physical and mental energy.

• Greater ability to concentrate. For many people, it doesn’t take much to let their minds wander – especially these days when distractions such as smartphones and internet connections are close at hand to give them an extra reason to lose focus. Those who meditate are better able to focus on ideas and remember facts without getting easily distracted, and there’s research by the University of California, Santa Barbara, to back that up.

                       

                       

“Supervisors need to take note of all that research if they haven’t already,” Cox says. “Companies are always looking for ways to improve productivity and meditation can help lead to a happier workforce and a more efficient one.”

                       

Bringing the benefits of meditation into a company doesn’t have to be a major undertaking.

                       

“You can start small,” Cox says. “You could have a meditation week where everyone meditates at the same time every day for one week. You could have a meditation challenge between departments or send out weekly meditations in the company newsletter. You could even begin your meetings with a two-minute meditation.

                       

“The key is to just get started because the sooner you do, the sooner your company will experience the results.”

                       

                       

About Barbara Cox, Ph.D.

                       

Barbara Cox, Ph.D., is a consultant and coach for innovative leaders and organizations. To learn more about meditation, try one of the free guided recordings at drcoxconsulting.com. Her advice has been featured in local and national publications, including MSN.com and Cosmopolitan and other holistic health and wellness publications. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, San Diego, and started her career as an environmental scientist, most notably organizing environmental projects for the Department of Defense. She has master’s and doctorate degrees in psychology from Alliant International University – San Diego.

     

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Guest Post: 7 Techniques For Keeping Your ‘Thought Life’ Healthy And Your Stress Level Low

7 Techniques For Keeping Your ‘Thought Life’

Healthy And Your Stress Level Low

Life gives people plenty of reasons to be stressed.

Relationship problems, child-rearing issues, job woes and a lack of money are just some of life’s complications that can weigh people down – and cause health problems.

“It’s difficult to stay healthy and energized when stress is a daily reality,” says Dr. Greg Wells, author of The Ripple Effect: Eat, Sleep, Move and Think Better.

“Chronic stress can damage your body, threaten your mental health, put a strain on relationships, and take the joy out of life.”

But there’s no reason to surrender to stress, Wells says. He suggests seven techniques that can help you have a healthier “thought life” and recover from chronic stress:

• Move your body. Rhythmic, repeated motion is particularly soothing to the mind and body. A long walk, cycling, swimming, or running will all work, but any kind of movement relieves tension, improves circulation, and clears your mind.

• Get into nature. Head to the garden, the park, or the woods to lower your blood pressure, strengthen your immune system, reduce tension and depression, and boost your mood. “It’s stunning how good it is for your health to be in nature,” Wells says. “And I recommend you leave the cell phone and earbuds at home.”

• Practice yoga or Tai Chi. Therapy, yoga and Tai Chi are good ways to decrease stress and anxiety, increase energy, and boost the immune system. They also give you more stamina—needed in stressful times—and improve the quality of your sleep.

• Have perspective. Don’t be so quick to conclude that you “can’t handle” a stressful situation. “This is truly a mind-over-matter opportunity,” Wells says. “Believing that you are strong and resourceful actually makes you stronger and more resourceful.” Don’t give in to negative self-talk about not having what it takes to manage life, he says.

• Change the nature of your response. Research indicates that taking an active, problem-solving approach to life’s challenges relieves stress and can transform it into something positive. If you withdraw, deny the problem, or spend all your time venting, you’ll feel helpless. Instead, Well says, be determined to make a change, put effort into it, and plan for better results.

• Practice slow, deep breathing. Start applying the power of deep breathing each day. It will make a huge difference. Wells recommends you start small by taking three deep breaths each time you sit down at your desk—in the morning, after breaks, after lunch, and so on. It will help you become more patient, calm, and relaxed.

• Block time for single-tasking. Each day, schedule time in your calendar for focusing exclusively on one task. This task should be something that is important to you. “People love to talk about multi-tasking, but while doing several things at once might make it seem as if you are working hard, it’s an illusion,” Wells says. Your body and mind are not designed to work that way and it causes extra stress.

“Ultimately, it’s important to remember that your thoughts have a strong influence over stress levels,” Wells says. “What you choose to think about, or not think about, dictates how your body and mind react to everyday life.”

About Dr. Greg Wells

Dr. Greg Wells is an authority on high performance and human physiology. Wells’ latest book, The Ripple Effect: Eat, Sleep, Move and Think Better, hit shelves earlier this year. Dr. Wells is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Toronto where he studies elite sport performance. He also serves as an Associate Scientist of Translational Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children, where he leads the Exercise Medicine Research Program. 




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