Eastern techniques are designed to lower heart rate and create calm. Hence it is no surprise that many Westerners look to utilize them in stress reduction. Yoga is no exception and is one of the most used Eastern exercises to reduce stress and promote overall well being.
Yoga can help with stress. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification and see if it meets your goals
The article, “Here’s How to Use Yoga for Stress Reduction: from Healthline looks closer at how Yoga reduces stress and explains how. The article states,
“Yoga continues to grow in popularity as people experience its physical and mental benefits. Developing a personal yoga practice can help prevent and reduce stress, which is a common goal among people who want to create positive growth and focus on self-improvement.”
Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consultant Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Stress Management Consulting.
Approximately 93 percent of healthcare workers reported higher than normal stress levels last year, according to Mental Health America. Life for healthcare workers these days is more strenuous than ever. If you are a health professional, the last thing you would want is for relationship stress to pile on to the work stress you already have. So if you ever find yourself facing relationship stress, keep these 3 techniques in mind. If you pair them with effective de-stressing strategies, you will be able to weather the tide of modern healthcare challenges and create a more reliable balance between work and your personal life.
Practice Empathy And Emotional Control
As much as you want your significant other to be understanding of your situation, you must also be understanding of theirs. You might be trying to shore up an understaffed hospital, but they might also be coming home from a bad day at work to an empty home. Empathy is a key component to reducing the stress your significant other makes you feel. And as your agitation goes down, you will then be able to interface with them in such a way that doesn’t add to their own stress. A 2004 study by Eisenberg et al. shows this by exhibiting the positive relationship between regulating one’s emotions and being better at relating to others. Empathy and emotional control allow you to consider your partner’s experiences without having them pile onto your own feelings and overwhelming you. With this level of clarity, you are able to think of compromises that adequately address both of your concerns.
Get Creative With Conflict Resolutions
It cannot be emphasized enough how important conflict resolution is to eliminate relationship stress. A study by psychologists Julie Petersen and Benjamin Le for Modern Psychological Studies found that productive problem-solving was the only way to work through conflict without creating stress. The three other resolution tactics, namely conflict engagement, compliance, and withdrawal, all lead to some form of stress when employed. The first step in resolving any conflict is taking time to talk about it. However, your profession makes you short on time. So, you are going to have to improvise a way to make every opportunity to fix issues count. Arrange activities that you can pull away from easily should you get suddenly called in for an emergency. Or you can communicate through little gestures sprinkled throughout the day. Your resolution strategies will depend largely on your significant other’s personality. Try to appeal to their interests and talk things out over an activity they love. But remember to tell them about wanting to have a dialogue about your issues beforehand. Also, it helps a lot if you smooth things along with a peace offering, like thoughtful treats and gifts.
Maximize Your Quality Time Together
With rotating shifts and other scheduling hurdles, this task seems downright monumental. Still, with a little clever planning, you can squeeze as much quality time as you can possibly get out of your busy schedule. This usually entails building a separate schedule for spending time together as a couple. If your shift changes usually fall along with certain time slots, create alternate schedules that you can jump to, to eliminate the need to improvise. However, if shift assignments fall all over the clock, try to anticipate when they come and detect patterns in them.
Healthcare professionals face a veritable deluge of obstacles in today’s landscape. Now that our service is needed more than ever, we simply cannot allow stress to get to us, whether it be from work or from home. Hence, it is important to keep sources of stress in check with the most effective means you can muster.
Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consultant Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program in online and independent study and open to qualified professionals.
Stress causes multiple problems to the body due to the stress response. In such a tense state, it can also affect over time one’s waist line and add to gaining weight. Weight gain is directly correlated with chronic stress.
Stress can negatively affect one’s weight. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it meets your professional goals
The article, “Surprising Side Effects Stress Has On Your Waistline, Say Experts” by Perri Blumberg looks closer at how stress can affect weight gain. She states,
“As Ivanir further elaborates, stress can lead to weight gain via a hormone called cortisol. “When under stress, the adrenal glands produce cortisol, which leads to a surge of energy by stimulating fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism,” she explains. “However, cortisol also increases appetite and cravings for sweet, fatty, and salty foods. With chronic stress, this overexposure to cortisol can lead to weight gain,” she adds, further noting that cortisol secretion also promotes abdominal fat accumulation.”
Reducing stress is imperative to overall health and as one can see, stress affects almost every aspect of our life. It is important to manage it in order to live a healthy and productive life.
Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Stress Management Consulting.
One can never escape stress but one can interpret the data around stress and find a different outlook and perspective. This ideal was in the classical age and many philosophers and stoics understood the nature of stress and what one can do mentally to reframe that stress.
How one perceives stress is key to how one will respond to it. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program
The article, “These 5 Stoic Strategies Will Help You Slay Your Stress” by Ryan Holiday looks at five different quotes from the ages of philosophy and how one can incorporate that wisdom in regards to stress today. He states,
“Stress was a factof life. But suffering because of stress? To the Stoics, that was a choice. They mastered the discipline of perception, the ability to see things simply and straightforwardly, as they truly are: neither good nor bad. Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations: “Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.”
How stress is perceived and one’s world view is a big indicator how one will deal with adversity, stress, worries and anxiety.
To learn more about Stress Management, then please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four certification in Stress Management Consulting.
If diabetic, stress is not good for your sugar. How so? Adrenaline when pumped into the system due to the body’s fight or flight response to stress, induces glucogen, which in turn extracts glucose from the cells for sugar to burn in a fight or flight situation. With modern life, the situation is rarely life or death but our body does not know that and only responds to stress as it has for millions of years. This creates from this domino effect, a higher blood sugar which is not burned for fight or flight but merely flows in your blood hence raising the sugar.
It is important to limit the damage the body’s stress response can do to the body and this is why Stress Management is so important. Limiting the stress response only to legitimate threats is important.
Extra worry can cause more stress which can raise blood sugar. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program
The article, “How Stress Is Connected to Diabetes” by Ashley Braun takes a closer look at this connection between diabetes and stress induced higher sugar numbers. She states,
“If you are wondering if stress is affecting your blood sugar levels, you can try comparing your stress levels to your blood sugar levels. One study recommended rating your perceived stress, try a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most stressed), and recording your blood sugar level.4 After a few weeks of this, you may be able to notice a trend in your stress and blood sugar.”
Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification as a Stress Management Consultant.
Human beings worry everyday. They worry about global politics, national concerns, sports, domestic concerns at home, finances, family, health, weather, relationships, or the most simplistic interactions. Some worries are deeper and more critical to survival while others are very trivial in nature but if we let worries dominate life, then they can cause unneeded damage to the body.
The Serenity Prayer teaches one to let go and to control what can be controlled and to release what cannot be controlled. In understanding this basic ideal, one can releases oneself from the conscious reality of worry and focuses instead on productive reactions to legitimate concerns. Worry itself is the direct mental process of dealing with problems. It is essential because without it, important aspects of life would go untended to. Hence worry is a thinking process that is essential to life but like any function, it is when it misused or overused that issues arise.
Individuals worry all the time. Worry is part of life but it should not be an aspect that overwhelms the mind especially with worries that are insignificant or cannot be changed. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Certification
Anxiety, an emotional response to worry, can cause immense physiological damage to the body. Anxiety is a dread of what may or may not happen. It is unfounded and based on numerous misconceptions or unreal expectations. 85 percent of bad things the mind can conjure, usually never happen. This worry that leads to unnatural state of anxiety is something that negatively affects the sympathetic nervous system. In addition to anxiety, the worries that surround one become stressors. Stress itself is a physical response to something and again activates the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn, activates such hormones as adrenaline that increases blood pressure and heart rate, as well as tightening muscles and closing down the digestive system to more fight or flight responses. These responses are good if truly in physical danger, but the mental stressors and worries of life usually do not require such an extreme reaction. If in a constant state of anxiety and stress, the body will begin to hurt itself through these responses.
This is why it is so important to worry over what truly matters most and when worrying, to worry well. Worrying over things that cannot be changed do not help to the situation. Worrying late at night, losing sleep, and becoming ill, do not help situations either, but individuals due to a variety of bad worrying habits, or mental ticks are unable to turn off bad worrying. In effect, they become sick from worrying. They do not possess the ability to shut down the sympathetic nervous system to find relaxation.
The Parasympathetic nervous system is the opposite of the Sympathetic. It lowers the heartrate, blood pressure, and relaxes the body’s muscles and permits better digestion. It is imperative to return to this type of operation and find new balance. Individuals with panic and anxiety disorders that explode with worry do not have the abilities to find that balance. Many times they turn to a variety of medications which only blanket the symptoms but once untaken, do nothing for the body to learn to balance
This is why it is so important to learn to worry well. In the MED300/SM550 course, the text and CD of Dr. Weil is utilized to teach individuals how to use meditation and visualization as a way to combat and cope with worry. Dr. Weil emphasizes that one needs to place worries in three different columns. Situations that can be changed, may be changed, and cannot be changed.
Worry should be proportionately applied to things that can be changed. Through identification of what one wishes to accomplish, one can then follow a plan of action, choosing the best options and how those options will be carried out. Affirmation of success is key as a follow through. Dr Weil encourages visualization as a technique in meditation to find a quiet and peaceful place where one can find an inner wisdom guide, which in actuality is one’s unbiased subconscious. Some individuals make this spiritual by prayer and speak with Christ or Mohammed or Buddha, while others relate to deceased parents. This inner wisdom can sometimes supply fresh insight into an issue that seemed difficult prior.
In reaching these states of meditation, Dr Weil believes in the importance of breathing as a source of helping the body again find balance with the Parasympathetic system. Focused, deep, longer breaths can help the body find balance and reduce the tension in the body. The focus on breath also can closely follow Dr. Benson’s Relaxation Response, which follows the same ideals of breath, focus words and muscle relaxation. While these steps follow religious guidelines, they also coincidentally open the body up to more tranquil states associated with the Parasympathetic system. This can reduce the effects of stress, anxiety and unneeded worry.
Proper breath work in meditation can help one return to a more balanced state with the Parasympathetic Nervous System. Please also review AIHCP’s Meditation Instructor Program.
Good breath work and meditation can be used to free the body from unchangeable worries and also be used to guide the mind to find resolutions for things that can be changed. It can also help the mind find ways to transform oneself to things that cannot be changed. Some worries cannot be altered but they can be accepted and the situation can be adjusted to. The worries that cannot find solutions should generate transformation. In doing so, worrying is then used the natural way it was intended through evolution as a way to help the body deal with problems.
Through analyzation of worry, proper breath work, meditation, visualization and affirmation, one is better equipped to free the body from the stress and anxiety of the Sympathetic Nervous System and allow it to rest but also to be better able to dismiss unneeded worry and focus on real solutions to real life issues.
If you worry too much, it may be time to try to utilize these techniques to minimize unnecessary problems and focus on real problems but in a productive way by retraining how you approach worrying itself.
Please also review AIHCP’s Meditation Instructor Program as well AIHCP’s Stress Management Certification Program and see if they match your academic and professional goals. The programs are online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four certification.
Stress can cause multiple aches throughout the body. During stress our body prepares for fight or flight responses and hence muscle tense up and tighten. It is because of this that many have tension in the neck and shoulders due to higher levels of stress. Through Stress Management and massages and other techniques, stress caused physical ailments can be reduced or eliminated.
Neck and shoulder tension is a symptom of stress. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program
The article, “5 Ways to Reduce Stress-Related Tension in Your Neck and Shoulders” from Healthline looks at ways to remove tension from the shoulders and neck due to stress. The article states,
“The areas where you’re likely to feel stress or anxiety-related tension are in your neck and shoulders. Over time, this can lead to chronic pain as well as other health issues. Fortunately, muscle tension in your neck and shoulders responds well to stretching, yoga, relaxation, and other stress management methods. Let’s explore several simple techniques you can use to help release tension in your neck and shoulders, as well as some stress management strategies to help calm your mind and body.”
Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consultant Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Stress Management Consulting.
Cleanliness and order makes someone feel good about him or herself. It allows the mind not to be consumed with things that need done. It fortifies accomplishment and pride.
When things are messy, it is easier to be stress. One has no place to escape stress. When order is in balance, one can retreat to something beautiful and in order and find possibly find peace.
Stress breeds in disorganization. Order is important. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program
The article, “De-stress by decluttering” Judi Hopson looks at the benefits of decluttering when stressed and how it can not only create order but also take one’s mind off stressful things. She states,
” You’ll feel more in control of your life. Sorting through just one room, and organizing it well, will make you feel you’re on top of things. Sure, it takes discipline to do this. But, you’ll feel your power to focus and your self-respect growing.”
Decluttering a house has many benefits but reducing stress and creating a more conducive environment is important. To learn more about Stress Management Consulting, please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Stress Management Consulting.
Stress causes a response in the body. The response while short term is not physically beneficial if constantly present or no outlet is allowed. Certain breathing can help the body find pre stress balance and reduce the negative effects of the stress response. This is why meditation and other breathing techniques are excellent ways to deal with stress.
Deep breathing can help the body cope with the stress response within the body. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consultant Certification
The article, “BEAT STRESS ONE BREATH AT A TIME” by Jonathan Black remarks that breathing and learning how to breath properly can greatly reduce negative effects on the body from stress. He states,
“Deep breathing – not typical short, shallow breaths – triggers your body’s relation response by sending signals to your brain to slow the heart rate, decrease blood pressure and relax muscles, according to the American Institute of Stress, a non-profit that provides science-based stress management research.”
Please also review AIHCP’s Meditation Instructor and Stress Management Consultant Certification programs and see if they match your academic and professional goals. The programs are online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification.
The importance of sleep can never be minimized. All living creatures sleep. Some mammals such as the Brown Bat, sleep up to 18 hours a day, while the Giraffe sleeps an hour in a half. Humans in their prime need at least 8 hours a day. Sleep is so crucial that without it, an animal would die.
Sleep not only repairs and rests the overall body, but it also repairs the brain and cleanses it. During REM sleep especially, the brain’s memories are sorted out. Issues, problems and other stresses are handled at the subconscious level to allow the brain to be ready for a new day of activity. It is hence critical to receive enough sleep to not only repair the body but also to help with stress.
Sleep and relaxation are essential for good health. Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program
Without sleep, we cannot cope with stress. The brain must be given its rest to recuperate and refresh itself. Like any computer, restart is essential. A fresh mind can better categorize stress and respond to stress. This is one of the biggest reasons why sleep is so critical to any type of recovery from stress, grief or trauma.
The article, “How poor sleep and high stress levels make you less healthy” by Mercey Livingston looks at the poor health consequences of high stress and low sleep. She states,
“Addressing poor sleep and high or chronic stress levels is key to maintaining high HRV and in turn, good overall health. If you struggle from insomnia, sleep apnea, or have trouble falling or staying asleep, see your doctor and talk to them about getting checked out for any underlying health problems or if you need to seek testing and treatment for sleep disorders. ”
Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Stress Management Consulting.
By Lucy Peters
