We all know stress causes a fight or flight response.  Within the sympathetic nervous system it awakens the body through various increases in adrenaline to prepare the body for action.  Increase in heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure, digestive shutdown and preparation to face struggle emerge within the body.  Short term this can save oneself, but long term when facing modern problems that cannot be fled or do not pose physical harm, it can cause issues with health.  AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program offers courses and ideas on how to reduce stress and find calm for oneself and others.

It is very important to identify stressors and reduce the negative impact on the body.  Knowing how to calm the body is key.  There are a variety of ways to calm the body physically, mentally and emotionally.  There are also a variety of tools to help calm the body.  The key is to reverse the effects of the sympathetic nervous system and return to a state of calm.  Of course Meditation is key but not everyone can mediate immediately when stressed.  Long term use of meditation can help overall and when the situation occurs, but one needs to have other strategies also to deal with anxiety, fear, stress and worry.

Physically, Power Breathing is an excellent way to help reverse the ill effects of stress.  When stressed, individuals breath in short shallow breathes.  This reduces oxygen in the blood and also causes anxiety. It is important to take deep breathes that fill the entirety of the lungs, allowing the abdomen to fill and the chest to expand.  These short breathes should focus on inhaling and exhaling to promote a more peaceful mind set.  This in turn can help the body reverse the effects of the stress response on the blood pressure, muscles and heart.

In addition, Yoga postures, as well as various calm postures can help.  Simply by taking a calm postures such as Calm Unfold, that involves a bending to the ground and allowing the arms to dangle, can help reduce stress.  Also, when stressed, jaws become stern.  By touching the roof of one’s mouth with the tongue, the jaw can be relaxed.  Lotus hands and other Eastern postures can also create a sense of calm.   By reversing facial expressions associated with stress such as Calm Demeanor, one can also trick the subconscious that correlates these expressions with happier times.

If one notices, when stressed, people speed up things.  They talk faster, walk faster, breath faster.  Walk slower, speak slower and most importantly by breathing slower, can reverse ill effects of stress.  These slow down calm techniques can be very useful.

Some points also help negative energy within the body process through.  Acupuncture and EFT tapping are all examples of utilizing points in the body to release negative energy trauma and stress.  Self massage points can help reduce tension and stress.  Checkbone rubs, Feng Chih (back of skull), Jan Ku (below ankle), Chin Wei (Below breast bone), ear points, wrists,  top of head and foot reflexology can all be sensitive points that can relax energy channels and muscles.  Aromas such as lavender can also help one find calm physically.

Like meditation, herbs can also play long term keys in helping oneself, but again, these are not immediate fixes like many of the above procedures.  Ginseng, Valerian and Chamomile can all play long term helps, as well as a higher alkaline diet.

Individuals can also employ a wide variety gadgets to help reduce stress on the spot.  Finger bindings, worry beads, stress balls, music, ionizer, bio feedbacks, self hypnosis and stress balls are all techniques and gadgets on the spot that can help reduce stress.

Mentally and emotionally, individuals can also reduce stress.  Stressors for some are not for others.  In many ways, some stress is perception as well as how one copes with the particular stress.  Individuals with type A personalities which are more aggressive, over-worked, self centered and heavy goal orientated individuals suffer more from stress than Type B personalities.  Type B personalities are more laid back and less prone to stress.  Neither personality is superior but if one is more one than the other, then difficulties can arise in how work and goals are met.  It is important to implement a little of both personalities to truly find success without the high stress.

Most stressed individuals can utilize a variety of mental ways to reduce stress by how they view it.  Calm affirmations are on such way.  Calm affirmations replace negative words with positive words for each situation.  Focus is more on the positive.

In addition, Big Screen Visualization can play a big role in helping a person view a stressful situation.  Through the power of imagination and visualization, one can imagine oneself in various situations but with successful outcomes.  Another visualization technique is referred to as Stepping in Time.  With this visualization, one imagines the problem now then reviews it at a later date, and if it bears any power on that date.  This can help one see the true significance of the stressor.

Also, one can similarly try the Ten Year Plan, as well as the Universal Perspective.  The Universal Perspective teaches one to visualize oneself from various frames of height, until one only sees the Earth.  One can even go farther to the edge of the solar system or galaxy.  How important is the stressor at that moment?

Framing is also another useful visualization tactic in which the person can reframe in one’s mind a stressful person or place with comedy.  For those who feel they cannot perform these visualizations or avoid the stress, one can offer a Lets Pretend technique.  The stressed person then pretends they are not stressed.  Sure enough, soon the person discovers he or she is not stressed

Other Type A worriers need strategies.  Permission to let loose, or be a Type B person for an hour, or permission to say no, or permission to play strategies can help them unwind.  In addition, giving one a worry free spot, whether at home or work to go to.  This type of re-programming is based on the environment.  Places, music, or scents that are associated with stress are stressful.  Opposite, places, music and scents associated with peace are not stressful.  One can trick the subconscious to feel safer and relaxed by sitting in area more peaceful, or listening to a song associated with a good moment.

Worry lists can also help.  One can departmentalize the worry and assign it an appropriate time.  This closely resembles the concept of worry dolls.  In addition, sometimes, disconnect is critical.  To walk away from the worry itself to eliminate the stressor and the physical issues associated.

This is a but a small sample on ways to elicit the calm response within the body.  There are many other ways, especially in the text Instant Calm found with SM560.

If you would like to learn more about reducing stress and becoming certified in Stress Management Consulting, then please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals looking to become Stress Management Consultants

Resources

Instant Calm by Paul Wilson

Life can be stressful for women.  Learning to manage stress for a more healthy mind body and soul is key for many women.  Whether working in a business or keeping the home clean or both, life can be stressful for a woman.

The article, “4 Stress Management Tips For Women Trying To Balance It All” by Devon Barrow looks at some ways women can better manage stress for a more healthy life.  She states,

“As modern women, we pride ourselves on being able to do anything we set our minds to. Maybe that looks like unleashing our entrepreneurial spirit on the world. Or the full-time job of raising a family. Or saying goodbye to familiarity and traveling the world solo. Maybe it even looks like all the above… But the long story short is: As women, we continue to prove that we can balance it all and then some. So the question is not just what can we do but how healthy and happy can we be while we do it?”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification and see if it meets 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.

Stress builds up within the body even at the subconscious level.  Panic nightmares can erupt in a person’s life due to unresolved stress.  Individuals who experience these nightmares wake in a panic and fear and the nightmare is a manifestation of the stressor or issues that are dominating the person’s mind.  Why the panic attack in the sleep occurs is still open to debate, but the root cause is generally agreed to be stress.

The article, “Why Am I Panicking In My Sleep?” from Cleveland Clinic’s Health Essentials discusses the phenomenon of panic nightmares.  The article states,

“It’s 3:00 a.m. and you’re wide awake. It’s not because you had too much coffee or need to use the bathroom. You’re up because a panic attack jolted you out of your sleep. You’re sweating, breathing hard, your heart is racing and you can’t shake the panic or dread you’re feeling in that moment”

To review the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting 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.

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.

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.”

To read the entire article, please click here

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.

Stress plays havoc on health, social life and work.  Ultimately it is a killer.  For these reasons, it is essential to respond to stress.  Without a fight or flight response for many everyday situations, one needs a way to help the body escape the situation or cope with the situation in a healthy fashion.  In doing, so there are four types of interventions that can take place in dealing with stress.

Interventions to stress or in many ways we look to fight it within a civil and acceptable way.  Since we cannot like our ancestors flee or fight a situation, we do not want to internalize stress and damage our bodies.  It is important to look at each stress and see what type of intervention is the best way to deal with it.

Life change interventions are one important way to fight stress.  It may involve changing how we handle things via organization to a complete restructuring of a career.  The changes may be minor, or may be major depending on the level of the stress.  Some stressors are internal while others are external.  Some we have more control over while others we cannot control.  Our life changes all hinge upon that in how severe we can alter a life style.    Some changes may alter the extremity of the stress, while others may limit the duration of the stress.  Some life changes seek to avoid the stress or limit the stressor’s affect on one’s life.  Ultimately, the life change depends on the person’s situation and the stress.  Each person is different and what stresses some, may not stress others.  Hence the life change is subjective in many cases.

Does one change a career completely, or make smaller changes within the paradigm of the work itself.  Hence these changes are based on the person’s individual needs and their ability to deal with the stress.

Not all stresses require outward life changes, but can be managed other ways.  One way include perception.  How one perceives things ultimately shapes one’s world outlook on life.  One can be a glass is half empty person or a glass is half full person.  If one perceives a stressor as something that will destroy them, then it will cause a great amount of worry, but if one sees such stressors as challenges or ways to improve oneself, then this outlook totally changes the stress reaction within the person.   One may lose a job and see new opportunities, while others may see the loss of income and fear of unemployment.   Again, it ultimately lies within the person’s perception.  The ability to alter one’s perception to stress is a key way to manage it and make situations better.

Another intervention against stress is emotional response.  We can help our emotional responses to stress through a variety of interventions.  One includes meditation.  Meditation is correlated with many health benefits.  Individuals who meditate regularly overall have better health and are able to refresh themselves against stress.  Besides meditation, biofeedback is a helpful tool.  Biofeedback looks at how our body responds to certain stimuli and understanding what our body does when affected by stress.  Most of these functions are subconscious, such as our breathing and heartbeat.  Individuals can identify stress and how the body responds and use techniques to control heartbeat and breathing to reduce the damage of stress.   There are a multitude of other ways one can emotionally reduce the power of stress in one’s lives.  Utilizing these methods can help one deal with a life situation that cannot be altered or changed.

Equal to emotional release, physical and physiological methods of reducing stress are critical to health.  These interventions and responses tie deeply with the fight response.  Physical response to stress in the gym can be very beneficial.  One can lift weights, punch a bag or run to escape the reality of stress.  The body responds well to exercise not just for health but also mental health.  Endorphins are released that help the body overcome stress damage to the organs.   Those in high stress fields, should consider a regular exercise regiment to cope with the daily stresses of life.

Stress interventions are key to good health.  Stress kills and one must be able to alleviate the responses of the body through a variety of coping strategies.  These strategies can help one cope with stress and increase good health.

Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Program and see if it meets your standards.  Qualified professionals can earn a four year certification through AIHCP’s independent study and online program in Stress Management.

Stress kills.  This not a clique or a baseless statement, but a real statement based on fact and science.  Stress causes disease and death in many people every year.  Stress can be real, physical, environmental and immediate,  or social and psychological.

Psychologist Walter Cannon first studied the stress response of human beings.  He termed the popular phrase, flight or fight.  The flight or fight response is humanity’s most evolutionary basic response to stressors.  When something immediate and threatening approaches, our ancestors fled or stayed and fought.  In that process, the stressors were analyzed in the brain and the necessary adjustments were made to the various bodily systems to prepare the body for stress.  These systems included the endocrine, cardiovascular, automatic nervous and muscular systems of the body to respond to the stressor or threat.  Through these complex systems, various reactions in the body take place that prepare the body for fight or flight

Among these many reactions originating from the brain and then transferring to the various glands that emit hormones include faster heart rate, higher blood pressure, muscle contraction, increased metabolic rate, less fatigue, more energy, and more oxygen.   These changes are a result of hormones in the body.  Cortisol is a primary hormone that increases blood sugar for energy. In addition, aldosterone is a hormone that increases blood pressure.

These essential changes are pivotal in flight or fight responses.  However, over time, these increased hormones and the chemical changes they produce in the body are not healthy.  Seyle, the Father of Stress Management, studied the effects of stress on rats and discovered that a multitude of physical ailments befell the rats when over stressed.  This is the same truth for human beings.  Human beings can injure their bodies through prolonged and intense stress.  Heart damage and higher blood pressure, leading to stroke or heart attack are real killers due to stress response.  Other ailments can develop over time, such as stomach issues, ulcers and digestive disorders.

Stress does kill.  It can kill immediately or over time.  It is hence important to understand stress and reduce stress.   Stressors all play different roles to an individual.  One may be stressful for one person may be a blessing or nothing at all to someone else.  How we view stressors and react to stressors play a key role in activating our flight and fight responses.  We need to limit these responses to only life altering situations so as to spare our body the changes it deals with during a stress incident.

Unlike our ancestors who could flee or fight stress, modern humanity must deal with stress internally or externally.  One cannot flee a job or fight the customer but must deal with the everyday stresses.  This leads to chronic stress that modern humanity is not evolved to deal with.  So ultimately, it comes down to how one views life, reframes stressors and reacts.

Stress is all about the stressor and the stress response.  If someone is stressed in the a traffic jam, he can scream, yell and honk the horn, or take the time to listen to music or reflect on the day.  If someone is watching a sporting event, they can become intensely stressed or enjoy the game for the love of the game itself.  Ultimately, how one reacts to a stressor depends on the uniqueness of the individual.  Life is not about avoiding stress, for no stress is not living and not healthy in and of itself.  Instead, life is about sorting out stressors and dealing with the most important ones.  One needs to learn to cope with stress by reducing the degree and duration of the stressor event.  In doing so, one can limit the natural effects of stress on the body and its natural reactions to stress.

Ultimately it is one’s health that is on the line.   By understanding how the body internally responds to stress, one can see the bodily reactions, which in themselves are healthy in the moment but unhealthy in extreme degree and long duration.  Learning to sort out un-needed stress, reframing situations and utilizing stress management concepts such as meditation, one can then reduce the physical reactions within the body to stress.

If you would like to learn more about AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification, then please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and designed to help qualified professionals meet the standards of AIHCP for the four year certification.

In the meantime, limit stress and learn to cope better with stress for one’s own physical well being.

Stress causes numerous health issues in life and knowing how to manage it is key.  One simple way to manage stress and reduce its impact is through smiling and humor.  Studies have shown that humor and laughing are big stress reducers. Learning how to reframe stress and control it through humor can help one get through the day and limit the negative effects of stress on the body.

The article, “How to Use Humor to Manage Stress” by Dr Clay Drinko takes a closer look at the value of humor in dealing with stress.  He states,

“Humor starts to come into play when we start reframing our stressors. You probably can’t reject everything that causes you stress. You are an adult and there are certain things you have to do. That’s when you can try to reframe them.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Humor is a great medicine and by learning how to react to stressors and reframe them, we can then be able to react differently in a more healthy fashion.

Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals

Stress can manifest from many things.  It can manifest from situations but also from relationships.  Relationships can range from work to home to personal to romantic.  Whenever people exist, the chance for conflict can exist.  Conflict in itself is not bad but can become stressful when not properly resolved.  Individuals need to learn about each other to reduce potential stress and infighting from differences and conflict.

Personality A and Personality B in themselves can cause issues but if we look deeper, we can find more indepth differences between people that result in conflict.  People are different at large scales and when these differences in values or expressions manifest at work or in a relationship, they can produce conflict.  In properly understanding other people and seeking to find solutions and compromises through questions, one can better resolve conflicts and produce beneficial results from them.

Karl Jung looked at differences in people as a source of stress from four conflicting personality traits.

The first was between extroverts and introverts.  Extroverts naturally are more outgoing.   They seek to meet new people, surround themselves with others socially and partake in activities.  They are quicker to move and respond.  Introverts on the contrary are less outgoing.  They find discomfort being around multiple people and seek to avoid festivities.  Introverts find more joy alone.  They move more slowly.   With 75 percent of the population extrovert, there is less chance to come into contact with introverts but it does occur.  At work, extroverts and introverts can find conflict in how their personalities seek to resolve issues.  Extroverts can reduce stress with introverts by encouraging them, while introverts can slow extroverts down through questioning.

The second preference is intuitive people and sensing people.  Sensing people approach problems more analytically and search for facts before making decisions, while intuitive people relay on gut feelings.  Sensing people systematically approach a situation while intuitive people may jump from place to place.  The conflict is very understandable.  75 percent of the population is sensing, while 25 percent is intuitive.   Both personalities need to see the merit of each other to solve the problem as a whole.

The third preference is judging and perceiving.  Judging people are very objective while perceiving individuals are very subjective.  Judging individuals will have a set plan while perceiving are more flexible and adaptable.  Judging personalities wish to complete tasks and move on, while perceived personalities do not like to be rushed.  This flexible and inflexible conflict can lead to stress unless both parties seek common ground and understanding.

The fourth preference is thinking and feeling.  Many individuals make decisions based logical decision making instead of making decisions based on feelings.  Emotions are critical in processing a decision for a feeler, while logic is more important for a thinker.  Most men are thinkers and most women are feelers.  Thinkers tackle situations with the term, “I think we should…” while feelers approach problems with the term “I feel we should…”  While thinkers are cut off from feeling which is important, many feelers are stressed when making decisions due to immense emotion.

When looking for conflict resolution with less stress and great productivity, it is important that one identifies differences in people.  If one can understand their own personality traits and that of whom they are working with, then conflict has a greater chance to be resolved.  When one does not identify, then conflict has a greater chance of leading to stress and more problems.

Many individuals enter into conflict with more emotion than logic and set values.  Sometimes the values or perceived sense of rules are even greater than the issue itself.  It is important to understand each other and not allow extreme emotional responses to overtake.

It is far more than merely identifying differences of personality but also creating a integrative plan to find resolution.  This involves four facets.

First, a healthy relationship must be established.  This relationship must set ground rules and establish guidelines.

Second, there needs to be a clear statement of how each party feels.

Third, common goals must be established

Finally, a determination of range of alternatives and compromises must be established between the two parties.

Conflict can go either way but by establishing these guidelines, resolution has a far greater chance of success.  Sometimes, however, no matter how hard we try, conflict cannot be resolved.  Difficult and uncompromising people exist. When identifying difficult people, it is important to have a support group that you can trust and never stop working within your values.  When one realizes they are dealing with the difficult personality, it is best to avoid confrontation and when forced to work with such an individual to pose more questions to them than declarative statements.

Ultimately, balance is key in everything.  If one discovers they are too extrovert, they may wish to work on incorporating some introvert values, or if one is to rigid and judging, they may wish to balance that with more flexibility from time to time.  Balance within oneself creates harmony but when working with others who value differently, we should sometimes try to see them as the balance we may need to make a better decision.

If you would like to learn more about Stress Management or would like to become a certified Stress Management Consultant then please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study for qualified professionals seeking to learn more in this important field of Stress Management.

One can review the many Stress Management Courses by clicking the link.

Please also view our Anger Management Consulting Program.  This program also contains vital information for stress reduction and conflict resolution between differing personalities.

Stress greatly depends on one’s personality.  Personality plays a key role in how we interpret stressors and how we react to stresses.  Certain characteristics and personalities are more conducive to stress and its ill effects.

Personality A is a type of personality that is more proactive, hyperaggressive, easily frustrated, impatient and assertive.  One can vary within it.  One can be on the higher end or the lower end of it.  The important reality is that one identifies it as a higher stress prone personality and how one responds to these more natural impulses.

Personality A in work or home life is very consumed and competitive in life.  The personality wants to accomplish as much as possible with limited time.  It has a difficult time enjoying accomplishments, but judges them and looks for more.  It finds little time to relax the mind.   It finds competition with others and expects more out of others.  Due to this, is is also prone to quicker frustration, as well as less patience in its everyday dealings.

Stemming from this also is a perfectionism that goes beyond doing a good job but looks for impossible levels that cannot be reached.  Due to this, many with Type A Personality are all in and when something goes wrong, they can binge to the opposite extreme.  It also pushes one to overtly dependent on self with little trust upon others.  Internal and external balance for achievement is in flux.

Believe it or not, this may look confident from the outside, but in fact, most Personality A also have low self-esteem.  They need external approval and measure success by completed goals and achievements instead of one’s self.

Many individuals are Type A personality or share in the competitive and sometimes aggressive spirit.  They have impatience and easy frustration and may exhibit lower self esteem deep down, but many are able to identify these impulses and alter them.  They can use the impulses, much like OCD, or even ADHD, and utilize them for the good they create but not allow it to dominate them.  Of course, the more severe the trait, the harder it is to be more relaxed, easier going, but balance is always the key.

Spirituality, a moral compass, and a objective conviction can also ground a personality driven by A.  It can lessen the necessity of materialism and help one focus on the family and the soul.

Noone fits completely in one type of group. One may possess certain characteristics and not others within a personality trait but if one possesses enough traits and feels enough of the trait’s impulses, then one should be aware of it and know what it entails.  In knowing this, one can better cope with one’s natural inclinations and live a more balanced and spiritual life.

Managing stress and having good health is essential to managing a Type Personality A.  One can utilize the good drives that come from it but also manage the excess that can be found it.  Balance is key.

If you would like to learn more about Stress Management Consulting, then please review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.

It is well known stress is a silent killer.  Stress in nature can start disease and death within an organism.  Stress can also gradually erode a human being’s overall health if not controlled or maintained.  Prolong stress is not healthy for the body or mind.

The article, “Stress, the silent threat” Michael van Soest explores how stress can damage the body.  He states,

“Studies have shown that one to three adults suffer from the effects of unmanaged stress. Many of us don’t even realize how stressed we actually are; often becoming accustomed to being tense, so we think of it as normal. It damages our health, our work, our relationships. It destroys families, businesses, and lives. It costs companies staggering amounts every year in health costs, absenteeism, and poor performance. In fact, stress built up over a long period can reduce our ability to regenerate, which means less energy and tolerance to combat daily stress.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Stress and its negative effects over long term can permeate into every aspect of life.  If not coped with or handled, it can lead to later serious health issues.

Please also review AIHCP’s Stress Management Consulting Certification and see if the program meets your academic and professional goals.