You may not even realize that you are stressed. Perhaps the constant adrenaline flow coursing through your body is merely seen as creative tension, not the timer in a ticking time bomb of your body.
Apathy, keeping to yourself, trouble accepting responsibility, behavioural and drug addictions, being late for work, loss of enjoyment, restlessness, insecurity, sense of worthlessness, excessive worry, hypersensitivity, defensiveness, arrogance and argumentative, preoccupied, trouble thinking creatively, grandiosity, denial and feeling suspicious are all “tells” of stress.
Under- or overnutrition, negative interpersonal relationships or doubts about others or situations, insufficient exercise, ineffective body movement, environmental pollution, conflicting values and beliefs wear us down. Blood pressure, heart rate and respiration goes up. The immune system weakens. Hypertension and bowel disorders become the order of the day. Weight change, headache, sexual dysfunction can become part of the mix. Check out Destress for whole nutrient food supplements to enhance your nutritional intake to enhanced physical and mental wellness!
Each stressful situation is an opportunity for change; change your perspective, change your behaviours, observing changes around you as you adapt to those changes. Stress is designed to catapult us forward. Avoiding change only intensifies stress. Handling stress differently includes finding ways to relax the body. Consider what you can do differently. Apologize when appropriate. Forgive yourself, forgive others–it is a great stress reliever.
Whether your physical symptoms are stress-induced or create the stress, good nutrition, proper exercise, quiet time and sleep are paramount to function optimally. Ganoderma Lucidum provides a more restful and effective sleep. The Ganoderma lucidum harvested from the mycelium (the root portion of the mushroom) is particularly helpful in enhancing mental alertness and calmness.
Spend time with people who like you, support you, have fun with you, like (love) you even though you aren’t perfect, people who allow you to talk about upset feelings. Allow others to praise you for your abilities and accomplishments. Praise yourself for your abilities and accomplishments. Be with people and in situations that make you feel good as often as possible. Relax with a hobby.
Practice positive self-talk, especially when you notice negative talk, “shoulds”, “oughts” or “musts”. Post your list of positive qualities and accomplishments where you will see it regularly.
Make a list of things that you want to accomplish and gradually work at it. Tick off or cross off each completed task.
Maintain your physical appearance. Looking good helps you feel good, but also is a declaration of self-worth.
Resources:
The Depressive & Manic Depressive Association of Ontario; Module 6 – Building & Maintaining Your Self Esteem, Dianne Prato
Wellness Nursing: Concepts, Theory, Research, and Practice; Carolyn Chambers Clark, A.R.N.P., Ed.D., F.A.A.N., Springer Publishing, N.Y., N.Y., 1986.
Janet Wiebe
May 20, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hello Janet
Stress? It’s the very basis of what we look after in hypnosis. I agree. Stress comes from so many different factors. What we have never been informed about though is that how we manage it is a choice. We humans have a lot more personal abilities than we know about. Yes we can ‘clean up our act’ and we should. But sometimes that’s part of stress – we don’t. And why don’t we? We don’t believe we can. Some outside agency will do it for us.
When a person hands over their internal power to an outside agency they don’t develop the tools to keep on keeping on. I believe that when holistic services are being used it should be an internal choice to help the external life. Hypnosis, massage, aromatherapy will be far more effective when the person who uses them also works at making life changes. I’ve seen my modality make big changes when the person practices his or her own self-hypnosis regularly [often when working with a massage therapists or other soothing practitioners]. Stress tends to have very little ‘meaning and emotional involvement’ because that has been a choice of the client. Life still speeds by, but where changes can be made they are and when they can’t be made a client chooses his or her reactions to stress.
As I said stress is the basis of what I work with. I believe it causes dis-ease and wrong thinking. Change is as simple as the strong belief that a client can take back his or her power.
March 11, 2009 at 12:50 pm
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