First, it is important to note that stress causes very real physical reactions in your body. Some stress-related physical responses include tension, strokes, inability to concentrate, increased blood pressure and pulse, headaches, weakened immune system, and irritability. Some of the scientifically-proven ways that meditation can lower stress include: reduced fear of dying, reduced anxiety and nervousness, less production of the stress hormone Cortisol. Meditators often report simply looking and feeling calmer and more energized. Medical insurance companies have studied meditation’s effects and found that meditators were 87% less likely to be hospitalized for heart problems and 55% less likely to be hospitalized with cancer.

            Stress is generally brought on by a never-ending stream of thoughts running through the mind, whether it’s your schedule, your errands, or the future with which you’re preoccupied. Meditation’s main goal is to turn off that recurring voice in the head, in order to experience calmness and stillness—even if you only buy yourself a few peaceful minutes in the beginning. Think about it this way, taking an afternoon power nap is rejuvenating to the body and mind. Meditation takes that same state of mental relaxation to a deeper level. Coming out of a meditation, you’ll have a renewed sense of peace and tranquility, in other words, stress relief.

            If you’ve never meditated before, don’t stress out! Oh no, another thing to put on the “to do” list? No! Go to Amazon.com and simply download a guided meditation track for $.99. It only takes 2 minutes from start to finish if you have an existing Amazon account. You might try “Guided Meditations for Stress Relief” by Bodhipaksa, “20 Minute Guided Meditation for Releasing Stress” by Guided Meditation, or “Indigo Dreams: Adult Relaxation – Guided Meditation, Relaxation Techniques Decrease Anxiety, Stress, and Anger” by Lori Lite. You’ll simply find a quiet, comfortable place to sit up straight without distractions as you listen to the guided meditations for stress relief. A voice will tell you how to breathe, how to position yourself, and how to clear your mind. You might also join a meditation group if you know of one that’s readily available and convenient. Much like exercising with a supportive group, being a part of a meditation group can help you stick with it and get more benefit for your time investment.

            Meditation can be a very effective weapon for stress relief. It’s free, has no ill side effects, and can be done any time and anywhere without special equipment. Give it a try and see for yourself!

 As we enter into 2012, I have come up with new resolutions for the new year.  Here are some of the key things which I hope to accomplish in the year 2012.

Physical Fitness

In order to continue enjoying a good quality of life, physical health is very important.  Physical as well as mental healths form two basic foundations in my life.  This is because only with good physical and mental healths am I able to live a happy life and to carry on living productively.

 I intend to continue with my regular exercise routines, such as swimming, brisk walking and yoga.  While I have been swimming for many years now, I just picked up yoga during the second half of 2011.  I have gained both physical and mental health benefits from yoga practice.  One good advantage of practicing yoga is that it does not take up a lot of time (a few poses a day will do) and yet I am able to experience the benefits that this practice brings. 

 Mental Fitness

Living in today’s fast-paced society can be stressful.  Stress and anxiety are parts and parcels of daily life.  I intend to reduce the negative effects which stress cause through yoga and meditation practice.  Again, yoga has done a good job in reducing my level of stress and anxiety as well as in helping me coping better with life’s challenges. 

 I intend to continue with my daily meditation practice.  Through this practice, I am able to increase my level of mindfulness and concentration.  I am able to still my mind better in the face of life’s tumults and to increase my ability to respond circumstances rather than react to them.  Through meditation, I am hoping to be increasingly becoming the master of my mind and not the other way round. 

 Live Spiritually

By this, I mean to live a meaningful life.  There is a greater calling and meaning to life to just acquiring material wealth and enjoying life to one’s heart content. (I will feel empty if I pursue this path!) In this respect, I am hoping to increase my level of gratitude and contentment to my life situation.  Yes, I still need to achieve my goal of financial freedom which means that I have to be in the wealth acquisition mode.  However, wealth acquisition is not the ultimate goal in life.  Besides achieving financial freedom, I will increase my capacity in helping others through charity. 

 Eat Healthy

Generally, I intend to continue consuming a well-balanced healthy food as much as possible.  I intend to be more selective of the foods that I am having.  In the face of variety of foods, I am inclined to opt for fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables as my primary diets.  As I am not a vegetarian, I will eat meat to a lesser extent.  Among the meats, I opt for white meat such as fish more than red meat, such as beef. 

 Taking responsibility for My Life

I am the creator and owner of my life.   I believe that what I think of on daily basis will eventually create my reality.  Based on this assumption, I intend to observe my thoughts and choose them wisely.  I shall refrain from negative and non-supportive thoughts and to imbue my mind as much as possible with positive and supportive thoughts.  Along similar line, I will try to refrain as much as possible from the negative habits of complaining and blaming.  This is because they do not solve problems.  Secondly, by allowing oneself to form a complaining habit, my capacity to find solutions amid problems will also deteriorate.  Not to mention the impact that they have on my level of self-confidence. 

 Letting Go of the Need to be Perfect

For a long time, I ponder on how to achieve inner peace.  No matter what I do to make me feel happy and better, the effect does not last.  I might get elated and excited over accomplishing tasks I set out to do.  However, the happiness does not last.  Soon, it will be replaced with a new “task” which I need to accomplish and it goes on and on.  I gradually come to realize that I need to learn to let go of the need to be always perfect in order to instill more inner peace.  When things do not turn out as I would like it to be, then I simply learn to let go and make peace with it.  The opposite to this is to get upset and angry, which is not conducive to having inner peace at all. 

 Helping Others

We are living in this interconnected world and universe for that matter.  What we do unto others, good or bad, will eventually return to us.  I intend to continue helping others primarily through charity.  Through the practice of giving to others (especially those in needs), whether through material as well as non-material means (such as giving time to serve others), we will just cement our interconnectedness with others.  Through practice of giving, one will experience the joy and happiness of being able to make positive contributions to the society that we live in. 

 Financial Freedom

Last, but not the least, I intend to expand and grow my passive income and net worth with the ultimate aim of achieving financial freedom.  Achieving this financial goal is of ultimate important to me as it will allow me the freedom to choose what I would like to do in life. For example, I do not have to work for others, if I choose to. 

 What’s your new year’s resolution? In setting up resolutions, it is best to be precise and achievable. It has to be able to stretch you in order to reach the goals you set for yourself and to break away from the current comfort zone. 

 An Example

A person who is experiencing shortage of money will do no good to himself by constantly dwelling on how “poor” he is.  This is because by allowing himself to preoccupy his thoughts on the shortage of money, he will continue to experience a lack of money.  What he has to do, instead, is to redirect his thoughts and to focus on “abundance”.  He has to think of abundance more often than shortage.  Therefore, instead of letting the thought of no money constantly preoccupy his mind, he should start being grateful for the amount of wealth that he has at that point of time. 

 The Case for Stress and Anxiety

How do you apply this basic law to the daily stress and anxiety that we are frequently facing? The person will do him a great favor by not resisting and complaining about the problems that he is facing.  This is because by resistance and complaints, he will only allow the extension of his problems. Instead, he should take the current stress that he is facing in his strides and at the same time, proactively find ways to minimize or reduce this unpleasant occurrence.  For example, instead of complaining incessantly, he could perhaps take up relaxation techniques such as yoga or meditation.  Admittedly, this is easier said than done.  However, there is no other better way to this. 

 By putting in practice the principle underlying the Law of Attraction into your daily life as much as possible, you will find that you can lead a better quality of life.  The problem might persist, but at least, you will be more at peace with yourself. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUyrTJqDcyQ

Self-hypnosis is one of the most powerful tools of positive self-transformation through inducing a relaxed but concentrated state of mind. Similar to day dreaming, this state of mind is characterized by relaxed and focused concentration.   Though it may sound foreign to some people, we experience a state of natural hypnosis on quite a frequent basis.   Whenever we experience a state of joy, calm and relaxed concentration while doing something or any activity where we lose track of time, most probably we are in the state of natural hypnosis.

Hypnotherapy

During this natural state of calm, relaxed and yet sharp alertness, our subconscious mind tends to be susceptible to new ideas and life-changing positive habits which we would like to introduce to our lives.  Hypnotherapy is a way to help inducing this state of relaxed consciousness, such as through listening to CDs.  A professional hypnotherapist will guide you through the easy-to-follow process, as recorded in these CDs that will lead you to achieve a positive transformation in your life.  Once in this state, we are more able to change unproductive or unhelpful thought patterns into new positive patterns. 

 Normally, our existing “mental cabinets” are mixed bags of positive as well as negative thoughts which we have learned and picked up since we were young.  While our positive habits, learned attitudes and beliefs tend to empower us, the negative habits or beliefs tend to drain us of our energies, create stagnancies and hinder us from achieving our true potentials. 

 Hypnotherapy normally includes the following steps:

1. Relaxation

In this initial stage, you will need to find a quiet place whereby you can stretch out, feel at ease and relaxed.  One of the best methods to introduce greater degree of relaxation is through practice of deep and slow breathing for a few minutes. This is normally done through closing your eyes, in order that you will not be distracted by your surroundings.  The process is accompanied by a slow and soothing music in order to introduce greater level of relaxation to the mind.  After practicing this exercise, we will normally find that our “monkey” mind is more or less tamed and that various thoughts that normally race through our minds settled.

2. Introducing Imagery into Our Inner Landscapes

With our minds quieted down, we will be asked to form a nice and relaxing imagery in our inner mental landscapes.  You can choose a place where you find relaxing.  This can be a place that you have been before or alternatively, you can conjure up an ideal place.  Open up all your senses in this place and soak yourself in the beautiful and soothing surroundings.  Hypnotherapy is effective as our mind does not know the difference between images that it generates from the event in our normal waking reality.  By giving our mind good doses of positive supportive images during this relaxed state, our bodies will respond positively as well. 

3. Self-Affirming Declarations

The final step is to do self-affirming declaration on topics which you would like to see improvement in your life.  By repeating lines after lines of positive affirming sentences, your receptive mind will be able to absorb these messages down to the subconscious level. 

4. Repeat

For optimal results, repeat this hypnotherapy process on a frequent and regular basis.  Sooner or later, you will notice that gradual and yet steady improvements have taken place in your life. 

The Benefits

Self-hypnosis is useful for people who would like to see improvements in their quality of lives.  The method can be used for weight loss, smoking cessation, inner peace, inner strength and confidence as well as for stress and anxiety reduction.

 The challenge is how to be at peace with one-self irrespective of how people’s views are towards one-self or our own self-views for that matter?  One of the best solutions is to learn the art of self-compassion.  To put it simply, self-compassion is an act of kindness which one can show towards one self, no matter how bad the situation is.  A self-compassionate person knows that he has done his best under the circumstances.  There is no need to beat one-self up or criticize one-self harshly if one messes up.  Only through the act of kindness towards one-self, can self-healing start its natural process of recovery.  A self-compassionate person does not feel “threatened” if other people perform better than him in school, at work or other fields for that matter.  By practicing this art of self-healing, one will be able to achieve a greater level of peace and harmony in life.  Lastly, a person who is at peace with one-self will achieve a greater level of personal success and growth. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAC5ZXBT0Gw

Normally, we talk negatively about stress.  More often than not, we associate stress with the harmful effects that it can create, both to the body as well as to the mind.  This type of negative stress can also be termed as “distress”.  On the other hand, “eustress” is the exact opposite of “distress”.  The term eustress is first coined by a Canadian endocrinologist Hans Seyle to mean stress that is healthy due to the fulfillment or other positive feeling that it can bring to life.

 The Importance of Eustress

Eustress plays an important role in order for us to lead a healthy and fulfilling life.  It gives us the motivation to reach our goals.  Life without goal and direction will be meaningless.  In fact, this type of life can lead to distress.  Having created goals in life, it is important for us to follow through the steps and plans to reach our destinations. We have to work and strive hard and these strivings often exert stress on our body.  However, unlike negative stress, such as anxiety and fear, this type of stress is an enjoyable stress which helps us in focusing and completing the tasks.  Eventually, we feel happy, joyous and elated of having accomplished our tasks. 

 Life’s Perspectives

The quality of life that we are leading depends on our perspectives.  Whenever we are confronted with difficulties, we can either regard it positively or negatively.  If you perceive this difficulty as a threat, then you have created negative stress in your life.  However, if you can successfully recondition your mind and regard the negativity that you are facing not as a threat but as a challenge to overcome, then you have inadvertently build an inner strength in your life.  You have then successfully turned the stressor in your life from distress to eustress.

 The Key is to Maintain Balance

The key to maintain happiness is to maintain a balance in life.  Too little stress will lead to bored and unfulfilled life.  On the other end of the spectrum, too much stress will lead us to feeling overwhelmed and inability to cope.  The key is to strike a balance between over exertion and under stimulation.  By maintaining the optimal level of stress that works for you in life (eustress), you will experience a level of happiness that you have never experienced before.

 Some Suggestions to Achieve Eustress

As mentioned earlier in this article, set a goal or several goals in life.  This goal has to be achievable and will not create an undue amount of stress in achieving it.  You can also find the purpose in your life.  By having a purpose in life, such as helping others through the skills that you possess, you will lead a happier life.  If you are experiencing a stress level that is too much to bear, then it is time to let go or do things that you find pleasurable and relaxing.  Finally, try new things in life that will instill greater positivity such as learning new languages or taking up dance classes, fitness, yoga or meditation.

 Reduce Stress and Anxiety

One of the overlooked benefits of yoga is its ability to reduce stress and anxiety.  Some yoga styles utilize meditation techniques to quiet down the incessant chatter of the mind.  As the mind becomes less distracted and become more focused, a sense of calm and relaxation result.  Through deep and controlled breathing while performing yoga postures, relaxation often ensues.  Certain postures, such as cobra mudra, can also help the functioning of the adrenaline gland, thus reducing stress and anxiety.  

 Improvement in Mood

The practice of yoga has a calming effect.  Often, the yoga practitioner will be able to experience a greater sense of pure happiness and feel more contented from the practice.  A study has also shown the positive effect that yoga has on some of the mental disorders, including depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  

 Flexibility

Through various poses or asanas in Sanskrit, the practitioner is able to stretch certain muscles of his body.  Stretching releases lactic acid that build up with muscle use and results in stiffness, pain and tension.  Besides muscle, yoga practice also stretches soft tissues including ligaments and tendon surrounding the muscle.  All in all, regular exercise of yoga helps the practitioner to experience greater flexibility throughout the body.

 Strength

Yoga helps to increase the strength and endurance of the body.  For example, the standing pose helps to increase strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps and abdominal muscles.

 Benefits to the Heart

Another benefit of yoga is in its ability to lower blood pressure and to slow down the heart rate.  A slower heart rate will be advantageous to people with high blood pressure as well as stroke. One study points to the anti-oxidant effect of yoga, which leads to the above-mentioned benefit.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-KvqX65p6I

 Removing unnecessary “to do” lists

Have you ever found yourself compiling “to do” lists? These lists are good to the extent that they help you to get organized and motivated.  However, don’t unnecessarily burden yourself with too much of those.  Feel free to adjust the lists in order to suit them to your current situation.  If in any event that you can’t complete all the items that you have listed, simply let go of it and don’t feel bad about yourself for not completing the task.  Let go of the tight mentality that you have to finish all things at one go and be more open to other possibilities.  This leads to the next point.

 Be fluid and less rigid

Be open to the life’s unfolding possibilities.  Despite all the plans and targets that you make in life, there are various possibilities that can derail your original plans.  Instead of working yourself up and feeling upset about it (a little upset is normal), try to let go of your rigidity and adjust your plans accordingly.

 Avoid difficult people

Whom do you find difficult to deal with in life? These are the potential stressors to your life.  Is it your co-workers, your boss, your family members or your friends? Avoid draining your energy further by arguing with them.  Minimize contacts with them and move on the path of the least-resistance.

 Stop multi-tasking

Contrary to some beliefs, multi-tasking is not as cool as it is made up to be.  It does more harm than good to your body.  Try to focus on your task one thing at a time.  You get more done by doing this.  By focusing on one task at a time, you learn to appreciate your task better and the quality of your work will improve.

 Know when to quit

Ability to know when to quit goes a long way in keeping stress out from your life.  Try to identify your day-to-day stress levels.  Stop doing whatever that gives you too much stress and learn to quit.  By taking a break, you will be able to recharge yourself.  Only then, can you able to perform the task at hand more effectively.

 Be grateful

Learn to be grateful for your life.  Life is precious.  Do not waste your life by being negative about it.  Despite the pains and troubles, life offers unbound less opportunity for betterment.  Appreciate your current mental and physical health, financial condition, relationship as well as your occupation.  Be grateful for your current state of affair by thinking that things can get even worse that your current state.

 Exercise

Doing regular exercise such as jogging, swimming, cycling, brisk walking can help in maintaining your physical well being.  By being physically fit, you will naturally be better able in coping with stress.

 After reading this article, it is hoped that you will gain better control of your life.  Hopefully, you will find that it is not worth it to let yourself experiencing stress in life more than you can bear.  Your life is in your own hand.

Stress in the workplace

Some level of workplace stress is good as it helps to motivate as well as to propel you to achieve more and in so doing increases your productivity.  However, excessive level of stress can have the counter-productive effect as you might not be functioning at an optimal level.  On a long term basis, excessive level of workplace stress can have its negative bearing on both your physical as well as mental well being.

 What are the typical warning signs of too much stress at work?

When a person is overcome by stress, he will typically be irritable and withdrawn.  His “anger button” is easily pushed and he might subject himself to tantrums as well as verbal shouting match.  Some warning signs include:

• Having sleep problems
• Feeling anxious and depressed
• Bitterness towards work
• Feeling tense in the muscles, such as around the neck, forehead
• Withdrawn
• Difficulty in concentrating

 Causes for work-related stress

Common causes for this type of stress include:

• Too much workload

The person might have more than his fair share of workload.  This can result in the feeling of helplessness as well as overworked.  Things might seem to be out of control.

• Fear of layoff

The fear of layoff might be so great that this has let him to feel excessive amount of stress.  This fear, warranted or unwarranted, would hinder his ability to perform his work function.

• Rising expectations from boss

The boss might raise the performance expectations of the employee to the extent that it is more than the ability of the person to handle.

• Different style of performing task

You might have different style and approach in performing a given task as compared to the working style of your boss.  This could lead to frictions and relationship issues.

 Tips for reducing workplace stress

You can start in reducing the stress that you are feeling at work by learning and put into practice the following tips:

• Getting enough sleep

Attempt for a seven to eight hours of night’s sleep.  By being properly rested, you will feel more energized and less tired in the morning.  

• Perform enriching ritual

Try to find a daily enriching ritual to start the day with.  This can be in the form of meditation practice, prayers or even morning fitness routine.  It is recommended that the rituals to include physical fitness as exercise can help you in increasing your immune system as well as in alleviating stress.   

• Do not overcommit

This involves the recognition that there is only so much things that you can do within a day.  Stop creating unnecessary stress for yourself by putting piles of  “have-to-do” lists on your plate.  Minimize the perfectionist tendency that you have to finish everything on your plate at one go.  

• Prioritize

If you have many things in your plate, try to prioritize.  Start by performing those tasks that are urgent and important and leaving the less urgent task later.  

• Develop and maintain good working relationships at all levels

You can reduce unnecessary stress by having a good working relationships with your colleagues.  Try to confront and solve any conflicts that you might have with your co-workers immediately.  Do not let things simmer and fester.

• Do not attempt to control the uncontrollable

There are many things that are uncontrollable in life such as how people react to the effort that you put in.  Instead of worrying over people’s reaction, why not put in your best effort to work and stay positive.