KAPLAN UNIVERSITYHW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

Stress

Management and

Prevention

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Program Resource

Guide

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KA P L A N U N I V E R S I T Y

Stress Management and Prevention Program Resource Guide

By

Amanda Tiller

Kaplan University

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

6/17/14

Table of Contents

U N I T 1 T H E N A T U R E O F S T R E S S

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing: Journal WritingU N I T 2 T H E P H Y S I O L O G Y O F S T R E S S

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing: Journal WritingU N I T 3 P S Y C H O L O G Y O F S T R E S S

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Writing U N I T 4 P E R S O N A L I T Y T R A I T S A N D T H E H U M A N S P I R I T U A L I T Y

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing U N I T 5 D E A L I N G W I T H S T R E S S : C O P I N G S T R A T E G I E S

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing U N I T 6 R E L A X A T I O N T E C H I Q U E S 1 : B R E A T H I N G , M E D I T A T I O N , A N D

M E N T A L I M A G E R Y

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing

U N I T 7 N U T R I T I O N A N D S T R E S S

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing

U N I T 8 P H Y S I C A L E X E R C I S E A N D A C T I V I T Y

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing U N I T 9 A P P L Y I N G S T R E S S : C R I T I C A L I S S U E S F O R M A N A G E M E N T A N D

P R E V E N T I O N T O Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E

Information to Remember

Resources: Exercises

Tools: Journal Writing

Tools: Journal Writing

A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N

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Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember: Define Stress

If you are an average American, you probably describe your life as stressful. Stress can be defined as any circumstance that requires you to adapt. Today the term is applied to any situation that can evoke frustration, anger, or anxiety. Stress can be physical, behavioral, emotional and cognitive. Physical changes can include tight neck and shoulders, sleep problems and loss of appetite. Behavioral symptoms include grinding teeth, compulsive gum chewing and inability to get things done. Emotional changed include crying, anger, easily upset and loneliness. Cognitive symptoms can include trouble thinking clearly, forgetfulness, consent worry, and memory loss. Causes of stress, known as “stressors” may range from life threatening to relatively harmless and routine.

Fight-or-flight response

Exposure to stressors promotes the stress response: a primitive “fight or flight response” biochemical reaction that puts the body on a red alert. Fighting or running away from danger used the energy created and used the stress hormones generated. In this response, the brain sends signals to the adrenal glands that cause them to secrete the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones cause muscles to become tense, heart rate and blood pressure to increase, breathing to become accelerated and increased perspiration. The fight or flight response originally evolved to prepare animals to respond to danger. It was designed to prepare us to respond physically to a threat- to fight or run. However, most of us to not encounter life threating situations on a daily basis, the fight or flight does

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not distinguish between a physical threat and the everyday stresses of life. When the fight or flight response occur repeadly in the absence of an emergency, it can increase the risk of stress related medical problems. ( Seaward, 2009)

Types of Stress

Stress is not necessarily a bad thing, despite its generally negative image. It is a normal part of being human and normal response to a challenge. A life without any challenge, with too little to do and too much time, can be a great source of negative stress as too much work and too many deadlines. Actually, there are three kinds of stress: eustress, neustress, and distress .Eustress is the good stress that is found in situations that a person finds motivating. Neustress is considered neither good nor bad. Distress is considered bad and often just referred to as stress. Distress falls into two categories: acute which is intense but disappears quickly, and chronic which may not be intense, but it last longer for prolonged periods of time.

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 1.4: Good Night’s Sleep

Many of us have discovered from experience that a good night’s sleep is often that best way to cope with stress. Sleep is prompted by natural sleep cycles of activity in the brain, and consists of two states: Rapid Eye Movement- when most dreaming occurs and Non Rem Sleep when deep sleep occurs. Some research claims we need 9 to 10 hours of sleep a night, while others believe 6 hours is the minimum to avoid feeling tired throughout the day, 7 to 8 hours a night is about the right amount of sleep for most people. I would describe my sleep patterns and sleep habits as regular. I try and go to bed at the same time every night minus the weekends in which I stay up longer to spend time with my family. I don’t have problems sleeping through the night. I make sure to avoid large meals before bedtime and stimulates such as caffeine. I do not go to bed hungry. I exercise during the day to reduce stress hormones and avoid heavy exercise before bed time. I make sure my bedroom is well ventilated and at a comfortable temperature. Since I practice these techniques, I feel my body gets the proper amount of rest.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 1.7 : College Student Stressors

I would say I have what some would consider normal daily stress. I have to juggle a full time family, along with full time school and part time job outside the home. Most of my daily stress ranges in the lower categories.

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But at this point, school has me ranging in the higher categories. I am finding it harder and harder to juggle everything. I believe, I have a lot on

my plate and plan on slowing down my schedule just a bit. For the most part, I am pretty laid back person and take life challenges one day at a time. I chose to write about this one because it’s something I can relate to on a daily basis.

Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress

Information to Remember: What is Psychophysiology?

I chose to write about psychophysiology, because it is so interesting how the mind and body all work together. The term psychophysiology suggest that there is a mind and body relationship. This is a field of study based on the principle that the mind and body are one, thoughts and perceptions affect potentially all aspects of physiology (Seaward, 2009). Three systems involved with the physiology of stress are the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system.

The Nervous System

The brain is the most remarkable organ in the body. It helps to organize mechanical functions such as movement and pumping the heart, it is also responsible for speech, thought, memory, emotion, pain, and dreams. Together, the brain and spinal cord are the central nervous system. The central nervous system is the communication highway for the body’s nerves, which as a group are called peripheral nervous systems .Neutrons of the central and peripheral nervous systems are like electrical wires carrying messages to the brain are the hypothalamus, thalamus and brainstem. The hypothalamus sits on the top of the brain stem and controls hormones.

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The Endocrine System

The endocrine system is made up of glands throughout the body that regulate metabolic functions. Endocrine glands release biochemical substances called hormones. Hormones are then transported through the bloodstream from the glands that produce them and direct them to the organs that need them. The three glands that are mostly involved with the stress response are pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands. I chose to write about these systems because all of them combined help to make up the body. When one of these glands are not functioning properly it can disrupt the entire body, making it harder to regulate.

Brain Imaging Research

The hippocampus and the amyadala form a conscious memoires of emotional events. The hippocampus is highly sensitive to the stress hormone cortisol, which helps to aid in memory formation of stress. Excessive exposure to cortisol accelerates the aging process of the hippocampus and can damage or shrink brain cells. Research shows that chronic stress may affect memory and the learning process. Research by Sapolsky reveals that damage to brain cells (in animals) caused by chronic stress appears to be irreversible. A decade of brain research reveal that humans are hard wired for stress through an intricate pattern neural pathways designed for fight or flight response. ( Seaward, 2009 )

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 2.2 Prolonged Stress Effects

This exercise talks about the stress response has immediate, intermediate, and prolonged effects through which symptoms of stress can appear. It talks about the changes your body goes through when it’s immediately threated. Some of the immediate effects that I feel when put into a stressful situation are: tingling sensations, sweating, and muscle tension. The intermediate (within hours) response to stress can include sore neck and shoulders, stomachache, and GI tract problems. Lastly, the long term effects of stress include cold or flu type symptoms, menstrual period irregularities. When I am completely stressed out my menstrual cycles became irregular and I experience PMS symptoms.

Tools: Journal Writing: Journal Exercise 3.1 Physical Symptoms Questionnaire

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I enjoyed completing this questionnaire because it showed me stress related symptoms and how often they occur. My score is very low, the

only thing I might experience from time to time is tension headaches. Most of the time I experience them when I am sitting in front of the computer for an extended period of time doing school work. I have learned different relaxation techniques that help me to work through the tension heaches and I now feel when they are starting to happen and I get up and start working through it. I would consider myself to have a low stress level.

Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

Information to Remember: The Mind

In this unit Seaward discusses “The study of the mind (and brain) has led to deeper understanding of the human consciousness”. (2006, page 56, p3) and how the brain is similar to a computer. Each hemisphere of the cortex of the brain is divided into four specialized lobes. The temporal lobe is involved in hearing, long-term memory, behavior and understanding and expressing language. Memory and behavior are located deep within the temporal and frontal lobes. Feelings of pleasure, relaxation, fear, aggression and rage arise from the hypothalamus. It coordinates the fight or flight response and also regulates appetite, and body temperature. The olfactory nerves connect the nasal passage directly to the hippocampus and amyadala. These structures coordinates memory storage and recall ,their direct connection to our sense of small and explain how one smell can so powerfully envoke a memory from long ago.

The Ego

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The mind can’t be examined without first examining the role of the ego. The ego is “that part of the ID which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world. It can be said that the ego develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic ID and the external real world. It is the decision making component of the personality. The ego seeks pleasure and avoids pain, but unlike the ID the ego is concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. The ego has no concept of right or wrong, something is good, simply if its achieves its end of satisfying without causing harm to itself. The ego is something I found to be interesting in this unit. It plays a major role in the decision making process, and can influence ones overall life.

Stress Resistant Personalities

Those personality styles that conquer stress: Hardy personality, Survivor personality, and Type R. This is one of my key points for this unit because I can relate to the many different personality types. I would consider myself to have a Survivor personality, I adapt well too many different situations. People with these type personality traits tend to let the small things roll off their backs and deal with major problems in a very positive way. People who have a survivor personality exhibit a balance of right and left brain skills, so that problems can be approached with creativity and solutions carried out with confidence. ( Seaward , 2006 ,page 60 )

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 5.9 Emotional Well Being

I would consider myself to have a survivor personality. But still have some fears and emotions for life. Emotions can be a healthy part of life. This exercise helped me to realize that the emotions I go through are healthy and normal. Some days I feel life I go through every emotion possible. I am a very happy, energetic, bubbly person. I look at each day as a blessing, I have so much to be thankful for. I have my health, my family’s health, wonderful family who supports me, loving husband and financial need met. My favorite emotion would be happy. I love walking outside in the warm sunshine and smelling the fresh air, it makes me super happy. I remember my husband’s first deployment I was told by some senior wives not to cry, that crying wouldn’t help anything and not to let my husband or kids see me cry. That I had to be strong for them. So I made it through the first couple of months with this perception and then realized my kid’s attitudes had changed, my attitude had changed and my husband’s attitude had changed. He was wandering why I had not shown emotion about him being gone. My kids wanted to know why I wasn’t crying because daddy was gone. I realized that I had bottled up my

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emotions and was turning cold to the situation. I had to make a change. I remember that night I broke down and remember feeling it was so

amazing to let my feeling go. My kids saw me cry and their attitudes quickly changed. It was a hard lesson to learn, from that point on I told myself I was my own person and do what I felt that was best for my family. I try to avoid getting angry or depressed. This exercise was a good reminder that we all go through so many different emotions and we tend to forget the lessons that sometimes comes along with these emotions.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 4.1 The Psychology of Your Stress

This exercise helped to make me more aware of my perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors during bouts with stress. When I reflected on my behaviors in my stress profile, I found that I get a little defensive in certain situations and that I can laugh about certain situations. Laughter is the best medication and sometimes when you can find humor in the situation it will help ease you through it. This was a great exercise to see the different feeling we may go through when dealing with stress.

Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human Spirituality

Information to Remember: Describe Self Esteem and explain each role it plays

Research shows a strong link between happiness, optimism, and good health between increased well- being and the body’s potential to heal itself. Exercises in positive thinking may be beneficial but more powerful are positive emotions, such as hope and joy. Self- esteem is how we value ourselves, it is how we perceive our value to the world and how valuable we think we are to others. Self-esteem affects our trust in others, our relationships, our work, nearly every part of our lives. Positive self-esteem

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gives us the strength and flexibility to take charge of our lives and grow from our mistakes without fear or rejection. People who have high self-esteem exhibit some of these traits confidence, self-direction, good self-care, and non-blaming behavior. Low self-esteem is depilating condition that keeps individuals from realizing the person’s full potential. A person with low self-esteem feels unworthy, incapable, and incompetent. Some signs of low self-esteem are negative view of life, fear of taking risks and blaming behavior. This unit really broke down how self-esteem effects our daily lives.

Stress Prone Personalities

A few personality traits that I enjoyed reading about in this unit were Type A, Co Dependent and Helpless. Type A personality was once associated with time urgency but now is mainly associated with unresolved anger issues. Type A’s tend to be very self-conscious and compare themselves with others of similar social status. Type A people raise their voices in normal conversations, and use a larger vocabulary to intimidate other. They also tend to finish sentences before the person is done speaking. They feel they always have to be in control and also exhibit hostility. Codependent personalities are dependent on making other people dependent on them as a way of self-validation. It is said that these people “love too much”, this is a very addictive personality. Survival skill is a term associated with codependency that certain behaviors are adopted young to “survive” demanding or abusive parents. The helpless- hopeless personality is a stress prone personality based mainly on low self-esteem. These people feel that they have given up on life, or aspects of it, as a result of repeated failure. This personality type feels that their problems are way beyond their resources so they just give up.

Stress Resistant Personalities

These personality styles conquer stress: Hardy personality, Survivor personality, and Type R which are risk takers. These people tent to let the small stuff just roll off their backs and deal with big problems in a positive way. People who exhibit a hardy personality challenge themselves to accomplish the goal they set out for, and control their emotions in a balanced way. (Seaward, 2006, page 60). Survivor personality tends to balance both right and left brain skills so that problems can be approached creatively and solutions carried out with confidence. The risk taker personality or Type R approaches life with courage rather than fear. They see danger and may thrive on it, but only after checking all options

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and choosing the most level headed approach (Seaward, 2006, page 60.) I found out through the reading in this unit that I exhibited the survivor personality trait. I compete the goals I set out for and I can handle each situations that comes my way in a balanced way.

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 7.6 Your Meaningful Purpose in Life

I really enjoyed doing this exercise, I never really have sat down to think about my goals for long term. A lot of times we just tend to live in the moment and are short term goals. For my goals now I want to finish my BS, work on homeschooling my young children, and continuing supporting my husband’s career. I was able to see through this exercise that my long terms goals are a lot different than my short term goals.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 6.1 Under the Gun : Stress and Personality

Control: Being a military spouse I don’t always have control over my family’s life. But we make the best of this crazy lifestyle. I would consider myself to be a planner for the most part. I feel when I have a game plan things tend to run more smoothly especially with children .So I always have a backup plan for my back up plan. This gives me a little since of control over things. The second part of this exercise was about commitment: I am fully committed to this crazy life. Whatever it may throw are way. Being fully committed means I can handle whatever and I make it work for our family. In life we will always have obstacles we need to overcome, but if we are fully committed then we will stick it out to the end. Make the best of what you have. I love a good challenge. Sometimes this crazy life is challenging. But since I enjoy a good challenge then I am more willing to come up with a solution verses just let the situation take over my life. A few of the inner resources I use to get me through tough times are communication (this is key for me), support system such as friends and family, faith and love. I lean on all of these to get me through the tough times.

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Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies

Information to Remember: Creating a positive mind set

When you feel good about yourself you can accept your own imperfections. Being under stress and unable to cope, can undermine self-esteem and make every event as the end of the world. Try to change the perspective “reframing the image”, you are not a failure if you do not succeed, but rather a success for try. If you feel overwhelmed by a stressful situation stop, relax, and control your breathing, then reflect on how to deal with it. Sometimes it helps to put aside a problem until it can be dealt with more effectively, but don’t procrastinate too long. If you feel unable to face the decision, make a list of pros and cons can help to suggest solutions and compromises. I chose this because, I can relate to the strategies used. When I have a big decision to make I make a list of all the pros and cons, this makes me feel better about the decision making process.

Hope and Humor

Hope is a component of optimism. Hope can mean facing a problem and them looking for ways forward. The ability to laugh, and opportunities to do so, make for a brighter emotional landscape. People with a sense of humor tend to suffer less fatigue, tension, anger, and depression in response to stress then those without. I enjoyed reading this unit, I realized there have been many times in my life that I can look back at stressful situations and laugh about them. I have always found that laughter is the best medication a person can have. Laughter eases muscle tension, deepens breathing, improves circulation, and releases endorphins, the body’s natural pain reliever. It also raises levels of immunoglobulin A, and antibody in the mucous lining of the nasal cavity. Humor is also a generally optimistic way of looking at the world, a wry smile in a moment of tension, the refusal to

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take oneself too seriously. As a coping mechanism, it is an affirmation of life, and expression of joy, compassion, hope, love, and playfulness.

Changing Your Attitude

Different people respond to stress in different ways, and how we cope depends on how we perceive stress. The most vulnerable type of people tend to be those full of suppressed anger ,worries or pessimists, who generally see any situation and life threating, while those with more positive attitude appear better equipped to cope. The good news is that it’s possible to change your attitude and behavior so that stress become more manageable, even a positive experience. This may mean taking a few basic measures to your life, or practicing relaxation techniques. This unit was helpful in changing ones attitudes and stress levels.

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 8.1 Seeing a Bigger, Clearer Perspective

This exercise was a great exercise for reframing your mind set. It gave us an example of a situation and then the reframed perspective. This was a great way to look at things from a different view, not all situations are bad and meant to be stressful. One situation that I had I could never find a parking spot at my children’s school, the parking lot is super small and only one way out. So my reframed perspective was I park across the street at the middle school which has a bigger parking lot and a circle drive around the building. Parking across the street cuts down on the stress and it gives me a little exercise. It’s great to look at situations and then come up with a game plan to fix them.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 9.1 Value Assessment and Clarification

These exercise we had to think about and list are core values. A list of my core values: Love, education, freedom, happiness, faith, morals, health, loyalty, honesty and independence. I would identify basic core values with love, health, happiness, instrumental would be more education, freedom, faith, morals, honesty, and independence. My core values are a major part of my life, I feel that you should practice what you preach. I am strong in my faith, and I feel that I have strong moral values. This has an impact on my attitude about life, I am both a happy person on the inside and outside. I would say all of mine are a priority and there is no conflict with one being more important than the other.

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Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing,

Meditation, and Mental Imagery

Information to Remember: Relaxation and Breathing

Controlled breathing and the ability to relax at will are essential aspects of managing stress. Simple breathing exercises and muscle relaxation techniques can be practiced to reduce the physical and mental effects of stress, bringing benefits such as lower heart rate, reduced blood pressure, and lower levels of stress hormones. Breathing is involuntary and automatic, but since it can also be consciously controlled, it forms a bridge of mind and body. With each breath, oxygen is absorbed into the blood enabling production of the energy that fuels the body. Under stress, breathing tends to be rapid only using the top half of the lungs. This causes the blood levels to drop of carbon dioxide, this can lead to tiredness and anxiety and create tension in the shoulders and neck. Abdominal breathing, which allows the lungs to fully expand, is more efficient and calm way to breathe, and has the potential to benefit both physical and mental health.

Meditation

The state of meditation can be interpreted in various ways. It describes the condition in which the mind focuses on a thought or image, to whatever enters the mind, a state of relaxed awareness, or one in which the mind is empty. All involve withdrawing from external reality and achieving deep relaxation and increased mental clarity. I enjoyed this unit because meditation is something I try and practice daily in my life. I use mediation to relax and escape the world for a few moments in time. Mediation has been shown to reduce the effects of stress. Normal states of consciousness – sleeping, dreaming, being awake can be detected in

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the wave patterns produced by the brain. The main uses for meditation are reduce stress, high blood pressure, headaches and migraines, enhancing the immune system, and personal development.

Visualization

In this unit it discussed visualization. Visualization is a technique that uses the imagination to help people cope with stress, fulfill their potential and activate the body’s self-healing processes, visualization was being used to help people overcome physical and emotional problems by imaging positive images and desired outcomes to specific situations. Visualization forms a part of relaxation therapies and has been used in adjunct to conventional cancer treatments. It’s still unclear how visualization works, but it is said to encourage activity in the right hemisphere of the brain, which relates to cavity and emotions.

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 20.2 Guided Visualizations

I enjoyed doing these mediation exercises. The beach was easy to do because it reminded me of being home. I spent many days on the beach and the sounds of the oceans always puts me at ease. As I start to wake up my body one region at a time, I feel refreshed and rested. I didn’t try the snow exercise because I live in Colorado and at the point and time wanted nothing to do with the snow. Snow doesn’t relax me it stresses me out. I feel with the beach one after a few minutes of doing the exercises that I am almost having an outer body experience. It felt like I was walking on the beach in the nice warm sun not a care in the world.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 17.1 Dolphin Breath Mediation

I love mediation and yoga. Both go hand and hand, but I love after yoga you lay peacefully and meditate. I enjoyed going through the different steps in the dolphin breathing. After trying this breathing and mediation I bring myself back to awareness I find that I am always ready for the day. It took me awhile to be able to lay still and completely clear my mind. When I first started I would think of everything I had to do that day after I would be more stressed out than when I started. But now with the help of this exercise I can now concentrate on my breathing and let my body and mind drift to a more peaceful state of relaxation.

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Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress

Information to Remember: Four Stress Domino Factors

As discussed within the text by Seaward, there are four stress domino factors. The first domino suggest that stress uses essential nutrients needed for energy production (Seaward, 2009, pg489). “Water-soluble vitamins and several essential minerals are used for energy production in preparation for fight or flight” (Seaward, 2009, p. 489). Physical or nonphysical stress can have this effect on the body depleting the body of nutrients needed for energy production.

The second domino, suggest that due to time restraints with this fast paced life, people choose to eat poorly. Fueling our bodies with the kind of food that provides optimum nutrition is one of the best ways to achieve good health. But unfortunally, are bodies are having to work overtime due to the poor diets (junk food, fast foods, and high calorie low nutrient foods). Ideally, eating a sensible well balanced diet would mean no need for nutritional supplements, but with evidence showing that the mass producing of food many vitamins and minerals are destroyed. Due to these lack of nutrients will eventually cause the body to shut down.

The third domino suggests that there are foods that we consume that keep our body at an elevated state. These types of foods include: “caffeine, processed sugar, processed flour, and salt” (Seaward, 2009, p. 489). Alcohol is also considered to have this affect if over consumed which can tip this domino to the next level (Seaward, 2009, p. 489). The stimulating effects of caffeine are well known, but other foods can also affect the mood. Starchy and sugary carbohydrates rich foods also increase blood sugar and are thought to raise serotonin levels. Low levels of serotonin can be linked to depression and hostility.

The fourth and last domino states that the way that our food is being grown and processed is affecting our body’s immune system. All the

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pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides used on certain foods and hindering our immune system to do its job properly (Seaward, 2009, p.489). Some additives do have potential side effects, which can vary from vomiting and behavioral problems. There is also concern that toxins and enter the body via the food, damaging cells and causing illness. Fruits and vegetables can harbor traces of pesticides and antibiotics, these can have major effect on our body’s immune system.

How does stress affect digestion, absorption and elimination?

Digestion is controlled by the enteric nervous system, a system that is composed of hundreds of millions of nerves that communicate with the central nervous system. Stress triggers the “flight or fight” response ,digestion can shut down due to the slowing of blood flow, affects the contractions of the digestive muscles, and it decreases the secretions needed for digestion. Stress can cause inflammation of the gastrointestinal system, this can cause infection.  The esophagus can go into spasms due to stress, this can make swallowing almost impossible. IT can increase stomach acid and cause indigestion. When under stress, the stomach can shut down and make you feel nauseous. When the colon is under stress it leads to diarrhea or constipation. Stress affects the entire digestion process, right down to elimination. Physical activity relieves tension and stimulates the release of chemicals that relieve stress and aid in digestion.

Art and Music Therapy

In this unit we discussed the benefits of music and art therapy. Music has been used to stir emotions, and there are accounts of the healing power of music. Making or responding to music can provide a real alternative to verbal communication, enabling expression of emotions that may be too profound or words. The expression of feelings in visual form has a long history, as ancient cave paintings show. With art therapy people are encouraged to express their feelings using materials such as paint, clay, crayons. The art isn’t always expected to be “good” work of art, but simply to give two or three dimensional expressions to threating or confused emotions. This provides a safe way of expressing ones feelings.

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 27.1 Stress Related Eating Behaviors

I enjoyed this journal entry. I received a score of 19 which was under the score of 20 that indicated eating behaviors are not conductive to reducing

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stress. It was helpful to see how often we do things, such as skip breakfast, drink soda, and drink less water than we need to drink.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 27.3 The Rainbow Diet

This entry was helpful to see where I may lack nutrients. I try hard to eat a variety of different fruits and vegetable daily. The exercise shows that each color holds a specific vibration in the spectrum of light, and can enhance the health of the physical body. I read a lot about the different chakras, so this was a great read and will be a good reference.

Unit 8: Physical Exercise and Activity

Information to Remember: The benefits of Exercise

Regular exercise improves function of the heart and lungs and strengthens muscles to give you more stamina. It keeps joints mobile, increases circulation so that the skin looks healthier, prevents heart disease and prostate, colon and breast cancer, lowers high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reduces the levels of diabetes and helps with weight loss. Exercise may help with premenstrual tension and menstrual pain, and strengthens bones by increasing their mineral content, which reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Exercise can improve mood, lift depression, boost self-esteem, lessen anxiety, it enables us to better cope with stress. It encourages sleep, immune function and helps us live longer. All human activity whether it be physical or mental is powered by energy converted from food that has been eaten and oxygen that has been breathed into the lungs. Exercise actually increases the body’s ability to produce energy effectively. A flexible body with good muscle tone, and

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with an effect heart and lungs well synchronized with the circulation, can help create a sense of physical wholeness.

Fit For Life

Physical fitness requires cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, and strength and flexibility. Getting 20 to 30 minutes aerobic exercise 3 to 5 times a week brings definite health benefits. Cardiovascular endurance is developed by vigorous aerobic exercise, such as jogging, sustained for at least 12 minutes without a break. Aerobic exercise oxygenates the muscles and enables the heart to pump more efficiently. Muscular endurance is built with repeated exercising of large muscle groups, as in circuit training or swimming. Muscular strength is developed with anaerobic exercise as in weight lifting or tennis, which consists of brief bursts of intense activity. Flexibility is achieved by stretching muscles and its maintained by activities such as yoga. It keeps connective tissue from shortening and tighting and prevents muscle pulls and tears, relieves pain, boost muscle tone, and helps to prevent injury. Flexibility can enhance the body’s awareness and appearance, increases energy, and improves circulation.

Exercise and Mood

Exercise is nature’s antidepressant. Physiological changes in the body and brain can induce elation with we exercise, and depression and anxiety when we do not. During exercise the body temperature rises by two or three degrees, giving a sense of warm relaxation. Endorphins, the body’s natural opiates, are released, and the alpha brain waves associated with relaxation become more dominant. Sustained exercise burns stress chemicals accumulated during an inactive day, after exercise, the body’s natural relaxation response returns the body and mind to a regenerative state. It may take 6 to 8 weeks for exercise to change the body and improve body image, but it can change your mood all at once. Vigorous activity is usually followed by one hour of calm and euphoria, and higher self-esteem may be reported in just once session. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, cycling or swimming is best for mood enhancement.

Resources: Exercises: Exercise 28.1 Physical Exercise

Physical activity is a major part of my life. I do my yoga practice in the morning and this is how I start my day. Depending on what I have planned for the day, I make a trip to the gym and I work different muscles on different days. I have days that I just do aerobic exercise, and I have days

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that I just swim. My kids love exercise so we make sure in the summer that we do different activities that boost physical health.

Tools: Journal Writing: Exercise 28.2 My Body

I love my body. I am 5’7’’ and I weight around 145. I have always been a small framed person. I was really tiny when I went through high school and weighed around 120. Having kids I put on weight and had to work on losing the weight after each pregnancy. I have never wanted to be skinny, it means more to me to be fit. My goal is to be fit and healthy. My weight is the least of my concern, because I know that I am at a healthy weight for my height.

Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for Management and Prevention to your Professional Life

Information to Remember: Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Professional Life <insert your text>

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Professional Life <insert your text>

Key learning point from the unit about Applying Stress: Critical Management to Your Professional Life <insert your text>

Resources: Exercises: List the title (s) of Exercise (s) selected to include in the resource guide <insert your text>

Unit

9

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Tools: Journal Writing: List the title (s)of Journal Writing (s)selected to include in the resource guide <insert your text>

Additional Information

< I love this quote. It says it all, exercise means less trips to the doctor.

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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

I love this website. It helps you to keep track of exercise, nutrition and a community of people that are trying the achieve a healthy lifestyle.

http://www.fitness.com/

This website has good articles and recipes daily.

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References

Sapolsky, R. M. (2004) Why zebras don’t get ulcers (3rd ed.). St. Martin’s Press, NY: New York.

Seaward, B. L. (2009). Managing stress: strategies for health and well-being (6th ed.). Jones and Bartlett, MA: Sudbury.

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