Posted in Personal Development, Random Acts of Kindness, Stress Management, tagged butter bee happy, grateful journal. happiness journal, gratitude journal, Happy Tapper, Oprah Winfrey on June 7, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Funny. Over the past few weeks, I’ve not only happened upon several blog postings, but have also had a couple of conversations about gratitude journals. Perhaps it’s no coincidence; spring is, after all, a time of hope and renewal.
A Gratitude Journal (also called a Grateful Journal, and a Happiness Journal) came into popularity back in the mid-90s through Oprah Winfrey. The concept is simple: (more…)
Posted in Monthly Impact Challenges (MIC), Stress Awareness Month, Stress Management, tagged avoiding stressors, let go of control, preventing stress, prioritizing, procrastination, Robert Sapolsky, saying no, Stress Awareness Month on April 28, 2010 |
It’s the fourth and final week of Stress Awareness Month. So far, we’ve talked about stress symptoms (Week 1), identifying stressors (Week 2), and reducing stress (Week 3). This week’s focus is probably my most favorite stress topic: Prevention and Avoidance.No, not all stress can be prevented — and we wouldn’t necessarily want that to happen. But, we all certainly have stressors that we could avoid altogether.
We’ve received several great ideas for reducing stress, relaxing and unwinding. And, we received an equal number of preventative suggestions. Thank you to everyone who participated this month.
Posted in Monthly Impact Challenges (MIC), Personal Development, Stress Awareness Month, Stress Management, tagged reduce stress, Stress Awareness Month, stress reduction on April 21, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Having learned to recognize our stress responses in Week 1, and having identified what our stressors are in Week 2, we can start to try to reduce some of those stressors.
Set Practical Goals: Many of us set impractical goals and expectations for ourselves and others. I know one woman who schedules appointments (both work and personal) so closely that she almost always rushes from one to another. If you’re constantly running, take a look at your daily to do list. Take out one of your daily tasks and spread your other appointments across your day. There must be one appointment that can be moved to another day, or better yet, deleted (is it really necessary?) or delegated. Another woman always underestimates the amount of time a task will take. She usually gets things done, but at an enormous cost to her health. When possible, give yourself “padding.” If a project is finished early, all the better! You’re happy or a client’s happy and you might just have time for a few things on your tomorrow’s to do list. (more…)
Posted in Stress Awareness Month, Stress Management, tagged identifying stressors, Stress Awareness Month, what are stressors on April 14, 2010 |
Week 2
From Week 1, we now know our stress symptoms. This week, we’ll become more conscious of what our stressors are — what situations trigger our stress symptoms. This is a very important step toward preventing and reducing stress in our lives.
We thank all who posted comments or directly sent lists of symptoms. It is disconcerting to read how many people have strong physical stress symptoms. But, that’s why we’re doing Stress Awareness Month, to start to get rid of them!
What are Stressors? (more…)
Posted in Monthly Impact Challenges (MIC), Personal Development, Stress Awareness Month, Stress Management, tagged chronic stress, Stress Awareness Month, stress symptoms, stressors on April 6, 2010 | 5 Comments »
April’s Monthly Impact Challenge has us recognizing Stress Awareness Week. Throughout the month, we’ll work toward better awareness of stress, the impact it has, and find ways to prevent or reduce it. Each week we’ll post information and exercises. We invite you to participate by reading, posting your thoughts and taking the weekly quizzes. At the end of the month, the person with the highest quiz scores, combined with posting of the most progress wins!
What is stress?
Stress is a normal physical response to circumstances that make you feel threatened or that upset your balance in some way. When you perceive a threat, your nervous system releases stress hormones (including adrenaline and cortisol) which prepare the body for emergencies: your heart pumps faster, blood pressure rises, muscles tighten and senses become more acute, focused and alert. These changes prepare you for the “fight or flight” that we often hear about.
Posted in Diseases, Monthly Impact Challenges (MIC), Personal Development, Stress Awareness Month, Stress Management, tagged lowering stress, Stress Awareness Month, Stress Management, stress reduction on March 31, 2010 | 1 Comment »
NOTE: somehow my index finger hit that “publish” button prematurely. Rather than go back and delete it, I’m publishing tomorrow’s April 1st (no joke) blog today.
We’d like everyone who’s never stressed out, to jump up and shout out, “Hurrah!!”
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Hello? … Anyone there?
April’s Monthly Impact Challenge will be in recognition of National Stress Awareness Month in the U.S. Whether you’re in the States or elsewhere in the world, we hope you’ll join. Stress is not just an American phenomenon 
. (more…)
