Stress Reducer Blog Recommends
April 5th, 2010
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., founder of the Stress Reduction Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center explains how to use “mindfulness”to cope with daily stresses.
Welcome to the Stress Reducer Blog!
February 6th, 2009Have you noticed how stress, anxiety and fear have gone viral?
Yes, I know you have, but that doesn’t mean you have to catch it.
In addition to a real live financial crisis, we are being fed a steady diet of doom and gloom that keeps magnifying the problem. It’s something akin to sitting in an echo chamber where all you hear is “Be afraid, be very afraid” over and over and over again.
It’s not good for the nervous system. It’s not good for anyone’s physical health. And it doesn’t do much for our emotional lives as well.
The worst part is that when we are overwhelmed by stress, anxiety and fear, we don’t think clearly. That means that we are less able to make good choices in the face of real life problems.
Mastering stress, anxiety and fear is what the Stress Reducer Blog is all about. That doesn’t mean beating it into submission. It does mean taking steps to diminish it’s effects so you can make good decisions for you and your family.
I know lots about stress, anxiety and fear, but I communicate it best in dialogue. So let me know what’s on your mind. Let me know what you need right now to reduce your level of stress and meet the current challenges in your life. I would love to hear from you, and I would love to help.
Mindfulness therapy pushes the bad thoughts to one side???
January 12th, 2010Clearly this reporter doesn’t grasp what mindfulness really is…being present to whatever is going on, not pushing stuff to the side. Yikes!
Other than that, however, the article is quite good and makes a good case for meditation in general and mindfulness meditation specifically when it comes to stopping anxiety and reducing stress.
Read more of ‘Mindfulness therapy pushes the bad thoughts to one side‘.
Want to learn more about mindfulness meditation, get Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living
Stop Anxiety and Stress with…Action
October 19th, 2009How are you on this fine day in October? The sun is finally coming out here in southern New England.
Recently I’ve been thinking about anxiety and stress. Well I’m always thinking about it, and therein lies the problem for many of us who are feeling stressed, overwhelmed and anxious.
To stop anxiety and stress, one of the most effective things you can do is stop thinking and start doing.
Here’s the cycle as I see it…something happens or we’re afraid of something happening and that triggers anxiety and stress.
Rather than immediately kicking into fight or flight we take a middle road…paralysis. Just like a rabbit caught in the headlights, we freeze.
In that state all we can do is ruminate about whatever it is that triggered our reaction in the first place…and we spin around and around in it. The more we think about it the more the anxiety and stress escalates. Sound familiar?
It is imperative to break the cycle, and the best way I know is to take action. In my experience it doesn’t even really matter if it’s the best action. What matters is that we DO something.
So try this to stop anxiety and reduce stress…
1. Stop
2. Don’t try to talk yourself out of it (doesn’t work and it’s counterproductive).
3. Ask yourself what small step you could take to solve or prevent the problem that’s causing stress and anxiety.
It doesn’t have to be the full solution, just one small step in the direction of a solution.
If you don’t know what direction, just take your best shot because it really doesn’t matter. In my experience even the wrong action breaks the log jam of emotion, which in turn, frees us to think more clearly and take more effective action.
4. Do it. Take action. Take that one small step.
5. Then notice how you’re feeling. Better?
Hope that helps,
Susan
