The workplace can be a major source of stress and physical tension.  If you don’t have a gym to use at work (and most of us don’t) you can relax and defuse office stress without leaving your desk.  You need to untie your knotty muscles.

The first way to begin to relieve the tension from jangling nerves, pulled up shoulders, tired eyes, and all kinds of stressors generated at work is to sit straight and take a deep breath.  You NEED oxygen!  Your best intellect will blossom with mindful breathing.

When we are under stress we stop breathing!  Think about it.  We kind of pull in a small breath and tighten up.  Take a “time out” to manage this stress.

Take a deep breath, and another, and another.  Use “quick breath” if need be.  Quick breath is achieved by taking in several short bursts of oxygen and then expelling them in the same way.

Now TAKE THE TIME to do the following moves (one or all). You will be better for yourself and more productive for what you are doing.

Start in a neutral position at your desk.  Your arms and legs should bend at ninety-degree angles when you are seated.

Adjust the backrest or use a cushion to support your lower back. Relax and breathe.

Upper-back stretch: place your hands on your shoulders and twist at the waist until you feel a stretch across your upper back.  Return to center and twist the other way. Relax and breathe.

Neck Roll:  Slowly drop your head to the left and then to the right. Now drop it to the chest.  Drop your shoulders and lift your neck as if in traction.  Relax and breathe.

Chest Stretch:  Grasp you arms behind your neck and press your elbows back until you feel a pull across the chest.  Relax and breathe.

Arm Circles:  Raise your arms straight out from sides and rotate in small circles, first forward, then backward. Relax and breathe.

Shoulder shrugs:  Rotate your shoulders five times in one direction. Reverse direction. Relax and breathe.

Side Stretch:  Lock fingers and left your arms over your head until elbows are straight.  Then lean to left, and to the right.  Relax and breathe.

Finger flex:  With hands in front and palms down, spread thumbs and fingers as far apart as you can.  Hold to count of 5 and relax.

Wrist twist:  Extend on arm in front of you.  Use the other hand to bend the outstretched fingers up and back.  Repeat with the opposite hand.

One or all of these moves can be done within just a few minutes.  When you are feeling like you just can’t go any further, slow down, and do EVERYONE a favor, and do these exercises to reduce your stress level.

You are not only going to help yourself, but your performance at work will improve!  Use one or all of these moves (and the breathing) as a secret weapon to combat stress in the workplace.

Actually these two “techniques” have been around for decades, but the reason you probably don’t often think of them as something that will manage stress, is that you may not realize the power these two techniques will present to you when practiced.

They may not seem like something that will really help manage your stress – but they do!

Simply written, these are the techniques.

1.  Forgive.

2.  Count your blessings.

Don’t stop reading and scoff, thinking “Oh sure…this won’t work.”   This is the truth; the magic of doing these two things, if you are sincere in heart, will astound you.

Beginning with forgiveness, you must open your mind enough to realize that whatever is still burning you with anger, and holding you from forgiving, whether it directed to a person or situation, is a huge stressor.

The power within you is endless, but you must begin to develop your receptivity of this power by growing in understanding and practicing changing your mind about a few things.  You must be willing to believe that two small techniques can be life changing.  The statistics are in.  Results have been proven.

To forgive you must be able to step out of the prison you have built around you and outgrow old tendencies to “to hold grudges” against your fellow human beings, and life itself

In doing this you will release a mountain of negative thoughts and feelings.  Old emotions that are pent up and that make you feel terrible, will be gone!  There will be a burden lifted from you.  Let someone else JUDGE what has happened…the people involved, or the scenario.

You don’t have to hang out with people you forgive. You just need to forgive them.  They are human, and so are you.  Personally I’ve made a million mistakes in my life, so I find it easy to forgive when I think of that.

Even “big forgiveness” for major wrongs is possible.  You see, the only person who suffers is the person who dwells in the hell of not forgiving.

Now, when it comes to counting blessings, there are always so many blessings to count if we just take a moment and think!

We are creatures who have been given that capacity…try it.

(If you need help – find it!  YOU ARE WORTH LIFE!)

Name ten things you are grateful for right now.  Here is my list right off the bat:

1.  My children and grandchildren are okay.

2.  My husband still loves me.

3.  I can walk, run, dance, see, hear, and laugh.

4.  I have running water.

5.  Music is available for me to surround myself with and enjoy.

6.  I don’t have to kill another animal in my life to survive, or to help my children survive.

7.  I can use the internet productively and choose NOT to be a pervert.

8.  Millions of people close to me haven’t been displaced because of flooding……..

9.  I still do believe in God and Jesus Christ.

10.  My puppy loves me.

This is NOT in the order of the absolute most important ….they just came to mind in a flash!

YOU STILL HAVE CHOICES IN YOUR LIFE IF YOU ARE A BREATHING HUMAN BEING.  THEY MAY NOT ALWAYS BE THE CHOICES YOU THINK YOU NEED OR WANT, BUT YOUR RESPONSE TO WHAT HAPPENS IS ALWAYS YOUR CHOICE.

CHOOSE WISELY AND CREATE WONDERFUL MOMENTS…THAT IS ALL WE HAVE ARE THE MOMENTS THAT ARE FLEETING.  SOMEONE REALLY CARES IN CYBERSPACE!to you, when used and practiced. .

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Also you can – Try yoga – Check out stress management classes on line – Take a breath and release old burdens and take in new thoughts – Pray -Talk to friends – Find a support group.

It is so helpful to learn how to lengthen, relax, and decompress your neck and relax your shoulders.  As you become familiar with your own body, you will find there are simple treatments you can manage, to begin to do this.

Because of the structure of our chairs, the positions we sit in, the kind of pillow we use, the weight of our own heads, the purses and backpacks we care, and the stress we maintain, our necks compress little by little. This can cause neck aches, headaches, and your shoulders to further tighten up and stress to begin to control your body.

Here are simple exercises to prepare you for keeping your shoulders down and your neck relaxed.  The primary exercise will always initially begin with exercising your mind.  Take in a needed breath of oxygen.  Stress and pain cause us to hold our breaths.  Slowly exhale and use your mind to visualize the carbon dioxide leaving and therein making room for more oxygen.  Do this several times mindfully.

Now, hold an object weighing one or two pounds in each hand, letting the weight of the objects pull shoulder blades down. Make sure that you keep the breastbone lifting up so that the tops of the shoulders don’t pull down and forward, collapsing the chest.

Set the objects down and see if you can find the muscles you need to pull your shoulder blades down just as the weights did.

These muscles are called the lower trapeziums muscles. They attach to the vertebrae of the middle back, and insert on the inner border of the shoulder blades. They are antagonist muscles to the upper trapeziums muscles.

These muscles are very important posture muscles, and help support the spine in the middle back. When the lower traps are too weak to counteract the pull of the stronger and tighter upper traps, the scapulae will tend to ride up, compressing your neck.

Remember to use your oxygen.  Roll your shoulders simultaneously in circles moving forward.  Do this several times.  Reverse the circles to move towards the back.

Press your shoulders up – then push them down.  Think – and lift your head up from your shoulders where it’s been pressing downward, bend it towards your left shoulder, then lift again and bend towards the right.

Remember, as you decompress, you will allow vital oxygen to move through the areas with ease.  Think of a garden hose that is crimped and how the water doesn’t flow freely.  It works the same with your oxygen.

Take a few breaths. When you begin to feel discomfort again during stressful times, remember to use these simple techniques.  You are in charge of how you feel, and if it’s not good, you are the only one who can change that!

Remember, too, groups are available who can help you discover your stress level through testing, and many organizations have been created specifically to help you through hard times.

Meditation and yoga are two ways to help you learn to manage your stress.

It’s your body, and the only place you have to live!  Take care of it and have a wonderful day and a great weekend.

Once in a while it really is okay to cry.  Even if you are a guy sometimes it may be one of the only ways you find to release stress from within.

We often hide anxiety, concerns about finances, thoughts of injustice, resentments, or feelings of inadequacy.  We go on and on with these feelings, and others, building up inside of us.

This website will always honestly face the same challenging scenarios that face us all at one time or another.  Our resolve will be carried out together, realistically.

This morning I realized that I had allowed some emotions to be pent up inside of me.  I really didn’t know it consciously, but when this particular person was accusing and negative towards me, wrongfully, I felt, I went to a personal space and burst into tears.

If you’ve ever cried like a child, you can visualize my mix of flowing tears and sobbing sounds.  It was as if the dam inside had burst and came roaring out of me.

I allowed myself to cry until the tears stopped and I was left only with that sighing that can’t be helped after crying hard.  It felt good to release all those thoughts that were pent up inside about this particular person.  I felt somehow cleansed of the hurt, and I know for sure my eyes got a good cleansing.

With that release of stress out of the way, I was able to modify intrusive thoughts that were based strictly on emotion, but without that fine mix of intellect we need to face our challenges.

I began to breathe calmly and mindfully, as we can do right now.  Inhale through the nose and visualize your mind and body calming because it is receiving excellent oxygen.

Exhale through the mouth visualize this to be the “house-cleaning” of negativity and wasted worry.  Repeat the inhalation slowly, as I too am doing, and then exhale again slowly.

Just a few mindful breaths throughout the day can be one of the simplest and most important techniques in managing stress.

Allow you to bawl loudly or even just weep quietly once in a while.  There is no shame in it, and it can be a very healthy release of pent up emotions.

I feel really ready to tackle the day’s challenges now, and hope you do too!

I will say what I’ve said in class so many times.  STOP for a minute or two. Take a slow and mindful breath to energize you mind and body. Your exhalation makes room for more healing oxygen.  It is also the time to think, “I am exhaling and pushing self-defeating thoughts out with the carbon dioxide.”

Slow down for 30 seconds and pull yourself together. We have been given a great natural instinct from within, to help us find an answer, or at least find a resolve to what seems to be unbelievable circumstances that surround us.  We just must slow down.

Change the subject. Divert your own attention to something else momentarily. Take another mindful breath!

What is the worst that can happen? If you can fathom handling that, you can handle anything. If you think you can’t, then think again! Life is tough, but we have within our minds, the tools and power to rise above the obstacles.

Stop listening to all the negative things that include the words: I can’t, I won’t, I won’t be able to, I give up, I quit, etc. Never give up.

Just when you think you can’t handle everything – everything will change. Give it a bit of time.

Ninety percent of what we waste our lives worrying about never comes to fruition.  STOP wasting your life on “worry and doubt”

The worry doesn’t do anything except hurt you and all those around you. Instead, handle anything that crosses your path. Never give up or give in!  If I sound like a cheerleader I probably am.  I know you can alleviate so much unnecessary stress by just controlling your thoughts, hence, actions.

Now take a breath and relax! It will all be okay.  If you feel you need help – take the time to seek it out.  There are classes, on line help, counselors, and so much more available.  YOU ARE WORTH it!

It’s easy to get caught up in all the negativity!  The Tip?

DON’T DO IT!  REFUSE!

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND CHANGE THE MOMENT

Attitude has been described as “the presence of a hypothetical construct that represents an individual’s degree of like or dislike for a specific target.”

It is actually a personal perspective that can be positive or negative.  Negativity is harmful and definitely not in the realm of being optimistic.  You cannot have a negative attitude without feeling your stress increase. Negativity opens the door for failure.

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND CHANGE THE MOMENT

Our attitude also drives the behavior of our body language. This obvious outward show of our mental attitude is a direct result of either positive or negative thoughts.

One wonderful thing about being a human being is that no matter what the circumstance, we always have a choice in how to respond.

The trick is do not REACT – take a breath and feed your intellect so you will make a better choice in your response. You will also find that if YOU take charge of your “attitude” about any situation, you will be empowered.

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND CHANGE THE MOMENT

Life is just too short to waste a moment being a sour ball. We all have problems. I am no exception. If it’s not a financial problem, health problem, family problem, car problem, or work problem, then it may be a neighbor problem, etc. etc. etc. So what is your choice when problems arrive?

You can opt to be miserable.  Or you can remember to practice thinking in positive terms and remembering that life is about change.  Just when you think you can’t take any more, something changes.

Take a breath.

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND CHANGE THE MOMENT

Remember, it’s your life, so don’t let life’s challenges steal  a moment from you. Don’t let life pass you by while you sink in an ocean of stress.

Start now.

CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND CHANGE THE MOMENT

Take a breath, and when you exhale, let all the problems fly out your fingertips. Do it again. YOU WILL BE IN CHARGE OF YOUR LIFE AND YOUR RESPONSE TO LIFE, if you JUST PRACTICE being in charge!

An Old Russian proverb says that repetition is the mother of all learning.  Five times throughout this article you have been reminded through repetition to: CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE AND CHANGE THE MOMENT.

Your amazing brain has begun to create new brain cell impressions and the next time a scenario arises that asks for

“attitude”, you will remember how you can take charge of the moment by recalling this simple statement.

CREATE a wonderful day!

It is a sign of our times when you can look into the dictionary and find “road rage” listed as a noun!   Road rage is defined in these terms: Violent anger caused by the stress and frustration involved in driving in difficult situations: aggression on the road, vehement behavior, hostile thoughts, ready to attack, overly assertive, force.

Don’t kid yourself.  You will see road rage if you travel over any holiday weekend; actually, any weekend these days.  Be prepared.

First you need to use your intellect.  Driving a vehicle is driving a potential DEADLY WEAPON.  Small vehicles can weigh as little as one thousand eight hundred and seventy five pounds.  SUV’s weigh from two thousand pounds to the sunny side of eight thousand pounds.  An eighteen-wheeler’s load weight limit is eighty thousand pounds.

Think about it.  If you drive a vehicle on the smaller end of the weight scale you are fodder for any “road rager” on the rampage!

From the mid-size vehicles right up to the trucks on the road, the weight alone can do deadly damage in an accident.

Here are a few thoughts to begin your transition from rage to peaceful defensive driving.

1.  The reason the DMV doesn’t issue driver’s licenses to children is because adults are supposed to be rational.  Road rage leaves that thought in the dust.  Be an adult.

2.   It has been proven, time after time, that no matter how you speed to where you are going, you will arrive at approximately the same time as the person who exhibits aggression and speeds.  You will arrive without incident and in a more peaceful manner if you don’t let your emotions override your intellect.

3.  If you insist on texting, holding and speaking on the cell phone, eating, reading, or applying make-up while driving, there is probably no hope for you, as you haven’t the intelligence to realize you put your life and the lives of others in great danger doing these things!  You are also increasing your stress level.  Slow down.  All these things will get done in good time.

If you ask now, “Well, what can I do to keep from raging, everyone is so rude and in a hurry?”

Here are a few suggestions that can begin to put YOU back in the driver’s seat (so to speak).

Take a few more minutes before getting into the car to make sure you have maps, lunch, and all the travel items you need, and think about your attitude.  This is supposed to be a weekend (time for R&R), or a holiday… a happy time.  Let that good time begin with you.

When the journey is on and someone ticks you off, first thing to do is to take a breath.  If you aren’t already in an accident because of the jerk’s actions, then consider that a blessing and take another breath.

Remember that when stressed out we stop breathing momentarily.  We need oxygen to function and think optimally.  You intake will calm you down and allow you to use your wit instead of being outwitted by anger and irrational thoughts.

Remember who is in the car with you.  Do you really want to take the chance of stealing their lives because you cannot control your anger?  I think not.

Take time to stop for a mini-break and let everyone get out and stretch and get a drink of water.  Being crunched up in the car cuts off your oxygen supply and when you straighten up and stretch just for a minute or so, you will regenerate and feel better.  Those mini-breaks can be life saving.

Don’t allow someone else’s impatience CHANGE YOU.  This is your time, your trip.  Try thinking this:  “This guy must be miserable.  On a trip and acting like an idiot!  I’m here to enjoy myself and he is not going to take that away from me.”

Even if you have to be polite J, move over.  Let the jerk by and don’t let him have your life-mentally or perhaps physically by pushing you into irrational behavior.

If you get stuck in a traffic jam wiggle your fingers and toes, take a breath, bend your neck from side to side to stretch it.  If you are stopped, blink your eyes several times as it will help them to relax a bit.

Talk to yourself.  Talk to your family.  Sing.  Tell jokes. Laughter always relaxes the mood.

It’s all a matter of THINKING for just that moment before you get out of control.  To help you think, USE YOUR OXYGEN, you oxygen machine!

Remember that if you react sometimes it will prove extremely dangerous.  I actually flipped the folks off in a car off that passed me, and nearly caused me to have an accident.  I didn’t even think they could see me.  Wrong.

It was a car of gang-bangers. They slowed down and began to taunt me.  I was lucky.  I knew the freeway well and when I came to an exit that I knew they couldn’t backtrack and find me, I didn’t signal and make tracks to get away.  For all I DIDN’T know, they could have been armed.  It was scary.

Take a breath.  Have a fantastic weekend or holiday and BE SAFE!   Actually have a better day ANY DAY when you are behind the wheel.  Better late than dead.

Here are five questions for you to honestly answer.

1. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in the mental condition you are in right now / or a worsened condition?

2. Do you want to stress out and wear your heart out faster?

3.  Are you willing to ignore your lack of stress management skills and find yourself in a contentious situation with no resolve in sight?

4.   Do you need to turn to alcohol to “take the edge” off?

That’s a tough one.  The difference between having a drink and depending on it is the crux of this question.   Is that your stress management technique every day?

5.  Do you like the feelings you get in your gut when you have gone past the point of no return and still it’s necessary to “suck it up and shut up”?

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If you answered NO to questions 1,2,3,and 5 (or any of them), it’s time to FIND THE TIME to learn simple stress management techniques

If you answered YES to question four, then you also need to get busy for you, the sake of your family, and your LIFE!

The following five statements are simple management skills and invaluable to use daily.

1.  Use your oxygen mindfully and change your life.  Only a minute or two “a few times” a day will help!  (Previous posts have specific directions and on line practices).  This is the number one and simplest help for you.

2.  When you begin to feel upset or nervous, let a bell ring in your head and think:  “I am in charge of my response.  No matter what the problem, I CAN handle it.”

3.  Take mini-breaks at the computer.  Close your fists tightly and release.  Stand up and move around to get oxygen flowing. Open and close your eyes several times, and rub your fingertips together until they get warm and place them on your eyes for a moment.  Take a breath!  ANY or all of these things can help instantly.

4.  Don’t let the “momentary” stress STEAL your joy.   One guarantee in life is that EVERYTHING changes – and can in the blink of an eye – so be patient and calm and remember, “this too shall pass”……

5.  SMILE more often.  Practice it.  Even if you don’t think there is anything to make you smile, do it.  You will find that simply smiling will automatically elevate your spirit.  Even if you smile simply because it seems to be silly to smile for nothing, do it!

Now CREATE A WONDERFUL day for YOU and those in the circle of your life.

If you’ve ever been there you know innately – it’s a Scary Place!

Do you think this isn’t stressful?  No – you KNOW it is.

Jealousy will eat you alive like a flesh eating virus.  It will begin in your mind moving swiftly through your body until you feel “different” all over your body.

That is your body reacting to your thoughts and following what you designate in your mind.  Any scenario that involves two humans that love, or have loved at one time.

You burn up from the inside out if you allow raging doubts of another woman / or man looking eye to eye with another; or even not looking openly-but secretly .  The look between two people in love or lust.

If you’ve ever been on the brutal side of a whip you know that heals.  But if you don’t allow brusied thoughts to turn you sour, you win.  Peace returns.  It doesn’t matter.  It is what is it anyway that is so burned into your memory.  No “take backs”. Shed the excess and begin again with purity in heart and in thought; no judgments.

Change happens every second to every human being on the planet.  A miniscule change pulls together and strengthens with the specific energy that is expelled from your mind and body.

We need to accelerate our minds to optimum thoughts.  Jealous thoughts are dead thought.  They go nowhere.  They don’t change what happened / or what you feel will happen.

Drop it.  Stop over-thinking it all. You don’t have control over ANYTHING except your response to life.  Overcome jealousy and learn to trust.  It’s either worthy or ultimately you will find out it’s not.  Don’t be jealous and drive someone away before you have reason!

Technology has provided us with some awesome things – a plethora of websites to get information from, emails, blogs, YouTube videos, music, current news (past news too), the weather, and a never-ending line of opinions, photos, movies and games.  This is NOT a complete list.

You may be literally fatigued from it all.  You may find your nerves are shredded by all the stimuli, and the things you feel you must check out in a day’s time.

For all the wonderful things available you may find you are squandering your time and lower your productivity.  Keep in mind many of the above mentioned things should be done in your “free” time – excluding, of course, the family, school, your workload, aging parents, and the myriad of other demands in this twenty-first century living.

All Americans are vulnerable to finding themselves more stressed out than ever and really overwhelmed with it all.  You may be facing the limit of your human ability to cope with all the stimuli in your environment

With this entire happening, what may be worse is you find your coping mechanisms are becoming less effective, and your stress level increasing.  No matter how you multitask, your list just seems to grow.

By the end of each day you may emerge with eyestrain and having accomplished nothing much at all.   You have been distracted by all the “input”, and we haven’t even mentioned continuous advertisements on television, the radio, newspapers and magazines – along with non-stop “hearing distractions, no matter where you are!

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First thing you can do right now is take a minute.  It won’t kill any project you have begun.  You need mindful oxygen. Stress makes you take shallow breaths…withholding your oxygen.  In turn, you are depleted of what you need to manage your life and make good decisions. Take a breath in slowly through the nose.  Now exhale through the mouth.  Do this several times.

Next you need to really pay attention to the “overall picture”.  It will help to prioritize.  Build a list (doesn’t have to be fancy), but make it honest.  What do you really need to do? .  Ask yourself whether you really are focusing on the right things

Study your habits.  Do not be an accepting and passive consumer of everything that is put in front of you. Tame your appetite.  LIMIT YOUR INPUT!  Open-ended cruising of all that is offered WILL cause you ultimately to lose track of your goals, and your time, which is your life!

If you sleep eight hours a night you still have three hundred and fifty thousand waking minutes of each you.  Now compute how many minutes a week you truly spend passively reading and hearing “stuff”?   You can waste so much time following fluff.  How much time do you spend healing you?  How many minutes with the family and loved ones?  How many minutes to breathe and relax?

You want to take down your stress level?  Tame your wild stallion and pick and choose the most wonderful ways to spend your minutes and hours. Laugh with someone, pray with someone, walk alone to the top of a hill and sing.  Hug like it feels inside; shake hands with a hearty and warm grasp. Fly a kite.  Splash around in the small puppy pool with the puppy.  Go outside and get on a bike and ride it.  There isn’t an age limit!

Or if you are actually not supposed to be taking time to read this, then bravo.  You took a minute or two to change your life.

Now take in a deep breath and think:  I feel better. Turn your hands up and exhale through the mouth and SEE your negativity, and any unresolved issues, fly from your head to your arms and out the fingertips.