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Dr. Joy Vanderbeck
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Positive Change
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Color
Your World
The
3 aspects of the mind
Relax
What
are you saying?
Death and Dying
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You’ve
heard it on the evening news — Stress is one of the top killers in America.
It exacerbates heart disease, high blood pressure and the immune system. All
stress is not bad. The body needs a little stress in order to react and
interact with the world around you, but prolonged stress and anxiety are
detrimental. Stress affects each individual differently. What upsets one
person may not bother another. By identifying what causes your stress, you
can learn how to prepare yourself and change your reactions to stress. When
you take steps to lower stress in your life, you’ve taken a big step
towards better well-being! Begin by making a simple affirmation every day:
"I live my life in joy, ease and exuberance." Life is supposed to
be successful and fun, enjoy it!
Signs of Stress can include:
- Lack of
energy
- Increased
use of drugs or alcohol
- Inability to
make decisions
- Anxiety
- Poor
concentration
- Chronic neck
or back pain
- Forgetfulness
- Changes in
eating or sleeping habits
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- Depression
- Headaches
- Upset
stomach
- Lack of
energy
- Prolonged
illness or feeling "Sick all of the time"
- Sudden mood
changes
- Cold hands
and feet
- Ulcers or
Indigestion
- Clumsiness
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If
symptoms like this are persistent, see your physician as some of these
symptoms may be due to causes other than stress. Dr. Joy Vanderbeck, Ph.D.,
makes no medical claims or recommendations.
What
can you do to beat stress?
Deep
Breathing
-- Find yourself a comfortable place to sit that is quiet and has few
distractions. Close your eyes and breathe in slowly through your nose, taking
ten to fifteen seconds to inhale the breath. Focus on making sure as you
breathe in that your diaphragm, (above your stomach), expands outward. Slowly
exhale through your mouth, again taking between ten and fifteen seconds, to
do so. As you breathe out you will feel your diaphragm contracting. Repeat
the deep breaths slowly at least five times
Progressive
muscle relaxation -- Actively tighten and then relax your muscles,
beginning at either the feet or the head and working throughout the whole
body. The process takes about five minutes and you need to be conscious of
the difference between the tension and the relaxation. To practice, make a tight
fist. Feel the tension created when you make that fist. Then completely relax
the hand and concentrate on how relaxed the hand feels. You can create muscle
tension in most areas of the body. Tense your toes curling them downwards;
calf muscles can be tightened by moving the heel of the foot towards the back
of the leg and curling the toes down. Your face can be tensed by
"scrunching" it up and "making a face". All of these are
followed by letting the tension go and feeling the difference between the tension
and the relaxation and then focusing on the relaxation. Work your way up from
your toes to your head. You should feel totally relaxed by the time
you’re done!
Meditation -- Meditation is
best experienced in a quiet place, one that is comfortable, perhaps by
candlelight and, for those who prefer it, with soft non-distracting music in
the background. Just being in an environment like this can be a luxury for
those in a hectic lifestyle! You can’t "find" time for
meditation, you have to MAKE time for it. It can be just as important as
exercise in keeping your mind and body healthy and stress-free.
Physiologically, it is altering the pattern of electrical brain activity,
lowering your pulse rate, and a myriad of other reactions. Psychologically it
is removing a focus on stressful events and replacing it with relaxation. It
is a real integrator of body, mind, and spirit. This is a great time to
reprogram your subconscious for peace, prosperity and success.
When you
learn to relax, meditate or concentrate on a calming thought, your brain
activity actually changes. This starts a chain reaction throughout your body.
Muscles become less tense, breathing slows and deepens, and there is an 80%
increase in immune hormone levels in the blood. The chart below is a diagram
of the different scales of mind/brain activity during different mental
states.
(click
for an expanded image)
Want
to learn more?
Every
Challenge Has a Solution!
Dr.
Joy Vanderbeck, Ph.D., can help you improve your life, your business, and
help you to become empowered to achieve your life’s goals! Call for
yourself, your business or a customized group or individual session
— Training can even be done over the phone.
Email Joy at joyv@joyv.com or call (817) 261-6044
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