July 30, 2007

Baby Steps to Anxiety and Stress Relief

If you’ve ever experienced an Anxiety Attack or Stress Attack you’ll understand how down and out they can make you feel.  Although Anxiety Attack symptoms vary from person to person the end result is still the same.  It’s important to find some method of relaxation techniques for anxiety  to overcome any long term effect your anxiety attacks may cause. 

But at times it can all seem too much. I mean you want to fix the issue, yet the goal posts can seem so far away from where you are right now.  This is where the baby steps principle comes in handy.  When you step back and you look at where you would like to be then you can break it down into smaller, easier to achieve tasks.  Rather than focussing on the huge task of making it to the end, you only need to focus on the next step, which makes it less daunting. 

For example – If you had a fear of flying and you wanted to feel calm instead of experiencing an anxiety attack every time you even visited an airport you could begin by practicing relaxation breathing techniques and visualization techniques for relaxation for 10 mins everyday.  During this time you would meditate on the thought of flying and use other stress management techniques to address the issue of flying.  Then after 1 week, visit an airport and watch the planes.  Note: you are not going there to fly; you are simply watching the majestic planes flying overhead.  Once you master the first small step then move onto the next step and so on.

Remember: To overcome the fear, break the fear down into smaller pieces, handle each smaller piece and complete the overall task by putting all the pieces back together again.

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July 27, 2007

Stress: Here’s why men and women handle it differently

By now most people are aware that men and women handle stress in different ways and they both seek different Stress Relaxation Techniques to deal with stress. To understand the reasons why men and women handle stress differently we need to pull out the scientific hat for a moment to look at the physiological differences between men and women.

One of the differences is in hormones. There are 3 hormones that men and women produce when under pressure or stress called – cortisol, epinephrine and oxytocin. When we are stressed the cortisol and epinephrine together raise a person’s blood pressure. The amount of cortisol and epinephrine produced by both men and women are about the same. It’s the 3rd hormone oxytocin that plays the big part. When women are stressed they produce a greater quantity of oxytocin that counteracts the effects of the cortisol and epinephrine and promotes nurturing and relaxing emotions. Men do not produce as much of the hormone oxytocin and as a result they handle their stress differently.

A method women use to find stress relief is open talking and communication. Women just want to talk about their stress, examine their stress and cry about it (if they need to) to release the stress. Men on the other hand will either fight back or bottle it up. Relaxation Techniques for men are usually some form of sport of physical method to release the stress.

This puts a whole different slant on work related stress and methods you may offer both men and women as effective Stress Relief Techniques. Even though work related stress affects men and women differently it can be harder for a woman working in an all man environment and vice-versa for them to truly experience Stress Relief. This is an area where it is important for an employer to offer different methods of support and stress relief techniques to ensure a happy, healthy and productive workplace.

It is always very interesting to watch a couple go through a relaxation program together. There are certain relaxation breathing techniques that will work for women that aren’t as effective for men, and there are visualization techniques for relaxation that won’t work as well for women. Whichever program a couple chooses it is always important to ensure the program is structured for stress management activities for both men and women.

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July 12, 2007

Boy Bands Battle for Relaxation Techniques

Oh the Pressure. How do I handle it all while maintaining my chiselled abs and sexy features? Although you and I never have to ask this question, countless members of Boy Bands are asking this every day in their quest to find true Relaxation Techniques.

You see the amount of Stress Boy Band members face daily is astronomical. Not only do they have to get up at the early time of 9:00am every day, they have to go to Interviews, rehearsals and other menial tasks where they sometimes have to stand around for up to 1 hour doing nothing. Let’s face it Relaxation Techniques for Kids is really kiddy play compared to these big guns.

So for all you members of boy bands tuning in right now I’ve got a few hints for you. The focus when considering Stress Relaxation Techniques for a boy band member is to think Elite Athlete. After all you’re elite and that’s the first part of being an Elite Athlete. So we’ll apply the same rules as relaxation techniques for athletes. Make them simple and effective as you won’t have much time.

Boy band members unite! Share the greatest relaxation techniques with each other and you can all experience true Relaxation and Stress Relief.

For more information be sure to check out visualization techniques for relaxation.

 

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