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| Meet Dr. Blonna |
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Hello,
I am Dr. Richard Blonna, the editor of the Healthy Stress Newsletter. I am a nationally certified Coach (CPC), Counselor (NCC), and Health Education Specialist (CHES) with over 25 years of experience helping people just like you manage their stress.
I am the author of a best-selling college textbook and two self-help books in the field of stress management.
Besides teaching stress management in college I work with people at-a-distance using telephone and web-based instruction and coaching.
In addition to stress management I specialize in motivational coaching; helping people get unstuck and live their lives based on their values, goals, and dreams.
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| What's New? |
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I've just finished the revised edition of my first trade paperback; Seven Weeks to Conquering Your Stress. The new version is less technical, more hands-on, and incorporates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles and activities. The book is also available in Kindle, e-book format.You can buy the book direct from my website: www.healthystre
ssdoctor.com.book
scd/.html
You can buy the Kindle version through Amazon.com
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| Volume # 2010, Issue # 1 |
January/2010 |
Dear Subscriber,
Happy New Year!
I hope 2010 will be your best year ever. I am excited about bringing you even more new and useful information about stress. This year I will introduce you to Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). I've integrated ACT principles and practices into my work and will share some powerful new techinques with you.
I am exicted about the April release of my new book; Stress Less, Live More; How Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can Help you Live a Busy yet Balanced Life (New Harbinger Press). Look for information about it in the March newsletter.
I hope you enjoy my free newsletter and podcast. I look forward to helping you learn how to manage your stress and turn your potential stressors into challenges!
Sincerely,
Dr. Richard Blonna |
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| Stress & the Quality of Your Life |
In this issue I want to talk about the short-term, immediate effects of stress on the quality of your life.
I'd like you to think about stress in terms of energy. When you are confronted by a stressor your body mobilizes an Alarm stress response that is designed to help you fight or flee from the stressor (hence the Fight or Flight Response). This response relys on stored energy (glucose in your skeletal muscles and bloodstream) and new energy created by metabolizing fats, protein , and a host of chemicals (adrenaline etc.). The alarm response is acute, short-term, completely throws your body systems out of balance (homeostasis) and is tiring. If you sucessfully fight or flee from the threat your body shuts down the response and you return to balance. The good news is that with a little rest and relaxation your body recharges and you get your energy back.
If you can't fight or flee from your stressor and it is going to be around for awhile your body cannot sustain the alarm response indefinitely. The response is simply too intense to maintain for long periods of time. Instead, your body adapts to the presence of the stressor by shifting out of alarm to a lower-level but more complex stress response called resistance. During resistance your body produces a variety of hormones, salts, and sugars to supply the energy necessary to resist the demands of the stressor and keep all of your systems in balance. One of the most powerful of all of the stress hormones of resistance and the one that researchers link to the toxic effects of chroinc stress is cortisol.
When your body is in resistance your quality of life suffers. The energy you waste trying to maintain balance in the presence of your stressor (s) takes away from the energy you need to live your life fully and do the things you want and need to do. There simply isn't enough energy to go fight stress and live your life to the fullest. If you pay attention to your body and mind you can identify some of the signs and symptoms associated with resistance.
Your body and mind sends you subtle warnings such as the following:
Energy level- no matter how much you sleep, you are still tired.
Attention Span - you have a hard time focusing on the things you need to accomplish.
Emotions - you are much more emotionally fragile. you break down or fly off the handle over the least little thing. you become emotionally flat. you are overly anxious and worrisome.
Passion - you lose your passion for the things you love. Your relationships suffer because you are too tired to nourish them.
Work Habits- you begin to cut corners and the quality of your work suffers. You get distracted and don't pay attention to the people and things around you.
Physical Symptoms - you experience chronic muscle tension, insomnia, digestive system problems (diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel), frequent headaches, restlessness, and many others .
As you experience these symptoms the quality of your life diminishes. You are just not yourself and you are not living the life you want to live.
One of the keys of an effective stress management program is to become more aware of the warning signs of chronic stress and then to take steps to manage them so you don't become exhausted. Becoming more mindful of what is going on in your body and mind is an important first step in learning how to manage your stress. |
| StressBuster Tip # 6 |
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Security Wand Body Scanning
One of the most effective ways to check your body for signs of the physical symptoms of stress is to do a body scan. The purpose of this activity is to systematically identify what is going on in your body when you are stressed. There are many different types of body scan activities. Another type of body scan activity uses breathing to help relax the different areas of your body as you move over them.
My variation of this activity is called the "Sceurity Wand Body Scan" because everybody is familiar with the wands used by security personnel to check for hidden items on your person when entering buildings or airports.
Instructions:
1. Imagine that you are lying down and holding a hand scanning device similar to the ones used in buidings and airports.
2. Instead of using the wand to check for hidden items on your person, you are going to use it to scan for the symptoms of stress in your body that you might be unaware of.
3. Start at your feet and slowly pass the wand over each foot stopping at your ankle. Make a mental note of what your feet and ankles feel like. Scan for muscle tension, pain, soreness, or any sensation you feel. Don't judge what you discover, merely note it and accept it.
4. Now move up to your calves and slowly pass the wand over each calf muscle. Make a mental note of what your feet and ankles feel like. Scan for muscle tension, pain, soreness, or any sensation you feel. Don't judge what you discover, merely note it and accept it.
5. Move your wand up a few inches to your knees. Repeat the same instructions regarding accepting and noting what you find without judgement.
6. Continue with the same instructions moving the wand to your thighs, buttocks, pelvis, stomach, chest, neck, face, head, shoulders, upper arms, forearms, wrists, hands, and fingers.
7. When you are finished scanning your entire body make a mental note of what you found. You can go back to areas that you've ientified as needing attention (sore, tense, hard etc.) and work on them. In coming newsletters I'll show you some different techniques for relaxing areas in need of attention.
The purpose of this scanning activity is to help you become more aware of some of the physical signs of resistance that you might be experiencing. Becoming more mindful of how your body reacts to resistance is a critical first step in doing something to stop the stress response from continuing all the way to exhaustion
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For more information about my stress management related products and services go to my website:
For my latest free podcast go to the link below: http://www.healthystressdoctor.com/podcasts.html and click on the cast you want to view. Sincerely, Dr.Richard Blonna
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