PERTINENT INFORMATION LTD. A center for information to help businesses grow faster "Giving You Valued Information"   Susan Pilgrim, Ph.D. specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Stress Relief Strategies

Have you recently moved or started a new job? Are you involved in any relationship? Do you feel your efforts at work or home go unappreciated? Do you frequently feel you have too much to do? Are you or someone you're close to seriously ill? Are you concerned about your financial situation? Have you recently married or divorced? Are you breathing? If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, you're experiencing stress. We all do. Stress is necessary for life. Without it you'd be six feet under the ground in a box or you'd be in a jar sitting on someone's mantel piece. Stress is both a negative and positive factor. Distress, negative stress, zaps our energy and enthusiasm for life. It's the stuff that we're always trying to get rid of, reduce, and avoid. On the positive side, eustress motivates and energizes us to pursue relationships, engage in projects, and accomplish our goals. Stress is caused by any type of demand. It's the response by the body and mind to those demands. It's the imbalance we feel when our capacity to cope with the situation differs from what we feel is called for. For example, on any given day, you may find that dealing with a disgruntled customer is stress-free. Then later on, or perhaps the next day, the same situation creates much stress for you. The event didn't change, so what made the difference?. The difference is in how you looked at it and what other situations you were dealing with at that moment. Situations or events themselves are neutral. It's the value we attach to them that affects how we react. We each decide if a situation is stressful. How you perceive and deal with the events in your life is what creates the stress. So how do you know you're stressed out? Here are some common indicators. See how many of them you're experiencing. You have pains in your neck, shoulders, or lower back. You experience diarrhea, indigestion, and queasiness in your stomach. You smoke, drink alcohol, and use legally prescribed drugs more often than usual. You can't concentrate. You're tired even when you've had enough sleep. You feel irritable or depressed. You have an empty feeling. You're waiting for someone to rescue you. You withdraw from your family and friends. You've lost interest in sex. If any of these describe you, then it's time to take action to reduce the stress you're feeling now and to prevent stress from building up. Rather than ignoring, medicating, or attributing your "condition" to fate, learn to listen to the signals your body gives you so you can take gentle control over your stress. Here are some simple, practical strategies for snuffing out distress. They are very effective when you use them on a regular basis. Maintain a balance in life. Make time for work, friends, family, civic responsibilities, and religious activities. Always take time for yourself. Choose activities that nurture and pleasure you, like a hot bubble bath, fishing, taking a walk in the park, or doing nothing. Laugh often. A little levity goes a long way. Laugh at the silliness around you. Keep the BIG picture in mind. Getting upset over trivial or insignificant details adds nothing to your life. Ask yourself, "In the big scheme of things, how important is this?" Act based on your response. Monitor your thoughts. What you think about affects how you perceive and interact with the world. Instead of "I can't do anything about this," use "I'm going to give my best effort to figure this out." Relax daily. Give your mind and body a break. Relax by taking deep breaths, listening to quiet music, practicing yoga, meditating, or being in nature. You have more control over your stress than you might think. You can be reactive, dealing with it when it becomes a problem. Or, you can be proactive, turning the negative into the positive and maintaining healthy habits that help you prevent a distressful response. The choice is yours. Here are some additional common indicators if you want to use them also. _____ You grind your teeth at night or even during the day. _____ You sleep too much or can't sleep at all. _____ You have a negative attitude. _____ Your heart pounds so hard you can almost hear it. _____ You feel confused. _____ You feel so "keyed up" that you can't relax. _____ You're experiencing nightmares. _____ You can't seem to forgive others. _____ You play the martyr -- Look at what they did to me! _____ Nothing pleases you. _____ You alternate between lashing out at others & clamming up. Here are some additional strategies if you want to use them also. Monitor your vital signs. During stressful times, you may experience increases in weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, pulse, and body tension along with a decrease in your energy level. If you notice these changes, take action to change what you're doing. Exercise regularly. Exercise helps you to maintain mental clarity, increases your levels of oxygen and blood flow. It helps your body to burn food and fat more efficiently. It helps you to feel better about your self. It's a great way to reduce your tension, release your anxieties, clear your mind, and keep your systems functioning properly. Eat nutritiously. The quality of the food you put into your body affects how your body can use it. Eating foods that are unnatural to the body create stress for your digestive system because it has to work harder to process what you eat. Pay attention to what you're eating. Eating foods that are healthy for you help you to maintain mental and physical stamina and help you think clearly. Get enough rest. Sleep is very important to the body because the body repairs itself while you're resting. If you don't get enough sleep you shortchange your body and it won't be able to work as efficiently for you. If you have trouble sleeping, use relaxation techniques to wind down from the day. Nurture your relationships. Stay connected to those you care about. Giving and receiving in a relationship helps you relieves stress and be more productive. Seek professional assistance. If you're having difficulty coping with the stress, contact a mental health professional who can assist you. Seeking help is a sign of health, not one of weakness. Newsletter and Ezine Resource Find exactly what you're looking for In our quest to provide you with tools and information to help you change the way you work and live, we've gathered a comprehensive list of newsletters on all aspects of business and life. The benefits are all there. Click here to go there.

A Practical Guide for Taking Gentle Control of Life Living InSync is a way of life, a way of living, a lifelong process that exemplifies the mind-body-spirit interconnectedness in life. The essence of being InSync is found in the five dimensions of life--physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual.Living InSync® means assessing and optimizing your personal power, understanding yourself and others, envisioning what you want from life, making conscious choices and pursuing goals to be the person you want to be. By assessing your personal power, you become creative, decisive and productive and can take gentle control of your life. Living InSync® offers a personalized, proactive, step-by-step approach to help you assess where you are in life, who you want to be, and where you want to go. Maintaining a balance between and within the dimensions offers you a perpetual challenge because the evolving nature of your being is dynamic and ever-changing. By responding to life's challenges in new ways and by recognizing that perfection is a static, nonexistent state, you'll experience insights about yourself and the unlimited opportunities for success and peace. You'll find that when you live InSync with yourself, you're more InSync with others and the Spirit.

Dr. Susan Pilgrim, author of Living InSync® -- Creating Your Life with Balance and Purpose (Health Communications Inc.) and Moving InSync® with the Spirit (in press), and president of Life Investments, is an Atlanta-based international speaker, business consultant, and coach. She specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Her work represents a unique blend of experience and education in the areas of business management, education, and psychology. She customizes programs to meet the needs of the client and designs them to increase personal, professional, and organizational productivity. Susan's committed to positively influencing the lives of those in her audiences. She encourages all who experience her work to invest in themselves so they can get what they want in life. She earned her B.S. at Presbyterian College, her M.Ed. at the University of South Carolina, and her Ph.D. at Georgia State University. Her memberships include the National Speakers Association, American Society for Training and Development, and the Georgia Society of Association Executives. Her columns appear in a number of business, health, and personal development publications. Susan Pilgrim, PhD 877.467.9627 209.825.9459/fax spilgrim@transbay.net

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