4 Steps To Reducing Anxiety And Stress

Anxiety disorders are often a product of stress. From GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) to panic disorder, you can cut back on the anxiety in your life simply by reducing stress. Stress is normal in daily life no matter who you are, but if you let your stress take control of your life, serious problems will arise. Fortunately, ongoing stress is easy to overcome, but it is important to know the steps to doing so.

Stress is an internal reaction triggered by external factors, like pressure. One of the best ways to overcome these reactions is with plenty of exercise. Daily exercise can help you learn to physically deal with stress by improving your tolerance to stress during exercise. During a panic attack, most people feel short of breath and a pounding heart. A hard workout gives you these same experiences, but in a healthy way. AS you exercise more and more, you push your body to accept these conditions without panicking.

Getting a good night’s sleep is also very important to reducing stress. Stress can physically wear out a person’s body, and without sleep, you will feel the effects of stress much more readily. This can lead to anxiety disorders very easily. To get enough sleep, make sure that you schedule at least 8 hours for sleeping. Don’t eat or drink lots of sugar or caffeine products before bedtime and try to do relaxing activities in the few hours before bedtime. If necessary, see your doctor for help with sleeping problems.

Another key to reducing stress is to schedule time for non-work related activities. Take vacations or at least days off in order to have fun. Work is a major cause of stress, and with that stress comes worry about money, health, and many other things. By setting aside specific time to enjoy yourself with loved ones or on your own, you can physically and mentally set aside the stress for at least a few hours. Try to have at least an hour to yourself every day and an entire long weekend every few months to purely enjoy fun activities.

Lastly, work to reduce stress by learning to think a bit differently about life. Some of the most stressed-out people are perfectionists. While this can be a good trait, it can also go too far. Know when to let something go. Also, think positively about your life. When you worry that you aren’t good enough or are upset about little things, they really add up to hurt you. Managing your thought process is just part of the battle, but if you work at reducing stress, you can avoid developing anxiety problems. How do you deal with stress?

Stress On The Job - How To Cope

Face it. Even if you are stressed beyond your limits in the
office, you can't do anything about it. After all, what job
does not involve any stress? The secret is to make sure that
you can manage on the side the job of managing your stress!

Managing your stress however can be really tricky if you are
inside the office. The work environment limits the ways that
you can manage your stress. For instance, if watching TV or
movies relieves your stress, you cannot very well do that
inside the office. Neither can you play badminton or sing
with a karaoke. The most that you can do is to play some
quick computer game, hoping that somehow it can relax you.
For some people, this is enough; but for others, it is not.

But there are ways to relieve the stress while sitting on
your office chair. Often, the trick is to not wait for the
stress levels to go up. As they say in medicine, an ounce of
prevention is more than a pound of cure. Don't wait to get
stressed, avoid it like the plague! Here's how.

1. Eat healthy. People who are basically healthy will have
more energy levels on which to work on. They are more able
to withstand late nights and are more able to keep up with
long brain activities as compared to people who are not. To
do this, you've got to eat healthy foods especially those
that are rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins. Besides,
having all the energy that you need will help you cope
better with stress when it happens.

2. Sleep. Sleeping provides the body the rest that it needs.
Brain activity and bodily functions slow down when people
are sleeping. Muscles also relax. When the body lacks sleep,
energy levels go down and the brain becomes disoriented.
This results in poorer concentration, which in the long run
can become detrimental to your job functions. Thus, one way
to avoid stress altogether is get the requisite 8 hours or
more sleep. It will do you good.

3. Exercise. Another way to combat stress and to prevent it
from happening altogether is to have a daily run or an
exercise routine. Experts say that a person must work out 30
minutes each day to successfully keep the body in shape and
healthy. Exercise strengthens our resistance and
surprisingly increases the energy levels. It helps keep the
stressors at bay as it relaxes the muscles and keeps the air
flowing freely through breathing techniques.

4. Manage time. Nothing can make you more stressful than not
managing your time well. Just ask people who are used to
cramming for exams or for work assignments. Planning your
time right and doing what you are supposed to do on time
will help keep the stressors away. Besides, by doing your
assignments and work load piece by piece allows you to relax
while doing it and gives you enough time to really work on
it should the boss decides to have it real early.

5. Smile. Being happy and optimistic is the number one stress
buster there is. Do you know that smiling can help keep the
muscles in the face relaxed? It actually uses less muscles
than when you are frowning. So laugh on the job and keep it
cool.

How To Deal With Stress More Confidently

By Samantha Jones

When you know what to do to relieve stress, you can approach
stressful situations with more confidence. We experience
stress when we are faced with anxiety or fear. This can be
as a result of physical danger or a situation which worries
us on an emotional level.

But as you may know, worrying never made any situation
better yet. Rather than worrying, you have to take action or
learn to accept situations as they are.

Stress can prevent us from taking action at the very times
when it is most important that we do so. Stress and anxiety
have a tendency to make us indecisive and take up more time
thinking about potential consequences than doing something
about a situation.

A lot of us will do this over thinking of problems while
under stress, believing that it is helpful to them. Most of
the time, this is not the case at all. People will think of
exactly how they can proceed and fail to take action, or be
so committed to a plan that they will be inflexible in the
face of changing circumstances with predictable results.

Most of the time when we are faced with a stressful
situation, the best thing to do is to act confidently and
work with the outcome to continue towards your goal.

To be able to do this, most of us could use some training in
assertiveness and conflict resolution. When the stress we
are experiencing is due to the expectations placed upon us
by others, this is especially important, doubly so when the
stress is due to arguments and conflicts.

It is also important to have a clear sense of what is
important and what is not, so that we don't sweat the small
stuff. This means having some perspective on our lives and
it is often achieved by taking up a new hobby or sport, some
useful activity that you can be enthusiastic about. This
will stop your whole life revolving around your work, your
relationship, your health or whatever it is that is causing
the stress.

A good way to defuse acute stress is to do some slow-moving
exercise like tai chi or yoga. Mediation and breathing
exercises can also be incredibly helpful. Even taking a walk
can help to reduce your stress level.

Autogenic training, a method of relaxation which was devised
specifically for handling stress consists of 15 minute
visualization sessions, preferably done three times a day.
You can buy CDs which teach you how to use this powerful
relaxation technique.

Another way to keep a lid on your stress level is to listen
to music. You should listen to down tempo music, preferably
instrumental. You definitely don't want lyrics which can
engage you emotionally.

Even with our hectic, over scheduled lives, you can avoid
stress. There are ways to cope with stressful situations and
you should even think of it as a challenge.

Author: Samantha Jones, she has the information that can
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Motivating People To Be Better

By Bobbie McKee

A lot of adages tell us that we cannot make people change.
An old dog cannot learn new tricks, says one; a zebra cannot
change its stripes, says another. But one adage does go,
"There is nothing more permanent than change." How can you
reconcile the fact that you can still change no matter how
old you are?

Does this mean that there are ways for people to mend their
ways? Thankfully, there is hope for you to be able to change
people and motivate them to do better. Here are a few tips
that you can take into account when you would like to take
on the monumental task of convincing someone to change.

- An adage goes, "Acceptance comes before change," and this
is something that is true no matter what the occasion or
thing that you want changed. You cannot simply go smashing
and hurtling and driving headlong into a person's life, and
act as the revolutionary whirlwind that will enact change.
Change must go slowly, and if it goes too fast, you can
expect reversion to occur quickly as well. When starting out
a friendship, accept a person's faults first. Make sure that
you set the stage for that person to change because he or
she wants to, not because you demanded it and that person
simply feels it to be an obligation.

- Try some dolphin training. What do trainers do to motivate
animals to do tricks? They reward animals for a job well
done and ignore animals if they do something wrong. This
actually works with people as well. You know the
exhilaration when you get that raise after years of working
hard, that medal after all your hard work in school, that
baby after all your hours in painful labor. But you also
know how painful it is to be ignored and shown indifference.

When you are pleased with someone's actions, reward that
person with a smile, a compliment, even a treat at a nearby
ice cream parlor, if you are so inclined. But when that same
person acts badly and you want that person to change, avoid
a confrontation: ignore the person instead, and let that
person vent until the dust settles and he or she feels that
you are ignoring him or her. Repeat until you have the
results that you want.

- Be patient. Change does not happen overnight. If you want
a person to change quickly, you are treading into uncertain
waters. And if that person does change quickly, you are
bound to be heartbroken on two fronts: first, that person
could easily be changed and swayed to do anything, and you
are stuck with a pushover; and second, that person could
quickly revert to old times and hurt you again. You need to
muster up a lot of courage and patience to have to deal with
such people.

- Be gentle. You may be tempted to get mad at a friend for
hurting you over and over, and you may be tempted to shout
and throw a tantrum. You will only add fire to a flame, and
you can risk getting yourself hurt without having any
significant changes happening. Try talking calmly to your
friend, and then leave it at that.

- Don't be afraid to walk away. Sometimes, leaving a person
to find himself or herself can be a powerful way to make a
person actually change for the better.

Is Your Internal Clock Keeping You Awake At Night?

Your internal clock, or circadian rhythm, is closely
connected to many forms of insomnia. Contrary to popular
belief, circadian rhythm has more to do with the levels of
light than the time of day. This internal clock is what
tells us when to go to sleep, and when to wake up in the
morning.

The circadian rhythm IS the internal clock.These rhythms are
to some degree governed by hormones secreted by endocrine
glands throughout the day. And our body temperature and
overall mental acuity and alertness are only some of the
factors affected by the circadian rhythm.

Since the circadian rhythm influences alertness and our
energy level, for those with have a sleep disorder related
to their circadian rhythm, their internal clock is "off" and
they tend to feel alert when they should be tired or sleepy,
and tired when they should have much energy. This is very
common for those working the grave yard shift.

Light is one of the most influential factors in regulating
your circadian rhythm. When there are long periods of low
levels of light there is a tendency to feel more fatigued
and to suffer from low energy. This is very common in the
winter, especially in the northern areas where there is only
a few hours of light per day.

Correcting sleep disorders caused by, or related to, your
circadian rhythm can be done by light therapy specially
designed to slowly reset your circadian rhythm. The light is
delivered from what is called a "light box" which has the
correct wavelengths of light. 30-60 minutes of exposure to
the light in conjunction with a strict sleep schedule
explains the therapy.

The key to success with light therapy is to time the light
exposure correctly depending on your particular situation.

The Physical Symptoms Of Anxiety

The physical symptoms of an anxiety attack are immediately
recognizable to anyone who has experienced this in the past.
Among other symptoms, the person may experience difficulty
breathing, sweating, chest pain, numbness in the
extremities, and uncontrollable shaking. Any combination of
these symptoms, or even experiencing other unusual symptoms,
can accompany an anxiety attack.

Physical symptoms of an anxiety attack can mimic those of a
heart attack or even nervous breakdown. Many people wind up
in the emergency room of a hospital as a result. Although
this step is not really necessary for the panic attack,
people may still benefit from professional care. People who
suffer from severe anxiety may need other alternatives in
dealing with the anxiety.

Researchers believe that the full-blown physical symptoms of
an anxiety attack are linked to the survival 'fight or
flight' response that is an instinctive survival reaction in
most creatures, including humans. In humans, when the brain
perceives a dangerous situation, it releases stress
hormones, primarily cortisol and adrenaline. Physical
manifestations include an energy rush, increased sensitivity
to surroundings and marked aggressiveness. These changes
allow the body to react quickly to a situation and repair
itself quicker if it is injured in some way. However during
an anxiety attack, these manifestations occur for no
apparent reason and the body often absorb or defuse this
change in it's homeostasis. Hence the physical symptoms of
an anxiety attack, as described before.

Recent research suggests that recurring panic attacks are
related to an increased incidence of future stroke or heart
attack. Those who experience a single instance of the
physical symptoms of an anxiety attack without a prior
record of anxiety disorder are not necessarily prone to
cardiovascular issues or any long-term issues. But further
study is needed to determine if repeated panic attacks
actually cause heart problems or are only related to them in
some way.

Doctors speculate that medications commonly prescribed for
anxiety disorder can put the patient at risk of a
cardiovascular event. No matter what, physical symptoms of
anxiety attacks are an indication that something is not
right, and the underlying problem needs to get taken care
of.

Anxiety attacks can be difficult to deal with. Although any
physical symptoms of an anxiety attack may be treated from a
medical standpoint, people still need to address the
underlying cause of the anxiety attack. There are various
therapies available to help people discover and deal with
the stress that is causing the attacks. One effective
therapy that can help a person control their reactions to
stress through sheer willpower is cognitive behavioral
therapy.

Deep breathing, advanced relaxation techniques,
aromatherapy, acupuncture, or massage therapy can help
people address the physical symptoms of an anxiety attack.
Regardless of what others may tell you, it is not easy to
relieve an anxiety attack by simply talking yourself out of
it. Anxiety should be treated as the medical condition that
it is. With proper treatment, people can alleviate the
effects of anxiety.

How To Manage Your Stress

By Lillian F Tighe

Stress and tension are part of most people lives and
threaten your health in many ways. Stress can come in the
form of accidents, financial difficulties, problems at work,
family issues, and poor health. The way to manage stress has
a lot to do with your mental, emotional, and physical
health. The following are some ways that you can manage the
stress in your life:

1. Try to find out what is causing your stress.

2. Examine your life and see if it is possible to make changes
in the areas that are causing you stress.

3. Relaxation techniques such as massage, deep breathing,
meditation, or yoga may help to relieve your stress.

4. Exercise or other physical activity will help you deal with
stress.

5. When you feel overwhelmed by everything you have to do,
create a checklist and arrange your priorities. You will
get satisfaction when you complete the tasks you have set
yourself.

6. Avoid sugar, fats, tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol to help
your body and mind to cope with stress.

7. Getting enough sleep is really important.

8. Find someone to talk to if things are bothering you. You
can talk to family, friends or find a support group.

9. Volunteering can give you a sense of purpose and increase
your self esteem and reduce your stress.

10. Relax by reading a book or watching a movie, listening to
music or working at a hobby you enjoy.

11. Practice anger management. If you feel that you have
problems dealing with you anger find a support group that
you can join.

12. A vacation from your regular life, even if only for a
weekend, will help you deal with stress.

13. Don't take on too much at one time. Learn to take it easy.

14. Don't try to be perfect in everything that you do.

15. Remember that being judgmental is likely to do you more
harm than the people you are judging.

16. Always try to see the amusing side of any situation.
Laughter is the best medicine.

17. Move your head from side to side and rotate you neck in a
circle to reduce the tension in your neck and jaw.

18. Set small and smart goals for yourself and then work
carefully and realistically towards achieving them. Keep in
mind that unrealistic goals never seem to be reached and
this can add to your stress level. Try to set a goal for
yourself this week by using the SMART approach:

SPECIFIC: Choose one little goal and write it down.

MEASURABLE: How will you know when it is done?

ACHIEVABLE: Make sure it is not too big.

REWARDED: When you have finished, how will you reward
yourself?

TIME-LIMITED: Can you set an achievable deadline?


Lillian F Tighe is an authority on healthy living and has
written a book (http://www.besthealthylives.com)
10stepstohealthyliving which you can obtain for free on her
(http://www.besthealthylives.com) healthyliving website

Brain Fitness Training Is The New Resolution

By Martin G Walker

If historians are correct, the ancient Babylonians, one of
the earliest civilized societies, practiced the art of the
New Year's resolution. To this day, cultures around the
world use the turning of the year as a time to reflect on
what's past while looking to the future. This New Year more
people than ever before will be making brain fitness
training their top resolution.

Many of the traditional favorites - losing weight,
exercising, quitting smoking, to name a few - already move
us in the direction of better brain health. Brain training
takes us a big step further by fostering brain plasticity, a
state that we can use to improve our memory, concentration,
and mental acuity while helping to stave off the onset of
Alzheimer's symptoms and early dementia.

Although scientists had long since dismissed the idea that
the adult brain could grow and change, research from the
last few years overturns that theory with studies proving
quite the opposite. The right conditions can cause the
production of new neural nerve cells and the brain, in fact
proves to be remarkably adept at rewiring connections work
more effectively with the right training. (The concept of
brain plasticity is even being applied in new therapies for
stroke victims, restoring motor capabilities that
traditional therapies could not.)

Brain Training Benefits

Academics: Good brain training software may be one of the
most effective and affordable test prep programs you can
buy. Test prep typically helps you increase your test scores
but won't help you do better in school, whereas brain
training can boost your attention and general
problem-solving ability. And if you have a diagnosed
learning dysfunction, it's possible that a targeted brain
exercise will help. Where possible, many learning
specialists have begun to use brain training in preference
to accommodations as a way to address a deficit directly
rather than working around it.

Career Improvement: If your career involves creative
problem-solving and focused mental activity brain training
provides a way to stay sharp. Modern workplace demands tend
to disrupt the brain's ability to form memories and
stimulate new cell growth. Brain training can significantly
increase effectiveness and success in the workplace.

Long-Term Mental Health And Well-Being: Unless we do
something to stop it, by age 40 our brains have begun to
decline. With regular mental exercise, however, we can
reduce or eliminate memory loss, and lower our risk of
developing Alzheimer's symptoms and dementia. Researchers
have even found that depression responds to the kind of
stimulated neural growth that brain training can induce.

Self-Growth: The recent upsurge in brain training
technologies has revealed that brain exercise can lead to
improvements in seemingly unrelated areas - such as musical
ability and self-esteem. When we reflect on the brain's
central role in any and all aspects of thinking (including
feeling) this begins to make perfect sense. If we're already
engaged in activities such as physical exercise, yoga,
reading, therapy, and mindfulness meditation, a program of
mental exercise fits right in.

Making The Resolution Stick

Studies have shown that we tend not to keep our New Year's
resolutions. Women will do better at them if they share them
with their friends. And men succeed more often if the goals
are broken down into manageable milestones. Brain training
has the built-in advantage of challenge and reward. If we
find a training program that works for us, it will become an
activity we look forward to. Many programs also provide the
option to share our achievements in some form of on-line
community, and to track our detailed progress through our
training scores.

The brain training marketplace can be a little confusing at
first. There are many products out there and it's not always
clear which ones work. Some training programs provide don't
require much focus and attention and won't stimulate brain
plasticity. Others might work extremely well but cost
several hundred dollars and demand a significant time
commitment.

It's important to verify a program's scientific basis. The
vendor should state clearly what improvements the program
will bring about and in what time period. And the product
should come with a training schedule that will help you
judge whether it is right for you.

Brain training could be the best New Year's resolution
you'll ever make. With the right level of commitment it can
bring about a big jump in mental ability and set us on the
road to long-term brain health.

Oxford-trained scientist, author, and technologist, Martin
G. Walker is a member of The British Neuroscience
Association, Learning and The Brain, and MENSA. His company
(http://mindevolvesoftware.com) Mind Evolve Software

publishes free information on the field of neuroscience and
brain training as well as effective and affordable
(http://mindsparkebrainfitnesspro.com) brain training
software under the brand name Mind Sparke.

Panic Attacks and Anxiety

Although panic attacks and anxiety can be related to each
other, they can also be completely separate entities with
their own set of symptoms. Either of these conditions can
become problematic if the symptoms escalate beyond the
normal range. It is at this point, that treatment will need
to be sought.

Anxiety is a reaction to stress, and this is considered to
be normal. It is something that can help someone deal with
tense situations in different areas of one's life, such as
at work, school, or just something that requires facing a
crowd of people. If anxiety starts to become an excessive
and irrational dread of facing everyday situations, it has
crossed into the area of a disabling disorder.

Panic attacks and anxiety differ in the fact that, while
anxiety usually builds to a point, panic attacks can hit at
any time with no warning. Unlike anxiety, a panic attack is
an irrational fear of something that can't be named. There
is rarely any obvious reason for the feelings of panic, and
is much more intense than the feelings of anxiety or being
overly stressed.

One out of every 75 people in the world will have a panic
attack at some point in their lives. The good news is that
most of these adults will never have another panic attack.
However, these statistics show that panic attacks and
anxiety are the most common emotional disorders, even more
so than bipolar disorders, ADHD, depression, OCD
schizophrenia, phobias, and alcohol abuse. In addition to
this, people suffering from panic and anxiety disorders
rarely go looking for help with their problem.

Of course, there are similarities between panic attacks and
anxiety attacks, and anxiety attacks can lead to panic
attacks. Suffer from enough anxiety and it can escalate into
a panic attack. So if you begin to find yourself becoming
overly anxious, it's time to get help in bringing it under
control before it gets too much to cope with.

Panic attacks and anxiety are not pleasant and can actually
become quite debilitating. But people who suffer from
anxiety or panic attacks can take some comfort in knowing
there is help around to lead a regular life. All it takes is
asking for the help you need.