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Prevention
1
Stress Management and Prevention Program Resource Guide
By
Heather Heuton
REFERENCE: PG . 49-5 1
1
Unit 1: The Nature of Stress
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point Mindfulness is being aware of what is going on the present moment whether that
would be watching, observing, or examining what is around you. It is connecting the mind with
the body in any given situation. Mindfulness is beneficial as it helps regulate emotions while also
decreasing stress and anxiety. As we start to practice mindfulness every it can lead to the learning
process of how we deal with the things in our life as we start to become more aware of not only
our surroundings but how we are feeling in that current moment. (Stahl, 2010).
Key Learning Point Digital Toxicity, FOMO (Fear or Missing Out) and Digital Dementia was another
important piece of information that I learned throughout this course. The amount of time that we
spend with technology has become a problem. Technology is now affecting our cognitive, memory
and social skills. Studies have shown that taking hand written notes instead of notes on the
computer leads to better memorization because we actually have to use our brains to synthesize the
information that we write down. Technology is something is always going to be changing and
moving forward, and with that it will lead to more stress, illness, diseases addictions and greater
imbalance. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Another key point that I learned about this semester was Occupational stress, also
known as stress in the work place. We are often very stressed in the work place as places are busy
and there are always things that need to be done. This is something that I have noticed in my job a
lot lately. When I first started at my job, they advised me that if I ever need to step away from the
front desk, that it was okay. I thought this was oddly strange that they mentioned this to me but as
I became more comfortable in my job and started taking on more tasks to do, I now realized that
they were right. My job sees over 100 patients a day and we always have something that is not
done so it can be a little bit crazy, which is very stressful. (Seaward, 2015).
Total Points = 9
Assignment:
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Ever been so stressed that you want to pull your hair out or just want to curl up and cry? If you
have not been, then lucky you! But if you are one of the unfortunate ones who are always stressed out
and sometimes to the point where it is unhealthy, than that’s not good. Managing stress can be one of
the most difficult things that we have to encounter on a weekly basis, mainly because we do not fully
understand how to manage stress. We need to learn to manage our stress better, as it is unhealthy for
us to be stressed out all the time. Managing stress is vital to our overall health and well-being as it has
been shown to improve our mood, boost immune function and decrease our blood pressure (Eliaz,
2017). The less stressed that we are means that we can be the best version of ourselves as we are
happier and more productive. When are stressed out, not only does it affect our health, but it also
effects our brain as well. During intense stress, our neurotransmitters such as dopamine, epinephrine,
and norepinephrine began to rise, releasing more adrenaline which then leads to increase in heart rate,
high blood pressure and a weakened immune system (Eliaz, 2017). If stressed goes uncured, it can
Studies show that chronic stress is one of the main causes of cancer and heart attacks (Eliaz,
2017). Chronic stress affects us in a way because of the fact that we are constantly dealing with such a
high overload all the time. This can also lead to muscle tension, severe headaches as well as having an
effect on our digestive tract as well. Not only does stress have a physical effect on us, it also has a
psychological effect as well. Stress can lead to depression, anxiety, mental and emotional disorders. It
can make us have difficulty focusing, feeling insecure and also lead to relationship conflicts (Eliaz,
2017). No matter the issue, we need to learn to manage our stress as we will be better off now and in
the future.
Managing stress can be very difficult but is something that needs to be taken as a priority as
our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical well-being are affected if we do not learn to manage our
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stress. Our spiritual well-being has to do with “the state of mature high consciousness deriving from
insightful relationships with oneself and others, a strong value system, and a meaningful purpose in
life” (Seaward, 2018). This is driven from our relationship with ourselves and our connection to faith
and prayer. Our emotional well-being is “the ability to express the full range of human emotions and
to control these feelings, not be controlled by them” (Seaward, 2018). This has to deal with how we
respond emotionally to certain situations. Our mental well-being deals with “the ability to gather,
process, recall and communicatee information” (Seaward, 2018). Our mental well-being stems from
how we can cope with everything that is going on in our life. Finally, our physical well-being is “the
optimal functioning of the body’s eight physiological systems” (Seaward, 2018). This deals with the
bodies physical aspect on how we handle stress. All of these approaches have to deal with one another
as our body works together as a whole. According to Western philosophy, all aspects of the body
must be treated equally, in that of which makes our body a whole (Seaward, 2018). Each different
well-being affects one another is such a huge manner. For example, social well-being is a big part of
spiritual well-being simply by the fact that we harmonize with one another in each different
environment. Another example would be, if we are stressed out because of an exam or money issues,
it causes us to be stressed out emotionally and mentally. If one thing is wrong, it means that one, if
not multiple things are wrong. All of this leads up to our body acting as one and being treated equally
(Seaward, 2018). We are all affected by each and every one of these well-beings, but for some, it is
I would say that I am most effected by emotional well-being. I chose this one because right
now, my work and my home life are very stressful. At work, we are so busy that I leave every night
with a pile of papers on my desk. This is because we are so short staffed, and it takes time to train the
new people that we do hire. We also unfortunately have people at work who are think that they are
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better than everyone and that is really frustrating as well and very emotionally draining. For my home
life, I am at the point right now where I want to move out of my parents’ house and into my very own
first apartment, but I am struggling because of money and the fact that I come from an argumentative
family. My household right now consistent of five people and five animals’, so there are definitely
some stressful moments that happen quite often. As stressed out that I am right now, I am also slowly
learning how to deal with all of my issues for not only my own emotional well-being, but also for my
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Mandela
Journal:
Situation Start Midway End
Finding a place to live/Moving out of my parents’ house 9 6 3
Doing the Batch at work/Opening the clinic/Closing the 7
clinic 5 2
Skydiving 8 3 1
When people interrupt me 8 8 8
The want to obtain a perfect image/Go to gym/Eat Healthy 7 6 6
Financial Hardships/Bills 8 6 6
School Work/Work-School Life 6 8 9
Applying to PT School/Applying to take the GRE this 9
summer
Planning my summer trip to Tennessee 7 8 8
Maintaining a clean room—I do not function well is dirty 6 4 1
environments
7
Unit
2
Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point One of the key learning points that I thought was interesting in this unit was the ABC
ranking order. This was something that I had particularly not ever heard of before. The ‘A’ stands for the
highest priority, ‘B’ si theis for the second priority and then ‘C’ is for low priority tasks. After reading about
this ranking method, I have started to use, and it has worked for me. I mainly use when I have assignments
due that week and as they are all important to do, I rank the assignments itself as the highest priority because
they take the longest, than it came to the discussions post because they have to be due on a certain time and
then finally it was the journals because those came really easy to me and I really enjoyed writing those
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Another part of information that I could relate to the most in this Unit was when it
talked about ulcers and colitis in Chapter 4. This reminded me of my sister because she has ulcerative
colitis and it was just very interesting to learn more about it in this chapter. Ulcers have always sounded
so painful to me and I am sure that they are, but my sister actually handles her disease very well. It took
many ups and downs for that to happen but now that she does have it under control, she is better off.
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Another part of this unit that sparked my interest was the difference between stress
reaction and stress response. Stress reaction is when habitual techniques often lead to breakdowns.
Examples of these are smoking, workaholism and substance abuse. These normally lead to mental
breakdowns as we are withdrawing from them and our bodies are not used to that. Stress response is
when we are aware of our emotions and we do not bottle them up inside of us (Stahl, 2010).
Assignment:
Neuroscience is the structure and the function between the brain and the nervous system where
as neuroplasticity is “the brains ability to recognize itself by forming new neural connections
throughout life” (Definition of Neuroplasticity, n.d.). This allows the neurons in the brain to adjust to
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things such as injury, disease, new situations and changes that happen in the body. This relates to the
axons that are within our brain by telling our brain how to reorganize the axons that are damaged.
Axons that have not been damaged, as well can connect with nerve cells to create new pathways
(Definition of Neuroplasticity, n.d.). When neuroplasticity is our brain does not go right, we may have
One of the major things that would go wrong with our brain has to do with stress. Stress plays
a big role in our lives and can definitely be a burden if we are not careful. There are many types of
diseases that are caused by stress such as Alzheimer’s disease (Glynn, 2013). Alzheimer’s disease is
known as a neurodegenerative disease that tends to worsen over time. The most common symptom of
Alzheimer’s is memory loss. One study that was done that relates stress and Alzheimer’s diseases is
one that examined the relationship between stress and memory loss. The study was done on mice and
it turns out the mice that were more stressed did not remember much at all compared to the mice who
were not stressed out. The mice that were highly stressed out had higher levels of beta-amyloids
which is associated with Alzheimer’s. The beta-amyloid protein is known to be in relation to brain
dysfunction in which leads to malfunctions of the brain synapses which then leads to memory
Another nervous system disease associated with stress is Epilepsy. “Epilepsy is a central
nervous system (neurological) disorder in which brain activity becomes abnormal, causing seizures or
periods of unusual behavior, sensations, and sometimes loss of awareness” (Epilepsy, 2019). Studies
show that it is hard to know exactly how stress causes seizures as every person handles stress
differently (Stress and Epilepsy, n.d.). Stress can be triggered from something that is causes every
day to something that happen 10 years ago. Most studies have found that major life stressors have an
effect on seizures. This could be affected from both good and bad stressors such as skydiving or the
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death of a family member. Stress is known to causes seizures as it can either make or release certain
hormones in the brain. This could affect part of the brain or sometimes the whole brain (Stress and
Epilepsy, n.d.).
Another disease caused by stress on the nervous system is Cerebral Palsy. Cerebral Palsy is
when a someone has a deficit in their cognitive and motor skills (Moawad, n.d.). This is causes by
brain damage while in utero. It shows up at birth or shortly afterwards. There are many causes to this
disease and one of those causes is trauma. Trauma can affect the body in many ways, as it is added
stress to it. When a pregnant Mom has some sort of trauma, it can cause a decrease in blood and
oxygen levels which can cause the baby to suffer from hypoxia. Hypoxia is known as lack of oxygen.
There may be physical affects as well done to the unborn child from the traumatic experience
(Moawad, n.d.).
Another disease caused by stress and the nervous system is Parkinson’s Disease. “Parkinson’s
specific area of the brain called substantia nigra” (What Is Parkinson's?, 2019). Stress can affect this
disease by the fact that studies show that chronic stress damages our dopamine cells (What Is
Parkinson's?, 2019).
Finally, last but not least, another disease that is caused by stress and the nervous system
Sciatica. Sciatica is known as nerve damage to the back, resulting in back pain. This can also lead to
pain to the lower extremities as well. Stress plays a role in sciatic simply by the fact that when we are
stressed out, our spin is exacerbated which then causes the pain in our back (McAllister, n.d.). As we
can see that stress plays a huge role in our nervous system and how it is affected.
Unfortunately, though, stress affects more than just our nervous system, it affects everywhere,
especially our immune system. Rheumatiod Arthritis (RA) is one that is affected by stress of the
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immune system. Rheumatoid Arthritis is known as the process by which our immune system, attacks
healthy tissue. RA is associated with the molecule called cytokines, which can be release when
stressed out causing inflammation resulting in more pain (Vroomen-Durning, 2015). Stress is related
to this disease as it makes the symptoms worse, those who have experience post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) have a higher chance of getting it and those who have experienced trauma in the past
or as a child also have a higher chance of getting rheumatoid arthritis (Roland, 2017). As we can see,
most of this is caused by trauma and stress is highly related to trauma. Stressful situations are more
than likely to cause diseases in not only the nervous system and the immune system but can affect our
body as whole.
It is important to look out for stress and handle it the best way we know how. This is why it is
so important to be stressed out as little as possible. It is important to take time out of the day to
destress. Some things that are to be thought of when we need to unwind a little would be reading a
good book, listening to music or doing yoga. All of these are realizing to our mind, which in a sense
will make us feel better not only mentally, but physically as well.
Journal
How is stress or anxiety about people affecting your life?
The one big thing that I stress bout people in my life is what they think of my image. This is
something that has been stressing me out for quite some time now. I am normally not the type of
person that stresses about what people think of me, but when it comes to my physical appearance, I
really do want people to think highly of me. I have always wanted to that person that eats healthy all
the time and goes to the gym and who has glowing skin. I want people to look at me and think I am
gorgeous and that I am not just average. I think I struggle with this feeling so much is because I hate
so to say it, but I think it has to do with guys. Guys are always going for the girl with the hot body or
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the prettier face and it sucks in all honestly. Back in high school I never had any problems with guys
but now that I have been out of high school, I have found myself to lonely without a guy as it has
been for 7 years almost. It always goes back to my thought process of what is wrong with me and that
stressed me out because I am not the type of person to worry about things like that. I know that I have
a good heart and looks aren’t everything but at times, it is very hard to look past those things and that
In general work does not affect my life but it does in fact affect my work life. I have been at
my job now for only a few months and when I first started there everyone was so calm and collective
and nice to one another. Now, there is this one girl there who is always interrupting me and she talked
bad about my other coworker and I just feel that she is a completely different person now and that she
thinks that she is better than everyone else. It definitely shows that she thinks that. In my job also I
ask a lot of questions and I feel that I can no longer as this girl for questions because she makes me
feel that I am stupid. We also have a lead there who is supposed to be helping us too because we are
such short staff and honestly, she does not help at all. I feel that she does not do anything, and she
takes the girl who is mean to me side and that is something that I do not appreciate it.
The fact that we live in such a messed-up world where we are constantly having problems is
really sad and very unfortunate but honestly I do not pay that close of attention to the news or
anything of that nature to really care. One thing that does come to mind is that a lot of people stress
about how gas prices going up whereas me, I do not even pay attention to them because I have to get
gas in my car regardless so I might as well just suck it up because there is nothing that I can do about
it.
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How is stress or anxiety about food and eating habits affecting your life?
Food and eating habits do stress me out a lot. I find it very hard to eat the right thing and even
harder to know what is good for you and what is not. I feel that there is good and bad in almost
anything that I eat. I do not feel very educated about nutrition and that is something that I really want
to learn. This way I can make sure that I am eating the things that I want that are healthy. Another
thing is, I live at home and my mom cooks dinner every night which I love and am thankful for, but it
is also stressful because she does not make healthy meals. She also bakes a new dessert every Sunday
and it is hard to not eat when she is making your favorite cupcakes.
How is stress or anxiety about sleep and sleeplessness affecting your life?
I get plenty of sleep at night so that is something that does not really stress me out. It more
annoys me when I get enough sleep and I am still tired throughout the day, that is something that I do
How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack of physical activity affecting your life?
This stressed me out a lot actually because again I like to obtain that perfect image and have a
nice body to show off. Along with the nutrition, I feel that I am uneducated at the gym and I always
have that feeling that people are staring at me when I am at the gym. I feel that they are judging
because I am doing an activity wrong or something along those lines. I have been slowly going to the
gym lately and I have felt much better about myself, but I am nowhere near close to where I want to
be and that stressed me out but knowing that I am one step closer to my end goal makes me feel much
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Unit
3
Unit 3: Psychology of Stress
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point One thing that I thought was interesting this semester during this unit was
Maslow’s Self Actualization Theory. He believed in the concept that behavior and personality
stems from our hierarchy of needs and the influence that behavior has on us. The hierarchy
consists of six levels, all of which have to do with our wants and needs. He states that “Self-
actualization is the point where one is ultimately at peace with oneself” (Seaward, 2015). Each
level must be completely fulfilled before moving on to the next level (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Eustess was another thing that I learned during this unit as this was something that
I have never heard of before. I knew that we had are thought to have good stress, but it is so hard
for me to believe because the bad stress outweighs the good stress. Eustress is said to help motivate
as it is supposed to be exciting. This only happens over a short period of time. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Finally, another key learning point that I thought was interesting to learn about this
semester was mindfulness meditation. I really enjoyed the exercise that we did out of the
Mindfulness workbook. It was really a nice feeling to be able to think about the things that make
us happy right then and there in the moment. We get so caught up in our crazy busy lives, that
sometimes we forget what we are thankful and the reason we are here. This gives us the opportunity
to become aware of our feelings and emotions (Stahl, 2010).Total Points = 9
Assignment:
The Tibetan culture is the type of culture that expresses themselves through music, dance,
science and spiritual practices (Tibetan Culture | Centre Culturel Tibétain, n.d.). They study human
values such as love, compassion and non-violence. The Tibetan culture is related to spiritually as the
Tibetan Buddhism believes in happiness and that happiness stems from the peace within our minds. In
a sense, it is saying that we determine our happiness as we go through life. No one else is in control of
our happiness, except for us. The Tibetans think that in order for us to be happy and to focus on mind
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on happiness, we need to practice meditation. The Tibetan culture came about to develop the human
values such as love, compassion and peace. Through these values, the culture is able to create and
maintain stable values. Along with these values, the Tibetan culture believes in “relaxing the mind
and discovering inner peace” from within. They say this has an effect on our physical wellbeing.
Another way that the Tibetans deal with spirituality is by expressing themselves through art and
music. Spirituality goes hand and hand with art and music as they are both very relaxing and are very
expressive. As the Tibetan culture relates well with the development of the mind, body and spirit as it
relates with relaxation (Tibetan Culture | Centre Culturel Tibétain, n.d.). When relaxed, we tend to
handle stressful situations better than in when we are in a high-strung situation. With relaxation comes
happiness, and the happy that we are, the better we understand how to handle situations. This is
because we not only have high self-esteem, but we have the trust and confidence in ourselves as well.
We then tend to look at stressful situations as a challenge rather than something that cannot be fixed.
We learn to grow from the situations that we are put in. Tibetan culture is one of the many cultures
Many theorists believe in the same thing. They believe in the nature that connects the mind,
body and spirit. They attempt to understand how humans deal with not only stressful situations but
how they deal with everything that happens in life including personality, emotions and our
perceptions (Seaward, 2018). Each theorist believes something different. Sigmund Freud believes in
the Id, the Ego and the Superego. The Id is the part of us that deals with our physical needs and urges
and does not care what others think about it. The Superego is the part of us that cares about rules,
values, beliefs and morals. This is where we learn right from wrong. Finally, the Ego is the part of us
the balances both the Id and the Superego (Boundless, n.d.). As with Freuds view on that we go
through life learning from pour instincts, biological forces and childhood experiences, Jung thought
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process was that we develop through individualization and personal unconsciousness.
Individualization stems from self-realization and our body as a whole where as personal unconscious
stems from our thoughts, feelings and memories. As you can see, all of the theorists believe that we
stem from one thing or another and that we our developed during stages in our life that either have a
positive or negative effect on us (Seaward, 2018). Not only do we learn to grow and prosper from the
experiences that we have and the mistakes we have made, we learn from our fears as well.
Fear is something that happens to all of us whether we are scared of heights, death or snakes.
Fear happens when our neurophysiological response perceives a threat in which then our fight or
flight response stimulates the hypothalamus when then reacts from the sympathetic nervous system so
that our body can prepare for the danger that lies ahead (Kushner, 2017). Fear is something that we
cannot control, it just happens and when we are scared, we get very fearful. As there is no way around
fear, there are many ways that can help us deal with the fear that we are feeling. One way to deal with
fear is to take a time out when you get scared, whether it would be taking a walk or making a cup of
coffee (NHS, n.d.). This way we are distracted from whatever is it that is scaring us. Another way is
to breathe. Taking deep breaths helps relax the mind and the body in stressful situations. The most
common way to get over your fears is to face your fears. As scary as this is, the end results will be
positive, and you will feel much better about yourself. Another thing would be to do, is to imagine the
worst possible situation that could be happening such as heaving a heart attack. This would be a much
worse scenario than the one you are currently in. Another way to manage fear is to imagine a happy
place or a happy time in your life whether it would be something that made you happy in the past or
something that you are looking forward to. This will take your mind off the fear for a while. Finally,
one of the last things to do when scared, is to talk about what made you fearful or scared and focus on
ways to prevent that situation. Talking things out with someone else is helpful because then you get
16
another perspective and hopefully, they will have advice on how to conquer your fears (NHS, n.d.).
As we learn conquer our fears, we are also learning to how improve our communication skills as well.
Communication is something that we do every day whether it would be with our family,
friends or coworkers. The way we talk to each one of those groups is probably very different from one
another. As different as it may be, there is always room for some communication improvement. One
way to improve our communication skills would be always communicating (Patel, 2017). This
doesn’t seem like an issue, does it? Well, as a ma. tter of fact it is. There are many times when there is
not enough communication and when that happens then people tend to get left out and what needs to
be done. It is always better to over communicate than to under communicate. Another way to improve
our communication skills would be make presentation and discussions more interactive. This way the
audience is interested and engaged in what they are learning. This is good to do because you don’t
want people to walk away from your presentation, that you probably worked really hard on, with
nothing. Another way to improve your communication when you have to present something is to
record the presentation. This way you can practice what you are going to say and possibly have others
listen to it and get their opinion before you actually have to present it to a client or a big group. A big
way to improve communication is to communicate through physical cues instead of words and make
sure that you have good posture. You do not want to be slouching in while giving a presentation. You
want to look presentable and sound good to your audience. Finally, last but not least, after you have
given a presentation, ask for honest feedback form your boss or your colleagues. This way, you can
prepare better next time and learn what areas you did good in and what areas you still need to work
on. There are many ways in which we can improve our communication skills. Knowing what you are
talking about and look presentable during a presentation are key things to a successful presentation or
interview and as long as you have that, the rest will come with time (Patel, 2017)
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As we can see, the way we deal with stress and fear can improve our communication skills in
not only an effective way, but it can help us as we learn, grow and prosper in different areas.
Journal:
When I first started this assignment, it was really hard for me to clear my head and relax as I have so much going
on in my life right now that my mind is constantly racing. I was thinking about my car that just got wrecked and how I had
to leave it in another state, the apartment that I am hopefully moving into soon and work. As we got further into, my mind
started to clear little by little, which was good. By the end of the session, my mind was completely in another world. I
have been dreaming of going to the beach lately as I am in the Midwest and we have had so much snow this year and it
has been so cold. The beach sounded like such a nice beautiful relaxing place to be. There was white sand and I felt my
toes dig into as I walked up and down the coast line of the water. I then decided to get in to the water in which felt so good
on my hot skin. I was walking out further into the ocean, as the waves kept crashing into me, I was on such a high. It was
the best feeling ever to be able to feel the warm sun beating down on my face. As I was slowly walking out towards the
water, I saw this guy. He was tall, dark and handsome and our eyes met for a moment and it felt like destiny once again.
The first moment of destiny was feeling that sand between my freshly painted toes. As I was locking eyes with the hot
guy, I eventually feel down into the water as some seaweed got caught around my ankle. Splash! I went down and
swallowed a huge mouthful of salt water. This is the part in my medication that I was not relaxed and also the part where I
wanted the session to be over. I felt miserable. But then this hot guy came to see if I was okay and obviously, I was but I
thought it was so sweet of him to check on a complete stranger. In my defensive, he did think it was funny. After that we
ended up hanging out together on the beach. He was there with his friends and I was there by myself, so I hung out with
his friends after he “rescued” me. I was honestly content there and at this moment the CD has stopped playing a long time
ago and so there I was, all fully relaxed with a hot guy by my side and in that very moment, at that time, that was all that I
needed. It felt so great to live in a fantasy world even if was for just a few minutes.
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Unit
4
Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human Spirituality
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point One thing that really caught my eye during this unit was when in talked about
enablers when it comes to alcohol and substance abuse. I thought this was so wrong and it makes
me really upset that there are people like that in this world. I recently knew someone who was an
alcoholic and actually just went to rehab facility to try and get better. I know the family really
well and hearing the stories about it and how withdrawing from alcohol use can have such a big
impact on your body that even death may occur. It broke my heart hearing these stories.
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point This was the part in the semester where we really took a close look at Spirituality.
It is very surreal that no one can really describe spirituality because it is more than a feeling in our
soul such as “a gift to accompany one through life”. Some say that it is something that enters our
sould when are born, that we inhale it at our first sight of breath. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Finally, the last key point that I thought was interesting in this Unit was the body
scan. “The body scan meditation is a deep investigation into the moment-to-moment experiences
of the body” (Stahl, 2010). As we went through the exercise for the journal, I could really feel every
sensation as it let loose from my mind down into my feet. This was one of the coolest experiences
that I have had because it actually gave me time to think about all my feelings and emotions (Stahl,
2010).
Assignment:
Self-Esteem relates to stress in the fact that the happier we are, the less stressed out that we are. Self-esteem is not
only the way we feel about ourselves, but the way we think about ourselves as well. Self-esteem helps us with stress
because if we trust our ability to handle the bad things that life throws at us as we will “see difficult situations as a
challenge instead of threat (Scott, n.d.). Seeing them as s challenge will help build the confidence that we need to order to
deal with stressful situations. Self-esteem is also related to self-efficacy in the fact that we feel capable and resourceful
through our self-esteem which can again help us handle stressful situations better. Sometimes we struggle to have high
19
self-esteem but there are many ways to improve that. One thing to do is to work on being happier and just taking the time
to focus on yourself, instead of those around you. When we see the glass as half-full instead of half empty, we are looking
for a life that contributes to a lifetime of happiness and success. Thinking happy thoughts and creating habits that make
you feel good about yourself will boost your confidence which then boosts optimism leading to an increase in our self-
esteem. Surrounding ourselves with positive people and positive things will make us happier in the end as we start looking
at the bright side of things instead of the negative. This will all result in boosting our self-esteem which will once again
make us handle those challenging situations better. As we take a look back and think about how we have handled stressful
situations in the past and how are relationships, values and meaningful purpose in life have been affected, we can think
about the things that not only we did right in the situation, but also about the things that we could have done better (Scott,
n.d.).
When it comes to relationships, stress plays a huge role as with relationships comes with fights as no two people
are ever going to get alone perfectly. As with relationships, we tend to take the small things that we stress out over on the
people that we love, which is very unfortunate but that in the end results in more added stress. “When people are stressed,
they become more withdrawn and distracted, and less affectionate” (Is Stress Killing Your Relationship? Why You're Not
Alone, n.d.). This also leads to people being angry and sad as their loved ones start to drift away as a result of negative
behavior. This negative behavior could be the result of their loved one being irritable and hostile which can also lead to
drugs and alcoholism. Stress also brings out the bad things in healthy relationships as couples start to communicate less,
have less affection toward one another and become more distance. Finally, instead of trying to fix the problem,
relationships fall off in the end because of all the fighting that comes with stress (Is Stress Killing Your Relationship?
Why You're Not Alone, n.d.). Not only our relationships jeopardized because of stress, our values our also put at risk.
Our values are what we believe in, the right and the wrong that we were taught as we have grown up. “Our values
form the foundation of our life” (Taylor, 2012). We learn our values through the things that we have been through and
what we have been around our whole lives. Our values our put at risk when we are stressed because we sometimes start to
make bad decisions when we are stressed. This can lead to creating a path that we should not be going down and in the
end that is bad for us. This can change our values as our values are changed when we learn more things or when we meet
new people. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it is a bad thing. Everything that we do in life, big or small
reflects the type of person that we not only are, but the person that we have known to become (Taylor, 2012). As stress
affects our values and our relationships, it can also affect our meaning in life as well.
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Our meaning in life is huge, it means that we have a sense of purpose for being here and everything that we do
and the people that we meet all have a purpose for coming into or lives. Have you ever asked yourself the question of
“Why bother getting out of bed in the morning?” (How a Sense of Purpose in Life Improves Your Health, n.d.).
Sometimes we do not have the motivation to do such a thing and sometimes we wonder why we were given this beautiful
thing called life and what the purpose is. Meaningful is defined as “it’s basically the idea that your life makes sense,
you’re here for a reason, and you’re significant in the world” (How a Sense of Purpose in Life Improves Your Health,
n.d.). According to research, there are three basic reasons for our purpose in life. One of them being that our purpose
reduces stress simply by the fact that when we feel that our life is meaningless, it causes less stress. When we think that
our life is meaningless, we feel sad and depressed all the time which can result in bad habits such as drug addiction,
alcoholism and more. This can also lead to hospital bills and more stress because we have started to ensure in bad habits
during this difficult time. Another meaningful reason as to why we have purpose in life is how we deal with coping
strategies. This says that those who are faced with challenges such as stress are better suited to deal with them because
they feel better about themselves, which leads back to our self-esteem. Finally, our sense of meaning in life stems from
positive health behaviors. The better we feel about ourselves, the more likely we are to take care of ourselves and handle
stressful situations better because we are thinking more positive thoughts, instead of negative thoughts. When we take care
of ourselves, we get sick less often resulting in less doctor bills which again make us less stressed (How a Sense of
Purpose in Life Improves Your Health, n.d.). As we go through life, we learn to value our relationships more, our values
more and we learn that we have a sense of purpose in life as we learn, grow and prosper each and every day.
As we go through life, our values, beliefs and attitudes are always interacting with those around us whether it
would be with our peers, family, friends, or coworkers. Our beliefs are reflected upon the things that we not only do, but
the people that we hang out with or how we feel about things. We tend to hang around those more who share the same
beliefs and values that we do. “Beliefs are the assumptions that we make about the world and our values stem from those
beliefs” (Personal beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour - Immigration Advisers Authority Your tagline here, 2018). Our
values are the things that are important to us such as trust, education and loyalty. These normally do not change; however,
our beliefs may change over time as they stem from the things we experience, read and think about. The more we learn as
we get older, move away from our parents and experience new things, our beliefs not only may change but our attitude
may change as well (Rachel, 2018). Our attitude stems from the emotions that we feel over time. Our values and beliefs
have a huge influence on our attitude as well. Our attitude can influence the decisions that we make and our desire to
21
please one another (Personal beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour - Immigration Advisers Authority Your tagline here,
2018). As our values, beliefs and attitudes can vary, they are also similar in the fact that they make up who we are and
influence all the decisions that we make. There are many ways to endure in positive behavior and a better life.
One of the ways to help us live a better life in the Transtheoretical Model. There are six stages in the
Transtheoretical Model that was developed by Prochaska. The model was developed to help people not only create a
healthy lifestyle, but for them to make in a habit as well. The first stage in the Transtheoretical Model is the
precontemplation stage. This is the stage where people are not taking action to fix a bad habit such as not exercising. The
people in this stage our unware that they have a problem. Exercise is important as it leads to not only a healthier lifestyle,
but it makes us happier as well. In the next stage of the model is contemplation. During this stage, people are starting to
realize that they have been residing in unhealthy behaviors. These people are considering on making a change within the
next six months. During this time people may start to research the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. During the
preparation stage, people may start to be searching for gyms as they are ready to start an exercise program in the next 30
days. This is the stage when people start to make small steps towards their goal. Finally, in the action stage, this is when
people have started to change their behavior. At this point in time, this is when people are actively going to the gym and
start to feel that this lifestyle change that they are making is going to benefit them in the long run. Next is the maintenance
stage, this is when people have made a well-defined behavior for at least six months. During their exercise program,
people should have started to see results and are happy with the changes that they have made. The last stage in the
Transtheoretical Model is the termination stage. This is the stage when people have actively made a lifestyle change and
they have no intent of going back to the point in their life when they were unhealthy. This means they are happy with
where they are at health wise and realize that they have made a positive change. At this point, someone is actively going to
the gym and making healthier food choices to better their lives (Behavioral Change Models, n.d.). Regardless of what
stage you are at in the Transtheoretical Model, any stage that you are working towards is going to promote a healthier
During life, we go through things that are going to change us, help us and create us and the way to deal with it is
what makes it all worth it. The happier we are, the better off we are as a whole. Whether we are changing our values,
attitudes or beliefs we are always constantly growing and learning from our mistakes. Due to the experience that we have,
we are making ourselves better people and learning as we go that we have a sense of purpose in life as we surround
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Journal:
What comes to mind when I think of these words are work, speeches, talking about myself and
first dates. Particularly at work is when I feel the most overwhelmed. I work at a place where I am
constantly always busy, always interacting with someone and I always leave work with a stack of
papers for the next day. As unfortunate as that is, I honestly love my job and it makes me excited to
go to work every day as there are many challenges. I feel the most anxiety at work sometimes, but I
mainly feel that when I become over stressed or when I think about odd numbers people driving.
When I am driving it is the worst because it bothers me when people drive too slow or they do not use
their single. I have been hit before because of someone just merging over into the other lane so it
really gives me anxiety when people either don’t used their signal or they do use their signal and they
just merge over without looking. I feel the most nervous and jumpy when I am going on a first date,
especially since it has been a while for me. I feel this way because going on first dates are supposed to
be exciting and fun but they are also nerve wrecking because of first impression and obviously you
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CONFUSION: bewildered, uncertain, puzzled, mystified, perplexed, chaotic, foggy, or unaware.Most
of the time when I feel uncertain is when I know that I shouldn’t be doing something, but I am doing
it anyway as in there is another way around it. For example, last year when I bought my car. I bought
a new car because I was sick of fixing my old one. The questions was should I buy a new car and
spend a lot more money than it would cost me to fix my care? This was my challenge. When I bought
the care though, I took on higher car payment than I wanted not really knowing where I stood
finically but I did it anyway because I am the type of person who does things on impulse, which can
get me into trouble sometimes. Luckily, my car payment worked out in the end. When I feel this way,
I get this weird feeling in my stomach such as a guilty feeling. I would say that the only time that I
feel foggy is either due to lack of sleep or a night out with my friends.
I feel these emotions mainly when I am stressed out. It could be again due to work, family, friends, money or car
problems. Recently I went out of town to visit my best friend and on the way there I hit coyote with my car, and it got all
messed up. I instantly became annoyed with problem after I stopped balling my eyes out. I became annoyed because now I
have to pay a high deductible to fix my car all while I am trying to save money and move out of my parents’ house. I
normally get frustrated when things do not go right, and I am arguing with someone or someone else is arguing around
me. Growing up, my family was pretty argumentative and so every time I hear people argue it makes me very upset and I
become frustrated and irritated and normally I get a headache. I normally feel grouchiness or grumpiness when I do not
get enough sleep. I am the type of person who does not always need a lot of sleep but when I go several days without
getting enough sleep, I tend not to become a pleasant person. I am also not a morning person either, so I feel on edge when
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SADNESS: alienation, anguish, despair, disappointment, gloom, grief, hopelessness, insecurity,
The only time that I ever really feel sad is if something breaks such as my car, when someone dies or is sick or
when someone hurts my feelings. I tend to get disappointed when good people do bad things because I always try to see
the best in everyone and when someone lets you down, it is always a huge disappointment. I feel gloom normally because
of the weather. I am the type of person who always need sunshine in their life. It makes me feel happier, more positive and
gives me the motivation to ensure that I am going to get things done that day. I feel hopelessness when I am lost and do
not really know what to do. This happens after a break up sometimes or when I see someone that I like with someone else.
This also leads to me feeling insecure about myself and thinking what they did better than I did or how can I fix what I
did. This leads to a gut feeling that upsets my stomach once again. Lately I have felt more alone than ever which has led to
me feeling unhappy. I have been single for almost seven years now and I just cannot wrap my head around why. It makes
me feel like I am not good enough. I also see all of my friends with not only their boyfriends but some of my friends have
gotten married recently. I am happy for them but when you are the only one in your friend group that is single, it really
takes a tool on you. I just do not know how to fix this broken piece in my life. I am normally a pretty happy go lucky
person, but this is the one thing that makes me very sad. I know that they say that you shouldn’t need a guy in your life to
be happy and your right you don’t, but it sure does help, and they are nice to have. I am 98% happy on my own, there is
just that small portion is missing from my life. This also leads to the feeling of rejection that I have in me. I have talked
with some guys in the past seven years who I thought could be a potential boyfriend but in the end they rejected me, and
that is not a fun feeling. These are the reason why I have my guard up.
Guilt is something that I feel again when I do something that I know I should not be doing, which does not
happen very often. This could range from going out with friends when I know I have to work the next day or spending
money that I do not have. This type of feeling that I get normally does not last for too long, which is nice. I normally feel
better about it the next day because I know that life goes on. I try to live my life to the fullest and try to have the most fun.
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LOVE: affection, arousal, attraction, caring, compassion, desire, fondness, infatuation, kindness,
This is simple, this is everything that I crave in a relationship. I know that I have a big heart
and know that I can love someone unconditionally. I have loved before, high school love. I thought I
loved hard then and they were the wrong type or guy. Imagine how hard I can love the right type or
guy. It just takes that one special person and that is what I have to remind myself of everyday.
I feel these types of emotions when I get on roller coaster or go sky diving. Recently I just got approved for my
own apartment and that has me feeling so much excitement. Knowing that I worked hard to get this apartment and all the
exciting joys and challenges that lie ahead of me with more adulting. I always feel hopeful and excited and joyed because
I know that life will be crazy, hard, amazing, sad and happy but it makes me feel pleasurable that I was given this life to
live and that there are so many places and people out there to explore. That in itself, gives me all the satisfaction that I
need in life.
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Unit
5
Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point One thing that I thought was interesting to learn in this unit was the physiology
of laughter. Laughter is said to be very good for us as it promotes restoration and healing. In one
study that was done, cousins stated that as they laughed for several hours, their blood pressure
went down. This is said to be a coping and relaxation technique towards humor therapy.
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Another thing that I could relate to during this unit was the procrastinator type
personality. Procrastinators are the type of people that put things off until the last minute or they
avoid doing the one job that they need to do. I can relate to this because this is me and this is how
I get school work done. It sounds really bad I work better under pressure and knowing that I still
have work left to do gives me the satisfaction that I have not missed an assignment. (Seaward,
2015).
Key Learning Point Another key learning point that I could relate to was when it talked about money.
I have always been one that has never really been careful when it comes to money. I think this is
because math and business were never my strong suit. I also grew up in a house where my parents
did not really teach me how to save money. They just went with the motto of ‘well, you have it
until you do not”. As I began to read more and more about money during this unit, it made me
realize that I need to start saving and watching my money more carefully. I just recently moved out
and have a lot of bills to pay plus try and have a social life and that is hard to do when you have no
money. Ever since I started budgeting, I have found that I am spending less money on random junk
and that is a great feeling (Seaward, 2015).
Journal:
I really enjoyed this activity as I felt much more relaxed afterwards. During the activity, I felt happy, hopeless,
scared, nervous and excited all during different parts of the listening to the CD. First, I felt happy as I began to think about
my life and all the good things that are happening and how I am the happiest that I have been in a long time. Things are
starting to fall into place, and I am finally seeing myself as worthy. I have normally always seen myself as worthy, so
maybe that is not the right word choice but now more than ever I am happy with the way things are going. The stimulus of
27
having to be done with school, have a job and be married by a certain age all used to make me nervous and make me feel
that I am failing at life because I do not have my stuff together. But now lately, I realize that you don’t need to have your
life together at 24. It is okay to still be in school and not be married. What made me comes to terms with this actually
stemmed from a job interview that I had recently. The manager asked me about myself and my goals and it was so easy
for me to rattle them off for her and for the first time in a long time it I not only felt good about an interview, but I felt
confidence in myself as well. This is such a power feeling and the more and more that I think about it, the smile on my
face gets bigger and bigger. I know that I am worthy and that I am going to go on and do amazing things in life.
My hopelessness always stems back to the fact that I have been single for such a long time and that somedays I
don’t think that I am going to ever find a boyfriend. It all just stems back to the same question of “What is wrong with
me?” I always feel that way at first but then I realize how far I have become in life and just how far I know that I can go
and then realize that there is someone special out there for me and that I have just have not found them yet. I am not the
type of person that is going to settle so if I have to wait so be it. I am a hopeless romantic, what can I say.
I felt nervous and scared mainly during this time because I do not want to fail. I really want to go to Physical
Therapy school and get into the school of my dreams which is Des Moines University. I am applying this summer, but it
makes me so nervous to apply as the application process is so difficult and then I also have to take the GRE in order to
apply to grad school. Just all of these things are coming up and they are important things that could make or break my
career and all of that makes me so nervous and scared all at the same time. If I do not go to PT school, I honestly cannot
picture my life. I really do not know what I would do instead. And I know that I don’t have to go to Des Moines
University, and I could go somewhere else and be happy, but again that comes back to settling and I am not one to settle. I
also felt scared and nervous because I just recently moved into my own apartment, this weekend actually, and as much as
it feels right, I am a little scared to live on my own. I went from living in house with four adults, one child and five
animals to living in an apartment by myself with 2 animals. It is just something new that I have to get used to. It also
makes me really happy that I moved out too and that itself makes all the nervousness and sacredness go away.
Finally, the last emotion that I felt was excitement. I am the type of person who is always thinking about the
future and so therefor I am excited for what can come and what can happen. We live in this amazing life that is beautiful
and wonderful and there is so much to learn and explore and that makes me so happy and excited. There is so much that I
have already done and learned and yet I am still amazed at the new small things that I learn every day.
28
During this assignment, I felt physically fine for the most part. There were times when I caught myself smiling
because of my happy thoughts or when I felt a little knot in my stomach because I thought about some things that make
me nervous and scared. For the most part, I really enjoyed this assignment. It gave me some time to reflect on life, which
was nice as I have not been able to do that lately since I have been so busy with working two jobs, going to school full
time all while trying to find time for not only myself but my family and friends as well.
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Unit
6
Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing, Meditation, and Mental
Imagery
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point One thing that I thought was interested to learn about was Diaphragmatic
Breathing. This reminded me of when I take deep breaths at the doctor’s office, except they do
not tell me certain steps to do. I think that the steps are important as you get the most out of the
breathing exercise when you do it correctly. (Seaward, 2015). The first step is to make sure to get
into a comfortable position and make sure you wear loose fitting clothing. Next step is to
concentrate as this will not be as affected if you are distracted by noises. The whole point of this
exercise is to connect the mind, body and soul. Finally, the last step is visualization. This is the
moment when you get to picture happy thoughts and just enjoy being in the moment.
Key Learning Point One thing that I always find interesting when it come to our brains is the fact that
some people are left handed brains and some are right handed brains. Some of the left-brain
functions include judgment skills, math, skills, facts and detail oriented and logical thought process.
Right brain functions include things such as humor, music appreciation, imagination and irrational
thought process. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Color Therapy was something else that I found interesting in this unit. Farber
Birren said that different colors represents different things. Red, for example, represents emotional
responses such as love, fear and anger. Blue represents a more calming feelings whereas green
represents more of a neutral response. Close your eyes and imagine you are on the beach. This
would make you feel very calm because ocean water is blue and blue colors are associated with
being calm. (Seaward, 2015).
Total Points = 9
30
Assignment:
31
Ever wonder how deep breathing can relieve stress? Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as
deep breaths, is done by breathing normally. This means that “when you breathe in, you belly should
expand and when you breathe out, your belly should fall (Tull, 2018). Using your diaphragm to
breathe instead of your chest and shoulders is a must more effective way to breathe and has many
more benefits. Deep breathing causes us to inhale longer breaths and when we use our chest and
shoulders, we take short and shallow breaths which can lead to stress and anxiety. It is very effective
and important to make sure that you practice proper breathing techniques. Diaphragmatic breathing is
very beneficial to us because it helps to relieve stress, be less reactive in stressful situations, helps
with pain, sleep and digestion. This is also a technique that can be prescribed to those who have PTSD
to help eliminate the scare, regulate emotions and help with brain injuries as well (Tull,2018). When
practicing deep breathing there are three main techniques that you want to make sure to follow in
order for it to be the most effective. The first step in Assume a comfortable position; this can be done
anywhere that you would like. In order to be as comfortable as possible, loosening clothing around the
waist and the neck would be ideal. When first learning this technique, placing your hands on your
stomach is key so that you can feel when your stomach as it is rising and falling with each breath that
you take. The next step is concentration. During this stage of the diaphragmatic breathing. It is
important to tone out all of the noises around you so that you have a quiet environment. This helps to
focus on the breathing. As you first start to concentrate, you have to be careful as your mind may start
to wander off and think about something else. We want the mind to be as clear as possible when doing
this exercise. If you end up picking up those wandering thoughts later on, then make sure to dissipate
then on each exhale. Finally, last step is visualization. During the visualization part of the practice,
make sure to focus your mind on breathing clouds. This means that you are trying to cleanse the body
as you prepare it for the mind and body. When you breathe it, make sure to imagine the clean, fresh
32
and energized air that you are about to take in. Imagine the step by step process that it takes you get
that clean and crisp air to your lungs so that you can breathe. Next, visualize the process that it takes
when you exhale a breath. After you have completed all three of these steps to diaphragmatic
breathing, you should have experienced not only a new way of breathes, but you should feel much
more relaxed (Seaward, 2018). As diaphragmatic breathing can have many benefits to our health,
Meditation happens when we are stressed out and need to relax. One of the ways that meditation can help the
mind and the body is to reduce stress. When we are stressed, we have an increased level of cortisol, also known as the
stress hormone. When we have high levels of cortisol, we then release cytokines which are inflammation-promoting
chemicals. These chemicals can affect our sleep, cause and increase in blood pressure and promote anxiety and
depression. When we practice mindfulness meditation, it causes us to think in the moment and focus on our breathing
which then leads us to focus on what right now is causing us stress. This will help with figuring out ways to fix the
stressors in our life. Another way that meditation is helpful is that it helps to control pain. In one study that was done with
patients who had an MRI showed that those who were meditating showed and increase activity in the part of the brain that
controls pain, resulting in less sensitivity to pain management. Another study looked at patients who took part in habitual
meditation had “decreased complaints of chronic or intermittent pain” (Thorpe, 2017). Finally, in the last study that was
done, those who participated in meditation showed that it helped with chronic pain towards the end of life. In each of the
studies, both those who mediated and those who did not both experiences the same causes of pain, but it showed their
ability to cope with the pain when they experience it (Thorpe, 2017). Not only is meditation a good way to relax, but so is
Imagery and visualization can be very useful for relaxation because they serve as a distraction to those who are
experiencing stress related problems (Seaward, 2018). The most common technique that people use in order to reduce
stress is Tranquil Natural Scenes. This is done by visualizing a relaxation nature scene or some place that makes you
happy. This could be at the beach, lake, at home, on an airplane or in the mountains. This is the place where you are happy
and everything is perfect in that very moment, your place of sanity that you can escape to. These scenes are often thought
to be full of vivid color, fresh air and natural sounds. Visualizing these scenes gives us the opportunity to place better
perceptions about the world, resulting in turning out bad thoughts into manageable ones. As we take part in these visions,
33
we tend to return back to homeostasis as we start to become more relaxed. As much as we hope that these visualizations
will make all of our problems go away, they unfortunately do not. They do, however, help us look on the brighter side of
life knowing that we can now manage our problems. Another way that imagery and visualization can be beneficial to us is
my promoting behavioral changes. Behavioral changes occur through mental imagery as a new desired behavior promotes
positive reinforcement over time. This happens through a process called systematic desensitization. This is used to help
people overcome their fears directly related to a specific situation. An example of this would be giving a public speech to
300 people and you are afraid of public speaking. In order to reduce the anxiety, one would create a scene in your mind
such as you are standing up, they’re at the podium giving the best speech of your life. Then you would focus on your
breathing as you image a couple of your close friends listening to your speech. Picture that and see how it makes you feel.
You are probably starting to feel a bit calmer, no way your friends would judge you. As the mental imagine goes on, you
start to add in more people to your audience and eventually ones you do not know all while imaging that your speech is
going great. Finally, you get a whole room full of people and your speech is done shortly after that. All of a sudden you
hear people clapping and this makes you happy. You did it, you are done, and you survived. Now that feels good, doesn’t
it? After all that imagination, now it is time to actually go to the podium and rehearse the speech. While doing this, keep
that mental imagine in the back of your mind. Finally, it is the day of the speech. You are up there with that same mental
imagine. This is what is going to get you through that speech, so it is important to not forget that imagine. As you mind is
now mentally prepared you for you this, you notice that you have experienced some internal changes as well. This is the
last step of the imagery and visualization process. As you are imaging these perfect scenes in your head come to real life,
you start to relax a little bit more. Knowing that these imagines exist gives us hope. It lets our body feel that we are now in
a better healthier state than when we started. For example, patients who have cancer were told to imagine that their white
blood cells were working really hard to fight off the tumor. As the patients were imaging this, they were thinking
positively which resulted in their cancerous tumors going into remission (Seaward, 2018). As we now have realized that
imagery and visualization can have such a positive impact on us as we go to either our happy place or simply by thinking
happy thoughts. This can have a huge impact on us both mentally and physically.
34
Journal:
Mindful of how you interact with yourself?
I would say that most of the time I am not the type of person that thinks badly of themselves.
The most that I ever really do is compare myself to other people. For example, the other day I heard
my coworker looking at some photos of other coworkers’ friends and she mentioned something that
they were all drop dead gorgeous. I just sat there thinking to myself that I wish someone would say
that to me or think that about me. It honestly made me feel sad and a little bit ashamed. This was a
feeling that I did not like at all and it really had never hit me that personally before. But I also feel that
I felt that way because I am getting lonely. I have been so busy lately that I have not really have time
for social life between work and school. I have not even really talked to my friends in the past two or
three weeks, which is very unlike me to do. Looks wise though, I have always thought I was good
looking but there are times when I have my doubts such as then or times when I have acne all over my
face, which is something I have been struggling with lately too. I just always have the mental imagine
in my head of what I hope to look like such as being drop dead gorgeous or having the hot bod that
every guy wants. It is times like that when it makes me the saddest.
Seeds of suffering?
35
For the small amounts of times that I stopped sending myself those awful messages, then life would
be slightly different, but I feel that it would not be that different. I do not do it enough to actually feel
that it would be different. The only thing that sometimes I feel bad for myself is when it comes to
guys, which always seems to be my issue. As I have been single for so long, I often think to myself
what is wrong with me or why all my friends have guys in their lives, and I don’t. This makes me sad
and I am okay with being single 99% of the time. It is just that 1% that it hits me, but again I do not
do it enough to actually see it making a change in my life. I know that I am a strong independent
woman who does not need a man in her life. I have been without one for so long that I am not even
sure what to do with my life if I had a man. I like the idea of a relationship but if anything has the
potential to be one, I get really nervous and scared and make up excuses as to why we can’t hang out.
There is one person right now in my life that I am having conflict with and that would be my
cousin. We used to be really close up until she started dating this guy at the end of last year. I told her
I did not like him and told her why….she hated me at first for it but then she agreed with me on it. But
ever since we have that fight, we have not really been as close and it has been really hard for me to
support her. I feel that she is emotionally unstable and that there is really nothing that I can do for her
anymore and that breaks my heart. I want to be close with her again and have the relationship that we
used to have but just right, it is hard for me to look past her flaws and I guess that makes me the bad
person....It would make me life easier and less stressful if I had the same relationship with her that I
Reflection on writing?
This assignment was really difficult for me to do as I know that I have flaws but as for most, it is also very hard
for me to pick out my flaws. I know that sometimes I think down on myself but if I stopped, I really do not think that it
36
would make my life better. Life isn’t perfect and if we try to change every little thing about it to make it perfect, then it
would be boring. Maybe life would be better if I had a million dollars. They say money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure
can make some people happy. But I agree, money unfortunately would not make me happy. I have money, some I guess
you could say but the sadness that I feel in my heart is not because of money, it is because of the man that I am still
waiting for and the friends that I have not seen nor talked to in a while. It is also because this beautiful crazy life is going
to throw you some curve balls and you just have to learn to deal with them. Because without doing so, you will never
37
Unit
7
Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point One thing that I found interesting in this unit was anaerobic activities. Anaerobic
exercise is the physical motion intense in power and strength. This is the type of exercise that uses
our ‘fight’ response. When we do activities that use anaerobic exercise, we are doing them
without oxygen. There are two types of anaerobic systems. One of the ATP-PC system which
only last about one to ten seconds. The next one is the lactic acid system which lasts for about
five to six minutes. This only last a few minutes as activity is suspended and the anaerobic system
kicks in. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point Aerobic exercise takes place using oxygen. It is the ‘flight’ response. We use
aerobic exercise when we participate in cardiovascular activities such as swimming, running,
cycling and dance. “Aerobic work involved moderate intensity, but for a prolonged duration”
(Seaward, 2015). Aerobic is the primary energy source that consists of fats. This is stimulated by
dear and anxiety so when a person feels these emotions, they take off running very fast because of
all the energy that just kicked in (Seaward, 2015).
Physical Exercise is associated with chronic pain and that it is known to help those who have chronic
Key Learning Point pain. Pilates, for example is supposed to help relieve pain in the lower back
and spine. I can relate to this because that is something that I did not know. I have always had low
back pain but it has never been something that has been consistent but ever since I started doing
Pilates, I have felt much better and have noticed that I no longer experience back pain when I stand
for long periods of time. (Seaward, 2015).
Total Points = 9
Journal:
I decided to do the exercise that was related to yoga because yoga is something that I have only done a few times
in my life and I find it to be challenging every time so I wanted to take this opportunity to not only challenge myself but to
learn some new stress relieving techniques. With that being said when I first starting the yoga process, I found it to be a
little bit difficult just because it was something that I was not used to. Once I became more familiar with the technique, I
felt really good about it. It felt so good to stretch out all of my muscles as they have been hurting lately from working out
38
so much. I have also been really stressed out lately too from working two jobs, going to school full time, working out and
trying to find time for not only a social life but for me time as well. Once I got the hang out the yoga poses, I felt really
good. The only thing that I did not like was that I always had to constantly think about how much time I had left before I
had to move onto the next yoga post. When I was not thinking about that, I was indulging in a fantasy life of mine. I was
thinking about summer and how excited I am for all the adventures and memories to come. Summer is my favorite season
as the weather is hot out, which I like, but my birthday falls in the summer and I really enjoy being outside and going for
walks along the lake. Then I started to think about the walks about the lake and how peaceful they make me feel. The lake
is just so pretty, and I feel that I have a lot of good life talks there and those are the moments in life that I live for. When
thinking about the lake, it made me feel all happy and smile on the inside because of not only the memories that I have
there but how fun the lake is, how we can swim, go paddling boating all while enjoying the sun beating down on my skin.
The thought of that a lot makes me so excited. It is those little things in life that make a huge difference in my life. I also
dreamed of the day that I become a physical therapist. I have been working so hard lately to make that dream become
reality and I finally feel that I am at the point in my life where I am succeeding to make that dream come true. I am excited
for the day when I do not have to worry as much about money as I do now. I am also excited for the day when I do not
have to do school work anymore. Just the thought of being PT makes my heart so incredibly happy. As I was thinking
about my future career, I also thought about my future self. What does future Heather look like? What does she like, and
dislike compared to now? Will she be married? Will she have a family? These are the types of things that make me excited
in life, I live for the future and in hopes of what could be. I picture my life being so great, with a great career, a great
house, a great husband and a great family that loves and supports one another. I want this life indeed but sometimes it is
hard for me to see the reality of it all because I have been single now for so long. I forget how it feels to be loved by
someone. Last week I came across pictures of my ex-boyfriend and it made me really sad. I was not sad because I missed
him, I was sad because of the way he used to treat me and how good he would make me feel. Those feelings are what
people live for in life and it is literally the best feeling ever. Love really is the prize in the end and that is what I have to
keep telling myself over and over again. Recently I have found myself to be prouder of who I am and that makes me
exited, it makes me excited for right now in the present but also in the future as well. I know that I will be successful and
have a great life no matter where it takes me or what life throws at me. When I think about my future husband and I did
during this session, I want someone that is humble, kind, smart funny, handsome, adventurous, romantic and tall.
Someone like this makes me excited for what the future holds. I have been through a lot of guys in the past 7 years that I
39
have been single and I just have to keep telling myself that they are all wrong and that they are all preparing me for the
best that has yet to come and again that gives me hope and makes me excited. I get jitters just thinking about the thought
of the man that I end up. I have so much love to give to someone, but my only problem is that I have a problem opening
up to people because of how many times I have been hurt in the past. People always tell me though that once you find the
one, that it all comes naturally all the stuff that we worry about it dumb because the person that we are supposed to be with
cares and respects your flaws. That type of stuff right there gives me so much hope and makes me so excited. Thinking of
40
Unit
8
Unit 8: Physical Exercise and Activity
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Hatha yoga is described as the physical balance of one of the five yogic
pathway, as it focuses more on our physical posture. “The word hatha comes from two Sanskirt
words, ha, meaning ‘sun’, and tha, meaning ‘moon’. Both of these words combined stand for the
meaning of balancing life universal forces. It is the develop of the connected between the mind,
body and spirit through emotion, intelligence and action. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: According to Brain Winsinks book called Mindful Eating, we eat through our
thoughts and feelings, instead for nutritional value. Food is something that is said to be eaten to fill
or minds and our hearts, which is something we learned from day at a birth as we were either breast
fed or bottled. I can relate to this because when I am feeling sad, I tend to eat chocolate because it
makes me feel better and the saying that Chocolate really does mend a broken heart, is something
that I firmly believe in. As much as we would like to eat as much as we can and always emotionally
eat, we cannot. If we did, we would all become fat and overweight and this can lead to being fatal.
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Interpersonal Mindfulness is “brining nonjudgmental present moment awareness
to your interactions with others” (Stahl,2010). This is something that is developed from our past
life and the way we grew up. For example, if our parents never taught us how to deal with conflict,
then when we are faced with a situation that puts us in a conflict, we are unsure on how to act. The
wat we grow up has a significant impact on the way to react to certain situations.
Assignment:
Ever wanted to try yoga in the work place? If you do, great! If you do not, let me change your mind and tell you
all the great things about it and why it should be implemented in the work place. Yoga is beneficial as it helps decrease
stress, relieve anxiety, increase flexibility, improve energy, help with weight loss, improve athletic performance and help
protect from injury. The most important one of these benefits is decrease stress (Benefits of Yoga, n.d.). This is important
41
because work is stressful. I work at one of the busiest physical therapy clinics in Midwest Iowa, so at times is can be very
overwhelming as we see over 100 patients each day. This is 100 patients each day and that does not even include the
amount of phone calls we get or the amount of people that come over from the orthopedic doctors right next door. As with
the patients, we also patriciate in staff meetings and so much paperwork. As you can see, we are very busy, and it gets to
be a lot at times especially when the papers do not stop, and the therapists are seeing patients back to back every day for
The company that I currently work for as well as would like to work for once my career takes off is an
outpatient physical therapy clinic. My pitch that I was thinking is pretty basic, as it is just offering a yoga class twice
a week. This would be really helpful in the place that I work as it is a very busy place and we see over 100 patients
each day. We do not have the time to take time for ourselves during the day unless it is literally to use the restroom.
My plan was to bring in a yoga instructor for at least 30 minutes two times a week so that all the employees have a
chance to participate in some relaxation techniques. This will help to keep the therapist, the front desk staff and the
athletic trainers from going insane. Bringing in an instructor would cost a little bit of extra money, but I have also
talked with people at my local gym who said that they would do it a discount price, which I thought was really great.
It also would not cost as much money because it is a shorter session than what most yoga classes are. I chose yoga as
CLASSMATE FEEDBACK
It is a great idea to let yoga instructors to offer classes from your clinic. It looks like you should think about the time frame
that the class should be offered to maximize the number of participants. Also, it will be important to make your coworkers
to be interested in that yoga class. There should be a lot of employees who won't be interested to join the class just because
there is class. Do you have any specific plan to make those people to think about to join the class? It looks like your
assignment will look very awesome if you add these stuffs in your assignment. I hope you enjoy it!
Dr.D
42
Awesome program strategy Heather. Incorporate directions for how people will access the program. Yoga is a great for
many reasons, explain the benefits. Also, there might be someone at your work that is a trained yoga instructor. See if this
person would want to do this program for all. Add costs associated with a budget for program operations. Move forward
Implementing yoga into the clinic at least twice a week would be very beneficial both mentally and physically.
Yoga is not only beneficial with the help of destressing, but it has many physical benefits as well. The clinic employees
would benefit from these because more flexibility and better athletic performance would come in handy when showing
patients what exercise to do during their session. It makes it easier on the clinician. We also employ athletic trainers at our
facility, so making sure that their athletic performance is top notch is key as well. This will help them to stay in shape and
to be able to better perform with their athletes. Injury protection is another big one because the therapist and athletic
trainers are showing and performing exercises, they want to make sure that they are not becoming injured. When one of
them becomes injured, then they will not be able to do their job. This then means that we are down a therapist and the
other therapist have to work extra hard to pick up the slack, which is not what we want as the day is already so busy. As
you can see, there are many benefits as to why yoga should be implemented in the work place.
Another reason why we should do yoga in the work place is because it is quiet, meaning that the only equipment
that is needed is a yoga mat and with that, some people are comfortable with just the floor and no mat. Yoga mats are
fairly inexpensive, so buying a few or so for the clinic would not be that bad. The mats range in price from $5 to $35. The
only other thing that would cost would be to bring a yoga instructor into the clinic, which is only $25 per hour and since
my plan was to only have the yoga instructor come twice a week for 30 minutes, we would only have to pay $25 which is
again fairly cheap (Average Yoga Instructor Hourly Pay, n.d.). We will also need to incorporate the money that will pay
In order to get everyone to participate in the class, there will be different incentives not only every day but every
month. The incentive that will be given out every day are the smiles that the yoga instructor puts on your face when you
are done with the class. This may seem like it is not so much of an incentive, but it will be in the end when your coworkers
are happier. The incentive that will be given away each month will be for those who attend every class every day for two
weeks. It will be something such as a water bottle, lunch box or gift card. Those who attend class every day for the whole
43
Finally, the last steps that we will need is to first find a yoga instructor that will come in and do it. I know
someone at my gym that told me she would do it. Next, we need to buy the mats and get the incentives orders. Finally, we
will then need to block off the schedule for twice a week for 30 minutes for each therapists, athletic trainer and front desk
staff on Tuesday and Thursdays as these are the slower day. The last step will be is to make sure that everyone participates
This program will be very beneficial to the clinic as it will help everyone to feel better about themselves both
mentally and physically. It will also help with team building and employee relationships as well. As they say, a team that
Journal:
OPENNESS: When I think of openness, I think about my cousin and the talks that we have about
religion. I am not the type of person who believes in God and my cousin is type or person who fully
believes and goes to church every Sunday. One night we were engaging in this deep conservation
about religion and what not and during the conservation, it was hard for me to see her point. She was
even telling me things that she couldn’t believe, and she was questioning God. My cousin knows that
I do not believe and that I am very closed off about it. Granted I probably will never believe but I
know that I should be more open and supportive when it comes to my cousin’s relationship with God
because I am a good person and that is what family does for each other.
EMPATHY: When it comes to empathy it is correct that we all wanted to be accepted, loved and have security. Again,
when it comes to my cousin, sometimes it is hard for me to emotionally support her. This is because she is 6 years older
than I am and is very emotionally unstable. She had a rough childhood. Her Dad was never in her life and her Mom passed
away at a young age. For me, it is hard to relate to her sometimes because I have not had anything like that happen in my
life, I have not been through what she has been through. I used to be supportive, but I am at the point in my life where I do
not know what to do or say to her to try to help her. I feel bad about it but I just am at a loss right now.
COMPASSION: Again, with my cousin, I want to be there for her and help her and be supportive and what not. I used to
be that person for her, but she started dating this guy and he treated her like crap and at first, she did not see it so she was
44
really upset with me when I told her that I was not dealing with her relationship problems anymore. Two months later, she
finally realized what a jerk this guy was, but she was still talking to him and that just baffled me. I want to be there for her
and do what I can to make her feel better about herself, but it is just so hard when she does not want to listen to anything
that I say.
LOVING-KINDNESS: My cousin is the type of person who always thinks so badly about herself. She has thought about
committing suicide, not in the time I have known her, but she had told me about it. All I want for my cousin is for her to
be happy and accept her for who she is and realize that we all have flaws. For example, the guy she was dating that I did
not like, was not compassionate at all nor did he like to hug. My cousin is a hugger and I want her to find someone who
loves to hug as much as she does, and I just wish she would understand that there are more fish in the sea than just one.
SYMPATHETIC JOY: As my cousin does not think good things about herself and is emotionally unstable, she is always
in a happy mood and always trying to make others feel special. I envy this for her because I know she is such a great
EQUANIMITY: I know that cousin has the potential to be wise. She is really smart and wants good things in life, but she
is always the type of person to settle because she thinks that there is not better than what is in the moment. We all have
wants and needs and there is someone out there who is going to fill that missing piece in our puzzle whether that would be
Summary: As I reflect back on the comments I made about my cousin; it makes me realize that I should be more
supportive for her. That is not only what family does, but what a good person does. I know that I should make up with her
as we have not been the same since January. I do miss her, and I miss seeing her more than once every two months when I
used to her once every two weeks. I know that she has to make her own decisions and do what she feels is best for her, I
just hope that one day she realizes that she is a great person.
Place the entire journal within your resource guide resource guide with a reference cited properly (Stahl
& Goldstein, 2010). Total Points = 3
45
Unit
9
Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for Management and
Prevention to your Professional Life
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Learning about hobbies was one of my favorite things to learn about thi
semester. I never realized how much of an impact they the truly have on us. Hobbies gives us
activities to do that help us temporality escape from the overload that we have. They are there to
promote clear thoughts within as well as being something that is fun for us to do on our own time
or with a group of friends. One of the hobbies that I have is scrapbooking as it is fun for me and
gives me a sense of purpose in life knowing that I have made so much great memories and still
have many more to make. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Building a strong support system with you friends is a good idea as it helps with
stress and it gives you someone to talk to. When we talk with friends, we are not only releasing
stress, but emotional tension as well. They say it is not about how much friends you have but it is
making sure you have the right kinds of friends that are supportive and are there for you. It is
important to have a strong social group in order to be able to share not only great memories with
but to make sure that they are there for you in the time of need. I can relate to this because my best
friend and I met 3 years and we instantly connected. She lives another state away and yet she is my
closet friend. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: What really stood out to me in these final chapters of the book was when it
mentioned “though it may feel like an ending, it’s really just one step forward in a new way of life”
(Stahl, 2010). This really hit me hard because I feel that I have learned so much in this class during
this semester and that even though the class is forward, I am moving on with the knowledge and
the techniques that I have learned. I really do feel that this class has made me a better person when
it comes to dealing with stress. I am forever grateful for this class, as it has been one my of favorites
thus far.
46
Additional Information
In the book about stress by Richard Carlson, it talks about how we should not sweat the small things in life. He
explains that we need to start worry about the bigger things, than about the small things. When we stress out the small
things, they end up turning into big things. One of the things that he discusses in his novel is how to remove stress out of
our live. He mentions things such as let others be right, become more aware of your emotions, look past behavior, resist
the urge to criticize and then finally, every day, make sure to tell one person at least one thing you admire about them.
This is something that I have been doing a lot lately and you can tell that it makes no only someone else day, but your day
Self-Esteem is the way you feel about yourself. Self-Esteem can make a huge impact on our mood such as our
happiness and the way we live life. The happier we are and the more that we trust ourselves, the less stressed out that we
are because we know and understand how to handle the tough situations that cause us stress. There are multiple ways that
boosting our self-esteem can help us attack stressful situations better. One way is to work on being optimistic and feeling
happier with yourself. Once we start doing that, we start to look at the bright side of life and start thinking more positive
thoughts, which leads to situations that aren’t as stressful. Another way that self-esteem helps with stressful situations is
positive self- talks. One of the ways that are we influenced is by the way we interpret things and they way to make
comments. When we start thinking positive and thinking more highly of ourselves, we start we see not only the world in a
positive way, but ourselves as well which again leads to us handling stressful situations better. Finally, the last thing
would be is to stay away from toxic people. We live in a world where we are always learning things from others and those
around us can be very influential on the things that we say and do and the way that we feel. It is important to surround
ourselves with positive people to ensure that we are seeing positive results for our self-esteem (Scott, n.d).
Acute Stress, such as emotional distress, muscular problems, stomach problems, etc. are the mos t common
forms of stress. Acute stress can happen in either good forms such as skiing down a slope or it can come in bad forms
such as breaking a bone when you fell down that slope. Stress can also lead to headaches and physiological stress.
Acute stress is something that impacts us in the moment. We are either facing a fear or giving up on it because of the
47
ties that it comes with. For say, we are obviously going to ski down that slope because it is fun even though we may
break a bone, which is the exciting part about stress. The bad stress happens when for say, you get in an argument
with a loved one. Depending on the situation, it could lead to not talking to that loved one for a few days or end in a
break up. There are many situations that in which we are stressed and most of the time the bad stress can be avoided.
It is better to avoid the bad stress, as it causes more stress not only in the moment, but potentially later on in life as
48
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