PURDUE UNIVERSITY GLOBAL

HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and

Prevention

Stress Management and

Prevention Program
Resource Guide
1
 PURDUE UNIVERSITY GLOBAL

Stress Management and Prevention

Program Resource Guide

By

Danielle Caslow

Purdue University Global

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

January 2019
Table of Contents
UNI T 1 THE NATURE OF STRESS

Information to Remember .....................................................................................................................4

Self-Assessment Exercises ......................................................................................................................4
Journal Writing .........................................................................................................................................5

UNI T 2 THE PHYSI OLOGY OF ST RESS

Information to Remember .....................................................................................................................6

Self-Assessment Exercises ......................................................................................................................6
Journal Writing ..................................................................................................................................... 6-9

UNI T 3 PSYCHOLOGY OF STRESS

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 10

Self-Assessment Exercises ................................................................................................................... 10
Journal Writing ................................................................................................................................. 10-11

UNI T 4 PERSONALI TY TRAI TS A ND THE HUMAN SPI RITU ALI TY

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 12

Self-Assessment Exercises ................................................................................................................... 12
Journal Writing ................................................................................................................................. 12-16

UNI T 5 DEALI NG WI TH STRESS: COPI NG STRATEGI ES

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 17

Journal Writing ................................................................................................................................. 17-19

UNI T 6 RELAXATION TECHI QU ES 1: BREATHI NG, MED I TATI ON,

AND MENTAL I MAGERY

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 20

Self-Assessment Exercises ................................................................................................................... 20
Journal Writing ................................................................................................................................. 20-22

UNI T 7 NUTRI TI ON AND STRESS

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 23

Self-Assessment Exercises .............................................................................................................. 23-25
UNI T 8 PHYSI CAL EXERCI SE AN D ACTI VI TY

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 26

Self-Assessment Exercises ................................................................................................................... 26
Journal Writing ................................................................................................................................. 26-28

UNI T 9 APPLYI NG STRESS: CRI TICA L I SSUES FOR MANAGEMENT

AND PREVENTI ON TO YO UR PROFESSI ONAL LIFE

Information to Remember .................................................................................................................. 29

ADDI TI ONAL I NFORMATI ON 30

REFERENCES 31

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Unit

Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: It is important to become more mindful of the interconnectedness of our total
wellbeing. This total wellbeing has four pillars and they are physical, emotional, mental, and
spiritual wellbeing (Thorp, 2018). Each of these pillars effect the next calling for a need to nurture
all areas of health (Lawson, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Our spiritual health is directly correlated to our emotional and mental health in
that as our mind goes, so does our heart and emotions. For this reason, our spiritual health is the
nucleus of our total wellbeing and everything flows from. It is what is referred to as our source of
energy, what feeds everything else in our bodies. Weather it is the universe or a higher power or
God Himself, it is a spiritual practice that centers and stabilizes this important piece (Thorp).
Key Learning Point: When our spiritual health is one that lends us towards positive attitudes and
joyful hearts, it creates fertile ground for a healthy physical body. Chronic stress mismanaged in
our emotional and mental casings leads to a decreased lifespan (Lawson).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
In this exercise I was made aware of stressors in my life. I discovered how these stressors affect me
upon anticipation of them, midway through navigating through them as well as after they had passed.
This taught me how to work with the stress rather than to be worked over by the stress (Stahl &
Goldstein, 2010).

Journal Writing:
Stressors from the last 3 months:
Situation Start Midway End
Having finances to do Christmas without debt (Neustress) 7 5 0
Guiding Caleb in his College Search (Neustress) 6 4 2
Being able to balance returning to school, work, wife, mom 4 4 1
and varsity team mom while being successful in all of them
(Neustress)

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Understanding the online platform of my new college 8 5 0
endeavor (Neustress)
Being a loving daughter to my mom without allowing her 6 8 4
negativity to affect me in a bad way but rather showing her
unconditional love (Neustress/Distress potential)
Honoring my boss with my best while potentially working 4 3 2
my last year here (Neustress)
Recovering from an intestinal illness that doctors could not 9 10 0
diagnose (Distress)
Keeping up with class work while surviving a 3-week long 8 10 0
illness that was quite painful (Distress)
Being a good example to our son through football season 4 6 1
(Neustress)
Working out the guest invite list with my son and future 6 6 0
daughter in law for their wedding (Neustress)

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 2
Unit

Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Neuroscience has taught us that the neuroplasticity of our brains allows us to
retrain our brains out of neural abnormalities. What was once believed to be irreversible in the
way of our neural abnormalities is now known to be reorganized through healthy exercises. This
includes memory loss, Alzheimer’s, as well as trauma injuries (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Stress and how we react to it can be the cause of neural abnormalities as well as
other diseases like the common cold and flu. How we perceive our stress is important in
preventing this and even reversing it because stress has the power to weaken our immune system.
The mind/body connection as it relates to stress is proven to be a very important health factor to
explore and tend to it personally on a consistent basis (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Stress is something we are hardwired to handle through our nervous system and
various hormonal responses. We all experience three different types of stress throughout the
course of our lives and they are good stress called eustress, neustress which is neutral in the
effects it has on us, and distress which is the one that can have a negative effect on our health and
consists of two types, acute which is rapid in the onset and passing & chronic which lasts for
prolonged periods of time (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Stress is something that is going to come into our lives whether invited or not. The only piece of
stress that we can control is how we react to it, our attitudes as we go through it, and how much of our
health we are willing to sacrifice for it. Deliberate action needs to be taken with stressful times,
especially when distress hits our lives (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Journal Writing:
Unit Two Journal Writing Assignment

How is stress or anxiety about people affecting your life?

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 Stress or anxiety about people affect my life in a variety of ways. I only ever feel stress about

certain people. Every one of these people fall into the family category. However, I do not believe it

negatively affects my health as much anymore. Maybe this is a ‘smooth sailing’ season and I should

just enjoy it as I am. Perhaps, I am not a big stressor though either. I’m not one to carry worry around

with me. The truly stressful times in my life as it relates to people has been primarily circumstantial

except for my mom. That too may be circumstantial, I’m not sure. My relationship with my mom has

changed so much since she has entered her later years of life. Her lens that she sees life through now

is fear and insecurity. I’ve watched her ruin relationships with grandchildren and even alienate herself

from others. She can be very mean and cold which was never her character when she raised me. It

causes me to break out into cold sores sometimes, but it’s been a while since I’ve had one of those. I

think I’ve gotten better at not taking her so personally but that is a tall order for a girl whose mother

was her rock through younger years. So now, I speak to her in love and guide our conversations in

that direction when she is in my home. I listen more than disagree and have used quite a bit of our

conversations as teaching moments with my boys. Fortunately, my older sons haven’t seen this side of

her as much. Our youngest son is very smart and understands when we speak to him of this aging

thing. So, I guess the stress comes in as I balance between protecting myself and my immediate

family from her negativity while honoring her and my father as they age with loving care. When I feel

I need to check the stress that is manifesting itself in me through a cold sore or a hurting heart, I put a

little distance between us, so I have time to refill my reservoir of patience and understanding.

How is stress or anxiety about work affecting your life?

This one is simple. It doesn’t. I have essentially zero stress at work. My future work could

potentially cause stress as I find myself in a completely new career one day, but I will cross that

bridge when I get to it.

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How is stress or anxiety about the world affecting your life?

This one keeps me honest in my pursuit of faith, trust, mindfulness, and stress management. I

am diligent about not watching the news day after day. I believe I will get the big, important stuff

when needed without obsessing over every breaking story. Stress enters my life when I ponder the

world that my sons will raise their children in. It shows itself in fear, but this type of fear serves no

one. So, when I find myself in a worrisome thought as it relates to my (future) grandchildren being

raised in a scary world, I exercise my faith in prayer and worries melt away. I also direct my focus on

to the things we can be grateful for.

How is stress or anxiety about food and eating habits affecting your life?

This has been a life long journey. It is not a stressor but rather a quest to stay current and open

to make necessary changes as new discoveries become apparent. A stressful time about food for me

was this last Thanksgiving. It had nothing to do with the holiday or even the food available and

everything to do with the fact that I was coming off of a 3 week long intestinal illness that none of my

3 doctors could diagnose. It turns out I had some type of very painful, bacterial infection. I suspect it

was due to a food borne illness. Either way, I cried and stressed out thinking I was dying, and no one

could figure out what was wrong with me. But again, prayer put me into a grateful, trusting space in

my mind and heart and now I am alive to talk about it! It was scary.

How is stress or anxiety about sleep and sleeplessness affecting your life?

So far, I have absolutely no problem getting and staying asleep. It is a huge blessing evidently

as I hear peers speak constantly of their inability to get a good night’s sleep.

How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack of physical activity affecting your life?

Exercise is more of a stress reliever to me. I have always been active and value my workouts.

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 In summary, stress is something that is going to come into my life weather invited or not.

What I choose to do with it is what will protect me or inhibit me from a healthy life. I’ve learned not

to stress about things I cannot control and rather commit them to the One I can trust in prayer and let

it be. As the old cliché goes, I am too blessed to stress! I will continue to take life as it comes and

utilize my tool box of stress relievers when needed. That coupled with a very deliberate way of eating

and ample amounts of exercise, laughter, and gratefulness will afford a healthy life.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 3
Unit

Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are emotional consequences of stress. A few of them important to note are
fear and anger. When these emotions take root in us and become our filter that we consume like
through, we handicap ourselves. We suffer from deteriorating, physical health, misunderstandings
when communicating, and even spiritual health weakening (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Good communication has always been an important skill to hone in on. Looking
others in the eyes, posture, tone, as well as the emotional space our tone comes from have always
been important factors to consider. In this new technology age, we are introduced to even more
communication techniques needed to respectfully engage others (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Mindfulness meditation is important practice to incorporate into our lives to help
alleviate some of the emotional, physical, and spiritual consequences of stress. A couple of good
mindfulness meditation practices to incorporate are walking meditation, full body scan, and
breathing meditation. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
This exercise was mindful breathing. I chose to read through the meditation leading rather than listen
to it. It was a beautiful day and the meditation was so effective, it has been one that I have continued
to practice (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Journal Writing:
Unit Three Journal Writing Assignment

The five-minute mindful breathing exercise is a refreshing one. When I engaged for the first

time today, I sat in my office which is the first space I was able to redecorate due to a child moving

out and on with his own blessed life. I decorated this room in a beach theme because it is one of my

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happy places. Today in Florida, the air is moist, the breeze is constant, and it’s a mild 77 degrees. I

had the window open and the room sits on the second floor, eye level with a large Oak tree that

houses many species of Florida birds. As I began bringing my attention to my breath, I gazed out at

the beautiful Oak with fresh eyes. There was no judgement in this moment other than a gratefulness

that washed over me as I felt the breeze on my face. In a moment my attention was taken from my

breath as I gazed down at my Christmas red nails and thought, “I need to go to the salon and get these

fixed for New Year’s Eve”. Quickly I acknowledged that my attention had waivered and I checked

my sudden urge to strive through this exercise so I can get on with my day. About then another big

breeze poured into the room and the trees called me out with their waving leaves. I continued to

breathe in and breathe out letting the moment be. In the self-reliance moment of the practice, I

recognized the One I rely on and thanked Him for the breath in my rising and falling chest. In a

glance to see if I was integrating the eight attitudes into the moment, my eyes caught the word ‘self-

compassion’. This actually caused my mind to wander again to the thought that has been ruminating

around in my awareness for my 2019 intention and that is to be kind to myself. In this kindness

blooms kindness for others. Equanimity welled up within my heart as I drew my focus once again

back to my breath. The breeze continued to wash over me as I continued with my breaths in a

beautiful state of gratefulness.

This was such a great exercise, I look forward to adding it into my daily life. It is a great vehicle for

self-kindness that I intend to practice throughout this year (and years to come). As I felt relaxation

settle into my inner most being, I found that my face began to wear a lingering grin. What a beautiful

day to introduce my heart and mind to mindful breathing.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 4
Unit

Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human

Spirituality
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Self-esteem has been shown to be directly related to stress and how we navigate
through it. A low self-esteem is related to nearly every stress-related behavior. These behaviors
are what manifest negative ramifications on our body and mind. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: A high self-esteem affords us a healthy response to stress. A healthy response to
stress preserves our relationships, values, purpose in life as well as our health and would
otherwise deteriorate all these things if dealt with from a place of fear and insecurity. (Seaward,
2015).
Key Learning Point: Some personalities are more resilient towards stress than others. When a person
has a less resilient personality then work on self-esteem is beneficial in navigating through stress.
(Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Fear, confusion, anger, sadness, shame, love, and joy are some of the emotions that we feel as we
journey through life. These emotions have a physical stress effect on us and in order to reduce
negative health consequences and benefit from the positive emotions we must be aware of these
effects (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Journal Writing:
FEAR: apprehension, anxiety, distress, edginess, jumpiness, nervousness, panic, tenseness,

uneasiness, worry, fright, feeling overwhelmed.

Fear is an ugly array of emotions most times. Though it can trigger what is required of us for

survival on rare occasions, most often it is a negative emotion that can start a myriad of negative

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thoughts. The fear emotions I most identify with are edginess, tenseness, and uneasiness. When these

emotions come over me, I feel them in a trembling chest. It almost feels as if a cry is coming on and

often it eventually does. It causes me to withdraw and usually leads me into one of the anger

emotions. Most recently I experienced this through the holidays. I had to navigate our Thanksgiving

and Christmas holiday sharing one of our boys with his fiancé’s family. When after agreeing to

change our Thanksgiving plans to accommodate her family, we were asked to also change our

traditional Christmas morning plans to once again accommodate her family’s plans. I felt slighted,

cheated, forgotten, and unimportant. It made me fear what has always been told to me and that is,

“you keep your daughters but always lose your sons”. I only have sons, all of whom I am very close

to, so as you can imagine this saying does not sit well with me.

CONFUSION: bewildered, uncertain, puzzled, mystified, perplexed, chaotic, foggy, or unaware.

Uncertain and chaotic are emotions I can identify with. I am a planner and like to experience

the expected so to use the same example above, these emotions also hit me as I was forced to be

flexible with tradition. A good cry and quick fervent prayer changed my heart and calmed these

emotions. It opened my mind to opportunity while squelching the flames of insecurity.

ANGER: aggravation, agitation, annoyance, destructiveness, disgust, envy, frustration, irritation,

grouchiness, grumpiness, rage.

Agitation, frustration, irritation, and grouchiness (or possibly grumpiness, not sure of the

difference) are emotions I am in tune to. I have also experienced rage on a single occasion in my life.

When these emotions come over me, I get the shakes. They come quickly and leave me quickly after

some deep breathing and sharp words. The sharp words are usually in effort to get the frustration off

my chest and not directed at anyone per say but rather in a safe place. They are released either alone

in prayer or towards my husband (thank goodness for my rock of a husband) or both. On a rare but

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extreme occasion I have experienced rage. I think this level of anger match the size of the offense. I

threw things across the room, screamed, cried, and even had a bomb fire with a few certain items. It

took quite a bit more effort including long walks and much prayer to shake this emotion.

SADNESS: alienation, anguish, despair, disappointment, gloom, grief, hopelessness, insecurity,

loneliness, misery, unhappiness, rejection.

Anguish, loneliness, insecurity, rejection are a few emotions I felt during the rare and extreme

occasion mentioned above. Honestly, these are the most exhausting. I am normally very happy,

secure, joyful, and satisfied individual so these took a toll on me. Since I’m journaling here, I will say

in confidence that if it weren’t for my amazing counselor through this very dark time in my life, I

feared that I wasn’t ever going to know my happy-go-lucky self ever again. But here I am, better for

it, wiser for it, and yet joyful once again. These emotions knocked me on my butt both physically and

mentally. It was the closest thing to a shut down that I have ever felt.

SHAME: guilt, embarrassment, humiliation, invalidation, regret, remorse, mortification.

Guilt, regret, and remorse. What a dog of an emotion. This feels like helplessness to me. It

triggers anxiety sometimes when I feel I have said something I should not have or did something that

I knew better not to do. It lingers like heart palpitations until I confront it with an honest conversation.

Sometimes that conversation is simply with me and God, other times it is going back to a person with

a whole hearted apology. Either way it triggers a physical response in me that won’t be ignored.

However, shame is one that when dealt with properly affords us some of the most valuable lessons in

life. Success and growth often times requires mistakes and failure first.

LOVE: affection, arousal, attraction, caring, compassion, desire, fondness, infatuation, kindness,

liking, longing, warmth, sympathy, sentimentality.

Affection, arousal, attraction, caring, fondness, kindness, liking, warmth, sentimentality, as

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well as compassion & sympathy are all familiar. I spend most of my days in a state of fondness. Fond

of the weather, fond of the people I work with, fond of the degree I’m seeking, fond of my health,

fond of my family, my husband, my friends, fond of my home and life that I have been so richly

blessed with and more. It is a contentment that warms me from the inside out. It affects my posture,

my facial expression, my countenance. Sentimentality is often all over me too. It will bring tears to

my face but out of a place of joy and thankfulness. These emotions are the wrapping paper that covers

the gift of a gratitude filled life.

JOY: amusement, bliss, contentment, eagerness, elation, enjoyment, enthusiasm, excitement,

exhilaration, hope, optimism, pleasure, satisfaction.

Amusement, bliss, contentment, eagerness, elation, enjoyment, enthusiasm, excitement,

exhilaration, HOPE, optimism, pleasure and satisfaction are the life line of my energy. This is where I

exist, where I camp out, where I begin most every day. It fills me with a sense of relaxation, ambition,

and exuberance. The thoughts and images that come to mind with these emotions are my Savior, my

husband, my sons, my future daughter in law, my warm home, my eagerness to learn and to lead. It’s

my cup that runneth over. It is as my husband and I often say of our lives together, blessed and highly

favored.

Summary

I’m not certain if I have captured here what the assignment has asked of me, but one thing is

for sure, I am and will be even more aware of the physical effects of all of these emotions as they

come over me. A lifetime is a longtime and feeling your way through the ups and downs is a blessing.

Learning to be made better by the downs and more grateful for the ups is the key to healthy, fulfilling

longevity. If it weren’t for the dark time that was spoken of earlier in this journal, I would not find

myself in such a thankful place today. I feared I would never recover the true heart of who I’ve known

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myself to be, but the truth is I found myself completely restored. Sometimes it takes feeling the

discomforts of life to be able to relish in the comforts (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 5
Unit

Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: When a certain situation has imposed stress on an individual, a work can be
done called reframing to aid in the person having a different perspective about the situation. This
can alleviate stress on an individual (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: A good way to work on self-esteem issues that cause you to endure stress in a
health deteriorating way is by using affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements that you
say to yourself, of yourself until it becomes a part of your belief system. This exercise aids in
bringing a low self-esteem up higher (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: It is believed and documented that humor can help alleviate stress and even
reverse disease. Humor stimulates positive emotions that aid the body in handling stress in a
constructive way. Humor in and of itself is not an emotion but rather stimulates these positive
emotions (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
This self-assessment was a full body scan to determine where I may or may not be harboring stress in
my body. I found this to be a wonderful awareness exercise to use for a regular checkup (Stahl &
Goldstein, 2010).

Journal Writing:
I chose to do the Mindful Self-Inquiry for Stress and Anxiety. I chose this practice because as

my husband has been under lots of stress at work, as too have. I worry about his health when he is

stressed out but one major blessing of the timing of this practice is, he is benefitting from it too. He

has begun his own meditation practice that he returns to throughout his day to better deal with the

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stress of his work.

As I began this practice, I had myself in a lounging position. I was not quite laying down, but

my head was supported. So, as I began the body scan, I found myself drifting off to sleep. Therefore, I

sat myself up and began again. I do not have a cd player so I would read through a few lines then

return to the practice. I found that as I worked my way up my legs, one at a time, there was no stress

detected there. This may be why I continually had to return my thoughts to a state of observing rather

than drifting. When I continued my body scan on to my arms, there I found stress. Though I sat in a

very comfortable position, I discovered that my shoulders were hunched up around my neck. My

hands were firmly gripping the chair and my mind took note of that. When my mind noticed my

tension in my shoulders and hands, it quickly left the practice and began to wonder how my husband’s

day was going. Then I caught myself. I returned for a moment to my breathing. I felt as though if I did

not, I would have a hard time leaving that moment without judgment. Shortly after I focused again on

my lungs filling and emptying of the air I was breathing, I was able to return to the body scan. Back to

my shoulders and hands, I heard myself saying to myself what my yoga instructor says repeatedly in

class, “relax what you can relax and leave no judgement on anything else.” So, I shrugged my

shoulders up as tight as I can and with an exhale, I relaxed them. My hands too, I gripped them up

into a fist and released them with an exhale. After doing this, I felt a tingling down my arms. I am not

sure if this was a releasing of stress or if it was simply a tingle from the knots in my shoulders that a

good massage therapist needs to work out. I guess either way, it was a releasing of stress. I felt

relaxed then.

I brought my awareness to my mind and thoughts after finishing the body scan to check in. I

was not in fear but did notice some angst. My thoughts were on the flight that we will get on with our

son tomorrow to travel to New York. I have always felt anxiety when traveling on a plane with my

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husband. The fear of both parents being taken from our sons in one fare swoop has tempted a

haunting on me with every trip. This is when prayer kicks in and it did again. I began to repeat to

myself how my ultimate terminal timing is not my own. That only God knows the number of my days

and I waste them away if I choose to worry about if I have woken up on my last day or not. I

reminded myself that my children are not my own, that they are on loan and if God chose to take me

out of this world today, He would care for them. These types of thoughts will always calm fears of

leaving this earth too soon. There I was again, placing my trust in my Higher Power and releasing

myself from worry. Again, I felt relaxed. I noticed too that as I release that fear and anxiety, it frees

me to anticipate the joy of experiencing this trip with our youngest son. It frees me to get excited with

him about his future. In these trusting thoughts I find myself back in tune with a deeply rooted joy.

As I continued with letting my mind and thoughts go where they will naturally, I also thought

of my husband. Only this time I felt a thankfulness. I thought of how he began his own meditation

practice after a conversation we were having when I reminded him of his options of either being

heavily medicated or seeking a complimentary medicine like meditation. I remembered him telling

me he needed my help in getting him to do that. I remembered telling him after a pause of silence how

this was an unfair request and that he needed to own his health more. That was when he incorporated,

with the help of a guided meditation app, several short meditations into his day. This memory that I

was having caused thankfulness. I watched this entire monologue within me rise and dissipate.

In summary, this body scan is one that I have enjoyed falling in love with. I find that

mindfulness is half the battle when it comes to identifying stress and equipping myself to handle it in

a healthful way (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 6
Unit

Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing,

Meditation, and Mental Imagery
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: One of the easiest ways to relax from stress is deep breathing called
diaphragmatic breathing. This is the type of breathing that mothers are trained to do during child
birth. It can be done anywhere and has been shown to decrease episodes of chronic pain and a
less sympathetic neural response is generated (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The oldest form of relaxation is meditation. Routine meditation practices have
shown to decrease resting heart rate, blood pressure and resting breaths. It can even create an
inner peace from a rewiring of neurons therefore has an incredibly positive effect on stressed out
minds. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Mental imagery can be paired with other stress-relief modalities to dramatically
reduce episodes of chronic pain. It can also by itself have a calming and healing effect on the
body. It has actually been utilized for many years, hundreds of thousands, to access the power of
our minds to heal our bodies (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
This self-assessment exercise was to determine if we are body-mind happy. It was an exercise that put
me in tune with how I interact with myself within my mind and thoughts. The practice taught how to
become aware of seeds of suffering that we plant and how to negate those (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Journal Writing:
Mindful of how you interact with yourself?

For most of my adult life I have repeatedly come up against a world around me that made me

feel less important, less valuable, and less intelligent. Let me reframe that. I dropped out of college in

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my junior year to follow through with raising my growing litter of sons. It was a very conscious

decision both my husband and I decided on. In a perfect world we would have begun our family after

I completed my education but we both know the world isn’t perfect. Also, hindsight tells me that I

likely would have gone right to work, and my boys would have had other caregivers. Though this may

be the right path for some families, it was not the preferred path for my husband and me. It was in the

‘most important’ category for both of us that we raised our boys in a traditional manner with a stay at

home mom. I treasure this decision and the years I had with my boys at home more than anything in

this world. However, it wasn’t uncommon for a peer, working mom, to make me feel less than her

because of my decisions. Also, being the youngest in my family, I have always been the ‘baby’ that

rather than having something valuable to add to a conversation, just banged a gong and was shushed.

At 48 years of age, I still deal with a sister that likes to acknowledge to me and other family members

that I haven’t yet done this or that so I must not have any valuable input on the topic. Forget the fact

that our lives couldn’t be more different and the only parallel between us is we share the same mother.

For example, I don’t have grandchildren yet so I don’t completely understand how difficult it is to

keep your relationship with your grown children healthy (this comes from a person who has more

toxic relationships in her life than I can count). It is taxing on the psyche to say the least. Rather than

folding in to the perceived beliefs of others around me, it fed my stubbornness to be me, do me, and

live the way I believed was right by God, my husband, and my children. Needless to say, I have and

still do keep myself at a safe distance. I have no regrets there. However, for some reason, I imagine I

may discover in this class, I still deal with these buttons of insecurity being pressed by people in my

life. What I am learning is that these buttons likely come from a place of where I have believed these

thoughts of less importance, hence finishing my degree now, later in life.

Seeds of suffering?

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 If I can begin to recognize these moments as indicators rather than allow them to tear me

down, perhaps I can grow out of this battle. In Stahl and Goldstein’s book I read that I need to realize

that everyone has this internal shadow or bogeyman and that this is fertilizer that feeds our growth

(2010). If I could stop turning to thoughts of inadequacy in these moments and practice more self-

loving kindness, I would find myself feeling less lonely, on the outside of people I care about, and

less hurt by them. It reminds me of the words I would often say to myself, “Consider the source, dani,

and let it go.” I would feel less anger towards them and be less prone to ostracizing myself from them.

Day-to-day life feelings of resentment?

Using my sister as an example again, it helps to remember the turmoil she has lived through from

divorce to only one son who has pretty much turned his back on her to the years and years of

counseling that appears to have only amplified her self-awareness to selfishness. When I look at her

with compassion and remove myself from that equation than it serves to shield me from her slinging

of rash judgements that aim to bring others down to a level of misery that she can relate to. This is

hard to do with a pure heart motivating it. It is easier to do to her what she does to me and consider

her of little importance. There seems to be a very fine line between loving kindness towards others

who hurt you and self-preservation. So, I land somewhere in the middle at building her up and

keeping a safe day-to-day distance. Is this wrong? I don’t know yet.

Reflection on writing?

So, I press on. The only person I have control of is me. I value the practice of digging deeper

into my thoughts and feelings and learning to discard the ones that don’t serve me well and embrace

ones that do, thus making me better for those around me as well. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 7
Unit

Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Though physical exercise is a form of stress, aerobic being the fight part of fight
or flight, and anaerobic being the flight equivalent, exercise has been shown to decrease the
incidences of depression and anxiety in people. It also aids in restoring homeostasis in habitual
exercisers (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Our diets should be a source of proper nutrients that helps our bodies ward off
the effects of stress. Often times, our diets perform the exact opposite because we turn to ‘comfort
foods’ in times of stress that are most likely bad food choices. These bad food choices actually
become another stressor on the body and further exasperates the chronic stress that our bodies
become ill from (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Music ranks at the top of the list for inducing relaxation. The best way to use it
in a therapeutic way is to sit or lay down, reduce distractions where you are and even consider
listening through head phones (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
For this self-assessment I practiced sitting meditation. I began focused on my breath, moved my focus
to my body, then to sounds surrounding the moment, my thoughts and emotions were the center of
my attention next and finally I brought my awareness to the present moment (Stahl & Goldstein,
2010).

Journal Writing:
For this journal writing assignment I chose to do the sitting meditation. I have a comfortable chair in

my upstairs office, and I love to look out at the tree from the second floor while practicing.

I began by focusing on the tip of my nose because I have always focused on the rise and fall of

my abdomen. Therefore, I wanted to try something different. As I began to breathe deeply to calm and

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center myself into the practice, I noticed the feeling on the tip of my nose as I took breaths. It became

distracting to me, so I moved my focus back to my abdomen. Some things are better left alone I

suppose. Shortly after making this adjustment, I was breathing deeply, slowly, and rhythmically. I

was quickly in a very relaxed state.

I then moved my attention to my body to take notice of any sensations rising within my feet,

legs, hands, arms, and/or body. The only sensations I noticed were ones that existed due to a soreness

in my muscles from yesterday’s workout. I continued past my sore legs and continued with the body

scan. After a matter-of-fact observation of my body and all the sensations, I felt remarkably relaxed.

Then I tuned into the sounds around me. This was easy to do because there are few things as

joyful and relaxing to me than the sound of happy birds and children playing. These were the sounds

that were circling me as I sat facing an open window. I heard the Robins, Cardinals, Hawks, and even

the plethora of sweet yellow finches that have found their home to be our yard for the winter months.

In the yard next door, there were two young boys playing on their backyard swing. They were

imagining they were super heroes. This made a smile well up inside of me. It felt like my heart was

smiling at the sound of little boys playing. Then my mind went back to the birds, then the boys, and

back and forth my mind traveled.

As mentioned above the emotions I noticed were joy and contentment. My mind was drifting

back to when our three boys would be in the pool playing basketball, or in the yard having airsoft

wars or out front on bikes and skateboards. I thought of how cool it is that we have basically raised all

three boys in this one home. As I took note of these passing thoughts, I felt grateful, then a little sad,

then grateful again. I started to analyze the sadness but then was reminded to just witness them

without judgement, so I did.

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 Finally, I was led back into the present moment and my attention went quickly to the singing

of the birds. By this time the children next door had gone in because I could no longer hear them, and

I relished in the silence being broken only by the chirping of the birds and scream of the hawks. The

hawks scream draws my eyes upward because I love to watch them soar in the air and this is almost

always where you see them when you hear them scream. This was a relaxing time for me.

Relaxed in gratitude, nostalgia, and breath, I slowly took in the moments and savored them

with every pause of my breath. I ‘went with the flow’ of the present moment and remembered that ‘all

things change’ (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010). I found myself identifying with these statements because I

always say to myself and my children when things are hard or even when they are good, “One thing

we know for certain is time will keep on passing”. In this statement my intent is to remind myself that

in hard times, this too shall pass, and in good times, savor it, be completely in that moment, because

this too shall pass. These meditation practices help to solidify this mindfulness in my life (Stahl &

Goldstein, 2010).

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 8
Unit

Unit 8: Physical Exercise and Activity

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Physical exercise is a key factor in managing and preventing stress in one’s life.
It has been shown to decrease resting heart rate, blood pressure and muscle tension. It also
provides better quality sleep which increases resistance to colds and illnesses (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Good pointers to consider when implementing regular cardiovascular fitness:
start moderately and progress carefully, pick an activity that brings you joy so you stay with it,
choose a time of the day that allows for your new activity, equip yourself with the right clothes
and tools, surround yourself with people who support you, set goals, and take care to prevent
injuries (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Some important mindsets to take on in order to cultivate healthy relationships
include: openness, empathy, compassion, living-kindness, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
(Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercises:
It is important to cultivate certain mindsets in order to grow healthy, strong relationships. (Seaward,
2015).

Journal Writing:
In light of the passing of James Ingram and his song, How Do You Keep the Music Playing, I will do

this entire exercise with my husband in mind. Over the course of almost 27 years, we have been

friends, lovers, companions, roommates, distant, close, careful, careless, interested, disinterested, and

through it all, committed. Therefore, I believe all of these could be practiced on that one relationship,

the cornerstone of all other human relationships, husband & wife.

OPENNESS: This requires letting all preconceptions to melt down and hear afresh his perspectives.

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Don’t engage with anticipated responses in mind but rather listen with a clear, present mind.

EMPATHY: This made me think of the blood pressure scare we went through earlier this year. I had

to work through anger brought on by fear before being able to meet him where he was. He was very

scared and desperate to get his life habits right to live a long healthy life. My empathy rose for him as

I allowed myself to acknowledge my own fear of losing him.

COMPASSION: Once empathy was developed in my heart for him, then compassion gave way to a

desire to help him accomplish some new health goals.

LOVING-KINDNESS: Some days this is easier said than done but I remind myself that it is the

same for him with me. I have the hardest time showing loving-kindness when I’m not being first kind

to myself. When I practice self-kindness, this flows so much easier to my husband as well as a

stranger in the grocery store.

SYMPATHETIC JOY: This makes me think of the journey my husband is on with trying to deal

with his stress levels in a healthier way. He deals with people and their mistakes in the IT world every

day and I have formed the habit of saying to him, “don’t let anyone take your joy from you today” as I

leave the house. I show him sympathetic joy simply by reminding him that he has a joy that no one or

circumstance can take unless he allows it to. This joy is literally his health line.

EQUANIMITY: This one use to be easy. The older I get the more I realize I must work on this. Fear

gets in the way for me. I remind myself that every walk of life is God’s creation and created in His

image and loved by Him just as He loves me. I have to work at modern day tragedies not creating a

fear barrier in my heart against certain people simply because of how they look. Fear is the enemy,

not people, as it relates to equanimity. Yet, sometimes the enemy that presents danger is a ‘people’.

It’s an ongoing work. As it relates to my husband, he sometimes gets the worst of me because he is

27
the most comfortable place and I have to remind myself that my very best should always have a

reserve of love that only gets released on him, my forever husband.

Summary In summary, I am going to paraphrase these qualities of interpersonal mindfulness and post

them somewhere where I see them in my everyday life. For Openness it will say “new & fresh”, for

empathy it will say, “You feel, they feel”, for compassion it will say, “Understand & ease”, for

loving-kindness it will say, “Wish them well”, for sympathetic joy it will say, “Delight in their joy”,

and for equanimity it will say, “He loves them too”. These will serve as a reminder to live in the light

and share the light with others (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 9
Unit

Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for

Management and Prevention to your
Professional Life
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Some other effective coping techniques are information seeking, social
orchestration, and social support groups. These coping techniques are examples of some that
would likely be combined with other techniques for effective coping. Any combination of
techniques should collectively increase awareness of the stressor, help to understand the stressor,
and adjust the person’s attitude towards the stressor to alleviate it and cause a peaceful resolution
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: A hobby is a great way to alleviate stress. It works to empty your mind of the
circumstance that is causing stress and allows you to focus on something else, something fun or
creative which in turn produces a release of hormones that assist in alleviating the effects of stress
on our bodies (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Unforgiveness is toxic on a person in many ways. For this reason, forgiveness is
another effective stress reliever when the stressor is an unhealthy relationship. This paired with
some mindfulness practices can aid in the process of forgiveness. (Seaward, 2015).

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Additional Information
Secondary Sources:
There are many apps to consider when working with clients and their stress reduction. One is called
Insight Timer. It leads people through a guided meditation. The sessions vary from 5-10 minutes to a
half of an hour. It can be found here: https://insighttimer.com/meditation-app

Hobbies have been mentioned as a good way to alleviate stress in one’s mind. If a hobby is not
something that a client has or cannot get into, a good suggestion is an Adult Coloring Book. It has
been found to be relaxing and may even help in reducing stress (2019). They can be found in
bookstores or on Amazon. Here is an example of one: https://www.amazon.com/Adult-Coloring-
Book-Relaxing-Inspired/dp/1983174394/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1549573221&sr=8-1-
spons&keywords=stress+relief+book&psc=1

It is important to be mindful of our thoughts! If negative thinking is what takes up valuable real-estate
between your ears, a good book to read is, Stop Negative Thinking by Doc Orman, M.D.. He says in
his book that negative thinking is not a mind problem but rather a body problem that we have
programmed it to do (2013). This book can be read on a kindle, heard on an audiobook or purchased
as a paperback here: https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Negative-Thinking-Worrying-Relieve-
ebook/dp/B00BEZVLSA/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1549573221&sr=8-2-
spons&keywords=stress+relief+book&psc=1

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 References

Alban, D. (2019). Be Brain Fit-Better mind. Better life. The Benefits of Coloring for Stress Relief.

Retrieved at https://bebrainfit.com/coloring-stress/

Changing Works, Changing Minds, (2002-2019). Stress Values. Retrieved at

http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/stress_values.htm

Exploring Values and Beliefs to Create a Shared Purpose, What are values and beliefs? PDF. (2015).

Foundation of Nursing Studies. Retrieved at

https://www.fons.org/resources/documents/Creating-Caring-Cultures/ValuesBeliefs.pdf

Lawson, K. (2016). Re: How Do Thoughts and Emotions Affect Health?. Taking Charge of your

Health & Wellbeing, University of Minnesota. Retrieved from

https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/how-do-thoughts-and-emotions-affect-health

Orman, D. (2012, 2013). Stop Negative Thinking, How To Stop Worrying, Relieve Stress, and

Become a Happy Person Again. Sparks, Maryland. TRO Productions, LLC

Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being (8th ed.).

Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Stahl, B. & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA: New

Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Thorp, T. (2018). Re: Daily Practices for Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical Well-Being. The

Chopra Center. Retrieved from https://chopra.com/articles/daily-practices-for-spiritual-mental-

emotional-and-physical-well-being

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