Advantage of Taking a Stress Management Class Essay

Unfortunately, stress is a very normal part of everyday life for most of us. Stress can both be positive and negative. Leaving negative stress to chance, you will encounter serious health problems. Although stress is commonplace, it is far from healthy. Stress management professionals in the industry will recommend stress management classes as a means to better health and wellbeing. Stress management classes are available through employers and health care professionals. These sessions will help you to identify the factors that are causing the stress and help you make good lifestyle choices to reduce stress in the future. The larger companies are realizing that assisting employees to cope with stress will not only result in better health and emotional wellness for the staff; it will also improve the bottom line as well. These stress management classes are offered in multiple formats; from formal lectures by authorities in the field, to weekly training sessions that teach skills like meditation and biofeedback. Studies of these seminars show a marked improvement in employees’ stress symptoms after eight weeks of training. Less stress means higher production for employers, so it becomes a win-win situation for many companies. Individual Stress Management Classes There is several ways to access stress management classes for everyone. Do not think that stay at home mom doesn’t have stress. There are other opportunities for stress management classes. A good resource to begin with is your primary care provider. You can also check books and websites for information regarding stress management classes. Advantages of taking a class are that you will learn to spot the sources of your stress in order to take control of them more effectively. Stress management classes will teach you coping skills such as relaxation techniques and exercises specifically targeted at tension. You will also have the chance to meet others who are facing similar hurdles in their own lives, and build a support network with others who are sharing like burdens. Negative stress can take away your emotional wellbeing and at the same time contribute to general poor health. Therefore, stress management classes can help you identify the source of your stress, learn how to gain control over them, and educate you to reduce your stress symptoms. When feeling the results of constant stress, contact your nearest health provider to find out about a stress management class for you. Many people don’t think about stress management unless they’re already on the verge of burnout. With our busy lives, it doesn’t always seem obviously important to take on the practice of stress management before a worn-out body or an overly taxed psyche force the issue. However, developing healthy stress relieving habits really do pay off in the long run. Not only does a regular stress management practice stave off the negative effects of stress, but it can also bring positive outcomes like increased productivity, better health and more happiness in general. The following are some reasons why: †¢ Your Health: Excessive stress really can lead to poor health outcomes, from relatively minor things like headaches and digestion problems in the short run to major conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke after years of unmanaged stress. (Here’s a more complete list of stress related health problems, and a more detailed description of how stress affects your health.) †¢ Your Looks: Many stress relievers can also make you healthier and even more attractive. For example, taking care of your body by getting enough sleep can make you more productive and healthier, and can help you better manage stress, as well as staving off dark circles under the eyes and a poor complexion. Also, eating right can keep your blood sugar levels even, keeping your emotions in check and making you more resilient to stress, as well as helping you stay in your ‘skinny jeans’ or favorite tee-shirts from college. Getting regular exercise can help you blow off steam when you’re frustrated and keep your body fit and toned. †¢ Increased Productivity: Simply put, when you’re not stressed, you can be more productive because you’re more focused. Therefore, it really pays to keep stress to a minimum. Certain stress relief habits naturally make you more productive. Power napping, for example, can help you catch up on sleep and be more focused and productive, making less sleep stretch further. Being organized can also help you save time and money in the long run, reducing stress and helping you to be more productive in virtually every area of your life. Even limiting caffeine can help, improving your sleep and helping you feel less stressed at the end of the day. Finally, having the right attitude is actually a habit that can be learned. Being an optimist can benefit you in many areas of your life, helping you let failures roll off your back and actually enabling you to achieve more! (Think you’re already an optimist? You may be surprised. Take this quiz to find out for sure, and dis cover the secrets of optimistic thinking.) †¢ Your Happiness: Some stress relief practices just bring more joy. If you want to enjoy life more, you’ll want to adopt some of these stress relievers, and the fun will come more easily. Caring for pets, enjoying music, dancing while you clean, working more laughter into your life, maintaining a supportive circle of friends, and even having sex are all fun activities that double as great stress relievers for various reasons. Read more about them and how they can help you, and remind yourself that you’re never too busy to include these activities in your lifestyle—they’re stress management techniques! †¢ Your Stress Levels—Of Course!: The desire to avoid walking around feeling stressed-out is, in itself, a good reason to bone up on stress management. Certain general techniques that primarily just relieve stress (rather than serving some secondary function) are more than worth adopting because, when you’re less stressed, you enjoy life more. Some of the best stress management techniques available include , and good old [link url=/od/breathingexercises/ht/breathing_ex.htm]breathing exercises. Read more about the benefits of each, and choose a few to try, and you won’t have to let stress sap you of energy, productivity and enjoyment of life again! Putting in the effort to learn effective strategies for stress relief and low-stress living will pay off in the long run. Because of this, stress management is among the most important subjects to learn! Ideally, stress management needs to begin when we’re young so that we don’t have battered, scarred trunks when we reach mid life and beyond. But, the reality is, most of us never consider stress as damaging †¦until we’ve been reacting to it for a long time. The good news about our amazing bodies is that once we identify the stressors and make some definite life style changes, we can often reverse a lot of the damage. Sort of like being able to get some wood filler, apply it to the nicks on the tree trunk, then sand it down to recreate a smooth finish on your trunk. Stress management can really promote better health. What are some of the benefits of stress reduction? 1. Better immune function 2. Less illnesses and physical complaints 3. More energy 4. Feeling more relaxed 5. Sleeping better 6. Better digestion 7. Calmer mood 8. More focused, more positive 9.   Case Example: Elaine A housewife named Elaine suffered from dreadful panic attacks. She would be in a state of great agitation. She was sure she was having a heart attack, terrified she would die, despite the fact that she had no heart disease and was just 45 years old. Twice she rushed to the emergency room for help. She was suffering acute chest pain, sweating profusely and nauseated. Her heart was pounding, her breathing was shallow and rapid, her hands shook and she had diarrhoea. Real symptoms. The emergency room medics examined her carefully and told her she was reacting to stress and suggested she see her family doctor. Her family doctor checked Elaine over, sent her for a series of tests to rule out disease and prescribed . . . exercise. Whenever she felt acute anxiety symptoms, she was to jog or run or get on her exercise bike until the attack passed. His notion was that to get rid of the bad chemicals, it was imperative to replace them with good chemicals. After a few weeks of doing that †¦it worked. She was able to control the panic and anxiety with exercise. With a lot of practice, she also learned to do relaxation techniques and deep breathing so that Elaine can take control of anxiety whenever she feels over-whelmed at times when she’s unable to exercise. No pills or magic, just using the body and mind to cure itself. Case example 2 Allen was a firefighter for many years. When he had been to a fire, he would come back to the fire station all keyed up and be unable to relax. The adrenalin he needed to fight the fire was still pumping – hours after he was out of the â€Å"fight† mode. The â€Å"tiger† was gone yet seeing flames destroy people’s property bothered him emotionally. When people were hurt or died in the fires, he was even more keyed up and anxious. He felt sad. Soon he had high blood pressure and was prescribed medication. Realizing he had to take action, try to reverse what he was feeling, he started running on the tread milling once he got back from a fire. His family had a history of heart disease, he was determined not to sick. He gets on the treadmill for 30 – 45 minutes while watching TV or listening to relaxing music. He also learned to meditate which took weeks to master. He does tai chi several days weekly. Within just 4 month his blood pressure was under control and he was able to come off the medication. He actively changed his bad stress chemicals to good stress chemicals. A Stress Management Seminar for understanding and Coping with Stress The length of a stress management seminar may vary from several days to some being only half a day. The stress management seminar may be presented by experts ranging from psychologists to scientist and professionals from other diverse fields. With the promise of change and challenge in our growing markets a stress management seminar may provide some answers for people to try and cope with the growing strain put on their lives. Stress may be a life threatening factor for one man and a life enhancing one for another. The stress management seminar can prove to be pivotal in comprehending many apparently paradoxical observations and realize that the difference between negative and positive stress may lie in the perception and handling of stress as well as how best to cope with it. What vital information can be learnt at a Stress Management Seminar? Just some of the keynote presentations that are dealt with at a stress management seminar; †¢ Self-assessment of stress â€Å"triggers† †¢ Four factors of stress mediation †¢ The power of re-frame and focus †¢ The productive and proper use of W.I.I.F.M strategy. †¢ How to do more with less †¢ Circles of destiny †¢ How to master an action grid †¢ Network strength and organizational alignment. Of course, there are many different stress management seminars available and one should choose a seminar that helps participants in identifying the causes of stress as well as enable them to have effective tools to avoid as well as reduce and manage stress, both on and off the job. Some stress management seminars would include written individual as well as group exercises, group discussions and group activities as well as business simulations to make the learning process more effective. Different themes that are presented at the stress management seminar may include; †¢ getting the most from one’s work †¢ Knowing how stress drains the value from one’s life †¢ Nature as well as causes and effects of stress †¢ An attendee’s personal stress profile †¢ Rational as well as irrational thinking and behavior †¢ Effects of positive as well as negative thinking and much, much more. The kind of people who would normally attend a stress management seminar may include executive team members, managers or employees of different persuasion. Some stress management seminars may be customized for group or even firm requirements. Many seminars have also been changed to suit the skills level the company.