Roberta Macdonald » Stress Management

What Does It Mean: Summer Vacation?

Roberta — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:54:20 +0000

Anyone over 40 knows what a vacation is…remember when we were a kid and we went to the ocean, or Disney Land, or camping, or the mountains….remember? Now, those were vacations ! What is a vacation now? It is probably two hurried and last minute put-together days with very little comfort and/or time to de-stress from the job or career and home pressures.

When the kids are out of school and on THEIR vacation…it is no vacation for us! A better summer plan is needed for the sake of everyone !

How do we do it when: (1) there isn’t much money for a vacation (2) there is very little time as everyone’s schedule is different (3) no one can agree on anything.

JUST DO IT ! and join a supportive group who will encourage and support you in making your summer a good one.*

* an unabashed plug for our girls’ group:

“Girls, We Can Do This..Together” (see home page of my website)

Survey for Women 40+

Roberta — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:22:12 +0000

Women: If you answer yes on 4 or more to my survey check the new Summer Support Group you can join:

Am I stressed? YES NO

Do I worry too much? YES NO

Do I have trouble sleeping? YES NO

Do I take things too personally? YES NO

Do I want more time for me and less time helping everyone else?

YES NO

Do I need to learn how to say “no”? YES NO

Do I want more of a social life? YES NO

Do I get upset at little things? YES NO

Do I want to be more clear about my direction and goals?

YES NO

If you answered YES on 4 or more you need to join our “Girls, We Can Do This- Together” Summer Support Group.* We will meet 7 times this summer – on Monday nights from 7-8 pm and the first one is FREE.

* See my flyer under NEW CLASSES or call me at 253-941-2124.

Stressful Thinking vs Better and Different Thinking

Roberta — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:52:21 +0000

Dr. Bernie Siegel is an expert on stress helping his patients with the various stressors that plague us in our physical life here on earth. He is a medical doctor, has written many great books, and has been around for awhile. I believe he is now in his eighties and still helping his world. He uses a wonderful philosophy to help and heal his patients. He believes that the body and the mind are a unit, bound together via nerves and messenger molecules. He says that love, hope, peace of mind and joy have physiological consequences, just as depression and despair do. That is what the science of mind/body communication is all about.

I accept that stress is a part of our lives and, at the same time, I can learn to minimize it and respond differently to it: I often “wear stress as a coat” and take it off as soon as I can instead of taking it in–internalizing it–and making it “mine”. I didn’t always know how to do this. Stress used to do a number on me ! Thank you, Dr Bernie Siegel for teaching me a better and different way to think and act !

Stressful Mind – Stressful Body

Roberta — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:54:32 +0000

In order to deal with pain, chronic health issues, depression, anxiety or whatever the negative in your life, you will need to change your belief that these will always be a part of your life. We may not want to hear “change your thoughts and you will change your life” but, since it is true that our minds are very powerful, we must take seriously the need to spend the rest of our lives living and believing that our powerful mind is in charge.

Your body is stressed because your mind is stressed. Your body does only what it is told…by your mind. When your mind is focused on the stress, then your body has to follow the dictates of the mind. Your body is not in charge–your mind is. The subconsious part of the mind really has the control switch. What we think, say and do is very important because the body will just go along.

We live in stressful environments–at work, home and in our society, but we can thrive and be well-adjusted if we know how to cope and deal with these stressors. Our mind can be taught how to be in control of these stressors. How important is our mind in the healing of our body? On a scale of 1 to 10 –it is a 10!

PS: Our mind is not our brain–our mind is in every cell of our body ! (More to come on this controversial subject)

What’s the Rush?

Roberta — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:12:02 +0000

Are you late because of your desire to get as much done as you can in a short period of time? What are the results? When we are late, hurry off and don’t think through what we are doing….we know we are setting our self up to….(choose one or more): (1) Fail miserably (2) stress out with an anxiety attack or find we are shallow breathing or holding our breath (3) hurt ourselves—stub our toe, bump into something, stumble and fall (4) appear out of breath and scattered –which is the truth. (5) Look back on the day and realize it was a blur…remembering only the obvious but not the small, insignificant but important parts of our life.

I am writing this at the beginning of 2010 because I realize that I had too many “blurs” in my life as I think back on it. I just don’t remember consciously, however, since my subconscious remembers everything and never sleeps, it is still inside somewhere. I don’t want the rest of my life to be a blur so I realize I have to be more consciously aware of what I am thinking, saying and doing.

Several months ago I made a decision never to hurry. I am an active person but I don’t need to rush or hurry anywhere because if I do …it means I am wanting to rush past this present moment–not giving any importance to it–and hurrying into the next (more important moment ?). I don’t want to live my life that way….so…

This is how I have helped myself NOT hurry through my busy life: (1) I enjoy the feeling of being early rather than late so I think myself 30 minutes ahead of the deadline. (2) I watch how I am breathing and deliberately take 4 or 5 slow, deep breaths and watch to see what color is in front of my eyes…black, brown or grey are stress colors. (3) I started by playing a game …now it isn’t a game but a part of my reality to listen and notice as much as I can–only taking in what I want to remember and filtering out the rest. (4) I am journaling or writing every day to preserve those special moments that we think we will always remember but we find they become part of the blur when the good, bad and ugly gets mixed in with it.(5) I meditate..I don’t even have to close my eyes every time…just clear and clean and check what it is I am thinking.

May you have a peaceful, interesting, fulfilling, eventful, challenging, beautiful, inspiring, and meaningful life without rushing or hurrying through it. Savor it…it is too short as it is.

Excuse Me, You Seem to be Stressed: A 3 Hour Stress Management Workshop Overview

Roberta — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:10:13 +0000

We need stress help that we can use every day with little stressors and those unexpected big ones. We shouldn’t wait until we are overwhelmed and ready to explode. The “Excuse Me, You Seem to Be Stressed” Stress Management Workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 17 from 6:30-9:30 pm at Bellevue College, North Campus, Room W266. The cost is $49.

Some of the benefits of attending this workshop are:

* Be able to handle stress without internalizing it

* Learn new ways to solve old problems that cause stress

* Find release from the clutter, chaos and conflicts

* Be uplifted from the positive energy environment

* Enjoyable and meaningful interactions

* Support from like-minded people wanting change

* Inspiring and motivating information and tools

Hope you can join me on Tuesday, November 17th. I will be your Instructor/Facilitator.

Roberta

Stress During the Holidays

Roberta — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:49:40 +0000

We tend to wait until the middle of November to think about all of the many “things to do” around Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah. We never mean to do it but we have a hard time putting extra “to dos” in our already busy schedule…do we not? So…the stress starts to build…as early as… NOW.

So NOW (before we are eating our Thanksgiving meal)… NOW is the time to think about how we can make it easier on us this year….2009…a new pattern of behavior which will be a blessing and benefit to you and yours.

Here are some ways to bless and benefit yourself during the Holidays:

(1) Before you commit to the big meal where you tend to do EVERYTHING and you find resentment has built up over the years but you don’t know how to get out of your obligatory role…say no this year or ask for assistance by delegating. What a concept…delegating!

(2) Have a Holiday Plan starting NOW: Plan out the next two months and divide the chores, events, activities in smaller “pieces”. Put YOU into your daily plan and make sure you are able to enjoy YOU as you “do” your life.

(3) Ask yourself: “Why do I take on so much each year? Here are some possible reasons you might want to explore:

* Everyone expects me to…they can count on me.

* I know that I really do it better than anyone else.

* We have family traditions…I can’t change them.

* What would they say if I changed it?

(4) Ponder this: The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself and that may mean saying no to others so that the very best you can happen. You are then better able to give without resentment.

More to come on this subject. I welcome your questions and comments.

-Roberta