“He took my lunch money!” is one of the last things you ever want to hear from your child. However, these days it’s more like “That person put an embarrassing picture of me on Snapchat!”. Yes bullying has definitely adapted to modern technology but is bullying just a phase? Guest author Jibran Qazi, a marketing consultant in Vancouver, gives some insight into bullying.
According to Education.com, those who bully at an early age are more inclined to be convicted of a crime by the age of 24. So does this mean the bullying habits of a troublemaker in junior high school can ‘graduate’ to the workplace as well? According to the statistics, Yes. [Read more…]
People often see the mind and body as two distinct things, but in fact they’re intrinsically linked. This means that it’s impossible to have a healthy body if you don’t have a healthy mind. Here are just a few of the ways in which your psychology can affect your physiology. This guest post from Lloyds Pharmacy discusses the effect of psychology on your sex life, stress and anxiety. [Read more…]
I haven’t time for ****s sake, there’s only so many hours in the day, just give me a break will you? Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, tired all the time and ‘snappy’? Why are we all under such duress and who is accountable? [Read more…]
As a counsellor, or indeed any therapist, we are limited to the value we can achieve for our clients by our available skills and scope… but also the clients own willingness or ability to collaborate. [Read more…]
Anyone who suffers with the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) knows how debilitating this condition can be. Read on to learn more about the symptoms, and what has removed IBS from MY life.
Living the same day over and over again will not just make you an ideal replacement for Bill Murray in a modern remake of the 1993 film Groundhog Day, but also get you into a time loop where everything seems to be repeating without ever wanting to stop. Guest author Neil Adams is an Australian based entrepreneur and aspiring writer who’s been running his own online business for four years now. When not in his home office he loves adventuring around Australia and beyond and shares his thoughts on travel. [Read more…]
Studying, wherever or whatever the educational environment, is nothing new yet the pressures today have arguably never been so intense. So how CAN WE reduce the associated stress, anxiety, depression and other turbulent symptoms before they become embedded and define our lives?
We cannot rely on others for our happiness, we have a choice to own some accountability!
Taking Responsibility
Meditation is one important way we can reduce and remove stress, replacing it with a dose of inner peace. However, it can be a challenge to meditate without a guide. Guided meditations literally walk you through and help you find a calm and peaceful state, one step at a time. I’ve created something here for you to complement this post.
Take just 13 minutes to find some peace and become more grounded. This will enable you to get the day off to the best start, to re-set yourself during the day, or of particular benefit, last thing at night to aid with sleep. (Best listened to via earphones, click the player below.)
Top 10 Tips to Reduce Stress
1. Get more Productive & Focused – Studying and trying to focus for longer periods without a break increases the time taken to absorb information. Get away from the study area and practise a few minutes (or more) of being mindful. Use a breathing exercise and some centering thoughts before an exam – to focus just on one question at a time, not the outcome!
2. Grab Regular Breaks – Taking breaks each hour will increase your performance and allow the brain to absorb and ‘sort’ information already received. Set a timer to nudge you!
3. Get Playful – Manage fatigue by scheduling ‘play-time’ as well as rest or other down-time. Seven hours’ restful sleep is sufficient for many of us, despite the belief we might need Twelve!
4. Stay Hydrated – Avoid de-hydration if you want a clearer mind and to reduce the incidence of headache (dehydration being a common cause of headaches).
5. Alcohol – Another major contributory factor to dehydration is alcohol. Clearly downtime is often going to include alcohol consumption so do make sure you replace the elevated loss of vital fluids and electrolytes after the party! Do expect less optimal performance for that exam the morning after alcohol!
6. Eye strain – Look after your eyes, this is another limiting factor for some of us. I suffer dreadfully if I don’t take breaks to rest my eyes. Do make sure you’re on top of your eye health exams.
7. Exercise – Whether it’s simply 30 minutes per day, exercise such as walking, taking in the environment, swimming, going to the gym or other low / high aerobic impact activity, all will reduce the effects of anxiety and depression and provide a natural, healthy high.
8. Socialise – It can become too easy to become ‘hermit’ like and ‘veg out’ then study and ‘veg out’ again, losing touch with others. Try to stay connected. We unconsciously learn to gain understanding when others are feeling and thinking how we are – facing challenges and doubts.
9. Eat Healthily – Our fast-food friends make it all too easy to grab some junk food – and now and again, why not indulge? But our moods and foods are very much intertwined so, if you want optimal performance, look after your physical house with foods that make you feel good, and think well.
10. Perspectives – Much of our anxiety is around perceptions and cognitions. If we can come to our breath and body by way of a regular daily practise, we can retain a more realistic sense of our reality in this moment. Spending study and down-time ruminating over the potential for success or ‘failure’ (expectations not being met), serves only to distract you from what you are supposed to be doing!
I hope this goes some way to providing a measure of what can be possible while we attempt to reach our goals, and to live more optimally. For more advice via Skype or in-person, do call or write to me.
I’ll be creating more guided meditations in due course. If you enjoyed listening to today’s podcast, why not sign up to receive each one FREE, together with my fortnightly posts?
Work-related stress starts because a person is unable to cope with the demands placed upon them and can have some fairly nasty ramifications. It’s critical as a manager to do everything you can to keep your team happy and functioning properly so that you can get the most out of them. [Read more…]
Having spent almost two decades working 24/7 shifts, I understand only too well the impact this has on our health, relationships and our productivity in the workplace. I also, wrote about this subject a few years ago as insufficient sleep is viewed as a common contributory factor for those suffering prolonged periods of depression, anxiety and relationship problems, including parenting. [Read more…]
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