Denver 9 News "Stress Week Series" was broadcast in November just in time for the holidays.  If you missed these, you can still watch via the 9News website.  I've provided the links below.  Topics covered included 1) the effects of stress on the body; 2) stress in the workplace; 3) email and social media as a source of stress; and 4) an excellent piece on the effect of stress on kids.  

In their series kickoff, these questions were raised: "Is your stress self-induced?" "Are you making yourself too busy?" My first thought was, "I'm guilty--always trying to do too much."  Oops, that's negative self-talk.  Here's what I really meant:  "More and more, I'm learning to focus on what's really important and to let go of the rest." My holiday greeting card  to you gives a few tips for reducing your stressors. 

Wishing you a meaningful and not too hectic Holiday!


 http://www.9news.com/story/news/health/2015/11/23/stress-week/76249186/
http://www.9news.com/story/news/health/2015/11/27/how-email-social-media-are-causing-tech-stress/76452652/
http://www.9news.com/story/life/moms/2015/11/26/stressed-kids/76381186/
http://www.9news.com/story/news/health/2015/11/25/stress-physical-pain/76360150/

If you listen to the news, life can look pretty grim at times.  Most of us have encountered and moved through our own grim circumstance.  At the time, you may feel as though it's all you can do to get through your day (or a sleepless night). With time, the stress or pain associated with the difficult situation will likely ease, only to resurface when triggered by a thought, memory or event.  Strength and personal growth are a probable consequence.  Down the road, it may even be possible to find some gratitude in some aspect of it.  We now have a term for this process.  Keep reading.

You've likely heard of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but do you know about posttraumatic growth (PTG)?  I heard this term for the first time when attending a recent presentation featuring Scarlett Lewis whose 6 year-old son, Jessie, was murdered in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

PTG is a positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with a traumatic event or a major life crisis.  Ever had one of those?  

The term, PTG, was coined in 1995 by Dr. Richard Tedeschi, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina and co-author of the handbook Post Traumatic Growth.  If you care to take a "Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory", click here. 

Individuals with PTG tend to experience change in 5 general areas:

• New opportunities and possibilities emerge.
• New relationships develop; or current relationships change, often becoming closer.
• One's sense of personal strength increases.
• Appreciation for life is enhanced.
• A deeper spiritual connection is found and/or a change in one's belief system.

Despite the circumstances, there is always something to be grateful for.
I challenge you to:

• Pause briefly each day (at least once). 
• Inhale as you say to yourself: "I am thankful". 
• Slowly exhale as you say to yourself "Grateful for ___________". 
• Use your next breath to breathe in that sense of gratitude. 
• Allow it to fill your heart space. 
• Then exhale slowly, letting it spread throughout your body.
• Do it again as you remind yourself to drop your shoulders and jaw.

The force of nature is certainly trying to get our attention this time of year--shouting out her message in vivid colors!  Begging for attention as a falling leaf flutters across your path.  It’s as if the changing of the seasons is her reminder to be mindful of areas in our lives that could benefit from change.  And perhaps a more dramatic lesson is offered as the trees “let go” of their leaves.  Or is it the leaves that are letting go? 

I invite you to participate in nature’s process of letting go.  Be mindful of the trees and leaves, observing their patterns.  Those that let go so easily, being the first to reach the ground.  Those that fall fast and hard.  Those that flutter and scamper across the path.  Those that linger on the tree, soaking up the last glimmer of Indian Summer.  Or are they simply displaying their stubbornness? 

Is there something you’d like to let go of?  Let each falling leaf serve as a reminder to release whatever is not serving your highest good.  Consider both the body and the mind.  I’ve listed some ideas, but you’ll know what’s right for you!

Letting Go in the Body:

• Muscle tension—shoulders, jaw, hands, muscles in the face, back, legs and feet.
• Pain—give it permission to leave.
  
• Fatigue—breathe energy into your body.
  
• A long exhale with an audible sigh can signal the body to let go.
  

Letting Go in the Mind:

• Busy mind chatter  
  
• Negative thoughts and self-talk
• Anger, resentment, unforgiveness
  
• Worry, fear or other pent up emotions
  
• Perfection and the need to please
  
• Let go of one needless “to do”
  
• The sense that there is “not enough time”
  
• Confining beliefs
  

Having said this, perhaps there are situations where we need to let go of the need to let go!  What about just accepting what is?  Sitting with uncomfortable thoughts and emotion as you breathe and offer yourself some acceptance and compassion. 

Some of my favorite meditations are those of Jon Kabat-Zinn.  His CDs can be purchased online and I highly recommend them.  Another of nature’s lessons can be found within his Lake Meditation.  He presents an image of a lake, noting that at times the surface is smooth and still.  At other times, it is “disturbed, choppy and stirred up.”  Despite this unrest on the surface, there is stillness and life below.

He suggests that we “be the lake”, being aware of uncomfortable thoughts and feelings and holding them with acceptance and compassion.  He asks, “Isn’t having a rippling and wavy surface part of being a lake?”  Can you be still, breathe, and find the calm deep within your inner being, despite external circumstances?

Dr. Russ Curtis, PhD, LPC, has adapted Kabat-Zinn’s lake meditation in his 4 ½ minute YouTube video.  Be the lake!