June 2018 • Stress Buffer

Stressed? Get to the Root Cause!

You feel stressed? You’re not alone! According to a recent Gallup poll, 79% of Americans are afflicted by stress (Dec. 20, 2017). The root causes of stress affect us all. Moreover, many adults believe their stress levels are rising over time. Graph: Percentage of adults who stated their stress level had increased over the previous year in the U.S. when surveyed each year from 2014 to 2017. Source The graph shows that, in 2017, almost 37% of adults said their stress…

Stress – It’s About Your Body!

Stress is just a state of mind . . . right? No, Sir! Sorry if I'm breaking the news. The majority of stressed individuals do not realize this: A person's natural stress response is mainly a physiological event. Stress Affects Your Body! This means that the effects of stress have never been limited to our minds. As the graphic shows, when a person is stressed, all parts of their body experience it. Vector graphic by Freepik Stress is affecting your body, whether…

Stress Management: Cool & Calm Strategies (Pt. 1 of 2)

Do you find yourself in unavoidable high-stress situations? You feel you have to think fast, respond quickly and say the right thing now -- not regret later what you wish you had or had not said. Many of us have been there! In this post, I'll show you how Stress Management Cool & Calm Strategies enable you to stay cool & calm, clear-thinking and at your best no matter what pressures surround you. Be like a duck: Calm on the…

4 Practical Tips to Master Stress Management (Pt. 2 of 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of our Stress Management series. In Part 1 we introduced three fundamental strategies to set you on a successful course of action to master Stress Management. Today's post centers on Practical Tips to help you master Stress Management. Before we get to the Practical Tips, here is a quick refresher of the Cool & Calm Strategies from Part 1 of this series: First, you must identify your particular stressors. What specific things are causing you to feel…

How to Stop Mental Stress Now!

Frustrated? Feel like a victim? Lots of things bother you? All these annoyances are reversible. A little knowledge of how and why this happens to you will go a long way toward helping you stop mental stress, clear the decks and feel free. What you will learn in this article: • How a negative thought can trigger the cycle of stress • What determines how you respond to stress -- this may surprise you! • How to stop…

Your Mind on Mindfulness: How It Works (Pt. 1 of 2)

There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full. Henry Kissinger Perhaps you've heard of the legendary American statesman, Henry Kissinger. Widely known in his day for the wise witticisms that peppered his international diplomacy, he always appeared suave and in control. Wouldn't we all like to possess that attractive trait -- to be unnerved by the stress of work demands, family responsibilities, and social pressures. To be in control of our response to external stress.…

How Mindfulness Replaces Stress – Every Time! (Pt. 2 of 2)

My key to dealing with stress is simple: Just stay cool and stay focused. Ashton Eaton How can you develop mindfulness to replace stress in any situation? As the young, retired athlete, Ashton Eaton, reveals in the quote above, "just stay cool and stay focused." Sure, easier said than done. He certainly employed exceptional skills for staying focused when he broke the world decathlon and heptathlon records. Mr. Eaton is right: It's easier to say cool when we are focused. However,…

How Organized Are You? Quiz and Excuse List Reveal the Truth! (Pt. 1 of 3)

A friend once told me, "A person with a tidy house is either never home or very boring." Being one to question the basics, I started to wonder if the most interesting and successful people tend to have cluttered and sloppy surroundings. Around the same time, I was working in an office where the chief executive displayed the polar opposite in his work style. Every time I passed his office, I caught sight of his calm, distinguished, aquiline profile, at…

5 Ways Clutter Causes You Stress! (Pt. 2 of 3)

Welcome to Part 2 of our series: Organized and Clutter-Free At Last Our aim here is to declutter your life for stress relief. In our last post, we helped you personalize your project of getting organized. You scored your level of organization habits against a checklist of common everyday occurrences. We also offered a list of widely used excuses to help you discover whether you, like so many other people, might be justifying a lack of organization. Both of these steps are…

Clear Clutter Now: Practical and Tactical Tips to Get It Done! (Pt. 3 of 3)

See it: Your space entirely clear and organized! Everything you need is accessible. Whatever was not needed is gone. Your room is refreshing, rejuvenating and stress-free! You are about to make the vision a reality. Prepare yourself mentally. Don't think you have to finish it in one day. Clearing clutter and getting organized is not an overnight endeavor. If you’ve seen TV shows that tackle clutter, you may already have a clue as to how much work it actually takes…