Stress and ways to handle it

STRESS
AND WAYS TO HANDLE IT

© Chessie Roberts 2009 all right reserved. Used on blogsopt,chessiesEOS by permission

Do you have concerns about things such as; the economy, budget cuts, your life in general, cash flow, higher demands on your time and resources, that next load of laundry, anything at all? Well a yes answer to any of those puts you in the “you have stress” category. Not to worry, help is on the way.

Some warning signs of becoming overwhelmed by stress (not to scare you but to inform you) can also be explained by other, possible medical situations so, before we go any further, if you feel that you are experiencing any of these symptoms or warning signs, PLEASE see your doctor or health care provider for an exam to be sure where your personal ‘stuff’ is coming from.

CHANGES IN YOUR BEHAVIOR:
Nervous habits either starting or coming back
Pulling away, isolating yourself
Eating (too much or not enough)
Use of nicotine, alcohol or any drug (prescription or recreational)
Neglecting your responsibilities
Procrastination
Sleeping (too much or not enough)

CHANGES IN YOUR THOUGHT PROCESSES;
Difficulty or an inability to concentrate
Focusing only on negative aspects of your life
Problems with memory
Constant worrying
Difficulty or an inability to focus for any length of time
Displaying poor judgment
Overly anxious
Racing thoughts

YOUR PHYSICAL BODY;
Loss of sex drive
More frequent occurrence in respiratory problems, such as;
Colds, sinus infections, bronchitis etc
Frequent gastro/intestinal problems, such as;
Diarrhea, gas, constipation, cramps, nausea etc.
Dizziness
Pain in chest and/or upper arm
Heart rate becomes rapid
General, undefined aches and pains


YOUR EMOTIONS;
Feeling overwhelmed
Moodiness; irritable, agitated, can’t relax, can’t get going, short tempered
Depressed, don’t care
Feeling alone or isolated (even around others)
Generally unhappy with everything/one

You need to remember that your emotions and actions are contagious to both yourself and to others. If you are able to control you in a balanced manner that too will spread to those around you and you are ahead of the game. Because once you are in a downward spiral, it will build.

How does this occur you may ask? It happens because thoughts are fluctuations of energy that are carried by chemicals called neuropeptides. Your body is a shameless eavesdropper and will instantly react to your thoughts even before you are aware of them. Have you ever been startled by what you thought was a spider or a snake only to discover that you were mistaken? Well there you have a perfect example of the phenomenon.

This also occurs when you speak of something you ‘feel’. I learned my lesson the hard way. I was at my chiropractors one day because of terrible lower back spasms. While on the table the Dr. and I were conversing about my day and I answered one of his questions with a cleaver quote from a movie that I was currently using for laughs, “That makes my butt twitch.” I know, I know, not very ladylike but the Dr noticed that as I spoke the quote, I had another spasm! He said, “I think I found your problem.” And he was correct. I stopped saying that particular phrase and my spasms dropped off dramatically.

Lesson here is when you pay attention to your ‘self’ on a conscious level, you become better in tune with you so you know sooner when you are reaching your limit. So what can you do to help yourself? First, breathe. As you breathe, you exchange the atoms of your body. As you replace the tired ones with fresh ones, you feel better. Regular breathing will exchange about 98% of your body’s atoms per year, deep conscious breathing raises that rate. I’m talking about the deep in through the nose, blow it out through the mouth, empty your lungs kind of breathing. (Careful and don’t hyperventilate) you should not have to do this more that 3-4 times to feel the effects.
Here are some other ways to control or reduce stress;

PHYSICAL BODY/LIFESTYLE CHANGES; (start with small steps)
Move; walk, drink water not soda make better food choices
Cut way down on nicotine and alcohol
Get into a regular sleep schedule
Balance you work, family, rest, play time
Don’t over or under commit (you will learn where your limits are)
Leave some wiggle room in your schedule, leave earlier to account for traffic etc
Take breaks and leave your desk, room or building
Prioritize tasks, delegate when you can and to the least pleasant first or when you are at
Your strongest time of day
Hydrate yourself

YOUR MENTAL STATE (MIND);
Learn and practice meditation (pray to ask, meditate to listen for answers)
Learn and practice correct self talk to create better communication with yourself and
Consequently, others.
Make time to read positive, up lifting things that are not business related
Find/make a calm, quiet place (it really is ok to have one)
Learn to truly like your ‘self’ with no judgments or criticism
Hydrate

YOUR SPIRIT;
Have/attend regular religious/spiritual rituals to reconnect with the Greater Power
Pray to ask
Meditate to listen/help
Help someone in true need
Laugh with genuine humor
Learn with gratitude, love and joy
Enjoy

“Remember the definition of relaxing is not lying on the couch, sleeping or being lazy; it is a mentally active practice that leaves the body relaxed and refreshed. It is best done in an awake state. It is a trainable exercise that gets better with practice.” University of Michigan Health Center

Bright Blessings, Chessie

Who is Chessie Roberts

Chessie Roberts, a gifted singer/songwriter who began studying a better way to be healthy when she was told by her doctor to become accustomed to being fat, crippled and on narcotics. She had become so infirm that her music and quality of life were suffering and a wheelchair was her constant companion.
The charka system was not new to her but this particular application was. By using it, visualization and mental reprogramming of out-dated ideas in conjunction with chiropractic adjustments, she (and her chiropractor) found her improvement staggeringly rapid. Amazed and excited by this melding of traditions and practices, Roberts decided to share the information with others and created “Evolution of Self; A Journey into Body, Mind, Spirit Balance.

Through this series of programs, taught in three levels, Roberts leads participants through exercises that are designed to help them “tap into your own strength and knowledge that can bring clarity to your entire existence, making it better, healthier and more fulfilling”(csrobertsEOS.)

Each level of the program builds on the one before it and all together gives a framework for a truly balanced life. She has been studying, teaching and living this program for close to 20 years.
Born in Mississippi in 1950, Roberts was the daughter of a high school English teacher and a career Navy man. She quickly developed an insatiable curiosity about every thing that happened to cross her path. Traveling extensively across America and to any country where her family found themselves assigned, her love of different traditions and thought processes was created and nurtured. Encouraged by grandparents and parents alike, she dug into many music traditions and different ideologies. Roberts studied on college level in Florida, Virginia and California. She also learned and uses from everyday life.

She taught “Ethics in Worship” in small, selective classes for many years, writes both prose and music which she performs with her husband in the Archer’s Meadow band. She and her husband reside in the Tidewater area of Virginia and enjoy performing their music, sharing Evolution of Self, helping to lay the ground work for DubLi (a consumer driven shopping portal and fund raising platform) and spending time with their children and grand children.

Positive Balance

© Chessie Roberts 2009 all rights reserved. Used on chessiesEOS.blogspot.com by permission

Can a cat ever be a dog? No? We all know that is an impossibility yet we strive to do it to ourselves every day.
We mostly concentrate on the outside because society tells us what we should look like. We as women are always too something; fat, thin, short, tall, ‘insert failing here’. There are hoards of advertising messages to point these things out to us. “Is your hair straight? Then curl it with blabla! Too curly? Then straighten it with ‘name your product”! “Take this pill and look like ‘name the first movie/TV star that pops into your head”! “Are your body parts succumbing to gravity? Well Dr. Perky can lift your spirits”! No wonder we are feeling out of balance, according to all of that we will never be good enough for anything.
When does all of this start? At birth! The village raising you, though well meaning, parents; regular and grand, teachers friends and other family, all have their ideas about who you should be and what you should look like, bother what you think, if they let you think at all. Then there is the media who target us younger and younger (there are programs for infants out there now) All of this is busy forming our mental images of our selves and others. Most of the time it is done with a negative slant hidden in the seemingly ‘positive’ message. Just in case you are not aware of this, research shows that humans remember and take to heart the negative words, actions and inferences much more deeply than the positive ones. Positive input must constantly be reinforced. Is it any wonder that we try so diligently to correct what we think others think when they look at US? Actually the other person is more concerned about what THEY think you think when you look at them! How is that for irony? The double whammy here is that the way we react to someone or to ourselves teaches those who are watching us how to treat others and them selves. Case in point; I have a friend who was horribly over weight and she would expound to anyone in earshot how much she “hated skinny women because they were stuck up and looked sick.” Now that she has had gastric bypass surgery and wants her teen aged daughter to loose weight, guess what is going on in that house. The child who has this mental tape of her mothers’ words playing over and over in her head is having issues with loosing weight. These people are out of balance.
Here is the kicker ladies, if you think you look/feel bad, you do. But, if you think you look/feel good, you do. I think it was Henry Ford that said, “If you think you can or if you think you can’t, you’re right”. The trick is having a positive balance and standing in your own power. Balance is crucial to everything on the planet and that means us too.
When you change what you think about, what you think about changes. So, find your positive, your good qualities and embrace them, love them without shame. Go so far as to celebrate them; it is okay and desirable to do that. In time the negative fades into nothingness and what you truly are shines through. Bright Blessings, Chessie

“Never let the opinions of someone who cannot truly know you hurt you; stand in your own power.” CSR, ‘Evolution of Self; Journey into Body, Mind, Spirit Balance.’

Positive

© Chessie Roberts 2009 all rights reserved. Used on Evolution of Self; Journey into Body, Mind, Spirit Balance by permission


I looked up the word, ‘positive’ in the dictionary and was surprised to see that it has 30 different definitions. I had to read them all to see which one pertained to this article and I decided it was #4; emphasizing what is laudable, hopeful, to the good; constructive. I feel that these qualities are being lost in the 21st century for many reasons but the one I want to stress here is our CHOICES.

We have both the ability and the right to choose to be positive, hopeful and constructive. I have found, in my years of teaching this concept that some people choose to enjoy being miserable. Now I don’t condone that choice but I do not condemn it either. I just choose not to associate with those who choose this life style.

I have also discovered a very interesting truth about being positive; it is energizing where as negativity is draining; it takes a lot of energy to stay unhappy! I don’t know about you but I have far better things to use my energy on that will help, motivate and edify others and that makes me happy. Will you join me in being optimistic, confident, constructive, helpful and encouraging? You will find that your life will be positively different for making that choice.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

Sign in Eleanor Roosevelt’s office; “No one can ‘make you’ without your permission.”

Balance

Balance

© Chessie Roberts 2009 all rights reserved. Used on Evolution of Self; Journey into Body, Mind, Spirit Balance by permission

Balance is a tricky thing. Financially ones income needs to balance ones out go; in Nature, wet needs to balance dry, light, dark. Your vehicle needs its systems to be in balance for it to function properly. In life work needs to balance play and action, rest.

So the mental and physical need to balance with the spiritual; if we are too invested in one, the other two will go wanting. Our physical body is usually our first focus because we see it all the time and others are there to point out where improvement is seemingly needed. Our second focus is usually the mental spoke of our wheel as we strive to learn and grow. Too often our spiritual part is the last to be investigated.

Once we begin our spiritual growth process we find wondrous things begin to happen, we begin to vibrate to new rhythms, those of a higher nature, closer to creation and universal truth. When that happens things just seem to work better because our balance is returning and we, whole once again feel our true purpose and we travel the path of growth for which we were intended.

Bright Blessings, Chessie

“If we are going to be happy, we have to be happy on purpose.” Joyce Myer