Approaches to Better Health

APPROACHES TO BETTER HEALTH

Stress Reduction
Tools for Keeping Life in Perspective
Tensing and Relaxing
Reframing
Tips for Coping with Change
Home Safety
Physical and Spiritual Fitness

STRESS REDUCTION

". . . maybe you don't need to make one more phone call right now, even if you think you do.
Maybe you don't need to read something just now, or run one more errand.

By taking a few moments to '[stop] on purpose' to the rush of time while you are still living, you free yourself to have time for the present. By [stopping] now in this way, you actually become more alive now.

This is what stopping can do. There is nothing passive about it. And when you decide to go, it's a different kind of going because you stopped. The stopping actually makes the going more vivid, richer, more textured. It helps keep all the things we worry about and feel inadequate about in perspective. It gives us guidance."

"Try: Stopping, sitting down, and becoming aware of your breathing once in a while throughout the day. It can be for five minutes, or even five seconds.

Let go into full acceptance of the present moment, including how you are feeling and what you perceive to be happening. For these moments, don't try to change anything at all, just breathe and let go. Breathe and let be.

[Stop] having to have anything be different in this moment; in your mind and in your heart, give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is, and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.

Then, when you're ready, move in the direction your heart tells you to go, mindfully and with resolution."

From "The Bloom of the Present Moment," in John Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There
You Are, pp. 12–13.

TOOLS FOR KEEPING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE

Joke Box

Have a box in which people share jokes, humorous quips, and funny stories. Begin meetings at home or at work by pulling some of these out and reading them.

Family Feelgood Kit

Collect items that make family members feel good (stuffed toys, foot massager, favorite pillows, cozy outfits, special music, picture albums of happy times) and place them in a special corner of a room in which the family does things together.

Dreamrunner Recipes

Conveyor Belt: You can make your routine walk from the parking lot to the workplace an
opportunity to practice calming and unstressing yourself. Concentrate on the path ahead of you, and imagine the path is moving instead of you.

Breath Pull: As you leave the building at work and head for your car, imagine that your breath is vacuuming you forward. You're not walking, you are "being walked."

Giant Hand: Try this for a lunchtime power walk, or for a walk around the block for exercise at home. Imagine a giant hand, as tall as you are, against your back, gently pushing you forward. Again, it is not you, but "the hand" that is causing you to move.

TENSING AND RELAXING

The science of yoga tells us that one of the most effective (and unobtrusive) means of relieving stress and gaining energy is tensing and relaxing your muscles. You can do tensing and relaxing in any position--standing, sitting, or lying down. Never jerk the muscle; rather, go from relaxing to low tension, to medium tension, to high tension (hold a few seconds), then back to medium tension, to low tension, to relaxing. Any muscle set can be tensed and relaxed. For the full treatment, concentrate and do the following:

Tense the whole body, then relax.

Tense, and completely relax, each of the following body parts in order: feet,
calves, thighs, abdomen, buttocks, forearms, upper arms, chest, shoulders,
neck.

Repeat, this time in a "wave." Hold each muscle group tense as you add the
next; then relax groups in order.

REFRAMING

Change the way you see the world, and you change the world. To reframe means to consciously alter the way you see a situation, without changing any of the "facts." (Buddhists call this "finding the bless in the mess.")

For instance, by consideration alone you can reframe a situation from
boring to interesting, from difficult to easy, from unrewarding to fascinating, from frightening to fun, from discouraging to hopeful, from too fast (slow, cold, hot, hard, young, old, easy, plain, whatever) to just right, from alarming to curious, from stressing to relaxing, from the wrong boss (parents, spouse, work, peers, kids, neighbors) to the right ones, and so on. The following story suggests a way to use reframing to preserve balance in life:

Perhaps

All the people in the village envied Farmer Bose because he owned a horse. "You're so lucky!" they said. "Perhaps," he said.
One day the horse ran away. "Too bad," the villagers said.
"Perhaps," said Bose.
Soon the horse returned, leading another wild horse. "Now you have two horses," they said. "How fortunate!"
"Perhaps," said Farmer Bose.
In trying to ride the wild horse, his son was thrown and broke his leg. "Pity!" said friends.
"Perhaps."
When army conscripts came through the village, taking away young men for battle, naturally they passed up the ailing boy.
“Do you have good luck, Bose, or what?" the people exclaimed.
"Perhaps," replied Farmer Bose quietly.

TIPS FOR COPING WITH CHANGE

The Chinese symbol for "stress" combines the symbol for "risk" and "opportunity". As we go through times of change, it helps to try to see changes as times of opportunity, not just times of risk or threat.

When changes take place there are some common reactions people have. Be on the lookout for these:

Denial—acting as if the change won't happen

Paying lip service to the change, but believing you won't take part in it

Expecting others, but not you, to do the changing

Saying you'll accept the change, but doing the least you can to comply

Undermining the change by doing whatever you can overtly or covertly to see that it doesn't happen

Adapting to the change

Anticipating and planning for the change

To make the best of a situation that is changing:

Find a supportive friend to talk out your fears and hopes

Find a physical activity that you enjoy and do it on a regular basis

Focus on things you know you are good at so you can use them as part of the "opportunity" part of change

Don't resist—find the parts of the change that can work in your favor

Visualize your success at making the transition and believe in the power of positive thinking

Think of skills you have that can be used in new ways in the new situation

HOME SAFETY

At home, arrange for a fire department representative to visit and/or call and ask for guidelines for home safety.

Discuss with those you live with procedures for escape if there is a fire or other emergency. Have every member of the household practice using the fire escape if there is one.

If you live in a two-story residence, buy a fire ladder (available at most home center stores) and have everyone try using it to get out of the building.

Check smoke detectors to be sure they are working and the batteries are fresh.

Know where the nearest fire alarm box is in your neighborhood.

Go over safety measures to be observed in the household, like checking to make sure the stove is off before leaving the house, unplugging the toaster oven after use, always making sure there is something in the microwave before turning it on.

Check outside walkways for dangerous holes or protrusions.

Discuss insurance policies with your agent or representative to ensure that your coverage in case of accidents and emergencies is adequate.

PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL FITNESS

Obtain guidelines and recommendations for fitness for your age and state of health. For instance, it is important for women to participate in some weight-bearing activity to keep their bones healthy and to help prevent osteoporosis.

Spiritual "fitness"

Most cultures have traditions for balancing the normal demands of daily life, including work, with a more focused attention to one's spiritual life. For example:

Christian

Prayer is a central focus of a Christian's religious life, whether it is within a formal, institutional context (such as attending mass in the Roman Catholic tradition) or more personal conversations with God (in the Protestant evangelical tradition). God is considered an ever-present source of support and direction as one faces each day's activities and demands. In addition, Sunday has
been traditionally considered the Sabbath, a day set aside for devotion to God and abstaining from normal, daily activities of work or commerce.

Muslims

Muslims are obligated to pray five times each day. This is a formal, public prayer during which Muslims kneel facing east toward Mecca, the place where Mohammed is buried, and reciting passages from the Qu'ran emphasizing praise of Allah, gratitude, and supplication. Prayer is to take place upon rising in the morning, when the sun reaches its zenith, at the point of the sun's mid-decline, at sunset, and before going to bed for the night.

Jews

Traditional Jews observe a sharp distinction between the regular week and the Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. During this time, Jews refrain from any regular work and devote themselves to worship and to visiting with friends and relatives.

Eastern Traditions

Hindu, Buddhist, and other Eastern traditions emphasize the inner spiritual life.

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