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Stress Management Articles

Stress can hit a person with the slightest sign of warning. It does not choose who to attack and when to go for the kill. Stress does not exempt anyone. It never does.

People from all walks of life are going different forms of stress at one time or the other. Those who are firm believers of the survival-of –the-fittest persuasion are not even spared from experiencing stress, thus they too have succumb to the effects of stress. It is of little wonder that stress management articles are not flooding in health maintenance market. These stress management articles talk about different sources and coping mechanisms of stress. While others discuss stress in different perspective but with the same intention of addressing it through positive means.

According to Henry Neils, who is an expert in the field of stress management, there are 13 common signs of stress that are sometimes just taken for granted or mistakenly thought as something else out of the ordinary. Furthermore he stressed out that knowing the signs at an early stage would help the affected individual recover positively.

Like many of the stress management articles, Neils pointed out chronic fatigue as the top sign that the warning red light of stress is on. This can include, among other things exhaustion and a feeling of total physical drain attributed to tiredness. This is closely followed by anger that is directed to people who are making demands, self-criticism, and cynicism. Negativity and irritability are closely related to cynicism.

Other signs are: feeling of being attacked or harassed, emotional outburst caused by even the minutest reason, recurring headache and gastrointestinal pains, weight change, difficulty of sleeping or depression, short breath intervals, paranoia, perceived helplessness, and the degree of taking risky activities is getting higher. All these, according to Neils, once any of which is observed should be addressed immediately.

Some of the stress management articles may have different lists of common stress experienced by all. Nevertheless these articles including that of Neils’ are meant to help curb the negative effects of stress. They are aimed at helping individuals most especially those who are suffering from stress to cope.

Other stress management articles have underscored the connection between stress and health. Further they take more strides on how to cope with stress and thereby achieving optimum health and enjoying quality life at best. These articles also shed light on the importance of understanding the body’s reaction to different kinds of stress, thus when one attacks the affected individual already knows how to take the matter with ease and confidence.
So the next time that you are feeling like having colds, check your warning signs. It might be the first sign of stress.

Stress Management and Stretching

The Office

Yeah, it sure is the biggest source for stress, next to home. But while at home most people will find it easy to combat stress, the office provides only a limited instance wherein you can disperse stress. You can’t just shout your lungs out, and surely you can’t just bash and throw things at random just to settle your nerves.  Some offices though on some tougher conditions have facilities for these shouting and throwing of cutleries. I have seen one office environment, a customer call center where employees can throw things like inexpensive dishes just to relieve stress out. But if such facility is unavailable to you, and you know you’re due to stress, then you better learn about stress management and the stretching techniques that will help loosen those knots out.

Frankly, how much room and time do you need to do a couple of minutes stretching? And what it does is enable your blood flow more freely, loosen up those tired and knotted muscles and take away your thoughts from work for the moment. It may sound so ordinary but it does help ease stress out of your system. Here are some stress management and the stretching techniques you can practice:

Pain is sometimes a contributing factor for stress in a workplace. Ever got the overwhelming feeling that you have myriad things to do and don’t have sufficient time. Sometimes, when you get that depressing feeling, its always accompanied by back pains, lower back pains or stiff neck. Stress management and stretching plays a complimenting duo: easing out those tired muscles and knuckling up those joints, thus allowing blood to regulate freely, while also taking your mind away from work. Back muscle and flexibility exercises are always good stress management and stretching since they help maintain the neutral spine position. This is a Trunk Rotation Exercise, and it works best if you do it with mind relaxation. If you know some Tai Chi it could help greatly.

To start, find some pole you can sling over your shoulders, preferably some length of pole 2 meters long. Find something that’s smooth and round and a bit heavy; an ideal pole is a billiard cue since they are also pretty to have in the office. Sling the cue over your shoulders and arms and the nape of your neck. Now, stand up straight and slowly swing the pole left and right in a semi-circular motion. Remember, you should not overextend your lateral swings as can cause hernia. While doing this, close your eyes and feel (or pretend) there’s a trickle of water trickling down the nape of your neck. Do this one until you feel relaxed. However, do not extend this to become a full fledged exercise.