[ Home | My Blog | Site Map | Student | Teacher ]

Stress Busters

 

Everyone of us works more than he rests. Is this the correct proportion? Should we work more than we rest? Should we rest more than we work? Should we relax for every hour we work?

On this page you will find some interesting ways of relaxing.  You should find those stress busters that work for you but you should also consider personal life coaches.

Personal life coaches help people improve their everyday life performances and enhance the quality of their lives. Online coaching provides an alternative to traditional face-to-face coaching. It has many benefits. Sometimes the traditional methods are inaccessible, inconvenient, or not preferred. Online coaching may be a useful alternative for people, unable to make it to a coach's office, live in a remote area, have a disability, limited time constraints, or would like to get an idea of how coaching works before seeing a coach face to face.

Online coaching is a method of communicating with a coach by email or real time online chats, voice conversations through MSN, Yahoo, SKYPE or Google Talk. You can choose how many email exchanges you want, some people exchange a  few emails and others may prefer an ongoing email relationship. E-mail communication is an effective way of providing an ongoing supportive system by means of a written dialogue between you and your coach. It offers an opportunity to learn and gain deeper insight into those sometimes unpleasant issues we all experience. You can share your concerns, ask questions, and organize your thoughts and feelings by means of online writing with a coach.

Online coaching has many advantages. One major benefit is that it provides an excellent alternative to many of us who have busy lifestyles and find it difficult to schedule and keep appointments. Another advantage is that online coaching has unlimited opportunities for an open and effective channel of communication. A person can express his or her feelings openly without the limitations posed by seeing and reading into the coach's body language or facial expressions.

Feeling stressed?  Don't worry, many teachers feel stressed during the spring semester!  Here are a few tips to help keep your blood pressure down and keep you content!

Humor helps. Here are some funny cartoon stress busters on how to lower your stress.

 

Stress Management & Test Anxiety The ABC's of Eliminating Exam Anxiety

 

How about measuring your stress level to make sure you are not overdoing things?

Managing Stress:

Here are some managing stress interactive quizzes: 

Measuring Your Stress Level

Stress Test

Negative and Positive Ways to Deal With Stress

Questionnaire for Assessing Depression or Suicidal Behavior

Having the right attitude can also help.

 

Relaxing Exercises

Deep Breath. Click here to access the audio file for "DEEP BREATH".
Take a deep breath. Hold it for about three seconds. Then let it out all at once (with a sigh, if you want). As you exhale, let your jaw relax, your shoulders relax, and think "calm." Let your teeth remain slightly apart (we should go through the day with a slight space between our jaws!) .

Cool Air In, Warm Air Out. Click here to access the audio file for "COOL BREATH".
With your eyes closed. shift your attention to the tip of your nose. As you breathe in become aware of the air coming into your nostrils. As you breathe out be aware of the sensations of the air passing back out. Notice that the air coming in tends to be cooler and the air breathed out tends to be warmer. Be aware of cool air in. warm air out. Feel loose and heavy as you are doing it. Do this several times.

Sample Active Strategies -- Stretching

Shoulder Roll. Click here to access the audio file for "SHOULDER ROLL".
Raise your shoulders as if trying to touch your ears with them. Then move your shoulders back; then let them drop. Up, back, down, and around. Do that about five times. Some persons find it helps more if they roll their shoulders forward rather than backward. Experiment to see which works best for you. Keep your jaw relaxed and breathe easily.

Stand And Reach. Click here to access the audio file for "STAND AND REACH".
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Put your arms over your head and interlace your fingers. Turn your palms toward the ceiling and stretch, trying to reach the ceiling. Stand on your toes and stretch if you can. Remember to breathe deeply and calmly.

Sample Self-Directed Visualization

Re-create a Favorite Calm Scene. Click here to access the audio file for "VISUALIZATION".
Take a deep breath. As you let it out, let your eyes close. Imagine snuggling down in a warm bed. Or lying on a beach at a favorite lake. Or taking a luxurious warm bath. Maintain the feelings of calm as you gently activate yourself.

Create a Feeling: Calm, Serene.
One woman helped rid herself of migraine headaches by recalling a serene grandmother. When everyone else seemed to be frantic, or when life became hectic, the grandmother remained calm. So several times a day the woman visualized her serene grandmother, and it made her feel more serene herself.

Originally written in 1989 by David G. Danskin, Ph.D., Counseling Services; modified and updated in 8/2000 by Dorinda Lambert, Ph.D. for inclusion on the internet.