Stress Education Center - Dstress.com Newsletter

"Dedicated to serving by providing information, products, and services to

create awareness and then offer control of stress and the process of change."

In this issue:

1. Introduction and Welcome

2. Zen Thoughts... Mental Health Test

3. Laughter and Humor as Good Medicine

4. Article: Stress Management and Life Control

5. Products of the Month: Basic Guided Relaxation

6. Thank you

=============================================================

1. Introduction of the Stress Education Center's - Dstress.com Newsletter

A special thank you to all the new readers who have signed up to receive our newsletter. This is our 24th newsletter and I hope that it will be of service to you.

My wife, Barbara, and I have been overwhelmed by the supportive and loving feedback from the recent newsletter. Prayers and support from friends and family are always special, however, the amazing response from our less familiar friends and newsletter readers has touched our lives and helped our struggle in the most powerful ways. I can not thank all of you enough for your kindness and warmth. (Barbara's update, her CA-125 was holding at 24 at her 3rd chemotherapy appointment and her side effects post treatment were slightly reduced in this sequence (we are figuring it out.))

As always, we really appreciate your feedback and input.

As I requested in the most recent past newsletter:

Stop for a minute in whatever busy place you are, take one deep breath, relax your shoulders, your forehead, and your jaw. Put the news into perspective. React but do not over-react. Be present...enjoy the moment! And please, take good care of yourself.

Thanks for reading

L. John Mason, Ph.D.

=============================================================

2. Zen Thoughts... A Mental Health Test:

In an effort to discuss stress management from many points of view, my good friends Dan and Kathleen have provided me with the following article that has circulated on the internet for a while. It is placed here in this news letter to balance the very difficult topic that we focused upon in the January newsletter. Please enjoy this perspective...

Subject: A Few Zen Thoughts

A Few Zen Thoughts (For Those Who Take Life Too Seriously)

1. 1. Save the whales. Collect the whole set.
   
   
2. A day without sunshine is like, night.
   
   
3. On the other hand, ....... you have different fingers.
   
   
4. I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
   
   
5. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
   
   
6. 6. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
   
   
7. I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
   
   
8. Honk if you love peace and quiet.
   
   
9. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
   
   
10. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
    
    
11. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
    
    
12. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
    
    
13. I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
    
    
14. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
    
    
15. Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life.
    
    
16. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
    
    
17. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
    
    
18. Get a new car for your spouse. It'll be a great trade!
    
    
19. Plan to be spontaneous, tomorrow.
    
    
20. Always try to be modest, and be proud of it!
    
    
21. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
    
    
22. How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand...
    
    
23. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
    
    
24. How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
    
    
25. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
    
    
26. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
    
    
27. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
    
    
28. Everyone has a photographic memory; Some just don't have film.
    
    
29. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
    
    
30. What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
    
    
31. I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out.
    
    
32. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
    
    
33. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
    
    AND THE ONE I RELATE TO THE MOST THESE DAYS--
    
    
34. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened.

Good luck and good health!

For information, audio stress management tapes, books, on-line stress management courses (a thermometer and audio tapes/CD's are included in the materials for this program), or coaching contact L. John Mason, Ph.D. through the Stress Education Center.

For more tips on what you can do to get back in control of your responses when you are stressed, use the tips from the article "ten timely tips" at www.dstress.com/10-tips.htm. These are very useful. Let me know what you think.

Along the way, do not forget to take good care of yourself!

Good Health!
L. John Mason, Ph.D.

=============================================================

3. Laughter as a Healer

I hope that the silly one-liners above brought a smile to your face. If you did not respond with laughter or smiles, then seriously consider a "sense of humor transplant." A sense of humor is a necessary survival skill in this day and age. More than just getting through the day, laughter and smiling can actually make you healthier. Psychoneuroimmunologists are doing scientific research to find the link between laughter/positive mental attitudes and the positive effects it can have on the immune system. Some researchers believe that joy, happiness, laughter, and smiles can raise the levels of activity of certain white blood cells. They are following this path because they have proven that anger, fear, anxiety, sadness can have the opposite effect, by reducing the activity of certain white blood cells. The link may found in the subtle changes in hormones that are released by the body as a complicated response from the brain's response to these emotions. When we are stressed and angry, a hormone called cortisol is released as part of the stress response. This hormone is one of many that is responsible for elevating blood pressure and reducing production and activity of certain white blood cells. If the stress is unabated or if we are not able to "let go" (and to release our stress), we can have a long term stress response that can seriously affect our health and quality of life. Stress management which includes some doses of humor/laughter, can help to reverse the tendencies to hold on to stress.

In "Anatomy of an Illness" by Saturday Evening Post's editor Norman Cousin, Norman describes his own personal story of healing from a life threatening (and medically untreatable) illness by using the power of laughter. Norman Cousin describes how he locked himself in a hotel room using high doses of vitamin C and silly movies (mostly Marx brothers) to send his disease into remission. Prior to the 1979 publishing of his book, Cousin contributed an article to the New England Journal of Medicine. He became a widely known lecturer on the topic of using humor to heal and the power of the mind to affect health.

Another famous physician, Patch Adams, has traveled the world using his clowning to brighten hospital ridden children to offer healing and support. His claims of the value of humor have met with resistance from traditional medical practitioners, but he claims his positive results are undeniable. Patch is such an interesting character that they made a movie about his life and work, starring Robin Williams.

Though the specific pathways for this mind-body connection have remained elusive, the results are still obvious. Happier states of mind lift the spirits and assist the body to feel better. The old suggestion of an "apple a day" to keep the doctor away may also apply to a "good laugh per day" will help to keep illness away.

Find things daily to celebrate and cherish a good belly laugh.

Thank you.

Along the way, please take good care of yourself.

Send me your comments regarding what strategies you believe work for your self-care and how you most benefit from regular self-care practices.

=============================================================

4. Stress Management and Life Control

In our hectic pace of life, it is common to feel stressed and "out-of-control." We get caught up in the day to day activities and when a problem "falls out of the sky" we do not have any available resources in reserve to deal with this new obstacle. Often there is a sense that we have become "victims" to our own lives. The things that are the most stressful are the things that we care the most about, but, we have the least amount of control over. For example, we can not control what happens to our kids (when they are out of our line of sight) Or, we can not control what our spouse (or mother/father) is going to say of do. Or, we can not control what the economy is going to do to our investments or our jobs. Or, we can not control what the politicians are going to do to the world, just before our long planned vacation overseas..... etc.

There are obviously things that we do not have control over. The one thing that we do control, is the way that we respond to these developments. We can get caught up in the "negative" events and become victims, or, we can take a deep breath, roll up our sleeves and dig in to possible solutions or at least positive responses to difficult news. Sometimes our anger or fear will motivate us to move mountains. People have taken devastatingly bad situations, and turned them into some long lasting solutions as did the mother whose daughter died at the hands of a drunk driver and she formed the powerful lobbying and educational group MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

For most of us, starting a national organization might not be possible, however, we can take the opportunity and learn important lessons that can change not only our lives, but the lives of people around us. We must learn to develop coping and sustaining skills. These include stress management skills that we can use preventably and for use in traumatic situations.

When stress management is practiced correctly, you will be better able to control the way that you respond to stress and be able to focus your available engeries in the most positive directions. You should be able to learn to control the way your body responds. For example, you can learn to: slow your heart rate, reduce your blood pressure, control your anxiety, reduce your muscle tension, normalize your digestive process, warm your hand and foot temperature (increased blood supply), desensitize your response to external and internal stimuli, think more clearly, reduce accidents, perform at a higher level, and enhance the quality of your sex life.

What manifests is a better control over your life. It takes time and practice to achieve this control but the results will save you time in the long run. These developed skills will also last a life time.... Like learning to drive or ride a bicycle, these skills might get rusty, but you will never forget how to do these things.

Along the way, do not forget to take good care of yourself! Be present and enjoy everyday. Enjoy time with your family and good friends.

Good Health!
L. John Mason, Ph.D.