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Time Management

In today's world, everyone is multi-tasking, resulting in almost constant stress.  Few of us have been taught how to deal with such stress.  As a result, we resort to habits formed in early childhood.  Some of us "run away" or "hide."  Some people cry or get angry. Most of our childhood responses do not work for us as adults.

Many of our childhood responses turn into illnesses, such as TMJ (temporal mandibular joint) from clenching our jaw muscles.  This disease can affect all of the muscles of our head, neck, and shoulders.  It is extremely painful.  Other diseases such as depression, arthritis, IBS, back, high blood pressure, heart attacks, emotional problems, anxiety, panic attacks can be caused by stress.  Any and all of these diseases can and have wrecked lives.

Without special training, which most of us have never had, the brain can become severely overwhelmed, forming the above diseases and many more. 

If you are suffering such extreme stress, including burn-out, seek the guidance of a medical doctor, health counselor, or psychiatrist.  Your doctor will know which is best for you.

In the meantime, we must form new ways of responding to our stress.  Several techniques exist, none of which is right or wrong.  Each person must find the method or methods that work best for him or her. General stress techniques include:  deep breathing, visualization, exercise, behavior modification, and medication.

Self-help techniques:

• Deep breathing - This breathing is not the shallow breathing from the top of the lungs, but rather the deep, diaphragm breathing of singers.

• Drinking water/fluids - If you don't drink enough fluids, your body can become dehydrated, which will not only add to your stress, but make you ill.

• Exercise - Always check with your doctor first.  You may want to start out doing only stretches.

• Sleep- Most people need 8 to 10 hours of sleep.  Most people get about 4 to 6 hours.

• Visualization - Try visualizing yourself as calm and serene.  Visualize yourself as successful. 

• Animated Yoga - This internet site, used by permission of Eden Multimedia, is animated and gives several stress postures, as well as many ways of breathing, other than just belly breathing (deep breathing) to relieve stress.