HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and

Prevention

Stress Management and

Prevention Program
Resource Guide

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Stress Management and Prevention
Program Resource Guide

By

Jeremy R. Hall

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

01 September 2018
 Table of Contents
UNIT 1 THE NATU RE OF STRESS

Information to Remember.......................................................................................................4
Self-Assessment Exercises......................................................................................................4
Journal Writing.......................................................................................................................6

UNIT 2 THE PHYSI OL O GY OF STRESS

Information to Remember.......................................................................................................7
Self-Assessment Exercises......................................................................................................8
Journal Writing.......................................................................................................................9

UNIT 3 PSYCHOL OGY OF STRESS

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................11
Self-Assessment Exercises....................................................................................................11
Journal Writing.....................................................................................................................13

UNIT 4 PERSONAL I TY TRAITS AND THE HUM AN SPIRIT UAL IT Y

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................14
Self-Assessment Exercises....................................................................................................14
Journal Writing.....................................................................................................................17

UNIT 5 DEAL ING WITH STRESS: COPING STRATEGIE S

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................19
Journal Writing.....................................................................................................................19

UNIT 6 REL AXATIO N TECHI QUE S 1 : BREATH IN G, M EDITATIO N, AND MENTAL

IM AGERY

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................21
Self-Assessment Exercises....................................................................................................21
Journal Writing.....................................................................................................................23

UNIT 7 NUTRITI ON AND STRESS

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................25
Self-Assessment Exercises....................................................................................................25

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UNIT 8 PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND ACTIVITY

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................27
Self-Assessment Exercises....................................................................................................27
Journal Writing.....................................................................................................................30

UNIT 9 APPL YING STRESS: CRITICAL ISSUES F OR M ANAGEM EN T AND

PREVEN TIO N TO YOUR PROF ESSIO NAL L IF E

Information to Remember.....................................................................................................31

ADDITI ON AL INF ORM AT IO N 32

REF EREN CES 33

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 1
Unit

Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are three stages of general adaptation syndrome, Alarm reaction, stage of
resistance and stage of exhaustion. The alarm reaction stage is the release of adrenaline after a threat
is perceived. The stage of resistance is where the body continues to react to the threat but the body
tries to recover after the initial response. The final stage or stage of exhaustion is where the body has
overloaded and one or more target organs begin to shut down (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: There are two types of stress acute or chronic. Acute stress is when something very
intense immerges and cause abrupt pain to the way your life is operating, it is usually intense stress
that does not happen for very long. Chronic stress is when something that goes on for a while and
continues build causing stress for a long time such as financial problems (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Mindfulness is about being fully aware about your surroundings and what you are
feeling. The wellness paradigm is made up of your relationship with others, oneself, a higher power
and your own morality. These are all things that make up our wellbeing mentally, spiritually,
physically and emotionally. (Stahl, 2010).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
The mandala, which is translated as “circle”, may represent the schematic of the universe and is
often used in meditation with many Asian cultures. Mandalas are objects of devotion in Hinduism and
Buddhism. Quite often palaces and temple are built with the same design as these mandalas, with several
walls each wall representing a quality (Violatti, 2013). In this case this mandala represents the four major
components of my well-being. Those four parts are Mental, Physical, Spiritual and Emotional well-being
(Seaward, 2018).

The largest portion of my chart is the mental component followed by physical, then spiritual and
finally emotional. These are ranked in the way based on the current importance of each subject into my
everyday life. Mental well-being is very important in my opinion, you have to be knowledgeable and make
the best decisions that will benefit your overall well-being. Being physically fit is also very important, not just
strong, but healthy. Making the decision to eat smart, exercise and limit all the things that negatively affect
how your body works is very important to leading a healthy and promising life. Spiritual well-being is not a
religious subject that questions your belief in god, but it is related to one’s faith, faith in others and oneself. It
is related in your own ability to find purpose in life and realize that life has meaning. Emotional well-being is

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the ability to express emotions with others and not hold in feelings. Having the ability to confide in others and
allow others to confide in you.

My life has many sides to it, each instance may require more from one category than the other.
Depending on the situation, I will have to shift my paradigm because at that particular time one requires more
attention and focus than the others. For example, when down range I tend to be more spiritual and physical
than emotional and mental. Though I have to make the right decisions or lives will be lost I need to be able to
confide in my fellow soldiers. With the mutual understanding that they will have my back and I will have
theirs, and knowing that I am there for a reason keeps me going and pushes me to do my best. Also at a time
like this it is important that I maintain my physical well-being so I can push forward. I need to be able to
operate at the best of my ability because people depend on me. My emotional status when deployed is the
worst category of them all. I suppress my emotions so I can set an example I do not want to show my soldiers
that I am scared or irritated. This keeps the morale of my fellow soldiers high allowing for better team
cohesion.

The environment that has an appropriate balance would have to be spending time with my family,
at a park or someplace where my wife and I can relax and all of us can spend time together with no
distractions from work or school. I can maintain a good balance because I can express my emotions with my
wife and family. I am there with my family for my family; I have purpose and am able to make decisions that
are beneficial as well as be active without overworking my body.

Mental
Physical
Spiritual
Emotional

Journal Writing:
Situation Start Midway End
Having to write multiple evaluation reports for my NCO’s 9 6 2
Responding to a MEDEVAC 8 4 3
Having my two year old climb into bed in middle of night. 8 4 2
Constantly fixing things in my truck 9 6 4
Saving money just for it to be spent the next month on 9 5 3
emergency.
Upcoming military school that I still need to study for. 8 5 3
Pushing school deadline to last minute because of work 9 5
Injuries caused by military that may affect future career 10 7 4
Facebook and all of its drama 7 5 2
Wanting to improve diet but eating healthy is very 7 3 1
expensive

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Unit

Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Chronic stress can affect the human body in many different ways. Being stressed
can cause an individual to be angry, depressed, fatigued, as well as cause short or long term memory
loss. The hippocampus along with the amygdala form memories of certain events that are emotional.
Cortisol which is produced by causing stress is fine when it is limited but in excessive amounts can
cause the damaging of brain cells. Repeated stress like those with PTSD from different events like
loss of a loved one, a malicious assault, military combat can greatly affect eh memory and learning
ability of that individual (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: There are many theories that there is a significant relationship between stress and
disease. There are several models that show prominent theories regarding mind-body-spirit
relationship. Those models are the Borysenko model, Pert model, Lipton model, Gerber model, and
The Pelletier premodel. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Mindfulness brings balance to your life. Being mindful of you stress reactions can
allow you to respond to the stressors and learn how to be more constructive. It brings clarity to the
situations balancing the utilization of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system (Stahl,
2010).

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Self-Assessment Exercise:
The nervous system is made up of special conductive tissue that transfers signals from the brain to
different parts of the body. The nervous system is separated into two sections, the central nervous system
and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord,
but the peripheral nervous system is much more complicated. It consists of spinal nerves and cranial nerves
that are utilized when using your senses or motor function.

The study of this human system is known as neuroscience. Neuroplasticity is the ability of your
brain to form new neural connections and to adapt to the cognitive challenges and stimuli of the host. The
importance of neuroscience and neuroplasticity to the brain is that the continuous study of the nervous
system can help us understand more about the brain and its ability to heal and adapt to different stressful
situations (Seaward, 2018).

When your body is under constant stress the organs, which are made up of nerves increase their
metabolic rate when there is an excess secretion of stress hormones. When this happens that organ does not
rest and many problems can occur. Some of those problems include tension and migraine headaches,
irritable bowel syndrome, bronchial asthma and coronary heart disease. All of these diseases are related to
the nervous system in some way. Bronchial asthma is the excess secretion of fluid causing swelling of the
bronchi. This disease has been researched many times and the studies have shown that an increased level of
anxiety has been the cause of asthma attacks in many people. Tension Headaches are caused by the nervous
tension in facial muscles caused by the parasympathetic inhibition of muscular contraction. Migraine
headaches are thought to be the result of a sympathetic response to the baroreceptors of the carotid artery,
and related to the inability to express anger or frustration. The symptoms can include intense throbbing with
dizziness following a flash of light; this will occur over one half of the skull. Irritable bowel syndrome or
IBS is a stress related disorder associated with anxiety and depression. Symptoms of IBS such as
abdominal pain, diarrhea and nausea are considered to be a result of excessive sympathetic neural
stimulation to the area of the GI tract. When an individual is stressed out their blood pressure tends to rise
causing release of stress related hormones, these hormones call for the release of epinephrine and
norepinephrine causing an increase in heart rate and contractility. If there is a pre-existing blockage in the
vessels a rupture can occur causing a heart attack (Seaward, 2018).

The stress hormone Cortisol decreases the ability of the leukocytes in the human body to do their
job. With the inability to fend off foreign antigens, the body becomes more vulnerable to diseases. Stressful
situations can affect the immune system, diseases that can affect the immune system would be allergies and
shingles. Allergic reactions are usually the cause of a foreign substance coming in contact with human body
that the body does not like. Most common cases are pollen, bee stings, plants and animal dander. While this
is a physical response to a physical object it is possible to show signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction
during times of stress. I have seen someone who has no known allergies and was confronted with a very
stressful uncomfortable situation and he broke out and hives and had trouble breathing (Seaward, 2018). I
wanted to add shingles as a personal response. In 2009 I was diagnosed with shingles in the late stage, I
was unable to receive antivirals so I was prescribed pain medications only. Before I showed signs of
shingles I was a brand new soldier in the military and moved to Germany by myself. I lived off of ramen
noodles and was very stressed out every day. With a weaken immune system and poor nutrition I was at
risk for herpes zoster.

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 Being in a stressful situation is never good, for your physical and emotional state. That is why it is
always important to handle your issues before they arise and if they do compartmentalizing is never a good
way to handle your stress. Get your problems out in the open that way people can help you out if needed.

Journal Writing:
How is stress or anxiety about people affecting your life?

There are people in my life that will always cause me stress. With every action that they do I will
always feel uneasy about it. I will always look out for my family and the people that rely on what I do at
work that will keep their career going and keep them alive. I always feel like I have a purpose to my family
and my job, they all rely on the decisions that I make daily.

How is stress or anxiety about work affecting your life?

My work life can be quite stressful; I am responsible for an entire platoon of 20 soldiers. Along
with my Platoon leader me as a platoon sergeant is responsible for a lot of paper work, equipment, and the
overall health and well-being of each of my soldiers. When thinking about all that I need to get done I
sometimes feel overwhelmed, my best option to getting things done is to take certain tasks and hand them
off to others to lighten my workload.

How is stress or anxiety about the world affecting your life?

Hearing all of these issues in the news about our president, immigration, racism becomes quite
annoying. I cannot stand hearing opinions of people who barely graduated high school if they did at all is in
their 20’s with four kids and no job criticize how the country is being run. They are getting free money and
have to comment on what the president is doing and how it is unfair. I do not have cable in my house
because the news brings nothing but pain and torment to my house. I had a student in my last class continue
to bash the president and the military in a seminar and I lost it along with four other veterans and active
duty military. With that being said I tend to alienate myself from news and other peoples ideals.

How is stress or anxiety about food and eating habits affecting your life?

I just completed my class in diet and nutrition and we covered a lot about food lobbyists and
GMO’s and I have to say that food is frustrating. Deciding which foods are the healthiest and finding that
the food that is the best for you is the most expensive is quite depressing when you think about it. My wife
and I still continue to buy the food with most nutritional value, which means a lot of produce but I have
kids so I have to get some candy. We have worked hard to set a proper budget to getting healthy groceries
so we don’t break the bank each month.

How is stress or anxiety about sleep and sleeplessness affecting your life?

I try to get at least six hours of sleep a night, but with school, work and kids on outrageous sleep
schedules I get about three to four each night. I am usually quite fatigued during the day as well as my wife
but we push through it and still tend to get a lot of work done around the house and at work.

How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack of physical activity affecting your life?

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 Unit

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I am usually a very active guy; I work out at least an hour a day encompassing all muscle groups
and categories like muscular endurance and cardio. This past month I have only been able to get a few min
a day of very limited workouts. I just underwent surgery on my leg and am awaiting a diagnosis on a
shoulder injury so I am very limited to what I can do. I cannot workout and I need to prepare for upcoming
school that is very physically demanding.

Summary

A lot is going on in my life, I find myself very stressed out at times but I find ways to deal with it.
Having my wife there to take some of my emotional baggage really helps me out and her because she can
understand what I am going through. I work from 0600 to 1700 some days I do not leave until 1900. This is
the ways things work though; I sacrifice my time so my soldiers do not have to come in to work. This was
done for me when I was a new soldier and now my wife has grown to understand that this is the way our
life is going to be. With all of this I still love my job and my life and would not change it for anything,
maybe just slow it down a bit.

Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are several techniques to cope with, manage, or resolves anger feelings. Those
techniques are know your anger style, monitor your anger, deescalate your anger, out-think your
anger, get comfortable with your anger, plan ahead, develop a support system, develop realistic
support system, learn problem solving techniques, stay in shape, turn complaints into requests and
finally forgive past anger. (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: We live in a day in age where our lives are run by technology. Social media allows
us to communicate with people over great distances but hinders us from communicating with people
who are right next to us. People are now lacking the proper knowledge and ability to interact with one
another; this can affect businesses and normal job skills. (Seaward, 2018).

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Key Learning Point: There are many theorists that have looked into and offered their insight into the
minds role in the psychology of stress, how humans attempt to deal with the problems they face. The
concept of self-awareness and self-acceptance, the two inner resources that become the most
important coping skills to manage personal stress effectively (Seaward, 2018).

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Self-Assessment Exercise:
What can be learned from the Tibetan culture about the mind and stress?

Buddhism was practiced in Tibet over a thousand years ago; due to conflicts the people were forced
to flee Tibet to different places all over the world bringing with them a vast amount of spiritual wisdom.
There are many things that can be learned from the Tibetan culture. Some of those lessons are that negative
attitudes and negative states of mind such as jealousy and anger destroy our mental happiness. It is
explained that stress is connected to desires that we have, the Dalai Lama said that he believes there are two
kinds of desire; good and evil. The desires usually start out as friendly, the desire for peace and happiness
and eventually become unreasonable where things are expected and feared resulting in a ploy of the ego.
Last lesson is that a tamed mind that is detached from desire has the ability to obtain healing and inner
peace (Seaward, 2018).

What do the views espoused by theorists have in common? Explain your perspective.

The selected unit reading has multiple theorists that explain their beliefs about stress. Each view of
these theorists is unique in their own way but in some way relate to each other. How they can relate is that
each of them discusses the concept of self-awareness and self-acceptance. According to Seaward (2018)
these “two inner resources become the most important coping skill to manage personal stress effectively”.
This is a very accurate statement when reading through the details of each one of the concepts by the
theorists. Most of the theories discuss the behavior and attitude of the human being and how it affects the
ego and overall stress. With that being said in order to affectively treat and manage stress it is important to
understand that if your feeling stressed what your problems are and whether or not you accept the way you
are (Seaward, 2018).

Describe one or more ways to cope with manage and/or resolve fear.

There are six categories of fear; failure, rejection, the unknown, death, isolation and the loss of self-
dominance. Fear plays a large factor in causing stress, and one of these categories can normally be the
trigger to that stress causing anxiety. In the hopes that stress can be reduced it is wise to confront the fears
that may be causing the stress. There are a few ways explained within the text to overcome fear. One of
those ways is to gradually expose the client to the stressor. Starting off in small tolerable levels progressing
to a full confrontation can teach them to overcome their fear. Another method used to manage fear is to
understand why that client fears that particular object or activity, if that fear could be related to childhood
experiences it could be resolved by using a psychoanalytical approach (Seaward, 2018).

Describe a minimum of five ways in which you can improve your communication style.

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 We have become a generation of technology. A generation where saying hi or showing emotion
means sending an emoji to someone that is sitting three feet from you. I can’t say that I have never done
this but I tend to be more face to face. I prefer to see someone rather than call or text. There is always room
for improvement, and that being the case there are few ways I have discovered I can use to help me
communicate better to other people. Since I prefer face to face and others do not I can adapt to my
surroundings, if I want to have a conversation with someone I should get on a level field communicate with
them in a way that they are comfortable. Giving someone the chance to explain or follow through with a
message is very important, if the message is unclear before getting angry can just cause unneeded stress in
the conversation putting everyone on the defensive. Not talk about personal issues on social media this will
prevent someone from commenting on something that may be offensive causing angry outbursts. When
actually talking to someone maintains eye contact disregards the phone and be polite by listening to the
conversation. Finally the big one that I also follow is to create hours where I am unable to be reached this
allows for sleep and creates boundaries. If there is an issue and I am needed then they know where I live
and can find other means to get ahold of me, if not I will see the message in the morning (Seaward, 2018).

Journal Writing:
Trying to find a quiet place can be quite difficult in my household, thankfully I was able to get a
moment in the evening before bedtime. I have tried calming meditations before and I have to say it was
calming, especially at a point where things were going a hundred miles an hour in my life.

The setting of my meditation was my bedroom, while sitting on my bed I closed all doors and
turned off the fan nothing but silence encapsulated my room, at least for a moment. During my meditation I
was able to block out the noises that were going on around me and focus on the breath entering and exiting
my nose and lungs. With all of the things that I am working on and responsible for I am surprised for a
moment I was able to stop thinking about deadlines, unfortunately close to the end of my meditation the
thoughts came back into my head. I did not breathe from my belly but from my chest, I could feel the air
fill my lungs. I felt overwhelmed when my mind wandered to everything that I still needed to get done for
work and for school. Once I was able to regather my thoughts I was able to concentrate back to my breath.
While listening to the sound of air leave out my nose something occurred to that each of my injuries and
aches and pains started to present all at once. Once I was able to stop thinking about other things I was able
to focus on my body and breathing which allowed for the feeling of every stiff joint and aching muscle to
show up. As the meditation reached the end I did not fall asleep but seemed to drift away from existence,
now pain, no worries and no distractions just nothing. As Mark Gungor would say I was in my nothing
box.

When the session ended I opened my eyes and felt a rush of blood surround my face and give me a
warm and tingling feeling. I felt refreshed and happy, but that could also be related to the fact I got five
minutes alone with my thoughts and no distractions. I have to say I will definitely try this again and
convince my wife to do the same.

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 Unit

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Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human
Spirituality
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are many personality traits some that are prone to stress and ones that immune
to it. The stress prone ones are Type A codependency and helpless-hopeless. The stresses immune are
the hardy and the survivor personality. (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Self-esteem is the underpinning self-values self-acceptance, and self-love; thought
to be a powerful buffer against perceived threats. Having low self-esteem is the common factor with
all personalities that are prone to stress. Self-esteem is the immune system to the consciousness. High
self-esteem is the best defense against stress (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: There are six pillars of self-esteem, the practice of living consciously, self-
acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertiveness, living purposefully and personal integrity. Self-
value is how you perceive yourself and self-esteem is how you value yourself (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Self-esteem as defined by Seaward (2018) is the sense of underpinning self-values, self-acceptance,
and self-love. Raising self-esteem is the primary goal in managing stress, without the improvement of self-
worth and self-value you will find yourself in a state of depression. There are six pillars of self-esteem, each
one of those pillars is a practice of a certain lifestyle. The first one is the practice of living consciously,
worry about where you live in the moment, forget about the past and all of the worries you have dealt with
and be mindful with what you are doing now. The practices of self-acceptance is where you decide not to
beat yourself up every day over your decisions in life, treat yourself with respect and from there you can
have a healthy self-relationship. Self-responsibility is deciding that you are in charge of your own life and
how you feel. The practices of living purposefully is when you work hard and treat yourself with dignity
and respect, you work hard to make yourself happy, catering to your own needs. The final pillar is the
practice of person integrity which is when you work to achieve an agreeance in between your values and

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actions. These six pillars are very important to the human mind, when an individual is stressed out it can
usually be pinpointed to a falling pillar. A good way to destress is to use these pillars and adapt them with
how your life is going now (Seaward, 2018)..

Stress can affect the human spirituality; human spirituality is the process of our consciousness as
developed by integrating three sections. Those sections are our relationship with oneself and others, our
personal value system and our meaningful purpose in life. It is important to have a good internal
relationship, if you are not on good terms with yourself than how can you have a good one with those
around you. Stress can affect the bond you have with family and friends; it can put a barrier between your
relationships. Certain beliefs values and opinions can hurt how you each feel but it is vital to be tolerant to
one another; there is no need to bring your own stressors to the situation, if you’re feeling negative about
something just let it go, especially politics leave it out of the conversation nobody wants to hear that. The
personal value system is about you, it is about what values are important to you, how you feel and how you
take care of yourself. Values that you adopt in your daily life are what set your personality traits and
behavior; these traits can be love, trust, forgiveness and respect among many others. When encountered
with stressors that challenge you and that may affect your respect or trust in someone it can alter your belief
in those values. As we grow older our values may shift in different directions, this is called value conflicts
and can result in a great deal of stress. The last part of the spiritual well-being model is the meaningful
purpose in life. This is all about how you feel in life and whether or not you feel like what you have
accomplished in life has meaning and purpose. Having goals in life can give that sense of purpose; the
pursuit to achieve that goal can help conquer stress in one’s life. Money and/or addiction come into the
picture can distract the progress into reaching that goal. This can cause stress and eventually lead to a
downward spiral in the spiritual path to well-being (Seaward, 2018).

A belief is how someone feels inside about an issue, it can be about many different things like
politics or religion, and it is what you believe to be true. A belief can be something that is obviously true or
something that may be false. An example about a belief is that I believe in God or higher spiritual being or
the belief that the belief that how I treat my children now will affect how they grow as an adult. A value is
how important you see something whether it is a feeling or a physical object. If an object is worth
something or is important to how your life works than it has value. I value my family and how important it
is to how my life works, I also see value in my home, it provides a shelter to my family and therefore is
worth a lot to me. An attitude encompasses both the values and beliefs; it is how you express these
attributes through physical behavior or verbal statements. An example of an attitude would be that I felt
very proud of my son who worked hard on a 4-H project and won an award at the county fair. His entry
was pushed up to the state fair, working hard and showing him to always do your best shows him how to
act and now he has proof that when you work hard and give everything you have into what you do daily
will pay off.

Someone that is having issues with drug addiction and is going through the Prochaska “stages of
change” model can have a difficult time. If I were going through the model suffering from drug addiction
the first step of the model I would say that I am denying the fact that I have a problem, I spend majority of
my money on drugs and many nights I wake up without recollection of the night prior but I still refuse to
say there is an issue, I just choose to have a good time. Within the second stage of the model someone has
shown me what can happen if I continue down this path. They have shown me that I can save money if I
were to quit, and that my addiction could be affecting the people around me. In the Third stage I made the
wrong decision to drive while high and I wrecked my truck in a ditch. After looking at my truck I have

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decided that I should do something about this issue before I get hurt or I get someone else hurt. The next
step, stage four I decided to attend a drug rehab program and discard all drugs in my house and cut all ties
to my dealers. Entering the fifth stage I have spent months at the clinic and when I get the urge I do some
physical activity. The last stage or relapse stage I had some stressful stuff happen at work and decided to do
drugs to try and forget my issue. If this were to happen then the process would have to start all over again
(Seaward, 2018).

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Journal Writing:
FEAR: apprehension, anxiety, distress, edginess, jumpiness, nervousness, panic, tenseness,
uneasiness, worry, fright, feeling overwhelmed.
Most of these emotions when related to fear gives me a heavy feeling in my chest, I feel like I
cannot get a full breath. When I was testing for my paramedic I was very nervous and anxious,
though I had nothing to drink I felt the constant urge to urinate. A while back after returning home
from Afghanistan everything bothered me certain situations would arise and my heart would race and
my hand would start to shake. I could see my platoon back on patrol in the streets of Afghanistan and
treating that kid all over again.
CONFUSION: bewildered, uncertain, puzzled, mystified, perplexed, chaotic, foggy, or unaware.
I can’t quite place a feeling within my body when I think of these emotions but I do get
instances in my life that I can relate. The last two days actually have been chaotic. I have been
scrambling to bring several leaders together to get me the product that I need for an extremely
important inspection by some individuals that are high up there in the “corporate level” you could say.
With all this in the process I am uncertain how this visit will go.
ANGER: aggravation, agitation, annoyance, destructiveness, disgust, envy, frustration, irritation,
grouchiness, grumpiness, rage.
I am an angry person, I have learned to control my anger and vent in different ways so not to
make dumb decisions. I have felt a lot of these emotions but they all come back to working in the
military. So many times decisions are made by people who attended a college and were immediately
given a position of authority think four years of partying and a piece of paper trumps my ten years of
experience. When these emotions wash over me my heart begins to race, my hands clench and start to
sweat I also get a fasciculation in my left eyelid. The biggest words on there that I see that gives me a
thought are agitation, frustration and destruction. The image that comes to mind is getting two hours
of sleep a night for a month while deployed only to constantly overlooked and overworked led me
frustrated and agitated and I took it out on objects. I either volunteered for burn pit, or other details
that involved vigorous work to destress. After returning home from Afghanistan within the first week
I broke our kitchen trash can because the lid was not opening.
SADNESS: alienation, anguish, despair, disappointment, gloom, grief, hopelessness, insecurity,
loneliness, misery, unhappiness, rejection.

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 I have been legitimately sad a few times in my life, only twice as an adult. The first time was
watching my dog die and the second one was more recently. I have lost many friends, some were
killed in accidents, a lot were in combat but the number that bothers me the most is the number I have
lost due to suicide. I lost someone recently and I felt hopeless, I called or messaged all of my buddies
to see if they were ok and to let them know I was here for them. While talking to them I stayed strong,
until I stopped and thought to myself… Why? What was so wrong that would provoke this? My wife
asked me if I was ok and I responded with “Yes”, as I walked away she stopped me and I immediately
broke down. Despair, anguish, gloom and grief consumed me, as I sat there holding her all I could
think about was my children, my wife…my family. I loved them and couldn’t fathom being apart
from them or leaving them behind and that is exactly what happened. My buddy left behind a 10 year
old daughter and a wife of 15 years. When these emotions hit me I felt cold and limp like I could not
even stand if wanted to, my back hurt and I could barely talk.
SHAME: guilt, embarrassment, humiliation, invalidation, regret, remorse, mortification.
I regret few things in my life, so far my journey has been amazing and the mistakes I make are
just learning points for future decision making processes. When I do something that I immediately
regret I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. The regret that I do remember quite well is purchasing
my last vehicle on a whim without carefully inspecting it for rust damage.
LOVE: affection, arousal, attraction, caring, compassion, desire, fondness, infatuation, kindness,
liking, longing, warmth, sympathy, sentimentality.
Love is a wonderful thing, I love my family, I love my friends, and I love what I do. Most of
these feelings can obviously be related to a certain act that involves the birds and the bee’s speech, but
I get the goosebumps and a weird cramp in my back with these emotions.
JOY: amusement, bliss, contentment, eagerness, elation, enjoyment, enthusiasm, excitement,
exhilaration, hope, optimism, pleasure, satisfaction.
Ending on a strong note, my children are the best things to have ever happened to me. They
are so smart and they make my day better, when they are being good. Immediately when I see joy I
think of my children. I took them to Disney World this past Christmas and they loved it so much, all
the characters, the fun rides, the candy and the time we spent together. When I feel these emotions I
feel like I was injected with helium, after spending 12+ hours at work I come home to both my
children racing to give me a hug and this is one of the best feelings I can think of.
Emotions are what makes us human, it is our ability to react to a situation in the proper way. I
have not actually thought about how my body reacts to certain emotions. It is a very interesting thing
to think about. Everyone is different though; they react to these different situations in their own way.
In the reading Joe lost several of his family members due to an auto collision, when people displayed
joy to him he would turn away, this was his way of dealing with the loss (Stahl, 2010). My emotions
have changed over the past few years, after becoming a father I would say I have become more in
touch with my emotions. After the birth of my oldest son and holding him in my arms for the first
time I knew things were going to change. Becoming a parent to me is the most wonderful things to
have happened to me.

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 Unit

5
Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Attitude can affect human physiology, the way someone acts can cause their body to
resist in different ways, when someone is stressed out they can develop body aches and upset
stomach. If one was happy they could feel joy and peace (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Prochaska stages of change model is quite useful, it helps change one’s behavior
from less desirable actions to more desirable ones. There are six steps, they include Precontemplation
stage, Contemplative, determination, Action, Maintenance, and Relapse stage. This model has been
utilized to help substance addictions and personal growth programs such as weight loss and exercise
programming (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: When practicing yoga utilizing the RAIN concept will help with mindful self-
inquiry. RAIN stands for Recognize when a strong emotion is present, Allow or acknowledge that it
is there, Investigate the body, emotions, and thoughts and finally Non-Identify with whatever is there.
This will help discover deeper threads of what triggers strong emotions. (Stahl, 2010).

Journal Writing:
I chose to do the Mindful Self-Inquiry for Stress and Anxiety in our work book. I chose to sit on my
couch for it was the most comfortable area available that did not have me lying down. After waiting until
the evening I was able to get more silence in my household. As I sat there and listened to the disc I could
hear the soft sounds of animals from the pond in front of my house. As I focused on my breathing I could
feel myself pull away from my body. I felt weightless and felt as if my body was being pulled up out of my
chair. I could feel my hands as they clenched together but my head felt as if I was looking doe non myself
doing this.

Coming away from the breathing I worked on a full body scan entering each joint and patch of skin.
I could feel each little ache and pain from every body part regardless of how much it may have hurt before I
was able to focus on that individual area. As I reached my stomach I heard every sound as my dinner
digested being able to pinpoint the location with my abdominal cavity. As I took in breath my heart beat

18
slowing my rate and focusing on the lub dub of the atrium and the ventricles as blood pushed all around my
body. After honing in on my heart I found myself straying away following the route of my blood all the
way to my toes and into my face. I felt a rush of ease and serenity as my head inflated with nothing
carefully pulling me away. Getting back on course I was paying attention to my eyes, I noticed that my
eyelid twitches when I am under stress and as I focused more on it during this meditation my eye was at
peace to twitching and heavy eyelids.

As I imagined dipping my toes into the pool a shiver came across my body, the image of a family
outing popped into my mind when I taught my child how to swim last summer. I was reminded of the
frustration and determination I had dealt with but was instantaneously put at ease as I drifted away from
that attitude the feeling of pride and joy of him finally getting it and no longer needing my help.

My week went by day by day displaying everything I had done right and everything I had done
wrong, I thought of ways I could have changed it feeling vulnerable and upset. I pulled away from that to
focus on my breathing and joining in a field staring at the clouds. I loved being outside playing with my
children lying in the yard watching planes go by and clouds up high naming the type of cloud and trying to
see what the cumulus clouds were in the shape. Being in a stream reminded me that I haven’t ever taken
my son fishing, I work too much and I wish I had the opportunity to take him, I felt ashamed and upset
because I remember fishing with my dad and the last time we went together. I want my child to have great
memories and ones he can remember.

Trying to focus back on the body, my visions disappeared and I came back into my body. I
acknowledged all those in fear and, pain and anxiety, I thought of how hard my wife works everyday
staying at home and homeschooling our children with many things on her plate. Those I have lost in my
past to anxiety and mental pain, I think about them and holding them and being sad.

I have touched a lot of emotions during this session like regret, sadness, joy and anger. Having done this I
have realized what things are truly bothering besides my physical pain of muscle and joint pain mental
anguish of things I have pushed to the side has arisen. Before this I did not pay too much attention to how
much time I was actually spending with my son and with all of my school and work we rarely do things
together. I hope to change this in the next couple of months but I never forget to tell him every day that I
love him and I know that he loves me no matter the situation. This meditation was much different than the
one I did a couple weeks ago it was longer which hallowed for more time to focus on various things also
allowing the mind to wander thinking of things I wouldn’t have in the other one. I am not one for
meditation but these sessions seem to help me when I feel stressed out and overworked.

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 Unit

6
Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing,
Meditation, and Mental Imagery
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Meditation has been shown to have remarkable effects on the mind and body,
Meditation allows the body to get rid of all unneeded information and stress. It allows disconnecting
from reality and bringing about mental homeostasis. Starting with a clear mind can allow the intake
of new information and the ability to deal with unresolved issues. (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Mental imagery and visualization can be used for relaxation. Utilizing your
imagination can allow your body to escape into the unconscious mind. Images that replicate peaceful
scenes and help heal damaged body tissue can promote the relaxation of the body.(Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Self-compassion has been referred to as the great unnamed epidemic. People are too
hard on themselves, they lock the love and respect for one. It is important to accept the outcome of
what everyone has done. This will boost morale and give the gift of self-reconciliation (Stahl &
Goldstein, 2010).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
There are so many methods to relaxing and countless times the constant go to method for an angry
child or an upset adult is to breathe. We always are told than when your angry take a deep breath and count
to ten. I tell my children this all of the time, but simply breathing isn’t enough to calm the nerves they must
be deep breaths where you completely utilized your diaphragm. Quick shallow breaths will not work to
calm yourself it will only make you hyperventilate then pass out.

The use of diaphragmatic breathing is very useful as a relaxation technique because of its effect on
the heart. The long pauses of the breath decreases the resonating vibrations which lowers the pulse rate
creating a calming effect. If at a higher stress level than the respirations will be increase have short time
between inspiration and expiration. This will cause an almost constant state of pressure on the chest and the

20
heart. With longer pauses pressure is decreased in the thoracic cavity decreases the sympathetic nervous
system lowering the cardiac output (Seaward, 2018).

There are three steps that are important to follow when practicing this relaxation technique. The
first step is to assume a comfortable position, a comfortable position can be anything where you can relax
your muscles and focus on the moment whether you are lying down or sitting in a chair. It is suggested to
loosen restrictive clothing or other items. Once this technique has been done a few times and you feel more
comfortable with the situation then you can do this in many other circumstances (Seaward, 2018).

The second step is to concentrate; there are many things that can go on in our lives that can easily
distract us. It is important to take steps to minimize any external noises allowing us to concentrate on the
technique, Along with external factors there are many internal factors like thoughts that may distract from
focusing, these thoughts should be pushed to the side and the attention refocused on breathing (Seaward,
2018).

The final step to the technique is visualization; focusing on something relaxing can allow your
mind not to wonder. There are two common visualization exercises that are often used in Asian practices.
The first exercise is breathing clouds, to start this technique close your eyes and visualize the air you are
breathing is clean, energized, and has the ability to heal your body. As you inhale imagine your following
that breath into your nose down your trachea and into your lungs. As you exhale visualize the air you breath
out is dark cloudy smoke that symbolizes all the negativity and stressors within your mind and body.
Repeat this exercise for five to ten minutes. The second exercise is alternating nostril breathing, it may
sound challenging but should eventually get easier with repeated use. You will do the same process as
breathing clouds but after a little bit of focus concentrate your inhale from one nostril to the other. Continue
this exercise alternating nostrils. The last exercise for this factor is energy breathing this exercise is done in
three phases. Phase one is to get into a relaxing position, then imagine a beam of energy is entering your
body through your head to your abdomen on inhalation and leaving through exhalation. The second phase
is the same idea but entering from your foot instead of the top of the head. The third phase is to encompass
all of these movements feeling the energy move into each part of your body (Seaward, 2018).

Meditation has a very positive effect on the mind and body; it allows you to get in touch with what
your body needs to thrive. Meditation acknowledges what your body is feeling; it can work with
uncovering stress, anxiety, and physical pain. Meditation leads to mindfulness, mindfulness leads to
uncovering the true feelings about stress and how it affects your life (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Imagery and visualization can be very useful for relaxation in many different ways. Three of those
ways are increased concentration, the ability to turn down the information from your senses and to replace
threatening stimuli with pleasurable ones. There are so many things going on in your body and in your
mind. Stress builds up with all the things going on, imagery and visualization allows you to focus on what
is going on around you while dialing back on the noises, the smells, lights and feelings that your senses
pick up. With all of these thoughts and feelings going on around you it still allows you to find happy
thoughts and replace them with the ones that disturb you (Seaward, 2018).

Journal Writing:
Some of the most unkind words we hear that are directed toward us usually come out of our own
mouth. No one knows us better than ourselves, we know how we act, what we like and dislike, what

21
motivates us, and what stresses us out. Unfortunately since this is the fact when we mess up or fail at
something we are the ones to criticize and be harsh the most.

We must turn over a new leaf, and be kind to ourselves such as telling ourselves that we are
important and we serve a purpose. I have said some unkind things about myself in the past and currently do
from time to time. There are goals that I wish to achieve and things that I need to do which have deadlines
and my only thing in life is my prioritization and procrastination. I have talked to my family about what I
say and depending on what I am doing it may stress me out, but ultimately overwhelms me with thoughts. I
feel tired when I think of all of these things, and when I talk back to myself I get discouraged and feel as if
there is something I could be doing better.

There are many things that we do in our life that we wish we could change or have another go at. I
am very happy with how my life is going. There are things that I wish I could change, but so far my path is
paved pretty well. The things that have been going on that have been causing me some difficulty has been
fueled by my own hand. Watering the seeds of my own suffering a phrase used by Thich Nhat Hahn in our
Journal by Stahl (2010) is a wonderful analogy. I am responsible for my undoing, what would change if I
were to stop pouring the water on the planter would be a lot more confidence in what I do. I would be able
to see the errors of my way and understand what it is I need to change and actually take action.

I am constantly exposed to stressful situations, with new people and in different places. I have
gotten to a point in my life and in my career where I am not as stressed anymore or uncomfortable I am
usually the one that makes the stressful situation more stressful for others. If I was to go into the scenario
with an open mind and a little bit of understanding I believe I could accomplish more with those
individuals. I tend to express anger and assertiveness toward others the instant they meet me. This allows
for shy, timid individuals who distance themselves from me. Like the old saying goes you catch more flies
with honey than you do with vinegar. Anger and frustration is a common thing in my workplace, it does not
have anything to with the people but the tasks we must complete every day. We are constantly given last
minute tasking’s and expected to complete them as if we were given ample time to complete. There is one
individual who stands out that is always interesting to interact with. I have worked with him for over three
years; he is an amazing individual and does his job very well. He is a quiet person most of the time but
when he has something to say he does not hold back. He is like a bottle rocket with a short fuse. Quick to
set off and does not take long for the explosion. When I became a Non-commissioned Officer (NCO), a
supervisor, I was told that you have two things in life you must choose from, happy home life or great
career. The best NCO’s I have met in my life are either single with no family or have a difficult time at
home. Unfortunately most of them are divorced and see their kids a couple times a month. I have observed
this individual and though his family is still holding on he struggles to keep it all afloat. I too struggle with
this, there are so many things I wish I could do with my family some days I must choose whether to build
on my current job or go fishing.

Like many of the sections I have read before state when we deal with stress or any other issue for
that matter we must first resolve the issues we have with ourselves. Too many times the reasons we have
for extra anxiety and unneeded stress has to do with how we see and treat ourselves. Once we resolve the
issues within we can focus on the external stressors. Taking a minute to calm your thoughts and focus on
yourself will allow you to understand what issues you’re having.

22
 Unit

7
Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are four domino factors that relate to stress. The first domino is the fact that
stress utilizes nutrients no matter the situation. The second domino is the intake of food that lacks all
the required nutrients that we need. The second domino happens when we intake substances that
increase our sympathetic nervous system Finally the last domino is when we consume foods that are
harmful to our bodies that contain harmful chemicals (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Many things cause stress response, food is one of those things food that is high in
sugar content, fat and loaded with extra hormone. The intake of these substances cann affect the
immune system causing health related issues. If not properly balanced the body can be deprived of
the proper nutrients. (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: We can find mindfulness in anything we do. Life is filled with stressors, it is
important to find things that are done on a daily basis that can allow us to decompress and find the
goodness in life. Taking a moment every day to reflect on all the good things in life will be beneficial
to our day to day lives. (Stahl, 2010).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
The last time I completed one of these formal practices I performed the sitting meditation. It was
definitely an eye opener with uncovering the anxiety and stress that I was dealing with. With the sitting
meditation I spent too long sitting completely still, my mind tended to wander too often on a single thought.
I did not want to venture down that rabbit hole again so I chose to perform the lying yoga practice.

This practice was a lot more interesting than the sitting meditation. The movement enabled me to
keep track of my thoughts. By moving my body I was able to get a little workout in which forced me to
focus on the movement of my muscles and rediscover all of my aches and pains. There was also some time
in each pose that I had an opportunity to reflect on my thoughts and a chance to relax. I was able to perform
all of the poses except for the Child’s Pose, My body cannot move into that position.

23
 While I was resting during the Pose of Openness I had an opportunity to reflect on my life and the
path I had chosen. I have had many chances to walk down a different path in life and though it may have
brought me out somewhere spectacular the path I have chosen is the one I need to be on. My life is
exciting, I get to do things I have always wanted or it has put me on the right track to get there. I have a
wonderful and supportive family and my career is going in the way I currently want it to go. With all walks
of life there are obstacles and mine has some big rocks and debris in the path that I need to climb over. I can
see what the debris is and I know what I need to do. I believe I can do what needs to be done and am fully
capable with opening my heart to my family and expressing my hopes and desires for my life.

While lying in the corpse pose I had more time to reflect on all of the positions I was able to do and
the one that I wasn’t. Meditation allows someone to uncover how your mind and body is feeling; I was able
to understand the stress that I was going through this week and of course all the physical pain my body is
in. Every movement I did stretched my muscles and joints and though some twists resulted in a loud pops
they were pops of relief. While lying there I remembered the breathing techniques we wrote about in Unit
6, so I decided to try that out while recovering. It helped clear my mind by breathing the clean energized air
in and expelling the dirty negative air out.

After I had completed my yoga practice I sat and thought about everything I had encountered. Each
little break I got I thought about my future endeavors and how my life would change in the scenario where
I was successful and the other where I had failed. Unfortunately I dwelled more on the failure part rather
than the successful part. I know my family would be there for whatever happened but I need to be
successful for my future and for the future of my family. My mind had failed me again; I had ventured
down the rabbit hole each chance I got. Though I was in some emotional disarray my aches and pains came
back to me and set the mood back to where I started. The pain was all I needed to snap me out of the trance
that I was in. Some of those poses felt great; by doing them they stretched out my lower back that I had
injured in a car accident. When my shoulder was asked to take part it decided it didn’t like the game and
made sure I knew it.

I like doing these meditations, maybe not so much about writing about them but just doing them.
The bad side to doing them is that I am reminded each time about what I am doing wrong in life and
sometimes there is not much I can do to fix it. Since I have started this class I have done these five or six
times that were not related to the unit assignments. It helps me clear my head and understand what is
stressing me out. I am able to analyze my life just by calming down and focusing on what I am doing. I
have begun to convince my wife to take time out and do one, usually she will as long as I can control the
children. I believe that even after this course we will continue to take time for ourselves to reflect on our
day.

24
 Unit

8
Unit 8: Physical Exercise and Activity
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Hatha Yoga is a form of meditation uniting the mind, body, and spirit. It is known to
decrease chronic pain. Hatha yoga is built on three concepts the art of breathing, the art of conscious
stretching, and the art of balance. It has shown to increase flexibility, improve muscle tone, and create
inner calmness (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: Physical exercise is a form of stress activating the fight or flight response, it is
classified as either anaerobic or aerobic. Anaerobic is short intense workouts aerobic is moderate
activity for a prolong period of time. To benefit from the exercise you must meet four criteria,
intensity, and duration, frequency of training and mode of exercise. (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: A lot of research has been done and acknowledge that many adults who experienced
difficult times with their parents are likely to have the same interactions with their children.
Mindfulness allows you to understand the difficulties and look past your history simply by
acknowledging and validating your experiences (Stahl, 2010).

Self-Assessment Exercises:
Proposal for Health and Wellness Management

August 2018

This proposal is prepared for health and wellness management. The scope of the project outlined
includes vendors of national evidence-based products and services. To meet these needs, this proposal
offers consulting services to provide the following expertise: (a) rationale; (b) mind-body programs or
practices; (c) capital outlay; and (d) benefits.

RATIONALE

25
 To create an environment that promotes healthy practices from nutrition to exercise while reducing
stress in the workplace to improve morale, cultural engagement, and overall reduction of health care costs.

MINDBODY PROGRAMS/PRACTICES

What I plan to implement in this business is different exercises to boost muscular and
cardiovascular endurance through physical fitness sessions. I would like to further improve employee
health by creating nutritional plans that everyone has an opportunity to look into as well as yoga classes that
can improve flexibility and work on destressing the mind and body.

CAPITAL OUTLAY

Some things that will be needed for this start up are a slight modification to the break room
allowing for more fridge space, and the purchase of other electrical equipment such as blenders, a hot plate
and other cooking utensils. Renovation to break room would cost <$1,000. For an exercise room the
utilization of an open area with good ventilation allowing for a maximum of 15-20 employees at a time.
The removal of one of the larger offices and converted to area where physical session may be held can be
done with the payment of personnel to move equipment around. We can either pay for professional’s
costing $200-300 or we can take a day utilizing employees during work hours. The last payment would be
to provide incentive money to the instructors who volunteer and those who complete goals into the salary
and wages department for review but somewhere in the ball park of $100 a month for those instructing and
$25-50 for goals reached. Personal equipment is recommended for employees to buy out of their own
pocket that can be claimed for reimbursement at tax time at the end of the tax season.

BENEFITS

The purpose of this plan is to promote leadership tasks; furthering education, a healthy lifestyle and
a stress free environment while attempting to cut costs in health care while on a budget and build morale.
This plan will give each employee an opportunity to feel better about themselves and a way to destress in a
way. By carrying out this plan the business will thrive due to the impact this program will have on its
employees mentally and physically.

TIMELINE

In order to properly get the space needed as well as the equipment bought and moved in will take
upwards of two weeks, this will also allow time for the employees to be vetted for credentials and to come
up with a physical exercise plan. The equipment can be transported vie privately owned vehicles. The total
time of the program would be indefinite. The first two months we will establish a training schedule that
works for everyone that way everyone is on the same page and everyone baseline for fitness and health
level, as well as doctors approval and recommendations. After the sessions have started and people have
continued down the path they want we would start the monthly progress reports to gauge goals met in order
to provided bonuses to those who deserve it.

PERSONNEL

26
 Encouraging current employees to go out and receive their own certifications, or motivating those
that already have credentials to teach classes in order to earn bonuses. The business will be in need of
someone knowledgeable in nutrition as well as someone with a comprehension in physical training.

TOTAL BUDGET

The total budget for this plan is $5,000 within the first six months and no more than $15,000 by the
end of the year.

PITCH:

The program I would like to implement would be goal and reward driven. With minimum
resources available and not much money provided the first thing I would do is to get the incentive of in
house instructors. I would see if there is anyone within our company who is knowledgeable and certified in
nutrition and/or a trained personal trainer of a sort. If this was the case I would give that person perks if they
were willing to provide some of their fellow employees with plans to better their overall health and fitness
level. Every morning before work begins I would provide 30 min to an hour of an employee led physical
fitness session alternating between workouts, meditation or yoga classes and nutritional classes during the
week. By doing this it will promote a healthy lifestyle within the company hopefully reducing stress, as
well as encouraging employees to further their knowledge and allowing them to lead others and prove their
leadership potential. As far as the rewards program would go each person would earn points by attending
sessions and reaching certain physical goals within their day. They can then use these points toward time
off or other determined perks.

CLASSMATE FEEDBACK:

I think goal and reward programs are always worth giving a try! Everyone likes to be rewarded for
work they are doing, not matter what it is. With your program it can earn two rewards, one physical reward
with better health and then a reward possible time off, who doesn't want that? I like that you will try and
utilize resources within the company to get your program going. That will definitely cut cost for the
company. If the morning programmed workout is successful, maybe try implementing the workout plan in
the afternoon after work as well. Some might be more interested in working out in the afternoon vs. the
morning. Great plan Jeremy!

SUMMARY

I believe this is a great plan, with the proper vetting of personnel and motivation the employees will
come together to help set something like this up from constructing the area to constructing themselves. Like
Jaimy said, everyone likes to be rewarded for the something they do. There is no reason to go through life if
you’re not being acknowledged for the effort you put into it. Having a kitchen that has the proper
equipment can improve the meal choices they are exposed to. They have the ability to cook fresh food and
store good nutritional food in an extra fridge.

27
Journal Writing:
OPENNESS:

With an open mind I imagine myself sitting in a diner looking across the table at my wife. I see our
first date where we sat and talked, I imagine how that moment would have changed if I saw from different
perspectives. I see how others saw us as a couple and moved that feeling of judgement to just one
perspective and moved how we felt about each other.

EMPATHY:

This trait is not feeling sorry for someone, it is understanding how they are feeling by being able to
relate. The feeling of nervousness of the first date as well as the potential embarrassment that may happen
during the meal is a way you can relate to the situation.

COMPASSION:

With empathy in mind I have the feeling to want to ease whatever suffering she may be going
through at that moment, she may have been hurt in her past relationships nad I want to make her feel better.

LOVING-KINDNESS:

I want her to like me I want her to forget about her past and look to a new future with me, I would
be myself and treat her with kindness to prove that love is out there and allow her to open up and express
her emotions.

SYMPATHETIC JOY:

In this instance I am happy for how her life turned out, she is with me so that makes things better
but I believe that even if we did not end of together my impact on her would have been great and she would
still believing a great life.

EQUANIMITY:

It is important to treat someone with the same amount of respect you would any other person. It
carries forward, what you do to someone can influence others to do the same.

Summary

This journal was a little more difficult, finding the right words to say and having to reflect on a time
that was some time ago was a bit troubling. These are good traits to consider when going into a new
relationship in the future. Now that I have a grasp on them I plan to use them the next time I meet anyone.

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 Unit

9
Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for
Management and Prevention to your
Professional Life
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: For a coping technique to be effective it must do one or all of the following: increase
awareness of the cause of stress, help process information about the stressor, and adjust attitude and
possibly behavior to work toward a peaceful resolution. Prayer and meditation are not the same thing.
Prayer and meditation both initiate a process of centering and increased concentration but meditation
encompass many modes of thinking and is not specifically limited to divine thought. (Seaward,
2018).
Key Learning Point: It is important to find your balance, understand how you react in different situations
and lead from there. No two people are the same. Creating a way to deal with stress can be difficult
but is not impossible. The best way to construct a personal stress management program is to follow
these suggestions: Make a habit of spending some quality time each day to get to know yourself.
Make a habit of reading your emotional barometer. Practice the art of unconditional love Nurture
your creativity skills. Balance all components of your well-being and take time to nurture them. Be
like a child. (Seaward, 2018).
Key Learning Point: It is important to take care of your body, in all aspects, mind body and spirit. Living
a healthy lifestyle is important in reducing anxiety and stress. Preparing and eating food can be an
experience not just a thing we do. Focusing on the colors and the textures as well as the movement of
the hand as you fix your meal can bring mindfulness to the situation. (Stahl, 2010).

29
Additional Information
Stress occurs when you perceive that demands placed on you such as work, school or
relationships exceed your ability to cope. There are five healthy techniques recommended by the
American Psychological Association, they are:
Take a break from the stressor- even if it is 10 minutes something is better than nothing
Exercise- getting your heart rate up can be very beneficial for your mind and your body
Smile and laugh- happiness is the best medicine for stress, by smiling you help relieve tension.
Get social support- get in touch with someone , reconnect and talk about things going on in life.
Meditate- mindfulness can help see new perspectives and develop self-compassion (APA, n.d.)

According to Payne and Ross (2009) by simplifying a child’s world you prepare them for the change
and growth they face. Our world is characterized by too much stuff. Our lives are built on the four
pillars of too much: too much stuff, too many choices, too much information and too much speed.
With the level of busyness, our children are being robbed of the time and ease they need to explore
this world. There are too many distractions and clutter in the physical world and within their minds.

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 References

American Psychological Association (APA) (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/manage-stress.aspx

Payne, K. & Ross, L. (2009). Simplicity Parenting. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

Seaward, B. (2018). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being (8th ed.).
Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Stahl, B. & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA: New
Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Violatti, C. (2013, September 07). Mandala. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/mandala

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