Yahoo! Health looks at nine “tells” that your body sends when it’s staring at a hand full of stress (to use poker-speak), and what you can do about each one. Such as confusion:

You can’t decide what to make for dinner, what to wear to work or which exit to take off the freeway. Stress causes distraction and lack of focus, says Mandel. “Stress hormones lodge longest in the brain,” she says. To restore focus, take a walk, she says. “Move the stress out of your body by exercising large muscle groups like the legs. You will gain clarity. Walk out in the light and you’ll reset your natural rhythm while you move out the stress. Sunlight helps the body release serotonin to improve mood, and vitamin D helps you improve your immune system-a great perk.”

Other signs include nausea, sleepiness, the always interesting eye-twitching, and cavities, oddly enough. Check them all out at the link below.

Source: Yahoo! Health

They studied the link between four features of Type A behavior (leadership, aggression, being “hard-driving” and eagerness-energy) in 752 workers. High scores for aggression, hard-driving and eagerness-energy were all associated with high levels of job stress. The researchers also found a relation between these three traits and “effort-reward imbalance,” a major contributor to work stress.

In contrast, high scores on leadership were associated with lower levels of work stress, the University of Helsinki team found. A high leadership score was linked to high work effort, but also to high work rewards. In addition, a high leadership score was connected with high job control, which can help lower work stress.

Source: MSN

Seed giant Burpee will be offering a variety of Resolution Gardens on its Website this year. The Gardens (OK, seed pack collections) will target some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions:

Among the resolutions the garden addresses is a Lose Weight garden offering vegetable varieties with high water content to fill you up with very few calories. This is consistent, according to Mr. Ball, with the volumetrics system developed by Dr. Barbara Rolls.

Other resolutions covered by the variations of its garden include stress reduction, better nutrition, more exercise, eco-friendly living, saving money and spending quality time with family. They are all included in the flagship pack for the collection, called Burpee’s New Year’s Resolution Garden. It is specially priced at $10.

Source: Forbes.com

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One of the biggest underlying factors of disease is stress, and it’s hard to find a greater stress breaker than massage. Massage can also lead to enhanced body awareness:

Body awareness is just what it sounds like, being aware of your body. Most of us walk around oblivious to the body we live in. We don’t pay attention to what we put in it or how we treat it. Getting massage forces us to pay more attention to ourselves. We become more aware of the aches and pains that we ignore. When you do one thing that is good for you it snowballs and you want to do more good things for yourself. Massage encourages to take better care of ourselves.

Get all the health benefits of massage with this great Fitness.com article.

A new study (a group of studies, actually) appearing in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that just the opposite is the case. When people are stressed, they tend to gravitate towards less-familiar foods.

In the first study, participants were told about a person who was described as either being in an extremely stable life situation or in the midst of many changes. Researchers asked them to predict whether these people would choose a popular American potato chip or an unknown British potato “crisp” in exotic flavors like Camembert and Plum. The participants thought the stable person would have more time and energy to try new things and would choose the new item.

Then in a separate choice study, researchers asked participants to rate the level of change in their own lives and then to choose snacks. Those experiencing more change chose the newer snacks. “This result is called the ‘comfort food fallacy’ effect. It does not say that comfort foods are not enjoyable, but rather that we don’t seem to seek them out when we think we do. Contrary to our expectations, comfort foods appear to be chosen more often in comfortable times.”

The study also carried over into other categories such as movies and music preferences.

Bottom line: Feeling stressed out? Try something new!

Source: Science Daily

A recent study published in Nutrition Journal finds that taking a proprietary melon juice concentrate (Extramel) can help to improve signs and symptoms of stress and fatigue.

Methods
This randomized, double blind, placebo controlled clinical study was conducted with seventy healthy volunteers aged between 30 and 55 years, who feel daily stress and fatigue. They took the dietary supplement based on the melon juice concentrate (10 mg Extramel(R) corresponding to 140 IU SOD per capsule) or a placebo one time daily during 4 weeks. Stress and fatigue were measured using four observational psychometric scales: FARD, PSS-14, SF-12 and Epworth scale. The study was conducted by Isoclin, a clinical research organization, located in Poitiers, France.

Results
No adverse effect was noted. The supplementation with the proprietary melon juice concentrate bringing 140 IU SOD/day significantly improved signs and symptoms of stress and fatigue linked to performance physical (pain, sleep troubles), cognitive (concentration, weariness, sleep troubles) or behavioural (attitude, irritability, difficulty of contact) compared to the placebo. In the same way, quality of life and perceived stress were significantly improved with SOD supplementation.

Furthermore, there are tests available that can help people understand their own, particular brand of stress and, with this knowledge, they can also understand themselves better. Then, with this information, a complete stress management method can be constructed. So, when you examine your own stress, keep these stress levels in mind so that you can come to grips with yourself and learn the proper methods for keeping your mind balanced.

These stress levels were found and characterized by Dr. Hans Selye and Dr. Richard Earle of the Canadian Institute of Stress. Thus, the names and types are theirs.

Type 1 – The Speed Freak

This stress level is characterized by an incessant need to be giving 110% at all times. They are often perfectionists, they tend to speak quickly, and they are very impatient. Generally, Speed Freaks have learned that it is necessary to work hard in order to succeed, so they figure that, if they are working hard all the time, they are certain to succeed. This, of course, is not necessarily the case, since running full-bore all the time will only lead to stress over minor issues.

Speed Freaks need to learn how to relax and they need to clarify their goals so that they will work hard on things that really matter, while relaxing while they are working on more mundane tasks. By doing this, they can get up to speed when they need to put in the effort and conserve energy the rest of the time.

Type 2 – The Worry Wart

The Worry Wart stress level is characterized by an inability to stop thoughts, but an equal inability to put thoughts into action. They tend to overanalyze things to the point that they paralyze themselves. Thus, they simply end up spinning their wheels as they get nowhere. True to the name, Worry Warts tend to spend a lot of their time worrying and this only leaves them even more incapable of action.

Worry Warts need to think very specifically about the problems they are facing, write down every possible thing that can go wrong, then think about just how likely these events are. Then, once everything is treated with a philosophical distance, the worry will decrease and the Worry Wart can move on toward their goals.

Type 3 – The Drifter

Drifters are people who keep so many options open that they are incapable of actually developing any skills in depth. Instead of focusing their energies on specific life goals, they end up putting effort into a variety of tasks so that none of them every really get done. Thus, their hours are spent productively, but their hours rarely produce anything concrete. In fact, they create a paradox of complete freedom in which they are trapped by their own inability to use that freedom effectively.

Drifters need to clarity their life goals, focus on things that make them feel worthwhile, and try to build up a life that is open to more than just work. Then, once they have a place to direct their efforts, they can shed all the excess nonsense that they surround themselves with.

Type 4 – The Loner

This stress level is recognizable by the fact that Loners are unable to create meaningful relationships with others. This is due to the fact that they generally work alone, so that do not receive much feedback from others. Thus, rather than building relationships that can help support them, they tend to crawl into a shell and keep other people outside of it. Thus, as they avoid shared experiences with others, they become incapable of finding out what they enjoy and who they enjoy doing it with.

Loners should attempt to clarify their own values, then work to build relationships with people who share those values, which in turn gives Loners a way to move toward their goals. This will give them both a purpose and a support structure that can help them succeed in that purpose.

Type 5 – Basket Cases

This stress level is very dangerous, as Basket Cases are creating their own energy crises. Instead of caring for themselves, they tend to be achy, depressed, and they often decide that activities are simply too much effort. They are often in poor health and their own malaise and depression makes it hard to do anything about it.

Basket Cases need to start eating right in order to start the healing process. Then, after a few weeks, they should start exercising. Then, once they have a little more energy, they need to learn how to conserve energy by taking breaks during work and not overextending themselves.

Type 6 – Cliff Walkers

Cliff Walkers are people who are at risk for destroying their health. They tend to look worn, they often smoke, eat badly, drink too much, and rarely exercise. However, they usually figure that nothing bad will ever really come out of their bad habits, so they cause themselves even more damage. Thus, they tend to have problems maintaining their energy.

The treatment for Cliff Walkers is the same as that for Basket Cases. Eat right, then start an exercise program, then learn to conserve energy so that they are not constantly worn out.

By understanding stress levels, people can not only learn more about themselves, they can also learn how to succeed. Then, once a person’s particular type of stress is treated correctly, the very portions of the personality that were once a burden can become a boon. Thus, learning about stress levels can actually help people achieve their goals.

Copyright 2005 Trevor Dumbleton

LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels: http://www.loweryourstress.com/stress-book.html.

These lyrics from the Amy Grant song “Hats” seem to capture the cry of many overworked, overwhelmed and stressed-out people.

In the song, the word “hats” simply refers to all the different roles we must play in our everyday lives.

There is the hat of employee, parent, spouse, son or daughter, etc., etc. It might be easier if these hats could be worn one at a time; we could complete one role and move on to another. Unfortunately for most of us, we tend to wear all of our different hats in the same day, often at the same time.

TMH – a unique kind of stress

The responsibility and pressure of too many roles is a unique kind of stress. I call it Too Many Hats Syndrome. TMH syndrome can be likened to the sideshow at the circus in which a guy has several plates spinning on sticks, all at once. He has to run around constantly to make sure he keeps all of them spinning.

What are some of the characteristics of a person suffering from TMH syndrome?

She’s always doing something, rushing, rushing, rushing.

She never has enough time.

She’s not able to have fun and/or relax.

She has trouble falling asleep.

She wakes up during the night and is unable to go back to sleep.

She has a feeling of always being “on.”

She thinks she’s the only person who has so much to do.

She has the sense that if she stops and rests, everything will fall apart.

She works in bed until she turns off the lights.

She feels exhausted all the time.

She has fantasies of running away from it all.

Misinformation about stress

One of the most misleading ideas about coping with stress is that somehow we can eliminate it from our lives. If you are alive, you are experiencing some level of stress. In fact, it’s a sign that you are alive.

The main solution is in how we respond to and therefore cope with stress. Dr. James Loehr, in his book “Toughness Training for Life” has this to say: “Stress management systems usually aim at reducing stress, an unrealistic goal for most of us.” Instead, Loehr focuses on how to be “emotionally strong enough to thrive on the stress.”

Unless we win the lottery or become independently wealthy in some other way, most of us will simply have to learn how to cope with our own version of “Too Many Hats.”

Here are some suggestions for thriving on stress instead of just surviving:

Organize, organize, organize your time. If you are saying you don’t have enough time to organize, you’re proving my point.

Pay attention to how you talk to yourself about your stress. Negative self-talk such as, “How will I ever get all this done?” and “This is just not fair!” turns stress into pressure.

Positive self-talk allows us to thrive on the stress in our lives. Reframe the stress from “all I have to do” to “all I get to do” or “all I am able to do.”

Learn to say no when your dance card is already full. Keep handy a 3×5 card with the word “NO” written on it in big letters.

Delegate. Another sign of TMH syndrome is the mistaken belief that we are only ones who can do a task properly. If it can be done by someone else, allow them the privilege of helping.

Remind yourself that you usually do get everything done. This can calm you and put things in perspective.

To get a different perspective on the situation, consider how a favorite character from a recent movie or TV show would handle the situation.

Take a mini-vacation. Whether a three-day getaway or a five-minute break, getting away refreshes us.

Remember this word: balance. Make sure to leave room for the hat called fun and relaxation.

Stress is an inevitable part of our daily lives. To be able to thrive on our stress, it’s important to have fun and to enjoy keeping all those plates spinning.

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.

Take a few seconds and look around you, noticing and focusing on everything you see that is blue. Just look around and notice everything that is blue.

Now close your eyes, and tell me everything you noticed that is green.

Threw you a bit of a curve ball there, didn’t I?

If you are like most folks, you were expecting me to ask you to name everything that was blue. Instead I asked for something different from which you had focused on.

Here’s an interesting fact from the world of race car driving:

As I understand it, when new drivers are learning how to race, one of the first things they’re taught is what to focus on when they go into a spin.

The natural tendency is for them to focus on the wall they’re trying to avoid hitting – and they usually end up hitting the wall. They are taught instead not to focus on the wall, but on where they want to go. In this way, they have a better chance of avoiding the wall and successfully getting out of the spin.

The exercise and story both point to the incredible power of focus in our lives. Wherever we place our focus, the rest of our mind and emotions will follow.

So how do we learn how to do this focus stuff?

One of the quickest ways to begin to strengthen your focus muscles is to practice the 5-percent/95-percent rule. That means to focus no more than 5 percent on what you don’t want and 95 percent on what you do want.

Focus 5 percent on what you fear and 95 percent on getting educated and skilled to face it.

Did you know that we all have fears? Even people who appear to fear nothing. The trick is not to have no fear but to work at becoming strong and skilled enough to face and conquer your fears.

Focus 5 percent on the problem and 95 percent on the healthiest solution.

Often it’s easy to get caught in the endless definition and redefinition of a problem. “What’s the problem?” is the wrong question. A better question is: “How many different solutions can we create?”

Focus 5 percent on the mistake and 95 percent on learning from it.

There’s a wonderful story about a new employee of a large corporation who makes a $10,000 mistake in his first week on the job. Upon being called into the CEO’s office at the end of the day, he tells his boss that he realizes he will be fired and that he is sorry for the mistake. To which the CEO replies, “Fire you? No way. I just spent $10,000 training you.” I bet he became a valuable employee.

Focus 5 percent on who to blame and 95 percent on making sure to heal.

Getting stuck in blame sets you up to be lame. Focusing on healing allows you to move on with your life.

Focus 5 percent on the conflict and 95 percent on the win-win-win resolution.

Conflict, especially in families, does not always have to be a win-lose situation. In any conflict, each side has needs. The question is what kind of solution can be found that meets as many of each person’s needs as possible.

Focus 5 percent on what you must do and 95 percent on enjoying the process of it.

“I have to,” “I’ve got to,” “I wish I didn’t have to” are all phrases that focus on having to do things we don’t want to do. Better words that shift your focus would be: “How can I get all this done and enjoy the process?”

Finally, and most important:

Focus 5 percent on reading this 95 percent on applying it.

When you drive, your car follows your nose.

When you live, your life follows your focus. Where’s your focus

Visit SecretsofGreatRelationships.com for tips and tools for creating and growing a great relationship. You can also subscribe to our f*r*e*e 10 day e-program on how to enrich your relationship today, from relationship coach and expert Jeff Herring.