Reflection Paper

I lived a relatively stress-free environment until I went off to college. I started to meet people that grew up in a rough childhood and I started to realize how lucky I was. This realization paired up with one of the most difficult quarters I had experience so far. The stress from school and this realization that so many of my fellow peers had experienced such a difficult upbringing caused me to have an anxiety attack for about a week. Luckily I live with two of my closest friends who were able to pick up on the fact that I was not acting myself and they helped me realize what was going on. The stress caused me to overthink everything with in turn only lead to more stress. I started to sleep less, eat less and that also only caused more stress. I vividly remember a time during that week when my roommate sat me down and said she wanted to show me something that could help relax me. She lead me through a guided meditation. At first I was skeptical. I had no idea how a simple exercise was going to help me but to my surprise it really did! Just by focusing on my breathing and shutting my mind off for a few minutes I was alleviated of my stress. Kelly McGonigal’s video on how to make stress your friend gave me a light of insight on how I can combat a situation like this in the future. She asked the audience to “view stress as a positive thing rather than a negative thing” and just by

There are many different methods that can be applied to reduce the tension. It is vital to reduce and manage stress because stress can lead to high-blood pressure, heart attacks, higher levels of depression, and more. However, one of the most effective coping strategies you can complete is finding emotional support. Emotional support can make quite the difference, 26% of those with emotional support report that their stressed increased in the past year compared to 43% of those with no emotional support. (APA) In addition to emotional support, focusing on yourself is an important skill. Focus on making sure you get a healthy meal, having quiet time, or just time to make yourself feel comfortable. Similarly, exercise can make you feel more at ease. (APA) Exercise chemically affects the brain releasing good endorphins making you feel better. Some exercises can reduce heart rate and blood pressure leading to less stress hormones in the body. (U-Line) Overall, we see the harms of stress, but we also can find ways to cope with the inevitable tension.

As a former Army Soldier, I know that life is full of stress and stressors that can have an impact on my life. In fact, I believe as a Soldier, you can have an additional form of stress known as combat stress that can produce long term effects to your health and well-being. I retired from the Army in 2009 after deploying six times to various combat zones and dealt with other stressors that you have in the Army. I believe that I have some effects from the stress that I endured while in a combat zone. Finding ways to deal with stress without going and asking for help through meditation and relaxation exercises would be beneficial to me, so that I don’t have to turn to someone for help. Besides combat stress or related stress, I also have the stress that everyone in life endures. My top stressors are that of work in my current job, family life to include extended family, finances, continuing my education, and lastly combat stress from when I was on active duty. According to the Mayo Clinic in an article from mayoclinic.org titled Healthy Life Styles Stress Management, “Stress might be affecting your health without you even realizing it.” In this paper I will answer the questions like, what causes this stress. Is it time management? I believe what causes a lot of this stress is not having enough time in the day to do it all the things you want or need to do without causing a negative feelings or anger. In this, I

In today’s time and space, stress is a killer, both literally and figuratively. A number of people feel the impact of stress no matter whether they are young or old. With the strain of various day to day responsibilities of modern day living, almost everyone feels the cold, dark shadow of stress wreaking havoc with their mental peace. There are ways around this ubiquitous villain of sorts. The usual measures of exercising, music, yoga, meditation, etc. are always successful in giving you a measure of control over stress.

Stress is a main aspect of the human condition, because everyone goes through a daily amount of stress, whether the problems come from school, family, even physical activities. The first time I felt a load of stress was earlier this year in fact, on a Thursday in September. I had many assignments due that day, and had a football game for band later as well. There was a reading check for “WHAP”, and the second I had seen the vocab and multiple choice questions my stomach started churning. There was sweat running down my face.... The notes I had took were horrendous, the thought of my French IP Practices the next period did not help either. Even though the day had finished and I did not have to stress over school anymore,

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

In terms of stress reduction, mindfulness refers to the development of skills “characterized by a nonjudgmental awareness, openness, curiosity and acceptance of internal and external present experiences” (Chiesa & Serrety, 2009. p. 593). The constant practice of mindfulness exercises accounts for the reduction of stress. In their review of ten articles relevant to the effectiveness of mindfulness practices on stress reduction (MBSR), Chiessa and Serretti, (2009) found a significant positive effect of mindfulness practices compared to no treatment, in reducing stress levels in healthy people. MBSR is a psychoeducational group intervention (Cadwell et al, 2010), where participants receive formal training in various

I quit my job and sold my car. I started my life all over again. I have never been happier. I hate to say I have not personally learned anything in this module to deal with stress differently. The reason for this is because of my personal experience with stress this entire year before I even began this class. I acknowledge that there are many ways to deal with stress but the ironic thing is, I had to figure this out the hard way not from a textbook. I made substantial changes in my life. I changed my cognitive appraisal. I look at minor problems differently and control my emotions much better. I make time to do things I like and started yoga. The textbook addresses that and I believe it will help other students to learn to deal with stress better like I have. Chronic stress is terrible and exhausting but sometimes it can be stopped by the individual. It can be changed not only by how you interpret your own problems and coping strategies but by making changes to stop them. One step in coping with stress from the text that I agree with and identify with strongly is “Remember failure and disappointment are sometimes blessings in

The results of my Stress Reaction Inventory validated many of the feelings I knew were present in my life. I will admit that this exercise opened my eyes to a reality, which I have been in denial of for some time. Between the stressors of my current job and the declining health of both my parents, I have a greater potential for suffering secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue and burnout; all of which I need to address. Through this assignment, I have made a conscious decision to make changes moving forward. I must begin to recognize again that I can’t take care of others without first taking care of myself. I pray that my self-disclosure in this assignment does not provide you with a feeling that I will not be

I had learned about mindfulness from my doctor and the media, and I thought it was going to be a good stress reducing strategy for me because overthinking is probably where all my problems come from. For guidance, I used the book One Minute Mindfulness and the website “The Free Mindfulness Project”. The book helped me come up with ways to be mindful in my everyday life, such as paying attention to my breathing, enjoying the taste of food, observing nature and being nonjudgmental of myself and the universe. I used the website for guided meditations, meaning that a recording told me how and when to focus on my breathing and body. I listened to the recordings every night for 10 minutes in order to gain the benefits of mindfulness meditation, but I did not meet my goal. I was successful in following through with the mindfulness techniques, but according to the data I collected, I am still experiencing a lot of stress and my mood is pretty

“I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.” These words from Steve Maraboli inspire me to not feel stress, yet it is there everyday. Whether I have a paper due, my car’s gas light is on, or I feel like I do not have enough time in the day, stress crawls through my mind and body.

2. Do you think the suggestions provided on this website are based on scientific evidence? Why? I believe that the suggestions from the University of Georgia Health Center are scientifically based. As stated in the book, the stress response in the human body is regulated by the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system (Lyons & Martin, 114-115). In simple terms, the sympathetic nervous system revs up the body and prepares it for emergency situations. Meanwhile, the parasympathetic nervous system serves as a negative feedback loop for this response, and calms the body back down. The majority of the sources from the website such as progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, meditation, visualization, etc,

I have learned through my field experience at the salvation army that I maintain a calm appearance even though I am stressed in my mind. This was reviled to me when talking to my field instructor. I have always thought that people can see what is going on inside of me. While working with the children at the salvation army I was extremely stressed at certain times because of the craziness happens when there are 90 children running around. I just figured that everyone could see how stressed I was by my field instructor said that I always appeared calm and in control. This was a surprise to me. Also by the end of my required hours, I found that I had learned to deal with the stress better. Instead of focusing on the bad parts of my time there, I would think about the cute, funny, and sweet moments that happened. I think this awareness helps grow my professional self because I am more aware of how emotions come across on me. People

As one has seen, positive stress adds anticipation and excitement to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress. Deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and enrichment to our lives. Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may leave us feeling bored or rejected; on the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots." What one needs to do is find a safe level of stress, which will individually motivate but not overwhelm them.

“He is our Redeemer, our Rock, our Comfort, a Father to the fatherless…” A guest speaker at church camp stopped in the middle of his sermon on Matthew 18 and began listing some of the attributes of God and what He is for His children. I had lost my father two years before that, and had practically given up on my faith, constantly thinking “If God really loved me, why would he have taken my dad away from me?” The speaker’s words floored me. They stopped me cold. I found myself falling towards the altar to pray to the Lord who I had so blatantly been rejecting. I needed a father, and He reminded me that I have a Father; a heavenly and eternal Father.