KAPLAN UNIVERSITY

HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in

Management and Prevention

Stress
Management and
Prevention

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Program Resource
Guide

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 KA P L A N U N I V E R S I T Y

Stress Management and Prevention

Program Resource Guide

By

Harry Friend

Kaplan University

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

3 October 2017
Table of Contents
UNIT 1 THE NATU RE OF STRESS

Information to Remember........................................................................3
Self-Assessment Exercises.......................................................................3
Journal Writing.........................................................................................4

UNIT 2 THE PHYSIO LOGY OF STRESS

Information to Remember........................................................................5
Self-Assessment Exercises.......................................................................5
Journal Writing.........................................................................................5

UNIT 3 PSYCHOLOGY OF STRESS

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

UNIT 4 PERSONAL ITY TRAITS AND THE HUM AN SPIRITUAL ITY

Information to Remember........................................................................9
Self-Assessment Exercises.......................................................................9
Journal Writing.......................................................................................10

UNIT 5 DEAL ING WITH STRESS: COPING STRATE GIES

Information to Remember......................................................................12
Journal Writing.......................................................................................12

UNIT 6 REL AXATIO N TECHI QUES 1 : BREATHI NG , M EDITATI ON,

AND M ENTAL IM AGE RY

Information to Remember......................................................................14
Self-Assessment Exercises.....................................................................14
Journal Writing.......................................................................................15

UNIT 7 NUTRITI ON AND STRESS

Information to Remember......................................................................17
Self-Assessment Exercises.....................................................................17
UNIT 8 PHYSIC AL EXERCISE AND ACTIV ITY

Information to Remember......................................................................18
Self-Assessment Exercises.....................................................................18
Journal Writing.......................................................................................19

UNIT 9 APPLYING STRESS: CRITICAL ISSUES F OR M ANAGEM EN T

AND PREVE NTIO N TO YOUR PROF ESSI ONAL L IF E

Information to Remember......................................................................20

ADDITI ONAL INF ORM ATIO N

REF EREN CES

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 1
Unit

Unit 1: The Nature of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Acute stress is a form of distress that is described as intense but disappears
quickly. Chronic stress is a form of stress that may affect an individual for a long period of time and
is not as intense as acute stress. It is very important to seek help in managing stress as it can have
severe negative effects on your life and relationships. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: There are 3 phases of the general adaptation syndrome; Alarm phase, Resistance
phase, and Exhaustion phase. The alarm phase is when the nervous system is triggered, which leads
to the body trying to get back to normal (resistance), and finally in the exhaustion phase the body’s
organs can become dysfunctional or just quit working. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: There are four key parts to a wellness paradigm; Spiritual, Mental, Physical, and
Emotional. A wellness paradigm is defined as “ the integration, balance, and harmony of mental,
physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being through taking responsibility for one’s own health”
(Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
The purpose of this exercise is to develop self-awareness of stress reactions on an individual basis.
A mandala was constructed with 4 aspects of my well-being; Mental, Spiritual, Emotional, and
Physical. Address the Mandala by what is most important in your life among the 4 aspects, but identify
why each area is important. For me, the physical aspect is the most important within my Mandala,
which is defined as “The optima functioning of the body’s eight physiological systems” (Seaward,
2015). There are areas within my life that help promote a balance of my wellness paradigm and that is
walking in the woods with my family. It has everything that is important to me (family, nature, exercise,
fresh air, and peace). After 17 years of military life, that is the best thing that keeps my mind clear and
helps me focus on the now instead of the past. Taking a walk through the woods where we live in
Germany is by far the best we have done in our lifetime. I will always continue to work on balance
among the areas, and perhaps once I have “mastered” one area my focus would shift to another.
(Seaward, 2015).

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 2
Unit

Journal Writing:
Situation Start Midw End
ay
Executing duties that are not common to me 6 5 5
Completing this course with the new classroom 5 3 1
layout
Portraying leadership skills among my 7 5 4
subordinates
Being an excellent father that is there for my 3 3 2
child
Being the best that I can be at every CrossFit 1 1 1
class
Studying for promotion testing 8 5 2
Answering questions that are out of the norm 10 5 2
Being a solid husband for my wife 3 3 3
Making executive decisions on all matters 8 5 4
Thinking about what the future (life after the 7 5 3
Military) has in store for my family and me.
(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Practicing mindfulness can lead towards creating healthy changes in life.
“Practicing mindfulness causes healthy changes in the brain, supporting anecdotal evidence from
the real-life experiences of thousands of people we personally have worked with, who have enjoyed
increased well-being, focus, and peace as a result of their practice” (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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 Key Learning Point: Physiological effects of prolonged stress can affect our memory. As you deal with
ongoing stress, there is an increased chance that memory can be reduced in the hippocampal brain
cells. With chronic stress, it affects the body and can cause the brain to shrink. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: There are five models that are present and can be related to stress and disease. The
Borysenko, Pert, Lipton, Gerber models and the Pelletier pre-model.(Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Neuroscience is defined as “the study of how the nervous system develops, its structure, and what it
does” (Nordqvist, n.d.). “Neuroscientists have also discovered that the brain is far more “plastic” than
previously thought, giving rise to a new term: neuroplasticity. We now know that the brain can generate
new connections to various brain cells, recruit various brain tissue for a host of functions, and generate
new cell growth” (Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:
How is stress or anxiety about people affecting your life?
This is a huge one for me. The stress and anxiety I get from having to deal with people is
completely affecting my life. Normally, I have no issues conversing with anyone, but as soon as
the conversation is heightened by either their tone or body language, I start to be very anxious.
Additionally, when it comes to speaking in front of large crowds, my stress and anxiety increases
as well. Similarly though, if I am teaching something to a class I have no anxiety at all. Quite
possibly I could be stressed out over the anxiety that I create. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it
really does make sense to me. Other than those situations, I have no other stress and anxiety
towards people at all. I think the military really helped me out in regards to that. I have the
opportunity (now that I have been in for 17 years) to speak more freely and not worry about what
others might think, and to not care if they think poorly of me.
How is stress or anxiety about work affecting your life?
I feel like this really goes hand-in-hand with my first one. The majority of people I deal with
pertains to work anyway. There were times that work was the most stressful I have ever had it. I
was deployed to a location in southwest Asia, and was nearing my 7 month mark. There was no
difference with this one to the other 5 deployments I have been on. Each one was absolutely
stressful, every day and every night. That stress and anxiety really took its toll on my mind and
body. Recently, it took me 2 years to be able to sleep through the night again and until the
beginning of 2017 for me to be able to cope with my feelings. It was the craziest situation I had
ever encountered. Obviously, the military will not always be the number 1 cause of work stress,
but I feel that now I am better equipped to handle my stress.
How is stress or anxiety about the world affecting your life?
This one is a little tricky for me. One part of me wants to say “I could care less about the world,
my life is on track”. The other part says “I hope there is not another World war”. Both of these
affect my family and me. I can control the stress, if any, that may arise from these situations.
Overall, not high on my stress meter.
How is stress or anxiety about food and eating habits affecting your life?
This one is very important to me. I stress all the time about eating healthy. I would say that my
family and I eat healthy about 90% of the time. Which is fantastic compared to how we used to
eat. That 10% left can be broken into 2 segments. We eat out and after the fact we are completely

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 disgusted with ourselves or we know that we are going to eat something off track from our
normal diet and do not really care. Stressing over eating should not be done, since that stress

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Unit

hormone can cause us to eat as well, which may lead to over eating. We really do try our best to
eat healthy though.
How is stress or anxiety about sleep and sleeplessness affecting your life?
Sleep is something that I have recently started to master. Realizing how important sleep is was the
greatest revelation. I currently get about 7 to 8 hours of sleep and that is exactly what my body
needs to operate at a high performance level. On Fridays however, I have to go to bed earlier than
I would during the rest of the week and this is where my anxiety and stress comes from. This is
because my day starts earlier due to my unit physical conditioning. Good for physical activity,
bad for my sleep. My whole day feels slightly off, yet I can still get in a great workout with my
wife in the afternoon.
How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack of physical activity affecting your life?
I can reference this to while working out. I get a small amount of stress (mainly frustration) when
I am attempting a technical lift or double under (skipping rope, except the rope passes twice
underneath). My body is usually fatigued and I become incapacitated to execute the movements. I
know in reality it is all in my head and I just need to focus more. I did that today, Friday, and was
able to execute them consecutively. I was really happy, yet exhausted all at the same time.
Overall, I need to work on my dealings with people (especially people that are new to me or those
that are mean to me) and work to help reduce some of the largest stressors in my life. I think it
has more to do with my weak mind at the time that the stress was the highest and most likely
scared me. I do try to improve all these things daily, as I feel like it is working towards a happier
and healthier lifestyle. Time is the trick, I think, and being able to recognize the triggers and not
let those triggers affect my life. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Unit 3: Psychology of Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Technology compromises good communication skills in a professional and
personal. With these advancements in technology, we have are more prone to minimize our face-to-
face communication. The push needs to take place to ensure verbal conversations do not cease to
exist. (Seaward, 2015).

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 Key Learning Point: There are three techniques to cope with, manage, and/or resolve anger feelings. 1)
Learn to out-think your anger by reacting to instances with positivity. 2) Learn to deescalate your
anger by taking time away from the situation, thus allowing it to resolve the feelings. 3) Develop
realistic expectations of yourself and others will allow you to not get too frustrated over these
situations. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: There are many theorists that presume to know how stress can affect your
psychology. Victor Frankyl was one that wanted to find the meaning of life. He believed that that
life will throw you curve balls, but how you react to them is what defines you (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Self-awareness of stress-prone and stress-resistant personalities is ideal as it helps us be able to manage
and cope with stress. Being able to identify obstacles or roadblocks that may be in our way to human
spirituality, looking at what we can learn from the Tibetan culture about the mind and stress, looking at
the different views from theorist and what they have in common, describing at least one way to manage
or resolve fear, and describing at least 5 ways to improve our communication styles (Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:
This exercise was a challenge for me. There were always distractions that took place, and I
felt that the time was not right to complete it. Finally I completed it and below are a few of the
things that came up during my breathing.
The first thing that was difficult for me was the mental capacity to take in what I was
hearing. I understood the words and could hear the speaker clearly, but my brain was not
responding to what I would feel as calm and focused. I had to listen to it again, this time really
trying to clear all of my thoughts. I was very successful the second time around and what a
difference it made to perform that practice. I was really in tune to my breath, until my dog (who
was lying down in the room with me) opened her mouth and was breathing heavily. Listening to
the speaker, I brought it back slowly and focused on my breath, living in the moment of each
breath. Then I heard the church bells outside (which in Germany, every town has a church with
loud bells) ringing for half past eight. I again brought it back to my breath, and focused more
closely on my nose inhaling and exhaling. Once I was through the five minutes, I felt great; very
focused and clear minded.
I was an emotional wreck before the exercise. I have a lot on my mind most of the time, but
today it was going in overdrive. I just could not keep one thing in thought and was all over the
place. I had to shake out my brain diarrhea before starting the exercise. During the course of the
exercise I was really emotional free.
Physically, I was all over the place. My muscles were tight from working out. I decided to
lay down during the exercise, but this made my back hurt. My stomach was grumbling from being
slightly hungry. The physical part of the exercise was definitely the hardest, but it also helped me
identify what it is I need to work on the most. Maybe next time I will try to stretch really well
before starting the exercise.
In conclusion, I really loved the exercise. It is something that I can do with my family. We can
conduct breathing exercises before bed. This will help a lot with my mental, emotional, and physical let
downs during this exercise. I think the best part of all of it, was how I felt when I was done. I feel great,
and really I think it is more than just this lone 5-minute exercise, but more like this course in it entirety

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 has helped me out. It really is great and offers the best perspective to every aspect of life. (Stahl &
Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit

Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human

Spirituality
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are multiple personality traits that are stress resistant. Maintaining your
trait (Survivor) is a way to help reduce stress from day to day lives. “The traits that comprise a
unique winning attitude to overcome adversity and challenges, no matter what the odds may
be, so that one comes out the victor, not the victim” (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Self-esteem plays a huge role in stress management through beliefs. If you believe
in yourself, then you already have a higher self-esteem than you did before you started believing in
yourself. Self-esteem also helps to manage stress since you know you can do it, you will have less
anxiety about the situation. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: There are three steps to mindfulness to help with chronic pain. The first step,
Investigating pain and tension in the body, is done through awareness of what your body is feeling.
Step two, Working with emotions in physical pain, is when your emotions get the best of you and
can negatively affect your pain management. By being better with your mind body awareness, you
can negate those emotions. Step 3, Living in the present moment is obvious, live your life and do
not let your negative thoughts control you. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Developing self-awareness of behaviors and values to be used in managing stress on a personal
level is something that we must all strive to do. Self-esteem plays a huge role in promoting and
resolving stress; stress that can affect our relationships, values, and the meaningful purpose of life.
Individual’s values are personal to that individual, where as attitudes and beliefs can similar among a
group of people. Finally, self-awareness of behaviors and values used in managing stress is an ongoing
task that everyone must learn to manage. (Seaward, 2015 & Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Journal Writing:
Tuning into my body seems to be a harder task than it sounds while reading it on the pages of the
workbook. I can completely understand the concept of what is asked, but I guess trying to put it on
paper to express how I feel is the hard part. Either way, I gave it my best shot and below are the
categories and emotions within those categories that I have felt at one point or another.
Fear is something that I can say I have experienced more times than not. Apprehension is an
emotion that I experience a lot. I take things personal, and I know that is not a good thing to do. My
body reacts to apprehension with raising my voice, accelerated heart rate, and sweaty palms. Anxiety is
similar, but without the voice raising. I also tend to be on the alert when I am hit with anxiety, almost
feeling paranoid. I grouped edginess, jumpiness, nervousness, tenseness, and fright together as my body
reacts the same I feel. I tend to be very cautious about everything, and have a very hard to relaxing. This
is the emotional rollercoaster that I go through when I return from deployments, with the addition of
uneasiness, panic, worry, and feeling overwhelmed. My body experiences so much during these 7 to 8
months stents, that I cannot help but bring it home with me. I always have a hard time sleeping and
everything is not right for the next 3 to 4 months. With fear in itself I tend to sweat all over, my heart
beats so fast, my peripheral vision almost seems blurred but my focus on a single object is clear, my
hearing is enhanced, I think of nothing other than the task at hand, and my throat is extremely dry.
Confusion is a big emotion that I feel does not really affect me too much. It might be my attitude
toward the unknown; more of a care free if I have yet to experience it. Bewildered, uncertain, and
unaware places me into a fit of asking questions with sweaty palms, accelerated heart rate, and raising
my voice. This happens when I drive somewhere that I have never been. Chaotic emotion only
happened once that I could recall. I was deployed when President Bush said we are invading Iraq, and
the Iraqi regime decided to launch missiles at us. It was chaos everywhere, people running through the
streets almost getting hit by trucks trying to seek shelter. I was out of breath, yet do not remember
running, and shaking all over, which is something that a 19 year old should ever have to experience.
I feel like Anger is the root cause of a lot of these other emotions. With all the anger emotions I
almost feel the exact same way. I am usually hungry for one, so my stomach is growling and that affects
my thought process, I have to stay fed throughout the day. My muscles get very tense and my heart
beats fast. I start to have sweaty palms and my calf muscles start to hurt from either bouncing on the
balls of my feet or from standing on them to react quicker. I shake my head a lot from frustration,
irritation, disgust, annoyance, grouchiness and grumpiness so my neck is always sore. My teeth, jaw,
fists and forearms hurt from clenching them together. My breath is almost under a trance as it is
controlled and I only use enough to stay focused.
Sadness comes along with a lot of these other emotions. With hopelessness, loneliness,
unhappiness, disappointment, and misery my body is usually feeling like a giant boulder. Walking
becomes the hardest task as my legs feel shaky and cannot support myself. There seems to be a lump in
my throat that keeps me from talking, and I have a hard time functioning. All my muscles feel fatigued,
and my eyes feel like they are throbbing. My fingers seem to be in pain while using them, and my back
hurts from hunching it over while sitting or walking. In the past, these emotions and feelings would be
followed by me taking a pinch of chewing tobacco, and that would “fix” me, however, those days are
long gone.
Shame is a category of emotions that I experience from time to time. I have a hard time translating
it to how my body feels, but I can say that most of the emotions are similar to how I feel when I am sad.

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Regret and remorse have been experienced every time that I get angry, as I immediately regret any rude
comments that I make. Then I get sad, which my body starts to feel heavy and my eyes throb. Guilt,
embarrassment, and humiliation are a tad different. My face gets really hot, and I am sure my ears are
blistering red. I start to sweat, and not just on my palms, but all over. The front of my neck looks like it
breaks out with bumps instantly, and turns red as well. There is also a feeling of a bag of rocks in the pit
of my stomach, it makes me feel sick but not to the point of vomiting.
Love is a strong category with a lot of different emotions. When I think of affection, caring,
compassion, kindness, liking, warmth, sympathy, and sentimentality I think of every experience I have
ever hard with my son. When I get a hug from him, my heart feels eased and my body is warm. I can
feel his love for me when his skin touches mine. I am filled with happiness and almost all tingly in my
arms. My face starts to hurt from smiling so widely and my outlook on life is clearer than ever. Arousal,
attraction, compassion, desire, and longing are emotions I feel when I am with my wife. When our skin
comes in contact with one another, it is like a soothing and calming sensation comes over my entire
body. My heart beets faster and I come short of breath when we close. I never get flustered with my
words, but extremities do not seem to know what to do. My legs are weak, and arms are awkward. It is
some of the best emotions that anyone can ever have.

Joy is great, and I spend a majority of my days with the biggest smile across my face. I enjoy
everything, and think it should be enjoyed as the saying goes “Life is too short”. Amusement,
enjoyment, excitement, exhilaration, and pleasure affect my body through laughing, that may
involve crying depending on the situation, and my face hurts from smiling. I may also be out of
breath, and I have the feeling of nothing is wrong and all is well. As if all my grief and guilt were
gone forever. Enthusiasm, optimism, and satisfaction are felt similarly as well. My head seems to
nod a lot more than it would normally. I speak more clearly and confidently, and I have a sort of
directness to me. I feel more passionate about what it is I am doing and my mind seems to think
more clearly too. I try to be confident all the time for these feelings, but like almost all the others,
my emotions get in my own way.
Clearly the human body acts and reacts to different emotions at either the same time or at different
times, and the emotions can cause the body to feel the same way. This can create some confusion as to
what it is we are feeling, and in my opinion, can make us emotionally crazy at some points in our life.
Fear seems to be the biggest controlling emotion over me, which could be caused by my career choice
or just the life I have lived. I think it is okay to be afraid, to feel these different emotions, and for our
bodies to react to these emotions. It helps build our framework, and makes us unique; our own
individual. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies

5
Unit

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Attitudes can affect the human physiology. The best example of this is from
Borysenko’s friend’s story. “He discovered for himself that the unconscious mind does not respond
to negative thoughts such as “cannot,” “won’t,” and “don’t.” Therefore, rather than telling himself,
“I cannot die,” which the unconscious mind would understand as “I can die,” he fed himself a flood
of positive thoughts, such as “I will live,” and he has” (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Prochaska’s Stages of change model consists of sic stages. 1) The
Precontemplation stage: the denial of the problem. 2) Contemplation stage: Change is considered.
3) Determination stage: Will power is called in to see the process through. 4) Action stage: Action is
taken. 5) Maintenance stage: change becomes regular routine. 6) Relapse stage: the old behavior is
resumed for a while before the new behavior is adopted. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The RAIN concept is used for mindful self-inquiry. R stands for Recognize when
a strong emotion is present. A stands for Allow or Acknowledge that it is there. I stands for
Investigate the body, emotions, and thoughts. N stands for Non-identify with whatever is there.
(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010)

Journal Writing:
This week I decided to go through the Mindful Self-Inquiry for Stress and Anxiety. It was
honestly an easy choice, as I spent a lot of time walking this past week and weekend that it just
seemed logical to do that. Below is my journey on what it is that I felt mentally, emotionally, and
physically, and I hope you enjoy it.
I chose to lie down on my wife’s yoga mat during this exercise, and that was a wise choice.
As I let myself be consumed from toes to my fingertips to my head, I realized how much my
muscles were actually fatigued. My ankles seems creaky, like they needed some oiling in order for
them operate “normally”. Then on to my buttocks, my muscles were tired from the workout that I
performed the day prior. I then started thinking about all the walking that my family and me did
this past week. It is festival season in Germany, which means all the fun things are happening right
now. In fact two days ago we were walking, which seemed to have been about 10 miles, through
Bernkastel-Kues for the annual wine festival. This lush town is located in the heart of Germany’s
wine country, and the wine did not disappoint. So as I was saying, I started to think about walking

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during the fest and how happy I was. Not happy to be walking, but happy to have the opportunity
to spend quality time with my family. I was happy to have the opportunity to experience such a
wonderful and historic festival. I then started to get sad, thinking that one day we will have to go
back to the U.S., not that it is a bad thing, it just means that we will have to go through the stress
of moving again. This in turn brought up some anxiety about moving, even though we are not
leaving for another year and a half. While lying down thinking about how much my legs hurt, I
was able to bring to light these wonderful emotions and thoughts, and I was able to stress myself
out. By following the instructions provided, I let that anxiety go. I looked at it, as though it was a
cloud passing by, and allowed myself to think of the happier thoughts and to say goodbye to that
cloud (anxiety).
I moved up my body, and was fine until I reached my head. I do not have any physical
ailments, bumps or bruises, sore muscles or anything along those sorts. I do, however, have
thoughts. Thoughts that are pertaining to everything, but what really comes to light and is on the
forefront of my thoughts is work. It is something that I cannot help, and until I retire from the
military, it will always be on my mind. This instance, I was thinking of something that I have to
send to my coworker on Tuesday morning. It really is not something that is of great importance,
but for some reason I cannot stop thinking about it. In fact, I thought about it all weekend, like that
one thing in the back of your mind that you do not want to forget. Then, I started thinking about all
the other things going on with work. I do not think it really had any emotional attachment to it, as I
was not really stressed out or anxious about it. Taking the advice and instructions from the voice
on the disc, I looked at each of these thoughts as a cloud going by. Then, I realized that it was quite
a cloudy day and imagined they were on a slide from and old style projector. I was simply clicking
through them, one after the other, and not necessarily “not caring” but acknowledging they are
there and moving on.
When the exercise finished, I have to say I felt amazing. It really gave me that awareness of my
ongoing issues, and how they are not detrimental to me. They are things that are going to happen,
regardless of how much I stress over them, and how anxious I am about them. I need to keep that
mindset throughout the day, for at least one day, and see how it goes. I have a feeling that I will be even
more energized than I normally am, that I can think clearly like I do in the mornings and after a
workout, and that I have an overall better attitude toward the end of the day. Being able to acknowledge
the stressor and not let it affect me physical, emotionally, and mentally is something that I can
absolutely get used and would welcome it like an old friend that I have not seen in a long time. Overall,
this has been an unforgettable experience, and one that I would love to share with my family and friends
that would be interested in hearing about it. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing,

6
Unit

Meditation, and Mental Imagery

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Meditation can have positive effects on the mind and body and can help with
chronic pain and insomnia. The mind-body-spirit paradigm is when one involves the mind and spirit
to reduce pain if not dismiss it altogether. Insomnia can be mitigated through meditation, by
clearing the mind of all thoughts. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Self-compassion is called the great-unnamed epidemic. It is difficult to love
yourself if you are causing yourself so much stress. With the technological age, we rely on others
thoughts of us to build our self-worth, when all that is needed is to build ourselves. (Stahl &
Goldstein, 2010).
Key Learning Point: Imagery and Visualization can be used as a relaxation technique. One of the
effective ways is to imagine breathing in a cloud of fresh, clean air. Then, exhale out the dirty air
and pass with it all of your negative thoughts and stress. Repeat the process until all the negative is
out of your mind and body. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
Diaphragmatic breathing is defined as “The most basic relaxation technique; breathing from the
lower stomach or diaphragm rather than the thoracic area” (Seaward, 2015). With this breathing come
three steps to ensure an effective technique, so that you get the full diaphragmatic experience. Step 1 is
to assume a comfortable position, Step 2 is Concentration, and Step 3 is Visualization. Meditation is an
excellent technique to master, as it promotes more than just a calm state of mind. There have been
multiple studies showing how effective meditation is on the mind and body. Mental imagery and
visualizations are great to be used as relaxation techniques. “Mental imagery as a form of relaxation has
taken the concept of daydreaming and organized it to give it a sense of legitimacy. People rarely
daydream spontaneously during a bout of stress. Instead, as mentioned previously, the mind conjures up
worst-case scenarios that seem more real than the actual event” (Seaward, 2015).

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Journal Writing:
This week’s journal was a challenging one for me, at least more challenging than normally. I
do not necessarily have a lot of negative self talk, at least not anymore. I do, however, have a ton
of stuff to discuss that have happened to me within the past year. Since I know these feelings and
can relate to the text and the workbook instructions through those old feelings that is what I
decided to write about. It was a very difficult time in my life, and a very difficult to write about, so
I hope you enjoy.

About 18 months ago I suffered from compulsive gambling. It was the lowest point of my
life, career, and marriage. I was failing, and I told myself that everyday. I had a hard time looking
at myself in the mirror, and even harder time looking at my wife. My stress levels were through
the roof, and my body was feeling the toll of all that cortisol. I was getting fat, which increased my
negative comments toward myself. I was broken beyond anything that I have ever seen or felt. I
needed to be rescued, and I was always too proud to ask for help. It was a continuous downward
spiral into a life of negative self-worth.

I would have liked to believe that if I had changed my mindset I would have gotten better.
Clearly, it is harder than most can think, to be able to clear your mind of these thoughts I imagine
would have changed my entire life at that point. Eventually I did, but it was not something that I
did by myself. I had a lot of help from my wife, who stuck by my side all the way through. I also
sought a counselor, as I felt I needed more help than to just stop my habit. I needed help with my
thoughts and my attitude on everything. The counselor helped me look at different things to do
with my time, as I gambled because I was bored. I started to look at eating healthier, exercising
more, going to school, and taking on more responsibilities at work. If I did not water my seeds of
suffering so much back then, I would probably have a lot more money in my bank account that
much is true. But I would not have had that experience that made me who am I am.

Resentment is something that I can absolutely relate to, and to be honest I have no idea why.
It could be due to my childhood and how I raised but I do not think this is the forum for that
discussion. I started to think about someone that I do not exactly see eye-to-eye with. This person
is a superior to me, so it makes things slightly difficult. Normally, when someone tells me
something that I do not like to hear, I tell them to take that and their attitude and shove it
somewhere not very nice. Its hard to do that with this individual, and it is not the fear of getting in
trouble, but the fact that I feel we could be really friends and would hate to ruin that opportunity.
The individual always seems to have an attitude of they are better than me, and I suppose I have
the same thing. However, he never is like that to a peer of mine, so in a why I fully resent him for
that. Why is my peer better than me? It could be because he and I are more alike than different, so
there are different expectations. I still find it hard to “open up” to people that give off that vibe that
I do not like.
Reflecting on that last few paragraphs, it is hard to believe I was so honest. With the exception of
my wife, no one knows about my past gambling addiction. I never speak about it, and change the
subject if any type of gambling is brought up in conversation. I guess I am ashamed of my actions and
never thought I would be affected by such actions. I know I am so happy that I was able to confide in
my wife and that she literally walked me to the counselor to seek help. She now saved my life twice, so
I guess I owe her more than she deserves. Additionally, looking into my superiors thought process as to

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 why he treats me the way I feel he does, it really seems like he wants me to be better than I am. I know
we can all improve, as no one is perfect, but why does he have to be so hard on me? I look back on all

7
Unit

the situations that he was difficult, the all seem to have benefitted me. I learned from all these situations
and being the type of person that I am, will never repeat any missteps; they all have been for the better.
(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: There are certain foods that can trigger the stress response. They are processed
sugar, flour, salt, alcohol, and drinks containing caffeine. Try to avoid these foods in high quantity
or altogether. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Stress can affect digestion, absorption, and elimination of Macronutrients and
essential Micronutrients. “A depletion of minerals decreases the integrity of the immune system,
making one more susceptible to disease and illness. The following minerals are in deficit under
conditions of chronic stress: magnesium, chromium, copper, iron, and zinc” (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: There are four Stress Domino’s that can affect nutrition and our immune system.
1) Stress depletes nutrients in the body. 2) The body tries to compensate for lack of nutrients, but the
health is now compromised. 3) Processed foods sustain the body, but do not replenish the lost
nutrients and elevate the heart rate and feed the stress response. 4) The last remaining domino; when
this falls the body is greatly affected and more prone to infections, diseases, and sickness. (Seaward,
2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:
The practice of mindful lying yoga is a way of performing yoga poses while lying on a mat or carpet. It
is a practice to assist the body and mind with “bringing awareness to your breath, movement, posture,
thoughts, and emotions” (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010). This exercise is highly recommended when your
mind and body are really stressed or are on their way to getting really stressed, because it is so freeing.
The practice abled me to loosen my achy muscles and really bring mindfulness to them and my breath.
(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 8: Physical Exercise and Activity

8
Unit

Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: The exercise guidelines and components of fitness include Cardiovascular
endurance, Muscular endurance, Muscular strength, Flexibility, Agility, Power, Balance, and
Anerobice exercise. All are just as important as the next, and ensuring an even balance of all is ideal
to maintain optimal levels of fitness. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The Adenosine-tri-creatine (ATP-PC) system is an energy source last usually lasts
in quick spurts around 1-10 seconds, and can be considered to be used during the fight or flight
response. Lactic acid system comes in to use after the ATP-PC system at around 5-6 minutes.
(Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: It is extremely important to communicate and network with fellow Health and
Wellness individuals. Having a healthy relationship is beneficial to you and your profession. There
may be times when you require assistance, or vice versa, and having that open line will allow you to
have a better understanding and/or point of view from someone else. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercises:
This exercise is important in the planning and management of a Health and Wellness program. Initially,
finding what is important to employees is what really drives the program. Instituting a program that
employees will use is cost effective and has shown to increase overall productivity among employees
by 12% (Revenescio, 2015). Having knowledge on the topic will allow you to save time and efforts
when planning a health and wellness program for your future employer. (Seaward, 2015).

17
Journal Writing:
Interpersonal mindfulness is something that I can honestly say, “I need to work on”. I am
unsure if this is common trait among people, but I will do better and be better about it. For this
exercise, I chose to imagine my family (my wife and son) sitting in front of me. Below is what
came up for me when I finished re-reading the descriptions.

OPENNESS: This made me think of when my wife and I were dating, many years ago. I
remember being really open and laid back then. I know now I try to be, but I like to stay in my
comfort zone a majority of the time. I want to say this is from 17 years in the military, 7
deployments to the Middle East, and stress levels beyond belief. I honestly have no idea what
changed me, nor can I tell if it is for the better or not.
EMPATHY: This quality is one that I have been working on for a while. I know I lack empathy,
but by being mindful to it, I have been able to bring a lot more awareness to it. I lack it the most
toward my son, and I have identified that already. I always try to be better at it, and feel that I have
become better at showing empathy toward him whenever the need arises.
COMPASSION: I have this quality and share it primarily with my family, but when it comes to
others I have a hard time with it. There are some rare instances that I come to help those in need,
as I can relate to them, but a majority of the time I have a hard time caring. My wife always tells
me to place your self in their shoes and see how it is, but I just cannot do that, as I will always see
a different way out of that situation. Clearly it is a work in progress.
LOVING-KINDNESS: When I think of this, I think of my son. There is nothing more that I would
rather do in this world than protect him from being hurt or afraid.
SYMPATHETIC JOY: This one really got me mind blanked. I cannot relate to this in anyway. I
can imagine what I am supposed to be feeling, but it is not coming to me, and the book even says
“Sympathetic joy is possible regardless of the person’s circumstances” (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).
EQUANIMITY: This quality is one that really captivates me. I understand that all relationships
have value, and having a customer service oriented position, I can really relate with this quality. I
always treat people with the upmost respect, and do not expect it in return, but in the military it is
common courtesy. I never really treat anyone poorly, unless their demeanor towards me is horrible.
Then I am not as respectful, but never rude or belittling.
In general, there are many things that I need to continuously work on to be better at. In fact, all
these qualities need improvement in some way or another. I think this really showcases why all of us are
not exactly the same, we never came from a mold. We are all raised differently and our personalities are
completely different. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for

9
Unit

Management and Prevention to your

Professional Life
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Hobbies can help individuals reduce stress by allowing them to create order out of
their chaos. Hobbies can also take ones mind off of the current stressor at hand and direct it toward
something that they are interested in and can relate to. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Forgiveness is an effective coping technique as it allows someone to move on
form an instance in his or her life that had some negativity. It is perceived that if no forgiveness is
given, that person could end up having great resentment and even anger toward that threat that
cause them so much pain. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: “Mindfulness is about being fully aware of whatever is happening in the present
moment, without filters or the lens of judgment” (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010). Bringing mindfulness
to our physical, emotional, and mental well-being can allow us to reach a deeper meaning, and one
not only of ourselves but for the world. (Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Additional Information
The following resources are additional information that is important and relevant to mindful
awareness.

(S) Mindbodygreen.com. (2017). Retrieved on 9 July, 2017, from https://www.mindbodygreen.com.

There really is only one word to describe this website, Amazing. Need information on health that
is mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and evironmentlly useful? Then
Mindbodygreen.com is the place for you. It is valuable for yoga poses, as well as clean eating. It
was also ranked the number one health and wellness website on Absolute.com.

(S) Wellandgood.com. (2017). Retrieved on 9 July, 2017, from https://www.wellandgood.com.

Well and good is a website the provides information on wellness and healthy living with fitness,
nutrition, natural beauty articles and more. Though it may follow a bit of fashionistas and their
trends, there are some hidden gems within their site that really have that homestyle feel. The
Healthy Recipes section is where you want to spend most of your time as there are a ton of great
ideas to cook up something healthy for you and your family.

(P) Micozzi, M. (2011). Fundamentals of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 4th Edition.
[VitalSource Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-1-
4377-0577-5/

This digital book has plethora of knowledge when it comes to different modalities of alternative
medicine, particularly the section on meditation. This is a great resource when tracking down the
history of meditation and the different aspects of it.

(P) Mindful Staff. (2014). How to Do It. Retrieved on 21 September 2017 from
https://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-how-to-do-it/.

This article is a great resource to consult when practicing mindful meditation. It walk one through
the process and even tells you how to sit. It would be handy if you do not have your Mindful-
based stress reduction workbook.

(P) Center for Spiritual Healing. Mind-Body Therapies and Practices. (2012). Retrieved on 23
September from https://www.csh.umn.edu/education/online-learning-modules-resources/online-
learning-modules.

This learning module is a fantastic tool to use when looking at mind-body therapy and practices. It
has a different view and perspective that other sources may not have.

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 References

Nordqvist, C. (n.d.). What is Neuroscience. Retrieved on 12 August 2017 from

https://neuro.georgetown.edu/about-neuroscience.

Revesencio, J. (2015). Why Happy Employees Are 12% More Productive. Retrieved on 21

September 2017 from https://www.fastcompany.com/3048751/happy-employees-are-12-

more-productive-at-work.

Seaward, B. (2015). 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.

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