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Positive thinking

Energy to Spare

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Knowing Your Limits …...click & see
Every human life is defined, to some extent, by limits. No one person is capable of fulfilling every possibility. We are all born with unique aptitudes and sensitivities, and it is these qualities that largely determine the paths we will travel in life. What invigorates, excites, and inspires one individual may exhaust or overwhelm another. When we understand what we as individuals are capable of reasonably handling, we gradually learn to accept that we have control over our wellbeing. Yet determining where our limits lie can be difficult, as it is likely we have been told time and again that the discomfort, fatigue, and stress we felt while engaging in activities outside the range of our comfort zones was all in our heads. If you have never before given thought to the notion of personal limits, creating a list of those tasks and situations that leave you feeling drained can give you insight into your own.

You will know definitively that you are operating within your limits when you have the necessary energy and drive to address your personal and professional commitments. This is not to say you should not push yourself or work to extend the range of your capabilities. The wisdom you gain through dynamic self-examination will give you the tools you need to create an individual life strategy that allows you to achieve your goals without compromising yourself or your needs. The limits you honor by focusing your energy on what you can do rather than what you cannot do will not interfere with your ambitions unless you allow them to interfere. You can thrive within your limits, actively shape your circumstances, and avoid anguish by simply recognizing that certain aspects of life nourish you while others drain you, and doing your best to perceive the fine line between applying yourself diligently and overworking yourself.

You may be surprised to discover that your limits change over time. Your willingness to accept these limits as they reveal themselves to you can smooth your passage through life and give you the means to flourish.

Source: Daily Om

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Meditation

Compassion Meditation: A Great Stress Buster

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Individuals who engage in compassion meditation may benefit by reductions in inflammatory and behavioral responses to psychological stress, a new Compassion  study has found.
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“While much attention has been paid to meditation practices that emphasize calming the mind, improving focused attention or developing mindfulness, less is known about meditation practices designed to specifically foster compassion,” says Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, PhD, who designed and taught the meditation program used in the study.

Negi is senior lecturer in the Department of Religion, the co-director of Emory Collaborative for Contemplative Studies and president and spiritual director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc.

The study focused on the effect of compassion meditation on inflammatory, neuroendocrine and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress, and evaluated the degree to which engagement in meditation practice influenced stress reactivity.

“Our findings suggest that meditation practices designed to foster compassion may impact physiological pathways that are modulated by stress and are relevant to disease,” said Charles L. Raison, MD, clinical director of the Mind-Body Program, Emory University”s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory School of Medicine, and a lead author on the study.

Sixty-one healthy college students between the ages of 17 and19 participated in the study. Half the participants were randomized to receive six weeks of compassion meditation training and half were randomized to a health discussion control group. Although secular in presentation, the compassion meditation program was based on a thousand-year-old Tibetan Buddhist mind-training practice called “lojong” in Tibetan.

A variety of student participation activities were employed such as mock debates and role-playing. Both groups were required to participate in 12 hours of classes across the study period. Meditators were provided with a meditation compact disc for practice at home. Homework for the control group was a weekly self-improvement paper.

After the study interventions were finished, the students participated in a laboratory stress test designed to investigate how the body”s inflammatory and neuroendocrine systems respond to psychosocial stress.

No differences were seen between students randomized to compassion meditation and the control group, but within the meditation group there was a strong relationship between the time spent practicing meditation and reductions in inflammation and emotional distress in response to the stressor.

Consistent with this, when the meditation group was divided into high and low practice groups, participants in the high practice group showed reductions in inflammation and distress in response to the stressor when compared to the low practice group and the control group.

You may click to see:->

Buddhist Compassion Meditation Techniques
Can We Train Our Brains Through Compassion Meditation?

How to Beat Stress and Angst Through Meditation

Science of Meditation

Source: The Times Of India

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Featured

Stress is to be Blamed

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Your body is aching all over, and you are suffering from acidity and indigestion. Curiously, medical tests show there is nothing wrong with you. If you are flummoxed, give this idea some thought — is it possible that your suffering is actually a manifestation of stress?

One out of two people in India suffers from stress. Such people are physically, mentally and emotionally unable to cope with the demands that life makes on them.

It is not just men — very often the sole breadwinner of a family — who suffer from stress. It also affects working women who have to balance a career and home and housewives who have to take care of budgets that go haywire because of inflation. It doesn’t spare children either. Stress affects the young who are in an increasingly competitive academic world.

Any physical, chemical or emotional factor that causes mental tension can be defined as stress. It can play an important part in the cause of disease. Continuous stress sets in motion a train of physical events which can eventually precipitate disease. This is particularly so in the case of people medically “sitting on the fence”. These individuals do not as yet have overt diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes, but months of stress push them over the edge.

Stress invokes a “fight or flight reaction” in the body. It results in a surge of chemicals, predominant among which are the neurotransmitters adrenaline and nor-adrenaline. These act on every organ in the body causing a rapid heart rate, palpitation and a cold, clammy skin. At night, they keep the person awake, tossing and turning in bed. This results in insomnia, one of the commonest early symptoms of stress.

Eventually, other symptoms appear. The person’s temper becomes short and he or she becomes touchy and irritable. Relationships with family members and peers are affected. After all, no one wants to be around a bad tempered person. This disrupts support systems that may actually be beneficial in coping.

Marriages begin to suffer as the libido decreases. There is loss of interest in sex and in children and family activities. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea may produce an aversion to food. In some people satiety may be affected, resulting in overeating and food binges.

In such a condition, muscles may go into a spasm and fail to relax. There may be headaches, neck and shoulder pain, and backaches. The skin may break out in rashes.

Unable to relax or sleep, the person may turn to drugs or alcohol to relax. The dependence is not necessarily on hard core drugs such as heroin or cocaine — it may also be on painkillers such as propoxyphene. Many pharmacies may provide anxiolytics (anti anxiety drugs) or addictive sedatives like diazepam or alprazolam without a prescription.

Stress usually builds up over time, although it can be triggered by sudden, unexpected pressure. It is aggravated by long hours of work, lack of job security, long journeys to and from work, and extended periods of exertion with no breaks or holidays.

Short-term stress, however, has certain plus points. It often brings out the best in an individual so that tasks are completed efficiently and on time. By and large, long-term stress is detrimental to physical well-being.

The pressures of work and life cannot be escaped. The stress generated can and should be managed.

Time management is most important. It is best to prioritise tasks and not be sidelined by mundane everyday chores. Do only what needs to be done. Try to finish your work on time. Long hours do not necessarily add up to increased or better production.

Eat meals regularly and on time. Eat healthy, non-greasy food and if necessary get it from home. Add around four to five helpings of fresh fruit and vegetables. The vitamins and antioxidants will give your body a natural boost so that you can avoid all the extra cups of coffee and tea. Excessive caffeine does not really help to keep you alert or active. It might produce more palpitations and tremors.

Exercise is a great stress buster. Around 30-45 minutes of walking, running, jogging or swimming releases natural mood elevating chemicals from the calf muscles. You will not only have more stamina, but will also be rejuvenated. Exercise should be completed an hour before bedtime. Otherwise the chemicals released will keep you awake. The best results are obtained if the exercise is combined with relaxation techniques. Yoga for about 20 minutes a day is ideal. Otherwise deep breathing with the eyes shut and the mind emptied of all thought for five to 10 minutes may be sufficient. Constant stress may make you a high achiever, but unless balanced with diet and exercise, it might push you towards an early heart attack. Such a situation is not worth it and to a large extent avoidable.

Source: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Healthy Tips

Try Natural Scents to De-stress Yourself

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Feeling stressed or fretful? Try savouring the scent of lemon, mango, lavender or other fragrant plants to calm yourself.
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Scientists in Japan are presenting the first scientific evidence that inhaling certain fragrances alter gene activity and blood chemistry in ways that can reduce stress levels.

Akio Nakamura, of Saitama University, Japan and colleagues note that people have inhaled the scent of certain plants since ancient times to help reduce stress, fight inflammation and depression, and induce sleep.

Aromatherapy, the use of fragrant plant oils to improve mood and health, has become a popular form of alternative medicine today.

And linalool is one of the most widely used substances to soothe away emotional stress. Until now, however, linalool’s exact effects on the body have been a deep mystery.

The scientists exposed lab rats to stressful conditions while inhaling and not inhaling linalool.

Linalool returned stress-elevated levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes – key parts of the immune system – to near-normal levels.

Inhaling linalool also reduced the activity of more than 100 genes that go into overdrive in stressful situations. The findings could form the basis of new blood tests for identifying fragrances that can soothe stress, the researchers say.

Source: These findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

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Healthy Tips

Natural Stress Relieve Remedies

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Everyone has some sort of stress in their lives. In today’s world many of us try to juggle a job, family life and much more. Juggling all these things can lead to stress and stress can be horrible to  deal with because it affects every part of your daily life. These natural remedies will help you deal with your stress and make each day just a little bit easier.

Natural Remedy for Stress Relief:-

1.: Laugh!.
Did you know that laughing actually releases a chemical in your body that will help lighten your moods? By being able to laugh about your problems you will be able to get a clear perspective on the issue at hand. Not only that but more than likely you will be laughing with someone else and taking out your problem with a friend will also help relieve your stress. What is the best part about laughing other than it being a stress reliever? It’s also free!

2.: Work-Out..
Working out is a great way to relieve stress. It allows you to get out the tension that is building up in your body and also gives you time to think about the issue more clearly. If you have an over load of stress in your life head over to the gym, out for a run or a walk to clear your head.

3: Snacks in your Refrigerator..
If you have stress you are likely going to want to snack since this happens to many people. Don’t reach for the chocolate candy bars, instead head over to your refrigerator. Celery, cherries and lettuce all contain chemicals in the that will help ease your stress so snack on them anyway you like to help chase that stress away.

4: Baking Soda and Ginger..
Everyone knows that a warm bath can help relieve stress. Take it just a step further and add a ½ cup of both baking soda and ginger. This will help make your bath soothing both in the water texture and the aroma given off by the ginger.

5: Hot Tea
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A warm drink always has a way of calming and soothing us. Choose a peppermint tea to gain a relaxing feeling that will help relieve your stress. If you don’t have peppermint tea you can always add a peppermint candy to any cup of tea. Sucking on a peppermint candy can also help relieve
stress on the go.

Stress is a natural thing in life. Being able to manage it is important and by using these natural home remedies to relieve stress you will feel better soon!

Source: Mail Online. July 19. 2009.

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