Real Relaxation by Konstantin Koss

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The company Attune that is selling those yummy probiotic wellness bars you can see on the right currently has a promotional offer to send out 100 free taste tests each and every day at their homepage. It’s best if you look there first thing in the morning. After all free is free you know?

Here are some details they provide for their attune wellness bar:

Attune Probiotic Chocolate Bars

• Packed with 5X the live cultures in yogurt
• Excellent source of calcium
• Only 100 calories or less
• Available in Blueberry Vanilla, Chocolate Crisp, Dark Chocolate and Mint Chocolate

Attune Probiotic Granola Bars

• Packed with 5X the live cultures in yogurt
• Excellent source of calcium
• Good source of protein
• 3 grams of fiber
• Available in Lemon Crème, Mango Peach, Strawberry Bliss and Wild Berry

Popularity: 12% [?]

Tags: Probiotic, Wellness, Wellness Bar

Everyone can experience stress. The human body is designed to feel stress and respond to it. Stress keeps us alert and prepared to prevent danger. Being knowledgeable on the prime causes of stress is important and using your knowledge to control stress is vital.

The causes of stress change as we age. A stressed child at young age can threw tantrums but when he becomes a student, he can be stressed by school works. Once he becomes a teen, he is stressed by dating and relationship. And the causes of stress differ as he grows older thereon.

So what causes stress really? Anything can cause stress if it allows you to adapt to changes in the environment. The body will have to react to changes with mental, emotional and physical responses. All people have their own ways of adjusting to changes, thus the stress causes can differ for each individual.

General Stress Causes

Generally, the causes of stress are:

1. Threat. An apparent threat can lead a person to be stressed. Different threats include social, physical, financial, and others. It will become worse if the person experiencing the stress feels that he can’t do anything to lessen the threat.

2. Fear. Threat can cause fear which further leads to stress. Fear advances to imagined outcomes and these outcomes are the real causes of stress.

3. Uncertainty. When people are uncertain, they can’t predict and thus they feel they are not control of a situation. This can lead to a feeling of fear and of threat.

4. Cognitive dissonance. We are experiencing cognitive dissonance if there’s a gap on what we think and what we do. This dissonance can also happen when we can’t meet our commitments. This dissonance can therefore lead to stress.
Other than the general causes of stress, there are the life causes of stress. Such causes include:

• Health: illness, pregnancy, injury
• Crime: burglary, mugging, sexual molestation, pick-pocketed
• Argument: with friends, family, boss, spouse, boss, co-workers
• Death: of friend, spouse, family
• Money: investing it, lack of it, owning it
• Sexual problems: with partner, getting partner
• Physical change: new work hours, lack of sleep
• Family change: marriage, divorce, new baby, separation
• Self abuse: alcoholism, drug abuse, self-harm
• Environment change: in house, school, job, jail, town
• Responsibility increase: new job, new dependent
• New location: moving house, vacation

Looking at what causes stress, let’s have a look at the most common situattion where stress arises: In the workplace.

Stress Causes at Work

There are also stress-related to work. United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive gives 6 key stress related factors at work:

1. Demands of the job.

2. Relationship with colleagues

3. Control staff on how they can do their work

4. Workplace changes

5. Receiving support from superiors and colleagues

6. Understanding their responsibilities and roles.

The other indicators of stress at work are:

• High staff turnover
• Sickness absence
• Bullying
• Poor team communication
• Contribution and value
• Lack of performance feedback
• Technological change
• Working for long hours
• Lack of clear roles and responsibilities
• Dissatisfaction with the non-monetary benefits
• Mundane and boring work
• Uncomfortable workplace
• One-off incidents

We may not admit it but the lives of students are also faced with a lot of stresses. There are many pressures faced by students at school. These pressures equate to a lot of stress. Some of the school stresses are tests and examinations, reports, school bully, difficult subject, strict teachers, etc.

From the causes mentioned above, you may be asking yourself which among them are the leading causes of stress. In 1967, Richard Rahe and Thomas Holmes, both from University of Washington, conducted a study on the relationship between illnesses and significant life events. They compiled the major causes of stress and created a chart as a part of their study. The chart which had 43 stress causes in 1967 was updated on 2006 with 55 additional causes of stress. This proves that our society finds more causes of stress year after year.

Studies come up with ranking for the major causes of stress. The online poll LifeCare Inc. conducted a survey on the top most causes of stress in 2005. Majority of the respondents considered finances as the leading cause of stress. Next is work related stress such as job security. Third in the rank is family stress followed by personal concerns such as shopping and household chores. The fifth cause of stress is personal health and safety; sixth is personal relationship and the last in the rank is death.

There are seemingly endless causes of stress and we can find some new causes as long as we live. Everyone must be aware of these causes in order to take control of the situations that can lead to stress.

Learning about these stress causes can arm us with defense once stress attacks us.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Tags: Causes of Stress, Fear, Stress Causes, Stress Reaction, What Causes Stress

I recently recieved a question by remy272.

“Do [you] have some tips on how to cool someone when he/she has a bad mood?”

Relaxing someone else?
This depends on so many variables since “bad mood” is an even more vague term than “stress”. Some specifics of the situation would help.

In general:

1. Be relaxed yourself

Trying to cool a fire with a burning piece of wood is very counter-productive. If you yourself are not in the state that you want the other person to lead to, forget it. If you view the bad mood of the other as any kind of danger, you first have to get over this. (This often happens in relationships, to take a common example. You unconsciously go “What’s that about? S/he doesn’t love me anymore? Is the relationship in danger?”)

Check out my post “The Real Reason of Stress”

2. Speak slowly with a calming and deep tonality

I don’t care if you are male or female. High pitched voices are an unconscious trigger for the perception of some kind of alert. The more your voice comes from the resonance in your belly and the more relaxing you speak, the higher are your chances of succeeding. Note: When we communicate, only about 5% of the percieved message comes from the actual words used. The other 95% come from tonality, rhythm, body language and so on.

3. Don’t focus on the topic of the bad mood

This only reinforces the state of mind you want to get the other person out of. Instead you want him or her to think about topics that allow them to develop a happier mood. You can’t change other people, all you can do is provide a context in that they can change themselves. That is key!

Paradoxically …

4. Deal with the underlying problems

If the bad mood has a real reason behind it, you can’t ignore that. Now it gets hard because there are so many reasons for a bad mood. If he or she is pissed because of a train they missed, that’s nothing to be concerned about.

Whereas if the bad mood stems from the fact that someone has to go to court, that’s a different story.

5. Don’t try to change anyone against their will.

I mentioned that one before but it’s worth repeating. Accepting where someone is at the moment should be before anything else. The person might not want to get out of the bad mood, many people are somewhat happy to complain. (Although they might not appear that way at first sight) At least they got something to talk about, they get sympathy from others, they have something to distract them from boredom, who knows …

All you can do is offer a context in which their mood can lighten up. Nothing more, nothing less. Trying to change someone generally results in power struggles.

Remy, thanks for your question. I hope that helps.

Feel free to ask me questions via the contact form.

Sincerely,

Konstantin Koss

Popularity: 11% [?]

Tags: Reader Questions, Relaxation, Ways to Relax

There are many places on the web where you can find valuable information on mental health and stress management. This week alone I found 5 other people blogging about how to manage stress.

From the Blogosphere

Stress Management - Organizational Stress Management. Initiatives Organisational Initiatives. • Improvements in the physical work environment • Changes in Job design • Changes in workloads and deadlines • Changes in work schedules, • More flexible hours …

What To Look For In A Good Stress Management Institute - Today, there are many more stress management institutes to choose from, and they are here to stay because stress has become a major worry for growing numbers of people. A mechanism to cope with and overcome stress has to be found and is …

Why Anger Management Skills are Important - Stress Management and Anger: Stress and anger are two sides of the same coin. Often, we are angry because we are stressed and vice versa. The causes of stress are many. Demands at the workplace, uncompromising supervisors, …

Stress Management - Stress is the “wear and tear” our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help …

Simple Ways to Deal With Stress - Improper management of stress is what leads to tension and the consequent onset of several health problems later in our lives. It might take several years for the ill-effects of this tension to show up, but when it does, …

Have a look at those, you might get something out of it!

Popularity: 12% [?]

Tags: Resources, Stress, Stress Management

As you may have noticed, there is much information on this website concerning stress relief and stress management, but I realize that reading long articles is not everyones favorite hobby, expecially when you have to read it on a computer screen.

My colleague Dr. Best from the BestHealthAndWellnessInfo Blog has recently done a great job in explaining the basic concepts of natural stress relief visually in this video:

Now, note that the mentioned adrenal overload is just one of many causes for weight gain, even if it is a major one. Anyway, good job in explaining the basics of natural stress relief! For more info on stress management, feel free to browse the articles on this website.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Tags: Featured Video, Natural Stress Relief, Stress Management, Stress Relief

Stress in the workplace is no longer new to us. Everybody in the office, or any workplace for that matter, experience it; beginning from the executives down the rank and file staff. No one is spared from it. But what is stress really?

What It Is

Stress is the way our bodies and minds respond to the demands and responsibilities put upon them. It is a part of any job. It is a part of our everyday life. In the workplace, stress is manifested when the demands of the job and challenges it entails increase.

Stress is how our body reacts to these things. It is what drives us to do the job and finish it right away to meet the deadline but have it done well. The heightened tension gives us an adrenaline rush that allows us to push ourselves to the limit. Oftentimes, it is after the work is done or when the crisis is resolved that we feel the exhaustion. Then we feel relieved.

A little stress from time to time is good for the body and mind for it is some sort of exercise for the brain to think of solutions to the problem the shortest time possible. It is also some sort of exercise for the body when it needs to do the running and walking around in doing the work. This is when people feel more alive, because they are doing something important; hence, they feel important. So, a little stress is actually good for you.

When Stress Becomes Excessive

So when do stress becomes bad for you? When stress becomes excessive, it becomes bad for your health. As the old adage says, “anything in excess is bad”. Everything has to be in moderation.

Excessive stress can trigger emotional as well as physical responses that may be harmful the person experiencing it and to the organization he belongs to as well. Excessive stress may manifest in the individual or employee in the form of

• headache,
• uneasy sleep,
• upset stomach,
• irritability,
• inability to focus,
• and poor treatment and relations with colleagues, family and friends.

These manifestations of stress affect the productivity of the employee in the workplace. It may result to absenteeism and sometimes insubordination; hence, affecting the company’s overall performance in the long run. It could lead to conflict and more tension in the workplace

And worst of all, stress can also lead to serious chronic diseases such as musculoskeletal conditions, cardiovascular disease and even psychological disorders. There are strong evidence from scientific studies that workplace stress does contribute to the development of chronic health problems that were mentioned.

So how does workplace stress become excessive? Workplace stress, or better known as job stress, increases as the demands and challenges of the work increases. When these demands and challenges become excessive and the employee’s ability to handle them or the satisfaction of the employee with the compensation of his effort for the job do not match, that’s when stress becomes excessive.

For example, an average employee is given too much work beyond his mental ability, or just impossible to accomplish at the given time, then stress becomes excessive. Or if the employee given a difficult or complex task is only receiving minimum wage, he would be dissatisfied with it but is unable to voice his opinion so he would be stressed over that fact. This is also when stress becomes excessive and harmful to the employee and to the company as well.

Other causes of stress are:

• tedious tasks;
• long work hours with low pay;
• unhealthy working environment;
• unreasonable work demands;
• not enough rest breaks;
• vague job descriptions and expectations;
• multiple superiors;
• conflicting work demands;
• lack of participation or voice in the decision-making;
• unfair policies;
• ineffective communication flow;
• instability of the job;
• lack of proper transition for changes;
• frequent personnel turnover;
• No or poor chance of career advancement;
• difficult superiors;
• bullying or harassment by superiors;
• and unfair competition among staff and other conflicts.

These are but a few of the many causes of stress in the workplace. And unfortunately these are always present in every company.
For this reason, work is sadly always associated with stress. Everybody thinks that every job is stressful.

Well, as I have said earlier, it is just normal to be stressed from time to time. However, one should learn to adapt to the work environment so as to reduce stress in the workplace when it borders on becoming excessive.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Tags: Stress, Stress in the Workplace, Stress Management, Workplace

Tip number 10 from the top 10 ways to relax that were recently published on this blog was:

10. Laugh.

Find your sense of humor again. Be with family and friends you can be yourself with. Laughter is one of the best ways to relax and it doesn’t have to cost a thing. It also helps you build connections with people in your life who really matter.

When researching laughter I found a very interesting trend that is coming over directly from India called “Laughter Yoga”.

Think about this strange technique what you want, but you may notice that even watching laughter yoga in action

• makes you laugh
• and feels good

Just play this video featuring John Cleese reporting on laughter yoga:

Isn’t that weird crowd cracking you up too?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Tags: Featured Video, Relaxation Techniques, Ways to Relax, Yoga

The tip number 6 of my recent top 10 ways to relax article was “use music”. I wrote:

6. Use music.

If music works for you, use it. Stick to soft tunes and don’t whip out that Metallica CD just yet. Rock music tends to use heavy bass lines, hard percussions and strong lyrics. If you’re tired and want to relax, turn to easy listening and save those faster tunes for some other time.

These positive and negative effects of music have actually been proven by the Japanese scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto, who runs tests with water and documents the changes of the molecule’s physical structure.

His scientific tests became famous in the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know” and are very informative to the effects that certain types of sound have on the physical world.

For example, when he would play heavy metal music to the water, the molecular structure looked very disturbed.

Now watch what happens when he played Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 into the water:

I suppose the results speak for themselves. I had to laugh hard when I saw this. Did you sense how good the music feels? After all we humans consist of something like 60% water.

Further information:

Dr. Masaru Emoto’s Internet Site

Wikipedia on Dr. Emoto

From the Blogosphere:

Messages in Water: Emoto’s Findings - There are many ways to look at water It is a chemical compound of Hydrogen and Oxygen (even most people who flunked, or never took chemistry probably know the symbol for water is H2O); it is the most pervasive substance on the planet …

An interview with Dr. Masaru Emoto - Dr. Masaru Emoto was born in Yokohama in July 1943. His initial education was in Humanities and Sciences at Yokohama Municipal University . In 1992 he received certification from the Open International University as a Doctor of …

Popularity: 12% [?]

Tags: Featured Video, Masaru Emoto, Relaxing Music, Ways to Relax

The body follows what the mind conceives. The condition of the mind often affects how the body performs, which explains why people who are stressed often suffer from accelerated aging and health problems. Unfortunately, with today’s highly frenetic society, stress is something that cannot be completely avoided. However, there are techniques that can help avoid or at least minimize stress. Follow these top 10 ways to relax and give your mind and body a good break.

1. Learn to breathe.

Breathing comes unconsciously, which sometimes encourages us to take it for granted. Several times a day, when you feel stress coming on or you feel tired and unenthusiastic, do a few deep breathing exercises. Here’s how:

Sit or stand with your spine straight and stretched slightly. Then slowly take a breath at a slow count of 3 and exhale just as slowly. Allow your lungs to expand as you take in the air and empty it as you breathe out. If it helps to close your eyes, then do so. Fresh oxygen helps enliven your blood and the slow breathing encourages you to sit or stand still for a moment.

2. Stretch.

Another way you can relax is by slow stretching. Whether you’re standing or seated, make sure to keep your spine straight and allow your arms to dangle loosely at your side. Feet should be flat on the floor and relaxed.

Slowly raise your arms high, as if you’re reaching for the ceiling and slowly raise yourself on the ball of your feet. Follow your hands with your eyes so your head can tilt back. Hold this position for a count of 10 and then slowly bring down your arms.

3. Increase your physical activities.

Or at least start one if you haven’t got any exercise regimen. Contrary to what other people think, exercising actually helps you relax afterwards. It cleanses your body of toxins by inducing sweat, increases your blood flow and the flow of oxygen to the brain and it works up your muscles.

Start slowly and gradually build up until you are able to maintain a regular schedule.

4. Watch your diet.

What you eat affects your mood. Another great way to relax is to maintain a diet that is rich in nutrients, such as antioxidants, folate and omega-3 fatty acids. Eat more fruits and vegetables and when you’re thirsty, grab a bottle of water and keep away from sodas and flavored drinks.

5. Get enough sound sleep.

Sleep is about quality and not just quantity but in times of stress, it’s best to get as much sleep as you can. About 6 to 8 hours should get you the rest you need.

Getting enough sleep is an excellent way to relax. It allows your body to regroup and recover and it eases your mind of other concerns.

6. Use music.

If music works for you, use it. Stick to soft tunes and don’t whip out that Metallica CD just yet. Rock music tends to use heavy bass lines, hard percussions and strong lyrics. If you’re tired and want to relax, turn to easy listening and save those faster tunes for some other time.

7. Turn away from the modern trappings of your life.

Often, some of the most relaxing things are those that are the most basic. Once a week or at least more, turn off the TV, unplug it and keep the remote out of easy reach. Turn off the computer as well.

These two are common sources of distractions. Since they show changing images and plenty of information, they can sometimes overload the mind. Keep things simple and don’t sweat the small, insignificant stuff.

8. Have time to yourself.

A good way to relax is to set aside time for some peace and quiet. What better way to do this than to schedule short vacations for yourself? You don’t have to pack your bags or even leave the house – simply close the door, find a nice, quiet place to sit and enjoy your own company.

9. Try yoga or meditation.

Yoga and meditation helps you attain a good body and mind connection. As a result, you’re more likely to feel relaxed and refreshed. Try simple yoga steps or learn to meditate a few minutes each day. Do these regularly and you’ll find that it will get easier to relax and manage stress later on.

10. Laugh.

Find your sense of humor again. Be with family and friends you can be yourself with. Laughter is one of the best ways to relax and it doesn’t have to cost a thing. It also helps you build connections with people in your life who really matter.

Related and manually approved information from the blogosphere:

• 15 Great Ways to Relax at Work

- Of course, listening to music with your headphones on also helps you to relax. Pick something you know will put you at ease. As much as I like postmodern electronic noise, cheesy ABBA songs work like a charm. Take your full lunch hour …

• Survey Results Show the Best Ways to Relax

- The blogosphere is awash with advice on how to destress and relax. How do we know what to believe and what is just recycled and repackaged from previous posts? Jesus’s advice was that one should judge the tree by its fruit. …

• Five Simple Ways to Relax at Work When Stress Strikes

- It is one of those things that can sneak up on you at work and explode in terrible and hurtful ways. When stress strikes it is really important to have some simple techniques in your arsenal that allow you to deal with the emotions in …

• Ways to Relax: 3 Quick Tips

- Whatever the case may be, I have a few ideas of ways to counterract this inevitable situation for so many of us. They are all tools you’ll be able to implement in only five minutes at a time. Pick a few of them and try them out! …

• 8 Easy Ways to Relax

- Meditation can be a great way to relax, especially if you are under a lot of stress 2. Green tea is very soothing — it contains theanine, an amino acid that gives flavor to green tea and also promotes relaxation. …

Popularity: 100% [?]

Tags: How to, Meditation, Relaxation, Relaxation Techniques, Ways to Relax, Yoga

Last post in this series: The Swedish Massage

Since last time I blogged in-depth about the classical western massage, let’s have a look at the most popular eastern massage technique:

The Thai Massage.

First of all: The western stereotype of the thai massage being this torturing method of stretching and bending all joints you have in your body … is actually true!

But don’t worry, the result of letting yourself be tortured a little feels incredibly relaxing.

Thai Massage in General

In contrast to the western massage techniques that specificly focus on manipulating and kneading the muscle tissue to release myogelosis, the thai massage is more of a compilation of physiotherapeutic practices,

such as …

• Trigger Point Treatments
• Myofascial Techniques
• Neuro Muscular Therapy
• Manual Therapy

Further the thai massage, which emerged from the ayurvedic medicine, also blends those physiotherapeutic techniques with concepts mainly known from TCM (Tradicional Chinese Medicine) such as working with and cleansing the body’s energy lines and manipulation of the chi.

The Purpose

All of those different blended techniques follow the overall purpose of

• providing a deep relaxation
• balancing the body’s energy centers
• healthy blood circulation
• activation of the body’s energy lines (”Sen”)

People who experienced a thai massage often report something along the lines of:

• Feeling the deepest relaxation of their lives
• Being totally centered
• Experiencing a blissful state

Which leads us to …

The Benefits

Apart from the obvious benefits of the above statements, thai massage therapy …

• extends awareness from the head to the whole body
• releases chronic tensions in all areas
• improves posture
• increases range of movement
• improves sleep
• increases vitality
• lifts your mood
• helps you to work better under pressure
• helps stress relief
• improves your mental and physical performance.

(Thanks for most of the above list to the Thai Massage Organisation)

The Technique

There are many things that differentiate the thai massage from most well-known western massage techniques.

Mainly …

• Thai massage techniques can be very time-consuming. A typical thai massage is much longer than a “regular” western massage, lasting up to three hours.
• This massage is done with the client lying down on a mat, not on a massage table. You will understand why once you see a thai massage done.
• Thai Massage involves the passive stretching of various body parts. This means the client completely lets loose and the therapist brings his or her body in a stretching position.
• A main ingredient of the thai massage is pressing certain pressure points on the feet of the client to stimulate other parts of the body. This is commonly called Reflexology.
• Next to the usual kneading of the muscles, the therapist also uses his or her body weight to apply pressure along the meridians / sen and thus stimulating these pressure points

Again, the best way to learn this technique for yourself is to see it in action and not only reading about it. Check out this video series on how to do a thai massage.

Additional Info

• Learn Thai Massage With The Experts In Thailand

- Anybody who has undergone a Thai massage gets heart-stuck to it. Like Thai food, visitors also get addicted to Thai massage. It is so popular that most towns have at least one massage parlor. Massage is an integral part of Thai culture, …

• Rejuvenation Thai Massage Training

- Thai Massage sequence like never seen before. Be amazed at how Thai Massage helps increase and maintain joint function. Thai Massage provides greater potential in athletic skill, prepares tissue for activity, and much more. …

• Thai Massage / American Style (Part 1)

- Always ask for a doctor’s permission before massaging any person with an aliment, pain or disease that you have questions about.

• Learn Thai Lesson 9: Getting a Thai Massage

- Thailand is reknown for the great Thai food, Thailand’s beautiful beaches and the huge variety of places to relax and chill out. One of the most relaxing and best things in this matter are Thai massages. Whether one decides to go for a …

This was it for today’s issue of the “How to Massage Series” on the thai massage. Hope you enjoyed it.

Konstantin Koss

Popularity: 43% [?]

Tags: How to, How to Massage, Massage Technique, Massage Therapy, Relaxation, Thai Massage