Too Busy to Relax?Try ThisWhen you find your shoulders tightening, your teeth clenching or you just feel tired and listless...STOP! Take two minutes to slow your breathing and breathe deeply. Close your eyes. Focus just on breathing and let everything fade into the background of your mind. Feel your heart rate slow down, feel increased oxygen relax your whole body. This breathing exercise will help you let go of stress and work more effectively.
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Are You Wound up Like a Top or Hangin' Loose? Take our Stress Test and Find Out.
Remember how good your last deep, relaxing massage felt or how you almost fall asleep in a hot bubble bath? Does watching or listening to the ocean surf lull you into a state of altered consciousness? I'm describing the state of relaxation. It's the opposite of clenched teeth, stiff neck or lower back, rapid pulse, nervousness, feeling cold or craving sweets. Just reading about these opposite conditions can change the way your mind and body feel.
Stress Self-Test
Have You Notices any of These Changes in the Past 6 Months
Assign a number from 1 (little or no change) to 5 (great deal of change).
| _____ | Are you visiting close friends and family less frequently? |
| _____ | Do you feel fatigued or tire more easily? |
| _____ | Is joy elusive? |
| _____ | Do you have very little to say to people? |
| _____ | Are people telling you you don't look well lately? Does this annoy you? |
| _____ | Do you suffer from aches, pains, headaches, lingering colds? |
| _____ | Do you often experience unexplained sadness? |
| _____ | Does sex seem more trouble than it's worth? |
| _____ | Are you forgetting (appointments, deadlines, personal possessions)? |
| _____ | Are you unable to laugh at a joke about yourself? |
| _____ | Are you too busy to do routine things like make phone calls or read reports? |
| _____ | Are you working harder and working less? |
| _____ | Do you feel disoriented when the activity of the day comes to a halt? |
| _____ | Are you increasingly irritable, short-tempered? More disappointed in the people around you? |
| _____ | Are you increasingly cynical and disenchanted? |
| Total |
A high total score should tell you it's time to do something nice for yourself. Check out some stress reduction activities and learn how to pamper yourself.
This self quiz was adapted from The Search and Rescue Society of British Columbia.
0 - 25 You are Fine. Keep it up!
26 - 35 You need to look at stress reduction activities
36 - 50 You are a candidate for burnout
51 - 65 You are burning out.
over 65 You are in a dangerous situation,
threatening to your physical and
mental well-being.