5 Ways to Deal with the Stress of an Intervention

Staging an intervention for a loved one is stressful and emotionally taxing. Having an addict in your life is difficult in its own way and leads to many strong and difficult emotions, including anger, sadness, and guilt. If someone you love is addicted to drugs or alcohol, you may feel powerless and frustrated.
Ultimately, only an addict can decide to get help, but you may be able to influence his or her decision by staging an intervention. Doing so will give you and other loved ones an opportunity to communicate with the addict about the way his or her behavior is making you feel.

Deciding to stage an intervention can be very productive and helpful, but it may also mean dealing with a new set of stressors. Here are five ways to deal with the stress of staging an intervention.

1. Take time for yourself.It can be difficult, when planning an intervention, to become caught up in the person for whom you are planning it. Remember that you must make your own health and well-being a priority as well. Make sure you plan time to unwind, even if it means you have to put it in your calendar. Do not allow this time to be monopolized by anything else.
2. Exercise.Exercise increases endorphins, which naturally elevate your mood. Brisk walks can be a great way to find a few minutes of peace and quiet, and classes such as yoga offer a chance to release muscular tension while encouraging a calm state of mind.
3. Write down your thoughts and feelings.It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you are struggling with what feels like an avalanche of emotions. Your thoughts and feelings may seem much more manageable if you can write them down and look at them individually. Try journaling for just a few minutes a day or even making a list of what you feel is upsetting you.
4. Talk to other people.You should not feel that you are going through this alone. Talk to other friends and family members who are also involved in the addict’s life. They likely are experiencing similar emotions and may be able to offer you tips on how they are dealing with their stress.
   Even having a sympathetic ear can make a huge impact. You may also want to consider speaking with a therapist, who can help you sort through the thoughts and feelings you’re experiencing.
5. Do something you enjoy.Try taking your mind off things for a bit. When you are feeling depressed or anxious, you may not be as eager to partake in hobbies or activities that make you happy, but try doing them anyway. Perhaps make a new recipe, start a craft, or see a movie with friends. Having something else to focus on, even for an hour or two, can be a huge relief and may help curb some of your repeatedly cycling thoughts.

Link   http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/10/15/5-ways-to-deal-with-the-stress-of-an-intervention/

3 Practices to Calm An Anxious Mind

Anxiety affects all of us in varying degrees. You don’t have to be diagnosed with a clinical disorder to feel its insidious or intrusive effects. Fortunately, there are many ways to ease anxiety healthfully.
Mindfulness is one effective practice that helps to relax the mind and body. According to Jeffrey Brantley, M.D., and Wendy Millstine, NC, in their bookDaily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious Mind, mindfulness is:

… an awareness that is sensitive, open, kind, gentle and curious. Mindfulness is a basic human capacity. It arises from paying attention on purpose in a way that is nonjudging, friendly and does not try to add or subtract anything from whatever is happening.

In their book, Brantley and Millstine offer a variety of valuable meditations or practices that are based on mindfulness. They suggest practicing these meditations daily no matter how you’re feeling. You can start by devoting several minutes a day and working your way to 20 or 30 minutes.

The most important aspect of meditation is your attitude. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, a scientist and meditation teacher who developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, there are seven attitudes that form the foundation of mindfulness practice: “nonjudging, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, nonstriving, acceptance and letting go.”
Brantley and Millstine define these attitudes in their book:

• Nonjudging or nonstriving: practicing without expecting change to occur.
• Patience: being patient toward yourself and your body when it becomes restless during meditation.
• Beginner’s mind: paying attention to each moment and to your breathing as though you’re doing it for the first time, so that you’re curious and welcoming.
• Trust: trusting yourself to be present and aware in the moment.
• Acceptance: being willing to view things in the moment, as they are, even if you don’t like them.
• Letting go: not fighting or going after something that comes into your awareness.

Also, avoid pitting yourself against anxiety as if it were an enemy to vanquish. As anxiety expert Chad LeJeune once told me, some people will use relaxation techniques as weapons in their anti-anxiety arsenal. They’ll try “to furiously breathe away their anxiety,” or get stressed out when an activity isn’t eliminating their angst. But it’s best to accept your anxiety, and your thoughts and feelings.
For instance, according to Brantley and Millstine:

As you practice, you may notice your mind is busy with thoughts. That is okay. Thoughts are not the enemy. You do not have to fight them and you do not have to follow them, either. Treat thoughts like anything else that draws your attention. Notice them, allow them to be as they are, and gently let your attention open back to, and settle on, the breath sensations.

They also remind readers that you are not your anxiety. People who struggle with anxiety tend to think it’s permanent and part of their identity. When you’re in the midst of angst, it’s understandable to think this way. But these reactions, in reality, are temporary. I love the way Brantley and Millstine explain it:

The feelings of anxiety and worry themselves are actually part of the present-moment experience and can be seen as such instead of as an absolute truth or an immutable personal defect. The shifting of attention away from the present to someplace else is usually just an unconscious habit of mind — a pattern of paying attention — that you have learned as a means of meeting life’s challenges…

Here are three of my favorite practices from the book that I think will resonate with you, too.
1. “Just the wind blowing: allowing life to move through this moment.”
You can practice this meditation when you’re relaxed or not so much. The authors suggest taking a comfortable position and focusing the attention to your breath. Breathe in deeply and imagine that you’re surrounded by beautiful nature. Picture the wind blowing around you.
As the authors write, “Let all of your conscious experience — sounds, sensations, thoughts, emotions, everything — become the wind. Feel all of it moving and changing, arriving, moving around and over you, and then going. Notice how the wind takes on different qualities — soft, strong, harsh, gusty, gentle. Relax as the wind blows around you. Let it come and go in all its forms. You remain here, in calmness, abiding.”
2. “The Tao of anxiety.”
In the moment anxiety feels anything but good or helpful. It can feel anywhere from frustrating to intrusive to downright terrifying. But anxiety can be a teaching tool, too.
According to Brantley and Millstine, “Worrisome thoughts are a sign or signal; they contain a message for you to decipher that will help guide you to a place of well-being.” They suggest asking yourself the following three questions to help you better understand yourself and figure out the changes you can make toward your well-being.

• “What can anxiety teach me?” It might teach you to be more compassionate toward individuals who also struggle with anxiety, Brantley and Millstine write. Or it might expose you to experiences that have tested your strength. “Take this still moment to acknowledge the countless times that you have faced your worst fears, fallen down, stood up again, dusted yourself off, and found the strength to move forward.”
• “What are my mind and body trying to reveal to me?”
• “What does [my] inner wisdom tell [me] must occur in order for [me] to recover?” The authors note that this is the most important question. You might be ready to examine the cause of your anxiety, resolve a conflict with a loved one or find new meaning in your life. “Let your anxiety symptoms help you see what needs to be healed in your life.”

3.  “Sea of tranquility.”
Ever notice that when you get comfortable with life, it suddenly does a 180? Life is unpredictable, and when you’re struggling with anxiety, this can be a tough thing to take. As Brantley and Millstine note, “There may be no realistic, foolproof way to be fully prepared for change, but there is a way to keep your perspective.”
This meditation, they say, helps to guide you through change. They suggest recording it so you can listen to it in future practices. Just remember to speak slowly, calmly and clearly.

1. Close your eyes and visualize yourself at the beach, sitting on the warm sands, with a refreshing sea breeze sprinkling your whole body. You are safe and secure. You are watching the waves drift in and out, over and over again. Each wave is like your breath, rising up inside from deep within and then releasing and returning out to sea.
2. What do you notice about the surface of the ocean? It’s much like your life — some parts are rough, choppy, with impending waves of uncertainty pounding away. Breathe in these moments that are challenging and upsetting. Remember that you have the stability and strength to weather the storm. Breathe out your fears and doubts about the outcome. What will be will be. Only the waves can carry all your secrets and anxieties out to sea.
3. What’s happening below the surface of the ocean? It is a calm, serene, quiet and contemplative underwater experience. Schools of fish are swimming to and fro. Sea plants are sashaying to a mysterious, musical current. Starfish cling to rocks in colorful display. Luminescent shards of sunlight splice through the water, transmitting warmth and radiance downward.
4. Depending on what life tosses your way, you may be bodysurfing the big one or floating along a sea of serenity. Be mindful of the journey, the highs and lows, the good times and the bad, the joy and the pain. Move gently with each wave.

When you’re ready, bring your attention back to where you are. As you go about your day, “carry the calm tide of the ocean within you,” according to the authors.

Link  http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/02/22/3-practices-to-calm-an-anxious-mind/

5 Quick Exercises for Flatter Abs

Blast belly fat and tone your tummy with this 10-minute workout from the exercise experts at our sister publication Fitness magazine. This workout was created by Petra Kolber, creator of "The 10 Minute Solution: Dance Off Belly Fat!" DVD.

Crunch Beat

This move targets abs and legs.

Lie faceup on mat with knees bent 90 degrees, legs lifted, calves parallel to floor.

Place hands behind head, elbows out, and crunch up, living shoulders off mat.

Extend legs diagonally up, cross ankles, and extend arms overhead. Holding this position, switch feet over and under each other 8 times. Return to start.

Do 8 reps.

Single Bridge

This move targets abs, obliques, hips, and butts.

Lie faceup on mat with knees bent, feet hip-width apart on floor, arms by sides.

Extend right leg straight up toward ceiling, engage abs, and lift hips off floor, forming a straight line from left knee to shoulder.

Raise arms straight over shoulders. Make 8 small circles with right leg. Switch direction of circles; repeat. Lower.

Switch legs and repeat.

Victory Lunge

This move targets back, arms, abs, and legs.

Stand with feet hip-width apart, arms overhead, palms in.

A. Lunge forward with left leg, knee bent 90 degrees, keeping right leg straight and leaning forward slightly from hips as you lower arms behind you.

B. Push off left foot to stand upright, then extend left leg in front of you and lift arms overhead. Return to lunge.

Do 15 reps; switch legs and repeat.

Plie Pose

This move targets back, arms, abs, butt, and legs.

Stand with legs more than shoulder-width apart, feet turned out 45 degrees.

Squat, keeping knees above ankles, as you bring both hands below waist in front of you, elbows slightly bent, palms up.

Push up, straightening left leg, lifting right foot to place it on inside of left thigh, and sweep arms overhead (elbows slightly bent, palms in). Return to squat.

Do 15 reps; switch legs and repeat.

Curtsy Lift

This move targets shoulders, back, abs, obliques, hips, and legs.

Stand with feet hip-width apart.

A. Step right leg behind and to left of left leg, bending both knees 90 degrees (to curtsy) as you lift arms overhead, palms in.

B. Straighten left leg as you sweep right leg out to right and lower arms to should level. Lower into curtsy (step a).

Do 12 reps; switch legs and repeat.

Link  http://www.bhg.com/health-family/fitness/workouts-programs/quick-exercises-for-flatter-abs/

Five Workout Motivational Tips

Learn to motivate yourself to get the exercise you need.

OK, you admit your exercise record has been spotty. Maybe you started the new year with a bang, but now you're falling back into old habits, using the same old excuses. It just proves change doesn't come easy.

Exercise may become more of a habit if you follow the advice of the folks at the Society for Public Health Education in Washington, D.C.

1. Make a plan. Wanna-bes stay wanna-bes without a written plan that's simple and realistic. Going public also may help.

2. Start with small changes. If you've been inactive, find simple ways to get moving. Always take the stairs. Instead of a coffee break, take a short walk. Gradually increase your activity until you can exercise for 30 minutes a day.

3. Learn to love change. Exercise -- like life -- can get boring if there's no variety. Mix up your routine.

4. Pick a partner. This lets you share the joy of accomplishing goals, plus you can pick each other up when one of you starts dragging.

5. Reward your achievements -- but don't wait until you win a marathon. Select a meaningful way to celebrate the big and small accomplishments, especially as you first begin exercising.

Link  http://www.bhg.com/health-family/fitness/workout-motivation/workout-motivational-tips/