Hw 410 unit 9 program resource guide henss

KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and
Prevention
StressManagementand
Prevention Program
ResourceGuide
1

K A P L A N U N I V E R S I T Y
Stress Management and Prevention
Program Resource Guide
By
Sara Henss
Kaplan University
HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention
June 16, 2017

Table of Contents
U N I T 1 T H E N A T U R E O F S T R E S S
Information to Remember......................................................................................................4
Self-Assessment Exercises.......................................................................................................4
Journal Writing..........................................................................................................................5
U N I T 2 T H E P H Y S I O L O G Y O F S T R E S S
Information to Remember......................................................................................................6
Self-Assessment Exercises.......................................................................................................6
Journal Writing..........................................................................................................................7
U N I T 3 P S Y C H O L O G Y O F S T R E S S
Information to Remember....................................................................................................10
Self-Assessment Exercises....................................................................................................10
Journal Writing........................................................................................................................10
U N I T 4 P E R S O N A L I T Y T R A I T S A N D T H E H U M A N S P I R I T U A L I T Y
Journal Writing........................................................................................................................14
U N I T 5 D E A L I N G W I T H S T R E S S : C O P I N G S T R A T E G I E S
Journal Writing........................................................................................................................18
U N I T 6 R E L A X A T I O N T E C H I Q U E S 1 : B R E A T H I N G , M E D I T A T I O N ,
A N D M E N T A L I M A G E R Y
Journal Writing........................................................................................................................22
U N I T 7 N U T R I T I O N A N D S T R E S S

U N I T 8 P H Y S I C A L E X E R C I S E A N D A C T I V I T Y
Journal Writing........................................................................................................................26
U N I T 9 A P P L Y I N G S T R E S S : C R I T I C A L I S S U E S F O R M A N A G E M E N T
A N D P R E V E N T I O N T O Y O U R P R O F E S S I O N A L L I F E
A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 3 0
R E F E R E N C E S … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 3 1
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Unit 1: The Nature of Stress
Information to Remember:
Key Learning Point: Stress could be associated with a decrease of emotional control. A person’s
emotions can cause stress to take control over the person’s body either for good or bad. (Seaward,
2015).
Key Learning Point: There are several types of Stress and couple of examples are eustress,
neustresss, distress, acute and chronic stress. Out of these types chronic stress is the most popular
and the one most people suffer from. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The stress response releases some epinephrine to prepare the body for the fight-
to-flight response. The fight-to-flight response goes through 4 stages. (Seaward, 2015).
Self-Assessment Exercise:
Wellness paradigm involves mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. During this
assessment, I discussed how my well-being was during all four stages. Mental well-being is a process
that you gather information and process it. My mental well-being is that I am always trying to work hard
and keep my mind going forward. Spiritual well-being is described as a “state of mature higher
consciousness deriving from insightful relationships with oneself and others.” (Seaward). Going to
church is where is find my spiritual well-being. Physical well-being consists of all of a person’s eight
physiological systems. Eating right and exercising is taking care of your body. Emotional well-being is
the ability to feel emotions. Controlling my emotions sometimes get the best of me. Thinking about how
our wellness paradigm is and how it plays apart in our lives helps us to see what we need to work on.
(Seaward, 2015).
Unit
1
4

Journal Writing:
(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).
Situation Start Midway End
PTO Krispy Kreme Fundraiser 6 8 4
Wisdom Teeth Surgery 9 6 2
Planning a School Dance 8 5 2
Grocery Shopping on a Sunday night 8 6 3
Dance Recital Pictures 10 7 2
Doing Homework 10 8 3
My son having a seizure 10 8 3
Teaching religion in the evening 8 6 2
Cooking Supper 9 7 3
Preparing a Cubscout Den Meeting 8 6 2
Unit 2: The Physiology of Stress
Key Learning Point: When the bodies physiological reaction to perceive stressors, it’s called
psychophysiology. There are three physiological systems and they are the nervous system, endocrine
system and the immune system. The nervous system is divided into two parts called the central
nervous system and the peripheral nervous systems. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The central nervous system is constructed with three levels the vegetative, the
limbic and the neocortical. In the limbic system, it has the hypothalamus which controls the
functions on appetite and emotions. The neocortical level processes all the stimuli. (Seaward,
2015).
Unit
2
5

Key Learning Point: There are several theoretical models on stress and diseases. The Borysenko
model talks about the immune balance and suggests the nervous system release an abundance of
stress hormones. The Pert model discovered that immune cells have built-in receptor sites. The
Lipton model suggests the study of molecular mechanisms in the environment that controls gene
activity. The Gerber model describes the human energy field as a subtle matter. (Seaward, 2015).
In this assessment neuroscience is defined and how it is used. Neurosciences is defined as the scientific
study of the nervous system and how it is developed. (neuroscience). The neuroscience allows us to see
how the brain functions. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to see the neural connection through a
different life. Neuroplasticity can also be called brain plasticity or brain malleability and can be viewed
as how quickly the brain can respond to a change. (Seaward, 2015).
Journal Writing:
How is stress or anxiety about people affecting your life?
I try not to let anyone else affect my life. I am under enough stress in my own life that I don’t
let others bring stress in. The only time I would have people affecting the stress in my life would be
the committee members of my son’s cubscouts. They try and make a big deal out of the smallest
things. I believe that everyone has their own stress and no reasoning for putting more on another
person.
How is stress or anxiety about work affecting your life?
My work can be very stressful at times. I work at a school and deal with all grade levels. I am
the lucky one that gets to monitor lunch and recess. During these times, my stress level is through the
roof just because I have to make sure no chocks on any food, or spill anything. At recess, I have
monitor the kids closely, make sure no one gets seriously hurt or even tries to run away, which
actually happened at the beginning of the school year. I don’t know how many times during recess I
have to deal with tattling. I think every minute a kid or two are tattling on other kids. I also have to
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deal with the attitudes of the Junior High kids and it’s extremely bad right now since there is only 14
days left of school. Sometimes I just put my head done at lunch time just to take in deep breaths
before I go back to dealing with kids. I truly love my job and it is not also bad just certain days.
How is stress or anxiety about the world affecting your life?
The world doesn’t really affect my stress level a whole lot. That is because I have the little
things around me that are more stressful than what is going on around the world. I will say that the
election of a new President to worry me alittle, just because I didn’t know what changes would be
made or planning to be made. The only thing that stresses me out about the world, it what is it going
to be like when my kids get older. Is it going to be nice or a war zone, dirty and nothing left for then.
How is stress or anxiety about food and eating habits affecting your life?
I am a pretty healthy eater unless I am under a lot of stress. When under lots of stress I
emotional eat. I will find any type of food, usually junk food, to eat. I keep eating until I think I have
made myself better, but I really just overstuffed myself and then I make myself sick. In return, my
stress level goes higher because I ate bad and feel disgusting. This is why I dislike winter weather
because my stress level is higher because is cold and everyone is stuff inside and food seems to warm
your body up or at least my mind thinks it does. Food plays a big part of my stress level in my life.
How is stress or anxiety about sleep and sleeplessness affecting your life?
My sleep pattern is horrible. I stay up late studying and then have to wake up early to not only
get myself for work, but get my kids ready for school. When I do get up I feel like I haven’t slept in
days. I believe this is a big part of why I am feeling stressed out. When I do finally get 8-10 hours of
sleep, I feel great and my day goes by a lot better. Summer time is the best sleep ever and I have
hardly any stress and this is because school is out. The kids and I can sleep in and there is also no
homework either. Having a better sleeping habits would be so much better for my stress levels.
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How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack of physical activity affecting your life?
I feel like I am under a lot more stress if I do not do some type of physical activity daily. I can
notice a major difference in my stress level once I do some type of physical activity. This is one
reason why I love to work out in the evenings. If I have had a stressful day and workout after work I
feel so much better, rather if its cardio, walking, or even yoga. Now if I do yoga I am much more
relaxed, my kids like to work out with me so that’s why I try and change up my routine nightly.
Summary
Stress lays heavy on everyone and everyone deals with it a different way. I am actually
hoping after taking this course I will have a better understanding of how to handle stress a little better
and get a better grasp on it. I still have a couple more months left until I am done with school. Also,
in the fall I will have all 3 of my kids in school so I know my stress will only get higher unless I get a
good grasp on it. I am so happy to be in this course and get to understand stress and how if affects
your body and to learn how to deal with it.
References
Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being. Burlington,
MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA: New
Harbinger Publications, Inc.
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Unit 3: Psychology of Stress
Key Learning Point: Sigmund Freud named a part of the psyche as Ego which is said that not only
triggers stress, but defends against all enemies. He also states the mind’s defense system consists of
defense mechanisms. Six of the defense mechanisms Freud mentions are denial, repression,
projection, rationalization, displacement, and humor. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Carl Gustav Jung theorized personality as a process of self-discovery. He also
referred to the human personality as an individuation. Jung divided he mind into two levels. The
first one is personal unconscious which is personal thoughts and perceptions. The second one is
collective unconscious which is the deepest level of consciousness. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Anger and fear are triggered by stimuli perceived to be a threat. The threats can
be physical, mental, emotional or on a spiritual level. They also are thought to be survival emotions.
(Seaward, 2015).
This unit’s assessment discussed the Tibetan culture and how it was developed over decades ago and is based
off of Buddhist. Their culture is all about happiness and meditation. Dalai Lama is referred to as the greatest
spiritual leader or “His Holiness”. (Tibetan) Tibetan want you to life everyday as simple as possible and learn
to not stress out over everything. (Tibetan) Also in this assessment we described that self-awareness and self-
acceptance that are the two keys in coping and managing stress. (Seaward, 2015).
Journal Writing:
Take some time to write about whatever you came up for you mentally, emotionally, and physically
when doing this practice for the first time.
As I was breathing, I was trying hard to let all my stress go and only think about breathing in
and out. However, my husband is out of town for work for two weeks so my stress level is very high.
Sitting still to mediate is extremely difficult with three kids in the house. I was trying to concentrate,
Unit
3
9

but my mind was thinking about which kid had to be where and what time. I was trying to thinking
about what the calendar had said and what was coming up. Even though I was trying to relax I could
still feel my heart rate was raising. Ever since my husband left, I have been running around like a
chicken with its head cut off. I decided to stop and try again at a different time when maybe the kids
were not home. When I did, I was able to focus, and let my body relax. It was a beautiful sunny day
outside and my mood was extremely happy. It had been raining for 8 days straight, which meant kids
inside saying their bored. As I was sitting and breathing in and out and enjoying the sunshine, birds
chirping and the breeze on the face I could just sit and relax. My body was in a comfortable position
and my mind was just thinking about how blessed I am to be where I am. I was able to focus on the
greatest things I have in my life and think about the important things. I was able just to relax and
breathe at a slow pace and not feel rushed. I was able to let go of all my stress and focus on what was
going on all around me. Enjoy what God put of the Earth and let go to everything I was holding onto.
Mediating so be something everyone so try and do every day. It makes you feel so alive after
you just take even a couple of minutes to still, and just breathe. I actually love attending my church
not only to pray to God and listen to his word, but it so peaceful and relaxing. You walk in and its
quiet and my kids know that they have to be quiet. So, I get a chance just to sit and breathe and think
about all the wonderful things in the world. I don’t worry about things, or think about what needs to
get done, or what didn’t get done. Mediation is a center of our lives that we need to have.
References
10

Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human
Spirituality
Key Learning Point: In Chapter 7 personalities were discussed and are defined as having several traits
and characteristics. Personality are said to be developed during the earlier stages in life and are
sometimes molded by the genetic factor. There are Type A personality and Type D personality. Type
A is a factor with chronic stress and having low-esteem. Type D is defined as depression or
emotional stressed. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Spiritually is very hard to define because of its essence that seems to permeate
everything. Spiritually is becoming more comfortable in the Western world. There are four common
human spiritually theories which are centering, emptying, grounding and connecting. (Seaward,
2015).
Key Learning Point: People’s behavior in the world is constantly changing. Their behaviors come
from poor health, low attitudes and their values. There is a behavior modification model that has
steps into changing the ways of behavior. The first step is awareness of the behavior, next is the
desire to change. Third step is the attempt to change and four is the behavioral substitution. Finally,
the last step is the evaluation of the results. (Seaward, 2015).
This self-assessment exercise is a lot self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as feeling confident in yourself and
respecting others. Self-esteem is put into two categories and they are high/healthy self-esteem and low self-
esteem. High self-esteem is when a person has confidence in themselves and whatever they do. Low self-
esteem is when the person is doubtful or shame of themselves. We also discuss how relationships, value and
the purpose in life is affected by stress. Everyone has some kind of relationship that leads them into some kind
of stress. Our values can cause stress into ourselves if we let others ridicule our values and tell us what our
values should be. People sometimes stress out about how their life has turned out or why it is going into a
Unit
4
11

certain direction. They don’t understand that sometimes life goes in all different directions and have to go
down wrong paths to understand exactly what we should have done or should be doing.
(Seaward, 2015).
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Journal Writing:
FEAR: apprehension, anxiety, distress, edginess, jumpiness, nervousness, panic, tenseness,
uneasiness, worry, fright, feeling overwhelmed.
The emotions of fear that are most familiar in my life are nervousness, worry and feeling
overwhelmed which seems like they are felt inside my gut. I am a nervous person every day,
especially on my way to work. I fear that I may do something wrong that could possibly get my fired.
So, on my way to work I actually pray that my day goes smoothly. The worrying emotion goes along
with the nervousness emotion as I worry about if I am providing the best for my family, or if my
children remembered to do all their homework. I worry a lot when my husband travels out of state for
work, as I am nervous too because he flies on an airplane which led me to worry about the flight. The
emotion feeling overwhelmed goes in hand with the worrying emotion. As when my husband is out
of town for work I feel overwhelmed because I am doing the mother and father jobs. I feel
overwhelmed because I have to work, get my homework done, and get my kids to all their activities.
CONFUSION: bewildered, uncertain, puzzled, mystified, perplexed, chaotic, foggy, or unaware.
Confusion is an emotion that gets me when I have a very busy week. My mind sometimes
feels like it just can’t keep up with everything I have scheduled to do. Sometimes I am uncertain on
where I am supposed to be, or who is supposed to go where. This in returns backs my life become
chaotic because I am running around trying to figure the kid’s schedule. Trying to keep 3 kid’s
schedules together makes my mind foggy. Plus, unaware of time and day is a big confusion of mine.
When my mind goes foggy, I am unaware of the thing around and what is going on and that makes
me lose track of time.
ANGER: aggravation, agitation, annoyance, destructiveness, disgust, envy, frustration, irritation,
grouchiness, grumpiness, rage.
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Anger starts in your mind and you feel it throughout the rest of your body as your anger
grows. Annoyance is an emotion I feel when I am driving into the city and people are driving crazy,
or when I am attending a meeting and people cannot come to an agreement. Frustration comes into
play when my children refuse to do a chore or when something just doesn’t go my way. I love things
in a certain way and when someone messes with it, it makes me so frustrated because I might have
worked so hard on it. I also get very frustrated when my cubscout group is rowdy and won’t
straighten up and won’t listen to the directions. The grouchiness emotions come from head because
of lack of sleep. If I do not get enough sleep, I am extremely grouchy and not someone you want to
be around.
SADNESS: alienation, anguish, despair, disappointment, gloom, grief, hopelessness, insecurity,
loneliness, misery, unhappiness, rejection.
Sadness is an emotion that a lot of people experience and most people feel like they have a
broken heart when I recently loss a grandma a felt grief and I felt I loss a part of my heart because it
was the last grandparent between my husband and I. Disappointment and hopeless goes together as
when you do something and it goes wrong it leaves you feeling disappointed and wondering what
happened. Also, when you lose someone you feel hopeless because you do not know what you are
going to do without that person.
SHAME: guilt, embarrassment, humiliation, invalidation, regret, remorse, mortification.
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Embarrassment and humiliation are felt inside my gut. When I become, embarrassed I get
very queasy in my gut. I feel these two emotions the most when I am out in public with my children.
Somehow children just know when and how to embarrass or humiliate parents at the right time. I
also get embarrassed when I am asked a question and either I do not know the answer or I answer it
wrong. The emotion regret is an emotion that I have felt for a long time. I regret everyday not trying
to go back to school right after I had my first-born child. I also regret some of the decisions I have
made in the last ten years and wish I would have done things differently. However, some times the
regrets are the things that happen for a reason.
LOVE: affection, arousal, attraction, caring, compassion, desire, fondness, infatuation, kindness,
liking, longing, warmth, sympathy, sentimentality.
Love is felt in the heart! It is an emotion that everyone has mixed feelings about. Caring and
kindness are the top two emotions of love for me. By showing you care, means a lot to certain people
especially the elderly people. Caring can be expressed by the simplest form like using manners,
holding the door, or just giving a hug. Being kind is what I try my hardness to teach my children and
make sure I show them kindness so they understand. As well as showing them affection so they feel
loved. Growing up I always felt a distance between my parents and I so I try to show the most
affection I can because I want a close relationship with my children.
JOY: amusement, bliss, contentment, eagerness, elation, enjoyment, enthusiasm, excitement,
exhilaration, hope, optimism, pleasure, satisfaction.
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Joy is felt in my mind and in my heart. It’s one of the best emotions to have. I experience the
most enjoyment when I am with my children and just spending quality time together. I feel
excitement when I accomplish my work or when one of my students receive a good grade and they
thank me for helping them study. Satisfaction is the emotion of knowing your children listening to
you and doing what they were supposed to do.
We use emotions every day of our lives. Sometimes we use them all and on certain days
maybe just a couple of them. We feel them throughout our body and express them in different ways.
Emotions are good to use as long as you use them in the correct way. Some use them to hurt others or
hurt themselves. I am one who loves to express how I feel and show my feelings so they don’t get all
bundled up inside of me.
References
16

Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies
Key Learning Point: Perception is a process that all the stimuli received by the brain are processed
through negative, neutral or positive interpretation. However, when the interpretation is exaggerated
is then is referred to as cognitive distortion. Toxic thoughts and when a person is thinking negative
thoughts that are produced by guilt or negative feedback from another person. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Humor is similar to perception and can be persevere some positive emotions. It
is said that there are several types of humors like parody, absurd, black, irony, dry and sarcasm. It is
even said that a good laugh or humor is linked to having good health. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Time Management is about prioritize, scheduling and the responsibilities to
personal satisfaction. Time and money can cause lots of stress in a person’s life. There are several
steps to initiate good time-management techniques. (Seaward, 2015).
Journal Writing:
Take some time to write about whatever came up for you mentally, emotionally and physically when
doing this practice for the first time.
Unit
5
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I choose to do the exercise on pages 119-121. This exercise involved a mediation exercise,
which required me to listen to track 16 or soft music and read a passage. After each paragraph, I was
to pause and just think about what I read and focus on my breathing. When I saw that it was supposed
to last 30 minutes I was worried because I didn’t know if I could get this in and didn’t know if I could
sit still for that long. However, it was a great, peaceful time for myself. It is the last week of school
for the school I work at and for my kids, so my life around me has been super crazy. Doing this
meditation exercise was a perfect way to end the week. Doing the exercise my mind started off
wandering around and was hard to bring it to the center and let it be a peace and just focus on the
breathing. Once I was able to do that, I could feel my body being able to relax and focus on the
exercise. I had to let by worries, stress, and anger out and just focus on what I was doing in the
moment. This exercise was perfect mentally as I drew near the end I could notice that my mind
wasn’t so full of concerns. It felt clear and focus and ready for what lies ahead. Emotionally during
this exercise, I was nervous because I wasn’t sure how it was going to be. I also have really bad
allergies right now, so I was hoping I didn’t have a coughing attack and mess up the whole exercise. I
was able to breathe smoothing through the whole exercise and felt my heart beat smoothly and I was
also feeling great about what I was doing for myself. It was a time just for me, no kids, no added
noise, just me. I couldn’t believe how happy and enjoyable it was just to sit and let my body relax.
When I was done with the exercise I still felt great and was happy that I had allowed myself to be still
and focus on myself. My mood had also changed as I was able to let all my concerns and stress flow
out and just focus on the now. Just meditating for that 30 minutes played a big role in my physically
being as well. Since I felt better about myself I was able to enjoy more things. When I feel overly
stressed or have too much going on I can’t seem to focus and I let myself go. I physically just want to
either eat or sleep my stress away. By doing those two things I feel terrible and my self-esteem than
18

goes way down and I almost go into a depression. By mediating I was able to release all the bad
toxins and I was ready to do whatever needed to be done. I physically was able to perform tasks, and
help my children out without feeling overly stressed. I was able to play with them without feeling
rushed, I played in the moment. Physically after mediation I felt like a new person.
I highly recommend everyone to try mediation. It was the best experience I had. I never
thought of having the time to just sit down for myself. I always thought about mediating but always
thought I never had the time nor did I think it would help. I was so wrong and even if a person has
just 10-15 minutes it’s well worth it. Take the time just to breathe and let all the toxins exhale out of
your body. I now realize how important it is to take time out for yourself and really focus on yourself
versus letting the outside world control you. So many times we run around and lose track of the
important things and we let stress get the best of us. A lot of times stress doesn’t let us appreciate
what is around us or what we have. This exercise I have to admit is one I highly enjoyed and will
continue doing it. I may not be able to do it every day but I am going to try and mediate at least 2-3
times a week. I live a crazy hectic life, by running 3 kids to practices, games, and dance I forget
about myself. This requires me just to have time for myself!
References
19

Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing,
Meditation, and Mental Imagery
Key Learning Point: Diaphragmatic breathing which is said to be the easiest method of relaxation.
This breathing is centered in the lower part of the abdomen. This breathing technique is taught in
childbirth classes. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: The oldest form of relaxation is called meditation and it is said to focus on
concentration and awareness of one’s being. Meditation is best done in a quiet place and soft music
playing in the background. You can meditate either sitting or lying down. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Mental Imagery is described as an ability of the unconscious mind to generate
some images that have a calming effect on the body. It has also been around for thousands of years
and has meant to be the power of the mind to heal the body. Mental imagery is divided into three
types, peaceful natural scenes, behavioral changes, and internal body images. (Seaward, 2015).
In this assessment, we defined Diaphragmatic breathing as a very old ancient type of breathing and is described
as controlled deep breathing and is the most basic relaxation technique. (Seaward) This type of breathing comes
from the movement in the lower abdomen rather than thoracic cavity. (Seaward) Most of the people when
breathing use their thoracic cavity so when you use diaphragmatic breathing you are relaxing your body. When
doing yoga, you are using breathing techniques like this. Women are also taught this technique when they are
in childbirth classes. By using diaphragmatic breathing when having a baby will help you focus on the lower
part and help control your breathing and relax your body so you can easily and more comfortable help the baby
come out. This breathing technique is also said to help relieve chronic pain. (Seaward)
(Seaward, 2015).
Unit
6
20

Journal Writing:
Mindful of how you interact with yourself?
I am a very negative person, especially to my own self. I view things negatively because I feel
like my life has not been perfect. Even though I have a wonderful husband and 3 great kids, I
sometimes wonder why my life didn’t take the path I had plan along time ago. I am constantly
questioning my God on why he leads my life in the path it is going. I am a religious person and I
know God does certain things for a person, but I feel like I don’t understand why he wants me to be
unhappy at certain things. In my teenage years, I suffered with an eating disorder which led to
arguments with my parents. Then at the age of 19 I became pregnant and was only able to receive an
Associate’s Degree. Lastly, my husband and I hit a rough spot financially and it has been hard to dig
ourselves out of it. All of these things have left a negative vibe in my soul. Even though I try and
focus on the good things I have in my life, I still go back to the negative things. I also judge myself
hard. I am not happy with the shape of my body, and really put myself down if I eat something
wrong. I need a way to not think so negatively of myself because I feel this may rub off into my
children and I do not want them to think negative of themselves.
Seeds of suffering?
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By being hard on myself it puts me in a state of depression and then turns into me not being
very active. If I stop and realize the joys I have in my life, it would make me realize the importance
of being apart of the families’ joy. Saying positive things to myself would also help get me out of
depression and not let my kids see me so sad. My oldest is a teenager and going through puberty so I
can tell that sometimes my negative vibes rub off on him. Then I see him responding to himself
negatively, and this makes me so sad. So, for my children’s sake I need to focus more on being
positive and make them understand that not everything is rainbows and cupcakes. Sometimes you fall
but you just need to keep going. By letting the negative things take over your life will do more harm
than realize the flaws and making simple changes.
Day-to-day life feelings of resentment?
Day-to-day life feelings of resentment occurs to frequent. I am daily thinking of something
that went wrong or I didn’t do. I wonder why I didn’t do it or how couldn’t I get to doing a certain
job. I am so focus on making sure I get my schooling done that I often don’t have time for the little
thing around the house, and before long those little things pile up to bigger things. Then I before so
mad at myself because I should have just spent 5-10 minutes putting the clothes away, vacuuming, or
doing the dishes. In our day-to-day lives, you never know what’s going to happen and sometimes It’s
in a good way and others it’s in a bad way. I try to live in the moment and again realize what I have
and try to be thankful of those things.
Reflection on writing?
This writing was a blessing because I reflect on all the things I am regretting and realizing that
I shouldn’t be because everything happens for a reason. I didn’t have a strong relationship with my
parents when I was young, and now I have the best relationship ever and now we share 5 acres in the
country together. Yes, I got pregnant young but my husband’s mom die 3 years after our son was
22

born so that was a blessing because she got to be a grandma for 3 years. My husband and I got into
financial trouble years ago, but now we are at a great place and we both have great jobs that we love
and come home happy (maybe not every day). So, yes life throws curveballs, but I am trying to hit
some and duck from some and just realize that I should be thankful of the blessings I have endure and
the ones to come. You only get one life and why should I waste it on being negative on myself. Live
life in the moment!!
References
Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress
Key Learning Point: Mindfulness Meditation is a popular conception of meditation and suggest you
sitting or lying in a quiet environment. Some mindfulness practices are mindfulness of breathing,
mindfulness of sensations, mindfulness of hearing, and mindfulness of thoughts and emotions.
(Seaward, 2015).
Unit
7
23

Key Learning Point: Mindfulness can be done in a formal practice called sitting meditation. This
requires you to sit in a comfortable position as you listen to soft, calming music. You can also listen
to a cd of a person recitation a relaxation statement. This type of practice can be done in 15 mins to
45 mins. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Another mindfulness that can be done is a formal practice is called mindful
lying yoga. This is where you find a quiet place to lie down on a mat. Play soft calming music in the
background. Complete the poses as you breathe in and out. (Seaward, 2015).
In this assessment, I choose to do some mindful lying yoga exercises. Since yoga is a great way to not only
relax but stretch your body out. While during the exercise I focused on my breathing techniques and trying
to make sure I am doing the exercise correctly. During the exercise, I felt the stress being released from my
body and my body becoming more and more relaxed. After the exercises were over I felt so much better and
my body felt wonderful as well. (Seaward, 2015).
Unit 8: Physical Exercise and Activity
Key Learning Point: Hatha yoga can decrease chronic pain and lower pain and consists of three
concepts. The concepts are the art of conscious stretching, art of breathing and art of balance. Hatha
yoga is the most common and most practice yoga done in the United States. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Chi is defined as the universal life energy that surrounds everyone. Since the
Chinese believe that poor health is the blockage of the flow of internal energy. The Chinese also use
T’ai Chi which is martial arts or the movement of meditation. There is 4 principles of the T’ai Chi,
fasting the heart, returning to nature, Wu-wei, and winning by losing. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Physical exercise is one of the forms of stress and can be classified as either
anaerobic or aerobic. If the person preforms the proper exercise it can cause a positive reaction that
can have positive events in reducing stress. (Seaward, 2015).
Unit
8
24

Self-Assessment Exercises:
During this Assessment, I proposed that the company Rose Acre add on a fitness room in their workplace.
Since the company is already asking each employee to complete a yearly health physical it only makes sense for
them to have an area accessible for their employees to help them get fit or release some stress to work at their
fullest potential. In this proposal, I included the layout and what equipment it would have in the room. I also
put how it would help the workers considering that sometimes their job requires them to work a little longer.
Having the fitness room would allow they to work out before or after or even during their lunch time. My
proposal also included the budget of the room.
(Seaward, 2015).
Journal Writing:
OPENNESS: With openness, I sat and listened to my mom tell me all about her day and her struggles.
She recently had knee surgery and I have tried my hardest to be there not only physically but mentally
too. Sometimes she just needs someone other than my dad to talk to and make sure she is doing her
exercises correctly.
EMPATHY: In empathy, you need to basically vision yourself in that person’s shoes. I am always
telling my mom she can do it. However, I need to realize that her job she used to do has made it hard
for her to be on her feet. She wasn’t an active person back in her younger days do to some health
issues. A couple of years ago I went into the same profession as her and understood the countless
hours you have to spend on your feet and how tired you become and at the end of the day you just
want to sit. So I actually have been in my mom’s footsteps and realize what she went through and to
this day I show her more compassion when she complains of her feet or knee pain.
COMPASSION: My mom recently had knee surgery and I have been with her every step of the way.
I made sure she was well taken care of when she arrived at home. I helped my dad with all the chores
around the house and even made her supper, which show a lot of compassion because I am not a
25

person who likes to cook. I went and brought her a special bike her physical therapist recommended
her getting.
LOVING-KINDNESS: My son has Epilepsy, and it is extremely hard for him because he is not
allowed to play football and has to remember to take his medicine every night. I show my love to
him by letting him know it’s not the end of the world and that there are so many other possibilities out
there. I am constantly doing stuff just with him so he knows he is not alone and I still love him.
SYMPATHETIC JOY: I am not very close with one of my cousin’s but she just told me that she is
pregnant with twins. I could not be happier for her and her husband. She is such a great mom with
her other two children and I know she will do great with the next two. I can also tell a difference in
her attitude since she has become a mom. I am talking to her more and telling her know that I am
extremely happy that she has such a great life and family.
EQUANIMITY: In my years of helping out at a school, I have learned out everyone needs to be
treated in their own special way. You shouldn’t single one person out because everyone acts, talks,
and relatives to things differently. I try to tell my students this as well and let them know to treated
everyone with fairness.
Summary
As I was reading the qualities of interpersonal mindfulness, I was thinking to myself about the
qualities I apply already. The one that stood out to me the most is Openness. This one is my
weakness, as I am the one that want people to listen to me, but I am not one to listen to them in
return. So, I have decided to focus more on this quality than the others because I feel like I
already in some way participate in the other qualities.
References
26

Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for
Management and Prevention to your
Professional Life
Key Learning Point: Coping is something that everyone goes through. However, everyone copes in
their own way and sometimes that is by themselves or in a group setting. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Hobbies are a great thing to help someone release their stress. Having a hobby
can release a stressor that could make the person forget why they were stressed to begin with. Doing
something they enjoy put them in a different state of mind and relaxes themselves. (Seaward, 2015).
Key Learning Point: Prayer and meditation that is another method to help relieve stress. A lot of
people turn to praying as a way of talking to their lord more guidance. Others that have a different
faith use meditation as their comfort zone. (Seaward, 2015).
Unit
9
27

Additional Information
The exercises listed in the Mindfulness workbook are a great way to help you relax and focus on
releasing the stress in your body as well to help prevent you from getting you too stressed out. The
two websites that I think are a great resource tools are Benefits of Mindfulness and Mindfulness
Meditation for Beginners and Intermediates. Both of these websites talk about the benefits of using
mindfulness in our lives and give exercises on how to get the most benefits out of the exercises. The
website for beginners is perfect for ones just starting out and need the guidance. Listening to soft
calming music in a quiet setting is another great tool for destressing yourself.
28

References
Benefits of Mindfulness (n.d.) Retrieved on June 20, 2017 from
http://www.helpguide/harvard/benefits-of-mindfulness
Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners and Intermediates (n.d.) Retrieved on June 20, 2017 from
http://mindfulnessmeditationinstitute.org
Neuroplasticity (n.d.) Retrieved on April 29, 2017 from http://www.medicinenet.com
Neuroscience (n.d.) Retrieved on April 29, 2017 from http://www.medicalnewtoday.com
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
Tibetan culture (n.d). Retrieved on May 6, 2017 from http://www.tibetculture.lu
29

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