4 Strategies for Staying Calm in Stressful Moments

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response, lies our growth and our freedom.” –Dr. Viktor Frankl

In the famous quote above, Frankl, a physician and holocaust survivor, presents a radical idea about personal growth and fulfillment. He seems to say that, if we could simply pause for long enough to access our uniquely human ability to evaluate the wisest response, we can break free from suffering and tap our higher potential.

Frankl not only survived time in three different Nazi death camps, he also helped his fellow prisoners. As he describes in the international bestseller, Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl also noticed that, among his fellow prisoners, those with a sense of greater meaning or purpose (such as the desire to live to share their story and prevent another genocide) were most likely to survive. After his release, Frankl took the lessons from his experience and created an entirely new school of psychology based on finding meaning in life, which is still in use today.

The Chinese character for crisis contains the sub-characters danger and opportunity. Within every crisis, there is the possibility of falling into the danger, or the potential to find or create an opportunity. Frankl exemplified this possibility: He transformed his greatest crisis—something far more trying than what most of us can imagine—into an opportunity to serve and his life’s legacy.

What if we could all learn to pause for long enough to get into the gap between stimulus and response and choose a response that makes the highest possible use of a situation?

Getting in the gap may sound like a fantastic idea, but it can seem exceedingly difficult to do in trying times. In moments of stress the region of our brain that triggers the fight or flight response, the amygdala, shuts down the pre-frontal cortex, the brain region responsible for clear thinking and rational decision-making. When we’re hot headed or afraid, we literally can’t think straight.

Have you ever said something you regretted when upset? Or acted in a hot flash of rage? Or, maybe you’ve gotten up to give a public speech, and suddenly your mind goes blank? That’s the fight or flight response in action. What if, like Frankl, we learned to slow down time for at least long enough to gain access to this gap between stimulus and response?

Here are three very simple techniques we can apply to put on the brakes and increase the space between stimulus and response:

1. STOP is an acronym designed to help us get in the gap.  It stands for:

• Literally pause before saying or doing anything.
• Take one to three deep breaths, and really feel the sensations of each breath. (Deep breathing, especially with a slow exhale, helps send signals of relaxation to your brain).
• Observe the entire situation, both internal and external. Take stock of the sensations in your body, your emotional state, the circumstances/dynamic of this situation/interaction.
• Proceed in a way that supports you and your highest intentions for this situation. If you’re unclear about the best next step, it can help to return to your intention for your relationship with this person, or simply who you want to be. Then, from this place of highest intentions, choose your next move.

Making the simple choice to STOP can create a literal gap between stimulus and response and enable us to calm down enough to make choices that align with our highest intentions.

2. RAIN is another acronym that can help us deal with difficult emotions.

• Recognize the emotion you’re feeling
• Accept the emotion or emotions, without judgment. Often we make things worse by beating ourselves up when we feel angry, sad, or jealous. This only creates additional suffering. In Buddhism, this is often referred to as the second arrow—we’ve already been shot with a difficult emotion; why make the situation worse?
• While we can’t necessarily change the emotion we’re feeling in this moment, we can prevent unnecessary pain by not berating ourselves for how we feel. We can avoid launching the second, third, or thousandth arrow. Accepting our emotions as they are is the first step in this process.
• Emotions can feel extremely solid. However, in reality, they’re quite dynamic, frequently shifting in intensity, location in our body, etc. As you move to the “I” in RAIN, please take a moment to investigate how the emotion feels in your body. What physical sensations do you notice? What’s the story you’re telling yourself? Is the emotion static and heavy, or is it fiery and dynamic. Is it monolithic—do you feel only anger—or are there shades of disappointment, embarrassment, or resentment? According to the work of Daniel Siegel, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founder and co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Institute, just naming an emotion can help to tame it by engaging the brain’s logical, linear left hemisphere.
• Non-identification. One of the best things we can do is to recognize we are not our emotions. The fact I feel anger in this moment does not make me an angry or bad person. Non-identification can be helped by changing our language. In English, we talk about emotions using phrase “I am …” such as, “I am angry,” or “I am scared.” However, in many romance languages, people say “tengo miedo” or “I have fear” rather than “I am scared.” This helps the person speaking separate his identity from the emotion he is feeling. Although we may not speak French or Spanish, we can change the terms we use, shifting from “I am angry” to “I feel anger arising.” This simple shift can help us get unhooked/disentangled from gnarly emotions.

3. Hold your difficult emotions like a crying baby. Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh often encourages his students to hold anger and other difficult emotions like they would a crying baby. When a baby cries, we don’t generally get angry with it or make it wrong for feeling upset. Rather, we hold the infant tenderly in our arms, do our best to soothe its distress, and ask, “What do you need?” Unfortunately, when we’re upset, we often make ourselves wrong for feeling a certain way. Instead, Thay (as he’s known by his students) encourages us to hold our emotions with tenderness and care and ask the simple question:  What do you need? As we soothe this fiery emotion and care for its underlying need, we often find ourselves freed from the emotion’s grasp.

4. Get in touch with your sole(s). This final strategy is the simplest: Any time you feel overwhelmed by a “negative” emotion, merely take a few moments to feel the sensations of the soles of your feet as they press into the floor below you. This can help ground you in the present moment (by definition, physical generally happen in the present moment.) A research study looking at kids with autism and emotional difficulties found that this simple technique helped them regular emotions.

Overuse injury: How to prevent training injuries

Thinking of starting a new physical activity program or ramping up your current training routine? If so, you may be at risk of an overuse injury — which could ultimately prevent you from being active. Find out what can cause an overuse injury and how to safely increase your activity level.

Common causes of overuse injury

An overuse injury is any type of muscle or joint injury, such as tendinitis or a stress fracture, that's caused by repetitive trauma. An overuse injury typically stems from:

• Training errors. Training errors can occur when you enthusiastically take on too much physical activity too quickly. Going too fast, exercising for too long or simply doing too much of one type of activity can strain your muscles and lead to an overuse injury.
• Technique errors. Improper technique can also take its toll on your body. If you use poor form as you do a set of strength training exercises, swing a golf club or throw a baseball, for example, you may overload certain muscles and cause an overuse injury.

Risk factors for overuse injury

Although an overuse injury can happen to anyone, you may be more prone to this type of injury if you have certain medical conditions. Overuse injuries are also more likely to occur as you get older — especially if you don't recognize the impact aging can have on your body and modify your routine accordingly.

For these reasons, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor ((*and health care team)) before starting a new activity or ramping up your current routine. Your doctor may offer tips to help make physical activity safer for you. If you have a muscle weakness in your hip, for example, your doctor may show you exercises to address the problem and prevent knee pain.

Avoiding overuse injury

Most overuse injuries are avoidable. To prevent an overuse injury:

• Use proper form and gear. Whether you're starting a new activity or you've been playing a sport for a long time, consider taking lessons. Using the correct technique is crucial to preventing overuse injuries. Also make sure you wear proper shoes for the activity. Consider replacing your shoes for every 300 miles you walk or run — or at least twice a year if you regularly exercise.
• Pace yourself. If you're starting a new fitness program, avoid becoming a weekend warrior. Compressing your physical activity for the week into two days can lead to an overuse injury. Instead, aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity — preferably spread throughout the week. It's also a good idea to take time to warm up before physical activity and cool down afterward.
• Gradually increase your activity level. When changing the intensity or duration of a physical activity, do so gradually. For example, if you want to increase the amount of weight you're using while strength training, increase it by no more than 10 percent each week until you reach your new goal.
• Mix up your routine. Instead of focusing on one type of exercise, build variety into your fitness program. Doing a variety of low-impact activities — such as walking, biking, swimming and water jogging — in moderation can help prevent overuse injuries by allowing your body to use different muscle groups. And be sure to do some type of strength training at least twice a week.

Recovering from overuse injury

If you suspect that you have an overuse injury, consult your doctor. He or she will likely ask you to take a break from the activity that caused the injury and recommend medication for any pain and inflammation.

Be sure to tell your doctor if you've recently made changes in your workout technique, intensity, duration, frequency or types of exercises. Identifying the cause of your overuse injury will help you correct the problem and avoid repeating it.

When you think the overuse injury has healed, ask your doctor to check that you've completely regained strength, motion, flexibility and balance before beginning the activity again. When you return to your activity, pay special attention to proper technique to avoid future injuries.

Playing it safe

Don't allow an overuse injury to prevent you from being physically active. By working with your doctor, listening to your body and pacing yourself, you can avoid this common setback and safely increase your activity level.


This article originally appeared on Drugs.com

Year End Benefits - Book Now→

If you have coverage for Massage Therapy, Manual Osteopathy, Acupuncture, Reflexology, Kinesiology or Yoga Therapy your benefit plan is likely coming to an end December 31st. If any remaining balance in your benefits are not used they will not carry over in to the next year. If you have insurance benefits that help you improve and maintain your health, why not take advantage of your plan?

To book your appointment please call us at 780-756-5265 or to book online visit www.resetwellness.ca

What Is Cupping & Will You Love It?

Celebrities like Gwenyth Paltrow, her husband Chris Martin, Jennifer Aniston, and Victoria Beckham are all fans of cupping. This ancient technique is becoming trendy, and while I’m not usually a follow-the-crowd kind of girl, I do appreciate good publicity for Chinese Medicine.

Cupping is an effective remedy commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the more people who know about it and appreciate the benefits, the better. The earliest written documentation of Chinese cupping dates back three thousand years, when it was recommended for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. Cupping is not exclusive to Chinese Medicine. Similar treatments have been used by ancient Egyptians, North American Indians, early Greeks, and in other Asian and European countries.

Cupping uses suction applied to glass, plastic or bamboo cups (they often look like glass jelly jars) to pull up the tissue in an affected area . The suction causes a negative pressure, and the underlying skin is raised, or sucked, partway into the cup. You'll usually feel a tight sensation in the area of the cup, and that often feels very good. Cups are left in place for 5-20 minutes, and sometimes the cups are moved around on your back in a gliding motion. Cupping relaxes your muscles, stimulates blood flow, lymph, and Qi to the affected area and throughout your body.

One important thing to know about cupping is that although it is an effective, safe technique, you will probably be bruised afterwards. The cups leave distinctive pink, red or purple circles or streaks where they are placed. The skin discoloration may last anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. Generally, the bruises don’t hurt, though occasionally they may be a little sore. I always recommend that my patients drink plenty of water and take an Epsom salts bath after a cupping treatment because the salts are anti-inflammatory and can help prevent or relieve soreness. Cupping can be repeated once the marks have cleared up.

Cupping is often combined with an acupuncture treatment, but can also be used alone. It's wonderful for treating many conditions, including stress, pain relief, allergies, flu, colds, back pain, anxiety, muscle aches, red itchy skin conditions (cups are not placed on areas of the skin that are inflamed), and fevers. Cupping also enhances circulation and pull toxins from your body’s tissues.

To some people, this may sound like an unusual treatment, but once you try it, you'll understand why cupping is winning fans among athletes, celebrities, and all the rest of us who want to remain active and feel great.


Article originally appeared on Mind Body Green and was written by Jennifer Dubowsky