In Equilibrium Newsletter 23

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In Equilibrium 23

Do you wake up feeling stiff? Most of us don't take stretching seriously until we are forced to through injury, but there are many reasons to build stretching into your daily routine:

• Flexibility is part of fitness- increase your flexibility and you will probably increase muscular strength and stamina
• Stretching slows/stops our nerves from firing. Muscle spasms are caused by our muscles over contracting - stretching sends a signal to the brain to stop nerves firing and in turn helps the muscles to relax.
• Stretching keeps our joints more supple
• Stretching and increased flexibility can help prevent injuries
• Stretching can be a great stress reliever - it is a great way to relax and unwind!

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3. Quote

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun"

Katherine Hepburn (1907-2003, American Actress)

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4. Book Review:  50 Self-Help Classics - Tom Butler Bowdon

This book is a tremendous resource for anyone seeking a 'bite-sized' look at the philosophies of self help from the past right up to the present.  The range and depth is immense and even the cumulative effect of the summaries is very worthwhile.

For anyone considering which self-help titles to read or to buy for an in-house library or for one's own or the families' development, this book is both essential reference and reading.  The contents are given in the author's names in alphabetical order, starting with James Allen's 'As a Man Thinketh' and ending with Marianne Williamson's 'A Return to Love.'

Among the fifty are included Stephen Covey's 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'. Wayne Dyer's 'Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life' and Martin Seligman's 'Learned Optimism'.

50 Self-Help Classic is published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
ISBN 1-85788-323-3

Dr David Mason Brown

Do you have any thoughts/opinions on this or any other book review you have read in In Equilibrium?

Please click here to email us your comments.

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5. Al's Column: Stress, politics and the 'North South Divide' revisited.

The 'North South Divide' was back in the news this week. Apparently, the South is booming, sucking all the economic goodness out of the North. People in the South are doing very nicely thank you, house prices are rising and people are wealthier. And all sorts of other economic indicators suggest that the gap is widening.

How ironic! A couple of columns ago, I talked about the other 'North South divide', that of stress levels. Again, the gap is widening, but this time in the other direction. Stress levels get ever higher in the South, due to a combination and multitude of pressures (caused by the booming economy?), with corresponding increases in mental health problems, especially depression. Despite all the money in the South, people are not happier and far more likely to feel isolated.

I'm not a politician, but all this suggests to me that stress, politics, and economics are linked in the UK in the most unhealthy way. Let's have a look at the other, 'stressed out', side of the balance sheet in the South:

• Damagingly high property prices making getting on the property ladder a nightmare for first time buyers 
• Overstretched personal finance
• High commuting distances and even higher commuting times, coupled with the longest working hours in Europe. Transport systems that are a shambles, and not in any way integrated
• Lack of time for family, friends, food, fun, and of course frolicking (we all need a bit of that!)
• Stress at work, characterised particularly in the South by high demands, low control, high uncertainty/insecurity, and low support

......I could go on.

I noticed recently that they were putting GP surgeries in stations and airports. What a perfect illustration of the state [pun intended] we are in! We cannot even take the time to go and see our GP when we aren't well. That, surely, is a sick society.

This month, give some thought to policies that might prevent and reduce stress. It's no good thinking "I don't do politics" as the TV ad says. Fact is, we all live in a democracy, and if we don't want to live in a 'stressed out' country, we can and should do something about it (get involved, lobby our MP, join a political party and seek to influence its policy, at least VOTE for goodness sake). What would I vote for? Integrated transport! That would be a start, at least.

That was a party political broadcast by a stress consultant.

Alan Bradshaw

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In this edition we are linking you to an American website with articles on many different aspects of business and management, including team building, training, communication, conflict resolution, change management and leadership.

If you know of any resources on the internet that you think may be of interest to our readers, please click here to email us.

7. Featured Workshop: The Perils of Management Inaction

What is the single worst thing you can do as a manager when confronted with staff showing signs of stress?  Answer: nothing!  Just as it is with managing your own stress, avoidance is always the worst policy.  Inaction sets in motion a chain of events that often leads to illness and long-term stress related absence.  This is bad for you, your staff, and for the organisation.

Why do managers use avoidance?  A number of reasons.  Often, it is because of fear or embarrassment.  Managers are afraid of what might happen if they do take action to address the problem.  Sometimes it can be a lack of confidence that causes inaction.  Managers don't know what to do, or feel that they lack the skills to tackle the problem.  Unfortunately, whatever the reason for their inaction, the consequences can be disastrous.

Recently, I commented on the Barber case from the House of Lord's.  The lessons from this case are clear.  Managers need to act quickly and demonstrate a duty of care as soon as it becomes apparent that an employee is experiencing stress.  Mainly, this involves the provision of appropriate and timely support.  Managers need to be supportive, but also look at what can be done in terms of practical support (actions) in order that the pressure can be reduced.

What does this mean for you as a manager in practical terms?  It means firstly, that you should give the stressed employee the benefit of the doubt.  Secondly, you should follow a clear and consistent risk management process that involves early identification of stress related problems, discussion of the issues with the employee, and the production of an action plan to address the problems the employee is experiencing.

We train managers in what they need to know and do to minimise stress risks.  Much of the learning is around implementing the risk management process for stress.  The more consistently and appropriately managers act, the more likely it is that long-term (and costly) problems can be prevented.

If you would like to know more about this subject, it is covered in our open course workshop "Management Actions that Prevent and Reduce Stress"  and our in-house workshop "Managers Managing Stress".

Alan Bradshaw

8. Your Thoughts

We are keen to hear your thoughts and opinions....Perhaps you have a comment about our website, Al's North South divide, self help...Maybe you don't agree with something you have read in this newsletter, or you find that a different approach works...

Please click here to email us any comments.

9. Stress Technique: Cook Your Own Food

Preparing and cooking your own food reduces stress. Why? Several reasons:

• Processed food contains heaps more salt, sugar and fat, all of which place stress on your body.

• Home cooked food tastes better, which makes you happier. OK, it may not look better but who cares?

• It'll save you a fortune, which reduces financial stress.

• You have more control and choice, and less uncertainty, all good for stress.

• It forces you to invest some time in yourself and stop rushing about like 'a mad eejit'.

• Cooking is a great way to 'switch-off'; there's something about the banality of chopping vegetables that's very therapeutic.

• Preparing and cooking food yourself uses energy and the food you prepare will probably have less calories, so you'll lose weight making you more attractive, improving your sex life. Sex, of course, uses many more calories helping you lose more weight making you even more gorgeous and irresistible. And if you cook a special meal for the love of your life.. well, need I say more? A life with better food and good sex should be less stressful, and even if it isn't, the food and sex is a good compensation!

  All the above are likely to boost self-esteem, a buffer against stress.

• Sharing food that you've cooked is fun and it's social. Good food, home-cooked, brings people together. Social support is the ultimate buffer against stress.

This month, spend more time in the kitchen - your body and mind will thank you for it.

Alan Bradshaw

10. The Present Moment and Happiness 

 Last time I wrote about the way different people in our culture use their time, from the chronic worriers, who sabotage their present moments to the highest achievers, who are able to focus, prioritise and pace themselves. You can view the previous article here.

This time I want to take insights to a higher level, because even many apparent high achievers are not very happy, feeling either there is something lacking in their lives, or having success in some areas with ongoing failures in others.

As I write it has been announced that not only is depression the commonest illness in Britain, but that more and more children and teenagers are feeling depressed and that life has nothing to offer.  Child and teenage suicide rates are increasing and often the first that parents or doctors know is when they commit suicide.

We live in a very judgemental culture as is reflected in our newspapers and television news.  However, being judgemental about ourselves in the long term only lowers self esteem.  Instead, we cognitively need to learn how to think in purpose, which is what one is actually trying to achieve in any particular situation.  This is how new methods, new paradigms of thought and function are achieved.  All great changes over the centuries have been achieved in this way.  I have never seen a statue to a critic!

So what are you actually trying to achieve in your life for you and for those that you love and what is important to you?  Over thirty years in medicine I have seen many people die and not one said they should have spent more time in the office or doing housework.

Have you become a human doing just playing the roles of boss or employee, husband, wife or partner, parent or whatever?  How happy and fulfilled are you?  What do you really want over the next five ten or even fifty years in your life and relationships?

Some of the allegedly most famous last words in history were those of the Buddha: "There is no way to peace and happiness.  Peace and happiness are the way."  At times in our culture we have difficulty accepting where we are.  This leads to a belief that things will be better when we get that promotion, fall in love with the right person, or even win the Lottery!  This implies that happiness is not in the present, but in the future, but as our life can only be made up of a series of present moments, if we are to have happiness, they must occur in individual present moments.

Then there is comfort eating, credit card bingeing with that new gadget or outfit with their short lived high.  Our materialistic culture is based on increasing consumerism and the belief that you can buy your way to happiness.   There can also be the perception that we need something from outside ourselves such as an antidepressant or just another drink! 

However, whilst agreeing that poverty like chronic ill-health and dis-ease (as it used to be spelt) are not states to be in, in reality what we need is also an abundance of love and happiness. 

The first stage to achieving this is to replace being judgemental about situations with learning to think in purpose, which is what are we actually trying to achieve in this situation?  This way of thinking helps produce solutions.  Solutions are also associated with goal setting and good time management and prioritisation skills.

Purpose thinking helps us have less negative emotions and raises our emotional intelligence as well as having fewer grievances about situations.  Happiness is also accomplished by helping others to achieve what they desire by following what the psychologist, Dr Wayne Dyer, calls following your own bliss.

In reality happiness and following your bliss is all about how you think and perceive and create your environment and thus how you live your life in every single present moment.  We become what we think about.  Think negative and that is what your thoughts increasingly become, so only think and visualise what you actually want in your life.       

Dr David Mason Brown

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