KAPLAN UNIVERSITYHW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

Stress Management and

Prevention

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Program Resource Guide

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KA P L A N U N I V E R SI T Y

Stress Management and Prevention Program Resource Guide

By

Dawn Brommer

Kaplan University

HW410: Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

October 27, 2015

Table of ContentsU N I T 1 T H E N A T U R E O F S T R E S S

Information to Remember………………………………………………………-3-4Self-Assessment Exercises……………………………………………………..…4-6Journal Writing……………………………………………………………………. 7

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……………………………………………………………………….8-9Self-Assessment Exercises……………………………………………………..10-11Journal Writing………………………………………………………………...11-13

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……………………………………………………..14-15Self-Assessment Exercises................................................................15-18Journal Writing.......................................................................................19

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

Information to Remember......................................................................20Self-Assessment Exercises................................................................21-24Journal Writing..................................................................................24-25

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

Information to Remember......................................................................28Journal Writing..................................................................................29-30

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

Information to Remember.................................................................31-32Self-Assessment Exercises................................................................32-34Journal Writing..................................................................................34-36

U N I T 7 N U T R I T I O N A N D S T R E S S

Information to Remember.................................................................37-38Self-Assessment Exercises................................................................38-39

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

Information to Remember......................................................................40Self-Assessment Exercises................................................................41-45Journal Writing.......................................................................................47

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

Information to Remember.................................................................48-49

A D D I T I O N A L I N F O R M A T I O N

R E F E R E N C E SPlace your final page numbers on the right hand side of this line.

Total Points = 8

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Unit 1: The Nature of StressInformation to Remember:

Key Learning Point: In Eastern philosophies, stress is considered to be an absence of inner peace. In

Western culture, stress can be described as a loss of emotional control. Stress, as defined by noted

researcher Richard Lazarus, is a state of anxiety produced when events and responsibilities exceed

one’s coping abilities. Specialists in the holistic medicine have expanded Lazarus’s and Selye’s

definition as follows: Stress is the inability to cope with a perceived (real or imagined) thread to

one’s mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well being, which results in a series of physiological

responses and adaptations. (Chopra, 2000; Dossey, 2004) The important word to emphasize here is

perceived (the interpretation), for what might seem to be a threat to one person may not even merit a

second thought to another individual. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: There are three kinds of stress: eustress, neustress and distress. Usually situations

that are classified as eustress are enjoyable and for this reasons are not considered a threat. Neustress

describes sensory stimuli that have no consequential effect; it is considered neither good nor bad.

News of an earthquake in a remote part of the world may fall into this category. The third type of

stress, distress is considered bad and often falls into two categories. Acute stress and chronic stress.

Acute might be a police officer pulling you over for speeding and chronic stressors are not quite as

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intense but their duration is unbearably long. Chronic stressors are thought to be the real villians. It

is this type of stress that is associated with disease because the body is perpetually aroused for danger.

Examples of chronic stress include: living with a roommate from hell, a credit card bill that only

seems to grow despite monthly payments, a boss who makes your job even worse a relationship with

a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife that seems bad to stay in but worse to leave. The optimal

stress level is the midpoibt, prior to where eustress turns into distress. (Yerkes-Dodson ) (Seaward,

2015).

Key Learning Point: Whereas infectious diseases are treatable by medication, lifestyle diseases are, for

the most part, preventable or correctable by altering the habits and behaviors. Substantial research,

however, suggests that there may, indeed, be a casual factor involved with several types of diseases,

particularly autoimmune diseases. (Segerstrom and Miller, 2004) Regardless, it is well understood

that the influence of stress weakens the body’s physiological systems, thereby rapidly advancing the

disease process. The most notorious lifestyle disease, coronary heart disease. (National Center for

Health Statistics, Washington, D.C. 2010 )(Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:A few years ago, my personal mandala would have been very fragmented. I was emotionally

bankrupt, spiritually empty and physically overweight and worn down. Mentally, I was running on

fear and anger.

Isn’t it amazing how a complete tornado can be the best thing that ever happened to you?

Instead, it ended up being the beginning of my journey towards balancing my emotional,

spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing. I attended the Living Centered Program in Nashville, TN.

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Brommer Mandala 2009

EmotionalSpiritualPhysicalMental

The week-long program gave me the opportunity to meditate, sleep, eat well and be a part of

exponential therapy. They took away our phones, helped us decompress with kickball games,

singing, fires, playing games and talking with 30 new friends from all over the world. It was truly the

beginning of a new life.

Over the last 6 years, I have continually worked on balancing my mental, spiritual, physical

and emotional well-being. My mental well-being is now calm. To become more mentally and

emotionally stable, I had to leave my family business where I was driven by fear and anger.

Right after I left, I felt physically exhausted. I started going to classes by Professional Author

Ashley Darkenwald called “Are you addicted to sugar?” Her award winning book, Living Wellness,

fueled a fire in me to start a new business with her called Living Wellness. We are building a Living

Wellness Growth Kit that will be taught through spiritually based growth groups.

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Brommer Mandala 2015

MentalSpiritualPhysicalEmotional

Every night, I say the serenity prayer. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot

change. The courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being all contribute to each individual

beautiful human being.

Life is a journey not a destination. (Life is Good)

Provide a summary of the exercise to include in the resource guide (Darkenwald, 2014 & Seaward, 2015

Journal Writing:

Exploring the stressors in my life was a very helpful exercise. It brought awareness into my lfe and through the practice of mindfulness, I’ve made several changes since this initial exercise 8 weeks ago.

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Situation Start Midway EndMentoring a hoarder single mom through the child protection process

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Living Wellness, a journey in changing our family’s health. Dynamic nutrition, functional fitness. Constantly need to discuss healthier options…Gatorade vs. Water. Kids throwing fits over food everyday.

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My kids constantly fighting, hitting each other, disrespectful behavior.

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My husband’s health, smoking and hospitalizations 10 5 5My dysfunctional family of origin. Lack of Love, sadness, mean and angry people.

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New Business: Living Wellness 4 1 1Negotiation Consulting Business 4 1 1Cleaning: house work, kitchen, bathrooms 5 3 3Building relationships with nieces and nephews (forgiven my brothers and sisters but don’t want future relationships with them)

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Kids crawling into my bed, waking me up at night, poor sleep

5 0 0

Because mindfulness can serve as a powerful vehicle for greater understanding of the psyche and the cause of suffering, it’s an effective path to ending suffering. The ancient Buddhist text the Dhammapada says, “Mind is the forerunner of all…..conditions. Mind is chief; and they are mind-made” (Thera 2004)

Walpola Rahula, author of the Buddhist classic What the Buddha Taught, “Mindfulness is simply observing, watching, examining. You are not a judge but a scientist” (1974,73)

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 2: The Physiology of StressInformation to Remember:

Key Learning Point: Psychophysiology suggests that there is a mind-body relationship and supports the

theory that many diseases and illnesses are psychosomatic, meaning that their origins lie in the mind

through the higher brain centers. Three systems are directly involved with the physiology of stress:

the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system. The endocrine system consists of

a series of glands located throughout the body that regulate metabolic functions requiring endurance

rather than speed. Glands, hormones, circulation and target organs. The glands that are most closely

involved with the stress response are the pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands. (R.Allen, 1983) The

inability of the body to return to homeostasis can have significant effects on the cardiovascular

system, the digestive system, the musculoskeletal system and research now indicates the immune

system. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Stress is considered one of the primary factors associated with insomnia. Good

sleep hygiene consists of behaviors that help promote a good night’s sleep rather than detract from it,

including decreased caffeine consumption, consistent bedtimes and a host of effective relaxation

techniques that enhance sleep quality. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: The most important part of the PNS regarding the stress response is the autonomic

nervous system, which activates the sympathetic and parasympathetic neural drives. Sympathetic

drive causes physical arousal through the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine, whereas

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parasympathetic drive maintains homeostates through the releases of Ach. You cannot be aroused

and relaxed at the same time. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:Describe neuroscience and neuroplasticity. Explain the importance to the brain.

Neuroscientists specialize in the study of the brain and the nervous system.

This single organ controls every aspect of the body, ranging from heart rate and appetite to emotion

and memory. The brain controls the immune system’s response to disease and determines, in part,

how well people respond to medical treatments. It shapes our thoughts, beliefs, hopes, dreams and

imaginations. It is the brain’s ability to perform all these functions that makes us human.

A relatively new scientific understanding, “neuroplasticity” makes it possible to healthily

increase the strength, size and density of our brains, just like physical exercise can make your muscles

stronger, denser, with more endurance. The implications of this finding are immense, with meditation

being the frontrunner as the very best brain exercise! (Powell, 2007)

Identify and describe five diseases that occur when the nervous system is affected by stress.

The five diseases that occur when the nervous system is affected by stress are: Bronchial

asthma: caused by anxiety or an overprotected childhood. Tension headaches: aspirin along with

meditation, mental imagery and biofeedback are shown to be effective. Migraine headaches:

Thought to be related to the inability to express anger and frustration. Temporomandibular joint

dysfunction: Usually occurring at night during sleep. Irritable bowel syndrome: Repeated bouts of

abdominal pain most commonly associated with anxiety and depression.

I’m in complete shock as to how many common medial issues are related to STRESS! No one

ever talks about stress killing people!

Identify and describe one disease that occurs when the immune system is affected by stress.

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After reading this section I was amazed at how many diseases are related to immune

dysfunction. Studies by the Prestigious New England Journal of Medicine supported the hypothesis

that colds are unequivocally related to undue stress.

The common-cold and influenza, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis – lupus, ulcers and colitis and

cancer. I can relate to getting influenza every year during my old stressful job. I haven’t had

influenza the last two winters. Decreasing your stress, improves your immune system and your life.

(Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:How is stress or anxiety about people affecting your life?

I grew up in a dysfunctional family of origin. A few years ago, I had to create my family of

choice. I had to protect my immediate family. I just couldn’t be around the untrustworthy, negative

and drama filled lives. Our family of origin was plagued with: alcoholism, workaholism, depression,

anger and unhealthy communication. Before leaving, I tried to help my family of origin by providing

access to: interventionists, psychologists and family meetings.

I just couldn’t live without love anymore. It was killing me. Since leaving about 2 years ago,

I haven’t heard a word from any of my family members. I still think about them sometimes but have

had to let it go and turn it over to God.

How is stress or anxiety about work affecting your life?

Almost two years ago, I left the family business that I loved. I had worked there for 21 years

and informally over dinners and family vacations since I was a young girl. During my young years, I

would go to the office on Saturday mornings with my dad. I would scribble on employee’s desks,

play on their computers and make pretend phone calls on their phones. After 21 years, the stress of

that President job was literally killing me. I didn’t want to work for my family anymore. I was tired

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of their entitlement, lack of work ethic, money addictions, anger, greed and jealousy. The best choice

I ever made was to leave during a stressful mediation. A hot yoga room at Core Power Yoga (Maple

Grove, MN) was my favorite exercise during those stressful days.

I’ve started two new companies, spent endless hours with my family and now have the

freedom that I was craving during my old days of working 50-60 hours a week.

How is stress or anxiety about the world affecting your life?

Our family doesn’t watch very much TV anymore. I got rid of all my celebrity gossip

magazines. The negativity of our news media can give all of us anxiety. Every news story is about:

cop killings, school shootings, rape, murder, tragedy, natural disasters. Instead of ending with Sports,

they should end with meditation for all of us to relax and decrease stress.

How is stress or anxiety about food and eating habits affecting your life?

During my years of working 50-60 hours a week, I used to be overweight and lack energy. I

wasn’t mindful of what was going into my mouth. I was running around unaware of everything that

was going on in my life. Today, I’m a leader of Living Wellness. Living Wellness Growth Kits are

spiritually based, proven road maps to improved health and nutrition. My health and wellness classes

through Kaplan have definitely helped me grow in my knowledge and decreased anxiety. Our family

is forever grateful for learning how to nourish our bodies.

How is stress or anxiety about sleep and sleeplessness affecting your life?

Before I had my hormones balanced, I had more anxiety over sleep. (Dr. Angela Elliott,

Midwest Urology) I now take 3 progesterone tablets every evening before bed, exercise every day,

left the family business and wake up most days refreshed and ready to make a difference.

How is stress or anxiety about exercise or lack of physical activity affecting your life?

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Since I started exercising consistently about 2 years ago, I have felt terrific. (Infit Studios,

Albertville) I can always tell when I need to get in my cardio/weight lifting sessions. I start to feel

sluggish, bloated and more anxious.

Summary

Taking the time today to reflect about how stress affects me in various areas of my life has

been very eye opening. I’m proud of myself for making several positive changes! I look forward to

learning more about stress and how to decrease it. Not only for me but my family and clients too.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010)

Unit 3: Psychology of StressInformation to Remember:

Key Learning Point: As if a missile were headed for the White House, anxiety triggers the mind’s alarm

system, signifying imminent danger to the existence of the ego. Defense systems are immediately

activated. Excessive anxiety (unknown fears that penetrate the ego’s shell and produce pain) and

inadequate defenses with the primary roles in the development of neurotic and psychotic behavior.

Defense mechanisms are a collection of coping strategies to deal with stress. Denial, Repression,

Projection, Rationalization, Displacement and Humor. These are but six of the many defense

mechanisms Freud believed are most commonly used in response to anger and fear (Freud) Each

mechanism, used to protect our identity, is a camouflage of reality. (Freud, Seaward, 2015).

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Key Learning Point: Stages of grieving. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance and with

acceptance comes hope. (Elizaabeth Kubler-Ross) states that these stages are experienced by

virtually every terminally ill patient. By no coincidence, these same stages are observed, to a greater

or lesser degree, among people who go through other losses, including relationships, identity,

possessions as well as less tangible items such as a failed exam, poor athletic performance.

Acceptance is an approval of existing conditions, a receptivity to things that cannot be changed.

Acceptance is not giving in or giving up. It is not surrender to the circumstance. Rather, it is

acknowledgment of the particular situation in which you find yourself. Acceptance allows you to

move on with your life. With acceptance comes hope. (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Complete, unconditional acceptance, a full resolution without any resentment

animosity, or pity associated with these emotional potholes, leads to what Kubler-Ross calls essential

inner peace. The process of acceptance, resolving pent-up feelings or frustrations, is not an easy one.

In fact, it can be quite emotionally painful. In her work, she observed some people with a stubborn

streak who would rather leave matters unresolved than face the fear of this process. Others were

unsure how best to resolve these emotions and eventually became hostage to them. To leave these

emotional debts unresolved is what she refers to as the unfinished business of the soul. Kubler-Ross

suggests that the process of addressing and completing unresolved feelings should not be delayed;

rather, it should take top priority on a daily basis. In any case, without a doubt, unconditional

acceptance promotes inner peace. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:What can be learned from the Tibetan culture about the mind and stress?

Buddhism asserts that for lasting healing to occur, it is necessary to heal not only the current

disease with medicines and other forms of treatment, but also the cause of the disease, which

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originates from the mind. If we do not heal or purify the mind, the sickness and problems will recur

again and again. This introduces the notion of “ultimate healing.” By ridding the mind of all its

accumulated “garbage”, all of the previously committed negative actions and thoughts, and their

imprints, we can be free of problems and sickness permanently. We can achieve ultimate healing – a

state of permanent health and happiness.

The basic root of our problems and sickness is selfishness, what we can call the inner enemy.

Selfishness causes us to engage in negative actions, which place negative imprints on the mindstream.

These negative actions can be of body, speech or mind, such as thoughts of jealousy, anger and greed.

Selfish thoughts also increase pride, which results in feelings of jealousy towards those higher than

us, superiority towards those lower than us and competitiveness towards equals.

These feelings in turn result in an unhappy mind, a mind that is without peace. On the other

hand, thoughts and actions directed to the well-being of others bring happiness and peace to the mind.

In terms of present and future healing, the main objective is to guard our own actions, or

karma. This requires constant mindfulness and awareness of all actions of our body, speech and

mind. We should avoid carrying out any actions that are harmful to ourselves and to others.

A Tibetan Buddhism is therefore a philosophy of total personal responsibility. We have the

ability to control our destiny, including the state of our body and mind. Each one of us has unlimited

potential – what we have to do is develop that potential.

In the acclaimed book, The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama writes, “Hatred, jealousy, anger

and so on are harmful. We consider them negative states of mind because they destroy our mental

happiness.”

What do the views espoused by theorists have in common? Explain your perspective.

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Beliefs cause terrorism. There you have it put into its shortest form. Since today is the

Anniversary of September 11, 2001, I thought that it would be prudent to write about the 19 Islamic

men that orchestrated the suicidal hijacking of four Boeing jets who had conections to fanatical

religious leader, Osama bin Laden. At least one of these hijackers owned a copy of the Koran, which

authorities found in a bag that didn’t make the flight. They also found pages of spiritual instructions

which contained statements such as: "You're doing a job which is loved by God, and you will end

your day in heavens where you will join the virgins," and "I pray to you God to forgive me from all

my sins, to allow me to glorify you in every possible way." The Koran, their faith and their will to die

for their beliefs provide important clues as to the reason for their actions. Apparently these clues have

yet to affect the minds of our military and political leaders.

Describe one or more ways to cope with manage and/or resolve fear.

I used to have low self-esteem which caused me to fear failing. I went through a program

called Learning to Love Yourself. It helped me re-connect with my inner child. My childhood was

destroyed by an abusive / enmeshed father. It was a very powerful program. It helped me cope, learn

new life skills and resolve the fear of failing. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to leave my old

dysfunctional family of origin and have never looked back. The freedom, joy and love that I now

have in my life made that program an effective means of resolving fear of the unknown.

Describe a minimum of five ways in which you can improve your communication style.

The 5 most important ways that I believe can improve all of our communication styles are:

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1) Resolve problems when they arise. If you feel there is a misunderstanding, there probably is.

Avoiding it, or giving it too much time to fester, allows the conscious mind to validate feelings of

victimization, anger or fear.

2) Validate your assumptions. Confirm what you think to be true with those who have given you this

impression.

3) Attack issues, not people. Focus on the problem, not the issue.

4) The most effective communication involves talking with someone face to face. Involving a third

party not only increases the chances of miscommunication, but not making personal contact also

sends one or more nonverbal messages.

5) Use language appropriate for your listening audience. The manner in which you speak to a child

probably differs from that which you use with an adult.

(Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing:

It feels so good to take deep long centering breaths. (Sydney Parades, 2014) I can feel my

central nervous system relax, my heart rate decrease, my stomach relax and my mind clear out the

chatter.

Calm, peaceful and relaxing. I have a sense of peace that has come over me today:

Relaxation, joy, love and happiness.

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I have a sense of gratitude for my beautiful family, my new business partner and our new

health and wellness business. My daughter is sleeping, my one son is at a football game and my other

son is working until 9. Our house is filled with peace, calm and serenity.

I am really enjoying my fourth Kaplan class on stress management. I wish I would of taken

this class 24 years ago. Mentally, it is challenging me to be a better wife, parent, daughter and

mother. Emotionally, it has challenged me to look at anger, fear and joy throughout various stages of

all of our lives. Physically, I am in the best shape of my life right now. I’ve decreased my stress and

left an unhealthy business and family of origin.

Our family has been eating healthier meals, decreasing alcohol consumption, increases the

number of hours of sleep, exercising every week, going to spin classes, ripped up weight training

classes and trying to get out and walk every day.

But most importantly, I’m listening to myself now. I don’t try to do it all anymore. I listen to

that little voice inside of me that says stop and listen. I used to be busy all of the time, now I pick and

choose what I want to spend my time on and devote it specifically to that cause.

Namaste, “The Spirit within me honors and respects the Spirit within you.” - Core Power

Yoga, Maple Grove, MN

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 4: Personality Traits and the Human SpiritualityInformation to Remember:

Key Learning Point: Personality is thought to be molded at an early age by genetic factors, family

dynamics, social influences and personal experiences. Although the search has not been easy,

researchers have identified specific personality traits and behaviors, classified as personality types,

that have begun to shed some light on the relationship between personality and disease. They

include Type A behavior, codependent personality, helpless-hopeless personality, hardy personality,

survivor personality and sensation seeker or Type R personality. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Type A, Codependency, and helpless-hopeless are three personalities that have

been associated with both acute and chronic stress. They have one common factor: low self-esteem.

Self-esteem is a crucial cornerstone of personality. Low self-esteem attracts stress; high self-esteem

seems to repel it. Clemes states that self-esteem consists of four components; connectedness,

uniqueness, power, control and challenge were labeled hardy personalities. Some people observed as

hardy showed signs of Type A personality minus feelings of hostility. These people enjoyed life so

much they would often hurry with some tasks to enjoy others. Researchers seem to agree that Type

A Behavior is a product of a broader social and cultural factors as well, including the corporate

culture, which breeds employee burnout through long hours, 24/7 accessibility, multitasking, and

guild associated with taking vacation time. Many of the behaviors associated with Type A are often

rewarded in our society as positive attributes leading toward success in one’s career. Based on the

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work of Friedman and Rosenman, Schafter lists these as the following: Material wealth; Immediate

gratification, Competitivenes, People as numbers, Secularization, Atrophy of the body and right

brain, Television watching. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Ornish states that love, expressed through compassion, is often the missing

component in people prone to heart disease. Love and compassion, it should be noted, are not traits

commonly expressed in either the Type A or Type D personalities. Type A (aggression) to what

some call Type D (depression) and others call “psychocardiology” or “behavior cardiology” the

relationship between emotional stress (specifically, anxiety and depression) and cardiac function.

(Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:Self-esteem is prevalent in stress-resistant personalities because it is directly linked to the

accessibility of one’s internal resources. Self-esteem is often described as self-value, self-respect,

even self-love.

Self-esteem has also been described as the harmony or discrepancy between actual self-image

and ideal self-image, where high self-esteem is harmony between the actual and ideal, and low self-

esteem is the distance between the two.

How do we keep the actual self-image and ideal self-image continuously balanced and moving

closer together to resolve stress? Do your inner work! What does that mean and how does doing

your inner work resolve stress?

Your inner work will comprise four basic elements: connectedness, uniqueness, power and

models. All four of these factors need to be present and cultivated continuously, to ensure a high

sense of self-esteem.

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Connectedness: A feeling of satisfaction that associations and relationships are significant,

nurturing and affirmed by others. An example would be traditions such as fall parties, hockey games

etc….

Uniqueness: A feeling that the individual possesses qualities that make him or her special and

different, and that these qualities are respected and admired by others as well as oneself. An example

would be supporting a passion that brings joy such as taking art classes.

Power: A sense that one can access inner resources as well as use these resources and

capabilities to influence circumstances in one’s life, and not give one’s power away to other people or

things. An example would be praying and turning it over to God. God is always there for you.

People are broken and things are not eternal.

Models: A mentoring process by which reference points are established to guide the

individual on his or her life journey by sharing goals, values, ideals and personal standards.

An example of models might be week long retreats such as: The Hoffman Process, On-Site:

Learning to Love Yourself, Living Centered or being a part of Inner Circle, Women Presidents

Organization or Vistage International.

Because high self-esteem is central to the stress-resistant personality, much attention is now

placed on ways to increase self-esteem in people of all ages. High self-esteem is considered to be the

best defense against stress; strategies used to combat stress are useless without a strong feeling of

self-worth or self-value. They are hoping that by helping people increase their self-esteem that it will

decrease stress related problems such as substance addiction, divorce and homelessness.

Relationships, values and a meaningful purpose in life are all affected by stress. Stress affects

all areas of our lives. Stressful relationships with unhealthy hostile type A personalities and co-

dependents put a drain on you and cause stress. We all need to continually build our self-esteem

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through connectedness, uniqueness, power and models. High self-esteem is central to a stress-

resistant personality that can build relationships with all different types of people.

Values are adopted consciously or unconsciously lay the developmental groundwork for

personality traits and behaviors. Value’s as described by Lewis (1990), are constructs of importance:

personal beliefs based on the concepts of goodness, justice and beauty that give meaning and depth to

our thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. Values, including love, honesty, self-esteem, independence,

leisure, education, privacy, forgiveness and respect for Mother Earth, typically dictate our attitudes

and behaviors. Like earthquakes caused by movements of the earth’s tectonic plates, our values shift

in importance as we mature, causing our own earth to quake. These shifts are called value conflicts,

and they can result in a great deal of stress.

Not only do dysfunctional relationships and values cause stress but so does not having a

meaningful purpose in life. According to Frankl, a life mission can be accomplished through the

design and achievement of a series of life goals, and through the experience of a value conflict or

emotional suffering. Frankl asserts that the health of the human spirit rapidly declines with the loss of

meaning in one’s life, while a continual search for and fulfillment of one’s aim in life are essential to

spiritual development.

My perspective on the difference between: values, attitudes and beliefs. A person’s spiritual

well-being and values dictate their entire life. My personal values are: family of choice, spirituality,

happiness, health and peace. My faith and belief in God, praying, having a positive attitude and being

relational has helped me behave in health promoting ways by bringing peace, joy and love to all sorts

of situations.

Prochaska’s Stages of Change Model states that awareness is the initial key to change. Over-

eating was a behavior that I became aware of in myself 2 years ago. I was eating to overcome a lack

of love in my heart.

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Once I became aware of it, I had a huge desire to change. I searched publications, therapists

and gyms for effective programs. I went to the Living Centered, Learning to Love Yourself, Refuge

and the Hoffman Process retreats as a part of my journey. The real desire to change started on a

winter day in March 2014. Chad and I attended, Ashley Darkenwald’s, “Are you addicted to sugar

class?” I continually started to catch myself drinking diet Coke. It took me about 6 months in the

cognitive restructuring, behavior substitution and evaluation stage to finally quit. I stopped drinking

Diet Coke and haven’t touched one since June of 2015. The diet coke has been replaced with lemon,

lime and cucumber water. I’m excited to use the Behavior Modification Model in our new Living

Wellness Growth Group Leaders Guide.

(Seaward, 2015).

Journal Writing: Identifying and bringing awareness to your emotions is critical to managing and lowering all

of our stress levels. Identifying emotions in your body start with the body scan and looking at the

overall categories of Fear, Confusion, Anger, Sadness, Shame, Love and Joy.

For several years, I lived in fear of my family of origin. I could feel this stress and anxiety in

my stomach. My family was always out to hurt me and the lack of love was so painful. I worked

with an executive coach and went to hot relaxing yoga for one and a half years daily to decrease the

stress during long mediations. It took me 4 years of therapy to recover from co-dependency. I

remember my therapist telling me one day that the definition of co-dependency was “you die and

watch others lives go by”. Discovering that my middle name was “co-dependency” this diagnosis

took me on a journey to 4 week long health and wellness programs.

The 4 programs were the: Refuge Trauma Treatment, On-Site: Living Centered, Learning to

Love Yourself and the Hoffman Process. I learned to heal the past and take care of myself. These

programs supported me through the healing process. I have finally gotten rid of the stomach-ache and

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healed my heart. Now that I made career changes and my dad’s passed away, I no longer feel the

edginess, tenseness and uneasiness that he built over all of our family’s lives. Now we are just sorting

out the life long effects on the individual family members.

I also lived in confusion. When you grow up under a chaotic, uncertain alcoholic you never

know what to expect. Our lives were always filled with drama, secrets, lies and untrustworthiness.

I removed my immediate family from the situation in 2007 when my father sexually assaulted

his grandson’s girlfriend during a family trip to Hawaii. My husband Chad and I were the only one’s

to stand up to his abuse. My other brothers and sisters simply swept it under the rug. I couldn’t live

like that anymore.

I lost all respect for my father and siblings and only invited him one more time into our home

for Easter dinner. A week later, he sexually assaulted several of our customers and employees. He

was never invited back and none of the Alcoholic treatment programs worked for him. He died a

lonely, nasty alcoholic.

ANGER: aggravation, agitation, annoyance, destructiveness, disgust, envy, frustration,

irritation, grouchiness, grumpiness, rage.

I also had a lot of anger built up in my body over the years. When I was reading about the

Type A “busy” personality resulting from hostility and anger, I realized how fortunate I’ve been to be

able to let go of my anger and turn it over to God.

At the Hoffman Process, we had to write down all of our parents negative love patterns and

“bash” them with a baseball bat. I had 256 negative love patterns to bash from my parents! It took

me over 8 hours and I was a sweaty mess.

I’m so grateful for the Hoffman Process and them teaching all of us how to get rid of that un-

resolved anger and rage in a healthy way. Now, if I’m feeling angry I try not to move towards my old

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unhealthy coping techniques: over-eating and drinking too much red wine. I go to the gym, share

with a friend or go to church.

I believe that all of us feel sadness at different times of our lives. Usually, my anger subsides

and moves toward sadness. I was recently invited to dinner at my aunt and uncles home and had the

most uncomfortable meal. It was such a cold, unloving environment. I said to myself? Why did I

even go? Why was I even invited? I was drug along by my cousin to enjoy a meal with the relatives.

They didn’t ask me one question about my life, my kids or anything about me. No wonder I had to

move away from my family of origin and move towards a family of choice. It had been over one and

a half years since I had seen all of them and I fell back into an old pattern this week. I overate and

drank too much red wine. I popped back out of it pretty quickly. Today I ate well, drank a lot of

water and went spin class.

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I’m really grateful that during the dinner with my aunts and uncles, I didn’t know what my

other Uncle had told them about me and why I had left the company I loved. I felt embarrassment,

humiliation and lots of anger when I found out the truth. I refuse to let a broken man break me. I’m

holding my head up high and throwing off the black blanket’s of shame that my family of origin tried

to throw on me.

I’m blessed to have a mother, husband and immediate family that loves me for me. Like my

family of origin, my family’s love for me is not conditional it’s unconditional. No string’s attached!

We care for each other, we show compassion when we make mistakes and we show warmth,

kindness, sympathy and a general liking for each other.

We share joy and laughter everyday. We have an enthusiasm for life, we’re optimistic and

hopeful for the future.

After going through the body scan and identifying various emotions in my body that were

caused by Fear, Confusion, Anger, Sadness, Shame, Love and Joy. It made me joyful and really

grateful that I did all of the inner work to heal my heart. I know have the ability to “mentor” and

show compassion and love to help other broken individuals build great lives.

I am forever grateful for my faith in God. Without my faith, my life would not be as joyful as

it is today.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 5: Dealing with Stress: Coping Strategies Information to Remember:

Key Learning Point: Cognitive restructuring means changing a perception from a negative interpretation

to a neutral or positive one, making it less stressful. This process is also called reappraisal, relabeling,

reframing and attitude adjustment. A four stage process to reconstruct negative thoughts includes the

following (1) awareness, (2) reappraisal of the situation (3) adoption of a new frame of mind, (4)

evaluation of the new mind frame. Some additional tips for Cognitive Restructuring are to initiate a

relaxation technique to calm your mind. Unimportant thoughts begging the conscious mind for

attention are dismissed, allowing greater receptivity to a wider perspective on the issue at hand.

(Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: When there seems to be no positive light available, acceptance of the situation (not

to be confused with giving in) is suggested. Acceptance means to go with, rather than against, the

flow that you cannot control. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Research investigating the psychoneuroimmunological effects of laughter have

found that there is a strong relationship between good health and good humor. In essence, laughter

helps restore physiological homeostasis. There are many ways to tickle your funny bond and

augment your sense of humor, but like anything that is worth having, you have to work at it.

(Seaward, 2015).

Unit

5

27

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. This was the most stressful meditation CD project that I

have ever tried to do. I tried to listen to the CD on Saturday morning while my two beautiful 6 and 10

year olds Jacob and Lauren were at home. I should of done this on Friday morning when I had the

quiet opportunity! Was that a bad idea or was it a good decision?

Jacob, Lauren and I relaxed on the living room floor and it was simply chaos. Jacob was

trying to lay on my back, then he would fight with Lauren and their constant chatter was not relaxing.

The TV was blaring and I couldn’t even hear the gentleman talking.

I thought to myself, should I stop doing this now and try to find a different time or should I

authentically reflect on whatever came up in this present moment. A few years ago, I would of

stopped and found a quiet time. Now, I live in the present and authentically write about my true

experiences rather than trying to be “perfect.”

I decided to reflect on how I felt authentically after trying to listen to the CD for 30 minutes.

Mentally, I felt frustrated. Emotionally, I was irritated and Physically, I was exhausted.

Mentally, my frustration started to come out by yelling at Jacob to get away from us. I yelled

a few times and then I stopped and just observed that chaos and playful opportunity around me. I

started to catch myself not living in the moment so instead I just started tickling and laughing with

both of them.

Emotionally, I had to work very hard at trying to stay calm, cool and collect. Kids can

challenge you to the core. They both knew that I wanted to listen to the meditation CD but insisted on

screwing around. Laughing, rolling on the floor, tickling and jumping over me. At one point, I

thought Jacob was going to jump right on my stomach! That wouldn’t of been relaxing at all. I

would have been in pain. They were both pushing all of my buttons.

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Physically, I just wanted so bad to have peace and just lay there and listen. But then I realized

that these two cute children will not be climbing all over me forever. They are growing up to be

wonderful young people with beautiful hearts.

One good thing that came out from this exercise was that I realized how important silence is in

all of our lives. Parents need to take the time to take classes, go to church, grow and learn to be good

parents.

We also must learn to get away from our children to spend time reflecting, meditating, re-

charging and relaxing in silence.

I’m looking forward to doing a few more of the meditation exercise CD’s this week when it’s

quiet in the house and the kids are at school.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

Unit 6: Relaxation Techniques 1: Breathing, Meditation, and Mental Imagery Information to Remember:

Key Learning Point: Diaphragmatic breathing is unequivocally the easiest method of relaxation to

practice. It is easy because breathing is an action that we do normally without thought or hesitation.

In its simplist form, diaphragmatic breathing is controlled deep breathing. It is symbolic of a deep

sigh, or a big breath taken when one is about to regroup one’s thoughts gain composure, or direct

Unit

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one’s energies for a challenging task. Breathing is thought to be paramount to relaxation in nearly

every culture, especially Asian cultures, where breath (prana or chi ) is thought to give the body

energy. Diaphragmatic breathing can be done anywhere, under any condition when stress arises. For

this reason alone, diaphragmatic breathing is said to be the most accessible (and perhaps effective)

technique to initiate the relaxation response. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Meditation is thought to be the oldest form of relaxation. In simple terms, it is a

mind-cleansing or emptying process. When the mind has been emptied of conscious thought,

unconscious thoughts can enter the conscious realm to bring enlightenment to our lives. Research

also shows that habitual meditation has extensive physiological effects on the body, among which are

decreased resting heart rate, decreased resting blood pressure and decreased resting ventilation,

suggesting that there is a connection between mind and body that can profoundly influence

homeostasis. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Mental imagery describes the ability of the unconscious mind to generate images

that have a calming, healing effect on the body. Visualization is one aspect of mental imagery,

wherein there is conscious direction of self-generated images. Guided mental imagery is a variation

wherein images are suggested by another person (either live or on tape.) Mental imagery in some

form has been used for thousands of years as a means to access the power of the mind to heal the

body, mind and soul. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:Why is diaphragmatic breathing thought to be an effective relaxation technique? Many of us

take shallow breaths all day long but those truly deep relaxing breaths should be taken several times

throughout every day.

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A deep breath should be taken at a time when one is about to regroup one’s thoughts, gain

composure, or direct one’s energies for a challenging task. (Seaward, 2015) Deep breathing keeps

human beings centered and gives them the ability to access their intelligence.

Deep breathing takes thought, patience and emotional intelligence to think and take a deep

long breathe during stressful situations. Deep breathing takes practice. To practice deep breathing,

there are three steps to follow.

What three steps are important to engage in this technique? Assume a comfortable position,

concentration and visualization. Lay down on your back with your eyes closed. Take steps to

minimize external interruptions by finding a nice quiet place to practice.

At first, you will notice your mind wondering. Refocus your attention on your breathing.

During normal breathing, we typically use only the upper lobes. During the initial stages of relaxed

breathing, both the upper and middle lobes are filled with air. But in deep breathing, all three lobes of

the lungs are used.

Breathing and imagery are dynamic partners in the art of relaxation. Many images can be

combined with this breathing technique: Breathing clouds, Alternate Nostril Breathing or Energy

Breathing.

The top 6 reasons and benefits of breathing are decreases resting heart rate, promotes feelings

of relaxation, decreases muscle tension, improves mental clarity, increases oxygen capacity in lungs

and helps deal with stress overload.

What effects does meditation have on the mind and the body? Meditation is the

quintessential respite to calm the mind from sensory overload. Today meditation is rapidly gaining

recognition in the West as a powerfully effective relaxation technique.

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Meditation is now considered a mainstream habit. CEO’s see meditation as a means to gain

not only mental clarity, but also a sharper creative edge in the business world. It’s a process of living

in the present moment. It is a solitary practice of reflection on internal rather than external stimuli.

Technically speaking, meditation is an increased concentration and awareness – a process of

living in the present moment to produce and enjoy a tranquil state of mind. Shakespeare once said,

“The eyes are the windows to your soul.” By consciously closing the eyes now and again, the soul is

given a change to pause and cleanse itself. (Seaward, 2015)

List three ways that imagery and visualization can be useful for relaxation. Explain why?

Using the imagination to observe, in the first person, images created by the unconscious mind; falls

into three categories; 1) images that replicate peaceful scenes to promote relaxation, (2) images that

substitute a less desirable behavior with a more healthy one, and (3) images that help to heal damaged

body tissue.

Mental imagery is very portable. Although it is best to learn mental imagery in a quiet

environment, once you are proficient, the technique can be used right in the middle of a stress

situation. It can be employed minutes before a public speech, at the start of an exam, waiting in line

at the post office, sitting in the dentist’s chair, during a boring staff meeting, or in any circumstances

where you can close your eyes for a moment to regain composure. Unlike other techniques, which

need a minimum amount of time to be effective, mental imagery can be effective even when used for

short period. Thus, this is considered an optimal intervention technique to use in the face of stress.

(Seaward, 2015). Total Points = 4

Journal Writing:Mindful of how you interact with yourself?

A few years ago, I went to an On-Site program titled, “Learning to Love Yourself.” It helped

me re-acquaint with my inner child. I had low self-esteem due to trying to constantly live up to my

32

father’s expectations and please him. I was looking for love from him and it wasn’t possible. He

couldn’t love us unconditionally. There was always a blanket of shame and a string attached to his

love. It took me a few years of counseling and a week at the Hoffman Process to “bash” 236 negative

love patterns from my parents and learn to love myself.

I used to try to fill the hole in my stomach with food. My dad would beat my mom up and I

would hide under my bed eating frosting. Later in life, I stuffed it with diet coke and sometimes

alcohol. It was a habit that I had for almost 30 years. Living Wellness by Ashley Darkenwald,

(www.ashleydarkenwald.com) finally helped me break the diet coke habit, change my eating habits

and break my carbohydrate addiction. The spiritual affirmations were key to helping me slowly make

the necessary changes.

Seeds of suffering?

Every human being has a dark side. That little voice inside that says, “I can’t do this” or “I

don’t want to bring this out in the open for fear of judgment” or “I’ll never be able to do that.”

Write all of these “dark” side things down on a large piece of paper and take a baseball bat to

them. We are all unique human beings made in God’s image. Get out in community and find your

gifts.

Day-to-day life feelings of resentment? It’s interesting that they are asking us to write about this

very important topic. I believe that when someone else is yelling and pointing at you that they have 4

fingers pointing back at themselves. About two years ago, my sister in law was on a conference call

screaming at me. It took me awhile to realize that her screaming, angry, jealous and mean spirit was

due to her and her husband making poor financial decisions causing them to lose their house. It had

nothing to do with me but she took it out on me. It was time for me to remove these unhealthy family

members from my life. My husband nicknamed her “two-faced.”

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She was taking her anger out on me and it was unjustified. Now, I know that it was connected

to the challenges she was facing. I have compassion and forgiveness in my heart for her but we don’t

want her in our lives. I haven’t seen LeeAnn since that incident. Her true colors shown brightly and I

believe that God removes people from your life on purpose. Don’t chase them.

Reflection on writing?

As the Stahl / Goldstein book states, “Admittedly, this type of exploration isn’t easy work.” I

believe that awareness is the first step in the process of transformation. Awareness, expression,

forgiveness / compassion, recycling the old pattern and turning it into something new and luminous.

(Hoffman Process 2014)

An example would be: Now that I’m aware that my dad used money as a weapon and string

growing up, I can now bash that pattern with a ball or base ball bat to destroy it and move towards

forgiveness and compassion towards him. Then using the Hoffman Visualizations, I can turn those

old patterns into something luminous. I don’t want to continue this pattern with my own kids. In my

case, I turned this old pattern into a giant red beautiful bird.

This red beautiful red bird flew off into the sunset, taking that old pattern with it.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 7: Nutrition and Stress Information to Remember:

Key Learning Point: Perhaps the most telling sign of stress in the American population is our ever-

expanding waist line. Obesity has reached epidemic proportion. The average American eats a lot

more and exercises a lot less than his or her parents a generation ago and far less than his or her

grandparents. One of the many examples of the stress / nutrition equation is that children are now

being diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes, something unheard of a generation ago. In a rapidly paced

world, peoples lifestyles have changed dramatically over the past few decades, and with these

changes various indices of health have spiraled down even further; cancer, diabetes, and scores of

stress-related illnesses. Sadly, there is no quick fix for optimal health. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: To get the benefits of physical exercise, four criteria must be met; intensity,

duration, frequency of training and mode of exercise. Together they are called the all or none

principle, meaning that without meeting all four requirements few if any benefits will be gained. It

takes between 6 and 8 weeks to see significant benefits in the body. The positive effects of physical

exercise are lowering resting heart rate, resting blood pressure, and muscle tension and a host of other

functions that help maintain or regain physiological calmness. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Research has shown that some foods actually induce a state of stress. Excess

amounts of sugar, caffeine, salt and foods poor in vitamins and minerals weaken the body’s resistance

to the stress response and may ultimately make a person more vulnerable to disease and illness. Food

Unit

7

35

affects not only the physical body, but the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects as well. The

concept of spiritual nutrition suggests eating a wide variety of grains that nurture the health of the

seven primary chakras. In addition, spiritual nutrition suggests ensuring a balance in all aspects of

food, including the acid/base balance. (Seaward, 2015).

Self-Assessment Exercise:I had a hard time with the siting meditation today. Mentally, emotionally and physically I’m

feeling better than I have felt in years. I just kept trying to listen and stirred impatiently in my chair

waiting for it to end.

Isn’t that funny how we are so different on different days?

My current formal practice is a daily centering practice. During various times of the day, I

find myself getting stressed out or irritated. Now, I take a few breaths, relax and take a few more

deep breaths. It helps calm my central nervous system and allows me to think clearly.

Mentally, I feel relaxed, sharp and ready to tackle my Art of Negotiating presentation

tomorrow. Taking all of these health and wellness classes from Kaplan University has helped me live

a happier, more fulfilling life.

Emotionally, I feel grateful and happy that my husband is healthy and my children are doing

well in school, we’re making healthier dinners and enjoying friends and active in our church.

I’m tired today from the emotional drama of tryouts for my son’s hockey team. He was so

emotionally hi-jacked this weekend. The emotions were flying around the house. One minute he was

quitting, the next minute he was going to try hard at the last scrimmage. After several long talks with

my son Jacob, I had the opportunity to teach him the deep breathing centering practice that I’ve used

throughout my life.

36

Jacob went to bed early, slept in, enjoyed a hearty breakfast of pancakes and a

banana/strawberry smoothie for lunch. He did well on his scrimmage. He scored 5 goals! He made

the B2 team. Jacob learned a valuable lesson this weekend. Tryouts are tryouts.

They are only looking at you and your performance. Hopefully, Jacob learned a lesson that

will help him into his High School years. Don’t screw around in tryouts again, if you want to make

the high school hockey team some day. It’s those small lessons that you need to teach your kids along

the way to help mold them into healthy “centered” human beings later on in life.

I’m grateful that I was present enough with him to sit back and watch the chaos that was going

on around me. I used my present mindedness training to teach him a centering practice, how to calm

and center himself and go out the next day and shoot for the GOAL! I also taught him the serenity

prayer. God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the

things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. He understood that he couldn’t change what

happened the first two days of tryouts but he could change his behavior in the final scrimmage. He

did well, was so excited to score 5 goals and now we are off to the phone store to look at getting him a

phone.

Physically, I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m continuing to take Living Wellness classes to

learn about food, dynamic nutrition and functional exercise. I try to do 75 minutes of vigorous cardio

a week along with two strength training classes. I’ll mix it up with a yoga class, walking, body pump,

cardio mix, ripped up and PIYO!

As I experienced today, it’s not always the day and time for a sit down guided meditation

practice. Work at your own pace. We are all unique individuals living human experiences.

(Seaward, 2015).

37

Unit 8: Physical Exercise and ActivityInformation to Remember:

Key Learning Point: Yoga is the martial art of the soul, and the opponent is the strongest you’ve ever

faced. Your ego. Reduced to its simplest terms, hatha yoga is a metaphor for balance; a series of

physical movements that promote a sense of inner peace and tranquility. At its purest form, hatha

yoga is about removing the ego from this experience in an effort to achieve inner peace. (Seaward,

2015).

Key Learning Point: Westerners view health as the absence of disease and illness produced by bacteria

and illness produced by bacteria and viruses, whereas the Chinese see it as an unrestricted current of

subtle energy throughout the body. When Chi, or subtle energy, which flows through the body in a

network of meridians, or “energy gates,” is restricted or congested, the body is susceptible to

physiological dysfunction. This is the essence of T’ai Chi Ch’uan; a harmony and balance with the

vital life force of the natural world itself. The worlds T’ai and Chi can be translated several ways.

One is the “supreme ultimate,” a meaning symbolic of balance, power, and enlightenment. T’ai Chi,

the softest of the martial arts, is also called a “moving meditation.” (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Bringing nonjudgmental present moment awareness to your interactions with others.

The art of mindful communication and listening, Many of our habitual way so f interacting with

others is developed in response to some of your earlist exposure to relationships – interactions with

your parents or caregivers. Unfortunately, if those patterns of behavior are based on dysfunctional

Unit

8

38

parent – child relationships, this may result in dysfunctional relationships with family, friends, or

coworkers in your life now. The good news is, whatever your upbringing and early influences,

mindfulness gives you the ability to recognize and understand your past by acknowledging and

validating your experiences. (Bob Stahl, PHD, Elisha Goldstein, PHD).

Self-Assessment Exercises:This proposal is prepared for health and wellness management. The scope of the project outlined

includes vendors of national evidence-based products and services. To meet these needs, this proposal

offers consulting services to provide the following expertise: (a) rationale; (b) mind-body programs or

practices; (c) capital outlay; and (d) benefits.

RATIONALE

Living Wellness is a spiritually based, proven road map to improved health and nutrition.

The Living Wellness Growth Groups provide an innovative approach to empowering individuals

and families with long-term change due to the small group atmosphere and community support.

Most importantly, the groups focus on the root causes of why individuals are not healthy. When

individuals discover their big “why,” and have supportive relationships, long-term change is

inevitable.

MINDBODY PROGRAMS/PRACTICES

The Living Wellness Growth Kit contains the award winning Living Wellness book, a high-

tech online video series, wellness journal, water bottle and tape measure. The group will be

facilitated by wellness enthusiasts through local church growth groups, fitness facilities and local

businesses. It will consist of 8 educational sessions, weekly affirmations, weekly goals,

accountability partners, every other day upper body, lower body and core exercises.

CAPITAL OUTLAY

39

Living Wellness had a $50,000 initial capital inlay to re-design the website

(www.ashleydarkenwald.com) and start the video testimonials and 8 week video productions.

Ashley and I would like to train 1,000 facilitators to host Living Wellness Growth Groups in their

homes. Each participant will buy a kit worth $129.00 and each facilitator will go through

additional training that will cost around $400.00. Living Wellness iwon the 2015 Midwest Book

Awards for education category. It is easy to read and proven by Infit. It is the Infit Approach to

Proven Weight loss and Dynamic Nutrition. It is based off of upper body, core and lower body

every other day strength training exercises. It would be helpful to buy a scale, fit-bit, yoga mat,

weight stack – up to 25 lbs, and resistance ball. ($500.00) It has cost about an additional

$1,000 to get our house organized to host the groups with two water pitchers to add fruit to, teas

and a new Kitchenaid tea pot that heats up water in 1 minute.

BENEFITS

The Living Wellness Growth Groups focus on the solutions to healthier living, which are

the people themselves. There has never been a blanket solution that has worked long-term for a

nation because we are individuals with individual needs. The Living Wellness Growth Group

Program is not a diet or a pill. The program empowers individuals and families with education,

support and hope. If every employee goes through the Living Wellness Program, it would cost

the company $129.00 plus tax/per participant. They would have to hire trained facilitators at

around $45.00/hour. To the employer; employee; Return on Investment is additional years of

living healthier, being more active and productive in your job? Can you put a price on that, yes

productivity of your organization will go through the roof. Just the happiness factor alone will

inspire people to do better in their job.

TIMELINE

Ashley and I started working on the concept of building the Living Wellness Growth kits in

March of 2015. Ashley wrote 50,000 words this summer. We have 3 “beta” groups of 40 people

going now at the Brommer Residence, Infit Athletic Studios and Love that Olive. We are currently

40

setting up facilitator training programs. The kits ship in a few days and the program is officially 8

weeks long. In weeks 9 and 10 in our spiritually based home group, we are doing a Living

Wellness introduction spin class and a community service project where we will host a Living

Wellness meal for the single mom’s in our community.

PERSONNEL

Yes, we are going to maintain very high standards for the Living Wellness trainers and

instructors. Compassion, empathy and spirituality in addition to nutrition, stress and exercise

physiology classes will all be an important part of the Living Wellness Journey. Facilitators will be

responsible for building long-term relationships with participants to provide weekly support for

them on their health and wellness journey.

TOTAL BUDGET

Ashley and I have put together a Living Wellness Executive Summary and presented it to

the bank. We have $50,000 in an initial investment and a $150,000 approved line of credit. It’s

all more detailed in a cash flow statement / excel spreadsheet. Here are a few of the highlghts.

Video’s - $20,000.00

Website Design - $5,000.00

Ashley’s time - $2,500.00

Thrive Conference - $5,000 (plus 80 flawed books to be sold at the event)

$1,300 in initial income from the beta groups

PITCH

Over the last 6 months, Ashley and I (www.ashleydarkenwald.com) have been working on

launching a new business called Living Wellness Growth kits.  

The success of the concept will be found from taking the award winning book, Living Wellness

41

and video taping 8 segments.  It will deliver dynamic nutrition, functional fitness and deep

spiritual content through trained facilitators over an eight week small (growth) group program.  

Living Wellness is a spiritually based, proven road map to improved health and nutrition.  The

Living Wellness Growth Groups provide an innovative approach to empowering individuals and

families with long term change due to the small group atmosphere and community support.

More importantly, the groups focus on the root causes of why individuals are not healthy.  When

individuals discover their big "why," and have supportive relationships, long term change is

inevitable.   Living Wellness is education, prevention, and a life long journey toward improved

health and wellness.  

The 8 week series will cover:  Preparing your road map to success:  the science behind losing

weight (BMR),  Why do we eat?  What should we eat?  Protein Power, Eat a rainbow for weight

loss, Are you addicted to Sugar, You can Get oh, Satisfaction!, Full of Fiber;  Constipation Cures,

Preventing (and Reversing) Osteporosis, Sports Drinks, Soda and Supplementation, Fermentation

and a Whole Healthy You!   

Participants will be armed with a water bottle, tape measure, cooler and books to get them

started on their journey to Living Wellness.  Wherever they might be on their journey, they will be

empowered to move forward by the accountability and community of their Living Wellness

Group.  I'm looking forward to any feedback you might have on launching the Living Wellness

Growth Groups.  Dawn Brommer

References:  Darkenwald, Ashley, BA, CPT, PES, Living Wellness:  The Infit Approach to Proven

Weight Loss and Dynamic Nutrition.

CLASSMATE FEEDBACK

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Hi Dawn,

I checked out the website and it is beautiful. I feel that it is easy for people to navigate and

understand what the site is trying to accomplish. I like how the program is done in small groups,

it gives people more of a 1:1 experience. I also feel that the price point is reasonable as well and

kit is filled with a lot of nice things. The 8 week program seems to cover a lot. Do participants

ever feel overwhelmed with all of the information you provide? 

Another thing I thought was great is that Ashley is a Christian? Does the program talk about the

bible and what people ate then? Will you be a coach for small groups? Is it just in Minnesota or do

you work with people from other states online? 

I think this seems like a great program and can help a lot of people. I will probably have more

questions for you when I have more time to explore the website more. I can't wait to learn more

about Living Wellness.

Terrissa

SUMMARY

Living Wellness is educating and changing each community one person at a time.

Empowering participants to be educated on what goes into their bodies, how many calories we

truly need to live, managing stress, increasing our exercise and growing together in community.

(Seaward, 2015).

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Journal Writing:Even in the most difficult interactions, where you may feel threatened, angry, and fearful, you

can significantly improve the relationship by bringing interpersonal mindfulness to the situation.

There are six qualities that are essential in cultivating interpersonal mindfulness and can dramatically

improve your relationships. OPENNESS, EMPATHY, COMPASSION, LOVING-KINDNESS,

SYMPATHETIC JOY and EQUANIMITY:

I used to struggle with being closed-off and defensive. It was my defense mechanism that I

utilized to survive growing up in an alcoholic family of origin. Since leaving my family of origin my

heart and mind are now free and open to many perspectives of the pie.

Identifying with another’s feelings, showing empathy and putting myself emotionally in

someone else’s shoes continues to be challenging and frustrating for me. For example, I’m mentoring

a single mom, named Gayle that struggles with hoarding. She hasn’t finished her home clean up yet

and she goes back to court in November. I want to just put a dumpster outside and start chucking all

the stuff in there. I have a hard time “stepping” in her shoes and understanding how she got into that

situation. Maybe it’s not being loved, feeling secure or accepted.

Compassion for Gayle has been hard to imagine because she holds so much pain and anger in

her body. She lashes out at me, doesn’t hug me back if I give her a hug and treats my husband like he

doesn’t exist. It’s been a struggle to comfort her.

This is my favorite – loving-kindness. I’ve developed so much of this over the last many

years. Truly wishing another well. It’s amazing how people like to be around people who are truly

genuine, loving and kind.

(Stahl & Goldstein, 2010).

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Unit 9: Applying Stress: Critical Issues for Management and Prevention to your Professional LifeInformation to Remember:

Key Learning Point: For a coping technique to be effective, it must do one or all of the following;

increase awareness of the cause of stress, help process information about the stressor, and adjust

attitude and possibly behavior to work toward a peaceful resolution. Information seeking is a coping

technique that helps to increase awareness of facts regarding the problem at hand. Social

orchestration is called the path of least resistance. The purpose of this technique is to favorably alter

specific factors in your environment to minimize stress, or change environments completely if current

conditions are deleterious to your health. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Avoidance is considered a negative coping technique; however, to step outside

your problems for a short while to gain a better perspective on them is thought to be quite healthy.

Hobbies can be used as positive diversion tactics that allow for a healthy release from daily stressors.

When approached in this way, hobbies can contribute to self-esteem, which then transfers to other

areas of one’s life. (Seaward, 2015).

Key Learning Point: Stress can induce a sense of personal violation. Harboring feelings of resentment

and anger is a means of maintaining control over someone we feel has unjustly attacked us. But

Unit

9

45

when feelings of anger are not released correctly, they become toxic. Forgiveness allows these

feelings to be released so that a peaceful resolution is the final outcome. (Seaward, 2015).

46

Additional Information Primary Sources:

The Bible, The Path of Jesus of Nazareth.

C.S. Lewis, faith is a necessary virtue to complete the will of God.

Darkenwald, Ashley Living Wellness (2014) www.ashleydarkenwald.com

Hoffman Process www.hoffmaninstitute.org

Jesus Calling, Daily Devotional

OnsiteWorkshops www.onsitesorkshops.com Living Centered, Learning to Love Yourself

Refuge Trauma Treatment Programs, Ocala, Florida.

Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being (8th ed.).

Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Sigmund Freud, is chosen by many scholars as the reference point from which all other

psychological theories emanate.

Stahl, B. & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA: New

Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Secondary Sources:

American Diabetes Association recommends effective stress management behaviors for all

people with type 2 diabetes.

American Holistic Medical Association, Norm Shealy, to explore the mind-body connection with

the use of intuitive skills.

Brain Initiative Project (2013)

Bremner, J.D. Does Stress Damage the Brain? Understanding Trauma-Related Disorders from a

Mind-Body Perspective. W.W. Norton, New York, 2005.

Dhammapada (Thera 2004)

Food, Inc. Documentary by Karl Weber Changes in the food industry, along with inadequate

exercise, help explain the recent dramatic increase in national obesity levels

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Himalayan Institute, http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/

National Center for Health Statistics, Washington, DC 2010 (p.4, Seaward)

Peak Performance Training. New studies of human brains show stress may shrink neurons.

www.peakperformance training.org/sitefiles/articles/stress.htm.

References

48

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 6th

Ed. Lippincott, New York, 2000.

Ainsworth, M.D.S., M.C. Blehar E.Waters and S. Wall, 1978. Patterns of Attachment; A

Psychological Study of the Strange Situation Hillsdale, NJ; Erlbaum.

Allen, S. Jr. Humor and Creativity Conference, Saratoga, NY, April 21, 1990.

American Cancer Society, CancerFacts & Figures 2007 www.cancer.org

Beattie, M. Codependent No More. Harper/Hazelton Press, New York, 1987.

Bell, B. Insomnia and Hatha Yoga.,www.couplescompany.com/Advice/Jayson/yoga/insomnia.htm

Berger, B.G. Stress Reduction through Exercise; The Mind Body Connection, Motor Skills; Theory

into Practice 7 (2); 31-46, 1983.

Borysenko, J. Minding the Body, Mending the Mind. Bantam Books, New York, 1987.

Bryd-Craven, J., and Massey, A.R. Lean on Me; Effects of Social Support on Low Socioeconomic –

Status Pregnant Women. Nursing Health Science 15(3) 374-378, 2013.

Buscaglia Leo; Living, Loving and Learning. Fawcett Books, New York, 1982

Chopra D. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. New World Library, San Rafale, CA, 1995.

Spirituality, Happiness, and Health. Christian News Notes; New York, 1991.

Darkenwald, Ashley, (2014) Living Wellness, Because you were created for more than mediocre.

Beaver Pond Press Edina, MN.

Dowrick, S. Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love. Viking Books, New York, 1997.

Dyer, Wayne “The Power of Intention” Harper, New York 1998

Freud, S. Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Hogarth

Press, London, 1986.

Goldstein, J. 2003. One Dharma; The Emerging Western Buddhism, San Francisco; Harper

Friedman, M., el al. Alteration of Type A Behavior and Reduction in Cardiac Recurrences in Post-

myocardial Infarction Patients, American Heart Journal 108:237-248, 1984)

Kennedy, John F. “God’s work must truly be our own.”

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Krippner, S. The Role of Imagery in Health and Healing, A Review, Saybrook Review 5(1); 32-41,

1985.

Krugman, M. The Insomnia Solution Grand Central Publishing, New York 2005.

Kubler – Ross E. Death, The Final Stage of Growth. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1988..

Niebuhr’s, Reinhold. Serenity Prayer for Alcoholics Anonymous; “Lord, Grant me the Serenity to

accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the

wisdom to know the difference.”

Ornish, D. Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Coronary Heart Disease without Drugs or

Surgery.

Ballantine Books, New York, 1992.

Prochaska, J.O., DiCelmente, C.C. and Norcross, J.C. In Search of How People Change, American

Psychology 47:1102-1104, 1992.

Seaward, B. (2015). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being (8th ed.).

Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

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Stahl, B. & Goldstein, E. (2010). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook. Oakland, CA: New

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