Seaward - Essentials of Managing Stress

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Copyright 2021 by Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, an Ascend Learning Company

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Production Credits

VP, Product Management: Amanda Martin

Director of Product Management: Cathy L. Esperti

Product Specialist: Rachael Souza

Senior Project Specialist: Vanessa Richards

Project Specialist, Navigate: Jamie Reynolds

Digital Project Specialist: Rachel Reyes

Director of Marketing: Andrea DeFronzo

VP, Manufacturing and Inventory Control: Therese Connell

Composition & Project Management: Exela Technologies

Cover Design: Michael ODonnell

Media Development Editor: Troy Liston

Rights & Media Specialist: Rebecca Damon

Cover Image: Brian Luke Seaward

All photos, unless otherwise credited, are courtesy of Brian Luke Seaward.

Printing and Binding: Sheridan Books

Cover Printing: Sheridan Books

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Seaward, Brian Luke, author.

Title: Essentials of managing stress / Brian Luke Seaward.

Description: Fifth edition. | Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019009425 | ISBN 9781284180725 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Stress management. | Stress (Psychology) | Mind and body.

Classification: LCC RA785 .S43295 2020 | DDC 155.9/042--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019009425

6048

Printed in the United States of America

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For Christine (Chris), who copes admirably with the stress of life through a personal resiliency program of physical exercise, journaling, music, yoga, massage therapy, and when all else fails, a healthy dose of chocolate therapy.

One Planet Under Stress

Modern man is sick because he is not whole.

Carl Gustav Jung

There is a huge health crisis in the world today that barely gets noticed in the news headlines, even though it underlies nearly every topic of conversation among friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, consumers, and even young teenagers. The crisis is an epidemic of stress that affects everything in our lives, from our eating habits to the most basic lifestyle behaviors of everyone with whom we interact. Sociologists tell us that stress is one of the few factors that knows no demographic boundaries. As the expression goes, Stress is the equal opportunity destroyer.

It is no secret that the world itself is currently under a great amount of stress, particularly with the economic instability, rampant gun violence, political unrest, and multiple environmental disasters. The global concerns crash upon the shores of our personal lives in ways that were unimaginable only a few decades ago. Despite the current issuespersonal debt, chronic diseases, financial instability, social unrest, global warming, identity theft, domestic terrorismsolutions and adaptations to these problems are within our grasp if we make the effort to use our inner resources to reach for help.

Before each of us is a fork in the road. The first path may look appealing, even easy at first, but beware: its an illusion, a lifestyle trap. Many people head down this direction and face years, if not decades, of frustration and possible ill health. The other path looks more challenging at firstvery steep and perhaps with unsure footing. Soon, however, this path offers better panoramic views and ultimately a better quality of life. This path is uncrowded because few people choose this direction. Dont let this fact put you off. This book is both a roadmap and a compass to the second path, the path of holistic stress management, the one with the great views and exhilarating experiences.

Holistic stress management is based on the premise of ageless wisdom in which the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. If you were to ask the shamans, sages, mystics, and healers of all times, of all ages, and of all languages regarding the topic of healthWhat are the parts that make up the whole?you would hear a unanimous voice among these wisdom keepers saying these words: mind, body, spirit, and emotions. When asked to elaborate further, they would explain that holistic health is the divine alchemy derived from the integration, balance, and harmony of these four components.

Today, the voice of ageless wisdom often is drowned out by the dull roar of a scientific community that tends to look for and associate a specific cause with each effect. Rather than looking at the whole picture, Western culture has opted to dissect and study the pieces that make up the whole, yet, curiously, never getting around to putting the pieces back together. Moreover, Western culture often fails to recognize the significance of the unique unifying synergistic force that gives power to the whole being that is greater than the sum of the parts. Herein lies the danger regarding our current healthcare system. Symptomatic relief, the capstone of the western medical model, does not honor the code of holistic health, wherein both the causes and symptoms of disease and illness are resolved together. Perhaps most importantly, holistic stress management honors the aspect of spiritual well-being, a component that had been long ignored or neglected entirely.