Stress

Stress speeds aging...
From The Washington Post:

"There's a widespread notion that stress can age you. But until recently, no one's been able to prove that, or show why. Then last year, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, published research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that chronic stress speeds the collapse of the ends of gene bundles inside cells, hastening the body's physical breakdown.

Researchers measured the lengths of telomeres--the caps at the ends of chromosomes, the molecules that hold genes. In 39 women ages 20 to 50 who had been experiencing long-term stress tied to their care of a child with a serious chronic illness, researchers found shorter telomeres than in a control group of women whose children were healthy.

The takeaway? Say experts, try to manage the stress in your environment. And find better ways to manage your response to that stress through exercise, meditation and relaxation."

By Suz Redfearn in The Washington Post, August 2, 2005; HE01.
  • 70% of all illnesses, physical and mental, are linked to stress (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2000).
  • Job-related stress is a major contributing factor in a wide range of diseases and disorders. Even suicide rates spike on Mondays (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).
  • Mindfulness Meditation reduces stress. Even "a short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function" (Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine). As a result, practitioners commonly report an increased ability to relax, enhanced energy and enthusiasm for life, greater self-esteem, better concentration, and an ability to cope more effectively with stress at work and in other areas of daily life.
  • Controlled studies have tied meditation to lower blood pressure. A study found lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer in those who practiced meditation. (American Journal of Cardiology)

Stress Reduction

Most stress management programs just talk about lifestyle changes, which participants are unlikely to implement. As a result, the lifestyle changes become more things to feel guilty about not doing.

While Visit Yourself at Work® does teach participants how to do Mindfulness Meditation on their own, our experiential seminars and classes also provide immediate stress reduction. The classes, themselves, are the lifestyle change!

As a result, workplaces that incorporate our seminars or ongoing classes into their wellness programs enjoy on-site and guaranteed stress reduction for employees.
Study from the Journal NeuroReport as reported in The Ottawa Citizen:

"People who meditate report less stress, and scientists have linked long-term stress to shrinking of the part of the brain involved in memory and learning."

Dr. Jeremy Gray led a Boston group of scientists in a study using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). They found that meditation may increase grey matter. Gray commented on the subjects of the study: "these are normal people with jobs and families" who meditated, on average, 40 minutes per day. "You don't have to be a monk to see these changes in the actual structure of the brain." 

Dr. Gray said people who might otherwise be skeptical of meditation may now "be more open to doing a meditation or stress reduction workshop on their lunch time."

By Sharon Kirkey in The Ottawa Citizen, November 14, 2005; A1.