Yoga and meditation workshop to help students deal with exam stress

Dear Students,

Just read the ideas on how to deal with exam stress through Yoga and meditation through this case study / example ....

 

STRESSED-OUT teens can learn yoga and meditation techniques to help them deal with exam pressures at a special workshop in Terrey­ ­Hills on Sunday.

Yoga and meditation teacher Heidi Horne has designed the 1½- hour long class for HSC and university students.

Mrs Horne said she got the idea from some of her clients who had children going through their final years at secondary school and who were doing their HSC trial exams.

“They mentioned to me that (their children) are under a lot of stress and pressure,” she said.

“I knew that yoga, meditation, breath-work and positive thinking and affirmations would help them through this time.”

Mrs Horne said the workshop will include yoga poses for releasing stress in the mind and body and helping people improve their concentration while studying.

She said yoga could help people deal with things they could not control in life. “I’m doing some poses that will not only help with anxiety, but also with relaxation and getting to sleep,” she said.

“And some breathing techniques to use if you wake up in the night feeling anxious.”

She said she would also help students­ develop positive thinking through using affirmations and visualizations.

She hopes doing the workshop will help people take care of themselves better when stressed and avoid fast food and energy drinks.

“Often when they are tired, people reach for food that makes them feel more comfortable and gives them an instant energy boost,” she said.

“This is a natural way to relax.”

Participants don’t need any yoga or meditation experience and they will be given notes to take home.

“They will have time to ask questions at the end,” Mrs Horne said.

Mrs Horne who has been teaching yoga for more than eight years said as well as reducing stress, yoga “enhances your mood and sense of wellbeing and happiness”.

Teenager Samantha Horton has already had a few yoga classes with Mrs Horne and said she could feel the benefits.

“My mind and body feel re-energised,” she said.

Mrs Horne is hoping to hold more workshops for students in the future.

 

 

Positive thinking really is powerful

Dear Students,

Are you aware of this fact that Positive thinking really is powerful? See what Rick Hanson says about it ....

The more I learn about the brain, the more fascinated I am by it. Things I used to think were just a mystery (like what makes us happy and what makes us sad) I’m now learning are totally controllable. 

So, I was really excited to talk to one of the leading neuroscience psychologists in the field today: Rick Hanson, PhD, has written multiple best-selling books about how to actually hardwire our brains to stay positive in both thought and feeling.

In our conversation, I kept asking him questions related to my own experiences with emotional intelligence, positive thought, and the power we have to shift ourselves out of negative emotions and thought patterns. Everything Rick shared with me confirmed my own experience and what I’ve learned from other experts.

What I especially loved learning from Rick was how important it is to slow down and consciously enjoy the good times, because it actually helps reinforce the hardwiring of our brains. He explained that one of the easiest shifts to make is to acknowledge all the things that go right in our day versus only acknowledging what goes wrong.

This may seem obvious, but think about it: How often do you get 50 positive emails during your workday confirming you are doing your job right, and yet the one email you get that is negative, or exposes a mistake you made, is the only one you remember?

Rick’s favorite phrase to explain the importance of acknowledging the positive aspects of our days is, “Neurons that fire together wire together.”

Essentially, he explains that when we think positive thoughts (i.e. “Wow, my hair looks great today”), we are using neurons that create positive pathways in our brain — and these pathways are being kept open and ready to be used. The reverse is also true: If we are constantly stuck in negative thought loops, those are the neuron pathways that are open and being used.

So before you write off the power of positive thinking, remember that it costs zero money and next to no time to add a few more positive acknowledgments in your day. Science says that the effect will last longer than the thought.

Dear Students,

Please, go through this review.......

The creative process

By KELERA KOTOBALAVU

"You will see it when you believe it" — Wayne Dwyer, US self-help

author and motivational speaker
It is now mid-year, a good opportunity to take a moment to review where you are at with your 2015 goals.
In January of each year, there is much hype about what most people want to change, and what they want to achieve in the new year.
Come March, some would have already lost interest (for various reasons) and reverted to their old behaviour patterns.
And by December they look back, only to be disappointed that they really haven't progressed much at all in the previous 12 months.
If this sounds like you, let me help you out.
In today's article I will explain The Creative Process which is part of the Law of Attraction (also known as The Power of Positive Thinking), a process taken from the New Testament in the Bible that can help you create what you want in life in three simple and easy steps — Ask, Believe, Receive.
Let me first explain what the Law of Attraction (LOA) states.
Simply put, it states "like attracts like" at a level of thought. In other words, as you think a thought, you are also attracting to yourself things or circumstances that "match" that thought.
You are like a magnet and contain a magnetic power that is emitted through your thoughts. Have you ever started your day in a bad mood and as your day progresses, it worsens?
That is because the more you think about your bad mood (or the more power you give it in your thought), the more you "feed" that thought and you attract more of the same, so your day worsens.
So let us now go back to the 3 steps of The Creative Process.
Step 1: Ask
You must be clear with what you want. Clarity is the key here.
If you want a new job, what job do you want specifically and with what company?
If you are not clear, the LOA will not attract to you what you want. Unclear goals will attract unclear results, bringing confusion into your life.
Write down your goal. Why?
There are about 60,000 thoughts we think each day so by writing down what you want, you are instructing your brain to go to work with your request.
If you don't write it down and keep it in your head it ends up getting lost in the thousands of thoughts already there.
Understand then that there are no limits to what you can have, do or want. All you need to do is ask. Make this a habit.
It is quite fun when you know how this works.
It is like ordering something you like from a catalogue or restaurant menu. You order what you want once and then you let it go because you know your order is surely on its way.
You don't order ... and order again ... and order again. If so, you are doubting or being impatient with your order. If that is the case, again the LOA will not bring you what you want.
So the important point here is to place your order knowing exactly what you want (that new job with another company)... and then let it go in your thoughts (like letting a balloon go off into the sky).
In other words, you are activating what's called applied faith knowing that what you want (that new job) is on its way. If you continue to re-order what you want, you don't have faith in the seed you have planted (your desire) ... and you uproot it out of the soil, killing it.
Step 2: Believe
Here is where you play make-believe just like children.
You imagine that you already have that new job even when it is not yours in the physical.
By doing this, you are activating the most underused success tool we all have: the power of visualisation (or imagination).
How to visualise?
You can close your eyes in your room and imagine you're already in that new job position. You do this repeatedly. Spend 5 minutes each morning creating a mind movie, imagining yourself already in the position. You can play inspirational music with positive lyrics that raise your feel-good emotions to intensify, strengthen and lock-in the thought.
In last week's article titled, Are you also struggling in this area? I explained the conscious mind and subconscious mind. Information is transferred from the conscious to the subconscious only through repetition.
So you want the "new-job-position program" to be locked into the subconscious mind over time by repetitive visualisations. And whatever information is stored here, the subconscious mind will move heaven and earth to manifest it in the physical.
The key is to believe you already have what you want ... and you speak, think, and do things like you already have the position.
There is no room for "I hope I will get it" kind of thinking.
Be aware that The Creative Process works both ways — negative and positive.
So if you are thinking and visualising bills, you will attract more bills because that is the message you are sending out through your thoughts.
Be aware of what you entertain in your thoughts. It will manifest — whether negative or positive.
By visualising you are adding extra strength and power to what you want (or don't want).
If you are not aware of how this amazing gift works, you will always attract what you don't want. You attract it to yourself faster.
Step 3: RECEIVE
Here you add feeling or emotion to the process.
Feel all the emotions during the visualisation (Step 2). What emotions do you feel when you are imagining yourself in that new job?
Happy, elated, excited?
Are you squealing with delight as you feel yourself seated in "your" new office?
What else are you doing? Pumping your fist in the air in triumph and shouting "I did it"!?
What else….?
So here you are playing your visualisation scene like a mind movie, adding all the emotions, the sound effects, etc ... when you are closing your eyes and visualising.
You are cranking up your desire here. Emotion makes it come alive ... all inside your subconscious mind, where your untapped potential and rich resources are stored.
When you saturate your subconscious mind with the thoughts that "match" what you want in life, you are creating new pathways in your brain. The new pathways will help draw to you all the resources you need to make what was first conceived as a thought, manifest in the physical.
Really, you can create anything you want.
All it takes is to follow the principles.

Blessing in disguise!!!!

Positivity for a Bigger Better Career

Being positive can help at work and not just because you might feel better about yourself because you have a positive attitude.

Professor Barbara Fredrickson, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of several books, including Positivity, has developed a theory.

She believes, after more than 20 years of research, that positivity can broaden your mind and build a better life and a bigger and better career.

So how can you harness the power of positivity in your career? According to Professor Frederickson, there are 10 positive emotions that have been proven to bolster well-being:

Joy
Gratitude
Serenity
Interest
Hope
Pride
Amusement
Inspiration
Awe
Love

Her advice is to find the ones that you can best relate to, and then build and broaden your life toward positivity.
To do that you will need a strategy or two, so here are some suggestions:

Make a Commitment to Positivity

If you want a strong and healthy body, you have to commit to certain practices like daily exercise and a better diet. If you want to have more positivity in your life, then you will have to work at that as well.

This might mean finding some positive books to read, like Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking. Other people like affirmations or even positive meditations.

You need to commit to bringing positivity into your world and then making that a habit through daily practice.

Slow Down to Enjoy the Ride

It’s hard to be positive if you are going so fast that you can’t enjoy the simple pleasures and positive moments that are already happening in our lives. To build up the credits in your positivity bank you might want to try writing them down.

Just dot down these flashes of good energy in a notebook and at the end of the day take another look at them. Share them with others, especially those closest to you. Both of you will benefit from re-living these positive occasions.

Share the Load and the Journey

Positivity does not exist in a vacuum, and there is a synergy created when you share positive moments — maybe a minor success or breakthrough at work — with another colleague or friend.

Professor Fredrickson calls the sharing of positive emotions the creation of “positivity resonance.” It can happen when someone shares a funny story, a heartwarming tale or even just a smile. The best thing about sharing positivity is that it lightens the load for everyone.

Repeat as Required

Just like going to the gym three or four times a week will help you lose weight or build muscles, so too does regular positivity practice, Many of us are not hard-wired to be positive, and the weight of negativity in the world and at work is sometimes overwhelming.

That’s why we need to take positive action, and try to think positive thoughts over and over in order to build up our resistance to the negative flow.

The good news is that every positive action we take will create more positive energy. Just do your part to keep the good stuff moving.

Positivity is an Inside Job

Even if we feel that everyone and everything around us is a sea of negativity, we don’t have to take it inside of us. We can still focus on the good things when all around us is sinking in the mud and the mire.

Peace of mind or serenity is all about being calm in the storm. Positivity can help us navigate these dangerous waters and allow us to reach safely to shore, as long as maintain a solid core of positivity inside of us.

If all else fails we can reach inside for a positive thought or saying and just sail on.

And if it gets tough to stay positive, you can remember the words of Lee Iacocca, the former head of Chrysler who said that is exactly the time to double down on your positivity investment.

“In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.”

Courtesy: Mike Martin

The Power Within

Does Spirituality Drive Success?

e-journal article……….Does Spirituality Drive Success?

Is there a place for spirituality in the workplace? Martha Lagace, Sean Silverthorne, and Wendy Guild Executives from Silicon Valley to Boston tell about (published in The Healer’s Journal) how they twine their business leadership with religious and personal values. Levy's guidelines are:

● Quiet the mind.

● Reach deep inside. Go beyond the ego to hear the inner voice.

● Don't fear ambiguity; rest in the unknown. "This is the most difficult piece," Levy admitted. "We're not comfortable unless we see the path."

● Stay humble in the face of temptation and power. "Being humble is a key issue. It's good for a leader to be reminded of the intoxication of power."