The ABED Method®-managing stress

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asking the client why they want to lose weight, but also includes an ‘Individual Emotional Stress Test’. This is because stress plays such a huge role either directly or indirectly that to ignore it would be foolish. The stress test takes a around 10 minutes and the results are almost instantaneous. Then follows a discussion about what the client feels might be causing emotional and psychological stress in their lives, so that they can begin to separate the stresses into different categories. For example, the stress of working at a job you do not like is different to the stress caused by something like debts you may be ignoring. So the categories are stress that can be dealt with quickly as opposed to those that needs longer to sort out. Are Your Needs Truly Being Met? Image of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Often a large cause of stress is based upon our belief system that we are intrinsically just not good enough; we must ‘do’ something to be recognized and strive to better than our peers, but at what cost to our health? We are taught from an early age how the world works, and how our role is in that world. We are taught we have the freedom to be whoever we want to be. But that freedom is at a price; for many people it is all they ever think about, earning more and more money, or the thought of money, or the thought of the next dress or for some the thought of where the money to pay the next bill is coming from; money is the false prophet (profit). For instance more families than ever before have both parents working full time often this means a bigger house and a newer car, but in reality and ultimately is it a new car you really want or do you really want to be happy? By helping the client separate the causes of stress in their lives into those that the client can effect with immediate action to those that may take longer to those over which they have no control, for instance a loved one who has a drink or drug problem. Clients are also encouraged to use proven stress busting methods such as listening to calming music in the car and not the radio. He also might recommend listening to the 20 Minutes ABED Mind Spa ABED Fitness and Relaxation Yoga. This yoga audio is not religious nor does it involve any ridiculous stretches; it is based upon the theory that emotional pain can contribute toward physical pain; therefore by releasing physical pain you can also help relieve emotional pain. The ABED Yoga easy to use, the audio is excellent for this and research does seem to back up this claim.[4]
Setting boundaries is important, clients are encouraged to really view their home as their castle, as a bastion away from the madness of the outside world, a place where the family can feel safe. This includes self imposed boundaries on when work is finished and is left and the home is made as a haven of peace. The healing power of love and family is not to be underestimated in effective stress management. (see number 3 on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) When attitude assessment is completed, the 2nd Stage of the ABED Method commences which is breathing. I am a classically trained Buteyko Breathing Specialist; the only UK Professional Stress Management Specialist who also trained at the Buteyko Natural Breathing Clinic in Moscow, having received personal instruction from the late Professor Buteyko in person. Breathing When you consider that there are over 5 million adults in the UK and 1 in 3 adults in the UK have higher than optimum blood pressure, if by just relaxing the breathing and reducing tension can have such positive effects and all without the aid of expensive drugs, then especially taking into account today’s tough economic climate this has to be something to be looked at more closely. Graph showing how breathing rate can positively affect Blood Pressure The Breathing Normalization principle is that by normalizing the breathing the body chemistry allows healing to begin. The retraining involves nasal breathing, abdominal breathing (apparently this helps facilitate the switching off of the stress response), reducing the volume of breathing especially when at rest, say whilst at work (apparently may of us over breathe unknowingly due to the brain perceiving threats of ‘deadlines’, but the body experiences this as a physical threat which leads to an increase of breathing, which in the long term can be detrimental to health.[7] We can now talk about the ‘E’ in the ABED Method which stands for Exercise. According to research we are on average between 3-5 times less physically active then we were 50 years ago yet the percentage of high sugar, high fat processed foods has increased dramatically. This combination of low physical activity, combined with the increased consumption of high sugar high fat foods is a major reason why obesity and diabetes are set to explode to epidemic levels in the next 3-5 years. Things could be dramatically different if more people realized that how little exercise they had to do to lose weight and become healthy; in fact as little as 60 minutes per week could be enough as long as you followed a certain exercise regime and principle. In the author’s recent book The Art of Exercise Michael explains that by far and away the number one reason people give for not taking
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The ABED Method®-managing stress

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