What is the Mind Body Connection?

Your body responds to they way your mind thinks, feels and acts. This is often what is referred to as the Mind Body Connection.  When you experience stress, anxiety or worry your body tries to tell you something is not right.  For example, your body may develop an ulcer or perhaps your blood pressure shoots way up after a stressful event such as a lay off from work or a break up of a relationship.  Some signs to watch for as a result of stress affecting your body are:

• Back pain
• Change in appetite
• Chest pain
• Change in bowels
• Dry mouth
• Excess fatigue
• Aches and pains
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Lightheadedness
• Sexual dysfunction
• Sweating
• Shortness of breath
• Change in body weight

Wow, what a list! How can we positively affect our mind/ body connection?  Here are some suggestions to keep your mental and physical bodies in balance:

• Express your feelings in appropriate ways
• Find balance in your life
• Use relaxation methods to calm yourself
• Take care of “you”

Bullied By Your Boss?

On CNN this morning I was surprised to hear a story on bosses bullying their employees.  They were talking about employees suing bad bosses for treating them unfairly.  According to the ACLU, 37% of employees feel their bosses treat them abusively and they want to set legislation to standardize how people are treated.  Now I have worked for bad bosses and believe as did a specialist on CNN that bad bosses don’t really last. Eventually someone realizes that the boss is ineffective and life works itself out, sometimes you end up leaving and perhaps if you trust the saying “All for a reason” you go with the flow and move on to greener pastures. 

I have worked for what I consider bad bosses and bullies, people who think their title makes them larger than life and for me sometimes the answer has been to leave an organization and sometimes I can have fun with it – trying to use it as a means to teach myself to use light and positive energy towards the negative and try to turn it around.

I don’t however believe in more laws or regulations to create more lawsuits. I think that will open the doors to people suing over frivolous and unworthy issues.  Being involved in a lawsuit now, I can tell you the system is unfortunately set up where anyone who can afford an attorney can walk into an lawyer’s office, lie and have you served. This in turn means you have to hire an attorney at a ridiculous rate and defend something that may not be true, spend your time and money and hope that your attorney does not commit some minor error that results in a swing for the opposing and lying party. 

It is awful to work where you are not happy but maybe there is a message there.. if you are not happy, find something that makes you happy, if you cannot afford to take that chance, use the situation as an opportunity to deal with the person who is obviously insecure and in need of a punching bag.  Use your ability to be kind and compassionate and see where that goes.  If all else fails, hide when you see him or her coming!

I am so overwhelmed with my schedule. Can you offer me some time management advice?

I love this topic because so many of us are burdened with schedules that Superman (or woman) would find exhausting. Kids, work, after school activities, friends, hobbies, meals, chores…. it’s enough to drive anyone mad. There is help though. There are companies that specialize in Time Management assistance by assessing your needs whether they be home, work or personal and creating a plan, much like a business plan, to get you on track. Life Organizers in Ft Lauderdale Florida is a company with exactly that mission. They are able not only to give insights to your questions… via email, but can also have a personal organizer come to your home or office and get you on the road to mental and physical time related recovery. I have compiled a brief list of ways to get yourself started on the right foot. I did not create this acronym but find it useful and easy to remember. SPARKLE

• S – Sleep Well
• P – Plan Every Day
• A – Anticipate Less
• R – Relax
• K – Keep Anger Under Control
• L – Laugh
• E – Eat Well and Exercise

See if you can implement these 7 easy to understand elements into your day to create a less stressed you.