My Road to Meditation:

I dabbled in meditation back in the nineties and met the Dalai Lama when he came to Perth…. I subsequently read his autobiography and thought that if I was to have my time over again I would be a Buddhist. I continued to be a part time practicing Catholic and turned more to being spiritual rather than religious. I read books about quantum time (physics), Road less travelled, You Can Heal Your Life, My Mother Myself, A Course in Miracles and many more…..trying to find a sense of spirituality… life got busier and busier and both religion and spirituality took a back seat…. Never leaving… always at the back of my mind but never that priority.

My recent trip to Tanzania I was touched by the strength of the ordinary Tanzanian, the courage in the face of adversity…. The pain that people suffered and accepted as part of their life….what was unbearable for me was to see children suffering in hospital… from the baby that was crying and needed comforting and no staff to do this, his nappy changing and there was no nappy…. Or the toddler that was screaming because he was being bathed in Potassium permanganate dissolved in warm water to come up with a nice pink colored solution, having his burns debrided with no pain relief, it brought tears to my eyes…… I was both humbled and frustrated…. The disparity between rich and poor was at times palpable. The health issues seemed so insurmountable, that I need a way to stop my mind from churning…… I realized that my spirituality was missing… it was not even dormant it had gone……

Last year was very busy and stressful particularly then end of the year was even more so, after I came back from Canberra, I was at breaking point and realized I needed to stop….. I had decided to either go back to church on Sundays or start meditating….I usually go to midnight mass, have for the last 30 yrs… there was a new Parish priest at the church I usually go to… and it was the worst service I have been to for a very long time….no inspiration…… there was nothing….I was like a stranger, I came away knowing I was not going back….


I did an Internet search for a Buddhist retreat starting in January…and would you believe it one was starting on the 2nd January…. I booked in for the week and I have not looked back since then….. I felt like I had found my way home……very strange…. Time will tell how I go….. I feel calmer…. My mind is less chaotic and I now have strategies to slow it down…..I have set myself some boundaries as far as work is concerned…. And am working on my discipline to continue with my meditation on a daily basis with a quarterly retreat to keep me focused…I found a meditation centre here in Singapore and went this afternoon, which was a great end to my teaching weekend……watch this space...


Happy Chinese New Year "Rabbit" Happiness and Prosperity to all....

Coping with stress..... for Women

Life is forever busy.... and we fit so much into it, everyone I know is busier than ever, no matter who I am talking to the general conversation is that life is busy. When I was at a meeting during the week, three of my colleagues put their hand up to take on more work...because there was no one else to do it...now these people are already overworked or very busy...so why do we do it? why do we say YES when really it should be saying NO.
Taking time out is not as easy as you think, as there is no one to do your job, workloads are high....and there is so much to do within every aspect of life...family, friends, and self.

Yes we all need a degree of stress in our lives, it helps us learn and grow, however as I get older I am finding that I seem less able to handle as much stress and my body is now giving me physical signs of stress.... so lets look at what stress is and the symptoms ....
Stress is a normal fact of life, stress releases powerful neurochemicals and hormones that prepare us for action (to fight or flee). However it is how we manage it...
Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives, we usually think of stress as a negative experience, but from a biological point of view, stress can be a neutral, negative, or positive experience. In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include your job, physical environment, relationships with others, home life, and any other situations, challenges, snags, and your own expectations you're faced with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body's ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Internal factors which influence your ability to handle stress include the way you eat, so nutrition, overall health and fitness, your emotional well-being, and the amount of sleep and rest you get. For me sleep and rest are the last things on my list, followed closely by exercise..... I seem to be a night owl. Diet I try to do the right thing...however eating out and late are aspects that could be reviewed. As for work this is one of the biggest stressors...

The degree of stress in our lives depends upon individual factors such as our physical health, the quality of our interpersonal relationships, the number of commitments and responsibilities we carry, the degree of others' dependence upon us, expectations of us, the amount of support we receive from others, and the number of changes or traumatic events that have recently occurred in our lives.
There is now evidence that points to abnormal stress,responses as causing various diseases or conditions such as: migraine headaches, asthma, diabetes, fluctuating blood sugar levels, clinical depression,chronic anxiety states, high blood pressure, heart disease, and addictive disorders. I wonder if sex addiction comes in this category.....? A very important point is that stress can begin in the womb and recur throughout life....

When women experience stress, their behavior sometimes changes. Examples; of behavioral symptoms of stress in women: overeating or eating less, over sleeping or sleeping less, procrastinating, isolating one's self, increased use of alcohol and cigarettes, drug use, cynicism and or bitterness. One of the most common behaviour symptoms is irritability, followed by anger, mood swings, and weeping. Constant worrying is also shown by women under stress.


Relaxation:

So how do we manage stress; there are the standard strategies:look around to see what you can change and don't sweat the small stuff.....some tips:
avoid stressful situations, change how you react to stress, set priorities and goals, change how you see the situation, find relaxation techniques, find out what is most important to you, Relaxation Techniques, exercise, healthy diet....

Are you at risk of Burnout...do this simple Burnout self-test....my score was 46 which is "I am at risk if I am not careful"..... now there is a surprise..... It is hard to change the way you are used to working but when the warnings are present...it is time to sit up and take note.... so for me the first step is to hit the pavement and doing some walking..... second get some more sleep.... and third.... relaxation.... that's my first three steps...lets see how I go..

This website has some great ideas and strategies...Stress Management MindTools: have a look its worth a visit..