E-Book Content
-1- -2- This little book is dedicated to my son, John, and his family who have been my joy for a lifetime. Disclaimer This ebook publication is being distributed with the express and implied understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering professional advice. If mental health assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. While the author has made every effort to be factual, your results may vary. © Dr. Kathryn Seifert, 2006 all rights reserved in all media -3- Table of Contents Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................ 3 Stress and Aardvarks ...................................................................................................................................... 4 “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” ............................................................................................................................. 6 Reframing Your Stressors........................................................................................................................... 7 STRESS AND GROWTH ............................................................................................................................ 16 Notes and Thoughts .............................................................................................................................. 18 Changing Your Lifestyle............................................................................................................................... 23 Using Relaxation Techniques ................................................................................................................... 28 About the Author ...................................................................................................................................... 32 -4- Dancing With the Aardvark: A Guided Journal for Managing Stress By Kathy Seifert, Ph.D. Stress and Aardvarks Is your aardvark stressing you out? You have some choices. You can fight with your aardvark, dance with your aardvark, see your aardvark from a different point of view, or get a new aardvark. One thing you can’t do is change your aardvark. The aardvark can only change himself and he has to want to change. It is not your job to change him, although you can sometimes make him wish he had changed (not really recommended). The only person you can change is the person sitting in your chair. Are you sick of the stress in your life and is the stress in your life making you sick? Is it harming you in other ways, too? When stress is not resolved and remains for long periods of time, it harms our physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and relationship health. According to several studies, as much as 50% of all physical illnesses appear to be stress related. People who feel that their lives are overly stressful and demanding are more likely to report physical illness symptoms. Soooooooooo, don’t stress, use your imagination for mental imagery and dance with the aardvark. List the 5 biggest stressors in your life at the present time. Do you have symptoms that you attribute to your stress, such as stomach aches, headaches, gastro-intestinal problems? Place them next to the stressors below. Stressor Symptom ____________________________________ _________________ ____________________________________ _________________ -5- ____________________________________ _________________ ____________________________________ _________________ ____________________________________ _________________ What do you notice about the things that distress you the most? ____________________________________________________