‘Metta’ is the Buddhist word for loving kindness. In this seminar Jesse Hanson, Clinical Director of Helix Healthcare Group, discusses the art and science of self-love in order to positively influence your health, your attitude and your environment. The focus is on four areas: loving yourself, acknowledging your inner child, appreciation for those who love you, and forgiving those who have treated your wrong. Jesse will also take participants through a 15 minute ‘meta-tation’ journey. This is an empowering and engaging seminar that is designed to improve group dynamics, cooperation and creativity.
Visit www.helixhealthcaregroup.com or find out more about our corporate options at https://helixhealthcaregroup.com/catalyst/corporate/
3. Work Related Stressors Life Stressors
• Heavy workload or too much
responsibility
• Working long hours
• Unclear expectations of work, or
no say in the decision-making
process
• Being insecure about your
chance for advancement or risk
of termination
• Presentations
• Client demands and
expectations
• Managing family responsibilities
• The death of a loved one
• Divorce
• Loss of a job
• Increase in financial obligations
• Getting married
• Moving to a new home
• Chronic illness or injury
• Emotional problems
• Taking care of a sick or elderly
family member
• Traumatic event
4. Cognitive Emotional
•Negative impact on memory
•Clouds and/or impairs judgment
•Negative thoughts and self-perception
•Difficulty concentrating and organizing
•Increased irritability
•Anger and agitation
•Overwhelmed and inability to relax
•Short temper
•Enhanced Anxiety
•Relationship challenges at home and work
•Ineffective communication
Physical Behavioural
•Digestive and gastrointestinal symptoms
•Increase in frequency and effects of colds
•Rise in heartbeat, cardiac risks
•Poor eating habits
•Decreased motivation for exercise
•Sleep disturbance
•Isolation
•Self-destructive coping behaviours
(smoking, drinking, drugs)
•Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)
5. Cortisol can kill, shrink, and
stop the generation of new
neurons in a portion of the
brain called the hippocampus.
Chronic stress can shrink
the medial prefrontal
cortex.
Stress can increase the
size and activity of a
portion of the brain
called the amygdala.
These brain alterations
affect the way we interact,
learn, remember, make
decisions and accomplish
goals.
8. 100,000 neuronal phenotypes (different types of
cells).
85,000,000,000 neurons - the number of
connections between these neurons is 10 to
14th power.
One cubic millimeter of brain contains 20,000 to
30,000 neurons.
1 cubic millimeter contains 4 kilometers of nerve
fibers and 10 to the 9th power synapses.
… In other words, there are a potentially
unbounded number of mental states
9. VS
In 2007, Harvard studied two groups:
One was given the task of playing
piano scales for 2 hours daily for 5
days.
The other group was given the task of
merely thinking about playing the
exact same piano scales as group one.
They were never to actually play the
scales, just to think about playing
them.
Scans showed that the same
region of the brain had expanded
in the volunteers who
merely thought about playing in a
disciplined way.
10. Positive: Negative:
Cortisol-based shrinkage of
hippocampus; less capacity
for contextual memory
Concussion, stroke, tumour,
Alzheimer’s
Intoxication: imbalances in
neurotransmitters
More left prefrontal
activation: greater
happiness
Thicker insulina: more self-awareness,
empathy
Small amount of caffeine;
more alertness
11. A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that
adults can be trained to be more compassionate.
Compassion training was compared to a control group that
learned cognitive reappraisal (‘reframing thoughts’).
The study measured changes in brain responses using functional
MRI before and only 2 weeks after training, at 30 minutes a day.
In the Compassion group activity was increased in the inferior
parietal cortex, a region involved in empathy.
It also increased activity in the prefrontal cortex and brain
regions involved in emotion regulation and positive emotions.
Alterations in brain function were observed
after JUST 7 hours of total training.
14. A 2012 study from Harvard Medical School compared mindful
meditation vs compassion meditation.
In both groups the right amygdala activity decreased in
response to positive or neutral images. In the compassion
meditation group the right amygdala activity increased in
response to negative images.
This was also correlated with decreased depression scores,
which suggests that having more compassion towards others
may also be beneficial for oneself.
17. Biochemical changes – Improved hormonal
balance and an increase in production of
DHEA, our ‘anti-aging hormone’.
Increased positivity – It produces a greater
level of positive feelings, according to
researchers from the University of Miami,
who studied this process in 157 individuals
over 13 days.
Improved immune system – It increases
the IgA antibody, which serves as the first
line of defense against pathogens.
Emotional “compound interest” –
Experiencing an emotion reinforces the
neural pathways so it becomes easier to
recreate with continued practice.
Image: Heartmath – Heart Rhythm Monitor
18. In 2000, researchers at the
University of Tennessee studied
the effect of having a forgiving
personality on psychological
and physical stress responses.
To no surprise, “high" forgivers
had a lower resting blood
pressure and smaller increases
in blood pressure than "low"
forgivers.
19.
20. May I be
happy
May I be free
from
suffering
May I be
forgiven
May I be at
peace
21.
22.
23. Book a complimentary
consultation at 416.921.2273 (CARE)
www.helixhealthcaregroup.com
Editor's Notes
Stress cannot be completely avoided or compartmentalized
It must be managed and balanced
Understanding our behaviours and reactions is critical to allow us to avoid exacerbating or increasing the impact of stress. The point of this slide is not simply to list what all the major causes of stress are, but to emphasize that we all have stress both personally and professionally and we cannot avoid it cause Life Happens! We also cannot always ensure that the two columns remain separate at all times (if we are stressed personally that may come out at work and vice versa). However understanding how we respond the above stressors and whether we are minimizing and effectively managing the stress or exacerbating the impact of these stressors is an important questions to ask.
For example if we are insecure about what our trajectory is in this firm if there is a risk of termination…ask for feedback and find out what you are doing well and where there is need for improvement. This will reduce anxiety and allow you to know where you stand.
Another example: if you are struggling with constant anxiety due to deadlines and high expectations you may want to look at how you are using your time and whether you are taking on more then you can realistically handle AND ARE YOU TAKING BREAKS
Every single day we make choices when faced with certain stressors, we may choose poor behaviors or avoidance but we do have choices.
How many of you can relate to two or more of the stressors listed up here.
Unmanaged stress will effect your performance and it is not a sustainable method to follow. There are physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral impacts and puts us in a negative space as individuals and as a firm. Use a personal example. My partner can focus so exclusively on getting job done that he will sacrifice physical health, decrease exercise, eat poorly and leave no time to recharge and then gets sick…..This is not an effective way to manage stress. We need to take the best care of ourselves in the face of stress rather then only when the work load is smaller because it enhances are tolerance and capacity to handle it.
Questions for the Group:
Are any of these items ones that seem familiar to you? Are there any stress impacts that aren’t listed here that you have experienced?
What is the risk of having a workforce that is not managing these 4 quadrants? The firm and individuals of this firm cannot afford to not address this? (write on flip charts)
Crash course on the brain – intro to neuroscience. “A lot of information in the brain is not fixed but is represented in this structural and functional connectivity and it’s this connectivity which we constantly, wittingly or unwittingly, change thru our habitual mental patterns.”
And this might worry you as much as cheer you up: as little as 2 hours of repetitive activity changes connectivity in the brain.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have a larger hippocampus, a key brain structure that is essential to learning, memory and response to stress, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
These actual heart-monitor readouts contrast the heart-rhythm pattern of someone experiencing frustration, then appreciation.
In a study exploring the effect of having a forgiving personality on both psychological and physical stress responses, University of Tennessee (UT) students discussed two betrayal experiences—by apparent and by a friend or romantic partner. As they spoke, researchers measured their blood pressure, heart rate, forehead muscle tension and skin conduction responses. The results, presented at the 2000 American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, showed that "high" forgivers—those who forgive easily—had both a lower resting blood pressure and smaller increases in blood pressure rate than "low" forgivers—bigger grudge-holders.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200007/forgive-live