Friday, March 12, 2010

Dukung Bekasi Bersih


Apa Kaitan Bekasi Bersih dan Partisi pasi Blogger? Bekasi Bersih Partisipasi Blogger adalah sebuah Partisipasi Para Blogger se Indonesia dalam rangka men sosialisasikan Program Kota Bekasi dalam hal penanganan sampah dan penghijauan kota Bekasi. Bekasi Bersih partisipasi Blogger adalah karya nyata Blogger untuk mendukung karya nyata pemkot Bekasi.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Childhood Phobias

What are your kids afraid of? Man-eating monsters in the closet? Noisy flashy thunderstorms? Creepy long-legged spiders? Fears are a normal part of growing up, but kids typically grow out of them and become perfectly well adjusted adults.
So why are kids afraid of certain things? It usually starts around the age of three when young imaginations start to soar. This is also the time when impressions from books, movies and TV shows can have a significant impact. One thing moms and dads can do to help their children cope with their fears and phobias are to introduce them to a non-threatening version of the thing that they're afraid of. If your son is afraid of dogs, find a cuddly toy K-9 he can play with, so he gets used to the idea that dogs can be gentle and not very scary after all.
Managing imaginary monsters is another important task. It's best to reasonably explain to your children that monsters don't exist. But when all else fails, there's a comical but effective approach that we use at our home. It's called monster repellant. A spray bottle filled with tap water for you and me. It can be liberally applied to your son's bedroom whenever he's afraid a furry paw may reach out and grab him while he's asleep. A visit to the bookstore or library may help too.
There are dozens of well written informative books that can help you help your children deal with their fears. And another piece of advice, if your child ever becomes fixated on a fear or phobia for more than six months, it's a good idea to seek professional help. Talk to your pediatrician or your family doctor.

Kids Phobia

Everyone, from the youngest child to the oldest adult, experiences anxieties and fears at one time or another. Feeling anxious in a particularly uncomfortable situation never feels very good. However, with kids, such feelings are not only normal, they're also necessary. Experiencing and dealing with anxieties can prepare young people to handle the unsettling experiences and challenging situations of life.

Anxieties and Fears Are Normal

Anxiety is defined as "apprehension without apparent cause." It usually occurs when there's no immediate threat to a person's safety or well being, but the threat feels real.
Anxiety makes someone want to escape the situation — fast. The heart beats quickly, the body might begin to perspire, and "butterflies" in the stomach soon follow. However, a little bit of anxiety can actually help people stay alert and focused.
Having fears or anxieties about certain things can also be helpful because it makes kids behave in a safe way. For example, a kid with a fear of fire would avoid playing with matches.
The nature of anxieties and fears change as kids grow and develop:
  • Babies experience stranger anxiety, clinging to parents when confronted by people they don't recognize.
  • Toddlers around 10 to 18 months old experience separation anxiety, becoming emotionally distressed when one or both parents leave.
  • Kids ages 4 through 6 have anxiety about things that aren't based in reality, such as fears of monsters and ghosts.
  • Kids ages 7 through 12 often have fears that reflect real circumstances that may happen to them, such as bodily injury and natural disaster.
As kids grow, one fear may disappear or replace another. For example, a child who couldn't sleep with the light off at age 5 may enjoy a ghost story at a slumber party years later. And some fears may extend only to one particular kind of stimulus. In other words, a child may want to pet a lion at the zoo but wouldn't dream of going near the neighbor's dog.

Source : kidshealth.org

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Natural Stress Relief


Natural stress management techniques provide a desired relief to people who are in stress. These natural stress reliefs are said to be devoid of dreadful side effects. Stress can affect anyone at anytime in some point of life. This article contains more information on:
  • Which are the three components of yoga that are used for stress relief?
  • Find out how lifestyle changes and stress relief is related
  • Will drinking plenty of water helps in overcoming stress?
Stress can affect anyone and everyone at some point of time in their life. Stress is believed to trigger 70% of visits to doctors, and 85% of serious illnesses. Natural stress management techniques provide a desired relief in these patients. These natural stress reliefs are said to be devoid of dreadful side effects. Stress occurs when the normal "Fight or Flight" phenomenon of our endocrine system occurs more frequently. This phenomenon causes a few reversible changes in our body like increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased metabolism and energy release, muscle tension etc.

Stress can affect your health, your work performance, your social life and your relationship with your family members. There is no escape from stress. One must learn how to handle it. There is no single remedy for stress relief. Though there is a long list of drugs to handle stress the list of their side effects is equally long. So everyone is on the look out for natural stress relief techniques which are very effective and at the same time don't have many side effects.

Natural Techniques

Natural stress reduction techniques can be categorized under the following headings.
  • Exercise
  • Yoga
  • Meditation
  • Tai Chi
  • Reiki
  • Herbs
  • Dietary adjustments
  • Life style changes
Exercise
Exercise and diet are simplest of the remedies for stress. Exercise helps in relieving the stress in the following ways.
  • The adrenaline store gets exhausted and results in relaxation.
  • Exercise produces Beta endorphin in our brain which relieves stress by providing a sense of well being.
  • Exercise increases blood flow to brain which supplies more oxygen and eliminates toxic materials including carbon dioxide and lactate.
  • Exercise relaxes tensed muscles.
  • Exercise distracts us from the causes of stress.
Deep breathing itself is a good exercise. It helps the body in getting more oxygen and eliminates the unwanted carbon dioxide.
Yoga
Stressed individuals have great amount of tension in their bodies. Yoga an ancient Indian practice helps in releasing this tension and aiding in deep breathing which provides more oxygen and eliminates the toxic carbon dioxide. Three components of Yoga are used for stress relief. They are the asanas, pranayamas and meditation. Meditation can be done separately also for stress relief.

Yogic postures (Asana) : The corpses pose (Savasana), the crocodile pose (Makarasana) and the child's pose (Bal asana) are relaxation postures which help in dealing with stress.

Yogic Breathing (Pranayama): One form of Pranayama is Nadi shodhanam in which alternate nostril breathing is done. Pranayama should always be done in a suitable posture or asana in which the lung capacity is the highest and the muscle tension is lowest. It should always be done with the help of a teacher. It should be always done with empty stomach and one should never do it till exhaustion.
Meditation
Two methods need mention a) Meditation that needs focusing and b) Meditation that does not need focusing.

Meditation that needs focusing : The affected person focuses on any object or image or sound or any thoughts. It takes the mind away from the source of stress and provides stress relief.

Meditation that does not need focusing : Transcendental meditation is one form of meditation that does not need focusing. It is done by sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. During the process the fluctuating mind gradually becomes still and attains a state of "Restful alertness". It is done for about 20 minutes everyday in the morning and evening.
Reiki
Reiki is a Japanese art of healing.Rei means "free passage" and ki means "universal energy" It involves transfer of energy from a practitioner to the patient to increase the body's natural ability to heal itself through the balance of energy. Reiki incorporates of most of the other alternate therapies like spiritual therapy, meditation, aroma therapy etc. The hands are the tools of healing in Reiki.The position in which the hands are placed important. Reiki can be done through clothing. But most prefer no barrier to the therapy. Reiki practitioners impart energy through a particular pattern. This induces deep relaxation, detoxifies the body and provides new vitality.
Tai chi
Tai chi or Tai chi chuan is a Chinese martial art meant for health and longevity and how to deal with stress. It is gaining popularity because of its active role in reducing stress. Tai chi means 'Supreme ultimate boxing 'or 'Boundless fist'. The basic principle involves leverage of the joints through co-ordination of relaxation rather than increased muscle tension. This improves the internal circulation and it is believed that over a period of time it reverses the physical effects of stress.
Herbs
Herbal treatment always has a significant chunk of followers. In the treatment of stress Kava Kava is the latest in the list while Valerian is the oldest. The list includes:
  1. Kava Kava: It is a herb of Indonesian and Polynesian islands which is used to relieve stress, anxiety, sleeplessness.
  2. Valerian: It is similar to diazepam, the sleeping pill .It relaxes nervous system and helps in good sleep.
  3. Passion flower: The flavinoids in it acts as a sedative and anti oxidants and relieves stress and anxiety.
  4. St John's Wort: It inhibits the enzyme mono amino oxidase and helps in relieving stress.
  5. Scullcap: It acts on the nervous system and stabilizes the mood.
  6. Hops: Its tranquilizing properties are useful in the treatment of sleeplessness and irritability.
  7. Catnip: It helps in calming the nervous system and treating the digestion problems.
  8. Chamomile: Used as immunostimulant, tranquilizer and helps in digestion.
  9. Rhodiola: It regulates the heart beat. It controls the irregular heart beat.
  10. Bach Rescue remedy: The formula was found by Dr.Edward Bach in 1920's.It contains a combination of 5 flower essences for relieving stress and reducing fear and tension.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis as a relief method for stress has gained considerable credibility in recent years. Hypnosis for anxiety and stress is clinically proven and is an effective long term solution for stress related conditions.

Stress Relievers

Just as stress is different for each of us there is no stress reduction strategy that is a panacea. Jogging and other aerobic exercises, different types of meditation, prayer, yoga and tai chi are great for many people but when arbitrarily imposed on others, prove dull, boring and stressful. There is certainly no shortage of stress relievers and in addition to the above, various progressive muscular relaxation exercises, autogenic training, deep breathing, massage therapies, visual imagery and self hypnosis practices are popular. There are also acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, Alexander, Reiki, Feldenkrais and other bodywork and postural techniques. Some people find that listening to music, hobbies, volunteer work, keeping a daily journal of events and how they feel, laughter, playing with pets, taking short breaks or shopping help them to relax. Others find relief for their stress related symptoms from aromatherapy, nutritional supplements like chamomile, spearmint, kava kava, adaptogens and St. John's wort or even sitting under a pyramid. There are also prescription tranquilizers, sedatives, hypnotics, antidepressants and beta-blockers for specific complaints. In addition, a variety of cranioelectromagnetic stimulation devices have been found to be effective and safe for anxiety, insomnia and drug resistant depression. Strong emotional support from group therapy, family or friends is a powerful stress buster.
Most of the above are designed to reduce the annoying somatic and emotional effects of stress. The focus in recent years has been on preventing such problems, which makes more sense. This involves identifying the sources of stress in your life and finding ways to avoid them or reduce their impact. We sometimes create our own stress because of habits and traits that can have harmful effects that can be reduced using cognitive restructuring techniques such as behavioral modification, assertiveness training, time management and stress inoculation. Others turn to smoking, alcohol or drugs to relieve their stress but these short-term solutions eventually cause even more stress. Long-term use of prescription medications can result in dependency or adverse side effects and some supplements can have similar problems or interact with other drugs. St. John's wort has been shown to interfere with numerous medications and kava kava is banned in the UK because of liver damage.
As indicated, they key to reducing stress is to prevent it. Getting enough sleep, a proper diet, avoiding excess caffeine and other stimulants and taking time out to relax may be helpful in this regard. Many stress relievers work because of the power of the placebo effect that comes from having faith in the procedure or the therapist. Other very different approaches can achieve the same results because they reduce feelings of helplessness and provide a sense of control over the problem.
Stress is an unavoidable consequence of life. There are some stresses like the loss of a loved one that you can't hope to avoid and others that you can prevent or influence. The trick is in learning how to distinguish between the two so that you're not constantly frustrated like Don Quixote tilting at windmill and devote your time and talent to areas where you can make a difference. Try to follow the advice in Reinhold Niebuhr's, serenity prayer, "Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can't change, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Source : stress.org

Stress

If you were to ask a dozen people to define stress, or explain what causes stress for them, or how stress affects them, you would likely get 12 different answers to each of these requests. The reason for this is that there is no definition of stress that everyone agrees on, what is stressful for one person may be pleasurable or have little effect on others and we all react to stress differently. That's easily illustrated by the list of 50 Common Signs And Symptoms Of Stress noted under Effects Of Stress and the attached diagram illustrating how it affects different parts of the body.
Stress is not a useful term for scientists because it is such a highly subjective phenomenon that it defies definition. And if you can't define stress, how can you possibly measure it? The term "stress", as it is currently used was coined by Hans Selye in 1936, who defined it as "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change". Selye had noted in numerous experiments that laboratory animals subjected to acute but different noxious physical and emotional stimuli (blaring light, deafening noise, extremes of heat or cold, perpetual frustration) all exhibited the same pathologic changes of stomach ulcerations, shrinkage of lymphoid tissue and enlargement of the adrenals. He later demonstrated that persistent stress could cause these animals to develop various diseases similar to those seen in humans, such as heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease and rheumatoid arthritis. At the time, it was believed that most diseases were caused by specific but different pathogens. Tuberculosis was due to the tubercle bacillus, anthrax by the anthrax bacillus, syphilis by a spirochete, etc. What Selye proposed was just the opposite, namely that many different insults could cause the same disease, not only in animals, but in humans as well.
Selye's theories attracted considerable attention and stress soon became a popular buzzword that completely ignored Selye's original definition. Some people used stress to refer to an overbearing or bad boss or some other unpleasant situation they were subjected to. For many, stress was their reaction to this in the form of chest pain, heartburn, headache or palpitations. Others used stress to refer to what they perceived as the end result of these repeated responses, such as an ulcer or heart attack. Many scientists complained about this confusion and one physician concluded in a 1951 issue of the British Medical Journal that, "Stress in addition to being itself, was also the cause of itself, and the result of itself."
Unfortunately, Selye was not aware that stress had been used for centuries in physics to explain elasticity, the property of a material that allows it to resume its original size and shape after having been compressed or stretched by an external force. As expressed in Hooke’s Law of 1658, the magnitude of an external force, or stress, produces a proportional amount of deformation, or strain, in a malleable metal. This created even more confusion when his research had to be translated into foreign languages. There was no suitable word or phrase that could convey what he meant, since he was really describing strain. In 1946, when he was asked to give an address at the prestigious Collège de France, the academicians responsible for maintaining the purity of the French language struggled with this problem for several days, and subsequently decided that a new word would have to be created. Apparently, the male chauvinists prevailed, and le stress was born, quickly followed by el stress, il stress, lo stress, der stress in other European languages, and similar neologisms in Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. Stress is one of the very few words you will see preserved in English in these and other languages that do not use the Roman alphabet.
Because it was apparent that most people viewed stress as some unpleasant threat, Selye subsequently had to create a new word, stressor, to distinguish stimulus from response. Stress was generally considered as being synonymous with distress and dictionaries defined it as "physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension" or "a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize." Thus, stress was put in a negative light and its positive effects ignored. However, stress can be helpful and good when it motivates people to accomplish more.
As illustrated to the left, increased stress results in increased productivity – up to a point, after which things go rapidly downhill. However, that point or peak differs for each of us, so you need to be sensitive to the early warning symptoms and signs that suggest a stress overload is starting to push you over the hump. Such signals also differ for each of us and can be so subtle that they are often ignored until it is too late. Not infrequently, others are aware that you may be headed for trouble before you are.
Any definition of stress should therefore also include good stress, or what Selye called eustress. For example, winning a race or election can be just as stressful as losing, or more so. A passionate kiss and contemplating what might follow is stressful, but hardly the same as having a root canal procedure.
Selye struggled unsuccessfully all his life to find a satisfactory definition of stress. In attempting to extrapolate his animal studies to humans so that people would understand what he meant, he redefined stress as "The rate of wear and tear on the body". This is actually a pretty good description of biological aging so it is not surprising that increased stress can accelerate many aspects of the aging process. In his later years, when asked to define stress, he told reporters, "Everyone knows what stress is, but nobody really knows."
As noted, stress is difficult to define because it is so different for each of us. A good example is afforded by observing passengers on a steep roller coaster ride. Some are hunched down in the back seats, eyes shut, jaws clenched and white knuckled with an iron grip on the retaining bar. They can't wait for the ride in the torture chamber to end so they can get back on solid ground and scamper away. But up front are the wide-eyed thrill seekers, yelling and relishing each steep plunge who race to get on the very next ride. And in between you may find a few with an air of nonchalance that borders on boredom. So, was the roller coaster ride stressful?
The roller coaster analogy is useful in explaining why the same stressor can differ so much for each of us. What distinguished the passengers in the back from those up front was the sense of control they had over the event. While neither group had any more or less control their perceptions and expectations were quite different. Many times we create our own stress because of faulty perceptions you can learn to correct. You can teach people to move from the back of the roller coaster to the front, and, as Eleanor Roosevelt noted, nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. While everyone can't agree on a definition of stress, all of our experimental and clinical research confirms that the sense of having little or no control is always distressful – and that's what stress is all about.

Source : stress.org

Most Common Phobias

1. Bugs, Mice, Snakes, and Bats. They're unpredictable, creepy-crawly, and possibly poisonous – who wouldn't be afraid? Spiders are the most common phobia.
2. Heights. We're afraid of them because we can't fly and we could fall. Reasonable reasons for a common phobia.
3. Water. Fear of water can be innate or learned due to a near-drowning experience. Water is a common phobia.
4. Public Transportation. We feel more vulnerable in public crowded places because we have less control over other people or situations. Fleeing is much more difficult, making crowded places this a common phobia.
5. Storms. Hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and even thunderstorms can cause irrational anxiety – because we know the damage they can cause.
6. Closed Spaces. Feeling trapped (imagine being in a coffin!) feels horrible. Evolutionary roots involve animals and traps or cages – our we need to be free makes this a common phobia.
7. Tunnels and Bridges. Going through a tunnel is similar to being in a closed space, which makes you feel vulnerable. The fear of small spaces is a common phobia.
8. Crowds. Similar to being on crowded public transportation, huge groups of people can make us feel trapped and vulnerable. This common phobia is related to the fear of public speaking.
9. Speaking in Public. We feel like we'll be judged, we worry what we look and sound like, and some of us have anxiety attacks. We don't want to embarrass ourselves, especially in front of peers.