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Winter 2003: “Stress Tips for the Fitness Professional,” published in ACE Certified News With all of the current emphasis on mind, body, and spirit training, sometimes we overlook the purpose of training this way in the first place. Indeed, putting attention into the training of our personal trilogy (mind, body, and spirit) should help us become more emotionally functional as well as physically functional. Such stress management, therefore, helps us to live as more balanced individuals on even an emotional level. As ACE Faculty Members, we are called upon so often as the leading trainers in the industry that it becomes easy to fall into the trap of forgetting our own stress management. To this inner training we now turn, to the purpose of finding solace, of managing stress, and of relaxing, as we integrate the mind, body, and spirit moving into the busy holiday period. Healing needs time. Some of us will heal faster than others, and it’s important to remember that the process cannot be rushed, and that, like fitness flexibility, it’s individual-specific. One of the most effective ways to deal with daily stress is to address it head-on with each other. Questions like “How stressed out do you feel today?” and “How are you managing your own stress these days?” are great ice-breakers to ask ourselves in the mirror because they allow us to verbalize feelings. The more we can voice aloud, the more certain of our own inner stability we become. Self awareness through ommunication, then, proves key. During the training of mind, body, and spirit, it’s important to find solace. Finding solace and inner peace requires that each of us find those stimuli that create physiological changes. “When we truly experience a status of peace, the blood pressure should lower,” states Dr. J. P. Bering, MD, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In addition, resting heart rate should resume normalcy, the body’s muscles should not be contracted with force, the breathing rate should deepen, and the mind should not jump. “Solace” does not mean, however, that one must sit in a dark corner in stillness. While that may help, one may find solace anywhere, from a movie theater to preparing the evening meal. The trick is to find the time to scrutinize the factors that make you relax. You should be able momentarily to rid yourself of to-do lists, of the beeper, cell phone, and address book. Try taking a moment during a particularly busy time to stop and reflect, if on nothing else than on the breath. After a busy day of offering workshops, it’s important not to tell the body what to do, but instead to listen to the internal messages occurring. Deborah Puskarich, ACE Faculty Member and Instructor of the Year for the Cooper Aerobics Center for Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper in Dallas, Texas, suggests that we should try to address some of the senses when searching for solace. For smell, think about using aromatherapy to increase the quality of breathing by adding incense or a pleasant-smelling candle to your area. For the eyes, lighting the area with candles will allow the eyes to relax, creating a mood of quiet and repose. For the ears, relaxing, “New-Age” music that’s designed for relaxation will allow the heart rate and pulse to descend, increasing the sense of relaxation, especially if running late in traffic! If possible, create a special space in the home, car, or office in which to create the above. If that’s not practical, even the busiest of office spaces can benefit from an aromatherapy candle on a cluttered desk or the background din of noise broken by relaxing musical chords designed to relax all the major centers of energy of the body, referred to as “chakras” in yoga. We can enhance the quality of breathing itself merely by the quality of our inhalations and exhalations. Sometimes this can occur through the nose exclusively, and at other times people may need to include the mouth. The purpose is to inhale slowly, slightly focus on the brief pause of stillness, and then exhale, just as slowly. When this process is repeated, diastolic blood pressure, pulse, and Cortisol-levels of stress all lower. At the Golden Door Spa in Puerto Rico, one of the most popular group exercise classes these days is “Relax, O2,” in which participants adopt five different floor postures and explore different breathing techniques to manage stress and process O2. Each receives a lavender-filled eye pillow, aromatherapy oil, and Ayurvedic candle to increase the depth of relaxation during the class. Guided Meditation also can help the internal process of grieving and healing. Guided Meditation is an effort of the mind to concentrate on specific words, phrases, or events, very unlike the stream-of-consciousness techniques we use unconsciously. When the mind starts to drift to other topics, it is gently pointed back at the original topic, word, or “mantra.” The mind enjoys both focus and relaxation when it concentrates on only one thought for an increased period of time. The purpose usually is to align, quiet, and relax the mind, and not allow it to roam freely from topic to topic. Practicing guided meditation facilitates the process towards stress management because it calms the mind, and can direct it away from thoughts of suffering. There is no specific amount of time necessary for meditation: sometimes this is a minute, five minutes, and sometimes longer. People that practice meditation for long periods of time demonstrate an increased self-mastery from repeated practice. As ACE Faculty Members, the world looks up to us as role models. While we cannot rid ourselves of stress completely, it behooves us to make sure we practice some stress management on ourselves. If we address both our feelings and our focus, we will begin walking on the path towards effective stress management. The trick for us in fitness, therefore, is not to remove the coming of stress, for that is impossible. Our job instead is to prepare ourselves and our participants well enough so that we maintain a stability that does not break down when faced with stress because we are prepared with mechanisms that address healing and maintain inner solace. Above all, we truly must practice what we preach to others.
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