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ismtips — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:01:39 CDT

INNER Stress Management

After 12 years of research we are offering stress management training, that is both simple and effective in reducing stress.

We offer training in:

Stress Meditation
INNER Stress Management
MindfulnessBased Stress Reduction
Please Click for a, complete list of the services we offer

Please visit our free websites at:

Caring Awareness
Community Forum
INNER Stress Management
M. B. S. R. Training (under construction)

To contact us, Please click-> Contact Us :-)

About Us

ismtips — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:31:16 CDT

Introduction, to the people involved in creating this wiki.

THE PURPOSE
The INNER Stress Management topics offered here to be simple, yet effect
in the management of stress. Also they are to be freely accessible, using
western terms and without religious overtones. From the resources & teachings
for new experiences offered here, please trust and develop your own understandings.

THE PEOPLE
About Ross Clark, Ross has been interested and practicing meditation for 32 years and has been a meditation instructor for the past 7 years. Ross and his daughter Heidi, provide INNER Stress Management workshops in Toronto,
Ontario Canada.

Ross and his wife live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, Ontario, Canada. They have two adult children. Ross who now works at the University of Guelph, in 1995 on the advice of his doctor resigned from a career which he had enjoyed for the over 25 years. This came as a result of struggling with many lengthy family illnesses, increased work loads and a physical injury. Sensing that there were better ways to manage these stressors, he began doing yoga and practicing meditation. After attending a weekend insight meditation retreat and experiencing his energy being restored for the next six weeks, he knew that insightful meditation was helpful in managing stress.

Later,he traveled to a Buddhist retreat centre in Sri Lanka. After practicing Buddhist meditation there for sometime, he was trained by a nun to teach meditation to others. He then returned to Canada and has freely offered support those who are interested in developing meditation skills. He has found stress information, yoga, meditation and community have been most helpful for him and would like to offer this to others who may be interested. He continues to do three to five retreats a year, ranging in length from a weekend to one month at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Mass. U.S.A. (view retreat history)

He has also examined the scientific approach to understanding stress on the body, heart and mind. Finding that western science and eastern meditations compliment each other. Tara Brach, Ph.D., who is a clinical psychologist, meditation teacher and author of Radical Acceptance, has offered to sponsor Ross for the 3 year Community Dharma Leaders (CDL) Training at Spirit Rock, California. He has completed theMindfulness Stress Based Reduction (M.B.S.R.) instructors program, this summer at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. The M.B.S.R. training was founded in 1979 at the U of Mass Medical Center by Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living, Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness.

His intention for the INNER Stress Management web site is to find simple yet powerful ways of reducing harmful stress, through a blend of western science, eastern philosophy and personal experience.

About Heidi Clark, Currently, I am living in Toronto and working at the Ministry of Transportation. I am completing an intensive yoga teacher training program at the Esther Myer’s Yoga Studio in Toronto and I teach two yoga classes a week www.highparkyoga.com. For enjoyment, I play ultimate frisbee, run, do yoga, garden and my partner, Mark and I are renovating a 100 year old home in High Park.

I grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo area and went to the University of Guelph, where I completed an Honours B. Comm in Marketing Management in 1999. During my undergraduate degree I had the opportunity to study abroad and live in London, England for a semester where I studied at the London School of Economics. I worked in a small consulting firm upon graduation and then went back to the University of Guelph to complete an MBA in 2001.

Practicing yoga helps me manage and release stress. Playing a lot of sports growing up physical activity has always been an important part of my life. As I get older this has not changed as one of the major ways that I still release stress is through moving my body. As I become increasingly aware of my body and sensations in the body I have become familiar with how to release/relax the places that I store my stress in. This has helped me increase my performance, happiness and better manage the stress in my life.

In helping develop this site I hope a resource and community of information around the topic of stress and performance in the workplace will be created to share and support others in their own lives.

Please visit our other no charge websites at:

To contact us, Please click-> Contact Us :-)

Thank you for your interest,

Heidi and Ross

Succeeding in Meditation

ismtips — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:57:46 CDT

You can succeed at meditation.

If you:

Find the type of meditation you are interested in.
Choose a simple meditation.
Enjoy the meditation.

Art & Poetry

Succeeding at Meditation

ismtips — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:35:46 CDT

You can succeed at meditation.

If you:

Find the type of meditation you are interested in.
Choose a simple meditation.
Enjoy the meditation.

Healthy Anger

ismtips — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:35:09 CDT

Introduction, anger is a natural part of human nature. Anger has a lot of energy. It can get things done.

Study:
Healthy anger is appropriate to the event.
Healthy anger is short, not lasting a long time.
Unhealthy anger is destructive to our relationships.
Unhealthy anger has too much self referencing included with it.

Practice:
Not feeding the emotion of anger with self referencing thoughts.
Keep the mind interested, in watching all the thought that arise.
'Feel the Feeling', physical sensations of anger (heat, thightness).
Do not feed the feeling more unhealthy self referencing thoughts.

Reflection:
Calmly remember what caused the emotion of anger to arise.
What memories made it stronger?
What thoughts made it stronger?
Are they helpful?

Letting go:
Feel and honour the feelings/sensations of anger in the body.
Stop adding more unhelpful/unskillful thoughts/images to it.
Then just 'let it go'

Intention:
Set a wise intention, on how to work with this event the next time.

'Everyone's Friend'

Smiles Per Hour

ismtips — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:33:58 CDT

The Benefits of Humour
Humour and laughter both contribute significantly to our physical and mental well-being. Adopting a more flexible attitude and being able to see the bright side of every day situations bring more resiliency in facing the difficulties of the day.

Benefits to our physical health
a. Stronger immune system
b. Physical exercise
c. Stress-inducing hormones reduction
d. Pain reduction
e. Muscular relaxation

Benefits to mental health
a. Reduced stress
b. Reduced anger and anxiety
c. More joy and optimism

Work-related benefits
a. Team work
b. Ability to communicate
c. Conflict management
d. Creativity and problem solving
e. Satisfaction at work
f. Resiliency
g. Stress management
h. Productivity

Laughter and humor have a direct effect on the joy employees have of working together. The more a boss uses humor with his employees, the more he will have their cooperation and quality work. Using humor is an excellent supervision tool and there aremany reasons for this. Besides helping employees adapt to changes, using humor creates strong bonds between employees.

(Source- Canadian Mental Health Association)

The Mood Log

ismtips — Fri, 18 May 2007 11:24:48 CDT

WHAT IS IT?
It is a simple practice of writing down the mood in the mind first thing in the morning. There is no right or wrong mood to have in the mind. Moods are arising in the mind all the time and our old reactive habits tend to be either. One trying to forcefully try to stop them, to giving in to them and becoming them i.e. ‘I am so mad/so bad’.

We have a NEW third choice of, just watching them from a safe distance by staying grounded in the body.

Example:
The two moods that where in the mind this morning where:
· Aversion - just grumpiness
· Self Pity - poor me
---------------------------

WHY DO IT?
It is the first step of developing our emotional intelligence or E.Q. We learn to understand their nature and how they feel in our body. This reduces our stress and gives us more self confidence.

HOW TO:
A Morning Mood Log can be compared to a Ship’s Log in that:
~ It is a bare ‘matter of fact’ reporting of where the ship is at.
~ For people it is also important to know where they are at.
~ It may also inform us as to the direction of our day.

TYPES OF MOODS:
1. Fearful or Angry
2. Greedy or Selfish
3. Sleepy or Lazy
4. Anxious or Restless
5. Doubting or Confused

Guide Lines:
· Interest - become interested in the body, heart and mind.
· Non-judgment - Do not judge the mood as good or bad!
· What are the main moods in the mind?
· Where can they be felt in the body?

BENEFITS:
We quickly gain insight into our inner life. From those insights we start to respond to the particular issues that are in our own personal life. This will provide positive and lasting changes. By being ‘just interested’ or Inner Resting’ inside of the body’s sensations of the mood, the mood will change on its own.

Embracing Stress

ismtips — Tue, 15 May 2007 13:44:47 CDT

Embracing Stress with Attention & Intention

With INNER Stress Management we learn how to embrace stress. We do not push stress away or allow it to overwhelmed us.

The starting point to develop this transformation skill is interest. When we are interest there is a natural joy and effortless energy that arises. We can try this out right now by “Stopping” and allowing the mind to become interest in a simple experience like looking at a colour/object, or listen to a sound feeling a body sensation i.e. breath/heartbeat. The interest sharpens and energizes the mind. When the mind is struggling with an experience it does not want. The mind becomes conflicted and tired. This can lead to physical, emotional and mental health issues. To change this we become interested in the stressor and its cause. This the practice of embracing stress.

REMEMBERING TO BE INTERESTED in ...
"Interest is the zest of LIFE"

INTEREST, is also the bases of learning. When we are interest in learning new things about our self and LIFE, there is a natural energy that arises within us. Interest, contains the 2 qualities of ATTENTION & INTENTION. These 2 qualities support all meditation practices.

ATTENTION (awareness)
Before we can change our inner experience of stress, it first has to enter into our conscious attention.

INTENTION (caring)
Once we are aware of the object of experience, we bring to it a compassionate intention.

The 2 MAIN MEDITATIVE QUALITIES: Attention & Intention
Attention
1- Remembering to be attentive.(awareness)
This is always the 1st step of 2 steps, before conscious change can occur. When we are attentive, we are informed of our inner experiences of the body, heart and mind. When the object of experience is known it then can be wisely responded to.

Intention
2- Remembering to intend the mind? (caring)
This is the 2nd main step. Many of our thoughts, words and actions first began with an intention. The intention to not force the mind, could be considered the 'Golden Rule of Meditation'. But rather gently guide the mind, using CARING phrases of intention. i.e. "may the ... be well"

How to remember to intend the mind.

Repeat any phrase of intention that feels right at the time and let them change on their own.

The words used in the phrase, are not as import as the intention under the words.

Repeat the intention 3 or more times with the sensations of the in/out breath.

THE BODY
Remembering to be interested in the Body
Bare AWARENESS of the body is only possible when we are completely present to it's sensations. And being completely present the negative thought/emotional loops are broken and our energy is restored. This 'being present' can momentarily allows us to see what is needing to be CARED for in our body, heart or mind.

How to remember the body.

1st- Bring AWARENESS to the posture of the spine and it's sensations of hardness and support.
2nd- Set a CARING intention of "may the spine be strong", without expecting any changes.
3rd- Trusting the spine to support the body, offer the intention of "may all the muscles be soft".
4th- The we gently rest with in this strong and attentive posture.

THE BREATH
Remembering to be interested in the Breath
AWARENESS of the qualities of the breath indicates the conditions of the heart and mind. When there is over-anger/thinking the breath is shallow. When there is love/contentment the breath is deep. The breath also works in reverse. Deep belly breathing calms the body, heart and mind.

How to remember the breath.

1st- We bring the interest to the qualities of the breath. Is it tight & shallow or open & deep?
2nd- We can then set a CARING gentle intention for the breath "may the out breath be complete".
3rd- We invite the lower ribs to expand in/out, slowly calming the body, heart and mind.
4th- Throughout meditation we maintain some of the interest on the qualities of the breath.

How does remembering to be interested help in daily life?
The more often that we remember to be interested in the intentions of the mind, the activities of the body and the qualities of the breath. The sooner we will recognize and release stress before it builds up to a harmful level.

Heavens Rays

Basic Human Needs

ismtips — Sat, 12 May 2007 22:02:41 CDT

HUMAN NEEDS

Intention, to learn about the needs of all human beings.

Maslows Hierarchy of Human Needs

Maslow assumed needs are arranged in a hierarchy in terms of their potency. Although all needs are instinctive, some are more powerful than others. The lower the need is in the pyramid, the more powerful it is. The higher the need is in the pyramid, the weaker and more distinctly human it is.

1st- Physical Needs: The first four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D-needs:" the individual does not feel anything if they are met, but feels anxious if they are not met. The base of the pyramid is formed by the physiological needs, including the biological requirements for food, water, air, and sleep.

2nd- Safety Needs: Once the physiological needs are met, an individual can concentrate on the second level, the need for safety and security. Included here are the needs for structure, order, security, and predictability.

3rd- Love/Belonging Needs: Included here are the needs for friends and companions, a supportive family, identification with a group, and an intimate relationship.

4th- Esteem Needs: This group of needs requires both recognition from other people that results in feelings of prestige, acceptance, and status, and self-esteem that results in feelings of adequacy, competence, and confidence. Lack of satisfaction of the esteem needs results in discouragement and feelings of inferiority.

5th- Spiritual Needs: Self-actualization is the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their unique abilities and to strive to be the best they can be.

They embrace the realities of the world and themselves rather than denying.
They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions.
They are creative.
They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others.
They have inner morality that is independent of external authority.
They do not judge others.
They feel a closeness to other people, and appreciation of life.