Stressfulness to
Mindfulness
University of St. Thomas
UAWE
Jolynn Gardner, Ph.D., CHES
March 13, 2014
How would you finish this
sentence in one word?
Stress is ___________ .
Assumptions About Stress
Stress is a part of life.
Stress, when overwhelming or
unrelenting, can literally make us sick or
cause us harm.
But, stress can be good (really!).
Optimal Level of Stress
Assumptions About Stress
We create some of (a lot of?) our
own stress.
We can control our perceptions of
and reactions to stress.
Resiliency to stress can be learned
and cultivated.
How Vulnerable Are You to
the Effects of Stress?
Consider the following questions:
 Do you get at least 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night?
 Do you exercise or engage in physical activity at least
3 days per week?
 Do you eat at least one “healthy and balanced”
meal per day?
How Vulnerable Are You to
the Effects of Stress?
Consider the following questions:
 Do you have at least one family member or friend on
whom you can rely?
 Do you have meaningful conversations with family
and friends?
 Do you convey your feelings openly and calmly when
you are frustrated, angry, or worried?
How Vulnerable Are You to
the Effects of Stress?
Consider the following questions:
 Do you have an income that allows you to meet your
basic needs?
 Do you feel you can organize your time efficiently?
 Do you feel you are in “good” health, even if you
have a chronic health condition?
How Vulnerable Are You to
the Effects of Stress?
Consider the following questions:
 Do you derive strength from your spiritual beliefs?
 Do you take quiet time for yourself each day?
 Do you do something fun at least once per week?
How Vulnerable Are you to
the Effects of Stress?
Review your answers to the preceding
questions.
Any “NO” responses may indicate increased
vulnerability to stress.
Are there things you would like to change?
The Process of Stress
 Stressor  Perception  Strain  Enduring Outcomes
COPING
Process Model of Stress
(Heaney & vanRyn, 1991)
The Process of Stress
 STRESSOR: objective conditions in the physical or social
environment.
 PERCEPTION: what you think and feel about a stressor.
 STRAIN: the response to stress.
 ENDURING OUTCOMES: health conditions, diseases, and
behaviors which become more likely due to stress.
 COPING: anything you might do to reduce, eliminate, or
mitigate stress.
The Process of Stress: STRAIN
When you perceive stress:
 heart rate increases
 blood pressure increases
 muscles tense
 glucose, fatty acid, and protein concentrations in
the blood increase
 peripheral blood vessels constrict
 breathing rate increases
 immune response temporarily increases, then
declines
STRAIN / Stress Response
The Process of Stress:
ENDURING OUTCOMES
The following have all been linked to STRESS:
Cardiovascular Disease
Immunosuppression
Obesity (and accumulation of abdominal
fat)
Muscle tension / Bracing
-- (Thoits, 2010)
The Process of Stress:
ENDURING OUTCOMES
 Stress may be a factor in exacerbating health conditions,
including:
 Headaches
 Grinding of teeth (bruxism)
 Irritable bowel disease
 Allergies & autoimmune disorders
 Depression & anxiety
 Memory impairment
(Thoits, 2010)
The Process of Stress:
ENDURING OUTCOMES
 Harmful behaviors (alcohol abuse, drug abuse,
eating disorders, personal injury, gambling, etc.)
 Interpersonal conflict & violence
 Organizational effects (lower job satisfaction,
reduced productivity, increased absenteeism,
etc.)
 Societal effects (lower empathy, less tolerance,
higher health care costs, etc.)
The Process of Stress
 A situation can be stressful or not -- it all depends on
your perception of the event
 A response to stress can be effective or not -- it
depends on your resources and coping strategies
 Coping may well be the most important element in
successful stress management.
 New coping strategies & styles can be learned.
 It’s probably wise to cultivate a variety of coping
strategies and resources.
The Rationale for Change
If you always do what you’ve always
done, you’ll always get what you’ve
always gotten.
Coping: How and When?
Can occur at any point in the stress process.
Target: stressor, perception, or response
Each person and situation is unique.
The Power of Perception
"Stress resides neither in the situation nor
in the person, it depends on a
transaction between the two."
 Richard Lazarus, Ph.D. – stress researcher and psychologist
Cognitive Coping
 How you think and feel about a stressor
 Our thoughts can help us cope, or ….
 Our thoughts can actually create more stress.
 Effective Cognitive Coping: rational, realistic,
optimistic thinking
Assumptions About Cognitive
Coping
“…there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. “
-- Hamlet, Act II, Scene II
1. Your interpretations of stressors, not the stressors themselves,
cause stress.
2. You can control your interpretation of stressors.
3. Sometimes, it is rational and realistic to interpret stressors as
threatening or challenging.
4. Often, though, circumstances are unnecessarily and
unrealistically interpreted as threatening.
Perception Research
Believing that something is awful or
stressful can often make it so.
However, believing that you have
the capacity to address the
stressor often results in more
positive personal outcomes, even
when the challenge is significant.
--McGonigal, 2013
Self-talk
 If we talked to our friends the way we talk to
ourselves, we’d have no friends.
 Positive self-talk: helps us cope
 Negative self-talk: makes situation worse than it
actually is
 How do you talk to yourself???
Positive Self-Talk:
Re-Examining Beliefs
 Much of our negative self-talk is grounded in
irrational beliefs.
 Examples:
 Unworthiness, perfectionism, shame, worry, pessimism
 Recognize irrational beliefs.
 Change irrational beliefs so that they are more
realistic (note: it’s OK to ask for help with this!)
Physical Coping
Sometimes, changing our thinking isn’t
possible or just doesn’t help!
Physical Coping: activities and practices
that focus on relaxing the body (and
eventually the mind, too).
Just Breathe!
Diaphragmatic / deep breathing.
One of the easiest and most effective coping
strategies.
Slows breathing and heart rate, calms mind,
eases muscle tension.
Other Coping Techniques
 Music
 Exercise / Physical Activity
 Humor
 Pilates
 Prayer
 Yoga
 Hobbies
 Meditation
 Massage
 Visualization
 Talking with friends /
family
 Relaxation Exercises
 Movies / TV
 Volunteering
 Journaling
 Crying
What about stress
prevention?
Is it possible??
YES! Life will never be completely free
of stress, but it can be significantly less
stressful.
Mindfulness:
Stress Prevention
 Living in the present; enjoying the journey
 State of being attentive to and aware of what is
taking place in the present
 Attending wholly to all situations and striving to be
completely engaged
 Focus on what-is, rather than what-if
 Who we are is more important than what we do
 Results in more contemplative choices
Research on Mindfulness
and Stress
 Mindfulness practices:
 Help us focus on priorities
 Reduce perceptions of stress
 Relieve anxiety
 Enhance feelings of forgiveness
 Improve self-compassion
(Oman, 2008; Deckro, et al, 2002; Carmody, 2008; Caldwell, 2010)
The Full Circle
 Mindfulness to Contentment
 Mindfulness: focusing attention on life as it is
 Yields greater awareness of self, surroundings, others
 Translates to more tolerance of and compassion for
self and others
 Leads to increased concern for others and
commitment to the common good
 Increases desire to serve and to cultivate social
support
 You come to believe in others and yourself, which
leads to resiliency
The Full Circle
Mindfulness =
Altruism =
Resiliency =
Contentment
The Antidote For Stress
NEWS FLASH:
You were never meant to live a stressed-out, freakedout, or burnt-out life.
 Be in the present
 Learn from the past
 Reach out to others
 Help create the future
 Realize your purpose
Stressfulness to Mindfulness
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.
We have only today. Let us begin.”
-- Mother Teresa
“Right now, this very moment, is where life is truly
lived.”
-- Richard Carlson, 2006
The Formula for Less Stress
and Greater Resiliency
Mindfulness
Gratitude
Forgiveness
Optimism
Tolerance
Compassion
Service
Faith
Hope
Spirituality
Mix well; enjoy daily; thrive & live joyfully. 
Recommended Reading
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene’ Brown.
Learned Optimism: How to Change Your
Mind and Your Life by Martin Seligman.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: And it’s all Small
Stuff by Richard Carlson.
Resources
 Greenberg, J. (2008). Comprehensive Stress Management, 10th ed.
McGraw-Hill Publishers. New York, NY. p. 28-29.
 National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine NCCAM;
nccam.nih.gov
 Micozzi, M. (2006). National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine and Fundamentals of Complementary and Integrative Medicine
(3rd ed.)
 Skinner, E., Edge, K., Altman, J, & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the
structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for
classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129(2). 216-269.
 Carlson, R. (2006) You Can Be Happy No Matter What. New World Library.
Novato, CA.
 Johnson, S. (2010) The Present. Broadway Books, New York, NY.
Resources
 Chang, L. (2010). Common causes of depression. WebMD. www.webmd.com. Retrieved
June 8, 2011.
 Ejaz, F., Noelker, L., Menne, H. Bagaka, j. The Impact of Stress and Support on Direct Care
Workers' Job Satisfaction The Gerontologist (2008) 48(suppl 1): 60-70
doi:10.1093/geront/48.Supplement_1.60
 McGonigal, K. (2013). How to make stress your friend. TED Global 2013. Edinburgh,
Scotland. Retrieved Nov. 7, 2013 from
http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.html
 Heaney, C.A. and van Ryn, M. (1990) Broadening the scope of worksite stress programs: A
guiding framework. American Journal of Health Promotion, 4, 413-20.
 Lust, K., Ehlinger, E., Golden, D. (Nov., 2010) 2010 College Student Health Survey Report.
Boynton Health Service, University of Minnesota.
 Schafer, W. (1995). Stress Management for Wellness. Harcourt-Brace Publishing. Orlando,
FL.
 Stress. It is deadly. (2005). www.holisticonline.com Retrieved June 8, 2011.
Resources
 Brown, K. & Ryan, R. The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological
well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 84(4), Apr 2003, 822-848.
 Oman, D. "Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness among college students: A
randomized controlled trial." Journal of American College Health 56.5 (2008):569.
 Gloria R. Deckro , Keli M. Ballinger , Michael Hoyt , Marilyn Wilcher , Jeffery Dusek , Patricia
Myers , Beth Greenberg , David S. Rosenthal , Herbert Benson. The Evaluation of a
Mind/Body Intervention to Reduce Psychological Distress and Perceived Stress in College
Students. Journal of American College
 Carmody, J. "Relationships between mindfulness practice and levels of mindfulness,
medical and psychological symptoms and well-being in a mindfulness-based stress
reduction program." Journal of behavioral medicine 31.1 (2008):23.
 Caldwell, K. "Developing mindfulness in college students through movement-based courses:
Effects on self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, stress, and sleep quality." Journal of American
College Health 58.5 (2010):433.
 Neely, M E. (2009). Self-kindness when facing stress: The role of self-compassion, goal
regulation, and support in college students well-being. Motivation and emotion, 33(1), 88.
Resources
 Mouchacca, J., Abbot, G., & Ball, K. (2013). Associations between
psychological stress, eating, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and
body weight among women: a longitudinal study. BMC Public Health. 13,
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 Franz, M., Giraki, M., Ommerborn, M., Raab, W., Schafer, R., Schneider,C.,
Singh,P. (2010). Correlation between stress, stress-coping and current sleep
bruxism. Head and Face Medicine, 6, 2+.
 Eisenberg, D., Gollust, S.E., Golberstein, E., & Hefner, J.L. (2007). Prevalence
and Correlates of Depression, Anxiety and Suicidality among University
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 Khokhar, N. & Niazi, A. (2013). A long-term profile of patients with irritable
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 Thoits, P. (2010). Stress and health: Major findings and policy implicaitons.
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