Dan Wold, drummer in our band, school superintendent and national speaker on dealing with stress wrote this article a few months back. It reminds us to aim for the optimal zone – sometimes re-labeling the butterfly feeling in the gut as ‘excitement’ with your mind gives that follow-up feeling of “Yes!! I’ve got this!”

Yes, Dr. Dixon is in a band and we also do conference presentations about how to deal with stress with music interspersed. You can find out more on the ‘band therapy’ page of the website drdixonpsych.com

Dan’s article:

“Stressing over stress is worse than stress itself.” Kelly McGonigal

Let’s stop thinking of stress as the bad guy. Stress is our reaction to a perceived averse situation. Events are neutral, it is our perception of them and our reaction to them that can be positive or negative for us.

Let’s also remember that some stress seems to be necessary for most people to enter their “Performance Zone.” And, under-stressed has the same symptoms as overstressed (Yerkes and Dodson, 1908).

We are hard-wired for Acute Stress, which has helped us survive in this world for approximately 200,000 generations. Acute stress is that instant physiological response, that rush we get in an emergency, that maximization of our ability to deal with a situation. It’s a good thing!

Eustress, a fancy word for excitement, is the kind of positive stress we get when we see an averse situation over which we believe we have control. It gets us jazzed; another good thing!

“Adopting the right attitude can turn a negative stress into a positive one.” Hans Selye

Rosalyn is a nurse at the local VA. She needed someone with a doctoral degree to help her and oversee her capstone research project. She reached out to me, Dr. Margaret Dixon, and we planned the research project using EMDR for PTSD in a group setting that you could read about under “free therapy” on my website – drdixonpsych.com.

Rosalyn is currently working toward her Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a focus on leadership and she hopes to teach other nurses in the future.

I asked her to tell me a little bit about her self and she replied:

I was born and raised in Gardnerville. I enjoy hiking, running, biking, golfing and anything that gets me outdoors.

I have three very active children 19, 17 and 5. My son is a drone mechanic for the U.S. Army and is currently in Airborne training. My daughters are still at home and love dance and horseback riding.

I began my nursing career in an intensive care nurse residency program and was trained in the trauma, medical and cardiac ICUs. I later moved to the recovery room and also have experience as a manager of home health. I am currently a nurse Care Manager for the local VA clinic and enjoy caring for veterans.

From Dan Wold, Superintendent of Eureka School District, Nevada – also the drummer in the band. Here is his tip for the week, shared with me and my readers.

This time of year there always seems to be a renewed interest in fitness, and we know that folks who are physically fit are more stress-hardy. So, for the next few weeks, we are going to briefly review training for strength, endurance and flexibility. All three are important!

Strength training encourages hormone production, joint strength, and balance; strength training improves bone density, posture, confidence, and fights depression. Wow!

We do not need to do a dozen exercises; an upper-body push (bench, military), an upper-body pull (pull-ups, curls) a lower-body push (squats, leg-press) and a lower-body pull (dead-lift, windmills) are enough. As you do these, always maintain an athletic posture and correct form. If you vary the placement of your feet, the angle of your body, and the weight, repetitions and number of sets, a great variety is possible with just four exercises.

Strength training doesn’t have to be “weights;” it can be any resistance (“Isometrics” are making a comeback). I can do my whole workout with one pair of 25-pound dumbbells in 20 minutes.

If strength training is new for you, please make sure to start slowly and maintain correct form; getting injured is stressful!

Weekly Newsletter sent out by a Nevada Superintendent Danny Wold – the drummer in the band and author of Stress: The Musical. January 15, 2019. Thanks for sharing Danny!

“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.” John Lennon

The two biggest universal stressors are kids and money, and for most of us the Holidays involve both.

When kids are stressing you out, it can be helpful to remember that adolescence is temporary, and most kids figure it out eventually. By the time most folks are age 25-30 they are fairly pleasant neighbors and coworkers. When interviewed, most voice appreciating adults’ kindness and consistency back when they were challenging.

When it comes to money, it helps to remember that money responds to the way you treat it; if you want financial stability, treat it with care. My brother is a retired millionaire, and he says, “Don’t ask where your money went, tell it where to go.”

I am not a great with resolutions, but if you are, perhaps you can resolve to be more mindful in the way you treat adolescents (kindness and consistency) and money (care and deliberation). Might take some stress away!