Freeze-Frame: One Minute Stress Management: A Scientifically Proven Technique for Clear Decision Making and Improved Health (Heartmath System) - Softcover

Childre, Doc Lew; Cryer, Bruce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1879052423 ISBN 13: 9781879052420

Publisher: Planetary Publications, 1998

Synopsis

Freeze-Frame.: One Minute Stress Management unfolds the remarkable science and practical tools of "HeartMath"-a system that addresses how our emotions profoundly affect our health, mental clarity and productivity. The five simple steps of Freeze-Frame are taught, with easy practice sheets for applying and resolving personal and organizational issues from work, family and relationships. Explains HeartMath's breakthrough research on emotions and health, with new information on the function and intelligence of the heart, that has been published in top medical journals. The book also contains summaries of corporate and educational case studies, illustrating the effectiveness of the technique. HeartMath has conducted studies with corporations such as Motorola and Boeing, and state and federal government agencies that show dramatic improvement in productivity and attitude with reductions in stress, depression, anxiety and tension. The book includes guidance and tips on how to get best results with physical health, emotional management, mental clarity, business effectiveness, family and relationship harmony.

Note: Freeze-Frame is a Book of the Month Club selection for their One Spirit catalog

About this title

From the Back Cover

Learn How to FREEZE-FRAME . and * Make better decisions * Reduce high blood pressure * Enhance creativity * Improve heart rhythms * Improve communication * Relieve tension, anxiety and * Increase personal and worry organizational * Decrease sleeplessness and productivity fatigue

"If you're upset, the heart feels it . . . What you can do in the moment to calm yourself down is called Freeze-Frame." -Dr. Donna Willis, NBC News' "Today" "Freeze-Frame is a unique stress reduction technique that is unusually effective for reducing anxiety and improving performance." -Paul J. Rosch, M.D., F.A.C.P., President, The American Institute of Stress "Freeze-Frame is very exciting and very necessary in anything we do with government or intergovernmental work, like NATO . . . the experience was profound." -George Land, Founder and President, Leadership 2000, Co-author, Breakpoint and Beyond

Doc Childre is president and CEO of HeartMath LLC, a training and consulting organization specializing in innovative approaches to the problems of human stress, quality, creativity and effectiveness. Doc is also the founder of the Institute of HeartMath and is a consultant to Fortune 100 companies on Intui-Technology . FREEZE-FRAME, a system designed to create quantum time shifts in decision-making and productivity. Research studies demonstrating the results of the FREEZE-FRAME techniques have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals including The American Journal of Cardiology and The Journal of Stress Medicine.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Introduction: The pressure's building. You feel so steamed up that your gauge has hit the danger zone and your lid is about to blow. It's been one thing after another today and you just can't take it anymore. You have to get away-take a walk on the beach, a hike in the mountains or a drive in the country.

Once you "get away from it all," you feel yourself begin to cool down and let a little steam out. Your racing mind begins to slow to a reasonable pace. As you look out across the landscape, you feel soothed and calm. You think back to your last vacation-how relaxed and energized you felt. That peaceful memory allows you to experience a shift in perspective.

While you were feeling the intense pressure, there seemed to be no way out, but now, in this relaxed state, things don't seem so bad. In fact, a few creative solutions that you hadn't thought of before start to seem like real possibilities. You realize how much more productive, creative and healthy you'd be if you could have this same clarity and insight throughout the day-even in the moments when stress is happening.

Until recently, that might have been just wishful thinking, but since FREEZE-FRAME was first introduced, thousands of people have experienced just that-a more consistent state of high quality living, inner balance and reduced stress.

The world has become a pressure cooker with the burden of stress growing daily. One researcher has measured life as now 44% more difficult than in 1964. It's hard to ignore stress these days, especially with media reports constantly reminding you just how frightening and tough life has become-violence, drugs, floods, earthquakes, a decaying educational system, economic turmoil and the challenge of globalization. Your mind and emotions are bombarded daily with information that reinforces a perception of just how stressed you should feel. Even the statistics can be stressful:

* 75% to 90% of all doctor visits in the U.S. today are for stress-related disorders.

* Job stress has become "the 20th century disease" and is considered a global epidemic.

* Depression was the fourth leading cause of disease-burden in 1990 and by 2020 it will be the single leading cause.

* The number of workers feeling highly stressed has doubled since 1985.

* 61% of people surveyed in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong believe information overload is present in their workplace, with 80% predicting the situation will worsen.

* "Karoshi"-death from overwork, is said by Japanese health activists to kill some 30,000 workers every year.

* Acute stress ("fight or flight" or major life events) and chronic stress (the cumulative load of minor, day-to-day stress) can both have long-term consequences.

* As much as 80% of all disease and illness (in the U. S.) is initiated or aggravated by stress.

Science has shown that we pay a serious price for our stress. A twenty year study conducted by the University of London School of Medicine has determined that unmanaged mental and emotional reactions to stress present a more dangerous risk factor for cancer and heart disease than cigarette smoking or eating high cholesterol foods.

So, with a growing list of things to feel stressed about, what do you do? Fold up your tents and go home? Give your boss notice and not go back to work? Sell the car so you don't have to deal with rush hour traffic anymore?

The central message of this book is: There is hope because there is a solution. Recent scientific research has proven that you can learn not only to manage your stress, but even to prevent much of it before it happens. The key is within your heart. As you learn to prevent stressful reactions, you save a tremendous amount of energy-energy that can be used to develop creative projects, build fulfilling relationships, solve family problems, make more effective decisions and have more fun.

FREEZE-FRAME is also a powerful tool for creativity, innovation and problem solving. Creative thinking is an essential skill today with life's increasing complexity, data overload and time pressure. It's essential to keep the big picture in perspective, to be innovative and adaptive as the world changes. Being able to think "out of the box" has become a requirement for success in business, science or any creative endeavor. This implies a new kind of flexibility so that you can step back from your sense of overload or overwhelm and shift from a digital/ logical mental process to intuitive heart intelligence. Does that mean that if you learn this technique called FREEZE-FRAME, the boss will stop being so demanding, the company will reverse its decision to lay off 10% of the work force or your kids will suddenly turn into perfect angels? FREEZE-FRAME is not a quick fix for all of your problems. It is, however, a technique that can fix unnecessary stress quickly. Some things will change more quickly than others, but whatever life throws your way, you will have more strength, flexibility, common sense and insight to deal with it intelligently. As you will see in the many stories and case studies throughout the book, these changes can have profound, positive implications for personal health, productivity, family fun, organizational coherence and a healthier, more intelligent society. FREEZE-FRAME is the first tool in the HeartMath System. By learning this simple technique, you will strengthen your ability to make clear decisions and improve your health. You will learn how and why to listen to your heart to awaken more of your own intuitive intelligence. You'll hear about people who have transformed the quality of their lives and about organizations that function more creatively. And the next time you feel the pressure building-but there's no escape-you'll have a new solution. I invite you to try it out. It only takes a minute-a small price for a quality life with much less stress.

Edition details

• Publisher: Planetary Publications
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1879052423
• ISBN 13: 9781879052420
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 150