The Stress Owner's Manual: Meaning, Balance & Health in Your Life [Paperback]

Ed Boenisch (Author), C. Michele Haney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

Stress is a greater part of our lives than ever before. Heightened awareness of our vulnerability, concerns about protecting children, fears of travel, bio-terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, ongoing international conflicts, school shootings... all these and more have everyone's adrenaline pumping harder than usual. THE STRESS OWNER'S MANUAL will help you keep your life in balance!

You know that you experience stress -- you simply need to know how to manage it effectively. This up-to-date, practical guide to personal stress management offers specific solutions to help you assess your areas of stress; activities to deal with stress on the spot; and long-term life-changing strategies.

Boenisch and Haney offer dozens of practical tips for what one can do NOW, that are simple, inexpensive, yet effective, to start dealing with unhealthy stress.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...find some time... to take a look at ... [it]... -- Catholic Campus Ministry

...refreshing and reality-oriented action book... -- Personal

...remarkable book about one of the most destructive health problems and how to deal with it daily positively and correctively... -- Leonard J. Hansen, Copley News Service

Book of the Month. -- Prevention

Good as a tool for the therapist... and the client. -- Hypnotherapy Today

Helps readers locate the sources of stress in their lives. -- Training and Development Journal

Stress Owner's Manual... highly readable brass-tacks first rater... -- Cricket in the Corner, www.vnw.org

Very comprehensive. -- Yoga Journal

From the Author

Our first book was published in 1982, and we really thought that by now we would have been able to deal with stress. Welcome to the age of anxiety. As a nation, we're high-stressed, over-scheduled, and in the fast lane.

Living with fear is common to many. According to a Gallup poll in 2001 and Center for Disease Control estimates, three out of five women say stress is the #1 issue in their lives. In the United States, 75% of all employees describe their jobs as being stressful! Sixty-eight percent of Americans are worried about the economy, and 48% have fears about their own security and the security of the country. Fear has become a lifestyle.

We are stressed about our own job security or future employment opportunities for our children. We are feeling the effects of aging as we watch ourselves and our parents grow old. We wonder if we can afford retirement or the health care costs. We are suffering from overexposure to war coverage, and the repeated assaults from terrorist activities are creating a psychic numbness. We all have been collectively traumatized by regular reminders of the destruction of the twin towers, the Pentagon, the Oklahoma City federal center and the events at Waco.

Our challenge? Paying keen attention to our emotions. We need to self-nurture and take care of our basic needs so that we can be our best and healthiest, so that we can deal with all the crises around us. It is time to eat right, get a good night's sleep and set aside time for play.

Stress management is all about finding meaning, balance and health.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Impact Publishers; 2nd edition (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886230544
• ISBN-13: 978-1886230545
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #868,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extend your stress warranty for life!, October 22, 2003

By 

Cricket in the Corner (Virtual North Woods) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stress Owner's Manual: Meaning, Balance & Health in Your Life (Paperback)

Most of us are so used to thinking of stress as something to be reduced or relieved if not eliminated from our lives that the idea of owning and maintaining it properly seems absurd. But this is a book based on the realistic premise that stress comes with the territory of being human and isn't necessarily bad for you. The kind that sharpens your ability to think fast and perform well has obvious benefits. The kind that leaves you feeling frustrated, disappointed, and worn down can damage your health. Boenisch and Haney's unique manual is a guide to fine-tuning the fight-or-flight response to stress we're all hard-wired for by making smart choices about what we perceive, think, and believe about daily situations. This sensible, encouraging book divides common pressures into target sections: people, money, work, leisure, mind, and body. Using maps, checklists, and quick guides for assessing your personal stress scores, you can troubleshoot your vulnerable spots and begin applying effective fixes. These include short-term stress buffers like developing hobbies, getting organized, taking mental time outs, scheduling leisure, and eating better. How easy is that? You don't even need a metric wrench! The object is to recognize your physical and psychological symptoms of stress and make conscious choices about controlling their impact on your long-range health and well-being. This compact workbook offers loads of opportunities for productive self-revelation so you can do just that. The authors' suggestions for ongoing attitude improvement and active stress meltdown prevention are simple to apply, personalized, and offer a handy set of tools to keep your life humming smoothly.

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone Needs This Book!, January 9, 2005

By 

Bonnie Neely - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Stress Owner's Manual: Meaning, Balance & Health in Your Life (Paperback)

The Stress Owner's Manual, Meaning, Balance, and Health in Your Life by Ed Boenisch, Ph.D., and C. Michele Haney, Ph.D. is the second edition which just hit the book stores. I picked it up thinking I would quickly flip through and get the highlights because I am not stressed...but I soon discovered EVERYONE in our modern society is stressed, even children, because of our lifestyle in the Western World. This book is so fascinatingly written I could not put it down. I read from cover to cover, underlining key points and then bought a copy for everyone on my Christmas list. It is a wonderful and practical guide that anyone can use to make life easier in the workplace, in social situations, and at home. The ideas are simple to apply to replace harmful habits, and guaranteed to make anyone happier and healthier. The book is a MUST for everyone! To order click on Amazon to your right.

5.0 out of 5 stars Extend your stress warranty for life!, October 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Stress Owner's Manual: Meaning, Balance & Health in Your Life (Paperback)

Most of us are so used to thinking of stress as something to be reduced or relieved if not eliminated from our lives that the idea of owning and maintaining it properly seems absurd. But this is a book based on the realistic premise that stress comes with the territory of being human and isn't necessarily bad for you. The kind that sharpens your ability to think fast and perform well has obvious benefits. The kind that leaves you feeling frustrated, disappointed, and worn down can damage your health. Boenisch and Haney's unique manual is a guide to fine-tuning the fight-or-flight response to stress we're all hard-wired for by making smart choices about what we perceive, think, and believe about daily situations. This sensible, encouraging book divides common pressures into target sections: people, money, work, leisure, mind, and body. Using maps, checklists, and quick guides for assessing your personal stress scores, you can troubleshoot your vulnerable spots and begin applying effective fixes. These include short-term stress buffers like developing hobbies, getting organized, taking mental time outs, scheduling leisure, and eating better. How easy is that? You don't even need a metric wrench! The object is to recognize your physical and psychological symptoms of stress and make conscious choices about controlling their impact on your long-range health and well-being. This compact workbook offers loads of opportunities for productive self-revelation so you can do just that. The authors' suggestions for ongoing attitude improvement and active stress meltdown prevention are simple to apply, personalized, and offer a handy set of tools to keep your life humming smoothly.