Time for Anger Solutions in Sport

This Just In from RugbyLeagueLive.com:

Dominic Brock 11/03/09

Roosters forward Anthony Cherrington will face court on his 21st birthday to be sentenced for assault as rugby league’s horror run with the law continues.Cherrington is undertaking anger management classes and counselling after pleading guilty to an assault from last year.The 20-year-old forward admitted to striking Monique Mears in the face and on the body, before threatening her with a knife. He then smashed her sunglasses, mobile phone and car mirrors 10 days later.Cherrington paid Ms Mears $3000 to cover damage to her property after the attack, and is now obtaining a psychological report to present at his sentencing hearing later this month.Fellow Rooster Setaimata Sa will appear in court next month to appeal a conviction for fracturing a man’s skull in a pub fight more than 12 months ago. He received 250 hours’ community service.

So tell me again why athletes don't need anger solutions? We tend to place people like athletes, models, actors, musicians, and even some politicians (e.g. Barack Obama) on pedestals. We assume that their power, authority, and/or fame somehow makes them better than the rest of us. This is our first mistake.

People are just people, people! Everybody makes mistakes. Everyone has flaws in their character. Just because someone is rich and famous doesn't mean s/he might not be messed up inside because of faulty thinking, poor upbringing, inability to cope with the pressures of the limelight - whatever.

In this case, we are looking at the sport of Rugby. Only a few weeks ago, Sean Avery of hockey fame was the poor sucker being lambasted for his lack of good judgement, as well as a severe case of "foot-in-mouth disease". Next week, it will be someone else, perhaps from the football or baseball walls of fame (sorry A-Rod) who will be sent off to "anger management" to help them deal with their choices of misbehaviour.

Here's what I think. First of all - we know that anger management is for the most part a band aid. We also know that band aids are only temporary measures. The principles learned and the skills acquired through Anger Solutions are lasting - we have the data to prove this. Anger Solutions has also been proven to work in the toughest settings (military, police, corrections, mental health, addictions, failing marriages, domestic violence, and more). Why is it so successful? Because we realize what I said earlier. People are just people. It really doesn't matter what their profession is, or where they find themselves because of their poor choices - we focus on the people first, and the problems second. BECAUSE - we know that if we help people to take the steps required to create radical, positive, lasting change, the problems will work themselves out in the process.

The sporting profession desperately needs to have a tool like Anger Solutions in place. It is time to get pro-active, realizing that athletes are people who are exceptionally skilled at a particular sport. BUT - they are people first. They come to the sport with their own personal histories, skeletons in their closets, emotional challenges, and flawed decision making models. Anger Solutions is a way to help athletes create change BEFORE they end up splattered all over the news sheets and Internet blogs (like this one). Think about the damaged reputations, the expense of hiring your own spin doctors to turn around the bad PR, the losses in endorsements, and the criminal charges that could be avoided if sports leagues ascribed to Anger Solutions in advance.

Four Ways that Deep Breathing can lower your risk for disease

The website, http://www.healthoxygen.com/ lists several curative effects of oxygen, which include an increase in energy levels, detoxifying the body, aiding digestion, and enabling muscle recovery. However, you cannot achieve the curative effects of oxygen if you don’t breathe deeply enough to effectively oxygenate your body! Here are four key ways that deep breathing can actually lower your risk for disease.
1. You will oxygenate your body. Oxygen boosts the immune system and has been used for years in hospital settings as a method to assist with patient recovery. Think about it: oxygen is essential for sustaining human life! When the body is deprived of oxygen (for example – because of poor posture, slouching, or shallow breathing) at the outset it results in headaches, muscle fatigue, blurred vision and distorted focus. Imbalances in oxygen levels have been linked to migraines as well as certain types of cancers. Deep, diaphragmatic breaths can reduce your risk for these types of ailments.
2. Breathing deeply will slow down your heart rate. When the body is stressed it goes into fight or flight mode. When this happens the heart beats faster, blood thickens (causing the heart to pump harder), and blood pressure rises. Prolong these effects over time and you will be at risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). When you are feeling stressed or tense, take a moment to slow your breathing, with a concentration on filling your lungs to capacity, circulating the oxygen through your system, and slowly releasing the air from your lungs. You will find after a few deep breaths that your heart rate will begin to slow, and you can bring your body functions back to baseline. Your heart gets enough wear and tear throughout the course of daily living – give it a break by regulating your breathing.
3. Deep breathing expels toxins from the body. The process of breathing serves an important function – aside from just keeping you alive. As you inhale, you are taking in oxygen – this oxygen travels through the blood stream, circulating throughout the body. Cells travel along this route to gather up toxins and “bad air” (aka carbon dioxide) which is then expelled each time we exhale. Shallow breathing does not allow for adequate collection of these toxins. Sure, we are keeping ourselves alive and we are circulating our blood and oxygen; however, when you take a deep cleansing breath, you will feel and see the difference immediately.
4. You will re-energize your brain. A properly hydrated and oxygenated brain is a high functioning brain. Studies state that we humans only use about 2% of our brain power. Imagine how a lack of oxygen and water contributes to the lack of functionality of that 2%! Deep breathing circulates oxygen back to the brain, which will result in better focus, clearer thinking, less headaches, and a more peaceful rest.

To learn more about the Anger Solutions philosophy on stress reduction, please visit our website, www.angersolution.com.

3 Reasons to Stop Stressing About the Economy

I don’t know about you but there is only so much doom and gloom talk that I can take before I start thinking… Arghhhh! The media is obsessed with inundating us with bad news – and right now (for good reason) the economy is the flavor of the month.

I am currently reading (for the second time) Jack Canfield’s excellent book, The Success Principles, and just passed over his comment, “They’re having a recession, but I’ve chosen not to participate.” I like that kind of thinking. Last year while we were headed on an economical downward slide as a nation, I tripled my sales. Why? Because I was focused on creating abundance rather than “coping with lack”, or worse yet – “avoiding scarcity”.

And so, as we continue to plod through the recession, here are 3 good reasons to shift your focus away from our current economic crisis:

1. The first reason to stop stressing about the economy is the most important one: You Can’t Control It! Stressing over what you can’t control is an exercise in futility, frustration, and fatigue. This kind of stress is consuming. It will invariably lead to illness, depression, insomnia, and disease (all things which will interfere with your ability to be a peak performer). When you are in a state of poor performance, you will be less productive. Less productivity = less money. Stressing about the economy will guarantee fewer dollars in your pocket.

2. Reason number two: What you focus on is what you will achieve. When you spend all your time thinking about the recession, worrying about your portfolio, and watching the stocks fluctuate, your world will shrink to the size of your television or computer screen. When you focus on scarcity – that is what you will see all around you. I remember when I worked in the downtown core; the road I took to work went through a depressed part of town. Hookers frequented the street corners, the area was littered with crack houses and most of the unsavoury business that happens on all inner city streets took place in this area. It got so that I was beginning to believe that my whole town was nothing but a big slum because of this one little pocket within the core. Once I realized that my focus was beginning to colour my entire perspective, I made a simple decision: I changed the route that I took to work. By making that one shift in my actions, I was able to re-route my perspective back to a more positive outlook about my town and the people living in it. Now more than ever, it is imperative that you choose to focus on abundance – on gratitude – and on the blessings you currently have. Remember – you can’t control the markets, so focus on what you can control… that leads me to point number THREE.

3. Focus on YOU. That is the only thing you can control or change. You can’t change the government (until voting time comes back around). You can’t influence the markets either positively or negatively. You will not be able to change the numbers that are flashing across your television or computer screen. The only thing you can change is YOU.

Your efforts and your efforts alone will impact your personal economy and your net worth. Are you turning into a miser – because you feel like you need to “prevent any further losses?” Or are you doing what you know will work to keep the cash flowing in your life or business? I’m not saying you shouldn’t be careful in these turbulent times; I’m simply suggesting that you do so with the proper intentions. Keep your focus on the things you can control. You can control your spending and your choices for saving. You can choose to turn off CNN in favour of doing something constructive, fun, entertaining, or relaxing. Even in tough economic times, you can choose to creatively attract abundance into your life.

Learn more about how to deal with the stress of tough financial times in my new E-Book - soon to be released. Contact me via my website: http://www.juliechristiansen.com/ to sign up to get your copy as soon as it hits the E-Market!