Cathy Carr, a 43 years old doctor, starts her day with putting on her make up, nukking oatmeal for her three kids and dashing out the door. By 7:30 am she’s rushing around the Indianapolis hospital where she works, dealing with heart attacks and miscarriages. Evenings are no better:” My purse isn’t off my shoulder when I hear, “What’s for dinner?” she says. Carr’s remedy for the building stress? Every few months, she and a friend check in to a hotel and treat themselves to a quiet day of room service and sesame-oil massages. But, this is the wrong way to deal with stress. So says a growing body of research which says that millions of us manage stress incorrectly-stressing out all day, then deferring relaxation to isolated blocks of time like evening yoga classes and weekend getaways.

        There is a problem with this approach to stress management: The constant exposure to daily, chronic anxiety is the most toxic form of stress. The body releases chemicals under high stress that can damage the immune system, increase the risk of illness, damage your memory and can lead to heart attacks. And if you eat to cope, it can make you fat. Your exposure to stress isn’t managed by having an evening bubble bath or vegging in front of the TV. It is how you spend your days that matters. The latest research examines how some people glide through stressful situations while others wind themselves tighter.

            Researchers have found a number of coping strategies that can be described by one word – resilience. Resilient people recover quickly, physically and mentally when faced with stress. It is how they breathe and how often they laugh, a set of subtle behaviors helps them ease in and out of `stress mode`.

         We need to change how we react to stress, as it happens with these four strategies:

1.    Plug in

Notice when you are stressed by signals like fast breathing and tight muscles, especially in your jaw or shoulder muscles. Then alter your breathing (deeper is better), drop your shoulders and relax your muscles and change what you are thinking.  Imagine you are on a beach or somewhere relaxing. Do whatever you need to do to return your body to a state of calm. This is what stress resistant people do naturally. While skeptics dismiss a lot of this, Wicken claims she can lower her anxiety in less than a minute.

2.    Take a deep breath

Sitting at a desk increases stress. How? Most people raise their shoulders when they sit at a computer and they begin to breathe more shallowly says Erik Peper, a professor of San Francisco State University. He recommends breathing slowly and regularly. Researchers find that this is one of the fastest ways to trigger the body’s relaxation response.  

3.    Get snacking

Its late afternoon and you are staring at the office vending machine. Go ahead – give in to temptation! MIT researcher Judith Wurtman says your body is looking for stress relief. Eating carbohydrates triggers production of serotonin, a neuro-transmitter with a calming effect. That isn’t an excuse to binge on chocolate bars. Eat your way to a calmer state with low fat carbohydrates like pretzels or popcorn. The effect can be felt after about 20 minutes.

4.    Step back

Many stress coaches try to teach their clients one key skill: perspective. What Pam Pecke of the University of Maryland calls the “ability to see things from ten paces back.” Experts advise us to rate stressful situations on a one-to-ten scale (with 10 being something catastrophic, like death). This helps put minor problems, like being late, into perspective. And gaining perspective helps you cope with more stress without becoming more stressed out.

       (Article adapted from The Wall Street Journal, By Jane Spencer)

Who do you think is the most successful? Who do you think is the least successful? In order to answer these questions, we first need to define success. Everyone has a different definition. One of businessmen, A. Khoerussalim Ikhs, states that successful persons are those who have a dream, they can make their dream come true, and they can enjoy the result of their dream. Many of us place great value on performance, on achievements, or on reaching various goals. Others associate success with material goods, measuring it by how much one can acquire. Others measure success by how much they can contribute to the well-being of their families, or to the community and society in general.  There are many other definitions, but mostly success is associated with becoming rich, famous, and respected at work. Yet, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Being successful could mean simply being satisfied with oneself and one’s career. For many people, a successful person is someone who feels that his or her work and life in general offer an exceptionally high degree of satisfactions. But how does one get from here to there? How does one reach this feeling of satisfaction with life and career? It seems that successful people consistently do two things:

• ·         They use their natural abilities in their work.
• ·         They set career and life goals.

In other words, successful people choose careers where they can use their natural abilities, or do what comes naturally to them. For example, successful teachers are people who instinctively know how to help people learn, and the best doctors are those who know how to listen to people. Successful people know where they are starting from, and what direction they want to give their lives and careers, even if it is something as simple and wonderful as raising a happy family. What are your natural abilities? What are your career and life goals? If you can answer these questions, you are on your way to having a successful career and life. 

Source: islcollective.com

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Body Language

When we communicate with others, we express our thoughts and feelings not only through the words we choose, but also through our tone of voice, facial expression and body language. In fact, many communications experts believe that far more information is communicated non-verbally (without words) than verbally (with words). “Body language” is an important part of non-verbal communication. Body language includes many different aspects of our every day physical behavior: the way we greet one another; how we stand, how we sit or walk; the way we position our arms and legs or use our hands and eyes are some of the most basic. To learn another language is more than just learning words and grammar, it involves learning about another culture, too. We learn much of our own culture’s body language before we learn to speak, from the time we are children, usually without even being aware of it.  And that body language varies from culture to culture, so it’s something to which second language learners should pay attention. So, how attuned are you to other people’s body language?  Try this little experiment.  Turn the volume on the television right down while you watch people interact on the screen. You may find it is more difficult to understand what’s happening between people from unfamiliar cultures.

Sometimes, cultural differences in appropriate body language can cause discomfort or misunderstandings too. For example, there are definite cultural differences in how much distance should be kept between two people who are speaking together. If you are used to people keeping their distance, you will feel very uncomfortable, and probably move away repeatedly, if someone keeps trying to stand closer to you at a party!  We call this the “personal comfort zone”.

Another common example of misunderstanding is the use of a smile. In some Asian cultures, a smile can show embarrassment or apology. However, smiling back at a teacher who is unhappy with you, or a stranger whose foot you accidentally stepped upon is probably not a good idea in most English speaking cultures! Also, you should not assume that nodding your head means “yes” or that shaking your head means “no” or vice versa.  Yes, you can even get that wrong, with potentially disastrous consequences. Even speakers of the same language, such as British, American, or Australian people, may not use the same body language and must adapt if they wish to communicate successfully.  British people are said to be more reserved and formal, in general, and this is reflected in their body language. 

Americans are considered more open and outgoing, while Australians are seen as casual and relaxed. It’s worth learning, understanding any underlying cultural or regional attitudes can help you learn how to understand and use body language to improve your communicative abilities. Just as you should not allow a fear of making language mistakes prevent you from speaking, you should not be overly afraid of using inappropriate body language in an unfamiliar culture. Most people will understand that people from different cultures may not always use body language in the same ways. All the same, it’s definitely advisable to learn as much as possible about the body language of a new culture, and to use careful observation to avoid making any mistakes.

Source: www.english-magazine.org, islcollective.com

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Trekking to Bali

By: S@m

Hello everyone, here I want to share with you about my trip to Bali… it’s very tiring and boring but it’s nice… hehehehe….

On Monday, September 23rd, 2013 I trekked to Bali with the students of Perbankan Syariah. It’s a program from campus namely Comparative Study (KKL). By the way, it’s my second time of visiting Bali, an island which is also dubbed as Pulau Dewata (island of the gods). Most people know that Bali is a wonderful island, However, to get there is so tiring when it is reached by bus, especially from here, Salatiga. We were so excited to be in Bali because we were all tired of being on the bus for about fifteen hours. I had to go there by bus since I was in a group that comprised of fifty two people (four lecturers; Pak Mifdlol, Pak Faqih, Pak Taufik, and Pak Ahmad and forty eight students). I felt this trip is different from it used to be. My position at my first visit to Bali was as a student. For this time, I became a committee of the visit, or deputy of Centre for Practicum Development (PPP) State Islamic Studies Institute (STAIN) Salatiga. Having a long trip by bus is boring sometimes. I took at least fifteen hours to get to Bali and sat on the chair of bus. It was so boring and tiring having had such a long trip. When I arrived in Bali, I could get rid of feeling tired and bored. It seemed like I was hypnotized by the beauty of sceneries in Bali. I visited some tourism objects such as Tanah lot, Bedugul, Tanjung Benoa, and Kuta, and the most impressive one is Kuta Beach. I felt like a foreigner in my own country at that beach. One thing you should know is that there were lots of sumurs..hehehe…

In Bali we also had a formal visit to Lembaga Perkreditan Desa (LPD) Desa Adat Celuk, before visiting tourism objects. We spent two nights at puspa indah hotel which is located in Ubung village. It’s very close to Cah Ayu (A shop famous for its peanut and other specific foods of Bali). There was a swimming pool around the hotel. Pak Mifdlol, Pak Faqih and Pak Taufik invited me to swim together, but I refused their invitation because I can’t swim in the deep pond….he..he..he… in the deep pond I can only swim with stone style. you know what, I can’t float when I have sunk just like stone…hehehe….                                 Wanna download English videos for free, click here!

Cancer Risks

Lung cancer kills more people in one year than all criminal and accidental deaths combined. These statistics are shocking, but the good news is that people are now well-informed about the risk connected to lung cancer. They know that their risks of contracting this terrible diseases decreases if they either stop smoking or do not smoke at all. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about other type of cancer. Many people are not aware that their everyday behavior can lead to the development of these different forms of cancer. By eating better, exercising regularly, and staying out of the sun, people can reduce their risks.

Instead of foods that are good for them, people often eat hamburger, cheese, French fries, and pizza. These common foods contain large amount of saturated fat, which is the worst kind of fat. Though light and fat-free products are constantly being introduced to the consumer market, many people still buy food that contains fat because it often testes better. However, eating fatty foods can increase a person’s chances for some kinds of cancer. People do not eat as many fresh vegetables and fresh fruits as they used to. Instead, they now eat a lot more processed foods that do not contain natural fiber. Lack of fiber in a person’s diet can increase the chance of colon cancer. In the past, people with less information about nutrition actually had better diets than people do today. They also had fewer cases of cancer.

Many people today are overweight, and being overweight has been connected to some kinds of cancer. This is the generation that started the couch potato boom, and today’s couch potatoes are bigger than ever. Health experts warn that being overweight is the risk not only for heart diseases but also for certain kinds of cancer. The best way to attain healthy weight again is to cut back on the amount of food and exercise regularly. It is not possible to do one of these and lose weight permanently. The improved diet must be in conjunction with regular exercise. In the past, people did more physical activity than people do today. For example, people used to walk to work; now almost no one does. In addition, people had jobs that required more physical labor. Now people have desk jobs in front of computer.

                                                                                                                                                                                                              (Adapted from Great Essays, by Keith S. Folse, Elena Vestary Solomon, and April Muchmore-Vokoun)

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Meeting and Greeting

In some cultures, such as Japan and Korea, people bow to each other when they meet. In others, they put their palms together in front of their faces and incline their heads. (This is called namaste in India and wai in Thailand). In Russia, France, Italy, and many other parts of Europe, as well as in Latin America, people touch each other when they meet, embracing (hugging) and often exchanging a quick kiss on one or both cheeks. Muslims great each other with a salaam greeting. This means that they bow, sometimes touching their foreheads with the palm of their right hand, and say “Assalamu’alaikum!” or a similar phrase wishing peace to each other. (Salam means peace). In the English-speaking world (Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.S.A), the usual custom is to shake hand, but sometimes people don’t, preferring to just nod and smile. A casual “Hi” or “How ya’ doin’?” or “Hello, there” often takes the place of handshake, but it means the same thing. If a person extends her or his hand in greeting, then it is polite to shake hand.

(Quoted from Mosaic 1 Reading, by Brenda Wegmann and Miki Knezevic)