Objectives

To enable the participants to :

• Understand the nature of stress – its concept, nature and consequences.
• Understand the sources and origin of their own personal stress.
• Cope with their stress level, the survival of the fittest and
• Remain a best fit in their personal and professional lives.
• Maintain a balance between family and work.

Course Coverage

• Nature and causes of stress – concept and etiology.
• Identification of areas of stress for each individual participant.
• Roles and stress attributed to the respective roles.
• Coping strategies and behavior.
• Stress management exercises.
• Family and work life balance.
• Action plan and take home lessons.

What Will Participants Gain?

• Participants will gain deeper understanding of their own and others’ behavior and intentions.
• Participants will be able to understand group dynamics and the nature of the teams working with them.
• They (participants) will be able to chart out clear group goals and draw a path to achieve them with commitment and involvement.
• After the program, the participants should be able to plan and manage meetings effectively.
• Participants should be able to understand their respective roles and relate them to the vision of their organization.

Duration

Two days (6 hours per day).

Methodology

The program will use a mixed package of methods including lectures, exercises, games, case studies, audio – visuals and other exercises.

Target Groups

The program is targeted at all the levels of functionaries including Managers, Executives, and Officers from HR and non-HR functions. In the interest of the effectiveness of the program, the number of participants shall be limited to 20.

Faculty

Training sessions will be conducted by a senior consultant(s) who is an expert in financial discipline. Partial list of our associates is here https://salahkaarconsultants.com/expertise/ ... Check this blog by our trainers: Ancient Indian Approaches to Manage Stress, Worries and Anxiety for Maintaining Happier Life! -By Shalav C. Daftuar, MBA Director, Salahkaar Consultants, Pune, India. Work is Duty and Doing Duty Rightly with Devotion is Salvation. So, work for work's sake! When one Works for Work Sake, he/she is the Gist of the universe- the Earth and the Heaven, of the Reason of Spirituality and of the God Himself. Such people are the Life-bone to the Life on Earth and of the life on Heaven itself. In every country, in the Universe itself, he/she who ‘Works for Work Sake only’ and does not care for any rewards in any form for his/her name or fame or for Material gains, go to a stage of eternal bliss and are next to the God Himself! They are Salvationed Souls! Replicas of God Himself! It is common now to assume that stress causes certain chemicals changes in our body which, in turn, affect our mind-body relationships in several different ways. As an example, just like the universal phenomena of ‘cause-and-effect relationship’ existing and continuously occurring in the universe for all the events so it happens between chronic stress and numerous health related issues including mind-body systems. This is the main reason why most scientists including psychologists define stress as a ‘process in which environmental demands strain all organism’s adaptive capacity resulting in both psychophysiological demands causing biological changes that could place at risk for various kinds of sickness in human minds and bodies and in all organisms. Stressors: Things, events or factors that cause stress are called stressors. Stress affects everyone, young and old, rich and poor, human or animals. Even things and materials are subject to stressors and stress. Our lives are full of stress rising from various sources, events or/ and kinds. . Stresses are facts of life. We all must face/encounter and deal with it (stress) at one time or other in our life. Stress comes in all shapes, sizes and kinds. It can come for any reason and sometimes (even) without any reason, events or (even) our thoughts. Any of such things/ events/thoughts can cause (us) stress and make our (human) bodies more susceptible to various kinds of sickness. Yes! Stress bring several kinds of sickness--psychological or physical or both (psychosomatic). Although modern medicine is built upon a materialist (particularly, Chemicals) paradigm and is, therefore, resistant to accept the impact of emotions and spiritual mind and health upon our bodies stress can create several hormonal issues and inflammation like depression, anxiety, ulcers, and a host of other problems including heart disease(s). Such health related problems could be either simple or serious and, may be, benign. However, instead of addressing the impact of stress with even more artificial and modern modalities, this author, in this article, is trying to explore some ancient wisdom particularly of our own ancient Indian wisdom /thinking, where uses of meditation and herbs have been preached, recommended and used successfully for thousands of years (see, for example*, Suśruta saṃhitā: (a scientific synopsis). The role(s) of stress in the etiology of several diseases is well recognized in Ayurveda as well as in several branches of modern sciences including Psychology. In our contemporary era, modern mans’ crowded life styles have led to various type of stress including physical, social and mental stresses. Mind (soma) and body (somatic) are related to each other to influence our all walks of life-personal, social and professional, each of them (mind and body), influence each other’s’ functioning in numerous ways. Neither can exist let alone function without the other. If the mind is relaxed, the muscle in the body will also be relaxed automatically and the vice versa. Among the various aims of Ayurveda the main purpose is to maintain physical and mental health of individuals besides treating diseases.. If balance between the mind and body is disturbed and hampered for any reason(s) it (imbalance) can causes a lot of stresses in several parts of our bodies. Increased stress is likely to enhance stress by bringing about changes in in our normal psychophysiological reaction(s) which are mediated through our neural and endocrine systems. In Ayurveda, it is clearly mentioned that balance diet and balanced thinking (Sadvichar), are important for a healthy mind and body. Ayurveda advocates for balanced treatment of mind and body by combining medication, meditation and yoga. Practice of Sadvritta (balanced views, behaviour and thinking) stress can be modulated, controlled to prevent numerous psychosomatic disorders including stress related disorders like anxiety and depression. Ayurveda also prescribed several drugs and Rasayana for reducing numerous risk factor and/or diseases including mental and physical stress. The Roles of Brain and Mind: The brain is an important element in any situation as it is supposed to control and regulate minds’ functioning. It can bring in certain consequences in one way or the other. A healthy mind, it is said, leads to a healthy body and, conversely, an unhealthy mind can lead to an unhealthy body. That means there can seldom be a healthy body without a healthy mind. If the mind/brain is in a state of good health, it can move on faultlessly, undeterred, in, and after, every troublesome situation(s). A good brain/mind produces good/healthy thoughts. Our (human’s) hope(s) and fear(s) are figments of our (human) imagination. When one fears, he/she is affected at his/her minds’ way which could move in negative way(s) and vice-versa. The Vedic thought, however, professes a golden middle path - a state of perfect equilibrium where you are neither worried nor fearful. We are neither happy nor unhappy but live in a state of equilibrium. We (in our mind) know the eternal truth that, in life, neither happiness nor sorrow is going to last forever (Bhagwat Gita). A balanced mind shuns both and concentrates on its work/duty. Such a balanced mind seeks to do good things in an unselfish way without being guided by any selfish motive, but for the whole world with a mindfulness of an idea of “"Vasudhaiva kutumbakam" (In Sanskrit, meaning ‘Universal Brotherhood’). ** An indifferent mind is bereft of passion; yet it has a vision. It (An indifferent mind) is never afflicted with pleasure or pain. Since it's without sadness and/or happiness, it's never under any kind of stress or distress or pain or happiness, let alone crisis. It looks at the whole world as if it is a show on television, like a detached spectator. It's neither bothered with tragic scenes or tragic happenings nor by a happy ending. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * An example from Ancient qualifications of a Nurse from Suśruta saṃhitā: (a scientific synopsis).”That person alone is fit to nurse or to attend the bedside of a patient, who is cool-headed and pleasant in his demeanor, does not speak ill of any body, is strong and attentive to the requirements of the sick, and strictly and indefatigably follows the instructions of the physician’.—Sushruta Samhita Book 1, Chapter XXXIV. ** 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', means "the world is one family”. It’s a Vedanta dictum that appears in the Maha Upanishad (VI. 71-73), belonging to the so-called group of Vishnu Upanishads. The phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam consists of several words: "vasudhā", the earth; "ēva" = indeed; and "kutumbakam", family. The original verse appears in Chapter 6 of the Maha Upanishad VI.71-73. It is also referred in the Rig Veda and is considered the most important moral value in the Indian society. This verse of Maha Upanishad is also engraved in the entrance-hall of the Indian Parliament, New Delhi. Since it (an indifferent/detached mind) is bereft of stress and of any positive or negative feeling/emotion, it (such a mind) is well suited to handle crises, not only at an individual's level but, also, at an institutional level. It looks at the situation objectively and assesses objectives without ever clinging on to sentiments, negative or positive. When stuck in a crisis, generally people look for readymade solutions or of some kind(s) of magic wand(s) like going to a movie or watching a humorous episode on TV. They look for leadership without knowledge of leadership qualities. Most of the Western theories of Leadership are testimonies to this line of thinking*. Many organizations have perished with leaders bereft of hope while organizations, with hopeful leaders, have only averted the situation and survived. An objective mind has generally, the required ability to find a lasting way out of a crisis. According to the Bhagavad Gita, "One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligate is the true yogi, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty." Karma yoga, propounded in various Vedic texts including Bhagavad Gita, offers a significant wisdom on handling stress and crises in an individual as well as in institutions. The word karma is derived from the Sanskrit word 'kri' which means to do; all actions and even thoughts are karma. Technically, this word also means 'the effects of actions'. It, sometimes, means the effects, of which our past actions were the causes. Good and evil play equal part/share in molding ones’ character. Stories of great personalities the world reveal that, very often, misery taught life’s’ lesions more than happiness. It is often seen that the human poverty taught life’s lessons more than wealth; it is often criticism and insults that have brought out the inner fire, more than praise. There are numerous examples of people like Dhirubhai Ambani who rose from ashtrays’ life to their pyramidal heights. if we can respond calmly to our all feelings and actions with our sincerely shaded tears, smiles, joys, grief, weeping, laughter, curses, blessings, praise, faults, the summated result will be whatever we are. In ancient Hindu literature like Bhagawat Gita or Vedas they are (in all combined) called karma - work, action and thoughts. Every mental and physical blow that our souls receive from us and/or by which its own power and knowledge are discovered, is known as karma. Here the term/word Karma is used in its widest meaning. That means, we are all doing karma all the time because every action and every thought are parts of our karma that we do every moment. Author’s words uttered and/or written here are his karma. You are reading it and reacting actively or silently like your reading the text is karma. Our walking, talking or thinking sub-vocally is all karma. Everything we do, physical or mental, are our karma and it leaves its mark on us. And in the context that we are discussing here, all our Karma adds _____________________________________________________________________________ * For detail of this line of arguments, see our book ‘Behavioral Quotient’. The term BQ or Behavioral Quotient was coined by Dr. C.N.Daftuar for his book on the same topic. to our mental and physical reactions. That means, they (Karma) add to our mental peace or stress. If you really want to judge the character and strengths of a man, watch his most common actions which are indeed the things that will show his real character. Great occasions help rise (even) the lowest of human beings to some kind of greatness, but s/he alone is really a great man/woman whose character is generally (always) great, being the same wherever s/he is. According to the ‘karma philosophy’, as given in the Bhagawat Gita, all the actions that we see in the world, all the movements in human society, all the works that we have seen around us, are simply the display of thought and/or the manifestation of the will of one or of many men and women. Machines or instruments, cities, ships or men of war, all these are simply the manifestation of the will of man/women; and this will is caused by character and character is manifestation of expressed and unexpressed (thoughts) karma. As is karma, so is the will. Will, as mentioned earlier, itself could be a form of Karma. Also, proclaims the ‘Karma-philosophy’, everything is determined by karma, or work. Nothing is achieved unless earned; this is an eternal law. A man may struggle all his life for riches; he may cheat thousands, but he finds at last that the rich men/women often fail to solve their problem(s) by their wealth. We see every day, for example, people with tremendous wealth suffer and die of various kinds of diseases in spite of having immense wealth. A few years back a photograph appeared in newspapers in India showing multimillionaire business man going on a cycle-rickshaw (not even on a taxi) because his son had taken away (snatched) all his wealth by force and left him penniless. This is a glaring example of ‘Law of Karma’ manifesting. In another case, a middle-class man, with all his money and property, was infected with cancer and was left to die by his own family members. He suffered so much in pain that his own son and other family members thought it more apt to let him die in order to release him of his sufferings. In both of the above mentioned cases as in numerous other cases we see on (almost) daily basis people dying in spite of all their wealth lying around their suffering bodies! Law of Karma is manifesting on moment-to-moment basis all around us. We may go on accumulating things for our physical enjoyment, but only what we earn by honest efforts, by our Karma, are really ours. A fool may buy all the books in the world, and they will remain in his library, but he will be able to read only those that he deserves to according to his karma. Our karma determine(s) what we deserve and what we can collect around us and use or enjoy them. We are responsible for what we are; and whatever we wish ourselves to be; we have the power to make or unmake ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act wisely and honestly. This is how the so-called ‘LAW OF ATTRACTION (!)’ operates! Remember, Karma yoga teaches us to work by understanding our action(s) with intelligence. By knowing how to work honestly, one can obtain his/her best results. We must remember that all work is simply to bring out the power of the mind which is already there. The power is inside every man/woman, so is his/her knowledge; the different kinds and levels of our works are like blows to bring them out, to cause these manifestations of our karma to awaken. Work for work's sake. There are some who are really the salt of human lives on the earth in every country and who work for work's sake and do not care for name, or fame, or treasure or even to go to heaven. They work because they think that it is good enough for its own sake. There are others who do well for the poor(s) and help mankind because they believe in doing good and love good for goodness sake! Actions driven by the motive of fame, riches or even for the sake of going to heaven seldom yields good results; they come to us when we are old and almost done with life. If a man works without any selfish motive, does he not gain anything? According to karma yoga, "he gains the highest" say Sri Krishna in Bhagawat Gita. Works/duties done without any selfish motive is more rewarding than those done with selfishness, with a hope to get something (selfish) to be returned to them (the doers). However, most people lack required patience to practice it for required amount of time and effort. And the cycle goes something like: ‘Desire Action (Karma)Result(s)! That means a ‘Karma yogi ‘does not and need not despise or desire even the lowest or the highest form(s) of ‘work / duty-reward cycle’ but do his/her duty/duties impatiently, says Sri Krishna in Bhagawat Gita (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga)*. Only ignorant men/women, the Agyani (ignorant) people worked for their selfish ends. Such people are seldom rewarded in the way that is best for them. A Karma Yogi relishes the true reward of ‘eternal bliss’ since he/she appreciates the fact that "to work we have the right, but not on the fruits thereof." They (Karma Yogis) seldom care for results of their righteous action(s). If they wish to help someone they never think of the man's attitude towards them. If they want to do a great or good work, they do not think of the results; they simply do it*. One caution: This author has seen some true Karma Yogis deteriorating from their true path of ‘Karma for Karma sake’ to Laws of this selfish-world of the so-called (nasty) law of “Reward-and–Punishment’ professed by some lesser knowing psychologists like Thorndike(1898; 1911, 1913, 1927)*. No complain against Thorndike or any of the psychologist(s) following such views because after all they were trained that way and meant only to achieve such desires for ‘reward-and–punishment’ for their reward and punishment sake! The mute question is ‘can a man who is used to the turmoil of life live at ease if he moves to a quiet place? Definitely not! On the contrary, he suffers and may even lose his/her mind. The ideal man/woman is s/he who in the midst of the most intense activity finds _____________________________________________________________________________ his/her greatest silence, peace of mind and Solitude because s/he has learnt the secret of restraint, s/he has controlled her/himself. In such a turmoil world, he/she is as calm as if s/he were in a Himalayan cave where not a whispering sound can reach him. One best example that comes to our mind is that of physician turned psychologist Dr. C. G. Jung who could live with ease in the hustle and bustle of Zurich or Calcutta or in the Himalayas with equal ease. This is the ideal of karma yoga; and if you have attained that state of mind, you have really learnt the secret to overcome stress, trauma or any other level/kind of crises. On a similar note far beyond/above come to our mind is a story of King Janak (father of Mother Goddess Sita, wife of Lord Ram) is the most apt example. A story comes which goes on like this …’It is said that once when king Janak was busy in some spiritual discussion with yogis his servants came running to inform him that his palace had caught fire and was burning to ashes. King Janak, without blinking an eyelid kept on with his spiritual discussion. This is often cited as the highest example of mind’s peace in the midst of crisis/turmoil. Such a person is hardly ever affected by ordinary turmoil(s) of life and goes about doing his job/duties as if nothing happened, let alone getting stressed. Granted that this stage of mental bliss cannot be attained by ordinary folks yet many can practice at least some amount of such blissful stage and remain peaceful even in the midst of social or personal turmoil. A widely accepted definition and (some) Common Symptoms of ‘Burnt-out’! ‘Burnout’ is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged state of Mental and physical stress (es). ‘Burnout’ occurs when a person feels psychologically and/or physically overwhelmed, emotionally drained-out, and is generally unable to meet constant demand(s) of his/her daily needs.* A ‘burnt-out’ person may have one or more of the following symptoms: 1. He/she have frequent feeling(s) of ‘Exhaustion’ and / or ‘feelings of sickness’ 2. He/she starts behaving in Cynical/moody way 3. He/she starts developing signs of being useless 4. He/she starts feeling or being getting depressed 5. He/she starts have started disliking your job/work and your absence- rate has increased 6. He/she starts (most of the time) feeling aggrieved/anxious and feels Irritated for minor things. 7. His/her mind often wanders around aimlessly 8. He/she starts suffering with Insomnia/sleep-loss (unable to get normal sleep) 9. Frequent Headache 10. Frequent Pain or in Stomach and/or Gut 11. Drinks, Drugs, and Other Comforts: Using food, alcohol, or drugs to feel better may be a symptom of job burnout. 12. Blood Pressure and faster heart beats. 13. Frequent feeling of (a) Thirst. 14. Having regularly or Frequently Blurred Vision. _________________________________________________________________________________* https://www.google.com/search?q=What+is+the+burnout%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjftdOl1MHyAhWE4jgGHXeQD2IQzmd6BAg1EAU&biw=1067&bih=488 @ How Thorndike knew less will be discussed on some other occasion. Some Methods /Techniques of Managing ‘Stress’ and ‘Burnt-out’: We wish to mention here the role(s) of ‘Mindfulness’! Mindfulness is more rational and better way of manage stress and burnout. Some of them are: 1. Having more of Self-knowledge/Self-awareness-keep a l’og-book’: ‘Self-knowledge’ or ‘Self-awareness’ plays very important roles in managing ‘Stress’. They (jointly or singly) involve knowing our own capabilities and/or limitations, our personal temperament and typical coping/managing style(s). One is better aware of his/her values and goals which could be helpful in our achieving peaceful mind and becoming better and/or more ‘Self-aware’. Here, our suggestion is to identify your typical ‘stress-triggering’ factors. Try to know the situations which trigger stress in you and write down ‘how do you typically react to them?’. Keep a log of your stresses and their causative factors (stressors) for a few weeks. It is very useful because you are the best (intuitive) judge of your optimum stress level and their causative factor(s). Keep a watch on what your body and (if possible) mind is doing - note your typical stress signs/symptoms. Observe how you typically cope with problems. What works for you and what does not work for you? What do you tend to do that is ‘helpful’ or ‘not helpful’? 2. Identify and, then, eliminate your triggers: Once you are able to know your Triggers’, try to avoid/ eliminate them to manage your stress calmly, peacefully and patiently. Be sure that it is quite to possible to eliminate them once you have your hands on them (triggers). Try to figure out what are the biggest reason(s) for your stress. Is it your job, your ways and distance of commute, your school/college/office work? If you’re able to identify correctly your stressors try to eliminate or at least reduce them from your life,. 3. Self-acceptance and confidence: Self-acceptance and confidence are closely related Concepts and they come from Self-knowledge/Self-awareness. ‘Self-acceptance’ provides the basis for ‘Self- confidence’ and vice-a-versa. Self-confidence makes one capable to take risks, try new things, and direct (his/her) own behaviour/life. ‘Such acceptance’ makes one becoming better aware of three things, viz; (1) He/she exists; (2) There is no reason why one should be any different from how he/she is now; and, most importantly, (3) Becomes aware of the fact that he/she is neither worthy nor unworthy nor he/she needs to change himself/herself. You do not need to be good or worthwhile or desirable to others. So, better use your energy and time to evaluate (1) your own behaviour, and (2) the quality of your existence. 4. Learning from self-experiences is important to stress management: There are limits to how much one can change. No one is perfect or (even) perfectible. If one accepts his/her imperfection as universal truth, he/she is less likely to engage in dangerous/risky behaviour by striving for the unattainable. Developing self-acceptance and confidence as alternatives to self-evaluation is not an easy concept to understand. 5. Enlightened self-interest: The ability to act in ones own self-interests follows from his/her own self-acceptance and self-confidence. Most preachers of ‘Assertiveness’ would advocate practicing assertive self-interests while protecting others’ interest. They do it because they know that self-interest and our fellow’s interest are mutually dependent. 6. Every one of us is primarily motivated by his/her own interest and by his/her immediate social interest(s). For example, next to our personal interest comes interest of our family. They become so closely inter-dependent that many time it is difficult for an individual to differentiate between the two. In Hindu traditions (like those stories emanating from the stories of Bhagwan Ram) many of us give importance to our immediate fellow human being as our family members’ needs more importance than of our own personal needs. We are both selfish as well as non-selfish, at the same time, to promote others’ interest too. In Hindu traditions donation (Charity) is considered as one of the supreme deeds. Acharya Chanakya preached that being poor is one of the biggest evil. Such dual tendency to help maintaining the co-existence between the accumulating and charity is built into us and begins with our basic psycho-biology. By accepting this about ourselves we will be able to do a better job of acting in our own interests - in an enlightened manner. As an example, we can mention here that these days it’s hard not to get overwhelmed once in a while because of our conflicting demands between juggling work, family, and other commitments. This makes us (almost all) too stressed out and overwhelmingly busy. However, one needs to set his/her time aside to unwind and feel relaxed. In absence of such unwinding times your mental and physical health can suffer because of the growing stress emanating from rising stress because of such of conflicting demands. Some more common ways to manage your stress at your personal levels, easily: 7. Exercise: Working out on regular basis is one of the best ways to relax your body and mind. Exercises can also improve our mood and sense of well-being. As little as forty-five minutes’ of moderate exercise like brisk walks can give enough vigor and freshness to our body and mind. That much is often recommended by our doctors to keep our sugar levels in balance. Remember: doing any exercise or some moderate exercise is better than not doing any. 8. Relaxing Muscles: When you’re stressed, your muscles get tense. One can loosen them up on your own and refresh your body by (a) stretching them, or by (b) getting a massage done at home or at a massage-parlor or (c) taking a hot water bath/shower and (d) getting good night sleep 9. Deep Breathing: To take the continuous work-pressure off quickly practice stopping your work after every few minutes (say 45 minutes) of continuous work and taking a few deep breaths. This simple cycle of ‘working-stopping for a few minutes-taking deep breath-starting working again’ makes surprisingly effective impact on our stress level. You’ll be surprised how much better you feel once you complete this cycle. Once you become good at it (such simple exercise) you will be surprisingly in regular relaxed mood. To do such an exercise you may follow these 5 simple steps: 1. Sit (or Lie-down) in a comfortable position with your hands in your lap and your feet on the floor. Though lying down would be better you can’t (perhaps) do it in your office. So, practice sitting in your chair with your eyes closed. 2. Sitting in your chair with your eyes closed imagine/visualize yourself in a nice beautiful relaxing place such as in a forest, on a beautiful mountain pass or on a beautiful sea beach. Such imagination/visualization can give you a peaceful feeling. 3. Slowly take deep breaths in and out. 4. You can (better) do it in a group (4-5 persons) of your office colleagues 5. Repeat this for 5 to 10 minutes at a time. 10. Eat Well/Healthy: Eating a regular, well-balanced diet helps one feel better in general and can control your mood for a positive balanced mind-set. Opt for vegan meals including vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean protein. Don’t skip any meal including your nice Prince’s breakfast. Such a meal is good for physical and mental energy. Missing any of your meal is not good and can put you in a bad mood, which can actually increase your stress. Remember you bad mod could bring in stress. 11. Slow Down: our modern life is too busy which does not allow us to slow down and/or chill out. Do the following to slow down your life’s pace: This might give some small ways to get leisure and relax. For example, you can do the following: • Set your watch 5 to 10 minutes ahead of your appointed time or office time or meals’ time. That way you’ll get to your scheduled places a little early than rushing for your designated place/meetings and avoid the stress of hurrying and worrying to reach in time at your destined place and avoid the resultant (possible) stress (es) of being late. • The same applies to your driving. When you’re driving on the highway or even in your small town roads, switch to the slow lane and / or do relaxed driving. This way you can avoid road rage and/or small or big accident(s). • The above also suggest to ‘break-down big jobs’ into smaller ones. For example, don’t try to answer all 100 emails if you don’t have to -- just answer a few of them. When you open your mail box, first delete all that seem redundant mails. 12. If things are bothering you, talk to your near and dear ones/friends about Your Problems: Such talking out about your problems may help in reducing your stress and be helpful in managing them. You can talk to family members, friends, (if you are a Christen) a trusted clergyman, your doctor, a therapist or to a close neighbor. If no one is there you can also talk to yourself, do a self-talk. It is quite common. We all do it rather frequently and on daily basis. However, try doing it in positive language. When you do such self-talk, try to listen yourself closely. Such self-listening are particularly important when you’re stressed out. 13. Go Easy On Yourself: Avoid pitying on yourself and, better, accept that you can’t do things perfectly even if it could be difficult. It is normal that you also can’t control everything in your life. Yet, doing yourself a favor and stop thinking negatively you can do you a great good. Retain your sense of humor and use them to laugh whenever it is possible. Do a Punjabi laugh heartily whenever occasion allows you. It will help you considerably in going a long way towards relaxing you. 14. Avoid all kinds of addiction(s): Do not allow yourself becoming victim of any kind(s) of addiction. This applies to all things and all kinds of habit(s). Any addiction, so called good or bad, are invariably bad. How to Develop ‘Enlightened/Unattached Self-Interest’? ‘Enlightened/Unattached’ self-interest means those self-serving interests which do not harm anyone else and, yet, serves one self’s protective purpose. That means, such actions make one happy, stress-free without adversely affecting anybody! It (self-interest) can begin by practicing righteous/enlightened behaviours. Wikipedia defined ‘Enlightened self-interest” as a ‘philosophy which states that person(s) who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which one/they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightened_self-interest). It has often been simply expressed by the belief that an individual, group, or even a community entity will "do well by doing good". Readers will find below some ideas to start to (how of) develop his/her ‘self-interest’ without adversely affecting anyone else’s’ interest: a. One can go out of his/her way to show positive feelings (gratitude, respect, trust) towards his/her fellow citizens/friends/relations. Such an action can, in turn, arouse goodwill from those who have been shown goodwill. Though it will not happen always. But one has to e little tolerant in such matters. b. Choose some new activities in various life areas - work, family, leisure - that will bring goodwill from others. c. While doing the above remember to act assertively. Behaving assertive simply mean that you can ask for what you want and can comfortably say ‘No’ to what you do not want to do or share! However, in Indian culture, however, one has to be little careful. It is because, in India, assertive interaction is not always liked / appreciated. d. At your personal level, you need to develop tolerance for frustration and discomfort to gain greater tolerance for stress. • Increase your willingness to take risks. Exposure is a key technique for practicing risk-taking behaviour. Develop a list of things you would like to try. Such list/examples of assertive behaviour can be learnt from an source of training for ‘Assertive Behaviour’, such as: ‘Asking someone for something - like a date or favour - where there is a chance of rejection.’ As an example, in our training, we ask our participants to go and ask for a Rupee (just a Rupee!) to the hotel recepsnist or just anyone! An Overview: In the contemporary world, stress is endemic mainly because of the present days’ life styles and because of our various kinds of mental turmoil(s) going round every moment in the midst of our mental ‘Mahabharata’. Like 100 of Kaurava Brothers (in Mahabharata) there are hundreds of vices and conflicting life-style’s demands going on constantly in our mind all the time> These constantly rising conflicting demands going on keep us in constant turmoil of conflicting demands of such vices. In the present era of our ways of life, we live and maintain an unnatural lifestyle leading to various kinds of stresses in our professional as well as personal lives which in turn may be leading to various kinds of stress related diseases like diabetic, asthma or growing number of heart diseases and even to heart failures and cancer of various kinds. Now a day, it is common to find even very young boys and girls getting high blood pressure, asthma, diabetic, heart attacks, etc. Readers must have noticed that most of the celebrities such as big film stars die (sometimes) early by stress generating diseases like heart attack, BP, or cancer, etc. Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan are two latest examples. They seem to enjoy a celebrity’s life style but can you imagine the kinds of stress they might be getting while acting in the midst of hundreds of public eyes or undressing in the midst of public (almost crowd) gaze. Even a prostitute would be under huge mental stress/tension in undressing or partially exposing her body in public! Result is: Most of them dying in severe stressful circumstances. We can name several of such top celebrities like Meena kumari, Guru Dutta, Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Madhubala, Sanjeev Kumar and so on. We often find, however, an upside to stress as well when we see stress leading to higher productivity in certain cases. Sometimes stress is found to act as great motivator too since stress leads to suffering and such sufferings, in turn, becomes an impetus to know oneself beyond the egoist, conscious mind and perform better to achieve bigger goals in life. Highly successful people often use stress positively to bring about change and activity. The short buzz of energy released by stress may help improve productivity and efficiency and, thereby generating huge success in life and career. Late Sri Dhirubhai Ambani is a glaring example of such case where a hugely poor man rose to become a hugely successful businessman to become one of the richest man of the world. Without stress, people tend to take the easy way out and procrastinating their work/duties until the last minute and miss their chance to glory. Unfortunately it is difficult to cite names in this category because most of such people are generally left out of story/history books. Our Vedic teachings suggest that human suffering too “contain a kind of energy to awaken us to our higher truth, to get us to question that we really are and what is our ‘eternal identity’ in this transient world?’. …To experience such a (high) levels of suffering is to face the inherent limitation of material existence and physical life/lives. We should not try to flee suffering but to understand it, to discover the truth of life that it reflects and face it. When we face our suffering this way our suffering(s) can liberate us into an everlasting joy. One of the theories that this author has been toying around is that bottom line of poverty is often sure sign of huge success in life. We can cite examples of greats ranging from the American President Roosevelt to Indian Business man Dhirubhai Ambani. Suffering can also be an opportunity to know and serve compassion. The Dalai Lama once said “When you are aware of your pain and suffering, it helps you to develop your capacity for empathy, the capacity that allows you to relate to other people’s feelings and suffering. This enhances your capacity for compassion towards others. So, as an aid of helping others, connect us with others, it can be seen as having value.” And, with all things in this world, we must come to a state of balance with stressful experiences that lead to suffering by learning how to address them naturally. The ancient Vadic sages discovered holistic ways to work with the stress that has been entwined with the human conditions down through the ages, several millennium back in pre-historic times. Our bodies have not evolved to adapt to the stresses that are there to our present days’ unnatural lifestyles. This results in artificially induced imbalances that adversely affect our bodies and our minds generating numerous occasions and kinds of stress. However, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel as well if you care to look for it. At the extreme ends, many “Life after Life” stories have depicted peaceful and enlightened time after ones’ death. Many have embraced ancient Eastern practices, including Tai Chi and eating unsullied whole food diets, meditating for both inner peace and self-enquiry, and consuming herbs such as Ashwagandha and Tulsi. Stress and the Mind-body relationships: Identify your Emotions: Anyone can develop his/her ability/abilities to Identify his/her Emotions and label them. This may need little practice, however. When you are emotionally disturbed try to (consciously) pay your attention to your feelings and try to identify them and label them as to what they are. One way is to identify and name your emotions. To make it easier, identify them and name them. Keep a list of various emotions to make it handy. This will enhance your self-awareness! Role(s) of Meditation in Stress Management: Right from the beginning of Indian civilization, to this day meditation has been in vogue/practiced as one of several most important components of the holistic healthcare system including management of Stress and Trauma. Meditation could be a way to listen more deeply the noise not only within our mind and body but also use our breathing as a powerful tool to manage our inner turmoil and stress (es). This way, we are able to hear, from a more profound place, ‘our mind and heart’, to understand ourselves better. Irrespective of what technique of meditation one uses, it (meditation) enhances ones’ insight by revealing someone’s’ true nature and brings him/her closure to his/her inner peace. Meditation also helps us in centering ourselves. Even today, Ayurveda continues to recommend a multi-pronged approach including uses of certain herbs like ‘Ashwagandha’ and ‘Tulsi’ with (or without) meditation and yoga for mind to de-stress. Choose Right Food to Managing your Stress Right: Ayurvedic wisdom through the ages have shown that balance between mind and body can be achieved with the right consumption/uses of right foods and herbs like Ashwagandha and some vegetables. When (i) we look at (perceive) the world around us rightly, (ii) find harmonious ways to relax and (iii) be attentive to our inner world we can understand ourselves (who we are at our center/core) better and, from there, we can start appreciating that ‘stress could be an opportunity’. Even if it (stress) is not taken as beneficial (as a whole) it can still be treated as an opportunity and can be taken as a wake-up call, a warning sign of something bigger (trouble) coming. For example, once you are stressed, a higher or lower blood pressure may not be far away! If you are able to use stress in such a way, you can appreciate the harmony between identifying your stress and its beneficial consequence(s) that has/have always been present there in our inner core. Though they might have gone unnoticed warning for a bleak future of some kind coming for a long time. Examples of some herbs and foods are cited here (below) for managing Stress: 1. Ashwagandha: We can add it (Ashwagandha) to our diet to help us in managing stress and, possibly, trauma. it I widely believed that the answer is very positive. Adaptogens are herbs and mushrooms known for their ability to help your body better handle physical and emotional stress. Even when one is not under stress, he/she could gain better memory, fight fatigue, develop better endurance, better ability to stick with his/her tasks longer, and have sharper focus and attention to his/her task and goals. On the other hand, stress can leave one with opposite effect(s) on all of these functions. And that’s where adaptogens (Ashwagandha) come in to help. It also promises to protect against stress and their roles may be explained for their surge in popularity. This author believes that these (herbs) popularity will continue to increase in coming years as they (herbs) are proving their usefulness in such other (beyond just stress) diseases, as in the present epidemic, ‘Covid-19’. This author and his family have been experiencing the positive effects of its daily doses of its ‘tea-like’ drink that we prepare and consume daily in the morning just like our daily morning tea. By God’s grace, this has helped my parents to stay healthy and active at their age of 75+ (my father is in his 81+). Besides advocating for Ashwagandha, we ventures to mention 7 more herbs as supplements to help us to alleviate Stress & Anxiety and (maybe) Depression They are: (1) Chamomile; (2) Valerian; (3) Lavender; (4) Galphimia glauca; (5) Passionflower; (6) Kava and (7) Cannabidiol*. _____________________________________________________________________________________*We declare that we have not used any of these herbs for treating Depression. So, mention of depression is our assumption and need to be tested further. Some (one or more) of the following herbs have also been in use in Ayurveda for treatment of Stress. They are; (a) Brahmi. (b) Bhringraj. , (c) Jatamasi. (English word is Asafoetida),(d) Vacha. (e) Jatamasi: Some Stress-Reducing Yoga Poses/ Exercises Numerous researches back up the claim that Yoga has numerous benefits as stress-busting benefits. Yoga or Tai Chi (as mentioned earlier also) can help improve mental health, increase feelings of relaxation, and reduce irritability among people who practice it. Yoga and Meditation are the best stress buster devoices. All changes brought to body by Yoga, meditation or by Tai Chi help us calm down and manage our stress. This suggestion is based on our (author’s) personal experiences. Practicing yoga can help build up our resilience to better deal with the challenges that pop up when you’re not practicing which by practicing yoga one can use it to tone down stress. Yoga and meditation can help with stress prevention and/or their flare-ups. Some yoga poses are described below which are simple and, in most cases, do not require 100% adherence to scriptures. Even if you are able practice the below-described yogic poses for 15 minutes a day or any amount of time with the one you are comfortable and can easily spare will help the doer. Our advice is to pick-up just one pose and try it when you’re feeling overwhelmed in the moment of stress or, whenever, at a moment (may be at the end of a stressful day) feel to unwind. While doing yoga, it will be helpful to focus on your breathing throughout each pose. This will be helpful in slowing down your heart rate and will help (in you) trigger various stress-relieving benefits. It is simply that when one focuses his/her attention to his/her breath, it’s difficult to think of what’s causing stress in you. Some Yogas’ postures and their benefits for stress management are briefly described here : Grounding poses. The ‘grounding yogic poses’ which helps the mind relax could be helpful in stopping the unstoppable chattering of mind by reducing worry/worries and anxiety which can naturally reduce stress in the worried human mind(s). When you are doing such yogic exercises keep your phone, TV, or any other distractors out of your reach, you need non-distracting time to concentrate on your yogic exercises. Do not expect any miracle, any immediate result. It is preferable to practice yogic exercise as per the scriptures’ instruction. You can do a bit of modification(s) if you wish to make it easier. However, this author repeats: Keep them as per scriptural instruction as far as you can! Some (five) grounding poses are described below to ease stress. Repeat as needed and as you are comfortable: 1. Reclining (Bound Angle) Pose(s): A quieting pose, as described here (below), is a great way to start. Lie-down on your back, bend your knees, and place your feet(s) flat on the ground. Next, drop your knees out wide with the soles of your feet touching each other so that your legs form a diamond shape. Place one hand on your heart and the other on your belly and feel your heartbeat slow down. This can take your anxiety producing thoughts out of your mind. Keep this pose for at least a minute. Repeat as many times as you can or as necessary. 1. Reclining Bound Angle Pose 2. Seated Forward Bend. 3. Surya Namaskaar poses 2. Seated Forward Bend: Sit on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you. Keeping your torso long (don’t curve your back), fold forward and reach for your toes and reach as far as you can without shaking or being uncomfortable. If your hands can make it to your knees or shins, rest your hands on your legs and stay there for a minute. With time and practice, you’ll eventually be able to reach farther. For now, do as far as you can. 3. Sun Salutation (Surya – Namaskaar; सूर्य नमस्कार https://www.aajtak.in/india/story/10-stunning-things-surya-namaskar-does-to-your-body-301261-2015-06-10): Stand with your feet slightly apart while keeping your arms at sides. Keep face and palms facing forward! Raise arms up above your head toward the sky and then slowly reach your arms back, arching your back and opening up your chest. When you do this daily you will find your chest is able to open more and more. Bend forward to reach towards your toes. Hold for a few breaths at the top of the pose and, then, in the forward bend repeat as many times as you can or as desired. Main Benefits of practicing Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskar)? The benefits of Surya Namaskar are manifold. Here are a few main benefits of Surya Namaskar: • It helps in better functioning of the body and mental faculties. • The postures are a right blend of warm-ups and for doing various Ashanas • It helps to keep your body disease-free and healthy • Regular practice promotes bodily balance • Improves blood circulation • Strengthens the heart • Tones the digestive system/tract • Stimulates abdominal muscles, respiratory system, lymphatic system, spinal nerves and other internal organs • Tones-ups the spine, neck, shoulder, arms, hands, wrist, back and leg muscles, thereby promoting overall flexibility • Psychologically, it regulates the interconnectedness of body, breath, and mind, thus making you calmer and boosting your energy levels with sharpened awareness. • Helps in losing weight, improving your skincare and hair care. 4. Half Pigeon Lying Down (three Poses): These poses help people release tightness in their hamstrings. For taking these poses, lie down on your back and bring knees (by folding it) up toward your chest. Fold your right leg, so that your heel rests on the left knee and your right knee sticks out to the side. Reach behind your left leg and pull upward toward you. By doing so, you should feel a stretch in your hamstring — that’s when you know you’re in the pose. Hold for about a minute or a few breaths, each time you bring them toward yourself. Repeat on the other side for as many time as you can do comfortably. 5. Legs up the Wall: Leg up the wall poses It is a very simple exercise but, yet, a great grounding and calming pose. All it requires is to lie down with your legs elevated up a wall and rest. To do it all you need are to (a) sit with your right side against a wall. (b) lie down, (c) pivot your body toward the wall and (d) swing your legs up the wall so they’re resting against it in a rectangle pose. You can use a mat if you need it for comfort and/or put a pillow or blanket under your head for comfort. That means, if you so wish, you can simply lie down on the ground if that becomes necessary because of your circumstances. Consider placing a folded blanket under your lower back to support your spine or put similar support under your neck if it makes the position more comfortable. If you’re a beginner, you may feel your legs shaking in the pose. Ignore it. This pose, over time, will help create space to sit with your thoughts. Try putting yourself in this pose for a meditation practice if you have one. Hold for a few breaths or for as long as it is ok with you. In all, it will calm or body and mind and will give you your peace of mind. Meditation, Yogic practices and Stress: The practices of meditation and yoga have been exclusive gift of the ancient Indian Yogic/Ayurvedic sciences. The origin and invention of Yogic practices, with their explained benefits, are often credited to the great ancient Indian Rishi Patanjali. Yogic exercise as propounded by Rishi Patanjali comprised of several components of the world’s oldest system of holistic healthcare. Ayurvedic practitioners still recommend a multi-pronged approach to rebalancing the body by bringing mind, body, and spirit into harmony. To complement the use of herbs (like, as mentioned above) like Ashwagandha and Tulsi, mix them with use of meditation does, among other benefits, de-stress and relax your mind to. Mental chaos demands our attention, The above mentioned practices of a mix of herbs, yogic exercises and meditation helps us to listen to our body and desires more deeply so that we can hear how they come from a more profound place--our mann (मन). Meditation enhances our insight, reveals our true nature, and brings, to us, our inner peace. It’s like a naughty child who, being (perhaps) jealous of our peace keeps doing mischiefs like a monkey. Brain’s chaos which has been compared well with the jumping habits of a monkey will do everything in its power to suck us in and keep our stress level high. Do not sit analyzing your mind’s floating nature but just sit and watch. With meditation, one can use the quietness of mind to surround and subdue that chaos of minds’ and of our mann’s (मन). Let it float as easily as you can, while applying our energy to reach out into the universe for answers. Let the answers come as easily as we let chaos go. Stress is almost inevitable for all of us. Yet, we still have the power to bring ourselves into an alignment between our minds and our bodies for them to mutually complement each another. Our (India) ancient Sages’ wisdom have shown the world beautifully that such mind-body balance can be achieved with the foods and herbs we consume and the yogic exercises we do to perceive triangles (mind-body-alignments) made of our thoughts, knowledge, right foods (fruits and herbs) and yogic exercises and find harmonious ways to relax and remain attentive to see ‘who we are’ at our core. Such an approach, provides us a chance to perceive stress as an opportunity — perhaps even a wake-up call and, if we use them rightly, then we can also appreciate the harmony that has always been present with us and, yet, has gone unnoticed. (Readers may also like to watch this video) : https://www.facebook.com/100035086688400/posts/572900413889510/?sfnsn=wiwspmo) Remain Happy Amidst Stressful Life! There are times when you feel irritated or (even) feel happy for no definite reason either way it could be we because of some hidden state of Stress. When it happens you may be Stressed, Irritated and Anxious or, even, Depressed. Here, we wish to add some ways to remain happy in such unexplained states/situations when one is unable to control all of the factors that might be causing stress, anxiety or depression. There are a few things you can do to remain happier and take the edge off of your stressors (stress causing factors), so that you feel less overwhelmed, less stressed or less anxious or depressed and you can more easily shake-off your bad feelings of such time(s)/day(s). There are several ways to increase happiness levels in situation(s) when life is stressful. Some examples are cited here: (a)Cultivate Optimism: While there are several things in life that one can change there will also be things one has to deal with to remain happy. Some such factors could be, for example, job stressors like overwhelming schedule(s) and (maybe) several other causative factors arising at the same time. They are known as ‘Job-Stressors’. One way is to continue with a lasting faith in future or in God or in your good Luck! (b)Stay Connected: Healthy relationships are one of the best harbingers of happiness. Positive, supportive, and mutually respectful relationships can make ones’ life happier! A feeling of “winning” can make life easier to celebrate and can buffer-up a person’s life better against stressful lives’ situation(s). The simplest trick is to give back all the support you get from your friends and to weed out the toxic relationships, if any from your life! Try to make time for your friends, neighbors, relatives and maintain a sense of humor, joy and remember to induce lots of fun in your day-to-day life alone or with friends and colleagues or with your family members and (also) develop healthy communication and conflict resolution skills. This suggestion is particularly useful for working supervisors and angers (Come to us at ‘The International Institute of EnergicK Healing’, Pune, India-411 014, for any such help like learning how to manage stress and managing conflict, etc. Phone us for appointment to -+91 98 22 198 530). (C)Take Some Shortcuts to Happiness: With a busy lifestyle having lots of stressors that (seem to) come out of nowhere, it's important to cultivate some quick ways to happiness so that one can create or restore positive feelings and outlook towards life quickly. Knowing what can make you happy, and practicing a few "happiness shortcuts" each day, could be a quick and easy way to raise your spirits in general, and make happiness a habit in particular. (Contact us at The International Institute of EnergicK Healing, Pune, India-411 014, for any such help like learning how to manage stress and managing conflict, quick ways to learn to manage Stress, Anxiety, Phobia and Depression, etc. Phone us for appointment to –(Daftuar) at +91 98 22 198 530). (d) Cut Down on Energy Drains/Drainers: There are parts of our lives that drain our energy, almost on daily basis and, many times, in unwanted situation(s). They could be anything from a person who brings negative energy or high demands, (our) messy desk that makes us confused, tired and exhausted when we look at them. Most of the time, we do not notice how many of such energy drainers are there in our lives and, hence, we seldom try to eliminate them. At other times, such people start feeling overwhelmed as if they are being driven to death. Either way, by becoming more aware of such rots and cutting them down one can free up some time and energy to engage in more meaningful / happier activities. (e) Clear Your Mind and Thinking: Take a brief ‘Meditation-break!’. We have already described mediations’ usefulness and their some simple methods to manage our stresses. After you are done, you could feel more positive and patient. That’s just what you need to shift the energy of your day and help you bounce back from stress. (f) Make Room for What’s Important to You: Most of the time we are engaged and bothered with many things at a time in our schedule that we often feel as if we have to do all of them at once, but in reality they may not be as important as we think about them. Such thinking causes stress because we don’t have as much time for such less necessary activities. If we can avoid such activities we can enjoy more meaningful activities. We need to learn to create a schedule filled with activities that are useful and which can make us happy. (g) Do not hesitate in seeking/getting help when you need it. There are lots of people around you/me/us who can help and all we need is simply to ask for such help. Think whether, we can delegate some of our responsibilities to make us (and others) happy? Consider, if I can ask for additional support from a friend, a neighbor, a relation? If there is one ask for such help. At times, this can make a big difference in how you feel and, many times such an attempt can help you handle your stress. (h)Take Shortcuts to Happiness: With a busy lifestyle, and with stressors that can seem to come out of nowhere, it's important to take some quick route to manage stresses and to manage and create some positive feelings quickly. Knowing what can make you happy, and practicing a few “happiness shortcuts" each day, is a quick and easy way to raise your spirits in general, and make happiness a habit. (I) Roles of Forgiveness in Stress Management: Not being able to forgive fosters feelings of anger, hostility, and stress, which are well documented to impact mental and physical health, past research shows. Forgiveness is one of the more effective responses for reducing stress *If you think you may need more help than these tips can provide, I urge you to speak to your doctor or another professional who can help. perceptions and enhancing your mental, physical as well as your spiritual health. Conversely, stress and (particularly) its (stress) hormones have several negative effects on systems throughout the body and mind. Worthington says. It's because of this stress-cortisol link that not being able to forgive and let go of certain stresses could potentially affect memory. People, especially women, who have high cortisol levels over time are likely to suffer with poorer memory and may perform poorly on cognitive ability. Over time, they also appeared to have less gray matter in some parts of their brain. High cortisol plays havoc elsewhere in the body too, as it affects the immune system at the cellular level. That means, it can do widespread damage to all the parts of our body affecting our immune system in unpredictable ways. High cortisol can also disrupt everything from the sexual and reproductive system to the gastrointestinal system and our ability to fight off illness and fatigue. Also, forgiveness activates our PNS (Parasympathetic Nervous System) Which Is Good for our ‘Heart’. It helps our heart by slowing down our breathing and heart rate and by increasing digestion- the (so called) “rest and digest” response (the opposite of the stress’ fight-or-flight response. By working together, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems they help our body in regulating processes like BP and heart rate so that they function the way it should in stressful situations as well as in non-stressful moments. When a person is under chronic stress or is holding his/her stress (like anger) for too long his/her body may stay in the fight-or-flight response for too long. REFERENCES Thorndike EL. (1898) Animal intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied.;2:i–109. Thorndike EL.(1911). Animal intelligence: Experimental studies. Macmillan; 1911. Thorndike EL. (1927) The Law of Effect. The American Journal of Psychology. 39, 212-222. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_yoga https://www.google.com/search?q=What+is+the+burnout%3F&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjftdOl1MHyAhWE4jgGHXeQD2IQzmd6BAg1EAU&biw=1067&bih=488 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightened_self-interest