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there is also compassion. The devastating earthquake 

in Fukashima, Japan, in 2011 and the devastation of 

 Hurricane Katrina in 2005 brought out the best in 

some, as countless people came to the aid of their fellow 

human beings across the globe. The darkest times can 

bring out our finest hour, if we transition from fear to 

compassion.

The Power of Adaptation

One of the greatest attributes of the human species is the 

ability to adapt to change. Adaptation is the number one 

skill with which to cope with the stress of life. Adapta-

tion involves a great many human attributes, from resil-

iency and creativity to forgiveness, patience, and many, 

many more. Given the rapid rate of change in the world 

today, combined with the typical changes one goes 

through in a lifetime, the ability to adapt is essential. 

Those who incorporate a strategy to adapt positively 

not only will be healthier, but also, in the long run, will 

be much happier. Adaptation to stress means to make 

small changes in your personal lifestyle so that you can 

move in the flow with the winds of change taking place 

in the world and not feel personally violated or victim-

ized. Sometimes, adaptation to change means merely 

fine-tuning a perception or attitude. In the best stress 

emotional stress associated with this type of angst 

includes low self-esteem, alienation, and anxiety. 

Everybody wants to be accepted.

How can society help alleviate race and gender stress? 

Anti-bullying programs are being implemented in 

many schools nationwide, helping raise awareness 

among kids and parents to the dangers of bullying. 

On television, many shows have tried to better reflect 

the demographics of American society with casts of 

various ethnicities. Although these are steps in the 

right direction, school curricula and television shows 

alone cannot change the world overnight. But they’re a 

start. Remember that when people demonstrate a bias 

toward race, gender, ethnic background, or anything 

related to them, they are projecting their fears onto 

you. A common reaction is to meet stress with stress, 

but the best answer is to rise above it and take the high 

road called integrity.

Stress in a Changing World

All you need do is glance at the covers of Time or 

Newsweek, or the Internet homepage of MSNBC or 

Comcast to see and read what we already know: These 

are stressful times! But the stress we are encountering 

as a nation is not specific to being a world power. The 

problem seems to have reached every corner of the 

planet, permeating the borders of every country, prov-

ince, and locale. In fact, after conducting several sur-

veys on the topic of stress and illness, the World Health 

Organization came to the conclusion that stress is hit-

ting a fever pitch in every nation. So alarmed were they 

by the results of their study that the WHO researchers 

cited stress as “a global epidemic.”

On the home front it appears that stress, like a virus, 

has infected the American population, and the symp-

toms are everywhere: Radio talk shows and blogs 

have become national forums for complaining; polit-

ical pundits repeatedly describe voter anger; head-

lines are filled with stories of people who have gone 

berserk with hostility, most notably road rage, sports 

rage, movie theater rage, phone rage, and air rage; 

television talk shows are reduced to airing personal 

catharses; workplace violence has escalated to several 

incidences per month in which co-workers are shot 

and killed; the American dream is out of reach for 

many; and psychologists describe a spiritual malaise 

that has swept the country. Yet where there is despair, 

© 2003 Ziggy and Friends, Inc. Reprinted with 

 permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. 

All rights reserved.

 

The Nature of Stress

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well as spring, summer, winter, and fall. Mind, body, 

spirit, and emotions are also four quadrants that make 

up the whole, often depicted in a circle. Exercise 1.10 

invites you to reflect on the concept of wholeness via 

this symbol so prevalent in world culture.

The Nature of Holistic Stress 

Management

With the appreciation that the whole is always greater 

than the sum of its parts, here are some insights that 

collectively shine light on this timeless wisdom of the 

nature of holistic stress management:

 

■

Holistic stress management conveys the essence 

of uniting the powers of the conscious and uncon-

scious minds to work in unison (rather than in 

opposition) for one’s highest potential. Addition-

ally, a holistic approach to coping effectively with 

stress unites the functions of both the right and 

left hemispheres of the brain.

 

■

Holistic stress management suggests a dynamic 

approach to one’s personal energy where one 

lives consciously in the present moment, rather 

than feeling guilty about things done in the 

past or worrying about things that may occur 

in the future.

 

■

Holistic stress management underlies the premise 

of using a combination of effective coping skills 

to resolve issues that can cause perceptions of 

stress to linger and sound relaxation techniques 

to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of stress and 

return the body to homeostasis. This is different 

from the standard practice of merely focusing on 

symptomatic relief.

 

■

Holistic stress management is achieving a bal-

ance between the role of the ego to protect 

and the purpose of the soul to observe and 

learn life’s lessons. More often than not, the ego 

 perpetuates personal stress through control and 

manipulation.

 

■

Holistic stress management is often described as 

moving from a motivation of fear to a place of 

unconditional love.

When all of these aspects are taken into consideration, 

the process of integrating, balancing, and bringing 

management program reduced to 27 words, the fol-

lowing quote attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr speaks 

to this process: “God, grant me the serenity to accept 

the things I cannot change, the courage to change the 

things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” 

The skills introduced in this text are designed to help 

you gracefully adapt to the winds of change.

The Premise of Holistic Stress 

Management

Honoring the premise of this ageless wisdom, holistic 

stress management promotes the integration, balance, 

and harmony of one’s mind, body, spirit, and emotions for 

optimal health and well-being. Stress affects all aspects 

of the wellness paradigm. To appreciate the dynamics of 

the whole, sometimes it’s best to understand the pieces 

that make up the whole. What follows is a definition of 

each of the four aspects that constitute the human entity, 

and the effect that unresolved stress plays on each.

Emotional well-being: The ability to feel and express 

the entire range of human emotions, and to control 

them, not be controlled by them. Unresolved stress 

tends to perpetuate a preponderance of negative 

emotions (anger and fear), thus compromising emo-

tional balance and causing the inability to experience 

and enjoy moments of joy, happiness, and bliss.

Physical well-being: The optimal functioning of the 

body’s physiological systems (e.g., cardiovascular, 

endocrine, reproductive, immune). Not only does 

unresolved stress create wear and tear on the body, but 

the association between stress and disease is approxi-

mately 80–85 percent. Ultimately, stress can kill.

Mental well-being: The ability of the mind to gather, 

process, recall, and communicate information. 

Stress certainly compromises the ability to gather, 

process, recall, and communicate information.

Spiritual well-being: The maturation of higher 

 consciousness as represented through the dynamic 

integration of three facets: relationships, values, 

and a meaningful purpose in life. Most, if not all, 

stressors involve some aspect of relationships, values 

(or value conflicts), and the absence of, search for, 

or fulfillment of a meaningful purpose in one’s life.

The circle is a universal symbol of wholeness, often 

divided into four parts: north, south, east, and west, as 

Chapter 1

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