2008 Woodie Awards
Do a little dance, get down tonight
The remedy to stress - Have some fun
By: Jeff Friedman
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Bidwell Park seems to be the answer to many problems. The clean air, plant life and general serene nature of the nation's third-largest municipal park make it an excellent stress-reducing hotspot.
Perhaps you are the type of person who needs to be introduced to positive forms of stress in order to get over the fear of a potential situation. Chico State University offers a wide variety of physical education classes including ballroom dance, bowling, Kung Fu, Yoga and others.
"I like practicing Chi Kong," said Mike Liang, a Chico State student from China who is currently working on his doctorate in music. "Kung Fu is more outside, action you can see. Chi Kong is more inside, like meditation. I do this for a half-hour, sometimes more."
Liang brought some popular ideas for methods of dealing with stress all the way from China. "In China we do not have so much stress like in America," he said. "In some big cities they will go to karaoke to sing and drink a little bit. Go to dinner with a lot of friends and talk."
Six guideposts to combating burnout are sustainable workload, feelings of choice and control, recognition and reward, a sense of community, fairness, respect and justice, as well as meaningful and valued work. Physical activity, along with a little bit of healthy competition, can help achieve all of these.
One form of stress reduction - driving - has both an upside and a downside. Driving can lead to "road rage," but there is something to driving through the sleepy farm communities of Butte County. Butte County has many winding country roads that offer beautiful landscapes - just remember to watch the road.
Stress is an element of life that can be made positive or negative depending on the individual. Some situations are unavoidable, but proper methods of dealing with stress will allow you to enjoy life to the fullest, see the forest for the trees and hear the birds over the clatter.
Other stories in the series
Cutting out the clatter
The noise is coming from inside your head - you're stressed
The catch-22 of stress
Too much of a good thing?
How to avoid turning winter worries into spring stress
$elling yourself on reducing stress