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Are you tired of giving up 'managing your stress’, 'become more successful', 'exercising more', 'eating healthier', ...? Are you tired of feeling stressed, lonely, ...?
According to the Gallup 2018 Global Emotions Report among 146 countries, negative emotions and experiences are on the increase. Many people experienced the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday:
• 4 in 10 experienced a lot of worry or stress
• 3 in 10 experienced physical pain.
• 1 in 5 experienced sadness or anger
Negative emotions such as loneliness and stress, with a globally increase trend, have become major public health problems. For example, 7% Europeans, 25%-60% Americans and 14% British feel lonely while 74% British and 75% Americans feel stressed and/or overwhelmed. Both stress and loneliness are among the major factors for impaired/poor health and well-being. Far beyond, it has been found a vicious cycle between stress and chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes type 2, and obesity, that they affect each other through biological mechanisms, whereas impaired sleep and poorer immune system responses are the other connected responses to stress and loneliness. Negative emotions, such as stress and loneliness, are not any longer seen only among adults but they are also common among the youth now. What has been usually neglected is that negative emotions such as stress, loneliness and feeling sad, are all connected with each other. So in a way, we can say that we all are living in a New Reality where there is an epidemic of negative emotions.
So welcome to live in the New World with the New Realities!
Let’s think about you live in a district where the environment is frequently exposed to thunder storms or heavy snows. How can you focus on living healthy, being successful and finding out what you want for your life? You will be mostly on the survival mode that you can neither plan future nor be creative and relaxed. All that is very similar to living in the New World that all negative emotions like the thunderstorms affect your health and the way you behave. Studies have found that loneliness and stress are associated with health risk behaviours such as physical inactivity and poor diet. It has been all known that today’s living conditions, workplace requirements, and social expectations are among the major factors leading to negative emotions, thereby affecting how we behave, feel and experience health and well-being.
Is it all ok to blame our environment for our negative emotions and poor health and behaviour?
It is a big No!
Is it all ok to blame ourselves for our negative emotions and poor health and behaviour?
It is again a big No!
Then what is the solution? To fight against the environmental challenges or to accept them as they are and then to find out how we can create Our Own Flourished and Creative Kingdom? The latter one would be the right choice for a Happier, Healthier and Successful Life for us and also for our beloved ones. Then the question ‘How’ will arise.
The answer is neither moving to an isolated place and starting a new life nor isolating yourself from all the realities you leave. The answer is within YOU! The answer is hidden within your strengths and potential which are most probably unexplored in depth up to date. So at the workshop, Public Engagement Programme by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, as part of the Fringe Festival, I invite you explore together HOW:
‘To be the One - You want to Be: How to unlock and maximize your potential for creative solutions to your challenges?’
We will talk about where to and how to start to unlock your potential for a happier, healthier and (more) successful life? We will together dive into the deep sea of ‘creation’ of positive emotions and behaviour. My successful and evidence based approach will guide us all the way through, and at the end of our workshop journey you will have brightening and achievable blueprint for where you want to be and how you will achieve.
The guiding approach namely, ‘To Be the One You Want to Be’ is a collaborative partnership focusing on personal growth and well-being through unlocking and maximizing the personal and potential of the individual by mostly use of powerful questions and empowerment. The approach has success stories such as leading to a major improvement at blood glucose levels and health behaviours among over 120 diabetes patients, published as the successful outcomes of the international project (Cinar & Schou, 2014; Cinar, Schou & Freeman, 2018); and positive transformation at health and behaviours among people in prison, as among the outcomes of a National Project (Cinar, 2016). Furthermore, the approach is the winner of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council International Coaching Award (2016), 100 Best Global Coaching Leaders Award, 50 Outstanding Women in Healthcare Management–2016 for promoting positive change and well-being in society through an international “coaching and leadership” project via building the bridges between the society, business, academia, public health and the NGOs.
An individual with a diabetes history of 10 years(Denmark)
“I am now more physically active (going swimming, walking) and drinking more water and less alcohol. I changed and adopted these new habits because I have recognised that I want to do better during the coaching sessions. I changed the wrong behaviour and replaced it with the healthy one.”
An individual with a diabetes history of 14 years (Turkey)
“My self-esteem has increased by the coaching sessions. I felt and recognised that I was worthy as a person during these sessions. All the negative thoughts about living with diabetes were erased by these sessions.”
An individual with a diabetes history of 12 years (Denmark)
“My lifestyle and social life have changed; I started a new life. I found new ideas and rebuilt my life’
(Cinar & Schou, 2014b)
Are you ready to create a positive change in your life? Then please drop into the workshop and ‘Let’s see how we can act and grow together’
References:
1. European Commission. (2019). How lonely are Europeans?. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/news/how-lonely-are-europeans
2. DiJulio B. et al. (2018).Loneliness and Social Isolation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan: An International Survey. http://files.kff.org/attachment/Report-Loneliness-and-Social-Isolation-in-the-United-States-the-United-Kingdom-and-Japan-An-International-Survey
3. Economist. Loneliness is a serious public-health problem. https://www.economist.com/international/2018/09/01/loneliness-is-a-serious-public-health-problem
4. Mental Health Foundation UK. (2018). Stressed Nation: 74% of UK’ overwhelmed or unable to cope’ at some point in the past year. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/news/stressed-nation-74-uk-overwhelmed-or-unable-cope-some-point-past-year
5. American Psychological Association. (2017) Stress in America. https://www.apa.org/images/state-nation_tcm7-225609.pdf
6. Xia, N., and Li, H. (2018). Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Cardiovascular Health. Antioxid Redox Signal 28, 837–851.
7. Hawkley, L., C., and Cacioppo, J.,T. (2010). Loneliness Matters: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Consequences and Mechanisms Ann Behav Med.,40, 10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8.
8. AmericanPsychological Association. How stress affects your health? https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress
9. Denollet, J., et al. (2010). “A general propensity to psychological distress affects cardiovascular outcomes: Evidence from research on the type D (distressed) personality profile.” Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 3, 546-557.
10. Salleh, M.,R.(2018) Life Event, Stress and Illnes. Malays J Med Sci. 15, 9–18
11. Stalder, T., et al. (2017). Stress-related and basic determinants of hair cortisol in humans: a meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology 77,261–274. 7.
12. Wester VL, et al. (2014). Long-term cortisol levels measured in scalp hair of obese patients. Obesity (Silver Spring) 22,1956–1958.
1.13. Diabetes UK. Diabetes and stress. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-destress.html
14. Brock, B., et al. (2015). Sad and Alone: Social Expectancies for Experiencing Negative Emotions Are Linked to Feelings of Loneliness. Social Psychological and Personality Science 6,496-503
15. Mushtaq, R., et al. (2014). Relationship Between Loneliness, Psychiatric Disorders and Physical Health ? A Review on the Psychological Aspects of LonelinessJ Clin Diagn Res., 8(9),WE01–WE04
16. Cinar, A., B., Freeman, R., Schou, L. (2018). A new complementary approach for oral health and diabetes management: health coaching. Int Dent J. 68, 54-64. doi: 10.1111/idj.12334
17. Cinar, A.B., Schou, L. (2014a). Health Promotion for Patients with Diabetes: Health Coaching or Health Education? Int Dent J. 64,20-8. doi: 10.1111/idj.12058.
18. Cinar, A.,B. (2016).Person-centered Health Coaching in a Scottish Prison Population: Findings at Training Completion. Journal of Person Centered Medicine 6, 98-107.
Cinar, A.,B, Scho. L. (2014b) Health coaching increases self-esteem and healthy smiles. Diabetes Voice (Special Issue) 59,47-51. http://www.idf.org/diabetesvoice/special-issue-2014/basak-cinar