Your Personal Stress Navigator® Report User Id: CW11257, 8/22/2003 Congratulations on completing your Personal Stress Navigator®! This report is designed to help you understand and manage the stress in your life. To jump ahead in the report, click on any underlined link. Navigational Tips: qWe suggest you print your Personal Stress Navigator® (PSN) Report now. qYou might write a password reminder next to your USER ID so both will be available if you want to revisit your report. qIf you think you made an error or you want to change or review your responses, go to Table 1. Click on the scale you would like to review and make your changes. Your report will be changed instantly. qAfter six to twelve weeks, check your progress in stress reduction by taking the test a second time. Simply click Retest. qTo access your report online, go to www.stressdirections.com, press LOG IN, enter your USER ID and password as prompted. That takes you to the Stress Navigator Workshop Home page. From there you can explore the richness of the site or click “Start Here” to access your report. qYou can access the TOOLS section of the site by clicking on the link wherever it appears. qIf you want to explore the richness of the site while reading your report online, simply use the back button on your browser until you reach the Stress Navigator Workshop Home page. How Your Report Is Organized lAn Overview of Your Personal Stress Navigator Results lThe Data Behind Your Results lA Detailed Look Targeted information about your high stress areas and ways to deal with them. lYour Action Plan How to put your test results into action. lStaying the Course How to stay on track and get the support you need. lStress Solutions Information about your highest stress items and what to do about them. lTOOLS Online information on stress reduction strategies.(If you are reading a printed report, you must reenter the web site. See above.) An Overview of Your Stress Profile Results Stress Directions, Inc. uses state-of-the-art interactive technology to interpret your Personal Stress Navigator (PSN) responses and provides a comprehensive report on your situation. Responses from thousands of completed Stress Navigators and knowledge accumulated from stress related studies support the accuracy of your report. These results allow you to see exactly how you're doing in comparison with the general population. Your report covers four different areas: 1.Susceptibility to Stress This score, at the 2nd percentile, tells how well you take care of yourself and what personal, financial, social, and spiritual resources you can draw upon for help in coping with stress. 2.Sources of Stress These are the situations that place demands and pressures on you. Your overall stress source score is at the 21st percentile for the general population. Your top areas of demand and pressure are Environmental, Financial and Job. 3.Symptoms of Stress These scores show how stress affects your personal life or health. Your overall stress symptoms rate at the 84th percentile. Your symptoms primarily are in the areas of Immune, Endocrine, and Parasympathetic. 4.Stress Factors The 16 Stress Factors reflect the general pattern of stress in your life and are mathematically derived from your responses. The top three factors that make up the life stress you experience are: Powerlessness, Discrimination, and Housing Demands. How to interpret your scores: Your scores are reported in percentiles. Percentiles indicate what percentage of test takers carried a score lower than yours. For example, a score in the 56th percentile means that for every 100 people taking the test, 56 have scores lower than you. • Overall scores under the 50th percentile indicate that you have few problems with stress, generally take good care of yourself, and have good personal resources to draw upon. • Scores between the 50th and 60th percentile range are above average for the adult U.S population. This may mean your stress levels in some areas are unacceptable. • Scores above the 60th percentile are serious and require attention. • For scores above the 70th percentile, it is imperative that you take action to get your stress levels under control. The Data Behind Your Results Your Stress Personal Navigator® Report is a numerical profile of your results that tells you, quantitatively, where your stress comes from, how it affects your mind and body, and how susceptible you are to stress. It also tells you the seriousness of your stress concerns and how they compare to the general population. The first section in Table 1 represents life areas our research has shown to be key sources of stress in most people's lives. They've been sorted in order of magnitude so that your biggest source of stress comes first, second biggest comes next, and so on. The next section in this table refers to the most common kinds of symptoms people experience when stress gets out of hand. We've grouped them together according to the physical system they involve. The systems have then been sorted by the degree of distress they have been causing you or you expect them to cause you in the future. The tables that follow are color and style coded to indicate the degree to which different types of stress affect you: 4Bold Italic Red signals a severe problem that, if ignored, could result in substantial risk for you. 4Bold Amber indicates a potential problem if not addressed promptly. 4Italic Green signifies that you have this condition under control. Table 1 shows how you rated the items in the Susceptibility, Sources, and Symptoms sections of the Personal Stress Navigator. To change your answers or to look at how you rated items in a particular scale, click on the scale title below. Any changes you make will be instantly reflected in your report. Table 1 - Content Scale Scores Check My Demographics Sources Percentile Score These are key sources of life stress sorted according to their degree of severity. Bold Italic Red denotes serious concern, Bold Amber denotes caution, Italic Green indicates GO. Environmental 84th Financial 46th Job 31st Family 16th Social 8th Personal 3rd Symptoms Percentile Score When stress is out of control, these symptoms can result, causing different types or degrees of physical or emotional distress. Immune 99th Endocrine 99th Parasympathetic 88th Cognitive 50th Muscular 31st Sympathetic 16th Emotional 7th Summary Percentile Score These summary scales indicate the additive and cumulative nature of stress. SOURCES 21st SUSCEPTIBILITY 2nd SYMPTOMS 84th   Table 2 represents a set of factors mathematically derived from your responses that provides insights as to the nature of the stresses that cut across your various life areas. You'll find sixteen factor scores that tell you a good bit more about your stress level and what it means. The first two factors listed are Acute Stress followed by Chronic Stress. The rest of the table is sorted according to the magnitude of the scores. Table 2 - Factor Scale Scores Factor Percentile Score Acute Stress 21st Chronic Stress 99th Powerlessness 99th Discrimination 97th Housing Demands 86th Personal Loss 62nd Reproduction 46th Marital Turmoil 34th Work Setting 27th Financial Pressure 24th Relocation 16th Personal Success 16th Personal Uncertainty 5th Burnout 5th Personal Isolation 5th Social Demands 3rd A Detailed Look — Targeted information about your high stress areas Susceptibility Section This scale indicates how well you take care of yourself and what social and personal resources you can draw upon. The lower your susceptibility score, the more resistant you are to the sources of stress. A low score indicates you may be "stress tough". The more resources you have and the more you do to make yourself strong, the greater the stress you can absorb without developing symptoms. Now that you know how susceptible you are to stress and why, it's time to do something about it. Work out a stress action plan that will make you more stress resistant. A stress action plan includes: increasing awareness of how a given situation plays out in your life, establishing personal goals, identifying resistance to changes, getting support for your plan, and then maintaining your progress and dealing with any setbacks. We have designed a form to walk you through each of these steps. Go to our Action Plan section to see how it's done. Sources of Demands and Pressures This section of your PSN report tells you where your stress comes from in your life and gives you some ideas on what you can do to make these life areas less stressful. Your stress appears to be rooted in at least 6 areas of your life. Stress Symptoms This section of your PSN report summarizes the symptoms that are causing you distress and discomfort. The more susceptible you are to stress and the higher the stress levels you're experiencing, the more likely you are to experience symptoms. The most effective ways of dealing with stress symptoms are to take better care of yourself, so you are less susceptible to stress, to find ways to reduce stress at its source, and to treat your symptoms. Stress Factors Factor scores are based on a mathematical analysis that looks for patterns across items of the PSN. These scores offer additional information about the nature of the stress you're experiencing and about the stress issues that cut across the various parts of your life. Have you had a recent medical check up? This report is not a substitute for good medical care. Sometimes symptoms usually associated with stress have other causes; it may require a medical examination to determine if this is the case. In the online workshop TOOLS section, we offer you a number of behavioral techniques and strategies for dealing with stress related symptoms. These TOOLS can help to relieve the discomfort and distress of your symptoms but these are no substitute for proper medical attention and care. If you have high scores on particular stress symptoms, see your doctor. Stress may well be the culprit, but let your doctor help determine that.   Your Action Plan Now it's time to plan your journey towards less stress Just reading about your stress isn't enough, you need to do something about the stress in your life if things are to get better. What can you do about changing your stress pattern for the better? First, you need to design a good stress action plan, one that has the following characteristics: 1. It will make your life better. 2. It can be carried out in six to twelve weeks. 3. It has a specific outcome. 4. It can be stated in behavioral terms. 5. It is leveraged to give you "the most bang for your buck." A stress action plan includes: increasing awareness of how a situation is stressful, establishing personal goals, identifying difficulties you may have in making changes, getting support for your plan, and then maintaining your progress while dealing with any setbacks.The Stress Action Plan on the next page will walk you through each of these steps. If you are not sure where to begin, reread your report for suggestions. Also, check in the TOOLSsection of the on line workshop for ideas, instructions, and information.

Stress Action Plan Directions: Review the Personal Stress Navigator® Report about your Susceptibility, Sources or Symptoms of Stress. Take a moment to decide which issue or concern you want to work on, then complete the form below. Every section of the Stress Action Plan is important. Write something in for each part. Then Print and Post your plan. Item: (in your own words) Description of current situation: Reasonable goal: (What you would like to see happening) Possible Actions: (Mark the ones you'll try first) Barriers to Change: (personal, social, financial, practical, etc.) Supports for Change: (personal, family, social, professional, etc. Be specific.) Next steps: Implement your first choice of action. Evaluate your results. Adjust your plan. Read the relevant TOOLS Section in the Stress Directions web site for more ideas. Staying the Course How to stay on track and get support you need There are usually four steps to personal change: 1. Awareness The PSN can help you recognize the impact of stress on your life and the need for action 2. Preparation Getting ready to take action means making the decision to do something about the problem, getting more information, making choices, and creating a plan. 3. Action Take active next steps to implement your plan. This builds confidence that you can really do it. 4. Staying the Course One of the biggest challenges is maintaining momentum. Stick with your plan for three days, three weeks, then three more. You will begin to see results. Persistence pays off. Whenever we try something new, attempt to change direction, or invite new experiences into our lives, we usually have to contend with barriers along the way. When the going gets tough, keep on. There will be times when it is hard to keep going. Here are some strategies that will make your plan more successful. Each has been studied by behavioral psychologists and found to be helpful in keeping a plan on track. qPost the written plan where you will see if often. This helps keep your goals in mind and reminds you of your commitment to actively control your stress. qWeigh the pros and cons once more. Review and renew your positive reasons for action now. Decisions to change don't always come easily. You may feel discouraged when your mood or energy is low. Write out or discuss with someone the pros and cons of what you are doing. This can help you focus less on the difficulties and more on the short and long-term benefits of your plan. qUnderstand "behavioral inertia." People tend to keep on doing things the way they always have. Like overcoming physical inertia, you may need a push to get started. Some people like to start slowly and build momentum. Some prefer a vigorous and focused start that carries them a long way quickly. Whatever your style, the important thing is to stay with the program. qKeep a written record of steps you've taken. Behavioral research has shown that those who keep a log are more successful with a behavioral change program. Writing gives you something to refer back to and is a concrete reminder of what worked and what didn't. Tailor it to your style, but write it down, in a file on your computer, a notation in your journal, or a simple check on a calendar marking the days you kept to your plan. qGet support for your program. Rarely is a major project completed without a team of players, some on the field, some cheering from the sidelines. Let people know what you're doing. Find a buddy to check in with. Ask your friends or family to encourage you. Talk to a trained counselor for specific help and direction. Find a group that has a similar agenda. Bring social support (or social pressure) into your plan to move things forward. Behavioral research has shown that social support for change is one of the most powerful factors in making it happen. qSet target dates. Many of us work better under deadlines, self imposed or otherwise. qUse the 15 minute rule. If you find you are procrastinating, implement your plan for 15 minutes. If, at the end of that time, you're going well, keep on going. If you want to stop after 15 minutes, OK. Reward yourself for having done at least that much. You might be amazed in what can be accomplished in a short time. Small, consistent steps keep the project going and prepare the ground for bigger steps. qBe reasonable. Be patient. Be compassionate. Don't let an "all or nothing" attitude get in your way. If you miss a certain goal or deadline, don't increase your anxiety with self critical thoughts. Stay positive and pick up where you left off. qBe persistent. If at first you don't succeed, try again. No matter how long you've been off track, find your way back. Use the Tools: There are descriptions of strategies to reduce stress, including exercises in relaxation, conflict resolution, time management and many more to be found in the TOOLS section of the web site, use them to help get control of the stress in your life. Explore other resources: Check out the benefits offered by your health care plan or your company's Employee Assistance Program, or ask your physician, friends or relatives for the name of a counselor who can help you with stress. Map your progress: This report was designed as part of an interactive online workshop hosted on the stressdirections.com web site. Come back to the Stress Directions web site and update your PSN results. qContinue the online workshop over time. Make a commitment of 8-12 weeks to get the full benefit. qContinue to read selected pages of the TOOLS and Resources in the online workshop to support your efforts on a daily or weekly basis. qRETEST: To really gauge the effectiveness of your efforts, complete the PSN a second time and compare your results. The opportunity to retest anytime within 12 weeks of your initial assessment is included in your workshop subscription fee. If you've followed your plan, we're sure you'll see a marked improvement.

Stress Solutions: A Closer Look Detailed information about your high stress areas and ways to deal with them Susceptibility Section How Vulnerable Are You to Stress? This section of your Stress Navigator report describes how susceptible you are to stress. The lower your susceptibitity score, the more resistant you are to the sources of stress. This scale also indicates how well you take care of yourself and what social and personal resources you can draw upon. Congratulations! You're doing a great job of taking care of yourself. Your score indicates you're highly resistant to stress and its consequences. Keep up the good work. Now that you know how suceptible you are to stress and why, it's time to do something about it. Work out a stress action plan that will make you more stress resistant. A stress action plan includes: increasing awareness of how a given situation plays out in your life, establishing personal goals, identifying resistance to changes, getting support for your plan, and then maintaining your progress and dealing with any setbacks. We have designed a form to walk you through each of these steps. Go to our planning section to see how it's done. Stress Factors Section Factor scores are based on a mathematical analysis that looks for patterns across items of the Stress Navigator. These scores offer additional information about the nature of the stress you're experiencing and about the stress issues that cut across the various parts of your life. You're not having much of problem with acute stress, and that's great. What's not so great is that you are having big problems with chronic stress. Chronic stress is a serious problem for you. Chronic stress is difficult to recognize for what it is because it has probably been around so long that you no longer notice it. Chronic stressors are those situations that last for months or years. It may be a kind of stress that you carry around inside. Assuming "that's just the way things are," you may not do anything about it. At best, chronic, grinding stress will make life miserable; it may seem like there's no relief in sight. At its worst, chronic stress impairs the immune system, making you vulnerable to frequent colds, influenza, and infections. It can also damage your hormonal system making you prey to arthritic joint pain, thyroid dysfunction, or menstrual difficulties in women. . In short, there's very little good to be said about chronic stress. It makes life miserable and can ruin your health if unchecked. Chronic stress conditions can be reversed, but it takes time, patience, and persistence. Because chronic stress rarely goes away on its own, you might want to see a professional to help you identify these stressors and help start an action plan to get them under control. In the meantime, it is important that you take the time to take good care of yourself On top of your elevated level of chronic stress, there are other factors that you should be aware of in your stress profile. The first of these is Powerlessness. A pervasive sense of powerlessness shapes your stress profile. You seem to feel that a lot of things are outside of your control: your finances, personal freedom, bodily functions, employment status, personal relationships, and where you live. Things just seem to happen to you and you feel powerless to do anything about it. It's a very stressful feeling and can lead to anxiety or depressed mood. Taking even small actions to deal with your concerns can make a difference. For more on improving mental control and taking action go to our Tools section. . Stress arising from Discrimination is an element of your stress pattern you might want to address. A lot of your stress comes from feelings of discrimination. It's probably more of a problem for you than you realize. Feeling that you don't belong or that you don't fit in with a particular group because of who and what you are leads to estrangement and social isolation that can be quite distressing. You may not be able to change other people's behavior, but you can do something about your own attitudes toward it. First, try to develop a thicker skin. You might also work on one or two individual relationships that connect you to the whole group. You can also look for support in an outside group where you share interests. You can overcome this part of your stress by getting the issue of discrimination under better control. There are laws against job and housing discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, race, age, or sex. If you feel discriminated against at work, call your state labor board or your state committee against discrimination. You can address the stress caused by discrimination in social settings by developing different alliances or by speaking to those who you feel are prejudiced against you. You can also avoid situations where you feel discriminated against, or accept the fact that there are insensitive clods in this world who lose the pleasure of your company through their own limitations. Housing Demands is a third point in your stress profile. Home should be a haven, a safe harbor where you can lick your wounds and rest and restore your energies before returning to the fray. Hassles in the house, however, are ruining your haven and creating a lot of stress for you. When the kitchen is piled with dishes, the table is covered with magazines and mail, the floor strewn with toys, and the cat box hasn't been emptied all week, home is no haven. Home renovation, construction, or remodeling brings noise, dust, dirt, and disruption into your living room, kitchen and bedroom. There's no escape. Even ordinary home maintenance can be a challenge. Painting, papering, repairing, planting, watering, mowing, clipping, trash removal all take time and energy. Repairing damage from vandalism or other minor crime in the neighborhood adds to the struggle. Struggles with city hall over zoning laws, permits, municipal services, or utilities, also disturb the tranquility of your little haven. Don't try to do too much at one time, and try to keep the mess under control as much as possible. Keep one part of the house inviolate, a place where you can shut the door and retreat from the clutter and disruption of the rest of the house. Keep a place clean where you can rest and relax until the rest of the nest has been brought under control. Sources of Demands and Pressures Section This section of your Stress Navigator report tells you where your stress comes from in your life and gives you some ideas on what you can do to make these life areas less stressful. Your stress appears to be rooted in at least  one area of your life. Your environment is your primary source of stress. Environmental stress comes from problems with traffic and transportation; difficulty with neighbors, roommates, a landlord or tenant; environmental pollution and deterioration. It also includes adjusting to a new neighborhood, problems with schools, lack of recreation facilities, and in-home construction. Finding a solution to environmental stressors may seem daunting because it usually involves getting other people -- your roommate, your boss, your neighbors, or your governor -- to take action, too. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Nor does it mean you can't be effective. One way to start is to "think globally; act locally." You can start this idea easily at home: Begin by fixing up one room; make it a beautiful and serene haven. Expand from that success to the community; mobilize local resources to help make the neighboring environment less stressful. Lobby officials at the state or federal level to reduce stress in the larger environment. It takes work, skill, and patience. But the result -- a less-stressful environment - is worth it. Stress Symptoms Section This section of your Stress Navigator report addresses the symptoms that are causing you distress and discomfort. The more susceptible you are to stress and the higher the stress levels you're experiencing, the more likely you are to experience symptoms. The most effective ways of dealing with stress symptoms are to take better care of yourself, so you are less susceptible to stress, to find ways to reduce stress at its source, and to treat your symptoms. Have you had a recent medical check up? This report is not a substitute for good medical care. The mind can only help so much with health-related difficulties. Sometimes symptoms usually associated with stress have other causes; it may require a medical examination to determine if this is the case. In our Tools section, we offer you a number of behavioral techniques for dealing with stress-related symptoms. These techniques can help to relieve the discomfort and distress of your symptoms. But there are no substitutes for proper medical attention and care. If you have high scores on particular stress symptoms, see your doctor. Stress may well be the culprit, but let your doctor help determine that. Your stress symptoms are primarily physical in nature. Your immune system appears to be a primary target for the stress in your life. Colds, the flu, allergies, infections or generally feeling unwell suggest that your immune system is not operating at its best. Stress can make the immune system either under- or overreact. Stress precipitates and/or worsens many infectious, malignant, allergic, and autoimmune diseases. Long term, chronic stress has a way of eroding your immuno-competence and making you vulnerable.  This relationship is quite complex, with environmental, genetic, and exposure factors playing a role. Just because there is a link between stress and illness does not mean you should blame yourself for being sick. Perhaps the biggest problem with chronic, grinding stress is that it's been around so long you've gotten used to it and no longer recognize it for what it is. When you do, you may think there's not much you can do about it. But there's a lot you can do to manage the most chronic stress situations effectively to let your immune system heal. You just can't do them all at once. Things didn't get the way they are overnight and they're not be resolved quickly either. Go at it piecemeal. Develop an action plan that lets you deal with those things you can change within the next four-to-six weeks and ignore the things you can't change right now. Things to do: Don't try to work when you're sick. Take time out to rest and restore body and mind so you can work more effectively when you're ready A few days in bed will help with more than just your current symptoms. Not only will the rest help your immune system recover, it will give you the energy to deal with stress problems more effectively. Take time out every day to relax. If you can take 15-20 minutes out to just sit with your eyes closed and let your body relax, you'll be rewarded with increased energy and stamina. Taking time out to relax also lets your immune system restore itself so that it functions more effectively. Review the Susceptibility to Stress part of this report to see what you can do to make yourself more stress resistant. Stay connected to the important people in your life.  Social support is proven to help conquer illness. It's important to control chronic stress before your immune competence goes beyond its limit and you succumb to more serious and debilitating diseases. Take better care of yourself to make yourself less susceptible to the stress and reduce stress at its source so that it doesn't continue to grind you down. The stress that may be causing your immune problems has probably been in your life for a long time and it may take major life adjustments to get it under control. You may need to consult a stress management professional to do that. Remember though, there may be other causes for your symptoms that have a medical basis. Our behavioral recommendations should be used in addition to medical recommendations you have received. See our Tools section for scripts on progressive muscle relaxation and autogenic imagery. They can help a lot with immune difficulties.. In addition to your other symptoms, you seem to be experiencing hormonal or endocrine symptoms, possibly from stress. Stress seems to be having a prominent effect on your endocrine system. It's not just any stress. It's the wear and tear from long-term pressures that can interfere with the normal functioning of the endocrine or hormonal system, in ways that can be quite debilitating. If you're a woman, it may show up as premenstrual difficulties or as menstrual irregularities. No matter what your sex, however, chronic stress can contribute to serious endocrine problems such as arthritis, diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, infertility (male and female), skin rashes, and debilitating general fatigue. One of the body’s responses to stress is the release of regulatory hormones from the pituitary and cortisol from the adrenal glands. In the short term, these biochemical responses are beneficial, releasing sugars, adjusting insulin, boosting the immune system and protecting against inflammation and allergies. Chronic or intense stress disrupts this delicate balance of biochemistry. Sex hormones can become inhibited. A genetic predisposition for diabetes or other endocrine problems may become activated. Chronic stress is a serious matter and should be taken care of as soon as possible. You can get a start by taking better care of yourself to make yourself less susceptible to stress. You should also reduce stress at its source, so that it doesn't continue to grind you down. Stress that causes hormonal problems is the result of long-term pressures and may require major life adjustments to control. You may need to consult a stress management professional to do that. Remember though, there may be other causes for your symptoms that have a medical basis. Most endocrine difficulties also require medical attention. Our behavioral recommendations should be used in addition to medical recommendations you have received. See our TOOLS section for scripts on progressive muscle relaxation and autogenic imagery. Though they are no substitute for medical care, these exercises can help a lot with hormonal problems. Your third highest group of symptoms is related to the parasympathetic nervous system. Your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) takes care of the details in the body like regulating heart rate, digestion, excretion of bodily waste, and sexual functions. Physical overarousal associated with acute stress can cause PNS symptoms such as indigestion, heartburn, "acid stomach," gas, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, difficulties with urination, and sexual dysfunction.  Examples are the “butterflies”, nausea or diarrhea some people experience before public speaking engagements or the inability to respond sexually due to performance pressures.  The parasympathetic nervous system is part of your autonomic nervous system. It usually decreases arousal, and slows you down again after a stressful reaction. After the body speeds up, it needs "brakes" to signal it to slow down. If you are unable to slow down or relax, PNS complaints may eventually appear. The other piece of the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), increases physiological arousal and is responsible for "speeding things up". Between them, they handle the general housekeeping of the body and do so fairly automatically. (Hence the term autonomic.) Under duress, gastrointestinal needs for oxygen are partially postponed.  Oxygen is partially directed away from the digestive tract to the large muscles, in preparation for “fight or flight”.  Digestion slows down or stops. When stress passes, and you quiet down through deep breathing and muscle relaxation, the flow of vital oxygen increases to your gastrointestinal tract and function returns to normal. If you have experienced prolonged or severe stress without periods of recovery or relaxation, the gastrointestinal tissue or muscles can become sensitized to overactivation. Then, even when the irritation is minimal, symptoms can occur. Symptoms can persist long after the stress that caused them has vanished. If specific symptoms run in your family, you may have a genetic predisposition to those types of disorders. A prior illness or irritation may also weaken tissue; later, acute stress may affect the weak link.  Things to do:  See your physician if PNS symptoms are frequent or persistent Avoid excessive use of over the counter medications to treat the symptoms.  They can interfere with long term healing. Practice progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) to learn how to slow down your body when it becomes overly excited. Set aside quiet time and simple relaxation before and after eating Use gentle self-suggestions such as "Let my stomach become calm and quiet." Learn deep breathing as a quick way to increase oxygen to the digestive tract. Develop other self-soothing practices: yoga, Tai Chi, mental control of worry, mental  imagery, and self-hypnosis. These techniques help to quiet your body so that tissues are not over stimulated and can gradually return to normal, healthy functioning. Consider hypnosis or biofeedback if your symptoms are persistent or severe. An expert therapist can teach you how to use these strategies for optimal quieting of this part of your body. See our TOOLS section for details on PMR and mental imagery and other strategies for self-regulation of the body. Conclusion Congratulations on your willingness to learn and act on behalf of your own health and well being. We hope taking the Personal Stress Navigator® has helped you become aware of the effects of stress on your personal world. The report provides you with the information and Tools you need to help you make necessary changes. Armed with a clear direction, knowledge, and a willingness to experiment, we anticipate your journey toward managing the stress in your life will be a success. Your license provides you with full access to the Personal Stress Navigator Workshop for 90 days. Your access will expire on 1/24/2003. During this time you have one opportunity to retake the Personal Stress Navigator. To do this, you should print a copy of this report for comparison, then press the RETEST button below. Pressing the RETEST button will erase all your answers and you will begin with the Susceptibility to Stress Section.