With the party season almost upon us and end of year deadlines looming stress can take its toll; with this in mind HR Zone has joined forces with Tortue Rouge to offer ten lucky members an exclusive opportunity to win a bottle of Executive Stress from the Elixirs of Life Range as well as the chance to benefit from a 25% discount on all products, to take part simply read on.

The problem of stress is getting worse
The United Nations has predicted that within 15 years, stress will rise from fourth to second place (after AIDS) in its ranking of global health threats. In 2003 nearly 30m days were lost to illness. An NHS survey attributed 12.8m of these lost days to stress, making it the single biggest cause of absenteeism and at a cost of £3.7bn the most expensive.

Why is this?
Stress specialists like Barry Winbolt, head of clinical practice at PPC Worldwide, an employee assistance provider, believe that changes in society such as the constant presence of mobile phones and laptop computers which leave managers constantly on call are to blame for the explosion in stress related health problems.

The strain of commuting is certainly an important factor. A 2004 study part funded by Hewlett Packard and conducted by psychologist Dr David Lewis, found that commuters can experience greater stress just getting to and from work than a fighter pilot going into battle or a police officer facing an angry mob.

Another key factor is the individual’s particular response to the stresses to which he or she is exposed. Some people cope better than others. The coping mechanism is conditioned by many things and childhood influences are important: a relaxed parent is a better stress-coping role model than a chain smoking, nail biting panicker!

Another neglected factor is that stress is cumulative. The unconscious doesn’t forget. What many people don’t realise is that stress is like a pyramid. It is built up from lots of small blocks to which we add new blocks every day.

A block can be a negative experience such as a run in with a difficult colleague, a disappointment; a permanent background worry about money: will we ever pay off the mortgage? Or a niggle such as next doors cat relieving themselves on the dahlias again, or a real irritation like the washing machine going on the blink on a Friday and the maintenance company putting you on hold for ten valuable minutes of your lunch hour assuring you of the importance of your call whilst assaulting your ears with Greensleeves on a kazoo.

As the blocks build the mind grows closer to its limit and suddenly the capstone is put in place when something really trivial provokes your first full blown panic attack and the onset of a permanent and debilitating nervous, anxiety. This can also mark the beginning of drinking that little bit more or trying drugs – prescription or otherwise.

The negative impact of stress on health
We all know that stress is bad for our health, but it’s only in the last two years that scientists are beginning to quantify just how bad. And the news is worse for women than for men.

A study of 58 mothers at the University of California showed a clear correlation between higher stress levels and the shortening of telomeres which are DNA structures on the end of chromosomes that are vital to the health of the immune system. These structures shorten naturally over time but the most stressed of the women studied had undergone the equivalent of ten years additional ageing compared to women with the lowest stress levels.

Professor Epel, who led the study, believes that stress induced telomere shortening will soon be recognised as a health risk, as significant as raised cholesterol and that drugs will have to be developed to target the problem.

So what can be done?
Companies need to wake up to the scale of the problem; see stress reduction as a tool for improving corporate performance rather than a human resources issue, and invest accordingly.

Stress and anxiety cause absenteeism. But more seriously they cause virtual absenteeism – where staff that appear to be functioning normally are in practice trying to mask anxiety symptoms and are simply not contributing effectively. Anxiety is a notorious wrecker of focus and good judgement.

Companies can encourage hard-pressed executives to admit that they are not managing their stress levels and offer the sympathetic ear of a trained counsellor.

But what if the reaction to counselling goes something like this?

“Well I’m not going. What’s a counsellor going to say? –‘Have a proper break at lunchtime. Go for a massage. Take a walk in the park. Try a cat nap. Download a meditation CD onto your ipod.’ If I could find the time for that I’d be doing it! And what can a counsellor do about the home?”

And here is the essence of the problem. Because we’re all individual, because we all have different building blocks in our pyramid, the real starting point is internal. Our mind set often needs to adjust first before we can benefit from outside help, however good it is.

Flower Essences: Nature’s answer to stress (Product promotion):
This is where nature can offer us help with something called Flower and Gem Essences. Flower and Gem Essences can promote calm and relaxation in the stressed mind and over time help even the most sceptical to handle their stress more positively, slow their pace of life to a speed that will leave more room for fun, personal interests and quality time with loved ones.

Flower and gem essences use dilute, highly energised vegetable and mineral infusions to create a profound soothing effect on the mind and emotions. They can work quickly, sometimes in minutes for acute stress or fear.

Essences operate by means of energy not chemicals. They appear to carry an electrical healing signal into the body that is subtle but capable of being “read” as a kind of digital bio-software by the body, producing deep beneficial effects in both animals (where there is no placebo effect) and humans.

We are as yet unable to measure the actual signal they transmit. Biology is still only able to figure out a fraction of the electrical workings of the cell, let alone the greater body but a variety of scientific studies have demonstrated diverse beneficial effects of this very sophisticated therapy.

Each person responds to flower essences in a slightly different way. For some the results are immediate and quite dramatic; for others, the shift is subtle and gradual. Over a period of time, however, flower essences can produce deep and profound change in the psyche. For example, in a recent Australian study on the use of flower essence therapy for panic attacks, 65% of those studied were free of panic attacks after just four weeks.

Flower Essences were originally developed in the 1930s by Dr Edward Bach, a scientist, former bacteriologist and Harley Street consultant, who based his research on careful clinical experiment and a close study of the herbal and homeopathic materia medica.

Now an English company with a French name Tortue Rouge has launched a range of essences called Elixirs for Life that are a development of Dr Bach’s work and specifically address the stresses and strains of life in the modern workplace.

The Tortue Rouge Elixirs for Life have been developed over 15 years by leading researchers, authors and experts in the benefits of flower and gem essences in emotional and psychological healing for people and animals.

Over that time, in-depth research was carried out into the ways that these safe and effective natural elixirs can help with personal development, learning, creative skills, confidence and joy in relationships; and many people experienced the positive changes that the Elixirs for Life can offer.

Flower essences are very ‘user-friendly’ being very simple and straightforward to use.

They are 100% safe, are neither medicines nor drugs and are not subject to any kind of medical licensing. They are classed as supplements and can be taken orally – either under the tongue from a dropper bottle or added to a cold drink. They can also be rubbed onto the hands and feet, or sprayed into the air from a misting bottle.

Tortue Rouge organically grow or wildcraft all the flowers used in their essences in a pollution free part of southern France where they have their own laboratory and control the entire production process to ensure the finest possible 100% organic finished product.

The Elixirs for Life range of flower essences for the stresses and strains of the modern workplace or for the world of work include:

* Executive Stress
For those particularly demanding times

* Fast Lane
For the high powered with no time to slow down

* Decisions
For clarity of thought under pressure

*Quieting the mind
When it’s impossible to turn off mind chatter

Crisis
For any emergency

And in spray form for Misting:

*Office Rage
For Teamwork and Harmony or for chilled out colleagues and a happier workspace

Use Office Rage when:

• Office life is filled with arguments and bad feeling




• There is a breakdown of relations between colleagues




• Business suffers as a result of poor teamwork and lack of motivation

*Road Rage
For calm driving

Use Road Rage when:

• You want to help a driver deal with their aggression on the road




• Stress and annoyance are ruining the travel experience




• Feelings of impatience threaten to take control of our actions

All the Elixirs except the sprays come in 30ml glass bottles with glass pipette, boxed with full instructions. The sprays are not boxed and come in 50ml glass bottles with spray tops. As Crisis is designed to help panic attacks and acute anxiety it is also available in a convenient 20ml pocket size. RRP of £11.95 each – 20ml Crisis is available for £7.95 each.