May 26, 2009
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OvercomeBullying.org Newsletter #006
Getting Involved
Hi,
Would you like to be more involved in dealing with school or workplace bullying? Join with us and add your voice to OvercomeBullying.org!
Here are a few ways you can participate:
Submit your workplace bullying story. One of the worst things about workplace bullying is the feeling that you are alone; that you must be doing something wrong, something to deserve this outrageous treatment. That's a natural reaction. We want to try to make sense of the insanity. One of the best ways is to read what others are going through so we can realize, first, that we are not alone, and second, that it is the bully and the situation that is causing the problem. If you haven't already, if you are a target of workplace bullying I encourage you to submit your story. It's a great way to get out the anger and frustration and it will help others in a similar situation to see that they are not alone. You will also be able to get some feedback and support from others who have been where you are now. Try to include as many positive approaches to dealing with the situation that you can. How have you successfully dealt with a bully? How do you keep your sanity? How have you dealt with the stress? Visit this page to share your workplace bullying story.
Submit an article to OvercomeBullying.org and get famous. Okay, maybe you won't get famous but if you have knowledge about something related to bullying such as coping strategies, stress reduction, legal matters, approaches to therapy, career development -- or anything at all that you feel would be of benefit to targets of school or workplace bullying, school administrators, business managers, human resources professionals, etc. please contact me and let me know your idea. You will of course receive credit for your article in the byline and if you have a website I will include a link to your website. You can get in touch with me through the contact form on this page or e-mailing me directly -- anton(at)overcomebullying.org
Has OvercomeBullying.org been of benefit you? Tell others about us. Have a website? Add our link to your site. Twitter your friends and family. Put our link on your Facebook page. When I corresponded with Chauncey Hare, co-author of the book "Work Abuse: How to Recognize It and Survive It" he said that most people who read his book do so too late. The fact is that most people don't know what is happening to them until much of the damage is done. I know that I had endured years (over 10) of workplace mobbing and was suffering from PTSD before I learned about the dynamics of workplace bullying or ever heard the word "mobbing". Let's get the word out (the word "mobbing" that is). Bullies and the managers who allow them to operate need to be brought out into the glare of full sunlight.
Have you read my new e-book "What Every Target of Workplace Bullying Needs to Know"? If so please send me your opinion of it so I can make improvements. If you liked it send me your glowing testimonial. ;-) By the way, if you haven't downloaded it yet it is fr'ee to subscribers. Here's the link to the PDF file.
Here are some other ways you can get involved.
With your help we'll keep growing and improving OvercomeBullying.org and continue to make a difference.
All the Best,
Anton Hout
Founder, OvercomeBullying.org
Please forward this newsletter to anyone you feel would also benefit from this information. Thank you for your help in spreading the word.
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In This Issue:
- New Article by Latricia Wilson - Workplace Bullying: Analysis of Workplace Bullying
- New Feature for Parents of Bullied Children - Share Your Stories
- Challenges You May Face When You Meditate
- Thought for Today
New Article on Workplace Bullying
This month we are featuring a new article by Latricia Wilson. In the first of two articles Latricia provides an "Analysis of Workplace Bullying". She explores forms of workplace bullying and tactics, behaviors, five most common forms of workplace bullying, motivations to bully, how individuals are affected and resolutions for workplace bullying.
> > Analysis of Workplace Bullying
Parents of Bullied Children - Share Your Stories
Our workplace bullying stories feature has been such a success we wanted to give parents of bullied children a way to also share their experiences and get ideas from others facing similar situations. What are your experiences when dealing with schools or parents of the children who are bullying your child? Have you had any successes? Share what has worked for you and your child or get feedback from other parents.
Challenges You May Face When You Meditate
Being able to stay focused when you meditate is one of the main challenges that you face when you first engage in meditation. In meditation, you focus on your breathing or an object and try to clear your mind. Thoughts will start to come to mind, which you should acknowledge and then let them pass on.
Sometimes, if you are feeling stressed about some situation, thoughts of this may overpower you and you feel as if you should dwell on these to try to find a solution. Forcing the issue is not the way of meditating and will keep you from the true purpose.
When you first start your meditating session, you need to have a place where you will be free from distractions. This includes noise and images. You can block out the images by closing your eyes, but the daily sounds are often more difficult to block out. This is why most people choose the early morning hours to practice spiritual meditation. The rest of the household is asleep so you have some time to yourself when you won’t be interrupted.
Learning the various positions and being able to hold them for a length of time is a challenge for beginners. While most people have the idea that you have to be in a sitting position to meditate, you can meditate when you are walking, lying down, kneeling or standing. The sitting positions are the hardest to master, even when you sit on a chair because it is hard to maintain the same position for up to 30 minutes at a time.
The half lotus position is the one most prefer to use when meditating in a sitting position. To do this, you sit cross legged with the foot of one leg resting on the thigh of the other leg. The other foot is resting on the floor under the opposite thigh. The most difficult sitting position is the full lotus in which you have both feet resting on the thighs of the opposite legs and your knees touching the floor.
When you start to meditate, you also have to give yourself a few minutes at the beginning for your mind and body to relax. It takes a few minutes for this to happen and for your breathing to become regular. You have to let the tenseness out of the muscles in your back and neck and learn to breathe deeply. This means breathing in through your nose so that you take in the maximum amount of oxygen which can then get to the deepest portions of your lungs. Hold the breath for a second and let it out slowly.
There are no rules for meditating. The main goal is for you to see results from the session – whether this is simply a way of relaxing, finding a solution to your problems or finding a way of reaching a state of inner peace and calm. During the session, you do not allow your thoughts to consume you and through this you can learn to see and understand them in a different way.
The object is to meditate so that you become more effective in the way you handle the stresses of life so that you don’t act impulsively and become angry over every little thing. Once you grasp this concept, you will be able to have a happier life.
One of the best tools I have found for learning how your mind and body interact and developing the ability to consciously achieve a state of calm (which is essential for targets of bullying who need to deal with the stress) is the biofeedback system and interactive computer games developed by Wild Divine.
I have used them myself and can attest to their effectiveness. While the interactive world you experience in their series of games is absolutely beautiful with lush gardens, pavillions and palaces you are also instructed by many guides throughout the games that teach you how to control your breathing, mind and body to effectively acheive deeper states of relaxation. These tools are not only available while using the biofeedback hardware and software. You can use the lessons learned anywhere and help you reduce stress, protect your health and deal with the bullying by allowing you to recognize how your emotional responses trigger stress in your body.
You can then use the exercises you've learned in the game to interrupt the stress cycle and regain your sense of calm and sanity. I highly recommend you give Wild Divine and Healing Rhythms a try.
Thought for Today
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
~ Mohandas Gandhi