Book forward by Leslie Kenton

Forward by Leslie Kenton

It is common knowledge that uncontrolled stress can trigger a great many diseases and disorders from insomnia and gastric ulcers, high blood pressure, asthma and migraine to depression and chronic fatigue.

For a long time, however, such problems were treated like something over which we could exercise no control. It was assumed that you could only treat their symptoms with drugs, treat the stress that triggered them off with more drugs, and hope for the best.

Now, thanks to research into altered states of consciousness, deep relaxation, self-awareness and biofeedback, we know that we can exercise control over our responses and, once we have gained enough self-awareness and tucked a few stress management skills under our belt, virtually choose how we wish to meet the challenges of our day-to-day lives.

Stress is most assuredly not some great dark threat over which we as helpless human beings can exercise little influence. Yet too often in books and articles it is still portrayed that way. In fact, so much nonsense has been written about stress in the industrialized world that it is a pleasure to see the Stresswise programme appear in print. Not only does the book avoid the pitfalls of so many of its predecessors - from fuzzymindedness to turgidity to inaccuracy - it also presents a clear, concise and practical account of what stress really is and how to make a friend of it instead of letting it destroy you.

Looker and Gregson are professionals who have done their homework well and know their stuff. But they have other traits in common which endears the book to its reader as well: compassion for instance. They genuinely care about life and about helping each and every human being live it to the full. They also have a sense of humour. They completely avoid the pomposity which too often creeps into books of this kind.

Interesting, thorough and useful, Teach Yourself Managing Stress is a book I can heartily recommend to anyone determined to find out about how to make stress work for you rather than against you.

Leslie Kenton