Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us. -- Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love Dear Reader Several people have asked me what exactly these Stress Management workshops are really all about. Do forgive me, but to explain I must get somewhat technical. I have tried to keep the definitions to a minimum and the explanations as short as possible, but because I am passionate about the subject, I do tend to go on a bit. For more detailed information my e-book Survive and Thrive is availale for immediate download. Straightforward, easy to read and highly practical, Survive and Thrive puts readers back in charge of their life and shows how to manage stress calmly and efficiently. This e-book is crammed with invaluable tips on topics such as time management, exercise, nutrition and relaxation techniques. It offers not just a structured plan to manage stress but is also a practical handbook for both home and office, to dip into for quick advice, should the need arise. The Stress Management Workshops are about: Sharing Emotions Emotion-focused Therapy is a short-term structured approach to stress therapy. There is significant research on this approach and it has been found that 70-75% of couples move from distress to recovery and that the gains are sustained for months to years following the end of treatment. EFT helps people to identify, experience, explore, make sense of, transform and manage their emotional experiences. Although emotional awareness is essential for good communication and solid relationships, many people remain relatively unaware with their core emotional state, sometimes by choice. By trying to avoid pain and suffering, people often disconnect from some or all of their feelings and their emotions soon become distorted, inappropriate and stifled. Equine-assisted Experiential Learning can help us become more emotionally aware and reconnect with ALL of the core emotions, including anger, disappointment, sadness, fear, distrust, surprise, and joy. EEL allows couples to acknowledge and explore their emotions in a new, non-threatening and often hilariously funny way. Horse Power Horses have powers of perception that go beyond those of the human senses. EEL offers participants an opportunity to determine their own unique communication style by engaging in on-the-ground problem solving activities with our horses. As prey animals, the survival of horses depend on their instinctive ability to sense any underlying emotional current or change in the emotional equilibrium of the animals around them. Horses read our emotional state accurately and give immediate feedback, increasing our emotional awareness instantly. Horses communicate non-verbally. Research shows that the majority of human communication is also non-verbal. When we interact with others, we continuously give and receive countless wordless signals. Non-verbal communication includes the gestures we make, our posture, our facial expression, how fast or how loud we talk, how close we stand and how much eye contact we make. Crystal-clear Communication Successful non-verbal communication depends on an accurate understanding of the cues we are sending, along with the ability to accurately pick up on the cues other people are sending us. This requires our full concentration and attention. Horses interpret and mirror non-verbal communication instinctively giving us unbiased feedback on what our body language is telling our partners. Horses also invite us to stay focused on the moment-to-moment experience in order to fully understand what’s going on. Non-verbal communication has a huge impact on the quality of a relationship. Improving non-verbal communication skills helps us to accurately “read” other people, making us more aware of their true emotions. It allows us to respond with non-verbal cues that show that we understand, notice, and care. Trust and transparency are created in a relationships when non-verbal signals match verbal communication. The ability to communicate effectively non-verbally is a powerful tool that helps people connect, express what they really mean, navigate challenging situations, and build fulfilling and strong relationships. Eradicating Stress Good communication, whether verbal or non-verbal, is the foundation of successful interaction. Without effective communication, any relationship can become a source of debilitating stress as misunderstandings and grievances accumulate. Emotional awareness is a pre-requisite for the ability to manage stress. Emotions are the foundation of our ability to understand ourselves and relate to other people. People who are aware and in control of their emotions can think clearly and creatively; manage stress and challenges and communicate effectively. EEL encourages emotional processing to occur. The interactions with the horses can illuminate emotions previously out of awareness. If there are issues or challenges to overcome, a horse quickly brings those to light. At Alegria's Stress Management Workshops, participants will find out how to increase their emotional awareness, communicate more effectively, manage stress inside and outside their relationship and discover  How to achieve and maintain a relaxed, energised state of emotional awareness instantly How to gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for others  A growing sense of peace and security as trust is earned and exercised A more meaningful and effective method of communication   A greater awareness of and loving concern for the well-being of others An ability to deal effectively with the challenges of the past, then set them aside and focus energy on the opportunities of the present Before I started writing and presenting master classes full-time, I worked as a medical doctor. After 17 years in medical practice, I came to the conclusion that stress, directly or indirectly causes or aggravates a large variety of diseases. It can also make you put on weight and being overweight can make you feel even more stressed. Trying to cope with the mounting and debilitating stress in my own life convinced me that to help myself and my patients I need to focus on prevention rather than cure. I made a firm commitment to find effective ways to handle stress and lose weight. I investigated various weight loss and stress relief methods like accupuncture, NLP, self-hypnosis, meditation, yoga, tai chi, aromatherapy, herbal teas, shaitsu massage, equine-assisted therapy and life coaching to name a few.. If you are suffering from stress (and let's be honest, with the credit crunch very few of us are not) then I would very much like to help you. Immediately available is my e-book Survive and Thrive! -Safeguard your Health and Happiness - a full-color, user-friendly e-book that tells you what stress is, what the symptoms of too much stress are and exactly what to do about it to avoid long-term damage to your health- written in every day easy-to-understand English. And because stress often causes unwanted weight gain and makes it difficult to lose surplus weight, I have written a second e-book - the Papillon Weight Loss Program  - based on the French Paradox, because obesity is as detrimental to your health and happiness as stress is. This year, I am also proud to introduce my tried-and-tested masterclasses: the Master Stress (More info here ) and Relationship Rescue/Enrichment (More info here ) master classes - these residential workshops take place at my house, Alegria-en-Armagnac, in the sun-drenched south of France. I sometimes suspect that I enjoy these even more than my guests - this will be for you to judge. Suffice to say, I am looking forward to welcoming you in this delightful part of France. And if you live very far away, I can still help you, because I also offer No more stress! - coaching by e-mail. This will allow you to get rid of stress in your own time, in your own home and at your own pace. If you would like to read more About Alegria CLICK HERE. I also invite you to subscribe to my Mailing List (see below) and my Master Stress e-course. It will provide you with information about a variety of stress relief methods as well as several free e-books, white papers and reports. Your e-mail address is 100% safe and you can unsubscribe at any time. I sincerely appreciate feedback about the website, the e-books, the stress report, the workshops...please leave a message by clicking on Contact Alegria. Do not allow stress to rob you of your health and happiness. Choose any of the options above and start fighting back today. Kind Regards           Margaretha de Klerk Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality--not as we expect it to be but as it is--is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love. -- Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat

New Stress Management e-Course To receive free e-books and find out about special offers and promotions first, subscribe to my FREE Stress Management e-Course and Alegria's Mailing List by leaving your e-mail address below. You will instantly receive the “How To Deal With Stress” Report - also completely free. This easily accessible and user-friendly report will help you relax and rejuvenate effortlessly. First Name: Email address: (I respect your privacy and by submitting your email address you are only requesting to subscribe to my free e-course and mailing list – nothing else - and you may unsubscribe effortlessly at anytime!- see my privacy policy)   From Stress Relief Methods to HOME