Conquer your Stress: An interactive and entertaining presentation on proven techniques to reduce stress.   (Alt title: Five Keys to Stress Reduction)

It's estimated that stress is responsible for 60-90% of doctor's visits and, one million workers miss work each day because of stress, costing companies $602 per employee per year, according the American Institute of Stress.

It is imperative that we recognize that stress is not the problem - it's our reaction to our stress and we can learn to control it. Acquire cutting edge self-care techniques - affirmations, visualization, mindfulness techniques and mini-meditations - that staff can do on their own for better health. A stress-free staff is a productive, healthy and happy staff. Dr. Gruver will share her decades of experience and you will walk away inspired to make positive changes in your life, your company and your staff.

-Recognize the emotional, physical and behavioral signs of stress.

-Examine current research on meditation, positive self-talk and visualization and how it can be incorporated into your workday.

-Learn a simple technique, known as a mini-meditation, to stop the stress response in its tracks.

-Understand how you can use your daydreams to boost immune function and increase relaxation.

-Discover how to incorporate mindfulness into your day even if you think you don’t have time.

(Longer description) Through the use of personal examples, client history, humor and PowerPoint, Gruver will explain in-depth the warning signs of stress and how we can use various personal techniques to overcome the stress response. We incorrectly believe that stress is the problem – something overwhelming us that we cannot control. Yet stress isn't really the problem. It's our personal reaction to stress that is the fundamental issue. Based on a program Dr. Gruver created for the U.S. Military, she teaches practical and proven methods in a group setting and leads everyone in a visualization for progressive muscle relaxation, and mini-meditation. Dr. Gruver also discusses how we can use visualization to boost our immune function and improve sports and work performance outcomes. Additionally you’ll explore how our words and affirmations can make a difference in our daily lives. Also covered will how we can incorporate all of our senses in daily mindfulness to decrease the stress response and gain control over our reactions, bringing us to greater peace and productivity. Attendees will walk away with an increased sense of control over stress, and practical tools that can be immediately put to use in their everyday lives.  

Say What?!  How to Communicate Anything to Anyone.

Objective Points:

• Defining effective communication
• Being fully present
• React or Respond: take a pause
• Flexibility
• Different communication styles
• Practical exercises to help get your message out

Efficient and effective communication is so much more than just "listening" and repeating back what you think the person just said. It's about being present and fully in the moment, it's about taking a pause to choose whether you respond or react. It's about understanding the lenses through which other people are viewing the world and themselves, and adapting to that lens. It's about having the flexibility to adjust your communication to match that of whom you are speaking to, and it's about not being hesitant to ask questions, clarify, and dig deeper on an issue. Many people feel like they aren't being heard, but in reality aren't clearly communicating anything to hear. Dr. Gruver's background consulting with individual clients, psychology and hypnotherapy training, presence and mindfulness study, and learning different communication exercises and styles combine to create a comprehensive and practical program to help you get your message to those who need to hear it.

Kathy Gruver, PhD has graced stages on four continents (including 2 TEDx), three cruise ships and a handful of islands. Her combination of humor, performance background, real life experience and formal education makes her a well-rounded, in-demand speaker. She hosts the TV show based on her first book, The Alternative Medicine Cabinet and has earned her PhD in Natural Health. Dr. Gruver is the twelve-time award-winning author of seven books including, Conquer Your Stress, Workplace Wellness, Conquer your Stress at Work, and Journey of Healing. She has studied mind/body medicine at the famed Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Harvard, and has been featured as an expert in numerous publications including Glamour, Fitness, Time, WebMD, Prevention, Huffington Post and Dr. Oz’s The Good Life, and has appeared on over 250 radio & TV shows including Lifetime, NPR, CBS Radio and SkyNews London. In 2015 she had the privilege of creating a stress reduction program for the US Military and has been studying psychology and human behavior her entire life. She is also the co-host of the new Fire and Earth Podcast. For fun and stress relief Gruver does hip hop and flying trapeze.