First, the bad news: your teenage years are some of the most stressful of your life. Up to 70 percent of teens say they're stressed out, and with pressure about grades at school, parents who just don't seem to get it, and friends who drive you crazy, it's no wonder. Here's the good news! If you learn a few strategies for getting stress under control now, you'll have the skills you need to deal with problems and difficult feelings that life sends your way in high school and beyond. The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens is a collection of thirty-seven simple workbook activities that will teach you to reduce your worries using a technique called mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way to be aware of your thoughts and feelings in the present moment. You can use mindfulness when you start to feel as though things are spinning out of control, so you can stop worrying about what might happen and focus instead on what's happening now. Ready to get started? Open this workbook and try out the first activity. Soon, you'll be well on your way to developing resilience and a new kind of strength.
If you're like many people, you find it easy to look at your negative qualities or feel there is no way to fix your problems or stress. This book is about building on the resources, skills, and positive qualities that you might not even realize you have. It is a way to move from "I'm powerless" thinking to "I can do it!" thinking. Hundreds of teens in mindfulness-based stress reduction classes have used activities like the ones in this book, and here is what some of them have said: "I have learned to let things go and move on from bad experiences." "I felt that the coping skills learned are easy enough and effective enough to be used when I need. I now feel at the very least that I have the ability to reduce my stress." "I learned new and different ways to stay relaxed and how to deal with stress and now I don't worry much."If they can do it, so can you!