Spirituality in the workplace is becoming an increasingly talked about and practiced trend, especially in today´s hectic world of work. Many employers claim that having some sort of spirituality program at work actually helps with employee productivity and effectiveness. Â Based on the fundamentals of Internal Yoga, the StressManager from AwarenessTools.com can be used as an informative yet entertaining way of letting employees relieve some of the stress from their daily lives and to learn to balance their personal and professional lives.
 What is the StressManager & How Does It Work?
The StressManager is an interactive tool that allows users to manage their individual stress. Â It is based on the teachings and philosophies of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, founders of the discipline of Internal Yoga. Â The more often one utilizes the functions, the more often one can monitor their stress-related feelings and emotions over an extended period of time.
The Main Menu is organized into five modules that help users select, analyze, learn, and combat the different stress-related feelings and emotions that they may be experiencing. Â The StressManager also allows users to keep a diary or ongoing log of each entry so that the individual can get a more holistic view of the different stressors that they have been facing.
How Will the StressManager Help You?
Introducing a program that attempts to provide relief to the stressful lives of employees is almost always seen as a positive way of promoting employee morale and wellness, especially when spirituality can play a big role in the way it affects productivity and efficiency. Â Plus, using the StressManager can be a great way of breaking up a stressful workday. Â
The StressManager could also help your employees identify the stress-related emotions and problems that they are experiencing, which may help facilitate more open communication of these problems since they have been documented over time. Â And I don´t have to tell you what the value of open and frequent communication between employees and managers is do I?
·        Documentation/Manual
There is no documentation or manual available for the StressManager. However, the application does include a comprehensive Help function for each section of the program and it is pretty easy to learn and use.
·        Installation
Simply download the StressManager from the Aurosoorya website and install it into your computer following the instructions provided by the company.
·        Price
One of the best features about the StressManager is that it is free of charge.
·        Scalability
The StressManager can accommodate as many users as you want because it need only be installed in the individual´s own workstation. Â It cannot be networked though, which might be an advantage seeing as how some of the information can be quite personal and sensitive.
·        Security
Currently, there is not security feature on the StressManager, although Aurosoorya should consider adding one to the StressManager because some of the information that is added by individual users may be quite personal and sensitive.
·        Support
AwarenessTools.com does not currently offer any type of support for the StressManager other than answering inquiries through email from their general inquiry email address. Fortunately, the most difficult part of using the StressManager is getting it started, in which case AwarenessTools.com would be happy to answer any inquiries you may have related to this process.
·        System Requirements
ø Â Â Â Â Â Windows 95 or higher
ø Â Â Â Â Â Â At least 7MB of free disk space
What I Liked
ø Â Â Â Â Â Easy to use, fun, colorful and uplifting
ø Â Â Â Â Â Provides informative and enlightened insights into stress management and stress relief
ø Â Â Â Â Â Includes short and easy exercises that can help combat different types of stress-related feelings and emotions
ø Â Â Â Â Â Free of charge and easily accessible
Limitations
ø Â Â Â Â Â Currently, users aren´t allowed to select more than one feeling/emotion at one time although they may be experiencing more than one at the same time (to tackle this problem, users currently have to make several entries for each individual feeling/emotion for a given day)
ø Â Â Â Â Â Stress-related feelings/emotions are limited to a duration time of 60 minutes, but what if someone is feeling this way for the whole day? Are they supposed to make an entry every hour?
ø Â Â Â Â Â There are a limited number of Limiting States to select from, should there be more and if so, what could they be?
What Would Make the StressManager Even Better
ø Â Â Â Â Â In the current version, the "advice" and exercises given to help relieve the stress-related feelings do not change, regardless of the frequency of occurrence and the duration of each feeling. This can make the StressManager get old, fast. Â However, it might be nice to see a greater range of exercises and philosophical readings...
ø Â Â Â Â Â There is also currently no security feature for access to the program. This means that anyone who launches it, regardless of whether they are the owner of the program or not, can access the entered information, which may be problematic since some people could be revealing very personal and sensitive information that they do not want others to see.
Overall Evaluation
The StressManager is a fun way of breaking up the day. It is easy to use and, for the individual, can be a great way of keeping track of your daily stresses over time. You never know, you could learn a lot about yourself and the satisfaction that you are experiencing day in and day out!! Unfortunately, there is only so much that you can do with the StressManager and it can quickly lose its novelty. The good thing is that its free and only takes up a small amount of disk space.
About the Company
AwarenessTools.com, part of Aurosoorya, "aspires to create path-setting tools for individual, team, and organizational development through an integration of Western and Eastern ways of being."
In addition to the StressManager, AwarenessTools.com also offers several other enlightening products including:
v     Daemon - a computer-based ´oracle´, that provides self-transcending and boundary-breaking insights and exercises
v     TeamAware - a computer-based ´team alignment´ system that assists teams in creating synergies through tapping into the uniqueness of each team member
v     Within - a path-setting, computer-based comprehensive leadership development system based on the LEADERSHIP HELIOSPIRAL that allows individuals and teams to develop inner and outer mastery that manifests in high quality thinking and analysis skills, communication skills, and team management skills
v     iAware - a computer-based ´self-development´ system that helps users build greater awareness and greater control over their lives
For more information about the products and services offered by AwarenessTools.com and Aurosoorya contact them by email at awarenesstools[at]aurosoorya.com or visit their website at www.aurosoorya.com.
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