Anxiety

...ba href=/anxiety/a/b and improving personal performance.

Ad: Click here for more info "It's made a huge difference to me.

I am sleeping better and feel calmer in stressful situations," Woosnam said.

"It has also helped me cope with the effects of jet lag.

"I wish I had known about HeartMath earlier in my career and am confident it will help me with the pressures of the year ahead," he added.

"At first it sounded a bit complex, but it has been remarkably easy to learn and to put into practice.

"It has made a difference already," he said.

"I am not jumping around and not as uptight as I used to be.

"When you are relaxed, you make better decisions," he added.

"I went along to see what the program was about and it is very useful for everyone, especially people in high-profile jobs.

You learn about breathing techniques and it is all about making you healthier." Woosnam admitted that the speech-making part of the job is the most worrying for him.

"My opening address at the K Club will set the tone for the week for the whole team," he said.

"And I think HeartMath will be instrumental in keeping me calm for that key moment." SCANDINAVIAN SUPPORT: Nordic banking firm EnterCard has signed on as the title sponsor of the Scandinavian Masters, European Tour officials have announced.

The 2006 edition of the event, which has become the largest annual sporting event in Scandinavia, is set for Aug.

3-6 at Barseback Golf and Country Club in Malmo, Sweden.

Among the previous Scandinavian Masters champions a...

...ba href=/anxiety/a/b," or perhaps a fear that doctors expected the worst.

"Obviously, my colleagues were surprised by the unexpected and counterintuitive outcome," said Rev.

Dean Marek, director of chaplain services at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and a co-investigator for the project.

It was a strange end for the mammoth prayer study, which cost $2.4 million and enrolled 1,802 patients who had bypass surgery.

The majority of funding came from the British-based John Templeton Foundation, which supports research at the intersection of science and religion.

Previous studies had examined the power of prayer for medical patients, with mixed results.

Most did not have the statistical power to reliably detect the effects of prayer, if it had an effect.

The new study, which appears in the April issue of the American Heart Journal, was designed to be large enough to see if patients who knew they were being prayed for had better recoveries.

The people who prayed for the patients were strangers - either Roman Catholic monks or believers belonging to other Christian denominations.

Those who prayed were given the patients' first names and last initials, and instructed to give a simple prayer for a quick recovery with no complications.

The researchers said they could not find a non-Christian group that could work with the scheduling demands of their study.

Bypass patients who consented to take part in the experiment were divided randomly into three groups.

Some patients received prayers but we...

...ba href=/anxiety/a/b moments for the coach, but it all worked out." It was the last full-speed practice of the season for the Tigers, who are planning walkthroughs the rest of the way.

"I guess it was not too smart for the ol' coach to have contact at this time of the year," Brady quipped.

"But we needed to do something." Rolle, a 6-foot-10 freshman, is a backup for the Tigers.

He averages 2.2 points and just under nine minutes a game.

- LUCK OF THE IRISH: When George Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor was trying to find a television for the Patriots' first-round game against Michigan State, he turned to Jacksonville, Fla., bar owner James "Chief" Flynn.

Flynn told that he thought he was talking to just another fan.

Instead, after eating the traditional St.

Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage at Flynn's expense, O'Connor offered to send Flynn a George Mason banner for his bar - and Final Four tickets if the Patriots made it.

On Monday, Flynn called O'Connor about the tickets.

O'Connor called back Tuesday to tell Flynn he was headed to Indianapolis.

Flynn departs Friday for the Final Four.

"There's got to be an Irish bar there somewhere," Flynn told The Florida Times-Union.

"If not, they've got plenty of places with cold beers for a couple of friends." News Copyrigh...