Music has a well-established relaxing effect on our bodies and minds. Therapists use music to help people overcome anxiety and depression, and improve their cognitive functioning, motor skills and social skills. Science has also proven that music has many beneficial physiological effects including slowing down the heart rate, lowering blood pressure and reducing the level…
Chronic stress can wreak havoc and cause harmful disruptions to our health and well-being. It can make us vulnerable to disease, drain joy from our lives, and throw our metabolic systems into disarray, from the immune system to blood sugar and the cardiovascular system. In fact, the damaging effects of long-term stress are so pervasive…
Avoiding problems is a band-aid approach to handling life’s challenges that makes things worse. According to Christina Smith, LMHC, “Avoidance is a maladaptive coping skill that offers the mind an escape from uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and/or experiences. It may seem like avoiding discomfort could be helpful, however, it results in never addressing the actual issue….
Ghandi said, “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” Although exercise is proven to change our body, mind, attitude, and mood, how many people get physical activity regularly? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 46.9 percent of adults aged 18 years and over meet the…
One of the best things we can do to reduce stress happens to be one of the last things many of us do: sleep. It’s not always easy to sleep when feeling anxious and overwhelmed. But having a routine of getting good quality sleep is probably the best thing we can do to manage stress,…
People are stressed out; it doesn’t look like things are getting better anytime soon. Money and economics are the leading cause of stress. In fact, the stress and anxiety we’re facing is growing into a national health crisis. Americans are one of the most stressed out in the world, according to Stress.org 55% of Americans…
Life gets more stressful every day. It can be a million little things competing for our time or one huge thing we never saw coming. One minute everything is great, and the next minute our whole world is upside down. Life isn’t easy. Of the many techniques to cope with stress, deep breathing is among…
There are over a billion Internet searches on “anxiety,” which, according to Psychiatry.org, says: “Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can be beneficial in some situations. It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay attention. Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety.” Get…
There’s a lot of talk about stress these days. People feel anxious and overwhelmed by all kinds of stress, from financial worries to relationship issues to world events. Chronic stress is the problem – stressful feelings that won’t go away but stay with you daily. Chronic stress interferes with your ability to be happy. Although…
Do you ever feel like life is rushing past you? Or are you so distracted by a million different things competing for your attention that you miss what’s happening around you? When was the last time you gifted yourself a few minutes just to enjoy nature? The warm, nurturing glow of the sun as it…
