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Stress Busters

January 4, 2009 by Nicole Urdang

 

Apparently, my tea drinking grandmother was right: tea really is relaxing.  British researchers found regular consumption of tea normalized levels of stress hormones, and lowered blood pressure and heart rate. While I don’t need a study’s stamp of approval to tell me what I already intuitively know, it doesn’t hurt when science corroborates inner wisdom.  

 

The following are a number of simple, cost-effective ways to reduce stress.  I didn’t include yoga, because I have mentioned it before, but yoga is deeply soothing to every cell in your body-mind, and it does the spirit good. Please consider adding it to your arsenal of supports. 

 

*** Drink tea, especially caffeine-free varieties.  Chamomile is almost soporific it’s so relaxing.  It isn’t easy to incorporate a new ritual, but if you practice something for 30 days in a row it has a good chance of becoming a habit.  Do as the British, have a cup of tea in the afternoon, four o’clock is the traditional time, and see if it doesn’t re-set your mood for the rest of the day.  

 

*** Go for a stroll, hike, or just sit outside. Take advantage of nature’s curative powers, they’re free.

 

*** Call a friend.  Connecting is just as important as time alone, so reach out. 

 

*** Listen to music.  Choose whatever resonates with you, literally and figuratively, and make the time to feed your soul. (You might want to try Ultimate Om by Jonathan Goldman, see Annotated Bibliography.)

 

*** Think of three things for which you are grateful.  If you do this daily, think of three different things every day.

 

*** Look at the sky, or a tree; tune in to the beauty and impermanence of all things.  Research has shown that pausing to view scenes from nature helps refocus your attention.  People who work near a window are healthier, happier, more tolerant, and enthusiastic about their job.  In one study, prisoners who had windows with views of nature were sick 24% less frequently than those with no view.

 

*** Go inside and feel your body.  Take a little tour from your feet to the top of your head.  If an area feels tense just breathe into it. As simple as this sounds, it really works. 

 

*** Read a poem and let it change your perspective.  You can get one sent to your email by subscribing to panhala @yahoo.com  (the link is listed on page one of this site).

 

*** Use all five senses to tune in to your environment. Try this while sitting at your desk, eating something, walking, or taking a shower.  

 

*** Put a couple of drops of essential oil of lavender on a tissue and place it on your desk or chair.   Not only has lavender been shown to relax you, it also relieves physical pain.

 

 

Copyright Nicole S. Urdang 

Filed Under: Stress

Contentment & Gratitude: Two Paths to Creating Calm

January 2, 2009 by Nicole Urdang

The Dalai Lama once said that happiness is contentment. But how does one cultivate contentment? Gratitude is a good place to start. Whatever is true for you now, whatever challenges you are facing, you can always find dozens of things for which to be grateful.  Can you see?  Hear? Taste? Touch?  Breathe?  Feel an emotion?  Speak?  Start where you are.  Every day thank whomever you thank for your blessings amidst the morass of chaos and confusion that may be your life right this minute.

Know, the only constant is change.  Your situation, no matter how odious, is temporary.  By paying attention to what is good, by reaching deeply into the moment by moment truth of each inhale and exhale, you move forward.  Sometimes, literally, breath by breath.

Even the fiercest storm has moments of peace.  Seek out these pauses and use them to regain your strength.  You may have temporarily forgotten your power:  the inner reserves you have built throughout your life, as you dealt with one challenge after another.  Right now, remind yourself of hard times when you prevailed.  How do I know you prevailed?  Because you are still here, able to read my words and remember how capable you are.  Strange as it may sound, you can be grateful for those trials and the strength they instilled in you.

Use this time of great emotional intensity to give yourself the gift of perspective. Be grateful for shifts in awareness, and the ability to accommodate to a new vision, even if it’s only for a split second.

There is a part of you that deeply knows this firestorm will end and new growth will come.  Just a glimpse of clarity and gratitude can be enough to revitalize your natural optimism and faith in yourself.

Copyright Nicole S. Urdang

Filed Under: Gratitude

Crying 101: How To Maximize Its Benefits

January 1, 2009 by Nicole Urdang

I recently came across some interesting research on how to enhance your crying jags.  If you are grief-stricken from a recent loss it helps to know how to maximize the benefits of weeping.

William H. Frey II, a biochemist at the University of Minnesota, proposed that people feel better after crying due to the elimination of hormones associated with stress, specifically adrenocorticotropic hormone.  This, paired with increased mucosal secretion during crying, could lead to a theory that crying is a mechanism developed in humans to dispose of this stress hormone when levels grow too high.  But, there’s more to it than the mere release of hormones and mucous.

University of South Florida psychologists Jonathan Rottenberg and Lauren M. Bylsma, along with their colleague Ad J.J.M. Vingerhoets of Tilburg University describe some of their recent findings about the psychology of crying in the December issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The psychologists analyzed the detailed accounts of more than 3000 recent crying experiences (which occurred outside of the laboratory) and found that the benefits of crying depend entirely on the what, where and when of a particular crying episode. The majority of respondents reported improvements in their mood following a bout of crying. However, one third of the survey participants reported no improvement in mood and a tenth felt worse after crying. The survey also revealed that criers who received social support during their crying episode were the most likely to report improvements in mood.

Laboratory studies provided interesting findings about the physical effects of crying: Criers do show calming effects such as slower breathing, but they also experience a lot of unpleasant stress and arousal, including increased heart rate and sweating. What is interesting is that bodily calming usually lasts longer than the unpleasant arousal. The calming effects may occur later and overcome the stress reaction, which would account for why people tend to remember mostly the pleasant side of crying.

Research has shown that the effects of crying also depend on who is shedding the tears. For example, individuals with anxiety or mood disorders are least likely to experience the positive effects of crying. In addition, the researchers report that people who lack insight into their emotional lives (a condition known as alexithymia) actually feel worse after crying. The authors suggest that for these individuals, their lack of emotional insight may prevent the kind of cognitive change required for a sad experience to be transformed into something positive.

I find it fascinating that the benefits of crying increase if you have social support and insight.  Again, proving that activities like keeping a journal and talking about one’s life really do lead to greater mental health.  Let’s face it: bad things happen to all of us and sometimes we will cry a river. If we want to maximize the benefits of all those tears, grab a friend and figure out what exactly is going on your life.  Insight may not always lead to change, but when it comes to crying it definitely helps.

Note: Eleven years after I wrote this the NY Times had a very short documentary on a Japanese “crying teacher” who also runs a crying cafe. Here’s the link:

Other references:

            Association for Psychological Science (2008, December 19). Cry Me A River: The Psychology Of Crying.
            ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 27, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217123831.htm
Copyright Nicole S. Urdang

 

Filed Under: Trauma

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