How to Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

Step 1. Find the right place

Start by finding a place that is quiet and relaxing—a place where you can sit in silence for at least five minutes. Be sure to sit or lie down in a position that is comfortable. If you are worried about falling asleep, you may want to try this sitting up at first.

Step 2. Begin with deep breathing

Begin by taking deep, long breaths; make it a point to breathe more from your abdomen and not your chest. Notice how your body feels first as it fills up with air, and then as the air leaves the body. Imagine all of the tension being released from your body as you breathe out, and the relaxation flowing in, as you inhale.

Step 3. Scan and relax your upper body

Turn your attention to your forehead. Tense the muscles in your forehead as hard as you can for five seconds, and as you breathe out let the muscles relax. Continue this with all of the muscles in your face: your eye lids, your jaw, and your ears.

As your head begins feeling relaxed, move your attention downwards, turning next to your neck, shoulders and arms. Shrug your shoulders and then relax. Squeeze the muscles in your chest, your arms, your hands… and then relax.

Now that your upper body is fully relaxed, take a few moments to breathe deeply, and scan through your upper body. Notice what it feels like when those muscles are relaxed, and what it feels like to be in this moment. Make a note of this so you can remember it later.

4. Scan and relax your lower body

Next, allow the relaxation to continue flowing through your body by tensing the muscles in your abdomen. Again, holding tight for five seconds, and then letting go. Follow this by tightening your butt muscles, and then your thighs. Let this relaxation continue to flow down into the feet as you pull your feet backwards tensing your calves, and curl your toes to tighten your feet.

At this point, scan one last time through your body to see if any parts have again become tense, paying special attention to common problem areas such as the shoulders, jaw, and stomach. If they have become tense, just tighten and release the muscles to relax them.

5. Continue to breathe deeply after finishing body scan

Lastly, take a few moments to notice what it is like when your entire body feels relaxed. Continue to deeply breathe in and out, and allow the feeling of relaxation to wash over you entirely.

“It’s a good idea always to do something relaxing prior to making an important decision in your life.”
—Paula Coelho

Tips for Practicing Progressive Muscle Relaxation at Home

Be sure to practice this exercise at least once a day. Remember, it may be difficult to relax at first, but like most things, the more you practice, the easier it gets. Avoid practising it directly before or after a meal. The hunger or feelings of fullness distract you from focusing on your muscles.

If you find that you have a hard time staying focused on PMR on your own, see if someone can read aloud a relaxation script to you, or even record yourself saying one slowly to play back later. Additionally, there are many free smart phone applications and guided PMR audios available online. Simply search “progressive muscle relaxation audio” or “progressive muscle relaxation script” online.

After you feel you have gained a good grip on the exercise, try using it just before or after situations you would normally find stressful. For example, the next time you have a presentation, exam, job interview, or uncomfortable social situation, try using this exercise beforehand.

It only takes five minutes a day to start working towards that level of ‘Zen’ you may be looking for.

Health Benefits of Doing Progressive Muscle Relaxation

While relaxation is a good reason to turn towards progressive muscle relaxation, it also has various other health benefits. Let’s look at some of them.

• PMR helps lowers the heart rate, blood pressure, and promotes healthy sleep. All of these things together lower momentary stress levels and long-term stress levels when practiced regularly.
• It is often used as a treatment for people who suffer from general and social anxiety, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. People who suffer from anxiety disorders are often unaware of how tense they are during the day because, for them, feeling stressed begins to feel normal. They clench their jaw, tighten their shoulders and back, tense their stomach muscles, and keep a tight fist for most of the day.
• When someone holds their muscles in tense positions for long periods of time, it results in back pain, headaches and/or migraines, bruxism [grinding of teeth], and stomach aches. This continued tenseness keeps the body’s anxiety levels high and makes it more difficult for the body to return to a state of relaxation. The good news is that you can use relaxation techniques such as PMR to put a stop to this vicious cycle of anxiety.
• After practising PMR daily for about a month, you should find that your muscles are more likely to turn to relaxation instead of tightness as their neutral position.
• Practicing Progressive Muscle Relaxation daily helps the muscles to learn to relax, and eventually lowers the body’s baseline stress level, so you should see a visible difference in your daily stress levels.

Music to accompany PMR

• Nada Himalaya by Deuter
• Shakuhachi Meditation Music by Stan Richardson
• Indigo Dreams by Lori Lite
• The Most Relaxing Classical Music Ever by Hal Leonard Corp

Here is a video of a guided PMR that will help you in the beginning.

The post Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Technique, Tips and Health Benefits appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

As I was maneuvering my way through the busy and chaos-filled roads, my mind began agitating and protesting against the undesirable circumstances that were thrust upon me by the inconsiderate authorities who ran the city. I was simmering inside, blaming the traffic cops, the civic authorities and everyone else who I was convinced were responsible for the mismanagement of the city’s roads. The cynic in me was rejoicing in self-righteous indignation! All through the drama, a part of me was quietly noticing my reactions—and acknowledging a familiar pattern in them.

Traffic as a metaphor for life

Driving in a densely populated city like Mumbai is an emotionally charged phenomenon. The collective emotional charge of scores of commuters often runs very high. Over the years I have come to liken traffic in this city as a metaphor for life itself. The unpredictability, the chaos, the reactions and counter-reactions, the rat race in which everyone is trying to get ahead, with little consideration for fellow commuters—all seem to mimic life. And, just like in life, while driving, we always have a choice to either respond or react.

When I am behind the wheel, my fragile ego often goes into an overdrive. For example, when someone cuts in front of me, I get highly offended—and immediately want to get even with this unworthy being who needs to be taught some lessons in respecting others’ rights. But isn’t this the way I react to people in my life too? Without knowing the whole context, I often make up my mind about others. When I feel offended by someone, I assume the worst about him or her. And in the process, I create unnecessary stress and anxiety for myself.

Becoming mindful of the “other”

Now, what if the gentleman who cut ahead of me was facing an emergency? What if he wanted to get to an important meeting lest he lose his job? What if he was grieving and preoccupied with thoughts of a friend who had recently passed away? Or worse, what if his wife was in a critical condition, and he had to rush to the hospital? Would I still feel so righteous about myself? Would I still want to get even with him? I think I would respond with compassion and concern and silently send him good wishes.

Granted that people are often deliberately sadistic on the road—but here’s what I have learned. Every time I react to others by trying to get even, I fuel their belligerence even more, adding to the already high negative charge on the road, and end up feeling not so great myself. Yet, each time I respond with kindness to those who drive recklessly, I dilute their aggression, introduce a little peace on the road, and maintain my own connection to peace. This is possible when we practice mindfulness while driving.

Practicing mindfulness while driving

I have now come to regard the daily commute as a fantastic opportunity to practise the values of kindness and compassion, tolerance and patience. Of course, it takes time to make these changes—I still tend to get hooked by my ancient pattern of reacting. But at least I am aware of it… and often this awareness restores my connection quickly and strengthens my commitment to being mindful, while driving — and living.

Deliberately practicing mindfulness while driving keeps us from overreacting and helps us stay in touch with our shared humanity. Think of driving like a daily mindfulness classroom, where you can learn to tame your ego and lessen your cynicism. In time, you will find yourself being more mindful both on and off the road, and you will begin to experience reduced stress and greater peace in all aspects of your life. That is the beauty of mindfulness.

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Now, it can be really confusing when it comes to healthy habits because often, even qualified experts seem to hold opposing opinions sometimes. Yet, despite all the disagreements that exist among the medical community, a number of health tips are backed up by research.

For instance, to determine which healthy habits contribute to a longer and healthier life, researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analysed data from nearly 73,000 women and more than 38,000 men. All the respondents who were part of the study have been enrolled in previous studies, so, data for women was followed for 34 years, and the men were followed for 28 years. The results of the study concluded that the more of these five healthy habits the respondents had, the longer they lived. Plus, the study suggests that even if they had only one of these habits, the participants lived two years longer compared to those that had none. And, if by the age of 50, the participants practised all of the five habits regularly, women lived an extra 14 years, and men lived an extra 12 years.

Here are five healthy habits based on good science that will help you live a longer, happier and healthier life.

5 healthy habits for a longer, healthier, happier life

1. Eat mostly plants

You’ve definitely heard it before, but that’s because it’s true: you are what you eat! Proper nutrition is the top wellness habit that contributes to a healthy and longer life. Now, good nutrition is often misunderstood by many people who think that following a fad diet is the key to maintaining good health. Yet, adequate nutrition actually means choosing only diverse nutrient-dense foods regularly.

Eating mostly plant-based foods such as freshly cooked vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains has been found to be the best diet for longevity.

Nutrition specialists recommend a healthy diet to contain the following: a full plate should be two-thirds low-glycemic vegetables, and maybe a small amount of starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, peas, etc., and one-third protein. On the flip note, you should avoid processed junk food at all costs. These foods are low in fiber, protein, and micronutrients and usually contain high levels of unhealthy ingredients such as added sugar and refined grains. Moreover, these foods are projected to trigger our pleasure centers, which tricks our brains into overeating. That is why we often see food addiction in people who eat junk food consistently.

2. Exercise regularly

Exercising is another key habit of maintaining a healthy life. It can help you avoid numerous health conditions, and it is essential for maintaining bone and muscle health. Now, you don’t have to be a fitness junkie or a superstar athlete to have a healthy physical activity level. In fact, the study from Harvard mentioned above, suggests that at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day can have a significant impact on keeping you healthy longer.

However, specialists recommend focusing on variety and diversity when exercising. To be more precise, when working out, you shouldn’t focus entirely on a type of movement or a muscle group. Experts believe that since the body doesn’t work in isolation, and every bone, muscle, and body part has its contribution to movement, the more varied the types of movement and stimuli in your body, the deeper the fitness will be.

So, when exercising, include all types of movements in your workout, including pushing, pulling, walking, and twisting.

3. Maintain the ideal body weight

Weight management is a wellness habit that is strongly backed up by basic science. Another study from Harvard suggests that maintaining a healthy weight is essential for lowering the risk of several health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even the risk of different types of cancer. Now, weight management is obviously connected with regular exercising and healthy nutrition, especially since weight gain is caused not just by how much you eat but what you eat too. Yet, some people are also genetically predisposed to gain weight more easily than others. So, while being physically active and eating healthy foods remains important , they could try intermittent fasting as a way to lose weight.

4. Manage stress

Dealing with stress is inevitable. We all have stressful deadlines at work or personal problems that affect our mental health quality. Chronic stress can really take a toll on your health from affecting your sleep quality to affecting your immune system, physical health, and, obviously, mental and emotional wellbeing. Now, although it is impossible to live a completely stress-free life, there are a few strategies that can help you manage it. Unfortunately, even with a healthy diet and a habit of exercising regularly, you just can’t avoid stress. Yet, proper nutrition and being physically active can help you manage stress more efficiently.

Moreover, you can also learn to manage stress with mindfulness meditation. It is believed that meditation has plenty of benefits on the human body, from reducing blood pressure and heart rate to reduced brain activity, all thanks to the body’s response to relaxation. You don’t have to be a spiritual guru to manage stress through meditation. All you have to do is find a quiet space, close your eyes to disconnect from what surrounds you, and do some breathing exercises while gently focusing your attention on anything other than what caused you to feel stressed. You can think of a beautiful place where you feel safe, focus on your belly’s movements as you breathe, or even notice the sounds or smells in your environment without passing judgment. With time and practice, it will become a lot easier to manage stressful thoughts and get clarity. [Read How to ease into a daily routine of meditation]

5. Quit smoking now

Smoking is one of the worst habits. Every cigarette reduces your lifespan by 11 minutes. Studies have estimated that smokers die ten years sooner than non-smokers. The chance that someone will live to be 80 is only about 35% for smokers as compared to about 70% for nonsmokers. In other words, a smoker loses about 11 to 12 years of life compared to nonsmokers. Heavy smokers cut their lifespan by 13 years on average. On the other hand, those who kick the habit before age 40 reduce the excess risk of death associated with continued smoking by about 90%, according to the study in New England Journal of Medicine.

In conclusion

Our lifespan is strongly linked to our lifestyle and habits. You may live 100 years, but if you don’t enjoy good health, you are very unlikely to enjoy all this extra time. Indeed, you might actually spend your last decade or so suffering from one or more illnesses. Practising these five habits will not only help you live longer but also minimise the risks of disease as you grow older.

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Unfortunately, frontline treatments aren’t always effective in relieving panic attacks. Solutions such as benzodiazepines (known under brand names like Xanax and Valium) may relieve fear in the short term, but they have an extremely high potential for addiction, a notoriously difficult withdrawal and tend to treat the symptom but not the underlying cause.

Having panic attacks on a regular basis can have a severe impact on a person’s ability to enjoy life or even function normally, with some going on to develop co-morbidities such as agoraphobia (usually in an attempt to avoid anything that may trigger a panic attack or fear of not being close enough to “safe” people or areas) or substance misuse disorders.

What does a panic attack feel like?

Panic attacks are not dangerous (in the sense that they won’t cause bodily harm) and they are not the result of something “physically” wrong, but the symptoms can be so acute that people often assume they are having a heart attack, losing their mind, or even dying.

Common symptoms for panic attacks include:

• Shaking
• Sweating
• Intense chest or head pain
• A feeling of unreality
• A sense of impending doom
• Nausea and stomach cramping
• Feeling unable to breathe

It is important to understand that these symptoms aren’t imagined. What people experience in a panic attack is very real — it just isn’t going to cause them any physical harm. Activity in the brain and nervous system creates a physiological response that is indistinguishable from what a person would experience if they were in mortal danger, including a spike in blood pressure and a cascade of stress hormones.

What triggers panic attacks

Through observation and research, we now understand that panic attacks occur due to activity in three aspects of our being — our physical selves (a.k.a our physiology), our psychology and our respiratory system. We know that there is a physical cause as around 60% of panic attack sufferers respond to medication such as SSRI’s, and we can observe the panic response in their brain and nervous system.

The emotional aspect of panic attacks is more complex but no less powerful. Panic attacks can sometimes have emotional triggers, and our emotional response to feelings of panic can also serve to entrench patterns of worry and stress which make panic attacks more likely.

The third factor at the root of panic attacks is the way we breathe. The medical community is becoming more aware of the role our breath (and particularly, disturbed breathing patterns) have on our autonomic nervous system, and how conscious control of our breath may influence the way we feel for the better.

How yoga can help relieve panic attacks

There is a growing wealth of research to suggest that yoga can help people who experience panic attacks due to underlying mental health issues, particularly through the easing of symptoms associated with anxiety disorders and PTSD.  One notable example is a study published in the Frontiers of Psychology, which found “significant improvement in panic symptomatology following both the practice of yoga and the combination of yoga and psychotherapy.”

While there aren’t many studies that investigate panic attacks specifically, yoga therapy is increasingly viewed as a viable adjunct treatment for many of the conditions which include panic attacks in their symptoms. Unfortunately, around 40% of anxiety sufferers prove resistant to primary treatments for anxiety, creating a pressing need amongst health professionals and patients for other efficacious interventions.

The three aspects of yoga that support healing

Yoga therapy offers a sustainable treatment option that patients can continue long-term with their own private practice. Yoga addresses three parts of a person’s being (the breath, body and mind), which holistically supports healing across both the physical and psychological aspects of their illness, while also offering a spiritual framework for life should they wish to engage with it.

1. Breath

Breathing is often disordered in people with panic attacks, which can have a negative impact on their wider nervous system. They may “gulp” air, unconsciously hold their breath, over-breathe or breathe shallowly, and most especially when they begin to feel anxious.

Disordered breathing is something people develop unconsciously and it is often a reactive attempt to control their feelings. Unfortunately, however, it has the opposite effect, putting their nervous system into a state of high alert and culminating in periods of psychological crisis.

Pranayama (the yogic word for breathing exercises) is of increasing interest to anxiety researchers. The relationship between anxiety and our breathing is becoming ever more understood, and learning breath work with a yoga therapist can help people manage their anxiety in an effective and accessible way.

2. Body

A key component of panic attacks and anxiety are the distressing physical symptoms that accompany feelings of fear. People living with acute anxiety often display high levels of physical tension and are extremely sensitive to physical stimuli. For example, a person who regularly has panic attacks may notice and fixate on a passing headache that another person barely registers, and feel increasingly anxious about the pain.

This creates a feedback loop where the pain is amplified by the body’s physical stress response, which goes on to heighten psychological anxiety. This leads to hyper-vigilance and for some can develop into a sense of alienation from their own body.

Yoga asanas offer a gentle method of exercise that helps people connect with their bodies and feel less uncomfortable within themselves. With the help of a yoga therapist, highly anxious people can increase their “window of tolerance” for physical discomfort, learn to breathe correctly under physical strain and increase their resilience to stress.

3. Mind

The psychological aspect of panic attacks is powerful and can impact people’s lives in a profoundly negative way. They may stop taking part in activities they once enjoyed, become convinced they will suffer a heart attack or stroke, avoid spaces that aren’t perceived as safe to them, or become depressed.

Mindfulness and meditation are key components of yoga and can help people to become calmer and more able to cope with negative thoughts and emotions. With regular practice, mindfulness increases people’s capacity to recognise their own stress triggers and gently guide themselves away from detrimental thought patterns and behaviours.

Summary

Experiencing panic attacks can be life-changing for the sufferer, estranging them from the person they thought they were and the life they thought they’d lead. Managing panic attacks and the mental health issues that cause them requires holistic support which sustains people through acutely vulnerable periods of their life. When used alongside talking therapies and medication, yoga therapy can provide another pillar of care on the road to recovery.

The post The beneficial impact of yoga on panic attacks appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Food is shown to help relieve stress levels, to provide pleasure and stimulate production of hormones that make us feel happy. It has been shown, at least in the short term, to be an effective coping tool during high stress moments. This is not something we should try to disconnect from—it is simply a part of being human.

When we treat emotional eating as bad and something we should stop, we create a sense of guilt and shame over these eating experiences. As a result, we can end up with an added burden of even more stressful emotions, often leading us to find a way to cope with these new difficult feelings. And when other coping tools can be more difficult to access, food is often there, again, to help us through these difficult emotions.

How self-compassion can break this cycle

Imagine for a moment that you are experiencing difficult emotions and you turn to food to cope. But rather than feeling an intense sense of guilt and shame, you are aware that this experience is, in fact, a part of being human. You are aware these difficult emotions come from a deeper place and that perhaps there is a more effective way to cope than using food, but this does not mean that food, in itself, is the problem. You are able to reflect on your experience, explore how you feel and ponder if there are other coping tools that might be more helpful in the situation.

When faced with difficult emotions, eating is a normal coping mechanism. But if we rely excessively on food alone, it may not allow us to truly explore the root cause of our emotions. There may be some other coping tools that are more effective and when we practise self-compassion in these moments, we unlock space to explore the deeper issues and broaden our coping toolkit. Let us look at ways to break the pattern of emotional eating with self-compassion.

4 steps to break your emotional eating pattern with self-compassion

1. Letting go of unhelpful self-talk and beliefs about emotional eating

The feeling of failure from emotional eating can feel like a direct consequence from the eating behaviour itself. However, as explored by Dr Albert Ellis and Dr Robert Harper, pioneers of rational-emotive psychotherapy, there’s a middle step: our self-talk. If we change our self-talk, we can change our beliefs about a situation and our feelings and behaviour will follow.

Let’s imagine the eating experience itself: why do we perceive it as bad? A moment of eating in itself is not actually good or bad; however, we are surrounded by messages telling us we “should” eat a certain way and we are bad if we don’t. Having these beliefs surrounding food being good or bad can trigger the unhelpful self-talk that leads to sabotaging behaviours.

Consider your self-talk during these moments. Is it compassionate? Does it allow you to explore where the difficult emotions are coming from and encourage more helpful behaviours? If your self-talk, instead of being helpful, triggers a cascade of unhelpful feelings and behaviours, write down helpful phrases you can say to yourself next time and gently replace your harmful thoughts with more compassionate and helpful thoughts. [Also read » The high cost of beating yourself up habitually]

2. Nourishing your body and soul to strengthen your wellbeing

In today’s busy age, managing a busy career or juggling a hectic social life may feel like important tasks. These might be important and may add to our overall sense of wellbeing but often we end of neglecting our most basic needs in our pursuit of satisfying more complex desires.

One of our most basic needs is food and for this reason we have strong biological and psychological drives to ensure we are nourished with enough, and with satisfying, foods. Dieting can prevent us from properly nourishing our body by creating rules around what food we are allowed to eat or how our bodies should look like. Even if we are eating according to a diet or a meal plan, we may not be getting enough nutrition. In fact, studies have shown dieters are more likely to describe themselves as emotional eaters than non-dieters (Peneau et al. 2013).

The best way to know if you are eating enough is to listen to your body’s own hunger and fullness cues. This can sometimes be challenging if we are used to following external rules. If we have gone through a stage of not eating enough for our body, we may even find we are extra hungry to start with, which can make the process difficult. But, if we consistently listen to our body’s biological signals and nourish it accordingly, we are more likely to satisfy our basic need for food and eating pleasure and, therefore, less likely to turn to food during emotional moments.

3. Practising mindfulness during and after an emotional eating moment

During an emotionally charged moment, we are often in a state of distress known as the fight or flight response. During this stress response we are geared to seek a fast comfort. This is a helpful evolutionary response if we are about to get hit by a car, but when it comes to the more chronic stress that we find ourselves dealing with today, it’s not only unhelpful but often detrimental.

Chronic stress cannot be solved by finding immediate comfort. It requires the more complex regions of our brain to get involved so we can explore and find a long-term solution. These complex regions of the brain are not used during a fight or flight response but we can learn to get them involved so we are better able to explore an enduring approach to managing the underlying drives toward emotional eating.

Practising mindfulness can move us from a place of high stress to a calmer place where we can make these informed decisions. When we feel caught up in an emotional moment, taking a few minutes to practise some deep breathing, noticing the breath moving in and out of our body can bring us to a calmer place. We can also begin to tune into different areas of our body, noticing where we feel sensations that, in turn, can help explore the emotions we are feeling and also discover long-term coping strategies.

4. Broadening our coping toolkit to better cope with emotions

Imagine the tools you use to cope inside a toolkit. What different tools do you have in there? If food is one of only a few tools you use, of course you are going to turn to it more often. There’s nothing innately wrong with this, remember it is a valid coping tool, but we may be missing out on other, more helpful, ways to cope.

As Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch say in Intuitive Eating, “Food can comfort but it won’t solve the problem, you will ultimately still have to deal with that”. A diverse toolkit is important to cope with the diverse range of emotions and the underlying triggers that we experience from time to time. The more diverse our toolkit, the more likely we are to find a tool that will be helpful. As a result, the need to turn to the same short-term tools such as food will be much reduced.

Rather than trying to remove food from your toolkit (because if we remove a coping tool, how can we expect to cope?) we can start to add some new tools in. To do this, start to brainstorm some different behaviours or activities that might be helpful when you feel emotional. Next time you feel a strong emotional drive to eat, practise deep breathing to find a calmer place and then consider trying a new activity from your list. If anything helps, you can move it into your coping toolkit.

The post Emotional eating: 4 steps to break the pattern with self-compassion appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Proper sleep raises our body’s immunity against viral infection and protects against higher risks of cardiovascular disease [heart attacks and strokes], type II diabetes, obesity, cancer, early onset of Alzheimer’s disease, depression, irritability, stress and anxiety.

Restful sleep also enhances cognitive performance, including memory, creativity, reaction-time, critical thinking and even athletic performance. That is a pretty good bargain for a pleasurable healthy experience with little effort on our behalf!

One way to ensure good sleep is to try sleeping with your best friend—your pet dog, cat or  any other four legged being. How many of us enjoy sharing our bed with a 4-legged family member? A good way to ensure good sleep is to sleep with your best friend, whether it is your dog, cat, or any other four-legged creature. Please do not forget to provide our furry companions with the loving care they deserve, and secure pet insurance for when necessary.

Benefits of Sleeping With Your Dog or Cat

Statistics show around 41 percent of surveyed pet owners who allowed their pet to sleep in the bedroom or on the bed said that they did not find their pet disruptive, and they even reported sleeping better. Here is why:

• A big advantage of sleeping with your 4-legged family member is they help with your emotional wellbeing. A pet offers you a feeling of companionship leading to decrease in feelings of loneliness.
• Pets lower your stress level, and ease depression. Studies suggest that the presence of pets increases the flow of oxytocin, the love chemical.
• Sleeping with your dog gives you an increased sense of security, especially for women.
• Pets promote coziness and warmth, and not just for humans. Our pets love to be next to their human companions and it reduces their anxiety that might be triggered by seeing animals on your TV screen [scores of TV commercials show pets], hearing environmental noise and having reactions to thunder and lightning. Win-win for both you and your faithful animal companions.

A Few Disadvantages

One disadvantage of sleeping with your fur baby is that it could negatively affect your love life, so you will probably want to have an alternative plan in place for them to sleep where they feel safe and you aren’t distracted. Thank god most animals can’t talk [beware the smart observant parrot!]

If you have allergies, co-sleeping with your pet might trigger or aggravate your condition.

While some people sleep better with a dog or cat because they feel calmer and more secure, others might have their sleep interrupted by pets moving around or snoring. So If you are a light sleeper, you might not enjoy your pet sleeping on your bed next to you.

Some pets—a large dog, for instance—may cause disruptions to your rest just by simply taking up a large space in your bed or trying to sleep on top of you.

Ideal Setting for Sleeping With Your dog or Cat

The ideal bedroom temperature for you and your pet is between 65 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Also your sleeping quarters should be quiet and dark. A white noise generator can be peaceful and mask a noisy environment, but make sure the gadget is one that generates white noise rather than just playing a tape recording [which can interrupt sleep].

Keeping an air purifier in the bedroom will cut down on dust, dander and dog hair. Spraying lavender on pillows and sheets will aid your sleep and mask pet odors.

While there some sleep disturbances to humans, dogs and cats are just as much at risk when it comes to co-sleeping with their owners. People readjust and move around in their sleep without fully waking, so it could be dangerous to your 4-legged friends if you were to roll over on them or smother them with your blankets and comforters.

On the other hand, if your dog has some jerky leg movements, eye movements and maybe even some whimpering or barking, and cats show whisker twitching, rest assured they might be in REM sleep, the stage in which dreams most often occur in humans and animals.

Sleep well and sweet dreams!

The post Should You Be Sleeping With Your Dog or Cat? appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

And it occurred to me that if all the countless available stress “remedies”—books, videos, drugs, audio tapes, aroma therapy, vibrating chairs, relaxation techniques, programs, devices—are so effective, how come everyone is still stressed out?

The answer is simple. While these methods may help to ease your stress—that is, treat its symptoms—most of them do little or nothing to eliminate the causes, to reverse the stressful habits, attitudes and mindsets you’ve developed over the course of your life.

The solutions mentioned here will give you the tools, motivation and attitude changes you need to root out stress at its very source… on the multiple battlefronts of your life.

It’s time to stop the insanity and take back control of your life. Starting today. Starting now.

30 tools to help you take back control of your life

1. Do one thing at a time

Do it mindfully. Do it well. Enjoy the satisfaction. Then go on to the next thing. That’s the way to take back control of your life — one thing at a time. Multitasking might work for computers, but humans have yet to get the hang of it. A growing body of evidence affirms that trying to accomplish several things at once takes up more time overall than doing them sequentially. It consumes an excessive amount of mental energy, too, so you fatigue more quickly. The lack of focus also leads to careless mistakes, shoddy work and unreliable performance. Worst of all, having to do things over. This is no way to live. Give what you’re doing your undivided attention. Take the time to get it right. You’ll be more productive, and less stressed, in the long run. Why make yourself crazy?

2. Throw something out every day

You’ve got too much stuff in your house. Office. Garage. Attic. Useless clutter that’s weighing you down, getting in the way, obscuring the things you really need. Just looking at the stuff is stressful, to the point where physical clutter soon becomes mental clutter. The problem is getting rid of it. It’s a huge job, so you keep putting it off. But the more you put it off, the more clutter you accumulate… making it an even more humongous task to face. Here’s how to break the cycle. Every day, find one thing you don’t need and toss it. Or give it away. Or sell it at a consignment shop. Be realistic. If you’re not going to use it, lose it. Over time, the clutter will begin to vanish and space and order will magically appear in your home… and your life. Stick with this. It really works. Why make yourself crazy?

3. Cut down on competitive stress

Today, we compete for everything: the space around us, to be first to own a new product, to get our kids signed up for programs, to get our viewpoints across, to be faster, smarter, richer, sexier. Our days are filled with stressful competitions. And most are absolutely unnecessary. Because they’re driven by insecurity, fear of being left behind, an ingrained need to always have more or better than the next guy. If you wish to take back control of your life, try to get above all that. If you want to compete, vie to be the one who stays calm and in control, who isn’t easily sucked in by material things, who avoids being caught up in the daily grab-bag that robs people of health and peace of mind. Compete for that and see how pointless all those other competitions become. And how misguided those who partake in them begin to appear. Why make yourself crazy?

4. It’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react

In any given day, you’ll have progress and setbacks, triumphs and failures. That you can bet on. But as good a day as some people have, they’ll manage to find something to fret about. [“It’s just luck, it won’t last, I’m destined for misery.”] And as bad a day as others have, they’ll see the good in it. [“So what? I’m still alive, still kicking and nothing’s going to stop me”] will win over your day? And the next day? And the next? You have control over that: to enjoy your accomplishments without diminishing them; to accept your failures as opportunities to learn. You have the power to make every day a positive outcome. Because it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you react to it. Why make yourself crazy?

5. Eliminate meaningless deadlines

Our lives have become one long game of beat the clock. Crammed with arbitrary and unrealistic time constraints imposed by ourselves and others that serve only to make us more pressured, anxious and stressed out. For no worthwhile reason. Avoid the trap of assigning time frames to everything you do, especially if you have little idea how long it will take. But, you say, I need a deadline or I simply won’t get around to doing it. If that’s the case, it’s not a deadline you need, it’s a goal. Make your goal one of completing a project in a careful, professional, satisfying manner. In other words, as long as it takes to do it right. Or maybe your goal is to make the project more fun and interesting, or to develop a new and more expedient way of doing it. In any case, save your nerves and your energy for the few real deadlines we face… Why make yourself crazy?

6. Leave a cushion of time between events

Scheduling appointments, meetings, projects, luncheons, and events too closely together is a guaranteed stress fest. It leaves you vulnerable to even the slightest delays, which will occur. You’ll always have one eye on the clock and thus be distracted, rushed and prone to miss things and make mistakes. Be smart. Don’t stack up your events like planes on a runway. Life never works out that efficiently. Spread your schedule out. Always leave sufficient in-between time to allow for any unexpected bumps and delays. It will not go to waste. You’ll be glad to have those breaks to answer phone calls and email messages, take care of incidental things, and prepare yourself for your next event. That extra cushion of time will leave you less frazzled, and more productive, in the long run. Why make yourself crazy?

7. Have backups of essential items in place

So that you never run out of critical oft-used household staples like laundry detergent, milk, deodorant, toothpaste, batteries, or bathroom tissue… employ the buy-two-replace-one method. For example, buy two bottles of mouthwash. That way you’ll have an immediate replacement when the first one is used up, which will give you ample time to buy another before you run out of the second. In order to take back control of your life, make a list of those items it would be more than a little stressful to have to go without—there really shouldn’t be many—and see to it you’ve got both the item and its backup on hand. Why make yourself crazy?

8. Don’t get hung up on product features

The more bells and whistles a product has, the more there is to learn and remember, the more complicated it is to use and the more expensive it is to buy. Save yourself the waste and aggravation of overbuying your need. Get a unit that serves your main purpose simply and economically, with maybe one or two extras you’ll definitely use. Loading up on the latest gimmickery will cost you in more ways than one. There’s nothing more annoying than having to reread instructions every time you use something. Why make yourself crazy?

9. Entrust responsibility to responsible people

There are those who always have a convenient excuse for not getting it right, showing up late or botching the job entirely. And there are those who consistently, effectively and unequivocally come through for you. This isn’t luck. It’s responsibility. Not something you’re born with. Something you do. Responsibility takes effort. Concern. Pride. And perseverance. Whom do you want to entrust your children, your home, your finances, and your other important responsibilities to? Lose the whiners and stick with the winners. Why make yourself crazy?

10. Always view yourself as ahead, not behind

This small change in perspective can alter your approach to everything. When you perpetually see yourself behind schedule, never caught up, forever lacking in something… your emphasis is always on need. And that puts unrelenting, unhealthy pressure on you. But view yourself as ahead of the game [and most of us truly are] and the pressure almost immediately eases, and your needs diminish, because you’re grateful for what you already have. You can move forward confidently from a position of strength, rather than struggle from one of weakness. It’s all in the way you look at it. Why make yourself crazy?

11. Don’t over-volunteer

Resist volunteering for more than you can handle, more than your free time allows. Volunteering is great, but heavy involvement can steal important time from your family and relationships. [And it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to avoid more important obligations.] If the work becomes too demanding, simply say no. Nobody else is going to look out for you better than yourself. If we all “volunteered” to spend more time with kids, visit our parents, make loving homes, and carve out special time for ourselves, there wouldn’t be a need for so much volunteering in the first place. Why make yourself crazy?

12. Accept that people think differently than you do

You could spend your entire life trying to win over people to your point of view. The simple truth is, you won’t. At least, not everyone. Even if you present the most logical, rational, airtight arguments, some people will never see it your way. Maybe they’re proud, stubborn, stupid, or in some people will never see it your way. Maybe they’re proud, stubborn, stupid, or in some instances—did you ever stop to think?—right. If you wish to take back control of your life, don’t waste your time trying to convert the diehards. Instead, work with them, live with them, respect their differences, and be thankful the world isn’t full of people exactly like you. Why make yourself crazy?

13. Don’t say it. Do it

Boasting about the wonderful things you’re going to do for yourself and others can actually be your undoing. For one, now you’re expected to do them. Secondly, if you don’t do them you appear weak, unreliable and irresponsible. If you really want to impress people, don’t reveal what you intend to do… but simply do it. They’ll be surprised and pleased with your accomplishment, and even more moved by your modestly. And if for some reason you can’t get it done, no one will be the wiser. Why make yourself crazy?

14.  Always be equipped for an emergency

This is an important step when you wish to take back control of your life. You only need to do this once. In your car, keep a first-aid kit, jumper cables, flares, flashlight, blankets, and a fire extinguisher. Home: a first-aid kit, fire extinguishers, flashlights, candles, and a portable radio. Sports bag: first-aid kit and instant cold packs. Take the time. Make the investment. Do it today. Even if you never use them, the peace of mind alone is worth the effort and expense. Why make yourself crazy?

15. Don’t look at your crazed schedule in its entirety

It’ll freak you out…like looking over the edge of a steep cliff. You’ll swear you’ll never live through it. And stress yourself big time fretting over it. Calm down. Focus only on what you need to accomplish over the next day or so. Deal with each event as it comes. You’ll find that things have a way of sorting themselves out, refreshing breaks do sometimes open up, and other options will present themselves. Your kitchen calendar [or electronic scheduler] can look far more frightening than it really is. One thing at a time. Why make yourself crazy?

16. Be a slug one day a week

Especially if you’re a jackrabbit the other six. Sleep late. Languish in bed with the newspapers. Don’t answer the phone. Go out for brunch. It’s okay. It’s not a crime. In fact, considering how you normally abuse yourself, it’s downright virtuous. Even better, designate a day the whole family can be slugs. No shuttling the kids around frantically. No social calendar to be slave to. One way to take back control of your life is to just let things happen… lazily and naturally. It will leave you more energized and better prepared to tackle the week ahead. Why make yourself crazy?

17. Don’t let routine tasks become urgent ones

Don’t wait until: you’re out of underwear before you do your laundry; the fridge is empty before you go shopping; the cell phone dies before you recharge it. That routine task will quickly become a critical one at a time when you can least afford to deal with it. And saddle you with exasperating stress when none should exist. Keep tabs on what might soon need attention and take care of it before it rears up and bites up. Why make yourself crazy?

18. Be on time

Lateness can signal a lack of respect for those you keep waiting. At least, that’s how they might view it. However acceptable you think lateness has become, you can bet it still grates on those whose time is compromised. Aside from that, constantly running late is a stress factory. It’ll fry your nerves, make you prone to errors and accidents, weaken your immune system, age you prematurely. Get hooked on the relaxed, liberating feeling of being ahead of schedule. All it takes is planning, practice and empathy for others. Everyone wins when you’re on time. Why make yourself crazy?

19. Make the “I’m running late” phone call

When it’s fairly certain you’re not going to arrive on time, make the call. Let others know in advance you’ll be delayed. It accomplishes several things. You’ll experience an immediate unburdening of stress and a sense of relief. You won’t be keeping people hanging, fuming and wondering where you are. Your alert will allow them to alter their plans accordingly. And by the time you arrive, they will have appreciated your courtesy, adjusted to the situation and be more agreeable with you. So don’t just arrive way overdue and try to minimize it with a trite “Sorry I’m late.” Call ahead and let them know you’re delayed. Why make yourself crazy?

20. Don’t expect gratitude

You may get it, but don’t expect it. Accept that a lot of your good efforts will go unacknowledged. [And your kids will never fully appreciate you until they have children of their own!] Today, people mostly take notice when things go wrong… and take the rest for granted. So rather than repeatedly setting yourself up for disappointment, don’t expect accolades. Do it because it’s right, because it pleases you, because your reward should derive from the fruit of your labours, not the arbitrary whim of disinterested recipients. And when that infrequent expression of thanks does come your way, it will be that much sweeter. Why make yourself crazy?

21. Tell people what you expect of them

How else are they going to know what you want? And how to deliver it? When you’re the boss, the customer, the parent, the teacher… you can’t be vague or timid. You have to be clear, firm and decisive. Don’t be shy about giving orders or afraid you’ll ruffle some feathers. And you have every right, indeed obligation, to give it. You can save yourself and others a lot of frustration when you simply take command and let them know what you expect. Why make yourself crazy?

22. Don’t answer your morning emails right away

Read them, but don’t answer them—unless there’s an immediate fire to put out. They’ll sap your time and the mental energy needed for more important tasks. Save them for later when you need a break. Responding will be easier then, too, since your subconscious will be working on them all the while. [Notice how you instantly know what to say when you revisit them.] Personal messages and jokes can be especially insidious and take a big chunk out of your day. They’re like electronic water coolers. And try not to interrupt your workflow every time a new message arrives. Wait till you’ve got a bunch. The objective here: fewer distractions, more focus, less stress. Why make yourself crazy?

23. Leave yourself an extra day at the end of your vacation

Enjoy a day of transition at home to unpack, read your mail, do your laundry, reconnect with others, catch up on things, or simply relax… before heading back to work. Thrusting yourself right into your busy routine without a breather is asking for the same stress you were trying to escape in the first place. That extra day of reentry and re-acclimation can make a huge difference. Take it. Why make yourself crazy?

24. Don’t be so thin-skinned

Why let an off-the-cuff remark or minor criticism rankle you to the degree it leaves you tense, angry and unable to focus on much else? Develop a hide thick enough so that verbal slights bounce right off and get only the minimal attention they deserve. [Sometimes we misconstrue what was said, too.] Overblown reactions create unnecessary stress and negative energy. To what purpose? You can bet the off-putting remark isn’t bothering the person who delivered it! To take back control of your life, don your emotional flak-jacket and accept that you can’t always please everyone. Why make yourself crazy?

25. Lose that jarring morning alarm

If your alarm clock shocks you out of bed each day with a sudden, loud, jangling noise, you could be doing yourself harm—starting the day with a burst of unwanted stress hormones. Try one of those new wake-up clocks that lift you gently out of sleep with natural sounds like ocean surf, birds, rainfall, or babbling brooks. Some even have pleasant chime sequences that gradually increase in volume. Or wake up to an unobtrusive radio station. Set a melodious rather than dissonant note for the day. Why make yourself crazy?

26. Improve your posture

Try not to slouch. Because when you slouch—for example, slunk low in your office chair, hunched over while walking, or ensconced deeply in the cushions of your couch—it impedes the flow of blood, makes breathing more difficult, contributes to a feeling of stressful incapacity that makes it harder to hoist yourself to a task. Snap to it. Sit up straight. Profit from the energy and alertness of a good healthy posture. Why make yourself crazy?

27. Seek professional help for major stress problems

The stress we deal with here is the everyday stress, the retail stress that we more or less bring on ourselves and thus have the power to eliminate ourselves. But sometimes there are major stressful events in our lives we don’t have control over—an illness, death of a loved one, marriage breakup, loss of a job, depression, abusive relationship—that require the help of a professional therapist. In such cases, don’t put off seeking assistance, or believe that casual stress remedies are going to do the trick. There are people out there who can make an extraordinary difference in helping you get through a difficult time. Seek their counsel; they will help you take back control of your life. Why make yourself crazy?

28. Don’t talk so fast

Have you noticed how much faster the pace of normal conversation is becoming? How we rush our words, leaving no openings, anxious to complete a thought before someone else rushes in? Often having to scold our listeners with “let me finish”? It’s a sign of our hurried times. And as much as fast talking is driven by stress, it can cause stress, too. Rapid speech is highly contagious. It’s less effective, hard to follow and easily misconstrued. No matter how fast the other guy is blathering on, slow down, speak deliberately… replace speed with firmness and clarity. You’ll stay more calm and communicate more forcefully. Why make yourself crazy?

29. Set up a stress relief fund

Put aside some money, and stock it away somewhere in your house where it will be available at a moment’s notice. This is not vacation money, not typical fun money and should not be used capriciously. But when things really start cranking up and you’re all but fried…break into your emergency stress fund. Go out and do something totally unplanned and indulgent. Whether it’s a favourite restaurant, store, nightclub, sporting event, whatever… is up to you. But when things are getting too insane, declare yourself a disaster area and send in some aid. Why make yourself crazy?

30. Alternate mental and physical activities

If you work at a desk all day, don’t sit in front of TV all night. Do something active. If your job is physical, or involves being on your feet or running around, relax and exercise your mind [like reading a book] during the off hours. If our work involves both mental and physical aspects, try alternating the two throughout the day. What this does is add balance and vitality to your life. It’s more energizing, stress-reducing and healthier overall. It’s easy to get stuck in a single monotonous mode—like moving from chair to chair all day—and suppress your other self. It’s essential to exercise both your mind and body. Why make yourself crazy?

The post 30 tools to help you take back control of your life appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

When hardship abounds, so does despair. Fortunately, humankind is also capable of experiencing another emotion when faced with adversity that can be cathartic for all concerned—compassion.

Compassion is natural in humans

Compassion, according to Emma Seppala, Science Director of the Centre for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, entails an “emotional response when perceiving suffering” and “an authentic desire to help”.  Though we may be disheartened by global news coverage of our fractious and fragmented world, researchers posit that compassion is innate in animals and humans.

While our species can be callous, contemptuous and cruel, we also harbour a “natural tendency” towards compassion that has contributed to our survival, argues Seppala in a Psychology Today article.

In an experiment, conducted by Elizabeth Dunn and colleagues, participants were given a fixed amount of money. Half were instructed to spend it on themselves, while the other half were asked to spend it on others. Researchers then measured the happiness levels of all the participants. Contrary to what we might expect, the researchers found that people who spent money on others were more content than those who indulged themselves. Seppala argues that compassion benefits us at multiple levels.

Multiple benefits of compassion

Physiologically, people whose happiness stems from having a sense of purpose in life have low levels of cellular inflammation. In contrast, people who derive happiness from hedonistic pursuits exhibit high inflammation levels. Thus, purpose rather than pleasure seems to be conducive to our physical health. Further, lives imbued with purpose or meaning are more often other-directed as opposed to self-directed. Rather than viewing the world through a self-obsessed lens, a feature linked to many psychological problems like depression and anxiety, focussing our attention on others and their problems can widen our perspective.

Additionally, compassion also enhances our longevity, possibly by mitigating our stress levels. Seppala cites a study by Michal Poulin that found that stress is linked to mortality for most people. However, for “those who helped others,” the stress levels did not “predict mortality.”  Apparently, being of service to others nourishes the self.

How to cultivate compassion in times of adversity

In these bleak and uncertain times, are there things you can do to cultivate compassion? Indeed, there are! Let’s discuss a few ways you can cultivate compassion:

Meaningful contributions

In a blog post on PositivePsychology.com, psychologist Heather Lonczak suggests that we engage in acts of altruism. Though most of us may be home-bound, consider ways you can harness your skills and talents to make meaningful contributions, however small.

If you are adept at sewing, you can make masks that can be distributed to needy people.  Or, perhaps you can conduct pro-bono online cooking classes for kids to keep them engaged and occupied while their harried parents catch up on chores or work.

You may reach out to elderly family members to check if you can shop for them. Or consider making a donation to help migrant labourers who have lost their jobs.  In fact, there are opportunities aplenty at this time for you to tap into your altruistic spirit.

Avoiding judgement

Lonczak also exhorts us to avoid judging people through a negative lens. Often, we don’t fully understand the context behind a person’s compunctions. Though we may disapprove of another person’s actions in a particular situation, know that we can’t entirely predict our own reactions to the very same predicament. Instead of harping on the differences between you and the rest, trying to find similarities or areas of common ground can promote compassion.

Being grateful

Being grateful for all that is going well in your life can also make you more compassionate towards those who aren’t as fortunate. Engaging in meditation, specifically the Buddhist practice emphasizing loving-kindness, can increase the ambit of your compassion. And, most importantly, don’t forget to exercise self-compassion.

The key is to practising self-love

Often, we are harshest towards ourselves, especially when it comes to personal failings and inadequacies. But if you wish to cultivate compassion, you need to begin with yourself: stop berating and criticizing yourself. Psychologist Kristen Neff, who has studied self-compassion in depth, identifies three components on the website self-compassion.org:

1. Avoid beating yourself up

First, when we fall short, we may deny our imperfections or judge ourselves harshly. Neff exhorts us to recognise our flaws without disparaging ourselves. Treat yourself with kindness and understanding, just as you would treat a friend.

2. Accept pain as an inevitability

Second, when you suffer, know that pain is part and parcel of the human experience.  Acknowledging your common humanity with others will make you feel less alone during trying periods. Even if those around you seem better off, remind yourself that almost everyone is hit by the vicissitudes of life and your pain too shall pass.

3. Practise mindfulness

Finally, cultivate mindfulness so that you can view your thoughts and feelings from an observer’s point of view without getting unduly mired in them.

Let’s cultivate compassion and make our world richer

If we thus hone our ability to exercise compassion, the world will definitely be richer for it.  While we hope that Covid-19 is curtailed sooner than later, the pandemic has given us a chance to plumb the reservoirs of human compassion.

The post How to cultivate compassion in times of adversity appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Now, new research published in the journal Psychological Science has shown that becoming happy improves your health. The researchers employed tactics that were specifically designed to boost subjective wellbeing. The study found that both online and in-person psychological interventions have positive effects on self-reported physical health. What’s more, there was no difference between the impact of online and in-person interventions—they were found to be equally effective.

“Though prior studies have shown that happier people tend to have better cardiovascular health and immune-system responses than their less happy counterparts,” said Kostadin Kushlev, a professor in Georgetown University’s Department of Psychology and one of the authors of the paper, “our research is one of the first randomised controlled trials to suggest that increasing the psychological wellbeing even of generally healthy adults can have benefits to their physical health.”

Kushlev and his colleagues at the University of Virginia and the University of British Columbia spent six months examining the impact of improving the subjective wellbeing of otherwise healthy individuals on their physical health.

How the study was conducted

155 adults between the ages of 25 and 75 were randomly assigned either to a wait-list control condition or a 12-week positive psychological intervention that addressed three different sources of happiness: the “Core Self,” the “Experiential Self,” and the “Social Self.”

The first three weeks of the programme focused on the Core Self, helping individuals identify their personal values, strengths, and goals. Then, for the next five weeks, the focus shifted to the Experiential Self, covering emotion regulation and mindfulness. This phase also gave participants tools to identify maladaptive patterns of thinking. The final four weeks of the programme addressed the Social Self, teaching techniques to cultivate gratitude, foster positive social interactions, and engage more with their community.

Called Enduring Happiness and Continued Self-Enhancement (ENHANCE), the programme consisted of weekly modules either led by a trained clinician or completed individually using a customised online platform. None of the modules focused on promoting physical health or health behaviours such as sleep, exercise, or diet.

Each module featured an hour-long lesson with information and exercises; a weekly writing assignment, such as journaling; and an active behavioural component, such as guided meditation.

“All of the activities were evidence-based tools to increase subjective wellbeing,” Kushlev noted.

When the programme concluded, researchers gave participants individual evaluations and recommendations of which modules would be most effective at improving their happiness in the long term. Three months after the conclusion of the trial, researchers followed up with the participants to evaluate their wellbeing and health.

The finding: Becoming happy improves your health

Participants who received the intervention reported increasing levels of subjective wellbeing over the course of the 12-week programme. They also reported fewer sick days than control participants throughout the programme and three months after it ended.

The study found that the online mode of administering the programme was as effective as the in-person mode that trained facilitators led.

“These results speak to the potential of such interventions to be scaled in ways that reach more people in environments such as college campuses to help increase happiness and promote better mental health among students,” Kushlev said.

—Link to original research

The post Becoming happy improves your health appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

This belief just got a shot in its arm. New research shows how a person’s pupils respond to threatening images reveals if they have suffered a traumatic experience in the past.

The post Your eyes are the window to your past trauma appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.