• About

ConnieSelleccaBlog

~ Intelligence for Your Life

ConnieSelleccaBlog

Tag Archives: reduce anxiety

Flowers can make us happy!

01 Monday Feb 2021

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anxiety, buy flowers, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cut flowers, feel-good brain chemicals, flowers, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, reduce anxiety, reduce depression

Next time you go to a grocery store or farmer’s market, buy flowers. Because just seeing cut flowers at home or work produces feel-good brain chemicals, and makes us less anxious and prone to depression. Plus, MRIs show looking at flowers increases blood flow to the brain area linked to feelings of empathy and altruism, and makes us friendlier. So we end up thinking fewer negative thoughts and thinking more about others, instead of ourselves. It’s the power of flowers!

Follow me on Facebook

To fall back asleep fast – try this:

28 Monday Dec 2020

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, fall asleep, fall asleep faster, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, reduce anxiety, sleep, sleeping, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Think about something you love. I mean, really think about it, to the point you immerse yourself in the visualization. That advice comes from sleep specialist Dr. Christopher Winter. He’s a sleep coach for professional baseball players – and tells them to visualize throwing 30 perfect pitches. Smell the grass, feel the seams on the ball, feel the sun on your face, hear the crowd – picture everything. He says his patients usually can’t make it past 5 pitches before they’re back asleep. Dr. Winter says visualization reduces anxiety and lets our brain’s sleep mechanism take over. And according to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, 65% of the hospital patients who used that visualization technique took less time to fall asleep, experienced significant improvement in sleep quality, and felt less fatigued the next day.

Follow me on Facebook

How can you wake up happy and ready to tackle the day?

19 Monday Oct 2020

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

better sleep, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, flowers, flowers by the bed, flowers on the nightstand, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, reduce anxiety, reduce stress, sleep better, wake up happy

Keep flowers on your nightstand! Harvard psychology professor Dr. Nancy Etcoff says any fresh flowers are such a mood-booster, they can even prevent workday blues. Fresh flowers also reduce anxiety and stress, two major sleep disruptors – which means, you’ll be sleeping better and waking up happier within a few days. But replace the flowers when they start to wither and turn brown. Otherwise, they can make you feel that time is slipping away and things are out of control in your life.

Follow me on Facebook

Managing our emotions is easy!

07 Friday Sep 2018

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anxiety, anxious, boss, calm, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, emotions, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, reduce anxiety, visual, visualize

manage-our-emotions-wp

You know how pro athletes visualize themselves sinking a putt – or hitting a home run – and it can help them achieve those results in real life? Well, we can use visualization to manage our emotions, too. Dr. Stephan Kosslyn is a neuroscientist, and he says, imagining yourself doing something strengthens the connection between the body and the brain. So, let’s say every time your boss talks to you it makes you so anxious you can hardly think straight. Try this: Picture an encounter with the boss. Hear her condescending voice, picture how she stands, and the way she looks at you over the rim of her glasses. The point is to trigger your anxious response – and then breathe deeply and slowly and calm yourself down. Practice that trick half a dozen times – and the next time your boss says, “Come to my office I want to have a word with you,” your body and brain will be primed to stay cool, calm and collected.

Follow me on Facebook

Time for a game break!

03 Thursday May 2018

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Android, anxiety, Bejeweled, Candy Crush, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, East Carolina University, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, iPad, iphone, mobile device, mobile phone, play a game, reduce anxiety, reduce stress

Play-bejeweled-5.3.18-wp

Playing Bejeweled isn’t a time waster… It’s an anxiety reliever! According to East Carolina University, playing a mobile game like Bejeweled for a few minutes is all it takes to feel 57% calmer. Because the mental focus it takes shifts your brain away from whatever is causing you anxiety. And just 5 minutes of playing a game can reduce stress for up to an hour.

Follow me on Facebook

Who doesn’t like a good massage?

06 Wednesday Sep 2017

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anxiety, anxious, bloat, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, dog, dogs, give your dog a massage, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, massage, massaging, reduce anxiety, reduce bloating, relax muscles, stiff, stress, stress levels, zigzag

massage-dog-wp

Well, your dog wants one, too! And it can be really good for them.
Massaging can relieve anxiety and lower stress levels in anxious dogs. So, massage your dog’s head, neck and tips of the ears with light pressure, and a slow but consistent pace.
For digestive issues: Massage your dog’s back and belly. That’ll help your dog’s stomach muscles relax, and reduce gas and bloating.
And for older dogs, massaging their back legs can help reduce stiffness and improve flexibility.
Overall, vets say that massage stimulates circulation and lowers tension so effectively, that a lot of them use massage to calm dogs after surgery. And it’s easy to give your dog a calming massage at any time, whether they’re standing, sitting or lying down. Just use the “zigzag touch.” Simply spread your fingers wide, and make zigzags along your dog’s sides, between the hips and shoulders.

Follow me on Facebook

If you’re feeling drained and on edge…

25 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anxiety, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, drum, drumming, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, reduce anxiety, Stanford University, stress, stress hormone, tap, tap fingers, tapping, white blood cells, wiggle, wiggle toes

drum-fingers-wp

wiggle your toes or drum your fingers for a minute. Stanford University scientists say the fine motor control involved in drumming or wiggling fingers and toes tells the brain to dial down the production of stress hormones. And those movements not only reduce anxiety by stimulating our nerves, they also increase activity among our disease-fighting white blood cells.

Boost your brainpower by gardening…

17 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anxiety, bacteria, brain, brain neurons, brainpower, calm, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, garden, gardening, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, plant, planting, plants, reduce anxiety, relax, serotonin, soil, think, thinking

gardening-wp

…indoors or out! Studies show that there’s a certain type of bacteria in soil that we breathe in, and seeps through our skin – and it makes us calmer and better thinkers! The bacteria stimulate the growth of brain neurons, and boost production of the brain chemical serotonin, which reduces anxiety.

Go ahead and bake some cookies today!

10 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by ConnieSellecca in Intelligence for Your Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

anxiety, bake cookies, baking, brain, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cookies, feel-good endorphins, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, reduce anxiety, relieve stress, serotonin, stress, stress relief, vanilla, vanilla scent

bake-vanilla-scentYou have permission to bake cookies – because it’ll relieve your stress! The scent of vanilla is proven to reduce anxiety by nearly 70%. Plus, research shows that eating a little bit of fat increases feel-good endorphins and the happy chemical serotonin in the brain.

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014

Categories

  • Intelligence for Your Life
  • Photos

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×