Time for a game break!

03 Thursday May 2018

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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

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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.

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What can a museum do for you?

15 Friday Sep 2017

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art gallery, art museum, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cortisol, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, museum, paintings, reduce stress, relax, relaxing, sculpture, stress, stress free, stress hormone, University in Milan

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Sure, it can expose you to fine art – but it can also slash your stress by 60%! That’s according to I-U-L-M University in Milan. The researchers measured people’s levels of the stress hormone cortisol, before and after they visited a museum. And they found that just spending a few minutes admiring a painting or sculpture dramatically reduced stress. Their cortisol dropped 60%! That’s because art fills us with positive emotions, which lower levels of inflammatory proteins, reducing stress.

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Go outside and be happy!

11 Monday Sep 2017

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bad mood, breathe fresh air, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, enjoy nature, Environmental Science & Technology, go outside, happiness, happy, nature, outdoors, reduce stress, self-esteem, turn that frown upside down, Your Brain On Nature

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You can turn around a bad mood by being outside for as little as 5 minutes. According to the journal Environmental Science & Technology, being in fresh air for 5 minutes can improve your mood and self-esteem. And the goal should be to do that 3 or 4 times during the workday. Alan Logan is a naturopathic doctor who wrote “Your Brain On Nature”… And he says, when you take that fresh air break, you don’t even need to be active for it to have the desired effect. Because just looking at a tree, the mountains in the distance, or any natural landscape increases activity in the part of the brain that controls happy memories and stress reduction.

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If you’re a caregiver, try this to relax and reduce your stress:

05 Monday Jun 2017

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cancer, caregiver, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, crafts, creative, creative outlet, get crafty, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Journal Of Nursing Scholarship, knitting, painting, reduce stress, reduce your stress, relax, scrapbooking, stress

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Get crafty! A study in the Journal Of Nursing Scholarship focused on people caring for relatives with cancer… And those who had a crafty, creative outlet – from painting to knitting to scrapbooking – were able to reduce their stress in 10 minutes.

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Your smile could help you live longer!

17 Wednesday May 2017

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Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, fun, happy, heart disease, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, live longer, longevity, reduce stress, serious, smile, smiling, stress, Wayne State University

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People who smile a lot live longer than people who tend to look somber and serious… A whole seven years longer! Researchers at Wayne State University studied photos of hundreds of baseball players taken in 1952. Of the players who’ve since died, those who were seen smiling the most, lived an average of 80 years – while non-smilers lived to only age 73, on average. The researchers say it’s because being happy reduces stress, which also lowers our risk of heart disease.

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To reduce stress in under a minute:

15 Monday May 2017

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blood pressure, breathe, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, deep breathing, exhale, heart rate, hormones, inhale, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, neck, reduce stress, shoulders, stress, stress hormones, stressful

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Inhale deeply, while raising your shoulders toward your ears. Then exhale slowly, and push your shoulders down. Repeat 5 times. Stress management experts say combining a shoulder shrug with deep breathing releases tension in our neck, shoulders and upper back. It also produces endorphins, which cancel out stress hormones, and reduce heart rate and blood pressure. Allowing you to literally shrug off your stress in under 60 seconds.

Try this trick to reduce your stress:

22 Wednesday Mar 2017

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calm, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, happy, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, loved one, photo, photos, picture, reduce stress, stress, trick, wellbeing

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Look at a picture of loved ones with their arms wrapped around you. According to the University of Exeter, looking at a picture in which you feel cared for reduces your response to stress – and increases feelings of calm and wellbeing. The researchers say seeing loving actions reminds us we have secure attachments and social support… which makes tough times more manageable.

Stress does more than make us crave comfort food – it can also change how our food tastes!

14 Friday Oct 2016

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carrots, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, crave, cravings, crunch, crunchy, healthy, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, munch, radish, reduce stress, stress, stress hormones, stressful, taste, taste buds, veggies

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A new study in the journal Neuroscience Letters found that our taste buds actually contain receptors for certain stress hormones. Which means, when we’re stressed, a cookie won’t taste as sweet, and a bowl of cheese doodles won’t be as satisfying – and we’ll end up craving even more. The fix? Munch on something crunchy AND healthy – like radishes or carrots. Studies show that can help reduce stress, because the act of crunching relieves tension in the jaw – but the veggies won’t add many calories.

Being nice reduces stress!

12 Friday Aug 2016

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Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, generous, gift, give, health, healthy, heart rate, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, kind, kindness, lower heart rate, lower stress, mood, PLOS One, reduce stress, small gift

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A study in PLOS One found that people who did kind acts – like holding the door for someone, or giving a friend a small gift – had lower heart rates and less stress. Because being kind and generous releases waves of calming brain chemicals that boost our mood and our health.

Go hug someone – NOW!

19 Tuesday Apr 2016

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Carnegie Mellon University, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, happy, hug, hugged, hugging, ill, immune system, immunity, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, love, physical contact, reduce stress, sick, stress

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People who get hugged daily are less likely to get sick. That’s according to research from Carnegie Mellon University – which found that hugs boost the immune system. What’s the connection? The physical contact and social support that go along with hugging both reduce stress. And when our stress is lower – our immune system is stronger.

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~ Intelligence for Your Life

Tag Archives: reduce stress

Time for a game break!

What can a museum do for you?

Go outside and be happy!

If you’re a caregiver, try this to relax and reduce your stress:

Your smile could help you live longer!

To reduce stress in under a minute:

Try this trick to reduce your stress:

Stress does more than make us crave comfort food – it can also change how our food tastes!

Being nice reduces stress!

Go hug someone – NOW!