17 Tuesday Jul 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
Berkeley, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cortisol, coworkers, high 5, high five, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, job, morale, oxytocin, productivity, reduce stress, stress, trust, work
Wanna lift the morale at work – and improve your own mood? High five your coworkers. High fives release the trust hormone oxytocin and reduce the stress hormone cortisol. Experts from UC Berkeley say high fives promote bonding among coworkers, and increase trust and productivity.
03 Thursday May 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
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
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.
15 Friday Sep 2017
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
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
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.
11 Monday Sep 2017
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
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
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.
05 Monday Jun 2017
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
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
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.
17 Wednesday May 2017
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, fun, happy, heart disease, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, live longer, longevity, reduce stress, serious, smile, smiling, stress, Wayne State University
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.
15 Monday May 2017
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
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
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.
22 Wednesday Mar 2017
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
calm, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, happy, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, loved one, photo, photos, picture, reduce stress, stress, trick, wellbeing
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.
14 Friday Oct 2016
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
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
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.
12 Friday Aug 2016
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
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
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.
