How to start journaling for mental health: 7 tips and techniques

How to start journaling for mental health: 7 tips and techniques

Did you know one of the most powerful self-improvement activities is right at your fingertips? No, it’s not working out or having good sleep hygiene. It’s something even simpler — learning how to start journaling. Although it’s been around for thousands of years, journaling is currently having a moment in the limelight. From self-help blogs to famous authors like Deepak Chopra, everyone is talking about the life-changing benefits of learning how to journal. Source: BetterUp Despite its recent soar in popularity, this isn’t just a new-age self-help trend. If practiced consistently, it can transform your mental fitness, emotional well-being, and even physical well-being. Let’s explore the importance of keeping a journal and how […]

4 Breathing Exercises Scientifically Proven to Calm Anxiety, Fight Stress, and Help You Focus 60 seconds is all you’ll need.

4 Breathing Exercises Scientifically Proven to Calm Anxiety, Fight Stress, and Help You Focus 60 seconds is all you’ll need.

What’s one simple thing you can do anytime, anywhere that is scientifically proven to reduce your stress level, improve your mood, and make it easier for you to concentrate? A breathing exercise. Scientists have shown that by slowing and controlling your breath, and in particular, making your exhalations longer than your inhalations, you can automatically slow your heartbeat. And doing a breathing exercise for 60 seconds is long enough to achieve these benefits. Source: Inc Health.com recently put together a list of nine breathing techniques for reducing anxiety. I’ve tried most of them myself, among many others. Any of them should create a feeling of calm and clear your mind to help you tackle […]

Mindfulness Vs. Meditation: What’s The Difference?

Mindfulness Vs. Meditation: What’s The Difference?

Meditation and mindfulness are popular techniques used to boost mental health and clarity. Even better, science backs them as viable therapies for various mental wellness concerns including anxiety, stress and depression. The two concepts are often conflated, but while they are similar, mindfulness and meditation are practiced differently and can have varying functions. Learn more about how they differ, how they can benefit you and how to start your own mindfulness or meditation routine. Source: Forbes What Is Mindfulness and Meditation? Mindfulness and meditation are similar and linked; mindfulness is sometimes referred to as a type of meditation, and vice versa. The exercises “work hand in hand,” says Peter Brooks, […]

7 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2021 and Beyond

7 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2021 and Beyond

It’s fair to say that 2020 rocked many organizations and business models, upending priorities and plans as business leaders scrambled to navigate a rapidly changing environment. For many organizations this included responding to the social justice movements, shifting to a full-time remote staff, determining how best to support employees’ wellbeing, managing a hybrid workforce, and now addressing legal concerns around the Covid-19 vaccine. Source: HBR It would be nice to believe that 2021 will be about stability and getting back to normal; however, this year is likely to be another full of major transitions. While there has been a lot of focus on the increase in the number of employees […]

Calming Tools & Techniques that Hold Up Even During COVID Times

Calming Tools & Techniques that Hold Up Even During COVID Times

As we all navigate shifting responsibilities and uncertain futures, coronavirus-related anxiety is climbing around the globe. Needless to say, as important as it is to stay on top of our physical health right now, checking in with our mental health is also essential. The following stress-reducing tools have long been tried-and-trues at mbg, and we’re more grateful for them now than ever before: Source: MBG Health 1. Meditation You’ve heard it before, but we’ll say it again: Meditation is a proven way to reduce anxiety and increase overall feelings of well-being. There are so many ways to start a meditation practice, so don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been able to stick with one […]

5 Tips For Reducing Your Work Stress in 2020 (by yourself)

5 Tips For Reducing Your Work Stress in 2020 (by yourself)

You feel the need to commit that 2020 is the year you stress less about work? That the demanding deadlines, long hours, and email notifications will not get you down? It’s a great goal, and one you likely have in common with a lot of people; a survey by the American Psychological Association revealed that 61 percent of respondents found work to be a source of stress. Source But resolutions are best kept with a plan of action in your inbox, so we reached out to experts for tips on tackling work-related tension this year. A) Use Breaks Strategically If stress is getting the best of you during your daily 09:00 to 17:00, Kaplan suggested […]

8 best mindfulness apps

8 best mindfulness apps

If there’s one wellness trend that stands out from the last couple of years, it’s mindfulness. Not only is it wildly popular, with a legion of dedicated fans across the globe, but it has also become a billion-pound business.   Source: Independent So can taking time out of your day to concentrate on yourself really help to increase your health and happiness? The NHS says yes. According to its website: “Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can not only help improve mental wellbeing … but can help help you enjoy life and understand yourself better.” Thanks to the boom, there […]

Neuroscience shows that 50-year-olds can have the brains of 25-year-olds if they sit quietly and do nothing for 15′ a day

Neuroscience shows that 50-year-olds can have the brains of 25-year-olds if they sit quietly and do nothing for 15′ a day

Meditation is a form of mental exercise that has become a popular US health practice. Regular practice of meditation is reported to produce changes in mental state and resting electroencephalogram patterns that persist beyond the time-period of active practice.   Source: Business Insider Neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that people who practiced meditation had more gray matter in the part of the brain linked to decision-making and working memory: the frontal cortex.  While most people see their cortexes shrink as they age, 50-year-old meditators in the study had the same amount of gray matter as those half their age. Participants in the study averaged about 27 minutes of the habit a […]

Three ways to keep your Brain young

Three ways to keep your Brain young

A third of the brain’s volume is comprised of blood vessels. Maintaining a healthy blood flow to those blood vessels is critical to keep the brain young. Here are three ways you can keep your mind sharp: Source: CNN Exercise Research has shown exercise improves brain health, and it’s never too early or too late to begin. Even moderate exercise has been shown to increase memory, mental processing speed and the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for forming new memories, even in previously sedentary adults. Simply walking three times a week has been shown to produce significant gains in memory and mental processing speed. Feel […]

Chronic stress can hurt your memory

Chronic stress can hurt your memory

Do you tend to forget things when you’re stressed? Like when you’re late for a meeting and can’t remember where you left your car keys? Or when you have to give a big presentation and suddenly forget all your talking points seconds before you start? Source: CNN There’s nothing like stress to make your memory go a little spotty. A 2010 study found that chronic stress reduces spatial memory: the memory that helps you recall locations and relate objects. Hence, your missing car keys. University of Iowa researchers recently found a connection between the stress hormone cortisol and short-term memory loss in older rats. Their findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience this […]