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 […]
According to the World Health Organization, stress is a significant problem of our times and affects both physical as well as the mental health of people. Stress is defined as a situation where the organism‘s homeostasis is threatened or the organism perceives a situation as threatening. Stress coping methods are the cognitive, behavioral and psychological efforts to deal with stress. After a thorough literature review some of the following techniques were identified: Transcendental meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Source Life exists through the maintenance of a complex dynamic equilibrium, termed homeostasis, that is constantly challenged by internal or external adverse forces, termed stressors, which can be emotional […]
Meditation is a practice that requires mindfulness. Contrary to what some people believe, its goal is not to empty the mind of thoughts, but to experience them objectively. That is to say, you experience your thoughts, feelings, and memories as if they were leaves floating down a stream. You watch them all come and go, holding on to nothing. You pay attention only to the moment you’re living in, but it’s a deep attention, which accepts both the painful and the pleasant experiences. Source In practice, some people try guided meditations, in which a 3rd party helps them to direct their focus on different aspects of the moment they’re experiencing. Others […]
“I’m so busy, I don’t have time to slow down”: the mantra of our times in this always-connected world. Source Technology promises to make our lives easier, faster and simpler. But, it’s made our world exceedingly unfocused and overwhelming. Smartphones and laptops mean there’s no division between work and home. Our brains, which grow linearly, are overloaded by the exponential complexity of technology, which deteriorates our focus and performance capacity. How do we overcome compounding distractions and evolve into higher-performing individuals? Enter the science of mindfulness. MINDFULNESS FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE Mindfulness is a systematic approach to reprogram our brain and master ourselves to always perform at our peak. Through conscious attention to your mind, body […]
Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was one of the first scientists to take the anecdotal claims about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and test them in brain scans. What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain. She explains: Source: Health Science Journal.gr & remedyspot.com Q: Why did you start looking at meditation and mindfulness and the brain? Lazar: A friend and I were training for the Boston marathon. I had some running injuries, so I saw a physical therapist who told me to stop running and just stretch. So I started practicing yoga as a form of […]
Keeping employee stress levels low is a common interest among business owners and managers. The less overwhelmed by stress employees are, the more productive they can be. Unfortunately, there’s not usually a big budget set aside for office stress relief. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we go over 8 ideas for free office stress relief. Offices aren’t the most relaxing places. Far from it. That is, unless you find countless meetings and deadlines relaxing. It’s not just offices themselves. Work’s just stressful. Always has been, and probably always will be. Try as we might, the more we invest money in open layouts, feng shui, or rewards, […]
Most people still view massages as a luxury item. They feel like they are spoiling themselves by booking a massage whether it’s a 30-minute massage, one-hour massage or a four-hour spa day. But some business leaders are starting to look at massage more as a necessity just like working out and eating healthy. Study after study keeps touting the benefits of massage. As a result, many executives are changing their mindset from thinking of massage as a nice treat to thinking of massage as an essential item in their routine that helps them perform at the top of their game. Here are five reasons why you should stop making […]