Jump on your commuting bike and reduce your stress at work
Work-related stress is a scourge that spills out of the workplace and into the home. The good news is that it can be mitigated during the time it takes to go to work and back. According to a recent study, which confirms the findings of an 18-year long study published last year, commuting on foot Read More...
Yoga rooms help travelers release stress at hectic airports
Security lines, crammed planes and long layovers at busy airports rarely make for an enjoyable travel experience. But sitting at an airport bar is not everyone’s first choice when it comes to releasing stress. The good news is that airport management around the U.S. has been heeding the request Read More...
Stress is good for your health
While we frantically try to avoid and suppress stress, researchers are showing more and more that stress can also be good for us. It ensures better performance, keeps us sharp and is also good for our health. In the summer issue of The Optimist we go deeply into the subject of stress. Stress being Read More...
Use your stress for good
For years we’ve come to believe that if we’re stressed, we’re unhealthy. We spend money on vacations and are constantly searching for ways to avoid stress. But new information is showing us that, when used correctly, stress can be beneficial to health. In a recent TED talk, “How to make Read More...
Tapping Into Health
By gently accessing the body’s meridian system, “emotional freedom techniques” can help resolve stress, anxiety and phobias. Marieke Verhoeven | September/October Issue Is there anything bothering you that we can work on during the session?” emotional freedom technique (EFT) practitioner Read More...
“Cultural activities improve mental health”
Sweden has recently launched a pilot project to help patients suffering from chronic depression; stress; anxiety; or back, shoulder and neck pain by prescribing cultural activities. Karin Berg, project manager at Capio clinic in Helsingborg, which hosts the trials, explains. Marco Visscher | Read More...
Medicinal mirth: The health benefits of laughter
Mary Desmond Pinkowish | August 2009 issue The teacher gathers his laughter yoga students from the corners of this tiny studio on the second floor of a downtown Manhattan building. Most of us have never met and from the looks on some faces, aren’t quite sure what to expect. "Ha-ha-ha," our Read More...
A funny thing happened on the way to the office
Nancy Mann Jackson | August 2009 issue John Morreall, professor of religious studies at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, tells the story of a police officer who responded to a domestic violence call after having completed a course of humor training. As the officer Read More...
Improve mental health with neurofeedback
How you can train your brain to help reduce stress, enhance creativity and improve mental health. Blaine Greteman | March 2009 issue As Vicki Wyatt attaches electrodes to my scalp with a generous glop of slimy goo, I'll admit I'm a little skeptical about the calming effects of the treatment I'm Read More...
When hope heals
How a positive sense of calm and control can help combat disease. David Servan-Schreiber | March 2009 issue Ten years after he was diagnosed HIV-positive, Paul was still alive. This was long before tri-therapy—the remarkably effective treatment that keeps AIDS patients alive—and everyone asked Read More...