Practice deep breathing to don’t poeuce your Biyeical feacuons ee pen to stress. This, in turn, reduces your risk of heart disease. “Spin” stressful or upsetting situations to help you view the world in a more positive light. You’ll learn to handle the stressful events of everyday life with more aplomb and calm. Actively embrace the things that bring you pleasure, be they friends, hobbies, or spiritual pursuits. Each day try out one of the j to deal with te stress.“90 Simple Ways to Get Happy” the list of ideas >...
Learning to meditate could actually help your body clean out its arteries, according to a study published in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association. The researchers assigned 60 African American men and women with high blood pressure to either a transcendental meditation (TM) program or a control group. The TM group practiced meditation 20 minutes twice a day. After seven months researchers found that the people in this group lowered their plaque levels (measured by carotid intima-media thickness, or IMT, which reflects the level of fatty substances deposited on the artery walls), reducing their overall heart attack risk up to 11 percent and their stroke risk up to 15 percent. The other group had no reduction; in fact, their plaque levels increased. “Cardiovascular disease is associated with psychological stress,” explained Amparo Castillo-Richmond, M.D., the study’s lead author. “Previous research has found that the TM program decreases coronary heart disease risk...
Sometimes the simple act of writing things down can help you clarify your feel-_. ings and render them less emotionally and physically stressful. Some studies even find that by reducing stress, keeping a journal can improve medical conditions such as asthma. Simply venting on paper probably isn’t enough, though. The key is not only to write about how you feel but to try to make sense of your emotions and learn from them. That’s the finding of a study from the University of lowa published in the August 2002 issue of the Annals of Behavioral! Medicine. In the study, people who wrote about a negative life experience in just this way were more aware of benefits in their life following the event, such as improved relationships, greater personal strength, spiritual development, and a greater appreciation for life. Journaling for stress relief doesn’t mean writing down everything that happens to you every day. It means using your journal—whether it’s on paper or on your...
If you’re serious about using siower, deeper breathing to help you destress and even lower your blood pressure, consider investing in a biofeedback device called RespeRate. The size of a paperback book, it analyzes your breathing via a sensor buckled around your waist, then plays a series of musical tones to guide you to a lower breathing rate. Several clinical studies published in peer-reviewed journals find that RespeRate lowers blood pressure, and the FDA approved it for over-the-counter sales in July 2002 for just that purpose...
To measure hostility in study subjects, researchers use the CookMedley Hostility Scale, based on 50 different measures. While the test should be administered and scored by a professional, you can get a general sense of your own hostility by reading the following statements. The more statements you agree with—especially if you agree strongly—the more hostile you probably are. 1. Most people would lie to get ahead. 2. It is safer to trust nobody. 3. No one cares much what happens to you. 4. Most people inwardly dislike putting themselves out to help other people, 5. Most people are honest chiefly through fear of being caught...
Lowering your cholesterol can improve your mood. When Canadian researchers compared mood changes in 212 patients being treated for high cholesterol, they found that people who reduced their levels of total cholesterol and LDL also reported feeling less anxious, with women showing the greatest improvement. There has always been a thread running through medical literature suggesting a correlation between mood and cholesterol levels. The reason for these findings, researchers speculate, may simply have to do with the mental boost you get when you improve your health. >...
The answer is ale you’re ay vulnerable to begin with. Here’s how: AD stressful situation raises blood pressure and heart rate, mimicking the effects of physical exertion, If you have plaque obstructing your arteries, the additional blood pressure can rupture the plaque. Stress also makes blood “stickier” and. more likely to clot. Once blood cells begin sticking to the exposed plaque and ¢ blocking blood flow, you’re in heart attack territory. >...
What makes one job more stressful than another? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lists several stress-causing workplace conditions, including these: Design of tasks. Heavy workload, infrequent breaks, long hours, shiftwork, hectic and routine tasks that have little inherent meaning and provide little sense of control. Management style. Lack of participation by workers in decisionmaking, poor communication in the organization, lack of family- _ friendly policies. Interpersonal relationships. Poor social environment and lack of support from coworkers and supervisors. Work roles. Conflicting or uncertain job expectations, too much responsibility, too many “hats to wear.” Career concerns. Job insecurity, lack of opportunity for growth, advancement, or promotion; rapid changes for which workers are unprepared...
