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Everyone experiences stress. Sometimes it can help you focus and get the task at hand done. But when stress is frequent and intense, it can strain your body and make it impossible to function. Finding effective ways to deal is crucial to living well.

How Stress Affects You

Stress affects your entire body, mentally as well as physically. Some common signs include:

Headaches

Trouble sleeping

Jaw pain

Changes in appetite

Frequent mood swings

Difficulty concentrating

Feeling overwhelmed

When experiencing long-term stress, your brain is exposed to increased levels of a hormone called cortisol. This exposure weakens your immune system, making it easier for you to get sick.

Stress can contribute to worsening symptoms of your mental illness. For example, in schizophrenia, it can encourage hallucinations and delusions, while in bipolar disorder, it can trigger episodes of both mania and depression. Knowing what situations cause it is the first step in coping with this very common experience.

When You Are Most Vulnerable to Stress

People are most susceptible to stress when they are:

Not getting enough sleep

Not having a network of support

Experiencing a major life change such as moving, the death of a loved one, starting a new job, having a child or getting married

Experiencing poor physical health

Not eating well

Everyone has his own threshold. Certain things that may upset you out might not even make one of your friends raise an eyebrow. Some people are affected when they experience large crowds and noisy environments, while others react to silence and free time.

Ways to Reduce Stress

Developing a personalized approach to reducing stress can help you manage your mental health condition and improve your quality of life. Once you've learned what your triggers are, experiment with coping strategies. Some common ones include:

Accept your needs. Recognize what your triggers are. What situations make you feel physically and mentally agitated? Once you know this, you can avoid them when it's reasonable to, and to cope when you can't.

Manage your time. Prioritizing your activities can help you use your time well. Making a day-to-day schedule helps ensure you don't feel overwhelmed by everyday tasks and deadlines.

Practice relaxation. Deep breathing, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation are good ways to calm yourself. Taking a break to refocus can have benefits beyond the immediate moment.

Exercise daily. Schedule time to walk outside, bike or join a dance class. Whatever you do, make sure it's fun. Daily exercise naturally produces stress-relieving hormones in your body and improves your overall physical health.

Set aside time for yourself. Schedule something that makes you feel good. It might be reading a book, go to the movies, get a massage or take your dog for a walk.

Eat well. Eating unprocessed foods, like whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruit is the foundation for a healthy body and mind. Eating well can also help stabilize your mood.

Get enough sleep. Symptoms of some mental health conditions, like mania in bipolar disorder, can be triggered by getting too little sleep.

Avoid alcohol and drugs. They don't actually reduce stress: in fact, they often worsen it. If you're struggling with substance abuse, educate yourself and get help.

Talk to someone. Whether to friends, family, a counselor or a support group, airing out and talking can help. Consider attending a NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group.

Getting Help

If the steps you've taken aren't working, it may be time to share with your mental health professional. He or she can help you pinpoint specific events that trigger you and help you create an action plan to change them.

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Everyone experiences stress. Sometimes it can help you focus and get the task at hand done. But when stress is frequent and intense, it can strain your body and make it impossible to function. Finding effective ways to deal is crucial to living well. Stress affects your entire body, mentally as well as physically.

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Practicing mindfulness can benefit your health and well-being. Learn how you can build mindfulness into your everyday life.

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a state of intentional, nonjudgmental focus on the present moment. Mindfulness techniques are often incorporated into other practices, such as yoga or meditation. It is often thought to include the following elements:

Awareness - Being tuned in to what is happening in the present moment, including sights, sounds, smells, or physical sensations you might usually ignore.

Focus - Paying attention to the present moment, without thinking about past or future events.

Acceptance - Accepting whatever you might be feeling or thinking, without judging it or trying to change it or your reactions.

Observation - Recognizing unpleasant sensations, thoughts, and feelings as temporary and fleeting, observing them objectively without reaction or judgment.

What Are the Benefits of Mindfulness?

Mindfulness has been studied for many years. According to recent research, it has several benefits for physical and mental health. Some of the strongest health benefits include:

Improves mood - Mindfulness training may reduce depression and anxiety. One study found that mindfulness training was as effective as antidepressant medications in preventing a depression relapse.

Reduces stress and its consequences - Mindfulness can lead to less intense stress responses. This has many health benefits, such as lowering your blood pressure and strengthening your immune system.

Improves coping with pain -People with chronic pain who practice mindfulness meditation report less severe pain and pain-related distress. They are also more active in spite of their pain.

Improves brain functions - Practicing mindfulness helps build your ability to pay attention and focus. Over time, this training can sharpen memory and improve mental performance.

Helps with weight management - Some mindfulness techniques have been shown to reduce overeating and obesity.

The benefits of mindfulness training may persist for years, because learning to be mindful is something that can be applied to your daily routine.

What Are Some Common Mindfulness Techniques?

Here are brief descriptions of a few common mindfulness exercises. You can try many of these anywhere, at home or on the go, in a few moments of quiet. To learn more about these techniques, take a look at the section on Resources.

Mindful breathing - One of the simplest exercises is mindful breathing. Simply spend a few minutes focusing your awareness on the movement of your thoughts and your breath in and out, without trying to change them in any way.

Body scan - While seated or lying down, gradually focus your attention on one body part at a time, noticing any physical sensations without judging or reacting to them. A typical body scan might start with the soles of the feet and then progressively move awareness to the knees, hips, back, belly, chest, neck, and head.

Mindful eating - This exercise involves eating very slowly and deliberately while paying attention to the sensations of holding the item, smelling, tasting, chewing, and swallowing it.

Loving kindness meditation - An exercise in which you direct positive thoughts and wishes first to yourself, then to your close family and friends, then to more distant acquaintances, and finally to all humanity.

Mindful movement - While walking or rolling, pay close attention to your breathing, your body movements, and your surroundings. You can also practice mindfulness while doing familiar exercises, such as yoga, focusing on the physical sensations as you enter and hold each pose.

What Are Some Ways to Practice Mindfulness?

The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program by Jon Kabat-Zinn is probably the most well studied mindfulness program. Audio-recorded guided meditations are available for purchase at: www.mindfulnesscds.com

A free online mindfulness course, taught by a certified MBSR instructor, is offered at: www.palousemindfulness.com

You can find an in-person group course near you at: http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/stress-reduction/find-an-mbsr-program/

Smartphone apps have mindfulness practices that may be helpful, such as Headspace, Simply Being or The Mindfulness App.

Your local library, community center, or hospital may also offer in-person mindfulness classes or other resources.

Additional Resources

Jon Kabat-Zinn's books, including:

Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment -- and Your Life.

Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness.

UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center: marc.ucla.edu

American Society on Aging: Be Here Now -- And Age Mindfully: http://www.asaging.org/blog/be-here-now-and-age-mindfully

Mindfulness Northwest: https://mindfulnessnorthwest.com

Greater Good Mindfulness Information: greatergood.berkely.edu/topic/mindfulness

References

Carlson LE. Mindfulness-based interventions for physical conditions: A narrative review evaluating levels of evidence. ISRN Psychiatr. 2012; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5402/2012/651583

Davidson RJ, Kabat-Zinn J, Schumacher J, et al. Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosom Med. 2003;65: 564-70.

Segal ZV, Bieling P, Young T, et al. Antidepressant monotherapy vs. sequential pharmacotherapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or placebo, for relapse prophylaxis in recurrent depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67: 1256-64. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.168.

Zeidan F, Grant JA, Brown CA, et al. Mindfulness meditation-related pain relief: Evidence for unique brain mechanisms in the regulation of pain. Neurosci Lett. 2012;520: 165-173.

Authorship:

" How to Reduce Stress Through Mindfulness" was developed by Arielle Silverman, PhD, and published by the University of Washington Aging RRTC. Content is based on research evidence and/or professional consensus.

Disclaimer:

This information is not meant to replace the advice from a medical professional. You should consult your health care provider regarding specific medical concerns or treatment.

Suggested Attribution:

University of Washington. (2017). How to Reduce Stress Through Mindfulness [Factsheet]. Aging Well with a Physical Disability Factsheet Series. Healthy Aging & Physical Disability RRTC, http://agerrtc.washington.edu

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How to Reduce Stress Through Mindfulness

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Click here for a printer-friendly version Jump to section: Practicing mindfulness can benefit your health and well-being. Learn how you can build mindfulness into your everyday life. Mindfulness is a state of intentional, nonjudgmental focus on the present moment. Mindfulness techniques are often incorporated into other practices, such as yoga or meditation.

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"Through all of living have much joy and laughter, life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Gordon Hinkley

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"Through all of living have much joy and laughter, life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Gordon Hinkley

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The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter
Sure, it's fun to share a good laugh. But did you know it can actually improve your health? It's true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. As children, we used to laugh hundreds of times a day, but as adults, life tends to be more serious and laughter more infrequent. But by seeking out more opportunities for humor and laughter, you can improve your emotional health, strengthen your relationships, find greater happiness-and even add years to your life.
Why is laughter the sweetest medicine for the mind and body?

Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, pain, and conflict. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.

With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. Best of all, this priceless medicine is fun, free, and easy to use.

Laughter is good for your health

Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter burns calories. OK, so it's no replacement for going to the gym, but one study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn approximately 40 calories-which could be enough to lose three or four pounds over the course of a year.

Laughter lightens anger's heavy load. Nothing diffuses anger and conflict faster than a shared laugh. Looking at the funny side can put problems into perspective and enable you to move on from confrontations without holding onto bitterness or resentment.

Laughter may even help you to live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don't laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.

Physical health benefits of laughter:

Boosts immunity

Lowers stress hormones

Decreases pain

Relaxes your muscles

Prevents heart disease

Mental health benefits of laughter:

Adds joy and zest to life

Eases anxiety and tension

Relieves stress

Improves mood

Strengthens resilience

Social benefits of laughter:

Strengthens relationships

Attracts others to us

Enhances teamwork

Helps defuse conflict

Promotes group bonding

Laughter helps you stay mentally healthy

Laughter makes you feel good. And this positive feeling remains with you even after the laughter subsides. Humor helps you keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations, disappointments, and loss.

More than just a respite from sadness and pain, laughter gives you the courage and strength to find new sources of meaning and hope. Even in the most difficult of times, a laugh-or even simply a smile-can go a long way toward making you feel better. And laughter really is contagious-just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun.

The link between laughter and mental health

Laughter stops distressing emotions. You can't feel anxious, angry, or sad when you're laughing.

Laughter helps you relax and recharge. It reduces stress and increases energy, enabling you to stay focused and accomplish more.

Laughter shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations in a more realistic, less threatening light. A humorous perspective creates psychological distance, which can help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and diffuse conflict.

Laughter draws you closer to others, which can have a profound effect on all aspects of your mental and emotional health.

Laughter brings people together and strengthens relationships

There's a good reason why TV sitcoms use laugh tracks: laughter is contagious. You're many times more likely to laugh around other people than when you're alone. And the more laughter you bring into your own life, the happier you and those around you will feel.

Sharing humor is half the fun-in fact, most laughter doesn't come from hearing jokes, but rather simply from spending time with friends and family. And it's this social aspect that plays such an important role in the health benefits of laughter. You can't enjoy a laugh with other people unless you take the time to really engage with them. When you care about someone enough to switch off your phone and really connect face to face, you're engaging in a process that rebalances the nervous system and puts the brakes on defensive stress responses like "fight or flight." And if you share a laugh as well, you'll both feel happier, more positive, and more relaxed-even if you're unable to alter a stressful situation.

How laughing together can strengthen relationships

Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. All emotional sharing builds strong and lasting relationship bonds, but sharing laughter also adds joy, vitality, and resilience. And humor is a powerful and effective way to heal resentments, disagreements, and hurts. Laughter unites people during difficult times.

Humor and playful communication strengthen our relationships by triggering positive feelings and fostering emotional connection. When we laugh with one another, a positive bond is created. This bond acts as a strong buffer against stress, disagreements, and disappointment. Humor and laughter in relationships allows you to:

Be more spontaneous. Humor gets you out of your head and away from your troubles.

Let go of defensiveness. Laughter helps you forget resentments, judgments, criticisms, and doubts.

Release inhibitions. Your fear of holding back is pushed aside.

Express your true feelings. Deeply felt emotions are allowed to rise to the surface.

Use humor to resolve disagreements and tension in your relationship

Laughter is an especially powerful tool for managing conflict and reducing tension when emotions are running high. Whether with romantic partners, friends and family, or co-workers, you can learn to use humor to smooth over disagreements, lower everyone's stress level, and communicate in a way that builds up your relationships rather than breaking them down.

How to bring more laughter into your life

Laughter is your birthright, a natural part of life that is innate and inborn. Infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born. Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any stage of life.

Begin by setting aside special times to seek out humor and laughter, as you might with exercising, and build from there. Eventually, you'll want to incorporate humor and laughter into the fabric of your life, finding it naturally in everything.

Here are some ways to start:

Smile. Smiling is the beginning of laughter, and like laughter, it's contagious. When you look at someone or see something even mildly pleasing, practice smiling. Instead of looking down at your phone, look up and smile at people you pass in the street, the person serving you a morning coffee, or the co-workers you share an elevator with. Notice the effect on others.

Count your blessings. Literally make a list. The simple act of considering the positive aspects of your life will distance you from negative thoughts that block humor and laughter. When you're in a state of sadness, you have further to travel to reach humor and laughter.

When you hear laughter, move toward it. Sometimes humor and laughter are private, a shared joke among a small group, but usually not. More often, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, "What's funny?"

Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily-both at themselves and at life's absurdities-and who routinely find the humor in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious. Even if you don't consider yourself a lighthearted, humorous person, you can still seek out people who like to laugh and make others laugh. Every comedian appreciates an audience.

Bring humor into conversations. Ask people, "What's the funniest thing that happened to you today? This week? In your life?"

Simulated laughter

So, what if you really can't "find the funny?" Believe it or not, it's possible to laugh without experiencing a funny event-and simulated laughter can be just as beneficial as the real thing. It can even make exercise more fun and productive. A Georgia State University study found that incorporating bouts of simulated laughter into an exercise program helped improve older adults' mental health as well as their aerobic endurance. Plus, hearing others laugh, even for no apparent reason, can often trigger genuine laughter.

To add simulated laughter into your own life, search for laugh yoga or laugh therapy groups. Or you can start simply by laughing at other people's jokes, even if you don't find them funny. Both you and the other person will feel good, it will draw you closer together, and who knows, it may even lead to some spontaneous laughter.

Creating opportunities to laugh;

Watch a funny movie, TV show, or YouTube video

Invite friends or co-workers out to a comedy club

Read the funny pages

Seek out funny people

Share a good joke or a funny story

Check out your bookstore's humor section

Host game night with friends

Play with a pet

Go to a "laughter yoga" class

Goof around with children

Do something silly

Make time for fun activities (e.g. bowling, miniature golfing, karaoke)

Tips for developing your sense of humor

An essential ingredient for developing your sense of humor is to learn not to take yourself too seriously and laugh at your own mistakes and foibles. As much as we'd like to believe otherwise, we all do foolish things from time to time. Instead of feeling embarrassed or defensive, embrace your imperfections. While some events in life are clearly sad and not opportunities for laughter, most don't carry an overwhelming sense of either sadness or delight. They fall into the gray zone of ordinary life-giving you the choice to laugh or not. So choose to laugh whenever you can.

How to develop your sense of humor

Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take yourself less seriously is to talk about times when you took yourself too seriously.

Attempt to laugh at situations rather than bemoan them. Look for the humor in a bad situation, and uncover the irony and absurdity of life. When something negative happens, try to make it a humorous anecdote that will make others laugh.

Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun.

Remember funny things that happen. If something amusing happens or you hear a joke or funny story you really like, write it down or tell it to someone to help you remember it.

Don't dwell on the negative. Try to avoid negative people and don't dwell on news stories, entertainment, or conversations that make you sad or unhappy. Many things in life are beyond your control-particularly the behavior of other people. While you might view carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders as admirable, in the long run it's unrealistic and unhealthy.

Find your inner child. Pay attention to children and try to emulate them-after all, they are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing at ordinary things.

Deal with stress. Stress can be a major impediment to humor and laughter, so it's important to keep your stress levels in check. One great technique to relieve stress in the moment is to draw upon a favorite memory that always makes you smile-something your kids did, for example, or something funny a friend told you.

Don't go a day without laughing. Think of it like exercise or breakfast and make a conscious effort to find something each day that makes you laugh. Set aside 10 to 15 minutes and do something that amuses you. The more you get used to laughing each day, the less effort you'll have to make.

Using humor to overcome challenges and enhance your life

The ability to laugh, play, and have fun not only makes life more enjoyable but also helps you solve problems, connect with others, and think more creatively. People who incorporate humor and play into their daily lives find that it renews them and all of their relationships.

Life brings challenges that can either get the best of you or become playthings for your imagination. When you "become the problem" and take yourself too seriously, it can be hard to think outside the box and find new solutions. But when you play with the problem, you can often transform it into an opportunity for creative learning.

Playing with problems seems to come naturally to children. When they are confused or afraid, they make their problems into a game, giving them a sense of control and an opportunity to experiment with new solutions. Interacting with others in playful ways helps you retain this creative ability.

Here are two examples of people who took everyday problems and turned them around through laughter and play:

Roy, a semi-retired businessman, was excited to finally have time to devote to golf, his favorite sport. But the more he played, the less he enjoyed himself. Although his game had improved dramatically, he got angry with himself over every mistake. Roy wisely realized that his golfing buddies affected his attitude, so he stopped playing with people who took the game too seriously. When he played with friends who focused more on having fun than on their scores, he was less critical of himself. Now golfing was as enjoyable as Roy had envisioned. He scored better without working harder. And the brighter outlook he was gaining from his companions and the game spread to other parts of his life.

Jane worked at home designing greeting cards, a job she used to love but now felt had become routine. Two little girls who loved to draw and paint lived next door. Eventually, Jane invited the girls over to play with all of her art supplies. At first, she just watched, but in time she joined in. Laughing, coloring, and playing pretend with the little girls transformed Jane's life. Not only did it end her loneliness and boredom, but it sparked her imagination and helped her artwork flourish. Best of all, it rekindled the playfulness in Jane's relationship with her husband.

As laughter, humor, and play become integrated into your life, your creativity will flourish and new opportunities for laughing with friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and loved ones will occur to you daily. Laughter takes you to a higher place where you can view the world from a more relaxed, positive, and joyful perspective.

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Laughter is the Best Medicine The Health Benefits of Humor and Laughter Sure, it's fun to share a good laugh. But did you know it can actually improve your health? It's true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical

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Exercise has direct stress- busting benefits! 

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Exercise has direct stress- busting benefits! 

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Exercise and stress: Get moving to manage stress

Exercise in almost any form can act as a stress reliever. Being active can boost your feel-good endorphins and distract you from daily worries.
By Mayo Clinic Staff
You know that exercise does your body good, but you're too busy and stressed to fit it into your routine. Hold on a second - there's good news when it comes to exercise and stress.

Virtually any form of exercise, from aerobics to yoga, can act as a stress reliever. If you're not an athlete or even if you're out of shape, you can still make a little exercise go a long way toward stress management. Discover the connection between exercise and stress relief - and why exercise should be part of your stress management plan.

Exercise and stress relief

Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.

It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity may help bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner's high, any aerobic activity, such as a rousing game of tennis or a nature hike, can contribute to this same feeling.

It reduces negative effects of stress. Exercise can provide stress relief for your body while imitating effects of stress, such as the flight or fight response, and helping your body and its systems practice working together through those effects. This can also lead to positive effects in your body - including your cardiovascular, digestive and immune systems - by helping protect your body from harmful effects of stress.

It's meditation in motion. After a fast-paced game of racquetball, a long walk or run, or several laps in the pool, you may often find that you've forgotten the day's irritations and concentrated only on your body's movements.

As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you stay calm, clear and focused in everything you do.

It improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence, improve your mood, help you relax, and lower symptoms of mild depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety. All of these exercise benefits can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.

Put exercise and stress relief to work for you

A successful exercise program begins with a few simple steps.

Consult with your doctor. If you haven't exercised for some time or you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.

Walk before you run. Build up your fitness level gradually. Excitement about a new program can lead to overdoing it and possibly even injury.

For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. Examples of moderate aerobic activity include brisk walking or swimming, and vigorous aerobic activity can include running or biking. Greater amounts of exercise will provide even greater health benefits.

Also, aim to do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week.

Do what you love. Almost any form of exercise or movement can increase your fitness level while decreasing your stress. The most important thing is to pick an activity that you enjoy. Examples include walking, stair climbing, jogging, dancing, bicycling, yoga, tai chi, gardening, weightlifting and swimming.

And remember, you don't need to join a gym to get moving. Take a walk with the dog, try body-weight exercises or do a yoga video at home.

Pencil it in. In your schedule, you may need to do a morning workout one day and an evening activity the next. But carving out some time to move every day helps you make your exercise program an ongoing priority. Aim to include exercise in your schedule throughout your week.

Stick with it

Starting an exercise program is just the first step. Here are some tips for sticking with a new routine or refreshing a tired workout:

Set SMART goals. Write down SMART goals - specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-limited goals.

If your primary goal is to reduce stress in your life, your specific goals might include committing to walking during your lunch hour three times a week. Or try online fitness videos at home. Or, if needed, find a babysitter to watch your children so that you can slip away to attend a cycling class.

Find a friend. Knowing that someone is waiting for you to show up at the gym or the park can be a powerful incentive. Try making plans to meet friends for walks or workouts. Working out with a friend, co-worker or family member often brings a new level of motivation and commitment to your workouts. And friends can make exercising more fun!

Change up your routine. If you've always been a competitive runner, take a look at other, less competitive options that may help with stress reduction, such as Pilates or yoga classes. As an added bonus, these kinder, gentler workouts may enhance your running while also decreasing your stress.

Exercise in short bursts. Even brief bouts of physical activity offer benefits. For instance, if you can't fit in one 30-minute walk, try a few 10-minute walks instead. Being active throughout the day can add up to provide health benefits. Take a mid-morning or afternoon break to move and stretch, go for a walk, or do some squats or pushups.

Interval training, which entails brief (60 to 90 seconds) bursts of intense activity at almost full effort, can be a safe, effective and efficient way of gaining many of the benefits of longer duration exercise. What's most important is making regular physical activity part of your lifestyle.

Whatever you do, don't think of exercise as just one more thing on your to-do list. Find an activity you enjoy - whether it's an active tennis match or a meditative meander down to a local park and back - and make it part of your regular routine. Any form of physical activity can help you unwind and become an important part of your approach to easing stress.

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Show references

1. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/our-work/physical-activity/current-guidelines. Accessed Aug. 10, 2020.

2. AskMayoExpert. Physical activity (adult). Mayo Clinic; 2020.

3. Working out boosts brain health. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/exercise-stress. Accessed Aug. 10, 2020.

4. Seaward BL. Physical exercise: Flushing out the stress hormones. In: Essentials of Managing Stress. 4th ed. Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 2017.

5. Bodenheimer T, et al. Goal-setting for behavior change in primary care: An exploration and status report. Patient Education and Counseling. 2009; doi:10.1016/j.pec.2009.06.001.

6. Locke E, et al. Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist. 2002; doi:10.1037//0003-066x.57.9.705.

7. Olpin M, et al. Healthy lifestyles. In: Stress Management for Life. 4th ed. Cengage Learning; 2016.

8. Laskwoski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Aug. 12, 2020.

See more In-depth

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Exercise and stress: Get moving to manage stress

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Discover the connection between exercise and stress relief - and why exercise should be part of your stress management plan.

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Stress is a natural part of life, but it can be harmful to your health. Don't let yourself get to this point. 

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Stress is a natural part of life, but it can be harmful to your health. Don't let yourself get to this point. 

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April is National Stress Awareness Month. Stress is a natural part of life, but it can be harmful to your health. Long term stress can lead to illnesses and even increase your risk of developing serious health conditions like stroke and heart disease. Stress is natural, your Fight or Flight Response kicks in when a perceived threat approaches, your body releases stress hormones into the bloodstream. These hormones increase the heart rate, blood pressure and glucose levels. Although this is a good thing when you are avoiding a disaster like falling off a mountain, continuous releasing of stress hormones can lead to serious illnesses.

To relieve some of the stress in your life you may have to change the way you approach stress. If the stressor is out of your control, let it go and move on. Control your reaction to stressors. Relax, this will make you better able to handle stress. Take time out for yourself every day, even if it is only twenty minutes. Take time to exercise to relieve stress. Do whatever you do to unwind-for instance, read a book, spend time with friends, whatever makes you happy.

Source U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, http://www.foh.hhs.gov/Calendar/april.html

For more information about stress and how to relieve stress, visit your local library and check out these books:

The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living by Amit Sood

10 Mindful Minutes: Giving Our Children-and Ourselves-the Social and Emotional Skills to Reduce Stress and Anxiety for Healthier, Happier Lives by Goldie Hawn with Wendy Holden

The 10-Step Stress Solution: Live More, Relax More, Reenergize by Neil Shah

The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper

Tagged as: health

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April is National Stress Awareness Month. Stress is a natural part of life, but it can be harmful to your health. Long term stress can lead to illnesses and even increase your risk of developing serious health conditions like stroke

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Composting is a magical process. Given time, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, shredded paper or leaves can yield this black gold soil. Just like well-nourished children thrive, our gardens flourish with the nutrients and microorganisms that compost provides.

What Can You Compost?

More than you might think! Compostables are divided into two main categories: the greens and the browns.

Greens include food scraps such as apple cores, onion skins, egg shells, banana peels, coffee grounds and any other refuse from fruits and vegetables, including weeds (except perennial weeds) that are plucked from the garden. Browns include leaves, shredded paper, sawdust, nut shells, coffee filters, straw, small sticks and twigs, wood chips and empty cardboard tubes. For faster composting, the smaller the pieces, the better.

A compost pile is a living ecosystem and needs the right balance of ingredients and adequate water to function. The goal is for the compost pile to be damp like a wrung-out sponge: not too wet, not too dry. A compost pile should have good drainage, just like a house plant.

What Should You Leave Out of the Pile?

Think of compost piles as your favorite vegetarian. Don't toss any animal remains (meat, bones, etc.), dairy products or anything high in fat. Crushed egg shells are fine to include.

Create a place for compost piles in the backyard using plastic totes or garbage pails, cinder blocks or even salvaged skids lined with chicken wire to discourage pests. You also can purchase tumbler systems, which may do a better job repelling pests but are more expensive. Keep in mind that compost must be fully decomposed before adding it to the garden. You need at least two containers - one that you're adding scraps to and another that is completing the decomposition.

Just Add Worms

Another excellent option is vermicomposting, which is composting with the assistance of red wiggler worms. Vermicomposting can be done inexpensively in plastic totes (drill holes for air flow and drainage) or in a purchased system using stacking trays. Either system is small enough to stick in a closet. The worms need bedding, which can be coconut coir, paper scraps, leaves or peat moss. Worms can eat half of their body weight each day, meaning a two-pound population of worms can consume one pound of food scraps daily. This means food scraps should be added a few times per week to keep worms satisfied. Vermicomposting can even be done inside in your hall closet, a small bin under the sink or in your garage.

A Healthy Compost

A well-managed compost pile smells earthy. In order to have a healthy composting system, you'll need more browns than greens. If your pile is getting smelly, too heavy or too wet, add more browns and stir the pile.

Want to skip the landfill, but don't want your own compost pile to tend to? Check out your local urban farms to see if they accept food waste to add to their compost piles. Vendors at local farmers markets also may accept food scraps.

Holly Larson, MS, RD, is a nutrition expert, freelance writer and owner of Grass Roots Nutrition based in Oxford, OH.

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Composting is a magical process. Given time, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, shredded paper or leaves can yield this black gold soil. Just like well-nourished children thrive, our gardens flourish with the nutrients and microorganisms that compost provides. What Can You Compost? More than you might think!

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"Remember to enjoy the taste of any fruit or vegetable year-round by using fresh, frozen, canned, dried, and 100%  juice- it all counts!"

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"Remember to enjoy the taste of any fruit or vegetable year-round by using fresh, frozen, canned, dried, and 100%  juice- it all counts!"

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https://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/whats-in-season-spring

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Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables 

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Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables 

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Benefits for you and your family:

Fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables from your own garden are higher in nutrients than the ones that have traveled several thousands miles to get to your grocery store.

Having your children assist you in the garden can increase the chance that they will eat more of the fruits and vegetables they have helped to grow.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables can offer you the opportunity to reduce the amount of pesticides that you use in your garden, making them healthier.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables will save your money at the grocery store.

Gardening increases physical activity. It is a great way to engage the whole family in physical activity and lets them help to take responsibility for the garden.

The fruits and vegetables grown in your garden will promote health because they are rich in nutrients, especially in phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A and folate.

Gardening gives you're a real sense of appreciation when you can see the bounty of your efforts.

Growing a garden gives you a new appreciation for nature, when you can have the opportunity to see how things grow.

Gardening may stimulate many new interests. You may want to learn more about botany, landscape architecture, photography, nutrition, and farmer's markets.

Gardening gives you the opportunity to give back. If you have an abundant garden, you might give some of your produce to the local soup kitchen or food bank.

This can be a great time to create memories with your children, memories that can last a lifetime.

Your garden can lead to new skills, and knowledge for you and your family, your child may have a new found interest to become a chef!

Gardens can foster a great sense of community through parent to parent connections, teacher to student or student to student.

Schools and community may decide to build a community or school garden. This is a tremendous learning tool for all involved as well a providing a source of nutritious fruits and vegetables.

A community/school garden can help to foster and motivate future leaders (e.g., 4-H afterschool programs).

Neighborhood Community Gardens beautify landscape, support local farmers, can create a food secure community where residents do not need to rely on vendors to supply fresh produce.

Tall fruit trees provide shade.

You can use less pesticides or use natural pesticides and this will be less contamination to the environment.

Produce peels and waste can create a lot of green waste and takes up a lot of space in the garbage can. Recycle them to make your own compost. It is less expensive than buying fertilizers.

Turn unsightly lands into attractive landscapes.

Get creative. There is a potential to grow an innovative gardens like futuristic horticulture gardens that are very cost-effective and require substantially less space.

Start exploring today!!!

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Enjoy More Fruits and Vegetables

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Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruits and Vegetables - eXtension

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Benefits for you and your family: Fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables from your own garden are higher in nutrients than the ones that have traveled several thousands miles to get to your grocery store.

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Find the best dates for planting vegetables and fruit in your garden! Our free planting calendar calculates the best time to start seeds indoors and outdoors, as well as when to plant young plants outside.

How to Use the Planting Calendar

Simply put, a planting calendar is a guide that tells you the best time to start planting your garden. Most planting calendars are based on frost dates, which dictate when you should start seeds and when it's safe to plant outdoors in your area. Our planting calendar is customized to your location in order to give you the most accurate information possible.

On the planting calendar below, please note:

The Frost Dates indicate the best planting dates based on your local average frost dates. Average frost dates are based on historical weather data and are the planting guideline used by most gardeners.

The Moon Dates indicate the best planting dates based on your local frost dates and Moon phases. Planting by the Moon is considered a more traditional technique.

The Transplant Seedlings dates indicate the best time to plant young plants outdoors. This includes plants grown from seed at home and plants bought from a nursery. Although frost dates are a good way to know approximately when to start gardening, always check a local forecast before planting outdoors!

When no dates appear in the chart, that starting method is not recommended for that particular plant. Some crops do best when started outdoors rather than indoors, while others prefer the opposite.

Click on the name of a plant to see our corresponding Growing Guide.

To plan your garden more accurately in the future, keep a record of your garden's conditions each year, including frost dates and seed-starting dates!

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Find the best dates for planting and transplanting vegetables and fruit! Our free planting guide calculates the best dates for sowing seeds indoors and outdoors, and for transplanting seedlings to the garden-all customized to your location. Based on frost dates and planting zones.

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Nothing compares to the taste of a tomato just picked from the vine or a cucumber from your own backyard. Gardening is a fun physical activity, providing you with great tasting produce and, ultimately, saves you trips to the store. In addition, it's a perfect way to teach children about where food comes from.

Here are a few easy steps to get you gardening and growing your own nutritious food.

Calculate your space. Before buying plants or seeds, calculate how much space you have (ground or container) that gets adequate sun. Most vegetable plants require at least six hours of light each day.

Know what grows. When buying your plants, ask what varieties will do best in the conditions you have to work with. For example, several compact tomato plants do particularly well in containers. If you have neighbors who garden, ask them what has grown well in their yard.

Check your soil quality. If you aren't sure about the quality of soil in your backyard, use a testing kit to see if you need to reinforce it with any nutrients.

Start small. Remember, you don't have start with an extravagant space with vegetables to fill a farmers market. Your garden can be as simple as a few window boxes of herbs or a potted tomato plant.

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Nothing compares to the taste of a tomato just picked from the vine or a cucumber from your own backyard. Gardening is a fun physical activity, providing you with great tasting produce and, ultimately, saves you trips to the store. In addition, it's a perfect way to teach children about where food comes from.

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Studies demonstrate that a garden improves children's knowledge of produce and increases their intake of fruits and vegetables

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Getting kids to eat new foods sounds simple enough ("just take one bite"). But parents and caretakers know that for many children, new foods - with their new appearances, smells, tastes, textures, temperatures and names - can be scary.

How can you develop positive relationships with food instead of mealtime battles? Try these eight fun tips to lay a foundation for stress-free, adventurous eating habits before the first bite.

Leverage Story Time

Teach your kids about foods and recipes from around the world, including what children in different cultures eat. Read about food-based professions such as bakers, farmers and chefs. Watch cooking shows and videos with your kids. Talk with them about cooking and food prep.

Tease Them with Scrumptious Smells

Think about those smells that get you out of bed in the morning - brewing coffee or the aroma of breakfast cooking. Smell is a significant and sometimes forgotten part of our eating experience. Playing games to positively engage with food smells outside of mealtimes can demystify novel foods. Use spice jars to guess scents. Or add orange, vanilla or other extracts to bubbles before blowing them outside. These non-eating activities can build happy associations with new smells before you use them in recipes.

Unleash the Artist

Use food for fun art projects. For example, fruit stamps: halved strawberries make heart-shaped stamps, and halved apples are star-shaped. String garlands or jewelry from uncooked pasta, popcorn or cranberries. (Caution: popcorn and chunks of food can be choking hazards in young children.)

Flip the Script

Do you find yourself telling friends and family, "My child is a picky eater"? Train yourself to use hopeful language instead: "My child is learning to love new things." Instead of "He doesn't like it," say, "He hasn't had it enough times." Using positive statements helps validate your child's feelings in your mind while recognizing that their opinions towards specific foods can change.

Sort by Color

Chop brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as red cherry tomatoes, green kiwis and purple grapes into small pieces. With your child, sort them by color while saying the name of the color aloud. Focusing on the game rather than on their discomfort with new foods, can cultivate your child's acceptance of new textures. FYI: As with popcorn and apples, whole cherry tomatoes and grapes are choking hazards in young children.

Name It

Which do you think your child would rather eat: steamed carrots or X-Ray Vision Coins? In the same way that descriptions on restaurant menus can influence what you order, creative names in the kitchen or cafeteria can pique a child's interest.

Shine the Spotlight

Many kids love being the star. So, put them in the spotlight and explore new foods. Take videos of your child speaking to their ideal audience - a younger sibling, a stuffed animal, a favorite superhero - about taking that first bite into a new food!

Get Everyone Out into the Garden

Studies demonstrate that a garden improves children's knowledge of produce and increases their intake of fruits and vegetables. Make it a family activity throughout the year. Look at seed catalogs in the winter, starting the seeds in the spring, weed and harvest all summer long, and turn over the soil in the fall. Gardens can be joyful and patient teachers.

Holly Larson, MS, RD, is a nutrition expert, freelance writer and owner of Grass Roots Nutrition based in Oxford, OH.

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8 Ways to Get Picky Eaters to Become More Adventurous

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Getting kids to eat new foods sounds simple enough ("just take one bite"). But parents and caretakers know that for many children, new foods - with their new appearances, smells, tastes, textures, temperatures and names - can be scary. How can you develop positive relationships with food instead of mealtime battles?

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Growing tired of winter yet? As much as we all may enjoy a cozy night by the fire, the change in seasons brings a much needed chance to shed that Vampire-like avoidance of daylight and venture back into the great outdoors. April is, after all, the month when spring springs, so April's National Garden Month is the right time to get outside and enjoy Mother Nature's colorful antidote to cabin fever.

National Garden Month - History

National Garden Month is Born

The National Gardening Association extends the celebration to last the full month of April.

National Garden Week Initiated

President Reagan signs a proclamation to kick off the first annual celebration.

University of Pisa Physic Garden

One of the first known botanical gardens is created to aid the study of medicinal plants.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

This possibly mythical ancient wonder of the world would have been built for King Nebuchadnezzar during this period.

National Garden Month Activities

Why We Love National Garden Month

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Growing tired of winter yet? As much as we all may enjoy a cozy night by the fire, the change in seasons brings a much needed chance to shed that Vampire-like avoidance of daylight and venture back into the great outdoors.