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Category: Stress
One Of The Best Ways To Reduce Stress Takes Only 20 Minutes
Cortisol, the stress hormone, was reduced in just 20 minutes.
Cortisol, the stress hormone, was reduced in just 20 minutes.
A 20-minute stroll in nature is the most efficient way to reduce stress levels, research finds.
Just 20 to 30 minutes provided the biggest drop in levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
Critically, taking a ‘nature pill’, as the researchers call it, involves not using phones at all, not talking to anyone, or reading — just being in nature.
Dr MaryCarol Hunter, the study’s first author, said:
“We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, but until now it was unclear how much is enough, how often to do it, or even what kind of nature experience will benefit us.
Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol, you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature.”
Over 8 weeks, 36 people living in the city were asked to take a walk in nature of at least 10 minutes.
They had their cortisol levels measured before and after.
Dr Hunter explained:
“Participants were free to choose the time of day, duration, and the place of their nature experience, which was defined as anywhere outside that in the opinion of the participant, made them feel like they’ve interacted with nature.
There were a few constraints to minimize factors known to influence stress: take the nature pill in daylight, no aerobic exercise, and avoid the use of social media, internet, phone calls, conversations and reading.”
Participants were free to walk where they wanted, for however long they wanted, said Dr Hunter:
“Building personal flexibility into the experiment, allowed us to identify the optimal duration of a nature pill, no matter when or where it is taken, and under the normal circumstances of modern life, with its unpredictability and hectic scheduling.”
The results showed that just 20-30 minutes was the optimal period for de-stressing in nature.
Walking for longer de-stressed people more, but the rewards declined after 30 minutes.
Dr Hunter said the study…
“…provides the first estimates of how nature experiences impact stress levels in the context of normal daily life.
It breaks new ground by addressing some of the complexities of measuring an effective nature dose.”
The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology (Hunter et al., 2019).
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Weight Loss: Awareness Of This Emotion Helps People Eat Less
Head and neck pain and problems sleeping are common signs of this emotion.
Head and neck pain and problems sleeping are common signs of this emotion.
Reducing stress can help people control their weight, a study finds.
Overweight mothers ate less fast-food and fewer high-fat snacks after taking a stress reduction course.
The course focused on how the stressed mothers could lead a more healthy lifestyle and not on lecturing them.
For example, they were shown how to recognise when they were stressed and to take a deep breath to cope with it.
Mothers watched videos that helped them with prioritising and time management.
Dr Mei-Wei Chang, the study’s first author, said:
“We used the women’s testimonies in the videos and showed their interactions with their families to raise awareness about stressors.
After watching the videos, a lot of intervention participants said, ‘This is the first time I’ve realized I am so stressed out’ — because they’ve lived a stressful life.
Many of these women are aware of feeling impatient, and having head and neck pain and trouble sleeping — but they don’t know those are signs of stress.”
The study included 338 overweight mothers on low incomes who all had children under 5-years-old.
Many were facing a number of difficulties, including poor living conditions, unstable relationships and financial problems.
Of the total, 212 participants were shown videos in which other women like them gave testimonials about food preparation, healthy eating, exercise and managing stress.
They also had access to an online support group.
The results showed that mothers who reduced their stress also decreased their consumption of high-fat foods.
Dr Chang said:
“It’s not that these women didn’t want to eat healthier.
If you don’t know how to manage stress, then when you are so stressed out, why would you care about what you eat?”
The tips mothers were given were very practical, such as using a chart to assign jobs to their children and rewarding kids for being well-behaved.
For stress management, mothers were encouraged not to blame themselves, but instead to think about how they could solve the problem.
Dr Chang said:
“I learned a lot from those women.
Everything needs to be practical and applicable to daily life — anytime, anywhere.”
Self-awareness of stress is important, said Dr Chang:
“We raised their awareness about stressors in their lives, and unfortunately a lot of these problems are not within their control.
So we teach them ways to control their negative emotions — remember that this is temporary, and you can get through it.
And give them confidence to look to the future.”
→ Read on: self-compassion is vital for stress reduction.
The study was published in the journal Nutrients (Chang et al., 2021).
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