Mindfulness and meditation Archive

Anxiety can produce physical symptoms, such as headaches, stomach upset, and tightness in the chest. Sometimes this sets up a vicious cycle, in which anxiety triggers physical symptoms, and the symptoms magnify anxiety, which makes them even worse. Doing distracting tasks or relaxation exercises can help break this cycle. People should seek professional help if symptoms can't be controlled.

As people age, cognitive skills wane and thinking and memory become more challenging, so they need to build up the brain's reserve. Embracing a new activity that requires thinking, learning, ongoing practice can be one of the best ways to improve cognitive skills like memory recall, problem solving, and processing speed.

A 2024 study found that people with high blood sugar and high triglycerides are more likely to develop chronic stress, anxiety, or depression later in life, compared with people who have low or normal blood sugar levels.

Spending several minutes lying on the ground in a resting supine pose can help people feel grounded by calming their body and mind.

Resilience is a psychological response that helps you adapt to life's difficulties and seek a path forward through challenges. While everyone has the ability to be resilient, life stresses can take a toll on you. It's possible to cultivate resilience - but how?

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, teaches people to challenge negative thought patterns and change their responses to unsettling situations. It is an effective therapy for many mental health conditions as well as issues like pain or insomnia, and for managing difficult life experiences.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a time-efficient way for people to improve their fitness and cardiovascular health. Even short bursts of high-intensity activity may trigger the release of mood-boosting brain chemicals. Traditionally, HIIT features 30 to 90 seconds of high-intensity effort followed by an equal or longer period of lower-intensity activity or rest. HIIT variations include fartlek (Swedish for "speed play"), which uses environmental cues to set intervals, and Tabata, which features 20-second intervals of intensity followed by 10-second recovery intervals.

The vast majority of New Year's resolutions are forgotten by February. But people don't have to tie their personal improvement to a calendar date. Reinvention can begin at any time, making any day a fresh opportunity to stretch toward a long-wanted goal. People should break down their one-year goal into a process to accomplish it. Helpful strategies include writing goals down; breaking them into steps; tracking progress; being accountable; and tying progress to an event.