Sneaky Ways to Relax and Clear Your Mind At Work

Work can be stressful…stress is bad for you…what’s a gal (or gent) to do? The key is…relax. “But I’m at work!” you say. “I don’t think my employer wants me sitting around…relaxing.”  

True, for the record. Probably not.

However, here are some sneaky ways to relax and clear your mind at work – and each one takes only five minutes. That’s time for just enough relaxation to allow you to gain renewed focus for your next task!

1.    Drink a cup of tea: this one doesn’t take any time away from your work. You can easily sip on a cup of tea while you work.  But not just any tea; here are some options that are all known to work well against stress and anxiety.

2.    Take a quick walk around the office (or even up the stairs!): as awesome as you are, you won’t be missed if you take five minutes to clear your head. This is also a great way to get some extra movement in your day.

3.    “Forget” something in your car: similar to #2, this necessitates a brief walk. However, this has the added bonus of getting you some fresh air, which will help clear your head even more.

4.    Take a mindfulness break: alternatively, if you don’t want to go anywhere, just take five minutes to be fully with yourself and practice mindfulness. This can be as basic as some simple breath work! Hopefully no one will interrupt.

5.    Keep a pocket journal: bring a journal with you to work. It can be a small notebook that fits in your coat pocket, handbag, binder, etc. Whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed, take five minutes and write.

You’d be surprised how much just five minutes of relaxing will benefit your stress levels, productivity, and overall wellbeing at work!

If you’re looking for a less sneaky and more relaxing way to practice mindfulness and destress at work, check out our corporate wellness classes.

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #stress, #healthylifestyle, #mindfulness

National Humor Month: Is Laughter the Best Medicine?

Did you know... April is National Humor Month!  Yep, it’s a thing.  The initiative even has a website where it states, “National Humor Month was conceived as a means to heighten public awareness of the therapeutic value of humor.”

There is even an International Humor Conference, hosted by the International Society for Humor Studies!  This professional organization consists of many university and college professors, as well as many professionals in fields of counseling, management, nursing, and even theater.  They hold conferences and publish a quarterly journal, all about their studies of laughter and humor and how that plays a role in business, entertainment and healthcare, and how it varies across several demographics.

As humorous as a national humor month backed by an international humor society may be, their mission is a noble and science-backed one.  Laughter is one of the best ways to deal with stress.  Studies show that laughing with others even releases endorphins in the brain that mimic the euphoria induced by powerful drugs like heroin.  Building on that, social laughter also forms social bonds.  This is the scientific explanation of why laughter is so contagious; spreading endorphin release through a group promotes a sense of belonging and safety.

In fact, not only does laughter form social bonds, but it keeps them too.  This study found that couples who laugh together report having higher-quality relationships.  Essentially; couples who laugh together, stay together!  Laughter has also been shown by research to have an anti-inflammatory effect that fights against damage from cardiovascular disease.  Scientists don’t fully understand this yet, but it is believed to be related to diminishing the body’s stress response (an inflammatory agent).

So now that you know that laughter really is the best medicine (or at least one of them), make sure to get your laughter on this month!  It’s no coincidence that this Monday is April Fool’s Day, so start the month off right with a good old laugh.  In terms of dealing with stress…perhaps the only thing that can rival laughter is a relaxing massage, so don’t forget to book your appointment for that too!

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #stress, #healthylifestyle, #laughter

The Lowdown on Stress

The word “stress” often carries a negative connotation with it due to its association with unpleasant side effects.

But here’s the thing: stress is simply how the brain and body responds to any given stimulus that requires a change or adaptation.  Therefore, stress is actually a good thing because it allows you to adapt to new situations, and to keep on keepin’ on.

In fact, there is a correlation between stress levels and performance.  The Yerkes-Dodson law states that the correlation between performance and physiological or mental arousal (stress) takes the shape of an inverted U-curve.  That is, your performance in life is positively impacted by stress, up to a point.  Once stress levels pass a certain threshold, performance decreases due to increased anxiety.  

Essentially, stress is not inherently bad, but as with most things in life, there can be too much of a good thing.  The key to harnessing stress in a positive way is multifaceted: recognize your stress levels, and change your reactions to necessary stressors by managing them.

The first step to managing stress is to recognize that it is there and to acknowledge the degree to which it is present.  Physical signs of excessive stress can include decreased energy, headaches, trouble sleeping, muscle tension, accelerated heart rate, and more.

However, there are less obvious but equally important mental clues: mental exhaustion, feelings of depression or anxiety, or frequent and intense mood swings.  By being cued into what you are experiencing and recognizing your stress levels, you’ll be able to manage them before they get worse, and ensure you stay on the positive side of the Yerkes-Dodson U-curve.

Once you have recognized your stress levels, it’s time to manage them!  To do so, you need to create a balance between activities/habits aimed at maintaining your physical health AND your mental health.  This combination will decrease the perceived threat to your body and aid your brain in returning to healthy stress levels.

To take care of your physical health, it’s important to prioritize whole nutrient-rich foods, exercise often, and adhere to a consistent and healthy sleep schedule.  To care for the mental aspect, try to prioritize hobbies, spend time alone (or time with loved ones, whatever rejuvenates you most), and establish morning and bedtime routines to relax and unwind.

Of course, there’s really nothing quite like a relaxing massage to get your mind off of things and help you HARNESS your stress!

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #stress, #healthylifestyle, #energy, #stressmanagement

You DON’T Snooze, You Lose

You DON’T Snooze, You Lose

Sleeping enough is just one of those things we know we should do but don’t really know why.  The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours a night for people ages 18-64, but chances are most of us are not getting anywhere near the recommended amount.  With today’s busy work schedules, long commute times, and increasing commitments, it can be difficult for the average person to get the recommended amount of sleep.  Read: difficult, but not impossible.  Read on to find out why you should prioritize getting enough zzz’s…

1.    It keeps your heart healthy.  In honor of February being American Heart Month, we first have to mention the importance of enough sleep in regards to a healthy heart; lack of sleep has been associated with worsening of blood pressure and cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

2.    It improves your memory.  Learning and memory are described in three different functions: acquisition (taking in new information into the brain), consolidation (the processing of the information and formation of memories), and recall (the ability to access the information after it is stored).  Researchers think that various sleep stages are responsible – or at least involved – in the consolidation of memories.  Sleep deprivation may also have implications for learning impairment.

3.    It may help you lose weight.  Recent research shows that people who sleep less than 7 hours a night are more likely to be overweight or obese.  It’s been shown that a lack of sleep may cause a hormonal imbalance in the body that impacts appetite regulating hormones (ghrelin and leptin).  This causes increased appetite.  Pair that with decreased movement from lack of energy and you’ve got a recipe for weight gain!

4.    It reduces stress.  Much like a good massage, getting enough sleep reduces stress.  Conversely, a lack of sleep will place your body into a state of stress.  This increases the production of stress hormones such as cortisol (which has other unpleasant side effects), and may even elevate blood pressure.

Convinced?  We sure are!  While getting enough sleep can be a tough thing to plan around, it’s crucial that you do so for your long-term health.  There are strategies you can implement in order to balance all your responsibilities and still get enough sleep.  Where there’s a will there’s a way!  So, go on and hit that snooze button (just kidding, probably don’t do that).  😊

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #sleep, #healthylifestyle, #energy, #stress

A Spotlight on the Cranial Release Technique

Cranial Release Technique (CRT) is one of the many massage services we offer here at Healing Hands Miami.  This service may be less immediately recognizable than something like a relaxing massage or a deep tissue massage, but offers a host of benefits you don’t want to miss out on.  So what is it exactly?

In short, cranial release technique is a short treatment (often lasting only a minute or two) that aims to “release” the cranial bones (the 22 bones that make up the head) by correcting and restoring proper movement to them, which in turn triggers a realignment of the tissues and structures associated with the cranium, such as the spine, the fascia, and the extremities (arms, legs, shoulders, etc).   

The treatment developed out of the research initiated from the discoveries of Dr. William G. Sutherland, who discovered that the bones that make up our cranium actually move, and that this movement is responsible for proper function of the nervous system and optimal health.  This alignment can become distorted due to factors like chronic stress, and the distortion throws off our body’s innate ability to heal, while maintaining our bodies in a constant state of stress otherwise known as the “fight or flight” response.

CRT can restore the gentle movement to the bones of the head known as the cranial pulse, with the ultimate goal of triggering the aforementioned release and realignment of all the affected structures and effectively shifting the body out of “fight or flight” and back to “rest and digest,” a balanced state where it can focus on healing and being well.

If you feel like you suffer from chronic stress (and unfortunately, most of us do), CRT can help.  CRT has been shown to decrease heart rate variability (a medical marker of stress) and to have positive effects in reversing this abnormal stress response. 

Intrigued?  CRT can be added to any service given by Healing Hands founder Anastasia Yecke Gude (currently Anastasia is the only practitioner with this accreditation, having studied with Dr. William Doreste in 2012).  And remember, with our All-Inclusive Massage there is never an upcharge!  Book your session today.

  

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #cranialmassage, #healthylifestyle, #massageservices, #stress

The Phenomenon of Holiday Stress and How To Combat it

It’s official, we’re in full-on holiday season.  ‘Tis the season to indulge in time off, time with family, and lots of delicious food.  However, what some people think of as the happiest time of the year can end up being quite the opposite through a phenomenon known simply as “holiday stress”.

A study published by the American Psychological Association found that leading holiday season stressors include a perceived lack of time, money, pressure of giving or getting gifts, family gatherings, and an inability to stick to health goals.  More than 80% of people surveyed reported feeling stressed and fatigued “often” during the holidays.

Additionally, in order to combat the stress, people tend to turn to less-than-optimal coping mechanisms, eating more and moving less.  We understandably think that indulging often and relaxing our way through these stressful months will make them a little easier to deal with.  However, this leads into another source of stress: an inability to stick to our current health goals!  Consistency is king.  It isn’t our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners that make us gain those extra pounds we desperately want to shed come January 1^st, it’s what we do all the other days surrounding these special occasions in the hopes of being able to enjoy ourselves and relieve undue stress.

So, it seems like one thing just leads to another.  Is there no way to break the cycle?

As it turns out there is a calorie-free alternative to relieving holiday stress: the concept of shifting set!  Shifting set is simply a fancy term coined by psychologists to represent “updating or shifting cognitive strategies to respond to the changes in our environment”.  In simpler terms, it’s the ability to be flexible and adaptable.

By adopting a more flexible and adaptable approach to the holidays we can save ourselves a LOT of undue stress.  Just think: instead of stressing out about not getting as much time as you wanted off from work for that vacation, why not just adapt to the new timeframe and channel that energy into reorganizing your itinerary and still going on a fulfilling mini-vacation?  Instead of being upset that your workout schedule has been completely thrown off by traveling and bad weather, be flexible…adapt…create a new workout schedule that works with your current circumstances!

This holiday season, make sure to rely on flexibility and adaptability (and maybe a relaxing massage) to relieve stress so that you can actually enjoy this time of year!

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #holidays, #stress, #christmas