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How to Reduce Stress in Your Home and Work Environments

by: ARA

(ARA) - Though stress is a part of life, there are unique, enjoyable ways to reduce stress at home and at work. Stress occurs when the body reacts to change, triggered by events happening directly to you or around you. Although your bodily response can be a positive one -- keeping you alert -- too much stress can be harmful to your health.

Most of our stress is a result of everyday responsibilities and obligations. As we go about our lives, pressures -- both physical and mental -- are constantly putting a strain on our bodies. Although this stress is not always obvious to us, the daily tension can cause minor illnesses such as insomnia, backaches, skin disorders or headaches, and can also contribute to potentially life threatening diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease and a variety of other serious illnesses.

�Everybody, these days, is prone to stress -- we need to find ways to reduce stress in our daily lives,� says Luke Sutton, president of Serenity Health, a provider of high quality relaxation and stress relief products for the home and office. �There are a number of simple things that people can do to greatly reduce stress in their daily lives.�

Although stress can�t always be avoided, we can certainly learn to manage it and lessen the harmful effects on our bodies. The National Mental Health Association and Serenity Health offer the following ideas for reducing stress in your life:

* Regular exercise is a great way to reduce stress. Just 20 to 30 minutes of activity a day will help your body to relieve itself of pent-up stress.

* Take short, periodic breaks from your day to just sit quietly and calm your mind. Even a bit of meditation or gentle focus can help to quiet your mind and calm your body. This can enormously help in relieving stress.

* Create an environment at home and at work that is as stress-free as possible. For instance, have you ever noticed how calm and relaxed you feel when you are sitting in nature, next to a babbling brook, a river, or some beautiful waterfalls? Well, it is very easy to bring those natural, calming water sounds into your home or office, with a beautiful, affordable water fountain. This enables you to create a wonderful sense of calm and serenity in any living environment.

Water fountains come in range of sizes and styles, some of which are small enough to fit on even a modest desk top at work. The floor-standing and wall-mounted models create a magnificent presence with their illuminated cascading waterfalls. Esthetically, they are stunning, and they create beautiful waterfall sounds that are mesmerizing and delightful.

�All of these water fountains are beautiful to look at, and are very relaxing at the same time,� says Sutton. �More and more, we are finding that people are choosing these wall fountains as pieces of natural moving wall art, over more traditional art pieces such as paintings and prints.�

* Eliminate stress from the moment you wake up in the morning. �Something as insignificant as your alarm clock may be contributing to your daily stress,� says Sutton. �Most people use an alarm clock with a harsh beeping sound that suddenly jars them from sleep. That shocking process can actually send stress throughout your entire body, which sets the tone of your whole day.�

Instead of a traditional alarm clock, there are a variety of very effective natural awakening alarm clocks that wake you up you in a gradual, stress-free way every morning. There are sunrise alarm clocks that awaken you with a simulated glowing sunrise. This is particularly effective for people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but thousands of people who do not suffer from SAD also use this type of clock and love it.

There are also clocks that awaken you with a choice of several different nature sounds (such as ocean surf, forest rainfall, birds etc.) or your relaxing musical choice from any CD. Such clocks are also excellent for lulling you to sleep at night. And then, there are clocks that awaken you with a beautiful zen-like chime cycle that increases over a 15 minute period. Also, many of these natural awakening alarm clocks include a built-in radio, if you wish to awaken to any radio station.

* Share your feelings. Whether you have had a bad day at the office or a sick child to take care of, talking with a friend can help you remember you aren�t alone. Don�t forget to stay in touch with friends and family: they can provide valuable support and guidance.

So, remember to treat yourself to much needed moments of peace and relaxation every day, for your health and well-being. You deserve it, don�t you?

For more information about Serenity relaxation and stress relief products, visit www.SerenityHealth.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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Courtesy of ARA Content

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Mom's Job Stress May Spread to Kids
by: Rita Jenkins

Low job satisfaction in working mothers increases the stress levels of their children, but allowing them to spend more time in childcare can help overcome these effects, according to new research published in Developmental Psychobiology.

Children whose mothers found their jobs emotionally exhausting or otherwise less rewarding had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than children whose mothers reported more enjoyment from their jobs, researchers found in a study involving more than 50 nursery school children.

Levels of cortisol in the evening were more than double in the children whose mothers experienced less job satisfaction. Placing those children in childcare would help to significantly reduce their stress, the research suggests.

The researchers also found that children from families that were either highly expressive or very reserved exhibited higher than average cortisol levels.

Greater support is needed for working mothers to help improve their job satisfaction and increase the availability of affordable childcare options, says the report.

More Time in Childcare

Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb, a health psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, Dr. Christina Chryssanthopoulou from the University of Kent and Dr. David Jessop, a neuroimmunologist at the University of Bristol collaborated on the study.

To measure cortisol levels, they took saliva samples in the morning and evening from 56 children aged three to four years old. They also surveyed mothers about their workplace conditions and home life over a six month period.

"Spending more time in childcare makes a big difference to the stress levels in children whose mothers have low job satisfaction," says Dr. Turner-Cobb.

"It can help protect children from the effects of their mother's low job quality and emotional exhaustion. Ensuring that mothers of young children have good support in the workplace is essential for supporting both mothers and their children," she adds.

"Improving the job satisfaction of working mothers means that they are less stressed themselves," says Dr. Jessop, "and extending the availability of affordable and adequate childcare may not only improve the quality of life for the mothers but, in doing so, may improve the long term health of their children."

Healthy Adaptation to Stress

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates blood pressure and cardiovascular function and immune function. It also controls the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Cortisol secretion increases in response to stress, whether physical -- such as illness, trauma, surgery or temperature extremes -- or psychological. It is a normal and essential response without which we would not be able to function in everyday life.

When these levels remain high or become disrupted in some way over a prolonged period of time, however, they may have consequences for health. It is important to promote healthy adaptation to stress in children, and good quality childcare is one way of doing this, say the authors.

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