Take a Nap

Napping Day is coming up on Monday, March 12, the day after we start Daylight Savings Time. Even losing one hour of sleep has an impact on us. In fact, on the day after Canadians set the clocks forward by one hour, …

The Tyranny of the SHOULDs

News reports tell us that Canadians are spending less time with family, friends, and leisure activities, and that people are tyrannized by their to-do lists (even having lists for their lists!). Does this sound familiar? Be wary of those “should’s”.  They …

Try a Shultz Hour

Constant activity is not the most productive way to live and work. George Shultz (U.S.A. Secretary of State, 1982-1989) took an hour each week to reflect on the strategic, big-picture aspects of his job.  Sitting alone in his office with paper and …

Bouncing Back from the Tough Stressors?

 People who are resilient in difficult situations are those who :     recognize “it’s bad now”  are aware of a range of emotions  –  including “positive” ones!           (even among the feelings of stress, frustration, fear, anger, guilt, …

Stressed by Technology & Devices?

The most effective strategies to decrease technostress (the stress or illness caused by working with computers/devices/technology daily)  are :   Turn off notifications   (from FaceBook, Twitter, etc).   Constantly getting instant notifications can increase anticipation and anxiety   (most commonly from a fear of missing …

A Really Refreshing Break…

Did you have a relaxing summer?  One that restored you? Sonnentag’s research into what kind of breaks provide us with the greatest degree of recovery concludes that the most restorative and restful breaks have four elements.  How do your breaks …

Arguing? Take a Time Out.

Do you get “flooded” during arguments? Dr. David Penner, Clinical Director at the Gottman Institute (home of relationship experts, and The Love Lab), gave a presentation in Seattle at the annual biofeedback conference.  He shared their research on the physiological …

Headaches ?

A division of the U.S. National Institute of Health  (the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)  has published a review of evidence concluding that relaxation techniques may be helpful for those with headache and migraine pain. After looking at U.S. …

Reading about it – or DOING it ?

It’s not what you know… but what you do… Wellness lectures are not as helpful as actually  practicing  mind/body stress reduction exercises if you want to have lower level of stress chemicals during stressful situations. Elizabeth Hoge measured the stress chemical ACTH as well as inflammatory cytokines in …

Sleep to Learn

Lack of sleep deteriorates memory… unless perhaps it’s about negative things! It’s been known for a long time that getting a good sleep after learning new things will help consolidate that new information into long term memory. Now we also know that the amount …