It’s Okay to Relax!

National Relaxation Day is coming up on Monday, August 15.  This is a day to slow down, unwind, relax, and take a break from a fast-paced lifestyle and the demands of living in a pandemic.  If you are not used to taking breaks …

Bored already?

As a school kid, did you get bored during summer vacation?  Have you been bored during the COVID19 pandemic?  Psychologists Danckert and Eastwood, authors of Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom, contend that boredom is more than just feeling …

What is your Nature Pyramid?

Have you been experiencing more time outdoors during the pandemic? Or did the restrictions lead to restricted outdoor time too?  Will this change as COVID19 restrictions ease? It may take a conscious decision and commitment to spend, or continue spending, …

Unfinished Business Impairs Sleep

What are you thinking about when you get into bed? Or when you wake in the night? Future plans?  Replays of the day?  Worries? Unfinished business keeps the brain active and pushes away sleep. Syrek’s research suggests this is due to ruminating …

Is your negativity bias getting the upper hand?

Too much “negative bias” gives us stress! What do you think about at the end of the day? The fifty things that went right, or the one thing that went wrong?The things that warmed your heart, or the one hassle that …

Are you a COVID Clencher ?

Canadian dentists, along with researchers from Israel and Poland, are reporting an increase in jaw clenching and teeth grinding during COVID19.  It is technically called bruxism and 70% of American dentists who completed an American Dental Association survey are seeing …

What’s helping your mental health through this pandemic?

As the pandemic continues, frustration is mounting, and stress & fatigue are increasing.  Anxiety and depression continue to be at higher levels. Prior to COVID19, Rosen’s team in Seattle were following children and teenagers from a wide variety of socioeconomic …

Experiencing burnout?

Workplace Strategies for Mental Health have just released their research findings from December’s data:  more than one in three working Canadians are feeling burned out!  The numbers are high  –  35% have burnout (with nurses almost double that Canadian average, at 66%,and …

Holiday Sleep Tips

Holidays are often accompanied by changes in routine, expectations, eating behaviours, physical activities, social interactions, worries, and other stresses…. all of which can erode sleep. It may help to keep these sleep tips in mind over the holidays: Avoid expecting …

Mood scrolling on social media ?

We click on social media to pass the time, especially when we’re bored or lonely. Social support and connection are vital to human health. Developing social connections, and keeping them strong, is a powerful stress management strategy.  Taylor calls it …