wake up. This is a simple, realistic change that can have a big
impact on your creativity, mood and relationships.
For those looking to go even further, try to avoid using
your phone when it’s dark outside. According to the National
Sleep Foundation, the light emitted by cellphone screens
disrupts production of melatonin and the body’s circadian
rhythm, making it more difficult to fall asleep and keeping the
brain alert longer than it should be. If you’re a spa director,
staying off your email can be hard—but the reward is better
sleep and a recharged, more creative mind.
Use Your Green Thumb Cold weather outside
is the perfect excuse to grow plants inside. There’s
more to growing indoor potted plants than just
looking good—they’re proven to improve concentration,
4.
reduce stress and, according to NASA research, remove large
amounts of toxins from indoor air. Succulents in particular
thrive in the dry air common indoors during winter.
Go Outside Yes, the weather outside is frightful,
but getting out during the winter can be an invigor-
ating, inspiring way to connect with an important
step in the cycle of seasons. According to the Mayo Clinic,
walking boosts your mood, and you shouldn’t stop just
because it’s cold. Whether your local climate features
extreme snow, drizzly rains or a simple dip in temperature,
going for a winter walk is a great way to energize yourself.
Bundle up, get cozy and head outdoors for a walk. Pay
attention to the sound of silence, the calmness of the world,
and use your walk as a time to reflect.
5.
Overcome Anxiety
by john FoRSyth, Ph.D.
anD GeoRG eiFeRt Ph.D.
Anxiety is a year-round struggle for millions of
people, but it can be exacerbated by short winter days
and time spent snowed in. John Forsyth, Ph.D. and Georg
Eifert, Ph.D., authors of Anxiety Happens: 52 Ways to
Find Peace of Mind, shared with Pulse their top strategy
for centering yourself and overcoming anxiety:
“Use ‘I am’ meditation. This meditation teaches us, in
a disarmingly simple way, that we are not what our
mind constantly tells us. If you can learn to watch
thinking as thinking, what we ultimately come back to is
a simple ‘I am.’ Not ‘I am anxious.’ Those are words—the
mind describing the person and their emotional
experience. But the words are not the person.”
So, the next time you feel like you’re in a spiral of
negativity, take a few minutes to repeat “I am” to
yourself. Focus on what you actually are—a person that
exists in the present moment—and not what your mind
says you are. n
JOHN FORSYTH, PH.D. and GEORG EIFERT, PH.D., are experts in the science of anxiety and
coauthors of Anxiety Happens: 52 Ways to Find Peace of Mind. Dr. Forsyth is on the faculty of
University of Albany, SUNy; Dr. Eifert is on the faculty of Chapman University in Orange,
California.
December 2018
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