Managing Stress

I’ll bet that you’ve experienced butterflies in your stomach or an unmistakable, strong gut feeling before. So, you’ve pretty much always known that what goes on in your head affects your stomach. But did you know that what goes on in your belly affects your brain too? It works both ways. Science has proven that what happens in your gut dramatically impacts your brain operation and mental health. Your gut bacteria modify your overall health in many ways. They help build your immune system,...

Hardly anyone would claim to be a stranger to holiday stress. From money woes to holiday travel, traditions, and family tension, at some point everyone has struggled to make it to January. But the holidays can be a particularly tough time of year for anyone with a family history of abuse, whether it’s emotional or physical. The idea that one shouldn’t be alone during the holiday season is drilled into our heads and we want familiar people near, even if those people can be toxic to us.

I'm excited to share a booklet created for youth in Oregon foster care at a Wellness camp this summer. Youth were provided with these quick, easy and effective (and evidence based) "Mindful Moments" exercises in their Wellness Toolkits and they were practiced throughout the day at camp so that they could be remembered in times of stress and dysregulation. The exercised are designed to quickly bring them back to a state of calm. The youth really enjoyed them, and found them easy and...

Morgan's note: While listening to the people (featured in the video below) speaking, I noticed several chuckled after saying what they do to destress. If just speaking about stress reducing activities brought smiles and laughs, imagine the benefits of engaging in those activities! Please click here to see the article and video.

Many of us probably don’t associate “happiness” with “work.” But maybe we should: Studies suggest that happy people are actually more productive and successful, and less likely to leave their jobs. This quiz measures how happy you are when you’re on the clock. It’s based on research that has identified key factors to happiness at work. [For more on this story, go to https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/happiness_at_work ]