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Mindfulness training may hold the key to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is rapidly becoming the leading cause of death worldwide.

Practicing mindfulness in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as weight loss and salt reduction, can help treat and prevent high blood pressure, according to a new hypothesis published in Medical Hypotheses.

Foot Reflexology 101 & How To Use The Relaxing Practice For Better Sleep

Reflexology is the therapeutic practice of applying pressure to various points on the feet, hands, face, and ears. Foot reflexology is especially popular since there are nearly 15,000 nerves in your feet alone, making them especially sensitive to touch (hence why foot massages feel so good!).

Recently, the world has seen a dramatic overhaul of our usual ways of life. People are suddenly Certain parts of the feet—also known as reflex points—are thought to correspond to other areas of the body. By stimulating them with reflexology, we are also sending a signal to those inner organs and glands. While the scientific mechanisms involved in this process are not entirely clear, they might have to do with the peripheral nervous system, which connects our central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) with the rest of the body and acts as a biological highway of sorts, sending signals between our limbs and brain.

What’s the Purpose of Stretching and Why Do We Do It?

Few things feel better than stretching your body first thing in the morning. You may even stretch involuntarily at times. It’s as if your body knows that it needs a good stretch to work more comfortably and efficiently.

Stretching lengthens your muscles and reduces stiffness. Stretching also has the potential to stimulate the release of pain-reducing endorphins and improve your circulation Trusted Source .

Foot Reflexology Chart: How it Works, Potential Risks, and Benefits

Foot reflexology is a treatment that’s been practiced for centuries. It involves applying pressure to different points on the bottom of the foot.

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), these points correspond to different areas of the body. They are believed to have multiple benefits, including reducing stress, aiding digestion, and promoting sound sleep.

What is Reflexology? It’s more than just a foot massage!

If you’re considering booking a reflexology treatment, you might have a lot of questions. What exactly is reflexology? What are the benefits? And is it just another word for a foot massage?

There’s a lot to dig into, but we’ll cover the basics of what you need to know about reflexology in this article.

Treatment for Psoriatic Arthritis: Medication, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, Surgery Options, and More

There are several treatment options to manage symptoms, depending on the severity of the disease and your overall health.

Some therapies target both skin and joint symptoms, while others address each problem separately.

Your doctor will recommend treatment according to the severity of your disease, the drugs you have tried in the past, and your overall health.

Are your shoes giving you a health problem?

Your footwear can actually cause a lot of problems, and they aren't all in your feet

It's hard to believe that there was once a time when humans simply walked around barefoot, no matter what the temperature or terrain was like. Nowadays, you'd struggle to make it down the local high street without passing several shoe stores, boasting a wealth of designer heels, on-trend trainers and seasonal specials.

How to Prevent and Treat Shoe Bites

A shoe bite is a painful area on your foot that’s the result of friction from rubbing against your shoe.

Keep reading to learn how to prevent and treat shoe bites on your feet, and how to fix shoes that are causing these painful areas.

These stress-busting techniques will help you weather chaotic times

Stressing for an overextended period can hurt the health of your mind and your business. Fortunately, research shows managing stress can be relatively easy.

Recently, the world has seen a dramatic overhaul of our usual ways of life. People are suddenly working from home and many children have cut their school year short. Needless to say, what the future holds is uncertain.

How to Tap Reflexology to Give Yourself a Foot Massage That’s Worthy of Being in a Spa

When I'm walking around the streets of New York City, there are a lot of things I've come to expect on almost every block: a bodega, a food cart, and a massage place with a foot reflexology chart planted on the window. I'm always interested in all three, but it's the foot reflexology that I've yet to actually try for myself (and everyone tells me I'm missing out).

Foot reflexology is a centuries-old practice rooted in Chinese medicine that involves touching certain points in your foot that correspond with other points in your body for all sorts of benefits. "Reflexology is pressure points on the foot which are energetically connected to other areas in the body" explains Juhi Singh, Chinese herbalist, acupuncturist, and founder of the Juhi Center. "Different points on the feet can help stimulate and pass energy to organs throughout the rest of the body. For example, points on the tip of the toes can stimulate the head, while the ball of your foot can reflect in your heart and chest."

Massaging Your Mind: How Touch Therapy Can Treat Mental Illness

Local specialist sees promising results in the reduction of anxiety, depression, and more.

Massage is probably not the first option that comes to mind when considering mental health treatment, but its power to relax and release tension make it an effective tool for many people. A study in Psychological Bulletin found that massage therapy reduced trait anxiety and depression symptoms similar to the impact of psychotherapy. While it should not replace talk therapy entirely, touch therapy is a great addition to a mental health treatment plan, says Sarah Weaver, board-certified massage therapist and assistant professor at Northwestern Health Sciences University.

Foot Reflexology 101 & How To Use The Relaxing Practice For Better Sleep

Reflexology is the therapeutic practice of applying pressure to various points on the feet, hands, face, and ears. Foot reflexology is especially popular since there are nearly 15,000 nerves in your feet alone, making them especially sensitive to touch (hence why foot massages feel so good!).

Certain parts of the feet—also known as reflex points—are thought to correspond to other areas of the body. By stimulating them with reflexology, we are also sending a signal to those inner organs and glands. While the scientific mechanisms involved in this process are not entirely clear, they might have to do with the peripheral nervous system, which connects our central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) with the rest of the body and acts as a biological highway of sorts, sending signals between our limbs and brain.

What is progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)?

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a technique where a person tenses and relaxes different muscles in their body to relieve tension and induce a relaxation response.

How To Stimulate The Vagus Nerve To De-Stress And Find Calm

You’re likely very familiar with the calming effects of a few deep breaths. But take a step back: Have you ever considered *why* deep breathing—and its cousins meditation and yoga—is so dang relaxing? (Hint: It’s not just because it forces you to literally slow down.) When you partake in this activity, you’re stimulating your vagus nerve, which exercises incredible power within your body.

6 of the best shoes for neuropathy

Neuropathy is a condition that affects the peripheral nervous system. It can cause painful symptoms, ranging from mild to severe pain. Choosing shoes designed for neuropathy may help people manage pain, avoid injuries and infections, and maintain good balance.

Foot massage: The pause that refreshes and is good for you!

Your feet work hard for you every day. Especially at this busy time of year for many people — shopping, get-togethers with family, friends, co-workers, school events — there is no shortage of time spent on one's feet.

Just like your neck, back, and shoulders, your feet can also benefit from a regular rubdown. Foot massage improves circulation, stimulates muscles, reduces tension, and often eases pain. It also gives you a chance to check out your feet so you can get a jump on treating blisters, bunions, corns, and toenail problems.

Here's What Causes Charley Horses (And How To Get Rid Of Them)

If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night with a charley horse, then you know what a pain these leg cramps can be.

Charley horse is a colloquial term for a sudden, intense muscle contraction that often occurs in the calf, thigh or foot during sleep. More than half of adults report they have experienced these spasms at night, which can last anywhere from a few seconds to several excruciating minutes.

When to seek help

If a person experiences negative mental health symptoms, they should try to seek assistance. Without treatment, mental health can significantly worsen and affect a person’s quality of life.

However, it is important for people to respect and maintain physical distancing measures and not risk their health or that of other people.

Hugs and kisses: The health impact of affective touch

There are a number of good reasons that touching, hugging, and kissing the people we love feels comforting and reassuring. In this Spotlight, we will explore how such displays of affection impact your health and well-being.

When we touch, hug, or kiss a friend or partner, that gesture is loaded with meaning.

We seek affection, try to establish a connection, or attempt to communicate a need.

How to breathe better

When was the last time you thought about your breathing? For many of us, the answer would probably be along the lines of the last time we exercised or felt out of breath trying to catch a bus. Breathing is just second-nature. But given that we take over 17,000 breaths a day, perhaps it’s something we ought to be paying closer attention to.

What are the benefits of foot massage during pregnancy?

If you’re looking for facts to justify that nightly foot massage, below are some potential benefits.

Now you’re on board and want to know exactly how massage works to bring about all these benefits, right? Researchers think that they can put it down to increased vagal activity.

What is plantar fasciitis? And what can you do to relieve the pain?

Two million people are treated for this condition every year. Here's what you can do to reduce the inflammation.

Those who have suffered from plantar fasciitis — the inflammation of the ligament that runs along the bottom of your foot — know that the stabbing pain can be debilitating, often keeping you sidelined from your favorite activities.

The stress test: What heart rate variability can tell you about your mental health

What if measuring your wellbeing was as simple as taking your temperature?

Before COVID-19, loneliness was considered a national epidemic, and as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. But by the middle of June 2020, social isolation had become the ‘new normal’ for more of us, with 7.4 million British people having experienced ‘lockdown loneliness’, according to the Office for National Statistics

The Pandemic Gave Us a Lesson on the Importance of Hugs

Research reveals what happens to your body and mind when you're missing physical touch.

Rose Gagnon could not hug her grandchildren for several months.

Not being able to see and touch her loved ones every day because of COVID-19’s social distancing protocols was taking a toll on the mental health of the 85 year old. Like many, she was feeling lonely and yearning for an emotional connection that had been hampered by the inability to embrace those most important to her.

Is It Possible To Train Yourself To Stress Less? We Dove Into The Science

If you've ever searched for information on how to deal with stress, you've probably found lots of tips for calming down when you're already in the throes of worry. It's great to have tools for the heat of the moment, but is there a way to actively train our bodies and minds—almost like we'd build a muscle—to become more resilient to stressors before they happen?

Short answer: Yes—to an extent. Here, experts share advice on how we can learn more about our unique stress responses so we can start to take steps to change them.

Is It Possible To Train Yourself To Stress Less? We Dove Into The Science

If you've ever searched for information on how to deal with stress, you've probably found lots of tips for calming down when you're already in the throes of worry. It's great to have tools for the heat of the moment, but is there a way to actively train our bodies and minds—almost like we'd build a muscle—to become more resilient to stressors before they happen?

How to Hack Your Hormones for a Better Mood

Hormones are chemicals produced by different glands across your body. They travel through the bloodstream, acting as messengers and playing a part in many bodily processes.

One of these important functions? Helping regulate your mood.

Proper Breathing Brings Better Health

Stress reduction, insomnia prevention, emotion control, improved attention—certain breathing techniques can make life better. But where do you start?

As newborns, we enter the world by inhaling. In leaving, we exhale. (In fact, in many languages the word “exhale” is synonymous with “dying.”) Breathing is so central to life that it is no wonder humankind long ago noted its value not only to survival but to the functioning of the body and mind and began controlling it to improve well-being.

You're not nuts. This really is a crazy time. Here are a dozen ways to cope

It's truly a fall gale of epic proportions, as turbulent winds of uncertainty pummel us from one high anxiety to another.

"It's the pandemic, it's the social unrest, it's climate change and the wildfires. It's the election, it's upcoming holidays, said Vaile Wright, American Psychological Association's senior director of health care innovation.

Let's touch: why physical connection between human beings matters

Touch can be used as a tool for communicating empathy, even resulting in an analgesic, painkilling effect. To combat loneliness, let’s set up coffee dates instead of screen time

We humans aren’t meant to live in isolation – loneliness has been proven to cause serious repercussions, leading to illness and a 50% increased risk of early death.

7 Benefits of Foot Massage & Reflexology

Our feet, which bear the weight of the whole body, allow locomotion and do a lot of work. Still, they are the least pampered part of the body. To pamper your feet and keep them strong and flexible, a daily foot massage for a few minutes is good option.

A regular foot massage along with reflexology helps in promoting physiological as well as physical health.

3 breathing techniques to ease your anxiety during stressful times

Slower breathing can reduce anxiety and fear, while increasing the ability to reason.

Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications have soared during the coronavirus outbreak and many people are turning to alcohol and drugs to soothe their worry.

If the Shoe Fits the Hazard, Wear It

Matching the correct footwear to a specific work environment can improve safety and reduce risks.

When it comes to safety footwear, one size does not fit all. Just as with other types of personal protective equipment (PPE), many work environments and hazards require specific types of footwear if workers are to be properly protected..

How A Reflexology Foot Massage Released My Tension From Head To Toe

I don't love my feet. They're big, with proportionally big, wide toes. I’m barefoot a lot, so they’re calloused and sometimes dirty. I even gave up nail polish in an effort to lower my body's chemical burden, so I can’t hide my not-very-nice-looking feet behind a pedicure anymore. Last month, on a weekend vacation in Mexico, I went to take a picture of my feet in the sand to text my husband, and I couldn't bear to press send. They looked deceased! Missing only a toe tag! So I booked a reflexology foot massage at the hotel spa, because my poor feet were stressed, and they deserved better.

Want a solution for your high blood sugar levels? Try foot refloxology

Foot reflexology stimulates the organs responsible for carbohydrate metabolism, thereby aiding in the maintenance of healthy blood sugar levels.

Several studies have reported a constant global rise in the incidence of diabetes among adults. Diabetes is a chronic health condition that is associated with abnormally high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood. It occurs when your body cannot make or effectively use insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels. There are many ways to control blood sugar levels and manage diabetes. One of the most popular natural methods often prescribed as a complementary treatment to diabetes is reflexology.

How to Choose Bike Shoes

You can ride a bike in just about any shoes, but anyone who rides regularly can benefit from shoes designed specifically for cycling. Compared with typical athletic shoes, bike shoes are designed with stiffer soles for more efficient energy transfer as you pedal. The type of riding you do will guide your choice, whether road cycling, mountain biking, or commuting and running errands around town.

The Best Ways to Reduce Stress When You Have Rheumatoid Arthritis

Stress is an inevitable part of our daily lives. It can spring from small annoyances, like being stuck in traffic or waiting in long lines. Or it can come from a major event, like losing your job or watching a relative fight a deadly disease like severe COVID-19.

How My Life Improved When I Started Sleeping More

Back in my full-time freelance days, before I came to work at Thrive, I had the opportunity to ask Arianna Huffington about sleep. At the time, I was (ironically) egregiously sleep-deprived, consistently pulling all-nighters and cramming to complete my Master’s Thesis. Yet there I was, talking to one of the world’s leading sleep experts, planning to write an article on the importance of sleep — all while regularly running on two to three hours of it myself. I wasn’t just a hypocrite, but foolish, and until I spoke with Arianna, had no clue how detrimental this behavior really was — both for my well-being, and ability to work

The breathing technique to help you through life's challenges

Four ways the resonance breath technique can support your mental health

There’s an ever-changing yearning for homeostasis within our body. Through our breathing, we search for this balance, engaging two branches of our autonomic nervous system – the sympathetic branch, which speeds things up and readies us for action, and the parasympathetic, which slows things down, and facilitates rest.

How to Hack Your Hormones for a Better Mood

Hormones are chemicals produced by different glands across your body. They travel through the bloodstream, acting as messengers and playing a part in many bodily processes.

One of these important functions? Helping regulate your mood.

Certain hormones are known to help promote positive feelings, including happiness and pleasure.

3 Easy Tips for Keeping Your Feet Safe While Shoe Shopping

Long before COVID-19 became a health concern when shoe shopping, foot conditions such as Athlete’s foot and plantar warts posed safety concerns. While the impact of the coronavirus continues to loom large, these more commonplace foot issues can still pose a health risk to the public and should not be ignored.

Foot exercises improve balance, foundation for rest of body

Years of neglect can prevent the 28 bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments in feet from doing their job, which is essentially to provide support, balance and mobility. Big, stiff shoes, or those with pointy toes and skinny heels, constrict the way our feet move.

Take a look around any gym and you’ll see people working to strengthen their biceps, hamstrings, shoulders, abs - pretty much anything but their feet. That, experts say, is a big mistake.

The retail and hospitality worker’s guide to foot care

Despite it being many years ago, I still remember the days of retail work, when I’d fall into the bath after a twelve-hour shift with the soles of my feet burning like hellfire.

It’s a common problem for anyone who works standing up, and something that office workers just don’t have to contend with..

Mapping your body through reflexology

Licensed massage therapist Pam McCarty became interested in the practice of reflexology after her doctor sent her to the massage therapist in an effort to manage a panic disorder. She said she noticed the calming effect from having her feet worked on immediately. She began taking reflexology classes and found herself amazed by the reactions fellow students had in the reflexive parts of their bodies when corresponding points were manipulated in their feet.

Working Out Outside? Here's How to Plan a Safe Sweat Session

As shelter-in-place regulations start to loosen and temps rise, many dancers are itching to take their cross-training outdoors. What types of exercise are particularly suited to dancers, and what can you do to stay safe outside? We spoke with Carina Nasrallah, Houston Methodist athletic trainer for Houston Ballet, for pointers on crafting the best outside sweat session.

Does Reflexology and Massage Help with Arthritis?

Arthritis or joint inflammation is a symptom as well as a disease because it affects daily life activities so significantly. There are a number of conditions in which arthritis occurs, from osteoarthritis to rheumatoid arthritis, affecting a whopping 54 million Americans.

Foot exercises improve balance, foundation for rest of body

Years of neglect can prevent the 28 bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments in feet from doing their job, which is essentially to provide support, balance and mobility. Big, stiff shoes, or those with pointy toes and skinny heels, constrict the way our feet move.

What Is Stress and How Can I Recognize It?

Stress is our body's natural physical and mental response to challenges or changes. It may help you overcome obstacles and push yourself to new levels of personal growth.

What to know about high functioning anxiety

Some people with anxiety may define themselves as high functioning and may do well at work, for example, or excel at sports or other aspects of their lives. Despite this, people living with this type of anxiety can face many challenges.

Breathe your way to better sleep and overall recovery

In Part I of the series, I outlined the overall power of breathing to impact our bodies and minds. Then in Part II, I shared how our breathing pattern can impact posture, movement and pain. Those articles demonstrated how the quality of our breathing pattern -- good or bad -- has a corresponding positive or negative effect on many aspects of our health and wellness. Your ability to recover is no exception. In this third installment, we examine the influential role breathing plays in recovery, and I share tips to help you leverage your breathing to get the quality sleep you need..

Foot Reflexology 101 & How To Use The Relaxing Practice For Better Sleep

Reflexology is the therapeutic practice of applying pressure to various points on the feet, hands, face, and ears. Foot reflexology is especially popular since there are nearly 15,000 nerves in your feet alone, making them especially sensitive to touch (hence why foot massages feel so good!).

You’re Probably Forgetting to Stretch This Muscle Before Your Workout, and That’s a Big Mistake

If you've got a good pre-workout stretching routine in place, chances are that you work your way down from your neck to your ankles, giving all of the muscles in between the ooey-gooey love they need to get you going. But the one muscle you're probably forgetting, way down there at the very bottom? Your feet. And according to Nike run coach Traci Copeland, that's a big mistake.

Fight, Flight, or Freeze: What Is the Stress Response For?

Have you noticed how your body reacts when you’re surprised or nervous about something? It’s trying to get you ready to properly react to the perceived threat.

8 tips for buying shoes that are good to your feet

Buying the right shoes is an investment in foot health. But how do you find ones that fit properly and provide adequate support?

Start with your own feet, and look at what's already in your closet. Stand barefoot on a piece of paper or cardboard, and trace the shape of each foot. Now take your shoes, one by one, and place them on top of the drawing. If you're like most people, your "comfortable" shoes will closely match the outline of your own feet.

Does Reflexology and Massage Help with Arthritis?

Arthritis or joint inflammation is a symptom as well as a disease because it affects daily life activities so significantly. There are a number of conditions in which arthritis occurs, from osteoarthritis to rheumatoid arthritis, affecting a whopping 54 million Americans.

Foot exercises improve balance, foundation for rest of body

Years of neglect can prevent the 28 bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments in feet from doing their job, which is essentially to provide support, balance and mobility. Big, stiff shoes, or those with pointy toes and skinny heels, constrict the way our feet move.

Fight, Flight, or Freeze: What Is the Stress Response For?

Have you noticed how your body reacts when you’re surprised or nervous about something? It’s trying to get you ready to properly react to the perceived threat.

Mapping your body through reflexology

Licensed massage therapist Pam McCarty became interested in the practice of reflexology after her doctor sent her to the massage therapist in an effort to manage a panic disorder. She said she noticed the calming effect from having her feet worked on immediately. She began taking reflexology classes and found herself amazed by the reactions fellow students had in the reflexive parts of their bodies when corresponding points were manipulated in their feet.

Working Out Outside? Here's How to Plan a Safe Sweat Session

As shelter-in-place regulations start to loosen and temps rise, many dancers are itching to take their cross-training outdoors. What types of exercise are particularly suited to dancers, and what can you do to stay safe outside? We spoke with Carina Nasrallah, Houston Methodist athletic trainer for Houston Ballet, for pointers on crafting the best outside sweat session.

Aromatherapy and Reflexology Drastically Reduce Pain, Anxiety in Cervical Cancer Treatment

Amy Lindsey performs foot reflexology on a patient with cervical cancer. A new study at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute found that, along with aromatherapy, reflexology reduced patients' use of pain medications by 40 percent during brachytherapy sessions.

9 Fascinating Facts About the Vagus Nerve

The vagus nerve is so named because it “wanders” like a vagabond, sending out sensory fibers from your brainstem to your visceral organs. The vagus nerve, the longest of the cranial nerves, controls your inner nerve center—the parasympathetic nervous system. And it oversees a vast range of crucial functions, communicating motor and sensory impulses to every organ in your body. Recent research has revealed that it may also be the missing link to treating chronic inflammation, and the beginning of an exciting new field of treatment for serious, incurable diseases. Here are nine facts about this powerful nerve bundle.

Why You Should Still Be Wearing Shoes at Home, According to Podiatrists

If you're spending most of your time at home and inside, it would make sense if your footwear preference as of late has been, well, nonexistent. While going barefoot has its benefits (no more lost socks in the washer?), it might not be the best choice when it comes to the health of your joints.

15 simple and effective ways to relieve stress

More than 60% of Americans report feeling significant stress on a daily basis. Stress is any event or thought that triggers emotional or physical tensions in the form of frustrations, anger, or nervousness.

Five Things Certified Reflexology Can Do For You

There are a lot of signs in plenty of windows that say “Reflexology.” Typically in an ad on in massage parlors, usually it isn’t anything more than a foot rub. Massage therapists can take a short course in Reflexology as part of their training or as continuing education. Typically it is under 12 hours of training.

To Boost Immunity, Just Add These Happiness Practices, According to a Doctor

What if we told you that to boost your immunity, lower your risk of disease, and be healthier, there is one simple thing you can do, and that is to be happier? It turns out that to be healthier, all you need to do is to be happier.

Four Ways Hugs Are Good for Your Health

For many people, the thing they’ve missed most during the pandemic is being able to hug loved ones. Indeed, it wasn’t until we lost our ability to hug friends and family did many realize just how important touch is for many aspects of our health—including our mental health.

Can Meditation Help Relieve Anxiety Symptoms?

For some, the idea of practicing meditation while living with anxiety symptoms is difficult to imagine. You may find it hard to sit quietly or follow instructions, so you’ve been hesitant to try it.

If this describes you, know that meditation has helped many people manage their anxiety symptoms. Now may be the time to see whether it could work for you, too.

Mindfulness Is the Best Way to Improve Your Well-Being, Research Concludes

Most of us want to work on our well-being, but are often unsure about the best place to start. One team of researchers suggests mindfulness can help just about anyone.

Researchers in the largest ever meta-analysis of well-being studies, published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal in April, examined the results of over 400 clinical trials to understand which psychological approaches people best responded to in their attempts to address their well-being.1

FOOT CARE TIPS FOR HIKERS

Your feet are the most important part of your body for hiking, they will take you everywhere. That’s why it is important for you to take care of them. Don’t wait to treat your feet after a long day on the trail, a few simple steps before, during and after your hike will keep your feet happy and healthy, ready for your next outdoor adventure.

Four health benefits of hugs – and why they feel so good

For many people, the thing they’ve missed most during the pandemic is being able to hug loved ones. Indeed, it wasn’t until we lost our ability to hug friends and family did many realise just how important touch is for many aspects of our health – including our mental health.

Hockney and Van Gogh: How images of nature bring us joy

In March 2020, as the world was acclimatising itself to the pandemic, David Hockney released an image of bright yellow daffodils titled Do remember they can't cancel the spring. In the midst of such fear and uncertainty it offered a much-needed burst of optimism, reminding us all that nature, with its continuing cycles of rebirth and renewal, could still offer hope.

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Take a mental break from pain

Mindfulness can help soothe short-term and chronic pain.

Your mind is a powerful pain remedy when given the chance. Science continues to show how mindfulness can manage pain — and it doesn't take years to master.

"Using mindfulness is a way for older adults to treat ongoing chronic pain and the occasional flare-up without having to always rely on medication," says Ellen Slawsby, director of pain services at Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine.

Work Shoes for Men That Are Durable and Stylish

Data has shown that slips and falls are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries in the country. To limit these accidents, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recommends that workers wear protective, slip-resistant footwear in restaurant kitchens, hospitals, food manufacturing plants and other potentially hazardous work environments.

3 Deep Breathing Exercises to Ease Anxiety

Whether you live with an anxiety disorder or only experience feelings of anxiety occasionally, there are breathing exercises that may help you find relief.

To Boost Immunity Just Add These Happiness Practices, According to a Doctor

What if we told you that to boost your immunity, lower your risk of disease, and be healthier, there is one simple thing you can do, and that is to be happier? It turns out that to be healthier, all you need to do is to be happier.

Before you dismiss this, there is actually a formula to help yourself become happier, according to a Harvard study, which tracked people for 75 years. All you need to do is practice a blend of these three things: 1. Doing good for others, 2. Doing things you are good at, and 3. Doing good for yoursel?

How learning to breathe deeply can help you de-stress

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Life can be so busy and stressful that we often overlook the power of our breath, which can be a powerful tool in calming and connecting to our bodies under the most stressful of situations.

"It's one of those systems of the body that, where if we don't think about it, we still do it," said Sonya Nelson, a breathing technique expert and owner of Begin Within Healing.

Choosing the right shoe can make all the difference

Does footwear make a difference on the job? Not everyone thinks about the importance of wearing the right shoes to work.

Many HR people have codified rules in dress code policies, but a good number of companies and employees could benefit from more awareness of why it is important to wear protective and supportive footwear.

Deep Breathing Exercises to Ease Anxiety

Whether you have an anxiety condition or only experience feelings of anxiety occasionally, there are breathing exercises that may help..

3 Easy Steps To Make Your Breathwork Practice More Calming

If you've ever been stuck in your head spinning in overwhelm, feeling yourself starting to spiral downward into negativity, then learning how to breathe to calm your mind and shift anxious thoughts is a skill that will be a game-changer for you.

How to keep your anxiety from spiraling out of control

For reasons we’d rather not dwell on, a lot of people have been feeling extremely anxious lately. In June 2020, four times as many people reported symptoms of anxiety disorder as the same period in 2019. Older folks and people of color have been especially hard hit. And this spike hits at a time when anxiety rates have already been trending quite high—in 2017, nearly one in five adults in the US had symptoms of anxiety.

The power of touch: is this the sense we’ve missed most?

When was the last time you touched someone you don’t live with? One day last March, probably; you’re not sure of the date. Did you shake hands with a new colleague at work? Did your coat brush against another commuter’s on the train? Did someone bump your elbow and mutter an apology when rushing past you on an escalator? If you’d known that was the last time you’d make contact with the body of a stranger, you’d have paid more attention.

And what about the 8.2 million British adults who live on their own? Many will have gone nearly a year now without so much as a pat on the arm from another person. Touch is the sense we take most for granted, but we miss it when it’s gone. Psychologists have a term for the feelings of deprivation and abandonment we experience: “skin hunger”.

Knoxville therapist shares how to overcome pandemic fatigue

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - If you’re feeling pandemic fatigue set in, you’re not alone. It’s been almost a year of lives being uprooted due to the awful virus.

“Our lives have changed so much this past year,” said Noell Lewis.

The pandemic has challenged the Lewis family including her husband and two young kids.

“When it’s been this way for a year it really wears down on you. You want life to come back to normal, you just don’t know what that normal’s going to look like,” explained Lewis.

12 Benefits of Walking That Will Make You Want to Lace Up

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many people found themselves scheduling a daily walk to keep their lives more structured. For good reason: The benefits of walking are far-reaching—both for people just looking to get in a few more steps and for those intending to make it a workout.

Take Jenna Stern, a Philadelphia-based trainer and founder of the body-positive online fitness studio The Philasophy, who found herself running more mileage than ever earlier this year as a way to cope with pandemic-related stress and the closure of her gym. Soon, though, the whole top of her foot swelled up—she suspects a case of tendinitis from tying her shoes too tightly.

So Stern went back to the basics after the pain and puffiness subsided: For two weeks, she slowed her roll and walked instead. Now, walking remains a regular part of her routine, and something she wholeheartedly recommends to clients.

The Bottom Line

Everyone can benefit from improving their body awareness.

Body awareness exercises can be especially helpful for people who’ve recently been injured or had surgery, or have a developmental or neurological condition.

Simple exercises, mindfulness, and focused therapies can all help you deepen your connection with your body.

Touch Starvation: What to Know

Touch starvation is a condition that happens when you don’t get as much physical touch as you’re used to -- or any at all. You crave contact but can’t interact with others for some reason. It’s also known as touch deprivation or skin hunger.

People may develop touch starvation because of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it can happen with any lack of physical touch, such as children in orphanages and elderly people in hospitals who don’t get enough positive contact.

Could Sleep Anxiety Be to Blame for Your Tiredness?

Sleep and anxiety are two topics that are likely on your mind as of late. Over the past year — due in part to both politics and the pandemic — anxiety has been on the rise while sleep has been on the decline. And if you've ever struggled to score some shut-eye several nights in a row thanks to stress, then you likely know how easy it can be to spiral into stressing about not getting sleep thanks to stress — notice the pattern?

The bottom line

There are many reasons why you stretch, sometimes involuntarily. Stretching not only feels good but it also plays an important role in keeping your body healthy.

Stretching can boost your flexibility and range of motion. It can also improve your circulation, and reduce pain, stress, and tension in your muscles.

Influence goes both ways

Dr. Eric Rafla-Yuan, a psychiatrist with expertise in cardiovascular psychiatry at the University of California San Diego, told Healthline that the connection between brain and heart is “bi-directional,” meaning both have the capacity to influence the other.

The Best Work Boots of 2021

Manual labor can be hard on the feet. But don’t worry. We rounded up the best work boots so you can carefully tread over sharps, hot surfaces, high voltage, and dangerous objects — or just stand on a hard surface for hours at a time.

Lost touch: how a year without hugs affects our mental health

There’s only so much a dog can do, even if that is a lot. I live alone with my staffy, and by week eight of the first lockdown she was rolling her eyes at my ever-tightening clutch. I had been sofa-bound with Covid and its after-effects before lockdown was announced, then spring and summer passed without any meaningful touch from another person. I missed the smell of my friends’ clothes and my nephew’s hair, but, more than anything, I missed the groundedness only another human body can bring. The ache in my solar plexus that married these thoughts often caught me off guard.

Why Anxiety Can Make You Literally Shake – & What To Do About It

If you’ve ever reckoned with severe bouts of anxiety you’ll know that it is a full-body experience. Not only does it take up every bit of space in your brain but it also affects your body’s functioning – from sweating to trouble breathing to random tics and twitches.

5 Ways to Reduce Stress-Related Tension in Your Neck and Shoulders

The areas where you’re likely to feel stress or anxiety-related tension are in your neck and shoulders. Over time, this can lead to chronic pain as well as other health issues.

Fortunately, muscle tension in your neck and shoulders responds well to stretching, yoga, relaxation, and other stress management methods.

Let’s explore several simple techniques you can use to help release tension in your neck and shoulders, as well as some stress management strategies to help calm your mind and body.

The Best Shoes for Warehouse Work for 2021

All warehouse workers understand that their warehouse environment is full of hazards that may compromise their safety. This is the main reason why they are always equipped with the best gears available. Besides safety clothes, glasses, and gloves, the best shoes for warehouse work is required to ensure optimum comfort, safety, and protection.

Sleep might help your stress levels, but simply resting more isn’t the solution

Are you getting eight hours of sleep a night, yet still feeling exhausted? It could be due to the emotional rollercoaster that is lockdown.

Have you ever finished a long day at work, an intense studying session or just a period of deep concentration feeling completely knackered? While we often consider how much our physical exertion relates to our fatigue, we tend to forget how mental exertion can really take it out of us.

What does it mean to be 'touch starved'?”Summary “Remedies”

Touch starvation refers to the longing for touch or physical contact from other living beings. It typically occurs when a person experiences little to no physical contact for a prolonged amount of time.

Get to Know Your Vagus Nerve

I’m midway through a month of writing these Pandemic Winter Health Hacks as we all slog our way through a cold, dark season. It feels like a good moment to acknowledge the obvious: This is an incredibly hard time to be sick and an incredibly important time to feel good. Granted, staying well may sound like an elusive thing to access, but in fact science is clear on ways we can increase our odds of achieving it.

‘The mother of all senses’: The impact of touch deprivation on the mind

Back in June, a few hundred epidemiologists and infectious disease experts said that it would probably be a year or more before they would feel comfortable hugging or shaking the hand of a friend. Thirty-nine per cent said it would probably be three to 12 months. (Also of note: many said they never shook hands anyway.)

Get the Right Gear for Outdoor Safety and Comfort This Year

Even if you're not a cold-weather person, you may find yourself outside more often this winter.

Being outdoors is one of safest social-distanced ways to stay active amid new restrictions aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic. It's also a good way to maintain your health and well-being.

What Happens to Your Body When You Relax

It's one name for what happens when your parasympathetic nervous system is in charge of your body functions. This part of your nervous system regulates the work of your organs and glands while you're at rest. Your relaxation response kicks in when you feel safe. It can actually block effects from your body's response to stress. These changes are good for your mental and physical health.

How to Prevent and Treat Shoe Bites

A shoe bite is a painful area on your foot that’s the result of friction from rubbing against your shoe.

Keep reading to learn how to prevent and treat shoe bites on your feet, and how to fix shoes that are causing these painful areas.

The Vagus Is the Trendiest Nerve (We Have Those Now)

In the early 80’s, when Dr. Mark George was studying at the Medical University of South Carolina, he was told to stay away from the vagus nerve. “I learned to avoid the nerve—that anything associated with it was dangerous,” says Dr. George, now a distinguished professor of psychiatry, radiology, and neuroscience at that same school.

How to feel creative again, according to Philly creatives

If you are having a hard time finding your creative flow these days, you are in good company.

When 2020 started, the Philly-based neo-soul group Kindred the Family Soul was happy at work on its seventh album. Then the pandemic hit, followed by America’s racial reckoning, and the most contentious presidential election in modern history. Things were so overwhelming, Kindred’s get-up-and-go exited stage left.

7 Benefits of Foot Massage & Reflexology

Our feet, which bear the weight of the whole body, allow locomotion and do a lot of work. Still, they are the least pampered part of the body. To pamper your feet and keep them strong and flexible, a daily foot massage for a few minutes is good option.

Feeling Shaky? Try Belly Breathing to Calm Down and De-Stress

While inhaling and exhaling is something we're born doing, it's often something we take for granted. But the simple act of breathing can have a significant effect on our day-to-day stress levels, our ability to fight disease and more.

How to breathe better

When was the last time you thought about your breathing? For many of us, the answer would probably be along the lines of the last time we exercised or felt out of breath trying to catch a bus. Breathing is just second-nature. But given that we take over 17,000 breaths a day, perhaps it’s something we ought to be paying closer attention to.

Why Do We Instinctively Stretch When We Wake Up?

It’s the first thing most of us do upon waking up — stretch and yawn. This movement has a name: pandiculating.

5 science-backed ways to stop COVID-19 pandemic stress right now

Hospitals are flooded with patients as Covid-19 cases surge to unprecedented heights. Over half of all Americans know someone who has been hospitalized with the virus or has died. Small businesses are drowning. Millions are unemployed. Unemployment benefits are trickling away while Congress is in deadlock about what to do. And parents are at their wits' end while trying to teach and work.

How Do Hugs Make You Feel?

According to the research, a hug may make an individual feel happy by reducing feelings of loneliness and harmful physical effects of stress. Hugs can change negative moods by helping the body and brain, boosting these feel-good hormones.

2 Practices To Try If "Focusing On The Breath" In Meditation Make You Anxious

As an integrative medicine physician focused on mind-body health, this is one of the most common questions I receive. To help answer it, I first want to address why anxiety affects breath and assure you that you are not alone in this feeling.

Practicing Mindfulness May Help to Reduce Heart Attack, Stroke

Practicing mindfulness in conjunction with lifestyle changes, such as weight loss and salt reduction, can help treat and prevent high blood pressure, according to a new hypothesis published in Medical Hypotheses.

The stress test: What heart rate variability can tell you about your mental health

Before COVID-19, loneliness was considered a national epidemic, and as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. But by the middle of June 2020, social isolation had become the ‘new normal’ for more of us, with 7.4 million British people having experienced ‘lockdown loneliness’, according to the Office for National Statistics.

You're not nuts. This really is a crazy time. Here are a dozen ways to cope

It's truly a fall gale of epic proportions, as turbulent winds of uncertainty pummel us from one high anxiety to another.

Choosing the Right Safety Shoe for Your Industry

In contrast to jobs in the construction industry, where work often takes place outdoors, there are plenty of employees in that generally work indoors in large warehouses or production halls with plain floors that form their workplace.

What’s going on in the body

During a fight-flight-freeze response, many physiological changes occur.

The reaction begins in your amygdala, the part of your brain responsible for perceived fear. The amygdala responds by sending signals to the hypothalamus, which stimulates the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

3 breathing techniques to ease your anxiety during stressful times

Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications have soared during the coronavirus outbreak and many people are turning to alcohol and drugs to soothe their worry.

Experts Explain How Your Brain Changes When You Stretch

If business casual indefinitely means your "good" pajamas, you're probably spending the majority of your time in your decidedly non-ergonomic couch office. As the pandemic carries on, your daily stretch habit to combat the physical strain of WFH life may be falling to the wayside. But you might want to bring it back front and center, because stretching changes your brain in ways you might not expect.

6 ways to relieve stress naturally

More than 60% of Americans report feeling significant stress on a daily basis, according to a Gallup poll conducted in March 2020. Stress is the emotional or physical tensions caused by any event or thought that triggers frustration, anger, or nervousness.

What is mental exhaustion?

According to Medical News Today, mental exhaustion can affect physical well-being, causing a person to feel physically exhausted.

What are the symptoms of mental exhaustion?

3 Easy Tips for Keeping Your Feet Safe While Shoe Shopping

Long before COVID-19 became a health concern when shoe shopping, foot conditions such as Athlete’s foot and plantar warts posed safety concerns. While the impact of the coronavirus continues to loom large, these more commonplace foot issues can still pose a health risk to the public and should not be ignored.

Relaxation techniques: Breath control helps quell errant stress responseWhy slowing your breathing helps you relax

Cultivating more control over our lungs can bring many benefits to our mental and physical health. Is it time to relearn breathing?

Coronavirus: Five things to know about ‘touch deprivation’ – and how to treat it

As the nation grieved in the days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, strangers embraced and held hands to give and receive the ancient comfort of touch. In the pandemic year of 2020, though, millions of people are fighting the coronavirus by withholding touch.

The breathing technique to help you through life's challenges

There’s an ever-changing yearning for homeostasis within our body. Through our breathing, we search for this balance, engaging two branches of our autonomic nervous system – the sympathetic branch, which speeds things up and readies us for action, and the parasympathetic, which slows things down, and facilitates rest.

Unraveling? Your Stress Levels Are Likely Beyond Your ‘Window of Tolerance’

According to psychiatrist and neurobiologist Dr. Dan Siegel, each of us has a “window of tolerance.” Siegel coined the term to describe normal brain/body reactions, especially following adversity. The idea is that human beings have an optimal arousal zone that allows emotions to ebb and flow, which, in turn, enables a person to function most effectively and manage the everyday demands of life without difficulty. Thanks to the deleterious events of 2020, for many people that ebb and flow has been dammed.

The Vagus Nerve, Relaxation & Modern Day Life

There seems to be something very wrong with our modern-day lifestyle. If we look at the state of the developed world's mental & physical health, statistics would suggest that we are rapidly becoming unhappier and more physically unhealthy year on year. Technological progress it would seem is making is depressed & anxious.

Neuroscientists Report That Coronavirus Is Changing Our Brains Even If We Haven’t Contracted It: 7 Steps You Can Take

An August 2020 report in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology reviews, suggests that whether you have contracted COVID-19 or not, the pandemic has likely changed your brain. The Coronavirus can cause several significant neurological disorders, but aside from that, pandemic isolation and worry can alter brain chemistry and cause mood disorders such as anxiety or depression.

How Trauma Impacts Your Physical Health

Trauma and emotional distress can change us on a physiological level. If we are pushed too far, we may lose our ability to cope — and our bodies pay the price. Fortunately, you can mitigate your trauma response and enjoy better health.

Self-soothing strategies to help break a chain of anxious thoughts quickly

It's an unprecedented time in our lives, and many of us are dealing with feelings of great uncertainty about our individual futures and the future of our world. We're learning to adjust to new schedules, and seeking ways to handle a deluge of new information and cope with life changes.

Self-Care for Mental Health Problems in the Time of COVID-19

The economic fallout of the pandemic may continue for years resulting in prolonged unemployment and an increasing percentage of the population with untreated serious mental health problems.

8 Techniques to Help You Master the Art of Relaxation

Life is stressful. From health and safety worries to balancing work and family, we have a lot on our plates.

Toxic Stress: Just how much is too much

Timothy Ainger, Ph.D., assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Neurology, says the word ‘some’ is key. Ainger specializes in neuropsychology which is the brain-behavior relationship. He says it is true that a small to moderate amount of stress or pressure does help a person focus and perform at their best.

5 ways to ease pain using the mind-body connection

I smashed my elbow a few weeks ago. There was no bone break — just a bad bruise after slipping in the kitchen and landing on my arm — but at times the pain has been excruciating. So I’ve been following doctor’s orders: babying my elbow, icing it, and taking an occasional over-the-counter painkiller. (PS: I wear sneakers in the kitchen now.)