HealthyLife Articles

Tag: calm

Deep Breathing

Healthylife® Weigh

Part 6

An increased amount of oxygen allows your heart rate to slow down. This produces a calming effect.

1. Sit in a chair, arms at your sides, with your legs uncrossed. Or, lie down on a comfortable surface, like a bed or couch.

2. If you are able, close your eyes. Do not close your eyes while driving or operating machinery.

3. Note any tension in your muscles.

4. Slowly inhale through your nose, expanding your abdomen first. Fill your lungs next.

5. Hold your breath for 2 to 4 seconds.

6. Slowly exhale.

7. Repeat this exercise for several minutes.

Your chest should feel less constricted. You should feel less stress and tension physically and mentally. Problems haven’t gone away, but you may feel more ready to tackle them or cope with a negative emotion.

Practice Deep Breathing: Take a Rest from Your Emotions

Detach yourself from your thoughts and emotions. Imagine sitting on a hill and viewing your thoughts and feelings at the bottom of the hill. Observe your thoughts as they pass by. Or, you can stop and think about them. Tell yourself: “I have control over when and how I think about a situation.”

Put your emotional reactions to a situation or issue to rest for awhile. This helps your mind use logical thinking.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Practice Relaxation Techniques

Healthylife® Weigh

Part 6

Use relaxation techniques to manage emotional eating triggers.

Learn These Four Skills to Relax

1. Relaxation Reflex: Get rid of muscle tension.

2. Mindfulness: Be fully present in the moment.

3. Deep Breathing: Feel relaxed by breathing in more oxygen.

Plan Relaxation Time

Plan 15 minutes during the day to intentionally relax. You can also do relaxation exercises as needed throughout the day. Practice these techniques before eating or to cope with an emotion that is triggering you to eat. Relaxation techniques can help reduce stress-related health problems, such as high blood pressure, headaches, and pain. These tools also help you to have greater mental and physical control and improve your response to negative emotions.

How the mind can control the body:

* It can slow brain wave patterns.

* It can reduce heart and breathing rates.

* It can increase blood flow to the limbs.

* It can relax muscles.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Relaxation Reflex

Healthylife® Weigh

Part 6

This skill relaxes four basic muscle groups. Tightening and relaxing these muscles produces a soothing effect that helps you relax. Take slow, deep breaths, drop your head, and place your shoulders forward to add to the effect.

Practice every day for about 5 to 10 minutes. Divide the body into 4 muscle groups. Tense each group for 5 seconds, then release.

1.Arms and Hands– Lift your arms, bending them at your wrists and elbows. Make fists and tighten your upper arms.

2.Face and Neck– Squinch your eyes, nose, cheeks, and brow. Stretch your mouth and grit your teeth. Point your chin down toward your chest.

3.Middle Torso– Push your shoulders back. Tighten your stomach and the middle of your back.

4.Legs and Feet– Lift your legs off the floor and hold them straight out. Point your toes toward your face. Tighten your thighs.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Calming Road Rage

SUCCESS OVER STRESS

Often it’s frightening. Sometimes it’s deadly.

Road rage-where flaring tempers mix with two-ton machines-continues to be a problem on America’s highways. Sometimes this problem leads to accidents, assaults, and even murder. It’s a puzzling problem in part because it can happen at anytime and anywhere that roads and vehicles are involved. Yet specific statistics on how often it occurs are hard to come by.

The biggest triggers are drivers who are texting, tailgaters, left-lane hogs, slow drivers, and drivers multitasking, according to an Expedia report.

When you come across an aggressive driver, you don’t want to engage him or her, said Scott Morofsky, author of the books The Daily Breath: Transform Your Life One Breath at a Time and Wellativity: In-Powering Wellness Through Communication.

Head off your own road rage or avoid the rage of others:

*Don’t turn that ignition.If you are feeling stressed and anxious before you even start your trip, then take time to calm down now, not after you are on the highway. Take that deep breath you always heard would work. You might even try counting from 1 to 10, inhaling on 1, exhaling on 2, up to 10 and back to 1 again.

*Stop right there.If you are already driving, and you feel your anger is starting to impact your judgment, pull over for a few moments. Is any problem important enough to risk lives?

*Don’t react or retaliate.You can’t control those other drivers, but you can control how you react to them. If someone is tailgating you, flipped you off, or is just infuriating you with bad driving habits, ignore them.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Enjoy Every Moment

SUCCESS OVER STRESS

The idea of enjoying each moment may be good for your health, say scientists at NIH. Yes, but how? The idea is called mindfulness. This ancient practice is about being completely aware of what’s happening in the present.

Becoming more mindful-instead of going through life on autopilot-requires commitment and practice:

*Take some deep breaths.Breathe in through your nose to a count of 4, hold for 1 second, exhale through the mouth to a count of 5. Repeat often.

*Enjoy a stroll.Notice your breath and the sights and sounds around you. As thoughts and worries enter your mind, note them but then return to the present.

*Practice mindful eating.Be aware of taste, textures, and flavors in each bite. Listen to your body when you are hungry and full.

*Find mindfulness resources.Yoga and meditation classes, mindfulness-based stress reduction programs, and books are helpful.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Forget Shouting

WELL-BEING

While many people try to steer clear of arguments with family members, two Vanderbilt University philosophy professors offer a better solution.

Scott F. Aikin and Robert B. Talisse co-wrote Why We Argue (and How We Should): A Guide to Political Disagreement. The trend to avoid arguments with loved ones has more to do with how bad we are at arguing than how strong our beliefs are, according to Aikin. “The better solution would be to improve our skill at making arguments in ways that allow for better, more reasoned exchange.”

Aikin and Talisse suggest the following:

* Remember that reasonable and intelligent people disagree about important matters. Keep this in mind even when your relative says something appalling.

* When arguing, be sure to acknowledge your family member’s good points.

* Be prepared to say what it would take for you to change your mind. Consider what evidence would make your view wrong.

* Know the weak points about your view. Be able to articulate what the best arguments against your view are.

“Acknowledging the opposition’s good points and seeing troubles for your own side are too often taken to be a sign of weakness,” Aikin said. “But it’s that attitude that actually makes us bad at argument and makes argumentative exchange so unpleasant and dogmatic. Instead, these habits make exchanges more reasonable and productive.”

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
How Music Can Relieve Stress

SUCCESS OVER STRESS

Listening to music you love can make you feel great. Research also shows that it can help you cope with stress. Several studies have shown that music has a clear effect on how the body responds to stress.

The University of Nevada, Reno says the best kind of music is the kind you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be considered “relaxing” to help you feel better. Try different types such as Celtic, Native American, jazz, classical, or music with nature sounds.

Music has been shown to decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It also increases key cells that fight off viruses and illnesses.

The littlest listeners

Premature infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) showed improvements in sucking patterns and heart rate while listening to music. In addition, children who listened to music while getting an IV inserted said they felt less pain than those who didn’t listen to music.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026