How Stress Affects Your Body - Sharon Horesh Bergquist

Our hard-wired stress response is designed to gives us the quick burst of heightened alertness and energy needed to perform our best. But stress isn’t all good. When activated too long or too often, stress can damage virtually every part of our body. Sharon Horesh Bergquist gives us a look at what goes on inside our body when we are chronically stressed.

Lesson by Sharon Horesh Bergquist, animation by Adriatic Animation.

The Health Benefits of Trees, Nature and Forests

The Health Benefits of Trees, Nature and Forests

How Do Birds Learn to Sing? - Partha P. Mitra

A brown thrasher knows a thousand songs. A wood thrush can sing two pitches at once. A mockingbird can match the sounds around it — including car alarms. These are just a few of the 4,000 species of songbirds. How do these birds learn songs? How do they know to mimic the songs of their own species? Are they born knowing how to sing? Partha P. Mitra illuminates the beautiful world of birdsong.

Lesson by Partha P. Mitra, animation by TED-Ed.

California's State Flower

Learn about California's state flower with naturalist Michael Ellis.

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What Causes Insomnia? - Dan Kwartler

What keeps you up at night? Pondering deep questions? Excitement about a big trip? Stress about unfinished work? What if the very thing keeping you awake was stress about losing sleep? This seemingly unsolvable loop is at the heart of insomnia, the world’s most common sleep disorder. So what is insomnia? And is there any way to break the cycle? Dan Kwartler details the science of insomnia.

Lesson by Dan Kwartler, animation by Sharon Colman.

Ten Reasons Why We Need More Contact with Nature

 Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

By:Richard Louv 

It improves your memory, helps you recuperate and even makes your sense of smell more acute. So turn off your computer and get outside

• The more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need

We have a human right to a meaningful connection to nature, and we have the responsibilities that come with that right. Many people today support the notion that every person, especially every young person, has a right to access the internet. How much more should every person have a right to access the natural world, because that connection is part of our humanity?

• Humans are hard-wired to love – and need – exposure to the natural world

Researchers have found that regardless of culture people gravitate to images of nature, especially the savannah. Our inborn affiliation for nature may explain why we prefer to live in houses with particular views of the natural world.

• We suffer when we withdraw from nature

Australian professor Glenn Albrecht, director of the Institute of Sustainability and Technology Policy at Murdoch University, has coined the term solastalgia. He combined the Latin word solacium (comfort — as in solace) and the Greek root – algia (pain) to form solastalgia, which he defines as “the pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault.”

• Nature brings our senses alive

Scientists recently found that humans have the ability to track by scent alone. Some humans rival bats in echolocation or biosonar abilities. Military studies show that some soldiers in war zones see nuances others miss, and can spot hidden bombs; by and large these individuals tend to be rural or inner city soldiers, who grew up more conscious of their surroundings.

• Individuals and businesses can become nature smart

Spending more time outdoors nurtures our “nature neurons” and our natural creativity. For example, at the University of Michigan, researchers demonstrated that, after just an hour interacting with nature, memory performance and attention spans improved by 20%. In workplaces designed with nature in mind, employees are more productive and take less sick time.

• Nature heals

Pennsylvania researchers found that patients in rooms with tree views had shorter hospitalisations, less need for pain medications and fewer negative comments in the nurses’ notes, compared to patients with views of brick.

• Nature can reduce depression and improve psychological wellbeing

Researchers in Sweden have found joggers who exercise in a natural green setting feel more restored and less anxious, angry, or depressed than people who burn the same amount of calories jogging in a built urban setting.

• Nature builds community bonds

Levels of neurochemicals and hormones associated with social bonding are elevated during animal-human interactions. Researchers at the University of Rochester report that exposure to the natural environment leads people to nurture close relationships with fellow human beings, value community, and to be more generous with money.

• Nature bonds families and friends

New ways are emerging to make that bond, such as family nature clubs, through which multiple families go hiking, gardening or engage in other outdoor activities together. In the UK, families are forming “green gyms” to bring people of all ages together to do green exercise.

• The future is at stake

The natural world’s benefits to our cognition and health will be irrelevant if we continue to destroy the nature around us, but that destruction is assured without a human reconnection to nature.

Article Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/13/10-reasons-why-we-need-more-contact-with-nature

What Are the Health Benefits of Unplugging?

So far, there’s not much strong science suggesting a direct connection between taking regular breaks from digital devices and your health. Investigation of this issue is still in its nascent stage.

There have, of course, been multiple studies suggesting that over-involvement with our digital devices can create or exacerbate problems.

• One study found that young people who are heavy technology users have a higher risk of sleep disturbances and mental health issues.
• Other research found that the so-called “Google effect” is remember information.
• Still another study showed that the mere presence of a cell phone is distracting enough to impede performance on mental tasks.
• And other studies have shown that browsing light-emitting devices like iPads and e-readers at bedtime disrupts sleep.

But so far, there’s no research telling us that making a concerted effort to “unplug” from our devices for any specific period of time—whether it’s for one day or one week or for a couple of hours every day—will do anything to benefit your health.

Are screens the problem or a symptom?

It’s become part of our culture to think that being “too plugged in” and too dependent on our devices is the root of our problems, rather than a manifestation of other problems. Is constantly checking your phone during dinner with your family causing you to be less close to them? Or are you constantly checking your phone because it’s a convenient way to avoid conversations? Are you anxious and having trouble sleeping because you’re spending too much time online? Or are you spending lots of time online to try to tune out your anxiety?

We humans are social animals, and to the extent that our social interactions with other people are being replaced by interactions with devices, that may have detrimental effects on our health. But I’d have to underline that word “may.” It certainly seems to make sense, but it hasn’t yet been proven. If a patient told me, “I spend almost all my day online, doing either work or social activities, and my life’s pretty good,” I don’t know that I as his or her doctor would push for changing that.

None of this is to say that I think it’s a good thing that so many of us are so constantly connected to our devices. If we spend too much time staring at a screen, the life that is happening right in front of us—our kids’ childhoods, conversations with our partners, work that we can do to help make the world better—may just pass us by.

Setting aside protected time each day for direct interaction with people—or for solitude and meditation without the interruption of a Facebook feed or a stream of texts—instinctively feels like a good thing. But we shouldn’t make unwarranted claims or assumptions about what these tech breaks might or might not do for our physical and mental health.

Unplugging by itself probably won’t work some magic in your life. But if you spend that digital-free time focusing on your relationships and activities you enjoy, now that can make your life better.

Article Source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/berkeley-wellness/what-are-the-health-benefits-of-unplugging_b_8917956.html

How Hangin’ In A Hammock Can Help Your Health

What is better for sleep: hammocks or beds? We’re accustomed to beds, but the benefits of sleeping in a hammock should be taken seriously.

A University of Geneva Study found that the gentle rocking motion of a hammock helps people fall asleep faster and encourages a deeper state of sleep. Research conducted on 12 healthy adults noted that they fell asleep quicker in a rocking bed, and the rocking also boosted certain types of sleep-related brain wave oscillations. It increased slow oscillations and bursts of activity in the brain known as sleep spindles, which are associated with deep sleep and memory consolidation.

The researchers also found the swaying motion increased the duration of stage N2 sleep, a type of non-rapid eye movement sleep that usually takes up about half of a night’s worth of good sleep.

Though the study was small, it could mean that hammocks should be considered in treating insomnia and other sleep disorders. Further, a good night’s sleep has all sorts of benefits, such as greater ability to concentrate, a better mood, better body repair and recovery and increased learning.

It’s worthwhile to note hammocks may be good for back pain, they are dust-mite free, and breathe well in hot weather.

Hammocks are also a solution to disrupted sleep because of tossing and turning. When you sleep on a flat bed, your body weight collects in different areas, called pressure points, as explained by Hammock Life Tips. That leads to moving around all night as you try to relieve tension and discomfort to different areas and parts of your body. A hammock, however, adjusts to your body shape.

Likewise, a hammock facilitates sleeping in what is considered the healthiest position: flat on your back with the head slightly elevated. The position gives the brain optimal blood circulation, and allows for unobstructed breathing, according to one doctor at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Other non-health-related benefits of hammocks include convenience and affordability. When camping, pitching a hammock is quick, and there won’t be any rocks sticking in your back as you sleep. And in hot weather, there’s great air circulation; while in cold weather, just stay in your sleeping bag, in the hammock.

And then there’s the view. One of my most memorable nights was spent in a hammock on the patio of a palafito (house on stilts in the middle of a lake) in Venezuela, watching the midnight Catatumbo lightning.

How to sleep in a hammock

Whether on your balcony, in your bedroom or camping, you should make sure your hammock is hung with a nice loose curve. The curve will prevent any shoulder squeeze, and will ensure you don’t fall out, according to The Ultimate Hang. Sleep in it diagonally for a flat position, and bring in a pillow, if you like (though a hammock does naturally elevate your head).

The diagonal line works equally for those who prefer to sleep on their side, or even in fetal position. However, with the way the netting holds you, conforming to your natural curves and removing pressure points, a hammock will often keep you happily sleeping on your back, even if that’s not your usual style.

Avoid hammocks that have horizontal rods at each end (spreader-bar hammock): They are unstable, and won’t bring the same positive benefits, though they may look nice.

Hammock history

Hammocks appear to date back around a thousand years, to when the Maya and other indigenous groups in Central America and the Caribbean used them. Hung from trees, they offered distance from the dirty ground and from snakes and spiders. Sometimes people would place hot coals or kindle small fires under the hammocks in order to stay warm or ward off insects.

The earliest hammocks were woven from the bark of the Hamak tree. Then fibers from the Sisal plant were used as they could be softened quite easily. Cotton rope hammocks have only really been around for the last 60 years.

The word “hammock” may come from the Taino people of the Caribbean, who used the word hamaca to refer to fish nets, or it might come from the Hamak tree.

Seaside Hammocks estimates that at least 100 million people around the world use hammocks as their beds. But if you want to take a gentle sleep to an amazing extreme, you can copy the participants in the International Highline Meeting in Italy, and sleep in a hammock suspended thousands of feet in the air, with a great view of the Italian Alps.

Whatever your preference, it’s worth thinking about alternative ways to sleep instead of the typical bed. Sometimes there are better ways to do things — don’t be afraid to try them!

Article Source: https://www.thealternativedaily.com/how-hangin-in-a-hammock-can-help-your-health/

How to Stay Calm Under Pressure - Noa Kageyama and Pen-Pen Chen

Your favorite athlete closes in for a win; the crowd holds its breath, and at the crucial moment ... she misses the shot. That competitor just experienced the phenomenon known as “choking,” where despite months, even years, of practice, a person fails right when it matters most. Why does this happen, and what can we do to avoid it? Noa Kageyama and Pen-Pen Chen explain why we choke under pressure. 

Lesson by Noa Kageyama and Pen-Pen Chen, animation by Olesya Shchukina.