The end of the calendar month brings many happy and exciting times for some, while for others it just adds to stress levels. Winter months may be especially intense, not only because of the holidays and festivities but also because of the change in season that affects our body’s internal clock.
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The circadian rhythm, which regulates our sleep and wake cycle, is controlled by a stress hormone called corticosterone. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen carried out a study involving rats and found that their circadian rhythm could be changed by adjusting their levels of corticosterone at certain times of the day.
One of the researchers, Martin Fredensborg Rath, Ph.D., believes a breakthrough may have been made and says that the pumping of hormones to regulate body cycles may open new avenues for science. “Nobody has used these pumps for anything like this before. So technically, we were onto something completely new,” he said.
Corticosterone is also associated with the body’s response to stress. Handling stress, however, doesn’t have to mean taking a handful of medications. Whether you’re dealing with holiday stress, financial pressures, family issues or other problems, natural remedies can ease the burden.
Getting a quick, high-intensity workout can help, along with mindfulness and meditation. Practicing "mindfulness" means you're actively paying attention to the moment you're in right now. Rather than letting your mind wander, when you're mindful, you're living in the moment and letting distracting thoughts pass through your mind without getting caught up in their emotional implications.
You can add mindfulness to virtually any aspect of your day — even while you're eating, working or doing household chores like washing dishes — simply by paying attention to the sensations you are experiencing in the present moment. Some people call this “being all there.”
Research has shown mindfulness training even leads to a number of benefits among children and adolescents, including:
- —Improvements in attention and social skills
- —Decreased test anxiety
- —Drops in aggressive behavior among adolescents with a series of anti-social behaviors known as conduct disorder
- —Improved classroom behavior, such as paying attention, self-control, participation in activities and caring and respect for others
Meditation offers even more benefits, as it can relieve both stress and pain. In one study, volunteers who had never meditated before attended four 20-minute classes to learn a technique called focused attention. They experienced significant pain relief — a 40% reduction in pain intensity and a 57% reduction in pain unpleasantness.
In addition to meditation and mindfulness, you can try nibbling on some dark chocolate to combat the blues. Having a cup of dark hot chocolate every day for a month can reduce anxiety and induce a sense of calm, according to the work of one group of researchers.
With the holidays coming up, what better way to indulge just a little, than with a healthy bite of a cocoa indulgence? Try out my Dark Choco-Dipped Cherry Bites recipe and see if it turns out to be a crowd pleaser at your next festivity or get-together.