Health benefits of hugs – and why they feel so good physically and emotionally

[ Photo by Freepik.com] Here are 5 powerful reasons to give someone a squeeze today Hugging is very comforting. In addition, there is no substitution for that warm feeling of holding someone in your arms (or being held). The coronavirus pandemic evidenced it well when hugs were probably at the top of the list of things you missed the most. The isolation and lack of human connection made quarantining very difficult. We hug when we’re excited, happy, sad, or seeking comfort. Hugging makes us feel good. And it turns out that it makes us healthier too. There’s strong evidence that giving your loved ones an affectionate squeeze can actually be good for your health. So check out 5 health benefits of hugs! Hugs boost your immune system Hugs can make you feel good – and stronger too. Hugging can boost levels of natural killer cells, lymphocytes, immunoglobulins, and other immune-boosting cells. Touching and hugging can also affect our body’s immune response through hormone regulation, includi

Time traps that steal your time and your health

 

women's health, time robbers, time management, wellness
[Photo by master1305 – br.freepik.com]
 


Check these five time traps that may be stealing your time and your health and find out how to defeat them!


So much to do, so little time! If you feel this way, you’re not alone. More and more people feel overwhelmed by the increased number of daily tasks as time seems to shrink. With all the work and worries, we easily fall into traps and focus our attention on the “wrong” things that, instead of helping us save time, actually distract us from what matters. We feel so pressed for time that we sacrifice exercise, nutritious food, and resting. The result: increased rates of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cholesterol, and other health complications, as well as high levels of stress, anxiety, and sleep disorders. So if you’re feeling you have too many things to do and not enough time to do them, check these five time traps that may be stealing your time and your health – and find out how to avoid them!

Interruptions

You are trying to focus on a critical task when the doorbell rings, your kid calls, the dog barks, your neighbor starts mowing the lawn, several email notifications start beeping… Not even firm self-discipline or heavenly patience is enough to deal with all these disruptions. If you need time to focus, let your colleagues know. You can issue a message explaining that you have to complete a project and you will be unavailable for a while. The same works for your family. Say that you need a few moments with no interruptions, and ask them to help you, answering the door and the phone, for example. For other problems, a few hacks will do: if noise is distracting you, try wearing noise-canceling headphones or listening to music. If constant emails and callings keep disturbing you, turn off email alerts and let calls roll over to voicemail, setting a time to respond to them later.

Technology

Technology can be a helpful tool when it comes to saving time. But here’s the catch: it can also take it away. Technology streamlines our work, and mobile gadgets grant us autonomy over when and where we work. But then we end up working all the time – and everywhere. When we finally have free time, we spend checking our social media, reading someone else postings, or watching random videos. Even when we are trying to have free leisure time, our devices constantly disrupt it. These interruptions may seem harmless, but a Georgia Institute of Technology (US) research showed that they steal more than 10% of our leisure time. Even if you ignore the alerts or postpone the response, the interruptions undermine your leisure quality by reminding you of all the activities you have to do.

Overwork

It’s easy to lose track when working from home – especially in times of coronavirus pandemic when most of us saw our homes changing into our offices. After all, how can you tell when to leave work when there is no work to leave? But that’s not all. Work is also an essential part of our lives, and it’s tied to our sense of achievement and self-fulfillment. The coronavirus pandemic also drove many people to economic insecurity, leading people to work even more to make more money. Thus, with our self-identity strongly linked to work intensified by financial demands, being busy makes us feel good about ourselves. A study by the Columbia Business School (US) showed that a busy and overworked lifestyle has become a go-getting status symbol. However, being busy all the time leads to an unhealthy, unhappy life. So, the next time you are tempted to overwork, reflect on what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

Money mindset

One of the least recognized traps is also the most dangerous: the money mindset. From a very early age, we hear that time is money. We grew up in a culture that believes that money can bring happiness. Result: most people focus too much on working and making money, and not on having more time. A research by the University of British Columbia (Canada) demonstrated that valuing time over money is associated with greater happiness. One from Harvard Business School (US) and another from the University of British Columbia (Canada) pointed out that treasuring time is also linked with greater social connection. The bottom line, time well spent is much more rewarding.

Undervaluing your time

It’s hard to measure time’s value. But one thing is for sure: it should worth a lot. After all, you can always get more money, but you can never get more time. However, many times we make decisions that aren’t very time-smart. For example, we try to save a few cents doing groceries in a store far from home, but which will take us will twice the time. Or we choose a cheaper connecting flight, saving money but wasting our vacation hours and increasing our stress and fatigue. So, instead of striving to save a little money, value your time and try to make the most of every minute.


by Chris Bueno

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