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Nightmare on Cheese Street? Study Links Dairy Intolerance to Disturbing Dreams

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That midnight grilled cheese might be coming back to haunt you, literally.

A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology has found a notable link between food sensitivities, particularly lactose intolerance, and the severity of nightmares. Researchers believe that the gastrointestinal distress experienced by those with food intolerances during the night may disrupt sleep and sneak its way into their dream life.

“Nightmare severity is robustly associated with lactose intolerance and other food allergies,” Dr. Tore Nielsen, lead author of the study and director of the Dream and Nightmare Laboratory at Université de Montréal, told Newsweek.

“These new findings imply that changing eating habits for people with some food sensitivities could alleviate nightmares. They could also explain why people so often blame dairy for bad dreams!”

The research team surveyed 1,082 university students at MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada, collecting data on sleep patterns, dream content, physical health,  mental wellness, and dietary habits. Nearly a third of participants reported frequent nightmares, with women significantly more likely than men to recall dreams, report poor sleep, and experience unsettling dream content.

When participants were asked whether they believed food affected their dreams, either by worsening or improving them, approximately 40% said yes, mainly when they ate late at night. Around 25% believed that certain foods actively worsened their sleep quality, with sweets (31%), dairy products (22%), meats (16%), and spicy dishes (13%) topping the list of culinary culprits.

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Notably, women were also almost twice as likely to report food allergies or intolerances. Of the people who believed their diet was related to worsened sleep, 30% were lactose intolerant.

Despite this, only 5.5% of participants reported that food influenced the emotional tone of their dreams in addition to quality. Still, among that group, dairy products, particularly cheese, were frequently mentioned as triggering strange or distressing dreams.

The findings might help address some of the issues brought up by a 2015 study that examined the variables influencing “food-dependent dreaming,” or how food influences dreams.

“In the earlier study, people were blaming cheese all the time for their bad dreams. And so I think we got some better answers in the study for that.”

The association may be rooted in how the body processes dairy during sleep. For individuals with lactose intolerance, consuming cheese or milk products before bed can lead to bloating, cramps, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. That discomfort may disrupt sleep and feed into negative or bizarre dream content.

“Nightmares are worse for lactose-intolerant people who suffer severe gastrointestinal symptoms and whose sleep is disrupted. This makes sense because we know that other bodily sensations can affect dreaming. Nightmares can be very disruptive, especially if they occur often, because they tend to awaken people from sleep in a dysphoric state. They might also produce sleep avoidance behaviors. Both symptoms can rob you of restful sleep.”

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The findings provide a possible scientific explanation for an age-old folk belief that eating cheese before bed can lead to bad dreams. While the notion has existed for centuries, concrete evidence has been elusive until now.

According to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, 68 percent of U.S. adults consumed cheese on any given day in 2017–2018, whether as a snack or an ingredient. While cheese can contribute to calcium intake and even promote oral health, the timing of its consumption may be more important than many realize.

Interestingly, fewer students today seem to associate food with dreaming than a decade ago. Nielsen and co-author Dr. Russell Powell noted that in the prior 2015 study, more participants linked specific foods with dream outcomes. They speculate that growing awareness of food intolerances may lead people to avoid known trigger foods altogether, thus reducing the chance of sleep disruption in the first place.

While the researchers emphasize that the correlation between food and dreams is still complex and not fully understood, they do see potential in dietary adjustments to support better sleep. However, they stop short of making universal recommendations.

A poor diet might lead to poor sleep, and vice versa—or there could be a third factor we haven’t identified yet, Nielsen suggested to Newsweek.

“We need to study more people of different ages, from different walks of life, and with different dietary habits to determine if our results are truly generalizable to the larger population. Experimental studies are also needed to determine if people can truly detect the effects of specific foods on dreams. We would like to run a study in which we ask people to ingest cheese products versus some control food before sleep to see if this alters their sleep or dreams.”

Of course, not every food is associated with nightmares and disturbed sleep; in fact, certain foods may actually promote better sleep. 13% of those who drink herbal tea, 12% of those who eat a lot of veggies, and nearly 18% of those who regularly eat fruits reported having better sleep.

TJ Johnson Sleep Science Coach

How a Sleep Science Coach Uses Hypnosis To Help Clients Find Restful Sleep | TJ Johnson

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According to the CDC, more than 1 in 3 Americans are sleep-deprived. Sleep deficiency leads to injuries, chronic diseases, mental illnesses, poor quality of life and lost work productivity. And yet, it is rarely addressed adequately in healthcare. Sleep Science Coach TJ Johnson is trying to change that. By using Neurolinguistic Programming, she empowers her clients to approach sleep in a new way.

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Manchester Schools To Perform Study On Children’s Wellbeing Post-Pandemic 

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A multitude of school districts in Manchester are participating in a study that’s looking into the wellbeing of children and their emotional responses to reentering the world as the pandemic reaches its eventual end. Two-thirds of parents believe that mental health should be prioritized over academic attainment in the coming school year. 

The Greater Manchester Young People’s Wellbeing Program will be running the study that will be gathering data from tens of thousands of young students across 250 secondary schools in the city of Manchester. This is the first study of its kind in the UK, and it will begin collecting data this fall. Initially, the program will attempt to learn young people’s feelings and concerns over returning to school, as well as their physical activity. 

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Research is also being conducted for the University of Manchester in association with the Anna Freud Center, the Youth Sports Trust, and the Greater Manchester combined authority. This major collaborative effort shows that Manchester authorities and educators are greatly concerned that students won’t be able to learn as successfully due to the amount of adjustments they’ve had to make within the past year. 

David Gregson is a philanthropist who first brought up the idea of performing this study. Gregson argues that “the UK has neglected the wellbeing and physical health of children in favor of academic attainment, to the detriment of their actual development.” 

The Youth Sports Trust also recently performed a survey that suggested parents agree with Gregson’s argument. The survey found that “65% of parents believed wellbeing was a key factor in choosing a child’s secondary school, while only 48% said the same of exam results. Meanwhile, 70% of parents with children between the ages of 11 and 16 said their children’s wellbeing had suffered during the pandemic.”

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“I first took this idea to Greater Manchester in 2019 and all Covid has done, as the tide has gone out, is expose the pebbles we knew existed. For me, our education system has become too focused on attainment. A necessary but insufficient assessment,” Gregson said. 

“We’ve got ourselves into the position where we think that attainment is the be-all and end-all and I don’t agree with that. I want to change that dialogue and I want to improve the wellbeing of young people in Greater Manchester to prove that point.”

Gregson claims that all the data collected in this program will be shared with local authorities and government leaders so that they can recognize, and hopefully change, areas of need within the education system. 

“My 10-year plan is to add a second leg to the assessment of young people in Britain that we don’t just think of them as people who get GCSE results,” Gregson said. 

“That we think about another equally important part of their makeup, which is their wellbeing, their sense of self-esteem, their sense of optimism. We’ll need all of that. We needed it pre-Covid and we’ll certainly need it after Covid.”

Drew Barrymore Announces Launch Of Lifestyle Magazine 

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Drew Barrymore has become a lifestyle guru within the past decade of her career. Between her numerous acting jobs, role as talk show host, and overall social media presence, the mogul has become a major influencer in terms of how people lead their everyday lives. 

‘Drew’ will be a quarterly lifestyle magazine which will aim to continue the same legacy that Oprah Winfrey led with her O Magazine brand. Fashion and lifestyle magazines in general have been closing or reducing their output within the past year as a result of the pandemic, and a lack of interest in the subject matter that these publications pushed. 

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Barrymore, however, is hoping that her magazine will revitalize the lifestyle/fashion/wellness magazine brand, especially considering the pandemic is coming to an end. 

“Magazines are such a huge part of my life and they’re such a huge part of my inspiration for everything I do. I’ve lined my walls with magazine tear sheets since I was like 10 years old. I have a picture of myself in my bedroom and it’s like floor to ceiling and wall to wall. I’ve always loved magazines because of the paper and the experience,” Barrymore explained. 

According To Barrymore, Drew the magazine will emphasize her role as a celebrity, and feature her experiences with beauty, travel, and food. The magazine will first be made available at Walmart and then all US newsstands a week later, and it will retail for $10. She calls the project an “optimism magazine that is both very commercial and very personal.”

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Crystal Meers is expected to act as editor-in-chief for the magazine; Meers used to contribute to Gweneth Paltrow’s Goop website. Christy Doramus will serve as the magazine’s editor-at-large and Barrymore will be providing an “agony aunt” column along with acting as the founder of the publication. 

The magazine will be published by Bauer Media, and while both Bauer and Barrymore are aware of the risk of publishing a magazine in 2021, they have confidence people will be reaching for it. “A lot of the magazines that are struggling are very, very driven by advertising. Our focus is always on the consumer revenue stream. And we start with something that can make money just from engaging the consumer the right way. Our philosophy has always been if we do that, the advertisers will follow, versus trying to start someplace where we think there’s a really nice ad market and what can we create to satisfy that.”

“My goal with the magazine is to get to do a second one and to keep going from there,” Barrymore said.

“You just need chances so I hope to get the chance to do another one. That’s where my focus is – not being afraid and not planning too far ahead for what I don’t know is possible yet. I’ve never been good when people are like: ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’ I’m like: ‘I have no idea.’”

How CBD Has Changed The Way We Look At Cannabis And Improving Our Health | Casco Bay Hemp

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Casco Bay Hemp is one of the top CBD retailers in Maine, but their fundraising efforts that work to educate the world on the benefits of hemp is what really makes them so popular.

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Lifestyle And Wellness Trends To Expect In 2021

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The Covid-19 pandemic has truly changed the way in which we run our everyday lives and take care of ourselves. While 2021 is looking a lot more hopeful with the release of multiple vaccines and a new administration running things in the White House, the pandemic is likely still going to drive trends within the next year in terms of how we live our lives and take care of ourselves. Here are some of the pandemic trends expected to be carried into 2021. 

Comfort Crafting: Whether you like knitting, painting, or even baking, creating something with your hands is always a satisfying feeling. The pandemic has given people the perfect excuse to finally explore any and all hobbies that they may have never had time to try in the past. Dayna Johnson is a trend expert working for Etsy who claims that “crafting and learning new skills in general serves as a form of self-care and grounding.”

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Meditation: It’s no surprise that a global health crisis paralleling an economic recession would cause some extreme feelings of stress and anxiety. For those who have always suffered with their mental health, or those who may be learning about their own anxiety for the first time this pandemic, this crisis has shown us all that taking care of ourselves needs to be a priority. Learning proper meditative practices, or any other activity that can help ease the daily stresses of living during a pandemic will likely carry out into the new year as we all start to navigate the uncharted territory of post-vaccination life. 

Outdoor Activities: If we think back to the beginning of this pandemic, Friluftsliv is a Norweigan concept that began trending when lockdowns were initially occuring last spring. The word translates to “free air life” and is explained as a deep appreciation for being outdoors and incorporating outdoor activities in your life. Utilizing whatever outdoor spaces one has at their home or taking advantage of whatever walking paths your town may have is an amazing way to safely get out of your house, and appreciate the world around you. 

Road Trips/Solo Travel: Travel has become the last thing on most of our minds within the past year, however, as the pandemic progressed, new and safe ways of travelling began emerging so that individuals could get out of their quarantine space and feel a certain sense of freedom. Road trips and solo vacations have grown in popularity this past year due to the fact that you don’t need to be around anyone else to do so. Solo travel has given people an excuse to truly appreciate their own company and remember what it’s like to fall in love with yourself and the world around you. 

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Going Green: Throughout their time in lockdown many individuals have realized that the world is actually enduring two global pandemics right now; Covid-19 and climate change. At this point it’s going to take true systemic change from our world leaders to really reverse all the damage that humans have done to the planet, however, many are spending their time at home figuring out ways that they can personally better the planet. Many are learning how to properly recycle, remove single-use plastic items from their homes, and reduce their overall carbon footprint. 

Interior Design: Since we’ve all been stuck at home for the past year, many of us have decided to redesign the spaces that we’ve been spending an indefinite amount of time in. Creating home offices, rearranging furniture, creating pieces of art to revamp a plain wall, painting rooms, building gardens, etc. have all been home improvement projects that interior design blogs have been discussing immensely within the past year. So many first time designers are taking to the internet and its multitude of tutorials and tips for freshening up their spaces and implementing more of their personal style into the spaces.

Remote Working: While this is less of a trend and more of a circumstantial activity, many companies and employers are seeing how successfully they can still run their companies in a remote setting, and are thus opting to remain remote as the world begins to reopen. Even large corporations like Facebook and Twitter have announced that their employees will now always have the option to work from home, or come into an office space once the pandemic becomes less of a threat, if they wish.

Organic Fruits & Vegetables

How To Maintain An Organic Lifestyle Easily At Home 

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Maintaining a healthy lifestyle in general is the best way to support your body’s overall sense of wellness. This includes not only our physical health, but mental health as well, because when our bodies are functioning the best they can, our minds begin to follow. Leading an organic lifestyle is not only healthy, but fulfilling to the many ecosystems that make this planet so beautiful, so what can you do at home to help benefit yourself and the planet?

Eating organically doesn’t have to be as complicated as some may make it seem. Eating vegetables, fruits, and other fresh produce that hasn’t been touched or cultivated using intense chemicals ensures that your body is receiving all of the nutrients that food item has to offer. Organic eating also includes eating meat that hasn’t been processed with any hormones in a closed factory setting. 

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This is genuinely one of the healthiest ways to eat because chemicals like pesticides, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and more can have an incredibly negative impact on one’s health. If you had your own home garden, and then your lawn was sprayed down with insecticide, would you still want to eat what you grew in that garden?

Speaking of gardens, keeping an organic garden is a great and easy way to ensure that the food you’re bringing into your home is, in fact, organic. Organic farming is nothing new, and is actually much more common in individuals’ personal home gardens now than it was compared to ten years ago. 

In order to create an organic garden you must buy organic seeds, which can likely be found at any local home and garden store, and then through composting you will be able to get all the nutrients that you need to help grow your garden. Be mindful of what plants you’re growing, however, as different produce will need different maintenance. 

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Beyond just your diet, there are plenty of other ways you can lead an organic lifestyle in your day-to-day operations. Using organic beauty and skin care products with eco-conscious packaging will help benefit your local community in a multitude of ways. Using products with organic ingredients guarantees everything you’re applying to your face and body is all natural. 

Luckily, there’s already a ton of brands out there that produce organic shampoos, soaps, creams, makeup products, etc., and most of them can be found at your local drug or grocery store. Don’t hesitate to branch out with your beauty, and check the products your use now; you may already be using some organic products without even knowing because of how common they are now!

“Organic clothing” is another amazing way to implement organic elements into your life. Buying clothes made from recycled materials, thrift shopping, and buying from local retailers who also produce their products locally, are just a few examples of how you can turn your closet into a more organic space that better benefits the planet. The fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to climate change due to the consistent distribution of materials via airplane and other transportation services that burn fossil fuels.

As you can see, there are a ton of easy and accessible ways that anyone can start implementing organic elements into their lives, and thus begin leading a healthier lifestyle. Not only will your physical and mental health begin to improve, but the planet will also be a little greener thanks to your efforts.

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The Benefits Of Doing Yoga While You’re Social Distancing

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During this coronavirus pandemic, many of us are trying to find ways to spend our indefinite amount of free time without stressing too much about the aspects of this situation that we can’t control; which is most of it. Apart from working remotely, it’s important that we all try to find ways to occupy our time and remain productive. If we get caught in the trap of gluing ourselves to the couch and watching season after season of reality TV, it’ll be much easier to get caught up in negative thoughts and stresses, so we need to think of better ways to stimulate our mind, body, and soul. 

Doing yoga is one of the best things you can do for yourself during this pandemic. Yoga is a “super-workout” in the sense that it benefits your physical and mental health through its practices. It improves your physical health by promoting flexibility and proper blood flow throughout the entire body, while also focusing on the importance of breathing exercises and mindfulness as well. 

Thanks to services like Zoom and YogaDownload, there are a ton of digital yoga class options that put you in front of a live instructor to guide you as you move from position-to-position. If you aren’t trying to spend a lot of money, YouTube and other free video streaming platforms offer a wide variety of instructional videos on yoga from any level of fitness. 

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As previously stated, one of the greatest physical benefits of yoga is how much it builds flexibility and balance. These are two essential qualities to any other form of working out as well, so when you are finally able to go back to the gym, you’ll have a greater grasp on proper techniques and stances that will best benefit you in your other workouts. 

Beyond just flexibility and balance, yoga has been proven to improve heart health as well. Stress is one of the biggest contributors to any sort of heart health ailments that one could face, and yoga is one of the greatest cures to stress out there. It forces you to focus exclusively on your body and breathing. The breathing techniques that you’ll learn through yoga practices are important to take into your everyday life. 

The breathing techniques in yoga are quite literally designed to center you both physically and mentally so that when you find yourself in times of stress or feeling  overwhelmed, you can use the same breathing exercises you would in a yoga class to calm yourself back down. 

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Speaking of stress, our bodies release the hormone cortisol whenever we’re feeling overwhelmed. It’s known as the “stress hormone” because that’s the exact reaction we have whenever this hormone is released in our brains. Yoga has been scientifically proven to lower your levels of cortisol while you’re engaging in it, but also in the long run if you begin to practice yoga regularly. 

The same way that yoga is able to reduce cortisol, it’s also been proven to reduce the hormonal reaction in our brains that we feel when we’re depressed or anxious. Again, it all goes back to the breathing techniques that yoga instills in you while you’re stretching your body into a multitude of positions. It’s one of those athletic techniques that you’ll always find useful and want to bring into your everyday life. 

Now that we all are socially distancing and quarantining ourselves, there’s literally never been a better time to begin practicing yoga to reap it’s amazing long-term health benefits. Improve on your flexibility, balance, blood flow, stress levels and overall sense of feeling overwhelmed. We all could use some mindfulness at a time like this, so take some time to be with yourself and just breathe, we’ll make it through this.

Obesity

Half Of America Will Be Obese Within The Next Decade, Study Says

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America needs to collectively begin eating a lot healthier if it wants to avoid half of the country becoming obese within the next decade. According to a recent study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, over half of the nation will be obese by 2030 if a major change in lifestyle isn’t universally adopted. 

The study analyzed data from over six million American adults and their standing BMI, or body mass index. Your BMI is your weight in relation to your age and height and how it relates to others in your same demographic. The study’s results reported that 25% of Americans will be deemed as “severely obese” within the next decade, meaning they’ll have a BMI of 35, which roughly translates to being over 100 pounds over the average weight of your age group. The studies head authors are mainly concerned with the “severely obese” data as opposed to the projections for standard obesity, which is a lot more manageable. 

“What’s even more concerning is the rise in severe obesity. Nationally, severe obesity — typically over 100 pounds of excess weight — will become the most common BMI category, prevalence will be higher than 25% in 25 states. Currently, only 18% of all Americans are severely obese. If the trend continues, severe obesity would become as prevalent as overall obesity was in the 1990s.” said lead author Zachary Ward, an analyst at Harvard Chan School’s Center for Health Decision Science.

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Throughout the past fifty years, a major shift happened in America. Fast food products, processed and artificial foods and beverages grew in popularity, and cheapened in price. Class dynamics shifted, leaving the lower class to fend for themselves in regards to food. Why spend $50 on a day’s worth of groceries when you can buy all three meals for less than $20 at McDonalds? Additionally, sources for exercise and wellness, such as gym memberships or yoga classes, became more elitist and the price point matched, making it nearly impossible for someone making minimum wage to live a healthy and active life, even if they wanted to. So what’s the solution to a problem that has only gotten progressively worse?

“There’s no rosy picture here, but I don’t think we can throw in the towel. It will probably take lots of federal, state and local policy interventions and regulations to have a big impact. We can’t rely on individual behavior change in an environment that is so obesity promoting,” said Aviva Must, chair of Tufts University’s Public Health and Community Medicine, to CNN.

One solution, provided by the study, is to let public schools remain open on the weekends and during the summer to give the public access to their gyms and swimming pools. School grounds can act as a sort of community center, as a cheap way to keep the members of the community active and engaged without hurting their wallet.  

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Additionally, in regards to the school system, more schools should have access to healthier and more sustainable lunch options for the kids, and all vending machines should offer healthier options over processed chips and candy. These are obviously solutions that would require real systematic policies to be put in place, however, that change can start with you at the local level. Showing up to school budget meetings that are open for the parents and members of the community are important for raising your concerns and having your voice heard. 

According to a study done by researchers with Health Affairs, there are three major systematic interventions that have proven in the past to be successful at reducing the growing obesity rate in America. The first change is the elimination of the tax deduction that some businesses receive when they create advertisements for unhealthy food options. Basically, these businesses can write off their ads on their taxes, so it’s like they spend next to nothing on increased advertisements for these processed products.

Improving school snack nutritional standards is the next change, which again has also been slowly implemented in America’s school systems. After Michelle Obama’s policies regarding healthier food options in America’s schools, a real impact was made, and now it’s more a matter of keeping that momentum going. The final suggestion is imposing an excise tax on sugary drinks specifically. The study found that “the [sugary drink] tax saved $30 in health care costs for every dollar spent on the program.”

“If Americans could just keep their current weight instead of gaining, the trends could be reversed. It’s really hard to lose weight. It’s really hard to treat obesity. So prevention really has to be at the forefront of efforts to combat this growing epidemic,” Ward said.

Relaxing

Why “Doing Nothing” Is Good For Your Health

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Let’s be honest, doing absolutely nothing is a true art form, that we all have mastered in our own individual way. Whether that’s binge watching three straight seasons of a show you’ve already watched twice, or baking and eating a dozen cookies, or even just laying outside in the sun for three hours, we all have our own versions of decompressing from the real world. After a hard day at work, the art of nothing can sometimes feel like all we have, and yet from a societal standpoint, it’s almost shameful to just relax and allow yourself to be lazy. There’s a general work ethic, especially in America, that tells us when we’re not occupying our time, we’re wasting time and that’s simply not the case. A day of full on low energy nothing is not only good for your mental health but physical as well!! 

Obviously doing nothing all day everyday isn’t good for your overall health and well-being, however, having your time to yourself every week is necessary for living a fulfilling life. Gretchen Robin is the author of “The Happiness Project” and she spoke to ‘Grateful’ magazine about how important leisure time actually is. 

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A “Doggy And Me” Yoga Class, Yoga In All Forms Is Proven To Provide Relaxation

“Doing nothing is about making good use of your free time, whether that’s meditating, going for a walk, talking to friends or binge-watching TV shows. Leisure activities are not necessarily ‘doing nothing’ — but, they make us happy and shouldn’t be viewed as wasted time. The key question is: If you know that you feel happier when you give yourself that downtime, how do you make sure that you get it into your life? When [you] feel constant pressure to be more and more productive and more and more scheduled, how do you give yourself that opportunity?”

Robin mainly defines “doing nothing” as simply doing something that allows you to be centered in the present moment. Allowing ourselves to become fully present and not worried about our surrounding stresses in our lives (family, work, relationships, chores, etc.) becomes a very grounding experience. It also shows us that it is possible to just stop, breathe, and live in one particular moment without being overwhelmed, which becomes beneficial when we actually get overwhelmed. It becomes easier to remind ourselves that whatever specific stress we’re experiencing on a given day, is just an in the moment experience, and it too shall pass. 

Doing nothing also has great benefits for anxiety and depression, however it’s easy for it to be just as detrimental. When you don’t give yourself a proper break, and keep working to the point where you can’t recharge or relax, you burn yourself out. In that case, it’s more likely you’ll fall into destructive “doing nothing” habits such as eating an entire bag of greasy food multiple times a week. When you actually go out of your way to dedicate time for a specific leisure activity that centers you, and allows you to acknowledge the present, it leads to a stronger focus and more productive energy.

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The easiest way to relax your mind and body with nothingness and receive the positive benefits of it is to understand what true leisure is for you personally. Think about what’s actually mentally beneficial versus detrimental and depressive. For example, is watching another movie and eating another bag of chips truly going to make you happy? Or would you rather get out and do some retail therapy instead. Robin says it’s about separating activities that make you happy as opposed to things that just feel like lazy everyday habits. 

Schedule a specific time for your leisure. If you work a regular Monday to Friday job, schedule a Sunday afternoon of gardening and baking. Giving yourself a fixed date and time, even if it is just for doing nothing, can help ease you from living in a crazy work schedule and routine, into a work and relaxation routine. Change up your environment, remove distractions like electronics, procrastinate vacuuming and just center yourself on your personal leisure path. The more present you become, the more you’ll enjoy just doing nothing.