Oxytocin has gotten a lot of press when it comes to mother/child bonding, but it has some interesting side effects — it can reduce your stress. In case you haven’t heard of it, oxytocin, sometimes called the ‘love hormone’, is released through physical touch, bonding, sex, childbirth, and breast-feeding. It makes us feel good when we’re close to loved ones. It’s also associated with relaxation and feelings of calm. Studies conducted by Dr. Kathleen Light of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have suggested that oxytocin lowers stress hormones to reduce your stress, decreases blood pressure, improves mood, (read full article…)

Insomnia is often Stress-Related If you’ve been having sleepless nights lately, chances are you’re one of the 49% of Americans that reported not getting enough Z’s because they’re too stressed out. Stress and sleep are unhappy bedfellows. How does stress affect your ability to sleep? According to Neil B. Kavey, MD, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at The New York-Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, stress causes hyper-arousal, which upsets the balance between sleep and wakefulness. Ask yourself how many nights you attempt to go to sleep when you’re worrying about something, thinking about (read full article…)

For many people, love can become a source of stress and emotional chaos that leaves them feeling mentally and emotionally drained. Is it possible, then, to care too much? The answer is yes, because sometimes love can turn into over-caring, which over time can cause chronic stress. The term “overcare” was coined by Doc Childre, founder of the HeartMath® system. Doc describes overcare as that which happens when the mind and emotions cross the line of balanced care and get too attached to and bogged down with whomever or whatever you’re caring about. The stronger the desire, the more invested (read full article…)

Most of us maintain a shaky perch on the tight wire of life. If you’re like most people, you get one area of life balanced and then another goes out of whack. For example: At one moment, our family issues take the lead and just as we start to feel a little in control of that situation, wham! The boss comes in and puts the squeeze on us to work harder, be more productive. Translation: “forget about having a life away from here if you want to keep your job.” The World Health Organization describes good mental health “as a (read full article…)