Beleaf it or not: Plants make you happy! The effects of nature on mental health

Have you noticed a difference in your energy and mood after interacting with nature? How about going for a walk through your favorite park or smelling your favorite flower? Do you leave feeling more relaxed? Calm? Have a smile on your face? If you tried any of those activities and noticed a positive and uplifting shift in your energy and mood, your mental health likely was positively impacted by nature.  Nature and mental health are more closely connected than you may think. Did you know spending time in nature outdoors [...]

2023-04-30T09:41:17-04:00May 1st, 2023|Mental Health, Self-Help, Stress|

Breathing Exercise

Ariana Grande’s popular song "breathin’" is an anthem to anxiety that speaks to a simple solution with a multitude of benefits. “Don’t know what else to try, but you tell me every time, just keep breathin’ and breathin’” chants the pop superstar. Unfortunately, most of us weren’t taught the simple techniques and range of positive outcomes that come with—well—simply breathing. It happens to all of us. Feelings like anxiety, stress, and fear cause our breathing to be shallow, irregular, or rapid. It’s entirely normal. Our body’s automatic response is to [...]

2024-10-22T14:21:52-04:00May 1st, 2022|Anxiety, Mental Health, Self-Help, Stress|

How to Achieve Healthy Sleep

Humans spend a lot of time asleep -- about a third of our lives, in fact. It should come as no surprise, then, that developing and maintaining good sleep habits is a key factor in maintaining good physical and mental health. Unfortunately, data show Americans don’t have the greatest relationship with sleep. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control found at least 28.5 percent of American adults sleep less than seven hours a night, while 68.8 percent of teens reported getting less than 8 hours of sleep each night even [...]

2021-11-19T09:02:28-05:00November 19th, 2021|Self-Help|

Stress and College

Clenched teeth, locked jaw, tension shooting up my shoulders and neck, feeling heavy as if my legs were glued to the floor, tightness in my low back set in, and finally a pounding headache crashed into my frontal lobes. Stress! My name is Liam, and I’m a junior in the Public Health program at Temple University. Lately I’ve been dwelling on stress (literally).  Last semester was full of surprises. I was already late to register for my summer classes, scrambling to find a course before the deadline, all while in [...]

2021-11-10T20:47:35-05:00November 10th, 2021|Lived Experience, Self-Help, Stress|
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