Just because stress is a non-negotiable part of life doesn't mean it needs to rule your existence, according to Johnson & Johnson, so the company recently offered strategies for easing post-holiday strains.
“Chronic stress can be toxic,” Matthew Miller, who serves as manager of behavior science for Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions, said in a press release.
Despite modern methods for and solid evidence for the benefits of stress reduction, “we tend to build situations that don’t allow us to behave in our best interest," he added.
Miller presented potential techniques and tips for lowering our anxiety levels, particularly focused on maintaining healthy habits after the major winter holidays. Possibilities include taking a short sabbatical from social media and engaging in physical activity to better manage emotions. Even “microbursts” of exercise are significantly beneficial, Miller said in the release.
He also recommended keeping a regular sleep routine and practicing mindfulness to become more aware of the power of gratitude.
“Mindfulness does a great job of helping people manage negative emotions, and gratefulness does a great job of helping people boost the positive emotions they’re feeling,” Miller said in the release. “It’s not rocket science, which is one of the beautiful things about it.”
Moreover, recent Stanford University studies demonstrate that changing one’s perception of stress can actually result in better coping mechanisms, the release said.
“When you change your perception of experiences, you can change the level of risk you interpret them as having,” Miller said. “That can change the way your body responds to stress, which is profound.”
