Ho ho, ha ha ha, students in a fitness class at the University of Michigan Health System chant repeatedly while clapping their hands and walking around the room.
They’re just getting warmed up; in the next half-hour, they will stretch their muscles and work on breathing exercises. Theyll also laugh for most of the 30 minutes, from self-conscious giggles to uninhibited belly laughs. All in the name of fitness.
This is a laughter yogacourse, part of a growing trend in parts of the United States, India and other countries. The students are re-learning something children already know instinctively: that laughter makes you feel better. [continue reading…]
University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers have found that older adolescents who have a bedroom television are less likely to engage in healthy activities such as exercising, eating fruits or vegetables, and enjoying family meals. They also consumed larger quantities of sweetened beverages and fast food, were categorized as heavy TV watchers, and read or studied less than teens without TVs in their bedrooms.“The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents remove television sets from their children’s bedrooms. Despite this recommendation, almost two-thirds of our sample had a bedroom TV, which appears to be a factor for less than optimal behavior,” said Daheia Barr-Anderson, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., first author of the study. [continue reading…]
A sense of hopefulness does not improve as quickly as other symptoms, University of Michigan Health System researchers find
People taking medication for depression typically see a lot of improvements in their symptoms during the first few months, but lagging behind other areas is a sense of hopefulness, according to new research from the
That means people with depression may still feel a sense of hopelessness even while their condition is improving, which could lead them to stop taking the medication. [continue reading…]
While our relationships with children and best friends tend to become less negative as we age, we’re more likely to see our spouses as irritating and demanding.
That’s according to a University of Michigan study that analyzed long-term patterns of relationship negativity among more than 800 adults ages 20 and older.
“There’s been a lot of research showing that marriage and other close relationships enhance well-being,” said Kira Birditt, a research fellow at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). “But less work has focused on the negative aspects of close relationships.” [continue reading…]
