Exercise is just as effective as mindfulness at reducing people’s stress and anxiety, a Cambridge study found. The scientists reviewed 136 randomized control trials with 11,000 adult participants from 29 countries. In most cases, mindfulness did positively impact anxiety, stress and depression, but there was no evidence it works better than exercise. ACCESS STUDY
An important new study from global researchers, relying on movement tracking data from tens of thousands of people worldwide, found that people that were the most sedentary were significantly more likely to die young. The good news: It doesn’t take a whole lot of movement to counteract that threat. Just 11 minutes of brisk walking or other mild exercise each day (even for the group…
A new study from the University of Limerick-Ireland found that a basic, twice-weekly program of lunges, lifts, squats and crunches (sometimes using equipment like dumbbells) led to 20% better scores on tests for anxiety. The researchers noted that the effect was larger than expected, and with so much anxiety in the world, resistance training looks to be a promising stress-management tool. ACCESS STUDY
A new study from Swedish researchers found that people with depression and other mental health issues slept much better through the night when using a weighted blanket. At the end of the experiment, 42% of those that slept with an 18-pound blanket scored so low on the Insomnia Severity Index to be considered in remission from their sleep troubles, compared with 3.6% of the control…
A new double-blinded randomized trial from Stanford University found that six weeks of electroacupuncture (which uses a small electric current passed between needles) helped people with chronic lower back pain: They reported improvements in walking comfortably, standing for longer periods, bending and kneeling, etc. It did not seem to help with pain intensity. The researchers concluded that with back pain, it’s best to use a…
Pranayama is a set of techniques for controlling the breath, and a new randomized controlled trial from Brazilian doctors showed that this yoga breathwork led to significantly decreased anxiety and negative affect. It’s the first study to show how it impacts the brain: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), they found that Pranayama exercises led to changes in areas of the brain implicated in emotional…
