I’m loving UCSF’s Mini Medical School for the Public. The following presentation by Dr. Ellen Hughes is particularly interesting and useful, as she explains the latest science in understandable terms and then offers a variety of practical strategies for making healthy lifestyle changes. Enjoy!
Stress Soup: Dr. Elissa Epel presents “The New Science of Stress and Stress Resilience”
The following presentation is part of a series sponsored by UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine called Life in Balance: Strategies for Optimal Health from the Science of Integrative Medicine. In this talk, Elissa Epel, PhD discusses some of the latest research regarding the ways that stress and stress resilience can affect health. A few of the take-home messages:
• Stress is a serious risk factor for health that’s rooted not only in our minds, but also in our bodies, brains and cells.
• Stress is unavoidable, but we can improve stress resilience through exercise, social connection, cultivating mindfulness and positive psychological states, and developing awareness of arousal and learning to control it through relaxed breathing.
• A situation that stresses me out might not bother you at all, but perceived stress is all that is needed for us to produce a kind of “stress soup” in our cells that can negatively impact both our physical and psychological well-being.
• Mindful awareness and relaxed breathing can change the “stress soup” inside of us in healthful ways.