ML Interest Tag: blood-pressure

Is Exercising Safe during Your Pandemic Pregnancy?

By Dr. Alan Lindemann

As we enter the new year, many people traditionally start new workout routines in an effort to lose weight or get in shape. For women who are pregnant this new year, however, some different rules apply. Here are some things for you to keep in mind about exercising while pregnant, especially during the pandemic.

Exercise & Pregnancy

Whether you are pregnant and thinking about starting a new exercise routine, or you are already used to an exercise regimen and wonder if it’s safe to continue now that you’re expecting, this Q & A will provide some important insights for you. As ever, please consult your trusted care provider for specific advice about your unique pregnancy.

1. Is exercise during pregnancy safe? The short answer is yes—as long as the exercise program remains the same as it was before pregnancy. In other words, this isn’t the time to start a new workout routine, or to go from not exercising to exercising vigorously. If you haven’t been exercising much at all previously, it is still recommended that you get some daily movement in, such as taking a walk. In my experience, I have not seen any adverse effects from exercising in pregnancy.

2. What if I don’t feel like exercising? The baby won’t be hurt by stopping your pre-pregnancy exercise program. You could try cutting back but still exercising a little if this feels more doable. And as mentioned above, incorporating some light movement, such as walking around your neighborhood, will help you and your baby maintain good health throughout your pregnancy.

3. Is walking or exercising outside safe during the pandemic? During these COVID-19 times, outside is a safe place to be as long as you practice social distancing. However, you should always wear a mask, even when outside, if you are exercising anywhere that you will be around other people.

4. Will a mask interfere with my exercise? Yes, probably. It will take more time to get fresh air into your lungs with a mask on. Still, wearing a mask is the safest thing to do for you and your baby when around others outside your household—even if it causes some discomfort. You can slow down your exercise if breathing through the mask becomes overly bothersome. You can also breathe with your mouth open.

5. Will my baby be smaller if I exercise during pregnancy? Probably not, as long as you haven’t started a new exercise program. Exercise at your pre-pregnancy levels or a little less and eat a well-balanced diet and you and your baby will likely gain weight normally.

Incorporating movement into your day is healthy for you and your baby. The main thing to remember is that now is not the time to challenge yourself to a new routine or to increase your pre-pregnancy exercise regimen. Gaining weight during pregnancy is normal and healthy. Stay in touch with your doctor to track your weight and blood pressure throughout your pregnancy and make sure your health stays on track for the best pregnancy and birth outcomes.

 

Dr. Alan Lindemann
Tinybeans Voices Contributor

An obstetrician and maternal mortality expert, “Rural Doc” Alan Lindemann, M.D. teaches women and families how to create the outcomes they want for their own health and pregnancy. In nearly 40 years of practice, he has delivered around 6,000 babies and achieved a maternal mortality rate of zero! Visit LindemannMD.com

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Study Shows Number of Times a Person Gives Birth May Affect Aging

by Jennifer Swartvagher

Do you feel like you’ve aged overnight since having children? That feeling may not be just in your head. A new study led by Penn State researchers found that the number of times a person gives birth may also affect the body’s aging process. 

Pregnant

Researchers examined several different measures that represent how a person’s body is aging and found that people who had few births or many seemed to have aged quicker than those who had given birth three or four times. However, these effects were found only after a person had gone through menopause.

“Our findings suggest that pregnancy and birth may contribute to the changing and dysregulation of several different physiological systems that may affect aging once a person is post-menopause,” said Talia Shirazi, a doctoral candidate in biological anthropology at Penn State. “This is consistent with the metabolic, immunological, and endocrinological changes that occur in the body during pregnancy and lactation, as well as the various disease risks that are associated with pregnancy and reproductive investment more generally.”

Pregnancy and breastfeeding use a large amount of the body’s energy and can affect many of its systems, including immune function, metabolism, and blood pressure, among others. Additionally, people who have given birth are more likely to die from diabetes, kidney disease and hypertension, among other conditions, than those who have not.

The researchers were curious about how the body balances these “costs of reproduction” and whether it affects how the body ages.

“We think there’s something going on, some sort of trade-off, between aging and reproduction,” Shirazi said. “This makes sense from an evolutionary biology point of view, because if you’re spending energy in pregnancy and breastfeeding, you probably don’t have as much energy to allocate towards things like physiological maintenance and defense.”

For the study, the researchers used data on 4418 participants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data included information about reproductive health including the number of live births and whether they had gone through menopause or not. They measured biological aging in several ways based on nine biomarkers designed to assess metabolic health, kidney and liver function, anemia and red blood cell disorders, immune function and inflammation.

“We wanted to look at measures that would help capture the age and functioning of the body’s major organ systems, instead of looking at aging at the cellular level,” said Waylon Hastings, postdoctoral researcher at Penn State. “When we think about pregnancy, we don’t think about changes to individual cells but instead about how the immune system or metabolism changes, for example.”

The researchers found a “U-shaped relationship” between the number of live births and accelerated biological aging. Those reporting zero or few live births, or reporting many live births, had markers of quicker biological aging than those who reported three or four live births. This was true even when controlling for chronological age, lifestyle and other health related and demographic factors.

Shirazi said that because the data was taken at one point in time, it’s not currently possible to know what caused these associations. But she said one possible explanation for the findings recently published in Scientific Reports is the presence, or lack, of ovarian hormones in post-menopausal people.

“Previous research has found that generally, ovarian hormones are protective against some cellular level processes that might accelerate aging,” Shirazi said. “So it’s possible that in pre-menopausal women the effect of hormones are buffering the potential negative effect of pregnancy and reproduction on biological age acceleration. And then perhaps when the hormones are gone, the effects can show themselves.”

Hastings said the study also suggests that additional research can be done to understand the processes that may be involved in the connection between aging and having children, as well as how these processes work over time.

“This transition into menopause, and female reproductive health in general, is very much under researched and not as well understood as it should be at this time,” Hastings said. “So if we can see that there are these changes in aging as a function of reproduction and menopause, and we don’t have a great explanation for why, then that’s a sign we should investigate this more.”

—Jennifer Swartvagher

Featured photo: Camylla Battani on Unsplash

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7 Questions to Ask Yourself before Gathering for the Holidays

By Dr Bethany Cook

Whether you are keeping it small and celebrating with your spouse and kids or planning to attend larger family gatherings, things may be stressful. Here are seven things to think about before committing and attending family events this 2020 holiday season:

1. “Is this good or bad for my mental health?”
Bottom line, if you know a visit to your family will knock you off your “center” the answer is you should not go. We are living in a pandemic for goodness’ sake—some families won’t be able to see one another even if they wanted to due to COVID-19 restrictions. I don’t think going out of your way to visit people you know will significantly upset you is worth the added stress. The fallout from bad family visits can cause a splash big enough to ripple for weeks before and after the event. Some of the ripple’s effects may include:

  • Increased self-harm, anxiety, depressed mood, anger, feelings of isolation, and suicidal ideation.
  • Increased levels of cortisol (stress hormone) which may cause muscle weakness, severe fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, high blood pressure, and headache.
  • Increase in digestive issues such as diarrhea and/or constipation.
  • Disrupted sleep leading up to and after the gathering.

2.  “Am I able to set boundaries?”
Many of us are learning for the first time in our lives how to respectfully set boundaries in our relationships with others. Often it’s easier to set them with co-workers and acquaintances because we don’t usually have a past with them like we do with our family members. That being said, will you be able to ask your family to respect X? Will they be able to? If they don’t, will you even agree to go? What if they say “yes” and then once you arrive they don’t, what now?

3. “Will I be able to enforce my boundaries?”
Setting a boundary is different from enforcing it. Think of it like legislators vs. police. One writes the laws and the other makes sure we obey them. Make sure you and your spouse are on the same page with who will enforce the boundary and how. This can include a tag-team effort. Just make sure going into the event that you are in agreement regarding who does what. Also, what happens if extended family cross the boundary?

4. “What is the cost/benefits to my family?”
Allowing and encouraging our children to have close relationships with extended family members has been the “norm” for generations. Families traditionally have done everything together and wouldn’t have survived without the help of each member. That being said, all types of abuse have also been happening in families since the dawn of time. The abuse can range from severe to mild, physical to emotional. It doesn’t matter the type, it’s not OK on any level.

If you are potentially putting yourself, spouse, and/or your children into a toxic environment you need to look at who benefits and how much. Sometimes parents who abused their children are wonderful grandparents because they’ve changed and grown. While seeing them may trigger you, you know your children benefit from seeing and interacting with grandparents and your triggers are manageable. Mentally preparing yourself for the visit and having clear expectations allows you to remain in control and decreases feelings of anxiety.

5. “Can everyone agree not to bring up politics (or any other “hot topic”)?”
I believe in setting people up for success. One of the ways to do that with holiday gatherings this year is to have everyone agree to not bring up certain topics. No, this doesn’t make the gathering inauthentic. No, this doesn’t mean we are isolating Aunt Edna because she is the “only one who voted that way.” It means we are showing mutual respect for one another and all agreeing ahead of time to not talk about certain things.

6. “Have I brought a sensory distraction?”
When we feel threatened we stop using our frontal lobes (judgment, reason, understanding), and instead our thoughts stem from either our limbic system (the emotional center which results in over-the-top impulsive responses) or our cerebellum (survival mode which is flight/fright/freeze). One way to regain control of your thoughts and/or feelings at the moment is to ground yourself using one of your five senses.

  • Wear a rubber band on your wrist and when you get irritated “snap” yourself out of it.
  • Take some sour candy and/or black licorice with you and “startle” yourself back to the control center by shocking your taste buds.
  • Lastly, if you do have smelling salts (or strong essential oils) bring them with you and take a whiff to calm down when you start feeling bothered.

7. “Have I created an exit plan?”
Feeling in control will be the No. 1 “stress reliever” you’ve got, which means having a solid exit plan ready to implement if things go sideways. Both you and your spouse need to agree on the exit plan, maybe even have a code word and a prearranged excuse (if you don’t want to have to “get into it” at the moment) for when the plan gets implemented. Talk to your kids about it beforehand so they don’t feel sucker-punched. You don’t have to get into the nitty-gritty of “why” with them if you don’t want to just give them enough info so they know what to do. This will help you get out faster and with less confusion.

There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to how you manage the upcoming holiday season. My final words of advice are this: You aren’t responsible for making sure everyone in your extended family has a “happy holiday season.” Your first commitment should be to protect the mental health of yourself, spouse, and children. It’s OK to hit the “pause” button in relationships. This doesn’t mean you’re a failure and it doesn’t mean you don’t care about the other person. It merely means you are strong and self-aware enough to not set yourself (partner and kids) up for failure.

I am a 42-year-old biological mother of two young children in a same-sex relationship, a clinical psychologist with a specialty in neuropsychological assessment, a music therapist, a trainer of therapy dogs and ex-communicated Mormon from Indiana with a wicked sense of humor. 

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Tiny Birth Stories: The One with the Japanese Highway Birth

by Danielle Rizzo

Our new series, Tiny Birth Stories, is aimed at sharing real-life stories from our readers to our readers. In just 100 words or less, we’re bringing you the raw, the funny and the heartwarming stories you’ve lived while bringing babies into the world. Here are five stories that will have you laughing, crying and nodding your head in solidarity. 

Interested in telling your birth story? Click here.

Giving birth on a Japanese Highway by Aiko F. 

When me and my husband were just bf/gf I had my 2nd daughter (his first) outside my husbands barracks in Japan. I was working the day before that coz I wasn’t due for two more weeks. My husband delivered his very first child. We got stationed in Japan again and I had our 3rd inside a fire ambulance on a Japanese highway. I was by myself with a Japanese fire rescue and he kept saying please hold it. I wasn’t able to as it hurt like a mofo and pushed. I was crying apologizing after because I felt so bad. They were luckily both born healthy.

 

No time to go the speed limit! by Beth H. 

My fourth was my fast and furious birth. We lived about 45 minutes from the hospital and I wanted to kill my husband for going the speed limit. I told him to hurry up because I wanted the drugs and he kept reminding me that I wanted to go natural and to not give them to me. I told him shut up and get me the drugs as soon as we got there. So we are standing at l&d waiting for the nurse to finish admitting me so I can go back and there I stand peeing my pants, or so I thought. Once they took me back to triage I was fighting with the nurse and midwife that I didn’t want to lay down since it hurt too bad so with them and my mom pushing me onto the bed is when the midwife took one look and said yep your complete we need to move now. My husband says to this day he wishes he had his camera ready because the look on my face when I realized I wasn’t getting anything for the pain. So they wheeled me into a labor room where I pushed 3 times and there was my son.

 

What happens when you have a high tolerance to medications by Audrea F. 

With 3 weeks until due date, I found myself in L&D with high blood pressure being told I was about to be induced. Over the next three days after failed induction medications, multiple failed epidurals, and 72 hours of contractions, I found out that red heads have an oddly high tolerance to many medicines, including those used in childbirth. I was knocked out for my c-section because local anesthesia wouldn’t work. I wouldn’t get to hold my little man for many hours, and not with a clear head until next morning. I would do it all again in a second.

 

I thought my cramps were poop pains by Shannon W. 

This was my first live birth but second pregnancy. I was 18 and a single mom. I went to my OBGYN at 39 weeks and 4 days to get my membrane stripped. I decided to go back to work after that and started to cramp really bad. I thought I just had to poop so I took a dulcolax and then fell asleep. Woke up with worse cramping so I took another one. The pain wasnt strong enough to make me think I was in labor. So I went back to sleep and woke up in the worst pain imaginable. Made it to the hospital in time to give birth within 20 minutes of being there and it was a s**t show to say the least. At 8:35 a.m my handsome baby was born at 8lbs 1oz. I named him Braxton💙

 

I drove myself and children to the hospital by Amanda Z. 

With my third child, my contractions started around 1:30pm. They were on and off all day. Around 7:30pm, at 4 minutes apart, I packed my hospital bag and rounded up my other children. I drove us and met my husband at the hospital where I was at 3cm. My contractions eventually stopped so I was given Pitocin and told to sit in the waiting room. Once a room opened, I got my epidural. At around 2:30am, I did my practice push. Once the doctor was there, I pushed 2 more times and, to our surprise, out came our baby girl!

Undecided about a Home or Hospital Birth? Answering These 7 Questions Will Help

By Dr. Alan Lindemann

During my OB/GYN residency back in 1975, we were taught that home births with midwives were bad and hospital births with a physician were good. But I have learned over the last 46 years that hospital births are not necessarily safe or good, and that home births are not necessarily risky or bad. What matters is who does the delivery, where will the delivery be done, and how will the delivery be done.

If you are wondering which may be right for you, consider these questions.

1. Would you be more comfortable at home or in the hospital? Did you know that anxiety can interfere with labor? Consider whether you would be more comfortable delivering at home or in a hospital. It is not uncommon for labor to stop for a while when women check into a hospital for a delivery. If labor stops for any length of time, your obstetrician may want to begin induction processes to speed things up because of the 24-hour membrane rupture rule and to appease the payers. I have always tried to manage patient anxiety by promoting confidence and comfort in my patients, giving them the same autonomy and respect they would have at home within the safety of the hospital.

2. Do you want to make decisions or have input about delivery? The big problem with hospital births is the loss of autonomy, which starts with your insurance company telling you which doctor you may see and which hospital you may go to. Furthermore, you will get a predefined number of visits and tests, with insurance companies continually trying to cut costs by decreasing the number of paid-for visits. Many insurance companies do not cover the services of midwives, but midwives generally see their patients more often than most obstetricians, at least with low-risk pregnancies. Joy Huff, who survived a blood infection in 2013, told NPR that “My best advice for getting a professional to listen is to keep searching for one that is willing to listen. … I was not aware of my right to change providers until it was too late.”

3. Are you comfortable with medical interventions? If you want a delivery with the least amount of technological intervention, you will probably need to work with a midwife and have a home birth. Many people feel that birth is a natural process and should be allowed to progress without a lot of technological intervention. In a hospital, even with a “natural” delivery, you will probably have an IV, monitors, a blood pressure machine, and a Foley catheter.

Walking is good for natural labor, but in a hospital hooked up to numerous pieces of electronic equipment, this is difficult. On the other hand, some mothers like the idea of having an obstetrician decide on an induction delivery date. 

Additionally, midwives do not do C-sections but you should ask how many patients a midwife has sent to the hospital for complications which resulted in a C-section. Besides asking your obstetrician what their C-section rate is, you should also find out how high the C-section rate is for the hospital. If you opt for a hospital delivery, you want a hospital and an obstetrician with a low C-section rate.

5. What is the Infant or maternal deaths for your doctor/hospital/midwife? Ask your doctor about their infant and maternal mortality rates. Also ask how many C-hysterectomies they have had to perform to stop a post-partum hemorrhage. Ask your midwife about infant and maternal mortality rates too. Just be aware that when midwives send patients to the hospital because of complications, whatever bad outcomes emerge will be assigned to either the doctor or the midwife, and there is no consistency in how this is done. It sometimes happens that when a midwife sends a patient to a hospital because of complications, any infant or maternal death in the hospital can be attributed to the midwife instead of the hospital obstetrician. These numbers are not always reliable.

6. Are you low risk and live close to a hospital? The issue between a hospital and home birth is really that the hospital is a safer place in case of an obstetrical emergency such as hemorrhage. Dr. Neda Ghaffari specializes in high-risk pregnancies. She will tell you, though, that “It’s very hard to determine which patients are going to have an obstetric emergency.”  Dr. Ghaffari recommends that if a woman with a low-risk pregnancy chooses a home birth that she lives within 15 minutes of a hospital. If she has had a previous C-section, is carrying twins, or has a breech baby, she should opt for a hospital birth. 

7. What is your blood type? Recent studies show that those with the O blood type may have some additional protection against COVID-19, so those with this blood type may be safer making the choice to deliver in a hospital during this pandemic if that is their preference.

From my perspective, we need to combine the concept of the hospital and home birth. We should create specialty birthing hospitals so there is the hospital safety net, with nurses, doctors, and an operating room combined with the autonomy, comfort, voluntariness, and respect that mothers would get with a midwife at a home birth. Ideally, the labor, delivery, recovery, and post-partum should actually be like home, not just give the appearance of a home with pretty drapes and wall coverings. By doing so, we could make the choice of birthing location easier for mothers on both sides of the home vs. hospital conversation.

Dr. Alan Lindemann
Tinybeans Voices Contributor

An obstetrician and maternal mortality expert, “Rural Doc” Alan Lindemann, M.D. teaches women and families how to create the outcomes they want for their own health and pregnancy. In nearly 40 years of practice, he has delivered around 6,000 babies and achieved a maternal mortality rate of zero! Visit LindemannMD.com

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Expert Prenatal Care Right in Your Own Home

by Jamie Aderski
Partner Content

Congratulations–you’re expecting! And one thing every pregnant woman expects? A whole lot of doctors appointments. But heading to the doctor—during current times, or any time—isn’t always a picnic. Which is why UW Medicine provides virtual visits to meet your prenatal care and wellness needs without having to set foot in a doctor’s office. Read on to learn all about it. 

UW Medicine’s TeleOB program was created to reduce the number of in-clinic appointments required to monitor the health and development of your baby. Before your first video-based appointment, your UW Medicine doctor will give you equipment and teach you how to take your own blood pressure and find your baby’s heartbeat using a doppler. All UW Medicine OB/GYNs can provide TeleOB appointments, so rest assured you can still count on your go-to MD throughout your pregnancy journey!

By using your computer, tablet or smartphone and monitoring equipment, you can easily access expert maternity care when you need it and between in-person office visits. You can also expect the same privacy and personal attention with UW Medicine’s secure video conferencing. UW Medicine OB/GYNs help you manage your pregnancy with much less time stressing in the waiting room. Virtual hugs to UW Medical for this one!

As an expecting mom, you’ve got enough on your plate. Now, you don’t have to worry about your safety or all the scheduling switcharoos that come with the abundance of OB/GYN prenatal appointments. Learn more about the UW Medicine TeleOB program.

—Jamie Aderski

All photos courtesy UW Medicine 

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How I Finally Shed My Baby Weight

By Donna Glass

I have struggled to manage a healthy weight all my life. As a kid and into my teen years, I was always a bit chunkier than my peers, something that continued into adulthood. I’ve always been envious of other women with slim figures that seem to take minimal effort to maintain. The only time I can really remember being truly svelte was in college, mostly due to my obsession with dance classes and step aerobics, and lack of time to eat due to my busy schedule.  

Things radically changed in my early 40s when I had a baby. Not only did my son weigh 10-and-a half pounds at birth, but I was also labeled a borderline diabetic during my pregnancy. Even though some of the weight temporarily came off during breastfeeding, it kept creeping up to the point where buttoning up my pants had become a real struggle. I would gasp when I saw my reflection and think, “Is that really me?”

Well into middle age, I knew it was time to take action, and not only for vanity’s sake. My health was in question, as I was diagnosed with high blood pressure for the first time in my life. I also knew from past attempts at dieting that this wasn’t going to be easy. After all, I have a raging sweet tooth and a deep abiding love of carbohydrates, which went along with my tendency to be inconsistent in making good food choices.

I needed professional guidance, and frankly a bit of a kick in the rear. In January, I turned to a medical weight loss clinic for help.

Feeling both excited and nervous to get going, I was greeted with a smile and warm welcome at my meeting. A diet counselor took me into a private room and gave me a packet containing in-depth guides to what I can and cannot eat, all based on the Keto diet.

In a nutshell, the Keto diet consists of foods that are low carb, high fat, and high protein. It sounds ironic that high-fat foods like bacon, cheese, and full-fat cream are part of the plan, but my diet counselor explained high-fat foods function as an appetite suppressant to keep you fuller for a longer period of time. All I heard was that I could eat bacon on this diet. Maybe it’s not so bad after all. 

I quickly figured out that there were some “tricks” to making the Keto diet work for me:

1. Cooking is Key. If you don’t like to cook and rely a lot on take-out or pre-prepared meals, Keto may not be the diet for you. Carbs hide everywhere in our food, so the only way to really ensure that your food is low carb/high protein/high fat as possible is to make it yourself. Fortunately, there are a plethora of Keto recipes online; I’ve discovered that many of them are quite easy and relatively fast to make. One of my favorite is Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken served over zucchini noodles, with a side salad. If you have kids, they will most likely enjoy your Keto dishes if there’s a small number of carbs (like noodles) added to their meals.

2. If You Love Sugar, Let Yourself Have Treats. Even though many Keto diet experts would disagree with my rationale, I knew that I needed to find a way to satisfy my sweet tooth. By making my own baked goods using carb-friendly ingredients such as almond flour and monk fruit sweetener, I could make Keto-friendly treats.

3. Make Yourself Accountable. My plan required me to attend weekly weigh-in and nutrition counseling sessions at their offices. Reporting kept me honest and focused. If you are doing Keto on your own, create your own accountability strategy. It could be weighing yourself at home, or having a diet buddy on the same plan with whom you check in regularly.

4. Engage in Mild to Moderate Exercise. With Keto, you end up eating a smaller number of calories, so doing high impact exercise in addition to dieting is too much for many people. In fact, some experts recommend sticking to low impact exercise, especially for the first few weeks as your body adjusts. I take a daily brisk walk, but going swimming or doing yoga would be appropriate as well.

5. Track Your Food…Or Really, Your Carbs. Eating the right amount of carbs, protein, and fat required on Keto, while tracking calories, has it challenges. I used a daily food tracking app to keep me honest and informed.

While it may sound crazy to be able to eat items like bacon, there is a dose of healthy vegetables thrown into the mix, and foods like traditional bread and crackers are decidedly off the table, but it’s surprising how varied a Keto diet can be if you put a little work and thought into it.

After 30 days, I had lost a total of nearly 11 pounds, and my body fat percentage dropped by nearly 2 percent. With these kinds of results, I am decidedly motivated to keep going until I’m back to my pre-baby weight. I can’t wait to catch myself in a reflection of a glass or a mirror, and think, “Is that really me?” And then happily answer, “Yes, it is!”

 

I had the incredible fortune of becoming a mom later in life, long after I expected I would. I live with a silly and awesome boy, a great hubby and a stubborn adorable dog. Life is sweet, but even better when I get to write about it. 

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11 Ways to De-Stress in 1 Minute (or Less)

by Janine Clements
With the constant stream of news feeds and uncertainty both in and outside the home, it’s pretty easy for parents to feel the brunt of some major stress. Now more than ever, take a minute (literally) to destress, anytime, anywhere. Scroll down for some super quick ways to find your inner zen—in 60 seconds or less.

Stop, Drop & Breathe

Max van den Oetelaar via Unsplash

When you start to get revved up, stress hormones flood your body and you go into fight or flight mode. According to renowned parenting expert and author of Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, Dr. Laura Markham, if you stop what you're doing and take a few deep breaths, it sends your body a message that it's not an emergency and you'll begin to calm down. For maximum effectiveness, she recommends practicing this technique regularly.

Top tip: Each time you inhale, breathe air right into your belly so that it expands.

Stick Your Hand Under the Faucet

Yoann Boyer via Unsplash

Yes, handwashing is uber-important now more than ever, but it's also a great way to soothe away stress. According to Dr. Markham, just as baths are great for calming kids and toddlers, the sound and sensation of running water over your hand can soothe away stress. Try these handwashing song-alternatives to know how long to do it.

Tip: It can also be helpful to splash cold water over your face as this will stimulate the vagus nerve, which will slow your heart rate down.

Hug It Out

Susn Matthiessen via Unsplash

Social distancing aside, if your kids are pushing your buttons and you're about ready to explode, hug your partner or even your dog. According to experts, hugging for at least 15 seconds triggers a release of oxytocin (known as "the love drug") in your brain, which makes you feel calmer, happier and more connected.

Obviously, because of the spread of Coronavirus, this one comes with a caveat. 

Reach for Some Calming Drops

Christin Hume via Unsplash

For fans of alternative medicine, there are plenty of calming drops out there that are designed to combat stress. Probably the most famous of them all is Bach Rescue Remedy, which was created by Dr. Bach to deal with emergencies and crises. Made from spring water infused with flowers and brandy, it is said to remove negative emotions and restore balance to the mind and body. The bottle is small so you can pop it in your handbag. When you next arrive late for a school concert and have to stand at the back of the auditorium, simply put a few drops under your tongue to restore your inner calm.

Scream into a Pillow

Teri via Unsplash

There are times when moms feel like screaming and that's okay. But, instead of screaming at someone, which will only make you, them and everyone else feel bad, head to the bedroom, plant your face on the closest pillow and scream, shout or curse as loud as you can. This is a great way of relieving tension and no one will hear you. This has become such a big thing that you can even buy scream pillows on Etsy.

Press on Your Pressure Points

Angelo Esslinger via Pixbay

Acupressure is a form of traditional Chinese medicine designed to promote healing and relaxation. Our bodies are covered in pressure points and some of them are associated with stress relief. When these pressure points are stimulated, it triggers the brain to release endorphins, increases blood circulation and relieves muscle tension. This is something you can easily do by yourself. There is one between your eyebrows and another on the fleshy area between your thumb and forefinger. All you need to do is press firmly or massage the area for several seconds to reduce stress. This is a good one when you're stuck in traffic and seething or sitting at your desk.

Come Up with a Mantra

Mark Adriane via Unsplash

When stress levels are high, many people swear by repeating mantras (or affirmation phrases) to rediscover their inner calm. While this method might sound a bit whacky, Dr. Markham suggests writing down a bunch of phrases on post-it notes and sticking them around the house to help you decide which one you are most comfortable with. Examples of stress-relieving mantras include "I can handle this", "It's not an emergency," or "He/she is acting like a child because he/she is a child."  

Dance Like No One's Watching

Nadim Merrikh via Unsplash

Both listening to music and dancing are great ways to de-stress. Another top tip from Dr. Markham is to stop whatever is making you stressed, put on your favorite tunes and dance or jump around. Getting the kids to join in too is even better as this is also a great way for them to shake off any angst they have accumulated throughout the day.

Step Outside

Radu Florin via Unsplash

Perhaps your kids are fighting yet again and your blood pressure is rising or you've got so much to do and don't know where to start. An easy solution to feeling less stressed and overwhelmed is to go outside. Close the door behind you, breathe in some fresh air, look up at the sky and all around. If there are any flowers, then smell them and listen for sounds such as birds tweeting. The simple act of getting outdoors and focusing on your senses will quickly distract your mind and help you to feel more relaxed and re-energized. 

Eat Chocolate

Alexander Stein via Pixabay

Despite what you might think, eating chocolate is not all bad. When your stress levels are at the max, eating a piece of dark chocolate can help. According to two recent studies at Loma Linda University, eating dark chocolate with a minimum of 70% cacao can reduce stress as well as improve memory, immunity and mood. The only challenge is to not eat the whole bar!

Strike a Pose

StockSnap via Pixabay

By this we mean a yoga pose. Yoga is known to do wonders for calming the mind and body. It helps you slow down, clear your mind and focus on one thing, so you soon feel more relaxed. A really easy but effective pose that's great for reducing stress and anxiety is Child's Pose, also known at Balasana. This video on Yoga Journal shows you how to do it properly.

—Janine Clements

 

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9 Ways to Entertain Your Child During the Coronavirus

By Catherine Meisner

Parents around the globe are facing unprecedented challenges juggling home and work since the schools have closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are 9 ways to pass the time and get some work done with your kids at home:

1. Online Kids Parties. Many children’s party entertainers are launching online classes and children’s shows for families to enjoy. You can find many options for online parties on social media. Check out the Captain Fantastic parties in the UK, where they are hosting free 24-hour kids parties, allowing families from all around the world to tune in. They include a whole range of activities, like magic, nursery rhymes, superheroes, yoga, puppetry and lots more. Their first few sessions were enjoyed by thousands around the world.

2. Baking. Baking is an activity that the whole family can enjoy and has lots of psychological benefits like promoting family bonding, learning and reducing stress. “Picking up a few recipes and skills that you can use will be helpful for the rest of the lockdown and when life goes back to normal,” says Hilary O’Donovan, a mom blogger. “You don’t need to just make sugary treats. Try healthier options as well, like bread, banana muffins or courgette cake.”

3. Read. It’s time to dust off all those books that you have sitting on the shelf. You’re going to be stuck inside the house for weeks, so what better way to spend the time than reading? Reading is proven to reduce stress and will improve your child’s vocabulary and memory while building a stronger bond between you.

4. Play Board Games. Board games can be great fun but also have a huge range of benefits for the whole family. Playing together gives the family a chance to bond and laugh together. Studies have also shown that board games help you to bond, lower blood pressure, reduce stress and even boost your immunity. You could even try a jigsaw puzzle. Not everyone has the patience for them, but if you can persuade the whole family to work together, it can be a great way to spend the hours.

5. Try the LEGO Challenge. To add a bit of structure to play, and keep the kids entertained, try the thirty-day LEGO challenge that has been going around the internet. This 30-day plan lists daily challenges that you can give the children, from “design a space rocket” to “build a park”. By thinking about LEGO in a new way, children will be encouraged to think creatively. Hopefully they will become so engrossed that you may get a bit of peace and quiet too!

6. Enjoy Yoga. “If you’ve spent more time on the sofa than your feet, you might want to try some yoga to stretch those limbs,” says Rose May, a parenting writer. “There are loads of health benefits—improved mobility, greater strength and more balanced breathing, which all helps reduce stress.” Lots of yoga teachers are live streaming free sessions for the whole family to enjoy, and kids will especially enjoy Cosmic Yoga on YouTube that has themed yoga sessions based on Minecraft, Frozen, Pokemon and much more.

7. Visit a National Park. Google has created a program called The Hidden Worlds of National Parks. This means that families across the globe can stay entertained. The program covers five of the national parts across America and includes footage of landscapes and animals, which the children will love spotting.

8. Go to the Zoo. The San Diego Zoo is helping children to “visit” virtually through their network of animal cameras set up across the zoo. Popular highlights include the koala, polar bear and tiger cameras. The zoo’s website also has lots of activities, crafts and coloring pages for the children to download and do for free, which makes it an activity that can fill the whole day.

9. Create a Mini Tornado. The Scouts have created a whole host of over 100 indoor activities online that can help keep children occupied during lockdown. One of the most popular has been the “storm in a teacup” exercise, which helps teach children how tornadoes are made using washing up liquid, water, and sand.

Catherine Meisner writes articles for both Luckyassignments.com and Gumessays.com. She shows an interest in social media marketing and loves writing about topics related to health, food, and beauty.

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