Transitions Marriage & Family Therapy and Individual Counseling: Harrisonburg, Virginia

With the current advances of neuroscience we are coming to a greater understanding of the connection between the health of the mind and the body. Mental tension and physical tension go together. Most of us have some awareness of this connection when after a stressful day we find that we have a headache or our shoulders are tight or our stomach hurts. Mental and emotional stress affects our bodies, each of us in our own way. What we are often less aware of is that relaxing the body can help reduce mental and emotional stress. You have probably experienced this too. Have you ever noticed how much better you feel after eating a nice meal, soaking in the tub, exercising, or cuddling with your favorite animal or person? Such activities release chemicals in the brain which help relax the body as well as promote mental well-being.

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One of our goals with the Transitions blog is to provide useful resources to our readers. These can be books, articles, psychological research, websites, etc., as well as, of course, our own thoughts about what can be helpful to those seeking to learn, grow and live well. We intend for all of these things to be useful and helpful (obviously, or why would we post them?), but part of utilizing any resource well is understanding what it can and cannot accomplish for you.

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As a rather severe winter fades and spring approaches it seems like a good time to write about an interesting study I came across a while back about the health benefits of living near green spaces. The perceived connection between closeness to nature and one’s health is not new, and is one which is not hard to accept on just an intuitive level. Particularly at this time of year after having had so much snow it can feel good to just see the green grass again!

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I have always been fascinated by icicles–they’re just so fantastical and otherworldly! While the snow has been pretty to watch, the frequency and quantity has meant for a lot of shoveling and rescheduling. One perk for me with all of the snow has been the increasingly enormous icicles at our office. So for a change of pace here on the Transitions blog I thought I’d write a fun post just to share a few pictures of them.

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Kristin and I have a habit of taking time out in the new year (usually in January, after life gets back to normal) to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to the new year. In that vein I thought I’d share a list of some of the blog posts that proved to be popular with our readers in 2009.

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For many people the holidays are “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” The wrapping up of the year with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve is a special season in multiple ways. In addition to the historical and religious aspects of the holidays, many people also enjoy the breaking from routine, celebrating and coming together with friends and family. Though I am very much a fan of all of these things, I think it is also worthwhile to acknowledge some of the ways in which the holidays and/or post-holidays can be stressful.

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I recently came across an article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that makes for an interesting follow-up to my post last month about the importance and difficulty of Sabbath rest. The article looks at a study published this October in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) that found that backing away from the intense, always working, 24/7 way of life yields measurable improvements in not just work quality and output but also in employee satisfaction.

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