Are you feeling stressed? Signs include craving food, irritability and even a racing heart. But reducing stress is easier than you think once you are intentional. Try these three easy tips:<\/p>\n
1) Phone a friend<\/strong>. It not only works on game shows but in real life. Simply talking to a friend can release oxytocin, known as the connection hormone. A blast of the hormone is thought to help with coping by taking stress and converting it to social bonding. This can lower cortisol levels associated with stress.<\/p>\n 2) Smell lavender.<\/strong> Japanese researchers (2008) found that the smell of lavender reduced stress in a study that looked at people solving difficult math problems. So purchase a vile of lavender oil or lotion and take a whiff whenever you feel overwhelmed.<\/p>\n 3) Drink black tea.<\/strong> OK not my favorite but scientists at the University of London found lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in people who drank black tea versus other hot beverages after a stressful event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are you feeling stressed? Signs include craving food, irritability and even a racing heart. But reducing stress is easier than you think once you are intentional. Try these three easy tips: 1) Phone a friend. It not only works on game shows but in real life. Simply talking to a friend can release oxytocin, known…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[917,918],"tags":[524,83,525,523,13,17],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friend-relationships","category-relationship-to-food","tag-black-tea","tag-health-2","tag-health-benefits","tag-lavender","tag-mental-health","tag-stress-2"],"yoast_head":"\n