Editor’s Note: The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine (BHI) at Massachusetts General Hospital is a worldwide leader in the management and treatment of medical conditions related to stress and in developing wellness programs to prevent stress. As you know, stress management is a key part of leading a healthy lifestyle, along with engaging in regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep and avoiding alcohol and tobacco. Therefore, we have invited the BHI to contribute to our blog periodically.

There is a wealth of information on the topic of stress management on the internet and on various blogs, and with good reason! It is estimated that stress contributes to 60-90 percent of visits to a healthcare provider. However, very few of these resources address the problem of stress in children and adolescents. Many studies show that teen stress is increasing. According to a 2009 survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, teens’ stress levels had increased significantly over the past year, however parents underestimated their stress levels. Nearly half of teens ages 13-17 who participated said that they worried more than they had in the previous year, but merely 26 percent of parents realized their teen’s stress had increased [1].

Some teens often feel overwhelmed with stress associated with school, family or their social lives; they could be preparing for a test, a big paper, a school party, an athletic event or something going on in the family.

This is problematic because stress during childhood affects teens’ health and well-being as well as their ability to learn. When young people are stressed, they cannot learn, and this negatively affects academic performance. Furthermore, poorly managed stress can lead to depression, anxiety, withdrawal and aggression as well as unhealthy coping strategies such as drug and/or alcohol use [2].

One simple way for parents to help their children and teenagers to manage stress is to teach them how to elicit the relaxation response. The relaxation response, a term coined by Dr. Herbert Benson, the Director Emeritus of BHI, is a physical state that is the direct opposite of the stress response. It is a state of deep rest where the mind is quiet, breathing is slowed, metabolism decreases and muscles relax.

There are two basic components involved in eliciting the relaxation response: Learn more »

Determined to lose a layer of winter fat before the hot weather hits?  Make sure you include strength training to get the best results… Read More »

This entry strays from my past informational posts, but something I saw on TV a couple of months ago really bothered me I need to speak out.  I promise it will be a minor rant…thanks for indulging me!

This past February, the TV program Chronicle ran a show that focused, in part, on a NY Times article entitled, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body,” a piece that created a tempest of negative reaction from many yoga teachers and practitioners alike.  At one point in the segment, the featured instructor talked about yoga related injuries and uttered the following, “…most students will get injured.”  At first, I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly, so I rewound my trusty DVR and watched it again.  Much to my disbelief, I had heard it right the first time.  To be fair, she did say that not everyone should do every pose in a yoga class, but I was still blown away by the matter-of-fact nature of her original statement.

The essential purpose of exercise is to improve physical condition and it’s commonly used to prevent injury!  As with anything in life, there is risk of injury but responsible exercise instructors strive to minimize it rather than accept it as an inevitable, albeit unfortunate, circumstance.

Basically, I want to say that you SHOULD NOT expect to sustain an injury when exercising.  Follow a responsible exercise program and you SHOULD expect to get stronger, more flexible and into better cardiovascular condition.  A great way to make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep injury at bay is to consult with a qualified trainer. Have a movement assessment done to tease out what your individual risk factors are and how to fix them so you stay injury free, healthy and fit.