America’s Teens Outscore Adults On Stress

By Alice Park Feb. 11, 2014

The source is age-old problems like what they should do after high school

Since 2007, the American Psychological Association (APA) has conducted a survey of different aspects of stress in America. This year’s analysis focused on teens, and on a 10-point scale, adolescents ranked their stress at 5.8, compared with a score of 5.1 reported by adults.

Even more disturbing, says Norman Anderson, CEO and executive vice president of the APA, is the fact that most teens knew their stress levels weren’t healthy – they said 3.9 was probably more desirable – but did little about it. In fact, the survey revealed that 42% of teens aren’t doing enough to manage their stress.

That’s concerning, since unaddressed stress can lead to both short-term mental-health issues such as depression, as well as lay the seeds for chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure in adulthood.

What’s causing teens to feel so anxious? Eighty three percent cited school as a source of stress, including concerns about their future after high school and worries about college. For some, family financial issues also caused anxiety, which wasn’t surprising since previous studies found that parental stress can trickle down to children, even at very young ages.

“This population is underserved, and not taken seriously sometimes, ” said Katherine Nordal, of the APA. “We wanted to shine light on some of the problems we know teens are having and whether they are successful at coping with them or not.”

Clearly, said Anderson, “We have work to do to manage stress overall. Stress levels among Americans continue to be high, but coping mechanisms remain ineffective.” Teens reported doing everything that they probably shouldn’t in order to relieve stress – they aren’t getting enough sleep, which can add to anxious feelings, and they’s less physically active. Exercise is among the best ways to reduce stress, but the survey found that teens were beginning to rely on sedentary activities, such as surfing the internet, engaging in social media or watching videos, to relieve stress.

Taken from: https://time.com/6477/americas-teens-outscore-adults-on-stress/

6 Breathing Exercises to Relax in 10 Minutes or Less

By Jordan Shakeshaft Oct. 08, 2012

Overworked, underslept and feeling the pressure? There are plenty of ways to find calm, without investing in a four-hand spa massage. All you need is a pair of lungs, your breath and 10 minutes or less.

Don’t wait until fight or flight kicks in before minding your breath. Controlled breathing not only keeps the mind and body functioning at their best, it can also lower blood pressure, promote feelings of calm and relaxation and help us de-stress.

Consider these six breathing techniques to help keep calm and carry on.

1. Sama Vritti or “Equal Breathing”. How it’s done: Balance can do a body good, beginning with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of four, then exhale for a count of four — all through the nose, which adds a natural resistance to the breath. Got the basic pranayama down? More advanced yogis can aim for six to eight counts per breath with the same goal in mind: calm the nervous system, increase focus and reduce stress, Pacheco says.

When it works best: Anytime, anyplace — but this is a technique that’s effective before bed. “Similar to counting sheep, ” Pacheco says, “if you’re having trouble falling asleep, this breath can help take your mind off the racing thoughts, or whatever might be distracting you from sleep.” Level of difficulty: Beginner

2. Abdominal Breathing Technique. How it’s done: With one hand on the chest and the other on the belly, take a deep breath in through the nose, ensuring the diaphragm inflates with enough air to create a stretch in the lungs. The goal: Six to 10 deep, slow breaths per minute for 10 minutes each day to experience immediate reductions to heart rate and blood pressure, McConnell says. Keep at it for six weeks, and those benefits might stick around even longer.

When it works best: Before an exam, or any stressful event. But keep in mind, “Those who operate in a stressed state all the time might be a little shocked how hard it is to control the breath, ” Pacheco says. To help train the breath, consider biofeedback tools such as McConnell’s Breathe Strong app, which can help users pace their breathing wherever they are. Level of difficulty: Beginner

3. Nadi Shodhana or “Alternate Nostril Breathing”. How it’s done: A yogi’s best friend, this breath is said to bring calm and balance, and unite the right and left sides of the brain. Starting in a comfortable meditative pose, hold the right thumb over the right nostril and inhale deeply through the left nostril. At the peak of inhalation, close off the left nostril with the ring finger, then exhale through the right nostril. Continue the pattern, inhaling through the right nostril, closing it off with the right thumb and exhaling through the left nostril.

When it works best: Crunch time, or whenever it’s time to focus or energize. Just don’t try this one before bed: Nadi shodhana is said to “clear the channels” and make people feel more awake. “It’s almost like a cup of coffee, ” Pacheco says. Level of difficulty: Intermediate

4. Kapalabhati or “Skull Shining Breath”

How it’s done: Ready to brighten up your day from the inside out? This one begins with a long, slow inhale, followed by a quick, powerful exhale generated from the lower belly. Once comfortable with the contraction, up the pace to one inhale-exhale (through the nose) every two seconds, for a total of 10 breaths.

When it works best: When it’s time to wake up, warm up or start looking on the brighter side of things. “It’s pretty abdominal-intensive, ” Pacheco says, “but it will warm up the body, shake off stale energy and wake up the brain.” If alternate nostril breathing is like coffee, consider this a shot of espresso, she says. Level of difficulty: Advanced

5. Progressive Relaxation. How it’s done: To nix tension from head to toe, close the eyes and focus on tensing and relaxing each muscle group for two to three seconds each. Start with the feet and toes, then move up to the knees, thighs, rear, chest, arms, hands, neck, jaw and eyes — all while maintaining deep, slow breaths. Having trouble staying on track? Anxiety and panic specialist Dr. Patricia Farrell suggests we breathe in through the nose, hold for a count of five while the muscles tense, then breathe out through the mouth on release.

When it works best: At home, at a desk or even on the road. One word of caution: Dizziness is never the goal. If holding the breath ever feels uncomfortable, tone it down to just a few seconds at most. Level of difficulty: Beginner

6. Guided Visualization. How it’s done: Head straight for that “happy place, ” no questions asked. With a coach, therapist or helpful recording as your guide, breathe deeply while focusing on pleasant, positive images to replace any negative thoughts. Psychologist Dr. Ellen Langer explains that while it’s just one means of achieving mindfulness, “Guided visualization helps puts you in the place you want to be, rather than letting your mind go to the internal dialogue that is stressful.”

When it works best: Pretty much anyplace you can safely close your eyes and let go (e.g. not at the wheel of a car). Level of difficulty: Intermediate

While stress, frustration, and other daily setbacks will always be there, the good news is, so will our breath.

Taken from: https://healthland.time.com/2012/10/08/6-breathing-exercises-to-relax-in-10-minutes-or-less/? iid=hl-article-mostpop1

News Flash… Harvard Students Cheat, Too

Educators shouldn't be surprised. They offer courses that are conducive to cheating. By James M. Lang Sept. 11, 2013

Last week, Harvard University’s campus newspaper published a summary of a survey administered to the incoming first-year class, the results of which included shocking statistics about the freshman at America’s most prestigious institution of higher education. “Ten percent of respondents, ” the Harvard Crimson reported, “admitted to having cheated on an exam, and 17 percent said they had cheated on a paper or a take-home assignment. An even greater percentage— 42 % —admitted to cheating on a homework assignment or problem set.”

This comes a year after half of the 250-person class in government at Harvard was accused of cheating on the take-home final. That scandal was almost immediately followed by one in which the administration, while scrounging for evidence on who had leaked the story to the press, secretly searched the e-mail accounts of more than a dozen resident deans.

Last week’s survey results will provoke the predictable bouts of hand-wringing among worried academics, and speculation in the media about the rise of cheating among today’s college students. If the pundits stay true to form, they will argue that those Harvard students are a) inspired by today’s technologies to new heights of academic dishonesty, or b) imitating the dishonest behaviors of their parents and role models, or c) reflecting the larger decline or morals and values in America today. Or all three.

None of these depressing conclusions, however, are consistent with the historical record of cheating in higher education. The first major survey on cheating rates at America’s colleges and universities was conducted in 1963 by William J. Bowers, a doctoral student at Columbia University, who asked more than 5, 000 students at institutions around the country whether they had engaged in any of thirteen specifically-defined cheating behaviors. 75% of them admitted to cheating at least one time in their college careers.

Subsequent cheating researchers have found little movement in these numbers over time. In fact, an extensive series of surveys conducted by Donald L. McCabe of Rutgers University and a team of researchers from 2002-2010, and reported in his book Cheating in College, found one-time cheating rates among America’s college students hovering between 60-70% than the numbers Bowers found in 1963.

In other words, cheating levels are fairly high, but they have always been so. The better question to ask is why. Duke University researcher Dan Ariely and his colleagues have conducted dozens of experiments designed to see what makes people willing to engage in acts of cheating and dishonesty in their everyday lives. Their findings have been remarkably consistent: most people, under the right circumstances, are willing to engage in small acts of dishonesty. This seems to be a part of our human nature. With enough incentives in front of us, most of will cheat at least a little bit. Fortunately, Ariely’s formulation has a happy corollary: Since most people are willing to cheat under the right circumstances, our best approach to reducing cheating will be to change those circumstances.

If we open our minds to this possibility, we will have to reconsider the nature of the learning environments we are presenting to our students at both the high school and college level. When we do so, we might find that a significant portion of college and university courses feature precisely the types of circumstances that induce cheating. For example, when courses rely on infrequent, high-stakes assessment exams—two midterms and a final exam—they put intense pressure on a small number of opportunities for students to earn their grades, and hence ratchet up the incentive to cheat.

But, students learn less from courses with such infrequent, high-stakes assessments. In order to achieve deep and meaningful learning, our students need frequent practice in recalling and working with concepts and information, as Annie Murphy Paul has rightly argued. Two midterms and a final do not provide them with that required practice. Change those circumstances, and we will reduce cheating and induce learning.

In the wake of the new Harvard survey, we can choose to wring our hands, or condemn our students for their bankrupt values, or lament the presence of technologies in our classroom. But we would be much wiser to see academic dishonesty, and the research on what causes it, as offering us lessons in how to build better learning environments for our students.