Learning goals
This workshop will teach you
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To control your energy level through food
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To see the use of physical exercises for a healthy body and a healthy mind
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Why keeping a diary restores your brain energy
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To assess the effect of our living environment – nature, partner, family – on us
Content
Lifestyle
Energy throughout
the year
Life environment
Lifestyle
Lifestyle is a way of life established by a society, culture, group or individual. This includes patterns of behavior, interaction, consumption, work, activity and interests that describe how a person spends their time. Includes also day to day behaviors and functions of individuals in job, activities, fun and diet. According to WHO, 60% of related factors to individual health and quality of life are correlated to lifestyle.
Find in our gallery the 20 common elements of lifestyle.
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Exercise - The Wheel of Life
Nutrition
The Food Pyramid
You are what you eat. What you eat affects your brain and body, so you want foods that are rich in antioxidants, good fats, vitamins, and minerals. Eating well is of huge importance to your overall health.
The Food Pyramid is a visual representation of how different foods and drinks contribute towards a healthy balanced diet. It allows individuals the flexibility to choose foods and drinks from each shelf depending on their food preferences.
The Food Pyramid shows how much of what you eat overall should come from each shelf to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. The shape of the Pyramid shows the types of foods and drinks people need to eat most for healthy eating. It is divided into six shelves and each provides you with the range of nutrients and energy needed for good health. Healthy eating is all about choosing the right amounts from each shelf. Many of the foods you eat, such as pizzas, casseroles, pasta dishes and sandwiches, are a combination of the food shelves. For these sorts of foods, you just need to work out the main ingredients and think about how these fit with shelves on the Food Pyramid. Following the Food Pyramid doesn’t mean that you need to achieve this balance with every meal, but aim to get the balance right over the day and over the week. Small changes can make a big difference.
Download the Food Pyramid
The brain foods
These 10 foods will protect your brain and give you the energy and vitality you need to overcome mental fog and fatigue.
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Avocado.
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Helps keep healthy blood flow
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Good source of monounsaturated fats
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Blueberries (or ‘brainberries!).
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Protects your brain from oxidative stress
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Reduces the effect of brain-aging conditions
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Rats who ate blueberries had improved overall learning capacity and motor skills and were mentally younger
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Broccoli.
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Remarkable source of fiber
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Rich in vitamin K, which is known to enhance cognitive function and improve brainpower
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Coconut Oil.
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Medium chain fatty acid, which ignites your body’s fat-burning furnaces to help create ketones
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Eggs.
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Full of memory-improving choline, Omega-3s, and vitamin E
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Green Leafy Vegetables.
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Spinach, kale, collard greens
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Good sources of vitamin E and folate
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Salmon.
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Wild deepwater fish rich in Omega-3s and DHA
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Sardines are also good.
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Turmeric.
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Reduces inflammation and helps boost antioxidant levels
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Keeps your immune system healthy
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Improves brain’s oxygen intake to you alert and able to process information
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Recipe: Turmeric tea: combine turmeric, pepper (to absorb the turmeric better), honey, coconut oil, and hot water.
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Walnuts.
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High levels of antioxidants and zinc
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Rich in vitamin E, which protects your neurons
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Wards off brain-aging conditions
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Lots of magnesium, which improves your mood and thus your brain
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Dark Chocolate.
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Improves your focus, concentration, and mood
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Stimulates endorphins
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Generally, the darker the chocolate, the purer and better for your brain
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BONUS 11. Water.
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Your brain and body are about 75% water
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Several studies show that well-hydrated people score better on brainpower tests
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Recipe: Blend water, green leafy vegetables, blueberries, avocado, and coconut oil for an easy brain smoothie!
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Want to remember all 10? Enjoy the short video!
Exercise - Food Diary
A food diary is a daily log of what you eat and drink each day. The diary helps you and your doctor understand your eating habits. It can help you realize what you consume. Once you know this, you can make changes to your diet to improve your weight. Keep it for a week.
Fitness
Science behind. Why is it important for the body and for the brain?
What is exercise? John R. Little in his book “Body by Science” gives the following definition: “A specific activity that stimulates a positive physiological adaptation that serves to enhance fitness and health and does not undermine the latter in the process of enhancing the former.”
Exercise gives you energy. It’s that simple.
Research shows that physical activity can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Inactivity is described as a "silent killer". Evidence is emerging that sedentary behaviour, such as sitting or lying down for long periods, is bad for your health. Common examples of sedentary behaviour include watching TV, using a computer, using the car for short journeys and sitting down to read, talk or listen to music. This type of behaviour is thought to increase your risk of developing many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, as well as weight gain and obesity.
Given the overwhelming evidence, it seems obvious that we should all be physically active. It's essential if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life into old age.
People who do regular physical activity have:
• up to a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
• up to a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• up to a 50% lower risk of colon cancer
• up to a 20% lower risk of breast cancer
• a 30% lower risk of early death
• up to an 83% lower risk of osteoarthritis
• up to a 68% lower risk of hip fracture
• a 30% lower risk of falls (among older adults)
• up to a 30% lower risk of depression
• up to a 30% lower risk of dementia
What different types of activities help for
For overall health, well-being, and energy, you should incorporate all types of exercise into your routine.
If it’s been a while since you’ve exercised, then begin by walking. Aim for 30 minutes a day and break it up into three 10-minute walks if that makes it easier. You’ll notice the increase in energy in no time. As you get stronger and more energized, you may want to consider interval training or any other workouts you like.
What counts?
To stay healthy, you should try to be active every day and aim to achieve at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week through a variety of activities.
For most people, the easiest way to get moving is to make activity part of everyday life, like walking or cycling instead of using the car to get around. However, the more you do, the better.
Crucially, you can hit your weekly activity target but still be at risk of deteriorating health if you spend the rest of the time sitting or lying down. Find out how to build physical activity and exercise into your day in the video.
Exercise affects your BRAIN
You may know already, that exercise is good for you, but do you know how it affects the brain? People exercise for different reasons, but only a few people exercise with the intent to improve their brain functioning.
Exercise improves cognitive functioning, mental health, and memory; it also hinders the development of certain neurological conditions.
Any associated function of the brain you can think of, exercise can either improve, optimize specific functions, or prevent undesirable health conditions.
All of these benefits are connected to neurogenesis (the generation and creation of new neurons) and neuroplasticity (synaptic plasticity, or alterations to the strength of already existing synapses).
Exercising immediately increases the level of dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline neurotransmitters. The transposition of the three together results in hyperstimulation of the mind, which results in an increased focus of attention and reaction time, for at least two hours.
Exercise has also been shown to promote healthy brain volume over time, preserving and even increasing its size when it would typically decline. One of the chemicals responsible is brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which becomes increased during vigorous exercise. BDNF has been referred to as the brain’s Miracle-Gro protein by scientists, and for good reason; it helps keep the brain youthful by encouraging the growth of new brain cells in a process called neurogenesis.
BDNF is powerful. Raising BDNF with exercise is a potential weapon in the fight to treat or prevent conditions like Alzheimer and even cognitive aging itself.
Our brain health should be one of our top priorities if we strive for wholesome and happy lives. What better way to show your brain some love than to feed it oxygen via exercise.
The Role of Nutrition
If you have decided to start exercising because you want to be healthier, that’s great. But you are more likely to achieve long-term results if you combine activity with a balanced diet.
What you eat also has neurological impacts on your brain. Specific diets, combined with exercise, increased BDNF signaling.
Omega-3 fats and particularly DHA directly support the brain by increasing its supply of BDNF. BDNF not only promotes the creation of new neurons in the memory center of the brain but also acts like a bodyguard to your existing brain cells, helping to ensure their survival.
While exercise is one of the best overall ways to boost this powerfully protective growth hormone, consuming omega-3 fats, and particularly DHA, is among the best dietary means that we know of.
Learn how to love exercise
While some of the healthiest cultures do not have any formal exercise as we know it, they all live very active lifestyles from the time that they are children until they are in their 80s and 90s.
Unfortunately, average person’s lifestyle nowadays simply isn't that active.
Though hitting the gym might not sound like a good time to you, there are people out there, and lots of them, who actually love exercise. They love to run, lift weights, and swim. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to exercise if you were one of them? Find out how to love exercises in 9 steps in the video.
Reflection
Cognitive restructuring
Definition
Cognitive Restructuring is a core technique in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the most well-studied and effective approach to treating common mental health issues like anxiety and depression. And while it’s often used to treat clinical disorders like anxiety and depression, Cognitive Restructuring can be just as useful to anyone who struggles with overly-negative thinking patterns and self-talk.
Cognitive Restructuring is based on the principle of cognitive mediation which says that how we feel emotionally is not the result of what happens to us, but instead, it’s the result of how we think about what happens to us. This means that we can change the way we feel by changing the way we think about what happens to us.
How it works?
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It helps us get organized mentally. Just like making a to-do list helps us feel more organized and less overwhelmed when we’re working on a big project, Cognitive Restructuring helps us feel better by getting our mental space better organized.
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It forces us to slow down. Every negative thought leads to a corresponding “dose” of negative emotion. If you can slow down your thinking and have fewer thoughts, you’ll end up with less emotion.
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It helps us be more aware. Thoughts and the emotional reactions they produce can happen quite automatically. Cognitive Restructuring helps us notice and become more aware of our mental habits, which is an essential step in eventually modifying them.
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It gives us a sense of agency and control. By noticing our default thinking patterns as just that, a default, and then generating new alternative thoughts, we change negative thoughts from something uncontrollable that happens to us to things we actually have a good amount of control over.
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It helps us think more clearly and rationally. By encouraging us to question and examine our initial line of thinking, Cognitive Restructuring helps us to see errors or mistakes in the way we’re thinking. As we’ll see in a later section, identifying Cognitive Distortions is a key ingredient in managing our negative thinking patterns and moods better.
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It helps us reflect instead of reacting. When we’re upset, it’s natural to just react—worry more, crack open another beer, distract ourselves with YouTube, etc. Aside from the negative effects that go along with some of our favorite reactions to being upset (“empty” calories, wasted time, etc.), by always reacting without reflecting, we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to better understand our minds and learn how they work. Which of course is important if we want them to run more smoothly.
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It breaks bad mental habits. We can get into mental habits (like worry, for example) just as easily as we can get into physical habits like twirling our hair or biting our lip. The key to breaking those habits is to notice when we start doing them and substitute a different behavior. Cognitive Restructuring does just that: it forces us to notice bad mental habits and replace them with better ones.
10 Practical benefits
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Manage Worry and Anxiety Better
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Break Out of Rumination and Depression Spirals
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More Effective Stress Relief
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Avoid Procrastination and Be More Productive
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Improve Communication and Relationships
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Increased Optimism and Outlook
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Help with Addiction and Sobriety Issues
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Build Assertiveness and Self-Confidence
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Cultivate Empathy and Self-Compassion
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Gain Increased Self-Awareness and Personal Insight
6 Steps - How to Do Cognitive Restructuring
1. Hit the pause button
2. Identify the trigger: who, what, when, where
3. Notice your automatic thoughts
4. Identify your emotional reaction and note how intense it is
5. Generate alternative thoughts
6. Re-rate the intensity of your emotional response
Read more in our 6 Steps Leaflet
Exercise. Thought record
Mindfulness and Mindfulness Exercises
Mindfulness is defined as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn, 2003 p. 145). In other words, mindfulness involves directing attention to the experience in the present moment and a non-evaluative observation of that experience. Research has consistently shown that mindfulness is an important predictor of well-being. For instance, the trait of mindfulness has been associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, more positive affect, less negative affect, greater life satisfaction, and sense of autonomy and competence. Higher levels of mindfulness have also been found to be associated with various positive psychological outcomes, such as lower levels of neuroticism, depression, and anxiety as well as higher levels of self-esteem, vitality, and authenticity.
Mindfulness is a natural human capacity that untrained laypersons can experience. Natural variations in mindfulness are likely due to variations in genetic predisposition and environmental influences. However, mindfulness can also be trained. Research has revealed that meditation practice enhances mindfulness and thereby promotes psychological health in clinical and non-clinical samples. The goal of mindfulness interventions is to teach participants to become aware of body sensations, thoughts, and emotions and to relate to them with an open, non-judgmental attitude. Such an open state of mind can be cultivated by repeated practice. It is important to note that mindfulness is related to but not equal to meditation. Although mindfulness is often predominantly associated with meditation, the range of practical mindfulness exercises vastly extends beyond formal meditational practice. In other words, “sitting on a cushion” is merely one way of cultivating “an openhearted, moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness”. Integrating mindfulness into daily life routines and working habits is an important consideration, especially when under time pressure, deadlines, and tight schedules.
Exercise. The Wheel of Awareness
Recreation
The recreation is the time when someone is not working or occupied. It is the period when you use your free time for enjoyment. The quality isn’t measured by the longevity, but by the meaning you give to it.
There are many benefits of the recreation:
o Reduces stress
o Better mood
o Improves physical and mental health
o Increases productivity
o Promotes self-knowledge ect.
Read our Leaflet: Benefits of Recreation with scientific evidence
Recreational activities are experiences or organized activities that you actively participate in with others, to have fun and enjoy life during your free time. This includes experiences that require physical activity and interactions and playing with other people. They are not things that you do all by yourself (although you can attempt to do some by yourself but you will miss the fun of doing it with others). Some of the different types of recreational activities include:
Physical Activities: E.g. Sports and games like volleyball, tennis, etc.
Social Activities: This includes things like parties, picnics, carnivals etc.
Outdoor Activities: This involves activities like camping, backpacking etc.
Arts and Crafts: Examples includes activities like painting, woodwork, sculpting etc.
Musical Activities: Includes musical bands, singing, dance groups etc.
Drama and Theater: This includes acting, plays, puppetry etc.
Service Activities: awareness for causes (e.g.running for cancer), fundraising, volunteering etc.
Most recreational activities are known to be very beneficial to your total well-being and most of them will help you relax and help you manage stress better. Find some of the top examples of recreational activities that you can do include in your life in the following gallery.
Technology
Technologies are all over us. They help in work, leisure time, in connection to each other, in measurement of different indicators, in relationships, sports – everywhere. And while all of these gadgets, apps, and technologies have made our lives simpler, more efficient, and more connected, is there such a thing as too much technology or being too digital? Experts are divided on the answer. They also are divided on what this could mean for the future well-being of the nations. Technology can be as addicting as it helpful. We prepare a list of useful apps, helping you to find “yours” regarding nutrition, yoga, fitness, relaxation, activity tracking, sleep etc., but use the apps wisely and moderately.
Useful Apps
Today, when so much work and leisure time involve staring at screens, we can see a different struggle arising: a struggle to find a healthy balance between technology and the physical world, or, for short, “tech/body balance.” “Device-Free Time” is as important as work-life balance and you can find additional information incl. also more about “digital detox” in our Life Energy Workshop.
Reasons to limit use of technology
• Improving Work or Home Role performance
o Putting the phone on silent mode
o Keeping the phone out of sight
• Establishing a Personal Digital Philosophy
oIntroducing strict rules
• Minimizing undesirable social behaviors
o 20 second rule
o Disabling push notifications
o Introducing penalties
• Putting family and interpersonal relationships first
o Tracking personal connectivity
o Reminding what your priorities are
o Sharing thoughts with partner
1. Leave your phone behind when you go to lunch or take a walk. 2. Set a time limit for how long you’ll scroll 3. Make sure that strategy aligns with your values and motivations
Energy throughout the year
No matter what part of the world that we live in, the influences of our climate, the daily cycles of light and dark, and the food that we eat, all have an effect on our body’s natural rhythms. The body’s natural rhythms are influenced by the seasons, and it is these natural rhythms that help to keep harmony within the body, and therefore help to keep us healthy.
The seasons are a continual cycle of life; starting with energy rising in the Spring, reaching a peak in the Summer, then gradually falling in the Autumn, to eventually becoming dormant in the Winter. The seasons could be looked at as Earths cycle of life, just as we have a cycle of life or living.
Natural daylight is important to our health and for most people, our modern lifestyles restricts the amount of natural daylight that we receive.
The most obvious and reliable feature of seasons is the change in daylength or photoperiod with shorter photoperiods during winter months and longer photoperiods during summer.
The duration of daily exposure to bright light (>10 000 lux) is longer in summer than in winter and, as one might expect, has been shown to alter many circadian-related biological processes.
Taken together, it appears that exposure to natural light with the change in seasons has an effect on the circadian physiology of an individual.
Human circadian clock is sensitive to seasonal changes in the natural light-dark cycle showing an expansion of the biological night in winter compared to summer—akin to that seen in non-humans. Weekend exposure to natural light was sufficient to achieve ~69% of the shift in circadian timing we previously reported after one week exposure to natural light.
These findings provide evidence that the human circadian clock adapts to seasonal changes in the natural light-dark cycle and is timed later in the modern environment in both winter and summer. Further, researches demonstrate earlier circadian timing can be rapidly achieved through natural light exposure during a weekend spent camping.
Late circadian and sleep timing are associated with negative cognitive performance and health outcomes such as daytime sleepiness, reduced driving and school performance, substance abuse, mood disorders, diabetes, and obesity. Contributing factors to late sleep timing include the period and phase of the circadian clock, exposure to light at night, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, stimulant intake, and work/school week versus weekend social schedules. Researches have shown later circadian and sleep timing occur after exposure to the modern electrical lighting environment compared to the natural summer light-dark cycle.
The research findings demonstrate that the human melatonin rhythm adapts to short summer and long winter nights when living in a natural light-dark cycle. It further shows that living in the modern electrical lighting environment reduces seasonal circadian responsiveness by delaying the beginning of the biological night in both winter and summer. It has been argued that humans live in a constant summer photoperiod (i.e., duration of light exposure) in the modern electrical environment, and this appears to be true for the duration of biological night but not for circadian timing. Modern lighting environmental conditions do not entirely replicate living in the natural summer photoperiod. Researchers observed that the timing of the middle of the biological night, but not the middle of the sleep episode, occurs close to the timing of the middle of solar darkness when living in natural winter and summer light-dark cycles, but less so when living in the modern environment. A weekend of camping prevents the typical weekend circadian and sleep delay, which is an important contributor to the phenomenon of social jet lag. Specifically, the weekend phase delay in the modern electrical lighting environment contributes to social jet lag on Monday morning since there is a mismatch between biological (circadian delay) and social (awakening early for work/school) timing, the definition of social jetlag. This suggests that weekend exposure to the natural light-dark cycle may help with social jet lag, and also with initiating treatment for winter depression, and circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (e.g., delayed sleep-wake phase) that show late sleep and/or circadian timing
Besides light abundance, the spectral composition of light is also important since our circadian system is more sensitive to shorter wavelength (blue) light than longer wavelength light, which has been shown to vary with seasons.
A UK-based study using wrist-worn light meters observed that not only was total light exposure lower in winter than in summer, but also daily blue light exposure in summer was almost double than that in winter.
The seasonal differences in abundance and composition of light exposure were most pronounced during the evening hours, when light exposure would be expected to induce phase delays in the circadian system. These differences in light exposure would affect the phase of entrainment of the circadian clock differently in summer compared to winter and thus potentially affect chronotype in a seasonal manner.
In addition to changes in the light environment with seasons, inherent differences in light sensitivity, due to environment or genetic variations, may also alter phase responsiveness and thus affect chronotype. Eye color and photoresponsiveness of the melanopsin-signaling system have been shown to alter circadian light sensitivity and associate with chronotype.
These and other genetic or ancestry-specific differences affecting circadian light perception may account for interindividual differences in responsiveness to changes in photoperiod.
However, it seems unlikely that within populations there are photoperiod-sensitive and -insensitive people.
As human populations become more industrialized and live increasingly in urban environments with artificial light at night, heating and cooling in homes and workspaces, combined with increasing time spent indoors and fewer outdoor occupations, we are less exposed to natural seasons. Seasonal birth rhythms have dampened, losing their correlation first with photoperiod and then with ambient temperature due to industrialization.
Industrialized populations with reduced early morning natural light exposure and artificial light at night have later and shorter sleep durations. When exposed to the natural light–dark.
Cycle, for example when camping, participants showed photoperiod responsiveness with earlier sleep onset and longer sleep in winter than in summer. Thus, natural and artificial factors may modulate chronotype and the seasonal effects on chronotype assessed in populations.
Photoperiod at birth, season, and chronotype
There is a hypothesis which proposes that the duration of daylight following birth sets the internal clock and this is the basis of the effect of season-of-birth on chronotype in adulthood.
An imprinting-like phenomenon may occur during a “sensitive phase” during the 3 months after birth, a significant period of time during which an individual’s sleep–wake cycle is being developed, and the photoperiods in the weeks following birth have an influence on chronotype.
Individuals born during long or lengthening photoperiods (summer or spring) would set their internal clock with longer days in comparison to those born during the shorter or shortening photoperiods characteristic of winter or autumn.
However, it is possible that grouping individuals by season of birth may be masking the effect of PAB (photoperiod-at-birth) on chronotype as photoperiod varies even within a season.
Researches show that in the Northern hemisphere, morningness was linked with winter and autumn births (September to March), while eveningness was more frequent in those born in spring and summer (March to September). In the Southern hemisphere, the pattern was similar as those born from March to September (winter and autumn) were more frequently morning types, whereas those born from September to March (spring and summer) were linked with eveningness.
They suggested that time of sunrise, sunset and daylength at birth had a significant impact on chronotype, factors all determined by both latitude and longitude which have also been shown to affect chronotype.
Chronotype and seasonal daylight saving
Many countries adopt a daylight-saving time (DST), where the societal clock is adjusted by 1 hour, advancing in spring and delaying in autumn.
Some studies have assessed the impact of DST on clock entrainment. In a large study of 55,000 participants from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, researchers found chronotype-dependent differences in adjustments to DST, especially after the springtime change when clocks are advanced by an hour. Those who were classified as morning types adjusted more readily to the DST than those who were evening types, who had still failed to re-entrain (adjust their mid-point of sleep on free days or center of gravity of activity) within 3 weeks of the time transition.
Staying healthy with the seasons
Nature's cycles affect not only the external climate, but also our internal health and mental well-being. A leading practitioner of the season-based lifestyle theory, Dr. Elson Haas provides simple, logical advice for achieving glowing good health: Bring the mind and body into balance with the earth, and consume a diet that emphasizes in-season, chemical-free foods.
Joining Western and Eastern medicines with seasonal nutrition, herbology, and exercise practices, this timeless classic, revised for the 21st century, provides the keys to staying healthy from spring right on through winter.
Based on “Staying Healthy with the Seasons” by Elson M. Haas, M.D. find more information in our leaflet.
Leaflet - Tips: staying healthy with the seasons
Life environment
Nature
Our affinity toward nature is genetic and deep-rooted in evolution. For example, have you ever wondered why most people prefer to book accommodations that have a great view from the balcony or the terrace? Why patients who get a natural view from their hospital bed recover sooner than others? Or why does it happen that when stress takes a toll on our mind, we crave for time to figure out things amidst nature?
The positive effects of connecting with nature
According to Richard Louv, his famous book “Last Child In The Woods” nature-deficit disorder is not the presence of an anomaly in the brain; it is the loss of connection of humans to their natural environment. Staying close to nature improves physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It makes us feel alive from the inside, and we should not compromise it for recent developments like urbanization, technology, or social media.
The benefits of staying close to nature are diverse. We can enjoy the positive effects of connecting to the environment at all levels of individual well-being.
Environmental psychology is rooted in the belief that nature has a significant role in human development and conduct. It believes that nature has a vital contribution to the way we think, feel, and behave with others.
The research paper on ‘Human-Nature Relationship And Its Impact On Health: A Critical Review’ explores all the aspects of the interconnection we have with nature and how it affects our general health and well-being.
Author Valentine Seymour defined our relationship with nature in close association with Darwinian principles of Evolutionary psychology. The study explained concepts of evolutionary biology, social economics, psychology, and environmentalism and scouts how the interplay of all these influence human health. The interdisciplinary research model suggests that:
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Staying close to nature improves physical conditions like hypertension, cardiac illness, and chronic pain.
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A strong connection to the natural environment enhances emotional well-being and alleviates feelings of social isolation. Besides, it also helps individuals suffering from mental health conditions like attention disorders, mood disorders, and different forms of anxiety.
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Nature-friendly people are more environmentally conscious and responsible. They have a rational sense of using their physical space and are more proactive to enact on issues that might help in sustaining the environment they live in.
5 Ways to Apply the Positive Effects of Nature in Our Life
Staying close to nature, observing all the little and significant elements of it, and appreciating it from the very core, is therapeutic and self-healing.
Even by saying and doing nothing, we can learn so much from connecting to our natural surroundings. It gives us the perspective for healthier living, the motivation to carry on, and the energy to keep trying. For there is no bond more primitive and ingrained in us than our love for nature and nature’s care for us.
Influence of partner
Numerous studies have shown that people remaining in long-term relationships tend to display similar levels of various individual differences, and that such congruence results in elevated relationship satisfaction— and, consequently, greater relationship longevity.
The magnitude of this within-couple resemblance is often so pronounced that it practically excludes the possibility of random mating, and suggests a methodical, likeness-based process of partner selection. The effect, referred to as assortative mating, has gained considerable attention of researchers representing both biological and psychological science.
Similarity in chronotype between partners creates “common temporal space” which facilitates various activities important for relationships. It may result in higher frequency and quality of joint activities (including sex-related ones), as the phases of internal motivation for these actions would appear simultaneously in both partners.
Consequently, the relationship satisfaction should be higher, as the activity would result from internal motives of both partners, not only from the willingness to satisfy their partner’s needs.
Therefore, it seems justified to expect that diurnal preference and its within-couple composition may influence a variety of relationship outcomes at many different levels.
However, low dissimilarity in morningness–eveningness is not linked to higher relationship satisfaction. Nevertheless, women would prefer a partner with a similar chronotype. Among various sleep–wake measures, women particularly prefer a partner going to bed at the same time.
Two in bed
Going to sleep and waking up together is one of the most intimate human actions. From an evolutionary perspective, sleeping in pairs can enhance the perceived physical and emotional security, which leads to a reduction of arousal levels and to increased quality and quantity of sleep.
Yet, men and women respond differently to the presence of a bed partner.
The male perception of sleep is that sleep is important and a necessity, especially in relation to paid work. Men seem to have an understanding that their body will inform them when it is time to sleep and when their resources are used up. Co-sleeping is generally more disturbing for women than for men assessed by subjective reports, but also a mitigation through sexual contact is possible.
Due to lower physical strength and greater need for security against potential attackers, the soothing effect of co-sleeping is stronger among women. Moreover, women’s sleeping behavior is embedded in female social roles and responsibilities as a partner.
In a study consisting of 5142 women in their midlife, unintentional partner behaviors like snoring, going to the toilet during the night or restlessness turned out to be most disturbing for women’s sleep. The findings indicate that actions beyond the control of their male partners have a highly significant correlation with women’s sleep quality. Whereas intentional disruptions like waking the female partner up to talk, for sex or because she disrupts his sleep had a low and nonsignificant correlation with the overall quality of women’s sleep.
Most people, men and women, reported to sleep better when a bed partner was present.
Chronotype and sex: what studies show
The difference between partners’ chronotypes and preferred time for sex don’t change with relationship length.
Morning males prefer to have sex in earlier hours than evening males.
Male M-types declare that they have the highest desire for sex between 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning, whereas over 70% of evening types would prefer to have sex late in the evening, between 9:00 p.m. and midnight.
An analogical effect is not observed in females, whose most desired time for sex is unrelated to their morningness-eveningness. Both M-type and E-type females prefer to have sex in the evening (although the former prefer to have it before 9:00 p.m., whereas the latter prefer after 9:00 p.m.)
Furthermore, the between-partner difference in preferred time for sex was greater in couples with a more morning-oriented male.
Morning-oriented females are generally more satisfied with their relationship than their evening-oriented ones, whereas in males no association between chronotype and satisfaction is observed.
The main findings of numerous studies show that:
1. similarity in chronotype between partners and female morningness fosters relationship satisfaction in females, but not in males;
2. morningness-eveningness is associated with preferred time for sex in males, but not in females, who in principle prefer evening hours;
3. actual time for sex is up to the female preference; and
4. sexual satisfaction in both genders is associated with lower discrepancy in their preferred time for sex and greater frequency of intercourse.
Index of Sexual Satisfaction (ISS; Hudson et al., 1981).
General relationship satisfaction was measured with the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS; Hendrick, 1988). This 7-item self-report scale is one of the most commonly used measures in the research of relationship quality
Influence of children
The influence of children on chronotype, sleep, and biological rhythms reaches far beyond the first months of the newborn’s life. After all, children can be considered as an important social factor that influences the lifestyle of women thus the whole family.
Mothers with children are early risers over the weekend simply because of their children, even though it may be against their own circadian preference. This early rising does not reflect one’s own biological clock. Women with young children should nap during the day to regain lost sleep due to early awakening.
Researches show the strongest correlation between mothers and their young children – up to 3,5 years. The correlation between mother and child may in some part be due to genetic similarity. It is already low between adults and their children of fourth- to- eighth graders.
Take-home message
In a healthy relationship, a partner serves as a successful stress-buffer by providing downregulating physiological and psychological stress responses and counteracting health behaviors that could have a negative impact on sleep. In contrast, stressful relationships lead to increased physiological and emotional arousal, poor health behaviors, and a greater risk for sleep disturbance and disorders.
Empirically there seem to exist some gender differences: for females, less negative partner interaction during the day predicted greater sleep efficiency in the following night, whereas vice versa for males, higher sleep efficiency predicted less negative partner interaction the following day.
Over time, couples evolve interactional rules and sleep routines that bind them together. These behaviors need some time to emerge in a new relationship and often imply a modification of sleep behavior.
Sleeping apart is not necessarily an indicator of an unhappy or unhealthy relationship and may be taken into consideration. At least couples can have an open dialogue about sleeping habits in order to sleep better and to have a happier relationship. The shared goal should be finding a balance between the role of sleeper and that of partner.
