In America we are known to be some of the hardest workers. Taking less vacation time than anyone else, while clocking the most work hours. While this is something as Americans, we take pride in, it turns out it may actually be killing us. As someone who is both in college and working, I have to say it is not easy to relax.
While in a psychology class one semester I had a professor who taught us how to add what could potentially amount to 12 years to your life-span. Everyday, if you can spare just 20 minutes, everyone should take time out to meditate. Truly meditate, don’t take this time as reflection time, it is 20 minutes to completely clear your head, of everything. Though 20 minutes may seem like a lot of time you are having to give up, really, it’s nothing. Just clear your mind and concentrate on your breathing, 20 minutes a day, for 12 years added to your life-span. Seems like a good deal to me.
One point this infographic brings up is being able to say no. For me this is the hardest thing to do, but when you never say no, people begin to take advantage of you. Because saying no lowers the amount of things you have to do, it easily lowers your stress levels, and you have begun the road to recovery. You will find that rather than spending all your extra time taking care of other people you suddenly have time for yourself. We must remember we need to take care of ourselves before we can take care of other people, we would be useless if we did not care for ourselves. [via]
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