Survive Holiday Stress, Hangovers, and Heartburn

Help for Holiday Stress

People emphasize the wrong things when they try to cut down on stress, says psychologist Robert Epstein, PhD. Meditation and yoga are useful, he said recently in Scientific American Mind — but what made the biggest difference for the 3,300 people in his study were the nuts and bolts of life management. Researcher Elissa Epel, at the University of California, San Francisco, tells New Scientist magazine that taking a few minutes a day to focus on breathing can be a big help. And guess what: There’s an app for that. Developed by the Defense Department for soldiers, Breathe2Relax (free) will guide you through a breathing exercise, monitor your breath rate, and help you keep it at a healthy level.