Last week we explored the science behind stress and aging. If you missed it we archive all our blogs here. While de-stressing can be individual, what relaxes one person may stress out another, there are science backed stress reduction techniques that are proven to make significant changes, not only in self reported levels of stress but in lowering stress hormones that cause cell damage and aging. Below are some straightforward changes you can implement into your daily life to reduce stress and thereby not speed up the aging process and in some cases even reverse it!
Be Positive: While easy to say, this is a practice that needs to be trained and cultivated: train for optimism. We all have what scientist refer to as a negativity bias. This is an evolutionary survival skill to look out for what’s wrong in our environment. In other words, those of our ancestors that were best at looking out for trouble had a higher survival rate while those focusing on sunsets and gratitude most likely got eaten. Since we no longer have to be on the look out for predators, we have to retrain our brain to see the good things in life. One of the best ways to do this is “bookending” our days with the things we appreciate about ourselves and the people around us. As simple and cliche as gratitude may seem there is tons of science around the impact on our health and happiness.
Laugh it up: This is my go-to! Laughter has been found to lower levels of stress hormones, reduce inflammation in our arteries, and increase good HDL cholesterol. Taking a couple minutes to listen to or watch comedy can measurably change the hormone levels in our blood!
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction: Keep this simple! I hear so many people say “I can’t meditate.” Just taking a few moments to take some deep breaths and bring your mind to your physical body in the present moment has been proven to not only reduce cortisol but also to increase dopamine up to 65%. Some of the benefits of a regular mindfulness practice include lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, anxiety, and pain, improving attention, memory, self-image, self-awareness, and sleep. Some longtime meditators even show structural brain changes in the parts of the brain that control decision making, emotional response, memory and learning. Know that no one is “good” at meditating and just like gratitude it’s a practice that you develop, with consistency, over time. Just 5 minutes per day can be life changing!
Get Moving: We were made to move! Exercise is what’s referred to as a keystone behavior meaning that, once it becomes a habit it often has a positive impact on every other area of life. Every time we sweat our body releases mood boosting hormones called endorphins. Exercising not only helps us to destress, it also protects against heart disease by lowering our blood pressure, strengthening our heart muscles, and helping us maintain a healthy weight. Any form of physical activity can be a stress reducer. Exercising because we “should” is good for our muscles and sometimes is a good place to start but it’s important to eventually find something that you love. If you don’t love any form of exercise yet don’t stress! Science shows that over time most people develop a love for whatever exercise they consistently do. It does get easier, we do get better at it and we eventually become addicted to all the happy hormones our bodies release. So start small and stick to it!
These are just a few of the most science backed ways of de-stressing. Getting adequate sleep, connecting with others, and eating healthy are also vital to our overall happiness. De-stressing is also an individual thing so make a list of go-to activities that work for you to try before numbing out. Super simple things like stepping outside, taking a few slow deep breaths, reading a book, and listening to music can help to make sure that stress hormones aren’t lingering long after a stressful event. Find what works for you, your life depends on it!
For those that want to take a deeper dive into de-stressing…
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/5-ways-to-de-stress-and-help-your-heart
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25259918/
OUR MARKET THIS WEEK
We had no new condos and 3 new homes come onto the market this week. We currently have 33 active condos ranging from $420,000 to $2,995,000; the median condo price is $729,000. We currently have 43 active homes on the East Shore ranging from $1,025,000 to $64,500,000 with the median price of $3,290,000 . Here’s a year-to-date local update:
Local East Shore Lake Tahoe, Nevada Stats – All Year-to-Date
Total Sales YTD:
Condos: 82 (↓13% YOY) | Homes: 81 (↓42% YOY)
The Median Sales Price:
Condos: $687,500 (↓1% YOY) | Homes: $1,555,000 (↑7% YOY)
Number of Sales Over $1 Million:
Condos: 17 = 21% (↑8% YOY) | Homes: 68 = 84% (↑9% YOY)
Highest Priced Sale:
Condos: $5,665,500 (↓5% YOY) | Homes: $32,000,000 (↑52% YOY)
Median Price Per Square Foot:
Condos: $595.66 (↑10% YOY) | Homes: $659.28 (↑9% YOY)
Median Days on the Market:
Condos: 78 (↑47% YOY) | Homes: 76 (↑13% YOY)
List to Sell Price:
Condos: 98% (↓5% YOY) | Homes: 97% (0% YOY)
Price Reductions this Week:
Condos: 0 | Homes: 2
If someone you care about needs guidance or recommendations, please share our contact information as we are honored to be able to help! If you would like to receive our in-depth market update or would like an evaluation of your property’s value we would love to hear from you! We’ve put together some information below that we think you’ll find useful. If you have anything you want to share with our community please let us know so that it can be included in future newsletters.