De-stress at your desk

Eat blueberries, breathe, and be grateful.

These are just some of the unconventional ways that smart people can combat stress in a busy atmosphere such as Capitol Hill, says Kathleen Hall, creator of The Stress Institute in Atlanta. Hall received a Master of Divinity from Emory University and a doctorate in spirituality from Columbia Theological Seminary. She formerly worked as a broker at the World Trade Center.

Hall says stress can take as many as 10 years off your life.

“I would think [lawmakers] care about the way they look,” she explains. “Their skin gets wrinkled, [and stress] makes you age fast. It changes your metabolism [and] makes you store fat around your vital organs.”

Stress also exhausts your immune system, she adds.

To combat it, Hall suggests the following “self care” activities.

• Serenity break: Start with five minutes and it will change you. “The minute you do a serenity practice, it puts the brain in neutral.” Result: More productivity, less stress.

• Five-minute meditation: Close the eyes and take a deep breath. Listen to music. Get a nature machine in the office. Result: A boost to your immune system and a clearing of the mind. “Instead of being reactive, you come back to yourself and you won’t say things you’re going to pay for later,” says Hall.

• Affirmations: Use a short phrase such as “I am strong,” “I am in balance,” or “I am in control.” Result: “People who memorize a short affirmation have lower cortisol levels,” Hall says.

• Music: Music causes the brain to produce serotonin, a calming, healing hormone. Result: If you sing, you get an immune boost. “I suggest everyone be singing,” says Hall, “especially the senator in the bathroom.”

• Laughter: Laugh at anything. Result: It will increase the diameter of your arteries and produce an endorphin surge.   

• Gratitude: Be grateful for your health; be grateful for your children, for being an American. Result: “Our heart and our brain are connected to be grateful,” she says.

• Guided imagery: “Think of a calm, peaceful place. You just pretend you’re there,” says Hall. Result: Your blood pressure drops and an almost immediate calm washes over you. “At a conference or hearing no one knows you’re doing this,” she says.

• Exercise: Three times a week, walk up steps and lift 5- to 10-pound weights. Result: Your bone density will increase.

• Love: Survival depends on intimacy. E-mail someone you love. Share a meal with someone you care about. Get a pet. “Don’t wait until you have the time,” says Hall. Result: “There’s a physical effect to connecting to people you love.”

• Food: Eat breakfast every day. Take Omega-3 and B-complex vitamins. Eat foods such as bananas, tuna, turkey and salmon, and snack on sunflower seeds, blueberries and bananas. Result: It will increase metabolism and balance your mood. Eating these foods helps your mental health and memory and combats aging.