LEILA FADEL, HOST:
As we take in the news, whether it's politics, global violence, climate change, there is plenty to be stressed about. So if you are ready to stress less, NPR has a new series for you. Over the next five weeks, we'll introduce skills and tips - everything that science has to offer on the best ways to reduce stress and feel better. NPR's Allison Aubrey is here to tell us more. Good morning, Allison.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: OK, stress less sounds good, especially this week. It does seem like a pretty stressful time.
AUBREY: Yeah, it's easy to feel overwhelmed between work and family demands and the relentless news cycle. It's a lot. But it turns out there are some pretty simple strategies to reduce stress and increase positive feelings, and there's a lot of science to show they work. You can think of these strategies as skills that you can learn.
FADEL: You can learn to be less stressed?
AUBREY: Yes, absolutely. Do you want to try?
FADEL: Yeah, I'm stressed.
AUBREY: For the next 10 seconds, I want you to complain - like, any gripe, any annoyance - let it out.
FADEL: OK. I'm tired all the time 'cause of my job. I am constantly flabbergasted by the way human beings can be so cruel to each other. The planet's dying. I mean - I don't know - should I keep going?
AUBREY: You sound agitated.
FADEL: I'm agitated.
AUBREY: Now for the next 10 seconds, tell me what you're grateful for. What brings you joy?
FADEL: An amazing meal, my incredible family, my support system, my group of friends and actually - the job that causes me stress, I actually really, really love.
AUBREY: Yeah, just listening to you made me smile. Do you feel the difference?
FADEL: OK, yeah, sharing things that we're grateful for actually helps manage the stress.
AUBREY: Yeah, when it comes to feeling grateful, there's a lot of evidence that this can really give people a boost. This recent study found people who have a strong sense of gratitude are actually more likely to live longer. And - get this - even if you don't have a sunny personality, gratitude is something you can practice and get better at.
FADEL: OK, like a lot of things in our life - right? - a hobby, an instrument, sports.
AUBREY: Absolutely. The evidence shows that you can learn to experience more joy, less anxiety, even amid hard times. The evidence is just so solid. It's the basis of this whole series.
FADEL: OK, so tell us more about the series.
AUBREY: So a really cool part is our collaboration with Northwestern University and a researcher there, Judy Moskowitz. She developed a course that teaches eight skills to improve positive emotion. You can think of it as kind of like a master class. It's based on years of her research studying people who experienced really difficult situations, so people with Stage 4 cancer, people caring for a loved one with dementia. And in a series of rigorous peer-reviewed studies, she has shown it works. When people learn and practice these skills, even amid difficult situations, in many cases their anxiety decreases, and their positive emotions increase. Here's Moskowitz.
JUDY MOSKOWITZ: We really have built a pretty large body of research showing that these skills can work for anyone no matter what type of stress they're experiencing.
AUBREY: So starting today, Leila, you can sign up to take this course and participate in a research study, too. Anyone 18 and older in the U.S. can sign up. There's a link on our website, and we also have a newsletter journey that's packed with extra tips and tools.
FADEL: Can you give us more of a sneak peek?
AUBREY: So the way it works is each week, through this online course, you're introduced to one or two new skills, and then you practice them. So this includes exercises to help with self-compassion, a lesson on how to savor - to get more joy out of everyday experiences - and another skill called positive reappraisal.
FADEL: Positive reappraisal?
AUBREY: Yeah, disappointing things happen all the time, right? And the skill of positive reappraisal is to look for the silver lining. It's a familiar concept, but it's hard to do because we have this kind of deeply ingrained instinct to be on the lookout for threats or danger. Here's Judy Moskowitz again.
MOSKOWITZ: Something happens. You're like, that's a bad thing, right? And that's adaptive. Humans have evolved to pay attention to the things that will impact them negatively.
AUBREY: And there's value in this, of course. It helps us avoid bad situations or danger. But in modern times, we can just take it too far. We can forget to see the good. So what positive reappraisal does is help you reframe a situation or think of something good that may come from a negative experience.
MOSKOWITZ: My favorite positive reappraisal and my go-to is always, well, that could have been worse. It's highly annoying for my children, for sure. But I'm always - my first thought is, like, oh, you know, this is kind of bad, but it could have been much worse.
AUBREY: You can't do this in every situation - not amid a bad trauma. This is an exercise to help you gain perspective. And if you practice this - like, intentionally take time to reframe things - the evidence shows it can be helpful. So let's try. Like, when we started, you complained that you were losing a lot of sleep because of your job. Can you reappraise that situation?
FADEL: I'm gainfully employed and living in a peaceful place.
AUBREY: Yes, yes. And you like your work you said.
FADEL: I really do like my work.
AUBREY: So one last thought here. I mentioned that link between gratitude and a longer life span. If you want to assess your own sense of gratefulness, see how much you agree with this statement - if I had a list of everything I'm grateful for, it would be a very long list. It turns out in the study, the longevity boost was tied to the people who strongly agreed with this. So it's not just the big things, like my family and my health. It's also learning to tune into small things, like a beautiful sunset...
FADEL: Yeah.
AUBREY: ...A great cup of coffee, you know, a nice breeze. So the more you practice these, you may find that there's kind of, like, an upward spiral of positive emotion.
FADEL: I feel like I'm kind of feeling it right now, and I needed it today, Allison.
AUBREY: Just from these six minutes?
FADEL: Yeah.
AUBREY: This is wonderful. We're off to a good start.
FADEL: NPR's Allison Aubrey. Thank you, Allison.
AUBREY: Thank you, Leila.
FADEL: And if you want to sign up, go to npr.org/stressless.
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FADEL: Hey, Michel, did you learn any tips and tricks for stress?
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I think you and I should go get a great cup of coffee and an even better breakfast.
FADEL: I agree. Let's go.
MARTIN: I'm grateful for you. Let's do it.
FADEL: I'm grateful for you.
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