Give a Little Whistle, and Other Quick Ways to Reduce Stress

The stress of life can take its toll on your mental health and wellbeing, but, in the words of Jiminy Cricket, all you have to do is give a little whistle. Lauren Miller, a stress expert from Littleton, Colorado, explains, ‘It’s considered deviant behaviour, but it’s a natural behaviour. When I’m whistling, I am not worrying. I’m refreshed.’ She adds that humming, singing, or laughing also improves your emotional wellness, and keeps stress at bay. ‘Joy can have its way with you,’ she says.

Instead of talking about a work-life balance, Miller discusses the merits of a work-play balance. ‘When there’s a balance between work and play, you get more done,’ she asserts. ‘Give yourself permission to make this choice for balance.’ Miller advises that you need some form of play every 90 minutes, even if it’s just for 60 seconds. In her recent book, Five Minutes To Stress Relief, she offers many “Grab and Go” stress relief tips – such as whistling, singing, laughing and a quick meditation.

However, it’s not just having such moments, but treasuring them and reliving them that can help you to de-stress. Miller notes, ‘I can close my eyes and remember the sunset I watched last night. What did it feel like? What did I become? You are reprogramming yourself into sensory peace. It takes only a few minutes to do that.’ She explains that you can summon up good memories and regain that feeling you had during the experience itself, as your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality.

Miller managed to keep her positive attitude while simultaneously going through a divorce and a struggle with cancer. She insists, ‘Don’t let your thoughts define you. You can define your thoughts. When you think positive, happy thoughts you are happy and it goes to your cells. Your environment can determine the health of your cells.’ Part of Miller’s positivity comes from a prayer she repeats several times a day for God to release her from the desire to be liked. She urges, ‘Give yourself permission to be who you are without judgment. This simple gift can bring so much to the body.’

Categories: positive thoughts, whistling, work-play balance

Whistling and Smiling: Do They Cause or Combat Wrinkles?

If you’re concerned about wrinkles or deep-set facial lines, then you may want to give up whistling. Plastic surgeons have claimed that, alongside smoking, whistling is bad for the muscles around your face. Frequent whistling causes the muscles to strain into an unusual position, and creates lines around the mouth. The puckering motion made in order to whistle can cause folding and indentation on the surface of the skin and weaken collagen. Particularly as you get older, the skin gets weaker and more prone to damage, causing wrinkles. But whistling is not the sole culprit of facial lines. Smiling and frowning are known to cause them, with some facial lines being termed ‘smile lines’ or ‘frown lines’. Even kissing can cause wrinkles, with a similar puckering motion of the lips and cheeks that whistling requires. This makes it seem almost impossible to avoid these lines, and if you are truly determined to avoid any wrinkles as you age, then the only certain way to do so is to avoid moving your facial muscles at all.

 

Of course, such a thing is impossible and laughing, whistling and kissing are pleasurable activities that can boost mental and physical wellbeing. As such, they can help skin remain young and healthy due to increased hormone regulation and blood circulation. With this line of thinking, and contradicting the suggestion that moving your facial muscles causes wrinkles, it has been argued that actively exercising facial muscles can decrease the number of fine lines as you get older. This is due to the elastic collagen in skin and muscles becoming more flexible as it is regularly stretched and exercised, and the increased blood circulation bringing more oxygen to the skin.

 

Thus the claim that whistling causes wrinkles faces some contention – it is true that regular whistling may cause wrinkles, but regular facial exercise through smiling and laughing can help combat the negative effects of aging and skin damage. So don’t ban whistling just yet, especially if it causes you to smile after.

Categories: facial lines, whistling, Wrinkles