#College starts next week and my brain is so completely bored and deprived from any kind of good stimulus that the tiniest shit gets to me

[haunted-glassesgurl]

Can someone please explain why there are four different types of soap in my bathroom?? I mean, there's only four of us in my family and we aren't home most of the day??? What the hell happened here? Who needed to wash off that much evidence?

[lavynrose]

"stop staring at me to distract me."

"oh, i'm not staring at you to distract you."

Pairing/s: Marius Von Hagen X Reader

Genre: College AU

Warnings: none

Notes: alrightyyy let me drop this before sleeping, i need to practice writing without getting too into it that it becomes a longfic🤒 enemies to lovers got me in a vice grip sjsksk. prompt from this list

as for the requests, i'll answer them soon! reblogs are appreciated <3

They say that the library is the best place to do brain gymnastics, and get the best out of your mind's concentration because of the silence and the quaint ambience it gives off.

So why.

Why does your braincells feel like evaporating right now?

The library that was once filled with peaceful silence just 30 minutes ago is now a rippling crash of waves in your eardrums as the presence across from you on the table keeps pesking your precious study time.

You're not sure what's causing the aggravating pounding in your head anymore: the 5 page essay that you need to turn over in less than an hour, or the absolute menace to your finals project in the flesh that is Marius Von Hagen.

Even the sharp librarian couldn't seem to tell that he was being a bother.

Of course they won't notice. The little devil isn't being loud after all, he's pestering you in his own way.

"Stop staring at me, idiot," you chewed a little too harshly on your pen, the anger boiling inside you directed at the poor object.

"Don't. Wanna." He flashed you a coy smile, "you look so pretty all focused like that I can't help but stare." He cooed with a kissy face.

You grimaced internally.

Oh, you could throw a book at him right now.

You know better than that of course.

Marius is a competition to you, and you to him. Of course the first thing that's gonna come to your mind when he's being like this is that he wants you to fail.

Ever since the start of your college life you were doomed to fight at the top ranks against the one and only, the heir and the king, Marius. You would always wrestle each other using intelligence and now that the semester is coming to an end, the result of your hardwork is going to be revealed soon.

That's why you absolutely can't let this happen!

"Don't make me repeat myself," You inhaled a deep breath in an attempt to not snap in the very place you swore was the epitome of peace and quiet.

You pointed at him, "Stop staring at me to distract me!" You half screamed, half whispered, your eyes darting to glance on the librarian.

"Oh," he smirked, and before you could move, he leaned to you from across the table, he placed his hands to tip on your chin. You sat there, unmoving.

"I'm not staring at you to distract you, sweetheart." His amethyst eyes bore onto yours, strange softness filling them.

You were taken aback by his sudden shift of tone from teasing to tenderness, you swatted his hand away.

You weren't going to give in to his charms just like that, "Don't give me that," you snarled.

"Do you see this essay?" you turned your laptop around to give him a better view of the paragraphs that mentally tortured you these past few hours.

"I'm sure you've already done this, and I'm sure you know that this is worth 30% of our grades this semester so please," you massaged your temples as hard as you could, "stop trying to fail me, Marius. I can't believe you're resorting to this sort of tactic." You slammed your head to the table.

Before you could rant and rant about how this essay could literally be the verdict for your future, you heard Marius snicker.

"High grades aren't what you need right now," he winked at you, "you need sleep, babe."

You convinced yourself that the heat rushing to your cheeks right now isn't caused by whatever he just called you, but rather, caused by anger, "What? I had enough sleep," you cleared your throat, "thank you."

Lies. You barely got any wink of sleep this week because of the various events you needed to organize and participate in, as one of the university's top students.

He looked at you blankly, "Then, pray-tell, I want you to recall when's the deadline of this project."

Your brain buzzed as your sleeped deprived brain desperately search for answers, "In an hour?" you weren't so sure right now, your eyes looking anywhere but him.

His eyes gazed over you with concern, unbeknowst to you.

"The deadline's next week." He declared as he showed you the professor's memo that you misunderstood, "My, my, you should take better care of yourself." he shook his head.

You on the other hand, gaped and spluttered incoherent words, mentally slapping yourself for mixing the dates up.

For once, you admitted he was right. You needed sleep.

He grinned, "Like I said, I'm not trying to distract - or as you put it," he rolled his eyes, "fail you or whatever."

He sent you a smile so full of what seemed like fondness, "You're the best college rival I could ever ask for. You test my limits, you know? Bring the best in me."

You widened your eyes as you process his words. Is he for real? You narrowed your eyes, he doesn't look like he's lying, the usual teasing tone is completely gone.

He suddenly looked so enchanting, basked in the library's soft light.

"I won't let you fail if I can help it. I would even help you," He stood up, and he stretched his right hand to reach out to you, "Please take a rest, you deserve it for your hard work." you saw the warmest smile you've ever seen him show you, and you don't know what to feel about it.

"You.." You started, wanting to ask him why he was staring so shamelessly at you, but drowsiness took over your brain now that you know you have no deadlines to worry about at the moment.

Instead, you took his warm hand, clasping it in yours, "Let's take you home." He announced, eyes filled with delight and you find yourself wanting those eyes to stare at you again.

do not repost © lavynrose 08/19/21

[ziezie13]

Feeling Touch Starved

These last few weeks I have been feeling desperately, hopelessly touch starved which is not a new feeling for me but I have never felt it to this degree. Normally I can more or less cope, but for some reason, in this age of social distancing, seven months into quarantine I am overwhelmed with this need for physical touch. My sleep schedule is completely wrecked and I don’t want to anything even though I am not depressed. I thought it was hormones at first, but I have felt this way for weeks now and it has become clear it is defiantly touch starvation. So today I did what I do best: research. I figured I would share what I found here in case someone else finds this helpful. Maybe sometime in the future I will create a graphic summarizing the important stuff, but if you want to skip all the boring background stuff you can find the coping strategies I discovered at the bottom. 

What Does It Mean to Be Touch Starved?

People are meant to touch each other. It is part of our programing. When we don’t get that physical connection we need, we become touch starved. Of course, each person is unique and have different limits in terms of how much physical touch we need but the underlying need remains the same.

“When someone is [touch] starved, it’s like someone who is starved for food. They want to eat, but they can’t. Their psyche and their body want to touch someone, but they can’t do it because of… fear. Whether that is a fear of breaking cultural norms, personal anxiety, or spreading COVID-19.” 

- Dr. Asim Shad, professor and executive vice chair of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine

Touch starvation doesn’t not only apply to intimate or sensual touch but encompasses all forms of tactile interaction: handshakes, friendly hugs, pats on the back, etc.

Touch starvation is pervasive around the world, but it is more common in countries and cultures that are touch averse, such as the United States. Growing up in this culture, my brain has come to associate nearly every form of physical contact as sexual, even when I know this is not true. This is a big problem for me, being asexual. I catch myself wanting to initiate physical contact with my friends but I never do. Instead I sit there just thinking about it. I know it wouldn’t be a sexual touch, but do they know that? Would they think I am weird? Would it make them uncomfortable? And so on and so forth. I can never seem to break through this wall.

Why is touch important?

Skin-to-skin contact is vital for not only mental and emotional health, but physical health, too.

When you feel overwhelmed or pressured, the body releases the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol triggers the body’s “flight-or-fight” response, which can increase heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and muscle tension, and can suppress the digestive system and immune system. Every single physical disease including heart attack, diabetes, hypertension, asthma is affected by anxiety, stress, depression, or other mental health issues. One of the best ways to counteract these affects is skin-to-skin contact.

Touch stimulates pressure receptors in the skin that transport signals to the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body, and is connected with the parasympathetic nervous system. It touches every major organ, and helps you rest and digest. Stimulating the vagus nerve sends signals to slow the pace of the nervous system there-by reducing stress.

In addition to the vagus nerve, scientists have found that nerve endings in the skin, known as C-tactile afferents, exists to recognize any form of gentle touch. Stimulating these nerves results in an immediate release of oxytocin. Oxytocin increases positive, feel-good sensations of trust, emotional bonding and social connection, while simultaneously decreasing fear and anxiety responses in the brain. For this reason, oxytocin is affectionately known as the “cuddle hormone.”

How do you know if you’re touch starved?

There’s no definitive way to know if you are touch starved. But pay attrition to what your mind and your body are telling you. This is in no way a comprehensive list, but signs to look out for include:

feelings of depression

feelings of loneliness or exclusion

anxiety

stress

irritability or aggression

issues with body image

low relationship satisfaction

difficulty sleeping

a tendency to avoid secure attachments

I realized that I was touch starved when I saw a couple posts about it on Tumblr and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. In the past when I have spent time with my friends, I have found my mind wandering to thoughts of what it would be like to reach out and touch them: to hold their hand, to hug them, to lean on them, to play with their hair, etc. But I have always been afraid to act on these impulses. When I get my hair cut or have a massage I relish in the sensation of physical touch, because I am not getting it from anywhere else. I have never realized until now that physical touch is something that I have been missing in my life. But reflecting now, it is really obvious and is probably contributing to my issues of stress and anxiety.

What if you don’t particularly like being touched — can you still be touch starved?

YES! Absolutely.

Touch is an intimate thing and it is something we link closely to trust. For a lot of people, it is difficult to initiate physical connection for various reasons. It can be hard to determine what level of touch is appropriate i.e. should you go for a hug or a handshake. People on the neurodiverse or asexual spectrums are also often uncomfortable with touching. People’s comfort level with touch varies with their personality as well as their background. Statistically, people who grew up with touchy-feely families or cultures are going to be more comfortable with physical connection. Touch deprivation can actually create a self-reinforcing cycle where we feel alienated from others and therefore begin to shy away from social contact.  

However, just because someone doesn’t like being touched under normal circumstances doesn’t mean that they can’t find themselves touch starved. In a general sense I don’t like being touched. On several occasions I have found myself physically cringing away from other people’s touch, even when it is not sexual or inappropriate. I think that a part of this can be attributed to the fact that I am asexual, but I also think that the culture I was raised in and my own personality contribute to this as well. I am an introverted person; I never initiate physical contact and yet I crave it in my day-to-day life. For me I need to reach a certain level of comfort with someone before thoughts of physical contact come into my head. My comfort level also varies from day-to-day and with my mood.

So now that I know what the problem is, how can I fix it?

In case you weren’t aware physical contact is not recommended at this time due to the fact that there is an international pandemic. So, while nothing can wholly replace the benefits of positive human touch, I have uncovered a few coping strategies:

Video chatting

video chatting is, reportedly, about 80 percent as effective as in-person contact at releasing those feel-good chemicals

Physical exercise such as yoga or dance

exercise has proven an effective way to increase the release of oxytocin in the brain – dancing can also increase dopamine levels

Singing

singing is another way to get that oxytocin fix

Taking long, hot baths and showers

hot water relieves muscle tension, puts you in a better mood, and minimizes cold and flu symptoms

Petting an animal

spending some time with your favorite four-legged friend cuts down on feelings of loneliness and depression

Using a weighted blanket

weighted blankets offer deep pressure stimulation which helps relax the nervous system - they’re great for calming anxiety, too, because the weight of the blanket helps release those feel-good chemicals

Using a warm blanket

just like swaddling a baby a warm blanket can invoke feelings of security and comfort helping to calm your nerves

Sleeping with a body pillow

a body pillow mimics what it feels like to hug or cuddle with another person and sleeping with one can help to reduce stress and aid the body in releasing oxytocin – as a bonus body pillows can create a more comfortable sleep by supporting the back and shoulders

Listening to ASMR

certain sounds, such as whispering or brushing hair, can invoke sense memories and stimulate the part of the brain associated with touch and connection

In addition to these strategies there are also several self-soothing techniques you can use to help with feeling touch starved:

Forearm stroke

Remove any bracelets, rings, watches, etc. Put your right arm next to your body and turn your right palm up, fingers together. Bring your arm up until your forearm and upper arm are at a 45-degree angle. Take your left hand and touch the fingertips of your right hand. Slowly and gently run your fingertips down your left fingers, palm, wrist and inside of the forearm, stopping at the inner elbow. Repeat 10 times.

Adult swaddling

Get out a blanket and put the long edge behind your neck. Drape the blanket over your shoulders. Gather a good handful of the blanket in each hand until you feel it tightening around your shoulders, and then cross your arms to pull it tighter around your upper arms and back. Hold for 30-60 seconds, and breathe.

Self-massage

Lie on your bed on your back naked, with a towel underneath you. Take a bit of lotion, cream, or oil in your left hand, and begin applying it in long, slow strokes to your right arm. Allow your hand to glide over the surface of your skin instead of focusing on absorption. Move on to your chest and torso, starting from your chin and your neck, using the same long strokes. Switch hands, and have the right hand do the left arm, and then do your legs and your feet. Start with five minutes and work your way up to 10 minutes.

Skin stimulation

Take a long-handled, soft-bristle brush and firmly run it back and forth across your arms, legs, torso, back, sides and chest prior to going to bed. The stimulation to your skin can help you sleep better. You can also do something similar for your scalp by brushing your hair 100 times.

Vagus nerve stimulation

You can stimulate the vagus nerve from the outside of the body by stroking the sides of your neck. Start behind your earlobe, and move your fingers down to your collarbone. Repeat until you feel your breath deepen, jaw relax and your mouth falls open a bit. You can also stimulate the vagus nerve by massaging or rubbing your feet.

Pressure points

Using your index finger and thumb, press the web of your other hand for five seconds. This relieves tension in your shoulders, and using your index finger or thumb and firmly rubbing on the temple of your face in a circular motion will relieve sinus pain and help you feel relaxed.

Sense memory

Close your eyes, and recall an amazing hug you received. It could be from a parent, relative, or child, a stranger, friend, or lover. Zero in on the details: what color was their shirt? Did they smell like onions because you just finished eating sub sandwiches? Where were you? Once you have the details, shift your attention to your body, and focus on what this hug felt like. Allow yourself to linger on the feeling of being safe, loved, cared for, and seen by another person.

EFT tapping

Emotional freedom technique (EFT) is an alternative treatment for physical pain and emotional distress. It’s also referred to as tapping or psychological acupressure. People who use this technique believe tapping the body can create a balance in your energy system and treat pain. Though still being researched, EFT tapping has been used to treat people with anxiety and people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I found this video that will guide you through the whole process (the meditation starts at 4:30 and lasts about 15 minutes - she also does a shorter meditation starting at 26:20 that lasts about 4 minuets): https://tappingdetective.com/videos

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/touch-starved#definition

https://www.tmc.edu/news/2020/05/touch-starvation/

https://psychcentral.com/blog/6-ways-to-self-soothe-when-starved-for-touch/

https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/managing-touch-deprivation

https://zora.medium.com/how-i-am-dealing-with-touch-starvation-829d7c091e8b

https://www.healthline.com/health/eft-tapping#:~:text=Emotional%20freedom%20technique%20(EFT)%20is,energy%20system%20and%20treat%20pain.

[weannewashere]

Something’s Gotta Give

Several years ago, when I started working as a nurse, I found myself bursting with stories to tell after every shift. I would blog almost weekly, trying to permanently record the story of that adorable pedia pre-schooler, or the surprise hospital wedding of that cancer patient, or that crazy shift with the two code blues at four in the morning. These stories - they were how I knew I enjoyed what I was doing.

Well this week I started what is, technically, a new job. And if this urge to blog about the experience is any indication, then welp, it seems like I’m off to a good start. My brain, however, is currently tired, fried and sleep-deprived and can’t think of any smooth ways to transition the random thoughts swirling around in my head right now. So instead of actually telling a story the way a decent blogger would, let me take the lazyas* way out and regale you, dear readers (all four million of you), with a week’s worth of bullet points hahaha. Alright yip yip, let’s go!

First off - it’s been hectic. I’ve been assigned a full load of teaching PLUS am expected to retain all my tasks at the Advancement Office, hence I am basically jugging two full-time jobs. This is my first time teaching all these classes too, and having to make the syllabi and lectures for four different classes from scratch every week is a complete workout for ol’ perfectionist me. My average hours of sleep this past week has been three hours/night, and unfortunately I don’t think it’ll get any easier next week. Also, sleep deprivation, apparently, makes me bruise-y, mushy, and clingy, so it’s been an interesting, slightly hypochondriac-y week.

The Centennial Celebration, which is basically my major job for the Advancement Office, is coming up in just two short weeks, and the tasks, just like all last-minute things, are piling up quickly. I’m still up to my elbows trying to get through my backlog, and yet people keep calling or coming to the office nonstop to follow-up on all the tasks they’ve asked me to do. And it doesn’t help that I only have 1/3 of the time now to do said tasks. So every time someone asks me for something, I smile and nod my head and say I’m on it, but HEAVEN HELP ME, Inner Weanne is actually a full-blown crying Jordan meme haha. And because my typical response to stress is finding my own misery hilarious, I may or may have groan-laughed my way through my to-do list.

Because my day job is keeping me incredibly busy, I have sadly had to defer a lot of the things I wanted to accomplish this month, such as my resolutions to read certain books or go on twice-weekly runs, or my plans to take swim classes or volunteer for Sen. Hontiveros. Never fear, hopes and dreams and bets I’m planning on winning, I will get right back to you mid-February!

But the thing is, I can’t really complain that much. The culture at work is so nice and friendly, and the people I work with pretty much treat me like their daughter haha. The work is overwhelming, but when two older, married fellow committee members come in to hilariously yet wisely advise me on my love life for a full hour, the stress is quickly forgotten hahaha. 

And teaching? I don’t want to jinx it, but I think I’m actually quite enjoying myself! For our first day of class, I got the kids (look at wise old me calling college students kids haha) to do this icebreaker where they each have 12 seconds to say their name, their program, their answer to a question asked by the person before them, and their question to the next person, before passing the timer on to the next person. Their questions ranged from the standard (sleep or food?) to the revealing (what is your weight?) to the impossible (if a boat was sinking, who would you save, your mom or your boyfriend?). One of my favorites was when a guy was asked who his favorite musical artist was. He couldn’t think of an answer off the top of his head, so he just burst out the name of the first singer that came to mind - JUSTIN BIEBER!!! - and then regretted it immediately hahaha. I think we shall all be calling him Justin Bieber from now on haha. One student got the question “Who will be the next Miss Universe?�� and he went all, “Uhh... Uhh... Uhhh...” for a full seven seconds before going, “Uhhh... Ma’am Weanne!!!” (Ah, I think I shall give him an A.) At one point we were all in stitches because one girl panicked so hard, she just screamed throughout the entire 12 seconds hahahaha. 

But okay okay, I did some actual teaching too, okaaaay. And I think this is where the joy mainly comes in. Back in college, I was apathetic when it came to public/community health. Its concepts didn’t make me feel as intelligent as nursing concepts did, its effects on health seemed to be pretty invisible, it wasn’t lucrative at all, and like my friend once said, it seemed like public health was only about pointing at things and saying “that’s dangerous.” But now, I’m this huuuuge global health nerd who feels frisson upon seeing words like health equity, international development, and proper toilet sanitation hahaha. And it feels like I’ve been given this great opportunity and privilege to get kids excited about it as well, and to see them listen and participate eagerly when I get carried away about regularly boring things such as public health history - it’s an awesome, inspiring feeling. And suddenly, not being able to sleep the previous night becomes worth it. And I know there’ll also be discouraging days when I feel like I’m not doing a good job, days when I’ll receive blank stares in return, but here’s to hoping there are more inspiring days than indifferent ones.

I don’t know. I initially titled this blog as “Something’s Gotta Give” because I was fully expecting it to be a rant about how terribly busy this week was, but I guess in retrospect, it actually wasn’t so bad. 

But also, since I’m basically talking about the events this week, here are a few current issues in the Philippines that I particularly need to vent about:

The proposed 10-30% tax on cosmetic products to lessen taxes on fuel. Okay, I can’t even tell a concealer from a foundation or a highlighter from a blush so this law really won’t affect me much, but really now, what kind of drugs are our lawmakers on??? What kind of bullpoop discriminatory policy would tax something that makes a lot of women feel empowered because of the misguided idea that “only the rich can afford to pay for luxury items such as makeup anyway”? You want to tax something? Tax products that are a hazard to the health - soda, junk food, cigarettes! And sure, some men use makeup as well, but one can’t deny that cosmetics are disproportionately used by women. What are we taxing men on? Why can’t men take one for the team as well? (It’s a male politician pushing this law forward btw.) Also, if you’re gonna be charging me 30% more for wanting the “luxury” of not having evil bags under my eyes, then can you make sure my money goes to funding anti-poverty programs and public health and kids’ education and not this disgraceful drug war this country has been bleeding for?

The Philippines��� Miss Universe bet, Maxine Medina, and her not-so-stellar English skills. I am so disappointed... but not in Maxine. I’m disappointed in the Filipinos who have been conditioned into the elitist, colonialist thinking that English skills = intelligence = your worth as a person. I am disappointed in the people who have chosen to shame and mock her on social media, even as she works hard to make this pageant-loving country proud in a few days. It takes a special kind of bravery to do something you know you’re not good at, something you know you’re going to be criticized for, and if there’s any value that little girls could actually learn from a show that makes women strut around in a bikini, it could be that. Also, these days, I think I would be even more impressed with a Filipino who can actually speak straight fluent Tagalog than someone who speaks straight English, anyway.

Okay rants and raves done hahaha. I don’t know if I’m ready to take on next week, but hopefully it’ll give me more stories to tell and less rants to vent about haha. Overall, I’m grateful for this past week and all that mushy stuff okkkk I can’t think of nice conclusions to end this blogpost anymore hahaha. See y’all on the other side, my brain cells need to sleep.

[soulcrazy2017-blog]

The laptop games helping youngsters loosen up

New Post has been published on https://soulcrazy.org/the-laptop-games-helping-youngsters-loosen-up/

The laptop games helping youngsters loosen up

At the unassuming second-ground office of a tech startup in Clerkenwell, London, Simon Fox is coaching me a way to breathe. “You’re no longer trying to shove your belly out with muscular force,” advises the design director of BfB Labs. “Alternatively, what you’re trying to do is experience your lungs expanding into your frame. You don’t want to respire difficulty, but you do want to be breathing into the bottom of your lungs.”

kids

Clipped to my earlobe is a small coronary heart fee display, connected to a Bluetooth tool that is attached to my T-shirt. I’m here to attempt out what Fox and his colleagues have dubbed emotionally responsive gaming (ERG): PC video games designed to increase players’ resilience to mental fitness troubles through the usage of biofeedback to reveal and praise their potential to remain calm below strain. Among rounds in Champions of the Shanghai, the employer’s first providing, gamers have to spend about a minute working towards the form of diaphragmatic respiratory this is extensively endorsed as a relaxation technique; the more efficaciously they control their respiration, the greater gemstones they win to spend on weapons and spells to defeat their combatants. In truth, it’s now not the respiration itself this is tracked, however the participant’s heart rate variability (HRV), which increases in reaction to diaphragmatic respiratory and lower degrees of stress. A better variation indicates a frame with a wholesome ability to relax and respond to activities.

That sounds quite easy, I think, especially as I’m not surely stricken how I fare within the fable-themed struggling with the game (“Like Top Trumps however with way extra thrilling stuff occurring,” is Fox’s rationalization to a non-gamer). On my first attempt, I get four gemstones out of a probable 10; not awful for a first attempt, says Fox, who cites his very own reports of continual anxiety as a using pressure in his paintings. I’m determined to do higher next time. Champions of the Shanghai started existence more than years ago, while Shift, a charity that works on behavior exchange and social troubles, changed into seeking out a way to reinforce youngster joey human beings’ health in reaction to growing evidence of mental fitness problems amongst college-age youngsters. It came across a laptop recreation as a way of making the prospect of being skilled in “emotional regulation” an attractive one and was provided £200,000 funding via Google’s Impact Assignment scheme. A shift later incubated BfB Labs, which took At the improvement of the game. Maintaining it actually exciting and credible as a match in its personal proper has consistently been critical; ERG is being marketed to gamers no longer so much on the idea of its fitness advantages but as an exciting new Mission.

“1/2 of all instances of mental fitness ailment start using the age of 14, and three-quarters through 24,” says Naomi Stoll, the assignment’s lead researcher. “Meditation, mindfulness, and yoga aren’t the types of things that teenage children, specifical teenagers from deprived backgrounds, are going to assume apply to them and instruction. Even 20 minutes of breathing every day is just now not a laugh in any way.”

In a randomized control trial at the Billericay faculty in Essex earlier this year, extra than 4-fifths of the 90 students who performed the game should reliably double their HRV thru centered respiratory. Three-quarters said getting higher at staying calm within the match, and one / four stated that they had started the usage of the strategies in healthy existence. The college had already seen an excellent take-up of mindfulness periods, says deputy head Charlotte Berry, but it has specifically been women, whereas Champions of the Shanghai, which is performed on a telephone or tablet, has been embraced through both boys and girls.

“They in no time started out talking approximately how they were the usage of the inhaling different aspects in their lives,” she says – which include before vital football fits, on occasions when they feared they would lose their tempers, and to cope with stress. Twelve-yr-old Ryan Gibson used diaphragmatic respiration earlier than his stop-of-12 month’s assessments and said it has also been on hand at home: “I’ve were given a laptop youngsters sister who usually annoys me. I use it to stop games myself from reacting and announcing something that could get me in the problem.”

Even though there are a handful of other developers generating PC video games that feed players’ feelings again into play, it’s a device in its infancy. However gaming seems to have a much broader function in selling correct mental health, says Dr. Paul Cairns, a reader in human laptop interaction at the University of York. “We sense better while we have a feeling of competence and autonomy,” he says. And video games, not like actual existence, gift well-defined issues which are designed for humans to be triumphant at: “They offer us the rewards we want.” Crucially, also they provide a breakout from isolation, particularly when you may play in opposition to humans around the arena online.

BfB Labs is planning destiny baby games to attraction to specific audiences: Fox describes one as a “noir-y detective thing” in which you need to hold your cool via a series of interrogations. Champions of the Shanghai has naturally long gone on sale At the crowdfunding webpage Indiegogo, in which a beta version, along with the biofeedback sensor, fees approximately £27, and there also are alternatives to donating the package to faculties.

Lower back in Clerkenwell, Fox instructs me to region my arms on my chest and belly to peer which bits are transferring as I breathe. I may not be engaged with the sport itself. However, it seems my evidently competitive nature is doing a first-rate process of ramping up the pressure: I over sniff. Most useful on my 7th attempt do I sooner or later control a 5.

The subsequent week, with multiple cut-off dates looming, I locate myself absent-mindedly shifting my hand to my belly and adjusting my respiratory. Something, it appears, has stuck.

Inside the heady days of youngsters, as soon as your homework was completed and you’d accomplished your chores, it felt as though you may sit down and play video games without a care in the world. The older you’re, of a route, the also away from this halcyon innocence you get. First analyzing for checks, then paintings and finally the circle of relatives conspire to turn snatched moments joyously wasted in a sport into a sordid, slightly responsible satisfaction. It’s a sense of disgrace that receives worse the longer you spend, which makes huge, savagely addictive video games which include Night (PS4) this type of wealthy supply of capability remorse.

Taking its cues from Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Noah is a sport of combating and exploring wherein your ninja inches his way via labyrinthine networks of corridors, staircases, and chambers populated with the aid of more and more violent men and beasts. Each warfare rewards you with dropped pieces of gadget which you put on to improve your probabilities of survival, which is critical in a recreation where even lowly enemies can kill you if you’re not cautious. The uncompromising issue degree is ratcheted up similarly in the course of encounters with bosses, who almost without exception appear impossible the primary time you meet them, frequently dispatching you in more than one strokes, forcing you to combat your manner again to them over and over again – until you ultimately manipulate to finish them off. The painstaking masochism needed to development makes hard-gained fulfillment all the sweeter. And, like the video games that inspired it, as soon as it’s were given its hooks into you, the real trouble is trying to place down the controller at an affordable hour, so you don’t resemble one among its hole-eyed wraiths within the morning.

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Sniper Elite Four (PS4, Xbox One, Pc) gives an unusual kind of guilty delight. Again, you’re an agent of dying, but this time instead of swinging magic axes at monsters, you’re aiming precision rifles at human heads, something maximum folks might in no way dream of doing in real existence. To assist assuage any latent pangs of moral sense, video games have Three passes to the training of enemy that they think no person should feel awful approximately killing: robots, zombies, and Nazis in the 2d world war. Sniper Elite 4 goes for the final group, its gruesomely bloodthirsty kill-cam following the trajectory of your bullets and zooming in for close-up x-ray shots of exploding brain stems and rupturing inner organs. Matters aren’t quite as straightforward as they appear, although, due to the fact after you’ve killed each person and cross approximately merrily looting their corpses, you start locating their letters home, regularly indeed written and direct however also now and again desperate and poignant. It’s a thrilling counterpoint to the bombast and horror-porn in a game that’s highly unique but doesn’t always want you to feel satisfied with that.

I’m bored Some of London’s most famous sights also are its most luxurious – looking at you Madame Tussauds (from £107 for an own family of 4), London Zoo (£84.60), London Sealife Aquarium (£136). At the plus side, most important museums are free – although a donation of around £five consistent with man or woman is usually recommended – and provide committed trails, activities and every so often apps for children. The Natural History Museum, Technological know-how Museum, British Museum, Museum of London, Imperial Warfare Museum are all worth a visit. The Horniman – with its eclectic Herbal Records and musical device collections and a mini aquarium with poisonous frogs (£nine for an own family of four) – is a company favorite with South London families. My six yr vintage loves drawing and art however brushed off both Tates as “dull.” At his age, it’s all approximately interactive famous, and the Science Museum’s new gallery Wonderland promises on that front with all the buttons, pulleys and experiments a small infant should wish for – plus live shows with explosions. It’s now not loose but costs less than many other London attractions (£20.20 for an own family of four).

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Beyond the museums, a sure-fire place hit for us is the Southbank Centre, which hosts devoted kids’ sports and events at some point of the year, ramping up the imparting for the duration of school vacations: arising is the Consider children’s pageant (nine-19 February – make sure you e-book in advance). The Southbank has its cafe and a gaggle of chain eating places, consisting of Wagamama, Giraffe, and Yo!Sushi, but we skip the ones in favor of the food market behind the Royal competition Corridor, which has dozens of road food stalls. Fuelled using a hotdog (right sausages) and an ice-cream, in summer we then head to the Appearing Rooms fountains (carry spare garments) overlooking the river. If we challenge Similarly, there’s a terrific hour or so really worth of distractions such as skateboarders, sand artists At the tiny tidal seashore out of doors Gabriels’ Wharf and road entertainers – the bubble guy outdoor Tate Cutting-edge continually has a crowd of youngsters in thrall to him. On a similar notice, there are almost invariably good avenue entertainers in Covent Lawn too.