When Jasmine Marie was fresh out of business school and dealing in global brand marketing, she realized she was stressed. As Marie told ESSENCE, “Nobody ever said it outright, but the basic message was that if you want to succeed, you’re going to have to push yourself to the limits.”

But it got to the purpose where Marie literally experienced a physical response to the stress she was experiencing. So she tried to seek out a solution to reduce stress. At the time, she was volunteering at her church they usually were opening a community center offering free breathing classes.

After the primary session she was hooked.

“I just kept going and eventually got certified,” she said. However, during her training, she “noticed that there were very few practitioners of color, especially black ones.”

“Knowing how much [as Black people] keeping trauma in our bodies and the specific challenges we face in society” – Marie’s attitude immediately modified to how she could communicate this to our community. And so begins the story of Marie’s company, Black Girls Breathing.

What exactly is breathing?

Marie says it’s “an active form of meditation that helps the nervous system reprogram its response to triggers, trauma, stress and anxiety.” She added that “our bodies are naturally wired to know easy methods to take care of stress, but if you take very specific circumstances into consideration, whether it’s generational trauma, social trauma or individual trauma, our system is overwhelmed.”

When this happens, “we live in fight or flight mode and have high cortisol levels. Our social experiences [this] more than any other demographic group.” “With all this, he’s like a muscle. If you don’t train it, you can kind of weaken, so we use breathing work to strengthen those muscles,” Marie explained. “It is believed to be a somatic tool that helps the body heal.”

Marie’s ultimate goal: “to provide free mental health resources to one million Black women and girls in our community [by 2025]” How can you breathe with Marie? She said it was as simple as “yes[ing] pledge on our website” at www.blackgirlsbreathing.com.

Once you enroll, “you will be able to receive a free mental health toolkit that will include breathing videos, audio meditations, journaling prompts for very specific types of trauma, as well as cultural resources that are truly relevant to what it is to be a black woman experiences on a daily basis, in addition to other mental health resources.”

Black Girls Breathing is even back in person for the primary time for the reason that pandemic. This November and December, sessions will likely be held in Washington, D.C. and Houston, Texas, with exact dates and times yet to be determined.

As for the long run of Black Girls Breathing, Marie said, “next year we will launch our breathwork facilitator program and… we have already started conversations with school systems. We want to be able to work with school counselors, especially in at-risk schools.”

Children, especially toddlers and preschoolers, have an uncanny ability to surprise adults. One of the more disturbing discoveries parents could make is that their child has stuck a small object, akin to a Lego piece, up their nose.

Queensland Children’s Hospital recently reported Over 1,650 children presented to the emergency department with foreign bodies within the nose over the past decade. The most typical items were Lego bricks, beads, marbles, batteries, buttons and crayons.

As Christmas approaches, we’ll likely see more of those little items showing up in our homes as toys, gifts or novelties.

But why do children put such things up their noses? This is how natural curiosity, developing superb motor skills, and a limited understanding of risk generally is a dangerous combination.

1. Children are curious creatures

Young children are naturally curious creatures. During infancy and preschool, children explore their surroundings using their senses. They touch, taste, smell, listen and take a look at every part around them. It is a natural a part of their development and an enormous a part of how they learn in regards to the world.

Scientists call it “curiosity-based learning“. They say children usually tend to explore unfamiliar objects or after they don’t fully understand how they work. This may explain why young children are inclined to be drawn to latest or unfamiliar objects in the house.

Unfortunately, this healthy developmental curiosity sometimes results in them putting things in places they should not be, like their nose.

2. Children are great at imitating

Young children often imitate what they see. This is confirmed by research that followed the identical group of children over time imitation plays a key role in child development. This prompts certain critical neural pathways within the brain. Imitation is very vital when learning to make use of and understand language and while learning superb motor skills akin to walking, clapping, catching a ball, waving and writing.

Put simply, when a baby imitates, it strengthens brain connections and helps him learn latest skills faster. Anecdotally, parents of young children could have the chance to see their younger children copying the expressions or gestures of their older siblings.

Putting objects up your nose is not any different. Young children see older children and adults placing objects near their faces – after they blow their nose, put on makeup, or eat – and judge to try it themselves.

3. Children don’t understand the risks yet

Young children will be curious. However, they should not have the cognitive ability or reasoning ability to grasp the results of putting objects into their nose or mouth. This generally is a dangerous combination. Therefore, supervision of the child is important.

Small, brilliant objects, objects with interesting textures or objects that resemble food are especially tempting for little ones.

What can I do?

Sometimes it is clear that the kid has put something up their nose, but not at all times. Your child could have pain or itching across the nose, discharge or bleeding from the nose, be nervous or uncomfortable.

If your child has difficulty respiration or you watched that she or he has inserted a pointy object or button cell battery, seek immediate medical attention. Button batteries may burn and damage tissues in only quarter-hour, which may result in infection and injury.

If your child puts an object where it shouldn’t:

• keep calm: Your child will react to your emotions, so attempt to remain calm and assured

• assess the situation: are you able to see the item? Is your child in a difficult situation?

• encourage your child to achieve this blow your nose gently. This can assist you move the item

• take your child outside within the sun: A brief exposure of a minute or two could cause a “sun sneeze” that could cause the topic to maneuver. However, it is best to avoid sniffing as this will likely cause the item to travel further down the respiratory tract and into the lungs

• never try to remove the item yourself using tweezers, cotton swabs or other tools. This can push the item deeper into the nose, causing more damage.

If these methods don’t remove the item, your child just isn’t distressed and you don’t suspect the presence of a pointy object or button cell battery, see your GP. They may give you the chance to see and take away the item.

Prevention is best

Preventing these events starts with keeping small, shiny, tempting objects out of children’s reach and teaching them to not put objects up their noses or mouths.

Supervision is vital. Parents and caregivers will also be strict about what they convey into the house. If there’s another product, akin to the same product that doesn’t require a button cell battery, consider purchasing it.

Curiosity is a characteristic of children and a key learning process within the early years of life. However, this curiosity combined with a limited ability to acknowledge danger generally is a dangerous combination. By being aware of dangers, being supervised and taking appropriate motion when incidents occur, parents can keep their children secure while exploring the world.

As the weather gets warmer, offices activate the air-con. But with such different temperature preferences, where should you set the thermostat?

Finding the optimal temperature that suits everyone can be an inconceivable task. So why do we’ve got such different temperature preferences? And doesn’t it just affect our comfort level?

Women prefer a rather warmer office

Although there are at all times more similarities than differences between the sexes, women are inclined to feel cold more often than men.

AND 2021 study of over 38,000 participants found that 38% of respondents were dissatisfied with the temperature of their office. Almost two thirds of the dissatisfied were women.

When asked in other studies less satisfied women said they preferred higher temperatures, while less satisfied men preferred a cooler office environment.

Although the small print vary, optimal temperature within the office Down women is commonly about 1°C higher than in men. One study reported that the optimal temperature is 24.0°C for ladies and 23.2°C for men.

Can temperature affect your ability to work?

Room temperature can impact productivity. It has been found that men perform higher in warmer environments (above 25°C). worse in math and verbal tasks, while women performed worse at lower temperatures (below 25°C).

But for other tasks, temperature has no effect. The researchers found no difference within the sexes’ performance on a spread of cognitive tasks, comparable to cognitive reflection tests (where the questions are such that the intuitive answer is the mistaken answer), or cognitive load tasks (by which working memory is overloaded).

It is commonly suggested that temperature may influence concentration, but this is just not at all times the case.

When subjects (men and girls) accomplished a series of cognitive tasks, the outcomes were the identical not applicable at temperatures from 22°C (considered cold) to 25°C (considered hot).

These researchers argued that maintaining the next temperature is perfect for environmental advantages and energy savings.

What is behind the temperature differences between the sexes?

Hormones play a key role in our temperature preferences.

Testosterone causes greater muscle development across the arms. Muscles produce heat, which is why men usually tend to have warmer necks than women. This area is especially sensitive to low temperatures.

Estrogen promotes and maintains difference fat distribution in women who are inclined to wear light more fat between skin and muscles in lots of areas. It makes the skin feel cooler and causes a preference for barely higher temperatures.

Women also are inclined to lower metabolic rate (or slower metabolism) than in men. This means women produce less heat and their bodies are more at risk of feeling cold in lower temperatures.

Women’s preferences can change from week to week

The menstrual cycle has a big impact on temperature preferences. After ovulation, the ovaries release more progesterone. This causes the body’s core temperature warm by roughly 0.3–0.6°C. This signifies that women will perceive the surface temperature as lower than men as a consequence of the greater temperature drop in comparison with their core temperature.

Progesterone helps too save heatdraining blood from the skin to the organs. This signifies that women’s hands, ears and feet can be ready 1-2°C colder than men’s. It is harder to feel warm in a chilly environment when your hands and feet are very cold.

At other times of the month the situation will be the opposite. Estrogen causes blood to flow into the skinleading to greater heat dissipation and potential hot flashes.

During pregnancy and menopause, hormones change again and can flow in several directions. This can make you feel cold, but additionally hot flashes and a transient increase in feelings of warmth, with cooler environments being strongly preferred.

This signifies that some women may prefer a lower temperature one week after which the next temperature the following.

What else influences temperature preferences?

Generally, body size and composition has a robust influence on temperature preferences. Since muscles produce heat, the more muscle mass we’ve got, the more heat we generate, keeping us warm.

Temperature perception can even be influenced by many individual aspects, comparable to age, height and weight. Overweight body size is related to a greater preference for cooler environments.

Age can also affect thermoregulatory mechanisms, comparable to our body’s ability to sweat, in addition to noticing changes within the body temperature. Children too less likely notice cold than adults.

Of course, the kind of work you do also has an impact. The more you move, the more heat you produce.

The dress code within the office also has an impact. If heavy business suits or formal attire are expected, a cooler environment could also be more appropriate.

Ethnicity can also have an effect. After side-by-side comparison in a single study, Asian participants reported that they did more convenient in environments 5°C warmer than participants of European descent.

And finally, we cannot ignore individual preferences. Some people could have grown up in a chilly environment and easily turn into accustomed to the cold, or vice versa.

What in regards to the environmental impact?

Heating and cooling can provide 20–50% energy household use i 40-70% energy use in office buildings.

In summer, higher temperatures within the office don’t use as much energy. In fact, energy consumption increases by 5-10% for every of them 1°C the temperature is lowered.

However, you don’t desire to shut them down an excessive amount of. Air conditioning systems also reduce humidity by removing moisture from the air, which is a very important measure to forestall moisture from forming in indoor spaces mold growth.

Because hormones that influence temperature preferences change throughout the month, health status, body composition, individual experiences and age all play a task, there may never be a one-size-fits-all approach to setting the office thermostat.

Therefore, it is suggested that employees be encouraged to have open conversations about temperature, and managers should hearken to each member’s needs and be willing to switch the thermostat if mandatory.