The amygdala works like our emotional thermostat and regulates our reaction to certain forces like stress and fear. To understand why we feel stressed, it’s helpful to understand the role of the amygdala, essentially 2 almond-sized processing chips in the brain that govern our senses, decisions, and moods. While the terms are often used interchangeably, they are very different states. Anxiety, on the other hand, is a visceral feeling that can linger, and it is not always clear why it’s happening. Stress often kicks in due to a situation we can see and comprehend - we tend to know what we’re dealing with and what’s stressing us out. Rather than being caught up in our stress, meditation teaches us to become the observers of certain mental patterns, and, therefore, become less affected by them. That’s because in training the mind to be more open and less reactive, we’re better able to cope when life’s stressors - in work, family, relationships, school, finances, even traffic - start accumulating. In fact, meditation has been scientifically proven to help alleviate stress after just eight weeks of regular practice. Numerous studies have shown that meditation is an effective stress-management tool, ultimately reprogramming the brain to the extent that meditators end up with more capacity to manage stress when meditation is a consistent, daily practice. And, while stress can have serious repercussions on our health, sometimes, simply taking time to pause and rest the mind can be enough to feel better in the moment. At one time or another, many of us will have experienced a sense of being overwhelmed, as if everything were too much.
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Enjoy miles of sandy beaches and pristine waters, visit charming towns with local shops, enjoy locally caught seafood, and go lighthouse spotting. The island is connected to the eastern mainland in New Brunswick by the 12.9-kilometre-long Confederation Bridge and boasts rolling green hills and red sandstone cliffs. Prince Edward Island is one of the most serene places in Canada. Spectacles like the Northern Lights in Canada’s Great North draw visitors to one of the few places on earth where you’ll witness this natural phenomenon. There are numerous natural wonders to explore in Canada, including the fjords in Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park, Mount Thor on Baffin Island in Nunavut - home to the greatest vertical drop on the planet, at over 1,250 metres - and the iconic Niagara Falls in Ontario. Montreal is the core of Canada’s French identity, home to imposing 18th- and 19th-century architecture, cafe culture, and an internationally renowned jazz festival.Ĭanada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined - more than two million - including the picturesque Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, the magical Lake Superior in Ontario, and the largest lake in the country, Lake Huron, with more than 3,000 miles of coastline and hundreds of beaches to enjoy. In the east, the city of Toronto is located on the cool waters of Lake Ontario, where you’ll find a lively arts scene and a seemingly endless array of cuisines to savor. The cobbled streets of Gastown neighbor one of the country’s largest Chinese communities, while the stone Seawall winds around sprawling Stanley Park. The city of Vancouver sits on the US border, surrounded by water on three sides and bordered by the majestic North Shore Mountains. In wintertime Canada becomes a wonderland for skiing and snowboarding at the spectacular snow-capped peaks of famous resorts like Whistler and Banff in the west, and the European-style ski village of Mont Tremblant in Québec in the east. From coast to coast, the second-largest country in the world is full of modern cities and stunning landscapes. |