Quitting smoking reduces anxiety 戒菸降低緊張感

Smokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards — despite the belief that smoking relieves stress, researchers say.

The British Journal of Psychiatry study followed nearly 500 smokers attending National Health Service Stop Smoking Clinics in England. It found a “significant” decrease in anxiety levels among the 68 smokers who had quit after six months.

The effect was greater among those who had mood and anxiety disorders than those who smoked for pleasure.

The researchers — drawn from several universities including Cambridge, Oxford and King’s College London — said the findings should be used to reassure smokers attempting to quit that concerns about increased anxiety levels were unfounded.
(Liberty Times)

研究人員說，雖然一般認為吸菸可舒緩壓力，但吸菸者成功戒菸後，反而比較不會覺得緊張。
《英國精神病學期刊》刊登的這份研究，追蹤在英格蘭向「國民保健服務處」戒菸診所求助的近五百名吸菸者。研究發現，六十八名在六個月後戒菸的吸菸者，緊張感「顯著」降低。
戒菸對有情緒與緊張失調者的影響，比為了愉悅感而吸菸者來得大。

選自劍橋、牛津與倫敦國王學院等大學的研究人員說，這項研究發現應該用來說服欲戒菸者，戒菸會增加緊張感的憂慮並沒有根據。

（自由時報／翻譯：自由時報國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. afterwards adv.
後來 (hou4 lai2)
例: We had tea, and afterwards we sat in the garden for a while.
(我們喝了茶，然後在花園裡坐了一會兒。)

2. relieve v.
舒緩 (shu1 huan3))
例: She was given a shot of morphine to relieve the pain.
(她打了一針嗎啡舒緩疼痛。)

3. unfounded adj.
無根據的 (wu2 gen1 ju4 de5)
例: I’m pleased to see that our fears about the weather proved totally unfounded.
(我很高興我們對天氣的擔心最後是多慮了。)

Links:
http://www.spiritvoyage.com/blog/index.php/stop-smoking-with-kundalini-yoga/

Using the Internet to reduce stress at work 求職網：聊天、上網、臉書 上班族紓壓三寶

Apart from performing proper tasks, what else are office workers preoccupied with on the job? A survey conducted by the online job board yes123 found that chatting, using the Internet and Facebook are office workers’ three main ways of relaxing at work, with 54.4 percent saying that it helps reduce work-related stress.

The survey found that the majority of office workers spend on average six hours per day performing work-related tasks (24.9 percent), followed by people who spend seven hours (21.9 percent), or more than two-thirds of their time at the office. When answering multiple-choice questions, it was discovered that the rest of their time is spent chatting with coworkers (66.4 percent), surfing the Internet (43.2 percent) or using Facebook (42.3 percent).

Although it may be a form of escapism, most office workers (54.4 percent) think that such distractions are helpful ways to relieve work-related stress, while some (9.7 percent) believe that it helps them work more efficiently, and is a necessary distraction (7.3 percent). In comparison, only 5.2 percent believe that surfing the Internet is lazy and irresponsible behavior, while 4.5 percent said it is a failure to perform their proper duties and 3 percent feel pangs of conscience when they engage in such activities.

As for exactly how much time office workers spend on Facebook, Internet auctions or chatting at work, the survey found that more than half spend 1.5 hours on average surfing the Internet every day. Around 59 percent of the respondents said that they spend half an hour on Facebook every day, while 21 percent said they spend an hour on the social networking site. Among the respondents, 64 percent said they usually spend around half an hour every day on Internet auctions or group buying sites. Around 57 percent said that they spend approximately half an hour every day using chatting software.

TODAY’S WORDS今日單字

1. relieve v.
緩和；減輕 (huan3 he2; jian3 qing1)
例: I took some medicine to relieve my upset stomach.
(我吃了緩和腸胃不適的藥。)

2. efficiently adv.
有效率地 (you3 xiao4 lu4 de5)
例: Using water more efficiently can mitigate the effects of drought.
(有效率地用水可以減輕旱災的影響。)

3. pang of conscience n. phr.
良心不安 (liang2 xin1 bu4 an1)
例: Hank had a sudden pang of conscience and decided to tell her the truth.
(漢克突然良心不安，決定跟她說實話。)

Exercise, less sitting time, linked to better sleep 少坐多動 或可改善睡眠

A boy tries out a treadmill at a promotional event in Beijing, China on April 29.
一名男孩四月二十九日在中國北京試用一款跑步機。

Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社

Insomniacs looking for a good night’s sleep may want to hit the treadmill, take a walk or play a game of golf or tennis, because a new report released on March 4 shows that exercise promotes good sleep, and the more vigorous the workout the better.

Just 10 minutes of exercise a day could make a difference in the duration and quality of sleep, the survey by the non-profit National Sleep Foundation showed.

“We found that exercise and great sleep go together, hand in hand,” Max Hirshkowitz, a sleep researcher and the chair of the poll task force, said in an interview.

“We also found a step-wise increase in how vigorous the quality is, in terms of how much you exercise. So if you say you exercise a lot, we found better sleep quality. For people who don’t exercise at all we found more sleep problems.”

Earlier research studies have shown the impact of exercise on sleep, but Hirshkowitz, who is a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said the survey is the first to detail the benefits of exercise in a nationally representative poll of this size.

People who described themselves as exercisers reported better sleep than their more sedentary counterparts, although the amount of sleep, an average of just under seven hours on weeknights, was the same.

(Reuters)

想要一夜好眠的失眠患者或許會想在跑步機上跑步、散步、打高爾夫或網球了，因為三月四日公布的一項研究報告顯示，運動可以改善睡眠，且強度越大，功效越明顯。

非營利組織「全國睡眠基金會」的調查結果顯示，每天只要十分鐘的運動時間，可改善睡眠時間長度與品質。

負責該項調研小組的睡眠專家馬克斯‧赫許可維茲在採訪中指出：「我們發現，運動與高品質的睡眠，息息相關。」

「我們同時發現運動量與睡眠品質兩者的關聯呈逐步增加的方式，因此運動較多的人睡眠品質更好一些，而一點都不運動的人，則面臨更多的睡眠問題。」

此前已有研究顯示運動對睡眠有影響，而目前在休士頓貝勒醫學院擔任教授的赫許可維茲表示，該調查是第一個具有全美國代表性、詳述運動好處的調查。

相較於經常久坐的人來說，將自己定位為愛好運動的受訪者普遍睡眠品質較好，而這兩個群體的平均睡眠時間則大致相等，在週間夜晚均為略少於七個小時。

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. vigorous adj.

激烈的 (ji1 lie4 de5)

例: Vigorous activities help you burn more calories.

(激烈運動有助消耗更多卡路里。)

2. step-wise adj.

逐步的；循序漸進的 (zhu2 bu4 de5; xun2 xu4 jian4 jin4 de5)

例: It is a step-wise method.

(這是一個循序漸進的方法。)

3. sedentary adj.

不常運動的；久坐的 (bu4 chang2 yun4 dong4 de5; jiu3 zuo4 de5)

例: I’m bored with sedentary work.

(我對久坐的工作已膩了。)

Prana Pulse Flow

63:18 

Intermediate

This Shiva-Rea style flow is challenging, fun and full of energy. Tianne livens it up with her enthusiastic guidance.

Summer is the season for swimmer’s ear 夏天戲水 急性外耳炎多三成

People wash their hair and go swimming more often in the summer, and with more water entering the ears along with damage caused by improper cleaning, symptoms, for example, pain, itching, secretions and odors, can also occur more frequently.

Otolaryngologists, or ear, nose and throat doctors, have recently seen a 30 percent increase in cases of acute otitis externa, or swimmer’s ear, which if left untreated could get worse and cause the eardrum to rupture, do damage to the middle ear, and possibly affect one’s hearing.

Swimmer’s ear is very common during the summer months. Wu Sih-wei, director of Taichung Hospital’s Department of Otolaryngology, says that around 90 percent of swimmer’s ear cases are water-related. Water can easily enter the ear when washing one’s hair, rinsing off in the shower or taking a dip in the pool to cool off. When the inside of the ear is wet and moist, people will usually want to dig around in their ears, but because the skin inside the ear canal is quite thin, damage can easily be done, causing inflammation if the water inside the ear is unsanitary.

Many people this summer with ear infections are exhibiting the symptoms of pain and itching, and subsequently digging moist, odorous secretions out of their ears. In severe cases, people are not going to the doctor until pus starts running out of their ears. Most of the cases that doctors are seeing are swimmer’s ear. If the condition grows worse, it could cause the eardrum to rupture or otitis media, commonly called middle ear infection.

Aside from swimmer’s ear, many people are also getting chronic infections due to outer ear infections caused by mold, which also causes pain, itching and secretions.


Wu suggests wearing earplugs when swimming to keep water from entering the ears, and says people should not use cotton swabs or Q-tips to clean their ears after taking a shower or washing their hair to avoid doing damage to the ear canal and causing infection. Wu also adds that people should not use the same cotton swabs or Q-tips that have been used by other people when visiting hair or beauty salons.

(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)

TODAY’S WORDS

今日單字

1. inflammation n.
發炎 (fa1 yan2)
例: Inflammation can be caused by infection.
(感染可引起發炎。)

2. symptom n.
症狀 (zheng4 zhuang4)
例: A runny nose and a sore throat are typical symptoms of the common cold.
(感冒常見的症狀包含流鼻涕與喉嚨痛。)

3. cotton swab n. phr.
棉花棒 (mian2 hua1 bang4)
例: Using cotton swabs is not a medically recommended method for removing earwax.
(用棉花棒掏耳垢不是醫界推薦的方法。)

夏季洗頭、游泳機會多，耳朵容易進水加上不當掏耳受傷，出現耳朵痛、癢、分泌物濕臭等不適，耳鼻喉科醫師觀察急性外耳炎患者增加三成，如果惡化，耳膜破損、傷及中耳，可能影響聽力。

夏季常見民眾罹患急性外耳炎，台中醫院耳鼻喉科主任吳思緯指出，約有九成患者與耳朵接觸水有關。洗頭、沖涼或是游泳消暑，都使得耳朵容易進水，當耳朵悶濕就會想掏耳朵，耳道皮膚薄，常因不當掏耳造成破皮，一旦水質不潔就容易感染細菌發炎。

今夏許多患者的耳朵出現疼痛、發癢症狀，又動手掏耳朵掏出又濕又臭的分泌物，有人嚴重到耳朵流出膿液才就醫，大多數是罹患急性外耳炎，再惡化可能造成耳膜破裂、中耳炎。
除了急性外耳炎，也有許多患者外耳感染黴菌造成慢性發炎，一樣又痛又癢，出現分泌物。
吳思緯建議，游泳戴耳塞，以避免耳朵進水，洗澡、洗頭後也盡量不要用棉花棒或用掏耳棒挖耳朵，以防耳道彎曲受傷造成發炎，也不要到理髮廳或理容院，與其他人共用掏耳棒清耳朵。

（自由時報記者蔡淑媛）

Humming Bee Breath/ Bhramari Pranayama

90 percent less bees this year worries beekeepers 蜜蜂少九成　養蜂人家苦

Chang Ching-po, head of the beekeeper class at Keelung Farmers’ Association, holds up a beehive in Keelung on March 21.
基隆市農會土蜂養蜂班班長張清波三月二十一日在基隆市拿養蜂箱。

Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者俞肇福

With flowers not blooming due to a climate in chaos and a long rainy season, only 150 of 500 hives kept by the 19 beekeepers at Keelung Farmers Association’ are left. Chang Ching-po, head of the beekeeper class there, said that each hive originally had 20,000 bees but now only has 3,000, leaving only a million of the usual 10 million bees, which is a big loss.

Chang said there are still two months until the spring honey is harvested during the fourth month of the lunar calendar, and that all they can do now is hope for normal weather and that it will stop raining so much. This way the number of bees increases, they have a normal harvest, and can lower their losses.

Chang also said it has been raining nonstop in Keelung since October last year and that there have been very few days with nice weather, which is a huge thorn in the side for beekeepers in the Keelung area. Abnormal weather coupled with low temperatures is making bees unwilling to leave their hives.

He said the main problem is that it keeps raining, which has affected the blooming of flowers in the Cidu mountain area. Flowers are now withering before they even begin to bloom because of the heavy rains. While they wait in their hives for good weather, the bees do not go out to get pollen and nectar, seriously affecting the amount of honey being produced. Chang said the scope of beekeeping at Keelung Farmers’ Association includes the Cidu mountain area, and Nuannuan and Anle districts, all of which are facing the same problem. Chang originally had 110 hives, which should each have 20,000 bees, but now there are only 20 hives left with less than 4,000 bees in each one.

Chang also said he has not seen such strange phenomena in over a decade. If bees are not freezing to death, they are dying outside. Aside from affecting the honey harvest, it will also influence the price of honey. He just hopes good weather comes quickly and things return to normal in the remaining two months.

(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY KYLE JEFFCOAT)

氣候亂、雨季長花不開，造成基隆農會土蜂養蜂班十九戶養蜂人家五百箱土蜂，僅剩下一百五十箱；土蜂養蜂班班長張清波說，每箱本來有兩萬隻土蜂，現在剩下三千隻，造成大約一千萬隻土蜂只剩下不到一百萬隻土蜂，損失慘重。

張清波說，距離農曆四月底春蜜採收還剩兩個月，現在只能希望天氣正常、雨不要再下個不停，讓土蜂數量再增加，採收能夠如常，以減少損失。

他說，基隆地區從去年十月下旬迄今，一直持續下雨，好天氣屈指可數，讓基隆地區的養蜂人家十分頭痛。天氣異常加上氣溫低，養蜂箱中的土蜂都不願出門採蜜。

他表示，最主要就是雨一直下，讓七堵山區的樹木開花受影響，花還沒開就被大雨給淋到凋零，等到好天氣時，土蜂出門身上都黏不到花粉也吸不到花蜜，更影響到蜂蜜產量。他說，基隆農會養蜂範圍包括七堵山區、暖暖區、安樂區，大家都面臨同樣問題；以他自己為例，本來有一百一十箱，一個蜂箱原本應該有兩萬隻的土蜂，但是現在只剩不到二十個養蜂箱，而且剩下的養蜂箱每個箱子剩不到四千隻。

他說，十幾年來從沒見過這樣怪異的現象，蜜蜂不是凍死，就是在外面死亡；除了影響蜂蜜採收外，連帶也會影響蜂蜜價格，他只希望趕快好天氣，在剩下兩個月時間恢復正常。

（自由時報記者俞肇福）

Happy Mother's Day 母親節 Series

There are thousands of yoga videos out there and I've sifted through them joyfully to find these little nuggets.有成千的瑜伽影帶在市面上，經過篩選後，我很高興有地找到這些很棒的寶貝。 I hope in whatever stage of Motherhood you are in, that you enjoy your body and breath and learn something new.  不管你現在處於任何階段的母親，我希望你能享受你的身體、氣息和學習新的東西。

If you are not a Mom, you can be someone who can practice yoga and intentionally dedicate your practice to a mother today. 如果你不是一個媽媽，你可以成為一個練習瑜伽的人，而且可以把你的練習在今天特意地獻給一個母親。

Part 1: Fertility 生育能力 Yoga

Boost your chances of having a baby with two cups of tea a day 每天兩杯茶　可提高懷胎機率

Part 2: Fertility 生育能力 Yoga

Sexagenarian gives birth to fraternal twins 六十多歲生下雙胞胎

Part 3: Prenatal 產前Yoga

October babies more prone to allergies 十月出生台灣囝仔　最容易過敏

Part 4: Yoga for Childbirth 分娩

Woman gives birth in rescue helicopter 婦女在救難直昇機上生產

Part 5: Post Natal 產後Yoga

Traditional postnatal confinement taboos in need of updating 坐月子禁忌　宜與時俱進

Part 6: Mommy and Baby Yoga

Summer babies less likely to be CEOs 夏天出生的寶寶較不可能當上CEO

Part 7: Yoga for Busy Moms

Women still confronted with yawning gender wage gap 女性仍面臨極大的性別薪資落差

Women still confronted with yawning gender wage gap 女性仍面臨極大的性別薪資落差

(Our Mother's Day 母親節 Series Part 7: Yoga for Busy Moms)

Heidi Gauthier, left, helps jobseeker Jennifer Thomas look at job postings online at a community center in Washington on June 1.
海蒂‧高提耶（左）六月一日在華府一處社區活動中心，協助一位名為珍妮佛‧湯瑪士的求職者在網路銀行上找工作。

Photo: Bloomberg
照片：彭博社

In most common occupations women still make less than men doing the same job for an equal amount of hours, according to new data released on April 17. Overall they earn 77 cents for each dollar made annually by men and for some jobs, such as financial manager, the number drops to 66 cents.

“These gender wage gaps are not about women choosing to work less than men — the analysis is comparing apples to apples, men and women who all work full time — and we see that across 40 common occupations, men nearly always earn more than women,” said Ariane Hegewisch, a study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a non-profit research organization.

She added that the reasons are varied but discrimination law cases show that women are less likely to be selected for the best jobs, they get hired at a lower rate and don’t get equivalent raises to men over the years.

“Discrimination in who gets hired for the best jobs hits all women but particularly black and Hispanic women,” Hegewisch explained.

(Reuters)

根據四月十七日發布的新數據，在多數常見的職業中，即使兩性工時等長，女性薪資仍比做同樣工作的男性低。總體而言，男性每年每賺一美元，女性就只賺七十七美分，而在某些如財務經理之類的職業，女性收入跌至六十六美分。

非營利研究機構婦女政策研究協會的研究主任赫格維奇說：「性別薪資差距並非與女性選擇做較少工作有關，這份分析是拿蘋果跟蘋果比，男女均是全職工作。我們看到，在四十種常見職業中，男性幾乎總是賺得比女性多。」

她還指出，（男女薪資有落差的）原因各有不同，但性別歧視法律案例顯示，女性較不可能被選上來擔任最好的工作，她們被僱用的比例較低，工作多年後加薪幅度也不如男性。

赫格維奇解釋：「所有女性在爭取最好的工作時均遭受歧視，但黑人和拉丁美洲裔女性更是如此。」

（路透/翻譯：國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS (今日單字)

1. yawning adj.

極大的 (ji2 da4 de5)

例: There is a yawning discrepancy on the balance sheet.

(帳目收支出現極大的落差。)

2. discrimination n.

歧視 (qi2 shi4)

例: Women are still fighting discrimination in the workplace.

(女性在職場上仍力抗歧視。)

3. raise n.

加薪 (jia1 xin1)

例: I got a raise at last.

(我終於加薪了。)