You may recall that before the holidays I wrote a blog about the importance of putting down your phone and unplugging for a while. I have to say I was surprised by the response it generated, with so many of you telling me that it really resonated with you!
We know that our phones can add to our mental stress, but did you know that constantly checking our phones and being interrupted by emails, news alerts and other distractions can affect our physical well-being by raising our cortisol levels?
Often known as the fight-or-flight hormone, cortisol raises our blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar. This is helpful when we are in physical danger, but not so much when we encounter emotional stressors while we are supposedly “relaxing” and scrolling through our phones.
So for your overall health and well-being, set aside time each day to silence the phone. In my next blog, we’ll look at another reason to put down the phone.