In today's busy and competitive world, we all lead incredibly stressful lives. When stress becomes overwhelming, it can affect our mood and productivity. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The good news is that it is manageable and can be reduced, or even relieved completely.

    Enter the world of books. Feeling stressed out? Pick up your favorite book and leave the reality and worries behind. It is the most effective way to relax and overcome stress. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Getting lost in a book before bedtime can calm your mind and prepare your body for a good night's sleep.

    Connect with people. Another way to successfully beat stress is meeting with friends. Friends and loved ones are important to any healthy lifestyle. If you're feeling a little overwhelmed and just can't seem to shake it off, call your best friend or a member of your family and talk to them. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Walk it off. You can also effectively relieve yourself of stress by simply taking a walk around your neighborhood. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} There's a whole new world up there that you never seem to notice while rushing to work or talking to someone. Take a moment to admire a new building or a balcony somewhere high up that reminds you of a castle from your favorite movie. Enjoy your time alone and seize every moment of it.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Nothing brings you back on track like a good laughter. It is the most powerful antidote(良方) to stress and it brings joy into your life. Laughing brings people together and drives away all stress-related problems as if they never existed. It is absolutely the best medicine there is, and it will keep you both physically and emotionally healthy.

    While engineers have made out fantastic products for sitting still—Munchery instead of walking to lunch, Uber instead of walking to the bus stop—services to make you move have been less appealing for consumers.

    Fitbit's stock price fell 18% after they announced their latest Apple Watch-like product named Fitbit Force. And new data suggests that, for the first time, death rates for large parts of the American population are rising, with signs pointing to inactivity and weight gain as the reasons. Our digital lifestyles and desk-based workplaces are contributing to serious health problems and could be shortening our lives, wellness firms want us to believe.

    Northrup, president and co-founder of the connected exercise device TAO-Wellness, was in Las Vegas to promote TAO's small device that encourages exercises. He lifts the device, about the size of an apple, and says workplaces should start encouraging on-site exercise.

    Nick Mokey, the managing editor of Digital Trends, agrees. “I hate to break it to you, a room full of people sitting down, but sitting is killing you,” he says to the audience. They shift in their seats.

    In the health section of the Sands Exposition Hall, people are selling devices made by LifeSpan Fitness. They say they're the largest seller of treadmill（跑步机） desks in the US. At the center of their exhibition area is a Bike Desk, which looks like three gym bikes attached to a table. That's for people who just want to sit and enjoy conversation.

    Treadmill desk-related shame is their biggest obstacle, they say when LifeSpan installs two in opposite ends of the same building, neither tends to get used. If the company installs two next to each other, people will use them. “You don't want to be so noticeable, especially at work,” company spokesman James Lowe says. What's more, what if we get sweaty using a treadmill in the office?

    You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world's temperature. But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation (撤离) of an island nation, the citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.

    During the 20th century, sea level rose 8~12 inches. As a result, Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water that has polluted the country's drinking water.

    Paani Laupepa, a Tuvaluan government official, reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years. Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.

    Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (排放), which are a main cause of global warming. “By refusing to sign the agreement, the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years.” Laupepa told the BBC.

    Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries.

    Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable (易受影响的) to rising sea levels. Maumoon Gayoon, president of the Maldives, told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.

    Animal lovers have long suspected that playing with pups was good for the soul, and now science has confirmed it – for students in particular.

    The results of a new study done by researchers at the University of British Columbia concluded that the college students who spent time at drop-in dog therapy sessions experienced an increase in feelings of wellness and a reduction in overall stress. The study, as reported by Science Daily, indicates that playing with pups is not only popular with the students, it's also beneficial to their health. This finding was seen across gender（性别）.

    The study, which published on March 12 in the journal Stress and Health, involved 246 students who were surveyed before and after they dropped by dog therapy sessions. The young participants were given free access to pet, hug with and talk to seven to 12 therapy dogs. Additionally, they filled out questionnaires right before and right after hanging with the dogs, as well as 10 hours later.

    According to researchers, these young adults reported a notable increase in happiness, a significant reduction in stress and a flood of energy right after their sessions with the pups. Although the reported feelings of happiness and satisfaction weren't long-lasting, researchers say other effects have clear, positive advantages.

    “These sessions clearly provide benefits for students in the short-term, so we think universities should try to schedule them during particularly stressful times, such as around exam periods,” Assistant Professor of Psychology at UBC and the study's senior author, Frances Chen told Science Daily. “Even having therapy dogs around while students are working on their out-of-class assignments could be helpful.”

    If you make a list of the top ten most challenging jobs in the world, chances are that being a teacher will not make the cut. Let's think about their complex task millions of educators face each day as they try to teach a group of often unfriendly, disorderly kids into intelligent, well-rounded individuals. That surely has to be the toughest job in the world, especially taking into consideration that there is no promotion waiting for them even if they are wildly successful!

    What if these all-important individuals that we often take for granted disappear from our lives? That was what Project Ed and Participant Media's teaching campaign asked filmmakers of all ages to envision for their recently-held contest.

    Their short films were called "A World without Teachers", whose intention was to inspire more young people to become teachers. However, the 62 amazing video submissions (提交物) also serve as a reminder of how terrible things would be if we didn't have these selfless individuals guiding us through life. What was interesting is that even the youngest contestants didn't accept the idea that there's no person to tell them what to do.

    High-school student Savannah Wakefield considered if art as we know today would have been different without teachers. Would C. Monet have discovered his talent for impressionism?

    Miles Horst won the 1,000-dollar prize for the best adult submission, lie pictures n world where teachers are replaced by a "brain box". Youth group winner Marina Barham's video describes a fact we all know but often forget. Teachers don't just teach; they inspire—something that no electronic device, no matter how smart, can do!

    So the next time you think your teacher is being "troublesome" for trying to channel you in the right direction, imagine a life without him/her.

    Working with a stressed mind is like swimming with a jacket on, while a mind free from work stress is light like the wind and it can help you accomplish your daily tasks easily. To relieve (缓解)stress and lighten your mind, you must first understand the nature of stress and the reasons why it builds up. Then you can easily beat stress.

    Talk it out

    Talking to others helps relieve work stress especially when you and the person you talk to are in the same boat and under the same work stress. Your worries will be divided! If you are your own boss, you need some good advisers around you, who know your trouble and talk sense. If there is no such persons at your workplace, let there be one at home, who is a friend, a family member or a guide that you can talk to.

    Let music calm your mind

    Music has the power to take you into a new world, away from your worries. Taking a break to listen to some favorite music is also a great way to relieve stress.

    Take a walk

    If there is a park around, go and have a walk there. You can eat some snacks sitting on the grass. Move around, look at the world around you and forget your work for a while. Let your body get some exercise. A walk works as it also clears your thoughts. You can listen to music while going on a walk.

    Have a life beyond the workplace

    If you keep thinking about nothing other than work all the time, there is bound to be stress. So, throw away your thoughts about work after you leave your office and get a life beyond it. Have a life beyond the workplace, and you can relax after work.