Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley

Just One Thing with Michael Mosley

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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Factual: Science & Nature

In his last interview, How to Live a Good Life, Michael Mosley talks to Prof Paul Bloom.

If time is tight, what's the one thing that you should be doing to improve your health and wellbeing? Michael Mosley reveals surprisingly simple top tips that are scientifically proven to change your life.

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Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley: Read a poem

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BBC Radio 4 - Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley, Read a poem

How reading poetry could boost your mood and relax your body..

How reading rhythmic poetry aloud can slow your breathing and activate your relaxation response, as well as boosting your mood.

Reading poetry can reduce stress and help give you words to express the things you're feeling. And reading a poem out loud has been shown to be a surprisingly simple way to activate your relaxation response and bring about a sense of calm. It’s all to do with the way it slows and controls your breathing rate, which in turn stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and can lead to many beneficial effects. Michael Mosley speaks to Dietrich von Bonin from the Swiss Association of Art Therapies, who says as little as 5 minutes of rhythmic poetry read aloud can be even more effective than slow-paced breathing at relaxing your body and mind. Our volunteer Colm dives into the world of Irish poetry and incorporates reading it aloud into his bedtime routine.

Series Producer: Nija Dalal-Small
Editor: Zoë Heron
A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.

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