Washing Dishes Can Relieve Stress, Study

If you want a stress-buster, you can do what you don't want to---wash dishes!

Do it "mindfully" by focusing your attention and thoughts on the activity, and you can reduce your stress levels and calm down your mind.

"I've had an interest in mindfulness for many years, both as a contemplative practitioner and a researcher," Adam Hanley, study co-author and a doctoral candidate at Florida State University's Counseling/School Psychology program, according to sciencedaily. "I was particularly interested in how the mundane activities in life could be used to promote a mindful state and thus increase overall sense of well-being."

Half a team of 51 students, were given a short passage about mindfulness in dishwashing.

The other control group was only told to read a passage about correct dishwashing. Each of the students was then told clean 18 dishes.

By the end of the study, those who washed dishes mindfully, focused on the water in their hands and the smell of soap, getting an inspiration boost by 25 percent, and even a reduction in their nervousness by 27 percent. They also felt that time had slowed down for them.

Hence, mindfulness could be practiced through various activities in order to bring down stress.

The study was published in the October 2015 issue of the journal Mindfulness.