《英语走起》恐龙不要抗狼

5、Try Retail Therapy to Reduce Stress and Lower Blood Pressure Forge

　　Forget meditation and yoga, reading or journaling, even laying on the couch or tanning on the beach—many stressed-out Americans actually consider shopping to be the best remedy for mental stress relief at the end of a long week!But is that surprising to you?

　　After all, who doesn’t like shopping?In fact, according to a study done by University of Michigan researchers, shopping to relieve stress (otherwise known as retail therapy) was up to 40 times more effective at giving people “a sense of control” and that shoppers were three times less sad compared to those that only browsed for items.

　　Know what’s even better news? Shopping to cope with stress can actually help you live a healthier life by making sure that your blood pressure (and therefore your heart health) is in check!

　　Shop until you drop – some tips

　　1.You know what you like—go get what you would actually enjoy! People come in all kinds of forms and preferences. Maybe you’re a shoe person. Don’t just get something because you feel like you should get something or because that thing is all the rage and everyone else has one.

　　2.Spend time talking to the store vendors! They’re there to help you pick out something good for you and you’re going to be able to find out something new about yourself—whether that’s what shade of lipstick you think matches you the best or what kind of a tablet you actually want to get. In short, take time with it, and don’t feel bad about “wasting” time—that would take away the whole point of going out!

　　3.Keep an open mind! Browse when you can—even just browsing items takes your mind off what usually stresses you out while you learn something new about particular features of products. But if you spot something that you absolutely LOVE and you are still thinking about three stores later, you should probably go back and get it.

　　4.Sometimes you don’t just want to spend on yourself, but you want to spend on others! Not only do you get the satisfaction of being able to buy something, but you also get double the benefit when you gift someone later. It really is the thought that counts!

　　5.Win loyalty points! Chances are that if you’re reading this article, you’re probably a shopper at heart. Why don’t you take advantage of your own passion and interests and help you reward yourself!

　　Many retailers love offering special deals and items to their loyal patrons. Keep an eye out on their website and various social media to find out about these to see if your shopping is going to match up with their promotional timing!

　　Of course, this doesn’t mean to spend all your time looking for deals and forcing yourself to buy something just because it’s cheap, but it’s nice to check if there are any before you’re going out anyway!

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