Watching Fish Can Reduce Your Stress

Here's the scenario: You have to go the doctor or dentist and you aren’t happy about it.  Maybe you’re even nervous about it -- scared. So you get there, fill out the paperwork and grab an uncomfortable chair. Then you notice the fish tank.If you've ever stood in front of an aquarium for a while, you know it seems like those fish have not a care in the world. It turns out that watching them swim can really help us reduce our cares and raise our mood. Along with lowering blood pressure and heart rate .

London's Daily Mail reports that researchers based in the U.K. assessed people’s physical and mental responses to tanks containing different numbers of fish. They discovered the more fish in the tank, the greater benefits the humans watching them received.

Study leaders say they have for the first time, provided robust evidence that "doses" of exposure to underwater settings could actually have a positive impact on people's well-being." (Daily Mail)

Of course skipping the office visit and going to the beach to swim and see some fish in the wild isn’t a bad option, either.