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American Morning
Travel Stress
Aired November 24, 2003 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: No surprise here, Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel period of the year. And getting from here to there can be a coast-to-coast headache. So what's a holiday traveler to do to ease the pain?
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from the CNN Center with some tips for easing the stress.
Good morning to you, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Soledad, we all know that stress feels bad, but you know what, It's also bad for your heart, it's bad for your blood pressure. So in general, it's just not a good thing to give in to stress. It's good to think about ahead in situations, like holiday travel, and try to think of some ways to have a less stressful experience.
And so we have some tips to have an all-around holistically, breathe deeply in and out kind of happy holidays travel. First of all, consider off-peak travel times. That really can help quite a bit. If you go sort of midmorning, that sometimes is a time that other people aren't going.
Also, expect delays and traffic. Sometimes when you have it in your head that it might be bad, it sort of makes it sort of makes it easier to deal with those difficult situations.
Also, bring healthy food. There's a lot of junk in airports. Bring your own good stuff.
Also, carry a hand sanitizer if you can't make it to the bathroom, you can always use a hand sanitizer, and at least that might help keep you a little bit free from germs.
Now I have to relate my own story when I was at the airport recently. I saw a woman sitting in the lotus position breathing in and out deeply. And I thought, there's a smart woman -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Could you imagine a plane full of people all in the lotus position going um? I can not imagine that.
COHEN: Sounds good to me. Better than screaming babies, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's true, that's true. I always travel with those. I like to do that. What about after you get off the plane? What can you do outside of getting sort of through the trip?
COHEN: Right, even after you get off of the plane, there's often stress. People often have family kinds of stress, and let's talk a little bit about that. First of all, drink herbal teas instead of caffeine drinks. This is while you're traveling, while you're on the plane, while you're off the plane. Carry an aromatherapy product. They have these little tubes that you can take with you, and you take the top off and you smell and it actually can sometimes even make you feel better. Also bring a travel pillow. Those things are great. They go on your neck and you sort of flop your head over. Listen to soothing music and do exercises on the plane. So those are some tips for while you're on the plane.
O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Cohen. I'm just going to sit here and meditate for the rest of our segment.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 24, 2003 - 08:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: No surprise here, Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel period of the year. And getting from here to there can be a coast-to-coast headache. So what's a holiday traveler to do to ease the pain?
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from the CNN Center with some tips for easing the stress.
Good morning to you, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Soledad, we all know that stress feels bad, but you know what, It's also bad for your heart, it's bad for your blood pressure. So in general, it's just not a good thing to give in to stress. It's good to think about ahead in situations, like holiday travel, and try to think of some ways to have a less stressful experience.
And so we have some tips to have an all-around holistically, breathe deeply in and out kind of happy holidays travel. First of all, consider off-peak travel times. That really can help quite a bit. If you go sort of midmorning, that sometimes is a time that other people aren't going.
Also, expect delays and traffic. Sometimes when you have it in your head that it might be bad, it sort of makes it sort of makes it easier to deal with those difficult situations.
Also, bring healthy food. There's a lot of junk in airports. Bring your own good stuff.
Also, carry a hand sanitizer if you can't make it to the bathroom, you can always use a hand sanitizer, and at least that might help keep you a little bit free from germs.
Now I have to relate my own story when I was at the airport recently. I saw a woman sitting in the lotus position breathing in and out deeply. And I thought, there's a smart woman -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Could you imagine a plane full of people all in the lotus position going um? I can not imagine that.
COHEN: Sounds good to me. Better than screaming babies, right?
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's true, that's true. I always travel with those. I like to do that. What about after you get off the plane? What can you do outside of getting sort of through the trip?
COHEN: Right, even after you get off of the plane, there's often stress. People often have family kinds of stress, and let's talk a little bit about that. First of all, drink herbal teas instead of caffeine drinks. This is while you're traveling, while you're on the plane, while you're off the plane. Carry an aromatherapy product. They have these little tubes that you can take with you, and you take the top off and you smell and it actually can sometimes even make you feel better. Also bring a travel pillow. Those things are great. They go on your neck and you sort of flop your head over. Listen to soothing music and do exercises on the plane. So those are some tips for while you're on the plane.
O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Cohen. I'm just going to sit here and meditate for the rest of our segment.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
