UCSF AME Newsletter: Restorative Spring Practices 2023

The Sleep and Stress Prescription Books

Looking for ways you can improve your sleep and stress?

Check out the recently released Seven-Day Series titles, The Stress Prescription, and The Sleep Prescription by Drs. Elissa Epel and Aric Prather. Available to purchase wherever you buy books!

Chancellor Sam Hawgood interviewed us about our books for UCSF Alumni Day.

It was a lively discussion and lots of questions about stress and sleep, both personal and job-related.

Join a study!

Paid opportunity: Help researchers learn more about blood sugar!

Researchers at UCSF are looking for adults to participate in a study to learn more about using continuous glucose monitoring devices (CGM) in those with and without eating concerns.

Find out if you are eligible today!

Enroll here!

Attend one in person 1-hour visit
Complete measures of body composition
Get fitted with a CGM device
Wear a CGM device and complete brief nightly diaries for two weeks
Earn up to $150 in gift cards!

New AME Center Publications

Sleep is critical to health, but many fail to get the sleep they need. Policies that address society, community, and individual level factors can produce better sleep for populations and potentially reduce sleep disparities.

Widespread access to culturally informed, evidence-based sleep interventions is critical to improving sleep equity for those who experience sleep disorders.

Read AME Center’s Dr. Aric Prather’s newest publication here.

In a recent study, Dr. Rachel Radin and collaborators

randomized 161 UCSF employees with both high stress and overweight to test out a digital mindfulness program in combination with mindful eating practices.

The mindfulness program (vs. waitlist condition) decreased perceptions of stress and decreased abdominal adiposity (a known risk factor for chronic diseases). Furthermore, those who meditated more frequently showed the greatest reductions in stress, cravings, and abdominal adiposity.

Read the full publication here.

Featured AME Researcher: Darwin Guevarra, PhD

Dr. Darwin Guevarra, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Scholar with the Emotional Well-Being Network at the University of California, San Francisco, with research interests in affect and affect regulation processes, and the implications they hold for well-being and health.

We spoke with him in an exclusive Q & A about his most recent work in emotional well-being!

Learn More about Darwin

Cultivating Personal, Social, and Planetary Flourishing for Healing Connections

July 23-28, 2023 at Esalen

Join us at an Esalen for a retreat on restoration and rejuvenation led by Dan Siegel, Elissa Epel, Dan Siegel, Tom Little Bear Nason, and Rhonda V Magee.

Learn More

Wellness Recipe of the Season

Mushroom Coffee

This spring, try swapping out your morning coffee for mushroom coffee, a reduced caffeine beverage made of a blend of medicinal mushrooms like chaga, reishi, and cordyceps and coffee beans that may offer health benefits like improved immune function and stress reduction.