Mind Body & Soul

Archive for December, 2009

You can feel your blood pressure rising when someone cuts you off in traffic. You lie awake at night thinking about all of the ways a particular co-worker has ruined your chances for a promotion. You cannot forgive your parents for the cruel words that were repeatedly spoken to you as a child. It seems like very little is needed to set off your temper or bring feelings of resentment to the surface. If these sentiments sound familiar, then you are obviously living with a great deal of anger and I imagine that this strong emotion is having a negative impact on your life. While anger certainly is a normal human reaction and completely repressing such honest expression is unhealthy for your mental and physical health, allowing anger to dominate your existence can be even more dangerous.

How can anger translate into physical problems? A study performed at Berkeley found that forty percent of people who experienced a stroke had felt angry or been through an upsetting event within two hours before the life-threatening moment. Another study, this one done at the University of Ohio, discovered that men and women who have trouble controlling their anger take longer to heal from even the most minor of wounds. Research completed at Yale University concluded that anger can trigger potentially deadly heart rhythms. There are countless other examples of ways in which anger manifests itself physically. Teeth clenching, rashes, indigestion, severe headaches and many other maladies all can be triggered by episodes of unchecked anger. I imagine that if you suffer from anger issues, you can add to this list based on your own experiences.

Beyond compromising your physical health, which should never be minimized, chronic or cyclical anger also decreases the quality of your day-to-day life. People who are focused on the problems and pain in their lives cannot open the door to the wonderful alternative of happiness and a peace of mind. Instead of noticing the opportunities for joy, those who live in anger are left needing to find ways that they can numb the painful feelings through drinking, drug use, or overeating. Depression, eating disorders, and insomnia are also common side effects of those who have not found productive ways to deal with their uncontrolled anger. This is no way to be living your life!

Diners have become more health-conscious the last few years, and now want healthy choices whether eating at home or at their favorite restaurants. Luckily, the restaurant industry has been quick to accommodate the demand, so you’ll find you have many options to “eat healthy” these days.

Whether you’re eating at home or dining out, the same rules for watching your weight apply. You need to eat more vegetables, fruit and whole grains. Choose smaller portions of lean meats, fish and poultry. Eat a variety of foods, and fresh, raw foods are better. Cut back on salt, sugar, saturated fats and alcohol. Drink plenty of water, and include exercise every day as part of your daily lifestyle choice.

So whether you’re having lunch with the gang, or enjoying a romantic dinner for two, you can enjoy delicious-tasting foods that are low-in calories and good for you, with just a little forethought and planning.

Here are some easy tips to remember when ordering out that will help you to lose weight even when eating at your favorite restaurants:

1. If you know the menu from the restaurant you’re going to, plan what you’re going to have ahead of time. This will help save you from making a last minute decision that could result in high-calorie choices.

2. Drink at least one full-glass of water or iced tea before eating your meal. This helps your digestive process, and, because you’ll feel full sooner, you will eat less.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for the “senior citizen” special or kid’s-sized portions. Most restaurants will accommodate you — and often you’ll pay less as well!

4. Order first. That way you’re much less likely to be influenced by the choices of your companions.

5. If you’re not sure how something is prepared, don’t be afraid to ask. And if the dish is cooked in oil or butter, you can always ask if they have a “fat free” option.

If you think that taking drugs is the only way to alleviate your back difficulty then ; you are wrong. The problem can be successfully eliminated naturally too. Among various natural remedies for back stiffness ; exercise is the commonest. It’s a natural technique to get rid of the issue without worrying about any adversary side effects. There are several forms of exercises that come to your rescue in this context. Some of the finest exercises are like this.

You need to enroll yourself in a formal exercise program to fight back stiffness. Some times, simple stretching and moderate exercises can turn out to be of serious help in educing back pain. Stand firm on the ground and try and touch your feet without bending your knees. Otherwise, easy stretching may be of help too. These exercises are especially advantageous for those who suffer with back pain as a consequence of a sedentary lifestyle.

Another new form of exercise that helps in back pains is water exercise or aquatics treatment. These exercises involve use of water in assorted different exercises to treat the problems. As you try to float in water, it brings a feeling of support and weightlessness. The result’s that your back, particularly the varied joints become significantly relieved of pressure. You can simply move your back, thanks to the pressure reduction on joints. As extra benefits, these water exercises raise your muscle strength and improve overall adaptability of your body.

What is Yoga Breathing?
Learning to breathe correctly through Yoga breathing or scientifically speaking ‘Pranayama’ helps with breath control. Properly used the respiratory system can exchange gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide) ensuring an efficient energy system.

There are a number of exercises tailored to meet the needs of the body to maintain a healthy and vibrant life be it spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally. Breathing can be looked upon as the inner source of life and by monitoring our breathing habits makes us more aware of the connections between mind, body and spirit. Our bodies go through a natural process inhaling oxygen which charges our body with the necessary energy. On exhaling the carbon dioxide takes away any toxins from within us thus removing harmful poisons.

Because of the many stresses facing us each day through work, money and family pressures we are not aware of our breathing patterns which at times of stress are shallow and short denying our lungs the oxygen which can often lead to many serious illnesses such as sleeping disorders and heart diseases, starving the body of its oxygen can also lead to fatigue when the body is restless, the mind is affected therefore negative thought patterns seep in and of course this has a knock on effect leading us back to stress and the inability to deal with it.

Why is it important to breathe correctly?

Practicing breathing exercises is one of the 5 main principles behind the art of yoga which was discovered in the early days by masters of yoga, they found that by practicing the art of breathing properly feeds the body with the right amount of oxygen to cleanse the mind and body of toxins, of course there are other more important reasons to breath, as stated earlier, breathing is vital for keeping the body functioning correctly, and for carrying toxins away. Oxygen is the provider of the vital nutrients without it the efficient functioning of the brain and body would not work, without it we will die within minutes.

Do you know why it is good to get all the sleep you need? Well, it can do some things to your body like make you stressed out, tired, and cranky. You can have bad mood swings, and it affects you psychologically and emotionally. It can make you fall asleep at the wheel and make you have an accident. It can give you headaches or sometimes migraines, which are very bad and painful. Your eating habits will be messed up, and you will not eat as much as you should to keep your body strong and healthy. When you do not get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep every night, then you can have high blood pressure. It can cause you to get diabetes, and you can have impaired glucose tolerance.

It can make you weak and you can fall down. For people that are older, they have to get a lot of sleep or this can happen to them and they can get hurt. You can get a lot of medical problems, and it can even make you drink a lot because you are so stressed out because you can’t go to sleep at night. You will have bags under your eyes, and it can make you age fast and give you wrinkles. Kids can even suffer from this, too, because they can get insomnia, disordered breathing, and short duration of their sleep. There are lots of Americans that are suffering from less sleep. There are about 50 to 70 million of them because they are having trouble trying to sleep and they can’t.