When you’re under stress, your body reacts by releasing hormones that produce the “fight-or-flight” response. Your heart rate and breathing rate go up and blood vessels narrow (restricting the flow of blood). Occasional stress is a normal coping mechanism. But over the long-term, stress may contribute to or worsen a range of health problems including digestive disorders, headaches, sleep disorders, and other symptoms. In contrast to the stress response, the relaxation response slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and decreases oxygen consumption and levels of stress hormones. In theory, voluntarily creating the relaxation response through regular use of relaxation techniques could counteract the negative effects of stress.
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Month: July 2019
Longevity Hack: 1, 2, 3 Get Off The Couch
Stop agonizing over the decades you spent glued to the couch. New research shows that physically active middle-aged and older adults live longer — even if they were inactive when they were younger.
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Health Hack: Drink Up!
Start your day with a glass of lemon water
Simply add the juice of half a lemon to your glass and drink it to enjoy a refreshing start to the day. Lemon juice reduces your body’s acidity levels, which in turn protects you against inflammatory diseases such as fungal infections and osteoporosis.[3]
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Writers’ Wisdom: Don’t Quit
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” ~ Richard Bach
I ~ Tagore
I
Tagore
I wonder if I know him
In whose speech is my voice,
In whose movement is my being,
Whose skill is in my lines,
Whose melody is in my songs
In joy and sorrow.
I thought he was chained within me,
Contained by tears and laughter,
Work and play.
I thought he was my very self
Coming to an end with my death.
Why then in a flood of joy do I feel him
In the sight and touch of my beloved?
This ‘I’ beyond self I found
On the shores of the shining sea.
Therefore I know
This’I’ is not imprisoned within my bounds.
Losing myself, I find him
Beyond the borders of time and space.
Through the Ages
I come to know his Shining Self
In the Iffe of the seeker,
In the voice of the poet.
From the dark clouds pour the rains.
I sit and think:
Bearing so many forms, so many names,
I come down, crossing the threshold
Of countless births and deaths.
The Supreme undivided, complete in himself,
Embracing past and present,
Dwells in Man.
Within Him I shall find myself –
The ‘I’ that reaches everywhere.
Today’s Reflection: The Best Gifts are Often Free
I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. ~ Gandhi
Grieving and The Unanswerable WHY
Most everyone I know who loses someone they deeply love asks why. In this brief video I share my thoughts with other, like me, who asked why.
Fitness Hack: Exercise & Feel Better
Feel better. Walking and other moderate aerobic exercise has been shown to help stabilize your mood and help with depressive symptoms. Studies have also found that regular exercise helps people better control their stress and regulate their emotions.
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Stress Hack: A Simple Way to Lower the Stress Speed
Learning a few good relaxation techniques will serve you well. For example, simple paced breathing may sound too easy, but it’s a great way to coax the body into a more relaxed state. It’s something you can do at your desk at work, in your car and before or after an event. Breathe in for four seconds, then out for six. Count in your head, and focus on your counting and the sensation of your breathing. Repeat as long as it takes to relax a bit.
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Longevity Hack: A Few Changes Can Add Years to Your Life
Live healthy, live longer
Making just a few changes in your lifestyle can help you live longer. A recent study found that four bad behaviors—smoking, drinking too much alcohol, not exercising, and not eating enough fruits and veggies—can hustle you into an early grave, and, in effect, age you by as many as 12 years.
