Tenomania.com

Maybe it’s the challenging economy. Maybe it’s anticipation for the holiday season. Or maybe it’s just your natural state of being. Whatever the cause, stress can feel overwhelming. And it may seem like you have no power over it.

You’ll always have bills, obligations, and people to please. You can’t change those things. But you can change the way you think and act to create a more balanced, peaceful life and environment. These tips are a good start:  

1. Put it in writing

Write in a journal, or pen a letter to someone explaining your feelings–even if you burn it instead of sending it. Research shows expressive writing is an effective method for reducing depression in people who tend to brood.

2. Change your thinking

The way you think about an event dictates how you feel about it. If you see your meeting as an opportunity to screw something up, you’ll naturally feel overwhelmed. If you see it as a challenge you can meet, you’ll feel more at ease with the experience.

3. Practice deep breathing

People often hold their breath when they’re anxious. This limits your oxygen intake, stressing your body further.

4. Meditate

Pull your body completely into the present moment, and perceive everything around you with all your senses. Meditation increases serotonin production, which influences mood and behavior.

5. Sweat it out

Studies show that people who go to a sauna at least twice a week for 10-30 minutes are less stressed after work than others with similar jobs who don’t.

6. Laugh it out

Research shows that laughter soothes tension, improves your immune system, and even eases pain. Give yourself a break to reminisce with a friend about a memory that made you smile. Don’t worry–you’ll have plenty of time to think about everything else when you’re done.

7. Complete a small task

According to Georgia Witkin, assistant director of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, completing a small task increases your sense of control and decreases your stress level.

8. Get mindful

Mindfulness means focusing your full attention on the present moment, instead of thinking about past or future events. When practiced regularly, mindfulness actually strengthens the areas of the brain associated with joy and relaxation.

9. Minimize stress triggers

Avoid conversations about topics that stress you out. Limit your time with people who continually get you going.

10. Reassess how you manage your time

Your jam-packed to-do list may contain unnecessary items. Your morning routine may be too full to allow prompt arrival at work. If you don’t overextend yourself, you will likely feel less stressed.

Article Source – Tinybuddha.com

There is certainly no shortage of information about things we can do to maintain an illness-free and healthy lifestyle. Perhaps our biggest challenge is deciphering which nuggets of information are beneficial and which aren’t so great!

Developing a preventative mindset may be the true answer to long-term health, and it is necessary for each of us to implement practices which prevent sickness and disease before they happen.

Imagine never having to delve in the world of doctors, hospitals and pharmaceuticals until the very end (when it’s absolutely necessary).

Wellness guru Dr. Andrew Weil is famous for saying that he wants to live only as long as he is able to maintain a full-range of health, awareness and vitality…and have his life “culminate with rapid decline” at the end.

Living as long as we can while being as vibrant and healthy as possible—that seems like a worthwhile goal to me (and the purpose of this article)! So how do you start integrating preventative measures in your life? Here is a list of 10 practices that will help you stay away from hospitals, feel healthier and live longer:

1. See a Chiropractor

The roots of chiropractic care can be traced all the way back to the beginning of recorded time. Hippocrates, the Greek physician, who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., declares in one of his writings “get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases”. Effective chiropractic care: inhibits spinal degeneration, restores normal nerve supply, improves immunity, allows better sleep, prevents surgery, and slows the aging process. This is preventative lifestyle at its finest.

2. Laugh HARD

Falling on the floor laughing is one of the best things you can do to prevent sickness from entering your life. Laughing boosts immunity, strengthens the heart, and improves lung function among a myriad of other benefits! Making a habit of renting funny movies, going to comedy clubs and watching Saturday morning cartoons like you did when you were a kid (SpongeBob Squarepants is actually hysterical…I have to admit) can add several years to your life! 

3. Scatter your Workouts

“Shaking up” your workout routine is a great way to stay healthy over the long-term. Too often we get stuck in exercise patterns that do not promote a diverse experience for the body and mind. Although you may feel like you are doing a really good thing by concentrating on one routine, you may be limiting yourself. People who only do Yoga need to lift weights; people who focus solely on weights need should do more Yoga! Doing the unexpected creates a wonderful “pop of opposites” in the body (a major component of Yin Yang theory). I’m not saying to ditch your favorite workout, but changing it up can strengthen a wider variety of muscles and tendons, increase your heart rate and intensify mental clarity!

4. Sleep at least 7 hours a night

Making a habit of sleeping well is the number one thing you can do to boost your health and longevity, and if you follow no other suggestions on this list try and implement this one. It has become widely accepted that the risk for developing disease increases significantly for people who get less than 6 or 7 hours of sleep each night. Furthermore, lack of sleep has been associated with the worsening of blood pressure and cholesterol, and increases risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Sleeping adequately reduces stress, lowers inflammation in the cells, and makes you more alert.

5. See an Acupuncturist

The basic premise of acupuncture, and much of Chinese medicine, is that all sickness we encounter is the result of obstruction to our naturally flowing life-force (or “Chi”). Practitioners treat conditions that are a result of Chi becoming stuck, depleted or weakened and thus making the individual susceptible to illness. Acupuncture benefits the improvement of physical health conditions as well as affective disorders and instills a feeling of increased mental clarity. Acupuncture is an invaluable tool for long-term and sustainable health (And no, the needles are not bad at all)!

6. Meditate

Meditation is the practice of silencing the mind, and can increase your health and vitality beyond measure. When your mind is silenced and focused on a particular part of the body, the blood flow to that part increases and cells receive significantly more oxygen and other nutrients. Continuous meditation practice has been shown to strengthen the mind, and enables it to execute projects more efficiently. Meditation also leads to the following: deeper levels of relaxation; increased blood flow; a lower heart rate; an enhanced immune system…and it can build self confidence! A truly wonderful way to add healthy years to your life!

7. Perform Cardiovascular Exercise at least 4 times a week

Integrating at least 20 minutes of cardio workout a minimum of 4 times a week is a wonderful preventative measure to take. “Cardio” increases the capacity of the lungs to provide oxygen to the blood and improves the hearts ability to transport oxygenated blood to the cells. What is considered an acceptable heart-rate during a cardio routine depends on many factors (age, weight, general health) but no matter what kind of shape you think you are in you can lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol and decrease body fat by consistently getting the heart rate up!

8. Stretch

Stretching prevents injury by increasing the length of both your muscles and tendons. This leads to an increased range of movement, which means your limbs and joints can move further and (often) thwarts injury before it occurs. Stretching also ensures that your muscles and tendons are in good working order and conditions them to handle the rigors of sport and exercise. Furthermore, regular stretching improves blood circulation and increases energy levels! A great time to stretch is first thing in the morning, and is an incredible preventative activity to integrate!

9. Eat Organic Food

It’s important to add “eating organic food” as a critical factor leading to long-term health. Bottom line, you want the least chemicals in your body as possible and eating as much organic fare as you can limits the amount of pesticide and chemicals you ingest. There is much ambiguity in the scientific community concerning the role of pesticides in human disease…but your best bet is to stay as far away from them as possible!

10. Be Wary of Medications

This is the only recommendation on this list that has a negative spin to it (where I suggest “not” do something) but I think it’s important to note the potential dangers of our pharmaceutical friendly society. There are tens of millions of people in the U.S. alone dependent on drugs, and I think its necessary to ponder whether or not this is a good thing. Although proponents of pharmaceuticals will point to the increasing longevity of human beings as a sign that they are good for us, I think what is really needed are some new statistics. Perhaps something like: “longevity while living with independence, strength and happiness” will do the trick

In conclusion, cultivating a “preventative lifestyle” means habituating a way of living that inhibits illness from ever taking a hold of you. Amid all the clutter out there it is absolutely imperative for each of us to begin taking responsibility for our own health. The recommendations in this article are holistic and timeless, and can get you on the right track for living 100+ years with full awareness and fulfillment…so try them out!

Once upon a time I hated the morning. Waking up was a process of hitting the snooze button over and over, only to roll out of bed at the last possible moment. It was then a mad rush to get out the door, and very often I would need to run for the bus (not surprisingly I missed it a few times). Anyhow, I gave my morning a makeover and now it is my favorite part of the day. The following are 10 ways you too can give your mornings a makeover:

1. Wake Earlier

If the morning is always one big rush for you, it makes sense to wake earlier. Personally, I have trained myself to enjoy waking at 5am in the morning. I realize, thought, that this is far too early for many people. Anyone, however, can wake earlier. If you don’t normally enjoy the morning, this one tip may help change that. It is amazing what happens when you don’t have to be in a hurry to get out the door.

2. Don’t Turn the Computer Straight On

If you are anything like me, you will be tempted to turn the computer on first thing when you wake up. Take it from me, though, that is worth delaying this for 10, 30 or (ideally) 60 minutes. Too much time on the computer leaves anyone feeling drained, and in this modern age many of us are likely to spend much of our day in front of a computer.

3. Take a “Holy Hour”

One of my favorite personal growth coaches, Robin Sharma, suggests taking a “Holy Hour” each morning. Basically this is an hour you devote to your own self improvement. For ideas of what to do in this hour, read on….

4. Meditate

Meditation is such a powerful way to strengthen your mind and relax your body. For me, one of its main benefits is to help me focus on the now and stop worrying about the future or past.

5. Read

I love to ease into the day with a good book and a cup of coffee. Avoid the newspaper and instead feed you mind with inspiring stories, interesting ideas, and exciting adventures.

6. Exercise

If you have ever exercised in the morning, you will know how good it makes you feel for the rest of the day. Some ideas include hitting the gym, riding to work, going for a swim, running, yoga or even just having a stretch.

7. Review Your Goals

A great way to start the day is to review, or even better rewrite, your goals. Why? Because if you do this, you will be more aware of them as you go about your day. And with better awareness, you will be empowered to make better choices that help get you closer to achieving these goals.

8. Be Prepared

Personally, the morning is when I feel the freshest and most productive. So I like to spend my time on many of the activities on this list, rather than mundane activities such as ironing my clothes and making my lunch. This means being prepared – I try to iron my clothes for the week on Sunday night and prepare my lunch the night before.

9. Eat a Nutritious Breakfast

Firstly, make sure you actually are eating breakfast. I am amazed when I hear people tell me they don’t eat breakfast. How can they possibly be performing at their peak? Secondly, I’m no nutritional expert, but here are a few of my tips for a healthy breakfast:

• If you eat cereal, make sure it is whole grain with lots of fiber and little to no added sugar
• Try adding some fresh berries, dried fruit, or sliced almonds to your cereal
• If you are sick of cereal, try a breakfast shake (see a long list of shake ideas here).

10. Listen to Motivational Podcasts/ Audiobooks

The morning is the ideal time to listen to motivational podcasts and audiobooks. Personally, I love the feeling in the morning that there is a day of endless possibilities ahead. Also, if you need to travel to work or school, it’s a great way to make the most of the commute.