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Category: Health and Wellness

Living a Balanced Life

Last weekend I attended a YogaFit teacher training in Hood River.   The weather was perfect, sunny and warm, and our hotel overlooked the gorge!  I ate yummy food, did lots of yoga, meditated and met some cool people.  The focus of the weekend was meditation, and chakra balancing.

We discussed learning styles especially right brain vs. left brain.  Ideally we want a balance of left brain (where are my keys) and right brain (imagination, visualization, creativity etc).  This allows us to seamlessly move through our daily activities while feeling connected to those around us, having a sense of community.  Our instructor, Kristy Manuel showed us this video of Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who while having a stroke watches her brain functions shut down one by one – motion, speech, etc…   Hers is a fascinating story.  I love her ideas about how to connect more with our right brain, or creative side.  As she says our right brain thinks “We are perfect, whole and beautiful”

Also during the weekend we did several chakra meditations visualizing the colors, shapes, and qualities of the energy throughout our body.  We also incorporated the colors and characteristics of each chakra into our vinyasa yoga flow.

For the uninitiated, chakras are energy centers that connect to major organs and glands which govern certain parts of your body.  There are seven major chakras and their locations correspond to nerve bundles branching out from the spinal column.  They can be visualized as spinning wheels or vortexes, and each one has a separate color and sound associated with it.  Ideally all seven chakras should be balanced.  If our surroundings are healthy and positive, we receive positive energy and feel good.

Sometimes of course we may become out of balance, having an excess of energy in one area, or a deficiency in another.  How do we solve this problem?  One way is to meditate and visualize your energy flowing evenly throughout your body, There are specific chakra meditations available (we were using a “Chakra Balancing Workbook” by Anodea Judith) but a good start could be sitting quietly for five minutes and just listening to your body.

Try resting your hand on your lower belly and see how it feels.  Rest your hand on your heart or on the top of your head.  Do any of these areas feel more vibrant, louder, softer, bigger, more fluid?  Imagine light or warmth spreading up from your feet all the way out the top of your head, then back down out the bottoms of your feet grounding you into the earth.

I have done a chakra meditation several times in the last few weeks – last night at a bachelorette party for instance (it’s Portland – go figure) and see different things each time.   Sometimes one color is more vibrant or feels stronger, some times I can barely sense energy moving.  Experiment with tuning into your body and see if you can start to pick up the messages it is sending you.

Are you Vitamin D deficient?

According to this N.Y. Times article you may not be getting enough Vitamin D.

Studies show that those suffering from Vitamin D deficiency are at a greater risk for developing certain cancers, cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders to name just a few.

A person’s vitamin D level is measured in the blood as 25-hydroxyvitamin D, considered the best indicator of sufficiency.  Maximum bone density is achieved when the blood serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D reaches 40 nanograms per milliliter or more.

The best source of Vitamin D is the sun and we may be able to absorb enough D in the summer to last the whole year.  According to Dr. Michael Holick, the author of “The Vitamin D Solution” we can get an adequate dose of D:

…by going outside in summer unprotected by sunscreen (except for the face, which should always be protected) wearing minimal clothing from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. two or three times a week for 5 to 10 minutes.

The current recommended intake of vitamin D is 200 I.U. a day from birth to age 50 (including pregnant women); 400 for adults aged 50 to 70; and 600 for those older than 70.

While our bodies “make” Vitamin D from sun exposure we can also get some Vitamin D from foods such as wild-caught oily fish (salmon, mackerel, bluefish, and canned tuna) and fortified milk and baby formula, cereal and orange juice.  Experts say the amount we convert from these foods may not be enough and most recommend supplements – from an additional 200 IU’s to 2000 IUs a day – depending on who you ask.

Here’s Dr Weil’s take on Vitamin D deficiency. He recommends supplementing with 2000 IU’s a day and says:

No adverse effects have been seen with supplemental vitamin D intakes up to 10,000 IU daily. Exposing the face and hands to roughly 10 minutes of direct sunlight daily is also quite safe and a good way to boost vitamin D.

Here in the Pacific northwest where are especially sun deprived (sorry Portland – love you but it’s true) and we may need to supplement for optimum health.  A simple blood test will show if you are D deficient.  I suggest you discuss this with your health care practitioner if you are concerned that you may not be getting enough D.

Can Being Happy Protect Your Heart?

According to a recent study your outlook can and does affect your heart health.  People with the most negative emotions had the highest risk for heart disease and people who scored highest for happiness had the lowest risk.  One possible explanation was that happier people tend to lead healthier lives; eating better, sleeping better and getting more exercise.

“Naturally happy people certainly do experience depression and other negative emotions from time to time”, lead researcher Karina W. Davidson, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center tells WebMD. “But this is usually situational and transient.”

“If we are able to change people’s level of positive effect we may be able to lower their risk for heart disease,” Davidson says.

She recommends devoting at least 15 to 20 minutes a day to doing something enjoyable and relaxing. And make sure this activity is not the first thing to be abandoned on a busy day.

As with a lot of things in life deciding to be happy is a simple concept, but not always easy to implement.  Here are some tips on how you can bring more happiness to your life:

  • Express gratitude to those around you.  Say “thank you” and “I appreciate you” often.
  • Take a moment at the beginning of the day and imagine your day going smoothly as if you were watching it unfold on a movie screen.
  • Practice forgiveness.
  • Take note of even small good things that happen to you during the day.  Did someone let you in on the freeway?  Did you step right up at the coffee shop without having to wait in line?

I recently heard the phrase “inverse paranoid” which means instead of believing the world is out to get you, you believe that everyone is plotting to do good things for you.  What a great concept!

Five Tips to Keep You From Getting Sick.

Here are five tips to keep you and your family healthy this winter:

1. Wash your hands – especially before and after you eat, and if someone in your home or office is sick.  I know this one is a no brainer but you’d be surprised how important this is. Most germs get into our system when we touch a contaminated object and them touch our eyes, nose or mouth. A recent study found that college students sitting at their computers touched their faces on average 40 times an hour. For small children this number is nearly 60 times an hour.

2. Follow the new ‘cough etiquette’, which the American Academy of Pediatrics describes as teaching children to turn their heads and cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue or the inside of their elbow if they don’t have a tissue, instead of simply coughing or sneezing onto their hands, which will then spread their germs onto everything they touch.

3. Avoid close contact with people when you are sick. It isn’t really possible to completely avoid people who are sick, so it is likely better if you just avoid exposing other people to your germs when you or your kids are sick. So don’t go to school, daycare, work, etc., if you are sick with the flu.

4. Drink Water.  Lots of water.  I shoot for at least 60 -80 ounces per day.  If you get sick of drinking plain water jazz it up with a shot of juice or kombucha.

5. Get a massage.  Regular massage treatments are not only for pain relief and relaxation.  Massage increases your circulation and lymph flow which in turn boosts your immune system.  I receive massage at least once or twice a month.

What is your wellness plan for this winter?

Panel Urges Mamograms at 50, not 40.

According to this N. Y. Times Article a recent study suggest healthy women with no unusual risk factors for breast cancer should start regular breast cancer screening at age 50, not age 40 as previously suggested.  The study also suggests women have mammograms less frequently – every two years as opposed to yearly.

The guidelines were based on new data and were aimed at reducing the potential harm from overscreening.  In order to formulate its guidelines, the task force used new data from mammography studies in England and Sweden and also commissioned six groups to make statistical models to analyze the aggregate data. The models were the only way to answer questions like how much extra benefit do women get if they are screened every year.

The article states:

It was still a tough call to make, according to Dr. Berg, the task force chairman.  Adding that “we pointed out that the benefit will be quite small.” In fact, he added, even though mammograms are of greater benefit to older women, they still prevent only a small fraction of breast cancer deaths.

Different women will weigh the harms and benefits differently, Dr. Berg noted, but added that even for women 50 and older, “it would be perfectly rational for a woman to decide she didn’t want to do it.”

But the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology both said they were staying with their guidelines advising annual mammograms starting at age 40.

One point to consider in this debate is that while early detection can result in lives saved, mammograms and even self breast exams can be anxiety producing.  They can also give false-positive results.  Younger women have denser breast tissue making a correct diagnosis more difficult.

Ultimately the choice of when to start regular screenings should be up to you and your physician.  What are your thoughts on this?