There are many ways to let off steam.  Not all of them work for everyone but everyone can find one or two or three that can help them stay fit and healthy!  Here are two that work for us pretty consistently.

Take a Walk—or a Swim or a Bike Ride

We don’t mean to turn your back on stressful situations.  That’s not particularly helpful.  But our point is that walking, running, bicycling, swimming, dancing, and other physical activities are some of the best stress busters around.  They are a great way to unwind and blow off steam. And brief periods of movement can be equally beneficial. In a moment that you are aware your body has become tense with irritation, your belly churning with anxiousness, or your heart hurting with loss, it’s a good idea to get up and move with the feelings. Dance a bit, open and close your arms around your torso in a self-hug, move the tight and tense places on your body in gentle shimmies.  This helps the feelings and sensations move through your body and any stuck thoughts move through your brain.  You will come out the other side often with greater clarity of mind for any choice you need to make and action you need to take.

Physical activity also has other, long-lasting benefits.  Consistent moderate to vigorous physical activity, for example, can lower your heart rate.  Studies of people who have lowered their heart rates have found that these individuals have lower heart rate responses during and after mental stress than people who have not been consistently active.  (Remember from our last blog that “consistently active” means moving for 30 minutes a day most days of the week).  In addition to reducing the physical response to stress, physical activity can improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Have a Laugh

Anything that makes you laugh also reduces stress.  A good laugh relaxes muscles and stimulates the production of stress-relieving chemicals in the brain.  Watch a favorite movie comedy or television show that is usually good for a laugh, or schedule to get together for conversation with friends you find entertaining.  In a study at Loma Linda University researchers divided volunteers into two groups.  One group viewed a 60-minute humor video and the other group did not.  Blood tests to measure biochemical changes in hormones involved in a person’s response to stress, showed that the video watchers had improved levels of the hormones.  This suggests that laughter may help reduce the harmful ways in which our body naturally responds to stress. Even in a highly charge crisis, a good laugh can reset everything for making choices that lead to positive outcomes.  We recently read an example of this.  A woman facing a life threatening illness described her experience hearing something about herself and her condition that struck her as absolutely ludicrous.  She started laughing and fell off the bed she was sitting on which led to her relaxing and clearly knowing what her next action needed to be.

These two ways of busting the harmful responses to stress are can be fun, will make you feel good, and can make the rest of your life, the best of your life.  Do it!

From:  Suzanne and Steve

How do you make your life better?  How do you feel good today and most days?  Do you want to feel happier?  At any age?   It’s no secret!!  You’ve heard us tout the benefits of healthy breathing for physical, mental, and even spiritual health many times.  And all of this is true.  Now the next step is literally taking the next step and another step, and another, and another, and many more happy, healthy steps.  The key here is to get moving every day!!!

That’s right!  Get up and get going!  Here are the benefits of regular physical activity (according to the Cooper Institute in Dallas, TX):

• Better weight control
• More energy
• Brighter mental outlook
• Increased self-esteem
• Reduced risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes
• Reduced risk of colon cancer
• Less chance of colds and flu
• Healthy and strong bones, joints, and muscles
• Staying fit and flexible
• Living a healthier and longer independent life

Sound good?  Sure it does.  Let’s face it, if a pill could offer so many benefits, we’d all want to take it!!  But you don’t need a pill and for the most part getting moving every day doesn’t cost anything!!

So here is the recommendation for getting moving that Suzanne and I use.  To achieve and maintain the above benefits get moving a minimum of 30 minutes a day most days of the week. Walking is a GREAT way to move, any activity that gets the joints and muscles contracting is just as good.  How about dancing!?  And the activity doesn’t even have to be in one big lump of time.  Ten minutes of moving 3 times a day is just as good as moving for 30 minutes at one time.

For more up-to-date accurate info check out The Cooper Institute Blog at http://blog.standupandeat.org/category/Active-Living.aspx .  And get moving every day!!

From:  Steve Kilkus

Marc Bittman, chef, author, and food philosopher and activist, rolled through Madison this week and spoke to the local media and population in general.  Suzanne and I paid attention and heard some really good things that agree with our beliefs about how to eat for health and well-being especially in midlife and beyond!!  We want to emphasize and promote Bittman’s most important point—EAT REAL FOOD!

In addressing a local reporter’s question about organic vs. non-organic foods, Bittman believes that the real choice is not between a head of broccoli and an organic head of broccoli, but “It’s between a head of broccoli and Tater Tots or a cheeseburger or a bag of chips or Cheez Whiz.”  He says “The first choice to make is to eat more real food.  If you want to worry about organic stuff after that, fine; organic stuff is probably preferable.  But the difference between not real food and real food is enormous….”  Cut down on the ”not real” processed foods.  They contain too much fat, too much sugar, too many chemicals, too many toxins, etc. and not enough nutrition.  He continues, “When it comes to your personal decision-making, the best thing you can do is not say, “I’m having an organic cheeseburger” but say, “I was going to have a cheeseburger, but I’m going to have rice and beans instead.”  And finally Bittman is adamant that you can choose to purchase and eat real food for little money at any local supermarket.  Just stay away from the highly processed “junk food”  and stay fresh, green, and whole.

Your body, mind, and spirit will recognize the difference in better physical, mental and spiritual health.  Eating real food can help make the rest of your life the best of your life.

From:  Steve Kilkus

FROM:  Steve

Here is another piece of helpful information about how to live a happy, healthy life.  The other morning when I sat down to spend a few minutes in quiet meditation I found myself  having some worry thoughts, particularly about money and my lack thereof.  These triggered some nagging feelings of fear and were pretty uncomfortable.  Sometimes they are pretty hard to get rid of.  Does this sound familiar to you? 

Well, when I do  my morning meditation I usually start with a few minutes of slow deep breathing.  I did so that morning and found that the worry thoughts and feelings of fear went away!  I found this interesting and rather surprising.  In fact, I played with this for a few moments.  I felt the fear begin to return when I stopped concentrating on slowing my breath and then fade away again when I returned to the slow conscious breathing.  This was pretty dramatic.  Now I had been aware that whenever I get agitated or afraid that my breathing gets faster and shallower and that just adds to the stressful feelings.  And then it dawned on me that when I consciously slow down and take deeper breaths, my bodymind starts to relax and I feel better.  I can actually do something to make the anxiety and fear go away! 

Do you have worry thoughts that lead to fear feelings that “bring you down” for however long you let them?  Well, here is something that you can do to take charge of the situation. 

TAKE SOME SLOW, DEEP BREATHS!

You will find that fearful thoughts are incompatible with deep breathing.  Fritz Perls, the famous psychotherapist who developed gestalt therapy, said “Fear is excitement without the breath.”   In fact, have you noticed that when you are afraid that many times you find yourself actually stopping breathing– holding your breath?  The best thing you can do to ease the stress is start breathing again and try to take slow, deep breaths and you will notice a shift.  Your bodymind will release the fear and you may remain with a feeling of excitement which is just an increased state of awareness, but unburdened by fear.

So whenever you feel anxious or fearful or panicky and you notice your breathing getting faster and shallower (high in your chest), consciously slow your breathing down and let the breath fill your lower chest and belly fully like water filling a vase.   Notice how your feelings and even your thoughts “slow down” and begin to shift to something else, something that feels better and allows you to think more clearly (your brain & body are getting more oxygen).  Things don’t look so scary or stressful anymore.  Keep up the slow, deep breathing for as long as you need to and get on with your life–happier and healthier!!

FROM: Steve

I just heard that in the United States 80-85% of all doctor visits involve problems related to STRESS!  No surprise, eh?!  While it is difficult to actually remove the stress in our lives the most effective treatments include ways to deal with the stress on a daily basis and thus reduce the harmful effects..

The best, quickest, and most effective thing you can do to take charge of your stress is to Take a Deep Breath!

Now there is a certain way of doing this that insures that it will be effective. 

Here are three tips for doing it well:

1.  Breathe with your belly.  A lot of people tend to breathe using mostly their upper chest, especially in tense situations.  Think of a tense situation that just happened in your own life.  Try to picture it in your mind and pay attention to how you felt and how you were breathing at the time.  If you weren’t paying attention to how you were breathing then, do a quick bodyscan right now and see how you are breathing right now as you reproduce the incident and feeling.  Are you breathing faster and higher in your chest?  Most people do when feeling stressed.

So it is better to breathe from your belly.  When you breathe in allow the air to fill your lower chest, pushing down your diapragm and letting your belly expand instead of your chest.  Then gently push your breath out by letting your belly settle back to it’s normal position (or you might want to contract your belly a bit past normal to help push the last little bit of breath out).  Try it a few times.  Do it slowly and smoothly. 

 2.  Slow your breathing to 10 or fewer breaths per minute.   This is important and not particularly hard to do.  Pay attention to splitting each breath into two parts–the Inbreath and the Outbreath.  Now take a breath and let it out fully.  Then when you begin taking the next inbreath start counting slowly to 5 (representing 5 seconds).  When you get to 5 roll smoothly into your outbreath and count slowly to 5 again.  Repeat this several times.  This rhythm represents a breathing rate of 6 full breaths per minute.  You should not feel out of breath and you most likely will feel a sense of relaxation as your blood fills with oxygen and carries it to your brain resulting in clear, calm thinking.   Try it, you’ll like it!

3.  Take a deep, full relaxing breath whenever you feel stressed!  This will take some awareness on your part.  You will need to pay attention to when you are in a stressful situation and feeling tense.  One way to tell is by noticing if you are breathing shallow and fast (this is how the body automatically deals with stress, called fight or flight breathing).  When you notice this stop and take several (or at least one!) deep breaths as described above.  There doesn’t need to be a big dramatic shift.  In fact no one need know or even notice the change in your breathing.  But what they may notice is how much more calmly and efficiently you act!!   As a nurse, I got into the habit of stopping outside the door to my patient’s room to take a slow, deep breath before I entered.  I noticed my subsequent time with the patient went much smoother and calmer! 

And finally, you may want to practice this deep therapeutic breathing for a longer period of time each day.  Try sitting somewhere quiet and peaceful and breathe like this for 5 minutes or even 10 mintes, if you have time.  After a few days you may notice your frantic reactions to stress melt away.   You will feel healthier and actually be healthier!  Try it!

FROM:  Steve

To take charge of your health we have established that it is better (easier) to use the “A” word instead of the “E” word (Activity vs. Exercise).  And we need to get moving every day, especially if we have  been sitting or standing around most of the time and have gained a few pounds as we’ve grown older.   So how do we think about what we need to do to feel and be healthier. 

Fitness is the answer!!  Our goal is to increase our fitness.  Research has shown that fit men and women of all ages have stronger hearts with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease–that means less chance of a heart attack.   This also means higher quality of life, which in my book equates with happiness!!

I recommend a simple method to get fit and maintain your fitness and here it is:

     Do at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most (five or more) days of the week.

Let’s examine this prescription for fitness a little closer.  The italics highlight three important steps here.

1. Do 30 minutes of physical activity each day.  Research has shown that you don’t even need to do it all at one time.  You can split it up into 2-15 minute periods or even 3-10 minute periods. 
2. Choose moderate-intensity activities.  Moderate-intensity physical activities are equal in effort to a brisk walk, walking a mile in 15-20 minutes.  If you walk, you may need to work yourself up to speed in this case.  But in general, this is a healthy pace.  However, you can do other moderate-intensity activities like:  Bicycling (10-12 mph), dancing, gardening and yard work,  golfing (without a cart), hiking, playing actively with children, raking leaves, playing volleyball, or even washing and waxing your car.
3. Be active most days of the week.  If you can be active to this level every day, then that is GREAT!  But research has shown that you can achieve fitness by being physically active as little as 5 days per week.

Remember the most important way to achieve fitness, as in any skill, is to practice, practice, practice!!!  The activity outlined here is simple.  But the hard part is to DO IT!!!  Get started and don’t stop!  Make it a part of your daily life.  Commit your self to a life of active living and you will experience a long , happy, healthy life! 

 NOTE:  Research supporting this model of fitness was reported by Steven Blair and colleagues at the Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas.