Researchers at  Indiana University conducted a study that taught veterans who’d experienced a stroke yoga that produced promising results.

This pilot study involved 20 participants, 1 woman and 29 men, with an average age of 66 years.  During the 8 week study, twice each week, they took part in a 1 hour yoga class,  that was significantly altered to meet the veteran’s needs.

Their balance was measured using a standard scale (Berg Balance Scale and Fullerton Advance Balance Scale), and it improved by 17 percent and 34 percent respectively by the end of the study.  Equally exciting to the study’s lead researcher Arlene Schmid, assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis was the measurable gain in confidence the study participants had in their balance.

Dr. Schmid noted, “It also was interesting to see how much the men liked it.  They enjoyed it so much partly because they weren’t getting any other treatment.  They had already completed their rehabilitation but felt there still was room for improvement.”

The study participants performed yoga poses while seated in chairs and then progressed to standing and seated poses.  By the end of the study, they all performed poses on the floor, an achievement Dr.  Schmid  characterized as significant because many senior citizens are reluctant about working on the floor.

The therapeutic use of yoga is really taking off, according to Dr. Schmid.  She notes she has observed a small trend among occupational therapists  and physical therapists receiving yoga therapy training.

Source:

Indiana University

An easy-to-learn meditation technique can help ease the hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia of menopause, a new study says.

The University of Massachusetts research showed that mindfulness training, based on a Buddhist meditation concept, reduced the distress associated with hot flashes and improved physical, psychosocial and sexual functioning.

“The findings are important because hormone replacement therapy, used to treat menopause symptoms in the past, has been associated with health risks,” said study author James Carmody, an associate professor of medicine in the division of preventive and behavioral medicine.

About 40 percent of menopausal women suffer from hot flashes and night sweats, which undermine their quality of life, the researchers noted. But since hormone replacement therapy has been linked with an increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer and stroke, Carmody observed that “not only are women looking for alternative treatments, it is an NIH (National Institutes of Health) priority to find behavioral treatments.”

No other treatment has been found to substitute for hormone therapy, according to the study, but mindfulness training appears to allow women to be “less reactive” to menopausal symptoms.

Mindfulness therapy helps focus on the present. Practitioners avoid making judgments and simply accept whatever is passing through their mind while focusing on each breath. The technique is not difficult to learn, but requires some discipline in the beginning, experts noted.

The researchers aimed to influence women’s reaction to their symptoms, “including psychological distress, social embarrassment and anxiety.”

“We wanted to see if we could affect women’s resilience in response to these symptoms,” Carmody explained. “We were not trying to affect the symptoms themselves, although there was some effect on those as well.”

The study divided 110 women between the ages of 47 and 69 into two groups, one receiving the training, the other “waitlisted” to learn the technique.

Participants filled out questionnaires to determine factors known to influence hot flashes, such as alcohol use, yoga and exercise.

Researchers also measured four dimensions of quality of life: physical, psychosocial, vasomotor (hot flashes), and sexual function. The women rated how much they were bothered by symptoms on a four-point scale ranging from “not at all” to “extremely” bothered. They kept diaries noting the number and intensity of hot flashes and night sweats. On average, the women had five or more moderate to severe hot flashes, or night sweats, a day when the study began.

After taking classes once a week for eight weeks, and a full day of training, the training group women had an average decrease of 15 percent in how much their symptoms bothered them vs. 7 percent for the control group. While hot flash intensity did not differ significantly, the training group reported better sleep, and less anxiety and perceived stress.

At the beginning of the study, which ran from November 2005 to September 2007, participants had “clinically significant” sleep problems. Improved sleep was an important outcome, the study found.

“The thing that surprised us the most was the effect on sleep,” said Carmody, noting that mindfulness training was found to be as effective as hormone replacement therapy in reducing insomnia.

Another expert praised the study for using the “mind-body connection” to help women with serious menopause symptoms with “no side effects.”

“We’ve known about the mind-body connection,” said Dr. Jill M. Rabin. “We’re just beginning to unlock the power of the mind to have an impact on our physiological selves.”

The study authors were “self-critical regarding the limitations of the study,” said Rabin, chief of the division of ambulatory care and head of urogynecology at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Among other things, the study lacked an active control group program, they wrote.

Noting that the women were mostly white and had a high level of education, Rabin said more study was needed to see if the results apply to the general population.

“It’s not that the results don’t apply, or will be different for a different population,” she said. “We just don’t know.”

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673878/

A study conducted at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that women receiving radiation therapy for treating their breast cancer, experienced unique benefits while practicing yoga, including reducing fatigue.

While simple stretching exercises improved fatigue, the women using yoga activities that included  yogic breathing, postures, meditation and relaxation techniques in to their treatment plan experienced enhanced physical functioning, improved general health and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. They were also more likely to find meaning in their experience of cancer.

The findings, to be presented next month in an oral session at the 47th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Lorenzo Cohen, Ph.D., professor and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at MD Anderson.  This is the latest research of an ongoing effort to validate the age-old belief that mind-body interventions have a beneficial impact on the health of cancer patients. India’s largest yoga research institution, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana in Bangalore, India were collaborators.

This is the first time study has determined, yoga benefits to cancer patients by comparing their experience with patients in an active control group who integrated simple, generic stretching exercises into their lives (similar to yoga).  Dr. Cohen noted, “The combination of mind and body practices that are part of yoga clearly have tremendous potential to help patients manage the psychosocial and physical distress associated with treatment and life after cancer, beyond the benefits of simple stretching.” s

To conduct the study, 163 women with breast cancer (stage 0-3) averaging 52 years of age were randomized to one of three groups: 1) yoga; 2) simple stretching; or 3) no instruction in yoga or stretching. During their six weeks of radiation therapy, the participants in the yoga and stretching groups attended sessions specifically tailored to breast cancer patients for one hour three days a week.

Participants were asked to report on their quality of life, including daily physical functioning, benefit finding, fatigue, depression and spirituality. Saliva samples were collected and electrocardiogram tests were administered at the beginning, end of treatment, and at one, three and six months post-treatment.

After completing radiation treatment, only the women in the yoga and stretching groups reported a decline in fatigue. At one, three and six months after radiation therapy, the participants who practiced yoga during the treatment period reported greater benefits to physical functioning and general health. Also, compared to the other two groups, they were more likely to perceive positive life changes from their cancer experience.

Women who practiced yoga also experienced the largest decrease of their cortisol level throughout the day, indicating that yoga had the ability to regulate this stress hormone. This is particularly important because higher stress hormone levels throughout the day, known as a blunted circadian cortisol rhythm, have been linked to worse outcomes in breast cancer.

According to Cohen, developing a yoga practice also helps patients after completing cancer treatment. “The transition from active therapy back to everyday life can be very stressful as patients no longer receive the same level of medical care and attention. Teaching patients a mind-body technique like yoga as a coping skill can make the transition less difficult.”

This is the largest award ever for the study of yoga and cancer was provided by the National Cancer Institute.Cohen and his team will next conduct a Phase III clinical trial in women with breast cancer to further determine the mechanisms of yoga that lead to improvement in physical functioning, quality of life, and biological outcomes during and after radiation treatment. A secondary goal of the trial, but one of great significance, Cohen emphasized, is assessing cost efficiency analysis for the hospital, health care usage costs in general, and examining work productivity of patients.

MD Anderson recognizes the growing body of research indicating that relaxation-based interventions can contribute to the well-being of people with cancer. Through the Integrative Medicine Program, complementary therapies, such as yoga, are offered at MD Anderson’s Integrative Medicine Center, and are used in concert with mainstream care to manage symptoms, relieve stress, enhance quality of life, and improve outcomes for patients and their caregivers. MD Anderson’s Integrative Medicine faculty also conduct research in the biological and behavioral effects of mind-body based interventions; the anti-cancer potential of natural compounds; and, acupuncture to treat common cancer treatment-related side effects.

Sources:

University of Texas MD Anderson Integrative Medicine

www.sciencedaily.com

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Cincinnati determined that teenagers with asthma may experience better outcomes when using spiritual coping and complementary and alternative medicine, or integrative medicine, like prayer or relaxation, to manage symptoms.

The findings, were presented at the National Conference in Pediatric Psychology in San Antonio, Teas  April14-16, 2011 could aid doctors and other primary caregivers, to provide additional techniques to aid children, especially teens to self-manage their health conditions.

The study, led by Sian Cotton, PhD, assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine, looked at urban adolescents dealing with asthma and uncovered the ways that they were both coping with their illness as well as ways coping methods affected their mental and physical health outcomes.

One set of analyses examined ways these adolescents used complementary and alternative medicine strategies for symptom management; the other set of analyses looked at spiritual struggles in adolescents with asthma to see whether they contributed to health-related quality of life.

“Few studies have examined the role of spiritual struggles in children, and none have examined the relationship between spiritual struggles, secular coping and their outcomes; we wanted to see if spiritual struggles contribute uniquely to a patient’s quality of life, beyond demographic variables,” says Cotton.

“Similarly, prior studies have shown that 50 to 80 percent of adolescents with asthma have used complementary and alternative medicine and feel that these actions are successful in treating symptoms. We wanted to understand more about which sorts of patients might benefit from being approached on this subject by a physician.”

The study involved 151 adolescents with asthma between the ages of 11 and 19 at a children’s hospital in the Midwest.  They were given questionnaires that measured and assessed their spiritual coping, secular coping, complementary alternative medicine use.

The analysis included measuring  their quality of life, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Researchers then determined the association between spiritual struggles and health outcomes after accounting for age, gender, ethnicity and asthma severity.

The teen-aged males experiencing greater spiritual struggles and utilizing more negative secular coping methods, had poorer quality of life.

Also, the researcher determined that other teens who struggled spiritually and adolescents with more severe disease had increased anxiety symptoms. Also, some teenage girls had increased depressive symptoms.

“As hypothesized, religious or spiritual coping and secular coping predicted similar amounts of variance in these outcomes, similar to previous findings in adult populations, suggesting that spiritual coping is an important element to consider when caring for adolescents with asthma,” Cotton says.

“These issues may be particularly relevant among urban African-American adolescents for whom religion and spirituality is especially important. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of interventions or screening efforts to address spiritual struggles in these populations.”

In the second analysis, the same group of adolescents completed a survey looking at 10 forms of complementary and alternative medicine methods used for symptom management, including prayer, guided imagery, relaxation, meditation, yoga, massage, herbs, vitamins and rubs as well as dietary changes.

Eight-five percent of participants were African-American and 52 percent had persistent asthma.

“We asked how often they used these methods, if they would consider using any of these methods for symptom management, if they told their doctor or provider about the use of these methods and if they thought it helped their symptoms,” Cotton says.

Response frequencies for all four questions were examined for each method. Researchers then examined characteristics associated with alternative medicine use, consideration of use, disclosure and perceived efficacy for the two most commonly used modalities.

“Seventy-one percent of participants reported using complementary or alternative medicine, most commonly relaxation, at 64 percent, and prayer, at 61 percent, for symptom management in the last month,” Cotton says. “Adolescents would most often consider using relaxation (85 percent) and prayer (80 percent) in the future for symptom management.”

Participants were most likely to tell their provider about their use of yoga and dietary changes and least likely to discuss their use of prayer and guided imagery. Relaxation and prayer were perceived to be most efficacious, while imagery and massage were perceived to be least helpful.

In addition, adolescents with more frequent asthma symptoms used prayer more often than those with less frequent symptoms.

Also, older adolescents perceived relaxation to be more efficacious for symptom management.

“These findings show that this group of chronically ill adolescents is using complementary methods and finding them helpful,” says Cotton. “Providers should consider discussing the use of complementary or alternative medicine with their patients with asthma to help improve outcomes.

“These analyses point to findings that will help physicians care not only for patients with asthma but also for those with other chronic illnesses to ensure the best outcomes physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, producing a better quality of life.”

If you have a teen with asthma, click here to download your free 20 minute healing meditation.

Source: http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/12930/

Four independent and recent studies have found that meditation is helpful in reducing pain.

The first, a recent study in the Journal of Neurosciences found that using a certain meditation technique can be a potent way to reduce pain. A short session less than 20 minutes is more potent than even the narcotic drug morphine.  The study was conducted at Wake Forest University’s Baptist Medical Center is to with other research that indicates relaxing and clearing the mind can reduce the perception of pain, but critics insist it is far too early to recommend that people experiencing chronic pain stop taking their analgesic medications.

The next study involved 15 volunteers learning a technique known as focused attention, in which one shifts his attention from distracting thoughts, through focusing on breathing.  The participants attended for 20 min. classes. It was conducted at the University of North Carolina and published in the journal Pain.

Prior to and following the meditation training, the participants were subjected to 5 min. and 55 seconds of relative pain.   A small patch on the subject’s right leg to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and the participant used a six inch plastic sliding scale to port their level of pain.

MRI Reveals Brain Changes

MRI brain scans of volunteers, or the training show a lot of activity in the brain’s, the primary somatosensory cortex, but that disappeared after meditation training.
Every participant had some for meditating, but that was a wide variability among the participants, between 93 and 11%.

Also, because of the small size of the room only 15 practice and it is difficult to drugs and solutions from the sample. And the pain experienced by the participants, a burning sensation for a few minutes doesn’t compare to different types of pain that people experience.

Overall a study such as this one is adding to in every recent body of research indicating that even short periods meditation can have significant pain relieving benefits.

Lead researcher, Fadel Zeidan, said in a press release, “With meditation raining they would acknowledge the pain, they realize what it is, but just let it go.  They learn to bring their attention back to the present.”

Can Meditation Reduce Anxiety?

The third study, also published in the Journal of Pain, found that a 3 day 20 minute per day mindfulness meditation program training caused significant reduction in pain sensitivity after meditation and anxiety, also. The change suggests that meditation’s pain relieving effects are related to diminished anxiety and the enhanced ability to focus on the present moment.

The findings indicate that a brief 3 day mindfulness meditation intervention was effective at reducing pain ratings and anxiety scores when compared to pain perception prior to meditating and other cognitive manipulations such as math distraction.

Does Meditation Change the Pain Response?

The final report, conducted at the University of Montreal in Canada gave mildly painful electric shocks to 13 participants, that caused a knee-jerk reaction that could be measured by MRI imaging.  At the time the shock was given, the participants viewed a series of images that were pleasant, vicious, or neutral.  The researchers found that the pain of the shocks was perceived as being worse when the participants were viewing unpleasant photos.

These findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Emotions–or mood–can alter how we react to pain since they’re interlinked,” noted Mathieu Roy, the lead author of the study.

“Non-pharmaceutical interventions–mood enhancers such as photography or music–could be used in healthcare to help alleviate pain.  These interventions would be inexpensive and adaptable to several fields.”

Sources:
Journal of Neurosciences
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/14/5540.abstract
Journal of Pain
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

While many people still doubt the power of the mind, the effectiveness of mind body medicine and mind body techniques such as laughter, also known as humor therapy, positive psychology, and the remarkable impact our moods have on our ability to function, one study has made a significant discovery regarding how positive emotions impact our minds act work.

Given the nature of our current economy in 2011, globally, work place stress is at an all time high. Most corporate policies prohibit employees from watching videos, unless work related on the internet.

However, did you know that watching funny videos on the web at work, perhaps should be something management supports? I’m not surprised that watching humorous videos are not necessarily a wasted of time, because they create a good mood, and enable the viewer to think in a more creative way.

According to Ruby Nadler, a University of Western Ontario graduate student, “Generally, positive mood has been found to enhance creative problem solving and flexible yet careful thinking.” She and colleagues Rahel Rabi and John Paul Minda carried out a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. For this study, Nadler and her colleagues analyzed a particular kind of learning that is improved by creative thinking.

The researchers manipulated mood with help from music clips and video clips; first, they tried several out to find out what made people happiest and saddest. The happiest music was a peppy Mozart piece, and the happiest video was of a laughing baby. College students participating in the study were placed into different moods and then given a category learning task to do (they learned how to categorize picture sets with visually complex patterns).

The researchers then used these in the experiment, along with sad music and video (a piece of music from Schindler’s List and a news report tragedy, an earthquake) and a piece of music and a video that didn’t affect mood. After listening to the music and watching the video, people had to try to learn to recognize a pattern.

Happy volunteers were better at learning a rule to classify the patterns than sad or neutral volunteers. “If you have a project where you want to think in a more innovative way, or you have a problem to carefully consider, being in a positive mood can help you to do that,” Nadler says. And music is an easy way to get into a good mood. Everyone has a different type of music that works for them — don’t feel like you have to switch to Mozart, she says.

Nadler also believes this may be a reason why people like to watch funny videos at work. “I think people are unconsciously trying to put themselves in a positive mood” — so that the appearance of wasting time in fact may be good news for employers.

I believe mind body techniques hold a great potential, in the work place to improve employee moral, health, the work environment, if employers are willing to look beyond their current way of managing employees, as this study clearly suggests.

Click here to learn more about how to improve your mood using laughter and other mind body healing techniques.

Yours in good health,
Elaine R. Ferguson, MD

While February was  healthy heart month, and while many have focused on preventing and treating heart disease, I believe the focus should be on what we can do to improve our heart health, which will prevent disease throughout the year.

I just read an article about a cardiologist, a fellow alumni of my alma mater (Brown University), Dr. John Kennedy, director of Preventive Cardiology and Wellness at Marina Del Ray Hospital  surveyed over 2500 cardiologists about the link between stress and heart (cardiovascular) disease.  He asked them if they thought that heart attacks (myocardial infarctions) are linked to stress.  Each cardiologist answered yes.

He said, “It’s hard to get cardiologists to agree on anything, so this is significant.” Dr. Kennedy also asked them if they taught their patients about stress and how to handle it.  Not one said she or he does anything to help her or his patients manage stress to reduce their likelihood of experiencing a heart attack.

Based on my observations during medical school and residency, my experience with family and friends, and numerous research studies, I have believed that stress plays a big role in heart disease and many others, and that holistic healing techniques, can enhance traditional treatment

One of the main challenges for doctors who recognize this fact is that we are not paid to teach our patients simple, powerful stress reducing techniques.  Plus physicians have very limited time with their patients, and medical schools do not teach about stress reduction.  Almost thirty years ago a leading physician recommended the addition of psychosomatic medicine into the medical school curriculum.  That hasn’t happened.

Thousands of studies have demonstrated the link between stress and disease, but they are ignored.

That’s why I created this website and the get well faster tools and holistic healing techniques.  I didn’t want to wait for health care to catch up with the research.  Because the industry focus is on drugs and technology, I will be very surprised if any drastic change in its primary treatment focus happens during the next  decade.

No one can afford to wait that long.  We all need to take care of our health today.

In fact most of the integration of alternative therapies, and a holistic healing  has occurred in response to consumer demand.

Your voices have been heard.

Dr. Kennedy goes on to say that stress is an independent predictor of heart disease.  It causes physical and chemical changes in the body that increase the risk of heart disease and heart attacks.  It raises the blood pressure, increases the heart rate and triggers inflammation.

So how do you easily keep your heart healthy using holistic healing techniques?

1. Reduce Stress

2. Take care of yourself emotionally

3. Express your creativity

4. Laugh often

Beyond the known risk factors, hundreds, if not thousands of research studies have clearly demonstrated a link between heart disease, anger, lack of forgiveness, hostility and depression.

You can reduce your stress in many ways.  Some people meditate, others exercise, while some express their creativity.  Do what feels right for you.  That’s most important.

Failure to express yourself emotionally can lead to emotional stagnation in the form of anger, hostility, the lack of a willingness to forgive, and depression.  Writing in a journal on a daily basis about your emotional challenges can significantly improve your health. Talking to a friend or family member, or a therapist with a compassionate heart is very healing.  The bottom line is emotional honesty, even when expressing difficult ones, is very healing.  Holding them in, repressing, and emotional dishonesty with oneself, contributes to the development of heart disease and other chronic conditions.

If you want to begin using holistic healing techniques today, click here now and get a free 20 minute healing meditation ( a $19.95 value).

To your good health,

Elaine R. Ferguson, MD

www.howtogetwellfaster.com

My friend, we’ll call Luther (not his real name), was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He decided not against his recommended treatment of radiation and surgery. Instead he and his wife decided to try a holistic approach to treatment. They went to a well known holistic cancer care facility in Europe. He responded to the treatment and was in remission for several years.

Until…a few years later, his cancer returned with a vengeance. I saw him in the midst of his treatment, daily radiation treatments for several weeks, and I was afraid he wouldn’t survived. We’d previously discussed other holistic cancer care treatments, one in particular, that’s available only outside of the US, but due to our inability to contact the treatment facility, that wasn’t an option.

My friend didn’t appear to respond to his treatment. I’d mentioned to him, my recent research discoveries regarding the link between low vitamin d levels and cancer. Once again, he committed himself to a more holistic approach, and began to focus on his nutrition, stress reduction and other techniques.

I saw him a year later and he never looked better!

So how do you, as a cancer patient decide on whether or not to use
holistic cancer care available?

1. research your options
2. talk to other patients
3.find a credible holistic cancer treatment facility
4.diet
5. tend to your mind, body and spirit
6. find a support group
7. use mind/body techniques
8. Find inspiration

Download your copy of my free healing meditation today.

To Your good Health,
Elaine R. Ferguson, MD
www.howtogetwellfaster.com

A dear friend of mine, Bill was diagnosed several years ago with terminal prostate cancer.  The tumor was so large, the upper portion protruded into his abdominal cavity.  His doctor recommended immediate surgery and chemotherapy.  Bill asked the doctor if he could wait a few weeks, because he felt within himself that he had a lot of emotional healing to do, before subjecting his body to the rigors of the recommended treatment.

He asked his five adult children who lived across the US to come home and share a weekend with he and his wife.  The experience was remarkable for all involved, as many deep and unresolved family wounds were healed.

A week or so later, Bill returned to see his doctor, with a simple request, to re-evalute his body before scheduling his surgery.  His doctor attempted to convince him that additional tests weren’t necessary, but Bill insisted.  And his doctor gave in. Much to the doctor’s surprise, Bills’ scans couldn’t find the tumor, that had only a few weeks earlier had threatened his life!

Most people don’t think that they do, because they tend to focus on outside resources as the source of their health, such as medications, doctors, chiropractors, nurses, therapists, etc.  When in fact they overlook the greatest resource they have-that lie within.

One of the key ingredients a self-healing person has is the ability to cope with stress in a very healthy way.

We all experience stress in our daily life. It is also quite common to have been prescribed a tranquilizer,  to help you cope with stress.  Juggling between a load of tasks and things to worry about has become a daily routine in all our lives. But amidst this stressful life that you’re living, did you ever stop to think how you   need to take better care of yourself? Did you ever stop to think about taking charge? Have you ever tried  to de-stress?

Stress is not always a bad thing! Stress is a natural reaction- a little of bit of stress is what keeps us going. This type of “acute” or “good” stress is what brings out the best in us in a project, or when faced with a deadline or challenge. It is also what helps us get through emergencies. However, how we perceive and respond to stress is the key to taking control.  It can be the difference between maintaining our health and developing a stress related disease.  More than 80 per cent of all doctor visits are stress related. When we are exposed to prolonged or undefined stress, or when several sources co-exist, it is much harder for us to recover and return to our normal state.

Our bodies created a response to life threatening situations.  Fear triggers an immediate surge of hormones that prepares the body to run or fight.  On the short term basis, that is an excellent, protective mechanism from which the body recovers.  However, dealing with stress on a continuous basis, in a way that constantly causes the release of these stress hormones, can lead to depletion of our adrenal glands.  Negative emotions actually trigger a cascade of physiological responses, including the release of norepinephrine, (noradrenalin), a chemical messenger known to suppress immune function. Also, the excessive release of stress hormones such as cortisol impacts the immune system by depressing the production of antibodies and messing up how our bodies function.

Chronic distress is known to cause high blood pressure and heart problems. It is also common to experience migraines, back pain and much more. As you can see, negative stress renders the body more susceptible to a variety of diseases physical and/or psychological problems. Unfortunately, some people repress their emotions. Others try to relieve their stress by smoking, or even taking illicit drugs. These responses are at best temporary diversions and provide a brief sense of relief and it leaves the person worse off than they were initially.

How do we start reacting positively toward stress? The answer is to learning how to view your stressful situation in a different way.  One that allows you to face the challenge, without essentially feeling controlled, defeated or doomed by it.  While most people believe they have no choice when dealing with the stresses that occur in our daily lives, both large and small, expected and unexpected, the fact remains that we do.

Perception Change: I learned how to step back and take a look at the bigger picture, and placed what seemed to be overwhelming into a broader perspective, which minimized its importance and meaning.

1. Is this situation that important?
2. Will it be as upsetting as it is to me today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year?
3. What similar situations have I faced and lived through?
4. How do I feel about those now?
5. Can I feel the same way about this one?

Affirmations: Another effective and valuable  technique I’ve learned is using affirmations.  Believe it or now, it is a powerful way to relax and overcome stress

Some of my favorite ones are:

1. This too shall pass
2. All things are possible.
3. I rise above this situation now, and move forward
4. Nothing can change my peace of mind—even this situation
5. I am in charge of the way I feel right now.  Nothing outside of me can change my peace of mind, unless I allow it to do so.

Deep Breathing: Did you know that taking a deep breath can actually change your body’s physiology and relax it?

Take a few deep breaths, the next time you feel stressed

Everyone needs to alter their perception and response to stress. By developing the characteristics that is self-healing. To lead a healthy productive life, we all must learn to deal with our negative emotions and stream them into a more positive and constructive outlook at life. A positive outlook at life starts by taking a deeper look within.

Stress affects us differently. Our unique personalities, genes and situations are all factors that help shape the way we deal with stress. Most importantly, how we choose to respond, rather than reacting as if we don’t have a choice to stressful situations is the key to distressing.

1.Identifying the source of stress is necessary to ensure that you are looking at things in a healthy positive way. Sometimes it’s not so easy to simply point a finger at the source of stress, but it’s a must to dig deep down inside.

2.Keeping a journal to write about your feelings, regarding the stressful events you encounter and your daily responsibilities will help you zoom into what is stressing you out. It will allow you to recognize and reflect on what is stressing you out, and realize any changes occurring in your life.

3.Time management, setting limits for yourself, sharing your thoughts, and realizing you need time off are necessary in our lives.

4.Thinking positively is key. A healthy outlook is a positive outlook that accepts change as a part of life. It takes time and patience to increase our self-awareness and focus our self-healing powers. But the belief that we can heal will get us there. Stressful times may cause depressed immunity, but self-healing personalities will bounce back. When we believe that we can heal we help activate the mechanisms that foster immunity and healing on every level.

To de-stress yourself, sustain well-being and a strong immune system, one must accept being in the world and honestly express one’s feelings. Try to know what’s stressing you out – try to have a little alarm go off inside you to warn you when you start getting those signs of stress.

5.Take up daily practices that build emotional strength, supercharge your immune system, and take better care of yourself. Try meditation, positive affirmation, relaxed deep breathing and other techniques that help you to relax. And do not forget to take the time to understand and express yourself.

Click here and get your free healing meditation ( a $19.95 value) today!

To Your Good Health,
Elaine R. Ferguson, MD

www.howtogetwellfaster.com

As our New Year’s resolutions commitments takes a back seat in our daily lives, and our exercising slows down, I discovered a study published in the February 2007 issue of Psychological Science that may help us to reap the benefits of exercise through our daily routine. Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer and her student Alia Crum determined that many of the benefits of exercise are caused by the way we think about exercising.

Recommending exercise is a touted lifestyle habit that is touted to reduce many risk factors for chronic disease development.  The US Surgeon General recommends 30 minutes of daily exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

While daily exercising is challenging for people with desk jobs, other jobs are physical, such as  a hotel housekeeper. On average, they clean 15 rooms every day, each taking 20 to 30 minutes to complete. According to the study, the housekeepers might not consider their job related physical activities  job as exercise, but if their perception changed, and  that they were aware of the exercise they are getting, then their health should improve. 

The study included 84 female housekeepers from seven hotels. Women in 4 hotels were told that their regular work was enough exercise for them to meet the recommended requirements for a healthy, active lifestyle.  While the women in the other three hotels weren’t told anything.

To determine if the mind plays a role in the benefits of exercise, the researchers investigated whether subjects’ mind-set (in this case, their perceived levels of exercise) could improve and inhibit the health benefits of exercise independent of any actual exercise.

A month later, the researchers returned to assess any changes in the women’s health. They found that the women in the informed group had lost 2 pounds, experienced a 10 per cent reduction of their  blood pressure, and were significantly healthier as determined  by body-fat percentage, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio.  Also, these health changes are particularly remarkable given that they occurred within a month and were significantly higher than those experienced by the uninformed control group.

Dr. Langer wrote, “Whether the change in physiological health was brought about directly or indirectly, it is clear that health is significantly affected by mind-set.” This research shows the moderating role of mind-set and its ability to enhance health, which may have particular relevance for treating diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

This is a pretty amazing finding, in my opinion , and complements other studies that have found that athletes benefit from imagining participating in their sport, their muscles are actually stimulated  as if they were physically involved in the sport.

Our minds are amazingly remarkable and changes our physiology  remarkable.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207091003.htm