Springtime often brings goals for losing weight, eating healthier, getting in shape for summer sports and activities....etc. But, we are not always very successful with our goals and we are rarely successful at maintaining them. Why? There is something missing from our understanding of how the brain works, I believe. So, even though we can make some changes, we often go back to old ways. This isn't about willpower, this is about being SMART.
SMART is a pretty well known acronym to help set a format for goal setting. S is for Specific. M is for Measurable. A is for Attainable. R is for Relevant. T is for Time. Let's take each one individually and do this right!
Be SPECIFIC. Usually, we have a pretty good handle on where we are - for example, I can run 1 mile, I am 40 pounds over weight, I have $330 in savings. We also have a good handle on what we want - I want to run 26.2 miles, I want to weigh 135 pounds, I want to have $950 in savings for my trip. What is lacking and really important are the steps in between. This is the part that needs to be specific. It is also the part that teaches us and our brains the process of being successful. The step by step process toward the goal acclimates the brain toward change and eases the body and mind in the direction of change.
It is important to focus less on the ultimate goal and more on the next specific step in the process toward the goal. Using the goal - maybe an image on your mirror as a motivator can help fire up the emotions, but long term changes come from the step by step process on the way to the goal. Here's how: set specific weekly actions that are completely do-able, but ease you in the right direction. Say going up 1/2 mile each week, losing 1 lb. per week, putting aside $10 each week. Get specific about where that $10 is coming form, about how to decrease calories consumed or increase calories used, etc.
Make the goals MEASURABLE. There has to be a way for you to show your brain you are there. A way to celebrate and pat yourself on the back with each small step you make toward your goal. The brain is firmly set in wanting to stay as things were. It needs you to show it with each step in the right direction that this is it! This is going to be great! We need to keep going and never look back! With each measurable step, celebrate, make a big deal of your success, stimulate that reward center with something that lets the brain begin to connect to this goal.
Make your goal ATTAINABLE. The small steps along the way are going to help. Be real here. It is silly to force yourself on a journey toward a goal that doesn't serve your life in a positive way. Don't set yourself up for failure. If setting aside $50 a week makes you feel like you have to give too much up, you will fight your own goal. If you ask your body to exercise too much, you will get injured and feel miserable. Set yourself up for success!
Make sure the goal is RELEVANT. A good example of a non-relevant goal is going on a quick fix diet. If the diet is not sustainable, why bother? A sustainable diet is one you can stay on FOREVER and maintain the healthy weight. A relevant fitness goal sets you up for an event, yes, but then also sets you up for a healthy fitness lifestyle after the event. The event is no longer the motivation, feeling great physically is. Relevancy also helps the brain make connections that make the whole process easier, no matter what your goal. The brain gets better through practice. It also gets better when it can take something new and make it fit in with something old. Making connections creates a higher level of success.
Be TIME-specific. It is great to set this up with weekly achievements which then lead to monthly achievements which then lead to longer term goals! Where will you be at each time juncture? Now, one problem with time specifics is what happens when your goal at a certain date and time does happen? Maybe there was an emergency fix needed on the car and you had to dip into the savings? Or, an injury prevents certain training goals? Then, reset. Don't give up! Life is not a perfect linear march to success. When it becomes necessary to say, uh oh this is not possible as planned, then reset your time goals and get back on track.
Sometimes it is helpful to get some objective assistance and motivation for goal-setting. Find yourself some support, someone to help with your plan, someone to help you celebrate, cheer you on. Make this fun. If it is torture and drudgery, it is only a temporary quick fix. Long term goals require a good plan, steady, progress, rewards and fun!
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
Making stress my friend?!
I saw a TEDtalk from Kelly McGonigal and it is really making me think. Watch the video. It is 14 minutes long. What she is saying is that we can use stress to our best advantage health-wise, just by changing our beliefs about stress itself. I have seen beliefs make huge changes in people mental health-wise, but can beliefs change us physically as well?
Let's look at one study published in the European Heart Journal. Just over 7,000 people were followed for 18 years and asked about their perceptions on stress. Then, researchers looked at the participants' risk of cardiac disease and death. Those that believed that stress has affected their health "a lot or extremely" were more likely to die of a heart attack. Risk of heart attack, in fact, doubled. This was found independent of other biological risk factors. Researchers stated that "people's perceptions about the impact of stress on their health are likely to be correct." In other words, if you believe stress is harmful, it will be! Read more on this study here.
Another study, the one that Kelly McGonigal is referring to, was published in Health Psychology and tracked 30,000 participants for 8 years. Researchers concluded that people who have high incidences of stress and believe that stress is harmful have higher risks of dying prematurely. How much higher? 43%!
Participants were surveyed yearly on how much stress they experienced over the past year. They were then asked how much they believe the stress effected their health. Participants were asked whether they attempted to cope with the stress in some way. They were asked about their physical health over the past year as well as their mental health. Ultimately, the self-report of physical health was merely about perception. The real data marker researchers used was simply public death records - mortality.
Participants who reported stress, also reported poor health and psychological distress. However, participants who reported they made attempts to cope with stress, were less likely to report poor physical health. Might be that if we perceive we can cope with stress, we have fewer health effects.
Now, let's look at mortality. It is important to note that just looking at stress levels did not predict mortality. Nor, did just looking at one's belief that stress is harmful. It is the two together that predict that 43% higher rate of premature death. If one has a lot of stress and believes that stress is harmful, then premature death is more likely. Read the study here.
This is not a causal relationship, so far. This type of study can not ascertain cause. But, it does indicate a very close relationship. Because the relationship is within your control, why not make some changes? Researchers theorize that what has been studied in psychology for years is likely present here as well. People who expect negative things to happen to them, see negative things happening all the time. It is hard to see the positive in life for these people. They are likely to see their health as poor, their stress as too high, and their ability to cope as useless. It's that old self-fulfilling prophecy thing.
In addition, there is resiliency or the ability to cope and overcome. Might be that seeing stress as something one can overcome makes it less, well, stressful. A biggie in the mental health field and in education is locus of control. If I see events not as things that continually happen to me, coming at me from the outside world with me having no ability to control, I am much more able to cope and much more likely to see life optimistically. However, having an external locus of control, causes people to see life pessimistically. Negative events just keep happening and I am the victim. Pretty stressful way to see life right?
Let's look at the stress response briefly. The system is flooded with stress hormones. We think all of these hormones are bad for us. Truth is, it is more complicated than that. Any feeling we have, is actually a complicated cocktail of hormones. So, those "good" hormones can be present in bad feelings and "bad" hormones can be present in good feelings. Example, oxytocin. Oxytocin is considered a "good" hormone. It makes us feel loving. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. However, it is released when stress is present. You can learn more about that by watching Kelly's TEDtalk. Others present will be adrenaline, cortisol, epinephrine, etc. Ok, back to the stress response. Once the stressful event is over, all of this goes away and a different dose of hormones is present.
Here's where I see and I interpret the information and research differently from Kelly McGonigal. She says we only need to change our beliefs about stress. Make stress your friend. I say there is a two-pronged strategy to take. Change your beliefs and get better at coping.
Let's look at the person who is optimistic, who feels s/he can cope, who is resilient and knows the stressful event will end. This person's stress response will end appropriately once coping mechanisms are in place and positive belief systems take over. The person who is pessimistic, has poor coping skills, and feels a victim to stressful life events will not be able to turn off the stress response. A constant exposure to the stress hormone cocktail is deleterious to physical health. Eventually, this will cause health issues - poor heart health, weak immune response, digestive problems and more. Not only that, why bother with healthy choices? Why eat well? Why exercise? We're all gonna die anyway, right? So, what we each need is to be able to cope better and we need to believe we can overcome stress successfully.
We need an arsenal of coping mechanisms for stress. I am not going to address these here, because I covered what you can do to take control of the stress response in my August blog. Read it and make yourself a "tool belt" of coping skills.
We also need to address our belief systems - believing stress is harmful, seems to make it more harmful. If you don't yet believe what I've shared here, educate yourself on this research. Educate yourself on how the brain works. Start creating optimism. If you complain, stop complaining. Place a bracelet/rubber band on your wrist for every complaint. Eventually, train yourself to get to a day that is complaint free. Create affirmations: "I believe, I can cope." "My body is strong and healthy and can handle this stress." "I can get through this. I am strong." You get the idea, right? When you think negative thoughts, change them to positive thoughts. Try gratitude. This is a great way to become more optimistic, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to have some faith. Focus on what is positive and present each day - from the tiniest things, to the big things, to things normally taken for granted, to the obvious. There are gratitude programs available online. There are books on gratitude. Plenty of resources out there. This isn't about losing touch with reality. Reality is positive as well as negative. We only have so much attention - how about more of the attention going in a positive direction and less going in the negative direction, for the sake of good health?
If having large amounts of stress and believing stress is harmful have such a strong unhealthy relationship, it is time to take your mental and physical health under your control. Stress will happen. It will likely happen today and probably tomorrow. Saying big deal, I can handle it and then doing so reduces negative health effects. Learn to deal and learn to believe!
Another study, the one that Kelly McGonigal is referring to, was published in Health Psychology and tracked 30,000 participants for 8 years. Researchers concluded that people who have high incidences of stress and believe that stress is harmful have higher risks of dying prematurely. How much higher? 43%!
Participants were surveyed yearly on how much stress they experienced over the past year. They were then asked how much they believe the stress effected their health. Participants were asked whether they attempted to cope with the stress in some way. They were asked about their physical health over the past year as well as their mental health. Ultimately, the self-report of physical health was merely about perception. The real data marker researchers used was simply public death records - mortality.
Participants who reported stress, also reported poor health and psychological distress. However, participants who reported they made attempts to cope with stress, were less likely to report poor physical health. Might be that if we perceive we can cope with stress, we have fewer health effects.
Now, let's look at mortality. It is important to note that just looking at stress levels did not predict mortality. Nor, did just looking at one's belief that stress is harmful. It is the two together that predict that 43% higher rate of premature death. If one has a lot of stress and believes that stress is harmful, then premature death is more likely. Read the study here.
This is not a causal relationship, so far. This type of study can not ascertain cause. But, it does indicate a very close relationship. Because the relationship is within your control, why not make some changes? Researchers theorize that what has been studied in psychology for years is likely present here as well. People who expect negative things to happen to them, see negative things happening all the time. It is hard to see the positive in life for these people. They are likely to see their health as poor, their stress as too high, and their ability to cope as useless. It's that old self-fulfilling prophecy thing.
In addition, there is resiliency or the ability to cope and overcome. Might be that seeing stress as something one can overcome makes it less, well, stressful. A biggie in the mental health field and in education is locus of control. If I see events not as things that continually happen to me, coming at me from the outside world with me having no ability to control, I am much more able to cope and much more likely to see life optimistically. However, having an external locus of control, causes people to see life pessimistically. Negative events just keep happening and I am the victim. Pretty stressful way to see life right?
Let's look at the stress response briefly. The system is flooded with stress hormones. We think all of these hormones are bad for us. Truth is, it is more complicated than that. Any feeling we have, is actually a complicated cocktail of hormones. So, those "good" hormones can be present in bad feelings and "bad" hormones can be present in good feelings. Example, oxytocin. Oxytocin is considered a "good" hormone. It makes us feel loving. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. However, it is released when stress is present. You can learn more about that by watching Kelly's TEDtalk. Others present will be adrenaline, cortisol, epinephrine, etc. Ok, back to the stress response. Once the stressful event is over, all of this goes away and a different dose of hormones is present.
Here's where I see and I interpret the information and research differently from Kelly McGonigal. She says we only need to change our beliefs about stress. Make stress your friend. I say there is a two-pronged strategy to take. Change your beliefs and get better at coping.
Let's look at the person who is optimistic, who feels s/he can cope, who is resilient and knows the stressful event will end. This person's stress response will end appropriately once coping mechanisms are in place and positive belief systems take over. The person who is pessimistic, has poor coping skills, and feels a victim to stressful life events will not be able to turn off the stress response. A constant exposure to the stress hormone cocktail is deleterious to physical health. Eventually, this will cause health issues - poor heart health, weak immune response, digestive problems and more. Not only that, why bother with healthy choices? Why eat well? Why exercise? We're all gonna die anyway, right? So, what we each need is to be able to cope better and we need to believe we can overcome stress successfully.
We need an arsenal of coping mechanisms for stress. I am not going to address these here, because I covered what you can do to take control of the stress response in my August blog. Read it and make yourself a "tool belt" of coping skills.
We also need to address our belief systems - believing stress is harmful, seems to make it more harmful. If you don't yet believe what I've shared here, educate yourself on this research. Educate yourself on how the brain works. Start creating optimism. If you complain, stop complaining. Place a bracelet/rubber band on your wrist for every complaint. Eventually, train yourself to get to a day that is complaint free. Create affirmations: "I believe, I can cope." "My body is strong and healthy and can handle this stress." "I can get through this. I am strong." You get the idea, right? When you think negative thoughts, change them to positive thoughts. Try gratitude. This is a great way to become more optimistic, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to have some faith. Focus on what is positive and present each day - from the tiniest things, to the big things, to things normally taken for granted, to the obvious. There are gratitude programs available online. There are books on gratitude. Plenty of resources out there. This isn't about losing touch with reality. Reality is positive as well as negative. We only have so much attention - how about more of the attention going in a positive direction and less going in the negative direction, for the sake of good health?
If having large amounts of stress and believing stress is harmful have such a strong unhealthy relationship, it is time to take your mental and physical health under your control. Stress will happen. It will likely happen today and probably tomorrow. Saying big deal, I can handle it and then doing so reduces negative health effects. Learn to deal and learn to believe!
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Multi-Vitamin Reports and Studies are Multi-Limited
I don't know who I should be frustrated with - the authors of these recent multi-vitamin studies or the media reporting. Maybe both. I am not saying we should or we shouldn't take vitamins. I just would like the information to be clear, fair, and balanced. In this case, with both studies, the reports are none of the above. Not only that, but the study printed in the Annals of Internal Medicine is titled: "Enough is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements." Wow! That is a pretty extreme title. The research they gathered must be strong! Not so.
First off, the studies are focused on multi-vitamins. A multi-vitamin is a very different kind of vitamin and/or mineral than taking specific vitamins, minerals, and supplements on their own. For example, it is not necessary for anyone to take iron, a mineral, unless specifically diagnosed as deficient. So, a multi-vitamin might provide what is NOT needed and could actually be more harm than good. Same is true with beta-carotenes found in some multi-vitamins. That is a waste of money.
Typically, those of us diagnosed as deficient in any area - calcium, Vitamin D, iron, etc. are prescribed or told to take that supplement alone with a certain measurement of IUs (International Units) or grams (g. or milli- mg, etc.). Try to find that measure in a multi-vitamin and you could be short-changed. Best to buy what you need in it's pure form, void of other vitamins and minerals. In addition, as the studies do indicate, we can metabolize only certain amounts of substances in a particular amount of time. The rest, well, it gets literally flushed. So, buying smaller amounts of exactly what you need and taking twice a day will allow the body to get what it needs and stop you from flushing away your money.
You can do the math on this. Many authors write about how many mgs or IUs the body can handle and how much to take at any one time. Creating a blanket statement of waste is just short-changing the public's ability to handle good information. It is true, however, that the general amounts allocated in a multi-vitamin are going to create waste. Some vitamins and minerals are water soluble - they come out in the urine, if not absorbed and used. Others are fat soluble and can become toxic in the wrong dosage. Multi-vitamins make this tricky, because everything is lumped together in one pill. So, it might be that taking things separately, as needed, in amounts that work for your size and lifestyle, is the best bet for the money.
The reason I would not take a multi once I reached adulthood (I did love those Flintstones vitamins as a kid), is that I knew some did not get along well and others get along really well. For example, take iron with vitamin C helps make them available to the system. Don't take Vitamin C with zinc, etc. What's right and what's wrong? What goes together and what doesn't? I just decided to do my research, look at what might be deficient in my diet or during particular times of the year, what I'd like to increase and take those individual vitamins and minerals with some intentionality. It is clearly more complicated than just wadding all the vitamins and minerals up into one and taking that horse pill each and every morning.
How can these researchers say with clarity that all supplementation is a waste of money when the studies were based on one vitamin brand and only a multi-vitamin? Some argue that the brand was a low-potency brand and the results wouldn't be strong with such a poor quality multi-vitamin. In addition, there are multiple studies that show specific vitamins are beneficial. The vitamins B-12 and B-6 are shown to be beneficial, but in this multi-vitamin there wasn't the same beneficial amount as in previous studies. Other studies show vitamin E is beneficial - in its gamma tocopheral format. Well, a multi-vitamin can't hold gamma tocopheral well, so the vitamin usually contains alpha tocopheral which is not beneficial to cardiovascular health. This is complicated! Making a big statement like that title - Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, is just plain irresponsible.
The second problem I have with the studies is they are reporting and studying disease prevention rather than healthy lifestyle. Most people taking vitamins and minerals hope there is some preventative benefit in the long term, but in the short term they are doing something healthy for themselves. Making life -body and mind - better. Do vitamin and mineral supplements make life on an everyday basis better? Do we have more energy? Do we feel happier? I don't want to live a life where all I do is prevent disease. I want to live a life that is active and happy, a life in which everyday is enjoyable. It's not all about disease - it might be that vitamins and minerals make life better! Where's that study? Did researchers include that in their I am wasting money assumption?
My biggest peeve about the reports is that no one is saying that the first study was done only on men. It was! I thought we were past this ridiculousness in the medical field when we discovered that women have very different kinds of heart disease, stroke and age-related decline than men do, so we'd better start doing studies on both sexes in order to have good information. I don't know if this is good information for me, because I am a woman and the study was done only with men. Not to mention the men were older - they were taking Centrum Silver. May or may not be applicable to for sure 53% of the population, not to mention all those under 50, male or female.
Finally, the studies were only about cognitive decline (the first one reported which was the all-male study) and heart disease (the second, with unknown percentages of males to females and age levels on this one). What if mult-vitamins are good for cancer prevention? Awwwww shucks, we threw them all out, because you told us to! Classic throw the baby out with the bath water!
Here's the best true statement that can be made, in my opinion: If you are taking your multi-vitamin only to prevent cognitive decline and you are male and around 50 or older, then ok, throw it out. If you are taking your multi-vitamin to prevent heart disease alone, then you might be on the right track in chucking your multi as well, it might not be doing much good. However, there was NO evidence that it was doing harm. In fact there was insignificant evidence that small improvements were present. For everybody else, the evidence is just not there....yet. Educate yourself, make decisions based on you as an individual, your health history, your family's health history, and your current lifestyle (which includes what you eat and drink). This is up to you. Research is biased and the media just up for a good hype on a very extreme title to a very poorly executed study and research article.
I, personally, change my supplementation periodically. I take B-12 regularly, because I am vegetarian and nearly vegan. I take Omega-3 supplements sometimes, but not regularly. In the winter, I take some zinc, vitamin D and magnesium for the immune system and the lack of sun exposure. I look at my lifestyle, my needs, my current health, my age, all of it. Sometimes, a lot of the time, I take no supplements. I don't need them or I can't afford them. All of this is important, so please educate yourself and take yourself into account, then do what's best for you.
First off, the studies are focused on multi-vitamins. A multi-vitamin is a very different kind of vitamin and/or mineral than taking specific vitamins, minerals, and supplements on their own. For example, it is not necessary for anyone to take iron, a mineral, unless specifically diagnosed as deficient. So, a multi-vitamin might provide what is NOT needed and could actually be more harm than good. Same is true with beta-carotenes found in some multi-vitamins. That is a waste of money.
Typically, those of us diagnosed as deficient in any area - calcium, Vitamin D, iron, etc. are prescribed or told to take that supplement alone with a certain measurement of IUs (International Units) or grams (g. or milli- mg, etc.). Try to find that measure in a multi-vitamin and you could be short-changed. Best to buy what you need in it's pure form, void of other vitamins and minerals. In addition, as the studies do indicate, we can metabolize only certain amounts of substances in a particular amount of time. The rest, well, it gets literally flushed. So, buying smaller amounts of exactly what you need and taking twice a day will allow the body to get what it needs and stop you from flushing away your money.
You can do the math on this. Many authors write about how many mgs or IUs the body can handle and how much to take at any one time. Creating a blanket statement of waste is just short-changing the public's ability to handle good information. It is true, however, that the general amounts allocated in a multi-vitamin are going to create waste. Some vitamins and minerals are water soluble - they come out in the urine, if not absorbed and used. Others are fat soluble and can become toxic in the wrong dosage. Multi-vitamins make this tricky, because everything is lumped together in one pill. So, it might be that taking things separately, as needed, in amounts that work for your size and lifestyle, is the best bet for the money.
The reason I would not take a multi once I reached adulthood (I did love those Flintstones vitamins as a kid), is that I knew some did not get along well and others get along really well. For example, take iron with vitamin C helps make them available to the system. Don't take Vitamin C with zinc, etc. What's right and what's wrong? What goes together and what doesn't? I just decided to do my research, look at what might be deficient in my diet or during particular times of the year, what I'd like to increase and take those individual vitamins and minerals with some intentionality. It is clearly more complicated than just wadding all the vitamins and minerals up into one and taking that horse pill each and every morning.
How can these researchers say with clarity that all supplementation is a waste of money when the studies were based on one vitamin brand and only a multi-vitamin? Some argue that the brand was a low-potency brand and the results wouldn't be strong with such a poor quality multi-vitamin. In addition, there are multiple studies that show specific vitamins are beneficial. The vitamins B-12 and B-6 are shown to be beneficial, but in this multi-vitamin there wasn't the same beneficial amount as in previous studies. Other studies show vitamin E is beneficial - in its gamma tocopheral format. Well, a multi-vitamin can't hold gamma tocopheral well, so the vitamin usually contains alpha tocopheral which is not beneficial to cardiovascular health. This is complicated! Making a big statement like that title - Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, is just plain irresponsible.
The second problem I have with the studies is they are reporting and studying disease prevention rather than healthy lifestyle. Most people taking vitamins and minerals hope there is some preventative benefit in the long term, but in the short term they are doing something healthy for themselves. Making life -body and mind - better. Do vitamin and mineral supplements make life on an everyday basis better? Do we have more energy? Do we feel happier? I don't want to live a life where all I do is prevent disease. I want to live a life that is active and happy, a life in which everyday is enjoyable. It's not all about disease - it might be that vitamins and minerals make life better! Where's that study? Did researchers include that in their I am wasting money assumption?
My biggest peeve about the reports is that no one is saying that the first study was done only on men. It was! I thought we were past this ridiculousness in the medical field when we discovered that women have very different kinds of heart disease, stroke and age-related decline than men do, so we'd better start doing studies on both sexes in order to have good information. I don't know if this is good information for me, because I am a woman and the study was done only with men. Not to mention the men were older - they were taking Centrum Silver. May or may not be applicable to for sure 53% of the population, not to mention all those under 50, male or female.
Finally, the studies were only about cognitive decline (the first one reported which was the all-male study) and heart disease (the second, with unknown percentages of males to females and age levels on this one). What if mult-vitamins are good for cancer prevention? Awwwww shucks, we threw them all out, because you told us to! Classic throw the baby out with the bath water!
Here's the best true statement that can be made, in my opinion: If you are taking your multi-vitamin only to prevent cognitive decline and you are male and around 50 or older, then ok, throw it out. If you are taking your multi-vitamin to prevent heart disease alone, then you might be on the right track in chucking your multi as well, it might not be doing much good. However, there was NO evidence that it was doing harm. In fact there was insignificant evidence that small improvements were present. For everybody else, the evidence is just not there....yet. Educate yourself, make decisions based on you as an individual, your health history, your family's health history, and your current lifestyle (which includes what you eat and drink). This is up to you. Research is biased and the media just up for a good hype on a very extreme title to a very poorly executed study and research article.
I, personally, change my supplementation periodically. I take B-12 regularly, because I am vegetarian and nearly vegan. I take Omega-3 supplements sometimes, but not regularly. In the winter, I take some zinc, vitamin D and magnesium for the immune system and the lack of sun exposure. I look at my lifestyle, my needs, my current health, my age, all of it. Sometimes, a lot of the time, I take no supplements. I don't need them or I can't afford them. All of this is important, so please educate yourself and take yourself into account, then do what's best for you.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Harvest Time
It's the harvest moon, so named for it's temporal location on the calendar - when the harvest in many areas is most plentiful. Brings the Neil Young song, Harvest Moon, to mind..... I digress. Yes, there are plenty of local harvested delights available now. Maybe some from your own garden? We all understand the process, in spring or late winter, we plant a seed or a root or a seedling. We then tend it all spring and summer with watering, weeding, and fertilizing. There will, after an appropriate time for this plant, be fruit - perhaps the true fruit of the tomato, maybe the root of a carrot, the seed pods of the string bean, or the leaves of the kale plant. What we sow, we reap, as the old saying goes.
But this progression also plays out throughout life. When I began my days in the mental health profession, I worked exclusively with women. Women who were addicted to substances, diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder or other anxiety/depressive disorders, and mandated to be in treatment for these conditions. Not a great scenario for success. After my 3rd year or so, I found myself disheartened as I saw women returning who had previously completed or quit treatment. It was a cycle with very few actually getting themselves out. I still can count on my 2 hands the number of women who went through that program in 8 years and did so successfully. The rest are still struggling and some are gone from this earth.
Geez, I began to think, how do I continue to have any motivation or hope for what I am trying to help these women do? At that same time, I saw something and I read something, can't tell you what either was, because I don't remember, but I know they both sent the message - plant the seeds, water, fertilize, do what you can to tend, but that is the extent of my responsibility. All I can do for others is tend to what is positive and healthy in their gardens and stop tending to the negative. The true work of the garden within is then theirs to do.
For one's self the analogy plays out well and is now backed up by science. Neuro-science is now proving that what you tend in the garden of your mind gets stronger and grows. This means that what you spend time on is what your brain becomes best at doing. Spend time complaining? The brain gets good at complaining. Spend time practicing the piano? The brain gets better and better. Spend time looking around at the greatness and wonder of life? The brain sees more and more of that. What we sow, what we tend, we reap.
Start paying attention to what you are planting in your life. If you want happiness, stop looking for all that sucks in the world, stop complaining, stop playing the victim and start looking for happiness, start feeling grateful for small things, start being a survivor. If you want peace, cultivate peace through meditation or prayer. Decide what it is you want to harvest, plant it, and tend it. Catch yourself tending the weeds and the poisonous plants and stop. This might take some time. It's a habit the brain has grown used to. We might unconsciously find ourselves out there in the weed patch and need to pull back. Every time you switch from behaviors and thoughts you don't want to those you do want, you are tending your new garden and in time, it will grow stronger and you will reap your intended harvest.
Happy harvest!
But this progression also plays out throughout life. When I began my days in the mental health profession, I worked exclusively with women. Women who were addicted to substances, diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder or other anxiety/depressive disorders, and mandated to be in treatment for these conditions. Not a great scenario for success. After my 3rd year or so, I found myself disheartened as I saw women returning who had previously completed or quit treatment. It was a cycle with very few actually getting themselves out. I still can count on my 2 hands the number of women who went through that program in 8 years and did so successfully. The rest are still struggling and some are gone from this earth.
Geez, I began to think, how do I continue to have any motivation or hope for what I am trying to help these women do? At that same time, I saw something and I read something, can't tell you what either was, because I don't remember, but I know they both sent the message - plant the seeds, water, fertilize, do what you can to tend, but that is the extent of my responsibility. All I can do for others is tend to what is positive and healthy in their gardens and stop tending to the negative. The true work of the garden within is then theirs to do.
For one's self the analogy plays out well and is now backed up by science. Neuro-science is now proving that what you tend in the garden of your mind gets stronger and grows. This means that what you spend time on is what your brain becomes best at doing. Spend time complaining? The brain gets good at complaining. Spend time practicing the piano? The brain gets better and better. Spend time looking around at the greatness and wonder of life? The brain sees more and more of that. What we sow, what we tend, we reap.
Start paying attention to what you are planting in your life. If you want happiness, stop looking for all that sucks in the world, stop complaining, stop playing the victim and start looking for happiness, start feeling grateful for small things, start being a survivor. If you want peace, cultivate peace through meditation or prayer. Decide what it is you want to harvest, plant it, and tend it. Catch yourself tending the weeds and the poisonous plants and stop. This might take some time. It's a habit the brain has grown used to. We might unconsciously find ourselves out there in the weed patch and need to pull back. Every time you switch from behaviors and thoughts you don't want to those you do want, you are tending your new garden and in time, it will grow stronger and you will reap your intended harvest.
Happy harvest!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Stress! Be in Control.
Let's start off by looking at a simplistic version of what happens when you face stress. The nervous system which I will separate into 2 parts - the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic is made up of the brain, spinal cord and nerves which are all communicating with the body via neurotransmitters, bio-chemicals, essentially what I will from now on call hormones.
The sympathetic nervous system is the first responder: The brain decides there’s a danger, it sends nerve
signals down your spinal cord to your adrenal glands and
they release the hormone adrenaline. Adrenaline increases the amount of sugar
in your blood, increases your heart rate, raises your blood pressure, causes you to sweat, and increases muscle tension – getting you ready for fight or
flight. Signals are also sent to your
pituitary gland, telling it to release hormones that within a few minutes have traveled through your blood stream and stimulated your adrenal cortex to
produce a stress hormone called cortisol.
This process also shuts down unnecessary systems such as digestion,
reproduction, immune protection, and cognitive (rational thinking) processes. These systems are unnecessary in the
immediate presence of danger. Problem
is, we perceive life’s stressors as continual and our nervous system is unable
to regulate itself properly and turn these systems back on to ideal levels of functioning.
The parasympathetic nervous system is the adjuster – this is
what we have to learn to control and in controlling it, we get the systems of long
term survival (digestion, etc.) turned back on to normal, healthy functioning and get the muscles, blood pressure and that fight or flight response back to a normal level. The parasympathetic is meant to adjust the initial stress reaction to an appropriate level once it's no longer needed. At bedtime, the brain should be telling the parasympathetic that all is well and we can sleep now. Instead, we are still fuming about the incident at work, or worrying about the next day's schedule. The parasympathetic doesn't know what's real and what's perceived danger, so the stress response continues.
So, how do we communicate better with the parasympathetic nervous system? It's not that hard really, but you have to actually DO it - regularly and maybe, probably, every single day.
·
Breathwork - Breathing is a process you have to do and yet you pretty easily can have some control over. Deep breathing stimulates the relaxation response, triggering the parasympathetic nervous system. Belly breathing: Breathe so far into the lungs that the
diaphragm drops into the belly, expanding it. If you place your hand on your belly, it moves outward as the belly expands. Full yogic breath: Belly breath + breathing all the way up to the collar
bones. After breathing into the belly keep inhaling, feel the rib cage lifting up and then expanding outward toward the insides of the arms as the breath fills the lungs.
Visualization – Learn to control the mind with
visions of calming places and/or memories. It's easy to think about how worried we are about something, how we dread the stress of the work day, the irritating drive through rush hour traffic, etc. This thinking is what causes the stress reaction in the first place. So, why don't we then think about the beauty of the sunrise, the calm color of the sky, the peaceful sound of a favorite song? Taking your mind to a calm place should be the automatic opposite reaction to stress. And yet, it isn't. The mind doesn't know the difference between the real thing and a vision or memory. Sports psychology has used this method for years. Before a race, skiers visualize the slope they have only practiced on 5-6 times. Going over the activity in the brain, makes the brain better at it. Visualize calm and peace and train your brain toward calm and peace!
Meditation – Meditation is like weight lifting - it teaches the brain to focus and teaches it to ignore distractions, so it gets stronger. If I want to make my bicep stronger, I do bicep curls. And yet, we don't do exercises to strengthen the brain! What the brain spends the most time on, it gets good at doing. Thinking over and over about stressful situations, makes the brain really good at stress. Meditating allows us to control what the brain pays attention to and makes it stronger at thinking about what we choose. A simple meditation technique is mindfulness. Mindful breathing is simply focusing on the breath. Any other task such as cleaning, driving, playing, walking, etc. can also be mindful meditations.
Relaxation – We often think that flopping on the couch in front of the TV with a bowl of chips and a beer is relaxation. But, it isn't usually. Because what we watch is often stressful - the news, crime dramas, etc. tension continues to exist in the body. In addition, we are putting stressful substances into the body. Learning to identify when tension is present in the body and letting it go, is true relaxation and is the response the body and the mind need to make sure we've turned stress off.
Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, etc. – Conscious/aware movements that combine breathing, movement, relaxation, and focus and teach the body and mind to function in a state of ease. These activities require the mind and body to connect through movement which makes for a meditative state. Many other forms of exercise can do this as well, but only if done so mindfully. If running with an iPod is your normal way to go, you are not being conscious and aware of the exercise. The benefits will not be the same. In most, but not all, Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, etc. classes teaching how to breathe and when is part of the class, as is relaxation. There is also a certain focusing of the mind for many of the movements. This combination teaches the mind and body to work together in a state of ease sometimes known as flow.
Start training your nervous system away from the stress response and reap the benefits in improved physical and mental health!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
The Theme of Perfection
There's a theme in my office - client after client after client comes in with a mentality of perfectionism which then equates to an all or nothing pattern of thinking and being. There's a spectrum here that goes from controlling certain aspects of one's environment to obsessive-compulsive disorders. Most of us are somewhere in the middle or toward the controlling side of the spectrum, but others are more severe. In addition, many suffer with anxiety, depression, and addiction due to this mentality. What's going on and what can be done about it?
There's an aspect of control in each case of perfectionism. A client seeks to control outcomes, to control the external environment, and even to control the behavior and thoughts of other people. We can all see how this is not going to end well and yet I bet each of us can admit to doing this in some or many life situations. Logically, realistically, we know we can't have this level of control and yet, we keep trying. Likely, this comes from some childhood experience/s of trying to please others, or create calm in a home full of chaos, or some traumatic event or recurring events.
There's something commonplace about this - many of us do it with some aspects of our lives. Not usually a big deal. However, it's a debilitating problem for others. Nothing is ever good enough. Many of my clients fail to meet their own expectations on a daily basis. Every mistake, every failure, every misstep becomes a tragedy of shame and blame and often overwhelming perceptions of failure. "Why am I like this?!" I hear. Successes are ignored, seen as a fluke, and/or chalked up to some external source. They may think the same way about other people - behaving judgmentally, criticizing, and creating anger and impatience with every personal interaction.
What this might look like for some is a daily existence of overwhelming anxiety - days full of tasks that need to be done just right. The anxiety of fulfilling expectations is too much to face each day. The result of which might be substance abuse, over-eating, other addictions such as sex or shopping, depression and more. Each person chooses coping mechanisms and many of them aren't particularly healthy.
For others, it looks like anger, rage, and frustration. Someone working to the point of frustration going over and over a task, nit picking over every detail, over-thinking every aspect of a task. This often coincides with an over-critical look at other people - no one is ever good enough, no task ever done the way it should be by others and a need to do things over. Every day just becomes tedious and frustrating. Some days they just give up, completely overwhelmed or turn to unhealthy and sometimes dangerous coping mechanisms.
It may also look a bit like obsessive-compulsive disorder or what was once commonly known as being "type A." True obsessive-compulsive disorder doesn't just involve thinking obsessively, but also involves a need to do something compulsively with repetition in order to relieve the anxiety. What I am referring to here with perfectionism is a need to get something done so it looks or seems a certain way - trying to control the outcome, to create a level of pride or validation to the point of obsession. Unfortunately, nothing ever seems to be enough. What looks to others as success, to this type of person is still not right. Life is a struggle toward a constantly shifting goal. And, again, it leads to poor coping skills.
This almost always turns into "all or nothing" thinking and behaving. The person with overwhelming anxiety gets up and gets going and has a great day one day and the next is so overcome with anxiety, that she can't leave the house. So it goes back and forth, up and down. Exhausting! The person working to the point of frustration, works too hard and then parties too hard. The ups and downs of this lifestyle become unsustainable. The obsessive-like person lives unsatisfied, trying to find that place where all will be as he sees it in his mind and anything but that ideal is equal to nothing. They have their perception of "all" and anything less is the same as nothing - no balance, no in between, no exceptions.
So what is the solution? No one solution can fit all, but to start, finding a sense of balance is necessary. The extremes of life are always incredibly difficult. Being the best at anything can be just as hard as being the worst (ask successful musicians, athletes, etc.). The extreme ends of the spectrum are too difficult to manage. So, balance is needed. Find somewhere in between with some variation up and down from that in-between state. Talking to one's self about accepting balance, about letting go of perfection will be needed to train the brain away from the all or nothing mentality. Clients come to me unwilling to accept that this is true, but gradually, I help them to see that they are ruining their lives and their relationships by being perfectionistic in their thinking. All or nothing thinking, does not lead to"all", it leads to "nothing", to failure, to addiction, to unhappiness, and more......
Another way to change our thinking is in the science. Success= learning from mistakes and from experience. It's proven by science and studies on human behavior that we learn more from mistakes than we do from success. If we can just take each mistake, each failure and look at it as a learning opportunity, we'd be on our way! The next time you make a mistake, open yourself to the opportunity rather than condemning yourself as a failure and a screw up. In that opening, comes the chance to see what's possible, what went wrong, to create new outcomes and better understanding. Life is like a science experiment. Try something, it doesn't work, learn from that, try something else.
Finally, shame does not help with learning or growth. Period. We learn least from punishment and more from modeling and encouragement. Study after study since B. F. Skinner's time of in-depth study on human behaviors has shown that to go in a positive direction, create a positive consequence or learning situation. Shame and embarrassment are meant to be indicators - "hey, this is not ok, this is not right, do it differently!" Instead, we drag that shame around and repeatedly beat ourselves up with it. Not helpful, so stop, now.
Breathing and meditation can help with this. Breathing helps the body relax. Relaxing the body releases tension and this will help us to work with the mind. Easing the stress reaction in the body, turns off our simplistic, survivalist brain mechanisms and let's the reasoning faculties be more in charge. This will then allow us to talk ourselves out of the all or nothing pattern.
Meditation teaches the brain to focus. It teaches us to control our thoughts. So, doing the work suggested above can happen, because your brain is ready, willing, and able. Meditation can literally make us better at thinking!
A combination of the cognitive - thinking- skills suggested above with a meditation and breathing practice each day can turn this perfectionistic thinking around, creating balance and a greater level of success and happiness.
There's an aspect of control in each case of perfectionism. A client seeks to control outcomes, to control the external environment, and even to control the behavior and thoughts of other people. We can all see how this is not going to end well and yet I bet each of us can admit to doing this in some or many life situations. Logically, realistically, we know we can't have this level of control and yet, we keep trying. Likely, this comes from some childhood experience/s of trying to please others, or create calm in a home full of chaos, or some traumatic event or recurring events.
There's something commonplace about this - many of us do it with some aspects of our lives. Not usually a big deal. However, it's a debilitating problem for others. Nothing is ever good enough. Many of my clients fail to meet their own expectations on a daily basis. Every mistake, every failure, every misstep becomes a tragedy of shame and blame and often overwhelming perceptions of failure. "Why am I like this?!" I hear. Successes are ignored, seen as a fluke, and/or chalked up to some external source. They may think the same way about other people - behaving judgmentally, criticizing, and creating anger and impatience with every personal interaction.
What this might look like for some is a daily existence of overwhelming anxiety - days full of tasks that need to be done just right. The anxiety of fulfilling expectations is too much to face each day. The result of which might be substance abuse, over-eating, other addictions such as sex or shopping, depression and more. Each person chooses coping mechanisms and many of them aren't particularly healthy.
For others, it looks like anger, rage, and frustration. Someone working to the point of frustration going over and over a task, nit picking over every detail, over-thinking every aspect of a task. This often coincides with an over-critical look at other people - no one is ever good enough, no task ever done the way it should be by others and a need to do things over. Every day just becomes tedious and frustrating. Some days they just give up, completely overwhelmed or turn to unhealthy and sometimes dangerous coping mechanisms.
It may also look a bit like obsessive-compulsive disorder or what was once commonly known as being "type A." True obsessive-compulsive disorder doesn't just involve thinking obsessively, but also involves a need to do something compulsively with repetition in order to relieve the anxiety. What I am referring to here with perfectionism is a need to get something done so it looks or seems a certain way - trying to control the outcome, to create a level of pride or validation to the point of obsession. Unfortunately, nothing ever seems to be enough. What looks to others as success, to this type of person is still not right. Life is a struggle toward a constantly shifting goal. And, again, it leads to poor coping skills.
This almost always turns into "all or nothing" thinking and behaving. The person with overwhelming anxiety gets up and gets going and has a great day one day and the next is so overcome with anxiety, that she can't leave the house. So it goes back and forth, up and down. Exhausting! The person working to the point of frustration, works too hard and then parties too hard. The ups and downs of this lifestyle become unsustainable. The obsessive-like person lives unsatisfied, trying to find that place where all will be as he sees it in his mind and anything but that ideal is equal to nothing. They have their perception of "all" and anything less is the same as nothing - no balance, no in between, no exceptions.
So what is the solution? No one solution can fit all, but to start, finding a sense of balance is necessary. The extremes of life are always incredibly difficult. Being the best at anything can be just as hard as being the worst (ask successful musicians, athletes, etc.). The extreme ends of the spectrum are too difficult to manage. So, balance is needed. Find somewhere in between with some variation up and down from that in-between state. Talking to one's self about accepting balance, about letting go of perfection will be needed to train the brain away from the all or nothing mentality. Clients come to me unwilling to accept that this is true, but gradually, I help them to see that they are ruining their lives and their relationships by being perfectionistic in their thinking. All or nothing thinking, does not lead to"all", it leads to "nothing", to failure, to addiction, to unhappiness, and more......
Another way to change our thinking is in the science. Success= learning from mistakes and from experience. It's proven by science and studies on human behavior that we learn more from mistakes than we do from success. If we can just take each mistake, each failure and look at it as a learning opportunity, we'd be on our way! The next time you make a mistake, open yourself to the opportunity rather than condemning yourself as a failure and a screw up. In that opening, comes the chance to see what's possible, what went wrong, to create new outcomes and better understanding. Life is like a science experiment. Try something, it doesn't work, learn from that, try something else.
Finally, shame does not help with learning or growth. Period. We learn least from punishment and more from modeling and encouragement. Study after study since B. F. Skinner's time of in-depth study on human behaviors has shown that to go in a positive direction, create a positive consequence or learning situation. Shame and embarrassment are meant to be indicators - "hey, this is not ok, this is not right, do it differently!" Instead, we drag that shame around and repeatedly beat ourselves up with it. Not helpful, so stop, now.
Breathing and meditation can help with this. Breathing helps the body relax. Relaxing the body releases tension and this will help us to work with the mind. Easing the stress reaction in the body, turns off our simplistic, survivalist brain mechanisms and let's the reasoning faculties be more in charge. This will then allow us to talk ourselves out of the all or nothing pattern.
Meditation teaches the brain to focus. It teaches us to control our thoughts. So, doing the work suggested above can happen, because your brain is ready, willing, and able. Meditation can literally make us better at thinking!
A combination of the cognitive - thinking- skills suggested above with a meditation and breathing practice each day can turn this perfectionistic thinking around, creating balance and a greater level of success and happiness.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Take a Hike, Go for a Bike!
It's been hot, right?! Hopefully. wherever you are is now moving into a cooler phase of summer weather once again like it is here in Wisconsin. So, it is perfect weather for getting outdoors. Time to find a trail and hike it or bike it.
Hiking always involves an element of nature and that means good health. "Vitamin N", as enjoying nature is sometimes called, is a bit of a mystery, but the evidence is there. It's more than your mom turning off the TV and telling you to get outside and get some fresh air. Our need for nature might be evolutionary. We might be hard-wired for a deeper connection to the great outdoors simply because we once existed there. When green spaces are available to people in urban spaces, people are healthier. Might be that we need exposure to the diverse bacteria available in nature. Might be that the air is different. No one knows for sure. However, it is clear that exposure to nature reduces the risk for obesity, cancer, heart disease, anxiety, and depression.
Walking in nature versus walking in the city shows greater benefits in regards to stress hormones and general mood alteration. Walking either way is a mood booster, but the addition of what the Japanese call "forest bathing" creates even more benefit - blood pressure lowers, heart rate decreases, and immune function improves. Hiking combines nature, walking, and aerobics (especially if you've got some hills involved). Add in some mental activity such as identification of plants and birds and it's a pretty well-rounded exercise!
A study of hikers who spent 4 days in nature showed a 50 percent increase in creativity and hour long hikes through an arboretum improved memory and attention span. Even self-esteem is reported to increase! Just 15 minutes in nature can have positive effects.
I was pretty excited to find a blog completely dedicated to biking for transportation. As someone with a bumper sticker that says "My other car is a bicycle," I love that someone is taking the time to encourage others to use a cleaner/healthier form of transportation. What I see as the very best benefit to biking is that I get two things done at once - exercise and getting from point A to point B. I am super excited to see that the number of people biking to work almost doubled in the first decade of this century. Some of the same benefits I listed above apply here: reduction of stress and mood boosting. Commuting by bike increases life span, even compared to those who drive as their commute and are then active otherwise. This came from a study that spanned 14 years. Reduced rates of diabetes, cancer and cardio-vascular disease were found in yet another study.
Also, biking can be a social event. There are communities of all levels of bikers out there - biking to social events and enjoying each other's company. There is the benefit of decreasing pollution. Be careful, however, choose less polluted routes as far from car fumes as possible. Some studies have shown that breathing in the exhaust of fellow motorized vehicle commuters is not beneficial! Having been behind a bus multiple times, I can concur - very unpleasant.
Both of these activities are perfect for summertime. They can include picnics, stops at the beach or pool, alone time or group/family time, and adventures to new places. Check your state, county or city parks websites. Most will have icons for hiking and biking trails available to you. Get healthy and enjoy life!
Check out places in the Madison, WI area for hiking with me in my blog Making My Way to the Appalachian Trail.
Hiking always involves an element of nature and that means good health. "Vitamin N", as enjoying nature is sometimes called, is a bit of a mystery, but the evidence is there. It's more than your mom turning off the TV and telling you to get outside and get some fresh air. Our need for nature might be evolutionary. We might be hard-wired for a deeper connection to the great outdoors simply because we once existed there. When green spaces are available to people in urban spaces, people are healthier. Might be that we need exposure to the diverse bacteria available in nature. Might be that the air is different. No one knows for sure. However, it is clear that exposure to nature reduces the risk for obesity, cancer, heart disease, anxiety, and depression.
Walking in nature versus walking in the city shows greater benefits in regards to stress hormones and general mood alteration. Walking either way is a mood booster, but the addition of what the Japanese call "forest bathing" creates even more benefit - blood pressure lowers, heart rate decreases, and immune function improves. Hiking combines nature, walking, and aerobics (especially if you've got some hills involved). Add in some mental activity such as identification of plants and birds and it's a pretty well-rounded exercise!
A study of hikers who spent 4 days in nature showed a 50 percent increase in creativity and hour long hikes through an arboretum improved memory and attention span. Even self-esteem is reported to increase! Just 15 minutes in nature can have positive effects.
I was pretty excited to find a blog completely dedicated to biking for transportation. As someone with a bumper sticker that says "My other car is a bicycle," I love that someone is taking the time to encourage others to use a cleaner/healthier form of transportation. What I see as the very best benefit to biking is that I get two things done at once - exercise and getting from point A to point B. I am super excited to see that the number of people biking to work almost doubled in the first decade of this century. Some of the same benefits I listed above apply here: reduction of stress and mood boosting. Commuting by bike increases life span, even compared to those who drive as their commute and are then active otherwise. This came from a study that spanned 14 years. Reduced rates of diabetes, cancer and cardio-vascular disease were found in yet another study.
Also, biking can be a social event. There are communities of all levels of bikers out there - biking to social events and enjoying each other's company. There is the benefit of decreasing pollution. Be careful, however, choose less polluted routes as far from car fumes as possible. Some studies have shown that breathing in the exhaust of fellow motorized vehicle commuters is not beneficial! Having been behind a bus multiple times, I can concur - very unpleasant.
Both of these activities are perfect for summertime. They can include picnics, stops at the beach or pool, alone time or group/family time, and adventures to new places. Check your state, county or city parks websites. Most will have icons for hiking and biking trails available to you. Get healthy and enjoy life!
Check out places in the Madison, WI area for hiking with me in my blog Making My Way to the Appalachian Trail.
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