Stress Archives - Page 13 of 13 - Plattsville Natural Health Clinic

Exercise with a Busy Schedule

December 2, 2014July 16, 2014 by elisha

Exercise can be hard to fit into schedules despite how good it is for us. What most do not realize is that exercise does not have to be a structured event. Exercise needs only be something to get you moving and preferably the heart pumping. Unfortunately, our society has moved from an active lifestyle to a more sedentary (sitting more often) one, and any activity that gets you off of the couch or out from behind your desk is ideal. Here are some ways you can keep active without necessarily going to the gym:

Take the Stairs

Sometimes this is easier said than done, but adopting lifestyle habits such as taking the stairs whenever possible helps to make you more active in other areas of your life.

Park Further from Buildings

Parking further from your destination helps once again to encourage a more active lifestyle. Please do use caution with this as some areas might be unsafe to do this in.

Step Counters

Many people use different pedometers or step counters in order to track how many steps they are taking throughout the day. It is a good way to make sure you are keeping active enough and track how active you are throughout the day. Most people suggest that 10,000 steps is classified as achieving an active day. You can download different apps on your phone to track your steps, or purchase step counters such as “fit bits” (I am not associated with this company in any way) for example.

Dance to Music

Dancing to music is a great way to keep moving and get your heart pumping, while benefiting your mood.

Make Exercise a Family Activity

Exercise can be challenging to incorporate into your daily routine when you are the only one in your family being active. By making exercise a family activity, for example going for a walk together, it encourages not only you to develop healthy habits, but your family as well.

Use your Break Time

Making exercise part of your break time at work is a great way to make sure you get some exercise into your day. This doesn’t mean you have to go to a gym during your break, but it could even be going outside for a 10 minute walk for your break. Not only is it good for your body, but it will help you to refocus for work.

Cleaning or Yard Work Counts

Though it is quite the chore, cleaning or yard work counts as exercise. You are up off the couch and active, and it provides a means for burning calories and getting your heart pumping.

Join a Class with Friends

Joining a class at your local gym with friends is a great way to be kept accountable to your active lifestyle changes, but also helps you to stay active and continue to have an active social life.

Work-out Videos

Finally, there are many workout videos available online that you can use to help you exercise at home.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, please book an appointment with Elisha Cook at the RSNC today and let me help you achieve your health goals.

Your Mind and Your Brain: What you did not know

December 2, 2014July 8, 2014 by elisha

Recently, I had the privilege of attending a conference where the guest speaker was Dr. Caroline Leaf, whom happens to be a cognitive neuroscientist. There were quite a few take home messages that I received from listening to her, that I have summarized into 5 key points, that I wanted to share with you, my readers:

You are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.

Your body is a wonderful, amazing piece of machinery that has the capacity for health and wholeness. You are unique and there is no one like you. Embrace this, and embrace who you are and who you were created to be.

You have a great gift

Though most people might think that this strictly means talents, it actually doesn’t. Yes we all have skills and abilities that are wonderful and unique, but we also have a great gift within us which is the gift of choice. You have a choice as to whether you live your life happy or sad. Some people might immediately start to think “You have no idea what it is like to be me or live in my shoes.” And you are absolutely right, but you have a choice. You can choose to be sad, angry, envious, etc.; or you can choose to step out from your circumstances and choose to be happy, loving, caring, compassionate, and whole. No one said this was easy, or that it could be done overnight. But you do not have to wake up and be depressed just because you feel depressed. As Dr. Caroline Leaf eloquently put it, “Your mind contributes to the cause and healing of what ales you.”

Negative Thoughts can be Destructive, Positive Thoughts can be Protective

Not only do negative thoughts lower your self-confidence and make you feel angry, depressed, or anxious; but they can also be physically destructive. Negative thoughts can cause inflammation in the brain (which could transcend to the body) and also cause destruction and decreased connection of brain cells. Positive thoughts have the benefit of not only making you feel better, but also of protecting your brain from damage, as well as causing the growth and increased connection between brain cells.

Your Thoughts can Impact Others

Your thoughts have great potential beyond yourself. This can be explained through research in Quantum Physics (stay with me, I will not go into it too much). Basically, the way you act and think impacts those around you (and even those not around you). Quantum physics explains that basically time and space are endless, and our mind and thoughts are able to reach across this expanse, and impact one another, because of this common connection that we each possess. As a result, if we are angry, bitter, and ungrateful; this not only affects our bodies, but can also impact others.

Stress is not the Enemy

Many people think that stress is a bad thing. This is actually not quite true. It is actually how we respond to stress that is either beneficial or destructive. If you remain positive in the face of struggles and stress, you are more likely to live longer according to recent research. On the other hand, if you tend to be negative in regards to your stress, you are more likely to die early.

The bottom line is, don’t you owe it to yourself to start changing your thinking? You do not have to continue to live in the critical mindset that you may have, and you can choose to change your thoughts and perceptions to those that will be health promoting.

Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.

The Benefits of Exercise

December 2, 2014July 2, 2014 by elisha

Many people know that exercise is good for you, but what exactly is it good for other than getting that “beach body”. Aside from helping maintain or gain a healthy weight, exercise has also been shown to have the following benefits:

Boosts energy
Encourages healthy sleep
Relieves stress
Improves mood
Lowers blood pressure
Lowers bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol
Reduces sensation of pain through release of endorphins (natural pain killers)
Reduces risk of future disease such as heart dsease and cancer
Enables more time in nature – causing more exposure to fresh air

Even as little as 30 minutes a day for 3 days of the week has been shown to have benefits for one’s overall health. With having more of a focus on being active, one might be better able to achieve their health goals.

Spring: The Season of the Detox Part 3 – A Healthy Mind

November 26, 2014May 14, 2014 by elisha

After the long winter we had, as I mentioned in the last blog, our bodies might be in need of a good “spring cleaning”. This might be the same story for our minds. Our minds are very important and integral to our health. Simply thinking one way versus the other can have detrimental effects on one’s health. For example, have you ever known someone that was terribly afraid of getting cancer, and would think about it constantly, then one day unfortunately developed that diagnosis? According to Epigenetics, this could have been preventing simply by thinking health promoting thoughts (eg “I am healthy and whole”). You might be asking what is Epigenetics? Epigenetics refers to the theory that we can control our genomic expression. In other words, our thoughts can change our body on a physical level. Simply by thinking differently, you can turn off bad or unhealthy programs, and turn on good or healthy programs that your body is “coding” for, thus eliminating disease.

So I now put this out to you: what is your mind coding your body for? Health? Disease? Spring is a season for detoxification, not just of our bodies, but also our minds. Just like your spring cleaning, clear out the clutter of negative and disease – encouraging thoughts, and I challenge you to replace it with positive and health promoting thoughts. As I mentioned in the previous blog (Spring: The Season of Detox Part 1), a detox is not just for spring. These health promoting thoughts can be incorporated into everyday life and can be made into a lifestyle!