Archive for May, 2009
Before TV
Posted by admin in Relaxation Troubleshooting on May 19th, 2009
I was just talking to a patient about the Relaxation Response, or RR (the focused relaxation technique that I start patients off on), and we were troubleshooting some ways for her to fit in her 20 minutes each day.
What many people do is get home and sooner or later the TV is on. An hour easily goes by.
Before the TV goes on, the Relaxation Response must get done. I suggested she look at it as “earning her TV time” by doing the RR first.
It is so easy to just say, “I am only going to watch 30 minutes (or 10 minutes or whatever it is) of TV and then I’ll turn it off and do my RR. For many people later, it is suddenly 1 or even 2 hours later. They got sucked into the TV and then there is “no more time” for the RR — it’s time to go get ready for bed or do some other tasks around the house.
What happened here? Consciously or subconsciously you traded 1 or 2 hours of your time for some TV shows. And you also traded the time that was supposed to be for the RR for a TV show.
Now, I’m not one of those people that thinks that TV is the end of the world — I watch some shows myself. But, and this is a big but, when you start to trade TV time — most of which, if you are completely honest with yourself, does not make your life better in any way — for time that you otherwise could have used to improve your health, your mind and your life…..well, that’s a problem.
And if there is no time to watch TV after doing the RR? What to do then?? Record it and watch it later. The TV schedule is not God, or even anything of real importance for that matter, and as such should not rule your life.
So before the TV goes on, you need to earn your TV by doing your RR exercise first. And then the TV can go on if you’d like.
TC
The good blackout
Blacking out your bedroom is important for adequate melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland (a little gland in the brain). Melatonin is considered to be a very powerful antioxidant and has been shown to have anti-cancer effects. It is also thought to have a host of other effects that are not well understood.
The amount of melatonin produced by the pineal gland varies widely depending on the amount of light that your body is exposed to. At one point this was thought to be directly related to how much light came in through your eyes; so eye masks were the solution. But it has been found that your skin cells also have photoreceptors in them (ie. they recognize light). One study that comes to mind: a small fiber-optic light that emitted about the same amount of light as a small candle was placed at the back of the knee of a man in an otherwise pitch-black room. It was found that he produced 70% less melatonin then without the light.
So what does this mean for you? In order to maximize melatonin production (or to prevent a drastic reduction in melatonin) you room needs to be pitch-black. The darkness test is this: once your eyes have adjusted to the dark room, hold your hand up directly in front of your face. If you can see your hand in front of your face, it’s not dark enough.
While this is important for everyone, it is especially important for shift-workers. Due to the lack of a consistent schedule and often sleeping during the day, when rooms are often not even close to being dark and therefore much less melatonin is being produced, shift-workers have been found to have higher rates of breast, prostate and colon cancer. And those are just the cancers that have been studied so far.
See my next post for more detailed instructions on how to go about blacking-out your bedroom.
TC
Be true to yourself
Posted by admin in Thoughts and Beliefs on May 19th, 2009
I spent my life trying to please others. But where are they now? All those people I lived to please are no longer around. On your deathbed, the only person you’ll have to answer to is the person you look at in the mirror every morning. You’d better be true to him.” — excerpted from Discover Your Destiny by Robin Sharma
Be True To Yourself
When people are not true to themselves, over time, this creates untold amounts of depression, anxiety and stress.
Many people do not like themselves or their life because of this exactly: they are going against their own grain because someone else wants them to.
“Someone else” can be anyone: parents, spouse, children, friends or society in general. The more you show the people around you that you are willing to bend to their will and not be true to yourself, the more they will continue asking you to do so.
I could go on and on, but I think the above quote says it all.
TC
An exercise in gratitude
Posted by admin in Thoughts and Beliefs on May 19th, 2009
This is great. I got this from the newsletter that emofree.com sends out. (Emofree.com is a website dedicated to Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Read more about EFT on my website.)
Here it is:
I choose to be grateful…
For the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.
For my shadow that watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine
For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
For all the complaining I hear about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.
For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking and I have been blessed with transportation.
Gratitude helps you to cope with stress and gratitude is associated with optimism and better immune system function. Read all about his in a great article here.
TC
Does anxiety just come out of nowhere?
Posted by admin in Stress, Anxiety and Your Mind on May 19th, 2009
“I Never Had Anxiety Before…”
I have had several patients ask me why they “suddenly” had an anxiety (anything from low-level anxiety to anxiety/panic attacks) and why, since they have “always been fine” do they ”suddenly” have this problem.
The answer is that, they have not always been fine.
Anxiety does not happen overnight, although sometimes it feels like it does.
It often starts with a “nervous personality” and progresses from there especially with all the stresses of daily life that most people have.
You May Be More Stressed Than You Think
Many, many people do not know how stress is affecting their system and just how stressed they really are.
With time, stress wears down a person’s system and weakens their nervous system and anxiety can result. If someone has a nervous personality or a tendency to worry, this effect is compounded.
Learn To Manage Stress
The key here is to pay attention to how stress is affecting you and to take specific measures to counteract stress and relax. Most people need help doing this; a naturopath, counselling, a book or whatever else you are drawn to.
Above all: don’t underestimate the effect of stress and worry on both your physical and mental health.
TC
Working out to relieve stress: The good, the bad and the ugly
The good
Working out to relieve stress is great because you are burning off all those stress hormones which, if they sit around in your system, have negative effects on your organs and tissues.
And then there’s the fact that regular exercise is good for you, for a whole host of reasons that are not the focus of this post.
The bad
If you use exercise as your daily stress management technique, this is not a good thing.
Why? Because you are still requiring your body to pump out lots of stress hormones and this is not healthy. Eventually your body will become depleted and you may very well not have the same level of energy that you used to.
Relaxation exercises are important too
Exercise is great to burn off those stress hormones, but other relaxation techniques are important as well for:
(1) Bringing down stress hormones.
(2) Reducing your perception of stress throughout the day.
(3) Generally calming your nervous system.
Yoga, daily meditiation and deep breathing are just a few examples of relaxation exercises.
Emotional health takes more than exercise
Also, it is important not to use exercise as your sole means of dealing with anger and frustration. These are emotions that also need to be dealt with on a deeper level.
There is no escape…
Some people also use exercise as a way to escape their emotions; they get in a good workout, get a nice endorphin high and all the bad feelings they were having about themselves/others/their life go away. For a short time.
But they come back in a short while, because they have not been dealt with. Please make sure you are not falling into this trap.
The ugly
Exercise increases the need for anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and quality protein. I am always surprised at the number of people who put so much effort into exercising their body but do not realize that their body needs quality fuel.
Both stress and exercise use up a lot of anti-oxidants, vitamins (especially B vitamins) and minerals.
Round and round she goes
A deficiency of B-vitamins will make you feel more stressed, but your metabolism needs lots of B vitamins to properly burn fat and carbohydrates.
Exercise uses up B vitamins and can leave you not dealing with stress as well. These feelings of increased stress further use up extra B vitamins. So you exercise more because you feel stressed and further use up B vitamins.
If you are an outside runner and live in the city, you are breathing in a lot of pollution and this needs to be counteracted with anti-oxidants, a healthy diet and possibly vitamin supplements.
TC
The Stress of the Commute
Posted by admin in Exercise, Lifestyle, Stress, Anxiety and Your Body, master your mind on May 19th, 2009
Being stuck in rush hour traffic (ie. driving 5 km/hour on the highway) raises the average person’s blood pressure more than that of a riot policeman or a combat pilot, according to Dr. David Lewis, a stress expert from Britain. Dr. Lewis theorizes that this is because when people are sitting in traffic, they can’t do anything about it but sit there and wait.
Well, if you commute everyday, if it’s driving up your blood pressure everyday, then it’s damaging your health. My best advice: learn stress management techniques that can be implemented anytime, anywhere, such as on the highway.
Deep breathing is one way. Take a deep breath into your abdomen (your chest shouldn’t rise so much, but your abdomen should get bigger), hold for a few seconds and slowly exhale. Do this 10 times or as frequently as needed. Breaths should be deep and slow. If you take your breaths quickly, you will probably hyperventilate at best and won’t feel anymore relaxed.
My favorite way of doing this is by using some of the techniques in the book A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I read the book and watched the webcasts with Eckhart Tolle and Oprah. I found that the webcasts really helped to clarity what was in the book and helped me to learn some of the relaxation techniques. Now, in situations where I would normally feel stressed or impatient, I use these techniques and I can feel myself relaxing. Many of the techniques in the book are simple and easy and (I think) safe to do anytime, because they are just a small shift in your attention (but nothing that takes your mind off the road.). Although I don’t have an overly long commute, going to and from work is actually one of the best times of day, because I just “hang out” in my car and relax on the way.
I know it can be hard to slow down when the rest of the world is going so fast, but your body wants you to slow down. Many people who abuse their body and their system but have not yet become seriously ill or collapsed; think they can just keep going because it’s worked so far. But the body works on its own terms, with it’s own programming. It’s a bit like the animals in a circus; you can abuse them for a while, but eventually they will have had enough and will lunge at you or bite back. They are wild animals and were never meant to be submissive and docile. Same thing with the body; eventually it gets tired and fed up with all the demands and all the abuse and starts to give out. The body was never meant to deal with stress on a continuous basis. Stress is meant to come and come at relatively short, spaced-out intervals. (And by this I don’t mean every 45 minutes or so!) At this point, many people want to fix things as quick as possible and then continue on as they were. It just doesn’t work that way.
Learn to slow down.
TC
Soaked-Flour Spelt Pancakes
1 cup whole spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of water (you won’t use it all)
1 tablespoon of one of the following: lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar
1 pear or 1 apple or 1 - 1 1/2 cups of berries — chopped; blueberries, raspberries or blackberries can be left whole
Coconut oil
The day before pancakes are to be eaten:
1. Soak 1 cup of whole spelt flour in a little more than 1/2 cup of water. I first added 1/2 cup of water and then approximately another 1/4 cup of water. I only added enough water to make the consistency similar to a pancake batter consistency. I prefer pancakes that have a muffin-like consistency, so if you like thin, flat pancakes, just add more water.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon (or lime) juice. Apple cider vinegar can be used as well. (You don’t taste any of these in the pancakes.)
3. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 12 - 24 hours.
The next day:
1. Carefully add and mix in 1 teaspoon of baking soda. In a conventional pancake recipe, the baking soda is mixed in with the flour so that it gets evenly distributed. When you add the baking soda, try to sprinkle around evenly and have no areas of concentration. Fold through a couple of times (it will mix in better once you add the fruit.)
2. Chop (large or small, to preference) one pear or apple or use about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of berries. Add to mixture and fold until just combined.
3. Heat a skillet or pan on medium heat and brush with coconut oil. If you don’t like coconut oil, grapeseed oil is also a good choice.
4. Cook pancakes until golden brown on each side. Usually a couple of minutes on the first side and then 30 seconds to 1 minute on the second side; but I always check the colour.
5. Add whatever you like: fruit sauce, low-fat organic yogurt, coconut oil (spread it on) with a touch of Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt, Easy Applesauce or my favorite combination: coconut oil with a touch of salt and drizzled with agave syrup.
TC
Vegetable or Chicken Stock
The variations in quantities are for smaller or larger pots of stock. I try to have all the ingredients approximately equal in terms of volume — but there are really no hard and fast rules here. As for simmering time, I have seen recipes that call for about 2 hours of simmering time, but the way I learned at home, was just to let it simmer on low all day long. Now I do either one.
Carrots - 2 or 3 large
Celery - 2 to 4 stocks
Parsley - 1 handful to one bunch
Onions - 1 or 2 large yellow or white
Garlic - anywhere from 1 clove to 1 bulb
Bay leaves - 1 to 3
Black peppercorns - anywhere from 6 to 24
Salt - to taste
Optional - herbs such as rosemary or thyme - 1 or 2 sprigs
Leeks - 1 or 2 - can use instead of onions or in addition to
Chicken - a whole carcass, a whole chicken (with meat on), necks and backs, bones from a piece of chicken (eg. breast or leg).
1. Put all ingredients into a medium-sized soup pan or large stock pot and just cover with water. (If your large stock pot is not really full, even once you have added water, you haven’t put enough ingredients. Add more chicken and/or vegetables and then cover with water again. If you put significantly more water than to cover, your stock won’t have much flavour.) Do not overfill remember this is going to need to come to a boil and you don’t want it to overflow.
2. Bring to a boil with the lid on. If you happened to overfill a bit, leave lid off until some of it has boiled down.
3. Once stock has reached a boil, reduce heat so that it is simmering gently. Leave lid on and let simmer for anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours plus.
4. Once done, you need to let it cool down in order to put in the fridge overnight. If the weather is very cold (zero or below) you can put the pot outside for a few hours or overnight (make sure it’s not so cold that it freezes overnight though) or into a sink filled with cold water. Once cooled down, place in fridge overnight. At this point, you could always remove the chicken and vegetables if you want.
5. The next day, skim the fat off the top. The fat will be round, flat, off-white and hard. Then remove the vegetables and chicken. Most people just throw them out. I have on occasion, sliced up the celery and carrots and put them in as a really easy broth. You can also take any chicken bits off the bones and put in for a really easy chicken soup. Preferably, fresh chicken and fresh vegetables should be used; most of the nutrition has come out of vegetables as you boiled them.
6. Put in the freezer in freezer-safe containers.
TC
Quick Coconut Curry Sauce
This is a really easy sauce to make; it’s actually something I just whipped up, but I think it’s delicious. So far, I have only put it on broccoli and white fish, but it should also be good on other vegetables and with chicken or lean red meat. Increase the ingredient quantities as needed.
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tsp coconut oil
1/4-1/2 green curry paste (I have one from Thai Kitchen) - this is to taste
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice (to taste)
Combine all ingredients in a pan over medium heat and thoroughly mix together. Pour over vegetables, fish, chicken or lean red meat.
TC