AIRPORT STRESS: HOW TO TRAVEL WITH EASE

Stress management is something that everyone knows is necessary, but when a stressful situation occurs, it can be hard to find a response that actually reduces the stress. Air travel is filled with more anxiety-producing situations than ever before. There are long lines for screening, delays, overbooked flights, and lost luggage to name a few.

Let’s say you’re at the airport and find out that your flight has been cancelled. The airline won’t bring another airplane into service right away; instead, they may tell you that you must wait five hours until a flight arrives to accommodate you. With no alternative except to comply with the airline’s mistreatment, passengers look passive as they sit and wait, but on the inside many people will react (perhaps you) with the following responses: worry, anger, complaining, and pessimism. All are self-defeating.

·                                 Worry is self-induced anxiety. It solves nothing and blocks the possibility of dealing with things more positively.

·                                 Complaining increases tension and anger. As a display of hostility, it encourages other people to act hostile in return.

·                                 Pessimism induces the illusion that a situation is hopeless and fosters the belief that expecting a bad outcome is always realistic when in fact it isn’t.

If you see yourself in any of these behaviors and attitudes, you are fooling yourself into believing that you are coping with the stress . As your body experiences it, you have become the stressor yourself. That’s because an external event (cancelled flight) must go through an internal interpretation before it triggers the stress response. Worry, complaining, and pessimism are unconscious responses. People who are stuck in them have become the victims of old reactions that became stuck in place because the person didn’t re-evaluate them.

Here’s a set of choices that will actually help you cope with stress.

The “Airport Solution” to Chronic Stress

The following are some tips to reducing stress while at the airport:

·                                 Detach yourself from the stressor. At the airport, try reading a book or finding a place to be alone.

·                                 Become centered. At the airport, try shutting your eyes to meditate.

·                                 Remain active. At the airport, try walking around instead of slumping in a chair and waiting.

·                                 Seek positive outlets. At the airport, try shopping, getting a chair massage, or going to a restaurant.

·                                 Rely on emotional support. At the airport, the usual way to do this is by calling a friend or family member on the phone. (This doesn’t work in a short call announcing that you’ll be late. The key is a conversation with someone meaningful in your life that lasts at least half an hour.)

·                                 Escape if you must. Look for a relatively empty seating area or the airport chapel/meditation room to relax and rest.

These things are positive ways to handle stress rather than succumbing to the negativity of worry, complaining, and pessimism. They bring awareness into a situation where falling back on passive acceptance isn’t the right answer. Beneath the attitude of “I have to put up with it” lies stress. A cancelled flight is usually not fixable by you, and it can happen anytime without warning. Therefore, it fits the two conditions that make stress worse: unpredictability and loss of control.

But you have the option of turning the situation around by interpreting it not as bad luck but a non-stress, to which you respond by doing things you actually want to do, like meditating , connecting with a friend, or shopping. When you become adept at this turn-around, chronic stress is nipped in the bud. You cut short a process that otherwise would have affected your body like Chinese water torture, drip by drip. Handling stress in the moment is essential to your well-being because if you let it build up, it becomes chronic stress that causes real damage to your health.

Chronic everyday stress gets overlooked because people don’t realize that there’s a slippery slope where stress is concerned. It takes time for everyday stress to create damage. Dealing with it early is the best way to prevent long-lasting effects. The cumulative damage occurs on three levels.

Psychological and Neural
These begin with minor things like feeling mentally tired and under pressure from deadlines at work. You may feel like you’ve run out of energy, which can mask mental states like being depressed, anxious, or even panicky. Because the brain is being affected, there’s interruption in normal sleep rhythms or the nagging feeling that time is running out. With mental fatigue can come flawed decision-making, memory lapses, and the ability to focus. Emotionally, stress may make you retreat to infancy, becoming prone to outbursts of anger, distress, and irritability. The more the stress mounts, the shorter the fuse gets on your negative emotions.

Behavioral
Negative changes in behavior are likely to manifest in two major areas: work and relationships. Stressful jobs may make you respond with all kinds of behaviors, from office gossip to going out for a drink after work. As stress mounts, the need for distraction and numbing is more acute. Inevitably, you take your feelings home after work, where friction easily follows. Stress can make you lose your appetite or overeat. Sleep often gets disrupted, and in some cases chronic insomnia is the outcome.

Physical
When the body can’t adapt to stress, the cumulative effect typically shows up as physical fatigue. Stomach aches, bad digestion, and headaches are also likely. So is reduced immune response, leading to more colds and worsened allergies. After that, the problems will tend to be associated with inflammation, whose effects can travel anywhere.

Even though this has been presented as the” airport solution,” it can be adapted to most everyday stressors. This allows you to keep daily stressors from accumulating into chronic stress that damages your life physically, mentally, and behaviorally. These stress-releasing techniques bring relaxation and a sense of control instead of tension and a feeling of helplessness. Those are the hallmarks of a coping strategy that actually works.

By: Deepak Chopra, MD

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A BREATH OF FRESH AIR – EVEN A FIVE MINUTE WALK CAN DO WONDERS FOR YOUR HEALTH

These days it’s common to spend a good portion of each day in front of a screen. We go from our computer screens at work to TV screens at home to phone and tablet screens in between. Our minds are constantly engaged, and we don’t realize how important it is to disconnect from time to time. One great way to unplug is to go for a walk each day.

Health experts recommend at least 2 ½ hours of moderate activity each week. To get started, go for a simple walk around the neighborhood for 5 or 10 minutes. As your body gets used to the exercise, you can set a longer goal or work your way toward the goal of 10,000 steps per day. Tracking your progress is easy: use a pedometer or download an app to your phone.

Important Tips to Remember

Walk on the sidewalk in well-lit areas.

Wear comfortable shoes and socks.

Drink plenty of water before, during and after your walk.

Keep your cell phone with you in case of an emergency.

Walking is a great form of exercise and also gives you a moment to connect with the world around you.

By: Florida Blue

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3 Ways to Cultivate Gratitude and Boost Your Happiness

“Gratitude can turn common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~William Arthur Ward
Living in India for more than two years now has been an eye opening experience for me, as I’ve realized how I used to take so many things for granted. While growing up and living in my home country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in Europe, I was lacking gratitude for all the blessings that surrounded me.
While sitting in our penthouse apartment in the New Delhi suburbs, in an air-conditioned room, still feeling the need to chill with a cool water or a mango shake due to the intense heat (which can reach up to 118° in the summer), I could observe the construction ground across from our building.
Constructions workers would come in at 9am and work for twelve hours, with only a short lunch break, without proper safety equipment, chilled water, or any shaded cover to rest.
While they’d wipe sweat from their face, I’d imagine how hot they must be feeling, as I was sweating even in an air-conditioned room.

Some of them were working together with their wives, who would help them earn their daily wage (equal to $1).
These women would carry piles of cement and bricks on big pots on their head, from one side of the construction site to another, sometimes climbing many stairs as well. In my home country, I never saw women working on construction grounds or carrying such heavy loads on their heads.
Their children would play in front of the construction ground with sand and small rocks, as their parents could not afford to send them to school.
I thought about how, in my home country, children often complain that they “have to” go to school and people complain about how tough their jobs are. These people in New Delhi could not even dream of sending their children to school or having an eight-hour job in an air-conditioned office.
The wives who didn’t work on the construction ground would work in our building as maids. One of them cleaned our home. Every day she came in with a water bottle, which she’d cool in our refrigerator, as they did not have an electricity, not to mention a refrigerator, in the slum where she lived with her family.
After cleaning our home, she’d run back to hers with a chilled water bottle in her hands, almost losing her breath, as if she was afraid the heat might warm that water before she would return. Then she wouldn’t be able to cool her small children, who were waiting in the heat in a slum without a fan.

Since that day, I never look at the ice cubes in my drink the same way I once did. Ice cubes were just pieces of frozen water, until I saw that for some people, even chilled water is a luxury! Ice cubes are a symbol of wealth and abundance to me now.
I suddenly became grateful for all the things I am blessed with in my life, even the small things, like ice cubes, chilled water, nutritious food, a fan, an air-conditioner, mosquito repellent in the night, clean running water in my home, electricity—not to mention the “big” things, like an opportunity to get educated, to grow up in a beautiful home, which was warm in winters and cool in summers, my job, the power to choose my own husband.
I never thought I should be grateful for choosing my husband. Yet, in a place where arranged marriages are still tradition, I realized that it was a blessing that I was born and raised in an environment where I could fall in love with a man and choose to marry him.
Although arranged marriages do work here, and I see people fall in love after marriage, or at least create a relationship based on kindness, mutual respect, and care, I feel so grateful every day that I had a chance to choose the man I thought was the right for me, with my parents’ blessing and best wishes.
We often take the things we have for granted, yet in many other parts of the world, there are people who would feel blessed and happy if they could enjoy them on a daily basis.
If we just take a look around us we could find so many things to be grateful for.
Some of the practices that can help us to cultivate the feeling of gratitude in our life include:

1. Gratitude journaling.

Keeping a gratitude journal, where we note all the things (or at least three things) we feel grateful for every day, can be a powerful reminder of how blessed we are.
Noting down even simple things—like a delicious dinner we enjoyed, a warm home, a cup of tea or coffee, time spent with our beloved—can be a powerful practice to keep us grounded in a positive mindset on a daily basis.

2. Creating a list of possibilities and blessings.

It helps to write a list of all the things we are blessed with, things we usually see as givens, that in other parts of the world are not available to many people.
So many women around the world still do not have the right or the opportunity to get educated, and so many children cannot attend school or University due to lack of financial resources. According to WHO, 12.9 percent of the world’s population (over 1 billion people) is undernourished and will probably go to bed hungry tonight.
Millions of people around the world do not have an access to clean, running water and electricity, which in Western countries we usually take for granted.
Having a roof over our head, a warm room, a meal on our plate, a degree or opportunity to go to University, electricity lighting our home, and cool water in summers are all big reasons we can feel grateful every single day.

3. Shifting our perception.

Instead of feeling sad and frustrated about being single, we can look at this same circumstance from another perspective—as the freedom to be able to choose our partner and wait until we find the right one. This simple shift can help us move from a negative emotional state to a state of gratitude.
In the same way, we can shift our perception of looking at other things, like the job that we don’t like or our living conditions.
When we catch ourselves complaining about housework, we can see it as a blessing that we have our own home and, as a result, clean it with gratitude.
Instead of feeling annoyed that we have to cook dinner, we can feel grateful that we’re able to afford groceries. We can also consider it a blessing that, in this modern era, we do not need to manually wash our dishes or clothes.
When we catch ourselves complaining about the job we hate or feel bored with, we can feel grateful that we have a job and regular income that can pay our bills.
We can also be grateful for small things, like air conditioning in our office, having weekends off, or the fact that we don’t need to be exposed to harsh weather conditions or safety threats every day, like so many people in other corners in the world.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to achieve more and move ahead in life, but we can never be truly happy if we do not appreciate what we already have.

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Good Posture Matters More Than You Think

When you were growing up, your parents or teachers probably told you to sit and stand straight, instead of slouching your back and shoulders. They themselves may not have exactly known why that was important, it just seemed that way. But more recent science has found that they were actually right in many more ways than they imagined. As it turns out, good posture enhances physical fitness, helps reduce stress, and contributes to healthy aging.

That good posture plays a role in health and fitness should come as no surprise. Only when the body is properly aligned, the supporting ligaments, tendons and muscles can function at their best. Sitting or standing hunched over for hours — as many of us do at work and other activities — can lead to chronic pain and permanently debilitating damage. By contrast, good posture can help prevent such wear and tear and maintain greater flexibility and strength.

Research suggests that good posture can also foster people’s psychological well-being. One study from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, found that the way people conducted themselves physically did indeed influence their self-esteem and how they were able to cope with stress and problem solving. As tests showed, sitting or standing upright helped participants feel more powerful and competent when facing a number of challenging tasks they were assigned to. In other words, bodily experiences can significantly affect cognitive and emotional states as well, the researchers concluded.
“A positive attitude and outlook on life can also do some good, particularly when it shows on the outside.”
The issue becomes ever more pressing with age. A study from Japan discovered connections between good posture and the risk of future disability. Participants who sat, stood and walked even only slightly bent forward in their mid-life years developed greater physical limitations than their counterparts who generally maintained an upright posture. The differences became ever more pronounced as they got older, and were eventually quite significant in terms of their overall health status.

There is also a social dimension to the way we present ourselves physically, especially in our later years. As surveys have shown, old age is commonly associated with physical deterioration and visa versa. Many seniors feel left behind and isolated from society, in part because of actual physical (and perhaps mental) shortcomings, but also based on false assumptions that they no longer can keep up. However, while some slowing down may be an inevitable part of nature, there is no need to accept premature degeneration and decline.

And there is much that can be done to counteract those processes. For example, stretching, yoga and other exercises that promote flexibility can do wonders for an aging body. So can brisk walking, keeping a good stride, moving with ease and confidence — all of which are signs of good health and vitality. A positive attitude and outlook on life can also do some good, particularly when it shows on the outside.

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5 Really Great Reasons Why Good Posture Is Super Important

So it turns out, your mother was right after all: Good posture really matters ― even in your older years.
Slouching impacts you in ways you wouldn’t have imagined, says Dr. Charles Wang, the COO and co-founder of Lumo Bodytech, a company that has brought tech to the quest for good posture. The Lumo Lift gives you a vibrating reminder when you start to slouch. Kind of like Mom, but in the form of a wearable device.
Wang helped us compile this list of five reasons why good posture matters.

1. Bad posture can adversely impact your sex life.

Research shows that slouching ― the opposite of “power posing,” meaning standing up tall and straight ― results in low energy and low self-esteem. Standing straight up with your shoulders back and neck aligned with the rest of your spine is considered a “power pose” that can boost your energy and confidence levels. By regularly practicing good posture, you’ll feel more confident and energized in and out of the bedroom.

2.  Slouching makes you look older.

If you’ve spent years sitting at a desk, hunched over a computer, you may be more likely to develop that unnatural hump in your neck or back resulting from “text neck.” For women, the forward slouching motion and rounding of the shoulders can cause breast sagging. To avoid your slouching from developing into skeletal or spinal issues, stay mindful of your posture in any position you’re in, whether you’re seated, standing, or walking, said Wang.

3. Bad posture can damage your back.

Yes, of course you knew that. Did you know that back pain is the second most common reason people visit the doctor every year, and poor posture is directly correlated to the increase in back pain in people who spend a great deal of their time sitting. Lumo Bodytech’s posture database research found that during an average workday, people spend as much as 38 minutes per hour slouching.

4. Poor posture can cause irregular bowel movements.

We kid you not. It’s not just your back that will feel the affects of your slouching ― your intestines will take a hit, too. Having good posture means your stomach and intestines can easily push food through ― but poor posture can cause your gastrointestinal system to lock up or function poorly. Research has also shown that people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome who suffer from bloating and gas can ease their symptoms by standing up straight.

5. Bad posture makes you more selfish.

Research shows that sitting upright helps reduce self-focus, allowing you to tune in more on the needs and emotions of the people around you.

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Ergonomic Tips For Desk Work

There are dangers in everyday life, from slipping in the shower to getting side swiped by the guy texting in the car next to you on Woodruff Road.  The risk doesn’t end once we are safely behind our desks, because… sitting is killing us!  Workplace ergonomics often are the reason for many aches and pains.

Ergonomic Tips Simplified

Seriously, while not really trying to commit murder, our computer, desk, office chair and keyboard are not our friends. We spend hours each day sitting, typing, staring at the computer screen, and this inactivity is wreaking havoc on our health in a variety of ways.  This article will focus on simple ergonomic tips to help avoid feeling worse at the end of the work day.

First, most of us sit incorrectly

The first of my ergonomic tips is simply concerned with how we sit.  Goldilocks knew what she was doing when it came to carefully selecting the right chair. Most of us cause excess stress and pressure on our neck, shoulders, and back from the way we sit in our inadequate office chairs.
According to OSHA, a person who spends time at their computer needs to choose an adjustable chair that supports the back, buttocks, legs and arms. Be mindful of your posture throughout the day as well. An ergonomically adjusted chair minimizes the occurrences of awkward, strained positions that frequently cause injury.
Along with the way we sit, our office jobs are killing us because…

We have our desks laid out wrong

Even with a great chair, a desk that is the wrong height can cause a person to repetitively move and bend awkwardly during the day and injure themselves. Anyone who sits behind a desk needs to make certain it is the right height to comfortably reach the computer keyboard and all pertinent supplies are within a comfortable reach. Add a foot rest to decrease the stress on the lower back. Ergonomically positioning a desk offers greater comfort and less stress on a person’s body.

We also type wrong

Using the keyboard incorrectly can cause a ton of painful medical conditions from neck and back issues to carpal tunnel syndrome. The keyboard should sit at elbow height. Reduce the strain on your hands by keeping them in as natural a position as possible, holding your wrists up even with the backs of your hands. Avoid banging the keys by typing softly, which alleviates the stress on your fingers.
A computer mouse should be situated close to the keyboard, and it’s essential to keep the hand in a neutral position when using it. Avoid resting your hand on the mouse for an extended period of time.

Not taking breaks

According to the Mayo Clinic, sitting for long periods of time is linked to a variety of serious medical conditions from obesity to high blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Sitting in the same position for hours can put pressure on and result in back and neck pain.
Break up sitting every 30 minutes by standing and walking around and stretching if possible. Even standing for a couple of minutes at a time lessens the impact of a sedentary job.
In addition to taking the initiative to build an ergonomic office space, choosing to participate in chiropractic care is a great way to help eliminate pain from back, shoulder, and neck strain. Chiropractic treatment involves adjusting the spine, along with other techniques, offering better alignment in particular and a stronger, healthier body in general. A long-term benefit of chiropractic care is a body that enjoys greater mobility and fewer aches and pains.

An ergonomic office setup is critical in maintaining good posture that minimizes strain and repetitive motion injuries. By investing in ergonomically tailored furniture and setting it up to suit your specific needs, you will lessen the harm an office job does to your body.

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FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE

First we were fish, and we swam. Then we were monkeys, and we swung. Eventually, we evolved into fully upright Homo erectus, and we strode. And then Bill Gates invented the personal computer.
In 2012, after years hunched over emails, often with a phone wedged betwixt ear and shoulder, we’ve now devolved into a race of slouching Neanderthals. Over two thirds of the British population have suffered back pain at some point in their lives, according to the latest research from the British Chiropractic Association (BCA).
And that pain in the neck is far more than just, er, a pain in the neck. Researchers at the University of Leeds found that, due to interfering with signals between your neck muscles and your brain, poor posture increases your blood pressure, heightening your risk of heart disease. Here, MH shows you how to beat the slump.

1. Get the man in the mirror to change his ways

Diagnosis is the first step towards cure. Next time you find yourself staring at your reflection (beguiled by that chiselled jaw again, no doubt) drop your eyes down. “Check your shoulders are level and your head is not tilted to one side or your chin sticking out excessively,” says Olympic physiotherapist Darryl Reid.
For every inch your head moves forwards, 10 pounds of extra strain is placed on your upper back and neck muscles, according to Dr A. I. Kapandji, author of Physiology of the Joints. Close your eyes, set your body straight and open them again. “Pay attention to how your body feels in that position and make a mental note of it.” Use a mirror to check whether your chin is sticking out, your shoulders are hunched or your gait is lop-sided when walking, too.
Fix it: Suspected posture problems identified by eye can be confirmed – and temporarily alleviated – using Kinesio tape. Wear it under your clothes – in an ‘X’ shape running from each shoulder halfway down the back towards the opposite hip, with a horizontal strip connecting the top of the ‘X’ – and it will hold your muscles in the correct posture for up to 48 hours. If you’re still experiencing pain, posture isn’t your problem, and it’s worth going to see a GP.

2. Walk it off

Humans are active creatures. Our bodies are not designed to sit for hours on end. Nonetheless, around a third of the UK population spends over 10 hours a day sitting down, according to the BCA, and even desk-jockeys using one of the best ergonomic chairs aren’t immune to the posture problems inherent to a sedentary career.
Fix it: Stand up and walk away from your desk at least every 20-30 minutes, advises Reid. “Standing and walking helps to decrease stress on the discs and joints that dictate your posture.” Get more from your dawdle by making a phone call you’ve been putting off. Walking and talking cuts call times by up to 50%, as you get to the point faster, says Allen Elkin, author of Stress Management for Dummies.

3. Take the weight off your shoulders

Peering in disbelief at yet another unreasonable electronic missive from the boss isn’t just bad news for your stress levels. “It could result in a severe kyphosis,” says physical conditioning specialist Jan Keller – an emphasised curvature of the upper spine which makes you resemble a certain famed denizen of Notre Dame. Weak shoulder blades and stabilising muscles are a contributory cause.
Fix it: Looming over your workstation shortens and tightens the muscles in your back, which need to be long to prevent you rounding forwards. “A simple scapula retraction exercise will help lengthen these muscles and strengthen the weaker muscles,” says Keller.
Sitting at your desk, rest your arms by your side. Relax your neck and imagine you have a pencil between your shoulder blades. Pull your shoulder blades together and downwards, squeezing the imaginary pencil. Hold the contraction for 5 seconds. Do 10-15 reps three times a day.

4. Rearguard action

If your derriere is parked in an office chair from dawn ‘til dusk, make sure you schedule some time to work it. Strong glutes can be the difference between a healthy back and lordosis – curvature of the spine. “Strengthening your glutes helps pull your hips back into neutral alignment,” says Keller. Which safeguards your back against both injury and agony.
Fix it: Bookend your day with hip bridges. Lying on your back, rest your heels on a step with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle to your body in line with your hips. Fold your arms across your chest. Push down through your heels and lift your pelvis up to the ceiling. Once in full extension, squeeze your glutes and hold the contraction for 2-3 seconds. Then release the tension in the glutes and lower your pelvis back down to the floor. Do 12-15 reps twice a day.

5. Keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’

Keeping your back and neck on the up and up requires your muscles to be in a relaxed state as much as possible. Taxing workouts, therefore, can be bad news for your posture even as they fortify the rest of your body.
Fix it: Foam rollers are designed to iron out tension, relax your muscles and improve your workout. Simply place one on the floor and support yourself with your hands as you roll your body back and forth over the foam, concentrating on your most tense areas.

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