Health Blog

What do you think is the single biggest issue today that people have?

I’d say not enough energy. Like time, energy is something most people wish they had more of. Demands on our energy are greater than ever before. A lot is occurring in life that uses up energy. But, just like a poorly insulated house loses energy, so does a poorly functioning body. What can you do? Plenty…

The number one way to increase your energy is to improve your posture.

Modern lifestyles are robbing us of valuable energy. We do repetitive movements or are hunched over a computer for hours. Hours of sitting in front of a computer, driving, talking on cell phones… over-utilizing our minds and under-utilizing our bodies creates a myriad of problems including major stiffness in the body. You can change this simply, easily, and once and for all. The whole idea is really simple… get some random movement to work the kinks out and fire up your human instinct to stretch. You know when you feel really happy and joyous, how your body becomes light and free – there is a way you move around. Do that! Let you body take over. Let it guide you instead of doing something forcefully to it.

Posture is the basis by which you physically do what you do each day. Walking is posture manifesting itself through motion. Show me a person with good posture and I’ll show you a person who moves like a young person. Ultimately youth is posture… all about moving freely and flexibly without pain. With age and technologically-based living come aches and pains, slower movement, and general body stiffness. It’s no fun to hurt all the time, especially if you spend your day in “computer posture,” or your job is physically repetitive in nature. Then you don’t move like you should. But now, when you come home and your neck, shoulders, and back are tight and painful, YOU can do something about it.

• Move in ANY way that you don’t normally. Try it for a minute right now and you’ll see.

Everyone has a unique, innate ability to stretch and keep their body’s structure aligned naturally, without having to rely on health care providers to do it for them. You can learn to make this a conscious act. So, when your body starts to feel uncomfortable, you can properly and effectively move it to release stress and restore correct alignment… yourself!

The truth is that in today’s technological society most people suffer from stiffness and pain brought about by not moving enough and doing repetitive movements when they do move. Sitting in front of computer screens all day… or in a cubicle… or driving… just isn’t what human beings are designed to do. This causes serious problems with posture, flexibility, movement… ultimately impacting your quality of life.

Your head is designed to balance directly on top of your neck. When held forward, for example, muscles must work harder to hold your head up rather than merely balancing it. Energy is consumed unnecessarily. Take a ten-pound weight. Hold it out at arm’s length. How long before your arm gives out? An improperly held head is putting a similar strain on the neck muscles. Many people are exhausted at the end of the day – just from holding their heads up. Holding a telephone between your shoulder and ear with your neck bent to one side is another example. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, if there are habitual postures, poor alignment can become permanent.

Your body assumes the shape of its most common positions. So change the position…

When your body stays in the same position for long periods of time, it takes on that shape. This allows the bones and overall alignment to do more of the work of supporting your body while your muscles do less. The problem is; your body is habitually positioned in a manner that creates poor alignment. This wastes energy. Slouching is a good example.

• Think of having balloons attached to your head and shoulders; gently, not forcefully, lifting you up towards the sky.
• Raise the monitor up on your desk so you are looking level and not down.
• Look up to the sky instead of always looking down.

Remember, good posture means efficient and energy saving movement, just like an athlete. Here’s to the athlete in everybody!

When winter comes we become more conscious of colds and the onset of the flu season – along with increased advertising of various brand name cough and cold medications in capsule or liquid form. It also brings up all those old sayings and wives tales of how to cure or reduce the effects of colds and flu.

And, let’s face it – when your head feels like its full of cotton wool, your nose drips like a faucet and your sinuses feel like they have nails driven into them – we all, at times, succumb to trying anything just to get some alleviation.

So what works and what doesn’t – what cold and flu myths can we believe and what are a complete waste of time?

“An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away”
Well, this isn’t as hoary as it may seem. Red apple skin has more anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects than berries and these may boost the immune system and help protect against flu.

The key here is ‘immune system’ – if we are keeping our bodies at optimal health levels then it is better able to combat the invasion of those nasty respiratory bugs.

The lesson: keep up those two fruits a day as part of good nutrition – and especially encourage the kids to do likewise.

“Surgical Masks”
Yes, they do have some benefit – if worn properly as they help prevent inhalation of expelled droplets when you are around people who carry the infection.

“Only Coughs and Sneezes Spread Disease”
Wrong! The most common way that flu and colds are spread is when hands are in contact with contaminated surfaces and you transfer the bug to your face etc.

Washing hands thoroughly and regularly is advised, especially if a family member has a bug already. It is the rubbing action of washing that removes bugs, more than any anti-bacterial soap. Also, keep the surfaces (kitchen benches etc) clean and disinfected.

Vitamins Can Help reduce the effects of a cold
Most medicos say there is no substantive evidence that taking vitamins will prevent or reduce the effects of a cold. My experience says otherwise – this is something you can test yourself.

However, just taking them when you get a cold isn’t much help – you need to be on a good regular intake for most benefit. See fruits above – that may be the answer

Chicken Soup
Well, this is a lot tastier than many over the counter syrups and probably more effective. Colds attack the upper respiratory tract and this becomes inflamed. Chicken soup possesses anti-inflammatory properties. It may also alleviate throat soreness and possibly prevent the movement of white blood cells that encourage the flow of mucous.

It could be a combination of the heat, the vegies and proteins and the anti-inflammatory properties.

Getting Caught in the Rain will Cause a Cold
No it doesn’t – nor does being stuck in wet clothes. Colds and flu are viral and if the virus is in your system then that’s how you get it. Just being cold and wet does not of itself ‘breed’ the virus.

The best preventative? A well balanced and nutritious diet – incorporating 5 veg and two fruits, plus regular exercise. Plus, if applicable, no tobacco. BTW, flu vaccines do not give you the flu as they do not contain any live virus.

Work related stress, unfavorable lifestyle, unhealthy habits is the order of the day. No wonder people tend to catch on to stress and lifestyle related diseases at very young ages. Moreover, busy work schedules and tight competition has made it more difficult for people spare time for spirituality and health care. At such a juncture wellness retreats are a possible way out of the vicious cycle.

Wellness retreats are places or centers offering training programmes for ensuring better health. They offer alternative training programmes for health and spirituality like yoga, Ayurveda etc to fight lifestyle and stress related diseases. Since they are retreats, they usually are places offering overnight stays where people usually go for vacationing and in the course of the vacation also embark on spirituality and health nourishment training.

Programmes included in such retreats are:

• Yoga training: Combinations of several mental and physical disciplines through meditative practices of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, brought together in a comprehensive health and fitness programme for fighting lifestyle diseases.
• Meditation and healing arts: The best way of putting mind and body together, relive stress and proceed towards spirituality is through meditation and pranayam. Alternative healing methods like reiki, acupuncture, shamanism, music therapy etc are included in the retreats.
• Healthy gourmet food: Ayurvedic and vegetarian food prepared from essential and gourmet herbs and spices to revolutionize your diet and change lifestyle patterns for better and healthy living. Tips for cooking the wellness food are also provided.
• Ayurveda/ Ayurvedic medication: Ayurvedic consultation, Ayurvedic massages and medication for fighting stress and lifestyle diseases like blood sugar, blood pressure, heart problems, hypertension, headache, body ache, Spondylitis etc.
• Spa facilities: For pampering your body and skin one can choose from an exciting mix of spa treatment services. Therapeutic massages, energizing massage, aromatherapy massage and enriching treatments are usually included in the programme
• Stress reduction: Several techniques like Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or MBSR are directed at combination of mind strength and physical abilities to release stress. It works on the mind’s ability to be aware.
• Workouts and exercises: Combinations of aerobics, state-of-art gym and other physical training programmes like pilates, i.e. a full body workout for building muscles through a sequence of controlled and precise movements.

Wellness retreats are often designed specifically for either sexes for ensuring convenience and privacy. Wellness retreat Victoria, Brisbane, Ontario, California, Kerala, Agstri is famous throughout the world. People across continents flock to these places for treatment, meditation and well being. This if you have been suffering from any stress or lifestyle diseases or just seeking a relaxed and healthy holiday wellness retreats could be your next destination.

When asked “How healthy am I?” more than half the respondents to a recent survey said that other people’s health “was going in the wrong direction”. Only 17% admitted that their own health was going in that very same direction.

The survey was intended to look at how Americans and health care professionals rated the country’s health. Seems most American’s think their health is just fine, but it’s everyone else who’s in trouble. Doctors disagree.

According to the survey results, American’s believe themselves to be in far better shape than their doctor’s do. “Either people are denying reality about themselves or they don’t have the correct knowledge and believe they are doing the right things,” explains study author Dr. Michael Roizen, chairman of The Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute.

The survey, conducted late in 2009 included more than 2,000 people from all parts of the United States, and found that:

- Almost 30% gave themselves an A for managing their personal health; 92% of doctors gave a grade of C or lower.

- Just about 1/3 of respondents gave themselves an A for eating healthy; the doctors grades remain unchanged, 92% giving a C or lower.

- Nearly 1/3 gave themselves an A for getting regular exercise;

91% of physicians graded a C or lower in this area.

Now it’s also possible doctors, who typically only see the sickest among us, are overstating their concern, based on daily experience and fears for where we’re headed.

Still it seems odd that in a place were the obesity and diabetes rates are steadily rising, Americans tend to compare themselves (and come out the winner) with heavier people.

The survey found that even in our supposedly health conscious world, many respondents didn’t know their own numbers – cholesterol, glucose level, blood pressure.

Only 24% knew their body mass index; 29% knew their blood glucose level; 33% could answer for daily calorie intake and 36% could give their cholesterol numbers.

What’s more surprising is that a majority said that keeping those numbers in a healthy range was important to staying healthy. It seems knowing and doing are two different things.

Contrarily 95% of respondents agreed that regular doctor visits are important, but 70% had actively avoided such visits. Some hoped their problem would go away. Others asked friends for advice.

Some of the problem may be cultural as well. Everything in America is big. Western medicine doesn’t focus on prevention. But most of the diseases that get us in the end are silent killers like diabetes, high blood pressure and hardened arteries.

And then who doesn’t convince themselves that the bad things we do to our body are cancelled out (or eased) by the good things? Rather than looking at just one element of our lifestyle when asking the question ‘how healthy am I?’, we need to take a step back to view the big picture.