Author Archives: RichardB

Happiness

11 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in emotions, grounding, Health, lifestyle, Wellness

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Finding happiness in the everyday and mundane is a challenge and really easy, at the same time. It has to do with how you see yourself and world around you. Below is a panel discussion by ‘experts’, which is funny in itself.

2013 Stanford University Roundtable: Are You Happy Now?
Streamed live on Oct 18, 2013

The talking starts at 13:00 minutes in. The science of happiness is a growing and intriguing field. Research about what truly makes people happy is not only surprising, but applicable no matter how much money we make or where we live. Join moderator Katie Couric and a panel of experts in psychology, business, neuroscience and design for a Roundtable discussion about the happiness and sense of wellbeing that elude so many, but are sought by all.

Kestenberg Movement Profile: Tension Flow Rhythms

11 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in creative arts therapy, Dance Movement Therapy, research, youtube

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KMP Movement Analysis is the comprehensive system for identifying psychological, developmental, emotional, cognitive and global health/imbalance through movement observation, notation and interpretation.
If the mind, emotions, and body are a closely integrated , mutually interacting system, then it is reasonable that we should be able to gain information about the mind by observing the body. The body and its manner of moving not only reveals aspects of current feelings and emotions, but can give us insight into an individual’s past. As Loman and Foley wrote in 1996, “…experiences get stored in the body and are reflected in body movement.” A person who feels rejected may develop a hollow, narrowed body attitude which expresses and reinforces such feelings throughout life. Because both physical and emotional experiences leave long term traces upon the way people hold themselves and move, the study of movement opens a door to the study of patterns of early development, coping strategies and personality configurations.

Testosterone Treatment Accelerates Plaque Build-Up

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Health, heart, Uncategorized

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Older men may want to think twice before starting testosterone treatment, based on results of a clinical trial that found testosterone speeds up the development of plaque in the heart’s arteries.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, this study looked at the association between testosterone treatment and plaque build-up in older men. It was conducted in response to recent studies that have raised concerns about the impact of testosterone therapy on heart health.

Some studies have found that testosterone treatment may increase risk for heart events like heart attack and stroke, while others have found no relationship. With a ten-fold increase in testosterone sales in the United States from 2000–2011, experts worry about the potential impact of widespread testosterone use on heart health.

For this reason, researchers conducted the Testosterone Trials, which investigated the effects of testosterone treatment in elderly men with low testosterone. The studies looked at multiple outcomes, such as sexual function, brain function, vitality and cardiovascular risk.

The heart-related trial was conducted from 2010–2014 and included 170 men aged 65 years or older with low testosterone. For one year, half of participants were randomly assigned to active testosterone treatment—a topical gel applied to the arms and shoulders daily—while half received a placebo gel with no active ingredients.

At the start and end of the study, participants underwent a test called coronary computed tomographic angiography, which uses CT imaging to measure plaque build-up in the heart. Plaque build-up is dangerous because it narrows the heart’s arteries and is associated with increased risk for heart disease—the leading killer of Americans.

After analysis, researchers found that men taking testosterone had a greater increase in non-calcified plaque volume during the study period compared to men using the placebo gel. In fact, on average men taking testosterone had a 41mm3 greater increase in plaque volume than those taking the placebo, and this difference was considered statistically significant.

While findings suggest testosterone treatment accelerates plaque build-up in older men, authors do note certain limitations. The study only followed participants for one year, which is a relatively short time period. It also did not assess the impact of plaque build-up on outcomes like heart attack and death, so it’s unknown whether testosterone treatment impacts long-term health outcomes.

However, the study still raises concerns about the safety of testosterone treatment in older men with low testosterone. As a result, experts suggest that patients considering testosterone therapy discuss the risks and benefits with their doctor before making any decisions about testosterone treatment. They also encourage further research on the issue to better understand the association between testosterone treatment and heart health in older men.

Relaxation

04 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in grounding, Health, Relaxation, Wellness

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I started engaging in relaxation tools as a teenage in the mid 1070’s when I first started practicing Hatha and Raja Yoga. After 38 years I can say with confidence that it works for me. Since 1983 amongst other things I have taught Hatha Yoga,  and relaxation techniques. 
In the past 30 years, there has been considerable interest in the relaxation response and how inducing this state may benefit health. Research has focused primarily on illness and conditions in which stress may play a role either as the cause of the condition or as a factor that can make the condition worse.7077426-spa-wellness

Currently, there is some scientific evidence that relaxation techniques may be an effective part of an overall treatment plan for some disorders, including:

  • Anxiety. Studies have suggested that relaxation may assist in the treatment of phobias or panic disorder. Relaxation techniques have also been used to relieve anxiety for people in stressful situations, such as when undergoing a medical procedure.
  • Depression. In 2008, a major review of the evidence for relaxation in the treatment of depression found that relaxation techniques were more effective than no treatment for depression, but not as effective as cognitive-behavioral therapy.
  • Headache. There is some evidence that biofeedback and other relaxation techniques may be helpful for relieving tension or migraine headaches. In some cases, these mind and body techniques were more effective than medications for reducing the frequency, intensity, and severity of headaches.
  • Pain. Some studies have shown that relaxation techniques may help reduce abdominal and surgery pain.

Relaxation involves practice and willingness to fully engage in the process of relaxing. Stay tuned for some great relaxing tools.

Meditation and Pain Management

04 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Meditation, mindfulness, Uncategorized

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Meditation can relieve pain, and it does so by activating multiple brain areas, according to an April 2011 study in the Journal of Neuroscience. Fadel Zeidan of Wake Forest University and his colleagues scanned people’s brains as they received uncomfortably hot touches to the leg. When subjects practiced a mindful meditation technique that encourages detachment from experience while focusing on breathing, they reported less pain than when they simply paid attention to their breathing. Likewise, different patterns of brain activity emerged under the two conditions, with mindful meditating resulting in more activity not only in executive centers that evaluate experiences and regulate emotions but also in lower regions that control the signals coming from the body.

The volunteers learned the meditation technique in only four 20-minute sessions, which means this pill-free analgesia could be a feasible way to help real patients suffering from pain. “People can reap some of the benefits of meditation without extensive training,” Zeidan says.

When I work with patients using mindfulness I start by asking who has experience with any type of meditation, breathing techniques and/or relaxation exercises. We than have a  brief explanation and question and answer period and I focus on removing any doubt, fear, or skepticism. I usually than do a 10 to 12 minute body scan moving right into a mindful meditation that focuses on the breath.

With the co-occurring patients I work with this process seems to work the best. The chat in the beginning warms people up, the body scan relaxes which helps the meditators enter into a more meditative state.

Self-Affirmation Improves Problem-Solving

02 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in emotions, Health, mindfulness, Self expression, Wellness

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It’s no secret that stress increases your susceptibility to health problems, and it also impacts your ability to solve problems and be creative. But methods to prevent associated risks and effects have been less clear – until now.Dance Movement Therapy and Children
Published in PLOS ONE, new research from Carnegie Mellon University provides the first evidence that self-affirmation can protect against the damaging effects of stress on problem-solving performance. Understanding that self-affirmation – the process of identifying and focusing on one’s most important values – boosts stressed individuals’ problem-solving abilities will help guide future research and the development of educational interventions.
“An emerging set of published studies suggest that a brief self-affirmation activity at the beginning of a school term can boost academic grade-point averages in underperforming kids at the end of the semester. This new work suggests a mechanism for these studies, showing self-affirmation effects on actual problem-solving performance under pressure,” said J. David Creswell, assistant professor of psychology in CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Because previous research indicated that self-affirmation may be an effective stress management approach, Creswell and his research team had college students rank-order a set of values (e.g., art, business, family and friends) in terms of their personal importance, and indicate their levels of chronic stress. Participants randomly assigned to a self-affirmation condition were asked to write a couple of sentences about why their number one ranked value was important (a standard self-affirmation exercise). All participants then had to complete a challenging problem-solving task under time pressure, which required creativity in order to generate correct solutions.tumblr_m7dhgp7vPe1qa9c27o1_1280
The results showed that participants who were under high levels of chronic stress during the past month had impaired problem-solving performance. In fact, they solved about 50 percent fewer problems in the task. But notably, this effect was qualified by whether participants had an opportunity to first complete the self-affirmation activity. Specifically, a brief self-affirmation was effective in eliminating the deleterious effects of chronic stress on problem-solving performance, such that chronically stressed self-affirmed participants performed under pressure at the same level as participants with low chronic stress levels.
“People under high stress can foster better problem-solving simply by taking a moment beforehand to think about something that is important to them,” Creswell said. “It’s an easy-to-use and portable strategy you can roll out before you enter that high pressure performance situation.

light and sight

29 Friday Nov 2019

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“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.”  Rumi

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In mindfulness

28 Thursday Nov 2019

Posted by in mindfulness, Resiliency, Wellness

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In mindfulness, you learn to see thoughts as just thoughts rather than as facts or situations you must react to. Thoughts commonly come and go in the mind, and if you treat all thoughts as true and assign them all the same level of importance, you’re more prone to feel down in the midst of negative or self-judgmental thoughts and highly elated in the midst of positive thoughts. This rollercoaster ride of emotions and energy often seems to trace the same path as bipolar disorder’s ups and downs.bamboo-forest.jpg

By practicing mindfulness, you notice that both types of thoughts are just thoughts, and you don’t need to react to them or even give them your full attention. After all, thoughts arise merely out of your perception of reality or are borne out of your own thought process. You’re not required to give them the full status of being true. Mindfulness involves watching thoughts and stepping back from them – like watching clouds passing through the sky. This enables you to become a disinterested observer, and thoughts lose some of their control over your emotions.

Switching modes of mind

Mindfulness also emphasizes learning to switch modes of mind. Normally you operate in “doing mode,” which is all about setting goals and trying to achieve them. Many people get stuck in this mode and never realize they have the option of shifting to “being mode,” which is all about allowing and accepting things just as they are, rather than working hard to change them.

Being mode is particularly helpful in the realm of emotions. If you’re feeling sad and don’t accept it, you can end up fighting to change the experience. This can lead to a deeper feeling of sadness and trigger a negative thought cycle. By being with the experience and mindfully accepting the emotion, you allow the feeling to dissipate in its own time.

nature_wallpaper7.jpgMindfulness looks like a potentially effective way of managing bipolar disorder, especially the depressive pole, which may be the most difficult to treat with medication alone. Mindfulness exercises and meditations are useful for people with bipolar disorder (manic depression) because mindfulness:

 

  • Decreases the relapse rate for depression.
  • Reduces stress and anxiety, which contribute significantly to the onset of both mania and depression and may worsen the course of the illness.
  • Improves a person’s ability to manage thoughts and feelings and increases awareness of the way the person tends to internalize external stimuli.

 

Mindfulness exercises include guided body scan meditation, mindful walking, mindfulness of breath, and mindfulness of thoughts and feelings.