Ten Tips for Mental Health

Build Confidence - Identify your abilities and weaknesses together, accept them, build on them and do the best with what you have.

Accept Compliments - Many of us have difficulty accepting kindness from others but we all need to remember the positive strokes when times gets tough.

Make Time for Family and Friends - These relationships need to be nurtured; if taken for granted they will not be there to share life's joys and sorrows.

Give and Accept Support - Friends and family relationships thrive when they are "put to the test".

Create a Meaningful Budget - Financial problems cause stress. Over-spending on our "wants" instead of our "needs" is often the culprit.

Volunteer - Being involved in community gives a sense of purpose and satisfaction that paid work cannot.

Manage Stress - We all have stressors in our lives but learning how to deal with them when they threaten to overwhelm us will maintain our mental health.

Find Strength in Numbers - Sharing a problem with others who have had similar experiences may help you find a solution and will make you feel less isolated.

Identify and Deal with Moods - We all need to find safe and constructive ways to express our feelings of anger, sadness, joy and fear.

Learn To Be At Peace with Yourself - Get to know who you are, what makes you really happy, and learn to balance what you can and cannot change about yourself.


Source:Wholefitness

Motivation

Setting Goals (And Objectives)

Goal setting is the art that makes everything else possible. It adds aim to energy, focuses effort and, for some, structures time. Surveys show that people who plan ahead are much more successful over the long term than those who plunge in without knowing where they're going or how they'll get there. You wouldn't take a long road trip without a map so it makes good sense to have a compass (and road map) for your fitness objectives.

Goals Should Be Smart

S = Specific. Saying, "I'll go to exercise class," is not a specific goal. I have a clearer picture when I write, "Next week I will attend step class at 9:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."
M = Measurable. Set goals that are measurable in quality or quantity. Measuring body fat percentage, hip to waist ratio or journaling and record keeping of diet intake or workouts achieved or increases in heart rate reserve are powerful and motivating tools to assuring a new habit becomes a long term behavior. Instead, make plans for an individual workout that nurtures you. Many folks find they're more committed to measurable goals if they report to a friend or colleague willing to help monitor their progress.
A = Attainable. In the enthusiasm of the moment we often make promises that are difficult to keep when enthusiasm wanes. If you're looking for a magic bullet the chances are you'll end up shooting yourself in the foot. Realizing that change doesn't happen overnight will help you set realistic goals you can achieve. It's the SMALL changes that are the key to permanent lifestyle change. For example, if are trying to lose weight you should avoid the painful rebound of crash dieting by planning to lose no more than one or two pounds a week.
R = Realistic. Goals should reflective of your values and compatible with your lifestyle. If not they can be the source of distress. Success is about learning how to customize your activities to find the right fit for you. For example, if you don't enjoy working out with others it's unrealistic to join an aerobic exercise class. I enjoy being with people most of the time, but have learned that my new heart rate monitor based exercise program is much more fun when I stride out on my own where I can manage my pace without distraction and return with a sense of accomplishment in addition to the satisfaction of another completed workout.
T = Timely. It's not smart to plan too many changes at once-it's too threatening to your internal sense of balance. Before you begin be certain you can identify other areas of your life that might be stressful and prevent you from "doing what you want to do". For example, although a workout can be an important stress reducer if it makes your schedule more unmanageable you may have to postpone a new weight training program or fitness class until it's more in keeping with a balanced lifestyle.

Write Down Your Goals

It's important to put your goals in writing. Written goals are a tangible sign of a promise that you intend to keep. They can remind you of that promise when time is short or if other priorities become pressing. Written goals will also help you track your progress, make your accomplishments more obvious and help you identify problem areas that need more attention. Sadly, only 5% of Americans write down goals and objectives, but 95% of those who do succeed. (A survey of Fortune 500 executives indicates that they may be successful because they write down their goals and objectives

Identify Supporters And Saboteurs

Some of us can be the lone ranger, but most people need coaches, cheerleaders and people whose belief in and support of s reminds us of our commitment to change. The friendship and support of others will make it easier for you pass through the sometimes difficult transition from old to new behaviors. I know folks who have taken responsibility for themselves and embarked on a changed lifestyle only to discover that most beloved friends and family members feel they are being imposed upon. So, identify the people who will nurture you and help you maintain your well-being, as well as those (even your loved ones) who don't see your point of view. Those supporters will help you maintain your commitment during periods of stress

Plan for the Unexpected

Lack of time is the most frequently mentioned reason for discontinuing a fitness program. Life is filled with surprises so include strategies that assure you will make time for maintaining your commitment in the face of changing schedules, unexpected mini-crisis and external forces like long meetings, extra traffic, changes in car pools--you know what I mean!!

Affirm Your Behavior

Affirmations are powerful. Many people find that repeating certain sayings to themselves helps them accept things. They discover they are programming their sub-conscious to new beliefs. Affirmations should be positive such as "I am," "I have" as opposed to "I would like" or "I will try". Remind yourself daily, "I am a healthy person making changes in my lifestyle so I can live in the most healthy way."

Reward Your Success

Set up a reward system so you can reward yourself for changed behaviors. Each of us have different values for measuring success. Yours should be structured to satisfy you, not others. That reward should make you hum from head to toe! Good examples include extra time for yourself with a favorite book, a manicure or pedicure, a trip with a special friend or relative or a class or lecture or play that stimulates your mind. Avoid rewards related to food and drink that may be sabotaging in the long run.


Source:Wholefitness

Fighting Boredom

Are you finding it difficult to get out of bed in the morning for your daily walk and making up excuses to skip the gym on the way home? Even the most dedicated exercisers occasionally get bored with their routine. Waning motivation, cutting workouts short and not having your old enthusiasm all are signs of a stale exercise regimen.

Quick Fix:
First, evaluate your current routine to determine what really bores you. A new variation on your favorite activity -- such as cardio-funk or kickboxing instead of step aerobics, or hoisting free weights instead of working on machines -- may be enough to reinvigorate a stale routine.

If you've always worked out indoors, logging miles on a treadmill, stairclimber or stationary bike, move your workout outside for a welcome change of scenery. Run, hike or bike on trails; swim in a lake or ocean.

Bigger Changes:
When tweaking your routine isn't enough, make bigger changes. Take up an entirely new activity - especially something you never thought you'd do. If you've always stuck to solitary pursuits, sign up for a team sport, such as volleyball, basketball or even doubles tennis. Or tackle something you've always shied away from - indulge your thirst for adventure with a rock- climbing class (start on an indoor wall, then move to the real thing as your skills improve).

Good Company:
Working out alone often is an oasis of solitude in a busy day, but maybe you need some company. Exercise companions add a social element to any routine. Ask a friend to be your workout partner -- you won't skip a workout if someone is waiting for you.

Just about every sport or activity has a club; to find one, ask around at gyms or local community centers. Keeping up with the crowd also means you'll be challenged to improve your skills. Ask about organized workouts and fun runs offered by local track clubs, as well as group rides hosted by cycling clubs.

Challenge Yourself:
Many exercisers work out simply to stay in shape, and most of the time that's just fine. But setting a goal, such as finishing a 10K race or completing a rough-water swim, will give your daily workouts more meaning.

Start by incorporating bursts of speed into your workouts. After a gentle warm-up, alternate a fast pace with a slower one for recovery. This can be as simple as sprinting to the next tree, or as structured as running intervals on a track or sprinting laps in the pool.

Add Variety:
Elite triathletes pioneered the cross-training concept, and it works for the rest of us, too. If you usually focus on one activity, substitute another a few days a week. Ideally, any exercise program includes elements of cardiovascular exercise, weight training and flexibility.

New Toys:
Small exercise gadgets aren't necessary, but they can make your workouts more fun and challenging. Heart-rate monitors, aquatic toys and safety equipment are just a few items to consider. Find out which new training gadgets are available for your favorite activity.

Take a Break:
Sometimes you really do need time off. In that case, cut back on your usual routine, and substitute other activities. You might even find one that you enjoy more than your old favorites.

Once you've fought your first battle with boredom, you'll know the tricks to keep exercise from becoming too routine. Trying new sports, new classes and new activities - and learning how to throw a little variety into old favorites - an help you overcome the nagging inclination to devise those creative excuses for not working out.

Accept Your Body!

Because thin females and muscular males are seen as the ideal in our society and because we have come to believe that body size and shape are totally under a person's control, most people enter diet and exercise programs with unrealistic goals and expectations. If you continually strive to achieve a socially imposed ideal, you will never be free of your insecurities or your self-consciousness. You must truly realize and then learn to accept that we are not all meant to be fashion-model size.

Our body size and structure reflects not only our eating and exercise habits but also our genetics. The role this latter factor plays in determining weight seems to vary greatly between individuals. We are all born with a certain body type inherited from our parents. Although hardly anyone is a pure body type, there are three different applicable categories: ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs.

Characteristically, ectomorphs have a light build with slight muscular development. They are usually tall and thin with small frames and narrow hips and shoulders.

Mesomorphs have a husky, muscular build. They often have broad shoulders, and their weight is concentrated in the upper body, making them look compact or stocky.

Endomorphs are characterized by a heavy, rounded build with shoulders usually narrower than their hips. They have a round, soft appearance and are more often overweight or obese.

When we understand and appreciate our bodies, we are able to work with them, not against them. Although many of us are a combination of two body types, we cannot become what we are not. However, everyone can improve their appearance and their health and performance levels by implementing the principles of a safe and effective eating and exercise program.

Even if you have a genetic predisposition to being overweight, the way you live is what ultimately determines whether you become fat. Genes clearly play a role, but they certainly don't determine what you're going to have for dinner or how often you exercise. Chances are if you're living an unhealthy lifestyle, you'll become fat and unhealthy.

All of us can't be thin. But every single one of us can be healthy. By focusing on what you're eating and how much you're exercising, you'll be able to achieve optimum health and fitness, even though you may not achieve society's ideal of thinness. Accepting yourself does not mean that you're hopeless and that it's okay to do nothing. It means that you feel good and care about yourself, and that you want to be the very best you can be, regardless of your genetics, regardless of society's standards.

To achieve this level of optimum wellness, you must have a positive self image. This means that your feelings about your body are not influenced by events in your daily life. For many people, life's problems are projected onto their body. "If only I were thinner--or more muscular, I would have made the team, gotten the job, been chosen. . . . If only I were thinner--or more muscular, I could meet more people, find the right guy/girl, be happy." This self-defeating habit is reinforced by the images we see in advertising; your body becomes an easy target for everything wrong in your life.

When you have a positive self-image, you value and respect your body; you are also more likely to feel good about living a healthy lifestyle.

No matter how much genetics predetermines how you store and lose fat, the body you've been given will still respond positively to being appreciated and treated well. Focusing on fun physical activity and eating healthy foods will help you feel good whatever your size. Developing a healthy, positive image of yourself is the first critical factor in your fitness success. Having a strong sense of self-worth provides the basis for making rational and affirming decisions about your health. Good luck, stay positive, and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle!

Stay Motivated!

How do you do that? Simple -- you set up goals that are preposterously, stupendously easy, things at which you cannot possibly fail. Maybe it's walking for one minute. Maybe it's doing three minutes on a treadmill. Maybe it's watching the first four minutes of a Tae-Bo tape from your living room couch.

Think that's silly? Think again. Remember that your subconscious doesn't evaluate big or little, it only knows success or failure. If you tell yourself you're going to do 30 minutes of aerobics and you only do 27, that's logged as a failure. Couple of those and you lose motivation and are out of the game. But if you tell yourself you're going to do three minutes, and you actually do them, it's recorded as a success. You leave the game a winner.

Now the trick is to do that every day. Why? So you can build up the habit of believing your own word. It does not matter what you do, it matters only that you do it. And that you do "it" successfully. That your subconscious scores it as a 'win.'

So set it up so that it's impossible to fail. Don't worry about it if the goal you set seems ridiculously easy. That's OK -- you'll be upping the bar soon enough. Remember that the prime goal here is not the amount of exercise you do or how "good" you are on your "diet"; the prime goal here is to develop a new habit -- doing what you say you're going to do.

So bypass the "no motivation" blockade by forgetting about the enormity of the goal. As you rack up your successes, your motivation will grow, the pounds will come off, and your body will change.

Dealing With Anger

Anger can cause serious physical health problems like ulcers and heart disease. It can also make you act in ways that cause you to lose your job, or friends or break up your marriage. You can deal with anger as it happens and you can change your approach to life.

Feelings of anger are a normal reaction to some situations which are beyond your control. Sometimes, anger is an indication of too much stress. It is hard to know if you should just let your anger pass or if it needs more attention to get rid of it.

Anger is a serious problem requiring attention if it is:

constantly on your mind for weeks at a time and is making it impossible to enjoy life
caused by something that happened a long time ago
causing you to do spiteful things
making you act violently toward others or to yourself
interfering with your ability to do your job
hurting your relationships with family or friends.

Short terms solutions to anger:

Admit that you are angry. By denying feelings of anger they will not go away, instead they will keep reappearing in inappropriate ways.

Try not to over-react. Think about whether the situation is really as bad as it seems. How would you feel if you saw someone reacting as you have to this situation.

Force your attention onto a more pleasant thought, a happy vacation for example, rather than the line up or traffic or whatever has you angry.

Identify the source of your anger. Is it the actions or words of another person that is hurting you? If so, try to deal with that person in a peaceful, productive way to get them to understand why you are angry.

Listen carefully, without interrupting the other person, so you can understand what the person is trying to explain.

Long term solutions to anger:

Find out from others who have similar experiences, how they dealt with something out of their control like losing a job

Avoid blaming yourself even if you have caused your own misfortune through an error. Try to learn from your mistake so you don't make it again.

Reduce tension by finding time for physical activity. Anger is a physical outlet of all the energy released as a result of stress reaction. Find a more productive way to expend that energy.

Reduce your stress level. Use stress management techniques and try to find time for more things that you enjoy

Learn to meditate. It is not as mystic as you think. If you learn to control your thoughts when you are not angry it will help you maintain control when you are angry.

Laugh at yourself. If you can see the funny side of a difficult situation you can laugh instead of lashing out.

Learn to trust the abilities of others and respect that we all have different qualities. Some of your anger may be coming from a lack of faith in the capabilities of other people.

Talk to someone you trust, a close family member, friend or member of the clergy who may help you see things with a different perspective.

Get professional help. If your problems are serious you may need the help of a mental health counselor.

How To Relieve Stress

Almost everyone has nervous jitters at sometime during their life. There are many ways to calm your nerves and relieve stress in your life.
1. A warm bath is helpful. Be sure the water is not too hot as hot water tends to stimulate.

2. A warm cup of tea works wonders. There are many varieties of flavored tea on the market today. Try to choose one that is decaffeinated. For instance, Chamomile tea has no caffeine and it has a relaxing effect.

3. Visualization is used a lot to calm nerves. Sit back in a comfortable chair. Clothing must not be tight. Try to relax your body. At first, you'll find it difficult to clear your mind but keep trying . Soon you will start to relax. Visualize a peaceful setting. Such as laying on the warm sand of a beach. Listen to the waves as they pound upon the beach and smell the salty sea breeze. Feel the warm sun touching your skin.

Try to imagine that you're in a big clear bubble floating above a emerald green valley. Visualize anything that makes you feel relaxed.

4. Breathing exercises are great for relieving stress. Breath in a deep breath. Hold it and count to ten. Let out the air and as you do visualize the air as being all the pent up stress.

5. It is very important that one has something useful to do during the day and to stay occupied.

6 An hour to a nervous person seems like forever. It is essential that a nervous person has outside interest so that time passes quickly.

7. Breathing into a paper bag and then rebreathing the air in the bag can be relaxing.

8. Meditation is another helpful tool. Find a comfortable place to sit. And be as quite as possible and there should be no distractions. Clear your mind. While you're meditating its nice to listen to some relaxing music such as Classical or New Age. Try to do this for at least fifteen minutes a day.

9. Try to exercise when you're feeling nervous and stressed out. Taking a walk is wonderful for stress. The fresh air and open spaces gives you a better mood and makes everything look so much better.

10 Another great way to relive stress is to have a good massage

Quick Ways To Relieve Stress

By the time we put in a full workday and tend to our families, we don't have much time or energy to do a lot. Take a look and see if any of these ideas can be useful to you.

Stress can threaten your health and well-being. When you respond to situations with excessive amounts of anger, fear, frustration, resentment, or envy, you place a burden on your body that depletes energy, disrupts your immune system, and impairs cardiovascular health. When you moderate your responses, maintain a strong social support system, and develop healthy ways of coping with stress, you protect yourself from its damaging effects.

You can fight stress with techniques to help you relax and "take a break" from the hectic pace of life. These 10 steps can help you feel more relaxed, laid-back, and low-keyed, thus combating stress.

Take a catnap: A 10-minute nap virtually anywhere-at home, on the office floor, in the car (providing you're not driving of course!)-can be refreshing

Visualization: Take a quick "mental break" by envisioning a favorite place in your mind-whether it be the ocean, the mountains, or your own backyard. Concentrate on "seeing", "smelling" and "hearing" the things you imagine.

Massage: Close your eyes and use your fingertips to vigorously massage your forehead and the back of your neck. Rub in circles, and rub hard.

Breathing: Increased tension results in rapid, shallow breathing. For better relaxation, inhale slowly, hold your breath, and exhale slowly. Count to eight during each phase.

Abdominal breathing: Lie on the floor with your face up, body relaxed, and eyes closed. Exhale, blowing all the air out of your lungs, and push out your abdomen. Then pull in your abdomen, press down on it with your hand, and inhale deeply. Relax, letting the abdomen return to its normal position. Breathe normally for several minutes; then repeat the cycle.

Get out of the rut: Making up new ways to do old things can be a great reliever of both stress and boredom. Try taking different routes when driving to work, or change the way you do ordinary tasks such as putting on makeup, fixing your hair, or getting dressed.

Sing in the shower: Loud singing demands deep breathing, which relaxes the singer. Hold the notes for as long as you can.

Develop hobbies: What's fun for you can be good for you. Whatever your interests are, indulge them. Feeling competent and in control is relaxing.

Relaxation response: Sit comfortably in a quiet place with eyes closed and muscles deeply relaxed. Silently count to yourself with each inhaled and exhaled breath. Concentrate on deep breathing.

Stretch: Standard stretching exercises are good for relieving tension."

Meditation As Anti-aging Medicine; Turn Back The Clock Naturally
By Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.

Imagine being able to rid yourself of a host of medical or psychological maladies without drugs or psychotherapy. Imagine being able to turn back the clock naturally. That's right without taking drugs and hormones, you can practice anti-aging medicine with non- invasive medical meditation. These are proven effective in one of the most overlooked forms of therapy available today.

Time is rushing into the future. You can't deny the truth of it. And with each passing day, you age. There is no way out. Welcome to the world of the graying of America. Every morning perhaps you notice a sign-a wrinkle here, a gray hair there, an ache, a pain or a little bulge somewhere.

While you see the visible signs of aging on the surface of your body, beneath the skin there are telltale signs as well. Physiological studies have shown that your cardiac, pulmonary, musculoskeletal and brain functions are also declining as you become older. As time passes, minor damage mounts up and cells, organs and systems simply wear out.

One of the first systems that wears out is the endocrine system, the glands that secrete hormones. Many researchers believe, and I agree, that the primary reason we deteriorate as we age is due to the degeneration of the endocrine system. Furthermore, the function of the immune system generally follows the function of the endocrine system. For example, the production of critically important hormones, such as growth hormones, begin to drop off around age 30. The implications of this growth hormone decline are very disturbing; HGH is vitally important in helping you feel energetic, to repair your muscles and other tissues and to retain strong immunity.
Other endocrine glands are especially vulnerable to aging. The pineal gland, which produces the sleep hormone melatonin, quickly declines with age, until it generally becomes calcified and completely dysfunctional in most elderly people. It is believed that this decline contributes significantly to the increase in sleep disorders that occurs with aging. Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant and free-radical scavenger so the decline of the pineal also contributes to an overall decrease in health.

Similarly, the extremely important steroid hormone, DHEA, drops off considerably with time and this decline causes innumerable problems. DHEA helps protect the body from stress and is vitally important for maintaining a good mood, a normal sex drive, a stable body fat ratio and a high level of energy. DHEA is also important to protect against the ravages of the stress hormone cortisone, which when elevated can lead to a decline in immunity, memory loss and accelerated aging.

Unbalanced stress in your life also causes the hypothalamus, a gland thought of by many doctors as the "brain's brain," to decline in function. As the hypothalamus declines it becomes far less adept at perfectly responding to minor imbalances. Sometimes it calls for the production of too few hormones and sometimes too many. In effect, it loses its elasticity and flexibility. Moreover, this degeneration triggers dysfunction of the rest of the endocrine system, which causes damage to the body and the mind. Fat clings to the abdomen. Skin loses its suppleness. Memories fade. Viruses go unopposed. Eye muscles lose their focus. Immunity wanes. Sex drive declines. Aging runs rampant.

Aging though is not the only problem caused by the decline of the endocrine system. The same factors that cause aging reduce quality of life and health in young people. You don't need to be old to have poor immunity, impaired eyesight, low energy, depression, insomnia, decreased sex drive, poor muscle tone, hypoglycemia, obesity, muscle pain, impaired cognitive function or any other of the many problems associated with endocrine decline. These problems are more prevalent among the elderly but are absolutely common among young people. Unfortunately, many of them appear to be increasingly common among younger patients. Two of the most obvious are depression and obesity, which are now at their highest rates in history among the young. Remember, old age doesn't suddenly swoop down at 60; aging starts early, especially if you subject your body and brain to one physical and emotional assault after another.

By now I imagine you are ready for some good news. There is a powerful mechanism that can ameliorate the ravages of aging and confer youthful vitality-at any age. That mechanism is meditation. Meditation is the true anti-aging medicine because it activates our body's own natural anti-aging healing force. Beyond that, it is easy to do. There is no cost and it is totally free from dangerous side effects, which have been potentially attributed to some drugs and hormones. Medical meditation directly rejuvenates the hypothalamus, the pituitary, the pineal and other endocrine glands. Think of it as endocrine exercise. In addition, medical meditation is also the single most effective counter measure against stress. Moreover, medical meditation is specific for ailments, including those associated with aging such as change of life issues or menopause, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and stroke, among others.

Let's now scientifically assess meditation. According to the Office of Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, 1994 Omnibus 25-Year Report on Meditation, the research indicates that meditators achieve the following biological reactions: marked reduction in oxygen use; notably lower secretion of stress hormones; increase in immune factors, including blood leukocyte production; and calm brain wave activity.

Meditation has also been shown to produce the following general medical benefits:

reduction of anxiety
reduction of chronic pain
lowered levels of cortisone
increase in cognitive function
reduction of substance abuse
lowered blood pressure
improvements in post traumatic stress syndrome
reduction in the use of medical care and hospitalizations.

In a fascinating study on meditation, published over a period of years in three different medical journals, we find that when a group of researchers measured biological age (how old a person is physiologically rather than chronologically), determinants of blood pressure, vision and hearing were all improved for age with meditation. Those practicing meditation for five years were physiologically 12 years younger than their non-meditating counterparts. Even the short-term participants were physiologically five years younger than the controls.
An even stronger study on aging and meditation was conducted by researchers at Harvard and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. This study analyzed elderly people who were introduced to meditation. In short they showed numerous beneficial changes and ultimately lived longer on average than patients in the control group that did not practice meditation. The positive results were noted to endure when a follow-up study was conducted more than 10 years later.

Medical meditation is also very specific to distinct medical problems. A recent study conducted at the Mind Body Medical Institute, through the Israel Deaconess Hospital at Harvard, showed the heightened specificity of medical meditation in that by changing one of the tools of meditation, increasing activity could be directed to different parts of the brain.

Medical meditation is so specific because it balances and regenerates the body's ethereal and physical energies, forging an extraordinary healing alliance. The five unique attributes that endow this type of meditation with tremendous power are special postures and movements, exact positioning of the hands and fingers, particular mantras or sounds, specific breathing patterns and a unique focus of concentration. The combination of those elements can change your entire profile of endocrine, neurotransmitter and hormone secretions, easing you into a calm, healing, anti-aging state.

Recently I was asked by a patient, "What's the most important thing I can do to protect my health, now that I've turned 50." 1 told her the most important thing she could do was to start each day in a positive way, what I call "wake up to wellness." In our accelerated society today we have been programmed to believe that the best part of waking up is coffee in our cup. There is nothing supremely healthful or anti-aging about taking a drug, albeit from a natural plant, cooking it in water and drinking it to give ourselves a stimulating rush so we can jump right back into the stress cycle which has proven so detrimental to our health. The best part of waking up is to take some time for ourselves in the morning, while our hormones are rising, to bring balance to our endocrine system, strengthen our nervous system and stimulate our cardiovascular system so that we can set our mind, body and spirit right to enjoy a great day.

Many of my patients say, "I've tried to meditate and gave up because of all the thoughts going through my mind." Don't let this stop you. The emergence of these thoughts is one of the most important aspects of medical meditation. The thoughts represent a release of energy from the subconscious mind to the conscious mind. Each time it happens, accept it. I have been meditating for 25 years and this happens every single day. It's very easy. Simply, when otherthoughts come in your mind, start all over again.

If you accept this, meditation will take you to what I call the "Fourth State." The Fourth State is elevated above the other three common states of mind: the wake state, the sleep state and the dream state. The Fourth State is the transcendent or bliss healing state. It creates the sacred space in which all healing and anti-aging physiological effects occur. Moreover, recent research has shown that with time and patience you will tap into a part of yourself known as the spirit. When you forge this alliance of body, mind and spirit, wonderful things begin to happen. You are healthier, happier and more whole as a human being. When medical interventions are needed, the results are enhanced.

As we go forward in our lives and come to a fork in the road, let's choose the natural way. Meditation is our most potent form of natural, anti-aging medicine.

Meditating is easy to learn. To be ready, all you need are comfort, quiet, a meditative tool such as a mantra and a meditative attitude.

Go to a private place by yourself or with another meditator where you won't be interrupted.

Allow 10-20 minutes for meditation and stick with it. You can look at your watch on occasion but don't set an alarm, because it might startle you and ruin your relaxation.

Sit down on a comfortable mat, cushion or chair and try to relax every muscle in your body from bottom to top. Close your eyes and breathe deeply.

To help stop your internal dialogue and health calm down, silently repeat a word or mantra. It can be religious or philosophical, as long as it makes you feel good. When thoughts intrude, just say, "Oh, well" to yourself and start all over.

Adopt a calm, passive attitude, a neutral mind in which you don't judge yourself or others.

After you finish, sit quietly for a couple of minutes and try to carry your calm, anti-aging, meditative attitude into your daily activities.

Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., is the author of Brain Longevity, The Pain Cure, and Meditation as Medicine. He is also the president/ medical director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Foundation in Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Dharma is on the medical advisory board of Miraval, Life in Balance Resort in Tucson, Arizona, where he conducts workshops on Brain Longevity and Meditation as Medicine.


Source:Wholefitness

Stretching Exercises To Relieve Stress

When we feel stressed, our muscles tense up and relaxation becomes difficult.

These exercises are designed to help get the knots out of muscles and reduce stress overload. You don't need equipment or a large space so this should appeal to people who have neither!

If you have a medical condition, please check with your doctor before doing any type of exercise.

Arm Stretch: Raise your arms above your head, fingers interlaced, palms facing up. Push up as far as you can. Hold for 10 seconds. Relax. Repeat 5 times.

Leg Stretch: Squat, with palms flat on the floor bring left knee to chest, extend right leg straight back. Gently lower your torso as close to the floor as you can. Hold for 10 seconds. Relax. Repeat 5 times, switch leg positions, and repeat again.

Head And Neck Roll: Relax your shoulders and let your head roll forward, chin to chest. Slowly rotate your head in a circle without straining your neck. Repeat 5 times. Relax. Then, rotate in the opposite direction and repeat 5 times.

Back Stretch: Lie on your back, keeping your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Gently push your lower back onto the floor. Hold for 10 seconds. Relax. Repeat 5 times.

As you can see, it doesn't take a lot of time to do these stretching exercises and you don't have to be a gymnast to do them. We all lead busy lives as working mothers and it is sometimes difficult to make time for exercising.

When you do manage to have a little bit of time for yourself, try some stretching!