puppies spells stress relief

It's that time of year for many students.  Exam time.  And because it's the end of the semester that means final exams.  This tends to bring high levels of stress, late nights fueled by far too much caffeine, and poor eating choices.  For those who have students in their life here are a few strategies that may help with stress reduction.

1. Know your stressors - recognizing when we are stressed is a big piece of the puzzle.  We can then be proactive about it by engaging in stress-relieving activities
2. Stay hydrated - when we are dehydrated that simply causes physical stressors as well.  Drink water to stay hydrated, not caffeinated beverages.  Caffeine has been known to increase anxiety and to raise blood pressure, not good combinations for a stressful situation
3. Eat well - make sure to not let your blood sugars dip out of control.  When this happens we are more likely to binge eat, especially on sugars, which can further destabilize blood sugar.  Having small snacks that are high in protein such as raw nuts, or delicious crunchy veggies with hummus are a great way to help avoid the munchies later in the day.
4. Sleep - the temptation when we are stressed about impending deadlines is for us to pull an all-nighter.  This can actually impair cognitive function.  When we are well-rested we are better able to handle stress.
5. Breathe - when we are stressed we often start to breathe shallowly.  This is usually an unconscious shift.  By stopping to take deep, slow breaths we help to oxygenate and we also force ourselves to calm down, even if just for a little while.  Try it now, take three long slow deep breaths, you'll be amazed at how different you feel.
6. Try whole body relaxation - this is a process where you tense and relax the muscles in your body.  The entire process takes just a few minutes but can help to let go of a lot of stress.  Typically the pattern is to start by tensing the muscles in your feet, counting to five, and then relaxing them.  Then repeat this for the calves, thighs, buttocks, and so on all the way up the body to the face.  
7. Take a laugh break - laughter is good for us.  Watching a funny video on YouTube, telling jokes with a friend, or reading something humorous can all help to relieve stress. 

Some colleges, in an effort to help with stress relief, have even started puppy rooms where students can come and hang out with puppies to get a little fur-ball therapy.  The animals run the gamut from certified therapy pets to animals borrowed from a shelter.  The movement seems to be growing as each year around this time there are more articles about more schools who are doing it.  Some schools, such as Yale, apparently even have a therapy dog program where students can borrow a dog from the library for 30 minute sessions.

Figuring a picture is worth a thousand words, cute pictures make us smile, and that smiling is very stress-relieving I wanted to share the following.

These puppies are currently living with my friend Larry who rescued their pregnant mother from the animal shelter so she would not have to give birth there.  He has taken on the commitment to raise them and find foster homes for them.

hidden health costs of cheap food

Today's post is a testimonial of sorts focusing on whole food.  Written by Tracy Falbe, she shares her story and her journey toward health accomplished in part by transitioning to a low process, low chemical nutritional plan.

The value of food is not solely determined by the money paid for it. The real measures are the food’s nutritional value and its impact on your health.

My whole life I always caught colds and the flu easily. Then about two years ago I switched to eating local naturally raised eggs, poultry, and meats. No more hormone-dripping antibiotic-oozing confined animal meat for me. I began to grow a great deal of my own vegetables which I now enjoy through the winter with canning and freezing. These vegetables grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and often from heirloom stock contribute to my health. Since I got serious about carefully sourcing my diet and paying a premium for good food, I stopped catching every bug in the region.  When my husband complained of how many sinus infections he was getting, I convinced him to stop eating at his workplace cafeteria, and he has not had a sinus infection since.

Our immune systems are now more robust because we are eating food with higher nutritional content. Science is beginning to quantify the paucity of nutrients in food from industrial agricultural systems. Data collected and analyzed by University of Texas chemist Dr. Donald R. Davis has revealed some startling declines in crop nutrients over the decades. For example protein in wheat and barley declined 30 to 50 percent between 1938 and 1990. Broccoli now has 66 percent less calcium, in a 2003 analysis, than in 1950.

Large scale agricultural monocultures and business models dependent on chemical fertilizers deplete soils. These fields are stripped of minerals which go unreplaced. Fertilizers generally add nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. These three elements produce growth and fruiting but do not provide a complete nutrient profile needed for good health. The soil has nothing to give to the plant. Even if a diversity of nutrients still remain in the soil, newer crop varieties bred or genetically engineered to produce higher yields more quickly do not have time to draw in as many nutrients as a slower growing heirloom variety. Often the crop is just growing big but lacking in substance. Time is money and nutritional value is sacrificed for speed.

The same problem occurs with egg and meat production. Hormones and antibiotics speed the production but at the cost of nutritional quality.

When I was always getting sick, I was suffering from low grade malnourishment that depleted by immune system. My body was lacking the minerals that had been sucked out of the fields long ago. In a grand sense I was feeling the same sickness that is in the Earth that is mismanaged by industrial food systems.

I agree with agribusiness that time is money. Therefore I double invest by spending more time and more money sourcing high quality nutrient dense food. This provides the double dividend of feeling better while avoiding expensive medical appointments and prescriptions. I also get the greater gift of time that is not wasted feeling bad or sitting in some dismal clinic waiting room.

Admittedly it is convenient to malnourish yourself. Fluffed up produce and processed foods made from “high yield” grains are abundant but have lower nutritional value. Our food system is devoted to filling the plate instead of nourishing the body. The cost of cheap food adds up with deleterious effects caused by weaker immune systems. It’s no secret that poor health follows a poor diet. Remember this truth next time you feel like you can’t afford the produce from the local organic or natural methods grower. You’re going to pay somewhere, so start with a nice dinner and see how it goes from there. I expect that you will eventually, as I did, feel better.

When Tracy Falbe is not studying seed catalogs, tending her fruit trees, or shopping the farmers’ markets, she writes novels. Building a business out of her creativity nurtures her spirit as she seeks to find value in her dreams. Discover her hard-hitting passionate epic fantasies at http://www.braveluck.com/.

national caregiver's month - part 4

November is National Caregiver's Month. A time to focus on those who care for others, especially if that caregiver is ourselves. Dr. Vicki Bradley has created Self-Care Reminders for Caring Professionals and Family Caregivers to focus on those very special people. Part one of this series can be found here, part two here, and part three here.

But when can we care for ourselves?

I have been asked this question several times and I have an answer. We can care for ourselves now, all the time, and while we care for others. All we need to do is redefine self-care. The most helpful definition of self-care is to consider everything we do for ourselves as self-care. So, for example, the way we eat, sleep, breathe, and walk can all be ways to care for ourselves.

The following two self-care reflections are simple metaphors to encourage us to care for ourselves while we care for others. Both reflections are adapted from my book, Self-Care Reflections.

The Dance of Self and Other Care

We need to take care of us while we are taking care of them. We cannot wait until we have some free time or a vacation. We need to care for ourselves now.

We can use the metaphor of a dance to visualize caring for them and us during each day. In a dance, let's say a dance with two partners, the couple steps forward and, then, back - over and over again.

In the "dance" of self and other care, we make choices all day, every day to take care of them and us. One dance step is a movement to help ourselves. The next step is a movement to help them. We can dance through our day!

How will your daily dance steps reflect your self-care?

The Tapestry of Self-Care and Other-Care 

Most information about self-care emphasizes self-care as "taking a break" (getting away from) and "venting" (talking) about the persons in our care. The underlying belief seems to be that we cannot take care of ourselves unless we separate ourselves from the persons in our care.

"Taking breaks" and "venting" can be helpful. However, self-care needs to be an ongoing interwoven part of our lives and our days - similar to weaving a tapestry.

Weaving is an art that intertwines multiple threads to form the whole fabric. Weaving together our self-care with the care of others is also an art. Our focus on both the care of ourselves and others becomes the fabric of our lives. 

How will you weave the fabric of your life to include self-care and other-care?

The mission of Self-Care Reminders is to encourage caring professionals and family caregivers to care for ourselves, so we can better care for others (and we'll be happier, too). Contact Vicki to purchase the book Self-Care Reflections, a set of Self-Care Option Cards, or to schedule a “Filling up Our Wells” workshop.