“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain
Welcome! Read More →
1346 – Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected Holy Roman Emperor in Germany.
1509 – King Henry VIII married his first of six wives, Catherine of Aragon.
1770 – Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia when he ran aground.
1776 – In America, the Continental Congress formed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence from Britain.
1793 – Robert Haeterick was issued the first patent for a stove.
1798 – Napoleon Bonaparte took the island of Malta.
Congratulations to Ms. Loff and her “graduation” from therapy. Ms. Loff has worked diligently toward her comprehensive therapy goals over the last several weeks. We are so proud of you Ms. Loff and will miss you. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be your therapy providers!
If you often feel stressed out (your health and your job are primary culprits!), you’re not the only one. A recent American Psychological Association Stress in America study found that Boomers (people aged 48 to 66) and Matures (people aged 67 and older) say that their stress levels are higher than they consider healthy. And while Millennials (those aged 18 to 33) experience the most stress overall, 33 percent of Boomers and 29 percent of Matures say their stress has increased in the last year.
What can you do to ease your mind and body? Deep breathing, meditation, and exercise are always helpful, but sometimes you just don’t have the time or energy. That’s why we’ve found these fun tricks, all backed by the latest research, to get you feeling calm and centered and stress-free
1. Laugh
A big belly laugh can have all kinds of positive effects on your body. According to the Mayo Clinic, “A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down your stress response and increases your heart rate and blood pressure.” In other words, it releases tension and ups blood flow to the heart and other vital organs. What else can it do? Lower blood pressure, and may even positively influence blood sugar levels. Need a place to get started? Check out our Funny Poems for Grandparents or our jokes for you and your family.
2. Eat an Orange
Common wisdom has always said that vitamin C boosts the immune system and wards off cold viruses, but it turns out Vitamin C can reduce stress, too. Researchers have found that a boost of vitamin C taken when you’re feeling stressed can lower blood pressure and calm the body. So the next time you feel anxiety come on, reach for that orange, or grab some C-rich blueberries or strawberries.
3. Go Outside
Turns out what you choose to surround yourself with makes a huge difference in your stress level. A recent study from the University of Edinburgh found that people who surround themselves with more green space—tree-lined streets, a walk in the park—are significantly less stressed than their urban counterparts. And it doesn’t mean you have to spend hours outdoors. A 2010 study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology found that just five minutes outside in the fresh air doing a mild activity like walking can boost your mood.
read more »
read more »
Turns out what you choose to surround yourself with makes a huge difference in your stress level. A recent study from the University of Edinburgh found that people who surround themselves with more green space—tree-lined streets, a walk in the park—are significantly less stressed than their urban counterparts. And it doesn’t mean you have to spend hours outdoors. A 2010 study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology found that just five minutes outside in the fresh air doing a mild activity like walking can boost your mood.
Need more reasons to get outside? Researchers at the University of Michiganfound that your memory and attention span can improve by 20 percent after an hour in nature. So take a walk outside, sit in the park, and enjoy.
4. Rub On Rose Oil
A recent study from Srinakharinwirot University in Thailand found that people who absorbed rose oil through their skin (as an experiment control, they wore masks so they couldn’t smell the scent), had lower breathing rates and blood pressure, and they felt more relaxed than those in a control group. Click here to learn how to make your own rose oil.
Rose oil not your favorite scent? Try another natural de-stressor, ylang-ylang oil.
5. Walk Into Another Room
It might sound a little nutty, but according to a study at the University of Notre Dame, just shifting your environment a little can change what you’re thinking about and help you forget stress. According to the study, when you walk into a new room, your brain views it as a new event, and essentially resets itself, forgetting what was happening before. This works great for getting rid of those tension-filled thoughts. It also explains why you can never remember where you left your keys!!
Reference: http://www.grandparents.com/health-and-wellbeing/exercise-and-de-stress/stress-relief-techniques
On February 13, 2011, CBS-TV reporter Serene Branson shocked Grammy Award viewers when she appeared to experience a stroke (the interruption of blood flow to the brain) on air. After Branson began to speak gibberish, paramedics on the scene checked her out and released her. She had a colleague drive her home.
Fortunately, it reportedly turned out to be a complex migraine – because if it had been a stroke, “she did exactly the wrong thing by waiting and then going home. She should have gone straight to a hospital. Time saved is brain saved,” says Larry B. Goldstein, MD, spokesperson for the American Stroke Association, and director, Duke Stroke Center, Durham, NC. He adds that even though the paramedics “cleared her,” she still should have gone to the hospital immediately. (To be fair, the paramedics may have recommended that but they can’t force someone.)
The Headache Disorders community observes Migraine and Headache Awareness Month (MHAM) each June in the United States, and as some of you know, headaches have been a big part of my life. Beginning in early childhood, I started suffering from migraines so severe, I would temporarily lose the ability to speak or see. The intense pain — usually on the right side of my head — and vomiting would then follow, and many schooldays, play dates and holidays were missed, spent in a dark room trying to escape from my own body. I was too young to truly understand what was happening to me or why. My migraines started when I was 5 years old. It was scary and something that I largely dealt with alone in bed.
We all do it, and we all know it has at least something to do with how tired we feel. But unlike sleep apnea or laptops in the bedroom, yawning is an aspect of sleep that researchers haven’t quite figured out just yet.
That doesn’t mean we’re totally in the dark when it comes to catching flies. Here are a few of the facts we know for sure when it comes to yawning.
There Are Many Theories, But Little Proof
There’s little research to support any of a number of theories as to why we yawn. FIrst off, we don’t only do it when we’re tired. It also probably doesn’t reflect a lack of oxygen, although that theory isn’t a totally nutty one. The idea likely blossomed from the fact that too-shallow breathing can cause problems, says Michael Decker, Ph.D., associate professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
The bottom lobes of the lungs aren’t usually called upon when we’re in our resting state. It isn’t until we exercise that we typically use more of our lung capacity, but such deep breathing helps keep the lungs healthy, he says. In cases of surgery patients, some have been known to lose lung function after developing pneumonia due to shallow breathing after anesthesia. “Yawning would be like a homeostatic response to not breathing deeply” if this theory were to hold up, says Decker, but there’s little proof to suggest it’s the primary reason for yawning.
Yawning does seem to increase with boredom, at least according to a small 1986 study of college students who yawned more when shown a pattern of colors than when shown a 30-minute rock video.
The most recent research on yawning suggests that it exists to cool down the brain. That open-mouthed yawn causes sinus walls “to expand and contract like a bellows, pumping air onto the brain, which lowers its temperature,” National Geographic reported. The study found that people were more likely to yawn during the winter, when the exterior air is obviously cooler, than in the summer, when yawns won’t do much in terms of bringing cold air inside, Healthy Living reported.
Yawning Really Is Contagious
It’s true! One study found that when shown videos of yawning, around 50 percent of people also began yawning. It even happens among animals! A 2004 study observed the catching nature of yawns between chimpanzees and baboons and macaques. Perhaps most impressive, though, are dogs, who might start to yawn after just hearing their owners let one slip. Even merely thinking — or reading! — about yawning can trigger one (did we get you yet?).