That's Fit

FitSpirit explores the mind-body connection and the intangible benefits we gain from our efforts to stay physically fit.

I once read this inspiring story by Dr. Bernie Siegel in his book Love, Medicine, and Miracles. It was about a group of people who were told they were receiving chemotherapy. Some got the treatment; some did not. Of those who didn't, some lost their hair. They believed they would And they did. What powerful minds they had.

If thoughts are powerful enough to make people sick -- or cause spontaneous hair loss -- then they surely can make us well. That's the whole basis of Siegel's book, that cancer patients with positive thoughts can outlive even the lowest of expectations.

Yep, thoughts can heal.

"The body responds to mental input as if it were physically real," explains Larry Dossey, a physician and advocate for mind-body study since the 1980s. Under clinical hypnosis, for example, someone who is told he is being touched by a red-hot object will often get a burn blister, even though the object was no warmer than room temperature.

What we imagine in our minds really can affect outcomes. You may know this phenomenon as the "placebo effect." When a patient believes something will relieve pain, the body actually releases endorphins that relieve pain. Medical research suggests that 30 to 70 percent of successful treatments may be a result of the patient's belief that the treatment will work.

Now that we've established that good thoughts and feelings can mend our broken parts, here's a few ideas for getting into the right frame of mind.

Take a deep breath. Hold it, exhale, then repeat for 10 minutes. Take a walk, preferably in nature. Breathe in the fresh air.

Laugh. You'll pump more oxygen into your lungs, improve blood flow, and boost your immune system.

Keep a journal. Writing about emotionally charged events helps us deal with them mentally and physically.

Tension and stress can manifest itself in your body in many ways, one of the more unpleasant being as physical pain. Stress and emotionally induced discomforts aren't concrete in the same way a physical injury is, so sometimes a unique cure is needed for a unique problem. Rolfing, which is a form of tissue manipulation (massage?), can help people get rid of pain by helping them to find relief from pent-up emotions.

It may have a strange name but many of those who have tried it swear by rolfing's beneficial effects -- it was even featured on the Oprah show last year. Interested? Find a rolfer near you on rolf.org.

A recent study found that although Americans claim to be happier to than those in other countries, we're generally less able to take minor disappointments and setbacks in stride -- we totally let them get us down.

Making a conscious effort not to let small things (like parking tickets or a messed up lunch order) throw off your whole day or week is a big part of having a happy successful life. Maintaining a positive outlook will help you feel more energetic and will benefit all areas of your life. Keeping a mood journal can be a useful tool for keeping perspective, or just taking a step back and looking at the big picture when you catch yourself getting upset over something small.

FitSpirit explores the mind-body connection and the intangible benefits we gain from our efforts to stay physically fit.

I'm a fan of talking. I'm not someone who'd ever be labeled a "talker," and by this I mean I don't talk for the sake of talking. I don't hold people captive with endless chit-chat, and I don't need to hear myself speak. I'm as much a fan of silence, really, as I am of talking. Still, when I've got something to say, I say it, especially when not speaking up keeps my feelings and emotions hidden.

In one 10-year study cited in the January 2008 issue of Reader's Digest, about one in four women and one in three men said they held back during a spat. That's what I don't do, can't do, never do. Holding my peace makes me feel sick. According to this same study, this is a natural reaction to suppressing strong emotions. And it's exactly why women who didn't fess up to their feelings in the study were four times as likely to die during the study period. Health wasn't measurably affected for the men in the study.

As we head into a brand new year, with the hope of brand new health, why not resolve to talk more. It might save your relationships -- and your life too.

How do you deal with anger? Do you repress it, or do you let it out? Do you struggle with weight loss? These two questions might seem unrelated but that's not the case, according to this article from Glee Magazine, which alleges that how you deal with anger is crucial to your ability to lose weight. More specifically, those who bottle their anger find it more difficult to lose or maintain their weight because they use food as a way of dealing with their uncomfortable emotions.

I think this idea makes a lot of sense, and can be applied to how someone deals with any type of emotion. Many overeaters are emotional eaters, after all, and tend to binge when emotions get overwhelming. Releasing emotions in an healthy manner is important to overcoming any sort of addictive or bingeing behaviour.

What do you think of this hypothesis?

Are you an emotional eater? You're not alone -- so many of us turn to food when we're feeling stressed, upset or blue. But here's another blow to those of us who turn to food in times of distress -- we'll have the hardest time losing weight, according to this article.

It makes sense, really. I'm an emotional eater and when I'm trying to lose a couple of pounds, my progress is sometimes set back by by what's going on in my life at the time. What about you?

If you're trying to lose weight, it's important to realize what driving forces are behind your over-eating. If you suspect you might be an emotional eater, keep track of your eating habits through a food journal -- you'll probably see a pattern over time.

Need a pick me up? The power of positive thinking is a very real thing, and taking some time to focus on the good things in your life can do amazing things for your motivation and your overall attitude and approach to things in life. So what are some of the best things in your life? Can you come up a top 10 list? This guy did, and I think it's a good idea for all of us. We all have different priorities in our lives and different "small things" that mean something to us but it's easy to lose sight of them in the midst of our hectic everyday lives.

I'm really gonna have to do some brainstorming to come up with a solid top 10 list for me personally, but I know one thing for sure: 'laughing babies' is going to be on there somewhere (they crack me up!).

I can't imagine what it must be like to be diagnosed with any form of cancer. I can only guess that initially, amoung many emotions, one would feel terrified, angry and upset. I hope that I never have to find out what it's like but realistically, I know that some day I could have to deal with all of these emotions and prepare for battle.

I also imagine that it must help to hear the stories of those who have been where you are, and are surviving. The three women featured here, for example, offer advice on how to deal with cancer but more importantly, they offer hope to those facing a similar fight against the disease.

Donna McGrath, who battled breast cancer, insists that getting out and getting on with life is a good way to deal, Barb Brooks, diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, says that maintaining a healthy mind helped her deal with her overall health and Lina Prevedel, currently in remission from breast cancer, found that her friends and family helped her fight the disease.

To read these women's stories in full, please check out the full article here.

If you're looking for ways to improve your mood, concentration, and even give your creativity a boost then consider taking a hint from the ancient Chinese philosophy of feng shui. Part of feng shui is using colors to improve life by recognizing what effects certain colors have on how you feel. By strategically incorporating colors into your environment and decor you can help boost areas that may have been lacking. Purple, for example, can help foster creativity, blue can calm stress, and red stirs passion. What do you need more of in your life? Experiment with different shades and different combinations in your home, your office, and other places -- even just a well-placed accent, like a bold photo frame or arrangement of flowers, can make a difference.

A new study shows that the best treatment for depression patients that aren't responding to medication is exercise. It's been previously shown that physically active people are less likely to suffer from symptoms of depression, and also that exercise can be used as an effective part of an overall depression treatment program, but this is the first time exercise has been looked at in regards to helping people whose symptoms are resistant to medications.

This strengthens the evidence that although exercise should always be part of an effective depression treatment regimen, it should be especially focused on in difficult cases.

It seems like once you've passed the age of 12 it becomes more and more difficult to find time for a hobby, and all too many of us find ourselves using phrases like "I used to love to..." and "I wish I could get back into..." I think hobbies slip sometimes because they seem like an extra indulgence or a treat for ourselves that should be low on our list of priorities, and we almost end up feeling guilty when we do take time out to do something we really love. Well it's time to break free of that cycle and pencil in some time, regularly!, for your favorite hobby. And here's why:

• Hobbies give your life meaning
  
• Hobbies energize your life
• Hobbies give you a chance to "switch off"
• Hobbies let you express your talents
• Hobbies let you have fun!

Get rid of the guilt! All of these things are necessary for your overall health and wellbeing -- and if you're well you can help others around you be well also. So, if you think about it, you're doing everybody a favor...


Via Lifehacker

It can be hard to pull yourself out of a negative rut, but here's some good news: it seems negative feelings and emotional pains can be helped by simply putting them into words. When study participants were shown angry faces their brains triggered a "danger" response, but when they called the face what it was -- "angry" -- a different area of the brain became active. Talking with somebody, journaling, or any other way you can use to "label" the emotion triggers brain responses that are designed to manage emotions and essentially "put the brakes" on bad feelings.

I think most people agree that talking things out with somebody or writing in a journal can help a lot with emotions of all kinds, but who knew it had such a scientific basis? Does it work for you?

Watching another person being touched engages the same part of your brain as actual touch, a new study reveals. This, according to researchers, is how we understand what others are feeling -- which means, essentially, that it's the root of human empathy.

Scientists discovered this connection by studying people who experience a kind of extreme empathy, called mirror-touch synesthesia. When those with this condition see another person being touched, their brain is engaged (like most of us) -- but the difference is that they actually feel a tactile sensation -- just as if they had received physical contact.

While the condition is thought to be very rare, doctors say nearly everyone experiences a watered-down version of it when we witness an injury, and flinch. It's thought that by studying this extreme form of a common gut reaction, doctors will be able to understand what causes the emotional component of empathy.

The commonly-held belief is that anger and rational thought don't exactly go hand in hand. So, if follows that when you lose your temper, you're probably not making the best decisions, right?

Apparently not. A recent study from the University of California, Santa Barbara, says that past research showing that angry people were less analytical was, essentially, missing the point. They believed, that instead of making "snap decisions" based on stereotypes or faulty logic, incensed people were actually doing a better job of thinking quickly and weeding out unnecessary information than their calmer counterparts.

At first, it doesn't seem to make sense, as you'd expect a calmer person to more thoroughly weigh all the options and come to a more thoughtful decision. But when people are a little peeved, they're more motivated to find the best solution as quickly as possible.

Other studies have also found that an appropriate amount of anger can be a positive thing. It helps people feel confident, and in control -- both of which can empower a person to make better decisions.

So don't beat yourself up the next time something trips your trigger -- getting a little angry never hurt anyone, and it might just make you more productive.

If the idea of mood-driven eating is really truly shocking to anybody then that would be shocking to me. One of my biggest issues when it comes to losing weight is controlling emotional eating -- if I honestly only eat when I feel hungry I drop pounds like you wouldn't believe! So why can't I just do that all the time? I have no idea ... apparently I'm not in the mood.

That's just the problem, because in theory losing weight is a pretty simple thing and we all know exactly what it takes. What we don't know, however, is how to get ourselves to do it!

Here are some tips that may help you "get the mood out of your food," including identifying your mood, distracting yourself when you feel tempted, and replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. What works for you?