relaxation

Don’t miss the video at the bottom of this post!

Many people credit Norman Cousins with introducing the medical benefits of laughter to the world through his 1979 book, Anatomy of an Illness. However, Dr. Patch Adams was helping people with laughter a fews years before that. But the oldest know written document on the subject is the Book of Proverbs, from The Old Testement: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”. Lately, probably because of the fame of Cousins and Adams, the scientists have decided to study laughter, and sure enough it does us good like medicine. It reduces stress through its impact the hormonal system, it moves lymph, oxygenates the blood, reduces pain and strengthens the immune system. So what are you waiting for, start laughing!

Patient: How much to have this tooth pulled?

Dentist: $100.00.

Patient: $100.00 for just a few minutes work?

Dentist: Well, I can extract it very slowly if you like.

You might also want to check out this video about phobias:

Phobia support group

The chronic pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia are not fun to live with, but there are things you can do to make life easier. Probably the three most important things you can do to improve quality of life and decrease symptoms, are gradually increase your exercise, reduce stress, and improve sleep.

Exercise may be the most difficult because it hurts and it is so easy to overdo it. It is important to very gradually increase your exercise program, so as not to have major setbacks. You may start out with a minute a day of walking. You want to aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise, 3 to 6 days a week. Strength training and stretching are also helpful. You may consider tai chi or yoga, for both the exercise and the stress reduction.

One of the best methods for stresss reduction is meditation. In 1998, a study on meditation and fibromyalgia found that meditative practices lessened the achiness, sleeplessness, muscle pain, and depression experienced by fibromyalgia patients. You can try the Inner Smile meditation that I mentioned in my post yesterday. Guided visualization and self-hypnosis are very similar to, and have the same effects as meditation. Search for a technique that works for you and stick with it. The more you do it, the better it works.

Sleep. Nobody wants to get up feeling like they did not get any rest all night. Not only do you feel lousy, but it aggravates all the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Getting good sleep is very important. The stress reduction techniques mentioned above should help a lot. Changing your eating habits may help as well. Reduce or avoid caffeine and sugar. Try to finish eating early in the evening. Going to bed when you are still digesting disturbs sleep. Another lifestyle change that may help is not watching tv in the evening. Tv can be very stimulating and keep you awake. If you have tried all of these things and still have problems with your sleep, you should seek treatment. research shows that acupuncture is helpful for sleep and other symptoms of fibromyalgia. Hypnotherapy is a very good method for improving sleep. I would turn to Western Medicine only as a last resort.

Finally, keep an active social life. It helps with your mood and keeps your mind off your symptoms. If you join a support group, join one that supports a more postsitive lifestyle rather than one that supports complaining about your problems. You are alive, you might as well enjoy it.

I found this in Andrew Weil’s Self Healing Newsletter, from February, 2001:

A recent study looked at 33 arthritic adults aged 49 to 81, who either did or did not take a three month tai chi program. Participants in the hour long, twice weekly class said they were better able to manage disease symptoms and enjoyed better health. By doing these slow, flowing motions, arthritic patients reported significant improvements in their flexibility, mobility, and ability to bend and do household tasks. (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, December, 2000)

Amanda, in her comment to my first post, spoke of her life in a way many can relate to these days. She leads a very busy life, with little time for taking care of her health and well being. Eventually that lifestye catches up with us, and it seems to be catching up with people at younger and younger ages. The stresss of modern city life is a theme I will come back to again and again.

Today I have one simple tip and some background theory. Stated most simply the tip is “Breathe!”, but I will give more details at the end of my post.

There are two aspects of modern life that I would like to address. The first is the “Flight or Fight Response”. Our bodies were designed to save us in times of danger, by pumping us full of chemicals that make it easier to react quickly with a burst of strength and energy. Fortunately, we don’t often need that response any more. Unfortunately modern stressers turn it on frequently. Turning it on so frequently, combined with not using up that energy in a highly physical way is hard on our systems, particularly the adrenal glands. The best way to counter the Flight or Fight Response is with the Relaxation Response. One easy way to induce the Relaxation Response is gentle, slow, deep abdominal breathing.

The second thing about modern life directly involves our breathing. The energetic system that governs free flow of energy in the body is also related to the diaphragm. When I talk about free flow of energy, I am talking about moving the body when that is appropriate, feeling our feelings, expressing ourselves, etc. Often what is appropriate for our health is not socially appropriate or practical. Speaking of moving the body, it should be active most of the day. The amount of sitting around we do has a very stagnating effect on our whole system.

So, back to the diaphragm. Despite how much we do to stop the free flow of energy, relaxing the diaphragm can go a long way toward maintaing that free flow. The consequences of not maintaining free flow of energy are many: hypertension, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, ulcers, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and on and on. Something like 80% of doctors visits in North America are for stress related problems.

So keep breathing and keep your diaphragms relaxed. Here’s how:

Several times a day, starting first thing in the morning and ending in bed at night, take a break, for half a minute to ten minutes, to just breathe. Start by just noticing your breath for a few breaths. Then begin to notice and let go of tension in your face, particularly around the eyes, the mouth and the tongue. Then become aware of the movement of the breath in your body. Notice where in the body you can feel it. Can you feel it right down to your feet? Then begin to slow down, soften, and deepen your breath. Focus on filling your belly. Let your belly relax completely as you inhale. Let the rest of you relax completely as you exhale. Do that for as long as you have time for.

Practice breathing at stop lights, in line ups at the store or bank, when you are on hold on the phone, before and after a meeting or project. Look for the little spaces in your life. Breathe when you are watching a beautiful sunset. Enjoy.