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Senior man practicing yoga trikonasana pose at the living room
Exercise & Fitness

The Body-Mind Connection

by Kendall VanBlarcom
written by Kendall VanBlarcom

The body-mind connection is powerful. How you think can affect how feel physically. And how your body feels can impact your thoughts and emotions.

Do you have thoughts that are making you feel bad about yourself? Both physically and emotionally? Leave your negative thoughts and concerns with personal counselor Kendall and get on with a happier and healthier life.

Thoughts Impact Overall Health

There are ways for your brain to boost your overall health. One of these is natural pain reducers, endorphins, which can help to trigger positive feelings. Endorphins are a powerful part of the brain’s reward system. They are part of the body-mind connection. Hope and positivity can truly help with your body’s own ability to heal and thrive.

Conversely, negative thoughts can hold an individual back. Talking about this is not to say that anyone is to blame for health problems or dark thoughts, but bringing it up can shine a light on how improvements can be made. Talking through your issues can help you to feel better and promote positivity in your life.

Stress Reactions and Hormonal Shifts

When you are anxious, stressed, or depressed, there is an impact on your health and throughout your body. This is because these emotions, thoughts, and ideas can tense your muscles and increase your blood pressure. You may find your breath increasing, your heart rate speeding up. This stress reaction is also sometimes referred to as the fight-or-flight response.

These hormonal changes and physical shifts are part of your body’s natural safety response. It is a way for us to get out of a dangerous situation. This is extremely important in situations where our lives are endangered. But it can create harm when these stresses are put on the body for reasons that are not life-threatening. This could happen due to family problems, work pressure, or anger with strangers on the road, for example.

To improve your life, you need to learn to relax both your body and mind. Then, you will have tools to assist your body in reducing the stress hormones. Easing stress through your own actions means you can return to a calm state, a process that can be good for your mental and physical health.

Improve Your Body-Mind Connection

If you believe you are not living your life to its full potential, there are ways to make improvements.

  • Be kind to yourself. Give yourself a break from problems that are troubling you repeatedly. Talk through them with a professional and practice mindfulness.
  • Stand tall. Confidence can be boosted by improving your posture and facial expressions. You may feel physically better when you allow yourself to smile more.
  • Write about your problems. Journaling can be a powerful way to cope with worries. When you write through issues, it can help reduce stress.
  • Clear your mind. Meditation can help to alleviate pain, physical, and mental. Exercise and time spent in nature can help, too.
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Smiling Mature Woman In Home Office By Bookcase
Healthy Living

Life Changes to Make When Over 50

by Kendall VanBlarcom
written by Kendall VanBlarcom

As we age, life changes. And instead of resisting it, remember that you can’t move forward if you are stuck in the past. By this point in life, most of us have a system in place, a way to manage bills, family, commitments, and responsibilities. But what if those methods are no longer working for you?

Healthy adjustments can be made at every age. Talk through your concerns with personal counselor and decide what is important.

Shedding Clutter and Making Life Changes

When people are building their lives in their 20s and 30s they are acquiring the things they need. But as time passes, some of those items are no longer needed. It is then time to evaluate the items accumulated over the years.

Where is your life headed? What do you need and want to live your best life? After children have grown up and careers have shifted, it is likely you no longer need many of the things acquired. Allow yourself to focus on your own happiness, shed what is no longer necessary.

Open Your Eyes to New Opportunities

Appreciate your past but allow yourself to move forward and explore new ways to connect with others, pursue interests, and cultivate happiness.

It is natural to have this time of life be a time of transition. For some, it is difficult to accept their kids growing up and needing them less. For others, downsizing leads to losing a job. Even individuals who have not faced age discrimination or technology changes in the workplace find themselves looking at their retirement options. If the majority of one’s adult life was spent working, retirement can lead to identity issues and income concerns.

Heal As Relationships Change

Life changes also mean relationship changes. Marriages may end and new connections may happen, creating shifts in your sense of self and how you relate to your extended group of family and friends.

There are also situations when a husband, wife, or family member becomes ill. The extended illness of a spouse can lead to a husband or wife finding themselves coping with the responsibilities of being a caregiver. Also, there are deaths that can be difficult to process.

And as these integral relationships change it may be time to assess other responsibilities, too. Maybe there are clubs you’ve belonged to for years that no longer fit in your life. Or if you volunteer maybe the organization you want to give your time to is one you never would have considered a decade prior.

Discussing life changes with a personal support professional is a path to healing. There are many aspects of life that can feel uncertain when people reach the age of 50. While society views this time of life as steady, many are coping with divorces, job losses, aging parents, and even being nervous about venturing into new opportunities and relationships. Even when those new endeavors are appealing and healthy.

Feeling overwhelmed is not a weakness, it is your body telling you to step back, analyze old habits, and move toward a feeling of strength.

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Senior couple using a city map for location in the town
Destinations

Why Seniors Are the Best Age for Studying and Discovering the World

by Susan Saurel
written by Susan Saurel

Transitioning from the 50s to the 60s and 70s is one of the most beautiful and important time periods or our life. That’s because this is when we take the time to look within and discover what’s been lying there, undiscovered, for such a long time. Our hectic daily lives can distract us from understanding what truly matters, so we might not be able to enjoy ourselves, have alone, quiet time, or pursue our passion until this transition. While this is quite sad, most people would agree it’s true. Indeed, starting to do all the above from a young age should be something normal, but there are just so many duties and responsibilities we cannot escape that making time for our souls can be challenging.

As older adults, we can now focus on ourselves, our inner passions, our studies, and our own world-discovery pathways. Here are some facts about senior life; I hope you find our advice useful as well.

  1. This Is When You Make Time to Rediscover Yourself

As Seniors, we are tempted to rediscover ourselves and our inner balance, one way or the other. It’s funny how the life cycle unfolds – as children, we are taught to respect rules; as teenagers, we try to break those rules that we’ve just learned, while during adulthood, we reconnect to these constructs and learn how to play the life game. During the Senior years, however, we have time to rediscover our true selves and look within to find the real key to this puzzle called life. Thus, following the next criteria is important for anyone, but especially for those above 50, if you wish to ‘know thyself’ the right way:

  • Enjoy the quietness – observing your feelings without identifying yourself with them is the first step towards living a better life. Ask yourself, who am I? What is my calling in life? Why am I here?
  • Make sure you understand the difference between who you are and who you want to be. During our lifetime, we tend to be concerned with becoming more, and accepting less. Now it’s the time to say ‘stop’ and reevaluate your inherent self or being. Can you accept yourself?
  • Do you know what you are good at, and what skills you could improve? And if so, do you want to take responsibility to evolve in those areas you are not positive that you’ve succeeded?

“Find the answers to these questions and start changing your life now. No matter how old you are right now, there will always be more time for positive change, especially when it comes from within,” writes resume writing services coordinator, Jo Ann Bowley.

  1. How Consistency and Determination Can Add Huge Value to Your Life

While many of us believe that reinventing ourselves after 60 means striving for huge goals, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. If you try too hard to reach a set objective, you might end up disappointed and sad, quite nervous about your Senior years, and definitely not happy. In the end, it’s all about the journey, not the destination. If you felt like your whole life was a continuous race for success, now it’s time to make peace with yourself.

Accepting yourself is the first step towards developing a healthier mindset; next, think about the small goals that, if achieved, would make your life much happier and livelier than it is. Find small actions that you can take to make this world a better place, and yourself a better person. See how this mindset will shape your character in the long term. Here’s an example: if your main focus is your health, set aside 10 minutes every day to stretch and just breathe. Make it a habit and see how you feel! Consistency and determination play a big role during this time of our life.

  1. Friends, Coffee, and Cards

Drinking tasty coffee and playing witty card games sounds like a small piece of Paradise to some; for others, taking long walks and watching the sunset might be more uplifting. Regardless of what your favorite activities are, you need friends alongside! While rediscovering yourself is a lonely road, enjoying daily routines should not be – in the end, everything feels better when you have (a) dear person/people by your side. Your partners in crime will support you, encourage you, and help you become a better… you! And you will do the same for them. Friendship is beautiful and magic!

If you cannot think of anyone who’d share life stories with you, that’s alright – just think of people who share the same passions and start making new connections!

  1. Starting a New Life Towards Enlightenment

The first step you should take towards discovering the world is discovering the self, as I mentioned before. Thus, start with decluttering and rearranging your room the way you like it. Don’t be conventional, think outside the box! If you want a hammock in your room, buy one! If you need a huge armchair to rest in, get one! Don’t think twice – you must be comfortable in your daily setting. Here are some things you should also consider:

  • Start meditating. Studies have shown that meditation helps with senior health – it not only enhances memory and sharpens focus, but it also improves the digestive system and melts away the stress! Besides that, you will enjoy it a whole lot!
  • Start practicing daily asanas to keep your health strong and yourself going. I know it sounds like a lot, but I promise – once you start to get into it, your life will dramatically change (for the better). Here are just a few of the asanas that could help you a lot: Tadasana or the Mountain Pose, Baddha Konasana or the Butterfly Pose, Balasana or Child’s Pose, Trikonasana or the Triangle Pose, Shavasana or the Corpse Pose.
  • Next, take an inventory of people you’d like to apologize to, or simply discuss issues. Make sure you reach out and become at peace with yourself and themselves. When we are reaching towards Enlightenment, it’s important to become forgiving and loving towards the others.
  1. Discover Your World and Your Passions

During our lifetime, we might make decisions we don’t want to make and take the wrong actions towards our real goals – this might be the influence of other people, the influence of the society, our parents, or maybe our own false selves. Take this time of your life to discover your true passions and come to see the world through your own eyes. One of the best ways to do so is by overcoming fears of the past or challenges you’d never thought you’d be able to face. Traveling could be one of them.

According to studies supported by the National Institutes of Health, men who engage in annual vacations are 32% less likely to die from heart disease. At the same time, women who take vacations twice a year are less likely to become prone to depression or anxiety. So, discover the world, travel, engage, stay active!

  1. Study What Matters to You

Now that you’ve arrived at this point in your life – where responsibilities start to decline, and you can finally experience freedom – take time to study what really matters to you. If you’ve always been interested in Psychology but never had time to read articles, papers, or even books, get started on that! If, on the other hand, you’ve never made time to study Economics, sign up for a Finance newspaper and start reading! The great thing is that now you have time to do what you please, without worrying about money, kids, or other household duties.

Conclusion

While teenage and adult years are beautifully shaped for personal, successful evolution on the societal scale, older adult years are meant for self-discovery, finding inner peace, and accepting ourselves as we truly are. Be loved, be peaceful, be liberated!

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Exercise & FitnessHealth

Is 40, 50, 60+ Too Old to Start Yoga?

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

If you see pictures in magazines, then you would think that yoga is only for young, flexible, mainly women who can do very advanced poses. However that is far from the reality. I teach yoga to over 50’s. When I explain what I do, I am often told: “I am too old to start yoga.” I ask why and they say I could never do those “pretzel poses”. I rather like that description of very difficult poses done to show off someone’s skill. Is 40, 50, 60+ Too Old to Start Yoga?

The majority of people in yoga classes are over 40 (data from a new US Yoga Alliance study). Yes those poses portrayed in the media are unlikely to be achieved by anyone above 40. But that is a very small part of yoga. There are many poses (asanas) in yoga that are much less intense with the purpose of increasing strength, flexibility and balance. These poses are well within the abilities of someone over 40, 50 or 60. I have had students in their 90’s start yoga. With the desire to start and continue yoga, the benefits of yoga are available to everyone.

As we age the body does change and very difficult poses become difficult and less interesting. Yoga’s benefits for older students keep joints open, maintain balance and learn tools to decrease stress. Yoga is excellent at improving balance, strength and flexibility. Using traditional poses but modifying them for a person’s individual fitness level allows anyone to start at a comfortable level and improve fitness over time. Even someone who cannot get out of a chair can perform modified poses to improve strength in the legs and open major joints.

Improving balance is a major benefit of yoga. Yoga teachers can guide students in balance poses while holding onto a chair or the wall. Standing on one foot during a balance pose also strengthens the muscles in the standing leg. Older individuals need both strength and balance to remain independent and out of care. Teachers of senior yoga can change balance and strength poses to improve balance with a variety of techniques that take into consideration the student’s ability.

Flexibility or opening the joints in a careful and modulated method can help with flexibility and moving well. Starting at low level joint openers and working up to more intense poses keeps the joints lubricated and works the muscles to release and open the joints. Very tight joints can be painful as well as preventing a person from reacting to prevent a fall. Yoga’s benefits of improving strength, balance and flexibility are particularly helpful for older students.

Yoga can help keep strength in the legs, maintain balance and open joints – all abilities that can decrease with age. Differing from other forms of exercise, yoga has more to offer than only increasing the body’s fitness level. Also, increasing energy and releasing stress are also on yoga’s plate. Learning how to breathe deeply increases your energy, as most oxygen transfer occurs in the lower lobes of the lungs. Shallow breaths don’t provide as much oxygen as deeper ones.

Women in their 40’s and 50’s have the highest stress levels of any group; they may be taking care of older children, have responsibility for parents, and may be in responsible positions in their career. Learning how to relax and lessen their stress through breathing and meditation can be very beneficial. I always offer and most yoga teachers offer a relaxation period at the end of the class. Students learn to relax their bodies, shut down the mind and allow themselves to enjoy the moment.

Meditation – which is not thinking of nothing – is shutting down the judging brain and allowing oneself to be present. Students learn to stop judging past actions or anticipating probable or improbable future actions. Allowing yourself to relax and enjoy the present is quite relaxing and nurturing.

There are no age limitations with yoga – I recently read articles about two yoga teachers who are close to a 100 years old. Looking for a teacher that will change the poses to your age and fitness level will allow you to take part in class that is safe buy challenging. Give yoga a try!

-Stephanie Cunningham

Stephanie Cunningham is the owner of Yoga Lightness. She has taught yoga for over 50’s for 10 years and recently produces two podcasts: one to bust the myths about yoga and the other to bust the myths about retirement.

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Caregiving

Super Quick Self-Care for Caregivers

by Kathy Macaraeg
written by Kathy Macaraeg

If you only have a few minutes to practice self-care, these are my favorite activities to squeeze into my day.

Morning or Evening Stretches: If you are pressed for time in the morning, get ready for bed just a few minutes earlier and do a few simple stretches before you get into bed. Pick a few body parts that are tight and try to loosen them. If you don’t know what stretches to do, do a quick Google search for stretches and the part of the body you want to work. You’ll find pictures or videos that will walk you through the stretches.

Practice Gratitude: We all forget how fortunate we are when we’re focused on our day-to-day struggles. I find I’m less stressed when I actually think about the good in my life. Focusing on the good helps you prioritize your stressors. As I always say, even on the worst days, I can be thankful that I woke up in the morning, there was food to eat and there is a roof over my head.

Meditate: If you haven’t given meditation or mindfulness a try, you really should consider it. It’s free and fast. I have been thinking about meditation off and on for years but it wasn’t until I read Russell Simmons’ book “Success Through Stillness” that I really tried harder to implement mindfulness and meditation into my life. While I don’t practice the way Simmons suggests, I have started making mindfulness a part of my self-care routine. I use the free app Calm and do a guided meditation for just a few minutes but I feel like it really makes a difference. I also purchased “A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook,” which came with a free CD that has several guided meditations for varying lengths of time.

Elevate Regular Experiences: If you are in a truly busy season and really have almost no time for self-care, try making everyday activities a bit more luxurious. For example, use really nice smelling products in the shower and spend an extra minute or two taking it in. You can also splurge on a really nice hand cream or moisturizer and take a few extra seconds massaging it in to your hands or face. I splurge on a really nice hand cream that I only use before bed. Since I only use it at night, it lasts forever, so it really isn’t much of a splurge after all.

Do Something You Enjoy: When we are extremely busy, we tend to stop having fun. We’re either “doing the work” or too exhausted for fun. The problem is, life gets really boring and sad when we are all work, no play. Even if you don’t have a lot of free time, try to squeeze in a little fun. I love reading and try to squeeze reading in instead of watching TV. What do you love? Can you find a way to squeeze it in?

Slow Down: I have started getting up an extra twenty minutes early so that I can fit in morning stretches and drink my coffee slowly while I work on my to do list. I used to gulp my coffee down while I was flying around getting everyone ready to start our day. I was exhausted by 9 a.m. Now that I get up early, everyone is less stressed out and I feel so much more in control of my day because I have slowed the pace of my morning.

Self-care is hugely important, especially if you are a busy person. While I’ve known this for a long time, I really never found a way to make it work for me until I started making it part of my daily routine. I essentially schedule certain self-care activities into my day.

Activities like my stretches, my morning coffee and elevating my regular routine are non-negotiables now. If I get those done, I’m good. On really great days, I add in a few other self-care activities like taking a walk or doing something I enjoy. How do you fit self-care into your life?

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8 efficient ways to stay healthy amidst noises
Health Tips

8 efficient ways to stay healthy amidst noises

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

The world around us is driven by noise and chaos. Be it the work environment, crowded stores, constant background music or the Smartphone notifications that seek your attention 24×7, it’s hard to find peace and quiet as you go through the day. You might feel as if you are constantly hustling and that rest and quiet are unattainable. Needless to say, this affects your health as well. Let’s get familiar with some ways in which you can cut down the noises and usher in peace, quiet and good health.

Devote time to meditation

Meditation is a burning example of the fact that it doesn’t take a lot of time to achieve a peaceful state of mind amidst the noise and chaos. Just a few minutes of indulgence can help to relieve the stress. Other advantages include developing more compassion and emotional stability. In fact, meditating is also known to prevent several illnesses.

Wait! That’s not all. You can reap its benefits even when you’re not meditating. It’s a gift (to yourself) that keeps on giving. Make sure to sneak in some time and meditate regularly.

Tone down that sound system

If you live with teenagers, you should encourage them to use their headphones when they are listening to loud music. Whether they prefer loud music or not is their personal choice, but you should not be bothered by the distractions.

You can educate them about the implications of listening to loud music. Tell them that if they constantly listen to loud music at 85Db for several hours every day, they will require a hearing aid by the time they reach 50 or 60.

Play peaceful and soothing music

Do you realize that a simple activity like listening to music can have an impact on your stress levels? Each element of music stimulates a different part of the brain.

For instance, when you listen to classical music, it stimulates major parts of the brain because it is rich in complex harmony, rhythm, and melody. This aids in building more brain connections and allows you to lead a happy life by lowering the stress levels. Apart from the health factor, calming music can help you concentrate on your studies so that you don’t opt for assignment help from online sources.

Eliminate noise from your home

Treat your home like a sanctuary that can offer calmness amidst a bustling city. You can decorate your home with heavy curtains on the windows and acoustical tile (created from sound-absorbing material like mineral fiber, cork or wood) on the ceilings and walls.

You can put rugs on floors which absorb sound and seal the air leaks in your home to decrease the noise from the outside. Windows are the source of noise in most residences. Storm windows or the ones with double or triple-glazing can act as a sound barrier.

Go outside and set foot amidst nature

Step away from the comforts of your home to boost your mental and physical health. Similar to meditation, spending considerable time outdoors works well for your brain as well. This not only cuts down the noises of the city, but also improves your health.

Also, spending time outside in nature also makes you feel more alive. As a matter of fact, there’s nothing like a walk in the forest or on the beach to calm your senses, soothe the soul and refuel your energy. So, make sure you venture out amidst nature after every couple of weeks, even if it’s for a few hours. Very soon you’ll be able to notice the change in your mental and emotional wellbeing.

Living in an area which is surrounded by greeneries (i.e. gardens and parks) provides greater life satisfaction and reduces distress.

Avoid the noise in your workplace

It’s definitely not easy, we’ll give you that. All too often you’ll see people talk about how they have no choice but to deal with the job hazards like loud equipment on a construction site or in a factory.

While noise-canceling headphones and earplugs may have limited impact, experts believe it’s essential to follow safety procedures.

So, make sure to take breaks in between work, and step away from the noise around you.

Try not to produce noise

Noises are as pervasive as air, if not more. You don’t necessarily have to take a vow of silence to find some respite from the clatter. Turn down the music player, whether the blasted tunes resonate through your home or are funneled through your earphones.

Also, consider buying quieter appliances like air conditioners or vacuums and lawn-mowing machines that don’t produce too much noise. Rather than picking up a leaf blower, maybe you should consider a rake. This way, you can spend some extra time performing the household chores without assaulting your ears. Keep your car in quiet working order, and don’t remodel a motorcycle with aftermarket parts that prompt it to rumble loudly.

Set aside 5 quiet minutes every day

You can do this anytime and anywhere. Choosing not to turn on your car radio the moment you set out somewhere, deciding not to talk over the phone while cooking, switching your phone off and having a quiet 5-10 minutes in bed before falling asleep can help to keep you calm. There are many ways to do this, and you can decide what works best for you.

You can utilize this time to write a journal, sit with your eyes closed and practice breathing exercises, sketch, or do a quiet task without including any background noise from the TV, stereo, etc.

Push yourself to find at least 5 quiet minutes to invest every day. You’ll see that you’ve actually started enjoying the silence. You might even find additional ways to work during these peaceful minutes.

In Summary

While noises of all kinds may persist as long as technology finds a better alternative to replace them with, you need to consciously try not to let the noise affect your mental and physical health. Even though you can’t always avoid the noise, these ideas will help you retain the calm, quiet and peace in your life.

Author Bio: Shirley Brownis a visiting faculty in a distinguished academic institution in Australia. She has pursued her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of West Australia. She is associated with several philanthropic organizations. She also works as an assignment expert for MyAssignmenthelp.

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Living in the Present Boosts Happiness
Healthy Living

Living in the Present Boosts Happiness

by Kendall VanBlarcom
written by Kendall VanBlarcom

If you are depressed you are living in the past.

If you are anxious you are living in the future.

If you are at peace you are living in the present. – Lao Tzu

How many times have you thought? If I had just done this, my life wouldn’t be this way. Or, what if I don’t have enough money someday? What if I can’t survive? Living in the Present Boosts Happiness
If you’ve had similar thoughts as these, you are not living in the present. You are either living in the past, or you’re living in the future. Either one of these means you’re depressing yourself or making yourself anxious.
“How is that working for you?” Living in the Present Boosts Happiness
If you’re feeling these ways, it’s obvious it’s not working well for you. You’re not happy. You probably spend many of your days searching for happiness. You try to change the past in some way, or you are doing what you can to prepare for the future. In either case, you end the day feeling just as crummy as you started or you may temporarily feel better, but then end up feeling a similar way the next day. Living in the Present Boosts Happiness
If you don’t like the way you’re running your life, it’s time to change it. Changing it may end up making you happier than you ever imagined changing the past or protecting the future would make you.

Living in the Present

The first thing you need to do is start living in the present. This means stop thinking about the past and working on it. What you need to do is focus on what you have to do today – not what you SHOULD have done yesterday. Do what you have to do today – that’s it. Living in the Present Boosts Happiness
The same goes for those of you who have a tendency to focus on the future all of the time. Yes, the future needs some preparation such as setting up a retirement account. However, the future doesn’t need to be dwelled upon. Simply thinking about what needs to be done today and doing it suffices.

How to Do It

Make a list of what you NEED to do today. As you go about your day, be sure to focus on the tasks you have to do, and don’t allow yourself to get distracted by thinking about the past or the future. You just need to do the tasks for today. Close your eyes and imagine what that would feel like for you – just being able to do what you need to do today. Chances are, it feels so relieving and good inside. It may just give you some motivation to get those tasks done in much less time.

Living in the Present Boosts Happiness

Living in the Present Boosts Happiness Living in the Present Boosts Happiness Living in the Present Boosts Happiness

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