Archives for January 2020

If you feel regularly stressed out, you might be surprised at the reasons causing it. Coping with stress can be difficult if you’re not sure what’s behind it. However, by identifying the cause and changing it, you can achieve a calmer state of mind.

Stress doesn’t do the body any favors. Persistent stress leads to medical issues, aging faster, and affects your personal relationships. It’s in your best interest to get rid of stress. Here are some of the best ways to do that.

Reduce Clutter

Stress can be triggered by our physical surroundings. If your home or office is full of junk that’s piled up, then it could be adding to your stress levels.

Do you ever notice the difference in the way that you feel between walking into a tidy room and walking into a cluttered room? Studies show that minimalistic spaces encourage a peaceful state of mind. Consider purging old junk or getting a storage unit.

Manage Your Time Wisely

One of the biggest causes of stress is running late or trying to get something done in a limited amount of time. As a result, we feel overburdened by our to-do list and stressed about how we will ever possibly finish it.

However, by making a list of everything you need to get done and schedule when you’re going to do it, you can avoid unnecessary stress. Time management is a critical part of leading a stress-free life!

Get More Sleep

Most people get far less sleep than they should. When you lack sleep, you’re much more susceptible to stress and anxiety. Make sleep a priority in your life!

Getting enough z’s will improve your overall health in addition to reducing stress levels. When you sleep, the body has the chance to recover and regenerate, giving you the rest that you need for the next day.

Don’t Set Impossible Standards For Yourself

A common cause of stress is feeling like you can’t achieve as much as you’d like to as well as you’d like to. Yet, often you may be beating yourself up for things that aren’t ’t realistic! You can’t expect to be able to do everything all at once. Set realistic standards for yourself rather than beating yourself up all the time. Give yourself the credit that you deserve!

Remember, stress is a natural part of the human condition and happens to everyone from time to time. However, that doesn’t mean that you should allow it to overrun your life. Untreated stress can lead to serious issues down the road.

However, by applying these tips and staying aware of your mental health, you can reduce stress over time.

Back issues are more and more common these days. The modern lifestyle – especially the working life, with lots of sitting on questionable chairs in front of the screen all day, causes issues with your back. Instead of sitting all day, you should try to take breaks and go for a walk or at least do some stretching during your work day. If you want to stay on your feet more and be less sedentary, you can look into getting shoe inserts from Protalus.com in order to improve your posture and reduce back pain.

These issues almost always lead you to develop back pain. We know, it’s not fun but we’re going to help!

Here’s the issue: Every time you mess up your posture, you apply more pressure on your spine and spinal discs (the shock absorbers between your vertebrae). If you misalign your spine you could develop serious issues, like sciatica.

Sciatica and other similar issues can be very painful so we’re giving you tools in this blog post to relax the strains that can cause them.

It is always better to be safe than sorry and take positive steps to maintain your greatest health! That’s why we are bringing you three types of stretching that can help you eliminate sciatica (if you already have it), as well as help those with early symptoms to avoid developing full-blown sciatica.

1) The Sitting Pigeon Pose

Sitting Pigeon is a great place to start. Can be a little bit challenging but totally worth it.

Start by sitting on the floor. Your legs are stretched in front of you and your back is straight. Legs are next to one another. Your upper and lower body should be forming a 90-degree angle.

Rest your hands on the ground. Move one leg on the knee of the other, for example, left leg on the right knee. Bend it to a 90-degree angle. Stretch your hands forward towards the toes of your right leg. If you can’t reach them, just hold in the closest position you can.

If you can reach your toes, grab them and stay in that position for at least 15 to 20 seconds. Return to the starting position and repeat with the other side of your body.

This stretch opens up the hips and releases the lower back.

2) Knee to the opposite shoulder

For this next pose, lay on the ground, both your arms and legs resting straight on the floor.

Bring your left knee up towards your chest. Bend your leg and grab it with your hands. Position your hands just below the knee.

Firstly, pull your leg towards your chest, gently but as much as you can. After that, try and pull your knee towards the opposite shoulder, for example, the left knee towards the right shoulder. Pull to comfort.

If you experience discomfort or pain, lower the amount of pressure you are exerting on your leg. Hold the position for half a minute to 40 seconds.

Return to the starting position and repeat with the other side as well. Be sure to do this stretching exercise at least 4 or 5 times for both sides of your body.

3) Standing Hamstring Stretch

We’re going to use a prop to help us out with this last pose. You will need a chair or a box.

You start by standing next to the prop. Place your heel on the chair or box and stretch the leg whos heel is resting on the box fully. The leg resting on the box or chair has to be as straight as possible.

Similar to the sitting pigeon pose, stretch your upper body towards the toes of the raised leg. Stretch as far as you can. Ideally, you should hold your toes for about half a minute.

Conclusion

Remember, do all these stretches to your own comfort. Also, many people see the best results when using stretches along with other complementary treatments – like a spinal adjustments from a skilled chiropractor.

If you start to experience pain, release the tension a bit. Lower your leg own while keeping it straight. Repeat with the other leg. Do three reps of this stretching exercise.

Good luck staying loose and healthy!

 

A million-dollar question that many of us ask ourselves every day. People eat healthy, as they think that is what keeps them going. Well, honestly speaking, diet is only a piece in the puzzle. Many things complete the picture. For living a healthy life, one has to be disciplined. There are a couple of other things too that one needs to adhere to like the following:

Early to bed and early to rise– These are the golden words that have yield results for long. Having an early dinner and retiring to bed is one of the best things that you can do. You need to give time to your body to digest the food well and nice. It is also essential to rise early and go for a brisk walk in the morning as that is equally beneficial for your health.

Know what you are eating and the portions– One should be eating three meals a day, which includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dinner should not be the most substantial meal of the day. Since what you also eat matters, include healthy food that includes vegetables, fruits, whole-grains, and fat-free food products. One’s diet should also include low-fat milk products. The menu should consist of poultry, fish, beans, eggs, nuts, and lean meats. As far as nutrient quotient is concerned, one should opt for food that is low in saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, cholesterol, and added sugar.

Give up on your bad habits– Refrain from having too much alcohol and if you are a smoker, try to quit smoking as fast as you can.

Start exercising- It cannot be denied that it is the best way to stay healthy. Physical activity and regular exercise help to promote an active lifestyle. Following are some of the reasons why regular exercise is beneficial:

With regular exercise, one can prevent and reverse age-related diseases. It can help in improving balance, flexibility, and endurance. Senior adults can be more stable on their feet, enabling them to live a life independently. It also helps to decrease the risk of falls. The chances of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and obesity, high blood pressure can be reduced to a great extent with regular exercise.

Strength training exercises help build muscles and prevent osteoporosis. Building muscles is vital for those who are trying to lose weight. Exercise, as we all know, it also helps to strengthen the bones.

Exercise regularly can enhance one’s fitness level. If one is fit, then that can keep chronic arthritis away. Individuals suffering from this ailment will find carrying out their daily activities in a painless manner if they have exercise on their routine.

l Individuals who are obese can benefit from regular training and exercise. It helps to shed extra weight.

l Regular exercising can help increase self-esteem and confidence. It also decreases one’s anxiety, and stress levels help enhance mood and improve one’s mental well-being.

l Exercise should be carried out at least 3 to 5 days a week, but one should try to exercise every day, if possible. It should be broken down into 10-minute sessions for more effect. Those are just beginning, should progress gradually. That would help in avoiding soreness or fatigue. The time limit for exercise should range somewhere between half an hour to one hour. Start with all types of exercise like resistance, walking, swimming, weight training, yoga for an all-round effect. One should not exercise, however, if one is tired and sore. That increases the chances of injury.

Get Enough Sleep– Today’s hectic lifestyle leaves most of us to be sleep-deprived. According to experts, adults need at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep each night. That is the average time. In case you see that you are feeling drowsy throughout daily activities, is falling asleep, then you might not be getting enough sleep.

Drink plenty of water– Water is known as life, and one should have plenty of it. Most adults will need to have at least eight glasses of water every day. Keeping the body hydrated is very important. Even while exercising, says Garry Y Itkin, make sure that you are sipping a little bit of water during the resting period. Water also helps in losing weight quickly.

It is not very hard to live a healthy life. Individuals should follow a disciplined life, and a quick checklist to live a great life.