Words of wisdom

"The trouble with most of us is that we compare our insides with other people's outsides"
Marian Keyes
Rachel's Holiday

Champagne is good for you.

Those of us who take our health seriously know that red wine and good chocolate in moderation are good for the heart and vascular health. . Now it appears that Champagne and Cava are even better than red wine in terms of polyphenols and other stuff which seem to lower the risk of heart disease.
Champagne can be good for your heart, a new British study reveals.

"Drinking around two glasses of Champagne can have beneficial effects on the way blood vessels function," similar to the benefits of red wine, reported Dr. Jeremy Spencer of the University of Reading in the current British Journal of Nutrition.

Sparkling wine increases nitric oxide, which controls blood pressure, the study said. The polyphenols from the red and white grapes get absorbed into the system and "appear to slow down the natural removal of nitric oxide in the blood." That, in turn, "may help to decrease both blood pressure and the likelihood of blood clots forming."

Spencer admitted more research is needed to figure out the "long term effects of daily Champagne consumption."

In the meantime, though, he said, the "potential to reduce the risks of suffering from cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke is very exciting news."

The current study was done with scientists in France. Spencer's earlier study, in 2007 with an Italian university in Monserrato, found Champagne might protect neuron cells against brain injuries from stroke and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. That study also reported the levels of polyphenols in Champagne varied greatly from "variety, vintage and a wide range of environmental fact
Source The Observer 13th December 2009

VS Ramachandran on your mind | Video on TED.com

VS Ramachandran on your mind | Video on TED.com

'It is not events but how we view them that matters' Epictetus.

Appraisal

The psychologist Richard Lazarus showed how appraisal of a situation can affect how stressful it feel.

He created a stressful situation as a research experiment to test the idea that it is our thoughts or 'reading' of a situation rather than the objective reality of the event that determines how stressful we find it.

He showed people films in which people were hurt - a finger was cut off by a saw!
One group were told beforehand that this was not real and was acted.
Another group were told beforehand that it was a training video used and so could distance themselves somewhat.
The third group were told that the people on film really suffered pain and infection later.

Lazarus then measured the stress reactions such as increased heart rate and sweating and participant's own evaluation of how stressed they felt.
Not surprisingly the third group showed most physiological activity and reported the most stress.

A few thoughts.
Not surprising perhaps.
Does this mean fake violence in the media is less harmful if it is framed as fake?
Are more sensitive people more at risk for stress? Probably.
It would seem to strongly suggest that we should stop banging on about stress to our young people in the media and perhaps in our schools.
How to get the balance right? To acknowledge and support people in stressful situations without leading them to view it as more stressful than they might have before!

Are you stressed?

Symptoms of Stress
Do you find that you...

Get headaches
Have aches and pains in your arms and legs
Feel tension in your neck and shoulders
Feel your stomach churning
Get more colds and flu
Feel tense and nervy
Feel impatient and irritable
Make silly mistakes
Find it hard to concentrate or make decisions
Feel stupid
Feel you can't cope with demands
Put things off
Avoid difficult situations
Drink,eat or smoke too much
Never have time for yourself

How many of these apply to you?
What do you need for yourself?

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_study_reveals_most_children

Latest research!

Positive Stress - Eustress

Life without stress would be quite boring. Not all stress is bad. Positive stress also known as 'eustress' pushes us to perform well and stretch ourselves and can raise our efficacy and creativity.

Neurobiology of social interaction

Professor Alan Carr in "Positive Psychology" writes about the neurobiology of hope and optimism. Research in optimism in women focuses on oxytocin and endogenous opioids release following the birth of offspring adn and also released in response to stress and social support social support. Professor Martin Seligman has researched the correlation between optimistic character traits and wellness and found that optimists tend to recover better from illness. More to follow ...

Amazing brain research findings.

New research findings in neuroscience!

The Celebrationists

Focusing

Much stress seems to originate from the way in which our minds perceive the world and the stories we tell ourselves about external realities. We can become caught up in the web of our painful memories and future fears in a very cerebral way. A consequence of this is that we may become disconnected from our bodily sensations and our 'felt sense' of ourselves and the world. When this happens we can get out of touch with the amazing resource that is our body. By focusing in on our sensations and thoughts in the moment we can reconnect with our stronger more solid selves and really listen to what is happening for us.

All the latest brain research seems to suggest that being attended to and attending to ourselves is healing and can aid neurogenesis.

Eugene Gendlin explored the concept of Focusing which is about focusing on what he called our 'felt sense'. You can find out more on the Focusing website

PS. But not while driving!

Blue Breath Spots

This may seem silly but it works. Stick some blue dots on objects that you encounter during your day. I have one on my office phone and another on my car dashboard. When you notice them STOP for a few moments and take a break. Breathe in slowly for a count of three and then exhale slowly on a count of three. You can close your eyes or not as you do this and imagine yourself recharging and releasing tension as you inhale and exhale. It works and it only takes a few moments.

By doing this you are producing your own relaxation response.

PS. But not while driving!

How stress works. Positive stress can stretch us - but we can all get overstretched

Not all stress is bad. We need positive stress to excite us so we take action and drive ourselves forward. In nature animals produce a stress response as a short term reaction to immediate threat - the body shuts down non-essential activities such as digestion and releases a surge of chemicals such as adrenalin to enable the "prey" to engage in "fight or flight". The problem with humans is that unlike other mammals we produce a stress response for both real and imagined threats. We can end up on permanent stress alert because of the perceived sense of threat we create in our brains. As a result of this many of us may be chronically stressed or suffering from continuous low levels of stress - a bit like living with the house alarm on all the time!

Many of us factor in this constant sense of stress or anxiety as something we can live with or something that just comes with the territory of 21st century living.

Research suggests that ongoing stress is harmful for our minds and bodies and links it to many modern diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Stress doesn't cause disease but it weakens our defences and puts much of our energy into being on high alert. No wonder anxiety and depression seem to be increasing.

We don't have to tolerate living with chronic stress. We can choose to control and use our stress responses to our advantage.

Relaxation and stress management techniques can help us learn to regulate and switch off this alarm system. But it takes practice! Fifteen minutes a day could make a big difference to our mental and physical wellbeing.

Àutogenic Training - AT

NB. There are some contraindications for some relaxation techniques which I will list below.


You can teach your body to respond quickly and effectively to your verbal commands to relax.
If we don't have the chance to recuperate from emotionally and physically stressful experiences our body chemistry can become unbalanced and our mood can be disturbed. We may develop high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, ulcers, migraines or rheumatoid arthritis or we may suffer from imbalance in the form of muscle tension and aches and digestive difficulties.

Autogenics has its origins in hypnosis research conducted by Oskar Vogt in Berlin in the 19th century. He discovered that we can create a state similar to a hypnotic trance just by thinking of heaviness and warmth in our extremities. In essence AT consists of relaxing, undisturbed in a comfortable position and concentrating on verbal messages suggesting warmth and heaviness in your limbs . In 1932 Schultz combined Vogt's autosuggestion with Yoga techniques and published his new system in his book "Autogenic Training"

Not suitable for children under 5 or individuals with severe mental or emotional disorders. It is recommended that you should check with your Doctor before beginning AT as in some cases it may be inadvisable or could lead to a fluctuation in blood pressure levels.