Audrey

Congratulations Audrey. You should be receiving an email shortly with directions on how and where to provide your mailing address.

By the way, I have a sure fire why to avoid stress these holidays.

Hibernate.

Okay, so that might not work for most people.

But remember, when you are getting stressed, the best thing to do is take time out for yourself. Try to relax, treat yourself to a massage or manicure, take a long walk somewhere away from crowds and shops, meet friends for coffee or lunch, watch a funny movie or sitcom, and just sit back and breathe.

And don’t forget, ‘every day is a giveaway’ this month at Healthbolt.

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Now, in my dream world, this seems like just the ticket. After all, who has time to keep up with a regular exercise regime, right? And isn’t the whole point of modern medicine to make life better for all? And wouldn’t skipping exercise in lieu of a pill make everyone happy?

Um, maybe not.

The more I thought about this, the worse of an idea it became to me. Would there be any of that “exercise high” or stress relief that most of us get when we do go through with a real, live workout? Would we become a nation of sloth and laziness, spending what would have been our “healthy time” in front of the tube or consuming more products that will put us further into debt? Will we expect a pill for every single less-than-pleasant task that we, as humans, are expected to engage in from time to time?

I think the very notion of any of these things is disturbing enough to put up a giant red flag on this new superinvention.

But that’s just me. What about you? What do you think of the idea of an exercise pill? Let us know…

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The Japanese – an efficient, healthful group of people. People rooted in culture. People who cherish their elders. People who keel over from being overworked.

Say what?

Yes, it’s true. While America is sometimes looked at as slovenly and over-privileged, our Japanese pals are working so hard, they’re launching themselves into the grave. This has become such an epidemic, in fact, that it even has a name: karoshi.

For example, there was a poor fellow, a 45-year-old chief engineer for Toyota, who worked an additional 114 hours of overtime per month (overtime!). That’s equivalent to about 2.85 weeks a month. Can you even imagine?

Not surprisingly, the man died of heart failure, and now the Japanese government will need to uphold a law that gives money to the widow and children of this man, since we worked himself into an early karoshi for the good of his company. Amazing.

The Japanese government also has a national karoshi hotline, and a karoshi self-help book.

So, the lesson to be learned here? While a strong work ethic is admirable indeed, working yourself into an early karoshi is not. As with everything in life, let there be balance.

Source

Special thanks to my friends at the American Cancer Society for this head’s-up. Be sure to give them a visit.

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The lovely ladies at Alzheimer’s Notes inform us that today is National Siesta Day. Coincidentally, it’s also my birthday. Excuse me while I take that as a sign that I should be spending my Big Day snoozing.

Actually, that’s not such a bad idea. Along with the host of reasons the Siesta Awareness site gives us to nap, here’s another: Napping at least 3 days a week leaves you 37% less likely to keel over from heart disease than someone who never naps. This from a study of over 23,000 people!

Wouldn’t you have loved to been a subject in that study? And wouldn’t it be nice if instead of blood pressure meds and low cholesterol diets, doctors prescribed 30 minute naps instead?

Now there’s a birthday wish I’d love to come true.

Nap on, people. Nap on!

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Some of the best news I’ve heard since drinking beer, wine, and hot cocoa, eating steak, and getting more sleep became practically medically necessary: Messy desks are da bomb! And yes, I just said “da bomb” in public. That’s how excited I am.

Though my desk borders on “catastrophic” rather than “messy”, I am encouraged by new research from Professor Eric Abrahamson, Ph. D., from the Columbia University Business School, which claims that most people work faster (and more efficiently!) when there is a bit of mess around. I wonder what he means by “bit of mess”? A teensy stack of receipts or perhaps a gargantuan pile of magazines which threatens to take out any innocent passer-by who so much as breathes a little too hard in its direction? Hmmmm.

No matter, Abrahamson also said that the Tidy Two-Shoes (my phrase, not his) of the world tend to take 30% longer to find important papers than messy folk. So yes, dear anal organizers, there definitely comes a point when one becomes too organized – and finding certain papers becomes both complicated and time-consuming.

So the next time I get the hairy eyeball from my spouse (or you get it from your boss), we shall proclaim the superiority of being a Messy Marvin or Sloppy Sallie, agreed? It’s about time we catch a break, right?

Are you a slob or a neat-nik? Will you make a change one way or the other? Let us know…

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As I prepare to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary tomorrow, I was thrilled to come across a small article listing 4 fabulous “side-effects” to being in a loving relationship.

1) Lower stress hormones

2) More physical activity (of all kinds, ahem)

3) Less likely to smoke

4) Decrease in blood pressure

Wow! Seems not only does love affect your emotional heart, it’s great for your physical ticker as well.

Sounds like I have lots to celebrate! Grab your honey and celebrate being in love along with me, won’t you?

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According to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, stoking up a vanilla-scented candle can reduce anxiety by 63%. That’s a ton!

While vanilla was the scent of choice in this instance, researchers acknowledge that scent is handled by the same area of the brain as memory, so smelling any aroma that brings back good feelings for you can have the same effect.

So if relaxation, calmness and optimism are on your To-Do list today, grab your Bic and light that wick.

This has been your Happy Living Tip for the day. Enjoy.

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 Their son Rhett suffers from chiari malformation , a structural defect that puts pressure on the brain stem which controls vital functions such as sleep, speech, circulation, and breathing. But thanks to experimental surgery designed to relieve this pressure, Rhett (and his parents) are now sleeping…

Unable to Forget – although most of us would love to have better recall of past events, no one wants to remember every single life event. After all, there are somethings in life that you just don’t want to remember. But for one woman, all events – good and bad – are stuck in her memory and won’t let go. She is Jill Price, author of ‘The Woman Who Can’t Forget’.

A Personality Test for Your Cat – The Feline-ality program, developed by Dr. Emily Weiss of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is little like a ‘What Kind of Cat are you?’ quiz.

Might sound entertaining but this program, currently running in 45 shelters, aims to end the animal-human mismatches that often results in the cat being returned to the shelter. Prospective adoptees fill in a questionaire which gives them a color code. This color code will match up with a suitable cat personality – ‘leader of the band’, ‘the personal assistant’, or the ‘private investigator’ – that will make for a happy home for both human and cat.

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Spring is in the air for many of us, and usually that means allergies, yard work and the weeds that cause a lot of allergies and yard work.

But the next time you see a stray dandelion pop up in your yard, don’t be so quick to dig it up. Instead, admire it for it’s stress-busting abilities.

Here’s the scoop: The leaves of a dandelion are packed with calming B vitamins and lethicin, which lessen stress and anxiety by balancing chemicals in your brain. Dandelions also boost levels of the happy chemical, seratonin.

Now, we’re not recommending that you run out and pluck these from your yard to make a meal out of. But the next time you head to the grocer, look for premixed salad kits that include dandelions or maybe try a dandelion-enhanced tea blend. And, of course, be sure to spend some time outdoors where these little wonders can be found in all their natural glory. Because there is hardly a better mood-booster than a beautiful, sunny day.

More Dandelion Health Benefits

More Info on Dandelions as a Supplement

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Why? Stress hormones like cortisol can mess with melanocytes (simply, hair cells). Suddenly, the cells have trouble surviving and/or producing the pigment that keeps your hair its original color. Hence, those pigments disappear and out pops a gray (or white) hair.

Naturally, controlling stress is a good defense in this type of situation, but that might not always be possible. Eating foods rich in the amino acids lysine and arginine can help provide a drop in stress, however, so if you’re feeling a bit on edge, grab some peanuts and a carton of yogurt. These superfoods can get you halfway to the recommended 3 grams of lysine and arginine that Slovakian scientists found to be so effective in reducing the hormones responsible for stress.

Either that, or there’s always hair color.

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