We’ve all been taught that exercise is a great way to reduce stress and for most of us, it really works.  But what affect does all this exercise have on our productivity at work the next day?

A recent study in the October issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine looked at the relationship between exercise, workplace stress, and productivity.  The results were not what you might imagine.

The study looked at a sample of 2,823 workers in Minnesota who were surveyed on their levels of workplace stress and amount of exercise as well as their productivity on the job.  The researchers found a couple of interesting things including (quoting directly from the JOEM Press Release):

1. “In general, higher stress levels at work were linked to greater productivity loss.  Workers with a higher body mass index were less productive, regardless of other factors.”
2. “After adjusting for body mass index, there was a significant interaction between physical activity and stress level. For highly stressed workers, a high level of physical activity was linked to significant productivity loss. In contrast, for workers with relatively low stress levels, physical activity had less effect on productivity.”

What this study appears to show is that the recommendation that you “exercise your stress off” should only apply to low stress levels.  The study found that for overweight employees who exercised 7 hours per week, the ones that felt highly stressed at work suffered an estimated productivity loss of 11% while those that felt lightly stressed at work only suffered a productivity decline of 2%.  Apparently, trying to “exercise off” a high level of stress leaves you so tired the next day that your productivity suffers, which probably leads to more stress.

The study concluded that when stress levels are high, increased physical activity tends to decrease productivity.  If that’s so, then what’s the best way to cope with high stress levels?  The study suggests that “stress management is at least as economically relevant to promoting worker health and productivity, compared to more traditional lifestyle factors…”

OK, so what are the takeaways from this?  Here are some of the things I found valuable (NOTE:  these are totally my opinions – read the study for yourself and come to your own conclusions):

• Workers who are overweight (high BMI) seemed to be more susceptible to stress and productivity loss than workers who were not overweight.  The study did not specifically say this but to me, it seemed implied in a number of places.  The key takeaway from this observation is to lose the weight.  Reduce your BMI and you’ll be in much better shape to handle whatever your workplace dishes out.
• If you face high stress levels as work, you’re much better off learning effective stress management techniques, such as meditation, than you are trying to “work off” the stress with exercise.  Heading to the gym after a stressful day only leaves you tired – and the stress is still there.
• What works for me, even after a stressful day, is exercise that requires my complete attention.  For example, I head to karate class or practice kickboxing with a partner.  It’s hard to worry about how much stress I have when you’re in the ring with someone trying to rearrange your face.  You’re forced to focus on the activity, not on the stress.  As a result, the stress tends to melt away.  On the other hand, if you do an exercise routine that doesn’t require any thought or concentration (weights, stair-master, treadmill etc), then the stress is going to stay front and center.

Stress is a killer, and not just of productivity.  It’s effects on blood pressure and heart disease are pretty well documented.  However, stress is also a part of everyday life.  As a result, you need to learn how to deal with it in a way that reduces it’s effects and doesn’t create more of it.

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach andPersonal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S.  Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.”  This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – no email, no cookies, no catch.  Download and enjoy!

Technorati Tags: productivity, fitness, stress, exercise, balanced health, meditation, journal of occupation and environmental medicine, joem

Related posts:

1. Coping with Stress
2. Fat Burning Exercise with Weights
3. The Magic of Exercise

As one of the largest and most successful yoga-based retreat and education centers in the world, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Massachusetts, attracts many of the leading teachers of yoga and Buddhist meditation to its annual retreat, East meets East: Yoga & Buddhism. In Will Yoga & Meditation Really Change My Life? Stephen Cope brings to the printed page the fascinating dialogue that he has fostered in these retreats.

Cope asks participating teachers to share their Tales from the Path, stories of how the long-term practice of these ancient traditions has changed their lives. The result is an inspirational volume featuring 26 distinct voices telling their stories, how they became interested in these traditions, the teachers who inspired them, and how the practice of yoga and meditation has shaped their lives and perspectives.

The contributors, many of whom are authors of well-known books on these topics, speak of their experiences as real people living in our complex world, complete with spouses, children, aging parents, financial demands, illnesses, injuries, and all of the ordinary aggravations of everyday life. Many of these teachers have studied and explored the practice of yoga or meditation over the course of 30 years and have been pivotal in creating retreat centers, styles of yoga, and teaching techniques that have contributed to the widespread popularity of these practices in mainstream culture.

The stories of these teachers ask the questions, What is possible for me, in my life, right now? How can my practice of yoga and meditation help me lead a more satisfying life? These are questions on which every spiritual seeker and practitioner of yoga and meditation inevitably must reflect.

List Price: $ 22.95

Price: $ 4.85

Related posts:

1. What Do You Think About During Meditation?
2. Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life
3. Learning How to Meditate

“Me” time is just what it sounds like – time for me.  It’s as much a vacation from the house and the family as it is from work and/or school.  It’s time to spend with no one but yourself.

All of us need time alone every once in a while.  To think.  To dream.  To wonder.  You can’t do that in the midst of the constant chatter that is daily life.

Being alone for a while allows the voice of God to be heard.  You can only hear God whispering to your heart when your spirit is still.

Although I “scheduled” some “me” time, you don’t have to wait until your next vacation comes around.  Take whatever opportunity comes along.  Grab your cup of coffee and instead of heading for the breakroom, head outside and take a walk around the block – alone.  Don’t think.  Don’t worry.  Don’t fret.  Just be by yourself for a while.  You’ll be surprised how refreshed it will make you feel.

Why not try it right now?

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S. Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.” This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – for a limited time.  Just click on the title to be taken to the download page.  Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: me-time, alone, spirit, mindfulness, meditation, quiet time

Related posts:

1. The Importance of Keeping a Journal

Medical practitioners usually classify headaches into two categories.  The first category,  primary headaches, are those headaches that are not caused by some sort of underlying disease.  These include the more common headaches like migraines, tension headaches, and cluster headaches.  Secondary headaches, the second category of headaches, are usually caused by some sort of associated disease such as strokes, brain tumors, meningitis, or by a chemical dependency, such as caffeine withdrawal.

This article will cover the top 5 causes of primary headaches, since these tend to be the most common, and will discuss simple things you can do to prevent these triggers from ruining your day.

It’s estimated that Americans spend more than $4 billion a year on various types of headache treatments.  Everything from over-the-counter drugs and pain relievers to more exotic treatments like magnetic headbands and robotic scalp massagers.  Believe me, once you’ve got a pounding headache, you’ll try anything to make it to go away.

But rather than trying to “cure” a headache once it’s taken control of you, doesn’t it make more sense to try to prevent it from occurring in the first place?  One way of doing that is to become aware of the common things that trigger most headaches – and then take a couple of simple steps to prevent them from growing into a major problem.

Here’s a list of the 5 things that trigger most headaches and what you can do to reduce their effect:

1.  The Stress in Your Life.

You’re probably saying “duh” to this one.  When your nerves are on edge due to stress, it can trigger migraines as well as “tension” headaches.  Unfortunately, stress seems to be a routine part of daily life and can be caused by everything from your kids fighting with each other to rush hour traffic.  Please take note of the first part of the last statement:  “stress seems to be a routine part of daily life.”  In other words, stress is always there and even though you can try to “de-stress” by doing something you enjoy, in the back of your mind, you’re probably still stressing over all the problems that are going to be waiting for you when you get back home.

So what’s the answer?  The answer isn’t in constantly trying to de-stress, although it definitely helps to do that every once in a while.  But let’s face it, you can’t spend all day “hiding” from the world in whatever “stress-free” zone you’ve built for yourself.   For example, I love to meditate but it’s unrealistic to spend the entire day in meditation.  If you do, you’ll miss all the wonderful things life has to offer.  You’ll miss out on life itself.

The best solution, in my opinion, is to learn how to become better at handling stress. I’ve found two things that have helped me beat stress over the years.  The first is physical exercise. Every one or two hours, take 5 minutes and do something physical.  It can be as simple as getting up and walking around the office to the copy machine and back.  My favorite is to climb up a flight of stairs and then come back down.  Anything that gets your heart beating a little faster will help to melt stress away.

The second is your mental attitude. I’ve learned to live with the attitude that no matter happens, “this too shall pass.”  And believe me, with the business I’m in, I’ve been in some serious positions (IRS problems, for one) that should have driven me to drink.  But I’ve trained myself to have faith, to believe that somehow, we’d get through it, and we always have.  A good mental attitude will prevent stress from taking over your life.

Stress is the number one trigger of most headaches.  Because it’s a part of our routine lives, you need to have a strategy in place ahead of time in order to reduce its damaging effects.

2.  Eyestrain While Reading or Watching.

Most of us nowadays spend some portion of our day staring at a computer screen.  Emails, instant messaging, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, all seem to be part of the modern workplace.  When you spend several hours hunched over a computer, something that’s easy to do when you’re surfing the Net, your eyes can get strained and trigger a headache.

You can easily prevent that from happening by taking frequent breaks to change your eye’s range of focus.  If you’ve spent the past hour starting at your computer screen (close or short-distance focus), spend a minute or two looking at something on the opposite wall (mid to long distance focus).  Give your eyes a “workout” by switching from focusing on something close, to something distant, then to something in between.  Doing this a couple of times only takes a minute and will go a long ways towards reducing eyestrain.

If you find that you’re still getting headaches after reading or working at a computer, consider having your eyes checked to determine whether or not you may need reading glasses.  If you already use reading glasses, an eye exam will determine whether or not your prescription needs to be adjusted.  By the way, even if you don’t wear glasses (or contacts), having your eyes checked every two years should be a routine part of your health maintenance plan anyway.

Oh, I mentioned that you might be “hunched” over a computer screen so don’t forget to add a couple of slow neck turns and shoulder shrugs in order to reduce any muscle tension in those areas (see number 4 below).

3.  What you Eat and Drink.

A lot of foods contain chemicals (either naturally or through additives) that can trigger headaches so it’s important to be aware of the effects of what you eat and drink on your body. Items like coffee, tea, sodas, cocoa, and most chocolates contain caffeine, a natural chemical that is pretty addictive.  If you’re a 2-3 cup a day coffee drinker, or if you drink 2-3 sodas a day like I did, try going a day without drinking coffee or sodas and see what happens.  Instant headache.

Other foods may contain additives that can trigger headaches.  Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) and some artificial sweeteners (aspartame) are just two examples.

Lastly, missing or skipping a meal, either because you’re trying to diet or because you’re just too busy to eat, can trigger a “hunger” headache.

The best way to prevent headaches caused by your diet is to try to eat a balanced one that’s high in fiber and nutrition and low in fats, sugars, and additives.  Here’s another tip:  make sure you drink plenty of water during the day.

4.  Sitting for Long Periods.

If you work in an office, sitting for long periods is probably part of your job.  But sitting hunched over a computer screen or talking on the phone can quickly lead to tension headaches caused by tight shoulder, neck, and back muscles that are spending too much time in one position.  The best way to prevent these types of headaches is to take frequent short breaks to loosen these muscle groups.

It’s easy to loosen these muscles and you don’t even need to leave your office or cubicle.  Simply sit back in your chair and relax your shoulders.  Bring them down as low as they’ll go.  Now move them forward as far as they’ll go.  Now back.  You get the idea.  Slowly work them back and forth, then up and down until they feel lose and relaxed.

Now do the same with your neck muscles.  Relax your neck and slowly let it drop forward so you chin is on your chest.  Now slowly move it as far back as you can until you’re looking up at the ceiling.  Now try to put your left ear on your left shoulder, followed by moving your neck in the other direction.  Lastly, look forward and then slowly move your neck all the way to the left, and then all the way to right as if you’re trying to see someone over your shoulder.  The key is to move your head slowly and to focus on staying relaxed.

Your back is just as easy to stretch and loosen.  Push your chair back and then just lean as far forward as you can.  Try to touch your toes.  You can also do this standing up.  Just feel your back muscles stretch and begin to relax and loosen.  Now stand up, put your hands on your waist, and slowly rotate your hips in a big, wide circle feeling your lower back stretch as you do so.  Now, slowly rotate your hips in the other direction.

These exercises shouldn’t take more than a minute or two and can be done right at your desk.  They’ll prevent your neck, shoulder, and back muscles from triggering a tension headache.

5.  The Quality and Amount of Sleep.

Not getting enough sleep, not getting good quality sleep, or in some cases, getting too much sleep, can all trigger headaches.  In all of these cases, your brain just isn’t getting enough down time (or REM sleep).  All of us go through a natural sleep cycle when we sleep.  If that cycle is disturbed, either because the alarm goes off too soon (or too late) or because of some sort of physical problem (like sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome), it can lead to waking up tired, listless, and with a headache.

To prevent this headache trigger from ruining your day, try to plan your activities so that you get a full night’s sleep.  Try to make sure your sleep is restful by not eating a heavy meal or drinking alcohol too close to bedtime.  Also make sure your sleeping “gear” (your bed and mattress, your bedroom, your pajamas, the temperature in your bedroom, etc) is in good shape and is not preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep.

Conclusion.

There are other headache triggers but these 5 cover the ones that cause the majority of headaches.  Fortunately, these are also the easiest to defend against.  Although I’ve given you a variety of ways to prevent these triggers from creating headaches, most of them boil down to a few basic steps that should be part of your health plan anyway:

• Exercise where and when you can, even if its stretching for a minute or two at your desk;
• Have a positive mental attitude;
• Eat a balanced diet and drink plenty of water;
• Get a good night’s sleep.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: headache, diet, stress, tension, head, pain, sleep, mental attitude, eyestrain, relaxation, meditation, stress relief, destress, de-stress

No related posts.

I’ve kept a journal since my early 20′s.  Believe me, there’s nothing more interesting than going back and reading what I wrote (and was like) 20 or 30 years ago.  You can see the things in your life that have changed, the things that have entered your life and then left again, and the things that have pretty much stayed the same.  It’s a history of how you’ve lived your life.  It shows you exactly “where all the time went.”

The Importance of Keeping a Journal.

Why do I believe that keeping a journal is important?  Because your life is worth recording.  Yes, I know that it’s easier to break out the camera during holidays and special events.  Yes, I know that a picture is worth a thousand words.  However, there is one important thing that pictures do not capture:  your feelings.

Having a picture of your newborn grandchild is nice.  However, reading (and re-reading) in your journal how it felt to hold your grandchild in your arms for the first time will bring back a flood of memories that no picture can ever match.

When you look at a picture, you remember the moment.  When you read an entry in your journal, you re-live the moment.  There’s a huge difference.

That’s why you need to keep a journal.

What to Put in Your Journal.

Most people stress over what to put in their journal.  Don’t.  First of all, your journal is for you.  No one else will ever read it unless you allow them to so don’t worry about spelling, sentence structure, or anything else.

Here are a couple of things I include in my journal:

1.  Random Thoughts. Anything from “buy low, sell high” to “God is love and God lives in me.”  From the silly to the profound, it goes in my journal.  You’d be surprised how often something that seemed completely ridiculous at the time all of a sudden had some deep meaning when I went back and re-read it later.

2.  Events and Feelings. Record the important events and more importantly, how they made you feel.  Don’t worry about completely describing the event, that’s what pictures and videos are for.  Instead, focus on describing your feelings, thoughts, and emotions.  For example, I have all kinds of pictures of my first grandchild but what I remember most are the intense feelings of hope, tenderness, pride, and overwhelming love that I felt when I held him and he first looked up at me.

3.  Exercise, Nutrition, and Sleep. Although many people keep a separate exercise and/or food journal, there’s no reason not to have everything in one place.  The important thing is that you keep track of whether or not you’re exercising consistently, whether or not you’re eating properly, and whether or not you’re getting enough rest.  If not, your journal will help you see exactly where you went off track.

4.  Your Goals, Hopes, and Dreams. Make sure you make a record of what you’d like your future to be like.  What would you like to have, to do, to be?  Reading my past goals usually brings mixed emotions.  Sometimes I get frustrated because I haven’t reached some of my goals.  Other times I’m pleasantly surprised to find that I have accomplished most of what I said I would (sometimes without even knowing it).  And some times, I realize that some of what I said I wanted is no longer desirable.

Review Your Journal Periodically.

Remember when you were growing up and your parents would stand you up straight against a wall or a door frame and mark how much you’d grown?  Remember how good it made you feel when you turned around and saw that the new mark was higher than your old one?  That’s how reviewing your journal makes you feel.  You can actually SEE your progress.

When you review some of your past entries, not only will you re-live some of the more significant moments of your life, you’ll also see how much you’ve grown, how much you’ve changed, how much more you’ve become. You’ll get this incredible feeling that “if I’ve come this far, there’s nothing I can’t do!”

My Challenge To You.

In order for your journal to work for you, you have to make writing in it a habit.  One of the best things I ever did in 2007 was to purchase one of those “daily diaries.”  It’s basically a calendar with one page for each day.  My goal was to fill it up – and I actually did.  Most of my entries are only 1 or 2 paragraphs so it never took more than 5 or 10 minutes each day.  However, I can now look back and see exactly what I was doing/thinking/feeling on this same day a year ago.  It’s kind of neat to be able to do that – and it shows you a lot about how you’re living your life.

My challenge to you is to do the same. Go out today and purchase a yearly “daily dairy” calendar that has one page for each day of whatever size will be convenient for you.  Then at the end of each day, spend no more than 5 or 10 minutes describing what you did, what you thought, or what you felt that day.  An alternative is to make your journal entries in the morning for the previous day but I’ve found that when you do this, a lot of things tend to get forgotten.  However, the important thing is to write something every single day.

So will you do it?  Are you up to the challenge?  I guarantee that it will change your life. How?  By seeing where you’ve been and how you’ve lived, you’ll begin to make better choices for the future.  When you do that, your future changes.  You’ll no longer be caught in the vicious cycle of doing something stupid, feeling bad about it, forgetting about it, and then doing it all over again.  You’ll see a written record of your progress.

Keeping a journal is one of the best things you can do to bring balance to your life.  So what are you waiting for?

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: journal, writing, diary, balance, calendar, daily record, meditation, memory, memories, thoughts

No related posts.

One of the chapters I found interesting was when he was trying to learn how to meditate.  His teachers told him to just sit.  He asked them what he should think about when he sat.  They said, “don’t think, just sit.”  He couldn’t understand at first.  It’s something I struggled with when I first began to meditate.

So what do you think about during meditation?  Nothing.  During meditation, you don’t think.  That doesn’t mean that thoughts don’t enter your mind.  Of course they do.  It means that you shouldn’t be actively creating them.

Sound confusing?  Probably.  In the meditation system that I try to follow (Vipassana or “insight” meditation), the intent is to sit and simply watch what is happening in your body and mind.  You don’t actively create the thoughts that come into your mind but you don’t attempt to suppress them either.  You simply watch them pop up, float around for a while, and then fade away, usually to be replaced by another.  If you try to force them away, you simply create more – just like trying to calm the surface of a pool of water only disturbs it further.

If you try to stop a thought, you tend to become engaged in it.  You’ll chase it around and before you know it, you’re planning what’s for dinner.  This is called “monkey mind” because your mind chases thoughts back and forth like a monkey chasing butterflies.  In this state, your mind never rests because it’s always engaged in an internal conversation that never stops.

So don’t do it.  Just sit and watch it all unfold.  Try to be an objective observer, nothing more.  If a thought pops up (and they will), just see it.  Watch it arise, stay for a while, and then fade away.  Eventually, you’ll find that these thoughts will pop up less and less frequently.  When that happens, you’ll find a peace and tranquility that you’ve never known before.  It’s a silence that’s both completely void of everything and yet, full of everything.  That’s when real insight (Vipassana) takes place, when you see things as they really are.  It’s when you hear the voice of God.

And it all begins with just sitting.

Please don’t think that you have to be Buddhist to meditate, or that meditation will turn you into a Buddhist.  Meditation is an important part of almost all religions.  The Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.”  How do you learn to “be still?”  Through meditation.

So what do you think about when you meditate?  You don’t think at all.  You just sit…

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach andPersonal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S.  Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.”  This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – no email, no cookies, no catch.  Download and enjoy!

Technorati Tags: meditation, meditate, spirituality, peace

Related posts:

1. Learning How to Meditate

What Stress Is

What we call “stress” is the body’s response to a change in your comfort level.  That change could be something physical like an upcoming storm, it could be something emotional like being asked to give a speech in front of a group of strangers, or it could be something mental like worrying about how to get your bills paid.  In either case, your level of comfort changes and you feel stress.

Some stress can be a positive thing, such as when you get an unexpected pay raise.  It can also help make you stronger, such as when you stress a muscle by lifting weights.  However, too much stress or stress caused by negative news or events can create some pretty serious health effects.

It’s important to understand that negative stress can affect your health in a variety of ways including anxiety, mood swings, and depression as well as a number of physical ways such as sleeplessness, fatigue, sweating, and nausea.

Coping with Stress

So how do you deal with negative stress?  How do you cope with its effects?  Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Trust Your Faith.  Whatever your religious beliefs, research shows that people with a strong spirituality are more positive and hopeful towards the future.  They also tend to see stressful situations as part of life that help make us spiritually stronger.  Their belief that there is a greater power in the universe that they can access through prayer and meditation provides the strength and encouragement to handle any kind of stress.

2.  Trust Yourself. Adopt a “survivor mentality” that says, “No matter what, I will get through this.”  This attitude immediately begins to put a positive spin on things and makes them appear more manageable.  Knowing that you’ll survive no matter what happens gets you focused on moving past the problem.  This is obviously better than spending all of your time picturing the many ways that things can go wrong.

3.  Trust the Power of Action. Do something.  It doesn’t really matter what you do, just that you stay active.  Exercise, ride a bike, take a walk, anything to get your heart rate up and your mind off of your troubles.  If there’s a storm coming, throw yourself into the preparations.  Taking action, any kind of action, builds momentum towards a solution.  You’ll be surprised that some of your best ideas on how to cope will come during your bike ride or walk.

4.  Take a News Break. Turn off the 24-hour news coverage of whatever impending disaster they happen to be reporting on.  The news media is great at making it sound like the world is coming to an end – complete with film at 11.  Take a news break and turn off the TV or radio.  Put down the newspaper with the “Doom Doom Doom” headlines.  Walk away from the neighbor who only wants to talk about how the world is going to pot.  This suggestion alone will make some of your stress immediately slip away.

5.  Stay Healthy. During stressful times, it’s critical that you maintain good health.  Make sure that you continue to eat healthy meals, exercise regularly, meditate, and get plenty of rest.  Stress tends to lower your immune system making it easy to get sick – which adds even more stress.

Stress is Part of Life

The only sure thing in life is that things will change – and when they do, many of us experience stress.  Stress is a part of life and learning how to deal with it is part of balanced health.  I hope this short article has given you some ideas on how to cope with the next problem that comes your way.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: stress, meditation, meditate, stressor, anxiety, balanced health, exercise, hurricane, cope, coping, Gustav

Related posts:

1. Coping with High Blood Pressure

This is a short, 5 minute animated video on how to meditate.  Now, I know that there are many people that believe that meditation is anti-Christian or an “instrument of the Devil” but that’s not true.

Meditation is simply a way to reduce the “mental noise” created by all of the thoughts, worries, and frustrations that are part of our everyday, hectic lives.  The volume of this “mental noise” is turned down to the point that God’s love and wiscom can actually starting coming in.

I believe that there’s nothing better than meditation to help you deal with life’s ups and downs.  And when it comes to worship, meditation helps get you closer to God, however you may define Him (or Her).

It’s my hope that you’ll give meditation a try.  This short video will get you started.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: meditation, God, worship, relaxation, mind and spirit, how to meditate

Related posts:

1. Being Present in a Relationship