Breathing techniques can help calm your nervous system and reduce muscular tension.
One key principle is to prolong your out breath, which helps to calm the body.
Try this technique:
1. Breath in through the nose, for a count of four
2. Pause for a count of one
3. Breath out slowly for a count of six.
Studies show that muscular tension is on the rise in all of us. For shoulder and neck pain, massage therapy has been shown to increase levels of your body’s natural painkillers – endorphins and serotonin – which help to reduce stress hormone levels.
If your jaw is tense, it’s often because you are clenching, or grinding, your teeth overnight, which can lead to headaches.
Try this resisted-opening technique:
1. Open your jaw as far as is comfortable.
2. Put your thumb (or hand) underneath your chin and apply gentle pressure.
3. Now open your jaw a little further while applying resistance with your thumb.
4. Hold for up to 10 seconds, then repeat between five and ten times. You should feel a sense of easing.
Finding that perfect work-life balance isn’t easy. Here are some tips to help you take it down a gear or two…
With doctors fearing the return of rickets due to low levels of the sunshine vitamin, how can we sun-starved Brits get enough this winter?
How to get more sunshine
Although it’s important to protect yourself in the sun, you need to build up your vitamin D levels with bursts of unprotected sun between April and October to build reserves for the winter. Try getting 10-15 mins of sun exposure to your arms, hands or back, two to three times a week. Longer exposure doesn’t provide additional benefits, so make sure you apply a high SPF afterwards.
Take a supplement
The Department of Health advises those who have low or no exposure to sun, those with darker skin, over 65s and all children aged 6 months to five years to take a vitamin D supplement. In addition, it is recommended that, in winter months, everyone should consider taking a 10 microgram supplement if their diet is unlikely to provide it.
Eat well
Although you might only get a small portion of vitamin D from your diet, it’s still important to eat a mix of foods rich in the stuff, especially during the winter. Top up on oily fish, egg yolk, fortified cereals, red meat and dairy products.
Four out of five of us will suffer with back pain and it’s normally triggered by bad posture. Many of us are sitting at computers for up to eight hours, bending awkwardly, or lifting incorrectly. Here are some was that will help prevent and relieve mild back pain:
Strengthen your core muscles
Your core isn’t just your stomach, but back muscles too. Pilates exercises can help ensure these muscles are kept strong, protecting your spine. Also try gentle weights or aerobic exercise.
Be careful when lifting
Always bend at the knees without twisting, keep the weight close to your body and try not to over-stretch your back.
Sit up straight
This is very important if you’re working at a desk. Face the keyboard and screen, with forearms, wrists and thighs parallel with the floor and feet on the ground.
Take breaks from sitting down
Stand up and hug your body – right hand on left shoulder and left on right. Breathe in and out to stretch your back. Shrug shoulders and try torso twists in your chair to ease the spine.
If your pain is severe, see your doctor for advice.
Have you ever wonder if you are doing enough exercise? Are you confused by which intensity, frequency and type of activities you should be doing? Listed here are guidelines issued by The Department of Health, which outline the amount of exercise a typical person should aim for based on their age.
Adults (19–64 years):
Adults (65+ years):
Children & young people (5-18 years):
Individual physical and mental capabilities should be considered when interpreting the guidelines. Always consult your doctor before you start a new exercise regime.
The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will usually remain constant. If you take in more calories than your body needs, you will put on excess fat. If you expend more energy than you take in you will burn excess fat.
Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing energy output, calling on stored calories for extra fuel. Recent studies show that not only does exercise increase metabolism during a workout, but it causes your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising, allowing you to burn more calories.
How much exercise is needed to make a difference in your weight depends on the amount and type of activity, and on how much you eat. Aerobic exercise burns body fat. A medium-sized adult would have to walk more than 30 miles to burn up 3,500 calories, the equivalent of one pound of fat. Although that may seem like a lot, you don’t have to walk the 30 miles all at once. Walking a mile a day for 30 days will achieve the same result, providing you don’t increase your food intake to negate the effects of walking.
If you consume 100 calories a day more than your body needs, you will gain approximately 10 pounds in a year. You could take that weight off, or keep it off, by doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily. The combination of exercise and diet offers the most flexible and effective approach to weight control.
Since muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue, and exercise develops muscle to a certain degree, your bathroom scale won’t necessarily tell you whether or not you are “fat.” Well-muscled individuals, with relatively little body fat, invariably are “overweight” according to standard weight charts. If you are doing a regular program of strength training, your muscles will increase in weight, and possibly your overall weight will increase. Body composition is a better indicator of your condition than body weight.
Lack of physical activity causes muscles to get soft, and if food intake is not decreased, added body weight is almost always fat. Once-active people, who continue to eat as they always have after settling into sedentary lifestyles, tend to suffer from “creeping obesity.”
Our everyday lifestyle can put strain on our bodies. Considering most of us work 8 plus hour days and sit in front of computers for the majority of the time, we need to sit up and be aware of our posture. Here are some top tips for achieving good posture, issued by the NHS.
Support your back
Avoid back pain by adjusting your chair so that your lower back is properly supported. A correctly adjusted chair will reduce the strain on your back.
Adjust your chair
Adjust your chair height so that you can use the keyboard with your wrists and forearms straight and level with the floor. This can help prevent repetitive strain injuries.
Rest your feet on floor
Your feet should be flat on the floor. If they’re not, ask if you can have a footrest, which lets you rest your feet at a level that’s comfortable. Don’t cross your legs, as this can cause posture-related problems.
Place your screen at eye level
Your screen should be directly in front of you. A good guide is to place the monitor about an arm’s length away, with the top of the screen roughly at eye level.
Using the keyboard
Place your keyboard in front of you when typing. Leave a gap of about four to six inches (100mm-150mm) at the front of the desk to rest your wrists between bouts of typing. Your wrists should be straight when using a keyboard.
Keep your mouse close
Position and use the mouse as close to you as possible. A mouse mat with a wrist pad may help to keep your wrist straight and avoid awkward bending.
Avoid screen reflection
Your screen should be as glare-free as possible. If there’s glare on your screen, hold a mirror in front of it to identify the cause. Position the monitor to avoid reflection from overhead lighting and sunlight.
Working with spectacles
People with bifocal spectacles may find them less than ideal for computer work. It’s important to be able to see the screen easily without having to raise or lower your head.
Make objects accessible
Position frequently used objects, such as your telephone or stapler, within easy reach. Avoid repeatedly stretching or twisting to reach things.
Avoid phone strain
If you spend a lot of time on the phone, try exchanging your handset for a headset. Repeatedly cradling the phone between your ear and shoulder can strain the muscles in your neck.
For the full article and a video explaining how bad posture contributes to health problems including back pain, visit the NHS website: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/workplacehealth/Pages/howtositcorrectly.aspx
As the popularity of high-intensity workouts soars, the pressure of Hiit workouts and the like, can mean that people are more susceptible to injury.
Which is why there is a new-found importance being placed on recovery – this year’s buzzword – and there has been a rise in classes such as restorative yoga and self-myofascial release (soft-tissue therapy) methods that also include massage balls, foam rollers, ice baths and massage.
These techniques can help promote recovery and enhance overall sports performance and longevity in training, whatever your goals might be.
The recovery phase has long been an important (but too often ignored) part of a workout. But these strategies speed up and optimise recovery and rebuilding, meaning you are less likely to tear, pull or anger anything that might end up putting you out of your new-year regime altogether.
Forget stress eating—new research shows that crazy long to-do lists do more than encourage you to reach for that triple chic muffin. Try these simple stress busters to keep your metabolism up to speed.
Take a spin. Twirl around in a circle and say what’s bothering you out loud. You’ll feel silly and may even laugh. It’s hard to laugh and be stressed at the same time!
Get outdoors. When you go outside, you realise that you’re not the centre of the universe but just a part of it. So your problems don’t seem as big. To turn your stroll into a walking meditation, say ‘peace’ each time you take a step. Five minutes a day keeps stress at bay.
Give thanks. Keep a running appreciation list on your phone. Being thankful every day puts frustrations in perspective.
Deck out your desk. Place a photo of a loved one or some fresh flowers near your computer. It’ll remind you that your world is not simply about paperwork, computers and deadlines – there is more to life than your desk.
Cut the clutter. Straighten up your drawers or clean out the cupboards. Rifling through things takes up time and creates frustration. These are mindful things that bring order to your life.
Find a new hobby. New endeavours enrich our lives and give our minds a rest from our daily to-do list. How about taking a new art class, hiking, singing, or getting involved in a book club?