You’ve Gotta Have Heart

February is American Heart Month.  Heart disease is the leading cause of death among American women, killing more than one third of them annually. Here are a few other numbers you need to know.

• 35.3% of deaths in American women over the age of 20 (or more than 432,000) are caused by cardiovascular disease each year.

• More than 200,000 women die each year from heart attacks- killing five times as many women as breast cancer. More women die of cardiovascular disease than from the next four causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.

• More than 159,000 women die each year of congestive heart failure, accounting for 56.3% of all heart failure deaths.

A heart attack occurs when the blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked, usually by a blood clot. If this clot cuts off the blood flow completely, the part of the heart muscle supplied by that artery begins to die.

Signs of a Heart Attack:

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

If you have any of these signs, don’t wait more than five minutes before calling for help. Call 9-1-1…Get to a hospital right away…act fast and live.

The irony of all this is that 80% of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women made healthy choices for their hearts regarding diet, exercise, and abstinence from smoking.

But, there is another element necessary to have a really healthy heart; how your heart feels and deals with the aspects of daily life are equally as important. We’ve all heard the expression, “she died of a broken heart”, or “he has suffered such a heartache”. These can be real outcomes and manifestations of our internal emotional state.

Maintaining a healthy outlook on life is essential for our wellness.  Working through issues so that they are not allowed to fester and grow, even underground, is critical. Reiki is a wonderful way to peel the onion of all those layers that can often add insulation and contradiction to our mental attitude.

Reiki works gently, slowly clearing away the “dis-ease” that has inhabited our bodies, minds, and spirits. You can never get too much Reiki, as the wisdom within the energy will always work to support your highest and best good.

Likewise, if you need to replace old thought patterns (or old habits) with newer and healthier ones, hypnosis can assist you in harnessing your best asset – your mind – so that you can move forward unencumbered by previous selections.

Nothing is impossible and no one is too old to reap the benefits of healthier life choices. Start now and keep your heart as healthy as it can be, for you and for all those people who love you, too!

Be well ~

Catching Your ZZZZZ’s

To sleep…perchance to dream.   Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Yet three out of four Americans have difficulty sleeping at some point in their life. Sleep is one of our basic needs –  like air, water, and food. Why then, can it be so elusive?

Sleeplessness, or difficulty getting enough of the right kind of sleep, can be identified as insomnia, a disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or both. With insomnia, you usually wake up feeling un-refreshed, which takes a toll on your ability to function appropriately during the day. Insomnia can also sap not only your energy level and mood, but also your health, work performance and quality of life. After just a few nights of too little sleep, you can experience severe consequences in your mood and behavior.

Our bodies need to reach the deep sleep cycle in order to refresh, replenish, regenerate and heal. Without it, our entire well-being will be effected. Getting adequate and appropriate sleep will boost mood and memory, reduce stress, lower the probability of food cravings and weight gain, and decrease the opportunity for more severe health issues to proliferate, like heart disease and diabetes.

How much sleep is necessary for healthy functioning  will vary from person to person, but most adults need seven to eight hours a night on a regular basis. (Playing catch-up on the weekend is NOT a long-term fix!)

Some of the most common culprits for those sleepless nights may include:

• Stress

• Anxiety

• Depression or extreme sadness

• Medications

• Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol

• Medical conditions

• Menopause

• Lack of exercise or too much exercise too close to the bedtime hour

• Over-stimulation too close to the bedtime hour (this includes watching television, working on computers, texting, and tweeting!)

• Shift work or schedule changes

The good news is that, unless there is a major underlying medical condition, a lot of those sleepless nights can become a thing of the past with a few, relatively easy and safe fixes.

Since stress is such a common factor in sleep disruption and insomnia, and has severe implications for other disease entities, releasing stress is a first and foremost step. Mind-Body practices are ideal for this. Reiki is a relaxation and stress relief modality that is non-invasive, supportive, relaxing and nurturing. It is also a practice that can be learned in order to enhance self-care.

Since stress can often be deep-seeded, stronger measures may be called for. Hypnosis can delve into the subconscious mind, finding, reframing and releasing some of the underlying causes of stress and insomnia. It is not logical to think that we can live in this modern world and never again be bothered by stress. It is logical to take positive steps to reduce it, release it, and find some semblance of inner relaxation to help deal with our daily lives.

Here are a few other actions you might try to catch your ZZZZZ’s again:

1. Set a regular bed time and bedtime ritual. Whether it is a cup of chamomile tea or a warm bath, try to be consistent every night, both with the activities you engage in prior to sleep and the time that you turn off the light and crawl beneath the covers.
2. Create a quiet, dark, and tranquil environment for sleep. Not getting enough darkness in your room can actually inhibit the sleep hormone melatonin. Any light, even that from the television, laptop, smartphone, digital clock, or the bathroom down the hall, can slow or stop the flow of melatonin. Aim for at least 8 hours of total darkness every night. Use blackout shades or a sleep mask, as need be.
3. Eat well, but at least three hours prior to lights out. A full stomach can inhibit sleep over digestion and isn’t all that comfortable, either. And while alcohol can induce drowsiness to begin with, it will rebound later in the night with periods of wakefulness, so drink early and moderately. Likewise, the effects of caffeine stay in your body for 8 hours or longer, so try tea for that late day pick-me-up instead of a latte.
4. There are a lot of herbal remedies on the market nowadays, as well as tried and true home remedies. Opt for those with more research and a long-standing success rates. Chamomile, hops, lavender, valerian, and passionflower have all shown usefulness in enhancing restful sleep. Supplements like melatonin, 5HTP, and magnesium are useful, as well. Always follow label directions or speak with your health practitioner for usage guidance.
5. Aromatherapy has shown to be useful in inducing a relaxation state that promotes sleep. The most sedating essential oils are neroli, pettigrain, chamomile, lavender, bergamot, sandalwood and myrrh. Find a scent that is pleasant for you and place it in an electric diffuser to fill your room with the scent.  Be sure to use 100% pure essential oils and do not put them directly on skin.
6. Turn down the thermostat. Studies have shown that sleep is enhanced when the bedroom temperature was lower than 68 degrees, year round.
7. If you’re having difficulty staying asleep, make your bedroom a pet-free sleeping zone. As much as we all love our pets, their sleep cycles and ours do not always coincide and their activity and movement may be adding to your sleeplessness.
8. Save the bed for sleep (or sex) but not for grading papers, arguing on the telephone with your mother, or watching that late night creature feature. And when it comes to the late night news, boycott anything that puts negative thoughts or images into your head for at least 30 minutes prior to sleep.
9. Lastly, don’t worry about it! Worrying only increases your inability to fall asleep. If after 20-30 minutes you are still staring at the cracks in the ceiling, get up, go into another room, do something useful; write down the thoughts swirling through your head; and try to STAY AWAKE. Sometimes, by trying to stay awake, our bodies will do just the opposite and you will find yourself sawing logs again, before your alarm clock rings.

If you would like more information on how Reiki or hypnosis can help you sleep, visit www.ahealingplacecanby.com.

Be well ~

Diabetes in the News

Type II diabetes has been in the news a lot lately. Paula Dean, the self-proclaimed Queen of Southern Cooking, recently revealed that she has had Adult Onset Diabetes Mellitus (ADOM) or Type II diabetes, for three years and is now making it her quest to educate and assist people in changing their diets and their lives.

On a more personal level, my family recently helped my in-laws make a lifestyle move into an assisted living apartment, as a result of the changes and needs brought about by diabetes. During the admission process, we were amazed to hear the intake coordinator say that 98% of the residents were diabetic at some level. That means 98 of the 100 residents there are diabetic!

This is huge! Just think of the ramifications that diabetes has on our health care system, our families, and our lifestyles –  the overwhelming costs that this disease process adds to our daily lives and the resources it consumes. All this for a disease that could be prevented or, at the very least, minimized.

By definition, Type II diabetes, once known as adult-onset diabetes, is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose), which is your body’s main source of fuel.

With Type II diabetes, your body either resists the effects of insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your blood cells — or doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level. Untreated, Type II diabetes can be life-threatening.

While anyone can get Type II diabetes, those at highest risk for the disease are those who are obese or overweight, people with family members who have Type II diabetes, and people who have a cluster of problems that include high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Older people are more susceptible to developing the disease, since aging makes the body less tolerant of sugar. In addition, people who smoke, have inactive lifestyles, or have certain unhealthy dietary patterns have an increased risk of developing Type II diabetes.

So what can you do to keep from becoming one of the 98%?

• Educate yourself. Knowledge is power. Nowadays, with the internet, television, and the plethora of self-help books, there is no excuse for not knowing what constitutes a healthier lifestyle.

• Get checked out. See your doctor for any unusual or troublesome symptoms you might be experiencing. Discuss your family history and your current style of living.

• Make small changes. You don’t have to change everything at once, especially if you start early, before you find yourself in diabetic shock.

• LOSE WEIGHT. This alone can have the largest impact on whether you develop diabetes or not. Cut out (or at least cut down on) sugars, fats, and alcohol consumption. Check your weight and your BMI (body mass index) and aim for that “healthy column”, so you are less susceptible to the other changes that will naturally occur as we grow older. And if you need assistance in shedding those unhealthy pounds, stopping smoking,  and creating beneficial new habits, try hypnosis. Hypnosis is a powerful and empowering way to take control of that which only you can…your thoughts, your mind, and your body.

• Exercise. Not only will this help keep the scale tipped in your favor, it will improve your mood and your desire to maintain other healthy lifestyle choices.

Although there is no cure for Type II diabetes [yet], it does not have to be a death sentence. It is a wake-up call to action. And you can manage -  or even prevent – the condition. Do it now. Do it for life.

Be well ~

A Gift of Love

Okay. I’m going to be very self-revealing here. My husband and I have birthdays only six days apart and this past December we decided to give each other a very special gift… colonoscopies. Colonoscopies, you say? Well, yes. It is truly a gift of love.

You see, as a nurse, and given the other less-than-joyful procedures I’ve endured over the years, I knew that I would have no problem having a colonoscopy done. My guy, on the other hand, is pretty typically male; “You’re not puttin’ that thing anywhere near me!”  I knew that if I was ever to get him to agree, and follow through with the procedure, we would have to do it together. So we did!

We “prepared” at home together by consuming the same clear liquid diet, and drinking the same liquid laxative. (We did have separate bathrooms, however.) Our daughter drove us to the office together. And we were quite the talk of the very busy gastroenterology clinic. While we each had a different doctor, so we could have the procedures preformed at the same time, they did give us adjoining curtained cubicles and the staff worked (and laughed) between the two of us.

When the job was completed, we each got a clean report card and our daughter drove us immediately to the nearest Burgerville. All in all, the whole thing was a piece of cake. (No pun intended!) Even my husband admits that it was more of the anticipation that kept him from doing this earlier. He won’t be so reticent when he has to repeat it in ten years.

Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States, but it can be detected during colonoscopy. In the past decade, there has been unprecedented progress in reducing colorectal cancer incidence and death rates in most US popula­tion groups. This progress has come about largely through the prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer through screening (colonoscopy). Screening has the potential to prevent colorectal cancer because most colorectal cancers develop from polyps. (Polyps are noncancerous growths in the colon and rectum. ) Though most polyps will not become cancerous, detecting and removing them through screening can actually prevent cancer from occurring. Furthermore, being screened at the recommended frequency increases the likelihood that when colorectal cancer is present, it will be detected at an earlier stage, when it is more likely to be cured, treatment is less extensive, and the recovery is much faster.

To learn more please visit: http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-028323.pdf

And when your birthday rolls around, consider giving yourself the gift of love – a colonoscopy. And don’t forget to make it a party!

Be well ~

Empowering Yourself to Grow Outward and Upward

There is a fairly well-accepted school of thought that states if one is open and lives in an atmosphere of love and possibility, one is able to grow outward and upward. In the reverse, if one is dominated by hatred and fear, then one ceases to grow at all and will eventually wither and die.

I really like this philosophy and see it played out daily in the lives of my clients, friends, and family.  And while there are times – moments – when I might succumb to the latter frame of mine, I do dwell in the realm of possibility more often than not.

So, where do you live? Stop and take stock of what you are thinking right this minute. (Yes, I know you are thinking about 4 or 5 things other than this blog right now!) Are your thoughts positive ones? “Hey, she’s brought up an interesting point!” “I wonder what an atmosphere of love and possibility feels like?”

Or, are your thoughts negative ones? “Who does she think she is?” “She’s got to be kidding! The world is too *&%$#* to be all lovey-dovey about it!” “Get real!”

Unfortunately, too many of us spend too much time in the second category. I have seen studies that indicate over 80% of our daily self-talk is negative, and we are self-talking all the time. Eighty percent! How sad is that?! No wonder we are exhausted and can’t move ahead in life.

Okay. On to something positive then. You can change it! You can change your self-talk. You can change your outlook. You can change the world (or at least your own little corner of it).

I know because I’ve done it and I’ve helped numerous other people do it, too. But how, you might ask.

First, fake it ‘til you make it. I know this has become rather cliché, but it works. The mind doesn’t differentiate what is actually true from what we tell it is true, so tell yourself the story you want to hear. Eventually, it will begin to manifest, often bigger and better than you dreamed it would be.

Next, any time, EVERY time, you catch yourself in a negative self-talk conversation, STOP IT! Right on the spot…stop the negative thought and replace it with a positive one. And, heaven forbid, that you should sit around commiserating with friends on negative subjects. That just adds gasoline to the fire. STOP IT! You have the power and the ability to change your words and your conversations. Misery loves company, you think? Misery only loves misery!

Lastly, get assistance. If you are having a difficult time doing this on your own, then don’t. Hypnotherapy is wonderful for helping to re-adjust those thought patterns, re-frame those old incidents, and re-envision the future as you want it to be. It is a powerful and empowering way to take control of that which only you can…your thoughts and your mind.

If we are to continue to grow outward and upward, to take on life with a positive outlook, and reap positive rewards, we must be able to live in the arena of love and possibility. Only then, will we change tomorrow for the better.

Be well ~

Please Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First…

While  listening to the flight crew give emergency instructions on a recent plane trip, one of them stuck out in my mind. “In case of a loss of cabin pressure, an oxygen mask will drop down from the overhead compartment. Please put on your own oxygen mask before attempting to help others with theirs,” or words to that effect.

That got me to thinking… Those instructions are vital not only in a mid-air emergency, but in our everyday lives, as well. If we don’t put on our own oxygen mask first, and take care or our basic needs, how can we expect to be of use or service to anyone else? What makes us think that we can function without air? While we might very well be Superman or WonderWoman, we still have to breathe.

Being a woman, it is especially easy to fall into that rut of putting everyone else first – I hear it all the time. But it happens so insidiously, most of us are barely aware that we are slowly suffocating the life out of ourselves. And we are always doing it so selflessly, too. We are taking care of family, kids, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, bosses, co-workers, teachers, home, school projects, sports teams, church groups.

It never starts out to be too much, but added all together, it slowly becomes more than we can (or should) handle. And do most of us say so? Of course not! I grew up in the era when women were striving to do it all – have it all – shatter the glass ceiling. To turn around and say that we couldn’t possibly handle it all would have been heresy…God forbid…turn in your brassiere!

So where does that leave us? Usually at the bottom of our own To-Do list, (if we even make the list at all). Might I make a few suggestions to help put the air back in your lungs and your sails? We must make it a priority to take a break from the hectic over-scheduled days that are driving us further away from ourselves. “Schedule” it, if you must; but just do it, at least for a few minutes every day.

• read
• meditate
• look at nature
• get a massage
• do Reiki
• journal
• learn a new language
• pick up an instrument
• pet a dog/cat
• take a walk

When you do not take the time to be relaxed and refreshed, you are less able to focus and less capable of making good choices and decisions, not only for yourself, but for your family and co-workers, too. Your health and well-being suffers. Then what value are you?

First and foremost, we are human “beings”, not human “doings”. We were designed for periods of “fight or flight”, to be followed by “rest and relaxation”. Make it a priority to put some of the R & R back in your life and watch the positive changes that will develop.

When in doubt, remember the words of the flight crew… “Put on your own oxygen mask first.”

Be well ~

Life is the Coffee

Sometimes in life we lose sight of what we have, what we have accomplished, and what we really want in life.

Now is a great time to take stock of your life and figure out how 2012 will be different (or just more of the same). And if you would benefit from some assistance with how to improve the quality of your life, or if there are old habits holding you back from achieving true happiness, contact me and let’s talk. There are many ways we can make your life more satisfying.

In the meantime, consider this story that I recently uncovered in my clippings folder. The original author is unknown, but I have typed it here exactly as I found it.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups…and then began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee.

The jobs, money, and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of Life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee…enjoy your coffee.”

Be well ~

Strengthen Your New Year’s Resolution

Each year on January 1^st , many of us make one (or more) New Year’s resolutions and by January 15^th, most of us have given up on them. Why is this? Why do we humans find it so difficult to stick to our resolutions, especially when we know that they will be good for us?

Most likely, it is because our highly complex “computer brain” is hard-wired to resist change, even those changes that might be good for us. But don’t despair. It can be done. Hypnosis can get into that hard-wired, multi-chip processor and assist in making the changes you want to see really happen. It may take a little time (usually habits can be shifted in 21 days) but those “old” neural pathways can be over-written and your brain can be re-trained to accomplish everything you literally “set your mind to”.

In the meantime, these tips will help you retrain your brain so you can stick with your New Year’s resolutions.

• Write it down. Thoughts committed to paper are twice as likely to manifest into reality as those that just float around in our heads.

• Believe you can do it! Believe in yourself, first and foremost. Talk yourself up. Fake it ‘til you make it. If you can be positive, you will have a greater chance of achieving your goals.

• Don’t try to change everything at once. Rather than making multiple resolutions that are overwhelming and impossible to achieve, choose one or two specific behaviors you want to change and start there. Success will lead you to success and more changes can occur as time goes on.

• Don’t replace one bad habit with another. Don’t stop eating cookies but start drinking diet pop. Don’t quit smoking but start guzzling coffee all day long. This only substitutes one unhealthy vice with another. Exchange your old bad habits with new good habits.

• Reward yourself for small successes. When you reach a goal or follow through on your resolutions, reward yourself with something healthy. This does not always mean that the reward need be something expensive or naughty. Often the gift of a few quiet moments to read, walk the dog, phone a friend, write in your journal, or take a long bath are the best (and safest) rewards. NOTE: If losing weight is one of your new year’s resolutions, do not use food as a reward!

•  If you get derailed, get back on track. Setbacks don’t have to mean failure. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a small setback. Just acknowledge it and get back on your program as soon as possible. Don’t toss the entire week out or wait until it stops raining. Do it immediately. Change will happen. Keep up the good work.

Be well ~

 

Happy New Year – 2012

I remember when I was young(er), I could not imagine the year 2000 and beyond. First of all, I grew up reading 1984, by George Orwell and I didn’t figure I’d get much past that year. Then, I couldn’t fathom being forty years old. Surely, that was old!

But here I am. Well north of 1984 and forty and still having a ball! Life has so much to offer and there is still so much to share and experience and learn.

This year, think about what you want to be, experience, learn, share, and do – just for the heck of it – or perhaps for some higher purpose. Write it down…now. Make that bucket list. You don’t even need to look at it again. But committing it to paper will help it to manifest into a reality.

Then go. Get started. Assemble the resources you need and go forth. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the pieces at the outset. When an action is the right one, those pieces usually, and miraculously, fall into place.

If you are stuck on what to do, or how to get there, consider hypnosis. It is common for our critical left brain to censor our thoughts, sometimes as quickly as we are thinking them. Through hypnosis, you can quiet the left brain and let the subconscious play. Thoughts that seem merely to be a dream can grow and take shape and change our lives in wonderful new ways.

In the meantime, take a moment to enjoy all the possibilities, as we stand, poised on the edge of a new year. And I’ll bet by this time next year, you’ll find fewer things on that bucket list and more things on your calendar.

Be well ~

Hypnobirthing®: A Breakthrough in Natural Childbirth

Pain is a natural part of childbirth, right? Wrong. It doesn’t have to be; not with wonderful techniques available to expectant moms, like Hypnobirthing®. While I was never able to experience giving birth to my own child, if I could have, I would have taken advantage of the Hypnobirthing® philosophy and technique, which support a quiet, peaceful, calm environment and process of giving birth, something many moms (and dads!) desire.

Founded by Marie Mongan in 1991, Hypnobirthing® practitioners utilize the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind in order to bring about a relaxing and stress-free birth.

Hypnosis is a state that we all enter into daily, and multiple times each day. Many of us are familiar with highway hypnosis, arriving at our destination safely with little memory of how we drove there; or daydreaming, when our conscious mind floats away and back again. By learning to harness these periods of altered consciousness, birthing can be a physically, mentally, and spiritually fulfilling experience.

Many moms that are able to use Hypnobirthing® say they experience little to no pain, feel in control of their bodies, and remain extremely relaxed. Hypnobirthing® has been shown to decrease the active labor and delivery time, and the need for pain medications, as well.

If you are interested in learning more about Hypnobirthing® or finding a practitioner near you, go to http://www.hypnobirthing.com/findapract.htm.

Through the power of hypnosis, you can return the birthing experience to the safe, natural, nurturing, and beautiful event it was meant to be.

Be well ~