Using Positive Psychology to boost Resilience – Part 1
Sometimes in life we can get trapped, focusing on what we don’t have rather that what we do have, which can lead to a state of anxiety and stress. I know in the past, I have been guilty of believe my happiness will increase when I earn more, find my ideal man, get promoted at work (- obviously I am talking about before I was self-employed), have a bigger house. The danger is when we get the promotion, pay rise, bigger house etc we immediately focus on the next goal and an increase in our happiness is now dependent on our next goal.
Growing up with mother who suffered from frequent bouts of depression which made her focus on the negativity, I have learned the importance of focusing on the positive. Now their may be some people reading this, saying that is all well and good for you, but isn’t that burying your head in the sand when your have problems. The short answer to this is no. It is important to acknowledge your problems & difficulties but rather than focus on life’s BS and pain, focus on what is going right. At the same time remember that what ever isn’t working in your life right now, will pass!
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Is slouching that bad for you? – part 1
We spend the vast majority of our time in static positions — either sitting or standing — when the temptation to slump and sag is just too great. Most of us know from experience that sitting hunched in front of a computer or driving wheel can lead to a stiff, painful back and shoulders.
But in this blog article and the next three, I want to explain how poor posture can lead to other health problems . . . It may raise your blood pressure.... The usual risk factors for high blood pressure are age, being overweight, smoking and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. But scientists now think slouching may trigger it, too. This is because there is a link between neck muscles and the area of the brain that helps regulate blood pressure. In a study published in 2007, neuro-scientists at the University of Leeds found that when cells in the neck muscles sense the neck is moving, they send a signal to that area of the brain. The theory is that this helps ensure adequate blood supply when we change posture, for example from sitting to standing. But if the neck muscle cells become damaged or pressured through stooping and slumping, this could trigger problems with blood pressure, suggests Professor Jim Deuchars, the scientist who led the study. He adds that this might explain why some people who suffer whiplash injuries notice a change in their blood pressure — sometimes it’s higher, sometimes lower. ‘It’s possible that poor posture, which compresses the neck muscles, may be involved in high blood pressure, too, but more research is needed.’
Are you an eMail Junkie?
Most people now have at least one smartphone, normally a work phone, a blackberry and a personal phone. With our professional and personal inbox's bulging, is constantly checking our email turning us all into unproductive email junkies? An article in this Thursday's Evening Standard called "Supertask me", made me think. Now that we live in a world where we only are without email on a flight (a blissful respite that I am sure we will loose soon) are we all email junkies? Checking your email is a double edged sword. On the one hand if you check it too often then it becomes too frequent an interruption, you feel very busy but checking it too often will adversely impact your productivity. On the other hand we’ve constantly got to be checking it, or risk the wrath of the bosses and co-workers that are trying to communicate with us. If we don’t respond to an email within 5 minutes, we’re seen as lazy or unproductive. As calling a co-worker when you want an urgent response has been replaced by email, the temptation is to constantly check your emails to demonstrate you are at the top of your game. With the amount of email we receive now and need to respond to now, its very easy to feel overwhelmed. In today's world we are all adept at multi-tasking but really this means we are great at switching from one task to another. So how often so you switch from your real work to checking our email? This constant switching requires more mental effort than our actual work. Remember there’s a huge difference between being busy and being productive. So how often should you check your email? There is no accepted norm, and you know your job better than any expert, so take the time to reflect on what will work best for you. Some experts suggest that you don't check your email first thing in a morning or you only check your email first thing in a morning. Personally I think these strategies only work if you are very high up on the food chain. Rod Kurtz of Business Week argues that you ought to be checking your work email five times per day. “Check your inbox only five times daily–first thing in the morning, mid-morning, after lunch, mid-afternoon, and end of day. Or even less if you are capable. This works when you turn off the automatic send/receive function, allowing you up to two hours to focus on your work, rather than to be continually interrupted. It works when you group the sorting of your e-mail, making you more productive and efficient in dealing with it.” With regards to dealing with email, every time you open a new email, ask yourself 3 basic questions: 1. Is this relevant? 2. Can I solve this? 3. Will it take less than 2 minutes of my time to deal with this? - If so deal with it straight away. Make sure that you schedule your email time in such a way that you avoid confusing the being busy with email and real work. If you approach your email with the correct attitude, you can boost your productivity by leaps and bounds and you free yourself from being an email junkie.
Migraine – Part 3
In part 1, I explore what a migraine was and how it differed from headaches and they shared a herbal remedy, last week in part 2 I looked at potential nutrional diffciences. This week, I want to explore some growing evidence about the impact of exercise. When you are having a migraine it is natural to want to rest and for some people exercise can trigger a migraine. So I was slightly surprise about the growing evidence that suggest exercise can help migraine sufferers. Firstly, the evidence all relates to a certain type of exercise known as High Intentsity Interval Training (HIIT). This is where you alternative periods of intense exercise with periods of less intense recovery. Recently scientists compared the effects of twice weekly HIIT sessions with moderate continous exercise and a control intevention and found that HIIT had most beneficial results. They found HIIT significantly reduced the munber of migraine days amoung sufferers. Reference Hanssen H, Minghetti A, Magon S, et al. Effects of different endurance exercise modalities on migraine days and cerebrovascular health in episodic migraineurs: A randomized controlled trial. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2018;28:1103–1112. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13023
