Gurus, Buddhists, yogis and many other meditators have practiced meditation for centuries to discover and rediscover the benefits of simply sitting to quiet the mind. With deeper and deeper introspection, they write about feeling more relaxed, reaching higher states of empowerment and enlightenment, and having greater understanding of the world and suffering and joy.
Only recently has a study been conducted with MRI brain scans to measure how meditation actually changes the brain. So far, the studies have found that meditation increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area of the brain important for learning and memory. Images also showed a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, the region connected to anxiety and stress. A control group that didn’t meditate showed no such changes.
The style of meditation practiced for the study is called, mindfulness meditation. Its roots are in Buddhist techniques. The idea is to focus attention in the here and now and keep the mind from wandering. For example, participants would focus on breathing, or emotions or thoughts, while observing body sensations.
The study’s lead author, Britta Holzel, a psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, says the results are still preliminary, but there is something there.
Other studies on meditation have suggested that meditation may reduce blood pressure in patients with coronary artery disease and that meditators have longer attention spans.
While MRI brain scans are still in the preliminary phases of studying meditation, centuries of meditators already know the results. And, if something stands the test of time, only to be proven beneficial again and again, it must be worth some exploration.
Source: “How Meditation May Change the Brain,” New York Times, Jan. 28, 2001
Healing Tip of the Week
Write yourself a mantra, such as, “I am happy, joyous and free.” Spend five to 10 minutes per day sitting with your focused attention on your mantra. Each time your mind wanders (and it will), refocus your attention on your mantra. Do this for 21 days in a row. See how it affects your attitude and your well being. Remember, mindfulness is a practice. Be patient with yourself and enjoy.
After the holidays, most people worry about how to take off the extra pounds they gained. They feel bloated, congested, and tired. Boosting your metabolism is one way to help burn off the extra weight and get your energy back. Here are some tips for boosting your metabolism:
Interval Training
Here’s an example: Walk at your normal pace for 1 to 2 minutes, then speed-walk for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat the sequence 10 to 15 times. According to an Australian study, women who did intervals while they were biking lost three times as much fat as those who worked out at a steady pace.
Build Muscle
Adding just 5 pounds of muscle to your body can burn up to 150 more calories per day without even working out those muscles, according to Kristin McGee, a trainer and Pilates instructor.
Eat a Big Breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. A couple of tips for breakfast: Take your first bite of food within the first 30 minutes of waking up and make your first food of the day protein and vegetables – not a carbohydrate. This will help maintain your blood sugar. The more balanced your blood sugar, the more balanced your energy throughout the day and the less you crave carbohydrates. That could lead to healthier eating habits. Try it.
Water, Water, Water
Drink about half your body weight in ounces of water per day. While some report that drinking COLD water will cause a slight surge in metabolic rate, the increase is just that, slight. In the Chinese medicine world, it is more likely that ice or ice water, or anything cold, will slow down the digestive system. So, as a compromise, just drinking the right amount of room-temp water for your body weight will hydrate you and help your body function more efficiently.
Healing Tip of the Week
Take your first bite of food within the first 30 minutes of waking up, and make your first food of the day protein and vegetables – not a carbohydrate. This will help keep your blood sugar more balanced throughout the day.
People with Type II Diabetes can significantly lower their blood sugar with an exercise program that combines aerobics and weight lifting, a study reports. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and states that the combined program offers greater benefits than aerobics or weight lifting alone.
The study involved 262 inactive diabetic individuals. After nine months, participants who did the combination training lowered the blood level of the glucose marker HbA1c to 7.3 percent from 7.7 percent, on average; a drop that corresponds to a significantly reduced risk of heart disease.
*Excerpted from the New York Times “Health and Science” section.
Many of my patients have been choosing to replace coffee and energy drinks with green tea. That’s an awesome way to minimize congestion in the body, boost antioxidants and maintain a more balanced level of energy throughout the day. Of course, food also affects those things, but small steps add up over time. While green tea is excellent, during the Fall, an even better tea choice is Oolong.
The main reason for this is fermentation. The more heavily fermented Oolong tea is usually roasted, which imparts “fire” to the tea, making it more warming. Warming can also mean improved circulation in Chinese medicine terms. Green tea is not fermented, while Oolong tea comes in a variety of levels of fermentation. For best results, Oolong tea should be lightly infused, not strongly steeped. Its healing benefits include: brightening the eyes, clearing the voice, invigorating the constitution, removing flatulence, illuminating the spirit, relieving thirst, and improving digestion. It also helps cut fats and oils from meals.
Healing Tip of the Week
Choose Oolong tea, and be sure to steep it for a short time; less than one minute for higher quality tea. Pay attention to how you feel and how it tastes as you sip it. Be present and enjoy a relaxing, healthy moment with tea made especially for the Fall season.
Contrary to popular belief, we do have seasons in California. We may not see the extremes that other parts of the country do, but our bodies and minds are still affected by the changes in the weather and our overall environment.
The Fall is especially challenging for our lungs and large intestine. It’s the dry season, and the season our lungs are working their hardest to balance our immune systems and keep us healthy.
During this time, we are more prone to the following symptoms: dry nose, throat, skin, and lips, excess thirst, itchiness, coughs and colds, sinus infections, constipation, bloating, gas, belching, depression, turbid thoughts and emotions, sluggishness and lack of desire to do anything. You are especially at risk if you have a tendency toward any of those symptoms throughout the rest of the year.
The best way to prevent those symptoms is with food, including the “holiday” spices! The key is to maintain balance. More is not better. Be moderate in adding in the healing foods, and be aware of the amount of food you eat every meal.
Here is a list of Fall flavors and cooking tips and how they can keep your body feeling great:
Baked and sautéed food stimulates the appetite.
To internalize your focus, cook with less water and lower heat for a longer time.
Also, to improve your focus, eat more sour foods, like yogurt, lemon, lime, vinegar, olives, pickles, aduki beans, and sour varieties of apples, plums and grapes. Small amounts have a strong affect!
To keep the lungs moist and healthy, eat moistening foods, like almonds, pine nuts, soy milk, sesame seeds, eggs, cooked honey, loquat, pears, and apples.
To help digest the moistening foods, which can be a little sticky and hard to digest, add small amounts of warming and moving spices. For example, add Allspice to sweet potatoes, meatloaf, squash, soups and stews. Cinnamon can be added to pumpkin, egg nog and cider. Add pepper to just about anything.
Digestion is always improved when eating in a relaxed atmosphere. For example, avoid eating while watching the news or other potentially negative television. Most of all, be grateful for and enjoy what you’re eating. A little smiling with your meal goes a long way.
Healing Tip of the Week
In general, adding cinnamon, ginger, cloves, coriander, nutmeg, or cardamom help the body digest the sticky foods, like yams and sweet potatoes, as well as desserts and fruits. Keep in mind that just pinches of these spices go a long way to improve digestion!
The last three months of every year are tricky when it comes to food and maintaining a healthy weight.
Halloween starts us off with candy around the house that may never make it into the bags of trick-or-treaters. Then there is Thanksgiving, the biggest carbohydrate feast of the year. Followed up by Christmas and New Years day when the champagne is flowing.
It’s challenging to say no to large portions and a lot of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol converts rapidly to sugar and has a tendency to let our defenses down, so we are less mindful of our food.
Here are a couple simple tips to practice that will help you stay lean and healthy this holiday season.
Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. Water will slow your hunger and also your ability to consume a lot of alcohol.
Eat the protein on your plate first, and chew it until its liquid. Protein will fill you up quickly, especially if you chew it thoroughly. This will leave you too full to overeat carbohydrates.
Just those two tricks will save you a few pounds come January 2011.
Autumn is the time when the extreme yang of the summer sun and long days give way and transform into a cooler/yin season with longer nights. It is the time to slow down and gather energy to be stored for the colder winter months. The ancient Chinese medical text, “The Huang Di Nei Jing” (“The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon”) states, “Those who knew the way of keeping good health in ancient times always kept their behavior in daily life in accordance with nature.” Just as the changes occur on Earth, our choices of food, length of sleep and level of activity should be attuned to ensure proper immunity and health.
In Chinese medicine, the element associated with autumn is metal, and the organs related to this element are the lungs and the large intestine. The lungs function to breathe in fresh air, delivering oxygen to our body and exhaling carbon dioxide. The large intestine gathers nourishment and eliminates the waste. Some conditions of the lungs and large intestine that may be more prevalent during the three months of autumn are: colds and flus, psoriasis, dry/itchy skin, asthma, sadness/depression, constipation and bronchitis.
Symbolically, this is a time to gather our thoughts, feelings and emotions and consciously let go of the old, useless aspects of our lives that may be in the form of harshness, grudges, or fears which inhibit our spiritual growth. Letting go of the old makes room for the new. What new thoughts and behaviors can you harvest to renew your focus in life?
Observing the external environment, what we see in nature, can help us learn how to keep our internal environment in harmony. Visit the local farmer’s markets and add a variety of seasonal foods to your diet. Transition from eating cold raw salads and foods right out of the fridge to foods that are more warming in nature or cooked. Your body will appreciate it!
Healing Tip of the Week
Steamed Asian pears are considered beneficial for the lungs. It’s a tasty way to help resolve dry coughs, soothe soreness in the throat and resolve phlegm.
With a busy California lifestyle, it can be tough to eat healthy every day. Luckily, in Long Beach, we have several easy options for getting fresh, organic foods. One such place is Olives Gourmet Grocer with one store on 2nd St. and another on Broadway. In Dr. Michael Day’s article, “All Five Servings at Olives Gourmet Grocer,” which appeared in the Long Beach Post on July 6, he describes the ingredients and benefits of a healthy raw meal.
Yes, it does! A single night of poor sleep leads to insulin resistance, according to a study accepted for publication by the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. The study measured the insulin sensitivity of healthy people after a night of eight hours of sleep against the same people only getting four hours of sleep. Insulin resistance, which is common among overweight people and is one of the precursors of Type 2 Diabetes, was increased after the night of only four hours of sleep. Most of us already know that chronic lack of sleep can alter metabolism and contribute to obesity, but now we know that only one night of poor sleep can negatively affect your weight.
Healing Tip of the Week
For many, getting enough sleep only requires a simple goal of getting to sleep earlier. Going to bed around 10 p.m. would give an average person 8 hours of sleep. For these folks, it’s also a good idea to turn off the TV, radio and end stimulating readings or conversations about 30 minutes prior to bed. I like to call it “down-shifting.” For more serious sleep problems, one effective remedy is acupuncture. Regulating your energy with this time-tested therapy often helps regulate sleep cycles.
I came across the following quote by author Daisaku Ikeda: “No matter how strong the hostility another person may feel towards you, if you approach them in an attitude of sincerity and truth, they will invariably abandon their ill will and respond with friendliness. A sense of sincerity is the one thing that somehow, in a very subtle way, gets across to others. Human beings perhaps possess some deep inner power that allows them to sense sincerity instinctively. Whatever the case, the degree to which they can do so is almost frightening.”
When I read this quote, the first thing that came to mind is that sincerity is one quality you get from the doctors at the Advanced Wellness Center. They are all motivated by the sincere desire to help their patients achieve a healthier life.
Healing Tip of the Week
Approach everyone with an attitude of sincerity and truth and see if you receive different responses or feel differently each day.
