relaxation

6 things that can change your life instantly

by admin on February 10, 2009

To change your life you need to take action and improve certain aspects of it. Modern daily life has a lot of challenges and difficulties but there are simple things you can do to change your life instantly. These things vary from eliminating the stress in your life, appreciating the need for relaxation and physical exercise, changing your thoughts and being more careful and selective as to the food you eat and your diet in general. This article outlines 6 things you can do instantly and easily for changing your life.

1. Change your life by eliminating  stress

A recent study from the International Study of Cancer (IARC) in Lyon showed that if people do not start taking responsibility for their health, by 2020 we would record an increase of 50% per year in cancer cases worldwide, or 15 million.

The study showed that two thirds of cancer incidents could be prevented and or treated with appropriate «changes in life and lifestyle». Other studies have shown that optimistic people live longer, happier and healthier, in part because optimism strengthens the immune system. Also there is another recent research that shows that this system can be actively enhanced if we practice consciously different mental imaging techniques and if we manage to control the stress in our lives.

In addition to this, the research also revealed that the greatest consequence of modern lifestyle is eliminating the body’s natural defenses because they’re continuously under test. How? To withstand stress we must learn how to handle it, and to that end, we must give ourselves the necessary time and opportunity for recovering sufficiently from it. When we cut the recovery time, due to the continuous challenges, we are in essence putting our health at risk.

If you are a smoker, you should try and quit smoking. The benefits to your health are enormous. You can start by using e cigarettes and then quitting permanently.

2. Learn how to relax

Studies have shown that our brain and body have their own ways of relaxation and alertness, with a cycle that takes place about every 90 minutes. Of these, 15 minutes are devoted to relaxation and replenishment of energy and during this duration we dream and feel calm.

Unfortunately, many people ignore this message and drink another cup of coffee or try even harder to concentrate, a practice that over time disrupts the relaxation cycle.

In future, and if you want to change your life, whenever you find that you are day dreaming and relaxing, stop what you are doing and stand for 10-15 minutes, taking deep breaths and feeling the relaxing rising from the feet to your head. This exercise will change your life because it will help you escape from the daily routine and will refresh both your mind and body.
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3. Do not neglect physical exercise

The body does not distinguish the emotional from the physical threats. Whatever happens, it is prepared to defend either by running or fighting to survive, but often there is no one to fight and nowhere to run in order to discharge tension. In such cases, a little exercise (e.g. a short walk) can help.

The goal is to use the extra intensity and energy to activate the natural reflex of rest, relaxation and recovery. This reaction of the body is the sweet, soft feeling of tired muscles when one finishes a heavy manual work or a laborious activity, accompanied by a feeling of well being because of the release of endorphins, the natural hormones of well being.

Numerous studies have shown that physical activity is very important to eliminate stress. Swimming, jogging and every activity that oxygenizes the body, makes it easier to fight stress. 10 to 15 minutes moderate physical activity a day is enough.

4. Smile and Change your life

Studies have shown that healthy people are usually happy people who laugh a lot and as a result the brain produces large quantities of wellbeing hormones. Smile to your life and it will smile back. Try to smile and to express gratitude for everything in your daily routine. Start smiling today and change your life.

5. Keep your immune system strong

A particularly interesting experiment conducted by Professor Karen Olnes at Children’s Hospital of Cleveland in Ohio showed the benefits of a strong immune system for your health. In particular during the experiment the scientists showed to a group of children a video with puppets. In the video some puppets were dressed as police officers, representing the immune system, while others represented a virus. The video was a simplistic representation of the interior of the body, so that children could understand. When the video ended, the scientists asked the children to imagine many police officers running in their bodies. Immediately after that, they conducted saliva tests that showed that their immune system acted like it was fighting a true infection.

With a similar technique you can stimulate your immune system. But, this technique does not replace any medical treatment but can only be used in conjunction with it. Try to change your thoughts and imagine that “the police officers” are running in your body and are fighting the virus, diseases and stress. Use your imagination and thoughts to make that positive change in your life.

6. Change your food, diet and metabolism and change your life

Eat healthy

In an experiment conducted in the 30′s, the scientists gave a group of toddlers to eat for 1 month what they wanted in whatever quantities they wanted. Although the toddlers choose different foods every time, at the end of the experiment they all ate healthy.

Similarly, the reason why pregnant women have the desire to eat several foods is because their body tells them what they need to eat in order for the baby to develop properly and healthy.

Diet

When you are on a diet, this means that you are trying to convince yourself not to eat this or that food. As a result this disturbs the natural balance of the relationship with these foods and instead of wanting them less, you have more desire for them.

Is preferable to start listening to your body and follow your instinct about what to eat and when, and you will see that your tastes can even change. Studies have shown that when you eat what you want, whenever you want, you will eventually adopt a healthy diet. A healthy diet can play a very important step in the whole process of changing your life. You can also use weight loss pills but you should do that after the advice of your doctor.

Metabolism

Say yes to a short walk. One of the biggest myths in weight loss is that some people cannot lose weight quickly because they have a slow metabolism.

Studies have shown that our metabolism is not constant, but changes during our lives according to what we eat and how we use the energy of our body. Contrary to what many believe, the metabolism cannot be changed by some magic diet.

The only way to increase the basic metabolic rate is by exercising, (exercises to lose weight ) where breathing becomes faster and the heartbeat is accelerated.

Therefore, be sure to walk at least 15 minutes per day (corresponding to 1,500-2,000 steps). The more you walk the more calories you burn and the more rapid will be your metabolism.

Eat slowly and when you are hungry

Try to chew slowly and enjoy you food. The overweight people usually eat faster, thus not giving enough time to their brain to understand the message from their stomach that they are no longer hungry. The most important think to do therefore is to let down the knife and fork and chew your food, focus your attention on the taste and chew each mouthful at least 20 times.

Eat when you feel hungry. Most overweight people eat whenever they want, whatever they want. This is not because they feel hungry but because they are used to.

Listen to your body

Many of us forget that we need to be sensitive and interpret the messages sent by our body. A very important step if you want to change your life is to start listening to your body and respond to its messages. Moreover, when someone starts a diet, this leads to eating more than usual, because this is the way for the body to regain the lost balance. And the worst is that when you starve in order to loose weight faster, the body activates the survival mechanisms, and this slows down the metabolism and also stores more fat.

The key is therefore to eat when you are hungry, so that your body can understand that when there is a real need there is enough food and this will accelerate the metabolism. When should I eat? When you feel hungry, not when you are on the verge of faint from hunger, because in that case would have enabled the survival mechanisms. And when to stop eating? When you fill that you are no longer hungry and not when you are full up with food.

The above methods and techniques are things you can follow instantly to change your life for the better. These are simple things that do not need a lot of effort or thought to achieve. If you have a will to make a change in your life, a very good starting point is to follow the life hacks described in this article.

image source: ericmcgregor

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How to hack the stress in your life

by admin on January 28, 2009

Who is your worst enemy? Perhaps the psychological and mental stress – that probably inadvertently-create to your self? Stress is a normal reaction of ourselves in difficult or irregular situations where we feel that our capabilities are not sufficient to deal with an obstacle or an encountered difficulty.

However, how you react to stress may be either normal, so the effects of stress are minimum, or very intense, leading to various psychological and mental problems.

Everyone has the experience to have lost patience with someone else, be annoyed because of traffic, yelling to someone who was not to blame or give rise to misunderstandings, irritation and mental stress because the pressure he/she feels affects the judgment.

Some people create such situations occasionally in their life, while others make this self-sabotage a lifestyle, constantly creating psychological and mental stress, without realizing that they are the major cause of stress in their life and not the facts or other people.

There are many ways to cause stress to your self without understanding it. The most important are:

It is a matter of personality

People with personality type «A» are having a particular pattern of behaviour: they are always in a hurry, they are constantly «moving»-literally and figuratively – they are aggressive, nervous and always tensed. These characteristics of type «A» cause severe emotional stress in their relationships because of their aggressive attitude. These persons are not only unhappy in their relationships, but they also often fail to see the obvious solutions to various problems because they are always in a hurry and they do not give attention to details. The result is that they create even greater problems. People with this personality usually encounter continuous health problems, especially cardiovascular and stress for them is one of the major causes of heart disease.

Negative Thinking

Another way in which people often create stress to themselves is through negative thinking. The way we talk to ourselves, which usually develops in childhood, can follow us throughout our life and colour our experiences, either as a sunbeam or a black cloud that surrounds us and prevent our vision. People with negative thinking usually see problems around them, they believe that others have always negative incentives and intentions, they interpret positive events as negative, they find only problems and lose the important benefits and positive things in life, and this is only due to their constant persistence in negative thinking. People who are thinking negative believe that they do not have the abilities to meet the various difficult situations and to deal with stress, thus creating even more unresolved stress in their lives.
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Aggressiveness

Are you sometimes aggressive towards others when you could handle the same situation in a positive way? Do you always start a conversation by saying «why you did not…” rather than asking directly, i.e. without the negative «not», «did you…”. Or maybe you have a passive attitude and you let others take advantage of you because you do not know how to say no and set your limits? Confrontation and disagreements with others are a part of life, as well as the issues to be resolved. The way in which you deal with the various conflicts can strengthen or weaken your relationships creating excess psychological and mental stress for all concerned, ultimately creating even greater conflicts and problems.

Many people who are aggressive and not handling the various conflicts in a positive way, they do not realize their aggressive behavior and do not realize that they sabotage not only themselves but also their relations. Usually these people do not know other ways to handle situations.

Pessimism

If you are a pessimistic person, you tend to see things worse than they are, and you cannot see the opportunities presented, you believe that everything will have a negative outcome, you see only the problems and disadvantages, and not the opportunities and advantages, so the lack of self confidence and self esteem creates mental and emotional stress. The pessimism is more than to see the glass as half-empty: it is how you vision the world and life, it is the undermining of self-confidence, which makes you unable to believe in your capabilities, which creates doubts and creates additional health problems.

Too many responsibilities

Do you have a very heavy schedule, many responsibilities and tasks with intense stress? Many people create intense stress in their lives because they do not handle their time and obligations with priority for themselves. This is because either they are personality type «A» or because they do not know how to say no. All these create them chronic stress and the main reason is because they are undertaking more tasks than they can handle.

Inability to change your life

To change one of these negative habits, you must first identify and realize how you sabotage your self. You need to have the courage and strength to identify why you are causing stress to your life and find those ways to get rid of it. This will require you to take the big step and change your life. You need to be ready both physiologically and mentally. Ways to prepare your life for a change are relaxation, positive thinking, optimistic attitude to life and proper organization and planning.

Simple Hacks to on how to get rid of stress quickly

Healthy Diet

Eating healthy is one of the best methods to set a foundation for a de stress and better life.

  • Limit the maximum amount of caffeine to five cups a day (also tea, chocolate and cola drinks, because they also contain caffeine).
  • Eating regular meals.
  • Minimize the use of salt (especially for people with hypertension or family history of hypertension).
  • Avoid the over consumption of alcohol. It is scientifically proven that consuming large quantities of alcohol will increase stress and cause sleep disorders.
  • Stop smoking. Many people have the misconception that smoking contributes to relaxation. In reality smoking actually increases stress levels.
  • Eat foods rich in protein (fish, eggs, poultry). The proteins are broken into amino acid during the process of digestion. A particular amino acid, the tyrosine, contributes to the increase of chemicals dopamine and epinephrine, which have the ability to give the body more energy.
  • Eat foods rich in carbohydrates (cereal, pasta, fruits and vegetables). Carbohydrates, during the digestion process create serotonin, a substance that causes a sense of relaxation and makes you calm.

Physical Exercise

The reaction to stress is a way that nature prepares the body for action. However, the normal physical reaction is often not useful to address the stress of modern life. Including regular exercise in your daily program will help you release the tension and will also satisfy the needs of your body for activity. Any physical activity is beneficial, such as:

  • Walking
  • Swimming
  • Running
  • Team sports
  • Gardening

How does the exercise can helps you get rid of stress in your life?

Exercise can help you feel good, it makes you relaxed, and enables creativity. Raises the basic level of physical health and helps you handle the daily requirements and crisis. However, before you start exercising, you need first to consult with your doctor in case you have health problems, or you are overweight or if you are concerned about pain in the joints (back, knees, hips).

Relaxation

Relaxation is a way to create a relaxed body and a calm spirit. This physical and mental defuse is called relaxation and is contrary to the stress reaction. People who live in high intensity are more likely to experience problems when their stress levels increases. These people can lower the general level of stress with regular relaxing exercises and thus protect their body and mind from excessive stress. In doing so, they can tolerate more worries without creating more stress problems. Relaxation is a useful tool, whether used alone or together with other strategies to get rid of stress.
The only things you need to relax are:

  • An environment free from noises and interruptions
  • Free time
  • A body position that can help you get rid of the muscle tension
  • A good night sleep. To have a good night sleep you need to select the proper pillow. Pillow health is very important if you want to have a relaxing sleep.

Relaxation can also mean:

  • Massage
  • Light exercise – some types of light exercise or loose rhythmic motion can play a role for enhancing relaxation with the release of physical tension.
  • Listening to music
  • Walking your pet.
  • Taking a nap
  • Reading a good book.

Some other quick and easy ways to get rid of stress are:

  • To use a quiet and pleasant sound alarm to a wake you up
  • Having a good breakfast
  • Every time you watch the clock, take a deep inhalation
  • Reducing the speed with which you eat, talk, or move
  • Do not arrange to do many things one immediately after the other or at the same time.
  • Take a break from work, to walk, relax or enjoy the moment.
  • Give yourself time to do things that give you pleasure.
  • Learn to say NO, but certainly not in all cases. People who can say NO often say YES and feel happy about it.
  • Control and lower your anger against others – tolerance and acceptance are good to your health.

image source:chitrasudar

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