The season for self-care starts today!

– by Karrie Osborn

Ergonomics, Stretching, and Mindful Self-Care

By Cindy Williams

While many have dreamed of having a job working from home, none expected to have it launched on them as it was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as states begin reopening and businesses start unlocking their doors, many people are continuing to work from home. And many people are starting to feel the “slump.”

Any time change comes unexpectedly, we move forward as best we can, even if it’s not perfect. In this time we’re living in, healthy postural habits, exercise, mental and emotional resilience, and self-discipline might easily have found their way to the back burner. But new bad habits are the easiest to squash. To address some of these challenges, following are three ways you can continue your best self-care while working from home.

SET UP A DESIGNATED WORK SPACE

As appealing as they might look, the sofa and bed aren’t optimal work spaces. Although the term laptop might lend itself to thinking it’s OK to work from your lap, doing so is hard on your body. It’s impossible to sit up straight and keep your spine, arms, and head properly aligned when your lap becomes your desk. This can result in neck, shoulder, low-back, and wrist pain. Following are some things to keep in mind when setting up your work space.

• Use an office chair, if possible. (To read, “the rest of the story”, please click here BSSummer2020)

By Angie Parris-Raney, LMT, Chopra Center Certified

Technology has certainly put us in touch with important information on preventive measures for spreading the COVID-19 virus, such as washing our hands and avoiding contact with those who are sick. However, much of the information is ignoring an essential part to staying healthy—boosting our immune system.

 There is a part of our nervous system that hasn’t evolved far from our ancestors called the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Its purpose is for primal survival, equipping our mind/body to react to danger. When we are charged to respond to a stressor or danger, we are flooded with stress hormones. Our digestion shuts down, and we increase blood and oxygen to the heart, brain, and lungs to flee. Blood pressure rises and breathing becomes shallow. This is called the sympathetic part of the ANS, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Feeding the fear loop stimulates the fight-or-flight response and is known to suppress the immune system. Stress over time can begin shutting down other systems of the body.

Thankfully, there is another part to the ANS called the parasympathetic system, known as the rest-and-digest response. The largest cranial nerve of the body, the vagus nerve, innervates from the brain stem to the chest and abdomen. When we stimulate the vagus nerve, we tap into the rest-and-digest response. The heart rate decreases, blood pressure normalizes, breathing is deeper, stress hormones are reduced, and happy hormone production is initiated (promoting sleep, focus, and happier emotions). There are simple methods and lifestyle choices we can make to support our own immunity. We can consciously pull ourselves out of a state of reaction, take back our own power, and ask ourselves what our mind/body needs in this moment to support rest-and-digest.

If you’d like to read “the rest of the story”, please click here BS Spring 2020

According to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Dermatology, people who eat foods containing high levels of vitamin A have a 17 percent risk reduction for getting cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma—the second-most common type of skin cancer among fair-skinned people. According to Eunyoung Cho, associate professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Brown University, “Skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, is hard to prevent, but this study suggests that eating a healthy diet rich in vitamin A may be a way to reduce your risk, in addition to wearing sunscreen and reducing sun exposure.

Our study provides another reason to eat lots of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet.” Vitamin A-rich foods include apricots, broccoli, carrots, kale, spinach, and tangerines, to name a few.

Read the full study at www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190731125417.htm.

Test the Waters

Is Your Skin Dry, or Dehydrated?

By Alex Caspero

Chapped lips, itchy skin, redness, and peeling are all common dry-skin symptoms as winter’s brutal cold and sharp winds settle in for the season. And, while many assume these issues are related to dry skin, it may be more perennial dehydrated skin.

DRY SKIN VS. DEHYDRATED SKIN

As a general definition, dehydration means your body is taking in less water than it’s losing. Therefore, dehydrated skin lacks water—compared to dry skin, which typically lacks natural oil. More simply put, dry skin is a skin type, while dehydrated skin is a condition usually related to other lifestyle factors. Dehydrated skin can affect anyone, regardless of skin type, pore size, or genetics.

Unlike other factors that may contribute to dry skin, like psoriasis or eczema, these conditions don’t cause dehydrated skin. Dehydrated skin can also cause dullness, darker under-eye circles, increased appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and shadows around the eyes.

LIFESTYLE FACTORS

The usual suspects of prematurely aged skin also play a role in dehydrated skin: smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and too much sun exposure. As both alcohol and caffeine are considered diuretics, reducing (or eliminating) these will benefit both skin appearance and hydration status.

A diet of high-sodium, processed foods and low-water plant-based foods is more likely to (If you’d like to read “the rest of the story”, please click here BS Winter 2020)

From Arthritis to Diabetes, Massage Therapy Improves Quality of Life

By Ruth Werner

For some, massage therapy is a short-term intervention to help with injury and rehabilitation. For others, massage is their salve to reduce the stresses of a hurried and chaotic life. For those living with chronic conditions, including arthritis, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and kidney failure, massage therapy is often integrated into conventional health care to provide relief. Here is just a sampling of research validating massage for these conditions:

A clinical trial found that blood pressure readings dropped after massage, and remained below baseline for 72 hours or more.

ARTHRITIS

Massage, by itself or in combination with aromatherapy, can be an effective strategy to help manage symptoms and improve function in people who have arthritis. Some studies looked at wholebody relaxation treatments, while others examined bodywork, including self-massage, targeted to the affected area. (See studies by Perlman, Nasiri, Tosun, Atkins, Peungsuwan, Zwoli´nska).

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES

Autoimmune diseases, including lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma, present challenges that massage therapy can address. Pain, fatigue, quality of life, mood, and self-efficacy (the belief that one can succeed and thrive in spite of obstacles) are all positively affected by massage for people who live with autoimmune diseases (Schroeder, Finch, Poole). In addition, these specific benefits have been found: (To Read “The Rest of the Story”, please click here… BS Summer 2019