The Psychology of Place Inside and Out

Shirley Vanderbilt

What’s cluttering your life? Is it the stuff in the corner of the bedroom, or the stuff in the corner of your mind? What are you tolerating that keeps you from expressing your true self? Authors Bruce and Lou Stewart say that clutter–both in our environment and our mind–is stagnating, blocking the free-flow of energy, or chi, in our homes and lives. Whether we’re detouring around a box in the living room or repeating a negative pattern in our head, it’s time to clear the path.

In their new book, “Your Way Home–The Psychology of Place Inside and Out,” the Stewarts present a unique approach to clutter-clearing by combining Lou’s expertise in feng shui with Bruce’s mastery of neurolinguistic programming (NLP). While feng shui has to do with external placement and structure, NLP is a psychological approach that addresses our internal structure of mind, body, emotion, and spirit. With feng shui, we can free energy flow by rearranging the room; with NLP tools, we can do the same thing with our mind. The goal is to bring balance between the inner and outer sanctums by clarifying our core, or essential self, and allowing our environment to reflect and support our core values.

Making the Connection

When the Stewarts first blended their feng shui and NLP skills together in workshop presentations, they noticed it was easier for people to clear their environment when they were connected to their core.

“It really is a cycle,” Lou says. “The environment and our core are reflections of one another. When we know our core, it’s much easier to…(To read “the rest of the story” please click here Fall2020Newsletter

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

Increase Body Awareness While Increasing Your Activity

Ruth Werner

You have to give us credit: as a culture, Americans are incredibly interested in getting fit. We invest every year in new diets, exercise programs, and supplements for weight loss and improved energy. Low-range estimates suggest that Americans spend about $2.6 billion each year on gym memberships alone.

We also tend to pitch full speed into any given commitment. If we’re going to get fit, by golly, we’re going to do it now, regardless of how long it took us to get into our current state. We don’t do things by half measures, and moderation is not in our nature. So how do we keep ourselves injury-free while honoring our commitment to exercise and get healthy?

Does It Have to Be All or Nothing? We all know that starting an exercise program doesn’t actually mean we’ll finish it. When we throw ourselves into an ambitious new routine, we are likely to overdo it and get hurt. Then, we get discouraged, and may give up entirely, only to start the cycle over in another year or so.

Overdoing things in the gym or on the sports field seems to appeal to our competitive spirit–especially when we’re surrounded by others who all seem to be doing better than we are. Combine this kind of human drive with poorly trained athletic trainers who give bad advice about form, pacing, and effort, and we have a recipe for potential problems. Exercise is only effective when it occurs without injury. Any new exercise program requires some caution, even if it is comparatively easygoing. And more challenging programs are safest and most successful when new participants build up their activity levels carefully and receive excellent guidance about form.

When It Goes Wrong 

We accrue musculoskeletal and fascial injuries throughout our entire lifespans. In the best circumstances, they heal well, with a minimum of internal scar tissue, and function returns to practically normal levels. When things are ideal, that sprained ankle you got playing soccer at age 12 doesn’t affect your ability to walk in your 30s. The lumbar (To read the “rest of the story”, please click here Winter2020Newsletter)

– Cathy Ulrich

“Do you get headaches?” I asked Cindy. She had come to see me for massage to address her neck and shoulder pain but hadn’t mentioned headaches. “Well, yes,” she said. “I’ve always had headaches and, now that you mention it, they seem to be worse when my neck hurts.” Cindy went on to say she suffered from them as often as 2-3 times a week and typically treated them with ibuprofen.

Like many Americans, Cindy suffers from chronic, frequent headaches. Her neck pain finally prompted her to seek help, but she was so used to the headaches, she thought they were something she simply had to live with.

What Cindy didn’t understand was that frequent headaches are not normal and, with a little proactive planning, there is something that can be done to manage and even prevent them. Types of Headaches Headaches come in many varieties. Following is a short list of the most common types.

Migraines. 

Migraine headaches occur when the blood vessels in the brain become dilated, usually due to a chemical reaction, such as food allergies or a stress response. They often start with visual disturbances and quickly develop into severe head pain accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and sensitivity to light. They’re usually felt on one side of the head, but can be on both sides. Migraines are often managed with medications and avoidance of foods known to trigger them, such as red wine, chocolate, aged cheese, and nuts. However, some bodywork techniques can also be effective in easing migraines or decreasing the frequency of these painful headaches.

Tension Headaches.

Exaggerated by stress, tension headaches are related to poor posture, jaw problems (such as temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ), and neck pain. Many people describe a headache that starts at the (To read “the rest of the story” please click here Autumn 2019 Newsletter

Working too hard is now a recognized as an occupational phenomenon, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency, which guides many health providers and organizations, now includes “burnout” in its International Classification of Diseases Handbook.

The agency described “burnout” as a syndrome resulting from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

According to the WHO, doctors can issue a diagnosis of burnout if a patient exhibits three symptoms: feeling depleted of energy or exhausted; feeling mentally distanced from or cynical about one’s job; and problems getting one’s job done successfully. The WHO notes that burnout is to be used specifically “in the occupational context” and that it “should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”

The agency said it plans to develop “evidence-based guidelines on mental well-being in the workplace.”

Burnout as a psychological term was first described in the mid-1970s, BuzzFeed reported, when psychologist Herbert Freudenberger used it to describe cases of “physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.” Freudenberger ascribed the condition to “helping” professions such as nurses and doctors.

But today, many types of people can suffer from burnout, “from stressed-out careerists and celebrities to overworked employees and homemakers,” according to the National Institutes of Health. Last year, a Gallup survey found nearly 1 in 4 employees feels burned out always or often, with another 44 percent saying they feel burned out “sometimes.”

To Watch Video, please click on link or copy and paste link into your browser…https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-to-know-when-youre-suffering-from-workplace-burnout/

The newest, in a healthy list of dynamic committees within the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce, it is meant to be a social media campaign designed to promote our community and our Chamber members. This new “MOVE-ment” is focused on encouraging individuals to improve their health – in their personal lives and in the workplace – through a network of support, tips and resources.

Spend the rest of your day thinking, working and living healthy

YOU DESERVE IT!

EVERY WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY

8:00 AM

Lost Canyons Golf Club

3301 Lost Canyons Dr.

1 Hour – 2 Miles

Wear your walking shoes

How to Get Involved

(as an individual):

• Remind yourself daily that you have the right to be and are worthy of being healthy – not just Wednesdays, but all days!
• Commit to being part of the “MOVE-ment” and encourage others to join you on your journey to a healthier you. Together we can build a healthy community.
• Make healthy and nutritious food choices by staying focused on your goal
• Take a few moments each day for some quiet time to yourself – Unplug, breathe and relax. Start with just 5 minutes a day.
• Take a walk with friends, join a gym, take a yoga class, get a massage, exercise your brain, focus on nutrition, set wellness goals.
• Share your successes and applaud the successes of others on the Wellness Wednesdays Facebook page – facebook.com/wellnesswednesdays #simiwell
• Share tips that you find helpful and use the tips and tools shared by others to help you “over the hump”

(as a business):

• Adopt the mission of “Wellness Wednesdays” in your workplace and encourage your employees to get involved
• Provide a “Wellness Wednesdays Special” for your customers. Post your special on the Wellness Wednesdays Facebook page, personal and/or business Facebook page, Twitter and your personal and business websites

Mission Statement

Uniting Health and Wellness business professionals within Simi Valley to help improve the quality of life of every citizen.

Contact Info:

For more information, please contact:

Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce

40 W. Cochran Street, #100

Simi Valley, CA 93065

Phone: (805) 526-3600

www.simichamber.org

Helping Veterans and Wounded Warriors –