Stress – its every where

Today’s Re-Powering Information – Stress – its every where. We have physical stress, mental, emotional, environmental, chemical and mechanical stressors all around us. We have moved so far away from what is natural regarding sleeping and eating and recovering that our bodies many times are under chronic stress. Since stress is everywhere, we have no choice but to manage it as best we can. You should have an arsenal of stress relievers. Boot camp is a great one. Everyone always compliments about how fast the hour goes (most of the time) and that they leave feeling wonderful! Another wonderful and easy to apply stress reliever is breathing exercises. I have taken classes in breath therapy and can tell you first hand that your breath can make you feel very heavy, very light and completely invigorated. Read on to see some stress relieving breathing exercises. You may feel silly doing them, but they work!





Dr. Mercola''s Comments


Dr. Mercola's Comments:



As many of you already know, I am passionate about finding simple, inexpensive resources that can have profound impact on your health. And breathing is one strategy that can make a tremendous difference in how you feel and age, yet it receives little attention. After all, you breathe in and out without conscious thought. As soon as you stop, you die. Surely everyone’s got this one all figured out already?

Not really. In fact, improper breathing is more the norm than the exception these days.

So implementing a breathing technique may actually be one of the most beneficial things you can do to elevate your physical health and soothe your mind.

Actually, one of my first journeys into natural health was in the early 90’s, when I attended several week-long seminars in Southern California to learn different breathing practices. They were all very useful, but a bit complicated to perform without proper instructions and practice.

There are many different breathing practices that you can try, but here I’m going to share with you one that is both powerful and very easy to perform.

I like to do it before each meal as that ensures that I will do it at least three times a day. I also like to combine it with gratitude for my meal, so for the two minutes it actually takes to do the technique, I seek to focus on gratitude for not only the food, but all the blessings in my life.

I recently learned this one when I attended a presentation by Dr. Weil at Expo West in California.

In the presentation summary he outlined some of the best resources he’s learned over his clinical career for improving health, and topping the list, interestingly, was a breathing exercise called the 4-7-8, or Relaxing Breath Exercise.

On his site, he states:

"Practicing regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders."

The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise

The key to this exercise is to remember the numbers 4, 7 and 8. It’s not important to focus on how much time you spend in each phase of the breathing activity, but rather that you get the ratio correct.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Sit up straight
2. Place the tip of your tongue up against the back of your front teeth. Keep it there through the entire breathing process
3. Breathe in silently through your nose to the count of four
4. Hold your breath to the count of seven
5. Exhale through your mouth to the count of eight, making an audible “woosh” sound
6. That completes one full breath. Repeat the cycle another three times, for a total of four breaths

You can do this exercise as frequently as you want throughout the day, but it’s recommended you don’t do more than four full breaths during the first month or so of practice. Later you may work your way up to eight full breath cycles at a time.

The benefits of this simple practice are enormous and work as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system.

Personally, I think one of its greatest values may be gained when you combine it with your meals. Most of us eat three meals a day, so it makes remembering to do it easier. Also, I believe that combining it with the attitude of gratitude for the healthy meal you just ate, or are about to eat, can have a powerful, beneficial influence on your health.

The Health Benefits of Breathing Exercises

Self-applied health enhancement methods like the 4-7-8 breathing technique are particularly remarkable because of the broad array of real health benefits that are triggered.

Learning to breathe mindfully can modify and accelerate your body's inherent self-regulating physiological and bioenergetic mechanisms.

These changes are in large part due to the fact that you’re oxygenating your body properly as well as correcting your internal and energetic balance, and it has a direct impact your nervous system.

This in turn affects your entire body and its countless cellular functions, including all of your subtle energy systems.

The web site breathing.com offers a list of clinical studies into the health benefits of optimal breathing. One such study, which spanned a 30-year period, concluded that the most significant factor in your health and longevity is how well you breathe.

It focused on the long-term predictive power of forced exhalation volume as the primary marker for life span. According to the researchers,

"This pulmonary function measurement appears to be an indicator of general health and vigor and literally a measure of living capacity."

It’s also important to realize that much of hypertension is controlled by the way you breathe, so breathing exercises are an excellent adjunct to your other healthy lifestyle strategies to control high blood pressure.

Breathing exercises such as the one I showed you above have a positive impact on your:

* Respiratory system, which can reduce mental and physical fatigue, as well as relieve symptoms of asthma and bronchitis
* Circulatory system; improving blood circulation and cell oxygenation throughout your body
* Nervous system
* Digestive system, by acting as a pump to massage internal organs
* Endocrine system. The action of your diaphragm helps push lymph throughout your body, which helps eliminate toxic waste and strengthen your immune system
* Urinary system, by helping to eliminate fluids and massaging your kidneys
* Skin. Toxic CO2 waste is eliminated more directly through your breath, and your skin can also be positively affected by improved blood flow and oxygenation

Breathing Your Way to Optimal Health

Another obvious use for the 4-7-8 breathing technique is to use it whenever you feel stressed or anxious. It’s a powerful way to help relax your system without drugs.

Best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything but a couple of minutes of your time! And, if you commit to it, I believe you’ll be absolutely shocked, and pleasantly surprised, by how quickly and easily it can center and relax you and allow you to achieve high levels of health.

For even more breathing practices, I recommend you read the article Breathing Exercises and Self Healing, written by Roger Jahnke, O.M.D., or see Dr. Weil’s website for additional exercises.

Do something special for yourself today!

The Latest Cellulite Treatments

Today’s Re-Powering Information – I’ve told you before, but I’ll say it again. If there were a quick, easy magic way to melt off the fat for only 3 easy payments of 19.95 I would honestly tell you. Here’s one more cellulite product debunked! Don’t waste your time or money on these crazy “solutions”. Just keep coming to camp! Exercise and proper nutrition is the ONLY way to get rid of cellulite!

The Latest Cellulite Treatments
Sound Too Smooth to Be True
By RHONDA L. RUNDLE
August 19, 2008; Page D1
Beauty magazines and spas are touting a new generation of high-tech treatments for cellulite, a common affliction that gives parts of women's bodies a dimpled, uneven appearance. But there's little evidence that the new devices are effective, say some dermatologists who have scoured the medical literature and evaluated the products.
Devices that claim to reduce or eliminate the appearance of cellulite have long been available. Most use a mechanical massager that causes tissue to swell, eliminating the uneven skin surface. But dimpling can recur within hours or days. The latest products also use massagers, but add treatment from a laser or other "energy source." This is supposed to create a more lasting solution by inducing fat cells under the skin to release some of their contents, leading to a smoother surface appearance.


Mary Stoll/Elemé Medical Inc.
SmoothShapes targets the uneven appearance of cellulite.
Some dermatologists say they see little difference between the new products and older ones. "There's nothing that has been shown in any objective way to create improvement for cellulite," says Robert A. Weiss, president-elect of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
On RealSelf.com, a Web site where consumers exchange beauty information, cellulite treatments garner some of the most vociferous complaints. VelaShape, sold by Syneron Medical Ltd., "was a huge waste of time and money," gripes Kimberly Lamse, a 40-year-old jewelry designer in Burbank, Calif. In an interview, Ms. Lamse says she paid $1,500 to an orthopedic doctor for treatments she sought after reading about VelaShape in a fashion magazine. Syneron's chairman, Shimon Eckhouse, says most women get good results, and "no medical treatment is 100% effective." American Laser Centers, with more than 200 locations across the country, uses Syneron technology in its AmeriSmooth treatments.
The market for cellulite-fighting equipment is expected to grow to $200 million a year by 2012 from $80 million last year, forecasts Millennium Research Group Inc. Other technologies, including SmoothShapes from Elemé Medical Inc., have been promoted on television shows including NBC's "Today" and the syndicated "Rachael Ray Show."
The hurdle for Food and Drug Administration approval for such devices is low. The agency determines whether a device temporarily reduces the appearance of cellulite through the use of a mechanical massager, but doesn't evaluate the efficacy of any additional technology. "We do not have any data or information about how long the effect lasts," says Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the FDA, which has cleared more than a dozen devices for cellulite treatment.
Vic A. Narurkar, director of the Bay Area Laser Institute, a San Francisco cosmetic clinic, says company-sponsored cellulite studies are too small and poorly designed to persuade him to invest in a costly technology, or to charge patients for it. Dr. Weiss of the dermatologic society says such studies often rely on photographic comparisons that accentuate the contrast between "before" and "after" pictures.
Many studies also are performed by investigators with financial ties to a manufacturer. Elemé Medical, for instance, says its "pivotal" study of 74 people was conducted by Elliot Lach, a plastic surgeon. But Dr. Lach is also the device's inventor and holds an equity stake in Elemé.
Dr. Lach defends SmoothShapes, which has a list price of $79,900, but says he understands the skepticism. He says he has submitted his study to a medical journal, but it hasn't yet been accepted for publication. The study contains evidence of cellulite reduction that is documented with magnetic resonance imaging, a more authoritative measure of results than photographs, he says.
Elemé hopes to convince skeptics with a broader study of 200 or more subjects at multiple clinical sites. It says the photography is being carefully handled to maximize its credibility with independent reviewers.
Melinda Beck is on vacation.
• Email healthjournal@wsj.com.

End

Your friend in fitness,

Kelli Calabrese
www.KelliCalabrese.com
www.ArgyleBootCamp.com