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The secret to yoga’s success in the male, “blue-collar” group studied, however, may lie in the fact that the word “yoga” was never used.

Mayer-Berger presented the results of the trial last week at the EuroPREVENT 2010 meeting, and discussed the fact that yoga-type interventions would typically be chosen by “intellectual female patients”.  He admitted, that most of the “low-education males” studied in this trial, didn’t realize they were doing yoga, because the word yoga “was not spoken”.

The comparator therapy, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), which is a more common component of cardiac-rehab programs in Germany, did not produce nearly the same degree of blood-pressure improvement, while the two randomizations were called “relaxation #1″ and “relaxation #2″.

Mayer-Berger says he and his colleagues are working on a follow-up study that will test a yoga program specifically in people with higher baseline blood pressures and that will try to figure out the best way to keep patients motivated—never an easy task. He does think that not using the term “yoga” likely helped keep many unlikely yogis on this particular program, and he says the next study will likely use the same nebulous terms used in the pilot study.

He added that he thinks it is “too early to make yoga a part of usual cardiac-rehabilitation therapy,” but should ongoing studies confirm the effect he and his colleagues saw here, “maybe this is really an everyday therapy we can use.”

More on using nebulous terms to get people to take better care of themselves at heartwire.

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Why meditation?

Positive thinking can bring about health and wellness.

But what has that to do with meditation?

We all know that positive thinking brings health and wellness in life. Unfortunately, often times, we simply cannot stay positive, even though we very much want to, because our minds seem to be out of control. That is, our minds seem to be controlling us, instead of we controlling our minds.

Why does the human mind run rampant?

It is because we subconsciously give reins to our thoughts, and our thoughts affect our bodies, which produce biological and chemical changes that, in turn, affect our minds — and thus creating a vicious cycle of ill-health.

Why do we give reins to our thoughts? Why do we let our thoughts control our minds? Why can’t we have positive thinking all the time?

The truth of the matter is that we do not consciously let our thoughts do that. Simply, there are too many things happening around us. Subconsciously, our minds just jump back and forth between events and happenings. As a result, our minds become chaotic. A chaotic mind creates internal chaos and disharmony — a setting for biological and chemical changes within the human body. These changes may adversely affect the body’s functions, making them incoherent and dysfunctional.

Why meditation?

Meditation helps to stabilize a chaotic mind. When you meditate, your mind focuses only on the present moment to the exclusion of everything else in the past or in the future. Meditation is single-minded focus that brings calmness to a chaotic mind.

Meditation is an antidote to stress, which is an important agent in premature aging. Your body begins to age due to deterioration in your endocrine system (which is responsible for manufacturing hormones). Your human growth hormone (HGH) keeps you healthy through repeated rejuvenation of your cells. In particular, your DHEA (dehydroeplandrosterone) is instrumental in delaying aging through controlling emotional and mental stress. Meditation gives your mind a meaningful break, just as restful sleep gives your body an opportunity to relax and to recover.

That meditation can contribute to anti-aging has been validated in a scientific study in which participants who regularly meditated had a significant increase of DHEA; in another study, those who meditated for more than 5 years were physiologically younger by more than 10 years than their chronological age; in yet another study published in “Neurobiology of Aging” meditation had “neuroprotective” benefits on the brain by increasing the brain’s gray matters.

To sum up, meditation brings tranquility to a chaotic mind, thereby enabling us to control our thoughts, instead of the other way around. As an antidote to stress, meditation is anti-aging.

Copyright © 2010 Stephen Lau

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Here’s a roadmap for transforming anything in your life. Would you like to do better in your business or create a happier relationship or family life? Would you like to turn anxiety into peace or anger into forgiveness? You have the power to do this, and as you read on you’ll find a special way to transform something in your life that is challenging you.

Follow the Stages in a Flow

You can take three main steps when you want to create transformation in any area of your life. They are: Experience, Release, and Transform. In Step One, you experience and pay attention to whatever is concerning you. In Step Two, you release your concern. In Step Three, you transform it into a higher state of mind.

Step One: Experience

Experiencing what’s going on within you is about paying attention, paying attention to places in which you’re hiding your power under old limitations. You look at how it feels inside your emotions and your body, and you become more familiar with how your concerns are presenting themselves within you. By first paying attention to the details of whatever is bothering you, you begin the process of transforming those limitations into freedom and joy.

Step Two: Release

Release is a natural process. Clouds release raindrops when it’s time to let the rain come. Boils on the skin release foreign matter when it’s time to heal. Mothers (hopefully) release their children when it’s time for them to grow up. And so do we release old issues when it’s time for us to let go. Sometimes we do it vocally; sometimes we do it energetically. Sometimes the release is visual. Breathing is a powerful way to release.

Step Three: Transform

The third step, transformation, comes when you’re ready to shift your consciousness to a new level, when you are ready to see with different eyes. The enlightened ones remind us that we’re asleep and dreaming this reality. It seems so real, yet your higher wisdom can lead you to great expanded realities and new areas of understanding. Sometimes the transformation will take you to places filled with light. Or you may experience a profound wisdom coming forth that is way beyond your usual ability to be wise. You may find that deep understanding is flowing from your soul. Always, you will be uplifted into the experience of love.

The Transformational Process

This transformational process is a natural one. We may have the perception that everything is constantly transforming in the universe. After the rain, the dust of the city is cleaned away. The air is fresh, and you may perceive a kind of purity in the atmosphere. You create this transformation in a microcosmic personal way. You go through the steps of Experience – Release – Transform, and you bring yourself back to your natural state of healing, wisdom, and love.

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The term “Use it or Lose it” sounds trite today. But there is real power in those few words – if you look below the surface. The phrase was first used in “Pushing to the Front”, published in 1894.

First, this book reassures of nature’s almost unlimited capacity to provide for our needs. The writer then goes on encourage us to consciously choose what we want our life’s work to be. He points out the vast resources we have at our disposal to achieve our aims. (Of course, we have so much more today than anyone enjoyed back in 1894!) We are then warned converting these resources into the results we desire will take real effort. Even after we have made some headway, we cannot expect the momentum to be maintained without some ongoing energy – nothing, the author reminds us, remains static. Let me share a passage from Pushing to the Front with you:

“Everything in nature is on the move, either one way or the other. It is either going up or down. It is either advancing or retrograding; we cannot hold without using. Nature withdraws muscle or brain if we do not use them. She withdraws skill the moment we stop drilling efficiently, the moment we stop using our power. The force is withdrawn when we cease exercising it. Nature is liberal with us if we utilize what she gives us, but if we stop using it, if we do not transform what she gives us into power, if we do not do some building somewhere, if we do not transform the material which she gives us into force and utilize that force, we not only find the supply cut off, but we find that we are growing weaker, less efficient.

A college graduate is often surprised years after he leaves the college to find that about all he has to show for his education is his diploma. The power, the efficiency which he gained there, has been lost because he has not been using them. He thought at the time that everything was still fresh in his mind after his examination that this knowledge would remain with him, but it has been slipping away from him every minute since he stopped using it, and only that has remained and increased which he has used; the rest has evaporated. A great many college graduates ten years afterwards find that they have but very little left to show for their four years’ course, because they have not utilized their knowledge. They have become weaklings without knowing it. They constantly say to themselves, “I have a college education, I must have some ability, I must amount to something in the world.” But the college diploma has no more power to hold the knowledge you have gained in college than a piece of tissue paper over a gas jet can hold the gas in the pipe. Everything which you do not use is constantly slipping away from you. Use it or lose it. The secret of power is use. Ability will not remain with us, force will evaporate the moment we cease to do something with it.”

Again, in the author’s own words “The tools for self-improvement are at your hand, use them.” and “Progress may seem slow at first, but perseverance assures success.”

Over a century after the words, “use it or lose it” were first published, the saying is as true as ever. This key to success should serve as both an encouragement and a warning to anyone attempting to build a better future for themselves.

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More and more Americans are using their hard-earned vacations to get healthy and fit. In fact, fitness vacations are a hot trend – with Pilates replacing pina coladas and personal trainers serving as your tour guides. It makes sense, because people and especially women want to take better care of themselves. But the key to getting the maximum benefits is to prepare yourself to work as hard as you can, learn a new way to eat and exercise so when you come home the fat keeps coming off and stays off long-term.

Experts say that jump-starting a new fitness regime is actually easier on vacation because you are not tempted by a full refrigerator or a cookie jar in the kitchen. Your trainer will be able to help you plam your meals and make better food choices – information which will help you take off pounds and keep them off.

Here are a few tips for a successful fitness vacation:

1. Choose holiday destinations with plenty of physical activities. Instead of going to the usual tourist sight seeing trips abroad, choose holiday activities that require you to burn calories and yet have fun.

2. Before beginning, be sure to have your fitness assessed by the trainer.

3. Speak to the trainer before you head out of town and prepare everything you will need for your trip, so you have no excuses once you start a new plan and no distractions.

4. Do something active every day, trying to incorporate different cardiovascular, flexibility, and strength exercises within the time you are away.

5. Always make sure your instructors are certified, licensed professionals.

6. Find out in advance the logistics behind the activities the establishment offers. How long does the activity last? How much training and or skill level is needed? What equipment will be needed? What is the action plan? How safe is it?

7. Consider your individual needs. It’s important to take a fitness vacation for the right reasons. Make sure the trip will allow you to return rested, relaxed, and with enough energy to resume your daily routine. Also, the trip should produce happy memories and peace of mind.

Be sure you can afford the trip and that it won’t break the bank and that it is the right time in your life to take this kind of vacation.

The best thing about your fitness vacation? You can deduct it from taxes! That’s right! Did you know that certain fees associated with weight loss may be tax deductible! For several years, the IRS has considered certain weight loss fees as tax deductible.rul.Tax deductions may be available for fees associated with weight loss. The only caveat: A doctor’s prescription may be required. Happy Travels!

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Fall is quite possibly the most stressful time of the year for adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). You may even find yourself slipping away from the ADD management routines, structure, and systems that you’ve previously created.

I’ve been hearing from a lot of clients who are getting down on themselves because the transition from summer to fall has been more difficult than they anticipated.

With this in mind, I’d like to offer you the following reminder: Managing adult ADD is like riding a bike.

Remember when you learned to ride a bike?

You probably started out with a tricycle when you were very young. At some point, you got the coveted two-wheeler with training wheels.

And eventually the day came that your parents told you it was time to take those training wheels off. Excitement and joy arose when a sunny spring day appeared and you knew it was your time to shine…to be a “big kid.”

You probably resented the adult who held on to the back of the bike as you started pedaling in what would be your first-ever bike ride without training wheels.

But what happened when that adult did eventually let go and you were left to ride on your own?

You fell.

Splat! Right over on your side. You thought you could do it, but it turned out balancing on two wheels is a lot harder than balancing on four.

Maybe you cried. Maybe you skinned a knee or an elbow. Perhaps you found your little self completely disappointed and frustrated about what you thought you could do without effort.

But no matter how you felt, you got up and got back on that bike. Maybe right away, and maybe not until a week later. But you got back on the bike. You practiced.

You fell many more times, but you kept getting back on that bike, because you knew that the only way you’d ever learn how to ride that bike was to keep getting back on it.

And now, as an adult, you know how to ride a bike. You may not do it very often, and you may fall every now and then, but you know how to ride a bike.

So what makes you think that managing your ADD is any different than riding a bike?

What makes you think that the minute you set your mind to something, you can instantly accomplish it?

Organization, time management, better focus and concentration, emotional regulation…they all require practice. They require extra effort in times of overwhelm, like the kind we’re all experiencing now as life kicks back into high gear.

Learning to manage ADD is like learning to ride a bike. Expect a learning curve. Expect quite a few falls. Expect a hard time finding your balance. And rest assured that one of these days ADD management will be second nature.

Until then, don’t get down on yourself when you fall. No matter how bad things seem to be going, no matter how many times you fall, always get back on the bike.

Copyright © 2009 Jennifer Koretsky

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Learning how to manage your out of control anxieties can be extremely difficult. The first thing you need to do is to seek the services of a professional and/or counselor who can teach you how to manage your fears and give you the help that you need. In the meantime, here are some ways to cope with your fears and anxieties.

The first step is to take a deep breath and try to find something to do to get your mind off of the problem. A person could take a walk, listen to some music, read the newspaper, watch TV, play on the computer or do an activity that will give you a fresh perspective on things. This will distract you from your current problem. Most importantly, doing something will give you the self- confidence that you can do your tasks and that you can get through the rest of the day.

Remember that things change and events do not stay the same. For instance, you may feel overwhelmed in the mornings with your anxiety and feel that this is how you will feel the rest of the day. This is not correct. No one can predict the future with 100 Percent accuracy. Even if the thing that you feared does happen there are circumstances and factors that you can not predict which can be used to your advantage. You never know when the help and answers you are looking for will come to you.

A good way to manage your worry is to challenge your negative thinking with positive statements and realistic thinking. When encountering thoughts that make your fearful or anxious, challenge those thoughts by asking yourself questions that will maintain objectivity and common sense.

Be smart in how you deal with your fears and anxieties. Do not try to tackle everything all at once. When facing a current or upcoming task that overwhelms you with a lot of anxiety, break the task into a series of smaller steps. Completing these smaller tasks one at a time will make the stress more manageable and increases your chances of success.

In every anxiety related situation you experience, begin to learn what works, what does not work, and what you need to improve on in managing your fears and anxieties. For instance, you have a lot of anxiety and you decide to play on the computer to help you feel better. The next time you feel anxious you can remind yourself that you got through it the last time by playing on the computer. This will give you the confidence to manage your anxiety in the future.

Remember that sometimes our worrying and fears can make the problem even worse. Take things in stride and try not focus too much on the problem. Patience, persistence, education, and being committed in trying to solve your problem will go along way in fixing your problems.

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