sustaining health

Am I Making Progress?

by ultrapeg
mhpjoggeropti
Am I Making Progress ?

By Peg Ryan
Mile High Pilates and Yoga

A friend and I were talking as we walked this morning about some of the ongoing controversies within the health and wellness communities.  One example: how do cholesterol levels really impact our health and what are optimum levels?  For many years this seemed to be settled science.  High cholesterol was linked to “bad” fat in the diet.  Everyone jumped on a reduced fat or fat-free diet.  Then research began to show that heredity and genetics also play a part.  Dietary cholesterol intake might not be such a significant factor after all.  Further research began to distinguish between types of cholesterol and also types of fat.   The subtleties of determining optimum levels in diverse individuals began to present additional complications in diagnosis and treatment.  There was a time when some doctors were advocating putting cholesterol-lowering medications in the water supply.  Fortunately, subsequent research has begun to question whether or not previously established optimum cholesterol levels are really applicable to all people.  So even when we think modern methods have settled certain questions, inevitably more questions tend to surface.

To complicate matters even more, increasing interest in holistic approaches to health care recommend taking the whole person into consideration instead of just isolated symptoms or systems.  This means recognizing that our internal mechanisms are not only interconnected but also impacted by our minds and emotions. Add to this the fact that each of us has our own individual responses to various medical interventions, none of which is always true for every person, regardless of the statistical results of clinical trials.  As human beings we have much in common, but we each have unique characteristics that make generalizations difficult if not downright dangerous at times.  My feeling is that we are all an experiment of one.  Getting to know our own bodies is just one step in the direction of learning what is right for each of us as individuals, regardless of what the latest study seems to show.

For many years there has been an ongoing discussion in the fitness industry.  It goes something like this:  is it healthier to be a thin couch potato or an overweight exerciser?  There are, of course, advocates and plausible arguments on both sides.   But in my opinion, all of this points to the many questions that still exist in our knowledge of how human beings work.  We are just beginning to learn about nutrition, what a body actually requires and the best way to provide it. This is no small task since each of us has different needs. This subject is still not well-taught in our medical schools and or even well understood by researchers. We get sound bites of research, most of which is flawed, that the media jumps on as the next magic solution. People hop on the bandwagon only to find that what worked for their neighbor simply doesn’t work for them. Then the next study comes down the pike which contradicts the one before it.  “Coffee is good for your heart!” shout the headlines only to be followed a few months later by, “Don’t drink coffee, it’s bad for you” or “Drink 3 cups of coffee, but not 4”.   It seems that each time some question finds what looks like an answer, a whole new set of questions arises.

Having said all of that, there is one thing that all of us have been hearing for many years and that a mounting body of evidence from many different sources continues to support.  We all need to move more for better health.  Many years of sedentary lifestyles have affected our health in negative ways.  This is just one factor in modern life that affects our health, but this is one we can choose to change.  But how to move, when to move, how often, how fast – all of these still remain questions that each of us as individuals need to answer for ourselves.

So what happens when you finally take that big step forward and make that change?  You’ve made the decision, committed yourself and incorporated a regular movement practice into your life. How do you know if you’re making progress toward better health?  Maybe despite attention your diet and consistent exercise you just don’t seem to be seeing results.  You were expecting to feel stronger, have better balance, ease some of your pain, but it doesn’t seem to be happening.  This can be discouraging.  You may even begin to doubt your own capacity for feeling better.  Thoughts like “I’m no good at this” or “I will never get any better” may begin to creep into your consciousness further sabotaging your efforts.

In the fitness industry we often speak of “exercise plateaus”.  Many people make noticeable gains in the early days of an exercise program.  Of course, this is not true for everyone.  In some cases the very act of beginning a movement practice is so stressful that it can take time for the practitioner to begin to feel better.  In all cases the body gradually adapts to the changing demands on its systems.  Sometimes this results in what looks like a levelling off of change.  But the changes that are continuing – and it is my opinion that they are, in fact, continuing – to take place may simply have moved into a more subtle realm.  This is the time when it becomes more important than ever to focus on continuing your practice and going deeper into the subtle aspects of mind-body connection to find the changes.  Here are some questions you might want to consider:  How do you feel?  If your goal when you began your practice was pain relief, perhaps your pain is still there.  But are you better able to live with it since beginning your practice?  Can you move more easily?  Are you better able to do at least some of the things that were beyond your ability when you started?  Do you have more stamina?  Try focussing on the improvement instead of the lingering limitations.

If your goal was weight loss, but you can’t seem to get there from here, ask yourself:  Do my clothes fit better?  Do I have more color in my cheeks?  How are my energy levels?  Do I fatigue less easily?  Am I sleeping better?  Am I standing taller?  Posture improvement is an important result of many mind-body movement systems including yoga and Pilates.  Another consequence of our sedentary lifestyle is erosion of good posture and resulting back, neck and shoulder problems.  In a recent article in Yoga Journal, Dr. Ray Long speaks of the immediate difference in his patients’ moods when he gives them a simple exercise that allows them to sit upright in a chair.  They change from describing themselves as being “tired” or “sad” to being “alert” and “bright”.  Which brings up another question:  Has your mood improved?  Remember, your emotions, mind and body are all interconnected.  Has working your body helped you to better respond to situations in your life?  Are you better able to relax and find stress-free moments? Maybe you don’t get irritated as easily by little things.  Perhaps you are more in touch with the present moment rather than regretting the past or fearing the future.  There is every reason to believe that your movement practice has contributed to these changes as well.

Going back to the concept that we are each an experiment of one, each of us will respond differently to whatever interventions we adopt to address our health needs.  As you begin to examine the more subtle changes in your mind and body, you will no doubt think of other ways to note your progress.  What works for the person next to you in class may not work for you and vice versa.  We each have to find our own way.  But it helps if you gear your measurements to your own needs rather than the needs of others or anything you read about in the popular press. Develop your own yardsticks of progress and if one ceases to work, find another.  There is no one perfect measurement.  After all what is progress?  Make your own definition.  But if it means positive change then I am confident that you will find it if you take the time to look.

The important thing is to stick with your practice no matter what.  Don’t give up. Change it if you need to reignite your enthusiasm or cut back if your body demands it.  But don’t stop moving. Whatever your definition of progress, it will certainly stop if you do.  And it is much more difficult to re-start after stopping than it is to just keep moving at whatever level you can.   Even if you think you aren’t getting anywhere, you are exactly where you need to be.  Be kind to yourself, practice patience, be grateful for your ability to move and breathe and honor your body’s desire to maintain that ability.

 

 

Mental Gymnastics

by ultrapeg
motivateMHPopti
Mental Gymnastics

By Peg Ryan
Mile High Pilates and Yoga

Custer, SD – Most of us already know that exercise can contribute to improved physical health.  Studies continue to demonstrate that even small amounts of moderate exercise can reduce or delay the risk of a variety of diseases and disease precursors including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis.  Exercise can also help sufferers manage back pain and depression.  Balance, flexibility and postural training can help prevent falls.

According to an article  from the National Center for Biotechnology Information although “compromised bone strength (osteoporosis) and falling, alone, or more frequently in combination, are the two independent and immediate risk factors of elderly people’s fractures . . .  of these two, falling, not osteoporosis, is the strongest single risk factor for a fracture.”  The article goes on to say that “in fall prevention, regular strength and balance training, reducing psychotropic medication, and diet supplementation with vitamin D and calcium have been shown to be effective.”  Another article from the British Journal of Sports Medicine echoes this finding:  “Exercise is effective in lowering falls risk in selected groups and should form part of falls prevention programmes.”

Exercise is not only an important to our physical well-being but it contributes to our mental health as well.  Recent studies , including one published in the Archives of Neurology, show a link between physical exercise and cognitive function.  ” ‘Our findings contribute to the growing body of literature that indicates the potentially beneficial relationship between physical exercise and cognition,’ Yonas E. Geda, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues concluded.”  Another article  asserts that exercise may even reduce the risk of dementia in people aged 65 and older. According to these researchers:  “Regular physical exercise is an important element in overall health promotion and might also be an effective strategy to delay onset of dementia.”  Exercise in this case was defined as a physical activity in which the subject engaged for a minimum of 15 minutes at least 3 times per week. Seems like a small price to pay for a potentially big benefit.

The importance of exercise to the physical body should come as no surprise, especially to regular exercisers.  The bonus of improved mental health is similarly not unexpected among those who recognize that all systems in the human body are related and interconnected.  (And, yes, that means our teeth, eyes and feet are all contributors to our overall health despite the fact that our health care system considers them separate.  But that’s a topic for another day.)

What may be less well-studied, but no less apparent to active people, is that the converse is also true.  Lack of movement contributes to decline of many physical and mental functions.  Recently a participant in one of my classes was lamenting the fact that the decline seems to accelerate with aging and become that much more difficult to overcome.  This means that if we stop moving, it becomes that much harder to get moving again.  The less we move, the less we want to move so lack of movement ends up contributing to further lack of movement.  Nobody really knows why this happens, but one thing is certain.  It takes mental as well as physical strength to get back in gear.  This is the function of the Warrior in yoga.  It’s not about destruction or revenge, it’s about exercising courage and overcoming obstacles.

Most of the time, we create our own obstacles.  We are really good at making excuses for not doing the things we want to do.  Of course, we are only hurting ourselves by constructing these fences, but sometimes that gives us another rationale. We fall into a self-pity trap that begins “if only . . . ”  You can fill in your own blank here.  Examples, “if only I hadn’t gotten injured” or “if only I wasn’t overweight” or “if only the weather was better”, etc. etc.  You get the idea.

Here is one of the most common obstacles I find when people are trying to get back into moving:  “if only I could still do what I used to be able to do.”  This is simply imposing unrealistic expectations on ourselves.  The way things were will always be part of the past and unless someone invents some kind of time machine, we can never go back there.  All the lamenting and nostalgia in the world won’t make that possible.  Our old frenemy change will always come back to haunt us.  Nothing stays the same.  Change is constant regardless of how fervently we resist it.

So the best we can do is use the present to pave the way for the future.  There are no guarantees.  We can’t go back, but we also can’t see into the future.  Stuff happens and despite the pronouncements of various pundits and so-called experts there is no way to tell what will happen tomorrow.  But we can do the best we can to deal with what we are presented with today.  If you’re trying to start or get back into a regular movement practice, there is no better time than right now.  But you may need to get out of your own way to do it.  Instead of making excuses for why it is not possible, try to make it a priority.  Carve out the time just as you would if you were making an important appointment.  After all, what good are you without your health?  You can’t help anyone else unless you first help yourself. If you’ve ever flown in a commercial airplane you might remember the admonishment of the safety instructions:  put on your own oxygen mask first.  You can’t give what you haven’t got.  And we all have much to give.  Instead of fixating on what you can’t do, try focusing on what you can do and move from there.  Start with a small does and move from there.  Get up and walk around the house.  Stand up and stretch.  You can do it!

Getting started is hard.  That’s true.  But call on your inner Warrior.  Take baby steps.  Start with 5 minutes.  Like we used to say in ultrarunning, start slow and back off.  If you want to take a class, just go.  Let go of vanity.  We all look funny moving around in a class.  A sense of humor is a great ally.  Remind yourself that you can stop any time.  There are no class police.  No one will arrest you for doing something different from what other people are doing. You don’t have to force anything.  Just stop when you need to.  Any movement is better than no movement at all.  Once you get started, it becomes that much easier to keep going.

The simple act of moving will help reduce your stress levels and improve your overall health.  It is almost guaranteed that you will feel better after you’re done than you did before you started.  And once you have the experience of knowing you can do it, draw on that strength to keep at it.  Changes can be subtle and sometimes we don’t notice them right way.  Don’t let that discourage you.  Just keep moving.  If you keep at it you will see a difference.