Holistic Wellness System Presentation Exercise for Stress Reduction

Moira Khouri, NC, MH, HHP, CCP, RYT

Introduction
In this presentation we will learn about how simple daily exercise and activity can help you to reduce your stress and improve your health. In addition to influencing cellular rejuvenation and our mind-body balance, exercise produces a powerful protective effect on the stress hormones that can cause degeneration. Early humans were designed to be in motion. We evolved as hunter-gatherers who had to run and chase our food if we wanted to eat something other than root and seeds, not push a cart in a grocery store. We had to run away from predators to survive, not watch Survivor from the comfort of our couches. Our systems were meant to be stimulated to optimum function by a physical activity. When our body is constantly sedentary our systems cannot function at peak capacity. Many years ago we didnt have to think much about getting exercise as our lives were full of every-day activity that we did in the process of daily living. Now we are largely a sedentary population that has to arrange periods of exercise to keep ourselves moving and fit. The term exercise has a negative feeling to many of us, it is a thing to be dreaded and avoided. If we can shift our thoughts and attitudes to simply being active it has a more natural and less forced feeling to it. As our lives become inundated with the stressors of daily living we find time limits reduce the possibility of activity on several levels. We dont get enough activity for our bodies to perform naturally and efficiently. Must we really wonder why we are a planet that is now experiencing a global pandemic of stress related disease?

Stress and Disease

Our stress hormones propel us into action when stressors in the form of physical or psychological threats to our safety are perceived, so we can either fight or run away from them. Our stressors are more often mental and psychological than physical these days. The production of our stress hormones remains high. They continue to circulate through the body, wreaking havoc on our cells. Physical activity is the best way to eliminate the toxic byproducts of the stress response. Moderate exercise relieves stress, enhances immune system function, boosts circulation, and improves our ability to sleep soundly. Exercise helps to promotes healthy sleep naturally. Sleep is extremely important to healing as most of our cellular repair takes place while we sleep. In ancient times our ancestors lived their lives around natural times of darkness, daylight and moonlight. We have lost touch with this natural way of being, surrounded by light pollution as we dwell in cities, largely indoors away from the night sky and unaware of the cycles of the moon and movement of the stars. The result is that our natural rhythms have been disrupted and we suffer from what is known as biorhythmic imbalances which causes physical stress and disease. The signs and symptoms of this imbalance are fatigue, inability to concentrate, excessive fantasizing, procrastination, muscle tension and fatigue, emotional eating, addictive cravings for sugar, coffee, cigarettes, or alcohol, physical restlessness, a sense of feeling depressed or vulnerable, lapses in memory, irritability, impatience, and headaches, most of which are symptoms of prolonged stress.

When exposed to light at night, levels of Melatonin, a hormone and powerful antioxidant produced by the pineal gland decrease. When saliva testing was conducted on women with breast cancer many of them showed a nightly Melatonin deficiency. It was found that women who worked night shifts, such as nurses and flight attendants, had a 60% higher rate of breast cancer. The research, conducted at the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found that exposure to light during the hours of sleep appears to aggressively promote breast cancer by shutting down the production of melatonin. This hormone and antioxidant, which is naturally produced by the body during the hours of darkness is a strong immune system booster. Its presence also impedes the growth of cancer tumors by as much as 80%.

Stress Reducing Exercises

Doing any kind of physical activity daily is much healthier than getting no exercise at all. It is better to get a little exercise each day by continuously moving, walking, lifting, pulling and carrying than it is to wait for the weekend and try to fit in that dreaded trip to the gym or a fitness class. Another great reason to get moving is that regular exercise has been shown to improve mood and the ability to handle stress. Increased participation in sports and physical activities is strongly associated with decreased symptoms of anxiety, depression, feeling run down, and insomnia, plus those who exercise have greater feeling of self-esteem and self-worth. This is because exercise stimulates production of endorphins, mood enhancing brain chemistry.

Walking
Walking uses 290 to 430 calories per hour, depending on how fast one walks. This would be equal to an average of 180 calories per half hour. If one walked for a half hour six days a week they would burn off between 1740 and 2580 calories per week, depending on how fast they walked. Or, to put it another way based on the above average of 180 calories per half hour they could burn off 1080 calories per week on the average. That is all that is needed to maintain some level of health according to the longevity and exercise studies conducted by Dr. Steven Blair at the Institute for Aerobics Research. His findings were that the individuals who performed minimal regular exercise, walking for half an hour a day, six days a week, exercising for health not fitness, were gaining the most of the longevity benefits conferred by exercise. They also enjoyed the same mortality rate as someone who ran thirty to forty miles a week. Walking is probably the easiest, most accessible and convenient exercise activity. According to Dr. Andrew Weil the advantages of walking are that it can be done by almost anyone, anytime, anywhere, with friends or alone, it is free, has a low risk of injury, and no equipment except good walking shoes is required. It has all the benefits of aerobic exercise if done correctly. Walking is a weight bearing exercise with cardiovascular benefits. This makes walking a good starting point to becoming healthier by reducing stress with exercise. The risk of stress induced diseases can be reduced by following a regular walking routine. Walking is instrumental in combating stress and mild depression. It provides a gentle release of tension and creates a more positive state of mind thanks to the production of endorphins, the feel good chemicals produced in our brains. Noticeable improvements can be attained over a short period of time in balance, strength, endurance and aerobic capacity. To begin a walking routine start with 30 minutes a day, five or six days a week. If possible choose a pleasant environment such as a park, away from fumes from local traffic. Pace yourself, by walking at about 50-60% of your maximum working heart rate. Before starting a regular walking workout routine calculate your MHR or Maximum Heart Rate. The basic MHR for men is 220 minus age and for women 226 minus age. For example a woman 50 years of age would have an MHR of 176 or 176 heart beats per minute. 226 - 50=176.

Walking with a friend, your dog or listening to music can make the time fly by, and increase the many positive health benefits.

Alternated Walking/Running
If youre feeling stronger and want to increase the aerobic and stress reduction benefits you can begin to integrate some short runs into your walk. I recommend you walk for ten to fifteen minutes first to warm up the muscles and then begin to alternate with a short slow run of two minutes. Then return to walking at your normal pace. You can do this several times during your walk. Over time, depending on your health and goals you can lengthen the run segments or increase the number of short runs in the routine. Walking slowly at the end of your exercise time and then taking a few minutes to stretch your leg muscles will help with your recovery. Your body will tell you when youve done enough so dont push beyond your comfort zone. If you do too much you will increase your physical stress which is counter-productive.

Running
Depending on your fitness level and goals you may find running to be more of a stress release. The benefits of running are many: Increased endorphin production leading to what we call the runners high, increased cardiovascular strength, muscle tone, endurance, and self-confidence that shift your thoughts to be more positive. Muscles store more glycogen which provides fuel for longer periods of endurance, delaying fatigue during exercise. Increased calorie burning promotes weight loss and returns the body to healthy function. Muscles have ability to extract oxygen from the blood and store carbohydrate which means you will burn body fat as fuel. Normal runs will gradually feel easier over time. As with walking/running, do not push beyond your comfort zone or you will risk injury and increase the stress in your body. Over time your endurance will increase and your stress will decrease. Set your goal at gradually increasing the distance and duration, rather than increasing your speed. If you feel youd like to run with others you can enlist friends or family, or join a running club through one of the local sports/running equipment stores. This way youll have great enthusiastic companionship, increase the pleasure and stress reduction benefits, and get some expert advice on safe running.

Cycling
Cycling provides stress reducing health benefits and can play an important role in achieving good health and longevity through regular aerobic exercise. To begin cycling be sure to think safety and equip yourself with a bike sized for your body, a good helmet and some gloves to protect your hands from friction on the handles. Regular cycling will reduce stress, increase metabolism to burn calories and help reduce excess weight. Overall balance and coordination will improve. Cycling also reduces the risk of heart disease through aerobic exercise and works the muscles of the lower body, producing increased strength and a more trim and toned body. You will gain increased stamina which will be noticeable in your everyday activities. Stress, anxiety and depression are reduced and pleasure and satisfaction increased. As a leisure activity, cycling can be a very social activity and a way to connect with friends, discover new places, and new experiences in those places. Cycling is becoming more popular as a mode of transportation and helps protect the environment. Begin your cycling routine by starting slowly, a half hour ride a few times a week. Once you are comfortable you may want to increase the number of

times per week then begin to gradually increase the length of time you ride for. To increase the stress reducing health benefits ride for an hour on as many days of the week as possible. Many people find getting outdoors to exercise produces greater health benefits than exercising indoors. You can join a group of beginner cyclists through a cycling shop or local club and enjoy rides even more as part of a group with shared interests, learning from more experienced cyclists. Anyone beginning an exercise program should check with their doctor, especially if you have not ridden much, have a low fitness level, are overweight, have suffered chest pains, are on medication, or over forty.

Breathwork
According to Dr. Andrew Weil the benefits of regulating your breath and practicing breathwork techniques are far reaching and include improving your sleep, relieving stress, managing pain, enhancing poor digestion, increasing blood flow through the body, improving concentration, enhancing physical performance and boosting mental and physical energy. Not only is breathwork easy, the practice is very relaxing and also helps the body to detoxify. Decreased body toxicity means less physical stress. In times of stress or if you simply wish to elevate your moods and thoughts to be more positive, a few minutes of focused breathwork will allow you to release your reaction to stress, bringing about the desired change to a rested and refreshed mind, reconnecting you with your inner strength. Slowing down your breath, observing your breath, its sound and rhythm, letting your thoughts simply float on your breath, you become more inwardly focused. Slow meditative breathing also increases melatonin levels as the pineal gland function is stimulated. Ranjie Singh, PhD, in his book Self-Healing: Powerful Techniques discusses how he found that practitioners of breathwork had melatonin levels increase by 0.5 to 10 times, with an average of three times higher than the base line. The thymus gland produces a hormone called thymosin which is in part regulated by melatonin, a hormone which improves immune function. A 240% increase in natural killer cells has been observed after supplementation with melatonin, more than doubling the bodys chance to destroy cancer cells.

Yoga
Yoga is one of the oldest health practices in the known world today with millions of practitioners worldwide. Yoga is part of the Ayurveda Medicine system from ancient India. It is known to reduce stress and tone and condition the body while calming and balancing the mind and energy for complete physical, mental and spiritual health. Yoga teaches a basic principle of the unity of the mind and body, and believes that if the mind is restless or agitated the health of the body will be compromised, and if the body is in poor health the mental strength and clarity will be negatively affected. Conditions that benefit from yoga include reduction of stress and anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate, improved memory and intelligence, pain relief, improved motor skills, relief from addictions, heightened visual and auditory perception, enhanced metabolic and respiratory function, increased lung capacity, diminishment of asthma attacks, increased degree of relaxation and increased positive attitudes, improved function of the endocrine and nervous systems, increased circulation to the thyroid gland and plexus region in certain postures, and relieve from obsessive-compulsive disorders. Health benefits of maintaining a regular Yoga practice include relief of back, neck and joint pain, release of shoulder tension, superb toning and flexibility of the whole body, strengthening of all the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and improved posture. The discipline and awareness adhered to during performance of the Asanas helps maintain the posture in alignment, with relaxation and openness helping to stimulate circulation of prana, the life energy. According to the Yoga Sutras a properly executed asana creates balance between movement and stillness, exertion and surrender, the state of a healthy body and mind.

Qigong and Tai Chi

Both Qigong and Tai Chi form the core of Chinas national self -care system of health maintenance and are used for personal development as well. They both include movement, meditation and breath regulation for enhancing the flow of life energy in the body. Both improve blood circulation and immune function, and are well known to reduce stress. These ancient practices can be used by both the elderly and severely ill, as well as healthy people of all ages making them widely popular and two of the most commonly used self-care systems in the world today. Qigong has broader healthcare applications as it easier to learn, can be used by anyone of any age or health and fitness level and can be performed standing up, walking, sitting and lying down. Qigong is also called Chi Kung. Tai Chi is also known as Tai Cho Chuan. Both practices focus on teaching the practitioner how to remain healthy and cultivate inner strength, calm the mind, and restore the body to its natural state of health by maintaining optimum functioning of the bodys systems. Both focus on improving balance and body awareness, stimulating immune function, increasing flexibility, and improving circulation. Some of the health conditions that improved with practicing of Qigong and Tai Chi include digestive problems, asthma, arthritis, insomnia, pain, depression, anxiety, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and stress hormone regulation. A number of studies have reported physiological benefits that are achieved with regular practice including initiation of the relaxation response triggered by mental focus that frees the mind from distractions, decreasing sympathetic function of the autonomous nervous system with decreased heart rate and blood pressure, dilated blood capillaries and improved delivery of oxygen to tissues; better co-ordination of left and right brain hemisphere dominance which promoted deeper sleep, reduced anxiety and improved mental clarity; induced alpha and theta brain waves which reduced heat rate and blood pressure, bringing about relaxation and mental focus; decreased activity of the sympathetic nervous system optimized the bodys self-regulation systems; moderated function of the hypothalamus, pituitary and pineal glands and cerebrospinal fluids of the brain and spinal cord, mediating pain and mood, and accelerating immune function. The body responds positively to light exercise daily better than spurts of activity followed by periods of sedentary behavior.

References
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