Archive for the ‘Relieve Stress At Work’ Category

It is not exaggerating when they say nothing spoils your day more than a painful stiff neck!

Have you ever woke up one morning with a sudden and sharp shooting pain in the neck? It happens when your sleeping position somehow went wrong and your neck got twisted or locked to one side.

How/When it happens-

• when the weather turns cold
• falling asleep while reading, working on laptop, watching TV
• sleeping in a bus
• when the pillow is too high or fluffy
• after a bad fall
• some underlying medical condition which needs to be checked by your doctor

What you can do-

• If you do regular workouts, go easy on that day and the next day if its still painful. This can bring down the soreness.
• Do minor neck exercises like moving your neck gently up-down, side-side etc. This can strengthen neck muscles in the long run.
• Ask someone- partner or roomie- to give you a soft massage on the aching area.
• Is your mattress too fluffy and soft? This might be the reason. Try sleeping on a firm mattress and use a thin pillow (or better yet, don’t use a pillow for a few days).
• Sometimes your routine stress can also pave way to neck pain and stiffness. Deep breathing, meditation and yoga are easy relaxation techniques you can adopt.

It is time for you to consult a doctor if the stiffness last for more than a week with self care.

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Just as the body gets sick, things can get too much for your mind as well. And its normal. But like body, mind too needs ‘treatment’ and rest.

Self-help Tips

1. May be you need a cup of tea first thing in the morning. Try having a banana after brushing and postpone tea for atleast 30 minutes. If possible switch to green tea. You’ll feel really great.
2. Time-mismanagement can also be a main reason for your stress and anxiety. Taking 5 minutes to make a to-do list may help you prioritize and get organized.
3. May be you are feeling down because it has been days or months since you had your favourite food. Promise yourself that this Saturday you are going to either prepare it yourself or place an order.

Get help

1. Talking helps. Keeping things bottled inside will only multiply issues. Confiding in your trusted friend or family member really helps you to put things in perspective and unravel the problem.
2. If it is something you cannot confide in friends or family, enquire about reputed counseling centres.
3. In rare cases, you might be diagnosed with depression. In that case, your doctor will present a number of options such as therapies, prescriptions etc.

Acknowledge that some things cannot be changed

Sometimes there is no point in stressing over a situation. For instance, if you are living in a metro, traffic hassles are something you cannot change no matter how much you curse or get angry. The least you can do is to a longer but less busy road. Same can be said of certain irritating habits of someone close to you or your colleagues.

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Let us beckon 2013 with a fresh pledge to living healthy. The following healthy resolutions, if you adopt, are sure to keep you happily fit and gorgeous, both inside and out.

Rein your portions

Wish to right size your shape? Mindless binge eating is often the villain. Start right sizing your food portions by using smaller dishes. Yes, the smaller your platters are, the more you lose that extra weight. And instead of serving directly from the main bowl, take some into a small dish and put away the main bowl.

Staying Active

Instead of sighing jealously at those naturally thin people, observe their lifestyle. They are most likely to share a great liking for being physically active. Aim for moderate intense activity like brisk walking for atleast 30 minutes per day. This, you can squeeze in your busy schedule easily- like 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes after lunch and and another 10 minutes after office.

Cutting down on salt

Now the recommended limit of salt consumption per day is 1 teaspoon. And you know that’s way less than your daily intake. Besides making your stomach feel all bloated, this habit can shoot up your BP. Processed foods are the most dangerous as they use salt as preservative. Remember to check labels carefully before you give it for billing.

Piling on the antioxidants

Do you know why we need antioxidants? When foods are digested, body releases harmful free radicals that can eventually lead to heart burn, cancer etc. Antioxidant-rich foods like orange, tea, pomegranates etc are important to defend your body from these free radicals.

Flossing Daily

Oral Hygiene is horribly underrated. But bacteria in mouth can cause serious health risks. Flossing daily can ward off bacteria; it is a simple enough practice to ingrain with long term benefits to your dental health.

But all these resolutions will go down the drain if your expectations from yourself are far from healthy. For example, don’t expect a drastic change in your figure soon after you started portion-controlling and exercising. Just as it took your body to build-up fats, it will take time to lose it too. So if your inner-spirit tends to be a bit mean to you, just bash it with healthy acceptance. Let that be your founding stone to all your healthy New Year Resolutions.

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Are you one of them who wake up incredibly grouchy, especially on cold winter mornings? Admit it, you are secretly jealous of those ‘morning people’ who not only manage house chores in record time, but also keep their spirits up as they cheerfully set to tackle the day’s assignments. The funda is simple- they i.e. their brains are all set for the day and yours unfortunately are not.

Morning people are not born that way. They become that way through certain practices and lifestyles- just the way you have become a regular sourpuss in the morning by years of practice. Lets see what you can do to wake up smiling and have a great day ahead every day.

• Had a great sleep? First things first. Nothing will help improve your morning tempo unless you have had a good night’s sleep- advantage of well-rested body, mind and all that! So please work on polishing your sleep hygiene before doing anything. The best sleep strategy you can follow is to try going to bed and getting up in the morning at the same time.

• Morning Shower: You know what they say. “Whatever makes you feel lazy to follow is probably good for you”. A cool morning shower may top this list which includes daily exercise, diet control etc. Yes, you hate the cold plunge, we know. But it’s a good (rude?) wakeup call to your brain and you feel dynamic and energetic enough to face whatever is thrown at you.

• Energetic Music for Energetic Morning: If slow soothing music is an aid to good sleep hygiene, then it can work in reverse. That is, if you put on some lively music in the morning, will you be able to stop your body moving and get geared up? Mix up a few jazzy numbers and try it. Who knows, you may even be game enough to go for a morning shower.

• Having fruit juice to fire up brain cells: Having juice with breakfast is the best way to ensure essential nutrient intake that you often miss in the whirl of junks and fizzies. Fruit juices have everything you need like vitamins and minerals to keep you chirpy and productive all day. Some of those Ads do talk sense once in a while, don’t they?

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It’s that time of year again. High calorie-junks dance temptingly in front of your eyes. They lurk around in various forms- it may be chips packet or a chocolate doughnut or a couple of bites at some deep-fried chicken. This is the time when you stock celebratory snacks for Christmas & don’t think before you drink too. All these stuffs tote up, and if you’re like most Indians, you’ll put on a few kgs before New Year, in other words holiday weight gain.

Holiday weight gain is a misleading term. It sounds as if the weight gained will disappear after holidays. Alas, it does not. And you are definitely not in the mood for portion patrol. Not when parties are regular occurrences at this time. But you can still enjoy your epicurean spell sans weight risks.

“I’m not having much lunch or tea today. I have a party to attend in the evening”.

A common syndrome that haunts most guests! There’s a slight hitch here. When you leave your stomach empty for hours, it goes into starvation mode, making your body store, and not burn, fat. On top of that you tend to tuck in every food on sight because you are so hungry. Now add two and two. Do you think this technique really helps?

Breakfast is the best good morning wish for your body

Whether you have a function to attend later or not, skipping breakfast is just wrong. Having a regular breakfast is the best way to ward off winter weight. Have a glass of warm water as soon as you wake up and eat something within 10 minutes of waking up, before you start making food. For instance, a banana a morning can make you feel real great.

Is party just a food-event for you?

When your eyes light up at the sight of numerous delicacies, you often don’t hear the world-weary sigh of your stomach. Is the joy of getting together and having fun thinned out due to this tendency? Gather people and plan some fun activity… or dance with friends. It will double the enthu in the air and keep people off from stuffing their body.

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Every year since 1948, people worldwide have been observing Human Rights Day on 10 December. Having kick-started with the declaration that all human beings are born with equal rights & fundamental freedoms, this initiative of WHO has taught us to claim what is ours- Right to health.

“The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being…” ~ World Health Organization

What makes your average Indian woman hesitate to grab this right? As women we are guilty of putting our health in the last strung of the priority-ladder. Setting aside the deep-seated conditioning, it is high time we accept that taking charge of one’s health & life doesn’t dilute womanliness in any way. And yes, it is time to scrutinize our mechanical compliance so that health becomes atleast one of the top 5 priority.

“Fish did not discover water. Infact because they are completely immersed in it, they live unaware of its existence. Similarly when a conduct is normalized by a dominant cultural environment it becomes invisible.” ~ Marshall McLuhen

Lets explore some common trends that violate women’s Right to good nutrition & eventually Right to health by women themselves.

• Eating last: It is common, particularly in middle class homes, for women to eat after everybody else had their meals. A double-edged sword attitude it is.

Whys it bad: Not only do they eat much late after repeated growl-alarms from their stomachs, there may not be enough food (especially side dishes) left. A major nutritional compromise! On the other hand when too much is left over, guilty of wasting, they tend to wipe the vessel clean.

How to rectify: Make your mealtimes a family time!

• Eating old food: Another common trend is eating old refrigerated food even when fresh food is available. Again, due to the guilt of wasting food!

Whys it bad: Eating fresh means better nourishment! The longer it takes you to eat that roti sabzi, the faster its nutrients escape from it.

How to rectify: That’s quite straightforward. Eat fresh i.e. eat food atleast within 3 hours of preparation.

• Never opting for their personal favourite food: Post marriage, woman not only change their surname but also eating habits, albeit unconsciously, but also their favourite food cooked in a way they have liked since small.

Whys it bad: Changes in food habits & late-nights after wedding will result in deficiency of your metabolizing and energy-giving Vitamin B stores.

How to rectify: Make it a point to eat your favourite dish atleast once a week.

Simple funda is, if you take complete responsibility for your family’s overall well-being, you need to be healthy. It is your right to health & you owe it your body!

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Social Jetlag, despite the fancy term, is an all-too common sleeping practice (read disorder) which nearly all of us can relate to. It is nothing but following a different sleeping practice & schedule during weekdays and a drastically different one in weekends. After all, what is wrong in oversleeping a bit on weekend days & other holidays? You are only washing off your weekly stresses & perhaps catching up on the much-needed sleep you have missed out while chasing deadlines, right?

Social Jetlag is one invisible cause behind numerous health complications including obesity & diabetes. It makes us ignore our body’s pleads for food & sleep when needed. Instead we eat at the time body is not prepared for digesting food properly. This will shake your metabolic balance by affecting the way your body process fat & digest food. The result is of course some extras in the form of not-so-lovely love handles and fat thighs.

Sleep is a natural process. It should come as natural as breathing.

To tackle sleep-debt, you need to relax. Do what works best for you. It might be Yoga, soothing music, a sumptuous dinner, reading, calling friends over, going to chill out in a discotheque- anything that unwinds you and watch you energy levels shoot up. Yes, we know you need steaming coffee to be on the toe. But lets cut down on that coffee, shall we? Caffeine just makes you exceedingly groggy, feeding on your precious beauty sleep.

It is not practical to mold early birds and nocturnal fellows to identical work routine; rather each one needs individual & tailored schedules that must be followed stringently everyday of the week. It is tough but not impossible to counter the social jet lag effects. The trouble is, people wakeup early because they don’t have a choice. When alarms and fear of late-lathif consequences dominate your sleep schedules, social jetlag is to be expected.

Did you know that giving more attention to your circadian clock can actually help you work it all out naturally? Soon you will not need a wakeup alarm anymore.

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The rings of smoke encircling a sturdy face might look cool in a movie; but you know that it isn’t so cool in real life. Lighting a smoke multiple times a day can certainly burn out your chances of being healthy. Most smokers hold on to this habit, thinking along the lines of ‘I have been smoking for years (or months). It has already affected my health & wont make much difference if I stop now’. Get real guys, your body begins to recover from the bad-effects of nicotine & additives, the minute you quit. Elevated BP, heart rate, body temperature; all start to return to normal while lung capacity improves and breathing becomes easier.

And quitting is not as near-impossible a feat as its made out.

Certainly You Can Do It! The Catch Lies in “How?

• Self help! No outside support! Your will-power and determination will be your armamentarium for fighting the urge within.

• Be prepared and find ways to suppress your cravings for smoking. Fortunately, the strongest of cravings will last not more than 5 minutes. Keep yourself ready with a handy chewing gum or a mouth-freshener instead.

• Abstain from triggers such as coffee or alcohol. If your craving to smoke is conditioned to alcohol, coffee, or any other ritual that you wish to do along with smoking, try and mend your ways to something else.

• Keep low on your stress meter. The moment you decide to quit smoking, your stress levels will start to go down. Gear yourself up with some light exercises such as yoga or meditation to better cope with stress. Learn stress relaxation exercises to reduce stress and to avoid relapse.  
  

• Joining a support group for smoking cessation will surely help you quit as problem shared is problem halved.

Some Thumb Rules to Put a Thumb On

• Know your smoking urges and triggers and throw them in the ashtray.
  

• When you try to quit smoking, remember that the first few days will be the toughest. Irritability, mild depression, slowness, and tiredness are common to occur. Don’t bother and remain diligent with your aim.

• Indulge yourself a new interesting activity to help deviate your attention and suppress your urges. Listen to soft music while on the move or indulge yourself into some creative hand work or hobbies like painting, write blogs / poems, pottery.

Are you still waiting to decide on your quit date?

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Women today are leading a multi-tasking life that involves a fine balance between household and hectic job demands. Consequentially, they are more often diagnosed for anxiety disorders as compared to men. And it is more than occasional jitters, self-consciousness or shyness during job interviews or when expected to give a speech.

PHOBIA is basically an irrational & uncontrolled fear towards an object, person or situation. Have you noticed anyone trembling with fear if they so much as see a spider at the other end of the room? Or no matter how you much you reassure, does your kid refuse to go for a giant wheel ride in Melas? Are you one of those who feels giddy at the mere thought of crossing a busy road? These are a few common phobias and if left untreated, then the phobia can affect the person’s day-to-day life and activities also.

Being judged poorly by faceless mass of ‘others’ is a scary prospect. We all encounter mild forms of SOCIAL PHOBIA from time to time. Yes, even practiced public speakers! So its nothing to be ashamed of, and of course there are ways to enhance your social skills. Once you identify where this phobia stems from, which is your deep fear of embarrassing yourself (will they make fun of me?), you can figure out a way to take the bull by its horns.

For many of us, coping with traumatic events can be very stressful. Recovering from an accident, coping with illness/loss of a loved one, major relationship setbacks etc have a way of haunting us in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, and dizziness. If you feel as if you can never get over what has happened and hopeless about moving on, you may be suffering from POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER. If you know someone with a traumatic past, how did you help him/her?

Did you know? An occasional & mild dose of fear, anxiety & doubt help us to make decisions, solve issues and even grow as an individual. But only when they do not occur often or last long. For instance, you must have heard amusing stories about women who check their door lock, gas knobs & light switches multiple times, sometimes even in the middle of the night. This is OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER for you.

Do you know people with the anxiety symptoms or phobias mentioned above? Please share the anecdotes of your experiences with those people here…

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Did you know! Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s largest killers, claiming 17.3 million lives a year. Risk factors for heart disease and stroke include raised blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, smoking, inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, overweight, obesity and physical inactivity. In partnership with WHO, the World Heart Federation focus on “One World, One Home, One Heart” (source courtesy: WHO – World Health Organisation)

Just as a healthy mind is an indication of a healthy body, in the same way, a healthy heart is an indication of a healthy lifestyle and routine. When you eat healthy, exercise daily, stay away from health enemies like smoking and alcohol drinking, etc., then this is the route to a happy living with a healthy heart.

Is Your Heart Healthy?

You will be amazed to know that women are at equal risk to heart problems as men. But, you can avoid the risk of developing the heart disease by following inculcating a few daily habits. For this you first need to know the risk factors that cause the disease. Now, there are two types of these risk factors; one type consists of those factors that can be changed and other type includes the ones that you cannot change. But, the good news is that, most of the heart problem risk factors can be changed.

The chief factors causing heart problem are as follows:

What can you possibly do to avoid heart problem completely?

The earlier you start to improve your heart-health; the better will be your chances to have a healthy heart. You can immediately inculcate the following habits in your daily life:

• Have a healthy diet plan including mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains or cereals, fish, and pulses.
• Avoid having a large quantity of saturated fats, instead switch to vegetable oils.
• Quit smoking.
• Incorporate some physical activity in your daily routine like using stairs instead of lift or brisk walking.
• Prevent diabetes by limiting your sugar intake.

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