Zzzzzz

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Sleep is important for everyone. Without it we are cranky and slow all day. When we are stressed out, we need sleep to fight our stressful lives. Too bad stress and sleep disorders trap you into a  vicious cycle of symptoms and its hard to break this cycle. Stress can cause sleep problems, but restless sleep also increase stress levels. In order to perform at your best and get your optimum sleep follow these tips:

1. Make sleep a priority
2. Create a bedtime routine that is relaxing.
3. Create a room that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool
4. Evaluate your mattress and pillow to ensure proper comfort and support.
5. Keep work materials, computers and televisions out of the bedroom.
6. Exercise regularly.
7. If you sleep with a partner, your mattress should allow each of you enough space to move easily.
8. Avoid nicotine
9. Avoid caffeine and alcohol
10. Finish eating at least two to three hours before bedtime.

For more information on stress and sleep visit: http://www.bettersleep.org/OnBetterSleep/stress_sleep.asp 

How to Use the StressEraser

The StressEraser is an easy to use tool to improve your breathing and eliminate your stress.

Biofeedback therapy is the new “go-to” stress management technique these days. Athletes, students, and parents are all joining this new trend to find relaxation and improve their daily performance.

Biofeedback is a technique that trains people to improve their health by controlling certain bodily processes that normally happen involuntarily, such as heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin temperature.With help from a biofeedback monitor, you can learn to change your heart rate or blood pressure. To start out, you use the monitor to watch your progress, but with more practice you will be able to achieve success without the monitor or electrodes. Biofeedback is an effective therapy for many conditions; such conditions include:

• Anorexia nervosa
• Anxiety
• Asthma
• Autism
• Back pain
• Bed wetting
• Chronic pain
• Constipation
• Depression
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy and related seizure disorders
• Headaches and migraines
• Head injuries
• High blood pressure
• Learning disabilities
• Motion sickness
• Muscle spasms
• Sexual disorders, including pain with intercourse
• Spinal cord injuries

In a biofeedback session, electrodes are attached to your skin. They send information to a small monitoring box that translates the measurements into varying tones, a visual meter, or a computer screen that shows lines moving across a grid. The biofeedback therapist will then guide you in mental exercises. Remember practice makes perfect! so keep practicing lots and your results will show it.

The most common forms of biofeedback therapy include:

• Electromyography (EMG), (measures muscle tension)
• Thermal biofeedback (measures skin temperature)
• Neurofeedback  (measures brain wave activity)

A great way to use a biofeedback machine is the stress eraser. The stress eraser is a small, portable machine that does not require any additional help from a trained biofeedback therapist. You can take this with you where ever you go, and stay at your optimal heart rate and stress level.

Read more on biofeedback at: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/biofeedback-000349.htm#ixzz1sySjfLPW

Rock Out While You Workout

I always listen to my favorite playlist while doing cardio exercises, and good news… new studies performed by the School of Sport and Exercises Sciences, Loughborough University, UK have shown that listening to music will actually perform my cardio work out.

The study examined whether music improved starting, finishing and/or overall power during a 10-km cycling time trial, and whether heart rate and subjective responses to this time trial were altered by music. They results showed that the largest music-induced increases in cycling speed and heart rate were observed in the first 3 km of the time trial. These new findings suggest that music improves cycling speed mostly in the first few minutes of a 10-km time trial.

Heres my favorite playlist to work out to… Enjoy!

1. Drive By; Train

2. Tonight is the Night; Outasight

3. We Found Love; Rihanna

4. Sexy and I Know It; LMFAO

5. You Make Me Feel; Cobra Starship

6. Mr. Saxobeat; Alexandra Stan

7. You and I; Lady Gaga

8. You Suck at Love; Simple Plan

9. Up N Down; Britney Spears

10. Where them Girls At; David Guetta

11. Live it Up; Group 1 Crew

12. We R Who We R; Ke$ha

For more information on the effects of music on cardio performance visit: https://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/pdf/sportsmed/doi/10.1055/s-2004-815715.pdf 

Relax It’s Just Meditation!

When I think of meditation I picture myself sitting with my legs crossed, eyes closed, and humming. However, I have recently learned that this isn’t the only way to meditate.  Meditation is a form of guided though and it can take many different forms. Meditation can be an exercise that uses the same motions over and over, like jogging or swimming. Relaxation training through stretching and deep breathing is also a form of meditation.

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Personally, I am a firm believer in relaxation training; my coach often stops practice early to practice our relaxation. Don’t worry, relaxation training is very easy… start with one muscle, hold it tight for 10 seconds then relax the muscle. Keep doing this with one muscle at a time (I personally like starting with my upper body then working my way down to my feet). When you are practicing your relaxation training, make sure you are in a dark quite place and are lying down in a comfortable position. Good luck!

For more information on stress, meditation, and relaxation training go to: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/prevention-wellness/emotional-wellbeing/mental-health/stress-how-to-cope-better-with-lifes-challenges.html 

You are What You Eat

People always say, “you are what you eat”, but did you know there are foods proven to actually keep you stress and anxiety levels down? Start adding some of these foods into your diet and you will stay calm, cool, and collected all week:

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Dark Chocolate: Packed with flavonoids (known for their relaxing properties) this delicious dessert also contains phenethylamine, a chemical proven to enhance your mood. The darker the chocolate, the healthier it is, so look for chocolate that is 70% cacao or higher!

Skim Milk: Studies have found that women who drink four or more servings of low fat or skim milk daily were almost 50% to experience stress-related PMS symptoms than those who drink less than one serving per week.

Spinach: Magnesium, found in leafy greens like spinach, is shown to improve your body’s response to stress.

Salmon: Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids, abundant in salmon or other fish, can help reverse stress symptoms by increasing your serotonin levels. Omega-3 diets can also help lower the production of anxiety hormones, cortisol and adrenaline.

Oatmeal: When people get stressed we often crave carbohydrates, most likely due to carbs’ production of serotonin, which fights anxiety’s negative effects. Since carbs have this anxiety fighting property its okay to give in to your carb cravings, but chose something healthy like oatmeal. Oatmeal is high in fiber, which keeps you full longer and controls your blood sugar, and will give you that serotonin boost we are all looking for.

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Blueberries: High in antioxidants, blueberries counteract the effects of stress hormones like cortisol on your body.

For more information on how you can decrease your stress by changing your diet visit: http://www.leaflady.org/antistressfoods.htm 

Massages Benefits for Everyone

Everyone knows that a massage is a great way to de-stress, but that massage is only for relaxation is a common misconception. A massage can promote well-being in everyone, and even have additional benefits for athletes.

Flexibility is important for all athletes, it keeps athletes performing at their best ability and decreases risk of injury… but did you know that continued massage therapy could maintain and even increase flexibility? Massage therapy stretches muscle fibers, and with a regular massage therapy the result is incomparable. Massage therapy also improves circulation in athletes. Improved circulation will allow athletes to breathe easier during vigorous activity. The benefits don’t stop here… massage therapy can also provide more oxygen to muscles, enabling and athlete to move with more agility, and enhance their performance. Massage therapy can also help promote better and more regular sleep patterns in everyone. Better sleep means better performance on the field and in the office.

If you are a University of New Hampshire (UNH) student or faculty member contact UNH Health Services for your own massage. The massages are cheap and the staff is caring and attentive. Visit http://www.unh.edu/health-services/ohep/massage.html or call (603) 862-3823 to make an appointment.

For more information on the benefits of massage therapy go to: http://musclematters.ca/articles/benefits-of-massage-therapy-for-athletes/