While adopting new positive habits of any kind can facilitate dramatic change in a person's life, the following strategies are particularly powerful because of their far-reaching and broad positive impact on a person's mind and body.
Increase Vitamin D Intake
The growing buzz among scientists, doctors and the public over vitamin D partially stems from D's unique role in the body, as well as a growing body of research linking a D deficiency to a long list of health issues. Dr. John Cannell, Executive Director of the Vitamin D Council writes on his website, " We propose that Vitamin D Deficiency Syndrome is a group of symptoms or signs typical of a disease, disturbance, condition, or lesion, a set of concurrent things and a derangement of function. VDDS is the aggregate of symptoms and signs associated with the morbid process of vitamin D deficiency, and constitute together the picture of the disease, making low D a key player in various "syndromes" of symptoms. "
Technically not a vitamin, D is a secosteroid hormone, and unlike vitamins, hormones act like keys to unlock binding sites on the human genome, the genetic content in an organism. The human genome contains more than 2,700 binding sites for calcitriol, the metabolic product of vitamin D. Those binding sites are near genes involved in virtually every known major disease of humans.
Vitamin D deficiency has been associated, writes Dr. Cannell on the Council's website, "in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more."
Exact dosing of D depends on a number of factors, including weight, color of skin (darker skinned people tend to have lower levels), illness etc. Caucasian skin makes 10,000 IU of vitamin D after 20 to 30 minutes of exposure to summer sun.
Dr. Cannell recommends healthy adults and adolescents who avoid sunlight exposure supplement with at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily, children under the age of one 1,000 IU vitamin per day and children over the age of one 1,000 IU per day for every 25 pounds of body weight. These levels are drastically higher than the new revised RDA of only 600 IU/day.
Take Probiotics to Improve Digestive and Overall Health
Maintaining a healthy digestive tract is critical for the body to function properly, and in many cases, to avoid a number of serious illnesses. The digestive tract is a kind of super highway to health in many regards because it's designed to take in nutrients to feed every cell of the body as well as to serve as a key support system for the immune system.
When the gastrointestinal tract (GI) is regularly off kilter, people run the risk of experiencing systemic (throughout the body) inflammation which can lead to an overactive immune response, increased oxidative stress, insulin resistance and increased fat tissue deposits.
Digestive disruptions and GI diseases are often the result of poor nutrition, which can lead to an imbalance in the intestinal flora, the friendly bacteria. These friendly bacteria live in the digestive tract and are similar to how organs function in the body, a differentiated part of the body designed to perform a specific function.
The American diet however, is full of white carbs, sugar and highly processed foods which create a flourishing environment for dysbiosis, a condition that results when bad bacteria and yeast have overgrown in the intestinal tract. Dysbiosis is often linked with yeast infections, irritable bowel syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. A round of antibiotics can also cause dysbiosis because they kill the bad and the good bacteria.
GI issues can be caused by malabsorption (the body’s inability to absorb adequate nutrients), immune system issues, food sensitivities or allergies, lactose intolerance, or progressive deterioration of the intestinal wall which can lead to leaky gut syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulitis or Crohn’s disease.
In addition to addressing the above GI issues, people can do the following to improve the health of their GI tract:
- Lowering sugar, wheat and dairy intake and eating regular well-balanced, nutritious meals
- Taking a high-quality digestive enzyme with meals and an active-culture probiotic to restore proper bacterial balance.
- Drinking lots of water
- Chewing food thoroughly.
Practice Yoga
While some exercise enthusiasts and athletes may not look to Yoga to sculpt their body, this ancient practice can tone, strengthen and stretch muscles quite effectively, and most notably, reduce stress.
In a 2007 report titled “Meditation Practices for Health: State of the Research,” prepared for the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, a review of various meditation practices found that Yoga, among other practices, decreased stress.
The same year researchers at the Division of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine found that yoga increases levels of the key calming neurotransmitter GABA in the brain.
"This suggests that the practice of yoga should be explored as a treatment for disorders with low GABA levels such as depression and anxiety disorders,” write the authors of the Boston study. “Future studies should compare yoga to other forms of exercise to help determine whether yoga or exercise alone can alter GABA levels."
Get Integrative Massage on Regular Basis
While many people who try various forms of massage know the therapeutic and healing benefits of different forms including Swedish, neuromuscular, deep tissue, myofascial, trigger point, Reiki, craniosacral and more, integrative massage therapy combines a variety of modalities during one or several sessions.
Integrative massage therapists gather detailed information about their client's medical history and past treatments, tailoring the therapy to their patient's specific physical and emotional needs. Avoiding a "one size fits all" massage approach, the therapist instead uses multiple modalities, borrowing from a wide variety of cultures and practices.
Integrative massage therapists don't try to diagnose medical conditions, nor do they rely on a client's current diagnoses to steer the course of treatment. Instead they listen to their client's symptoms and apply the technique(s) they feel will most comprehensively address their client's issues. The massage therapist serves as a kind of healing "detective," working to pin point the physical and potentially emotional causes behind their patient's chronic pain.
Integrative massage therapy can eliminate or alleviate symptoms in a variety of conditions including:
- Arthritis
- Repetitive strain injuries (carpal tunnel, tendonitis)
- Fibromyalgia pain
- Poor posture issues
- Unexplained chronic pain in soft tissue/musculoskeletal system
- Accident or sports injuries
- Cancer patient pain management
This approach can be quite empowering for some people because the therapist explains that she is merely a facilitator to her client's own ability to heal. Some therapists use positive words and affirmations during sessions to help "re-program" their client's response to pain and treatment.
In addition, integrative massage therapists often give their patients an at-home therapy regime that might include cardiovascular and targeted strengthening and stretch exercises, as well as pain and stress management tips. Integrative massage offers hope for people who have suffered with chronic pain for years, who have been misdiagnosed or ineffectively treated, or who have been told by health practitioners that they have to "learn to live with their pain" or that it's “all in their head.”
Adopt Gratitude, Forgiveness, Fellowship, Compassion and Optimism
Gregg Easterbrook, author of "The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse," [Random House, 2004], explains that "There are selfish reasons to behave in altruistic ways. Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes," according to Easterbrook. "If it makes the world a better place at the same time, this is a real bonus," he says.
Being grateful, research suggests, leads people into a higher state of happiness. Sonja Lyubomirsky author of The How of Happiness [Penguin,2007], suggests that making a list of things people are grateful for in life, practicing random acts of kindness, forgiving enemies and appreciating life's small pleasures leads to happiness. Lyubomirsky's five steps for happiness include:
- Positive emotion – Pursue activities that create positive emotion and make them a habit.
- Optimal timing and variety – Time activities according to lifestyle and vary them so as not to habituate (become bored, neutral) to the activity.
- Social support – Connect to others. Social bonding is essential to feeling happy.
- Motivation, effort and commitment – A person has to be motivated to want to be happy. They need to make a conscious effort.
- Habit – Continue the strategies until they're habit, until they become natural and effortless.
While there are a number of things people can do to improve their physical and well-being, boosting vitamin D, getting their gastrointestinal tract in working order, taking yoga, and adopting an attitude of forgiveness, gratitude, optimism, fellowship and compassion are particularly powerful strategies to improve physical and emotional health.
Further Reading:
Naturally Lower Anxiety to Promote a Less Anxious Nation
Animal and Human Connections Therapeutic and Undervalued in Society
Laura Owens - Laura Owens has a B.S. in Psychology from Rollins College & U of FL. She is a freelance writer with expertise in motivation & wellness.
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