Are You Stressed? What Relaxation Can Do For You
Posted by: | CommentsPeople tend to think of leisure activities as relaxation. However, physiological relaxation is a set of specific internal changes that occur when your mind and body are calm. It is not the same as sleep, rest, or having fun.
Physiological relaxation is the one internal state that can protect your body from the harmful effects of too much stress. Without a doubt it is extremely important to your health.
According to Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD, the “relaxation response” means the body shifts from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system dominance;
- Breathing, Heart Rate, and Oxygen Consumption Slow Down
- Muscles Relax
- The Brain Predominantly Generates the Slower Alpha Waves
- Blood Pressure May Drop
These changes occur within a few minutes of beginning an activity that produces the “relaxation response”, whereas they happen very gradually over hours while sleeping and often not at all while engaging in a leisure activity.
Dr. James L. Wilson also provides that during the “relaxation response”:
- Stimulation Of Your Adrenal Glands Diminish (so they can rest)
- Tissues In Your Body Become Less Sensitive To Stress Hormones (secreted by the Adrenal Glands)
This means that every part of your body has a chance to return to normal and recuperate from stress.
Music Inspires & Heals
Posted by: | CommentsIt raises my heart and vibration to hear and sing music.
Inspirational music like such songs as “Temporary Home” by Carrie Underwood and heart-felt songs such as Whitney Houston’s latest song “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” are inspiring and speak to my heart. These songs are from two people whom came from very different backgrounds – one grounded in faith in her childhood with supportive parents and the other whom clearly had a life with many difficulties and disappointments.
I am inspired by both. Carrie for her passion in sharing about the importance of being rooted in a faith saying in an interview that she will feel she fulfilled her purpose if she is able to help others know God. Whitney equally if not even more (if that’s possible) inspiring because her foundation was not steady from the beginning and consequently had many challenges. She fell hard and ultimately reconnected with the light within and perservered through it all. Both Carrie and Whitney – now having a true sense of self, loving themselves, and connecting with a ‘higher power’ they choose to call God.
My belief – it doesn’t matter to me what one’s ‘higher power’ or faith is called, higher intelligence (as Ellen Degeneres - an inspiring woman whom also found her true sense of self from trials and tribulations - said in her last interview with Oprah), divine being, universal energy, God, Budha, and the list goes on. It is FAITH and feeling connected to some higher energy (we are all energy after all) and knowing the love and light we are that brings peace, abundance, and empowerment.
Warmly,
Debby
