News & Events

A USA.Gov poll recently listed the top 10 most common New Year’s Resolutions. I think most of us can identify with many of them! They are:

1. Get Fit
2. Save Money
3. Manage Stress
4. Volunteer to Help Others
5. Quit Smoking
6. Loose Weight
7. Take a Trip
8. Drink Less Alcohol
9. Manage Debt
10. Get a Better Education

Half of the top 10 involve health (those in bold). But most people have broken their New Year’s Resolutions before the end of January. We tend to have ‘all or nothing’ thinking, which is the biggest obstacle to success. We start a diet full of good intentions, have one chocolate bar or glass of wine when we’re feeling stressed, then think we’ve broken our diet so may as well have a big blow-out.
But an unhealthy lifestyle is made up of lots of little things and it is the little things that make all the difference in improving it. Here are three things you can do right now that will only take five minutes to improve your health:

1.Drink a glass of water

We all know we should drink more water but how many of us actually achieve it? Not many people drink enough water and it shows in their skin, their energy and their mood.
In Dr Batmanghelidj’s famous book, “Your body’s many cries for water”, there is list of unpleasant symptoms that have been proven to be caused by dehydration. It also lists illnesses that are improved by better hydration: Asthma; Allergies; Diabetes; Arthritis; Angina; Stomach Upsets; Chronic intestinal complaints; Joint degeneration. The brain is 85% water – you can quickly notice even slight dehydration because your thinking gets a bit slow or fuzzy.

The trouble is, by the time we are thirsty, it is a sign of dehydration – so don’t wait until you are thirsty. Make a new habit of drinking more fresh water – not tea, not flavoured water and certainly not soda drinks. The Irish Times (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0104/1224286697280.html) reported last week that it takes 7 days for a new habit to form. So the first week you will need to remind yourself to drink, say, a cup or glass of water an hour, but after that it will become as automatic as brushing your teeth (or checking your emails!).

Go and drink a glass – savour it and think about the fabulous things it is doing for your body and your brain. It’s the cheapest health cure there is.

2. Stretch

Our ancestors moved a great deal more than us. Jobs were more physical, people had to walk longer distance to/from work and school, and even housework was more strenuous before we all gleefully bought all sorts of electric gadgets. We tend to hunch over computers, slouch in front of TVs, sit in one position driving with our arms out at an unnatural angle. We don’t move enough. So when we do it’s hardly surprising that we often hurt, ache or strain something.

Stretching is what athletes do before and after exercising – but it is something that most people don’t give a second thought to outside the gym.

We will sit at a desk for 3 hours, then jump up to run for a bus. We’ll drive for hours then wonder why we ache so much when we try to walk for a parking ticket.

Stretching is the very least we can do to improve our bodies. Here are two great stretches that will give you energy and make you feel great:

  Sitting in an upright desk chair, relax your arms by your sides. Breathe in slowly as you allow (not force) your arms to slowly raise until they meet above your head. Touch your fingers together lightly as you stretch towards the ceiling. If you are comfortable enough, breathe out and in again before bringing your arms slowly down on an out breath.  This has elongated your spine, allowed your rib cage and lungs to expand, and stretched your muscles. That means that new blood has flowed into these areas, bringing oxygen and nutrients. Try to do this once an hour – just before you go to re-fill your water glass!

3. Breathe deeply for 2 minutes

Ask someone to take a deep breath and you will probably see their chest move or collarbones raise. That is because many of us only breathe using the top portion of our lungs. It’s caused by lifestyle factors – tight clothing, hunched posture, lack of movement. Try running for a few hundred yards and you will soon feel the need to breathe more deeply.

One of the reasons that exercise is so good for our minds and bodies is because it forces us to breathe more deeply – bringing in new oxygen and getting rid of toxins.

But a lot of people have been put off deep breathing by poor instruction in the past. It’s actually really simple and is a great thing to do to calm yourself down before an interview, help yourself get to sleep at night, or  just inject some goodness into your body at any time of day. I was taught the following exercise by a singing instructor and it has made a massive difference to my health:

    Relax for a few seconds and just ‘watch’ your breathing by becoming aware of it. You will probably realise that you chest is hardly moving at all. When you’re ready, on an out breath encourage a little more air out than normal by lightly pulling in your abdominal muscles. When nearly all the air is out pull the muscles in a little more, quite quickly, to get the last bit of air out. Now PAUSE – it helps to swallow at this point. Don’t force the new air in but wait until your body takes over from your mind and does it automatically. You will find that it does so really quite deeply and it feels natural and unforced. If you aren’t too stiff, you should feel the bottom of your rib cage expanding as your lungs fill with air. Do this just a couple of times or you’ll get an oxygen rush that can be quite unpleasant. Gradually build up to longer sessions of deep breathing and you could see tremendous health benefits.