Myths and Complications: Cleaning Your Wellness House

In today's #BWG: debunking some running myths; simplifying your workouts; and using Yoga to help restore emotional and spiritual balance.May it bless you.

Be Well!
Bob


MIND

A lot of the things you know can be wrong. That is particularly true when it comes to running. Supporters and opponents of the sport have developed lots of theories about what's good and bad about lacing up, and a lot of their "facts" are bunk. LIVESTRONG.com takes a look at some of the more popular ones in 11 Myths About Running Debunked. Sometimes, what you think you know can hurt you.

BODY

Gym memberships, Personal Trainers, special clothes, magazine subscriptions, gear and equipment: they can all be valuable, but sometimes it seems the closer you look at fitness, the more complicated it gets. It doesn't have to be. In today's edition of Run Bob Run, I share a gym bag full of exercise plans that will improve your strength, endurance, and flexibility, while saving you time and money so you can get on with the rest of your life. I mean, isn't living well the reason you're working out in the first place?

SPIRIT

One of the reasons for a Yoga practice is to restore the balance of mind, body, and spirit that modern life can take away. Depression and anxiety can be a result of this imbalance, and while medication and therapy are important parts of treatment, Yoga has been shown to be of great benefit in helping the spiritual/emotional self to heal. Here are 10 Yoga Poses to Fight Depression and Anxiety from Halogen that might be of help to you or the people you love who are wrestling with these often disabling disorders.

Taking Control of What You Can

In today's #BWG, I've pulled some items from the junk drawer that are close to my heart: a couple of them quite literally. Chronic disease and disorders can reduce the quality of our lives. Today's post is about ways to take back control. May it bless you.

Be Well,
Bob

Dr. Nancy Capello's annual mammograms were all normal. She made these important, high tech diagnostics part of her annual health routine, and found comfort in their findings. It took a skilled Gynocologist with experienced hands to find the dense ridge in her breast that the scans had missed and ultrasound revealed Stage 3 breast cancer. Are You Dense? is the story of how taking that extra step saved her life, and gave her a new sense of purpose. 

It might take a long time for you to make your first step toward fitness, but once you begin, the benefits are almost immediate. Here is a link to a 28 day program that will make your heart stronger, right from the starting line.

Living in a democracy means having a voice in the government's values and actions. The LIVESTRONG foundation is all about empowering and fighting for cancer survivors. Making Cancer a National Priority is a guide for letting your leaders know that you want them to be a part of the battle.

You might not think of loneliness as a chronic disorder, but when it leads to depression, it can be fatal. People who are divorced, widowed, or just haven't ever found the relationship they want with another person can slip into depression with deadly speed and fatal consequences. In How I Stay Single and Sane..., Shana Lebowitz talks about her journey from hating loneliness to embracing solitude: and learning to love who you are today.

Stress isn't always bad. It can keep you alert and ready to take action. Back in the days when predators were a constant threat to our lives, successful humans had a powerful fight or flight response to danger. In the absence of big cats and charging Grizzlies, we might experience that response while waiting to hear about a promotion or when some jerk cuts us off in traffic. When our body tells us to fight or run, and there's nobody to hit and nowhere to flee, the result is stress, and it can kill us. 10 Weird Side Effects of Stress is a slide show that teaches you how to recognize when stress is doing you more harm than good.

High Blood Pressure is often called "The Silent Killer." You don't feel it. You don't see it. Sometimes it has no symptoms at all. And it can lead to cardiac-pulmonary disease, kidney disease, heart attack, and stroke. This 8 question Blood Pressure Quiz from SPARKPEOPLE is not easy, I have high blood pressure myself, and I did pretty badly. I hope you take it. What you don't know about hypertension can kill you.

If you have a Facebook account, you hear about insomnia all the time. While a chronic inability to sleep can indicate serious health issues, everybody has trouble sleeping once in a while. Here are 8 Ways to Beat Insomnia when it's way past your bedtime, and you just can't seem to keep your eyes closed.

Living With Depression and Grief

Many of us are grieving the loss of a great, and greatly wounded heart today. But even as we grieve, it is good to remember that life, even a life that seems hopeless at the moment, is worth fighting for. I will say more when I've had some time to contemplate the loss of a man whom millions of strangers thought of as a friend. For now, may you, and may Robin be blessed.
Be Well,
Bob

MIND
This counter-intuitive and provocative article from Scientific American explores the possibility that depression is not a disorder, but an evolutionary adaptation to complex problems. Can the intensity and focus that depression gives us be put to creative use, rather than breeding destructive rumination?


BODY
Some startling results from Dr. Michael Babyak, et al at Duke...

SPIRIT
It isn't always easy to believe when you are depressed, but it is true...