The Benefits of Physical Exercise and Fitness: 'Physical Strength and mental determination linked to longer life'

'Physical Strength and mental determination linked to longer life'

BBC News - September 12, 2010

A recent study investigating common factors in longevity identified a 'strong handshake' as one of those factors.   Since a strong handshake mainly relates to strength, life force and personal affirmation, it is safe to deduct a correlation between physical strength as well as mental and emotional well-being and longevity.  For more, read below.

'Firm handshake link to long life: A firm handshake was one of the signs of longevity'

The strength of your handshake could be a clue to how long you'll live, say scientists from University College London. They matched older people's balance, grip strength and ability to get up from a chair with their risk of an earlier death. Those who did best were likely to live longer, the British Medical Journal reported. It is hoped such simple tests might help doctors spot "at-risk" patients. "With time this could be relevant to younger people in terms of preventative medicine”, said Professor Avan Aihie Sayer of Southampton University. The study, carried out at the Medical Research Council-funded Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging, combined the results of more than 30 earlier research projects, involving tens of thousands of people which looked at "physical capability" and mortality. The people involved were mostly over the age of 60, but living in the community rather than hospitals or care homes.

The researchers found that death rates over the period of the studies were 67% higher in people with the weakest grip strength compared with the strongest.

The Benefits of Physical Exercise and Fitness: 'Michelle Obama and 'Let's Move!' leading the WAY!'

'Michelle Obama and 'Let's Move!' leading the WAY!'

New York Times - September 10, 2010

One of the most preoccupying issue facing the U.S. is the obesity epidemic resulting from poor nutrition and lack of exercise and which is starting to affect younger and younger populations in our country each year.

The first lady, Michelle Obama, has identified this issue as a priority and launched a national initiative called, 'Let's Move!' to try and derail a process that would have extreme negative consequences on both the health and future wealth of our nation.  For more, read below.

SLIDELL, La. — Declaring the beginning of the “next phase” of a program to combat childhood obesity, the first lady, Michelle Obama, called on Congress on Wednesday to pass legislation that would make many of the program’s initiatives possible. In a speech at an elementary school here, Mrs. Obama ticked off the main points of her “Let’s Move!” campaign: encouraging children to exercise, providing more free and reduced-price school meals and making the food in schools more nutritious. Explicitly tying school nutrition to academic performance, she pledged to expand the program on all these points. But Mrs. Obama, who has typically not waded into Congressional debates, emphasized that achieving much of this was dependent on federal lawmakers. “It’s important to be clear,” she said, “that we can’t do any of this unless we pass the Child Nutrition legislation that’s before Congress right now.” Under the act, food sold in schools would have to meet new nutrition guidelines, but schools would get an increased amount of federal reimbursement money for meals. It would also expand the number of poorer students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. In early August, on the eve of the act’s passage in the Senate, Mrs. Obama wrote an op-ed article in The Washington Post encouraging lawmakers to vote yes, which they did, unanimously. The bill is now expected to be on the agenda this month in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers have been working on a version that would add new elements, and more financing, to the $4.5 billion version that passed in the Senate. “Congress is very close to getting this done but still there are a number of barriers,” said Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group that provided input to the White House in the creation of a plan to address childhood obesity. “This would be a historic change to the programs,” Ms. Wootan said. “I’m agonizing daily about it.” Mrs. Obama delivered her speech at an elementary school here that is one of 25 in the district — out of only 59 in the country — that have received $2,000 cash awards from the United States Department of Agriculture for promoting healthy eating and physical activity. It also sits just over the state line from Mississippi, which has the highest rate of childhood obesity in the country.

The Benefits of Physical Exercise and Fitness - '91-Year-Old Track and Field Star demonstrates Anti-Aging Value of Exercise '

'91-Year-Old Track and Field Star demonstrates Anti-Aging Value of Exercise '

New York Times - November 28, 2010

It's never too late to start exercising.  The 91-year-old athlete in this article started her career at age 77!  For more, read below.

On the third floor of the Montreal Chest Institute, at McGill University, Olga Kotelko stood before a treadmill in the center of a stuffy room that was filling up with people who had come just for her. They were there to run physical tests, or to extract blood from her earlobe, or just to observe and take notes. Kotelko removed her glasses. She wore white New Balance sneakers and black running tights, and over her silver hair, a plastic crown that held in place a

breathing tube. Tanja Taivassalo, a 40-year-old muscle physiologist, adjusted the fit of Kotelko’s stretch-vest. It was wired with electrodes to measure changes in cardiac output — a gauge of the power of her heart. Taivassalo first met Kotelko at last year’s world outdoor masters track championships in Lahti, Finland, the pinnacle of the competitive season for older tracksters. Taivassalo went to watch her dad compete in the marathon. But she could hardly fail to notice the 91-year-old Canadian, bespandexed and elfin, who was knocking off world record after world record. Masters competitions usually begin at 35 years, and include many in their 60s, 70s and 80s (and a few, like Kotelko, in their 90s, and one or two over 100). Of the thousands who descended on Lahti, hundreds were older than 75. And the one getting all the attention was Kotelko. She is considered one of the world’s greatest athletes, holding 23 world records, 17 in her current age category, 90 to 95.

HEALTHY LIVING: 'THE 10 GOLDEN RULES TO A FREE MIND'

'THE 10 GOLDEN RULES TO A FREE MIND'

Poetic Monthly Magazine, Enlightenment Column - April 2010

Freedom is a state of mind that is completely independent from your external circumstances. You can live in the most difficult circumstances and be free or live like a prisoner amidst your golden palace.  Whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full is directly influenced by your past life experiences and conditioning. The only way to free yourself from the old patterns and suppressed fears and desires that are preventing you from reaching your highest potential in life and enjoying a long, healthy and happy life is to learn to know your mind and transcend it.  There are many ways to do this and all it takes is a little effort on your part.  It is well worth the benefits you will reap as a result.  For more, read below and visit www.letloverule.us.

Last month, we talked about Freedom and how getting back to the roots of who we truly are by honoring our inner child and living in the now can help us regain this freedom.   This month, I’d like to offer some more practical suggestions on how to access that realm of Infinite Freedom that lies at the core of each and everyone of us.  The “rules” to apply are so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been using them all along.  They’ll help you decondition your mind and ultimately set you free from all the antics and idiosyncrasies that keep us entrapped in unhealthy behaviors... After all life and the way we experience it is all a matter of perspective, a question of mind... And so why not free ourselves from the confines of a limited mind and gain access to self knowledge and the freedom that comes with it?  So go inside, introspect a little, decondition a little so you can love and live a lot!

10 GOLDEN RULES TO A FREE MIND

Code 1  - ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS 

Learn to accept other people for who they are without judging them in relation to your expectations.  Understand people’s personality as the result of their own conditioning.  

While their mental programming may vary from yours, the same process of conditioning has brought it into existence and while you may be aware of yours, they may not have shed light on theirs yet.  As you start accepting others, they in turn will start to accept you.  And remember to always laugh at yourself, your behavior, and your antics…

Code 2  - ACCEPTANCE OF YOURSELF

Accept yourself with all your qualities and present limitations.  In order to prevent unnecessary anguish, understand that all your actions are the result of your mental makeup and therefore do not dwell on your problems and shortfalls.  All the while, remain intent on cleansing your mind’s content of all inner conflicts which cause all perceived limitations, so you may continue to grow on the spiritual path and come closer to personal freedom.

Code 3  - DETACHMENT

Watch your habituated reactions to your environment and the people around you.  Understand how your attachment to the external can result in discontentment and reduce your need to find happiness in outer activities.  Do not suppress external desires for such suppression causes even more harm then acting them out, but become detached to the outcome of your actions even when it is not as desired.

Code 4  - IDENTIFICATION OF ONE’S OWN EGO – Mental & Emotional Attitude

Identify your greatest needs, attachments, desires, hang ups, etc… One of the best ways to discover your attachments is to trace the cause of your present anger or unhappiness to its source.  This will point out the mental and emotional attitude that causes disturbances.  Focus most intently on the things and people that cause you the most intense dislike as they will unveil, and eventually help you remove, your emotional hang ups.  Treat the whole world as your teacher… 

Code 5  - LIVE FULLY IN THE NOW

Try to live each present moment as fully as possible by giving your full attention to the now, whatever the task may be without thinking about the outcome or completion.  Forget about the past, i.e. do not worry about past “failures” and stop trying to replicate pleasurable experiences too.  Do not anticipate the future either.  You can make plans but see planning as part of the present.  Enjoy every action as you perform it and enjoy the fact that you exist and that your every action is an expression of your very existence. 

Code 6 – DISSOCIATE FROM THE EGO (body, mind, and actions)  

Do not fully identify with your actions, body, or mind, which only make up the Ego.  Realize that your consciousness, i.e. the witness that sees it all, is separate from your Ego and underlies everything in your life.  The more you purify body and mind, the more you will begin to see and identify with the “ever-present” Consciousness rather than with your mind and body.

Code 7  - - BE YOURSELF AND OPEN UP TO OTHERS

Open up and express your true feelings to others. Instead of putting up a wall that causes mental tension and alienation and creates a greater divide with others, be willing to open yourself and be vulnerable.  Do not try and hide your weaknesses for others will most likely feel a sense of falseness emanating from you.

Code 8  - SEE UNREALIZED POTENTIAL IN ALL

Remember (however difficult that may be) that everybody has the potential to reach higher levels of awareness, a potential that lies dormant, awaiting to be tapped.  One’s mental programming is causing a person’s current circumstances, but these can be changed and made more harmonious as soon as one starts understanding himself and his own mind.  

Code 9  - EMBRACE DIFFICULTIES AND ENEMIES

Do not avoid difficult situations and enemies but treat them as your greatest teachers.  Rather than continually associating with people and situations which tune in with your emotional programming and therefore reinforcing and satisfying your individual prejudices, let so-called controversial circumstances bring your emotional conflicts and prejudices to the surface and unveil your mental programming.  Once this is clearly identified, you will be able to deal with it and free yourself from it. 

Code 10  - RECOGNIZE MENTAL PROGRAMMING IN YOURSELF & OTHERS

Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes.  Instead of reacting blindly as programmed, try to see the other person’s point of view.  Remember that all reactions – yours and those of others – are purely automatic.  Try to change your response to all of life’s situations so that they may only cause the least possible emotional upsets.

For more information on mental deprogramming and freeing your minds from the grooved you find yourself stuck in, be sure to check out my recently released novel, “Spiritual Enlightenment In The Age Of Cybersex” (Dec’09), a comedic spiritual gem that introduces basic concepts of Spirituality through the innovative platform of an urban satire, exposing the biased belief systems, prejudices and conditioned behaviors that keep us prisoners to our own selves, @  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449906818

The “Ten golden rules to a free mind”  will also be the subject of our “Let Love Rule” Radio Show next month.  Be sure to check us out @ www.letloverule.ning.com

Delve deeper, rise above, and spread the Love!" "Let Love Rule!"

The key to living a long, healthy and happy life

'The key to living a long, healthy and happy life'

Enjoying a full, healthy and happy life doesn't take that much; it's all about the little things that make an incredible difference.... For more, read below.

Following are a few small deletions or additions to make to your daily life that will not only make you healthier but will also make you happier.

1. EXERCISE: Exercise is vital to human health and exercising today can be the key to your later quality of life. Pace your exercise program to your health, in times of illness, range of motion exercises will insure you maintain as much movement as possible. When you are healthy, exercise will help build muscle or aid in lung and heart health. Listen to your body and pace your exercise program by what it dictates.

2. REST: Rest is a form of therapy and it is essential for your body to have when you are under physical or emotional stress. If you need it then don't fight it. Try to lay down each day for a 20 minute total rest period. Total rest meaning that you do absolutely nothing during this brief lay down. Although you do not need to sleep to receive the benefits of this rest period it is amazing the amount of energy that it will replenish you with.

3. ALLOW YOUR BODY TO SWEAT: In today's world of deodorants and air conditioners we don't sweat enough. Like the kidneys excrete waste from the body so does the process of sweating allow our bodies to rid itself of harmful waste. Sweating helps reduce the accumulation of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and nickle and also serves to secrete toxins such as alcohol and nicotine residues from our bodies. Sweating reduces bacteria in our bodies and can actually strengthen our immune system. When you sweat profusely, just remember to add additional water so that dehydration does not occur.

4. REDUCE THE POLLUTANTS THAT YOU ARE EXPOSED TO: Be aware of the pollutants that you are exposed to and take the appropriate measures to reduce that exposure. If you smoke; find a way to quit. If your water system is an older one than it may contain lead and other contaminants. Most water purifiers are very reasonably priced and can be purchased at your local department store. With the amount of water we ingest daily it is very important to insure that it is as pure as it can be. If you live in a very polluted community consider a move to a cleaner environment. Eliminate the use of as many plastics as possible and instead switch to glass, wood, cast iron or steel containers and surfaces. Do not use non-stick baking utensils as the coating currently contains a toxin which leaches at high temperatures. Reduce the amount of electricity that you are exposed to. Evening and night is when you are most likely to be home and exposed so simple things like throwing out the electric blanket, reducing the amount of lighting you use, removing the electric clock from the bedside ( or better yet replacing it with a wind-up one), sitting back from the T.V. or computer and reducing the amount of time you spend doing those activities. Instead spend more time outdoors.

5. DETOXIFY YOUR DIET: Eat foods rich in antioxidants. These combine with those dangerous free radicals in your body and serve to strengthen your immune system. Reduce sugars and starches, chemicals and preservatives, also fatty foods such as french fries and red meats. Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Switch from fatty red meats to leaner white meats, or no meat at all if you can. Minimize alcohol consumption. If necessary add vitamins from a natural source, such as the blue-green algae E3Live, to supplement your diet.

6. REDUCE YOUR STRESS: Stress can cause irreparable damage to the immune system which leave you open to all kinds of future illnesses. Stress kills! Reduce it any way that you can.

7. BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE: We each have our own unique qualities and these are our gift to this old world that we live in. Be proud of all those special qualities that make you......you. Also know that sometimes changes in your life can alter who you are and require you to set new attributes and goals for yourself. Always push yourself to be the best that you can be but also understand that there are times when you just need to hide away and recuperate.

8. SMILE: When you put that sweet little grin on your face your brain does an amazing thing and it releases a little chemical known as "endorphins". These endorphins are the body's natural pain killer and will reduce feelings of emotional or physical pain. The more that you smile, the more often that you will find yourself smiling, without your even thinking about it. Then without knowing when it happened, you will discover that you have actually become, a much happier person.

9. LAUGH: You may have heard the saying that, "Laughter is the best medicine". Well this is a fact. Laughter is one of those things, like smiling, that makes you feel good. It is also a great form of exercise with all the same great variety of health benefits for your body that exercise will give it. Find any reason that you can to laugh, the more that you practice laughing, the more often that you will find it occurring naturally.

10. LOVE: Love with all your heart and soul. Don't be afraid to give freely of yourself and your emotions to as many living creatures as you are able to. The kindness that you give will not only make you more content with your life, but it will create a wave of kindness, that stretches out far beyond what your eyes are capable of seeing.