(From Yoga World)

Setbacks are common in yoga practice. An injury or illness or emotional upset can take the steam out of a once-joyful practice. There are times, too, when life just gets in the way. With children to raise, aging parents to care for, and jobs and chores to do, committing to yoga isn’t easy. But even those of us with lapses of months or even years can make a successful return to the mat. By taking time to examine the reasons you stopped and your motivations for returning, you can ensure that this time around, your practice will prove fluid and flexible enough to remain a permanent part of your life.
If it’s been a while since you’ve seen your mat, try the following:

Identify and address your reasons for having left yoga, so those same issues won’t thwart your attempts to return.

Make adjustments. If a major life change precipitated the end of your yoga routine, you may have to make significant alterations to succeed at a new start.

Set goals. Once you’ve explored your history, you can begin to specify your present intentions, whether this means greeting each morning with a Sun Salutation or attending a weekly studio class.

Find your community. Discovering a place to call home can bring joy and longevity to your practice.

Accept support. Make good use of your personal network by accepting any encouragement that friends and family offer.

Sports activities provide a fun way to exercise without it being a bore or feeling like an actual workout. Don’t be fooled! Professional athletes and weekend warriors are both at risk for sports related injuries. A simply activity such as jogging or running may seem safe enough yet running is perhaps the one sport resulting in the most potential for injury. Other sports such as tennis, football, gymnastics, and skating can lead to injury as well. Most injuries occur from repetitive use of a certain muscle. Repetitive use injuries are generally minor such as sprains, pulled muscles, or tendonitis. Knowing the signs and symptoms and early treatment options can put you on the road to recovery sooner and prevent long-term damage. Know the common injuries related to your sports. Do not try to push through sudden or severe pain. Stop and evaluate the cause before slowly resuming an activity. Play it safe. A moment to rest and evaluate the cause of any unusual pain may prevent a serious injury that could sideline you for a longer period.

Sprains and Strains

Sprains and strains can and do occur with any sports related activity. Though the terms are often interchanged, sprains involve ligaments while strains involve muscles. Both sprains and strains occur from over use or improper warm-up. For weekend warriors, or anyone just beginning a sports or exercise activity, it is expected that you will experience one or the other at some time. Both of these injuries occur as ligaments and muscles are stretched past their limit or present capability. Most strains and sprains respond well to rest, ice, and over-the counter medications such as ibuprofen or aspirin. For severe pain that does not respond to rest, see a doctor for evaluation.

Knee Injuries

Knee pain can certainly fall under the diagnosis for sprains and strains. The most common complaint for knee pain occurs with a condition often referred to as runner’s knee. Weak or misaligned muscles supporting the kneecap often cause knee pain occurring behind the kneecap or knee. In addition to resting, icing, and elevating the leg, once pain diminishes exercises that strengthen the muscles supporting the kneecap (quadriceps) will less the risk of repeated injury. For severe knee pain after a sudden change in direction or direct hit to the knees as may occur during contact sports, do not to place weight on the knee until you are sure the knee has not become dislocated. Severe knee injuries are obvious and require immediate professional attention.

Swollen Muscles

Swollen muscles also referred to as pulled muscles are the most common complaint after a sport activity or workout. Proper warm up and cool down sessions can lessen the risk, however even doing all you can to prevent them, muscles will sometimes be swollen and painful following vigorous activity. In addition to the use of over the counter medication to reduce inflammation, rest and applying ice packs for twenty minutes, removing the ice pack for twenty minutes and then repeating ice treatment as often as possible for a day or two usually offers relief. As soon as you are no longer in pain, begin gentle stretching exercises to help the muscle lengthen and heal.

Achilles tendon Injuries

Tendons connect various muscles to bones and are responsible for transferring the muscle contractions necessary to move. The largest tendon in your body is located in the back of the ankle and runs to the top of your heel. This is the Achilles tendon and often becomes inflamed through overuse (Achilles tendonitis). Rest and anti-inflammatory medications are the recommended treatment along with stretches once pain subsides to strengthen the tendon. Standing on your toes for ten second intervals and alternating standing on the toes of one foot at a time is a quick and effective stretching exercise. Once all pain is gone, you can do heel drop exercises by standing on a step with the back of your foot hanging over the edge. Lower you heel below the edge until you feel a gentle stretching in your calf muscle. Hold the stretch for ten seconds and repeat until your calf muscle is fatigued. Do not ignore early Achilles tendon pain as it may develop into a chronic condition.

Pain along the Shin Bone

Another common sports related injury involves pain along the shinbone at the front of the leg. This involves pain in the muscles near or on top of the shin bone and are commonly called shin splints. Usually a common complaint when beginning an exercise or sport activity that you are not accustomed to performing, shin splints may also occur with a new routine, running surface or even new shoes. Though pain occurs over the shinbone, the cause is related to the impact on the arch of your foot during running or jumping activities. The insertion of an arch support may be all that is needed to resolve the problem. If you have a problem with excessive pronation or a commercial arch support does not help, a custom support may be needed. Shin pain that is localized to a small area or becomes severe, may indicate a stress fracture of the tibia (shinbone). Stress fractures do not always show on traditional x-rays and your doctor may recommend a bone scan for shin pain that does not respond to the usual treatments.

Fractures

Sport related fractures may be due to chronic stress or fatigue of a bone (stress fracture), or may result from direct sudden impact, falls, or twisting (acute fractures). Stress fractures can be difficult to diagnose without a bone scan. Acute fractures are usually obvious. Emergency treatment for acute fractures involves stabilizing the area to prevent further injury and having the injury treated by a professional as soon as possible. Treatment often involves splints or casts though severe breaks may require surgical intervention. 

Dislocations

Dislocations occur when extreme force on a ligament connecting two bones occurs. Common sports related dislocations usually involve the shoulder or knee, though hip dislocation injuries may also occur. Dislocations are usually obvious as you will experience severe pain and swelling along with the inability to move the affected joint. A dislocation injury requires immediate medical treatment followed by rest, ice, and medication to reduce pain and inflammation. Always follow your doctor’s orders regarding restricting the use of the affected joint. Your doctor may recommend physical therapy after the injury has healed to regain full range of motion and use. Severe dislocations may require surgery to prevent recurrence.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Stress symptoms may be affecting your health, even though you might not realize it. You may think illness is to blame for that nagging headache, your frequent insomnia or your decreased productivity at work. But stress may actually be the culprit.

Indeed, stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior. Being able to recognize common stress symptoms can give you a jump on managing them. Stress that’s left unchecked can contribute to health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Of course, if you’re not sure if stress is the cause or if you’ve taken steps to control your stress but your symptoms continue, see your doctor. Your doctor may want to check for other potential causes.

Also, if you have chest pain, especially if it occurs during physical activity or is accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, nausea, or pain radiating into your shoulder and arm, get emergency help immediately. These may be warning of a heart attack and not simply stress symptoms.

Source: American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” report, 2010

If you do have stress symptoms, taking steps to manage your stress can have numerous health benefits. Explore stress management strategies such as:

•                 Physical activity
•                 Relaxation techniques
•                 Meditation
•                 Yoga
•                  Tai chi

The more time you spend sitting on your duff every day, the shorter your life span is likely to be, a new study says. Researchers at Ochsner Health System in Louisiana analyzed the health and activity of some120,000 people over 14 years, from 1993 to 2006. After adjusting for factors such as body mass index and smoking, they found that sitting six hours a day is a major health risk; sedentary women faced 37 percent higher risk of dying during those 14 years compared with women who sat for less than three hours a day. The increased mortality risk for men was 17 percent. Exercising did lower the risk of early death, but far from eliminated it. The researchers suspect that when muscles are inactive for long periods of time, the body releases hormones affecting cholesterol and triglycerides, which can cause heart disease. It’s one more reason to “get up and walk,” oncologist and study author Jay Brooks tells USA Today. “If you’re in a job that does require sitting, that’s fine, but any time you can expend energy is good. That’s the key.”

By Bill Phillips and the Editors of Men’s Health
Mar 30, 2011

We stand around a lot here at work. In fact, a few of us don’t even have office chairs. Instead, we write, edit, and answer e-mails—a lot of e-mails—while standing in front of our computers. All day long. Why?

It all started last summer, when Assistant Editor Maria Masters came across a shocking study in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (one of dozens of research journals we comb each month as we put together the magazine). Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over about 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart  attacks.

That’s right—I said 54 percent!

Masters immediately called the lead researcher at Pennington, a professor named Peter Katzmarzyk. Turns out, this wasn’t the first study to link sitting and heart disease.  Similar research actually dates back to 1953, when British researchers found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart attacks as (standing) trolley operators.

Here’s the most surprising part: “We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t,” Katzmarzyk told Masters. “We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who aren’t. Sitting is an independent risk factor.”

In other words, it doesn’t matter how much you exercise or how well you eat. If you sit most of the day, your risk of leaving this world clutching your chest—whether you’re a man or women—as much as doubles.

Bonus Tip: For the latest health, fitness, and nutrition tips and advice

This raised a rather obvious question: Why? Truth is, the researchers aren’t sure. But Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., one of Katzmarkzyk’s colleagues, suspects it has to do with an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which breaks down fat in the bloodstream and turns it into energy. Hamilton found that standing rats have ten times more of the stuff coursing through their bodies than laying rats. It doesn’t matter how fit the rats are; when they leave their feet, their LPL levels plummet. Hamilton believes the same happens in humans.

Still sitting?

Then you should know that your office chair also:

1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too long, says Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.

2. Makes you fatter. This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group—the glutes (a.k.a. your butt)—become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories.

3. Causes lower back pain. Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant..

So what’s a desk-bound worker to do? First, Hamilton suggests you change how you think about fitness. We have a tendency to segment our lives—work, home, and downtime. Exercise falls into the last category, something we squeeze into our busy schedules when possible. But if you stop thinking about exercise as an activity, and instead think of it as a lifestyle, it’s easier to make healthy choices throughout the day.

In other words: Stop trying to be fit, and start trying to live fit.

Second, of course, is to stand more throughout the day. These strategies will get you up on your feet more often:

Strategy #1: Take two breaks an hour. Grab a drink from the water fountain. Pop over to the cube next door to say hi. Or simply stand and stretch for a minute. A European Heart Journal study of 5,000 men and women found that the quarter who took the most breaks during the day were 1.6 inches thinner than the quarter who took the least.

Strategy #2: Stand during phone calls. It may seem like a small thing but, as Hamilton told Masters: “Small choices will help move you in the right direction. . . . It all adds up, and it all matters.”

Strategy #3: Don’t write long emails. If crafting an email will take longer than 15 minutes, go talk to the person instead. Or stand up and call them.

And if that’s not enough (and it may not be) . . .

Strategy #4: Ask HR for a standup desk. Australian researchers found that workers who log more than 6 hours of seat time a day are up to 68 percent more likely to be overweight. If you make the changes above and your waistline isn’t shrinking, a standup desk may be the answer. Make sure the screen is at arm’s length, and the top at eye level. Position the keyboard so your elbows are bent 90 degrees.

Setbacks are common in yoga practice. An injury, illness or emotional upset can take the steam out of a once joyful practice. There are times, too, when life just gets in the way. With children to raise, aging parents to care for, and jobs and chores to do, committing to yoga isn’t easy. But even those of us with lapses of months or even years can make a successful return to the mat. By taking time to examine the reasons you stopped and your motivations for returning, you can ensure that this time around, your practice will prove fluid and flexible enough to remain a permanent part of your life.

If it’s been a while since you’ve seen your mat, try the following:

• Identify and address your reasons for having left yoga, so those same issues won’t thwart your attempts to return.
• Make adjustments. If a major life change precipitated the end of your yoga routine, you may have to make significant alterations to succeed at a new start.
• Set goals. Once you’ve explored your history, you can begin to specify your present intentions, whether this means greeting each morning with a Sun Salutation or attending a weekly class.
• Find your community. Discovering a place to call home can bring joy and longevity to your practice.
• Accept support. Make good use of your personal network by accepting any encouragement that friends and family offer.

What is high blood pressure?

Blood pressure is a measure of how hard the blood pushes against the walls of your arteries as it moves through your body. It’s normal for blood pressure to go up and down throughout the day, but if it stays up, you have high blood pressure. Another name for high blood pressure is hypertension.

When blood pressure is high, it starts to damage the blood vessels, heart, and kidneys. This can lead to heart attack, stroke, and other problems. High blood pressure is called a “silent killer,” because it doesn’t usually cause symptoms while it is causing this damage.

Your blood pressure consists of two numbers: systolic and diastolic. Someone with a systolic pressure of 120 and a diastolic pressure of 80 has a blood pressure of 120/80, or “120 over 80.”

• The systolic number shows how hard the blood pushes when the heart is pumping.
• The diastolic number shows how hard the blood pushes between heartbeats, when the heart is relaxed and filling with blood.

style=”margin: 0in 0in 0pt” class=”MsoNormal”>Adults should have a blood pressure of less than 120/80. High blood pressure is 140/90 or higher. Many people fall into the category in between, called prehypertension. People with prehypertension need to make lifestyle changes to bring the blood pressure down and help prevent or delay high blood pressure.

  What causes high blood pressure?In most cases, doctors can’t point to the exact cause. But several things are known to raise blood pressure, including being very overweight, drinking too much alcohol, having a family history of high blood pressure, eating too much salt, and getting older.  

Your blood pressure may also rise if you are not very active, you don’t eat enough potassium and calcium, or you have a condition called insulin resistance.

  What are the symptoms?

High blood pressure doesn’t usually cause symptoms. Most people don’t know they have it until they go to the doctor for some other reason.

Without treatment, high blood pressure can damage the heart, brain, kidneys, or eyes. This damage causes problems like coronary artery disease, stroke, and kidney failure.

Very high blood pressure can cause headaches, vision problems, nausea, and vomiting.

These symptoms can also be caused by dangerously high blood pressure called malignant high blood pressure. It may also be called a hypertensive crisis or hypertensive emergency. Malignant high blood pressure is a medical emergency.

  How is high blood pressure diagnosed?

Most people find out they have high blood pressure during a routine doctor visit. For your doctor to confirm that you have high blood pressure, your blood pressure must be at least 140/90 on three or more separate occasions. It is usually measured 1 to 2 weeks apart.

You may have to check your blood pressure at home if there is reason to think the readings in the doctor’s office aren’t accurate.

You may have what is called white-coat hypertension, which is blood pressure that goes up just because you’re at the doctor’s office. Even routine activities, such as attending a meeting, can raise your blood pressure. So can commuting to work or smoking a cigarette.

  How is it treated?

Treatment depends on how high your blood pressure is, whether you have other health problems such as diabetes, and whether any organs have already been damaged. Your doctor will also consider how likely you are to develop other diseases, especially heart disease.

You can help lower your blood pressure by making healthy changes in your lifestyle. If those lifestyle changes don’t work, you may also need to take pills. Either way, you will need to control your high blood pressure throughout your life.

• If you have prehypertension, your doctor will likely recommend lifestyle changes. These may include losing extra weight, exercising, limiting alcohol, cutting back on salt, quitting smoking, and eating a low-fat diet that includes more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods.
• If you have high blood pressure without any organ damage or other risk factors for heart disease, your doctor may recommend that you take medicine in addition to making lifestyle changes.
• If you have high blood pressure and have some organ damage or other risk factors for heart disease, you may need to try various combinations of medicines in addition to making big lifestyle changes.

  

Most people take more than one pill for high blood pressure. Work with your doctor to find the right pill or combination of pills that will cause the fewest side effects.

It can be hard to remember to take pills when you have no symptoms. But your blood pressure will go back up if you don’t take your medicine. Make your pill schedule as simple as you can. Plan times to take them when you are doing other things, like eating a meal or getting ready for bed.

  What can you do to prevent high blood pressure?

Making lifestyle changes can help you to prevent high blood pressure. You can:

·        Stay at a healthy weight or lose extra weight.

·        Eat less salt and salty foods.

·        Exercise regularly.

·        Drink alcohol moderately. Limit alcohol to 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women.

·        Follow the DASH eating plan (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). This diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and is low in fat.

 Treatment for high blood pressure 

Blood pressure of 120–139 over 80–89             -       Lifestyle changes.

High blood pressure of 140–159 over 90–99     -      Lifestyle changes, possibly medicines.

High blood pressure of 160 over 100 or higher  -      Medicines plus lifestyle changes.

High blood pressure plus organ damage or other risk factors for heart disease: Medicines plus serious lifestyle changes and treatment for the other health problems.

Secondary high blood pressure: Medicines, treatment of the condition causing your high blood pressure, or both.

  Tips for setting goals 

·        Focus on small goals. This will help you reach larger goals over time. With smaller goals, you’ll have success more often, which will help you stay with it.

·        Write down your goals. This will help you remember, and you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want to achieve. Use a personal action plan to record your goals. Hang up your plan where you will see it often as a reminder of what you’re trying to do.

·        Make your goals specific. Specific goals help you measure your progress. For example, setting a goal to eat 5 helpings of fruits and vegetables every day is better than a general goal to “eat more vegetables.”

·        Focus on one goal at a time. By doing this, you’re less likely to feel overwhelmed and then give up.

·        When you reach a goal, enjoy your new behavior and success for several days and then think about setting your next goal.

 Here’s one person’s list of barriers to taking a brisk 30-minute walk every day, along with some possible solutions:

Barriers	Solutions
“I might be too busy”	My backup plan will be to break my usual 30-minute walk into two 15-minute walks or three 10-minute walks.
“I might get bored.”	I’ll listen to music or a podcast while I walk. OR I’ll get my neighbor to walk with me.
“It might rain.”	My backup plan will be to use an exercise DVD or a treadmill in front of my TV when the weather’s bad.

 Tips for getting support

·        Get a partner. It’s motivating to know that someone is trying to make the same lifestyle change that you’re making, like being more active or changing your eating habits. You have someone who is counting on you to help him or her succeed. That person can also remind you how far you’ve come.

·        Get friends and family involved. They can exercise with you or encourage you by saying how they admire you. Family members can join you in your healthy eating efforts. Don’t be afraid to tell family and friends that their encouragement makes a big difference to you.

·        Join a class or workout group. People in these groups often have some of the same barriers you have. They can give you support when you don’t feel like staying with your plan. They can boost your morale when you need a lift. You’ll also find a number of online support groups for people with high blood pressure.

·        Give yourself positive reinforcement. When you feel like giving up, don’t waste energy feeling bad about yourself. Remember your reason for wanting to change, think about the progress you’ve made, and give yourself a pep talk and a pat on the back.

·        Get professional help. A registered dietitian can help you make your diet healthier while still allowing you to eat foods that you enjoy. An exercise physiologist can help design an exercise program that is fun and easy to stay on. A psychiatrist, a psychologist, a social worker, or your doctor can help you overcome hurdles, reduce stress, or quit smoking.