Tuesday, October 18, 2011

so random

I saw Janelle use this on her facebook page.

What does it mean?

For one thing, it's the name of a TV Show on the Disney Channel.

But apparently the common usage of this phrase means "A phrase that is said when someone says something completely stupid and/or random."

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Tai Chi for Seniors

Holding the ball, parting wild horse’s mane, single whip, waving hands like clouds, repulse monkey, brush knee, fair lady works at shuttles and grasp the peacock’s tail.

These are the names of eight movements based on the yang style of Tai Chi which can help to improve your balance, explains Jerry Punzal, a certified instructor who will teach these exercises to seniors at the 18th annual National Senior Health & Fitness Day May 25 from 8 to 11 a.m. at YMCA Central Branch (401 Atkinson Drive).

According to Punzal, Tai Chi-Moving for Better Balance is endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control as an intervention for fall prevention and fear of falling.

He says the program he teaches has been implemented in community centers in Oregon with collected data showing a decrease in falls of up to 55 percent with its participants.

“(In Tai Chi) you utilize the basic principles of (this exercise) which would be to relax and let go,” explains Punzal. “You also strive for proper postural alignment, and in doing so the back stays straight throughout movement. Therefore we’re using the joints in the most efficient manner and we’re also striving to utilize abdominal breathing.

“It’s a method of moving in a relaxed, non-stressed manner, and for this specific program we’re looking to have the person feel a centerness, to have an awareness of their center of gravity, so when they move in any direction they are very aware of how to move in a way that keeps them grounded.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among those age 65 and older, falls are the leading cause of injury death. They are also the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospital admissions for trauma. The CDC also reports that in 2007, more than 18,000 older adults died from unintentional fall injuries.

Friday, October 07, 2011

Adjusting Your Age

Here are a few tips to make your Real Age younger.

1. Walk 30 minutes a day. Walking makes your heart and immune system healthier. Bonus: Buy a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps a day.

2. Floss and brush the teeth you wish to keep. Do it also for the heart you wish to nurture, the wrinkles you wish to prevent and the sexual satisfaction you wish to enjoy. And see a dental professional every six months.

3. Take omega-3 DHA pills (900 mg total) or have non-fried salmon or trout three times a week. Salmon and trout have DHA, the active omega-3 for eyes and brain (it converts to the good heart stuff, too).

4. Meditate for at least five minutes each day. Your brain (and soul) needs moments of silence to recharge, refocus and rejuvenate.

5. Drink three or more cups of coffee a day (if it agrees with you — caffeinated tea works as well) and eat curry dishes or foods with mustard to decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

6. Plan to sleep seven to eight hours. Before you head to bed:
  1. Finish any must-do tasks.
  2. Take care of your nighttime hygiene.
  3. Perform deep breathing and/or meditation.
  4. Avoid anything too stimulating, such as watching TV or working
    out. Sex, though stimulatory (we hope), is OK. In fact, it’s
    recommended.
7. Vitamin D3 helps prevent cancer, incorporate calcium into the bones and slow the aging of arteries. Get 1,000 IU a day if you’re younger than 60 or 1,200 IU a day if you’re 60 or older.

8. If you’re over the age of 40 (women) or 35 (men), take two baby aspirin (162 mg total) at breakfast; just make sure to get your doctor’s approval first. It decreases your risk of heart attack, stroke, impotence, wrinkles and some cancers.

9. Know your numbers: blood pressure, low-density and high-density lipoprotein (LDL and HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides (TGs) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Do whatever you can to get them to 115/75, less than 100, more than 50, less than 100 and less than 1, respectively.

10. Always get second opinions on any medication that you will take for three days or more.

-- Costco Connection, September 2011

Don't Give Up

Often Life doesn't go in the direction we want it to. Does that mean our lives are doomed and we can't achieve the success we dream of? Let's be realistic: Everybody fails. Consider the following.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." Disney went bankrupt
several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim, California, on the grounds that it would only attract "riffraff."

Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "nonproductive." As an inventor, Edison made more than 1,000 unsuccessful attempts to invent the light bulb. When a reporter asked him how it felt to fail 1,000 times, Edison said that he didn't fail all those times, but that the light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 years old and did not read until he was 7. His parents thought he was "subnormal," and one of his teachers described him as "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams." He was expelled from school.

Every cartoon that Charles Schulz, creator of the comic strip Peanuts, submitted to the yearbook staff at his high school was rejected.

After Fred Astaire's first screen test, the memo from the testing director of MGM, dated 1933, read, "Can't act. Can't sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." Astaire kept that memo over the fireplace in his Beverly Hills home.

Decca Records turned down a recording contract with The Beatles with this fascinating evaluation: "We don't like their sound. Guitar groups are on their way out."

A friend of mine in the music industry personally auditioned a singer by the name of Reg Dwight in the 1960s. He unceremoniously shoved the singer out of his office for wasting his time. That singer is now better known as Elton John.

Imagine if these individuals had given up, believing they were doomed to failure and would never achieve success. Do you think they ever felt down and depressed? Sure. But they didn't allow a gloomy state to overtake them, to overpower their desire to succeed. In every case they did succeed-in a huge way, far greater than their wildest dreams.

Bad experiences can be viewed as positive in hindsight. They can be stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks. It's your choice. But be determined to never give up.

-- Andrew Lock, Costco Connection, September 2011