7 Common Workout Mistakes That May Be Sabotaging Your Health

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/09/05/7-common-workout-mistakes.aspx?e_cid=20140905Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140905Z1&et_cid=DM55065&et_rid=648439340

7 Ways You're Sabotaging Your Workout

By Dr. Mercola

Exercise can reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, and depression, and it can increase your energy levels, help you think clearer, and even slow down the aging process. However, there are pitfalls that can hamper your workout progress.

I was guilty of mistake #3 and #4 below. For thirty years, my only form of exercise was long distance running with little to no strength or interval training.

As noted in the featured CNN article, your setbacks may be due to certain bad habits, and by nipping them in the bud you can start reaping results again. Here, I've chosen seven common mistakes that may be thwarting your fitness efforts.

Mistake #1: Skipping the Warm-Up

While you can get away with skipping the warm-up when you're doing a low to moderate impact workout, not warming up can easily lead to injury when you're doing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercises, especially sprinting.

As noted by John Paul Catanzaro, a Certified Kinesiologist and exercise physiologist, it takes 10-15 seconds of muscular contractions to raise your body temperature by 1°C, and a proper warm-up should raise your body temperature by 1-2°C (1.4-2.8°F).

This is enough to cause sweating, and is really all that's required in terms of warm-up. So, all you really need are a few repetitions of motions that increase the blood flow to the appropriate muscles. Aerobic activity isn't necessary, and will actually take longer as its target is non-specific.

A more comprehensive list is included in Catanzaro's original article, but here are a few examples of simple movements that will get your blood flowing. Start slow and shallow and gradually increase speed and range with each repetition; 5-10 reps per movement are all you really need:

1. Squat
2. Side bends
3. Trunk twists
4. Arm circles
5. Shoulder shrugs

Whether or not you really need to stretch before your workout is another source of confusion for many. The answer really depends on the type of exercise you're about to do—in some cases it's very important, and in other cases it may even be contraindicated.

For example, a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that stretching should be avoided prior to strength training, noting that the passive stretches may impair strength by causing joint instability.

In other instances, such as when you're doing high intensity sprinting exercises, prior stretching is imperative, and should NOT be skipped. Failing to stretch in this case can easily lead to injury. For a demonstration of proper stretching technique, please see the following video.

Mistake #2: Not Feeding Your Muscles After a Strenuous Workout

One way to boost your fitness results is to work out while fasting. When you exercise in a fasted state, it essentially forces your body to shed fat, as your body's fat burning processes are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and your SNS is activated by exercise and lack of food.

Intermittent fasting calls for you to exercise in late morning or early afternoon, and fasting (or eating only light raw foods, vegetable juice, and/or whey protein, or eggs) until 30 minutes after your workout. If you have trouble exercising on an empty stomach, you can include 20 grams of a fast-assimilating protein like a high-quality whey protein concentrate 30 minutes before your workout.

Of course, a number of individual factors play a role in whether it's appropriate to exercise while fasting, such as your age, when you last ate, whether or not you're pregnant, taking medications, your medical history, level of fitness, and the type of workout you engage in.

That said, it's important to remember that whether you're fasting or not, you do need to eat something after exercising. This is particularly important if you're doing strength training, in which case you need to eat  a fast assimilating protein within 30 minutes after your workout. Whey protein is a useful option here.

After a cardiovascular workout, wait 30-45 minutes, and then consume a high-quality source of protein (whole food) and vegetable-type carbohydrate. An example would be a spinach salad and some chicken.

After a resistance/strength training workout you need a different approach. The meal after a resistance workout needs to be absorbed rapidly to help repair your damaged muscles. As a general rule, you have a one hour window of opportunity to shuttle in the required nutrients. Ideally, you'll want to eat your post workout meal around 15-30 minutes after an intense weight training session.

If you miss this one hour window after your intense workout, your muscles' ability to repair themselves and grow bigger and stronger significantly diminishes. What makes whey protein such an ideal choice here is that it does not require your stomach and digestive tract to work very hard to assimilate it.

Your digestive tract is very vascular and uses significant amounts of blood to do its job. But after a strenuous workout, much of your blood is in your muscles. As a result, your digestive system doesn't have an adequate amount of blood to digest a whole lot of food. The whey protein, however, is already pre-digested so it's rapidly absorbed.

Mistake #3: Concentrating on a Single Body Area, and Working in a Limited Range of Motion

It's wise to think of your body as a composition of symmetry, and focusing on certain movements and muscle groups while excluding others can cause imbalances. This in turn can lead to reduced balance and weaknesses in certain areas, such as your back, for example. You could say your body is only as strong as its weakest link.

As noted in the featured article: "Muscle imbalances can lead to overuse injuries, such as PCL tears from quad dominance, which will keep you out of the gym for a minimum of nine months."

High intensity exercises can make a dramatic difference here, because these exercises automatically help create muscle definition all over your body, while simultaneously improving your aerobic fitness.

While I don't recommend doing just one form of exercise, IF that's all you have time for, then doing short but high intensity Peak Fitnessexercises will give you the greatest all-around benefits, and this form of exercise differs from others in that it benefits your entire body.

High intensity exercises sequentially recruit all types of muscle fibers, starting with the smaller motor units made up of slow-twitch fibers—which are primarily aerobic in metabolism, have a lot of endurance, and recover quickly—to the intermediate fibers; followed by the fast-twitch fibers. The key to activating your fast-twitch muscle fibers is intensity, or speed.

When these muscles are recruited, it creates the stimulus needed to grow muscle. At the same time, it enlarges the glucose storage reservoir in the muscle, which in turn enhances your insulin sensitivity. I've often stated that normalizing your insulin is one of the primary health benefits of exercise, and this is particularly true in the case of high-intensity exercise. Conventional aerobics does not do this as efficiently. Activating your fast-twitch fibers also prompts your body to create human growth hormone (HGH), also known as "the fitness hormone," which plays an important role in slowing down the aging process.

Another common mistake relates to range of motion, which is also important for overall functioning, balance and movement in everyday life. When performing strength exercises using weights, it's important to employ a full range of motion. One example offered in the featured article is when someone tears a knee ligament simply by stepping off a curb. This could be the result of not doing full-depth squats. Basically, your body is unaccustomed to stabilizing your knee during motion outside the limited range of a partial-depth squat. The other side of the coin here is avoiding using heavy weights beyond your normal range of motion. Doing so will place you at risk of injury as well. So, when you start out, use a weight that allows you to perform the exercise through a full range of motion, without overstraining.

Mistake #4: Training Too Long and Too Frequently

Exercising too much, either by working out too long or too frequently, can backfire in a number of ways. Many fail to appreciate the importance of recovery between sessions, and research has shown that endurance training can do more harm than good in the long run. As noted in the featured article: "A common physiological response to training is the release of certain hormones into the bloodstream, such as testosterone and dopamine. Going past 45 to 55 minutes per workout can put the body into a negative hormonal state." Adrenal fatigue and reduced performance can result when you exercise excessively.

To maximize your workout efforts, it is important to strive for that "Goldilocks' Zone" where you're pushing hard enough to challenge your body at your current level of fitness, while allowing your body to recuperate in between. Recovery is particularly important when you're doing high intensity exercises. When you work your fast-twitch fibers, it takes about 48 hours for that fiber to heal and fully recover. This is twice the recovery time needed for long and slow exercise. An equation to keep in mind is that as intensity increases, frequency can be diminished. In fact, you need to allow your body to fully recuperate in between sessions, so it's NOT recommended to do high intensity exercises more than three times a week.

Both Phil Campbell and Dr. Doug McGuff have addressed this in previous interviews. If you don't allow your body to fully recuperate and rebuild, your efforts will not pay off beneficial dividends. Remember, while your body needs regular amounts of stress like exercise to stay healthy, if you give it more than you can handle your health can actually deteriorate. So it's crucial to listen to your body and integrate the feedback into your exercise intensity and frequency. The following seven symptoms may signal that you need to cut back a bit and allow your body to recover between sessions:

1. Exercise leaves you exhausted instead of energized
2. You get sick easily (or it takes forever to get over a cold)
3. You have the blues
4. You're unable to sleep or you can't seem to get enough sleep
5. You have ''heavy'' legs
6. You have a short fuse
7. You're regularly sore for days at a time

So, how do you know if you're sufficiently recovered from your exercise? One tip gleaned from Dr. Doug McGuff is that you know you're recovered when you have that restless energy and feel like you have to engage in some type of physical activity. You will just want to work out.

Mistake #5: Inadequate Sleep

I believe it is very important to strive for eight hours of sleep. That does not mean time in bed. Many fitness trackers like UP24 can help you determine how long you are really sleeping, but it is likely more than 30 minutes less than you think you are. While I do recommend exercising first thing in the morning, I don't advise sacrificing sleep to do so. A high intensity interval session only requires about 20 minutes or less, two or three times a week, opposed to an hour or more on the treadmill, several times a week. Most people can carve out 20 minutes without losing sleep over it. Getting enough sleep is an important aspect of health, and lack of sleep can hamper weight loss efforts and contribute to a wide range of health problems.

Disrupted sleep cycles have the potential to stimulate cancer growth by altering hormone levels, such as melatonin, for instance, showing just how important it is to regulate your circadian rhythm. It's commonly suggested that it's best to avoid exercising late in the evening, as the increases in your adrenaline levels, heart rate, and body temperature may keep you from falling asleep. Without a doubt, many are sensitive to late-night exercise, such that a vigorous session will keep them awake. For others, it can have the opposite effect, so you'll have to experiment to find what works best for you.

Mistake #6: Talking Too Much

While having workout buddies are a great way to keep motivated and help each other stay accountable, constant chatter can reduce your fitness payout in the gym. As noted in the featured article, "talking during a workout can decrease the metabolic, or fat burning, effect of your workout... The reason? When rest intervals increase, 'the body will cool down, leading to a slowed metabolism,' [New York-based trainer Nick] Ebner says. Also, talking during a set of squats and shifting your focus from the exercise form to the conversation "can lead to form breakdown, and in turn, serious risk of injury..."

In short, talking while exercising can lead to, or worsen, mouth breathing, and this has consequences for your health and fitness. In fact, the amount of benefit you derive from your exercise efforts is largely controlled by your breathing habits, which affect your performance, endurance, post-exercise energy levels, and even your ability to metabolize fat. The Buteyko Breathing Method—named after the Russian physician who developed the technique—is a powerful methodology for reversing problems associated with improper breathing, the most common of which are overbreathing and mouthbreathing.

The Buteyko Method teaches you how to bring your breathing volume back toward normal, reversing chronic hyperventilation or chronic overbreathing. When your breathing is normal, you have better oxygenation of tissues and organs, including your brain. This is particularly important during exercise. If you tend to hyperventilate through your mouth during exercise, you're actually decreasing oxygen delivery.

The key here is to breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Nitric oxide is found in your nose, so when you breathe through your nose, you carry a small portion of the gas into your lungs. Nitric oxide plays a significant role in homeostasis, or the maintaining of balance within your body. It's also a significant bronchodilator and vasodilator. The elasticity of your lungs also depends on nasal resistance, which you only get from nasalbreathing due to the smaller diameter of your nasal passages. Poor breathing is even associated with poor posture. So, breathing through your nose helps maintain your health in a number of important ways.

Mistake #7: Using Incorrect Form

Proper form is essential for most exercises. Done incorrectly, virtually any exercise can lead to injury. At best, you'll end up with inferior results. So, make sure you get some guidance on how to perform each exercise correctly. The better your form is, the more effective your workout will be, and the faster you'll see results. One of the key ingredients of proper form is to engage every single muscle to its full potential. This requires some mental focus, and not just half-heartedly going through the motions.

As just one example, when doing a controlled deep squat, you'll engage not just your thighs and knees, but your entire core, back and muscle fibers throughout your legs and buttocks all the way down to your ankles and feet. Squats have long been criticized for being destructive to your knees, but when done properly, squats actually improve knee stability and strengthen connective tissue. As you can see, there are many ways to negate your efforts in the gym. But the solutions are there, and they are usually quite simple. Being mindful of these mistakes, and correcting them, can help you maximize your results.

I.C. Moore....

Better without all the corporate badges......

The Gray Area: Detaching from our Emotions. ~ Michelle Brunetti | elephant journal

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/09/the-gray-area-detaching-from-our-emotions-michelle-brunetti/

The Gray Area: Detaching from our Emotions. ~ Michelle Brunetti

Via Michelle Brunettion Sep 1, 2014

"It is not our emotions which cause human suffering but our attachment to them."

As children we are taught that there is a duality about life.

Things are black and white, good or bad, right or wrong. Over time, this "either or" way of thinking becomes etched in how we navigate the world, making us unwilling participants in a never-ending game of duality.

Labels are meant to make our lives more manageable and having things "this way" or "that way" is meant to create order. But, in the end, viewing the world in only black and white terms can make us less curious about the gray spaces in between.

It might even be fair to say that it can lead us to a life-long process of living too cautiously—eventually making us reticent about coloring outside of the lines all together.

Our emotions are generated in the brain's gray matter and the color gray is known as a neutral color. Is it possible to argue that learning to experience our emotions with neutrality can help us create a more harmonious life?

On an average, we have 70,000 thoughts run through our minds daily. That is roughly 1.5 thoughts every second. Our brains can focus on and process only an infinitesimal percentage of that input.

When an emotion is triggered, we immediately begin the labeling process. We get into a fight with our lover and we feel bad. We get some great news and we feel good. Sometimes we are blindsided and there is no rhyme or reason why we suddenly go from feeling happy to feeling downright blah.

Emotions don't cause human suffering, but the labels we attach to them and the power they then acquire from that judgment certainly can.

We become powerless over our emotions because we have never understood them. They are an enigma which continues to elude us, so we just tiptoe around them pretty much letting them run the show.

We are led to believe that emotional catharsis, such as having a good cry or a throwing a fit of anger, is healthy, but the human mind is not a steam cooker on the verge of exploding as we are led to believe. Studies have shown that expressing intense emotions can actually be more damaging then helpful. Indulging in either sadness or anger can have consequences. Sadness can turn into depression and anger into rage.

When we get stuck in an emotion, everything becomes about that particular feeling, and before we know it we have tunnel vision and everything makes us sad or everyone makes us mad.

We break up with someone and suddenly we are digging frantically through the back of our glove compartment searching for the worn out CD that played the first night we met and became "our song." Fast-forward to us driving down the street balling our eyes out, certain that the pain might very well kill us.

So why do we choose to punish ourselves by ruminating in the pain?

Perhaps because of some misguided notion which convinces us that by staying in our pain long enough it will help us to exorcise our emotional demons. But in the end, indulging in our emotions usually just prolongs the pain and we end up feeling more miserable than free. We become prisoners of our own design.

I am not suggesting that we all become Spock-esque, but rather that we learn to manage our emotions responsibly. The goal is not to eradicate our emotions but allow them to exist without judging or being attached to them.

It may not be possible 100 percent of the time to be in a Zen-like state—I imagine even Buddha had off days. But, it's not perfection that we are striving for here, because none of us are impervious to our emotions.

Remember the goal is balance. It's not that we don't want to have emotions, but rather that we don't want to become enslaved by them.

So where do you to start? Well, unfortunately last I checked (and believe me, I did), there is no elixir that will automagically (an actual UD word) immunize us from being attached to our emotions—so you will just have to learn this the good old-fashion way, through practice and patience.

The first step to developing the fine art of neutrality is to learn how to monitor your thoughts without judgment. You do this by acknowledging when an emotion pops up and then trying, very quickly, to determine what triggered it (sometimes you can't and that's okay). Once you have a fix on its origin, you have the power to either: let it take over your thoughts, or consciously release it and just let it be present without any attachment to it.

Science shows us that the human brain is capable of experiencing both negative and positive emotions simultaneously—so ultimately, where we choose to place our focus is a conscious and deliberate choice.

I am not going to blow smoke up your ass folks—it takes a lot of discipline at first, and chances are it may seem like way too much work. You might even throw your hands up a few times (okay, maybe more), but I can promise you this: If you have a sincere desire to stop letting your emotions control your life, with lots of P & P (practice and patience), over time you will successfully find a balance you never imagined.

You will develop a neutral state which allows you to detach and watch your emotions drift through your mind like clouds floating gently across the sky-and eventually, the black and white will meld together to create a beautiful shade of gray.

Or…. you could just go back to searching for that CD. I am sure it's in there somewhere.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

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Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Eden/Flickr

About Michelle Brunetti

Michelle Brunetti is a Happiness/Empowerment Coach and Journalist committed to helping others find their passion-driven purpose in life. She lives Happily in Santa Monica with her two daughters. She can be found here: website, Facebook and LinkedIn.

~A.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5730770?ir=GPS%20for%20the%20Soul

Happiness Tricks For Introverts (INFOGRAPHIC)

Happify 09/03/14 08:32 AM ET

Thanks to a recent rise in interest in introversion, it seems like people with this personality type are finally becoming more understood. Yes, introverts make up as much as half of the population. No, not all introverts are shy. Yes, it's possible to be both extroverted and introverted (ambiverts, anyone?).

So in honor of all you introverts out there, Happify, a website dedicated to helping people build skills for happiness through science-based activities and games, put together an infographic showing happiness tips and tricks specifically for people with the personality type.

Are you an introvert? Read on to find out the best jobs for you, some simple hacks for happiness and the leading theories about why you are introverted.

~A.

Ruth Crocker Grieving the Death of a Child - Ruth Crocker

http://ruthcrocker.com/grieving-death-child/

Grieving the Death of a Child

           

When Tom L. lost his son, Mike, age twenty, in a fiery motorcycle accident, he never dreamed he would write a book about it. In fact, Tom described himself as a poor student and felt fortunate to finish high school. But, ten years after his son's death, he still carried a profound sense of sadness at losing his only child.

"Some friends thought I should be feeling better by that point," recalled Tom. "But you just can't push a button and make the pain go away."

He visited a counselor who told him that what he was feeling, besides normal grief after devastating loss, might be unattended sorrow.

"Perhaps there is something else that you need to do, something that really allows you to express your feelings. Grief is like a garden in a heart washed out by a storm. You've got to tend the soil and grow new flowers. You seem to have a circle of supportive friends, but are there any details about your son and your relationship with him that you'd like others to know?  Why don't you write me a list of those things, those thoughts that you want to nurture and grow."

Tom started writing and couldn't stop.

"I wrote my heart out," he said.

Two weeks later he had two hundred pages describing his son and what it was like to be Mike's father – and eventually his friend as Mike grew into a young adult.

Not everyone will attempt to work through grief by writing a book, but anyone who has experienced the death of a child of any age understands how profoundly difficult it is to ease the ache in the heart. What writing seems to encourage is to bring the bereaved back in connection with the lost child and to get beyond how and when they died, essentially to bring back who they were in life and all feelings for them – happy and sad. When a child dies in infancy, there is the enormous sense of loss of potential of what they might have become and the imagining of them at different ages never achieved, but the process of attending to sorrow and lost hope is the same.

For the bereaved parent and for those who want to help them tend the garden of grief in ways that ways that support healthy growth, here are some gardening tips:

• Give permission to feel and express feelings. If emotions remain bottled up, one cannot experience feeling better. Crying is not only okay, it's necessary. Intense moments of anger, denial, guilt and sorrow are normal. Speaking about the loss and acknowledging the presence of "if only…" sentiments will help to lift the weight of the loss off the heart, perhaps only for a moment, but each repetition releases some of the inescapable intensity of the reality that the child is gone. Writing may accomplish this by placing the thoughts and emotions on the page. The writer feels some relief because feelings are momentarily off-loaded into words.
• Give grief its own schedule. No one is the same regarding the progress of grief through steps or stages. Couples often find that they are each grieving the child differently. There is no right way or right time. The transition to better coping may come as a surprise. The mother of a young man killed in Iraq described that one day, months after his death, she heard herself laughing spontaneously. "I never thought I'd laugh again," she said.
• Acknowledge that relationships change after a traumatic experience like the death of a child. Some people may need to distance themselves because it's difficult for them to observe someone suffering or they may fear the loss of their own child.
• Celebrate the memory of the child by creating a memorial event, making a donation in memory of the child, organizing a display of photographs, lighting candles in a memorial service, and celebrating the child's birthday if it feels appropriate. When the six-year-old son of John Walsh was murdered, John helped to sponsor legislation that made laws tougher on convicted murderers and child molesters, and he created and hosted "America's Most Wanted" on TV to track down violent criminals.

Those who have experienced the loss of a child through an accident or illness say that, in some cases, it took years to feel normal again. Some say that they felt moments of manic behavior during which they had to remind themselves to relax, slow down and learn how to find peace.  The most important advice reported by grieving parents was the permission to do what felt right at the moment and that no explanation to anyone was necessary. Some parents who normally found comfort in their faith, were surprised to feel anger that their child had not been rescued from a terrible fate. They may have even bargained with their God in exchange for whatever could be offered and felt rejected when the child died anyway. Again, this is a normal reaction to an excruciating event.

Tom said that when he first started writing his book he wasn't sure he could survive, but writing down his thoughts became like speaking to a listener who was willing to hear anything. He eventually self-published his book and has shared it with other parents in similar circumstances.

"My son gave me a lot during his short life," said Tom. "And in the end he even made me realize that I really was a good student after all. He left me a legacy of new confidence in myself. What more could a father ask for – except to have him back."

            When Tom L. lost his son, Mike, age twenty, in a fiery motorcycle accident, he never dreamed he would write a book about it. In fact, Tom described himself as a poor student and felt fortunate to finish high school. But, ten years after his son's death, he still carried a profound sense of sadness at losing his only child. "Some friends thought I should be feeling better by that point," recalled Tom. "But you just can't push a button and make the pain go away." He visited a counselor who told him that what he was feeling, besides normal grief after devastating loss, might be unattended sorrow. "Perhaps there is something else that you need to do, something that really allows you to express your feelings. Grief is like a garden in a heart washed out by a storm. You've got to tend the soil and grow new flowers. You seem to have a circle of supportive friends, but are there any details about your son and your relationship with him that you'd like others to know?  Why don't you write me a list of those things, those thoughts that you want to nurture and grow." Tom started writing and couldn't stop. "I wrote my heart out," he said. Two weeks later he had two hundred pages describing his son and what it was like to be Mike's father – and eventually his friend as Mike grew into a young adult. Not everyone will attempt to work through grief by writing a book, but anyone who has experienced the death of a child of any age understands how profoundly difficult it is to ease the ache in the heart. What writing seems […]

~A.

RV Lifestyles ezine past issues

http://www.rvlifestyleexperts.com/free-rv-info/rv_lifestyles_ezine/archives-of-ezine/

RV Lifestyles ezine archives

RV Lifestyles ezine comes out twice a month, around the 10th and 25th, give or take a few days. Your editors and publishers are Jaimie Hall Bruzenak, Margo Armstrong and Sue Bizek. We feature RVing and travel information, news, guest columnists and reader tips each month. If you have something to share with fellow RVers and wannabees, email Jaimie with your contribution of about 250 words. If you are not a subscriber, you can sign up by clicking here and obtain your free download: "52 ways to save money living the RV lifestyle."

New rules for Commercial Drivers Licenses- Issue 303, August 22, 2014
Are you a good RV Neighbor?- Issue 302, August 11, 2014
States RVed in- revisited- Issue 301, July 21, 2014
Extended warranties- a vote for "no"- Issue 300, July 7, 2014
Escapee's CARE- Kay's Dream- Issue 299, June 25, 2014
Preventing and dealing with kitchen fires- Issue 298, June 10, 2014
Relationships on the road- Issue 297, May 24, 2014
Finding a safe RV park- Issue 296, May 7, 2014
Carry your medical records with you- Issue 295, April 21, 2014
Springtime- getting ready to hit the road- Issue 294, April 8, 2014
RVing- are you on the same page?- Issue 293, March 25, 2014
New Zealand RVing- things learned- Issue 292, March 12, 2014
Staying connected in New Zealand- Issue 291, February 23, 2014
Domicile and your RV Budget- Issue 290, February 10, 2014
Renting a campervan in New Zealand- Issue 289, January 23, 2014
Can RVing be a career?- Issue 288, January 11, 2014
Inspect that new RV- Issue 287, December 23, 2013
Border crossing- another perspective- Issue 286, December 12, 2013
Figuring RV costs- Issue 285, November 23, 2013
Crossing the Canadian border Part 2- Issue 284, November 6, 2013
Tire safety- Issue 283, October 25, 2013
Crossing the Canadian border- Issue 282, October 9, 2013
Older RVs and the quest for parts- Issue 281, September 23, 2013
Does relying on GPS dull your brain?- Issue 280, September 8, 2013
Coastal California camping- Issue 279, August 25, 2013
Important advice from experts- Issue 278, August 11, 2013
Missing Pieces?- Issue 277, July 24, 2013
Potentially sticky issues for full-timeRVers- Issue 276, July 11, 2013
Upgrades for Kermit- Issue 275, June 25, 2013
Do your own maintenance and save- Issue 274, June 10, 2013
Summer solar and other maintenance- Issue 273, May 24, 2013
Beware of the Cloud- Issue 272, May 9, 2013
Exploding poop?- Issue 271, April 24, 2013
Being weather-wise in your RV travels- Issue 270, April 8, 2013
Look forward to RVing growth in China- Issue 269, March 27, 2013
Pay attention to GVWR!- Issue 268, March 6, 2013
Solar- Relatively inexpensive- Issue 267, February 24, 2013
Ideas for free & cheap camping - Issue 266, February 9, 2013
Boondocking- conserving water - Issue 265, January 24, 2013
So many RVs to choose from- help! - Issue 264, January 10, 2013
Boondocking basics- part 2- Issue 263, December 21, 2012
Quartzsite, AZ- Not to be missed?- Issue 262, December 9, 1212
Are you ready to boondock?- Issue 261, November 24, 2012
Heads up- RV parking in Van Horn - NOT- Issue 260, November 12, 2012
Save money on camping- Issue 259, October 26, 2012
Getting an RWI!- Issue 258, October 9, 2012
Simplify your life- Issue 257, September 25, 2012
Help pets find their "forever" home- Issue 256, September 7, 2012
Retire to an RV in print- Issue 255, August 25, 2012
Tips for frugal retirement- Issue 254, August 9, 2012
Fun activities in Tucson with Grandkids- Issue 253, July 26, 2012
Boondocking basics- Issue 252, July 8, 2012
Safety tips for solo women- Issue 251, June 24, 2012
More than beautiful scenery- Issue 250, June 9, 2012
Alice Zyetz- She'll be missed- Issue 249, May 25, 2012
Getting your mail-

~A.

Presenting the Core77 September 2014 Education Special - Core77

http://www.core77.com/blog/education/presenting_the_core77_september_2014_education_special_27563.asp?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Core77+September+2014+Newsletter&utm_content=Core77+September+2014+Newsletter+CID_e205128d2493c1127ec4eb0456a7b48e&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=special%20editorial%20focus%20to%20design%20education

Education

Posted by core jr  |   2 Sep 2014  |  Comments (0)

Photos credits: Jaineel Shah, Kyle Oldfield, Valdemar Haugaard Olsen

The equinox may be a few weeks out, but here in the States, Labor Day weekend marks the cusp of the seasons, when we must transition from the long, diverting days of summer to the deskbound marathon of fall. This is especially true for those of you in school, as students, faculty and staff reunite at campuses the world over. As always, Core77 is proud to serve as the premier online resource for industrial design students, prospective, enrolled, and graduated, and this September we are pleased to bring a special editorial focus to design education.

When it comes to design students, Core has long offered multiple platforms for exposure and expert advice: Besides accepting submissions for editorial consideration, we're happy to host thousands of free portfolios on our sister site Coroflot is (did we mention its free?); we offer students the opportunity to strive for glory in our annual awards program; and our dedicated Students and Schools discussion board offers a venue for direct feedback and comments from designers from the world over. We understand that (for better or for worse) it can be easy to lose yourself in the forums so we're revisiting the archives and have compiled handy Discussion Board digests, which we'll be publishing over the next couple of weeks.

Yet the higher education system is changing before our very eyes as the very definition of industrial design expands to include human factors, interaction and service, among other emerging disciplines. As with our popular Design Gatekeepers and Getting Hired series, we're pleased to present D-School Futures, comprising interviews with the chairs of ten top American industrial design programs. Whether you're considering grad school as an undergrad or professional, or you're simply curious about how things have changed (or not) since your own D-School days, this series is not to be missed—check out the first one with Wayne Chung of Carnegie Mellon University and stay tuned for more.

Meanwhile, our Hack2School special feature remains chock full of tips, tricks and lifehacks for undergrads of all stripes (ID or otherwise). Plus, we've refreshed the Design Schools homepage—long overdue for an update—with a few new pieces to complement perennial favorites such as Choosing a Design School and 1,000 Words of Advice for Design Students. While our Education category includes a broad range of initiatives, the Design Schools page is, as always, expressly intended as a one-stop shop for design students—bookmark it now for future reference as we'll be adding the new content over the next few weeks.

Ok...3,2,1....design?

~A.

Sitting with our sadness...

September 3, 2014
Sitting with Our Sadness
The Heart of Humanity

by Madisyn Taylor

Sitting with our sadness takes the courage to believe that we can bear the pain and we will come out the other side.

The last thing most of us want to hear or think about when we are dealing with profound feelings of sadness is that deep learning can be found in this place. In the midst of our pain, we often feel picked on by life, or overwhelmed by the enormity of some loss, or simply too exhausted to try and examine the situation. We may feel far too disappointed and angry to look for anything resembling a bright side to our suffering. Still, somewhere in our hearts, we know that we will eventually emerge from the depths into the light of greater awareness. Remembering this truth, no matter how elusive it seems, can help.

The other thing we often would rather not hear when we are dealing with intense sadness is that the only way out of it is through it. Sitting with our sadness takes the courage to believe that we can bear the pain and the faith that we will come out the other side. With courage, we can allow ourselves to cycle through the grieving process with full inner permission to experience it. This is a powerful teaching that sadness has to offer us—the ability to surrender and the acceptance of change go hand in hand.

Another teaching of sadness is compassion for others who are in pain, because it is only in feeling our own pain that we can really understand and allow for someone else’s. Sadness is something we all go through, and we all learn from it and are deepened by its presence in our lives. While our own individual experiences of sadness carry with them unique lessons, the implications of what we learn are universal. The wisdom we gain from going through the process of feeling loss, heartbreak, or deep disappointment gives us access to the heart of humanity. 

Canoeing with Susan Andrle, Rhode Island Aug.31

http://www.timewheel.net/

[Tome] | 5 Ways To Open Your Third Eye - TIMEWHEEL

Opening the Third Eye requires immeasurable effort, focus and research. Instruction on opening the third eye should be followed with great care; stimulation of the pineal gland is an advanced technique. The Third Eye, known as the sixth chakra, or "psychic chakra" is situated in the center of the forehead between the brows and one inch inside. Known biologically as the pineal gland, the Third Eye is dormant in most people due to industrial water fluoridation. The dormant pineal gland is miniature in size and takes up about the size of a pea in the persons brain. René Descartes understood the pineal gland to be the "the seat of the soul"; The link between mind and body.



Halt Consumption Of Flouride
In the average person, the pineal gland is atrophied, [calcified] and dormant. The exercises within this Tome may be practiced to decalcify and restore the pineal gland to it's natural state. However, if misused, these techniques may cause extreme damage to the initiate. There are many different ways to activate the pineal gland, some methods involving plant teachers. The most obvious method of reversing the calcification of the pineal gland is to halt consumption of fluoridated water and products. This includes a more intensive diet modification such as the one here.

Method of "Ong"
Initiates should chant the mantra "Ong" with their natural, base vibration. Ong is sanskrit for Creator or the primal vibration from which all creativity flows. When initiates hit the correct tone, they will know by the vibration in the head just above the roof of the mouth and which stimulates the pineal gland. Begin by sitting with straight back and the chin slid in slightly, applying a slight neck lock. Roll the eyes upwards and focus on the space between your eye brows and one inch inside the forehead. Inhale through the nose until the body is filled with breathe. Chant "Ong" for the duration of each exhale. Repeat for 3 minutes and gradually advance your practice to to 11 minutes. This exercise must be done once every day for 3 days, at which point physical, psychological, and spiritual effects may be felt. Completing an 11 minute "Ong" chanting meditation for 40 days consecutively will yield powerful spiritual results. These effects will be elaborated on in further detail in future tomes.



Method of "Sat Nam"
Sat Nam (pronounced Sut Naam) is the Seed Mantra and is the most widely used mantra in the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Sat means the Truth; Nam means to call upon, name or identify with. Together, Sat Nam means Truth is my identity and I call upon the eternal Truth that resides in all of us. Chanting this mantra awakens the Soul. It is pronounced to rhyme with "But Mom". Known to cause euphoric and pleasurable feelings, many initiates will find that this mantra's blissful effects can last for longer periods of time. Inhale deeply and hold for five counts. Exhale, using the diaphragm. Repeat 3 instances of this breath to instill focus and relaxation. Begin focusing the attention on the third eye, between the brows and one inch inside. At this time, sensations of pineal awakening should occur, where a slight pressure will be felt in the center of the head. Inhale deeply and completely, hold for a second or two then exhale and recite "Sat Nam". The word Sat will be seven counts and Nam will be one count. To reiterate, it is a long Sat and a short Nam. The natural pitch will come to you from within. Inhale again and repeat for 3 minutes and gradually increase your practice to 11 minutes. Vibrate the mantra with strength and stamina, feeling the resonation of the word in your head. Maintain a steady pitch throughout, feeling the energy stimulating the third eye and rising upwards into the crown chakra. A sensation of lightness may pass over you, including a pressure in the location of the crown chakra, causing tingling to completely wash over your head. Perceptual powers will eventually become more ingrained, and permanent for some initiates assisting in the development of highly advanced skills such as psychic abilities, paranormal senses and clairvoyance.

Method of Using Crystals
Specific crystals are highly beneficial in expanding awareness and opening the Third Eye, specifically those of indigo, violet, or purple hue. This list can include but is not limited to amethyst (wand), laser quartz (wand), moonstone, purple sapphire, purple violet tourmaline, rhodonite, rose aura, and sodalite. By meditating with a crystal on the forehead between the brow point for 15-30 minutes per day, initiates will have access to healing energy that reduces calcification of the pineal gland.


Art by Pineal Visions

Method of Meditation
Despite being the last to be mentioned, meditation is the most vital part of opening the Third Eye. Once initiates have activated their pineal gland, they should take advantage of their newly awakened powers and ascend inward to Higher Realms, through meditation. After utilizing the steps mentioned here prior, the willful initiate should dedicate daily time to meditation and the manifestation of their intention. For more information on meditation, and how to properly meditate reference this text.

Author | Arche, Xian



In this video Infinite Waters Diving Deep explains the Third Eye in depth.

~A.

Your Health Is the Result of a Symbiotic Relationship in Your Gut

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/28/microbiome-gut-health.aspx?e_cid=20140828Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140828Z1&et_cid=DM56211&et_rid=639378318

Story at-a-glance +

By Dr. Mercola

The truth of the old adage that "you are what you eat" is becoming increasingly clear, the more we learn about the microbiome—the colonies of microbes living in your gut, and indeed all over your body.

It is well established that your gut is your second brain providing more input to your brain than the brain provides to it. This is why your gut health is largely reflected in your gut bacteria, including your mental health and emotional well-being.

Your microbiome is essentially a historical accumulative composition of where you've been, who your parents are, who you spend intimate time with, what you eat, how you live, whether or not you're interacting with the earth (gardening, for example), and much more.

As noted by Pat Schloss (a microbiologist with The Human Microbiome Project) in the video above, your microbiome is much like a fingerprint—it's unique to you. Researcher Jeroen Raes has also suggested we might belong to one of a few "microflora types," which are similar to blood types.

Your gut microbiome activity influences your immune responses, nervous system functioning, and plays a role in the development of any number of diseases, including obesity, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, just to name a few that I'll address in this article.

How Intestinal Bacteria Can Induce Food Cravings

The bacteria in your body outnumber your cells by 100 to 1, and different bacteria have different nutritional needs.

According to recent research,^1, the nutritional preferences of your gut bacteria can influence your food cravings by releasing chemical signals through the vagus nerve, which connects your gut to your brain. According to one of the study's co-authors, Carlo Maley, PhD:

"Bacteria within the gut are manipulative... There is a diversity of interests represented in the microbiome, some aligned with our own dietary goals, and others not...

Our diets have a huge impact on microbial populations in the gut. It's a whole ecosystem, and it's evolving on the time scale of minutes."

It's already been well-documented that obese individuals have different bacteria dominating their microbiome than leaner individuals.

Research also suggests that as much as 20 percent of the substantial weight loss achieved from gastric bypass, a popular weight loss surgery, is due to shifts in the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract. With regards to the featured research, Forbes reports:

"'Microbes have the capacity to manipulate behavior and mood through altering the neural signals in the vagus nerve, changing taste receptors, producing toxins to make us feel bad, and releasing chemical rewards to make us feel good,' said study co-author Athena Aktipis, PhD.

The good news, the researchers tell us, is that we can influence changes in our gut dwellers through dietary choices.

'Because microbiota are easily manipulatable by prebiotics, probiotics, antibiotics…and dietary changes, altering our microbiota offers a tractable approach to otherwise intractable problems of obesity and unhealthy eating.'"

Diet Can Rapidly Alter Gut Bacteria

Indeed, another recent study^6, highlights the speed with which you can alter the balance of your gut bacteria. Here, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) monitored two people over the course of one year; collecting daily stool samples and correlating the gut bacteria from day to day with diet and other lifestyle factors such as sleep, mood, and exercise.

One of the participants developed diarrhea during a two-week trip to another country, which resulted in significant changes in the balance of gut bacteria.

A case of Salmonella food poisoning struck the other participant, which resulted in a drastic change in gut bacteria. Salmonella bacteria rose from 10 percent to nearly 30 percent, and the colonies of beneficial bacteria were nearly wiped out.

Once the individual recovered, beneficial bacteria quickly rebounded to about 40 percent of the total microbiome, but most of the strains were different from the original strains. According to senior author Eric Alm:

"On any given day, the amount of one species could change manyfold, but after a year, that species would still be at the same median level. To a large extent, the main factor we found that explained a lot of that variance was the diet."

The most prominent changes correlated with the individuals' fiber intake. Greater amounts of fiber affected about 15 percent of the gut bacteria, resulting in greater proliferation of them.

Gut Bacteria May Reveal Colon Cancer, and Might Play a Role in MS

Your microbiome may even reveal your risk for, or presence of, colon cancer. A total of 90 people participated in this study;^9, thirty were healthy; 30 had precancerous intestinal polyps; and 30 had been diagnosed with advanced colon or rectal cancer. After assessing the composition of each person's microbiome, it became apparent that microbiome analysis (using a fecal test) might be a viable way to screen for precancerous polyps and colorectal cancer.

According to their findings, adding microbiome analysis to other known risk factors for precancerous polyps resulted in a 4.5-fold improved prediction for the condition. Adding microbiome analysis to risk factors for invasive colorectal cancer resulted in a five-fold improvement in their ability to predict cancer.

In related news, researchers have also linked certain gut microbes to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), and/or improvement of the condition. The paper, published in the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research, describes three immunological factors associated with the gut microbiome that relates to inflammatory responses in MS patients:

1. T helper cell polarization
2. T regulatory cell function
3. B cell activity

Previous research has suggested that altering the gut microbiome by adding bacteria such as Lactobacillus, and/or worm-type organisms like Schistosoma and Trichura, can be helpful in reducing MS symptoms. Apparently, these microorganisms have a beneficial effect on cytokine production throughout the body, thereby reducing systemic inflammation. Cytokines are cellular messengers that regulate inflammatory responses. According to the authors: "Whether future therapeutic approaches to MS will employ commensal-based products depends on nuanced understanding of these underlying mechanisms."

When It Comes to Inflammation, Your Microbiome Rules

MS certainly is not the only disease caused by chronic inflammation in your body. In fact, most chronic disease has inflammation as an underlying factor. It's important to realize that your gut is the starting point for inflammation—it's actually the gatekeeper for your inflammatory response. As suggested above, various gut microorganisms can either trigger or subdue the production of inflammatory cytokines. Most of the signals between your gut and your brain travel along your vagus nerve—about 90 percent of them. (Vagus is Latin for "wandering," aptly named as this long nerve travels from your skull down through your chest and abdomen, branching to multiple organs.)

Cytokine messengers produced in your gut cruise up to your brain along the "vagus nerve highway." Once in your brain, the cytokines tell your microglia (the immune cells in your brain) to perform certain functions, such as producing neurochemicals. Besides influencing your hunger and cravings for certain foods, as discussed earlier, these chemical messages can also affect your mitochondria, impacting energy production and apoptosis (cell death). They can also affect the very sensitive feedback system that controls your stress hormones, including cortisol, for better or worse.

So, an inflammatory response can begin in your gut, travel to your brain, which then builds on it and sends signals to the rest of your body in a complex feedback loop. It isn't important that you understand all of the physiology here, but the take-away is that your gut flora significantly affects and controls the health of your entire body.

Your Gut Flora Is Perpetually Under Attack

Your microbiome—and therefore your physical and mental health—are continuously affected by your environment, and by your diet and lifestyle choices. If your gut bacteria are harmed and thrown out of balance (dysbiosis), all sorts of illnesses can result, both acute and chronic. Unfortunately, your fragile internal ecosystem is under nearly constant assault today. Some of the factors posing the gravest dangers to your microbiome are outlined in the following table.

Refined sugar, especially processed high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)	Genetically engineered (GE) foods (extremely abundant in processed foods and beverages)	Agricultural chemicals, such as herbicides and pesticides. Glyphosate appears to be among the worst
Conventionally-raised meats and other animal products; CAFO animals are routinely fed low-dose antibiotics and GE livestock feed	Gluten	Antibiotics (use only if absolutely necessary, and make sure to reseed your gut with fermented foods and/or a good probiotic supplement)
NSAIDS (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) damage cell membranes and disrupt energy production by mitochondria	Proton pump inhibitors (drugs that block the production of acid in your stomach, typically prescribed for GERD, such as Prilosec, Prevacid, and Nexium)	Antibacterial soap
Chlorinated and/or fluoridated water	Stress	Pollution

Your Diet Is the Most Effective Way to Alter Your Microbiome

The best way to optimize your gut flora is through your diet. A good place to start is by drastically reducing grains and sugar, and avoiding genetically engineered ingredients, processed foods, pasteurized foods, and chlorinated tap water. Pasteurized foods can harm your good bacteria, and sugar promotes the growth of pathogenic yeast and other fungi. Grains containing gluten are particularly damaging to your microflora and overall health.^14, A gut-healthy diet is one rich in whole, unprocessed, unsweetened foods, along with traditionally fermented or cultured foods. Chlorine in your tap water not only kills pathogenic bacteria in the water but also beneficial bacteria in your gut.

Fermented foods are also a key component of the GAPS protocol, a diet designed to heal and seal your gut. Your goal should be to consume one-quarter to one-half cup of fermented veggies with each meal, but you may need to work up to it. Consider starting with just a teaspoon or two a few times a day, and increase as tolerated. If that is too much (perhaps your body is severely compromised), you can even begin by drinking a teaspoon of the brine from the fermented veggies, which is rich in the same beneficial microbes.

You may also want to consider a high-potency probiotic supplement, but realize that there is no substitute for the real food. A previous article in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology makes the case that properly controlled fermentation amplifies the specific nutrient and phytochemical content of foods, thereby improving brain health, both physical and mental. According to the authors:

"The consumption of fermented foods may be particularly relevant to the emerging research linking traditional dietary practices and positive mental health. The extent to which traditional dietary items may mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress may be controlled, at least to some degree, by microbiota."

They go on to say that the microbes associated with fermented foods (for example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species) may also influence your brain health via direct and indirect pathways, which paves the way for new scientific investigations in the area of "nutritional psychiatry."

Your Body Is a Conglomerate of Bacterial Colonies

You're not only surrounded by bacteria in your environment; in a very real way, you are them. Your body is in fact a complex ecosystem made up of more than 100 trillion microbes that must be properly balanced and cared for if you are to be healthy. Pamela Weintraub skillfully describes the symbiotic relationship between humans and microorganisms in her June 2013 article in Experience Life magazine. This system of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa living on your skin and in your mouth, nose, throat, lungs, gut, and urogenital tract, is unique to you.

It varies from person to person based on factors such as diet, lifestyle, health history, geographic location, and even ancestry. Your microbiome is one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet as for every bacteria you have, there are 10 bacteriophages or viruses. So not only do you have 100 trillion bacteria, you have one quadrillion bacteriophages.

All of these organisms perform a multitude of functions in key biological systems, from supplying critical vitamins to fighting pathogens, modulating weight and metabolism, and much more, and when your microbiome falls out of balance, you can become ill. Your microbiome also helps control how your genes express themselves. So by optimizing your native flora, you are actually controlling your genes! All of this is great news, because while your microbiome may control your health, you can control which bacteria have the upper hand—health-promoting ones, or disease-causing ones—through your diet and lifestyle.

~A.

5 Questions to Ask at the Dinner Table| Mindvalley Academy

http://mindvalleyacademy.com/featured/5-questions-dinner-table


~A.