No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

Today I came across a video of an amazing man named Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms and legs yet as he puts it also without limits. This first part of a three-part series is rather funny and I plan on sharing each series separately with little input from me on the blog. I think his video and his words can convey much more then I can.
As I said part one is rather humorous and I think the message is to not take ourselves so seriously and enjoy who and what we are. I hope you enjoy the video as I much as I have! Feel free to post any comments, too.

Employee Overtime = Employee Overstressed

In the June 2008 'Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine' (a publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine), a study concluded that employees who worked overtime were at an increased risk of anxiety and depression. This study on anxiety and depression was concluded on 1,350 employees who worked 41-100 hours per week and approximately 9,000 people who worked 40 hours or less per week.

For both men and women, working overtime was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression. The rate scores of these two types of mental distress for men was 9% who worked a normal work week compared to a 12.5% rate of depression for men working over 40 hours per week. For women this rate was 7% for a normal work week compared to 11% depression and anxiety rate for overtime hours. And men who worked more then 48 hours per week were at the highest risk, though even moderate overtime hours seem to increase the risk of mental distress for both men and women.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website.

Employee Work-Life Balance

According to the world's largest human-resource-management association, 14% of employers worldwide offered massage therapy to employees, per a study conducted in 2006. To quote "Massage therapy is a great health-maintenance tool that aids in stress reduction. This is especially beneficial for employees who work in a very stressful work environment." said a report done by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). This information about massage ran in the reported section titled "Work-Life Balance Benefits", which also included other benefits such as postal and dry-cleaning services, meal preparation, legal assistance and travel planning services.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website.

Heart Health through Napping

Want to increase your lifespan? Want to do something good for your heart? Take a nap! Researchers found that midday napping reduced coronary mortality by about one-third, according to a study done in 2007. Naps are common in several Latin American countries as well as the Mediterranean regions and these countries seem to tend to have low mortality rates of coronary heart disease. 23,681 study participants were followed for an average of 6.3 years by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Greece's University of Athens Medical School. These participants had no history of coronary heart disease, stroke or cancer. Participants took an average of a 30 minute nap, three times per week had a 37% lower coronary mortality rate than those not taking naps. A 12% reduction of coronary mortality was shown in occasional nappers. So go ahead, take a nap. Improve your heart, increase your life...get a quick snooze.

For more information on Heavenly Healing Mobile Massage, please visit my website.

De-Stress through Breathe

Every moment of the day we breathe without a thought to it even happening, mostly taking this life-sustaining process for granted. We breathe roughly 23,000 times a day and take in about 4,500 gallons of air - 25 times that amount when we exercise. That's a lot of air! There are three types of ways that we breath: nasal, chest and belly breathers. Nasal breathers breathe in through the nasal and do not use the diaphragm to breathe. Chest breathers breathe only into their chest using a slight portion of the diaphragm to breathe. And belly breathers breathe into their bellies and use the full diaphragm to breathe. The diaphragm is important in getting oxygen into your body to feed the whole body with this vital life-sustaining ingredient. Take a few breaths and figure out which one you are? The best type of breather is the belly breather as it allows you to have a balanced breathing rhythm at a slow, smooth pace and helps keep you calm and peaceful. Breathing can help you calm down after an emotional, stressful or traumatic event. Notice how your breathing changes during these times, especially in anger...the breathe gets very rapid. When you change your breathing rhythms and habits your state of mind and emotions can change and become stabilized. This allows a more relaxed and at-ease body and mind. An easy simple exercise you can do to help de-stress at any time of the day is to put your hand on your belly. Take a deep breathe in through your nose, making sure that the belly expands. Bring in all the oxygen you can and slowly exhale through the nose. This simple breathing technique can bring you into balance at any time.