Embracing Health and Well-being http://www.energyarts.com Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:14:57 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.energyarts.com/images/M_images/diane tai chi2.jpg http://www.energyarts.com Embracing Health and Well-being http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Warding-Off-the-Pandemic-Blues.html Pandemic woes do not just affect people with eroding personal economies, but those who are poor, uninsured and already chronically ill. As Jane Brody recently wrote in the New York Times, fear of a new flue pandemic is eroding into panic, with the media fueling that fear. Her article raises an interesting issue: why is this threat overwhelming us and diverting our attention so strongly from the other threats of chronic illness “that threaten millions of lives.” "The Slippery Slope from Fear to Panic" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19brod.html?_r=2) Tue, 26 May 2009 15:05:33 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Tension-Headaches-Go-Away-with-Tai-Chi.html If you've never had a headache, consider yourself lucky. I had a low-level headache for years and thought the only way to deal with it was to take a pill. Then I started learning tai chi and chi gung, not to control my headache, but to boost my ailing immune system and get healthier. Five months later, I woke up one morning and noticed I didn't have a headache. Unless I got very stressed out, the headaches had disappeared. Now there's a clinical study that shows that tai chi is very effective in decreasing headaches and has other benefits over conventional pharmaceutical treatments. Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:48:23 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Economy-Class-Syndrome-Beware-of-Blood-Clots.html I love the tag names given to everything from financial to disease crises. I came across the term 'economy class syndrome' while researching the connection between blood clots and sitting too long without exercise. The elderly and obese are at highest risk. Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:59:22 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/The-New-Food-Groups.html When I was growing up, we were told that good nutrition meant choosing among four food groups: dairy, meat, fruit and grains. Although most people agree that a good diet is primary for vibrant health, they may disagree about what 'good' might mean. Few however, will disagree that the food groups prominent in convenience stores are everything but good. I call them the new food groups. Sugars, including corn syrup Saturated and trans fats Caffeine Alcohol Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:31:13 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Sex-in-the-Age-of-Stress.html Dating, interest in sex, even desire may be up in these times of financial recession. After all it's a low-cost activity that can boost your mood. Unfortunately, performance might lag behind the interest. Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:21:05 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Dying-to-be-Young-or-Living-to-be-Healthy.html Women (and yes, some men) are increasingly willing to put their health at risk by undertaking risky cosmetic and surgical procedures to attain images of youth and beauty. Warnings about the adverse effects of wrinkle creams, botox, liposuction and other cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures have little effect on reducing their use. Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:13:39 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Stress-and-the-City.html Since Thoreau, environmentalists have sung about the balm of wilderness and of the special rhythms of bird songs, wind and rivers. Cities are stressful, they cried. A new study proves it. Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:34:07 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Why-Six-Pack-Ab-Exercises-Might-Not-Be-A-Great-Idea.html Even when I was in my early twenties, my mom told me to suck it in, wear a girdle, do the leg lifts. The benefit: better looks. That's the only one my mother cited; and the only one I could find in all the articles and videos on ab exercises. Flat tummies make people look more buff. Men and women want to look buff. Buff is younger looking. Buff is sexy. Buff is what tv ads and magazine articles are all about. Unfortunately, there's a big potential downside. And no one is talking about it. Why would they? It's not popular to defend a belly bulge, even a small one. Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:21:02 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Let-s-Make-Tai-Chi-and-Chi-Gung-National-Health-Exercises.html For millennia, hundreds of thousands of people have used tai chi and chi gung (qigong) to improve their health and reduce stress. "It's proven technology," says Lineage Master Bruce Frantzis. "Having tai chi and chi gung become national health exercises would take a tremendous burden off the health care system." China solved its health crisis in just this way after the MAO Revolution. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:48:48 +0100 http://www.energyarts.com/Blogs/Health/Economic-Crisis-Ups-the-Stress.html "Most of us do not have the ability to change the outside world,but we can change our internal world. And if we do that,we have a chance to positively influence the external world."--Lineage Master Bruce Frantzis The economic crisis being faced in many countries isn’t just about money. It’s about accelerating levels of stress and illness. Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:36:26 +0100