Health

It's that time of year when that "back to school" feel is in the air. Lots of planning, new clothes, new school books and all sorts of school supplies (do they still make Peachies?). One thing I have noticed is that the backpacks seem to be larger and stuffed with more books than ever. It got me thinking about what effect that might have on the back health of school children. Fortunately my chiropractor (it takes a village to keep me together) supplied me with a great article that you may find helpful in guiding your children to proper backpack use and it may make you want to consider purchasing a roller type bag.

I just finished reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food". I've got to say that he has become one of my favorite non-fiction writers because of his amazing ability to take complex scientific subjects and make them accessible to mere mortals. Plus he seems to have a genuine desire to educate us how we can be more healthy and also have a positive impact on the environment. While I'd give a slight edge with regard to entertainment value to his previous book, Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food is a great read, packed with very valuable information.

Developing a meditation practice always seems to be a challenge for my clients. Everyone wants (or believes) they should meditate, but after a short period of time, most give up. It seems impossible to quiet "the monkey mind" - the mind that keeps moving from thought to thought like a monkey swinging from one tree branch to another. I have to confess, it's been a real challenge for me as well. While I aspire to be one of those enlightened monks who seem to be able quiet their mind (and breath) while at the same time handle repeated blows to the back with a bamboo stick, it just doesn't happen. However I have found that even taking five minutes in the morning to just follow my breath with no other agenda, can really make a difference in my attitude throughout the entire day.

Are Carbohydrates Good or Bad?

Are carbohydrates good or bad? Are they the culprit for thickening American waistlines? When you think of carbohydrates, does your mind conjure up heaping mounds of bread, pasta, potatoes and rice? These are the foods that will make you fat. Right? Well – yes and no. Avoiding carbohydrates is not healthy either.

5 Lessons from the Square Watermelon

You may have seen the press last week on the new square watermelon that is making it's debut in Japan. It's a fascinating story about ingenuity and in this case, how "thinking inside the box" can help you see things in a different way and enable you to explore some new solutions to life's problems. I found a great summary of the story on a web blog -

Anger!

We’ve all felt it at various times and from both sides of the equation – giver and receiver alike!

According to the American Psychological Association, “anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion”.

It’s when we don’t control our anger and when it quite possibly turns destructive, that we experience problems in all aspects of our life. The worst part, is often the increasing feeling of “being out of control” as our anger gets the best of us. But when it gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems—problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. And it can make you feel as though you're at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion.

In order to achieve your 2008 goals as well as the success of Maximum Balance across all of your five life Cornerstones – Health, Relationships, Career, Finance and Giving – it is critical that you have a routine that enables you to regularly think about and review your goals.

A quick reflection on the whole idea of "normal".

I'm working with a client whose organization provides housing services for thousands of homeless people in the City of San Francisco. As we met today for the first time to discuss some team development work for her director staff, I had a chance to walk with her through her "hood" as she called it. It struck me how we are surrounded by so many people that lead very different lives than us and who we don't often even take notice of most of the time. While the homeless people we saw were in many respects different than my client, she didn't see them as "not normal". They were just the people her organization helps on a daily basis.

Everday Retreats

To go on a retreat usually conjures up images of remote, sometimes exotic, locations for anywhere from a weekend to a month. When we can’t afford the time away, or the cost, we can still derive some of the benefit by finding ways in our everyday lives to retreat and renew. Here are just a few ideas:

Use It and Get More of It!

I just attended a conference on Brain Health Across the Lifespan. You’ve heard the old adage “use it or lose it”. Well when it comes to keeping your brain healthy, it’s really “use it and get more of it”. The field of neuroscience is shattering the age old myth that once you hit your late teens, you’ve got about as many brain cells as you will ever have. Remember when you were warned that “drinking” was going to kill all of those brain cells and you’d never get them back? While it’s true that excess alcohol consumption doesn’t do your brain cells any favors, but you actually can create new brain cells and even improve your memory and cognition with age.