Come out and join us for our next Diabetes Support Group meeting on Thursday May 3rd. We’ll be meeting in the lobby at the River Hospital in Alexandria Bay at 6PM.

If you have a favorite recipe, bring it with you to share! We’re still looking for recipes to add to our recipe book collection. And we’ll be discussing healthy foot care, too.

For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, contact us or check out the Events & Announcements page.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

This week we’re going to investigate a couple of mind-centered techniques for increasing relaxation and decreasing stress: meditation and guided imagery. While these practices might seem strange or unfamiliar to you, they can be very effective in reducing stress and improving your overall wellbeing. Mind-centered relaxation is all about using the power of our minds to relax our bodies. Some studies have shown that meditation and guided imagery can be used to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, improve depression, speed healing and reduce pain.

Meditation

Meditation is often associated with Eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. But meditation isn’t used solely as a religious tool and doesn’t have to occur only in the traditional sense. Meditation is simply the practice of focusing your attention and/or becoming more mindful of your presence in the world. Concentration meditation involves meditation on a single thing, like your breath, a phrase or word, a sound, or an image. Mindfulness meditation, on the other hand, is a practice of awareness where you recognize whatever enters your mind and allow it to pass through without giving it your attention.

Meditation doesn’t have to take place in a specific area, at a specific time, or in a specific position. Find a space and position that is comfortable for you. Choose a quiet place, or play some soft music. Pick a mantra, image or item to focus on, or center yourself on your breath. Start slow, with only a few minutes of meditation at a time, and gradually increase the amount of time you spend in meditation. Make it a habit. Don’t give up if you find you have difficulty staying focused or sitting still. Learning to meditate takes time. Remember, it’s called a practice for a reason. But remember that relaxation shouldn’t bring you more stress. If you’re finding that meditation isn’t for you, try something else. Some people find meditation frustrating. Give it a fair shot, and try to push through some of the discomfort of being quiet and motionless, but if it doesn’t bring you peace and calm, consider finding another relaxation outlet.

Guided Imagery

Guided imagery is similar to meditation, but it centers on visualization. When you practice guided imagery you generally follow a script or imagine a particular scene, situation and/or outcome. Guided imagery is often used to reduce pain and relieve stress. Again, this practice takes time to master. Start by using a script and gradually move on to creating your own scenarios or images. Find an image that makes you feel calm, or imagine a situation in which you always feel relaxed. Then gradually place yourself in that image or situation.

For example, if you find that you always feel more relaxed on the beach, you might imagine a pristine beach. The sun sparkles on the water. Shells glisten on the shore. There are ships sailing peacefully along the horizon. Once your image of the beach is clear, you might imagine yourself slowly walking up and over a sand dune to see the beautiful, deserted white-sand beach. The waves crash rhythmically on the shore as you take steps toward the water, your feet sinking into the warm sand. The sun feels warm and inviting and a light breeze brushes your skin…You get the idea.

Practice, Practice, Practice

It may seem strange that you would have to practice something that’s supposed to relax you, but in a world as busy as ours is, it takes practice to teach yourself how to be still and focus on a single object or image. Over the next few weeks, try to carve out a few minutes each day to practice one or both of these techniques. Practice meditating or visualizing at different times of the day. Experiment with different mantras or concentration points when you meditate. Or try a variety of scenarios during your visualization sessions. Take note of how you feel after your session, and throughout the day. With time, you should discover a practice that works well for you and helps you to better cope with the stressful situations that life sends your way.

For more information on meditation and some sample meditation exercises, visit these web pages:

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/Meditation-21804

http://www.wikihow.com/Meditate

For more information on guided imagery and some sample imagery exercises, visit these web pages:

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/Guided-imagery

http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/Imagery-exercises-for-relaxing-and-renewing-your-energies

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

We talked last week about how stress can negatively affect your health. Taking an active role in reducing stress can therefore improve your health and wellbeing. So, over the next few weeks we’re going to discuss some useful strategies for dealing with, and ultimately reducing, stress in your lives.

Your body and mind provide you with a variety of signals to help you recognize this natural response to situations that are unexpected or difficult to handle. When you experience a stressful situation, whether it’s a short-term stressor like missing your train or a long-term stressor like being laid off from your job, you may notice consistent physical and emotional responses. You might feel a temporary increase in your heart rate. You might begin to sweat more, or become shaky or irritable. Or you might get a headache and feel exhausted.

Stress is very subjective. Different people react to different kinds of stress in different ways. In order to address stressful situations more successfully, you will need to learn what types of situations stress you out, how you react to those situations and what your personal stress signals are. The sooner you can recognize that you’re having a stress reaction, the sooner you can begin to counteract it with the stress relief and relaxation techniques we’re going to discuss.

For a few days, pay close attention to how your body and mind react to stressful situations. Do you feel tightness in your chest and start sweating when you realize your deadline is fast approaching and you don’t have your project finished for work? Or do you feel sleepy and lethargic when you and your significant other aren’t getting along? When you recognize that you’re feeling stressed or encountering a stressful situation, take a moment to write down what is happening and how you’re feeling both physically and emotionally. Not only will this help you to better recognize stress in the short-term, but it’s also one of several stress-relief techniques that might work well for you over the long-term.

Once you know what situations bring about stress for you, you can begin to put a stop to the stress. As soon as you feel stress coming on, implement one of the general stress relief strategies below:

Write it down. When you recognize that you’re feeling stressed, or find yourself in a stressful situation, write about it. How are you feeling? What is happening to make you feel that way? Write it all out and explore those feelings.

Get a hobby. When you encounter a stressful situation or have a stressful day at work, chose an activity that you enjoy and do it—whether for 5 minutes or an entire day. Write a letter to a friend, knit a sweater, work in the garden, or do whatever it is that brings you happiness. Whatever you decide to do, though, make sure it doesn’t stress you out even more. If you like to paint, but get frustrated if you can’t get the strokes just right, then painting isn’t the relaxing activity you should choose. Find something else that you can take pleasure in.

Talk it out. Find someone that you trust and enjoy spending time with. Invite her over for coffee and talk to her about the situations in your life that are causing you stress. Or just talk about life in general. Be open and honest about your feelings. If you want advice, ask for it. And if you just want someone to listen, don’t be afraid to ask for that instead. Sometimes just talking about the things that are going on in our lives can help us to bring them into perspective and cope with them more effectively. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to someone you know, then seek out a professional that will listen and help you evaluate your situation objectively.

Get moving. Do some physical activity. Take a walk or jog, play Frisbee in the park, dance to your favorite songs, or run around with the kids. Studies have clearly shown that regular exercise can reduce stress levels and improve your mood.

Give one, two or all of these strategies a try this week and see how they work for you. Next week we’ll talk about reducing your overall stress and increasing relaxation using mind-centered techniques such as meditation and guided imagery.

Have any favorite relaxation techniques or stress-relief strategies? Share your ideas by leaving a comment.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

McNEIL-PPC, Inc. has issued a voluntary recall of Listerine® Agent Cool Blue™ rinse in Glacier Mint™ and Bubble Blast™ flavors after determining that the preservatives in the product may not protect against the growth of certain microorganisms. If you have purchased either of these products from any lot, discontinue use and discard the rinse immediately.

You can request a refund by calling 1-888-222-0249. You will also need to mail in the back label with the product UPC. For more information, visit the Agent Cool Blue™ website.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

We’ve all heard it. Stress can be bad for your health. Studies suggest that exposure to high levels of stress over time may cause, accelerate or intensify ailments such as headaches, common colds, ulcers and stomach aches, just to name a few. But did you know that stress can be even more difficult for your body to handle if you are diabetic?

Physical stressors, such as illnesses, and mental stressors, like problems in your relationships or at work, have a significant influence on how your body functions. When we encounter stressful situations, our bodies react in various ways. One important physical response to stress is a rise in blood sugar. Because of this common reaction, both physical and mental stress will influence diabetes management.

An increase in blood sugar in response to a stressor provides us with the energy to deal with the stressor. However, when you have diabetes, you may not have the tools necessary (i.e. insulin) to deal with this rise in blood sugar effectively. In addition, we all have behavioral and emotional ways that we deal with stress. When faced with a rough week at work or a fight with your spouse, you may change your routine in a way that disrupts your diabetes management. You might eat more (or less) or choose foods that aren’t as healthy. You might also change your exercise habits, exercising more or less frequently when you’re stressed. Sometimes stress might cause you to forget to monitor your blood sugar or take your medications. In all of these cases, stress has the power to negatively influence your ability to manage your diabetes effectively.

The most damaging stress for diabetics is long-term stress. Dealing with stressors that occur over an extended period of time, such as an injury, depression, a serious illness, or a high-pressure job, can cause long-term health consequences for those with diabetes.

The good news is that reducing stress can help people with diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, lower blood glucose levels and better manage the disease. By learning strategies to deal with and relieve stress, and ways to become aware of harmful behaviors, you can decrease the negative impact of stress on your body. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore some common stress-relief techniques. With a little practice and a lot of self-awareness, you’ll be able to recognize stress and fight it off before it sends your blood sugar soaring.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Last week we talked about the different definitions of diet. This week, let’s focus on how to change your dieting mindset. From now on, a diet is not something you “go on.” Your diet is what you eat and drink. It’s as simple as that.

Whether you’re following a rigid eating plan, or don’t think much at all about what you eat, you still have a diet. This diet is not about deprivation, or limiting options, or counting calories. It’s about making choices. Are you including healthy, beneficial foods in your daily diet, or are you foregoing fruits and vegetables for candy and soda? While it’s important not to consider any food as “bad,” remember that some foods are better for us than others. We don’t have to give up candy or soda if we don’t want to. Indulging in treats is an important part of living life. Food should be pleasing and eating should be enjoyable, but limiting our intake of treats is also important.

This week, take a moment to think about the food choices you are making. Write down everything you eat for a day or two. Include the times you ate, and note what you were thinking or feeling before and after you ate. Then analyze your eating behavior. Do you eat certain types of food when you’re in a particular mood? Do you overindulge in social situations? You might also want to check out the USDA guidelines for suggestions on the types of foods you should be including in your diet for improved health and wellbeing. Are you eating enough fruits and vegetables? Do you eat more meat than recommended? Are you getting your 2 to 3 servings of dairy each day?

Once you’re aware of your diet, then you can begin to adjust it. How can you change your eating habits to improve your overall diet? Don’t try to change everything over night, and don’t expect to be perfect in your choices. We make hundreds of food-related choices every day. We can’t expect to make the right ones every time. But making better choices more often can significantly improve our health and help us to lose excess weight. Why not choose two or three ways that you can improve your diet over the next few weeks and focus on those goals? Before you know it, you’ll be building a brand new diet that fits your own needs and objectives. What are you waiting for?

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Come out and join us for our next Diabetes Support Group meeting on Thursday April 5th. We’ll be meeting in the lobby at the River Hospital in Alexandria Bay at 6PM.

If you have a favorite recipe, bring it with you to share! We’re still looking for recipes to add to our recipe book collection.

For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, contact us or check out the Events & Announcements page.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."