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walking mindful

Can Mindfulness Improve your Balance?

Short answer: Absolutely.

Focused attention has the power to improve your health, mood and cognition. When it comes to moving steadier, research shows that practicing mindfulness while walking can improve balance in older adults. This is a simple practice that anyone can do to move more freely and live more fully with more confidence.

What is Mindfulness?

Being mindful means to simply focus on the present moment. Its roots stem from ancient eastern and Buddhist philosophy. It includes being aware of your thoughts, feelings, sensations and the surrounding environment through a gentle, nurturing lens. This way you can tune into what you are sensing in the present moment rather than living in and rehashing the past or projecting into the future. 

Mindfulness Elevates Health

Do a PubMed search on “mindfulness and health” and 14,955 studies pop up in the National Library of Medicine! These research studies show there are numerous well-being benefits that can help people of any age with any health condition including:

  • Reducing stress and pain
  • Improving physical health and chronic conditions like arthritis, diabetes and cancer
  • Promoting cognitive function, attention and memory
  • Elevating emotional well-being and mood
  • Healthier aging and resilience
  • Improving balance!

One foundational way that mindfulness and meditation improve health is by calming your nervous system. Moving out of the sympathetic stress response and into the parasympathetic relaxation response is where health happens. It’s where the body can rest, digest, heal and repair itself. 

Constantly living in “stress mode” where you always feel overwhelmed, fearful or tense puts your body into a chronic state of inflammation that damages cells, tissues and organs. This damage accumulates and can lead to impaired bodily systems from your nervous system, respiratory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and immune system. This can result in inflammaging where the body is under constant stress and strain and breaks down more than it can repair itself. It is a major reason for the age-related decline in physical and cognitive function that makes it more difficult to move and think smoothly and easily. 

Mindfulness for Better Balance

It’s well-accepted that practicing Tai Chi improves ankle proprioception and balance. Now studies are showing that walking meditation can do the same for elderly women and older adults with history of falling (1, 2). Walking meditation has even been shown to improve ankle proprioception and balance performance in people with chronic ankle instability! (3)

Walking meditation is a mindfulness practice where you walk slowly while focusing your attention on your leg and foot movements (2). Researchers saw improved ankle proprioception and balance improvements with older adults being able to stand on one leg for a longer time as well as increased neuromuscular control. When focusing your attention on your movement, researchers think that this improves the brain processes related to body awareness and balance adjustments (1). 

Stronger neural and muscular connections mean you can be faster to sense and respond to your everyday environment, as well as recover from the loss of balance to effectively prevent a life changing injury or fall.  

Practice Mindful Movement

For the happiest, healthiest and safest holiday season, before engaging in activity, focus on “BEAM” to relieve stress, boost mood, build a sharper brain, taller posture and better balance. BEAM is an acronym that stands for Breathe, Elongate, Align and Move Mindfully. 

You can imagine being as long, strong and sturdy as a “beam.” Another meaning of “beam” is to be happy, smiling and radiating a line of bright light or energy. Visualizations can enhance physical and emotional well-being and help bring your attention into the present moment.

BEAM for Better Brain, Body and Balance

Breathe: take 3-4 deep breaths into the front, back and sides of your belly, up into your ribs and then chest; exhale in the opposite direction from your chest, ribs and then squeeze your belly button towards your spine. 

Elongate: lengthen your spine on each inhalation lifting from the crown of your head

Align your body: feel light with body parts lined up; ears over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees and ankles. Practice standing with feet hip distance apart, toes pointing forward and knees softly bending over your second and third toes; pelvis is in neutral, your sternum lifts up and out with ribs aligned over pelvis, shoulders are back and down away from the ears, line up ears over shoulders that are over hips, knees and ankles. 

Move Mindfully: think about where you are and what you are about to do; whether you are cooking, cleaning, going up or down stairs or walking inside or outside focus on your leg and foot movements

Practice BEAMing throughout your day so you can move mindfully and enjoy feeling sharper, steadier, lighter and more confident with each step you take throughout the holiday season.  

Fit Pros: Guide Older Clients as a Geriatric Fitness and Lifestyle Specialist

Millions of people over age 65 looking for guidance from fitness professionals who are knowledgeable in exercise, nutrition and lifestyle principles that can help them improve functional mobility, while also preventing and managing chronic conditions to live their highest quality of life. The Geriatric Fitness and Lifestyle Specialist online certificate course will give you insights, strategies and tools to be a successful professional in this rapidly growing market. Learn how to be a valued part of clients’ continuum of care, working with the medical team to improve functional outcomes and positively impact people’s lives.


Cate Reade, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist on a mission to improve functional mobility and health span utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine. She has been teaching, writing and prescribing healthy eating and exercise programs for over 25 years. Today, as CEO of Resistance Dynamics and inventor of the MoveMor™ Mobility Trainer, she develops exercise products and programs that target joint flexibility, strength and balance deficits to help older adults fall less and live more.

References

  1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31563384/. Walking meditation promotes ankle proprioception and balance performance among elderly women.” Jour Bodywork & Movement Therapies 2019
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34931904/. “Walking meditation versus balance training for improving balance abilities among older adults with history of fall: A randomized controlled trial.” Clin Rehabil. 2022 
  3. https://europepmc.org/article/med/35093512. Comparative effect of walking meditation and rubber-band exercise on ankle proprioception and balance performance among persons with chronic ankle instability: A randomized controlled trial. Europe PMC 2022
Senior-Woman-Balance-Yoga

Why We Lose Balance and How We Fix It 

It’s no secret that balance tends to decline with age. Your clients may notice they are swaying a bit more while standing and walking, or feeling weaker or less steady. We all want it, but what is balance? We need to understand what it is in order to restore what was lost, safely, effectively and efficiently. 

Balance is the ability to maintain the body’s center of mass over its base of support. Your center of mass is a few inches below your belly button or can be thought of as your trunk. Your feet are your base of support (unless you are performing a handstand!) 

Balance is the ability to stay upright when standing (static balance) or when moving and performing activities like walking or climbing stairs (dynamic balance). The most common question I hear from older adult clients is, “Why am I losing balance?”  Let’s find out why. 

What is Balance?

Balance is a sense that lives in the brain. Balance relies on information constantly flowing into the brain from three main sensory systems including our visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems. Moving properly depends on the ability of the brain to gather and interpret the sensory information provided by eyes, ears and joints.  This is essential because the brain then tells the body how to respond to stay upright and balanced.

The quality of the sensory input gathered directly impacts the quality of movement. The stronger the sensory signals sent to the brain, the more accurate the instructions sent to the body will be. On the flip side, as sensory signals become impaired, movement quality dwindles, as reaction time becomes slower. 

Making Sense of Balance: The 3 Systems

Let’s explore the sensory systems that make up balance.

Visual System: Your eyes tell your brain about where your body is relative to the environment, whether you are walking inside your home, in a busy airport, or strolling on the beach. With aging eyes, a great many people don eyeglasses to function day to day, and as our eyesight weakens, so too does the quality of the sensory input.

Vestibular System: The ears relay information to the brain about the motion and position of the head to adjust posture to maintain balance. Semicircular canals in the inner ears  contain fluid and tiny hair cells. As the head nods up and down, moves left to right, or tilts to the side, the fluid in the inner ear moves and the tiny hair cells sense the speed and direction the head is moving in. 

By age 70, it’s typical to have lost 40% of those sensory-detecting hair cells (Zalewski 2015).  

Proprioceptive System: Proprioception, literally meaning “sense of self”, is your sense of body awareness and is a prerequisite for balance. It’s how you understand the parts that make up your body, where they are located, how they feel and even what they can do. It’s the way your body communicates with itself so you can walk without looking at your feet. 

Proprioceptors are sensory nerves that live in and around joints, in ligaments, joint capsules, tendons, muscles and connective tissues. They sense and send signals to the brain about joint position and motion, as well as the muscle force involved in movement.  

As we age, our sense of body awareness is impaired leading to poor joint function, body alignment, control and coordination. The result: poor balance and higher risk of falling. 

Losing and Restoring Balance

As our eyes, ears and joints lose their sensory capabilities, this is why balance is gradually lost. 

To regain what was lost, we apply the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) to improve function with targeted training. Up to 70% of the sensory input for balance comes from your joints (Peterka 2002), so improving joint function can be a highly efficient way to improve proprioception at any age so clients can enjoy better balance and more confidence to prevent falls. 

Most Efficient Balance Training

I start each balance training session using the MoveMor® Mobility Trainer to warm up clients’ lower body, restore ankle mobility and foot stability while increasing proprioception. Clients are thrilled to experience improved functional abilities so they can save themselves in time to prevent falls.  

With 12-points of resistance, MoveMor® makes it simple to restore joint flexibility and strength in less time than any other tool, all from a safely seated position! This wakes up proprioceptive sensory nerves essential for balance while stimulating motor nerves for quicker reflexes. 

You can get started with training clients on their journey to feeling steadier, stronger and more confident by visiting MoveMor.com/exercise-programs. There are 7 exercise programs to choose from that vary in length from 5-30 minutes. Our Take 10 to MoveMor exercise program is proven to improve balance, ankle flexibility, strength and more in just 10 minutes! An exercise guide makes it simple to identify weaknesses and tailor exercises. 

MoveMor® seamlessly integrates into your balance and fall prevention training to accelerate functional outcomes and satisfaction so your clients can enjoy better balance and an extra spring in their step today!


Cate Reade, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Functional Medicine Practitioner candidate on a mission to improve functional mobility and health span utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine. She has been teaching, writing and prescribing healthy eating and exercise programs for over 25 years. Today, as CEO of Resistance Dynamics and inventor of the MoveMor™ Mobility Trainer, she develops exercise products and programs that target joint flexibility, strength and balance deficits to help older adults fall less and live more.

grateful

Gratitude: The Gift of Being Present

The holiday season can be a wonderful time for gathering and celebrating with family and friends, but it can also be a source of much added stress.  You may be fretting about any number of circumstances like: how to manage your weight or chronic condition like diabetes during all the “feastivities”;  choosing the perfect gifts and worried if you can afford them; missing a loved one who can’t be with you or who has passed away; or perhaps you feel unwell or someone close has been diagnosed with a disease.

Whatever personal challenges you are experiencing, research shows that grateful people are happier and healthier; can make better decisions; and are more joyful(1).  It’s a skill anyone can learn and benefit from and best of all, it’s free!  

How it Works

An attitude of gratitude bolsters the feel-good neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) dopamine and serotonin.  Feeling thankful and appreciative also boosts the love hormone oxytocin so we feel more connected while it decreases the stress hormone cortisol(2).   

Our day-to-day lives are so busy that we often rush from one task to the next one without being mindful.  Living in the fast lane thrusts us into a chronic state of stress, consistently raising cortisol levels that end up damaging our body cells, organs and systems.  This is a major reason why stress is the silent killer that we all talk about but don’t take seriously enough.  

Slowing down, taking a few deep breaths and being grateful moves us out of the sympathetic state or fight or flight mode and into the parasympathetic state of rest, digest, heal and repair.  This is where our body and mind can relax and rejuvenate so we can sleep better and experience more energy and vitality.  And who doesn’t want more healthy energy?!

Count Your Blessings

When we focus on what we have instead of what we don’t have, it puts us in a positive frame of mind.  We become more content, satisfied and fulfilled.  The ability to notice, appreciate and savor life’s moving parts grows gratitude for better physical and psychological well-being(1,3).

Grateful people count their blessings and look at their lives and experiences as gifts(1,3). We can shift our perspective and explore: “What is this difficult situation trying to teach me?”  “What am I grateful for in this moment?”  

When my family and I were recovering from chronic Lyme, we were all thankful for each other, the support of family and friends and for having the resources to pay for exorbitant out-of-pocket medical expenses.  Gratitude played a starring role in our healing.

Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness is an effective way to plug into the feeling of gratitude.  Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “paying attention on purpose in the present moment, non-judgmentally…as if your life depended on it”(4).  

When you think about it, all we really have is the present moment.  Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and waste precious energy worrying about the future or commiserating over the past.  Focusing on the present moment helps us connect to each other, our thoughts and our own lives so we can become the best version of ourselves.  Each day we have the opportunity to do and be better. 

Cultivate Gratitude

When we are mindful we can be amazed by the power of breath, the body’s ability to heal itself from an infection or injury, the beauty of the blue sky, a pink sunrise or sunset, the miracle of a baby being born, the unconditional love of a pet, the plants and trees that clean the air and provide oxygen, the water that runs out of a faucet or down a cool Rocky Mountain stream… the possibilities are limitless.

Better Health 

Scientific studies show that being thankful and appreciative is associated with less physical illness, fewer aches and pains; lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression(3, 5); and fostering new and lasting relationships(6).   

Being grateful also expands our scope of cognition so we can be more flexible and creative with our thinking and make better decisions.  This makes it easier to cope with stress and adversity(1).

Unwrapping the Gift

When we are grateful and thankful, we tend to be kinder and more generous.  Gratitude makes us feel good, so we want to do it again and again.  The best part is that it’s easy to get started and can feel the benefits quickly. Research shows that you can start feeling better in as little as 2 weeks by writing in a Gratitude Journal(1)

Here’s How

Grab a notebook, pad or smart phone and each evening before bed, write 3 things you are grateful for.  Write novel blessings, trying not to repeat the same ones, because the possibilities are endless.  Practice this for 2 weeks and see what happens.  

The best time to get started is now, in the present moment. Today, tell someone how grateful you are for them.  You will be sharing a great gift.


Cate Reade, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Functional Medicine Practitioner candidate on a mission to improve functional mobility and health span utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine. She has been teaching, writing and prescribing healthy eating and exercise programs for over 25 years. Today, as CEO of Resistance Dynamics and inventor of the MoveMor™ Mobility Trainer, she develops exercise products and programs that target joint flexibility, strength and balance deficits to help older adults fall less and live more.

References

  1. Emmons, R & McCullough, M (2003). Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology.  www.greatergood.berkeley.edu.
  2. Gottfried, S (2016). www.saragottfriedmd.com/thanksgiving-what-gratitude-does-to-your-brain/
  3. Hill, PL et al (2013).  Examining the Pathways between Gratitude and Self-Rated Physical Health across Adulthood.  Pers Individ Dif. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23139438
  4. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. www.psychalive.org | videos
  5. Cheng, S et al. (2015) Improving mental health in health care practitioners: Randomized controlled trial of a gratitude intervention.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25222798
  6. Williams, L & Bartlett M (2015). Warm thanks: gratitude expression facilitates social affiliation in new relationships via perceived warmth. Emotion.  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25111881
inflammaging word cloud

Inflammaging: The Link Between Sarcopenia and Cognitive Decline

Awareness is the first step to making changes to live healthier, stronger, and longer. Older adults love to learn, and sharing life-saving information empowers them.

If you ask an older adult client, “What is inflammaging?”, they usually won’t know; yet inflammaging is a key concept to understand because it contributes to the decline of the body and brain, threatening functional independence, and increasing the risk of a devastating fall.

STRESS pencil

Helping Older Adults Flex their Stress Resilience Muscles 

We can all agree that stress levels have skyrocketed to an all-time high following the “year of fear.” Older adults with chronic conditions have been the hardest hit since they are most vulnerable to Sars-CoV-2 and severe outcomes. Millions have been struggling with the fear of infection and mortality; inactivity and muscle weakness as well as social distancing and isolation. Helping older adults build stress resilience strategies into daily life is critical to bolster and protect physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Living under chronic stress leads to bad decisions. That’s because the part of the brain called the amygdala is activated when under threat. It is our survival brain with the “fight or flight” response being its signature. This means that blood is flowing to the “reactive” brain and away from the “thinking and planning” part of our brain, the pre-frontal cortex.   

This can contribute to poor eating, activity and lifestyle choices. Convenience and processed foods can easily take center stage along with sedentary behaviors and heavier use of drugs and alcohol. This can lead to malnutrition, decreased blood flow and the increased risk and severity of chronic conditions as well as impairing immune function. It is a recipe for dis-ease and higher health risks, particularly in pandemic times.

Chronic stress puts the body into a catabolic state of “breaking down” while also turning down the volume on the body’s anabolic pathways of “building up” (1). The body was designed to live in the parasympathetic state, also known as “rest, digest, heal and repair” mode.  Constantly living in the stress response leads to high levels of cortisol, oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines (immune messengers). This chemical marinade literally shrinks muscle and brain cells (2).  

Chronic Stress Stinks & Shrinks

What happens when muscle and brain cells atrophy? Sarcopenia and cognitive decline arrive on the scene. This in turn leads to the downward spiral of physical and mental pathology that can include disability, dependency, dementia, an increased risk of falls, fractures and hospitalizations.   

Resilience is a Process

The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress,” or “bouncing back” from difficult experiences (3). It is an adaptive process that can be developed. Being “hardy” or resilient is linked with positive outcomes, including improved functional mobility, health and longevity.  

Medical fitness specialists can help older adults build stress resilience by empowering them with education and encouragement. This can be a powerful intervention as it combines education with behavior modification. It includes asking questions while providing clear messaging that reduce fears and clarify health benefits followed by simple actionable steps. The pro-active older adult can choose to practice the strategies that resonate with them.  Being accountable to and encouraged by a trainer knowledgeable about geriatrics can support the process of building resilience to weather “stress storms.” 

Building Stress Resilience

Like health, resilience is multi-dimensional and includes physical, mental and social components. As fitness professionals, we understand that exercise activity is the most powerful intervention to relieve stress because movement positively impacts the health of every cell in the body and brain. After all, who doesn’t feel better after an appropriate workout or walk in the sunshine?!

5 Simple Strategies

Being mindful of breathing, eating and moving are great ways to build stress resilience.  Living in the present moment helps develop awareness, connection and calm. Avoid overwhelm by choosing to practice one small step at a time.

1. Breathe Deeply. Breath connects body and mind. Stress breathing is shallow breathing. By focusing on the depth and pace of breath, the parasympathetic nervous system is engaged. Encourage older adults to become aware of tension and overwhelm; to take “Breathing Breaks” while focusing on breathing in and out through the nose. It can be as simple as starting with 3 deep breaths and working up to 30.  

2. Eat Slowly. In order to digest food and absorb nutrients properly, eat seated in a relaxed, calm environment.  Encourage older adults to slow down and focus on chewing food 20-30 times. This supports the mechanical breakdown of food for better digestion. While eating, focus on the food’s aroma, flavor, texture, mouth feel and swallowing. 

3. Tea Time. Take a few minutes to savor a warm cup of herbal tea like lemon balm, lavender or chamomile.  Enjoy the aroma and feeling of warmth in hand and the body. This practice is a wonderful way to wind down at the end of the day or as needed.

4. Gratitude Attitude. Before rising and/or going to bed, think about, say out loud or write down 3 things you are grateful for. Practicing gratitude is linked with boosting happiness, optimism and a sense of greater well-being (3).

5. Move more. Inactivity and sedentary time slows down blood flow, metabolism and immune function. Encourage older adults to break up sedentary time with 5 minutes of movement every hour. Light intensity activity like house cleaning has been shown to reduce the risk of mobility disability by 40%! Simply moving more throughout the day is powerful medicine, especially when paired with a tailored exercise program. 

Today, building stress resilience is absolutely critical for older adult’s functional and cognitive health.  They will be so grateful for your guidance!

Fit Pros: Guide Older Clients as a Geriatric Fitness and Lifestyle Specialist

Millions of people over age 65 looking for guidance from fitness professionals who are knowledgeable in exercise, nutrition and lifestyle principles that can help them improve functional mobility, while also preventing and managing chronic conditions to live their highest quality of life. The Geriatric Fitness and Lifestyle Specialist online certificate course will give you insights, strategies and tools to be a successful professional in this rapidly growing market. Learn how to be a valued part of clients’ continuum of care, working with the medical team to improve functional outcomes and positively impact people’s lives.


Cate Reade, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Functional Medicine Practitioner candidate on a mission to improve functional mobility and health span utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine. She has been teaching, writing and prescribing healthy eating and exercise programs for over 25 years. Today, as CEO of Resistance Dynamics and inventor of the MoveMor™ Mobility Trainer, she develops exercise products and programs that target joint flexibility, strength and balance deficits to help older adults fall less and live more.


References 

  1. Kirwan R et al (2020). Sarcopenia during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions: long-term health effects of short-term muscle loss. Geroscience. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7528158/
  2. Mohammed A & Kunugi H (2021). Screening for Sarcopenia (Physical Frailty) in the COVID-19 Era. Int J Endocrinol. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8152925/
  3. MacLeod, S et al (2016). The impact of resilience among older adults. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197457216000689
woman-walking-dirt-road

Restoring Health: A Lifestyle Rx

America is in bad shape. According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), 60% of adults are living with one chronic disease and 40% have two or more.(1)  Astoundingly, 12% of adults are living with 5 or more chronic conditions(2) including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, coronary obstructive pulmonary disease and hypertension. A concept people need to understand is that these diseases can be prevented, managed and even reversed with lifestyle choices.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown a bright light on how our level of health can literally be a matter of life or death. A study of thousands of patients hospitalized with the novel coronavirus in the New York City area found that 94% had one chronic disease and 88% had two or more. The most common conditions included hypertension, obesity and diabetes.(3) In May of this year, the CDC reported that people with an underlying chronic illness had six times the risk of being hospitalized and twelve times the risk for dying.(4)

Boost Health & Immunity

Now is the right time to take small steps to improve health and build immune resilience with daily lifestyle choices. While there isn’t one diet, exercise regimen, or stress-relieving technique that is good for everyone, there are principles to follow that can boost health and vitality at any age.

There is a huge misconception that our genes determine our health destiny. This simply isn’t true. The study of epigenetics shows that we have the ability to change the expression of our genes by the way we think, feel, move and eat.(5) Each of our daily decisions and choices can increase or decrease inflammation in the body, moving us towards disease or back to health.

Acute & Chronic Inflammation

Our immune system uses the ancient, biological pathway of inflammation to protect us against injury and infections.(6) When you cut your finger, immune cells are sent to kill invading bacteria and begin the process of wound healing. This is acute inflammation that goes away in days or weeks when the body is healed.

One the other hand, chronic inflammation lasts a long time, from months to years.(2) It’s basically an abnormal immune response that causes damage to cells, tissues and organs. Oxidative stress plays a big role; it occurs when more free radicals are produced within cells than the body can neutralize.(2)  As you can imagine, when more damage occurs than can be repaired, health problems crop up.

It is now widely accepted that chronic inflammation is at the root of most, if not all, chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cancer, arthritis and joint disease.(2)

Lifestyle Matters

The good news is that deliberate and healthier lifestyle choices can prevent, manage and even reverse chronic inflammatory disease, the most important cause of morbidity and mortality facing people today.(7) It’s empowering to know that if you have, or want to prevent a chronic disease, you can regain your health and vitality by choosing real whole foods, optimizing sleep, reducing stress, being social, and moving more.

You may be thinking, “How the heck can simple lifestyle decisions address the complexities of chronic conditions?”  The body has an innate ability and intelligence to heal itself. You experience it each time you cut your hand; you wash the wound, put a bandage on and don’t have to think about it.

The research also supports it and I have lived it; by utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine I was able to restore my health from the ravages of chronic Lyme disease. You just need to provide the right environment for healing. This is not an easy task, but it can be done with time, effort and a plan.

Taking Action

Changing your lifestyle habits can feel overwhelming. To help you embrace this challenge, think about this analogy, “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!”   Any healing journey begins with awareness, learning and exploration; then gradually taking action, one small step at a time.

Start today by exploring lifestyle behaviors that decrease inflammation and can put your health back on track so you can live with less pain, more energy, and greater vitality. A lifestyle prescription to restore health includes:

  • Reducing stress with deep breathing.
  • Getting good quality sleep by going to bed and rising at the same time.
  • Eating a plant-based diet rich in a rainbow of vegetables.
  • Hydrating with filtered water in the morning and during the day.
  • Nurturing relationships and engaging with positive people.
  • Moving well with good posture when performing daily activities and exercise.

Be proactive, make one hour a week to learn more by reading books, researching on PubMed.gov, listening to podcasts, attending lectures and webinars so you can find the strategies and practices that work best for you. As you begin to feel better, you will naturally be motivated to continue learning and making better lifestyle choices because healthy feels so good!

Find a Fitness or Allied Health Pro Near You

Search the free MedFit Network directory to locate a professional near you! MedFit Network maintains a free directory of fitness and allied healthcare professionals who can work with individuals with chronic disease, medical conditions or the senior population.


Cate Reade, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Functional Medicine Practitioner candidate on a mission to improve functional mobility and health span utilizing the power of lifestyle medicine. She has been teaching, writing and prescribing healthy eating and exercise programs for over 25 years. Today, as CEO of Resistance Dynamics and inventor of the MoveMor™ Mobility Trainer, she develops exercise products and programs that target joint flexibility, strength and balance deficits to help older adults fall less and live more.

 

References

  1. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/index.htm
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493173/
  3. https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/nearly-all-nyc-area-covid-19-hospitalizations-had-comorbidities-67476
  4. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/Novel_Coronavirus_Reports.html June 19, 2020
  5. https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/epigenetic-influences-and-disease-895/
  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6345337/
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23974765/