A post about Nothing

Today I looked at my page of suggested blog post topics, and what I had was: NOTHING. Blank page, nothing there, not even a suggestion.

This made me think. Do we ever truly have nothing?  Is this even possible?

Definition of nothing:  

1. No thing; not anything
2. One of no consequence, significance, or interest:

Nothing is almost in every aspect a negative word. When you have nothing, you’re empty, when there is nothing left, you’re destitute.

And when you can think of nothing to say? That can get you in all sorts of trouble.

“You mean nothing to me.” Harsh words spoken.

And having nothing to show for a long-lived life? Well, that is not a positive thought is it?

So it seems to me that when the phrase nothing is used, a whole amount of stress is added as a result. And with stress comes pressure, and with pressure comes more stress and the cycle goes on. All from ‘nothing’.

And what about this line that most people are probably familiar with:

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing…”

So is that really possible? To think about nothing at all?

Well, meditation is really the art of thinking about nothing, (although this isn’t actually true, because you cannot stop the brain from producing thought) a way to somehow detach from your own attachments that every thought is important and means something for you to act on. Because they don’t. Thoughts are often random, and habitually formed from years of conditioning. W. Clinton said: ‘Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it’s the time when they most need to think.’

And are there times when nothing is actually not a bad thing?

Well, the Buddhists have a thing or two to say about nothing. They talk about the ‘great void’, something we understand to contain absolutely nothing. The difference is that they talk about it as a positive thing.

My advice to you is that if you’re feeling stress, you need to add some ‘nothing’ into your life.

Stop. Sit. Breathe. Let your thoughts just rush past for a while. Look at them from a distance. This is where good things come out of nothing. Sit for a minute, or two. Set a timer. Just sit, in your car (but not while driving if you’re closing your eyes), at work, at home, at a cafe.

So do you really have ‘nothing’? I am sure you can find something that has value to you in your life.

Got nothing to say? Gather your thoughts. Be honest about not finding the right words.

“You mean nothing to me?” It is their opinion, not yours. Find out exactly what they mean. Find meaning in yourself, not others.

Having nothing to show for your life? Take a long hard look at your life. Just because your expectations are set one way, it doesn’t actually mean that you have nothing to show. Again, be honest with yourself.

As the Buddhists say: If the universe’s existence was not empty, then all resulting phenomena could not have arisen to what it is today.*

So for today remember: Out of nothing, great things are created!

*http://www.buddhanet.net/cbp2_f6.htm

Stress and Magnesium

I was going to use some of Leo Galland (MD, FACN) information in my blog post about stress and magnesium. However, when I started reading through his article, it wasn’t much that I DIDN’T think was important. He covered most things I would want to say.

So I thought I would just re-blog his whole post.

You can read the original blog post here: Magnesium: The Stress reliever

I haven’t been able to track down any of the references of the material he has used, so bear that in mind when you read that and start asking questions.

However, I particularly like the part when he talks about our bodies Magnesium Economy.

Enjoy

(Ps: Just my five cents worth for MY tip of the day: Black chocolate contains 112 mg of magnesium per 100 g of chocolate, and the ones with milk contain 60 mg/100 g. Just saying…)

Magnesium: The Stress Reliever

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in your body, a necessary co-factor for hundreds of enzymes, and the most critical mineral of all for coping with stress. Stress-related diseases which run rampant through modern society, like heart attacks and high blood pressure, are often accompanied by magnesium deficiency. Unfortunately, most Americans consume diets that fail to meet the government’s RDA for magnesium, and magnesium intake is even lower than average among people who develop heart disease.

The best food sources of magnesium are vegetables like buckwheat (kasha), mature lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans, green beans, soy beans (including tofu), blackeyed peas, broccoli, spinach, Swiss chard, oats, whole barley, millet, bananas, blackberries, dates, dried figs, mangoes, watermelon, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazel nuts, shrimp, and tuna.

When you are chronically stressed, you can become magnesium deficient even if you eat these foods regularly. The complex relationship between magnesium and stress explains why many of the patients I see require magnesium supplements, because even a nutritious diet does not correct their magnesium deficiency.

If you are like most people, when you are exposed to the stress of continuous loud noise, for example, you become irritable, easily fatigued and lose concentration. Your blood pressure may increase as the level of adrenalin, a stress hormone, in-creases in your blood. Under conditions of mental or physical stress, magnesium is released from your blood cells and goes into the blood plasma, from where it is excreted into the urine. Chronic stress depletes your body of magnesium. The more stressed you are, the greater the loss of magnesium. The lower your magnesium level to begin with, the more reactive to stress you become and the higher your level of adrenalin in stressful situations. Higher adrenalin causes greater loss of magnesium from cells. Administering magnesium as a nutritional supplement breaks this vicious cycle by raising blood magnesium levels and buffering the response to stress, building your resistance.

Personality has a marked effect on the stress-magnesium cycle. A study done in Paris found that stress-induced depletion of magnesium was much greater for people who show the “Type A”, competitive, heart-disease prone behavior pattern than for their less competitive colleagues. Dr. Bella Altura, a physiologist at the State University of New York, has proposed that depletion of magnesium among Type A individuals is the main reason why Type A individuals are at increased risk of heart attacks.

It appears that the body’s magnesium economy is an integral part of the stress response system. When stressed for any reason, the body’s hormonal response causes an outpouring of magnesium from cells into plasma. This outpouring is a bit like taking magnesium by injection, except the source is internal. The effect of the sudden increase in magnesium is both energizing and calming. Magnesium is needed to burn sugar for energy; it also calms the excitation of cells produced by the stress-induced release of calcium. If there is insufficient dietary magnesium, or if there is insufficient rest in between episodes of stress, the body’s magnesium stores are slowly depleted. The hormonal response to stress disintegrates. The plasma magnesium does not elevate in response to stress as it should, so that the energizing/calming effect of magnesium is not present to counter the nerve-jangling effects of adrenalin and other stress hormones. Consequently, the disorganizing effects of stress are intensified and coping is impaired. Higher blood pressure, abnormalities of your heartbeat and an increased risk of heart attacks or of angina (cardiac pain) may be one reult.

Laboratory tests for magnesium are often misleading in evaluating your need for magnesium, because blood magnesium levels fluctuate, depending upon where you are in the cycle of stress responses and magnesium depletion. Your symptoms are a better guide. Muscle tension, spasm and twitching are the most characteristic symptoms of magnesium depletion, followed by palpitation and breathlessness. Irritability, fatigue, trouble falling asleep and hypersensitivity to loud noises are also common. The presence of migraine or tension headache, unexplained chest pain, strange sensations of the skin (like insects crawling) and abdominal pain or constipation are further indications of magnesium deficiency. If you are suffer from any of these symptoms, or if you are being treated for heart disease or high blood pressure, you may need a magnesium supplement.

The best dietary supplements are the acid salts of magnesium like magnesium chloride, citrate, gluconate or glycinate. The dose needed varies from one hundred milligrams to about five hundred milligrams per day of elemental magnesium. Too much magnesium can cause diarrhea. Magnesium taken by mouth is very safe, except in people who suffer from kidney disease or are severely dehydrated. These people may develop levels of magnesium in blood that are too high; they should only take magnesium supplements under strict medical supervision. Just as magnesium taken at bedtime can induce sleep, so high blood levels of magnesium may cause drowsiness and lethargy.

Much has been written about the need to balance the calcium/magnesium ratio when taking supplements. This notion is based upon the known interactions between magnesium and calcium in cells. Calcium freely dissolved in the fluid of each cell has a stimulating effect that leads to rapid contraction of muscle cells and excitation of nerve cells. These cellular effects of calcium result in muscle spasm, poor circulation, and rapid heart beat. Magnesium in the cells of your body is nature’s calcium blocker and many of its protective benefits result from blocking these undesirable effects of calcium, reducing high blood pressure and stopping palpitations. No dietary formula can balance calcium and magnesium in the cells, however. Only your body can do it. Your job is to give your body enough magnesium and enough calcium so it can get the job done right.

People who take magnesium supplements do not automatically require extra calcium. In France, where therapy with magnesium pills has been widespread for thirty years, calcium is rarely given in conjunction with magnesium. There is also no evidence that magnesium and calcium interfere with each others absorption. Calcium and magnesium are absorbed into the body by distinct and separate mechanisms. Similarly, people who benefit from calcium supplements do not always have to take extra magnesium, although many women who are taking calcium for the purpose of preventing osteoporosis may well need magnesium in addition. There is a growing body of evidence that magnesium in the diet is as important for prevention of osteoporosis as is calcium.

Leo Galland, M.D.has received international recognition as a leader in the field of Nutritional Medicine for the past 20 years.

How the Body reacts to Stress

I really wanted to share this ‘stress model’ from The Stress Free Network. It shows how some of the key body systems react, and how stress affects our bodies.

All of the points below are important to understand, but have a look at point number 2 under the Musculoskeletal system. This is how a lot of shoulder and neck tension starts. You might not even feel stressed, you’re just working hard to get through your workload. So you sit in the same position in front of the computer for hours on end, and muscle fibers contracts and gets shorter, and you start feeling tenser. Then you do this all week and without knowing it you start to activate Trigger Points in the most affected muscles, and the head aches start. It’s an never ending cycle. Imagine how just 15 minutes a week in a massage chair can help combat this by releasing tense muscles, increasing the blood flow to keep the muscles healthy!

You can check the Stress Free Network out at http://www.stressfree.com/index.html

1) NERVOUS SYSTEM – When stressed – physically or psychologically – the body suddenly shifts it’s energy resources to fight off the perceived threat. In what is know as the ‘Fight or Flight’ response, the sympathetic nervous system signals the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones make the heart beat faster, raise blood pressure, change the digestive process and boost glucose levels in the blood stream

2) MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM – Under stress, muscles tense up. The contraction of muscles for extended periods can trigger tension headaches, migraines and various musculoskeletal conditions.

3) RESPIRATORY SYSTEM –  Stress can make you breathe harder. The Rapid (shallow) breathing – or hyperventilation – can bring on panic attacks in some people. (Deep breaths, people, deep breaths through the diaphragm.)

4) CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM – Acute stress (stress that is momentary, like being stuck in traffic) causes an increased heart rate and stronger contractions of the heart muscle. Blood vessels that direct blood to the large muscles and to the heart dilate, increasing the amount of blood pumped to these parts of the body. Repeated episodes of acute stress can cause inflammation in the coronary arteries, thought to lead to heart attacks.

5) ENDOCRINE SYSTEM – Adrenal glands: When the body is stressed, the brain sends signals from the hypothalamus, causing the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol and the adrenal medulla to produce epinephrine – sometimes called the stress hormones. Liver: When Cortisol and Epinephrine are released, the liver produces more glucose, a blood sugar that would give you the energy for ‘flight or fight’ emergencies.

6) GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM – Esophagus: Stress may prompt you to eat more than usual and less for some people. You may resort to increased use of tobacco and alcohol, and may experience ‘heart burn’ or acid reflux. Stomach: Your stomach can react with ‘butterflies’, nausea and pain. You may vomit if the stress is sever enough. Bowels: Stress can affect digestion and which nutrients your intestines absorb. It can also affect how quickly the food moves through, which can lead to either diarrhea or constipation (Irritated bowel syndrome, anyone?)

7) REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM – In women, stress can cause absent or irregular menstrual cycles or severe period pain. It can also reduce sexual desire. In men, excess amounts of cortisol, produced under stress, can affect the normal functioning of the nervous system. Chronic stress can impair testosterone and sperm production and cause impotence.

So take a deep breath, smile and don’t stress about this, do something about it instead!

It’s all about stress!

Stress is a big buzz word these days. Everybody is stressed in one way or another. The word stress has become so common that we don’t really put much weight behind it. When people tell us that they are stressed, we shrug our shoulders and say “Who isn’t?”

What do we really understand about stress?

There are millions of dollars going into research about stress, more drugs being developed, more seminars being held, more tools available etc. And this is all just to help us cope with stress.

And then there is good stress, as well as the bad. We actually do need some stress in our lives, need to have some purpose to get up and get going. Having too much to do can be stressful, but so can NOT having enough to do (for example being between jobs etc).

The dictionary defines stress as: ‘a force excerted on one thing by another’. Or ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them’. (wikipedia)

Personally I think stress in itself is a basic concept. It is how we handle it that is the hard part.

Stress is basically our perception of a load that has been placed upon us, which is why everybody handles stress differently. What stresses one person is handled brilliantly by another. Change, for example, is hard for some people and becomes stressful for that person, while another person thrives on the challenge of the same change.

And there are no exceptions in the workplace.

We perceive the load (demand) that has been asked of us as being bigger than we can handle. We feel out of control, powerless and we start to think that we can’t cope. Of course, because we also don’t want to be perceived as someone that can’t handle our jobs or the demands of our job, we just get on with it, most of the time.

Stress, in other words, is everywhere in our daily lives. It affects us on levels we are not even aware of.

See if you personally recognize some of these typical symptoms of stress: 

Headaches and back pain?

Chest pain and heart palpitations?

Problems sleeping?

Digestive problems?

Or how about being forgetful?

Lacking focus?

Restlessness?

Sadness, worry or feeling anxious?

Depression

Feeling overwhelmed, insecure and helpless?

That’s quite a list, I agree, but don’t stress about it, seriously! The symptoms are the body’s reaction to what is happening as a response to the perceived load. And it is not just in your mind. A threat must be perceveid to be real (oh ok, imaginary threats can be perceived as real as well) for the reactions to occur.

So what can you do about it? Plenty, although that is a book in itself.

From my point of view as a massage therapist, I would recommend the following:

Check your breathing: A forward head posture, along with forward ‘slouchy’ shoulders makes us prone to shallow breathing, which is turn causes a lack of bloodflow to the muscles and the brain.  Learn to deep-breathe through your diaphragm (but don’t slow your breathing rythm down too much). When your shoulders are elevated, you cannot take a deep breath.

Check your posture: Most people are aware of faults to their posture but find it hard to change it. I always stress (excuse the pun) that the best thing to do is to check your head posture first. Keep your head back (chin pushed back to chest), this will automatically bring your shoulders down. And stand up, move, and stretch.

Have a massage: You do not need a full 1-hour table massage to get the benefits of stress-release. A 15-min chair massage conducted by a trained massage therapist can have the same calming effects on the nervous system and increase bloodflow to the brain at the same time.

In the next blog post, I talk a bit more about workplace stress

 

Stress at work

Stress in the workplace impacts both employers and employees alike. Everyone is susceptible because stress is an individual’s perception of the load they carry, no matter your role in your workplace. Stress is good like that, in that it doesn’t discriminate.

 In New Zealand, OSH (Occupational Health and Safety) defines workplace stress as: The result of the interaction between a person and their work environment.

     According to research, one-third of workers report high levels of stress, and one quarter regards their job as the number one factor of stress in their lives. Finances is a constant worry, office politics is another as is the actual workload along with constant deadlines.

      According to a survey by Bill Wilkerson (CEO of the Global Business and Economis Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health) the Number One stressor in the workplace is: Lack of Control – having no control over the participation or the outcome of the work.

 And the stress isn’t just physiological, it is physical as well. Hours spent in front of a computer screen starts playing havoc with your posture. Muscles starts to fatigue and causing pain which is the nervous system reacting to the way you sit. Trigger points (taught band of muscle that can refer pain to various parts of the body) starts to form, headaches become more frequent and intense and pain starts to spread to different areas of the body.

     Stress in the workplace is costly too. High staff turnovers, more sickdays, less productivity and lowered staff moral are all costly contributing factors for a company. For the staff there is medical bills, prescriptions, sick days used up and struggling to cope in general life, etc.

SOLUTIONS

Since stress in the workplace is not a new syndrome or a fad that has just popped up out of the blue, there are plenty of solutions and great information around (links to be added to this site shortly). Not all solutions will suit one person or one company, of course, but awareness is often the key to forming a solution.

     This is where the workplace massage comes in. A lot of people will not take the time to go for regular massages. Cost is an issue, as is the understanding of the benefits. Massage is seen as a treat, not a necessity.

So bringing massage to the workplace seems a great solution. You will leave your desk for a short period of time, sit in an ergonomically correct chair – note: This could be the only time your neck muscles and posture fully relaxes all day!

In this short space of time (often 15- 20 minutes) you will have had increased circulation to your brain and muscles, possibly released some trigger points, calmed your nervous system, increased the lymphatic flow, increase muscle tone, and plus you get the benefit of feeling a bit more relaxed and calm.

This could be the difference between coping and not coping.