Recess Newsletter March 2009
Headaches, A Pain in The Neck & Brain Power
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| Be In The Know
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Health Tip: Headaches
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Research shows pain relievers make matters worse
 Do you suffer from chronic headaches? Research indicates that as many as 50 percent of chronic migraines and 25 percent of all headaches, are actually triggered by the overuse of common prescription and over-the-counter drugs used to treat headaches. So when your head is pounding is there anything you can do to stop the pain? Yes. 90% of headaches are primary headaches (i.e. not caused by another medical condition) and can be attributed to tension (tight muscles and spasms of the neck and back), vascular (migraine), and cluster (non medical causes such as stress). Sitting for long periods without stretching or moving, jaw clenching, and the kind of physical habits we adopt at work can contribute to muscular tension. Short bouts of stretching (20 seconds of stretching every twenty minutes) and exercise (a 5 minute walk around the block) can ease muscular tension, will produce hormones that counter stress and help you relax. While you may not see immediate results, continued adherence to a self-care routine will lead to more overall relaxation and fewer headaches.
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Headaches @ Work: A Real Pain In The Neck
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Bringing gentle stretch classes to work eases pain
 Anyone who has ever suffered from headaches knows it can be extremely difficult to function, much less to be productive.
At the same time, as the workforce in the US contracts, those left on the job are expected to do more with fewer resources.
Suffering a headache can be triggered by neck and muscle tension. Studies show that headaches may lead workers to stay home more often and those who remain at work will be less productive.
Even job seekers may find a headache impairs their ability to interview and to present themselves professionally when work competition is high.
Recess' office stretch classes are offered as an option in our Enjoy: 50 class & Transform: 100 class packages. Benefits of the program include:
- Break the class into two 1/2 hour sessions to save time
- Safe, gentle and expert instruction
- Easy, hassle free online booking
- No sweat! Classes carried out in office attire
- Don't move any furniture! Office chairs and conference tables can be incorporated into the routine
- Easy to use handout reminds participants to stretch between sessions
- Email & voicemail reminders and Webcast option available
Let Gentle Stretch Rid Your Pain In The Neck & Head >>
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| No Brains? No Headache!
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Keeping your brain sharp is important and easy
Preparing your annual tax filings? Paying close attention to your budget these days?
Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and reading over every
receipt? As you get older this 'taxing'
math can get more and more difficult. With old age comes significant loss of
brain tissue. But, can this process be slowed down? Stopped? Or even reversed?
Could diet and exercise play a role in the brain's health as well?
For years, researchers overlooked
the role that worldly experience played in brain formation and pointed towards
genes as the deciding factor in brain development. Cognitive development was
seen to end with childhood. The rest was fate. And this made sense, considering
brain tissue can't regenerate after a certain age.
Right?
Now a spate of studies
show that mental exercise can have profound effects on mental capacity. Brain
tissue can be made more resilient to injury. In the same way, we can also "turn
on" different areas of the brain by igniting neural connections that were
previously non-existent.
The Benefits of Mental Gymnastics
In the early 1960s researchers found that animals
raised in an environment filled with interactive stimuli, including toys,
possessed a thicker and heavier cerebral cortex than those raised in an empty
laboratory cage. Some of these changes occur not only during the brain's early
growth stage, but also in later years. On the flip side, severe lack of mental exercise and
stressful experiences limit the brain's resilience and development.
In a recent study
at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, researchers found that
mentally active seniors reduced their risk of dementia. During the course of
the 21-year study, researchers followed more than 450 people over the age of
75, beginning in 1980. Investigators tracked how many of the participants
developed Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, and looked at what
activities they had engaged in.
They found that participants who stimulated
their minds with simple activities decreased the risk of dementia by as much as
75 percent.
Similarly, a 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine adds
to mounting evidence that mentally stimulating activities such as: reading,
playing cards and board games, and doing crossword puzzles may prevent or
minimize memory loss from aging.
The Benefits of Physical Gymnastics
 Many studies
have shown that physical exercise, when done in tandem with mental exercise,
seems to slow the loss of brain tissue. The reasoning? It's quite simple:
exercise increases blood flow to your whole body, including your brain.
Exercise delays or sometimes prevents these specific aging-related changes in
your brain. And in some cases, exercise may even provide memory improvement.
How much exercise do
you need to reap the benefits of a smarty pants? 30 minutes a day has long been
toted as the concrete number for physical health, but if you're just getting
started, don't worry about the time. One study found that a few 15-minute
exercise sessions a week reduced older adults' risk of dementia. The benefit
was greatest to those participants who hadn't exercised previously.
Moral of this story? It won't
take a big time commitment to perk up your brain and will probably be a lot of fun. So get started. Questions About How To Get Started? >> |
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Save 10%
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Sign up for the Transform: 100 Class Package by April 15, 2009 and take 10% off of the total cost of the program! Start changing the relationships in your life today by bringing people together around health. Sign up online by clicking here, or, call us toll-free at1-866-578-7118. Local to Portland, OR? Call 503-282-5560. Mention coupon code: 0409NWS |
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Offer Expires: April 15, 2009
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