Only look, and see

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to the body and soul.” – John Muir

I’ve had lovely opportunities to be outside lately – enjoying the ocean beach, walking some Iowa state park trails during an annual camping trip with friends, strolling at the Arboretum and playing today with grandson Noah and Opa Gregg at the “big park.” I’ve talked about it before (May 6, 2009 blog post), still I’d like to encourage us again to look and see the goodness of "outside" in this October 1^st Wednesday wellness email.

Consider these words --

“The cognitive benefits of nature — even if it’s just a hint of nature like a poster or a potted plant — are many and have been tallied by a number of recent studies. University of Michigan researchers Marc Berman, John Jonides and Stephen Kaplan wanted to quantify the effects of ART. [ART – Attention Restoration Theory – posits that spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature, helps refocus the mind and revive the spirit.] Students were given long tests of sequences of numbers to repeat in reverse then sent on walks — half the study participants on a nature walk and half on a city walk. Upon re-testing, the nature walkers’ scores improved significantly while the city walkers’ did not. The experiment was repeated so that each student walked in nature and in the city, and everyone’s score was better after the nature walk.”

Scores showed short-term memory improving by 20% after an hour interacting with the outside. The researchers also tested the same theory by having subjects sit inside and look at pictures of either downtown scenes or nature scenes and again the results were the same: when looking at photos of nature, memory and attention scores improved by about 20%, but not when viewing the urban pictures.

There is some question around the benefits of seeing “virtual” nature. Researchers from the University of Washington’s Human Interaction With Nature and Technological Systems Lab got mixed results from two studies: One study showed plasma nature windows providing low-level restorative benefits, another study showed them no more restorative than a blank wall. So even though there i

s some ambiguity, consider using a beautiful natural scene as a screen saver: it couldn’t hurt and possibly might help.

Certainly, whenever possible, take a walk outside – for your break, over the lunch hour, in the evening, or whenever you can – especially during these gorgeous fall days.

This month may you see much beauty, may your powers of attentiveness ever increase, may you experience God's glory in

nature, and may you be always well.

Look and See

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back

of an eider duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

the duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was

laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we

only look, and see.

– Mary Oliver

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.” –King David, Psalm 19: 1-2 The Message paraphrase

Simplicity

In honor of my dear hubby's birthday - yes, it is today - here's a little piece of wisdom that
- Gregg models in life, and that
- is from one of his 'heroes' of inventiveness and artistic creativity.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
-Leonardo da Vinci,
painter, engineer, musician, and scientist (1452-1519)

Managing stress

How do you take care of yourself?

In this beginning of another academic year many of us are presented with a different work load and possibly new stressors, and most of us have less me-time. For this first Wednesday wellness email I want to give a nod to self-care, again. In July I spoke of pursuing soothing touch of massage and safe places of loving listening. This month the focus is on caring for self by managing stress.

I’ve been preparing to share a few ideas on caring well for self to a demographic that doesn’t easily think of self first (or much at all? the group: nursing students who are also Christ-followers). My sharing on nurturing self will look at being

1) attentive to body – learning to tune in to signals and short-circuit a stress response;

2) accepting in mind/soul – being intentionally awake, aware, and non-judgmental in the moment; and

3) appreciative in spirit – fostering gratitude and joy.

(If you want to see some self-care activities they’ll eventually be posted on http://naturallyyoursforgood.net – though they’re not presently since its server is down! In the meantime, I'll post them over the next few days on http://deesdirt.blogspot.com with the first one posted just yesterday.)

Certainly caring for ourselves involves – as a key factor – managing stress. The September/October 2011 issue of Scientific America MIND offers a slightly different slant for stress management than the ones I’ve heard before that primarily promote relaxation techniques and thought management. Robert Epstein, as relayed in the article “Fight the Frazzled Mind” found that prevention is by far the most helpful competency when it comes to managing stress; and second most powerful stress-management predictor is source management. You ask (as did I): What do you mean by prevention? Or source management?

Prevention would be such things as planning your day or year, trying to avoid stressors before they can affect you: saying yes to “I keep an up-to-date list of things I’m supposed to do.” “I spend a few minutes each morning planning my day.” “I have a clear picture of how I’d like my life to proceed over the next few years.”

Source management involves practices such as delegating tasks, organizing your space, and scheduling your time well: saying yes to “I have adequate shelf, file, and drawer space to serve my needs.” “I consistently put important tasks ahead of unimportant tasks,” “I try to schedule appointments and meetings so that they won’t overlap.” “I have no trouble keeping my work area organized.”

If you’re curious as to how well you are managing stress, you can go to http://MyStressManagementSkills.com to take a 28-question test.

[I took the test – my total stress-management competency score is 65% (I have no idea how that compares to the general population, so I’m certainly not braggin’). I got higher scores in “manages or reduces sources of stress” (79%) and “practices relaxation techniques” (75%), not-an-awful score for “plans and prevents (67%), and a not-so-good-at-all score for “manages thoughts” (38%). Yep, more therapy for me.]

Epstein’s study shows that 1) people who have training in stress management are better at it than people who have not, and that 2) the greater the number of training hours, the better the skills. “One of the most dramatic results of the new study was a high positive correlation between test scores and the overall level of happiness people reported. To put it another way, the study suggests that nearly 25% of the happiness we experience in life is related to – and perhaps even the result of – our ability to manage stress.”

Here’s a few strategies for fighting stress before it starts, offered in the journal article and suggested by the new study (so sorry, no link provided – I can’t find a reference for this new study, even though I searched Epstein’s most recent cv online – boy, he’s being elusive on this one, but for what it's worth, here's the Scientific American MIND teaser):

1. “Seek and kill – take a few minutes every day to identify stressors in your life and find ways to reduce or eliminate them – cell phone battery dying? Get a new phone.

2. Commit to the positive. In our culture, people often try to cope with stress in self-destructive ways, mainly by drinking, taking drugs, or overeating. Commit to avoiding the self-destructive solutions - for a day, a week, or whatever you can handle – and replace them with positive, healthful ways of managing stress.

3. Be your own personal secretary. People who keep lists of things to do really do more things. So use your smartphone or, in a pinch, a pen and paper (like old-fashioned me!) to keep a list of things you need to do.

4. Immunize yourself. Through exercise, thought management, and the daily practice of relaxation techniques, you will be in a better position to face stressors without feeling stress.

5. Make a little plan. Spend a few minutes every morning planning your day. You will waste less time, get more done, and feel less stressed.

6. And make a big plan. The famous behavioural psychologist B. F. Skinner not only planned his day and year, he even maintained a 10-year planner. Planning your future is a great way of exercising more control over your life. The more control you have, the less stressed you will feel.”

Okay, so I’ve been told, numerous times, that control is an illusion. Hmmm. Maybe an occasional illusion or two helps us a bit? I guess we'll all get to experiment in this area of taking control of our days and handling life’s stressors.

And as we try out various strategies, we can look at the fruit of our choices – does what I do or think (or don’t do or think) help or harm? Does it lead me toward fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23? Does it bring me to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control?

Attentive to body

As a way to care for yourself, try this -

Be attentive to your body – learn to tune into signals and short-circuit a stress response

"We can choose how we respond to stimulation coming into our sensory systems... There are certain limbic system (emotional) mechanisms that can be triggered automatically (such as anger) but “it takes less than 90 seconds for one of these programs to be triggered, surge through our body, and then be completely flushed out of our blood stream…within 90 seconds of the original trigger, the chemical component of my anger has completely dissipated from my blood and my automatic response is over. If, however, I remain angry after those 90 seconds have passed, then it is because I have chosen to let that circuit continue to run. Moment by moment, I make the choice to either hook into my neurocircuitry or move back in to the present moment, allowing that reaction to melt away as fleeting physiology.” - Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight (p 146)

Relaxed breathing: Sit comfortably in your chair, possibly straightening your back and putting both feet on the floor. First, take a normal breath or two. Now, breathe slowly and deeply – in through the nose and out through the mouth – letting your abdomen swell as you breathe in, and fall as you breathe out. Stomach breathing involves primarily the diaphragm and is more efficient.

You might want to close your eyes if it helps. Place your hands gently over your stomach. Imagine you are filling your stomach with air, while you hold your ribcage and collarbone mostly still. With every inhalation let your belly expand, and let it deflate upon exhalation. Take deep, slow abdominal breaths in through the nose, out through the mouth. Slowing the breath and breathing in through the nose releases nitric oxide from the storage passages in the nose, which helps bring about decreased heart rate and blood pressure, lessening of muscle tension, and lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Lower stress hormones increases antibodies and thus immunity, and helps us response rather than react to our situations, and creates space for a responsing to God.

Your astonishment

One definition of vocation:

"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your astonishment."
- Annie Dillard

Germ-y decisions

I recently had two germ-y decision opportunities:

1) A few weeks ago I had breakfast with family in my Iowa hometown at a downtown diner with gobs of local flavor and yards of sticky carpet. Germs galore? An unspoken question among us as we walked along the tachy aisle-way was whether we’d stay and eat in this place of dis-clean.

2) Early last week I went to my eye doctor to check out an irritated devilish-red left eye, and got a diagnosis of viral infection. He gave me two options: let time and my body’s immune system hopefully work their magic while chancing the possibility of spreading the virus to the other eye and/or giving a nasty bacteria an opportunistic moment to stick a finger in my eye, or start a 10-day regime of steroid/antibiotic eye drops to quiet the symptoms and fend off any nasty bugs.

I’ll reveal the choices made later in this message. Before that, please let me say that, like anyone, I agree that the discovery of antibiotics was a huge breakthrough and has saved lives. Let me also say that it seems we often overuse -even abuse- good things, and antibiotics certainly fall in that category. Some of you have heard me rant before about overuse of antibiotics, specifically antimicrobial wipes – and here I go again.

Scientific American Mind guest blogger Rob Dunn writes:

“…along with her colleagues, Allison Aiello, a professor at the University of Michigan, recently surveyed all of the experimental or quasi-experimental studies published in English between 1980 and 2006 on the effectiveness of different hand washing strategies [full article]. Aiello focused on studies that compared different strategies, for example the use of normal soap versus the use of antibiotic soap, in terms of their effect on the probability of developing gastrointestinal or respiratory illness…

Aiello and colleagues found that antibiotic soaps and wipes with triclosan (and the chemically similar triclocarban are the main compounds in antibiotic products) were no more likely than good old-fashioned soap to prevent gastrointestinal or respiratory illness…

For example, in a study Aiello reviewed that was conducted in Pakistan, gastrointestinal illnesses were reduced by half when people washed their hands with soap and by a little less than half when they washed their hands with antibiotic soap. What is worse, perhaps the most comprehensive study of the effectiveness of antibiotic and non-antibiotic soaps in the U.S., led by Elaine Larson at Columbia University (with Aiello as a coauthor), found that while for healthy hand washers there was no difference between the effects of the two, for chronically sick patients (those with asthma and diabetes, for example) antibiotic soaps were actually associated with increases in the frequencies of fevers, runny noses and coughs. In other words, antibiotic soaps appeared to have made those patients sicker. Let me say that again: Most people who use antibiotic soap are no healthier than those who use normal soap. AND those individuals who are chronically sick and use antibiotic soap appear to get SICKER.”

[Dunn also writes of an insidious downside to overuse of antibiotic products: “Triclosan kills “weak” bacteria but favors the tolerant, among them species of bacteria that eat triclosan…may also favor lineages of bacteria that are also resistant to the oral antibiotics used in hospitals and elsewhere…In many municipal water supplies triclosan can now be found in relatively high concentrations. Those high concentrations affect the microbes that are always present in water, but also appear to act as endocrine disrupters in fish.”]

So, in conclusion: wash your hands, with plain ol’ soap. Embrace the good germs (native flora that act as a kind of defensive layer), and trust your body to fend off the bad ones. Fortify your immune system. [My overarching conviction is that if we can keep our immune systems strong we’ll keep the nasty bug population at bay. I realize that there are plenty of folk who have compromised immunity for a variety of reasons, and this is not to diss them or their bodies in any way…rather it’s to acknowledge that the fantastic intruder-fighting mechanisms that God gave our bodies work well for most.]

Time to reveal my germ-y choices.

1). At the hometown, small town, downtown diner – we ate and enjoyed breakfast (in full disclosure I must admit that I ordered my eggs scrambled rather than over-easy in hopes of heating away any lurking salmonella critters, but the others who ingested runny egg yolk all stayed well!).

2). I opted for the steroid/antibiotic drops. Wimpy, I know.

In closing, I offer just a few ideas to boost your immune system (this list is NOT all inclusive, and most of these you’ve heard before; hopefully a reminder of these basic good health practices is welcome) --

In the physical realm:

-eat colorful and whole foods (antioxidants are our friends),

-limit intake of simple sugars (I’m told they promote the growth of bad bugs),

-move your body (exercise helps with almost everything!),

-get 7 to 8 hours of sleep nightly (here’s a bonus: a benefit of adequate sleep beyond immune boosting is found in this interesting article that asserts getting an average of 7 hours of sleep per night is just right for optimal cognition, and that people who got too little or too much sleep showed a loss in brain function that was like aging 4 to 7 years).

In the mental/emotional realm: manage stressors by cultivating gratitude, practice mindfulness (see the post of almost two years ago that also addressed this topic of boosting immunity, partly by monitoring our thinking; and this site for gobs of research studies into mindfulness).

In the spiritual realm: foster community and love. I have no research to share in this moment (give me enough time though and I’ll find something) to support this idea, just insight from living. I’ve lately appreciated the words of Romans 12:9-21, especially as The Message paraphrase puts them, and I’ll close with them below.

Before that, please accept my wishes for ever stronger immune systems, days filled with good choices, times of restorative summer leisure, and always lots of love. Dee

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. – Romans 12: 9-21

Learn something

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him."

- Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (1564-1642)

Pursue self-care

The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well. – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Once a year is how often I allow myself to get a massage. I may want to change my ways. According to a randomized controlled trial that the Annals of Internal Medicine published in the July 5 issue, in comparing structural (focused on specific pain-related soft tissues) and relaxation (Swedish) massage, the trial found that both types of massage worked well to ease chronic low back pain and improve function, as compared to the “usual care” of medications.

As reported online at Science Daily, for the study group of 400 Group Health Cooperative patients:

“The hour-long massage treatments were given weekly for 10 weeks. At 10 weeks, more than one in three patients who received either type of massage -- but only one in 25 patients who got usual care -- said their back pain was much better or gone. Also at 10 weeks, a questionnaire showed nearly twice as many massage patients (around two thirds) as usual-care patients (more than one third) were functioning significantly better than at the trial's outset. Patients in the massage groups spent fewer days in bed, were more active, and used less anti-inflammatory medication than did those with usual care.”

Speculations as to the reasons why the massage helped include – specific effects of tissue stimulation that may calm the central nervous system; or non-specific effects of a person playing an active role in their own healing in receiving touch, spending time in a relaxing environment, receiving care from a compassionate therapist, or becoming more aware of their own body.

Other studies have found, to mention just a few good results, a positive effect on pain and mood for advanced cancer patients, easing of anxiety, and modified immune response (lymphocyte changes, decrease in stress hormone cortisol and in inflammatory cytokines).

Summer seems to be at least partially about restoration. Maybe this month we can all pursue healing touch (getting a massage or finding other soothing touch and relaxing environments) to rejuvenate: it may well contribute to self-care for our body and psyche.

I’d like, in this July 1^st Wednesday wellness email, additionally to offer a suggestion for self-care of our soul and spirit – and that is to pursue safe places.

Find people and places that cause you to feel protected and loved and cared for. Or be a listening presence that provides a safe space for another.

While reading an article in the July 2011 issue of “Listen: A Seeker’s Resource for Spiritual Direction” I learned that according to legend, it was the ancient Greeks that coined the word agape (the Biblical New Testament Greek word for God’s selfless affectionate benevolent good will love) “as an antidote to their warring ways, and literally translated, it means ‘When you are in my territory, I will make you safe.’” Sue Magrath, the article’s author, goes on to say, “it is entirely congruent with our ideas about God’s love. When we enter into the kingdom of God, which is always and everywhere around us, we are kept safe by the love of a compassionate God, a God who walks with us in every time and place, sharing our burdens and offering comfort and hope.”

Like God, since God lives in and through us humans, we can listen with care and love to provide a safe place for the people around us. And we can receive the gift of being listened to and loved. Both being listened to, and listening to another in love, help me get beyond myself, which to me is a goal of self-care: taking care enough of myself so as to be able to overflow in agape care for others, and share the love of God.

May you too experience privilege and gift as you give and receive -- good touch, and safe loving listening.

"‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

- Jesus, Mark 12:30-31