Corporate Fitness and Active Aging

3 Ways to Help You Relax

GettyImages-1338884006While most of us enjoy the hustle and bustle that comes with the season, we might find our lives accumulating stress. Sometimes we feel stress in the moment and sometimes it isn’t until the holidays have ended, and we feel the exhaustion set in. Thankfully in many senior living communities across the country, exercise and fitness professionals are including techniques in their group fitness or 1-1 programming that can be used to help with relaxation. Consider adding these in as part of your routine this season if holiday stress starts to wear you down!

1. Breathing with intention. In some of our fitness programing, I like to bring attention to breathing. It is something we do all day and night, but we rarely breathe with intention. Most people only utilize about 30% of their lung capacity with every breath. With more focused breathing we can improve that percentage. Breathing is probably the most direct way we can influence the “parasympathetic nervous system” response. This sounds familiar because many of us have heard of the “sympathetic nervous system” which is what shifts us into “fight or flight” mode, but the parasympathetic nervous system has been called the “rest and digest” system. This tells our body & our nervous system that we are safe and able to relax.

A great place I like to start is to ask participants to simply try EXHALING longer. When you INHALE, think about relaxing your stomach and when you EXHALE think about drawing in the abdomen and belly button. Try to exhale for longer than you inhale. This will feel unnatural at first but with practice will feel better and better. Try it out in the morning or at night and see how you feel. Start with 5 deep and slow breaths. The more you practice this, the more natural this will feel. Practicing this even once per day can make a big impact on your relaxation levels.

2. Mobility focus. We can’t avoid it, all of us end up with stiff/tight muscles and joints and they often feel worse in the cold winter months. In our fitness centers, we like to just encourage prioritizing movement, mobility, and stretching. And a great way to do this is attending your local fitness classes! Simply showing up and moving your body promotes blood flow and healing. Certain areas such as our ankles, knees, low backs, hands, and neck can feel stiff and painful. Movement and exercises can keep these joints healthy and lubricated.

3. Meditation. This goes hand in hand with breathing. But meditation goes a step further and allots us time to release some of the stress of day-to-day living. We often find ourselves worrying about the past and the future. Taking even a few minutes to meditate on the present moment without stressing about what has happened or what will happen. Regular meditation can improve our physical and mental health. If you aren’t sure how to meditate, there are a lot of great resources you can access online. Or even better, consider reaching out to your local fitness or senior center, they likely have a great place for you to start!

Stress management is important any time of year, but the additional demands on our time make it more apparent during the holiday months. Will you use these techniques if you are feeling stress this holiday season? We hope you will and let us know how it made you feel!

If you would like to learn more about how NIFS Fitness Management can help your community expand beyond the four walls of your fitness center, reach out! NIFS would love to assist.

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Topics: relaxation senior wellness programs senior living fitness center

Power in Silence: Discover Mindful Meditation

old_man_meditatingMeditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.” ― Sharon Salzberg

So you have some stress in your life. You might turn to exercise to deal with these stressors. Or maybe you had a date with your couch and Ben & Jerry or Sam Adams? Did you zone out to the latest CSI or “reality” show? Out of these three, exercise is the best choice. But what do you do when you come home from a horrible 12-hour day and you don’t have any juice left for exercise. Do you have a room, a floor, and 20 minutes? Why not try a little meditation?

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Initially, seekers and gurus used it to get in touch with a spiritual and mystical dimension. Practitioners would meditate, in silence, for days at a time in order to reach a desired state of mind. In modern times, we can’t carve out days to reach a higher spiritual dimension (try asking your boss for a little personal time off to meditate for three to four days), but we don’t have to commit hours and hours to the practice to reap the rewards. Meditation isn’t just for reaching a higher plane. There are proven emotional and physical benefits to practicing it as well.

Benefits of Meditation

According to the folks at the Mayo Clinic we can gain the following emotional benefits:

  • Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
  • Building skills to manage your stress
  • Increasing self-awareness
  • Focusing on the present
  • Reducing negative emotions

If you feel like you are even keeled most of the time, meditation can help to control some of these chronic conditions:

  • Anxiety disorders
  • High blood pressure
  • Pain
  • Sleep problems
  • Asthma
  • Cancer
  • Depression
  • Heart disease

Famous People Who Meditate

At this point you might be considering meditation as a real prospect to achieving a healthier and happier you, but you still are on the fence. Sitting still and quieting your mind is that beneficial? Well these folks seem to think so, and they are pretty successful. A bunch of celebrities (and high-powered business folks) meditate, and I looked up a list to share with you. Check out who is getting in their daily silence:

  • Sheryl Crow
  • Paul McCartney
  • Katy Perry
  • Jennifer Aniston

Those are just a few who practice meditation. Their names might not surprise you, but these might:

  • Rupert Murdoch
  • Hugh Jackman
  • Howard Stern
  • (and this one really shocked me) Clint Eastwood!

Getting Started with Meditation

So now that you are convinced that meditation is worth a try, what do you need to start your practice? The best news of all is that you don’t need anything. I have found some great resources online and some terrific podcasts on iTunes. Check out these websites for free guided meditation scripts, music, and mantras:

Check out these podcasts:

Even Pandora has a Meditation station with terrific music to quiet the mind, and to help you find your inner peace.

Meditation often goes hand in hand with yoga, and here's some information about yoga at work.

So go out and find your inner self, quiet the thoughts, and open your mind!

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Topics: relaxation stress relief meditation