Christmas Communication Dec 2011

1. Hello from Narelle – Time to Communicate?

2. Stressed or Anxious, for Peaches n Kreme?

3. Interesting news tidbits:
   Exercise Improves Memory | Coffee preventing medication absorption? (Yes, it is)

4. Christmas greetings from Master and I

Dear Reader

Hello and welcome to December’s edition of the Live It Up! eNewsletter.  What do you think of that new and eye-catching banner above? I felt it was time to jazz up the newsletter and liven it up too.

Well, the year has flown by, hasn’t it? And here we are again and it is nearly Christmas.  Are you all prepared or hopelessly unprepared? I tend to be the latter – full of good intentions and then not much getting done until the last minute, which makes it all the more exciting for me 🙂  Of course that does create a bit of stress as well, so then I simply meditate some more.

Christmas Communication – Oh What Fun…

Christmas is such an interesting time, especially when it comes down to who to spend Christmas day with, who you refuse to spend it with, or whether you have no-one to spend it with and feel lonely and left-out.  For those going through the “I cannot bear to spend time with so and so”, they envy those who are on their own.  So how can we all be happy on this day? (Santa needs to lose some weight!)

It comes down to making a choice to be happy for yourself, and let everyone else be happy.  Just for today, you suspend judgement and expectations and decide to be happy.  You see, you do have a choice and that choice is to be happy or to not be happy and to take responsibility for yourself.  This means that you are in charge of your own emotional panel, and you are not reacting to the words of others and letting them have power and authority over you. 

Emotional Panel – Open or Shut?

Picture your chest wide open with buttons marked with happy, sad, angry, annoyed, jealous, fearful, excited, and so on. If you are dependant on others (or drugs, alcohol, chocolate, pasta, bread, sugar etcetera) for your happiness you are essentially saying “Push my happy button for me”.  Wouldn’t you rather be responsible for yourself? 

Naturally, you want to spend time with people you are comfortable with and on this day, that doesn’t always happen, so make the best of it and be happy for yourself. Happiness spreads a ripple effect that helps people to relax.  Let go of judgement and expectations, and remind yourself that everyone is different and that’s what makes for a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful life. 

Many times, family members cannot remember what the falling out was about, and sadly, the rift widens and continues year after year, because no-one speaks up and says, “I want to let this go, so I’m sorry. I can’t remember how this started and if it was me, I am sorry. I want to let it go and let bygones be bygones.”  Now just imagine what owning up or stepping up might do for your peace this year, and for years afterwards.  Life is too short to hold a grudge, to not budge, so sing out sorry, and sort it out, and have a wonderful Christmas instead. 

Last month, you read about Peaches n Kreme, our couple who were renovating and displaying some symptoms.  Did you figure out if they were depressed or anxious or stressed?

Okay, here’s the answer: Peaches looks like she has symptoms of being stressed, and so does Kreme.

She is:

1. worried 
2. has financial stress
3. sleep loss
4. menstrual cycle disrupted – may be caused by stress or ill-health
5. muscular aches
6. no appetite
7. feels overwhelmed  

Of course, there is insufficient information to make a diagnosis, and it is important to remember that thorough assessment is required in order to make that diagnosis.

Master’s Wisdom

 “When you have had too much to eat

the preferred position is

flat on your back”

Interesting News Bites

From The New York Times on November 30, 2011

Exercise improves your memory! 

Wow, if that isn’t a good reason to don the joggers and get out there, I don’t know what is.  The research has proven it folks, in both men and rats, that there was better recall of a memory test, after exercise occurred, with lower results for the memory test, for those who didn’t exercise.  The volunteers who rested instead of exercising did not improve on their second go, compared to the other group. Um, perhaps I should mention that this research only included males, at this time.  And no, I don’t know why women weren’t included.

Apparently, a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, increases after exercise and it’s BDNF that impacts on memory and recall.  Last month, Brazilian scientists also found that sedentary elderly rats that ran for five minutes several days a week for five weeks, resulted in higher levels of BDNF molecules. Guess what? After 5 weeks of exercise, the oldies performed nearly as well as the young ones on ‘rodent’ memory tests such as running mazes.

Other research completed with aging pilots, indicates that lower levels of BDNF can also have an impact on skills.  So, let’s get into exercise before Christmas pudding is on the table, so we remember not to eat too much.

Is Coffee the Culprit?

I remember reading years ago that coffee might prevent the uptake of my vitamins and minerals and other supplements and as they cost so much to buy, and I wanted to absorb my supplements as much as I could, I’ve delayed having a coffee or tea until mid-morning, for years now.

So, I was very interested to read this article and I recommend reading all of it, because it seems that coffee not only causes restlessness and sleeplessness, it does interfere with the absorption of thyroid and osteoporosis medications, and other medications as well.  It also has an influence on oestrogen and other hormones, and for women taking the pill, it stays in your system four hours longer than those not on the pill.

Here’s a link to the full article, again from the New York Times, on November 28, 2011 

  

And that’s it for this month, so we wish you ….  

A Merry Christmas
from Narelle and Master!                    
May You Live Life 2 The Max!