Shout Out Health

Empower Youself With...Pilates!

With the ongoing recession, crazy far-right 'birthers' and health care reform battles dominating the news, one could be forgiven for slouching a bit more than usual these days. While you can’t always control everything around you, there is something you can do right now to feel more empowered, stand taller and even elevate your mood—Pilates.

“Pilates is made for everyday life, it can help you feel better and more confident” says Sharyl M. Curry, owner of Park East Pilates, a private Pilates studio in New York City. “It helps you be aware of your posture, so you actually look and feel taller.”

Photo by Andrew Melick

 How can Pilates do all this? By strengthening your body’s core—the focus of most Pilates’ movements are geared to  your abs and lower back—you automatically improve your posture. “A weak stomach leads to slouching,” says Curry, “and bad posture tends to bring down your whole mood.”

Other benefits of regular Pilates workouts include opening the chest, elongating the muscles and creating a more flexible spine. If you’ve never tried Pilates before, Curry suggests getting started by trying the latest trend in Pilates—a private “lesson” utilizing classic Pilates equipment such as the Reformer and the Cadillac, which also provide a great primer when you take group Pilates classes at a gym.

“By getting the personal attention, you can see right away what your body’s strengths and weaknesses are, and it helps you learn the correct principles and choreography of Pilates,” says Curry.

 

Anger: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“I just wanna hit something! I wanna hit it hard!”

When Sally Field tearfully (and angrily) uttered this knockout line from the camp classic Steel Magnolias it cut through the scene’s intense grief like butter, especially when Olympia Dukakis then hilariously offered up Shirley MacLaine as a human punching bag.

Assertiveness can be a positive method to help you get what you want, whereas anger attempts to punish the offending person or persons.

What are you angry about these days? Like Fields’ character, is it the heartbreaking loss of a loved one? Maybe it’s the never-ending war in Iraq, the thought of another Republican in the White Housel, or a homophobic neighbor or nitpicky boss? Studies historically show that built up anger and resentment are linked to a host of health problems, but in today’s turbulent world how can one not be pissed off, right?

“Negative feelings, such as anger, are normal and often appropriate and healthy in some circumstances,” says Greg Cason, a psychologist in Los Angeles. “Anger is one of the basic emotions of survival, and gives us the motivation and energy to defend ourselves from physical or emotional attacks.”

Cason says that anger is usually expressed via a trio of outlets; a verbal explosion a la Sally Field, in socially ostracizing or humiliating others (think Mean Girls), or in outright physical attack (think most Jerry Springer guests). Anger in small or infrequent doses is a necessary and helpful emotion, but larger or frequent outbursts are not only destructive to relationships and the psyches of other people, but are ironically especially hurtful to the person who’s actually feeling it.

PODCAST: Aleta St. James - Relax and Rejuvenate!

Aleta St. James Relax and Rejuvenate

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, relax and be fully in the present moment.

According to a stunning study, meditation may slow the worsening of AIDS in just a few weeks, most likely by affecting the immune system, according to researchers from the University of California Los Angeles. In a statement lead researcher David Creswell said: "This study provides the first indication that mindfulness meditation stress-management training can have a direct impact on slowin HIV disease progression."  

If larger studies back up these findings, researchers say meditation could offer a cheap and pleasant way to help HIV-positive people stay healthier and delay the onset of the disease, according to Reuters.

Researchers tested a stress-lowering program called mindfulness meditation, defined as practicing an open and receptive awareness of the present moment, avoiding thinking of the past or worrying about the future.

The more often the volunteers meditated, the higher their CD4 T-cell counts--a standard measure of how well the immune system is fighting the AIDS virus. The CD4 counts were measured before and after the two-month program.

"It just makes intuitive sense that reducing stress is inherently a good thing," says Dr. Susan Ball, Medical Director of ShoutOutHealth.com. "Relaxing and lowering stress is good for everyone, not just HIV patients."

In an exclusive for ShoutOutHealth.com, renowned energy healer Aleta St. James, author of Life Shift, who has worked with many HIV-positive clients, has created a powerful guided meditation (to listen, use the audio player below) to enhance relaxation and overall wellbeing. Be sure to find a safe, quiet place where you will be undisturbed and can focus solely on your own health and wellness.

Enjoy!

by Mitch Rustad