Cantissimo Senior Living Blog

Breath is life force and essential to supporting all the functions and systems in our bodies, thereby regulating health. As we age and go through the trials and tribulations of life, it is common that we adopt patterns of breathing that are not optimal. Some of those patterns include mouth breathing, erratic breathing, breath-holding, and even reverse breathing. 

All of these patterns affect how much the diaphragm, our primary breathing muscle, is able to contract and release, corresponding to vagus nerve stimulation, the brain-gut connection, and our body’s relaxation response.

The vagus nerve is the longest in the body, running from the brainstem to the gut. Simulating the vagus nerve activates the body’s relaxation response, reducing heart rate and blood pressure.

So, how do we stimulate the vagus nerve? By first bringing attention to our current breathing pattern, and then beginning to activate the diaphragm as we breathe, taking slow, deep breaths.

All movement should make you feel great during, after, and days later. You might feel that you have worked hard, but you really should not be in pain. Keeping your muscles strong is essential. Muscles are meant to be able to contract and release well to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. Does your workout routine create pain in your body?

Should we accept pain as a normal part of aging?

Chronic tension/pain has become an epidemic across North America and the industrialized world. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. The question is, why?

Persistent or recurring pain is defined as pain lasting more than six months after the original tissue damage has healed. The research on chronic (persistent/recurring) pain is compelling. The annual cost to industrialized countries in health care resources and lost productivity is increasing every year. In 2017, the University of Michigan Health reported that the annual cost of treatment and lost productivity due to chronic pain in the USA was $635 billion.

How well do you listen to your body? And how do you talk to your body? Did you know that the language you use and how you relate to your body really matters?

Dr. Joe Dispenza describes thoughts as electric. Your thoughts create feelings that affect the electromagnetic field around you. 

Stress is a fact of life. We have all experienced it at some point in our lives. Stress can be a great motivator when you have a big project to deliver, and when your stress response is well-managed, stress ebbs and flows naturally with life circumstances. When sustained over an extended period, stress becomes dangerous and can lead to illness and disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, prolonged stress can lead to pain and tension, anxiety, poor sleep, fatigue, anger, depression, chest pain, and headaches.

Have you ever considered that how you use your five senses can have an impact on your health?

Your five senses are taste, touch, sight, smell, and hearing. These five senses support your ability to experience your life and the world around you. These include feeling the wind on your face, smelling the flowers in your garden, and communicating through speech and learning through reading. The senses are constantly providing you with input so you can experience yourself and navigate the world around you. They also provide a mechanism for self-regulation to maintain a healthy and balanced life.

We don’t realize how important our feet are until they start to cause us problems. Pain on the soles of the feet can make wearing shoes and walking challenging. It destroys our motivation to get active and go out for that walk to take in the beauty of the outdoors. Staying active is paramount to staying healthy as we age. Don’t let foot pain become the reason you are not out there walking, jogging, hiking, and having fun!

Pain has big shoulders and deep roots. Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects all influence pain. Yoga practitioners believe that all pain is rooted in spiritual discord.

It is common for patients with persistent pain to make statements like:

• “I have always had tight shoulders.”
• “My pain worsens when I am stressed.”
• “My elbow gets sore after I golf, so I ice it after I play.”
• “Do you think there is a connection between the loss of my late wife and the pain I am experiencing all over my body?”

Do you take care of your body as well as you maintain your car? If your vehicle is vibrating or rattling when you drive over 60 miles per hour, what would you do?

To fix the problem, are you going to give the car a wash and polish? No.

Would you give it higher leaded gasoline?  Of course not!

The right answer? Of course, you would immediately take the vehicle to a qualified mechanic and get to the root of the problem to resolve it as quickly as possible. After all, you don't want to get stranded on the highway the next time you leave home!

Now, what if you have back pain when you get out of bed in the morning? Or after you exercise?

Isn’t it interesting how we incorrectly and inappropriately phrase things, leading us to believe that they are true? Have you ever said, (or heard someone say), “my back went out”? As if your back just decided one day to go rogue and go into spasm, or stop supporting you. Hmm…really?

The truth is that, for this to happen, you may have been mistreating your back muscles for some time. It was likely not consciously or intentionally, but unknowingly.