Tips for Life-Wellness

Transforming & Celebrating Your Journey!

3 Worlds of Wellness

The following free resources offer a variety of information and materials for seeking, reaching, and achieving wellness and life balance. Whether at home, work, or play, your understanding and level of wellness in every life area impacts your success at living life. As per your accessing this page, these resources are provided for informational purposes only, accompanied by your acceptance of disclaimer (see summary below). Just click on each wellness area of interest to you and start utilizing these practical free resources

You can get started right now on your journey to wellness and discover what is most important in your life. Get yourself started on the road to wellness in every life dimension area.

In addition, there are various assessment and life satisfaction tools such as the Personality Profile System and Wellness Inventory that may prove valuable toward incorporating these helpful Tips for Life. Be sure to contact Sharon with your interest in having her share her story or assist with a writing project.

Wellness Area	Tips for Life
General Wellness	Understanding a Veteran with PTSD Servicemen and women oftentimes face unique challenges when leaving active duty and readjusting to civilian life. As explained by U.S. Veterans Magazine, these challenges include discovering ways to re-establish their roles within the family, having to find and obtain a civilian job (sometimes for the first time ever, such as when enlisting after graduating from high school), and adjusting to a life that involves making their own choices versus being told what to do, how to do it, and when. However, sometimes soldiers also return home with challenges related to their mental wellbeing as a result of what they’ve witnessed while on active duty. And one of the most common mental challenges is post-traumatic stress disorder (commonly known as PTSD).
	Home Hygiene Home Hygiene Guide for Kids, Adults, and Seniors Promoting good hygiene habits within the home is important, especially considering that infectious diseases caused by virus and bacteria can lead to anything from mild illnesses to death. One way to counter the risk is by ensuring that your family members are well-informed about how to maintain personal hygiene as well as the home’s cleanliness.
	INTEGRATIVE HEALTHCARE/WELLNESS RESOURCES Integrative Practitioner Resources Integrative Health Policy Consortium
	Prevention Wellness Longevity All Treatment SAMSHA Locator: Alltreatment.com is a community based public benefit website connecting people to the addiction resources they need. The resource is free to the public. Just click ‘Allow’ on the Location Services Pop-Up. When you activate the local services there will be no pop ups, ads, or even emails. The All Rehab Centers Near You technology uses
	National Wellness Institute FINANCIAL WELLNESS COURSE NWI WELLNESS PROMOTION COMPETENCY MODEL
	Wellness Inventory Program— Begin Your Journey to a Higher Level of Wellness! The Wellness Inventory is a pioneering “whole person” wellness program designed to help you gain personal insight into your state of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. The program, developed by HealthWorld Online and wellness pioneer John W. Travis, MD, MPH, offers guidance and tools to transform this new awareness into lasting changes in your life, and a renewed sense of health and well-being. What can the Wellness Inventory do for you? Discover your wellness profile in 12 dimensions of your life. Identify the areas in your life you are most motivated to change. Create a personalized wellness action plan. Access tools and resources to help you reach your goals. Create the desired changes in your life. Track your progress in reaching a higher level of wellness. Achieve a higher level of health, wellbeing and aliveness.
	The Nation’s 10 most expensive health conditions:   Heart conditions—$76 billion Trauma disorders—$72 billion Cancer—$70 billion Mental disorders, incl. depression—$56.0 bill. Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—$54 billion High blood pressure—$42 billion Type 2 diabetes—$34 billion Osteoarthritis and other joint diseases—$34 billion Back problems—$32 billion Normal childbirth—$32 billion These 10 most expensive medical conditions cost about $500 billion to treat in 2005, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2011 hospital data = AHRQ). The money paid for visits to doctors’ offices, clinics and emergency departments, hospital stays, home health care, and prescription medicines.
	THE 5 BASICS OF WELLNESS & NUTRITION (click to learn more) 1. Commit to personal accountability for the responses to life’s challenges and opportunities 2. Take care of your body–hygiene, quality nutrition, exercise (age and condition appropriate) 3. Quiet time–rest and repose 4. Wholesome fun and laughter with family and friends 5. A vibrant spiritual-faith life
	Laughter, Healing, & Wellbeing— Although the medical and mental health experts are still uncertain about the benefits of laughter, there is evidence that we do physiologically change with laughter. Steve Wilson, M.A., CSP, a psychologist and laugh therapist, tells us that “The effects of laughter and exercise are very similar . . . Combining laughter and movement, like waving your arms, is a great way to boost your heart rate” (Griffin RM. CBS, April 4, 2006, Is Laughter the Best Medicine?). William Fry, a pioneer in laughter research, claimed it took 10 minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level that only one minute of hearty laughter achieved. Researchers over the past couple decades studied laughter’s effects on the body and turned up some interesting information (Griffin). Blood flow—Researchers at the University of Maryland studied the effects on blood vessels when people were shown either comedies or dramas. After the screening, the blood vessels of the group who watched the comedy behaved normally — expanding and contracting easily. But the blood vessels in people who watched the drama tended to tense up, restricting blood flow. Immune response—Increased stress is associated with decreased immune system response. Some studies have shown that the ability to use humor may raise the level of infection-fighting antibodies in the body and boost the levels of immune cells, as well. Blood sugar levels. One study of 19 people with diabetes looked at the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels. After eating, the group attended a tedious lecture. On the next day, the group ate the same meal and then watched a comedy. After the comedy, the group had lower blood sugar levels than they did after the lecture. Relaxation and sleep. The focus on the benefits of laughter really began with Norman Cousins’ memoir, Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful spine condition, found that a diet of comedies, like Marx Brothers films and episodes of Candid Camera, helped him feel better. He said that 10 minutes of laughter allowed him two hours of pain-free sleep.
	5 Simple Steps to Improve Your Health (Source: “Family Health Enews,” May 9.2006, by Shaping America’s Health – Association for Weight Management and Obesity Prevention)   1. Play with your kids and preferably outside when possible.It will help nurture your relationship with your children.  Active play will also help release stress, improve your mood, and burn calories to help you maintain a healthy weight. 2. Wear a pedometer.  Wearing a pedometer will help encourage you to increase the number of steps you take each day.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that we aim for 10,000 steps a day. 3. Start dinner with a salad.  Most Americans need to eat more veggies. Starting the meal with a salad will reduce your cravings for the rest of the meal. 4. Eat breakfast.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat foods from several food groups and keep your portion sizes in moderation. 5. Get a good night’s sleep.  If you’re stressed out, overweight or sick a lot, you may not be getting enough sleep.
	2006/2005 Healthiest Companies— The Well Workplace Awards by WELCOA Become a Champion for Health & Productivity Workforce by WELCOA
	Latest Book on the Wellness Revolution: The New Wellness Revolution By Paul Pilzer. Wiley; Revised edition. 2007.
Brain Power	11 Tips to Boost Your Brain
Exercise/ Movement	Exercise habits you should start early Promoting Physical Fitness Top Ten Fitness Facts Exercise habits you should start early Promoting Physical Fitness Top Ten Fitness Facts Lung Power Aerobic training improves the condition and efficiency of your breathing muscles so that your body can utilize more lung capacity during exercise. Recreational Sports Fitness Physical Activity Fundamental to Preventing Disease by WELCOA
Leading Health Risks	The Top Ten Leading Health Indicators are (LIST SOURCE: Healthy People 2010)— »Physical activity    Ten Energy Boosters »Overweight and obesity Losing just 7-10 lbs can reduce diabetes risk from 40-60%! Top Ten Causes of Obesity. Why Are So Many Americans Overweight?  (Source:  “Americans See Weight Problems Everywhere but in the Mirror,” April 11, 2006, Pew Research Center.) According to the results of a Pew Research Center phone survey of 2,250 randomly chosen American adults, four factors were listed as the possible cause of the U.S. weight problem. These factors and the percentage of those surveyed who considered them an important cause are: ***Failure to get exercise enough—75% ***Lack of willpower on what to eat—59% ***Kinds of foods marketed in restaurants and grocery stores—50% ***Effects of genetics and heredity—32% »Tobacco use    Tobacco Use Trends, 2006 »Substance abuse »Responsible sexual behavior »Mental health »Injury and violence »Environmental quality »Immunization
Making Lasting Behavioral Changes	Changing for Good involves six stages of transformation (source: Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska, PhD, et.al) — Precontemplation— Have you even thought about areas that need some change? Are you resistant to such a change? Contemplation— Are you now acknowledging the need and thinking about making a change? Preparation— What kind of plans would you like to design and research? Action— What short-term and long-term action steps are you ready to take? Maintenance/Recycling— What kind of accountability and lessons from relapse would you want to have in place to preserve transformational change? Termination— Are you ready to exit the cycle of change? Do you believe you now have a new lasting self-image, with no temptation to relapse, you have a solid “center of gravity” and healthier lifestyle in general?
	Why & How People Change Health Behaviors by WELCOA
Nutrition/Eating Pattern	Decide to be healthy, not thin Eat Nuts for a Healthy Heart Energy Bars Fight Fatigue w/ Food Healthy Eating for Kids & Teens Olive Oil may prevent ulcers Pantry Labels & Layout What’s In Your Pantry? Food that Should Help you Diet–May Surprises You   Dietary/Herbal Supplement Databases— Natural Standard, The Authority on Integrative Med Natural Standard, Kroger Consumer Portal American Botanical Council Natural Medicines, Comprehensive Database Stress Management Managing Stress on the Job Job Stress–Overview Tips Reducing Stress & Relaxing Say “I Love You” without the Words Working Life:  4 Steps for Better Work Flow Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory – Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”

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