June 2015, Volume 2, Number 6
The Monthly eMagazine of Lakeview Terrace, Altoona Fl.
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www.LakeviewTerrace.com
Contents
According to a study, people who eat raw garlic at least twice a week have a
44% lower risk of developing lung cancer.
The study authors wrote "Allium vegetables, especially garlic intake, are
related to a decreased risk of prostate cancer".
Celebrate Family
eMagazine
Volume 2, # 6
4
Games People Play
9
Activities, Lunch &
Shopping
6
Scientific Studies
On The Therapeutic
Benefits of Garlic
10
The 5 Ways To
Trigger A New Habit
14
How Does Yoga Help
Seniors?
Celebrate Family is published monthly by Caring Stream, Inc. as a service to client facilities. No content in this publication
may be reproduced in any manner without the written consent of the Publisher.
Copyright 2015 Caring Stream, Inc. www.caringstream.com
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Greetings Everyone! My name is Jim Gillespie and I will be your new
Executive Director. I have enjoyed meeting many of you and what a nice
group of residents live here at Lakeview Terrace. Your home and beautiful grounds are impressive and I am very honored to be your new
leader. What I have observed with resident care from the employees is
most impressive. Having been an Executive Director in senior housing
for 25 years and previously at Lake Port Square in Leesburg, I recognize
the caring and thoughtful attitudes of your employee staff. Everyone
seems so friendly. Judy Gibbs, your previous Executive Director, has
made the leap to retirement living and her service to Lakeview Terrace is
greatly appreciated. I will work hard to continue her good work and
look forward to getting to know each of you in your beautiful home at
Lakeview Terrace. Please, stop by and say hello!
GAME TIME AT LAKEVIEW TERRACE
Whether you’re feeling lucky or just want a laugh we have a game just for you!
Bingo
Monday Nights @ 6:00 pm—7:30 pm
Bridge
Monday @ 12:30 pm
Tuesday @ 6:00pm
Poker
Put your skills to the test.
Wednesday Nights @ 5:30 pm—8:30 pm
Mahjongg
Wednesday Nights @ 6:00 pm
Card Night
Thursday Nights @ 6:00 pm
Game Night & Horse Racing Night
Friday Nights @ 6:00 pm
Pennies From Heaven
Saturday Nights @ 6:00 pm
Do you have the hand to win the pot?
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Games People Play
tian antiquities as early as 1000 BC. There is even
evidence that senet may have been derived from
an earlier game played by ancient Persian societies. Backgammon artifacts (or rather, precursors
By. John Plunkett
to backgammon) dating from about 3,000 BC
have been excavated from Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran,
making it one of the oldest two player games still
Have you ever encountered one of those people
who claim to have invented some common device in play today.
or another? You know, the ones who include tales
of someone’s father or other relative, who built or
invented something but someone else got all the
credit or money. I know how I encounter these
situations from time to time, but the most entertaining ones for me are those who invented
games. So, you can imagine how impressed I was
recently to discover myself in the presence of the
inventor of Backgammon. You can also imagine
my surprise when a little research revealed the
true beginnings of the game.
As a kid, I grew up playing games on Friday
nights with the family. I often repeat the practice
in my home with my children. Having never
given much thought to where games came from,
or originated, the above encounter piqued my curiosity. It turns out that board games have been
with us almost since the beginning of recorded
history. Not the kinds of “card” boards we play on
now, but rather wood, or more often stone playing surfaces. Archeological sites around the world
have revealed much about the games people
played in the days before television and the internet. Some of that information reveals how similar
the latest idea in games 2000 years ago resembles what we do for fun and relaxation today. In
fact, you might be surprised at how old some of
the games you play, really are. Here are some examples of the origins of several games you may
have in your home right now.
XII scripta board in the museum at Ephesus
Chess
Chess is one of the most popular and well-known
games in the world today, but did you know it’s
believed to be nearly 2,000 years old? Historians
think it was developed somewhere between 280
and 550 AD in Eastern India. It was known as
chaturanga (four divisions of the military). The
pieces consisted of infantry, cavalry, elephants,
Backgammon
There is plenty of evidence to support the relationship between modern Backgammon and a
game the Romans played as early as 200 BC,
called XII scripta (game of twelve markings). A
number of examples of preserved game boards
exist today; several of which are displayed in museums around the world. There are indications
that XII scripta was a descendent of a much older
game, senet, which has been identified in Egyp-
Krishna and Radha playing chaturanga
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and chariotry – still represented by today’s pawn,
knight, bishop, and rook. The game became
popular in the Muslim world after the 633–44
AD Islamic conquest of Persia, and spread
throughout Europe by 1000 AD. The Persian influence on chess remains evident today in its terminology. For example, the term checkmate originates from the Persian shãh mãt, or
“the king is left helpless”.
Chutes and Ladders
Also known as Snakes and Ladders, this childhood classic is based on the ancient Indian game
Moksha Patam. Moksha Patam was intended as
much more than a simple game, it was intended
as a complex morality lesson to teach children
about good versus evil. Navigating the board represented the journey of life. The philosophies
of karma (destiny) and kama (desire) were incorporated in order to give lessons on good versus
bad deeds. Ladders represented virtues such as
faith and humility, while the snakes represented
vices like lust and anger. Snakes outnumbered
ladders in this version of the game in order to
serve as a reminder that the path of good was
more difficult to take than was the path of evil.
After the game was brought to England, Victorian
ideals replaced the original virtues and vices,
with ladders representing, for example, thrift and
industry, and snakes representing indulgence
and disobedience. The Victorians also decided to
use equal numbers of snakes and ladders.
Checkers
Alquerque, which is also known as Qirkat, originated in the Middle East. It is the ancestor of
modern day checkers. Qirkat is mentioned in
Arab literature as early as the tenth century. The
game is variously mentioned or described in several other texts dating to the period. In fact, in
the thirteenth century Alfonso X of Castile commissioned, “Libro de los juegos”, literally the
An illustration of Alquerque in Libro de los
juegos (Book of Games)
book of games, in which rules for play are included. Ancient versions of game boards have
been found in Egyptian tombs, it is even mentioned in the writings of both Plato and Homer.
Indian Snakes and Ladders game circa 1700 AD
So, there you have it. Four games we all love to
play examined from a historical perspective. No
wonder we enjoy them so much. Besides, now we
have a little defense for the next conversation we
have with the inventor of the internet.
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Scientific Studies On The Therapeutic
Benefits of Garlic
By Christian Nordvik
What is the difference between scientific and anecdotal
evidence? Anecdotal evidence refers to a person's personal
experience - like the evidence from a witness. This type of
evidence is crucial in a court of law when somebody (a witness) saw something happen with their own eyes. In medicine, however, anecdotal evidence, when compared to scientific evidence, is not compelling enough.
Co-author, Ray Swapan, Ph.D., said "This research highlights the great promise of plant-originated compounds as
natural medicine for controlling the malignant growth of
human brain tumor cells," Ray said. "More studies are
needed in animal models of brain tumors before application of this therapeutic strategy to brain tumor patients."
Hip osteoarthritis
Women whose diets were rich in allium vegetables had
lower levels of osteoarthritis, a team at King's College London and the University of East Anglia, both in England,
reported in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.
If I cross the road with my eyes closed and so does a friend Examples of allium vegetables include garlic, leeks, shalof mine, and we do not get run over, it would be irresponsi- lots, onions and rakkyo.
ble to tell everybody around us, including our children that The study authors said their findings not only highlighted
crossing the street with your eyes closed is safe. A scientific the possible impact of diet on osteoarthritis outcomes, but
study using thousands of participants, comparing crossers also demonstrated the potential for using compounds that
with their eyes closed against others with their eyes open,
exist in garlic to develop treatments for the condition.
would soon show that crossing the street with your eyes
The long-term study, involved more than 1,000 healthy
closed is extremely dangerous.
female twins, found that those with dietary habits includBelow are examples of some scientific studies published in ing plenty of fruit and vegetables, "particularly alliums
peer-reviewed academic journals about the therapeutic
such as garlic", had fewer signs of osteoarthritis in the hip
benefits (or not) of garlic.
joint.
Lung cancer risk
Potentially a powerful antibiotic
People who ate raw garlic at least twice a week had a 44%
lower risk of developing lung cancer, according to a study
carried out at the Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease
Control and Prevention in China.
Diallyl sulfide, a compound in garlic, was 100 times more
effective than two popular antibiotics in fighting the Campylobacter bacterium, according to a study published in
the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
The researchers, who published their study in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, had carried out face-toface interviews with 1,424 lung cancer patients as well as
4,543 healthy individuals. They were asked about their diet
and lifestyle habits, which included questions on their
smoking habits and how often they ate garlic.
The Campylobacter bacterium is one of the most common
causes of intestinal infections.
The study authors wrote "Protective association between
intake of raw garlic and lung cancer has been observed
with a dose-response pattern, suggesting that garlic may
potentially serve as a chemo-preventive agent for lung cancer."
Brain cancer
Sr. author, Dr. Xiaonan Lu, from Washington State Univ.,
said "This work is very exciting to me because it shows that
this compound has the potential to reduce disease-causing
bacteria in the environment and in our food supply."
Heart protection
Diallyl trisulfide, a component of garlic oil, helps protect
the heart during cardiac surgery and after a heart attack,
researchers at Emory University School of Medicine found.
They also believe diallyl trisulfide could be used as a treatment for heart failure.
Oregano-sulfur compounds found in garlic have been identified as effective in destroying the cells in glioblastomas, a Hydrogen sulfide gas has been shown to protect the heart
from damage. However, it is a volatile compound and diffitype of deadly brain tumor.
cult to deliver as therapy. Hence, the scientists decided to
Scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina refocus on diallyl trisulfide, a garlic oil component, as a safer
ported in the journal Cancer that three pure oregano-sulfur way to deliver the benefits of hydrogen sulfide to the heart.
compounds from garlic - DAS, DADS and DATS In animal experiments using laboratory mice, the team
"demonstrated efficacy in eradicating brain cancer cells,
found that after a heart attack the mice that had received
but DATS proved to be the most effective".
diallyl sulfide had 61% less heart damage in an area of risk,
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compared to the untreated mice.
as kidney and liver function.
The team presented their findings at the American Heart
Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions conference in Orlando, Florida in November, 2011.
At the end of the four months the researchers concluded
"...garlic extract supplementation improves blood lipid
profile, strengthens blood antioxidant potential, and
causes significant reductions in systolic and diastolic blood
pressures. It also leads to a decrease in the level of oxidation product (MDA) in the blood samples, which demonstrates reduced oxidation reactions in the body."
In another study, published in the Journal of Agricultural
and Food Chemistry, scientists found that garlic oil may
help protect diabetes patients from cardiomyopathy.
Cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of death among diabetes patients. It is a chronic disease of the myocardium
(heart muscle), which is abnormally thickened, enlarged
and/or stiffened.
In other words, the garlic extract supplements reduced
high cholesterol levels, and also blood pressure in the patients with hypertension. The scientists added that theirs
was a small study - a larger one needs to be carried out.
The team fed diabetic laboratory rats either garlic oil or
corn oil. Those fed the garlic oil experienced significantly
more changes associated with protection against heart
damage, compared to the corn oil fed animals.
Prostate cancer
Doctors at the Department of Urology, China-Japan
Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China, carried out a study
evaluating the relationship between allium vegetable consumption and prostate cancer risk.
The study authors wrote "In conclusion, garlic oil possesses significant potential for protecting hearts from diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy."
They gathered and analyzed published studies up to May
2013 and reported their findings in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention6.
Human studies will need to be performed to determine
whether they confirm the results of this study.
The study authors wrote "Allium vegetables, especially garlic intake, are related to a decreased risk of prostate canResearchers at Ankara university set out to determine what cer."
the effects of garlic extract supplementation might be on
The team also commented that as there were not that
the blood lipid (fat) profile of patients with high blood chomany studies, they recommend further well-designed prolesterol. Their study was published in the Journal of Nutrispective studies be carried out to confirm their findings.
tional Biochemistry5.
The common cold
The study involved 23 volunteers, all with high cholesterol;
13 of them also had high blood pressure. They were divided Julia Fashner, MD; Kevin Ericson, MD; and Sarah Werner,
into two groups:
DO, at St. Joseph Family Medicine Residency, Mishawaka,
Indiana, carried out a study titled "Treatment of the ComThe high-cholesterol normotensive group (normal blood
mon Cold in Children and Adults", published in American
pressure)
Family Physician9.
The high-cholesterol hypertensive group (high blood presThey reported that "Prophylactic use of garlic may desure)
crease the frequency of colds in adults, but has no effect on
They took garlic extract supplements for four months and duration of symptoms." Prophylactic use means using it
were regularly checked for blood lipid parameters, as well with the intention of preventing disease.
High cholesterol and high blood pressure
Lakeview Terrace is a not-for-profit community.
Please help us to continue to improve the services we
provide our residents by donating a monetary gift.
Please email [email protected]
for information.
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Time-based
triggers can also
be used to stick
with routines over
and over again.
- James Clear
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Sampling Of LVT Activities
Thursday’s Lunch & Shopping
June 1st
Boggy Creek Camp Club
June 4th
June 2nd
Men’s Get-Together, Guest Lecturer: Fred Neilson
on Prostate Cancer
Eustis Square Shopping Center
Via Port Mall, Leesburg
June 3rd
Wednesday at the Movies “Unbroken”
Dinner Outing to Lampu Japanese Steakhouse &
Sushi Bar, Mt. Dora
Stores in this center include a Beall’s Outlet,
Dollar General, Goodwill Thrift Store, LCM
Thrift Store, New China (Buffet Restaurant),
Save-a-Lot and Tractor Supply.
June 4th
Ladies’ Get-Together, Carol Clendinen
June 11th
June 5th
Super Noggin Team Trivia
Eustis Plaza
June 6th
“My Fair Lady” at the Ocala Civic Theatre
June 9th
Wii Bowling Breakfast of Champions
June 10th
Lunch Outing to Olive Garden
Wednesday at the Movies “Planet Earth—From Pole
to Pole”
June 11th
Lakeview Terrace Ecology 101, Guest Speaker:
Lavon Silvernell
Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs at Lakeview
Terrace
Harry Wieland’s 95th Birthday Bash
June 15th
Wii Bowling Tournament Begins
June 16th
Poetry Club
Dinner Outing to Outback Steakhouse, Leesburg
June 17th
June 19th
Stores in the Eustis Plaza include Big Lots, Dollar General, Hungry Howies Pizza & Subs,
Sprout’s Fresh Market and Subway. If you
would like to walk to the outskirts of this plaza,
you can dine at Arby’s or IHOP.
June 18th
Tri-Cities Shopping Plaza
Stores in the Plaza include China 8, Dollar Tree,
Hobby Lobby, Papa John’s, Pet Supermarket,
Radio Shack, Ross and TJ Maxx. If you would
like to walk to the outskirts of the plaza, you can
dine at Froggers, Kentucky Fried Chicken or
Wasabi.
Walmart/Target
Wednesday at the Movies “The Imitation Game”
June 25th
Lunch Outing to Ichiban Chinese & Japanese
Buffet, Leesburg
Eustis Village on David Walker
June 20th
Computer Club
June 23rd
Breakfast at Bob Evans, followed by Appleton
Museum of Art
June 24th
Wednesday at the Movies “Planet Earth—
Mountains”
June 25th
Lakeview Terrace celebrates Las Vegas Day
June 26th
Super Noggin Team Trivia
June 27th
50’s & 60’s Grand Finale at the Orange Blossom
Opry
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Stores in this Plaza include Beall’s, Cato’s,
Crisper’s, GNC, Hallmark Cards, Publix and
Sally’s Beauty Supply. There is also a nail salon,
a branch of SunTrust Bank and a UPS Store in
the plaza. If you would like to walk to the outskirts of the plaza, you can dine at Applebee’s,
OakWood, Sonic or Gator’s Dockside.
800-343-1588
www.LakeviewTerrace.com
tors work together to build new habits. [1]
The 5 Ways to Trigger a
New Habit
Each phase of the loop is important for building new habits, but today I’d like to discuss
the first factor: habit triggers.
There are five primary ways that a new habit
can be triggered. If you understand each of
them, then you can select the right one for the
In his best-selling book, The Power of
particular habit that you are working on.
Habit, author Charles Duhigg explains a sim- Here’s what you need to know about each
trigger…
ple three-step process that all habits follow.
Trigger 1: Time
This cycle, known as The Habit Loop, says
Time is perhaps the most common way to
that each habit consists of…
trigger a new habit. Common morning habits
The Trigger: the event that starts the habit.
are just one example. Waking up in the mornThe Routine: the behavior that you perform, ing usually triggers a cascade of habits: go to
the bathroom, take a shower, brush your
the habit itself.
teeth, get dressed, make a cup of coffee, etc.
The Reward: the benefit that is associated
There are also less commonly recognized
with the behavior.
ways that time triggers our behavior. For exThe image below shows how these three fac- ample, if you pay attention you may notice
by James Clear
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that you repeat certain tasks mindlessly at
different points during the day: heading off
to get a snack at the same time each afternoon, taking a smoking break at the same
time each morning, and so on.
If these patterns are bad habits, then you
may want to take stock of how you feel at this
time of day. In many cases, your habits are a
signal of how you feel. Bored? Maybe your
afternoon snacking habit is a way of breaking
up the monotony of the day. Feeling lonely?
Maybe your smoking break is a way to connect with fellow co-workers. The point is, if
you understand the reason why these habits
pop up at the same time each day, then it can
become easier to find a new habit to fill the
void. Bad habits are replaced, not eliminated.
Trigger 2: Location
If you have ever walked into your kitchen,
seen a plate of cookies on the counter, and
eaten them just because they are there in
front of you, then you understand the power
of location on our behavior.
In my opinion, location (i.e. environment) is
the most powerful driver of mindless habits
and also the least recognized. In many cases,
our habits and behaviors are simply a response to the environment that surrounds us.
The famous study on water versus soft drink
consumption is one example of how our environment can either promote good habits or
lead us toward bad ones.
However, location-based triggers are not
simply things we respond to, they can also be
How I use it: Time-based triggers can also things we create. Multiple research studies by
be used to stick with routines over and over David Neal and Wendy Wood from Duke
again. This is my preferred method. For ex- University have discovered that new habits
ample, every Monday and Thursday I write a are actually easier to perform in new locanew article and post it on JamesClear.com.
tions.
The time and date drive this pattern. It does- One theory is that we mentally assign habits
n’t matter how good or how bad I feel about to a particular location. This means that all of
the article. It doesn’t matter how long or how the current places that you’re familiar with
short the article is. All that matters is that
(your home, your office, etc.) already have
I stick to the schedule. The time triggers the behaviors, habits and routines assigned to
habit.
them. If you want to build new habits in
these familiar locations, then you need to
overcome the triggers and cues that your
brain has already assigned to that area.
Meanwhile, building a new habit in a new location is like having a blank slate. You don’t
have to overcome any pre-existing triggers.
How I use it: When I arrive at the gym, I
head to the same spot each time to get ready,
change into my lifting gear, and start my
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warm up. This location in the gym is a simple
trigger that helps prompt my pre-workout
routine (more on the power of a pre-game
routine). There are bound to be some days
when I don’t feel like exercising, but the location-based trigger helps me overcome that
and get into my workout ritual as painlessly
as possible.
pressed. Or, you may default to online shopping when you feel bored. The emotional
states of depression or boredom are triggers
for these negative habits.
Unfortunately, although emotions are very
common triggers for our behavior, I find that
they are harder to control and utilize for
building good habits. Mostly, I think this is
Trigger 3: Preceding Event
because if you want an emotion to trigger a
Many habits are a response to something else positive habit, then you often need to be conthat happens in your life. Your phone buzzes, sciously aware of the emotion as you are exso you pick it up to check your latest text
periencing it. In other words, you have to be
message. The little notification bar lights up emotional and aware at the same time … and
on Facebook, so you click it to see what it sig- that can be hard to do. Paying attention is a
nals. These are examples of habits that are
powerful, but difficult, way to build better
triggered by a preceding event.
habits.
When it comes to triggers that are useful for
building new habits, I find preceding events
to be one of the most useful. Once you understand habit stacking you can develop all sorts
of ways to tie new habits into preceding
events. (Example: “When I make my morning cup of coffee, I will meditate for one minute.”)
How I use it: For over two years, I have
used a preceding event to stick with a daily
gratitude habit. Each night, when I sit down
to eat dinner, I say one thing that I was grateful for that day. (It’s worth noting, one reason
I believe I have been able to stick with this
habit so consistently is because it is so
small. The smaller the habit, the easier it is to
build into your life.)
How I use it: I’m trying to get better about
noticing when I am holding tension in my
body and experiencing stress. When I do notice that I’m feeling particularly stressed, I’ll
use this emotional state to trigger a deep
breathing habit.
I like to follow a 3-1-5 breathing pattern:
Trigger 4: Emotional State
three seconds in, pause for one second, five
In my experience, emotional state is a comseconds out. I’ll usually repeat this sequence
mon trigger for bad habits. For example, you
three to five times. I find this little breathing
may have a habit of eating when you feel deexercise to be a great instant stress reliever.
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It’s particularly useful because you can literally do it anywhere.
new habit, there is one important thing to understand. The key to choosing a successful trigger is to pick a trigger that is
Trigger 5: Other People
It is probably no surprise to you that the peo- very specific and immediately actionple you surround yourself with can play a role able.
on your habits and behaviors. What may be a For example, let’s say you want to build a new
surprise is just how big of an impact these
habit of doing 10 pushups each day at lunch
people can make. One study in the New Eng- time. You might start by choosing a timeland Journal of Medicine found that if your
based trigger and saying something like,
friend becomes obese, then your risk of obe- “During my lunch break each day, I’ll do 10
sity increases by 57 percent — even if your
pushups.” This might work, but it’s not very
friend lives hundreds of miles away.
specific. Do you do your pushups at the beginning of your lunch break? At the end? Any
As far as I can tell, the best way to make use
time?
of this information is to surround yourself
with people who have the habits you want to
have yourself. As Jim Rohn says, “You are the
average of the five people you spend the most
time with.”
Alternatively, you could create a trigger
around a very specific preceding event that
happens right around your lunch break. For
example, “When I close my laptop to leave for
lunch, I’ll do 10 pushups.” In this case, the
How I use it: I’m not a heavy drinker, but
nearly every time I go out with friends I get a very specific action of “closing the laptop” is a
perfect trigger for what to do next (your 10
drink. Why is that? If I’m not yearning for a
pushups). There is no mistaking when you
beer, why get one? It’s simply a response to
the environment that I am in and the people I should do the new habit.
am around. [2]
As always, self-experimentation is the only
real answer. Play around with these five habit
triggers and see what works for you.
James Clear writes at
JamesClear.com, where he
uses behavior science to
share ideas for mastering
your habits, improving
your health, and increasing your creativity. To get
useful ideas on improving
your mental and physical
performance, join his free
newsletter.
Before You Choose Your Trigger
No matter what trigger you choose for your
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As you grow older, an active lifestyle is more important than ever. Consistent exercise can help increase
energy, maintain your freedom, and manage symptoms of illness or pain. Exercise can even reverse some
of the symptoms of aging. And not only is exercise good for your body, it’s also good for your mind, mood,
and memory. Whether you are generally healthy or are managing an illness, there are plenty of ways to get
more active, improve confidence, and boost your fitness. Join one of the exercise classes or come up to the
fitness room to stay active.
Leslee O. Stephens, CPT
Wellness and Fitness Coordinator
How does yoga help seniors?
Published: Friday, May 15, 2015 by Interim HealthCare
Through poses, meditation and controlled breathing, yoga
provides participants with a way to exercise while relaxing
their minds and pushing their bodies to their limits. The
practice doesn't only provide a peaceful environment, since it
comes with a plethora of health benefits as well. Seniors who
experience conditions such as arthritis, chronic pain and high
blood pressure will see improvements through this form of
therapy.
Why yoga?
Published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, researchers from Harvard University and the Erasmus University
Medical Center found that yoga aids in cardiovascular health and metabolic syndrome. They studied 2,768 men and
women, divided into two groups - those who participated in yoga and those who served as the control arm. The second group mainly had no intervention from the researchers and were left to choose their own workout. When compared to study participants in the control group, those who did yoga faced improvements in various areas of health.
When seniors took part in yoga classes, they lost lose weight, improved blood pressure and lowered their cholesterol
levels. Researchers didn't notice any significant changes in blood sugar or glycosylated hemoglobin to help diabetes.
There are many other health benefits that come with the practice of yoga, both physical and psychological.
Sleep - Yoga contributes to a more restful sleep for not only seniors, but anyone who participates. Published in
the Indian Journal of Medical Research, a study by researchers at the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation reported that participants fell asleep faster and slept longer after doing yoga. Through physical poses, relaxation techniques and voluntary regulated breathing, seniors decreased the time it took to fall asleep by 10 minutes and gained approximately an hour more of sleep.
Chronic pain - Researchers at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center found that yoga is a great way for seniors to
alleviate pain. The gentle motions and deep breathing serve as natural ways to relieve aching joints. By the end of
the study, seniors were asking for less medications and no participant had symptoms worsen.
Mood - Seniors benefit from being involved in group activities, the American Senior Fitness Association explained. Those who live alone or can't socialize as much as they used to due to movement limitations can experience depression, but meeting up with others can significantly boost their moods. Yoga fulfills the need to communicate with their peers while reducing stress and anxiety.
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How to make yoga work for seniors
While yoga offers non-medication methods for people to improve their health, it comes with its risks as well. People's bodies age at different rates, which allows for a wide range of ability levels, according to the Washington Post.
However, not all yoga instructors are trained to cater to seniors' needs and the exercise can actually cause more pain
if not done correctly.
"In general, older adults have less joint range of motion, less strength and poorer balance than younger men and
women," Gale Greendale, a professor of medicine and gerontology at the University of California, Los Angeles, told
the source. "They also have more limiting musculoskeletal conditions, such as osteoarthritis and low back conditions, that may put them at higher risk of musculoskeletal side effects from yoga."
If seniors want to take a class, they should observe one or two before joining in, the Washington Post suggested.
They also shouldn't be afraid to talk to the instructor beforehand to see if there are any adjustments that can be
made to accommodate limitations. According to Greendale, the benefits of yoga outweigh the risks, but only when
done at the right speed and level.
To experience the advantages of the exercise, people don't have to take hour-long classes. Just two five-minute sessions per day can induce health improvements, according to Matthew Taylor, director of the Dynamics System Rehabilitation Clinic and former president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. This will help seniors
with their posture, which leads to improved comfort, balance, respiratory function and mood.
Yoga offers plenty of benefits to seniors, but they should be sure not to push themselves past their physical limitations.
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Summer’s Here, And I’m For That!
Got my rubber sandals. Got my straw hat.
James Taylor wrote that from the perspective of living in New England. Here in
Florida, summer is nearly year round, but it doesn’t mean we appreciate it less.
July is for Bar-B-Ques. Let’s Cook!
The 4th is our nation’s birthday. Let’s Celebrate!
July means 2015 is half over. Let’s Count our Blessings!
All this and more in Celebrate Family next month.
Lakeview Terrace
Caring Stream, Inc.
331 Raintree Drive
Post Office Box 1212
Altoona, Florida 32702-9609
Winter Park, Florida 32790
352-669-3148
www.caringstream.com
800-343-1588
[email protected]
1-888-793-4454
407 268-6660
[email protected]
Lic # 88029
www.LakeviewTerrace.com
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