It is everywhere in your body, but what is ‘fascia’? Discover the biological spandex that helps determine your health. We are wrapped up in it, but science has long ignored fascia, the connective tissue around organs and muscles. Now it is discovering how this ‘biological spandex’ affects our health, from chronic pain to immune and …
Stress affects the body Stress affects all systems of the body including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous, and reproductive systems. Musculoskeletal system When the body is stressed, muscles tense up. Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction to stress—the body’s way of guarding against injury and pain. With the sudden onset of stress, …
Evolution of humanity This clock representation shows some of Earth’s major geological time units and definitive events. The Hadean eon represents the time before the fossil record of life on Earth; its upper boundary is now regarded as 4.0 Ga (billion years ago). Other subdivisions reflect the evolution of life; the Archean and Proterozoic are …
Short Yang Form Many people ask me which form of Tai Chi I practise. On the past World Tai Chi day ( 30 April), I could get acquainted with the Wu form given by Inge Van Den Eynde through her centre OJO. As Patrick Kelly explains on his website, there are different forms of Tai …
Fight or Flight The overarching principle of the fight-or-flight response is marshalling resources for immediate needs instead of building for the future, act now and ask questions later. The hormonal rush of epinephrine focuses on the body, increasing heart rate and blood pressure and dilating the lungs’ bronchial tubes to carry more oxygen to the …
How to handle stress at work? If you’re currently working, you probably know what it feels like to be stressed on the job. A must-do project arrives without warning. Three emails stack up for each one you delete. Phones ring, meetings are scheduled, and a coworker drops the ball on a shared assignment. How does …
The primary source of stress John J. Ratey wrote the article below in 2008 in his book SPARK. The facts and figures were already clear then. So why don’t we do it? Since the office is a primary source of stress for many people, it’s an excellent place to look for the benefits of exercise. …
In the last blog, we discussed how to Inoculate Yourself, today part 3: The Alarm System. Emergency phase Triggered by a primitive call to survive, the body’s stress response is a built-in gift of evolution without which we wouldn’t be here today. The response ranges from mild to intense depending on the cause Severe stress …
In the last blog, we discussed the Redefinition of Stress, today part 2: Inoculate Yourself. How the body and brain respond to stress depends on many factors, not the least of which is your genetic background and personal experience. Today there is an ever-widening gap between the evolution of our biology and our society. We …
Redefining stress Our bodies are well equipped to handle stress in small doses, but it can seriously affect your body when that stress becomes long-term or chronic.With sudden onset stress, the muscles tense up all at once and release their tension when the stress passes. Chronic stress causes the muscles in the body to be …