Levels of sound and visceral fat

Three stories you should read today Three easy ways to reduce belly fat (and they don’t include exercising) There are simple changes to your diet that will help you avoid the dreaded middle-age spread. Try these three dietary strategies for visceral weight loss. Faddy diets often claim to target belly fat, also known as visceral fat, but no diet can guarantee weight loss in a specific area. What we do know is that some foods promote greater visceral weight gain than others, so here are three dietary strategies to help avoid the dreaded middle-aged spread. ‘I taught Peloton classes while having chemotherapy for breast cancer’ Driven by personal tragedy, star instructor Leanne Hainsby explains how she kept up her high-pressure routine alongside gruelling treatments. This time last year, the life of Leanne Hainsby, 35, looked charmed. As the UK’s most popular cycling instructor on the global fitness platform Peloton, she’s young, beautiful and has the effervescent charisma needed to shine through a touchscreen and motivate the millions who take her weekly spin classes. When Peloton’s popularity surged during the 2020 lockdown, so did Leanne’s. Her Instagram numbers exploded, along with the keen interest in her life off of the stationary bike. Why the headphone generation are at risk of dementia Hearing loss is now affecting younger age groups, but they are ignoring the problems. Find out what you can do to maintain your hearing.“We are much more adapted to low-level and gentle sounds as a natural survival tool, so when we introduce artificially loud sound through headphones, we can damage our ears.”Any level of sound at or over 85 decibels can be harmful to the ears, especially over long periods, she warns. “Music through headphones at maximum volume is 100 to 110 decibels, and listening for long periods can lead to significant hearing loss.” If you do use headphones, she adds, take 15-minute breaks, and never use them for more than an hour at a time.

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Forget signing up to the gym and hours of cardio – there is an easier route to a better body

Want a younger, feel-good body? There’s a vital component most are neglecting, and it can slash years off your ‘metabolic age’.

To help you out today

	Struggling to get a good night’s rest? One sleep expert shares their secrets for better slumber, from evening exercise to early dinner and screen time.
	Prince Harry says cannabis helps him deal with anxiety, but some say the drug can lead to dependence and even psychosis. Read what mental health experts think about cannabis.
	If you can’t get a GP appointment, some at-home tests might be life-savers – but others are more trouble than they’re worth. Here are the health kits worth investing in.
	‘My husband’s a central heating dictator’: Our anonymous author’s husband has taken extreme measures in response to the spiralling energy bills. Read the full story here.

Morning

Eagle and Child Inkling

flickering morning fire
quietly throws warmth
across the shadows

no sleep lifts me up
from my warm bed
to sit in the dark

thinking, weighted
yesterdays forge
into serenity

praying in resolution
knowing the day
will be full

copyright:  2017 CMM

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Snoring and apnoea a serious problem

For those who have a partner who snores, it can be really an annoying problem.

According to YouGov, around 52 per cent of adults are regular snorers?

Obstructive sleep apnea: As soft tissue falls to the back of the throat, it impedes the passage of air (blue arrows) through the trachea.

Snoring is the hoarse or harsh sound that occurs when air flows past relaxed tissues in your throat. It happens upon the intake of breath during sleep, a recurrent state of reduced responsiveness to external stimulation that is accompanied by complex and predictable changes in physiology and is caused by the vibration of the soft palate and vocal cords. It is known that nearly everyone makes some noise in his or her sleep during the night, or when having a nap, during the daytime. Snoring is often associated with a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), but not all snorers have OSA.

Sleep contrasts with wakefulness, in which state there is an enhanced potential for sensitivity and efficient responsiveness to external stimuli. The sleep-wakefulness alternation is the most-striking manifestation in higher vertebrates of the more-general phenomenon of periodicity in the activity or responsivity of living tissue.

Snoring is more common in the elderly because the loss of tone in the oropharyngeal musculature promotes vibration of the soft palate and pharynx. It is also more common in men than in women, and it occurs most often in obese persons.
Children’s snoring usually results from enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

Whatever the cause, snoring is always associated with mouth breathing and can be corrected by removing obstructions to normal nasal breathing or by altering the sleeping position so that the affected individual does not lie on his back. Big problem is when there are moments when the person stops breathing. Snoring or apnoea prostheses are also very helpful devices.

A bed partner or family member may observe individual snoring or appear to stop breathing, gasp, or choke while sleeping. In severe cases this may occur once every minute during sleep and in turn may lead to profound sleep disruption. In addition, repetitive interruption of normal breathing can lead to a reduction in oxygen levels in the blood.

It can happen by people who are too fat, but also by thin persons who have a set-back chin (retrognathia), and it may be for this reason that patients of East Asian heritage are more likely to have sleep apnoea without being overweight.

Not only can snoring be annoying for the sleeper himself but also for the person accompanying him.  It can be a nuisance to the partner.

“Lots of people say that they snore when they’re flat on their back,”

says Guy Leschziner, professor of neurology and sleep medicine at King’s College London and author of The Secret World of Sleep.

“The reason for that is because the tongue tends to move backward a little bit, sometimes the jaw retracts and that narrows the airway. And when the airway’s narrower and floppy, you’re more likely to get this reverberation of the soft tissues.”

In some cases, snoring can reach up to 100 decibels, the same as a passing truck, and unsurprisingly, it can have a major impact on a partner’s sleep.

Mayo Clinic in the US found that women get 13 per cent less sleep per night when their partner is snoring, something which can lead to deep resentment over time. One UK survey of 2,000 people found that 68 per cent were woken up by their other half snoring, while 12 per cent even cited it as a contributory factor for divorcing their partner.

Scientists from the Mayo Clinic in the US found that women get 13 per cent less sleep per night when their partner is snoring, something which can lead to deep resentment over time. One UK survey of 2,000 people found that 68 per cent were woken up by their other half snoring, while 12 per cent even cited it as a contributory factor for divorcing their partner.

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Please come to read more about snoring that can disturb sleep, affect your health and drive a long-suffering partner insane, but with the help of the experts you can make a change:

How to stop snoring and avoid being banished to the sofa

Make your brain more efficient

Charly W. Karl

Source: healthproductsforyou.com

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7 Ways To Boost Your Immune System in Lockdown

Because lots of people seem to be in a state of panic; supermarkets aisles made empty with people having bought more food than they could possibly consume in the coming weeks,  Natalia Ramsden B Psych, Arts. MsC Occ Psych. MBA, Founder at SOFOS Associates on Thrive Global writes about

How To Strengthen Your Immunity During The Coronavirus Pandemic

In her place like in many supermarkets here in Belgium too, hand sanitizer has become a hot commodity, and people stare angrily if they even suspect you are unwell (regardless of whether you show symptoms or not).

Now when we are requested to stay as much as we can indoors and to avoid contact with others, even family members, she implores you to try the actions below. Not just because you will feel better but because they will enhance your performance and frankly we find ourselves in a time where our well-being depends on it. And so here they are, 7 hacks for boosting your immune system.

1. Sleep

• crawl into bed & get an early night = no fear of missing out to keep you awake.
• Sleep deprivation (+ poor quality sleep) weakens immune system => susceptible to illness.

2. Take A Cold Shower

• Cryotherapy = causes blood vessels near skin to contract (vacoconstriction) + redirect blood to major organs to maintain core body temperature. =>  blood fills with oxygen, nutrients + restorative enzymes > this blood makes its way back to skin, muscle tissue + organs. => speeding up metabolism, reducing inflammation, improved quality of sleep, enhanced focus + improved immune response.

3. Mindfulness – Adult Colouring

• mindfulness meditation increases activity in prefrontal cortex, right anterior insula + right hippocampus (command centre for body’s immune system) = stimulates these areas which => helps immune system function more effectively.

4. Exercise

• physical activity = improves defense activity + metabolic health> Through promoting good circulation, immune system’s cells + substances move through body freely + efficiently => improve mood, reduce stress + enhance general well being overall. T

5. Consider Your Diet

• limit anxiety inducing foods such as processed meat, fried foods, refined cereals, refined sugars, alcohol and caffeine.
• try to load up on leafy greens, oily fish, nuts
• looking for to dust off those cookbooks + experiment in the kitchen

Read the article to find out how in these unprecedented times, we must do what we can to get through this period and can ensure we are well equipped to deal with the challenge ahead

> 7 Ways To Boost Your Immune System in Lockdown

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Preceding

CoViD-19 warnings

Anxiety Management During Pandemic Days~

Hope on the Horizon: Pandemic Anxiety Management II~

Pandemic Anxiety Busters~

Mel Brooks saying “go home” to Max Brooks

Christian Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

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Please find also to read:

1. Using fears of the deadly coronavirus
2. Europe in Chaos for a Pandemic
3. Making deeper cuts than some terrorist attacks of the near past
4. The unseen enemy

Anxiety Management During Pandemic Days~

When living in Lockdown places, even in cities when still able to go some kilometres away from home, even if it has now become more limited in several places, those not limited by (1-1-1 or 1 person 1 meter from home at a time) may be happy to count themselves to the lucky ones who may still move around and should be enjoying to see all those things for which they previously had not taken enough time to notice them.

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To remember:

• shrieking headlines > increasing anxiety, worry, sleep disruption, feelings of helplessness, panic, and/or depression.
• some ideas that can help:
  • a customized anxiety toolbox to pick and choose
  • looking at positive images = objective + powerful anxiety reducer.
  • Self Talk Reframing (Cognitive Therapy)
  • Guided Imagination/Visualization
  • Exposure Management
  • Progressive Relaxation
  • Distraction in Action
  • Self Soothing
  • Spiritual Meditation/Prayer
  • Second Voice
  • Exercise, Diet & Good Health Practices
  • stay well informed + safe >> constant media onslaught = psychologically overwhelming + add to an unhealthy level of anxiety => reduce exposure to news.
  • Look for positive imagery +  Write blogs + stories.

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Continue reading: Hope on the Horizon: Pandemic Anxiety Management II~

Preceding

CoViD-19 warnings

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Please find also to read:

1. Using fears of the deadly coronavirus
2. Europe in Chaos for a Pandemic
3. Making deeper cuts than some terrorist attacks of the near past
4. The unseen enemy

Cindy Knoke

Many of us are experiencing emotional distress from the pandemic which can affect each of us in different ways, but often presents as increasing anxiety, worry, sleep disruption, feelings of helplessness, panic, and/or depression.

The shrieking headlines don’t help do they? So what can we do to manage these feelings and feel stronger emotionally and psychologically as we prepare ourselves to face the difficult days ahead?

As a psychotherapist who has practiced for many decades, I have some ideas that can help. So if you are interested, read on.

We are going to make a customized anxiety toolbox. One approach doesn’t work for everyone, pick and choose what feels right for you. Of course I’m including relaxing photos intermixed in this post because looking at positive images is an objective and powerful anxiety reducer. What you perceive influences how you think and feel.

ANXIETY TOOLBOX:

Self Talk Reframing (Cognitive Therapy)

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Death and rest

Lots of people may fear death and be very unrestful when they think about the dead.

Many long for moments without pain and moment where they can be at ease not having to worry about so many things. They are longing for peace and tranquillity. Many also want some time to recuperate and to get some new enforced energy.

Rest is something that most people desire, but are unable to find. Running from morning until night, seven days a week, people struggle to find rest. {Psalm 62:1 Finding Rest}

There are those who are unable to sleep the following night after they dared to take a nap in the middle of the day. Others do not mind falling asleep in their church whilst the priest gives his sermon. Others find it great to have the Sunday free so that they can have a nap on Sunday afternoons.

Every day we are confronted by the world which demands so many things from us; Having the pressure of society on us we often do not dare to have a rest somewhere in-between.

Rest becomes elusive because of the race that people are in to try and satisfy their soul. They fear rejection, poverty, looking bad, and missing out so they run harder to prevent those things from occurring. When they lie down at night, their minds race in fear for the next day trying to determine how to make something happen or to keep moving forward, thus not getting any rest. {Psalm 62:1 Finding Rest}

Lots of people do think when they do not follow the tred of this fast running world, they shall not be respected or recognized for what they do. They would love to please everybody around them, and by doing so sometimes forget what is really right or appropriate in the eyes of God.

The goals of people are for temporary happiness and enjoyment, but often these are missing in the race. People miss out on life striving to run hard after false things, false hopes and false dreams. {Psalm 62:1 Finding Rest}

Most people do think it are the living beings that can provide them with what they need. They do forget that it is the Most High Divine Creator Who is the Sustainer and Provider of all. They forget that salvation they seek can only be found by God.

Every believer needs to realize that it is God who is the true provider for every need he has. Provision for physical, spiritual and emotional needs. There is nothing that God cannot supply. {Psalm 62:1 Finding Rest}

We should not so much honour the dead when we have the Living God to Whom all honour belongs. In Him, we should trust and not in those who are already death. It is God Who deserves our confidence.

Instead of looking to the temporary things that this world can provide, one must look to God for the eternal things. The things that last are forgiveness, love, peace, joy, kindness, mercy, patience, and God’s presence. When a believer has God at the center of his life, he will know the rest that God provides. This will allow him to lie down at night in peace and sleep knowing God is in control and will save him in the end. {Psalm 62:1 Finding Rest}

Instead of partaking all those festivities for the dead, we should choose for God given feasts and choose for more life than  the life most people see in front of them. Our hopes should not come from those in the graves but from That One Who man can not see. We may be sure of it that He provides the most stable ground under our feet. He is The Rock that shall not be broken in pieces or being destroyed. We can wait calmly for God alone, because our hope and expectations comes from Him. He alone is should be our rock our defence and stronghold.

Trusting in God we shall not be shaken. Him being our high tower we who believe in Him and trust Him shall not be moved.

Are you hoping that those people, called saints, who died a long time ago shall bring peace and salvation for you?

Please do know that our salvation and glory depends on God and not on the dead.

⁸ Trust him at all times, you people. Pour out your hearts in his presence.
God is our refuge {Psalm 62:5-8}

 

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My soul waits calmly for God alone.
    My salvation comes from him.
{Psalm 62:1 GW)

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Preceding

In October-November People often too busy with death and the dead

Looking forward to a year full of Kindness

Tending to develop a genuine confidence in our Higher Power

Confidence…

Pray to thank God

 

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Find also to read

1. Back from gone #2 Aim of godly people
2. The Right One to follow and to worship
3. As Christ’s slaves doing the Will of God in gratitude
4. God Feeds The Birds
5. When things run differently than expected
6. Today’s thought “That my name might be proclaimed” (January 31)
7. Today’s thought “As wax melts before the fire” (February 5)

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Related

1. Psalm 62:1 Finding Rest
2. Rest Time
3. Message of the Day: Trust and Confidence in God Face of Trouble.
4. June 25, 2019
5. Psalm 62:1: Watching and waiting
6. Waiting Patiently
7. Blessed night
8. Lunch with the Psalms
9. God is my Rock
10. Choosing Far More Life

Measure of loneliness whilst time drags

Wen Autumn comes in the land lots of people seem to come to think about “Life and death”. Not only are there the many pagan festivals like Halloween, Samhain, Witches Night, All Saints, All Souls, and commemorative services for the many casualties of war.

Back in Wintertime, having the darkness falling earlier, people retreated in their house, after work, often feel more lonely and wonder also what they are doing in this world and why. For many this life seems a great big burden. They do not seem to be able to feel any joy in having to get up to go to work every day and not being appreciated for what they do.

Even when nature does not really die, for many it feels like dying. The leaves falls off, and we hear less singing of the birds. The different bugs and the animals “hide” whilst the colourful flowers “falls to rest”.  But for man it does not seem to offer a moment for rest. The opposite Autumn for most people comes after the moment of joy and rest, after the pleasant Summer holiday.

Now we are confronted with a time of reflection, having us wondering about life and death. Now we also want to fill up time with reading more and watching more television, willing to escape from daily business. For many the distraction does not seem enough to take away the feeling of loneliness, instead it pushes it more to the forefront.

C.E. Pereira writes

The measure of loneliness.
The day drags on, slowly.
A long wait for night.
Time is mocking you.

Night doesn’t bring relief.
Sleep is but a dream.
Sixty seconds, a minute past.
You watch the hour hand.

Each second of time.
In slow motion, a split.
Is time stuck? Tell me.
No. Time is not stuck.

Time moves on, not me.
The pull of quicksand.
Time drags, time crawls.
Sinking into loneliness.

Happiness makes time fly.
Loneliness makes time crawl.
It is but an illusion we create.
Time is constant. Timeless.

{Time drags, time crawls C.E. Pereira – 16-10-2019}

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Preceding

Just a thought for this month of Changing colours in Western Europe

What traditions/rituals/routines do you have for welcoming Autumn?

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Related

1. Time.
2. dum-de-dum and all that (28/Oct/19)
3. And then it was Autumn
4. Oh,- the time just turned back a bit
5. Mother Earth
6. Time off from road life
7. Tethered Souls, A Darkish Poem for Monstrous Halloween
8. Discover The Best Way To Contact Your Dead Relative
9. Samhain and the NaNo Ninja Empath
10. Witches and the White Mare
11. Kids are dressing up as Boris Johnson for Halloween
12. happy halloween showing how with parties at preschool children are already taken away from the holy days of God and connected or lured in  the pagan festivals to become part of this world instead of becoming part of the World of God
13. How can something so wrong, be so cool?
14. Monday Poetry Prompt: Halloween
15. Sharing God’s Light
16. the #beauty of the #sun – and in #wintertime when it was very…
17. A Melancholy Mood
18. the loneliest year
19. Entry #14 – Loneliness
20. Poetry: Alone
21. Kindness
22. Unsteady Uproot “The Logistics of Loneliness” (Saturday, July 27th)
23. Love-Hate Relationship with Winter #Snow Time
24. We Could Have Been Anything That We Wanted To Be
25. Spending time with Others
26. Just what I needed!
27. Time and place…

January Night

Reflections by Doc Arnett

I hear the wind
high and hard above the trees in the back yard,
feel its stony edge hammer through
the thin legs of my dress pants.

It pounds along the ground,
refreezing the thawed mush of the earth.

It pushes through
the seams of woods and brush,
shoving up against the cold brick and rock
in an indifferent rush against the house.

I step into the unlit porch,
welcoming the warmth inside the darkness.

On such a night as this,
it is good to have a place
beyond the wind’s lancet,
a place where love is strong.

I climb the stairs,
still hearing the wind beyond the walls and roof.

I lie down in warm blankets,
close to the one I love,
grateful, kept, held,
knowing and being known.

Together, we sink into sleep
in the keeping of Him who sends both wind and fire.

H. Arnett
1/26/10

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Love, sleep and reality

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep
because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
― Dr. Seuss

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Verliefdheid, slaap en werkelijkheid

Ted Geisel, American writer and cartoonist, at work on a drawing of the grinch for “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lonely Life

Lonely on the land I walk,
Lonely cross the sea I sail,
Lonely air of beach I stroll –
This lonely life doth take its toll.

Lonely trek of woodland trail,
Lonely mist in haze o’ dawn,
Lonely spies the bird of prey
In lonely circles all astray.

Lonely be the dark of night
When sleep is but a yearning wish,
To dream of sweet companions close,
As wine would pair with diner’s dish.

Lonely do these thoughts me make
That draw my blood of precious life;
Replace with stream of flowing pain
To bless my veins with coursing strife.

Lonely years are now my friends,
Lonely cries bereft of sound,
Lonely tears that cool my face
In lonely life of sullen pace.

Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2009
All rights reserved

Mark R Slaughter is a biological scientist, who took up poetry to challenge his written skills. In march 2014 ‘Lonely Life’ was recited on the BBC by Mark Benson in the introduction to a documentary on loneliness.

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• Blunderbuzzateen.. lonely (cryinforthedyin.wordpress.com)
  Wish I could take you places truth won’t threaten so.. like to help you.. be a friend.. just to let you know.. what you want in real thought.. dreamed and thought in bed..  truth will never serve a lie.. once seen and known in head..What is real is beautiful.. what is seen and real.. what is you.. you for true.. how and what you feel.. a road called honor.. goes to ‘Accomplish Way’.. one step toward a true life.. taken makes a better day..