Blog Posts

Lymphatic System

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:00:51 +0000

Fit as a Fiddle

Ever wonder why you tend to get sick more often when you are stressed, exhausted and overwhelmed? Well, the lymphatic system is a key component in keeping yourself healthy. Let’s dive deeper into the wonderful world of lymphatic drainage. I promise, it’s not as gross as it sounds!

“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise, we will not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”

Buddha

Sick and Tired

According to Wikipedia, “the lymphatic system is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid organs, and lymphoid tissues. The vessels carry a clear fluid called lymph back towards the heart, for re-circulation*.” The other main function of the lymphatic system is immune support. The lymph is able to carry antibodies and bacteria to the parts of the body that need it. If there is too much long-term stress in the body, your lymphatic system is prevented from flowing freely and the cortisol that is running rampant can eventually atrophy the lymphatic system. When this happens, the toxins that should be carried out of your body by lymphatic drainage stay right where they are. And since things are slow moving, your antibodies can’t get to the places that need them fast enough, leading to increased chances of illness. You will start feeling rundown, bloated and even have swollen glands when those lymphatic pathways are obstructed.

The Picture of Health

Now you’re probably wondering what you can do to keep your lymph flowing free and clear. Well, lucky for you, we have a list! There are many things that contribute to a healthy lymphatic system, like exercise, drinking lots of water, a healthy diet and managing stress. In addition to those, there are some less studied albeit trending with ancient roots that could be very simple additions to your daily routine

First, let’s talk about dry brushing. This is said to be an ancient holistic method for promoting lymphatic drainage. You can practice this by taking a bristle brush to dry skin and brushing toward the heart to promote circulation. This process also claims to exfoliate and open pores as a way to prepare the skin to release toxins when followed by a warm bath or shower. There is no firm evidence of this; however it has been a practice in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for over 3,000 years!

Next up is the practice of ‘gua sha’, which is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Most popularly, gua sha is being used on the upper body and face to promote lymphatic drainage. It can be done using your hands or most commonly, a gua sha tool which is made of jade, quartz or bone. Whichever tool you choose, you will need to use a facial oil like rose hip seed oil or argan oil to allow the tool to glide along the skin with ease. You will run the tool along certain pathways in the neck and face repeatedly to get the lymph flowing toward the lymph nodes and ultimately to where it belongs. You can search YouTube for gua sha techniques and undoubtedly get hundreds of video results that will show you exactly how to do it. Even if free flowing lymph is not one of your goals, the practice of gua sha is currently a very popular self-care or self-maintenance practice!

Another method used for moving lymph is lymphatic drainage massage (LDM). This is similar to gua sha in that it is a manual manipulation of certain areas to get things moving. However, the LDM is done over the whole body and can be used to not only move stagnant lymph, but to relieve pain caused by excessive swelling caused by lymphedema. Usually the first step of this massage is to get the lymph moving and released from where it has been stuck. The second part of the massage is to get that lymph where it needs to go. LDM may also be an effective technique for certain serious conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or fibromyalgia. It is best to speak to your health care provider before getting a lymphatic drainage massage.

A New Lease on Life

Once your lymphatic system is back to flowing the way it should be, you may see the benefits that good lymph circulation brings. For example, healthier skin, reduced swelling and bloating, relaxation, less headaches, quicker healing after an injury or illness, and a stronger immune system. With all the options that are available, let us know your favorite way to get that lymph moving!

**Additional Resources

Stress and its effect on the lymphatic system - Body Ballancer

Lymphatic system - Wikipedia

Rescue Your Lymph From Stress... Before It's Too Late! | John Douillard's LifeSpa - YouTube

Is Your Lymph Making You Sick and Tired? - Institute for Restorative Health

How Your Lymphatic System Works | UnityPoint Health - Des Moines

Dry brushing: Benefits, myths, and how to dry brush (medicalnewstoday.com)

How to Use Gua Sha for Tension, Puffiness, & Lymphatic Drainage (healthline.com)

Lymphatic Drainage Massage: What it Is, Benefits & How To Do It (clevelandclinic.org)

Face The Music

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 18:56:51 +0000

Face the Music

You’ve seen it before. The wedding DJ starts to play a song, and inevitably there is a guest who lets out a scream of excitement as they rush to the dance floor. They loudly claim the song as “their jam” and start living their best life on the dance floor. The effects of certain songs can do this to us! We’ve gathered the facts for you on how music can effect our mood, as well as stress levels. So let the good times roll…

“Music is the medicine of the mind.”

John A. Logan

Change Your Tune

Whether you’re getting motivated for a workout, or getting ready to do some heavy reading, or just doing your best to wind down at the end of a long shift, music is usually our constant companion. Even the stores we enter have their own personalities blasting through the speakers… not to mention that coffee shops, road trips, and elevators now have their own specialized soundtracks. With so much music infused into every moment of life, you might ask yourself, “why?” Well, that’s because music has a psychobiological effect on the body. Depending on what you’re embarking on, there is a musical genre to assist in bringing your mind and body in sync with the activity. For instance:

It's been studied widely that classical music helps to relax and calm the body, bringing clarity and focus to the mind. That’s why many people turn to the likes of Beethoven and Mozart when they need to study or take a test. Some people also use jazz and instrumentals to promote the body relaxing and even prepare for sleep.

Upbeat music, especially pop, tends to boost our energy and our motivation. It can help us get ready to exercise, or start on a hard or boring project. It makes us happy and releases endorphins which help us feel inspired and productive.

It has also been found that hard rock and metal, which can encompass punk and ‘screamo’ styles, can actually increase your ability to manage your emotions and boost your sense of identity. Similarly, rap music has been touted as having beneficial effects on depression and anxiety.

It’s fascinating to see how hearing some notes played together can affect our whole mood and perspective!

And All That Jazz

We’ve talked about how music makes us feel, but what does it do to our bodies? According to a Psychcentral.com article on the ‘Power of Music to Reduce Stress’ (see additional resources), this is what actually happens to your body when you listen to music:

Music sounds move through our ears as vibrations.
The inner ear translates these vibrations into electrical signals.
Neurons transmit these signals to certain areas of the cerebral cortex in the brain.
Dedicated regions of the brain detect the different elements of the signals (like the tone, pitch, rhythm).
As the brain puts together all of this information so that you can sense the musical experience, it can influence our emotions and bodily systems.

One of the most distinct ways that music effects our bodies is the bpm, or beats per minute. Our heartbeat has been known to try and sync itself with the bpm of a song. For example, it’s before bedtime and you’re listening to something very slow and quiet with a bpm of 55. Your heartbeat will most likely start to slow down to match the bpm (your heartrate might not be exactly 55, but you get the idea). Likewise, an upbeat pop song with a bpm of 140 will probably give you some energy and put some pep in your step.

How else does music effect our body? Well, let’s jump to everyone’s favorite topic: stress. Stress can be caused by any number of worries or fears that are on your mind. These mental stressors can then begin to cause physical stress in the body. When stress goes up, so does your heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol levels, etc. Knowing the connection between mental and physical stress gives us an idea of how music can affect our stress levels too. If you listen to a calming song which alleviates some of your mental stress, then you will most likely experience a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels. Music therapy is used for this reason, among many other purposes. Music is a tool you can use yourself to help lower both mental and physical stress levels and even reap some physical health benefits. Not only is music a universal language, but it’s a powerful tool!

The Beat Goes On

No matter the type of music you like to listen to, it may be worth venturing over into another genre. You may find a new love for metal, or even learn to appreciate the jazz scene. There’s a whole world of music genres and the benefits they bring, so dive in and explore… and be sure to leave a comment with your favorite finds!

**Additional Resources

Releasing Stress Through the Power of Music | Counseling Services | University of Nevada, Reno (unr.edu)

The Effect of Music on the Human Stress Response - PMC (nih.gov)

Can Listening to Music Reduce Stress? Research, Benefits, and Genres (psychcentral.com)

Effects of Music Genres on Emotions (dreamrecovery.com)

The Effects Of Music Genres On The Human Brain - BW Healthcare (businessworld.in)

Hello to New Habits

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 18:59:50 +0000

Do Overs

A new year brings the excitement and hope of fresh starts and new opportunities. Did last year not go the way you wanted? Are there things you want to change about yourself or your circumstances? Is there something you’ve been longing to accomplish? This is the time of year to make plans and muster resolve. In order to make any lasting changes though, you will need to evaluate your habits. They are the building blocks of who we become, so let’s dive in!

“People do not decide their futures, they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures.”

F. Matthias Alexander

New Beginnings

At the beginning of every new habit, there are neuropathways that need to be created and then repeatedly strengthened. And in order to form new habits, you may need to start by unlearning old habits and breaking those neuropathways, to make room for the desired ones.

Let’s take the work of F. Matthias Alexander, who developed the Alexander Technique. F. M. Alexander was an elocutionist and performer whose technique is still used widely today by artists and entertainers. The Alexander Technique (AT) is a way to cultivate presence and awareness, and create ease of movement. Along with the arts, it can also be used for patients with chronic pain who are seeking relief. F.M. Alexander discovered that by teaching his patients to be aware of the slightest unhealthy movements and postures, he could then help alleviate the resulting pain by creating new, healthy movement habits.

For instance, if you have chronic neck pain stemming from the way you sit at your desk, then AT would first teach you how to notice the way you hold your head, where you place your gaze, or how you position your shoulders. Once you are aware of the unhealthy habits in your positioning, you would then be taught the correct positions through a combination of verbal instruction and hands-on guidance.

Creating these new movement habits is not usually achieved by repetitive exercises, as you may think; rather, changes are intentionally made in the midst of daily life where these habits occur. Say you play piano but your shoulders are shrugged upward, creating upper back tension. Then your new habits will be formed when you sit at the piano. You would use your newfound awareness of the incorrect positioning of your shoulders as you are playing the piano, and then consciously redirect them to the correct position as you continue to play.

The belief is that old habits can be broken and new habits formed within the context of your current habits. There’s no need to create a new timeslot to practice placing your shoulders in the correct position 10-15 times before sitting at the piano again. Use the moments that are already part of your routine to re-train your habits. Tie the new habits to existing healthy ones for added surety. Once you master the small habits, you will achieve your end goal of playing piano without neck pain… or whatever it is you decide to tackle in your life this year.

Fresh Starts

Now we know that a goal is reached by creating new habits in the smallest moments of your current daily life. That seems manageable. And you probably have a long list of goals for the new year. But which ones do you tackle first? We’ll let you decide that. In the meantime, we’ve compiled a list of the best tips and hacks generally known to help people achieve their goals and create new habits. Scroll through these and take note of any that resonate with you.

Get most important tasks done before noon.
Move your body every day.
Don’t keep your cell phone in your bedroom.
Have a mantra. Mindset is everything, choose what you want to feed your brain.
Design a morning routine to help you focus on your goal.
Stack your habits. Tie new habits to existing habits to ensure they get done.
Start small. You can’t jump over a mountain in one leap.
Celebrate the wins. Adding a reward never hurts!
Get enough sleep so your brain is ready for the day.
If you can work with a partner, do it! Accountability is proven to help consistency.
Make a vision board. You’re more likely to achieve something you can see.
Read! Life-long learning has enormous benefits.

Comebacks

Don’t get overwhelmed by the freshness of the new year. It’s a blank slate, wildly full of possibilities. Only you can decide what habits and goals you want to achieve this year. Where are you going to start?

**Additional Resources

40 Small Habits That Make A Large Impact | Hive

Research on the Health Benefits of the Alexander Technique – Alexander Technique Science

What is AT? – Alexander Technique Science

https://youtu.be/YZaUgt8wyoY

How to Build Healthy Habits - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

6 Powerful Ways to Build New Habits | Psychology Today

Comfort and Joy

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 18:18:04 +0000

Good Tidings

Every year we know it’s coming… “The Holidays.” Whatever holiday you celebrate, it’s probably full of family, friends and food. And it probably comes with stress, too, from things like: travelling, inclement weather, trying to keep everyone healthy, buying gifts, making food, navigating the loss of a loved one, cleaning the house, overnight guests, finances, family dynamics, etc. Obviously, you will be stressed if these are the things plaguing your mind! Let’s see how we can manage to not just “get through” the holidays, but rather to come out on the other side with some peace and joy.

“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.”

Fred Rogers

Let It Snow

The stressors of the holiday season can easily sneak up on us, leading to physical and emotional symptoms such as:

Headaches
Irritability
Difficulty sleeping
Sadness
Anxiety
Exhaustion
Loneliness

It can be easier to identify the symptoms of stress once they already happen, so let’s try to get more proactive about it.

Greetings of Cheer

We know your holiday to-do list is calling your name, so we’ll get right to the good stuff. Here are some of the top tips to prep for a holly jolly holiday.

Make a list of all the events and activities you want to do. From there, whittle it down to what you can realistically handle without feeling burnt out. What’s left is a list of things that make you most happy and a schedule that will bring you the most joy and peace, and ultimately an enjoyable holiday season.

Make a budget. It’s easy to over spend for the holidays, which most Americans do. So figure out what you can safely spend, and then plan accordingly. Especially with inflation these days, many people are getting creative with their gift giving, or simply choosing quality over quantity.

Take care of yourself. Don’t feel guilty about putting your mental health first. Don’t give up all the healthy habits you work so hard at the rest of the year. They make you feel good! Throwing them out the window at a time known to be most stressful is a recipe for disaster. Enjoy your meal, but take a walk in the cold air after. Instead of watching that holiday movie marathon on the couch, maybe start a game of holiday Pictionary or charades.

Make plans for difficult topics. They’ll come up whether we like it or not. Maybe your family always asks you when you will get married, or have kids and it brings you down. Think of the best answer that will make you confident and at peace and prepare it beforehand. Getting caught off guard by subjects that may take your holiday joy down a notch IS avoidable. Or maybe you have lost a loved one. So many people have lost friends or family, whether to Covid-19 or other fates, and it may be difficult to feel celebratory without them. It may make it hard for everyone to ignore the feelings, so plan ahead for a way to acknowledge them in an uplifting way and include them in the celebration. Perhaps sharing a happy memory, or a special toast.

Take a minute to know your personal triggers. What makes the holidays stressful to YOU? Whatever it is, think about what would make you feel at peace about them. Put a plan in place. Not only will it help bring you peace in the face of the trigger, but it will reduce any stress in anticipation of that trigger.

If cooking a meal or getting the house ready is the last thing you want to think about, then consider outsourcing. Do you have the funds to hire a decorator? Then, it may be worth paying for someone to put up your lights outdoors. Maybe you have small children and can’t picture cooking a whole meal without burning things. If you’re able, try getting it catered, so you just have to heat everything up and can spend more time on what matters more to you. These days it’s easy to find a house cleaner, so check online, or ask around to friends for a recommendation. Extra helping hands may be worth the price of your sanity.

Laughing is a quick and easy way to release stress. If you or people around you are starting to get tense, play a comedy special by your favorite comedian, make a contest of sharing a funniest memory, mingle the adults with the kids and get silly with a dance competition. Have a few ideas in your back pocket when you need a little laugh release. Check out some more ideas on our blog post about the stress relieving nature of laughter! A Laughing Matter - Sellers Insurance

Don’t feel guilty about saying no. This goes along with our first tip. If you already planned your holiday season with what bring you and your family peace and joy, then don’t feel badly if you have to say no to a last minute invite to something that adds stress. Stress in the family is contagious. So protecting your mental health is not just for you, it’s for your whole family, including kids. It’s okay to say no!

Don’t set unrealistic expectations. There is a flood of Hallmark movies that make this season feel magical, fuzzy, romantic, sentimental, and satisfying. But those are movies! That’s a high and unrealistic expectation for cheer. Enjoy YOUR reality. Find the magic and contentment with the things in your life that bring you peace and joy. Remember: Comparison kills contentment! Not everybody has a luxury ski cabin in the mountains with white fluffy snow outside, a warm fireplace inside, the love of your life by your side and lots of family who are always kind, considerate and can belt out Christmas tunes in perfect harmony together. And that’s okay! Look around at what you do have. Is it you, your dog, and some delicious takeout from your favorite restaurant after a crazy work schedule? Is it a small group of friends getting dressed up to go out to dinner? Is it lots of little kids, insensitive relatives, burnt turkey and lots of laughter? No matter what it is, it’s YOURS and you can find your joy in it. Don’t let comparison take that away from you and add to your stress.

Let’s Celebrate

With the momentum of the holiday season fast approaching, take some time now to think about what matters most to you, and what your triggers are. Identifying those two things will start you off toward a peaceful and stress-free time of year. Happy Holidays!

**Additional Resources

Holiday Stress: Causes, Management, and More (healthline.com)

What stresses Americans the most about the holidays might surprise you (theladders.com)

Why Are the Holidays So Stressful? (usnews.com)

How to Enjoy a Stress-Free Holiday (usnews.com)

Stress, depression and the holidays: Tips for coping - Mayo Clinic

1 in 5 Parents Say Their Holiday Stress Level Negatively Affects Their Child’s Enjoyment of the Season - Neuroscience News

Attitude of Gratitude

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 15:05:12 +0000

Much Obliged

‘Tis the season to start thinking about what we’re grateful for. But gratitude is way too valuable to our physical health and well-being to be relegated to one day a year, as we sit around a table with loved ones, ready for a feast. You may think that gratitude is just a feeling… but it is so much more than that! Practicing gratitude can actually alter the neural pathways in your brain to create positivity and happy habits.

“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”

William Shakespeare

Grass is Greener Where You Water It

If you think it’s still greener on the other side, then you are probably not living life with “gratitude-colored” glasses on. Do you know someone (maybe yourself) who walks around like they’ve got their own personal rain cloud? Negativity comes in all shapes and sizes… complaining, pessimism, arguing, criticism, sadness, hopelessness, fear. Chances are pretty high that if someone lives like this, they’re probably lonely too. There’s a reason “Debbie Downer” became an instant pop culture term after the airing of the highly relatable skit on Saturday Night Live. It’s hard to maintain relationships when you can’t see the good in those around you and be thankful for them. Living with all this negativity can not only make you lonely, but it wreaks havoc on your health. Stress levels rise, along with blood pressure, it’s harder to sleep well, and there can be frequent headaches and overall unhappiness. That’s an intense influence that your thoughts have in your life!

On the flip side of that, gratitude has been shown to have numerous benefits to your health and well-being. Focusing your mind on what you are grateful for can have the following effects on your body:

Boosts immunity
Increases heart health
Calms nervous system
Lowers blood pressure
Better sleep
Increases chances of engaging in healthy activities

Not to mention the benefits for your emotional well-being, such as:

Happiness
Positivity
Satisfaction
Deeper relationships
Resilience

But is it possible to go from a cloud of negativity to a heart filled with gratitude? Well, yes! There are some pretty interesting scientific facts that support the idea that you can change the way your brain thinks about something. Even if you are a “Debbie Downer,” you have some control over changing that.

For instance, the part of your brain that handles voluntary movements, conditional learning, action selection, and emotion is called the basal ganglia. This part of the brain is situated on top of the midbrain, right at the base of the forebrain. What happens in this area of the brain is pretty cool, and this is the best attempt we can offer to explain why… without sounding too much like a stuffy textbook. Each time you perform an action, there are neurons that fire off in your brain at the beginning and the end of each action. These firing neurons release a hit of dopamine each time. As this action is repeatedly performed, the hits of dopamine start to form stronger neuro pathways. Over time, these stronger pathways become what we call habits.

Here is where this gets really exciting. That means we can decide what we want to think about, be consistent and purposeful in dwelling on those thoughts, and essentially rewire the way our brains work! This is also called self-directed neuroplasticity. And when you choose to focus on gratitude, you are choosing to receive all the benefits mentioned above and release yourself from the cycle of negativity.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

So what does it mean when we say “focus on gratitude”? Well, here are some practical tips to help you on your journey to get those neurons firing away. Some of the best suggestions we’ve found are:

Keep a gratitude journal. Any time you think of something you’re grateful for, write it down. Engaging in concrete actions (like getting out your notebook or opening an app and writing/typing something down) will help more neurons fire off for each action and get you closer to creating a new habit of gratitude.

Write thank you letters. Yes, good old fashioned thank you letters. You don’t even have to send them, but the act of writing them and letting your mind ruminate on what you are thankful for is good practice itself.

Set gratitude alarms. Take a few minutes throughout the day to pause and focus on something you are grateful for in that moment. You can set as many or as few alarms as you like, but perhaps start with one in the morning and one at night, and work your way up from there.

Daily affirmations have become popular recently, for good reason. If you are going to spend time and effort training your brain to be thankful to those around you and send positive vibes out into the world, then you can’t leave yourself out. Start by deciding on a few statements of gratitude toward yourself. Then every morning, say them to yourself, out loud, in the mirror. It may feel strange at first, but get used to being thankful for yourself and your life. You won’t be successful in reaping the benefits of a gratitude practice if you’re not appreciating your own strengths.

The Little Things

Your takeaway for today… pick one of the practical tips from the list above, and commit to trying it for one week. Start today, and then at the end of this week start next week’s list with “I’m grateful I decided to try a one week gratitude challenge and followed through.” I’m sure once you get started, it will be hard to stop. Give it a try and see how much the attitude of gratitude can change!

**Additional Resources

The Science of Gratitude - Mindful

Exploring the Brain's Relationship to Habits | NSF - National Science Foundation

Gratitude and the Brain: What is Happening? (brainbalancecenters.com)

GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Gratitude-FINAL.pdf (berkeley.edu)

Distinctive brain pattern helps habits form: Study identifies neurons that fire at the beginning and end of a behavior as it becomes a habit -- ScienceDaily

How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain (berkeley.edu)

The Science of Habit: How to Rewire Your Brain (healthline.com)

Book Recommendation: The Gratitude Project (newharbinger.com)

Pandemic and Cyber Insurance

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 13:45:28 +0000

COVID-19 Pandemic Highlights Importance of Cyber Insurance

By Kathleen Sellers, JD, CLU©
Vice President, Charles J. Sellers & Co., Inc.

In addition to all the other challenges that businesses continue to face in 2022, cyber crime has been increasing, as cyber criminals have exploited vulnerabilities created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic changed how many businesses, including professional practices, do business. More people are working from home, using home networks and sometimes personal devices, which tend to be less secure than dedicated office networks and equipment. We are all increasingly reliant on online communication tools, with people working from different locations and some face-to-face interactions limited. The use of telehealth services has grown exponentially since the pandemic started. All of these changes – resulting in more business taking place online -- translate into new opportunities for bad cyber actors.

A common cyber threat that businesses face is ransomware attacks, which are increasing in number and severity. In a ransomware attack, a cybercriminal introduces malicious software that blocks access to a computer system and demands a ransom for unblocking it. According to an insurance industry study, ransomware attacks grew by nearly 50 percent in the second quarter of 2020 (after the pandemic began) as compared to the first quarter.[1] The amount of ransom demanded is increasing, as is the average length of time it takes for a business to restore its systems and resume operations.

Healthcare businesses are a particular target. In October 2020, a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory was issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) titled “Ransomware Activity Targeting the Healthcare and Public Health Sector.”[2] The advisory alerted the healthcare sector to “tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by cybercriminals against targets in the Healthcare and Public Health Sector (HPH) to infect systems with ransomware, notably Ryuk and Conti, for financial gain.” While ransomware attacks against large hospital systems, health insurers, and public health entities grab headlines, medical practices of all sizes are at risk as well.

There are many steps that a business can take to improve its security, including stepping up employee training, hardening IT defenses, and implementing security patches on a timely basis. It’s also an important time to purchase cyber insurance, if it isn’t already in place, and to review cyber coverage, if it is. (In a recent survey by Travelers Insurance, 51% of businesses surveyed reported having purchased a cyber insurance policy.[3]) Cyber insurance packages together a broad range of coverages, including:

Coverage for business interruption losses arising from a computer network outage
Cyber crime coverage, covering losses from social engineering, phishing, and other types of financial fraud
Cyber extortion and ransomware coverage, including coverage for payment of a ransom demand
Coverage for third party claims alleging legal liability for damages related to a cyber event
Breach response and remediation expenses, including the cost to notify individuals affected by a breach, along with IT and attorney costs incurred to investigate and remediate a breach

The terms of cyber insurance policies can vary, so it’s important to consult with an agent or broker who’s knowledgeable about the coverage, and who can help you select coverages and limits that properly address the risks that a particular business faces. Most cyber insurance policies also provide pre-loss mitigation services, to help avoid or mitigate a cyber event, at no or reduced cost, such as employee training or identification of network vulnerabilities. In addition to reviewing the types of coverage offered, it’s important to review coverage limits in light of the business’s particular circumstances.

Cyber insurance, which has become increasingly important in recent years, is now more critical to have than ever. All businesses, and healthcare businesses in particular, need to review their cyber insurance coverage, so that if a cyber incident occurs, the right resources are available to restore operations and minimize financial loss.

[1] Frequency of Cyber Events Targeting Businesses Increasing: Travelers, Insurance Journal, Dec. 11, 2020.

[2] Joint Cybersecurity Advisory - AA20-302A - Ransomware Activity Targeting the Healthcare and Public Health Sector (cisa.gov)

[3] Frequency of Cyber Events Targeting Businesses Increasing: Travelers, Insurance Journal, Dec. 11, 2020

Sense of Calm

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 13:41:53 +0000

Common Sense

We get bombarded every day with hundreds of thousands of inputs to our sensory system. Every noise we hear in the office, every movement we see on the commute home, and every surface we touch between the two. Our systems can get easily physically overstimulated, and the same is true of our brains mentally. With all that goes on in our minds on a day-to-day basis, why not let our senses show us how to release the stress that gets built up over time?

“The five senses are the ministers of the soul.”

Leonardo da Vinci

Come to Your Senses

We use our senses all day long to process different aspects of our environment. And although they each work in a uniquely different way, they also work together. We’ve all experienced that when a stuffy nose prevents us from tasting our chicken noodle soup! If we can offer something to each sense that promotes peace, then we have a much higher chance of calming our whole body and mind. Let’s dive in for a closer look at what you can do in your home or office to appeal to the needs of your senses.

Since you can smell something “from a mile away”, let’s start with the sense of smell. In the home, it’s easy to create a calming sense of smell without worrying about distracting co-workers. You could cook a meal whose smell makes you happy. You can light a scented candle or use an essential oil diffuser to waft your favorite scent around the room. There’s always the option of opening a window to let in some good ole fresh air. Stay away from cloying scents like a strong cologne, or mixing scents that could overwhelm your system. For the office, candles and smelly food are probably a no-no. But you could opt for a scented room spray, or purchase wearable oils that come in a roll-on form. For those of you who wear jewelry, you can get a necklace that is specially designed to hold and diffuse an essential oil without making contact with your clothes or skin.

On to the sense of taste. This one will need to be personalized to you, since only you know what tastes are transcendent. Suggestions that might be helpful: a cup of herbal or fruit tea, a mint, a piece of gum or candy, a small bite of your favorite sweet treat. Again, try to stay away from spicy things and stick to mild palates, preferably something that you do not have to chew and swallow- think hard candy or lollipop. The point is to savor the flavor not eat a meal!

Perhaps one of the senses with the most options available is hearing. If you are home, then the sky’s the limit! You could play classical music on your iPod, listen to white or brown noise on your smart device, or turn the television on to play a YouTube channel on nature sounds. Or, a more organic option is to sit outside and listen the birds, the bugs, the wind, and the leaves. You may have a wind chime out your window that you can hear or a pond in the backyard. Any of these calming sounds will do wonders to drown out the noise around you (and in your head). Now the office is trickier, since you don’t want to interrupt other people while they’re working. But grab a good pair of Air Pods and listen to any of the above. If you prefer dead silence, bring a pair of noise-cancelling headphones to block out the phone ringing, the computer dinging, the people singing… okay maybe not singing. But it rhymed. If you don’t happen to have a desktop water feature in your office, you could even listen to the noises around you and try to zone in on the one that makes you feel the most calm: a ticking clock, the humming of the HVAC system, or the clacking of keyboard keys.

Next we have the sense of touch. When you’re home, you may want to jump in a hot shower, or you can snuggle up with a family pet, or take your socks off and squish your toes into the carpet. There’s always a warm sweater or a weighted blanket. Any of these things bring a new texture, temperature, or pressure to your sense of touch that will be calming. Some of these you may be able to replicate in the office, but for those who can’t, you could try running your hands under cold or hot water. Other suggestions: use your hands to apply gentle pressure to different areas of the body, or take turns contracting different muscles throughout your body. You can do either of these for 30 seconds per area of the body.

Last, we have the sense of sight. This one could be the easiest and the hardest of them all. Our world is full of movement and technology and screens that make visual stimulation hard to get away from. On the other hand, you can close your eyes (safely) at any moment you need to take a break. If seeing a secluded tropical beach makes you feel at peace, then close your eyes and visualize it. Do you have a painting on the wall or a picture of your smiling grandbaby? Keep it where you need it most. In your home, have a space where the paint colors are muted and airy. In the office, bring in a wall hanging or a plant that relaxes you. Put a bouquet of flowers somewhere that constantly catches your eye. Best yet, look out the window or go outside, and watch the birds fly and the trees in the wind.

Now that we’ve looked at each sense individually, let’s see how you can really make them work for you as a whole.

Making Sense of It

If you’ve ever heard of the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique, then this will be simple for you to implement. For those who haven’t heard of it, this is a grounding technique that is used by people who have anxiety or are feeling anxious. It’s designed to help calm your nervous system by tuning into your senses. Throughout the exercise it is important to focus on deep slow breaths. You will then focus on the things happening around you using your senses, while continuing your breathing. This is generally how it is practiced:

5- Focus on 5 things you can see right now

4- Focus on 4 things you can feel right now

3- Focus on 3 things you can hear right now

2- Focus on 2 things you can smell right now

1- Focus on 1 thing you can taste right now

This will help you focus on the present moment and take your mind off anything that is NOT right in front of you, including anything that is causing you stress or anxiety.

Sense of Humor

Let’s not forget that humor is one of the best “senses” we can use to improve our state of mind. Laughter can do a lot to calm our nerves, rest our minds and lead us into a more peaceful perspective on life. It can physically strengthen your immune system, lower your cholesterol and even help your heart and lungs get some well-deserved exercise. Check out our blog post about more benefits of laughter here: A Laughing Matter - Sellers Insurance.

If you’re reading this article, you have a few more minutes to try the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique. So take a deep breath and focus on 5 things you see right now…

**Additional Resources

The Best 5-Senses Grounding Techniques for Anxiety Relief (psychcentral.com)

BHP Blog - Behavioral Health Partners (BHP) - University of Rochester Medical Center

How to Create a Calming Home with your 5 Senses | Elizabeth Erin Designs

Self Soothing: DBT (dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com)

Ahead of Schedule

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 20:40:25 +0000

Time for a Change

The saying “there are only 24 hours in a day” is a pretty good mantra for us to remember. There are ONLY 24 hours in one day, and there are usually more than 24 hours’ worth of things we want to accomplish in any given day. This leads us to the conclusion that we must choose carefully how we spend our time, because it is limited and precious. Business or pleasure, we can’t run ourselves ragged until we keel over in our efforts to live life to the fullest. We need to take back control of our schedules!

“Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.”

Miles Davis

Pressed for Time

You’ll know when you have an ineffective schedule. You’ll feel it. You get up early, spend hours putting in hard work to help your clients or patients, giving them all you’ve got, to be the best you can be at your chosen profession. You’re tired and just need to recharge. So you get home to your life outside of work - a family, friends, pets, hobbies, personal and mental health time. But, when you don’t have an effective schedule, even the times you’re counting on to rejuvenate you will leave you feeling no better than when you started. You feel like your schedule is the one in charge and calling the shots. There goes your sense of control! This often leads to procrastination, being late, disappointment, cramming things in last minute and then… the mounting stress. We all know stress is never good for the mind or body. Stress takes its toll on our blood pressure, our energy levels, our mental clarity, and our ability to regulate our emotions. When we don’t take care to plan a good schedule, we lose sight of our goals and start prioritizing little fires instead of what’s important to us.

This is why it’s so important to use some of your precious time to create a schedule that works for you. This could mean setting up daily routines for morning, afternoon and evening hours. (Don’t forget to include self-care!). Maybe you prefer a weekly planner, a wall calendar, or a phone app. However you choose to plan, and even if you already have daily or weekly scheduling down to a fine art, consider making some monthly plans. It will do you good to have something to look forward to or to take note of progress you’ve made on certain projects - both of these are great motivators. So we’ve gathered some tips on how to improve your scheduling, so you can take back control and reduce the stress in your day-to-day.

Time Out

Now this one sounds obvious - but don’t ignore it. Schedule a time to schedule your time. Part of being on top of things with your time management, is that you need to schedule a time to plan the upcoming day, week or month. If you have a schedule with good bones, you can function on auto-pilot to some extent, but things are constantly changing and outside of our control: baby showers, birthday parties, sporting events, school events, sickness, concerts, etc. You will need to re-evaluate regularly to compensate for all these changes, including the fluctuations and needs of your emotional well-being. Take a break before you NEED a break! And yes, be as specific as you can when you’re putting your “schedule time” into your schedule. “On Tuesdays, in my car/office, for the 2^nd half of my lunch hour.”

Another tip that can be useful is to physically write down (or type up) your priorities. You probably have a list of goals, which is what you aim to achieve and helps motivate you. But your priorities in life will determine HOW you spend your time working toward your goals. Is your health a priority over your hobbies? Is your family a priority over your career? Does the amount of time, energy and thought that you devote to these things reflect their priority level? Even though you may have goals in certain areas, your priorities are what guide you into a happier and more fulfilling life, because you’re making sure to spend time on what matter most to you.

The last tip, which is sometimes a hard one to put into practice, is saying no. It’s okay to say no! If you’ve spent time and thought creating a schedule for your life where there is a time for everything that is important to you, it’s okay to say no when things come up to mess with that. Now, as we’ve talked about before, things will come up, and you may want to make exceptions. But there should be no compulsion to say yes to everything that presents itself. Having a list of priorities will keep you from lacking clarity and give you the confidence you need to make split second decisions as they come.

This Time Will Be Different

Free time. Free time needs to be just that - free! Don’t schedule free time and then fill it up with a list of to-do’s, so you can cram in as much as you can. That’s not what free time is for! Once you’ve carefully managed your time so that everything has its place, then your free time should be a time to truly recharge and be refreshed.

If you search the internet for ideas to maximize your free time, you will find a plethora of useful (and some absurd) suggestions. Let’s use the time that you’re spending reading this article to get right to the good stuff, so you don’t have to do your own searching!

To begin with, free time is a great way to practice being “in the moment.” These days, we are very connected online through varying devices and platforms that are at the tips of our fingers all day long. If you are able to unplug during free time and truly practice being in the moment, it will not only decrease your stress levels, but will also increase the depth of connection you have to the people you are spending the time with. Having more meaningful relationships is widely found to increase one’s happiness, peace, and fulfillment in life. It is hard to be in the moment with someone when you are constantly looking at a screen, or scrolling through your newsfeeds. Instead, practice noticing the sights, sounds, smells around you for a minute. Get into your present moment, and then ask yourself: how do you want to feel as a result of this down time? Is it working? If not, do something else! The point is to leave your free time feeling different, better, happier than the way you went into it. Another way to accomplish that is by doing something that you do NOT do during work hours. If you sit in a chair all day - get moving! If you stare at a computer all week - don’t! If you’re on the phone all the time - leave it on the charger! Shake up those routines or you won’t feel like you’ve had any sort of break.

If you find yourself using your free time for projects you just can’t avoid, try to remind yourself of the meaning behind the projects in the first place. Chances are it started off as something important to you. Maybe you are painting a room because you’re in need of a nursery in the near future. Very exciting! But the act of painting a room may bring to mind paint fumes, messy drop cloths, and sore backs. Instead, remind yourself of all the beautiful things that will happen within those freshly painted walls and let your mind wander, even if your body physically can’t. Sometimes a mental break is just as helpful as a physical break.

Using your free time wisely will bring many benefits. So make sure when you’re scheduling some time to escape (whether physically, mentally, or both), that you keep in mind that free time is not the time to cram in everything else you couldn’t make time for.

Not sure where to begin? Take out your calendar or open your phone app right now. When is the first available time you can sit down and work on your time management? Write it down and commit. It’s a process, but you have to start somewhere. Happy planning!

**Additional Resources

What is time management? Top tools from Tony Robbins

How To Curate Your Schedule For Optimal Productivity (forbes.com)

6 Time Management Training Methods | Indeed.com

Weekend Wisdom: Ideas for Maximizing Your Free Time | Apartment Therapy

12 Tips to Improve the Quality of Your Free Time - Lifehack

How to spend your leisure time to be more successful, happier in life (cnbc.com)

An Open Mind

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 17:50:06 +0000

In The Moment

Countless thoughts go through our minds all day. Don’t forget to eat breakfast. Did I return that client’s phone call? I wonder if I’m doing a good job as a parent. Where did I put that paper from yesterday? I really should exercise more. Sometimes it may feel as if our thoughts are controlling us, telling us what to feel, what to do, what to focus on and how to react. They put us in either a positive or negative state of mind. Let’s take a look at meditation and the role it plays in giving us back control over how we navigate this world.

“A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Food for Thought

What is meditation exactly? It’s not just the standard movie depiction: sitting cross legged, hands on your knees, breathing and saying “ohm.” (Though this closely resembles the mantra type of meditation, where you focus on a word or mantra instead of the breath.) Did you know that there are myriad types of meditation? You can check out the resources at the end of this article to get more details on the different ways to practice, but we’re going to look at the most common ones here. The names may vary depending on where you are, but that’s because there is no single country of origin. People all over the world use meditation for the benefits it brings.

For instance, progressive relaxation (also called body scan), is where you slowly focus on each part of your body to let go of tension. Often this involves tightening and releasing each muscle as you focus on that area. The main benefits include:

Reduced pain
Lower blood pressure
Stress relief

Another very popular type of meditation is mindfulness, which usually involves being aware of your thoughts and patterns, but refraining from judgement or involvement in those thoughts. It is also an awareness of using your senses, like the way the air feels on your skin or the sound of the fan in the room. This type of practice is good for:

Awareness
Focus
Willpower

One of the meditation practices that seems to have the most benefits is often called loving-kindness, and can be compared to visualization. You can find a number of ways to practice loving-kindness meditation, including with a partner. At its core, it involves visualizing joyful, compassionate, kind, and loving experiences and feelings. Whether you dwell on times that you’ve been the empathetic one, or bring to mind people who have been empathetic toward you, meditating on these good vibes is shown to have the most impact on our social and emotional health. Benefits include those previously listed, along with:

Less self-destructive or critical thoughts
Empathy
Lower cortisol levels
Increased ability to sense the feelings of those around you, although this point is still debated among researchers.

I know - it’s a lot! Let’s talk about some resources you can use to get started, if you don’t know where to begin.

Keep in Mind

It might not be easy to get started if you’re not familiar with meditation. There are a few apps you can try if you’re looking for guided meditation. Try the Calm app, or the UCLA Mindful app. Both of these have guided meditations, so you don’t have to figure it all out while you’re simultaneously trying to meditate for the first time. The great thing about these apps is that you can have them handy no matter where you are or how much time you have.

Researchers say that it only takes 10-20 minutes a day to get optimal benefits. But please understand... this is a practice! It’s not a fix-all, so only through consistent and repeated practice will you reap the rewards of your mental training.

Repetition strengthens neural connections in your brain and essentially teaches your brain how to react. Not only is there noticeable differences in your brain structure physically (i.e. more grey matter!), but you can also see a difference in the way your brain functions. It’s pretty mind-blowing (pun intended) to be able to use the practice of meditation to change your actual brain! There are so many ways that meditation can improve your life, and with so little time needed daily, there’s no reason not to try it. If you have a favorite type of meditation or practice hack, please share with us below!

**Additional Resources

10 Things We Know About the Science of Meditation - Mindful

What Happens to My Brain When I Meditate? | Right as Rain by UW Medicine

Meditation and Mindfulness: What You Need To Know | NCCIH (nih.gov)

https://youtu.be/7FccK9UjuF0

12 science-based benefits of meditation - Hunimed

Guided Meditations - UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center - Los Angeles, CA (uclahealth.org)

What is Loving-Kindness Meditation? (Incl. 4 Scripts + Videos) (positivepsychology.com)

Get Grounded

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 14:11:49 +0000

Photo by: Matthew Hess (view of Black Mountains )

The Call of Nature

Well, not THAT call of nature. But the one of the natural world calling us to connect with nature and be rejuvenated. There are almost unlimited things you can do to spend time in nature: hiking, sailing, skydiving, sand surfing, or less extreme activities like walking, reading under a tree, or sitting in the sunshine. Spending time in the sun, earth, sky and water is extremely beneficial to your body and mind.

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink,

taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”

Henry David Thoreau

Tip of the Iceberg

Let’s get straight to it. These are some of the known and studied benefits that nature can have on our physical and mental health:

Lower stress levels
Lower blood pressure
Fewer symptoms of depression
Improved heart health and blood flow

These benefits seem obvious, so what about some less obvious ones? When we spend time in the great outdoors, it helps us connect to the larger world around us. Our daily frustrations don’t seem as bad when you’re staring at a radiant sunrise or down at the valley from the peak you just hiked. In addition to expanding our worldview, it also expands our connections with people. Take a walk with a coworker outdoors on your break. Grab a coffee on an outdoor patio with a friend. Meet some fellow outdoor enthusiasts while playing beach volleyball. The world is your oyster!

Photo by: Matthew Hess (Great Smoky Mountain NP)

Down to Earth

Remember the days of running around barefoot in the summer as a kid? Why did that stop? It doesn’t have to. Many people find the practice of “grounding” very helpful. Grounding, otherwise known as “earthing," is the act of skin to earth contact. There are still limited studies about this concept, but the idea is that the electrical energy that is naturally present in the earth helps reset and balance the electrical energy within our own bodies. This has been shown to boost the immune system, reduce pain and inflammation, improve blood flow and sleep, and is also a type of self-soothing. When you’re having a bad day, are overly stressed or overwhelmed, try getting outside and take your shoes off or do some glove-free gardening. Not every surface can be used for earthing, so make sure to try things like soil, gravel, stone, sand or grass. Some experts recommend 30 minutes a day, but effects can be seen in as little as a few minutes- it just depends on how good you want to feel!

A Ray of Sunshine

It’s no secret that the sun has countless benefits to the wellbeing of our planet, its plant life, and mankind. The biggest reason to spend time soaking up the rays: Vitamin D. This powerhouse is exactly what our bodies need and it affects our mood, immunity, inflammation, hormones, bone health, and much more. There are, of course, certain precautions to going in the sun (don’t look directly at the sun, wear sunscreen). Once those are taken care of, here’s what you should do in the sun. DO get in the sunlight within 60 minutes of waking. DO spend 30-45 minutes in direct sunlight. DO try to avoid going out for prolonged periods between 10am-4pm. DO try new ways of getting in that sunlight like the Zen Swing. The Zen Swing is a particular move within the ancient Chinese healing practice called Qigong (pronounced chi-gong), which emphasizes sunlight exposure while barefoot- like earthing! Check out this Zen Swing how-to video here: https://youtu.be/YP9GI309o9E. Only 10-30 minutes a day will give you all those good benefits and start your day off with energy and focus.

Photo by: Matthew Hess (New River Gorge NP)

Mountain or Molehill

Okay, we get it. Spending time in nature is good. But more isn’t always better. You don’t need to go as far as does Netflix’s series “Alone”, where contestants spend months alone in nature battling extreme weather conditions, natural predators and illnesses to see how long they can survive with Mother Nature. Experts recommend at least 2 hours a week of sunlight and the great outdoors. According to research, the benefits are the same whether it’s 2 hours in one day, or in smaller chunks throughout the week. So go ahead and park at the end of the lot at the grocery store to get an extra couple minutes or go geocaching on your lunch break- it adds up!

Thank you to our very own Matthew Hess, Marketing Associate for the beautiful pictures down the Appalachian Mountains!

Photo by: Matthew Hess (Sandstone Falls in New River Gorge NP)

Photo by: Matthew Hess (from Clingman’s Dome)

Photo by: Matthew Hess (New River Gorge Bridge- Route 19 over New River Gorge NP)

**Additional Resources

How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing? | Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing (umn.edu)

Nurtured by nature (apa.org)

What Is Grounding and Can It Help Improve Your Health? (healthline.com)

What are the health benefits of sunlight? (medicalnewstoday.com)

10 proven benefits of sunlight for your health (singlecare.com)

Integrative and lifestyle medicine strategies should include Earthing (grounding): Review of research evidence and clinical observations - ScienceDirect

Expose Yourself to Morning Sunlight for Better Sleep (verywellhealth.com)

Vitamin D: Benefits, deficiency, sources, and dosage (medicalnewstoday.com)

Qigong for Beginners: How to Get Started. An introduction to the ancient system | Better Humans

Getting Away

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 13:51:24 +0000

Get Away From It All

Ah, the work week. Hitting up the gym for a morning boost of pep-in-your-step, fueling up on coffee or favorite wellness shot, answering emails before you even get to the office, and going non-stop until you get home again to be with your family before you do it all again. Some love it, thrive on it even. Others may be running on fumes and, even if they love their jobs, find that this daily level of high performance is wearing them down. Either way, the human mind was not made to function 24/7 in a constantly busy and engaged state! There are plenty of reasons why it’s important for your mental and physical health to take a break once in a while. Yes, that means you! Exhaustion makes us less effective and more likely to be distracted, lose our passion for the job, and even more prone to making mistakes. There may be staffing shortages, or business is booming, or it’s too hard to coordinate coverage while you’re away. But don’t let those things get in the way of you protecting your own health!

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes - including you.”

-Anne Lamott

Take it Easy

Vacations: Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways! Let’s get the obvious ones out of the way first. As you can guess, being away from the stress of daily life can help the following:

Lower cortisol levels
Lower blood pressure
Lower cholesterol
Increased motivation
Increased mental clarity and focus

The list goes on. But there are a few interesting points to make that could close the deal for you. Usually, we go on vacations that are somewhere new, a place we’ve never been to, but always wanted to. Or if it’s the same destination every year, it’s still outside of your normal day-to-day environments. This means you can’t just go through the motions and coast through your day like normal. Wake-up, gym, coffee, office, clients/patients, commute, home. Instead, your mind wakes up. It doesn’t know what to expect at every moment, so it has to increase your awareness of your surroundings and the experiences in each moment. This boost of mindfulness, along with the other benefits listed, can be seen to still have effects as long as 5 weeks after the vacation.

Another point to consider is that your body and mind cannot get the rest they need to recharge and heal while they remain in a stressful environment. That’s like taking a deep breathe, squinting your eyes and telling yourself not to be afraid while watching a scary movie- a little pointless and probably not effective! Once you’ve had some R&R, your body can start really unwinding, letting go and can begin to soak in the benefits.

Having something on your calendar to look forward to shouldn’t be overlooked, either. Even if you haven’t actually taken the vacation yet, just knowing that it’s coming has been shown to increase tolerance to stress and increase happiness for up to 8 weeks before. That means you can reap all the benefits of one vacation from up to 8 weeks before, to about 5 weeks after. That’s quite a lot of bang for your buck! And don’t worry… even if you’re only able to manage a little in-town staycation or long week, research has shown that these benefits are still present.

Go the Extra Mile

If you want an even more enriching vacation experience, there are a couple more luxuries you can add to your package. We’ve talked about getting away to somewhere new, out of the norm, to shake up and wake up our brains. Taking that a step further - try another country. When we go to other countries, it is not only a new environment, but also a new culture, new food, new fragrances, new architectural styles, new mannerisms, new values and points of view, new languages. With so much going on, you will definitely find your mindfulness increasing as you immerse yourself into each new experience.

Best yet, wherever you go, go with somebody! Vacationing with someone is one of the best ways to make meaningful connections. It’s been said that at end of life, something that becomes most important are memories of one’s moments of connections throughout life. What better way to make these connections than having fun and relaxing with people who matter to you. It’s hard to create these moments at work, although not impossible. So if you want to enrich your current life and ensure that you have amazing memories to look back on later, vacation more!

Smooth Sailing

To get the most of these benefits, especially those that are heart-health related, plan to vacation no less than every 2 years. A couple times a year is ideal, even if you can only manage to get away for a handful of long weekends. The point is to be consistent and stay ahead of your body’s empty gas tank. Since you can experience the benefits of a vacation 8 weeks before and 5 weeks after, then taking just a few getaways a year (big or small), means that you should be able to stay healthy, focused and happy all year long. Now start brainstorming your dream vacation!

**Additional Resources

7 Reasons Why Vacation is Important | Benefits of Taking a Vacation (allinahealth.org)

5 Health Benefits to Taking a Vacation | Travel + Leisure (travelandleisure.com)

Why Taking Vacation Time Could Save Your Life (forbes.com)

According to Plan

Wed, 25 May 2022 02:36:42 +0000

Sounds Like a Plan

There’s no way to predict what life will throw at you. Unexpected stressors are bound to come your way, knock you for a loop, and allow stress and anxiety to creep in. You could find yourself with a sudden health problem. Maybe the perfect job opportunity means you’re moving to a new city. A new relationship may lead to a new marital status or even children. You could buy a home that turns out to be a lemon. Worse still, you could end up with a disability that prevents you from working and providing a living for yourself or your family.

It’s stressful even reading this list! It’s likely that some of these big changes will be in your future, but you don’t always know when they will pop up. This uncertainty is unsettling and adds to the stress surrounding the future, especially when there are no plans in place. So let’s talk about planning and the ways that a little preparation can significantly reduce stress.

“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”

Get a Game Plan

Some argue that one of the biggest stress relievers is simply the act of planning (i.e., fighting stress before it happens). Before we look at how this reduces stress, let’s figure out what a good plan looks like. How do you describe a good plan? There are plenty of tools out there that can teach you how to set goals, and write a to-do list. But the kind of planning that helps rid you of stress involves some imagination. Try visualizing the event happening and see what might come to mind as specific problems. While you’re playing through the situation in your head, what sorts of things stress you out the most? Do your worries have to do with health, safety, financial obligations, knowledge, weather, loved ones, security, etc.? Once you identify the circumstances that cause you stress in those situations, try to come up with realistic solutions that will relieve the stress surrounding each one.

Let’s look at the example of an athlete heading into a competition. We’ll assume that the athlete has trained diligently, honed skills and been disciplined about getting their body ready for the race. These are obvious and fairly common-sense methods of reducing the stress of game time. But the athletes who do not buckle under pressure, the ones who keep their heads in the game and aren’t easily shaken, are the ones who have taken the time to visualize the path to victory. The crowd that day could be unusually inclined to heckle. The weather may not cooperate and create less than ideal conditions. An unexpected friend or relative shows up and rattles your nerves just by being there. These things are out of your control. However, the athlete who visualizes these stressors can prepare to be less reactionary when the stress comes. Ask yourself, “How would I feel if this happened?” and “how can I remain calm in that case?”

This may seem like mere daydreaming, but this is actually called proactive coping. It is different from thinking of all the worst case scenarios and “what ifs” and getting yourself worked into nervous ball of energy. It takes effort and discipline, because you are planning for the future, in the now. Why wait until your pulse is racing and your mind is full of cognitive clutter?! Take some time, while your head is clear and your body is calm, to put yourself in a future stressful situation and get a plan to prepare your future-self. You’ll thank yourself later!

Plan for the Worst Best

We all know that what we say to ourselves matters tremendously. It can affect our whole outlook on life, as well as how we handle stressful situations. So let’s not be pessimists who excel at negative self-talk. Planning ahead to reduce stress is NOT thinking of the worst possible thing that can happen and how to soften the blow. Instead, think of it as taking control of your life, being wise and responsible so that you can set yourself up for victory, instead of disappointment and regret. Now that you know what a good plan is and how to come up with one, here are some situations you may want to consider while you’re proactively coping:

Wedding
New Home
New Car
Relocating
Health problems or Disability*
Travel
Pregnancy
Savings: home repair, car repair, retirement
Emergency fund: health problems, house repairs, travel to see a sick relative
Education: paying back student loans, future certifications, children’s college funds

The Best Laid Plans

Once you have your plan for the stressful event, you can implement your preferred method of goal setting. Whichever school of thought you subscribe to, SMART goals, HARD goals, BHAG goals, Locke and Latham principles, Franklin Covey planners… Make sure to break each plan down into smaller measurable steps that do not add to the stress. For example, looking at “plan wedding” on your to-do list is intimidating and involves too many steps to be completed in one task. This will only add to the stress you feel and will negate the proactive coping and planning that you did to get to that point. So be smart (or HARD or BHAG)! Even with a plan in place, life is still unpredictable. Having a plan is not supposed to be the ultimate answer to all problems, but it will allow you to be less reactive to stress and better your chances of rising to any challenge.

*If one of your stressful situations is wondering if you and your family will be okay if you became disabled and couldn’t work, that’s our area of expertise! Please contact us to find out more so we can help you “proactively cope” with that scenario. Let us help you check that off your list to give you peace of mind.

**Additional Resources

Manage Stress - MyHealthfinder | health.gov

Mental Preparation: Reduce Pre-Game Anxiety and Stress - inCourage

Why making plans helps manage pandemic stress - BBC Worklife

Planning Is Prevention: More Planning Means Less Stress — and a Big Boost in Happiness | TIME.com

A Laughing Matter

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 21:06:07 +0000

What’s So Funny?

Laugh it off… Laugh till you cry… Have the last laugh… A barrel of laughs… Laugh your head off… Side splitting laughter… Laugh and the whole world laughs with you. The list goes on and on. Why are there so many idioms involving laughter? Well, the answer is that laughter is POWERFUL. That’s right! Laughter can affect your physical, mental and emotional well-being. That’s pretty amazing for something that takes little effort and is free to do!

When we laugh, it sends messages to our brain that affect a number of things that are going on in our body. What are those things, you ask? Well, let’s talk about them and be amazed together!

The Best Medicine

The first thing that comes to mind as a benefit of laughter is probably that it puts you in a great mood. Why is that? The act of laughing not only releases endorphins, but it can also lower your levels of cortisol- the stress hormone. You can quite literally “laugh it off” when it comes to stress!

Now for some even cooler things you may not know about laughter. The American Heart Association has found that laughing can actual reduce artery inflammation and increase your HDL- the good cholesterol. Laughing is not just good for the heart and soul, but it’s great for the actual physical organ that is your heart!

Let’s move onto our immune systems. Yep, I said immune systems! Laughter increases the production of antibodies and T-cells that help our bodies fight off infection, thus strengthening our immune system.

Still not convinced that it’s worth adding more belly laughs to your life? Well, how about the fact that laughing increases your oxygen intake? All that deep, belly-laughter induced breathing helps to expel all the stale air and open the tiny air sacs in your lungs to increase oxygen consumption.

Now that you’re thoroughly convinced that you need more laughter in your life (because who can ever have enough?!), let take a look at some ways you can make that happen.

Drumroll, please…

You’re Joking!

Think back to the last time you laughed until you cried. You grabbed your sides because you thought they were going to burst from all the laughter. You doubled-over trying to tame the belly laughs that were erupting from your core. You no longer had the ability to control your facial expressions, because the laugh took over and your socially acceptable laugh face couldn’t cut it. You lost your ability to speak intelligibly and could only muster up a few high pitched, two-syllable squawks. You were surrounded by other people acting the exact some way and laughed even harder when you caught each other’s eyes, as if seeing a visual representation of your own behavior in someone else made it all the funnier.

Do you have that time in mind? How long ago was it? How often do you have these moments? If you can’t remember the last time you laughed like this, then you may currently be more stressed than necessary!

The good news is, all the benefits that we’ve discussed so far are available to claim for yourself right now! Whether you are a self-proclaimed comedian, or don’t have a funny bone in your body, you can still reap the rewards of a good belly laugh. So here are some interesting facts you should know before embarking on you laughter journey:

Laughing is easier socially, so grab a partner and watch a comedy special on Netflix, or head out to a comedy show with a group of friends.
Eye contact can help increase social connection, which adds a relational benefit to your laugh fests.
Laughing is like yawning- it’s contagious! So just start laughing and someone is bound to join in.
After 20-30 seconds, your brain can no longer tell the difference between a real laugh and a forced laugh. This point is somewhat debated, but chances are, you will probably end up really laughing at the silly forced-laugh noises that you’re making.
Use a mirror. If you don’t have someone else around, the reflection of yourself laughing may help your brain to get in the right frame of mind to join in the fun.

Fake it till you make it

Even if we want to laugh more and reap all these benefits, we’re not always in the mood to laugh. But if our brain can’t tell the difference after a while, then what’ve you got to lose? Try some of these ideas to curate and manifest the laugh lifestyle you’re aiming for.

Start a Pinterest board. This is where you can keep all the memes, stories, photos that make you laugh. Then go back and take a look whenever you need to get a little inspiration to get the laughter rolling.
Host a game night like Charades or Pictionary. There’s bound to be some good material when you get a room of adults together to blow off some steam with a little friendly competition.
Laugh yoga classes. If you need some guidance or you just really like taking classes, then this might be for you. You can easily find videos online, or you may even have a local yoga studio that participates.
Imitate laughs. If there’s a famous line from a movie, or you have a favorite evil villain laugh, then try to imitate it! You don’t have to be an actor, but give a good try and you’re bound to make yourself laugh for real!

If you find something that makes you blurt laugh, or you discover a great new comedian or TV show, please share below and keep the laughter going. Let’s help each other out!

*Additional Resources

Laughter is the Best Medicine - HelpGuide.org

Stress relief from laughter? It's no joke - Mayo Clinic

Laughter is the Best Medicine - You're the Cure (yourethecure.org)

Six Science-Based Reasons Why Laughter Is The Best Medicine (forbes.com)

10 Health Benefits of Laughing - The Fact Site

How Does Laughter Relieve Stress | USAHS

Laughing Yoga: What Is It and Does It Work? (healthline.com)

Know the Signs of Burnout

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 17:17:36 +0000

What is Burnout?

It’s no secret that the last couple years have taken their toll on all of us. Working long hours, working from home, virtual school, back to school, adhering to guidelines, changing guidelines… this is pandemic life. But regardless of what challenges looked like for you, we can all agree that burnout is a real thing.

burn·out | \ ˈbərn-ˌau̇t \ Definition\ : exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.

No matter who you are- an attorney, a teacher, a business owner, a stay at home mom, a medical professional- your burnout experience is valid. Your needs and feelings are valuable and worth taking care of, both for your own sake and the sake of the people in your life. Burnout tends to sneak up on us and slap us in the face. It would be great if we saw it coming a mile away before it makes its hostile takeover!

What does burnout feel like?

How in tune are you with what burnout really looks like for you? Can you recognize how you feel when burnout is creeping in? Take a second to think about it. Write it down. Make a quick “burnout checklist” in your notes app and set a reminder once a month to go over the checklist and evaluate where you’re at.

Maybe you start snapping at people you love, or tuning out your family when you get home at the end of the day. Maybe you’re craving comfort food… or you can’t stand the thought of food at all. You may wake up irritated for no reason when the day hasn’t even had a chance to throw you a curve ball. Maybe you start missing deadlines at work or getting easily frustrated with co-workers or clients. You might have trouble sleeping at night or feel like you’re treading water just to stay afloat all day long. You may even have physical symptoms like higher blood pressure or feeling like you can’t catch your breath.

The scientific description of burnout, according to social psychologist Christina Maslach, include three areas:

Exhaustion- we’re tired at the end of a regular day, but “burnout” exhaustion is a chronic thing that can’t be fixed in one weekend getaway or a good run.
Cynicism- when everything feels offensive and irritating, you’ve officially become a burnout-induced cynic.
Reduced sense of effectiveness- nothing you pour your heart into is giving you any sense of accomplishment or satisfaction.

If any of this is sounding uncomfortably familiar, then burnout may already be knocking at your door.

So… now what?

What can you do about it?

There are lots of ways to handle burnout, including talking to your doctor- but you may find some of the simple ideas below useful in restoring balance to your mental and emotional well-being. Since burnout comes from being emptied of our physical and emotional strength over time, then we need to proactively fill ourselves back up on a regular basis to avoid this insidious intruder. It takes time to fix something that took time to break. Likewise, it takes consistency to take care of yourself just as it takes consistency to NOT take care of yourself. Be consistent in the right thing. None of these suggestions are a fix-all, but done regularly and with intent, they can certainly help lessen the likelihood that you’ll crash and burn(out) down the line.

Schedule an overnight, or weekend trip. It doesn’t have to be far, even a staycation at a local Airbnb or hotel can do wonders to get a quick reset.
Get outdoors. Fresh air has a way of clearing the mind and calming the body. Yes, even in winter!
Exercise. If you have time to spend an hour at the gym, go for it! If not, squeeze in a few 5 minute walks, take the stairs, even chair stretches at your desk count.
Remember why you got into the field you’re in and why you’re so passionate about it. It’s amazing how motivated we feel when there’s a passion driving us.
The Calm App. No, we are not sponsored. But have you tried this app? You may find the places it can take you in just a few moments is all you need.
Tapping. This is a technique based on the practice of acupuncture, but instead of needles, you use the pressure of your own fingers along meridian points to bring a balance of energy to the body.
Floating. Either you love it or you hate it. It’s basically the spa version of a sensory deprivation tank and can ease mental anxiety, as well as muscle tension caused by stress.

Where do you go from here?

Whatever time you have available to take care of yourself, whether an hour or just a few moments, take advantage of the opportunity. It will pay dividends to not push yourself until you’re a puddle on the floor. First, recognize your signs. Seriously, take a few minutes to assess your mental health and take notes. Next, let people know! Tell the people in your life what your signs are so you’re not the only one looking out for yourself. Finally, take the most intriguing ideas above, and the ones you think you could easily incorporate into your life consistently, and pop them into your phone. What is ONE that you are willing to try this week? You’ll want to have these ideas on hand, along with your burnout checklist, so that you can stay proactive in preventing burnout and pursuing your healthy work-life balance.

If you end up giving any of these ideas a try, or you’ve found another solution that’s worked for you, please share below. Let’s help each other out!

Additional Resources

Physician Burnout Library (mssny.org)

Member Assistance Program - Bar Association of Erie County (eriebar.org)

The Happiness Lab Podcast with Dr. Laurie Santos - Pushkin Industries

Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation | Dedicated to Protecting the Well-Being of Physicians and Health Care Professionals (drlornabreen.org)

Work Burnout: How to Spot Symptoms and What to Do - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Burnout Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster