The Happiness Doctor Is In...

A Mayo Clinic physician offers a joyful plan based in science Dr. Amit Sood, 48, reckons, based on average life span, that he has 10,000 days more to live. That sense of finite time helps him focus his attention, show compassion, be grateful and help others — all actions that lead to happiness. Sood chooses happiness. And he wishes for you to choose it, too. His recently released Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness pulls together easy things to incorporate into a busy life to boost joy and fulfillment. The Mayo Clinic researcher, educator and clinician grew up in India and was a young medical student during the massive 1984 chemical spill in Bhopal. He witnessed the resulting injuries and suffering of people whose homes and lives were destroyed by the accident. When he moved to the United States a decade later, he thought he would find, he says, “the Disneyland of the world.” And yet, he saw suffering, stress and pain in this country, too. Why, he wondered, is happiness so elusive? What is it about the human condition that pulls us to the negative? The problem, his research showed, is our brains. They are not designed for peace and happiness but to constantly scan the environment for what could harm us, looking always for what’s wrong or out of place. And our minds wander — most of us spend 50 to 80 percent of our time thinking wandering thoughts. We can’t seem to help it. When Mayo gave people 174 choices of activities that made them happy, “thinking” came in dead last. Yet, it gobbles up our finite days. So how to break free of the brain’s relentless churning, its pull to the negative? “If we can do that,”...

Tai Chi: The Healing Art That Will Empower You...

Tai Chi can enhance your second half of life in so many ways It is an ancient Chinese martial art form, and loosely translated it means “ultimate life force”. Using a series of movements that increase flexibility, build strength, and restore balance, Tai Chi helps a person reach a heightened sense of being. Many people tend to slow down, as they get older. Exercise can become more strenuous with age, taking its toll on the body. One of the many reasons Tai Chi has a big following in the mature community is because it is gentle, requiring little strain on the body. As you enter this part of life, it can help empower you by letting you connect to the strength inside of you, balancing your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. No longer does growing older have to mean growing weaker. Doctors and other Western medicine practitioners have recommended Tai Chi for years. There are more and more studies proving the beneficial nature of its practice. We’ve listed some of the benefits Tai Chi has to offer below. Fall Prevention and Balance Building Falling is the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries. One of Tai Chi’s biggest benefits (and the one backed by the most evidence) is that it increases your balance, thus reducing the risk of falling. It strengthens leg muscles and increases flexibility in the ankles, which helps you balance on uneven surfaces. Tai Chi also builds core strength, a vital part of maintaining your balance. Connect socially What a better thing to connect over than a shared interest in an engaging, beneficial exercise such as Tai Chi. Check out your local community center or senior citizens center to find out when are where classes...

7 Ways to Avoid Stress-Related Weight Gain...

How to chill out and keep the pounds off Stressful home situations or working at a job that makes you crazy can lead to weight gain over time, according to a new study from Ohio State University. The study involved 58 women, average age 53, who were questioned about their prior day’s stressful events before being given a high-fat meal of 930 calories and 60 grams of fat (equivalent to a quarter pounder with cheese and bacon plus fries). Afterward, researchers measured the women’s metabolic rates (the time it took for them to burn calories and fat). Blood sugar, insulin, and the stress hormone cortisol were among the parameters measured. The participants who reported one or more stressful situations during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than the non-stressed women in the seven hours after eating the high-fat meal. This difference adds up to a potential weight gain of an alarming 11 pounds a year. “Keep in mind, however, we don’t know if differences in activity level might have contributed to the results of this study,” says Dr. Brian Quebbemann, founder of the N.E.W. Program in Newport Beach, Calif., who was not part of the study. “Regardless, stress has been long known to result in a tendency to gain weight. Stress works by increasing the fight-or-flight hormone, cortisol, which makes you hungrier and also stimulates the deposit of fat around your midsection.” The solutions: Stress reduction through activity helps you feel more relaxed and keeps your metabolism from tanking. Plan stress-relieving activities. Stress reduction can be achieved by doing an activity that helps you feel more relaxed or by avoiding stressful situations, says Quebbemann. “Make a list of things you enjoy (a walk, bubble bath, reading) that...

Why Letting Go Is the Path to Happiness...

‘The Ecstasy of Surrender’ author says it’s an anti-aging secret, too Bestselling author and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA Dr. Judith Orloff is a model for balancing fierce left-brain intellect and right-brain compassion. She calls herself an “empathic psychiatrist,” and it’s her ability to connect with her patients on an emotional level while supporting them and offering wise life strategies that puts her in a rarefied league. As a follow-up to her 2009 book, the wildly popular Emotional Freedom, Orloff has penned The Ecstacy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life . She gave readers a taste of it in a TED talk. , which garnered more than half a million views on YouTube. In the new book, Orloff shows why surrender is a more effective approach to life than trying to control or force things. She offers examples and exercises to help us make that simple, yet super-challenging, leap when it comes to power, money, communication, relationships and mortality. I had the pleasure of chatting with her about these subjects and others and was especially eager to hear whether she felt surrender was more important to boomers than other age groups. Highlights from our conversation: Next Avenue: You’ve said you write about what you want to learn about. How did you pick the subject of surrender? Orloff: Well, because I’m a control freak and I tend to fight with life sometimes, and worry, and get attached to patterns and relationships that aren’t good for me and I can’t rid of them … my deepest desire was to learn surrender on a deep, deep level so I could shed what wasn’t working for me and learn how to trust and flow instead of...