Relaxing Through The Hard Times
Life is always, sometimes, constantly throwing us curveballs. But, the resiliency of the human spirit is a beautiful thing. We can recover through therapy, self-work, and self-care. We all know the power something as simple as a massage can bring. But what about the effects that crises have on our physical health? Stress and trauma can negatively impact your physical health in several ways, so it’s important to know what relaxation techniques work best for you. Additionally, maybe you’re limited by budget and don’t have the option to get a massage every time you hit a significant bump in the road. So, here’s a tool kit full of skills to help you relax through the hard times.
Beat Back Exhaustion
One of the first things you notice when you’re struggling through a major life event is the sheer exhaustion of it all. Between people calling to check in on you, taking on more responsibilities than you might typically have, and just the mental exhaustion of the event – fatigue is real! It’s essential to keep your exhaustion levels in check. Some ways to do that are to get in little naps where you can – you’d be amazed at what even thirty minutes can do. When you don’t have the option of sleeping during the day, studies have shown that coffee has many health benefits. If you’re not a coffee drinker, there’s plenty of other options like caffeinated teas or a hemp infused energy drink. You have to do what you do as healthily as possible to get through the day.
It’s worth remembering, though, that when it is nighttime, you need to guard your sleep. Maybe you can’t get your usual eight to ten hours of sleep but aim for at least six. If you’re having a hard time falling asleep, you can try natural methods like chamomile or melatonin, or you may need to visit your doctor for a sleep aid if you’re struggling.
Watch What You Eat
When we’re busy, overwhelmed, or stressed, it’s easy to reach for convenience foods because we know the sugar in them will give us a quick burst of energy, and they take no time to prepare. If you’re feeling down and stressed, prepping food is the last thing you may want to do. But don’t fall into this trap. They say “you are what you eat” for a reason. So if you’re filling up on overprocessed, unhealthy food, it’s only going to make dealing with the crises that much more difficult. You may find that eating whole foods or a plant-based diet will give you the energy to keep fighting through the hard times. Either way, you’re not doing yourself any favors by not taking care of your physical health while you’re going through tough times, so make sure to eat the healthiest, most nutritious food available to you.
Delight Your Senses
Try to make your home your haven. Utilizing relaxing scents through incense, essential oil diffusing, or other forms of aromatherapy is a great way to relax. There’s a reason why spas always use them! So, light a lavender candle, sip some chamomile tea, and try to let your worries lift off of you, even for just a moment. You can also delight in the sense of sound. Put on music that relaxes you, even if it’s heavy metal; who cares? Whatever makes you feel good, take some time out to do what you already know to calm your nerves. Take baths with Epsom salts in them, the magnesium not only relaxes any sore muscles (with pent-up stress, this is common), but your body absorbs the magnesium as well, which is a vital nutrient for optimum health.
Don’t Be Shy About Asking For Help
Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do is to admit we need help. Depending on the stress you’re trying to relax from, it may simply be beyond what you can do on your own. Whether you feel comfortable talking to a friend or loved one or want to go straight to your regular doctor, there are ways that they can help you manage and maybe even alleviate your stress levels. Sometimes you’ll need medication to get you through, and that’s okay. The important thing is, you drop the stigma of reaching out and get back to the best version of yourself.
Ups and downs are the natural ebb and flow of being a living human being. But, there’s no denying that sometimes they are more challenging than others. If you can keep in mind the ways that work for you to help you relax through the hard times and stay ahead of the curve, that’s your best bet for staying healthy through it all. Here’s to your health and happiness!
Impacts of Aging on Cognition
When we get older, our physical abilities can slowly start to decline. Sometimes, our cognitive abilities will degrade as well. Muscles and bones start to reduce in size as we age. As a result, our limbs’ density, flexibility, endurance, and strength are impacted. People can become a bit shorter with age or have severe bone and muscle damage, depending on the situation. In addition to the physical effects of aging, the brain is also affected by age. Things like short-term memory can be early signs of cognitive decline.
However, memory is just the start of some of the potential cognitive impacts of aging. While modern scientific breakthroughs are providing hope in things like the klotho protein to help mitigate the negative signs of aging, there are many impacts of aging that, for the time being, are a natural part of life.
Learning Ability and Aging
Our age has a direct impact on our ability to learn new things. An early example of this can be seen in our ability to learn a new language. As we age, the ability to learn and process a new language declines rapidly. Babies can become native speakers of more than one language early on, while adults can find it harder to pick up a second language later in life.
As we get older, more and more things become difficult to learn. For example, our reaction time and thinking speed slow down, and it can be more difficult to make original associations between objects and experiences. Luckily, when memory starts to decline we can combat some of the effects of aging by training our brain with mind games and staying healthy.
Sensory Perception and Aging
Sensory loss is a significant part of the aging process. Usually, hearing is the first sensory ability to go, starting sometimes as early as age 30. By 80 years of age, over 70% of hearing can be gone. This can result in sound discrimination and sound localization, which decreases hearing range significantly.
Our sense of taste, touch, smell, and sight can also start to be impacted as we age. This can result in the need for glasses later in life, often starting with reading glasses and eventually developing into bifocals or trifocals.
Multitasking With Age
Losing the ability to multitask effectively or split our attention is another area that can be impacted by aging. While we age, processing speed and attention span can be altered. For this reason, the ability to split attention between objects and experiences can be limited.
How Klotho Protein Might Help
Proteins make up our body and our brain. They are the building blocks of our biological cells that contain information, which also makes them vital in the aging process. You might think that protein only affects how much muscle you put on, but proteins are essential to your brain function as well. Klotho is one such protein that has been associated with cognitive function.
Studies have shown that those deficient in the klotho protein are more likely to develop cognitive impairments and a massive onset of aging resulting in cognitive impairment. Even muscle and bone density decline has been shown to be correlated to the amount of klotho we have in our systems. As a result, klotho protein is being used to treat aging cognitive function and prevent terminal illnesses related to brain function such as Alzheimer’s or dementia. In addition, it has shown a remarkable ability to help those who take it prevent the early onset degrading of age-related cognitive impairment.
Aging is a natural part of life. As we age our bodies and our minds change. Luckily, with modern science and technology, there is hope that we can mitigate the negative side effects of aging and live long and productive lives.
Sources:
https://theconversation.com/why-the-baby-brain-can-learn-two-languages-at-the-same-time-57470
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4906299/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6091049/
