Money Sense magazine has just released its “Top 200 Places to Live in Canada” for 2013. Apparently, where you live and corresponding environmental factors can directly impact your health. Money Sense based their rankings on factors such as crime rate, property tax average, average income, weather, accessibility and others. Check out the list to see how your city compares to other great spots in Canada.
Making Martial Arts More Accessible
I previously wrote about Martial Arts and the immense benefits of this for both children and adults. However, in highlighting this, I am cognisant that some people will have physical, financial, and geographical barriers to participating in a Martial Arts program. As such, I wanted to provide some more information to make Martial Arts more accessible.
From a physical perspective, like all activities, Martial Arts can be modified to meet any level of physical ability. Personally, I have vertigo so I cannot engage in ground techniques. So, I stay on my feet working on kicks, punches, forms, and self-defense. Erik Kondo (http://martialartistwithdisabilities.blogspot.ca/2008/07/erik-kondo.html) has paraplegia and is a third degree black belt. He has posted several videos online about self-defense from a wheelchair, and has also published an online resource on the 5 D’s of self-defense (http://www.not-me.org/). Michael Sirota (http://www.sirotasalchymy.com/master.html) runs an entire Martial Arts program for people with disabilities and structures each program individually. With a creative Sensei and a motivated participant, anything can be done. Tai Chi is also a Martial Art, but is grounded in slow, sequential movements that can be done in sitting or standing. My grandmother had Parkinson’s Disease and practiced Tai Chi for years as a way to prevent the decline of her balance and mobility. There are many local chapters of Taoist Tai Chi (www.taoist.org/ontario).
Financially, like many organized sports or activities, Martial Arts can be considered expensive. However, as a parent, I have found Martial Arts to be less expensive than the organized volleyball, basketball, tennis, cheer and dance my girls have participated in. In the world of rehab, a one year Martial Arts Program could be easily justified on a treatment plan. Or, if you are funding this yourself, there are different dojos with different fee structures so calling around can help you to find one within your budget. Our local YMCA offers Martial Arts as part of the family membership, and a family membership at the Y has multiple benefits for a reasonable fee. I also believe the Y’s offer membership rates that can be geared to income. Some dojos offer Martial Arts on a monthly basis, and others require a contract. You can decide through speaking with different programs which option works best for you. Also, some community centers offer Martial Arts for very low prices, or again are geared to income. I have also experienced Sensei’s coming into physical education classes to demonstrate some of the skills and techniques at no charge.
Geographically there may be barriers to finding a local dojo, or transportation problems prevent easy access the community. Perhaps looking for videos, online resources, books or even using video games to teach some of the skills could be possible. Or, perhaps there is a carpooling opportunity with another family in the same area. Explaining access issues to the Sensei at the nearest dojo may result in some solutions.
The bottom line is that as with anything, where there is a will, there is a way. And the benefits of engaging in Martial Arts are so immense that taking some time to research local opportunities and to ask questions to make this accessible to you or your child will be well worth the effort.
Do You Know The Signs of a Heart Attack?
This public service announcement featuring Elizabeth Banks for “Go Red for Women” is quite comical, however, teaches a serious lesson on being prepared. It’s National Emergency Preparedness week in Canada. Be prepared and know the signs of a heart attack. Doing so could save your life or the life of someone you love.
Martial Arts is All That…
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
I started Martial Arts at a time in my life when I was discontent with my emotional, physical and cognitive health. I was unhappy with myself and listed all the reasons I felt that way to come to a very solid conclusion – I was not getting enough exercise. After having four kids in five years, my exercise and sports were naturally not at the forefront of my time. My solution? Karate. Why? It would provide me with the physical outlet I needed, would be a cognitive challenge, and would feed my emotional need to do something for “me”. Also, I considered self-defence, like CPR and First Aid, a tool I wanted in my “just in case” tool box. But what I found through Martial Arts was much more than I expected. I always struggled to explain this to others until I read a wonderful post from Sensei Master Michael Sirota (http://www.sirotasalchymy.com/master.html). Sensei Sirota lives in British Columbia and has created an entire Martial Arts program for people with disabilities. He is heavily involved in the Para-Olympics and is, in my mind, a pillar in the Martial Arts Community. I was fortunate enough to meet Michael in person last year.
In his post “Why Martial Arts”, Sensei Sirota highlighted the benefits:
Self-Defense: “practice the fight so you don’t have to”. This speaks to the fact that Martial Artists develop a quiet confidence that is seen but not heard. This confidence makes them less vulnerable as a target of violence, and teaches them to identify potentially dangerous situations early to promote avoidance.
Athletic Enhancement and Fitness: Many athletes combine their sports training with Martial Arts to maintain endurance, flexibility, coordination and swiftness. Being able to strike, kick and move quickly mimics the explosive, fluid and coordinated movements needed in sport. There are few other activities that burn as many calories, or result in such an overall body workout.
Other Health Benefits: Martial Artists tend to take diet and exercise seriously. This is part of the intensity of their training and their commitment to wellness. Martial Arts requires concentration and focus, things relatable to all areas of life. Martial Arts is a commitment with the built in motivation of moving through belt levels to achieve the goal of Sensei.
Respect and Courtesy: Contrary to popular belief, Martial Arts is about restraint and playing nicely in the sand box. It has been proven that children (and adults) trained in martial arts tend to be disciplined, composed and respectful. This is beneficial in all areas of life, especially relationships, school and work.
So, if you are looking for fitness, emotional strength, confidence, and cognitive stimulation, there are few other activities that will provide more bang for your buck. And, fortunately, there are many forms of Martial Arts to choose from, making it likely that you can connect with a style and form that aligns with your interests.
Weekly Mind Bender
The Muller-Lyer illusion:
Are the coloured lines the same length?
They are! The different colours and “framing” from the arrows surrounding the lines make them appear to be different sizes, but they are actually equal length.
Eat For Healthy Bones
It has long been understood that bone health becomes increasingly important as you age – especially for women. It is also known that the functional impacts of a broken bone (reduced self-care, productivity and leisure) can be massive. The role of calcium is well known, but what other factors contribute to bone health? Health magazine has created a list of eleven foods that maximize the strength of your bones. Check this out and see if you can up your consumption of bone health promoting nutrients…
What Behaviors Do You Want to Modify?
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
One of the best courses I took in university was Behavior Modification. Our main project was to modify one of our own behaviors over a four month period. Personally, I had a dog and wanted to develop a better walking routine. So, over the four months I mapped out several walking routes that increased my time spent walking on a weekly basis. By the end of the four months, I was walking my dog two hours and twelve kilometers a day. Research indicates that it takes four months to develop a new habit, so by the end of the course my new walking routine became standard practice and something I did religiously with my dog (and then dogs) until I had my family and needed to develop a new routine.
Often, when our regular routines are interrupted by disability bad habits develop. While not immediate, over time days can become more and more unproductive until soon very little is getting accomplished. This has a drastic impact on mental health and impacts all areas of physical, cognitive and emotional functioning, let alone the impact on those that we live with.
The best way I have been able to help clients to break such routines is to simply have them track how they spend their time. Once this is documented, people can quickly identify the problems areas and then together we discuss how to fix them. For example, through tracking for a week, one client discovered that she does not shower, one found that he watches ten hours of TV per day, and another learned that she does not eat during the day, but consumes junk food all evening. In every case, people discovered something about their routine that drove them into action for change.
So, if you are concerned that your routine is lacking in productivity, self-care or leisure, or there are activities you would like to resume or goals to achieve, just keep a log of how you spend your time. After a week, reflect on your log and make a list of the problem areas. Commit to making small changes (start with the easiest changes first) and over time, you will see huge improvements in how you feel about yourself and your routines. Or, for a more structured approach, consider hiring a professional to assess your suitability for the Progressive Goal Attainment Program. This program involves using time tracking over 10 weeks to completely revamp routines to reduce psychosocial barriers to recovery, improve mental health and reduce disability caused by chronic pain.
How Is Your Mood?
Mental illness is the most common cause of lost work and debilitates thousands of Canadians. Yet, it continues to be a problem not openly discussed. So, what do you really know about your mental health and the things that can affect it? Recent studies suggest that eating fast food regularly can increase your chances of developing depression and that stress may be genetic. Find out more about these and other surprising ways our mental health can be affected in this article from Best Health Magazine. See how your diet and lifestyle choices may be affecting your mood.
Will You Choose Wood or Water?
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
Often people talk about “fighting fires” in trying to manage the day to day events of life. If this is your life most of the time, how stressful! But, as with all situations, we have a choice.
In a fire, do we want to be Wood or Water? Wood, of course, will burn and burn quickly. Do we want to grow this fire by providing it with the fuel it needs to be bigger and stronger? Or, do we want to be water? Water that can reduce the effects of the fire and bring this under control? The ultimate choice is ours.
If we are wood we react, blame, accuse, yell, and jump to conclusions. If we are water we seek to understand, ask questions, and remain calm. It is not always easy to make a choice, especially when a situation is fraught with urgency and we have other people adding to the fire by being wood themselves. Perhaps the simple solution is to quickly ask the question: is my reaction here helping or hindering? Do I understand? I have been guilty of sending emails, or making phone calls that were accusing in nature, to only realize I don’t have the entire story. Whoops, my bad and I have learned my lesson. Seek to understand so you can later be understood. I think someone famous said that.
Weekly Mind Bender
A man stands on one side of a river, his dog on the other. The man calls his dog, who immediately crosses the river without getting wet and without using a bridge or a boat. How did the dog do it?
The river was frozen.