Last week, I was honored to be a guest speaker at a local health event called Your Heart Matters: Women's Heart and Wellness Conference. I had the chance to sit in on some of the amazing lectures that were being presented on various health topics. and I wanted to share with you what one of the incredible speakers had to say about relieving stress. With the holidays coming up so soon, I thought we could all relate to what she had to say. I know I can!
The speaker's name was Carole Klein, and she's a psychotherapist. She uses what she calls the LEARN technique to relieve stress. Each letter of the acronym represents something we should keep in mind to feel better. For example:
L--means laughter and love of life
E--means exercise
A--means attitude
R--means relaxation
N--means nutrition
When Dr. Klein spoke about exercise, she had such a good tip that I wanted to share it with the community here. She suggested that when we watch TV, we should be getting up and walking around during the commercials. Since each hour of TV contains about 20 minutes of commercials, we can all get in some serious exercise while watching 1-2 of our favorite shows.
I'm certainly guilty as charged in terms of watching TV--I love to relax and catch my favorite programs whenever I can. But I never thought about using the commercial time to my advantage.
Dr. Klein said that by moving around more, we would all be in better shape both mentally and physically, since exercise helps to relieve stress.
We videotaped Dr. Klein and will have her information on the site in a few weeks, but until then, I wanted the LEARN method and especially the E portion to be my tip of the day...we need to make sure we are getting up and moving around when we watch TV!
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This is a very interesting topic, thank you for sharing. I like the "LEARN" lesson, as well.
About sneaking in exercise while watching the screen: today at lunch, my boss and I were talking about elliptical machines, as he has been shopping for one. I made the comment that I like to use my mini stepper while watching a movie or TV program; otherwise, I find ellipticals and such rather boring.
On another note, the local gyms have been installing big screens in their workout rooms so that people on the machines can watch something, rather than be plugged into their armbands (how most carry their mp3 players). This also seems to encourage more conversation, as it's much easier to talk to someone who has at least one ear "free," - LOL!
November 19, 2008 - 6:42pmThis Comment
Last week, I just re-arranged my living room slightly to accomplish this very thing! When I do watch my TV shows in the evening, I made room for a cute basket that can hold four dumbbells beside my couch for arm exercises, as well as a medicine ball. I've actually exercised during commercials, and have the timing down to wear I can do a few sets of each exercise and am finished with all of my sets/reps of arms and abs during the 20 minutes of commercials.
It really works!
November 18, 2008 - 2:26pmThis Comment
This is a great idea for exercise! (And it's a really good alternative to the "other" exercise we tend to get during commercials -- a trip to the refrigerator, LOL!)
Seriously, splitting up the minutes in commercials is so smart. I know that when I'm doing a chore I don't care for, like folding laundry, if I fold it while I watch and put it away during the commercials, it seems much easier to get done. Same with paying bills -- somehow, the pain of writing a check to a credit card company is just a little less when it's tucked into those minutes between television shows.
Now if I can just find a way to get my holiday to-do lists finished during the commercials ...
November 18, 2008 - 10:21amThis Comment
What a great way to sneak in some exercise. I'm a big believer that exercise has many health benefits and don't believe the human body was meant to be at rest for too long. I'll try this and see if I notice a difference. Thanks for passing this along.
November 17, 2008 - 9:55amThis Comment