Debbie Mandel’s
Turn On Your Inner Light
Weekly Wellness Newsletter
February 6, 2005
www.TurnOnYourInnerLight.com


Affirmation of the Week
 The best place to find
a helping hand
is at the end of your own arm.
Weekly Wellness Radio Show

The Turn On your Inner Light Radio Show airs Tuesday evenings 7:00 to 7:30pm, on WGBB 1240AM in Long Island. Listeners outside the Long Island area can listen to the show live by going to WGBB Live. The shows are archived for your listening pleasure.

Guest of the Week - Dr. Birgit Wolz

On February 8, 2005 - Dr. Birgit Wolz is a psychotherapist and author of E-Motion Picture Magic. She will show us how movies can help us with personal growth and healing.

Health Tips of the Week

  • Valentine’s Day is coming. According to a growing amount of research, chocolate, red wine and love can play a significant role in keeping the blood flowing throughout the body. So indulge a little.
  • We all know that eating fish is good for you depending on how it’s prepared. So, broil – don’t fry the fish. Frying alters the ratio of good fats to bad fats in the fish. Eating fried fish actually raises your risk for stroke.
  • Here’s an interesting theory: More people are coming down with allergies and autoimmune disorders like MS because we live in environments that are much cleaner than previous generations. Apparently, catching infections during childhood from schoolchildren, in the playground and from younger siblings helps to train kids’ immune systems into adulthood. Raising children in antiseptic environments weakens the immune system.
  • New studies show a cancer paradox: Sun exposure -- a known cause of skin cancer -- has an anticancer effect for cancers like, breast, prostate, colon, certain lymphomas and even preventing malignant melanomas. To sort out the information, keep sun exposure in balance. Perhaps, it’s the vitamin D from the sun.
  • In a new study scientists claim that nearly 50% of patients suffering from manic depression, or bipolar disorder, may have been abused as children. Emotional, physical and sexual abuse, or any combination thereof, are linked with the condition, which causes dramatic mood swings and drastic behavioral changes.
  • The truth is out: older people deal better with chronic pain than younger people. The reason might be different expectations or the fact that younger people are more stressed dealing with children and work. Apparently seniors are more accepting of their aches and pains than younger people who are overwhelmed by pain.
  • A drink a day ranging from wine to beer to cocktails keeps an older woman’s brain cognitively alert and lowers her risk for cardiovascular disease. I drink to your good health, but don’t over indulge!

Article of the Week -
How to Have Fun Again

Remember when you woke up filled with enthusiasm, eager to begin your day, savoring each vibrant moment? How long has it been since you felt vital in that way? If a photo were taken of you at this moment, would you smile for the camera or look nervous and serious, uncomfortable that the picture is being taken?

We need to recapture the Kodak moments of our lives which express our innate capacity for fun and laughter. Our fears, problems, losses and disappointments have hurled obstacles in the way of personal happiness. We need to clear the path, prune the trees and wash the windows to let joy shine into our interior.

Along the way we were taught so many “protective” strategies: don’t talk to strangers, don’t go to unknown places, don’t express yourself fully or reveal personal, vital information… No wonder many of us have a hard time opening ourselves up to new friends, trying new things or saying what’s on our minds. All of these protective walls have limited our potential for joy and uninhibited fun.

This requires that we tap into our original identity – all that we once were before we became spouses, parents and professionals. We need to get reacquainted with ourselves on a first name basis. We need to soften the hard, outer shell we have placed over our hearts, the scar tissue, that prevents us from having compassion for ourselves and for others, fearful that we might be hurt.

Here’s how to remove those barriers and reclaim your sense of fun: More

Frank Mikulka's Fitness Tip Of The Week
I’m upper middle-aged (62 to be exact) and I’m having recurring bouts of lower back and joint problems. Am I too old to begin strength-training? I’ve heard it may counteract that feeling of being old. (Moe, West Hempstead) Answer

Send your fitness question to: fitness@turnonyourinnerlight.com

Debbie Mandel, MA is the author of Turn On Your Inner Light: Fitness for Body, Mind and Soul, a stress-reduction specialist, motivational speaker, a personal trainer and mind/body lecturer. She is the host of the weekly Turn On Your Inner Light Show on WGBB 1240 AM in Long Island and has been featured on radio/ TV and print media.

To learn more: www.turnonyourinnerlight.com