5 Tips for Seniors on Coping with COVID-Related Isolation

COVID-19 has forced many people to self-isolate to avoid infection. Seniors in particular have been advised to stay home because of the dangers they face as a result of the virus. Unfortunately, research shows that all that time home alone can harm physical and mental health, increasing the risk of issues like insomnia and anxiety. As the Unified Caring Association explains, feelings of worry are normal in such difficult times.

It’s important to ward off mental and physical health issues that may arise from isolation. This guide provides actionable and affordable tips for seniors on feeling their best while sheltering in place.

5 tips for seniors coping with isolation

Create a Cozy Space at Home

If you’re going to be spending a lot of time in the house, you might as well be comfortable. Your house is your sanctuary. Insider has tips on creating a cozy space on a budget. Ideas include making a nook for reading or relaxation, embracing the power of aromatherapy with scented candles, and allowing more natural light in. The sun is a natural source of vitamin D, which also brings other benefits. As MSN reports, vitamin D can help boost your mood and combat depression.

Look for Senior-Friendly Workouts to Stay Physically Fit

The CDC recommends that older adults stay physically active to avoid health problems that come with age. There are many senior-friendly workouts you can do at home. Women’s Health has a list of tutorials you can follow for free via YouTube. If you want to get some workout gear to supplement your exercises, such as a yoga mat or exercise bands, you can order it easily online without leaving the home. To save money, the Unified Caring Association recommends looking for discounts online.

Embrace a Healthy Diet With Easy Home-Cooking Recipes

A healthy balanced diet helps older adults get the nutrients they need to maintain optimal physical and mental function. This becomes more challenging with age, as metabolism slows down and people experience decreased appetite. As a result, they have to get sufficient vitamins and minerals while consuming smaller portions. Healthy eating can also be a problem if you find cooking tiring. One solution is batch cooking. Prepare food that you can freeze and reheat. Delish has a list of more than 30 recipes that are ideal for batch cooking.

Use Technology to Maintain Social Connectivity Digitally

If you are able to see family or friends safely in person, make the most of your time together. If you can’t see your loved ones — for example, because they live far away — there are still ways you can connect. You can try eating a meal together via video chat, for example. Alternatively, watch a movie together using apps like Watch2gether and MyCircleTV. Too complicated for you? A simple video chat with your smartphone or tablet will do the trick, too. If you need to upgrade your technology, look online for deals on the latest gadgets.

Pick Up a New Hobby to Stay Busy and Mentally Fit

Technology can also help keep you occupied at home, helping you avoid boredom. Use your tech tools to pick up a new hobby. Develop Good Habits offers a list of options for seniors, like learning an instrument. This is the kind of thing you can do online, thanks to free YouTube tutorials. Plus, learning something new will keep you mentally sharp.

With these 5 tips for coping with COVID-related isolation, you can stay happy at home as you continue to self-isolate because of COVID-19. You will also feel better emotionally as a result.

By Karen Weeks, contributing author

We invite you to discover inspiring and effective ways to care for yourself and to serve others.  Now more than ever, caring is what we all need most. Caring for our self.  Caring for others around us.  Life now demands caring, resilience and compassion like never before.  So, become a Custodian of the Caring Movement and help create the world we need right now, the world we want for our future generations.

UCA resources available to help include the Turbulent Times Resources Center,  radio show, publications and online store offering members huge discounts and always free shipping.

Sticks and Stones Bullying

Sticks and stones may break his bones but words will never let him rest

They eat him up then churn his guts, like vermin they infest

He can’t see why they make him cry, he wonders if he’ll ever know

He is a prisoner at school and home, there is just no safe place for him to go

Each day he’s the pray for kids to slay and his father is just the same

Even all alone in his room his thoughts repeat this negative game

He questions if life is just a strife as he repeats the same day again

He feels so small and hates it all when will he find a friend?

All alone he’ll never know, at 13 his life he chose to end

Sticks and stones may break our bones but words can end a life

We don’t know what others feel so to everyone we must be nice

By Mona Nyree Stephens

Let the deeper message of the poem Sticks and Stones Bullying sink in as National Bullying Prevention Month has come to an end.

While the scenario depicts an extreme outcome of bullying the internal pain it causes remains the same.  We never know the hidden struggles of another. When people become victims of bullying in childhood or in adult relationships those words often become their internal voice. It perpetuates a cycle of pain and low self-worth. We must think about how our words and actions affect one another.

Over 20% of all children in the United States have experienced some form of bullying and over 30% of adults (in their adult lives) have experienced it as well. What’s worse is 40% of them believe it will be ongoing. On the extreme end, it can lead to the loss of a life. Children who are bullied are 2.6 times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers and 2.2 times as likely to have suicidal ideation. On the less extreme but more common end it leads to stress, loss of confidence, and anxiety. 70% of adults who are bullied experience depression and in 19% of them it leads to a mental breakdown.

With the effects of bullying so detrimental to one’s well-being, no matter the age, it’s important we all ponder how we can be a friendly face to all those around us.

We invite you to discover inspiring and effective ways to care for yourself and to serve others.  Now more than ever, caring is what we all need most. Caring for our self.  Caring for others around us.  Life now demands caring, resilience and compassion like never before.  So, become a Custodian of the Caring Movement and help create the world we need right now, the world we want for our future generations.

UCA resources available to help include the Turbulent Times Resources Center,  radio show, publications and online store offering members huge discounts and always free shipping.

Championing Mental Health

Championing Mental Health

With so many emotions and stressors in our day it can be hard to maintain a mental balance. We at Unified Caring Association (UCA) have a special place in our hearts for mental well-being. To share the caring we have tools and resources, such as a 24 hour counseling hotline, available for our UCA members. In our research online, we have come across a wonderful TedTalk by Sangu Delle championing mental health.

What does the word “Mental” Mean

When defining the word mental, we are referring to the mind or brain. Delle brings up a definition rooted in his culture. “Growing up in West Africa, when people used the term “mental,” what came to mind was a madman with dirty, dread-locked hair, bumbling around half-naked on the streets.” This stigma came from his youth, where “normal” people do not have mental health problems.

What is astonishing is that some of the areas in the world that have the highest need for mental health support and care, have a very thin system in place with few professionals.

According to the World Health Organization, mental health is about being able to cope with the normal stressors of life; to work productively and fruitfully; and to be able to make a contribution to your community. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. Globally, 75 percent of all mental illness cases can be found in low-income countries. Yet most African governments invest less than one percent of their health care budget in mental health. “Nigeria, for example, is estimated to have 200 — in a country of almost 200 million. In all of Africa, 90 percent of our people lack access to treatment. As a result, we suffer in solitude, silenced by stigma.”

Mental Health Hits Close to Home 

As we listen to this TedTalk, we wonder if there is a solution to the lack of care, acceptance and support for those who are affected by mental distress or illness. Delle shares the turning point for him. “For me, the stigma is personal… My best friend in the world — a brilliant, philosophical, charming, hip young man — was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I witnessed some of the friends we’d grown up with recoil. I heard the snickers. I heard the whispers. “Did you hear he has gone mad?” (Kru English) “He has gone crazy!” Derogatory, demeaning commentary about his condition — words we would never say about someone with cancer or someone with malaria. Somehow, when it comes to mental illness, our ignorance eviscerates all empathy. I stood by his side as his community isolated him, but our love never wavered.”

Our ignorance eviscerated all empathy; that phrase really hit home. We have seen and heard about so many ways that people can be bullied. One way that we can begin caring and supporting those who need mental healthcare is to bring awareness to the issue. Delle inspiringly did just that. He helped found the mental health special interest alumni group at his college. “And during my tenure as a resident tutor in graduate school, I supported many undergraduates with their mental health challenges.” Every person needs to be more aware about mental struggles. If we begin to accept mental health as important as physical health, we will become better individuals.

This awareness is not only for others, but for ourselves as well. Delle references his internal struggles, and how he could not bring himself to speak with a counselor, or even a friend. This reluctance was due to the stigma that still resided within himself. This was an eye opener for Delle. “We need to stop suffering in silence. We must stop stigmatizing disease and traumatizing the afflicted.” 

Raise Awareness and Champion Mental Health

Delle calls us all to action by encouraging us to talk. “Talk to your friends. Talk to your loved ones. Talk to health professionals.” In communicating how we are feeling, we are allowing ourselves to better connect with others and ourselves. “[When talking] do so with the confidence that you are not alone. Speak up if you’re struggling. Being honest about how we feel does not make us weak; it makes us human.” We can champion others and ourselves through one common thread, we are all human and we all can take charge of having better mental health.

Would you like to watch the full TedTalk? Click HERE!

TedTalk Sangu Delle

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way! If your would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Hugging for Health

Hugging for Health

Someone once said, “We should have 100 hugs a day to stay healthy.” This saying is a lot like having an apple a day. We hear stories that back this adage up: people waking up when those they love hold their hand or how important it is to hold babies as they begin their life’s journey. Touch is a powerful way to communicate with others. One article found on the Good News Network is about making physical connections with each other through hugs that conveys how much each person means to one another.

Hugs are comforting and help us flourish.

People require touch with other living beings in order to feel cared for and grow into caring individuals. In the article, Science of Kindness Shows Just How Important Hugging is for Our Mental and Physical Health, by David Fryburg, MD, “The importance of physical contact was painfully observed in the orphanages of Romania: children who were provided food—but not held or hugged—had significant developmental and socio-emotional delay accompanied by smaller brains.” The lack of touch, connection, and hugs affected how these children behaved, and the development of their brains. Similar studies have shown animals have the same underdevelopment and health issues when subjected to social isolation.

On a less extreme note, touch affects our response to daily conflicts we experience. A group of researchers interviewed 404 adults for 14 days regarding their health and any conflicts. Additionally, the researchers inquired how these adults felt emotionally and whether or not they received hugs. The people who had some form of interpersonal conflict and were hugged reported feeling happier and more grounded for the day. A bonus is that the hug helps both people involved!

Keep the Doctor Away…

On another note, research has produced “evidence that hugging may favorably influence the rate of infection from a cold as well as symptoms.” Also, hugs help reduce blood pressure and relieve stress. When we hug, we get a good boost of the love hormone oxytocin.

Hugs are not the only form of touch that helps us feel better mentally and physically. Other types of touch that share the same beneficial elements are holding hands and massage. Most of us know that massage can decrease pain related to a variety of conditions, such as back pain and migraines. “[Physical touch] affects the biochemistry that mediates pain or sadness and can also lower blood pressure, reduce cortisol, improve immune responses, stimulate the vagus nerve, and change EEG (brain wave) patterns.” One example is premature babies, where light massage for 15 minutes over a week caused a significant increase in necessary weight gain. This is a complementary study to the Romanian orphans mentioned above, where massage helps babies flourish.

Overall, we can see a clear connection between hugs, our health and happiness. The physical connection not only decreases stress but also helps nourish and heal us so we can recover and grow. It is remarkable that we naturally can help care for and heal each other. If we reach out and connect with each other, we can find ourselves to be happier and healthier. 

If we are not able to get a physical hug, there are a variety of tools that help simulate hugs, like a weighted blanket. Also, we can get a similar effect when we see images of other people hugging or a gentle touch. “This work is consistent with Envision Kindness’ own research on how images of kindness and compassion—many of which capture caring touch or hugging—are a proven and potent way to induce joy, love, optimism, and connection. Thus, by simply looking at these images, people can experience lower levels of stress and greater joy.”

Of course, viewing images of people or animals hugging needs to be rounded out by the real thing when possible. Very few things are perfect substitutes, hugs are best from those you love and have a caring connection with. A hug is a gift to someone else and to yourself.

Would you like to read more caring blogs? We have other blogs on topics on UCA benefits: Medical Bill Negotiation, Nutrition to Help Prevent Depression, and Gut-Brain Connection! If you would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Nutrition to Help Prevent Depression

Nutrition to Help Prevent Depression

You just ate a bowl of pasta and feel tired. Or you ate a tuna salad and feel ready to tackle the day. Ever wondered why you feel differently after eating? We at Unified Caring Association (UCA) have been curious about this as well. After doing some research on nutrition, we now have a better understanding of why food affects us so much. For example, recent studies show that a healthy diet may not only prevent depression but could effectively treat it once it’s started. 

Nutritional Psychiatry

An evolving body of research on nutrition shows that a healthy diet can help prevent depression. The field of research on how food affects us psychologically is called nutritional psychiatry. Nutritional psychiatry is relatively new and it is not limited to one place or group. Nutritional psychiatry observes data regarding the association between diet quality and mental health across cultures, countries and age groups. One topic within these groups is depression and how the food we eat contributes, fixes or prevents depression.

An example of this research in action is a study mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. Researchers took a look at whether improving the diets of people with major depression would help reduce or eliminate their depression symptoms. Half of these people were coached on their nutrition by a dietitian. The other half were given one-on-one social support, a common technique for reducing depression. “After 12 weeks, the people who improved their diets showed significantly happier moods than those who received social support. And the people who improved their diets the most improved the most.” (Wall Street Journal) Other subsequent studies have found similar results: Eating a balanced diet that has fewer processed sugars, grains, etc. will help with depression.

In 2013, Dr. Jacka helped to found the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research. This Society held its first conference in the summer of 2017. Dr. Jacka also launched Deakin University’s Food & Mood Centre. This is an institute that focuses on researching and developing nutrition-based strategies for brain disorders, such as depression. With new and evolving research on how food affects us, other conferences and universities are including these findings in their lectures. An example of how this information applies is by the production of serotonin, which regulates mood and sleep. Not enough serotonin can result in depression. 

Food Interactions

Eating a ton of high-processed foods and refined sugars often increases the risk of mental and physical health issues at any age. If we think about our heart or other muscles in the body, we take extra effort to condition them and keep them healthy. The brain is not much different. Our lifestyle choices reflect our brain’s health. Mental health should be just as important as physical health. A healthy brain is more resilient in difficult times, like while when we feel depressed. “A bad diet makes depression worse, failing to provide the brain with a variety of nutrients it needs… And processed or deep-fried foods often contain trans fats that promote inflammation, believed to be a cause of depression.” (Dr. Ramsey)

A bad diet also affects our microbiome, A.K.A., your gut bacteria. The bacteria in our guts have complex ways of communicating with our brain by signaling the body to produce different chemicals and hormones. This communication changes our mood. Think about when we get “hangry” from not eating, or the opposite, happy when we eat strawberries. To maintain a healthy and stable mood, we need to maximize the good bacteria and minimize the bad.

It is not to say that a good diet can replace medicine or therapy. However, it can serve as a supplemental treatment. The added bonus is that it can prevent other health problems, like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and more!

Be open to the cornucopia of food.

There are so many different diets and articles out in the world for “healthy eating.” The main point is to eat in a way that your body responds best to. As some might say, “hacking” your body. A diet made up primarily of fruits and vegetables, good fats and proteins, yogurt and cheese, legumes, nuts, seafood, whole grains and small portions of red meat can provide nutrition our brain needs. It can also regulate our inflammatory response and support the good bacteria in our gut.

Mood Lifting Nutrients and Foods

If we take everything in moderation and monitor our health, we can maintain a healthy lifestyle. The critical point is to listen to our bodies so we can understand what we need. Is it sleep? An activity like hiking? Or do we need to eat more berries and yogurt because we are feeling down? If we begin making small changes based on these observations, we can bring more caring into our bodies and lives.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on topics on UCA benefits: Medical Bill Negotiation, 2020 Clear Sighted Year, and Gut-Brain Connection! If you would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Proactive Mental Health

Proactive Mental Health

Each day can bring about new challenges. The trick is to maintain a healthy and active mind to that you are able to be more resilient through stressful moments. We at Unified Caring Association (UCA) strive to provide our members caring tools and resources for mental well-being. These resources can help us all be proactive with our mental health. To start, let’s look at why having a strong mind is important.

Emotions

Strengthening the mind is connected with improving our emotional intelligence. According to an article in the “Journal of Abnormal Psychology,” the successful route to take is to incorporate a “positive activity.” A positive activity is often an activity that a person enjoys doing, such as meditation or writing letters of gratitude.  In this research article the authors, K. Layous, J. Chancellor, and S. Lyubomirsky, study the effects of positive activities on mental well-being. They state that “…promoting Well-Being can reduce negative emotions, negative thoughts, and negative behaviors.” Overall, maintaining happiness and a positive mental outlook leads to better physical health.

Memory

Our memories help shape us, our identities and our relationships. It goes without saying that our memories are very important to us all. There are tools to help strengthen our memory, such as UCA’s caring apps for memory fitness. Some of these apps are games that help build and strengthen our ability to recall information. Other apps can be puzzles to help with exercising the brain’s ability to problem solve. Other ideas that work well for us include learning a new language or musical instrument, as well as volunteering and socializing through acts of kindness. In conjunction with healthy nutrition and lifestyle, the mind is just like a muscle, it needs exercise in order to grow stronger and stay in shape. 

When to seek help for memory loss…

“If you’re worried about memory loss — especially if memory loss affects your ability to complete your usual daily activities or if you notice your memory getting worse — talk to your doctor. He or she will likely do a physical exam, as well as check your memory and problem-solving skills. Sometimes other tests are needed as well. Treatment will depend on what’s contributing to your memory loss.” (Mayo Clinic)

Tips

There are many ways we can be proactive with our mental health. Being active in your community, sharing caring with others and yourself are some examples of working on your mental well-being. And as mentioned above, learning a language like Spanish or Japanese will streacha nd build your brain to be more resilient. Below are nine that we have come up with that can help strengthen our minds in different ways. Check them out to see how we all can build our mental health to be the best it can be!

Tips for Proactive Mental Health

Love our blogs and want to read more? Unified Caring Association has other caring blogs such as Advanced Directives of Peace of Mind, and Caring Challenge x 365 Days that inspire us all! We also share caring and inspirational posts daily on social media  (Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter). Follow us to get a little extra caring in your day!

Meditation as a Tool for Healing

meditation and yoga

Meditation as a Tool for Health

At times life is chaotic, stressful and noisy. Luckily, there is a self-care tool available to use that can help calm the chaos of everyday. Additionally, this tool can help improve your health! This tool is meditation, also known as mindfulness activities or quiet reflection. Oftentimes when we quiet our minds, we are better able to cope with our everyday lives, during high-stress times, and even improve our overall health.

What is Meditation?

Meditation has many forms, but all forms have four main elements: a quiet space, feeling comfortable, a focal word or image, and allowing our minds to let go. For hundreds and hundreds of years, meditation has been used for increasing calmness and relaxation, coping with and healing illness, and enhancing our well-being. We can see how meditation has increased in popularity over the past five years; the number of people using meditation and meditation techniques has grown by 5%-15%.

Looking for Meditation How To?

When we look around the internet, there are many different articles and videos about how to meditate, much like the 15 Minute Healing Meditation: You Are Your Own Healer / Mindful Movement. Unified Caring Association (UCA) has a variety of meditation videos to help our members start and maintain a self-care routine that includes meditation. Our list includes videos and audio files that are uplifting and positive, relaxing and rejuvenating, as well as for healing and physical health.

Yoga and Meditation Videos

How does it help with our health?

Stress can increase our heart rates, blood pressure, breathing and more. It is harmful if the stress is experienced over a longer period of time. Our adrenal glands become taxed and “…overproduce the hormone cortisol. Overexposure to this hormone can affect the function of your brain, immune system, and other organs.” (Harvard Health Publishing) Recently, health studies have shown that meditation has beneficial effects in combating stress, thus preventing adrenal gland “burnout.” Meditation is a way to be productive while your attention is focused inwards. This self care induces more relaxation. “Meditation is thought to work via its effects on the sympathetic nervous system, which increases heart rate, breathing and blood pressure during times of stress.  “It will help you lower your blood pressure, but so much more: it can help your creativity, your intuition, your connection with your inner self, says Burke Lennihan, a registered nurse who teaches meditation at the Harvard University Center for Wellness. (Harvard Health Publishing)

Results from research on meditation and the brain have been published and reviewed for years now. Benefits of meditation, or quieting the mind, are “…now being confirmed with fMRI and EEG instruments. The practice appears to have an amazing variety of neurological benefits – from changes in grey matter volume to reduced activity in the “me” centers of the brain to enhanced connectivity between brain regions.” (Harvard Health Publishing) This reduced activity allows for creativity and problem solving to dominate without overtaxing the mind. (a.k.a. it basically becomes effortless and allows for new solutions to present themselves.)

Moving Meditation

One form of mindfulness or meditation is yoga. Most of us are familiar with yoga from the numerous studios dotting the streets and the even more videos online. Unified Caring Association also has a select list of videos to help members with their mental and physical health. An example is the YouTube video “Yoga for Complete Beginners” that blends the two ideas of yoga and meditation seamlessly. In this video, we are walked through a 20 minute meditation yoga combination that gets the body moving while the mind becomes restful.

Yoga

If you are looking forward to reading more about Unified Caring Association and other caring acts, check out our other blogs: Volunteering for Health, It all Starts with Self-Care, and Monitoring Health with Biofeedback. Or visit our website to check out our Caring News, membership benefits, and other healthcare tools! Would you like more? Follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Meditation Basics

Meditation Basics

Want to have a lifestyle that is more relaxing? What if we could develop a habit that will keep us rejuvenating, support healing, healthier choices, and allow us to sleep better each night? We at Unified Caring Caring Association (UCA) want to help share caring and ways for everyone to live a happy and fulfilling life. One way to set ourselves up for success is to practice mindfulness activities (A.K.A. meditation). With a clear mind, we can set effective and attainable goals. Want to learn how to start a lifestyle habit? Read on for a “how to.”

Meditation 101

For over a thousand years, meditation has been used for increasing relaxation and mental resilience. This resilience helps enhance overall well-being and health. Over the past five years the number of adults meditating in the U.S. has increased to 15.5%, and 5.5% of children are also meditating.

There are four main elements that most meditation formats have in common:

Meditation 101

Learning More

Meditation: In Depth – This is an article that gives a great summary of meditation and research on how meditation helps us free up space in our brain to be able to make better decisions. In this article is a three minute Q&A video with Dr. Amishi Jha about her definition of what mindfulness is. 

Another way to learn more about meditation is to jump in and try it out. Here are two samples of videos that UCA members have access to:

Affirmations & Meditations: Healing Body Mind Spirit

Meditation Affirmations

The Five Minute Miracle – Daily Guided Meditation

Five Minute Miracle

Meditation helps us get set for our day and going through the week with clear heads. With an open and flexible mind we can tackle the mountain of dishes in the sink and the quarterly board meeting all in the same day. When children become more adept at meditation, it can help them focus in school and allow for a boost of energy to get them through the football game. We at UCA are happy to help people build happy and healthy lives filled with gratitude and success. Meditation and mindfulness are both positive influences toward that goal.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Mental Strength, How Can Mindfulness Help Us Solve Problems, and Letting Go of Being Good! If your would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Dancing for Happiness

Dancing for Happiness
Nietzsche dancing quote

Nothing evokes a feeling of dancing like the natural rhythm of a heart beat and the sway of the trees. We often have a natural inclination towards rhythm and music. We can see this in the unconscious swaying in a crowd during a moving piece of music, or when small children clap their hands when they are listening to music they like. This unconscious and spontaneous response relates to a human need for connection and expression of emotions, specifically happiness.

Unified Caring Association (UCA) celebrates different techniques and tools for developing and improving emotional intelligence and communication. Much like Moonbeam Feeling Packs, or the caring apps found on our website to help grow caring children and teens, music and dancing can help people express emotions. Almost every culture around the world has some form of music and dance. It has been “…discovered that people of different cultures react emotionally in the same way when listening to different types of music.” (Jennifer Delgado) Dancing and music help us communicate in social networks and are also useful for our mental and physical health. According to recent studies, a key to happiness is found through dancing.

And a 1-2-3-4

Psychologists at the University of Örebro tracked a group of teenagers who suffered from social and mental difficulties. Half of the group was asked to join a dance class that met twice a week; the rest continued with their daily routines. After two years, the psychologists found that the group that attended dance classes had less stress or anxiety and felt happier

This was backed up by another study conducted at the University of Derby. These psychologists worked with those suffering from depression. This group received “salsa” lessons for nine weeks. After only four weeks, improvements began to appear. After finishing the course, participants said they had less negative thoughts as well as improved concentration and a greater sense of calm, peace and tranquility.

Dance is an excellent therapeutic resource and has a positive effect on our lives. Australian researchers from Deakin University conducted an interview of 1,000 people. They found that the people who were dancing were feeling happier, more satisfied with their lives, relationships and health. Additionally, these people who incorporated dance into their lives were more easily able to achieve their goals.

Still need more to convince you? There is another report of psychologists at the University of New York, who discovered similar effects in children. 120 children, ages 2-5 years old, were exposed to different types of sound stimuli. Some of these stimuli were rhythmic and others were completely arrhythmic. The children that heard the rhythmic sounds followed the rhythms with body movement and showed more positive emotions and felt happier. If we take all four of these studies and put them together, we have a strong case for having a tendency to move to the beat of the music, and that dancing helps us feel happier.

The Science as to Why Dancing Improves Happiness.

While dancing, our brain releases feel-good endorphins that help us feel comfortable, relaxed, like we are having fun and are empowered. “Music and dance do not only activate the sensory and motor circuits of our brain, but also the pleasure centers.” (Jennifer Delgado) We at UCA agree with neuroscientists at Columbia University who claim that when we move along with a rhythm, positivity is amplified. 

Our bodies also respond to dancing in positive ways. As we move, our muscles relax, allowing us to sink further into the music and dance. Our bodies can easily release tension built up during the day. Our bodies become happier and more fluid in their functions, as well as more resilient to the daily activities.

Dancing is not just all about us and our brains. It is also a way to connect with others as much as connect with yourself. Dancing allows us to “…share experiences and meet new people, which has a very positive effect on our mental health.” (Jennifer Delgado

If we are to do something each week to help promote our happiness, we can dance. Dance in your kitchen, go to tango classes, or turn up some fun tunes and jump around with your kids! All of these will help your mind and body feel better and promote a happier connection with others.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Mental Strength, How Can Mindfulness Help Us Solve Problems, and Moonbeam for Emotions! If your would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Mental Strength

Mental strength can aid our focus and motivation, while also helping to achieve our goals. There are so many thoughts and activities in our full days that we often get burned out. Other than a nice relaxing spa day, doing yoga, or going on a hike, we can do small practices that help us build our mental strength. We at Unified Caring Association (UCA) were recently asked to look at how to explain mental strength and how to improve it in a caring way. We gladly took up the challenge! 

Mental strength is…

The short definition is: having the ability to maintain our self-confidence and drive during stressful activities. This ties into our resilience and being able to bounce back when we encounter stress. Some characteristics of mental strength are composure, persistence, positivity and self-motivation. 

When do we need it?

Maintaining mental strength is something we would love to have at all times. However, we are human and to be human is to juggle life. Sometimes as we elevate one part of our life, a different part lowers. The key is to refocus on each part as they are in movement. This is when we enact our mental fortitude. “…you need fierce determination and tenacity to reach your greatest potential … [it] will help you develop resilience to overcome those hazards and continue on your journey. Mentally strong people overcome setbacks with confidence, because adversity only makes them better.” (Psychology Today)

How do we develop it?

Building up our mental strength is much like monitoring and improving our physical health. Practicing each day, and doing activities that help exercise our mind is a big part of developing our mental resilience. Start with celebrating the small victories. We are more apt to continue building and maintaining a habit if we have positive reinforcement. For example, patting yourself on the back after holding your focus during a project. Like in meditation, learning a new sport, or getting better at math, practice makes perfect. Below we have a handful of suggestions found on the Forbes website for activities that can help build and maintain mental strength.

All of us are on a journey of self-care and developing our physical health, emotional intelligence and mental strength. That is how we become more resilient. With these skills we can bring more caring into the world for ourselves, families and community.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way! If your would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter!

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