Got Sand In Your Hourglass?
Written by H. Bernard Wechsler
Do you read the first three or four sentences of an article or report,and stop to ask (internal dialogue) the two-word valuation question,Who Cares? Fifty percent of us decide Go/No-Go based on the headline alone.
How about the powerhouse question, WIIFM? (What is In It For Me?) I do it all the time. The writer may be a certified genius, with the Nobel Prize coming next year, but he/she has about 15 seconds to grab my attention before I hit the delete.
If that means I have a limited attention span, and need immediate gratification, thanks for the compliment. The clock is running, and smart folks are internally driven by our own standards, one of which is don’t waste my time, right?
New: Two Things Help You Live Longer
Remember when only Health Nuts talked about breathing exercises? No more.
The University of Califo
ia, San Francisco reports that deep breathing exercises, in addition to some easy lifestyle changes (no smoking, no alcohol etc), produces increased longevity. You live healthier and up to 10 years longer. Keep reading.
Telomerase
If you are playing at the top of your game, you want to know about new neuroscience research that can produce health and productive years.
Telomerase is an enzyme (proteins producing biochemical changes in us)that repairs and rebuilds bundles of DNA at the ends of our chromosomes. You got 23 chromosomes from Mom and another 23 from Dad.
So what?
Telomerase works on how we age and how long we live. Remember the word for the DNA collected at the bottom of our chromosomes – Telomeres. It is the enzyme Telomerase that stops the Telomeres from unraveling (shortening).
Listen again – as the Telomeres shorten, so does your jou
ey here. The sand in your hour glass is draining to empty. Here it comes – the deep breathing exercisesnadd to the length or stops further deterioration of the tips of your chromosomes, the telomeres. The shorter the tips, the greater the breakdown, aging, and your ticket getting punched.
WIIFM?
So what can you do about it? Overcome the unnecessary Stress in your life. Each time your Telomeres shorten, your potential for diseases including cancer, stroke, and heart disease increase, as does premature departure (death).
Almost 30% Increase in Telomerase levels was seen in the UCSF study. Slow Breathing and (improved diet and supplements) for 90 days produced serious physiological changes for health and longevity. It’s your Fountain of Youth.
Stress
We live with daily urban stress, but chronic-stress kills. What can we do to limit stress and improve our state of health?
There are relaxation exercises, including simple meditation programs that Herbert Benson, Harvard Medical School, has traced for the past twenty years. Daily 15 minute meditating measurably improves your immune system function, lowers blood pressure and modifies both heartbeat and respiration.
Remember, chronic stress shortens your Telomeres, and you absolutely, positively can help overcome the results of stress through a daily ritual of slow-breathing.
Quickie
The ancient Greeks believe their destiny, fate, fortune, and lot was mostly in the hands of their Gods. They called it the Destinies, the Fates and Moirae.
First, came the youngest sister of the Fates called Clotho. She is the spinner of thread of human life on her spindle. She brings humans into existence. We each receive our own unique thread of life.
Second, is Lachesis, the apportioner of human life. She measures our unique thread with her rod, and determines our longevity. The fickle finger of fate.
Third, is Atropos, (Greek meaning, without turning). She chooses our mechanism of death, and cuts our thread with her abhorred shears. We suggest you keep turning.
Simple story, but as reasonable as other versions of human existence.
Abdominal Breathing
Check your bellybutton, navel, a/k/a Enteric Nervous System for your abdomen and solar plexus. Look down below your chest to your abdomen and notice your inhaling and exhaling. Ninety percent of us are chest breathers and do not producensufficient oxygen for our intestines.
Diaphragmatic breathing reaches all areas of our body with energy producing oxygen. Oxygen triggers the production of Glucose, blood sugar, the energy for life. Google: mitochondria and cristae.
Slow Breathing nna) Sit down, eyes closed, hand on top of your thighs.nb) Focus on your stomach and not chest, and notice you
stomach pushing in-and-out with each respiration.nc) Inhale slowly through your nose, hold the breath forntwo-seconds, a count of one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand.nd) Exhale twice as long as your original inhalation. Space it until it becomes automatic and goes on autopilot.ne) Get into a rhythm of inhale, retain, and exhale through your nose. Five minutes is fair, ten is good, and fifteen minutes helps you live to one-hundred years.
N.B. Controlled Breathing at about 10 respirations per minute for 10-15 minutes daily leads to lower blood pressure and enhanced immune system function.
Google: French woman Jeanne Calment, died at age 122, died in 1997
Endwords
What are you going to do with the ten extra years you live? We suggest you strengthen your cognitive functions and avoid dementia, including Alzheimers.
Ask us how to read and remember three (3) books, articles, and reports in the time your peers can hardly finish one. It creates Cognitive Reserve and improves the function of your three-pound coconut. Use it or lose it - is a scientific fact.nncopyright © 2008
H. Bernard Wechsle
www.speedlea
ing.orgnhbw@speedlea
ing.org
1-877-567-2500n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------nnnnnn
Article author
About the Author
Author of Speed Reading for Professionals, published by
Barron's; business partner of Evelyn Wood, creator ofnspeed reading, graduating 2 million, including the White Housenstaffs of four U.S. Presidents.
Further reading
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