EMBRACING THE POWER OF NOW
4 TIPS FOR PRACTICING MINDFULNESS
Have you ever sat down to eat a bowl of ice cream, then looked down a minute or two later to notice you only have one bite left? What about reaching your destination in the car and not recalling one thing about the entire trip? With the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it’s tough to be present 100% of the time, but we shouldn’t let our minds go on autopilot. Not only can this be a safety hazard, but it may also impact important relationships and reduce our enjoyment and satisfaction. With busy schedules and long to-do lists, how can we be more mindful? Here are four tips to help you embrace the power of now! Use the power of meditation. You don’t need to meditate for a long time, and it certainly doesn’t require special poses or guidance. But taking just five minutes out of your day to focus on your breathing and clear your mind counts as meditation. It can
help you to be more aware, present, and productive, especially in times of stress. Slow down. Try savoring the process of a task, even if it isn’t your favorite thing to do. Paying deliberate attention to your daily actions and activities, like doing the dishes or even folding laundry, promotes healthy focus and reduces feelings of being overwhelmed.
Get moving. Incorporating exercise and movement into your daily routine helps you to become aware of your body’s sensations. You’ll be more appreciative of how your body responds to different stimuli and movements, and this trains you to be more aware of yourself.
Practice mindful eating. Try eating without distractions, dine in good company, or pay closer attention to flavors and textures of the meal — it’s good for both your body and soul!
CAN PEANUT BUTTER DETECT ALZHEIMER’S? Prevent Future Memory Loss
Peanut butter isn’t typically your first thought as a possible game-changer in Alzheimer’s disease research. But it does have the potential! Researchers at the University of Florida hope that conducting a peanut butter smell test can lead to finding an inexpensive, noninvasive way to detect early-stage Alzheimer’s and track its progress. The study took a few individuals who had Alzheimer’s — or some form of dementia — and a few who had no neurological problems and conducted a test to see if they could smell the peanut butter from a short distance. They found that people with Alzheimer’s could not smell from their left nostrils as well as from their right nostrils.
if you lose your sense of smell, you may possibly have neurological problems. If you want to try this test at home, make sure nothing is interfering with your nostrils and take a spoonful of peanut butter — alternatively, you could use coffee — and close your eyes. Block one nostril and smell from the other, and you can either eyeball it or use a ruler to see how far away it is from your nostril to the point where you can smell it. Then, try the other one! Some people may try this and feel a sense of panic if they cannot smell from their left nostril, but the reality is that it is not a 100% sure-fire diagnosis. It’s just something you try at home and maybe even test on a person that may need to take extra care of themselves. This may be the motivation they need! The
study is interesting, but in reality, there are no MRIs or blood tests you can do to diagnose dementia. You can test for anemia and blood sugar, but the way doctors come up with a diagnosis for Alzheimer’s is based on your symptoms. The study found that the peanut butter test may help identify the elderly who are likely to develop memory problems. This, in turn, may help researchers understand the progression of Alzheimer’s. The cases of Alzheimer’s are on the rise, and unfortunately, there is no cure. However, if we can identify the early stages of Alzheimer’s, we are one step closer to finding treatments that can delay or prevent future memory loss.
Your smell is related to the brain and goes directly to your brain’s cranial nerves. So,
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