Expanding Your Social Circle

Jessie Shoal writes in her article titled, “4 Ways to Make New Friends”, about ways to feel connected to others, even to those outside of your normal social circles. Oftentimes we make friends through shared experiences like school, work, or places we live. It’s important according to Tim Hartford, the author of the book “Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives”, to expand our social circles with those we might not have as much in common with. If we get to know those who have different backgrounds, religions, values, and ways of being in the world, then it can help broaden our perspectives. Committing to broadening our social circles is like committing to a new exercise routine. 

Here are some tips for broadening social circles. Max Hawkins, an engineer out of San Francisco, explains that he created a program that would bring him to random events on Facebook and have a car bring him there, without knowing what the event was. This program allowed him to go to events that he normally would not go to and even inspired him to travel around the world for two years after that. He states that, “The key to opening yourself up to these experiences is to let go of your own preferences”. He suggests that one of the ways to move past preferences is to try ordering the least popular item on a menu, rather than the one he wants, because he believes it helps to open him up to other possibilities. In regards to meeting others, Hawkins suggests visiting various neighborhoods, restaurants, venues, or even places of worship. 

Another suggestion to expanding your social circle is to look for ways to serve others. It can be beneficial to look for volunteer opportunities like in a nursing home. It is important when being of service to others to not view yourself as the giver and others as the receiver. One ways to do this is to ask yourself or even children if they are helping to volunteer about who they helped today and who helped them. Having a genuine interest in others can assist in having meaningful conversations with others. You can ask about someone’s upbringing, their current life, and even challenges they may be facing. This can be beneficial for discovering what you may potentially have in common with others. Biases can develop over time and in order to expand a social circle with others different than you it is important to confront biases you may have. Verna Myers explains in her TED talk about the importance of walking towards our discomfort by developing deep and real relationships with others. Once you push past that discomfort, you may realize that these once strangers become like family. To find out more ways to stay healthy this year, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com. 

Source: https://experiencelife.com/article/4-ways-to-make-new-friends/

Reducing Stress This New Year

As we finally ring in the new year, many people can feel overwhelmed with the previous year's lack of completed tasks and having not done them well. Alli Joseph discusses in her article how to reduce stress this year. Stress is one of the top three health care costs in the United States, only behind heart disease and cancer. 80 percent of visits to the doctor's office are due to stress-related issues. It has been found that only 3 percent of healthcare providers discuss with their patients how to reduce stress. Typically stress management counseling is used last when remedies such as nutrition, exercise, weight loss and smoking are used first. 

Dawn Lorentz, who is meditation expert, aids large companies and their employees in learning yoga and breathing techniques to reduce stress. She believes that stress management is the ability to take charge of your life, thoughts, emotions and the techniques that you use to deal with issues that may arise. Dawn Lorentz dealt with her own stress-related health issues for quite some time but found techniques to heal her body. 

Lorentz explains that the body can deal with short-term stress for a certain amount of time, but if it continues it can lead to long-term health issues. As the body experiences stress, it releases adrenaline and cortisol to release stress hormones that in turn signal to the liver to produce more sugar in the body to help surge energy to deal with the perceived danger. This increased level of blood sugar can lead to weight gain, diabetes and disrupt the immune, cardiovascular, digestive and musculoskeletal system. To combat stress, Lorentz suggests taking short breaks throughout the workday. Some techniques are doing breathing exercises, shoulder rolls and arm movements. These short breaks have been found to decrease medical costs, less missed work days and increased productivity. She suggests taking 30-minute walks or yoga/spinning classes during lunch or between meetings. When other nutritional measures such as eating whole foods such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and legumes and avoiding processed food, this can also aid in overall wellness. When wellness programs are included in work environments such as yoga, meditation or chiropractic care the companies found a 28 percent decrease in employees calling in sick. Participants of these programs have also been reported to have increased happiness, health, energy and weight loss. Lorentz states that keeping a journal to monitor your diet, exercise, water intake and practicing mindfulness can all aid in making sure this new year is filled with less stress and more joy.

To find out more ways to stay healthy this new year, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com.

Source: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/01/looking-forward-to-a-calm-healthy-2017-here-are-some-practical-approaches-to-fighting-workplace-stress/

New Year's Resolutions

As 2016 comes to an end, many are beginning to think ahead to what resolutions they want to make in 2017. In the article titled, “7 Secrets of People Who Keep Their New Year’s Resolutions” by Kevin Kruse he discusses ways to achieve new year's resolutions.Research has shown that only 8 percent of people who make new year’s resolutions will keep them. The author of the article interviews Dr. Paul Marciano and discusses 7 ways to achieve goals for 2017. Dr. Marciano suggests first to make sure any goals are specific. He suggests using the SMART goals system which entails that goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Your new year’s resolutions should be measured by the amount of progress you are obtaining towards your goals. Measuring your progress will help you adjust your efforts and be a source of motivation when you reflect on where you are at. 

Sharing your resolutions with friends and family can allow for social support that can help you to achieve your goals. A suggestion is to have an “accountability partner" that can check in with you periodically to see how your progress is going. Another way to achieve your resolutions is to make sure you have time set apart to work on your goals. Dr. Marciano states that it is best to put it in your calendar. Dr. Marciano states that something is better than nothing especially if it pertains to food or exercise related goals. For example, if you have a goal to workout one hour a day but can only do 20 minutes it is best to what you can and not skip it all together. Being resilient when it comes to new year’s resolutions is an important skill. If you don’t meet your goal one day, acknowledge what happened and recommit to the steps needed to meet your goal. If you follow these 7 steps, hopefully it will help you to reach your goals for 2017! 

Please visit our website www.oxborochiro.com to find out more ways to stay healthy in the new year! We hope you have a wonderful start to 2017.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2016/12/26/7-secrets-of-people-who-keep-their-new-years-resolutions/#638d33947f7f