We Have Moved

This is a quick post to let you know that we have moved.

Our blog can now be found on our website http://www.umbrella-health.com/category/umbrella-blog/

Thank you to everyone that has subscribed and enjoys reading our posts. We hope you will follow us in the move and encourage you to subscribe to our feeds over at the new location.

There will be more frequent posts, a new area for newsletters and plenty of interesting content to read.

Apart from that, this is our last post here at umbrellahealth.wordpress.com but there will be plenty more to read over at http://www.umbrella-health.com

Book Review: The Mindful Workplace

The Mindful Workplace: Developing Resilient Individuals and Resonant Organizations with MBSR

Michael Chaskalson

Wiley-Blackwell 2011

The Mindful Workplace is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to improve workplace wellbeing and performance.  Michael Chaskalson begins by outlining the business case for Mindfulness Training, with a compelling review of some of the findings of the empirical literature. For example that people who practice mindfulness regularly have improved attention, productivity and satisfaction.

The author also explains how mindfulness is useful for leadership teams and leaders.  In particular mindfulness practice increases left prefrontal brain activation, which facilitates more “approach-oriented” leadership.  People who are highly approach-oriented are curious, open, tolerant and accepting, good at drawing out and amplifying the qualities of those around them.

Chaskalson also details some simple mindfulness exercises, and illustrates his points with organisational case studies.

Related articles

• Book Review: Fully Present (umbrellahealth.wordpress.com)

Book Review: Fully Present

Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness
Susan L. Smalley and Diana Winston
Perseus Books, 2010

“Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different; enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will); being with the unpleasant without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t).” – James Baraz

Mindfulness is attracting more interest as an effective tool for relaxing the body and mind, boosting positive emotions, and improving the body’s immune system. In Fully Present, the authors describe mindfulness as – “the art of paying attention with openness and curiosity to the present moment”.

Fully Present explores the science behind the art of mindfulness, explaining how and why this form of meditation is effective, including some fascinating descriptions of how our brains work and respond to meditation.  There are also plenty of practical tips and exercises, some of which take just a few minutes to put into practice.

For more information, videos and excerpts of the book, check out the website here.

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• My impression of the first time meditating (mindinglife.wordpress.com)

Get tapping for increased wellbeing

The New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology held it’s first conference “The Science of Wellbeing” in Auckland recently.

Dr Jo Mitchell, from Wellbeing and Performance Psychology in Melbourne, gave an exciting presentation looking at
online positive psychology interventions (PPI’s) that enhance wellbeing. Positive Psychology is the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive. PPI’s are exercises designed to increase wellbeing.

Happy Tapper has developed several apps that can be used on the go, with your phone, and in minimal time. Gratitude Journal is one of the applications we have enjoyed trying out.

Various positive psychology researchers including Professor Martin Seligman have found that experiencing and expressing gratitude is another exercise that can help us experience more positive emotion and feel more satisfied with our life.

Have a go at using a PPI, like the Gratitude Journal, for several weeks and see if you notice a difference?

Related articles

• Positive Emotion (umbrellahealth.wordpress.com)
• A Course Correction for Positive Psychology: A Review of Martin Seligman’s Latest Book (sharpbrains.com)
• :: Authentic Happiness :: Using the new Positive Psychology (authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu)

Book Review: this=that: a life-size photo guide to food serves (Adults Version)

this=that: a life-size photo guide to food serves (Adults Version)

By Trudy Williams

I first discovered the book series this=that when we bought a copy of ‘this=that Children’s Version: a life-size photo guide to kids’ food serves’. Designed to help parents figure out how much to feed their kids, with some fantastic meal ideas, it has been just as useful for some of the grownups here at Umbrella!

Recently, the Food Talk team released a new edition of their adult version: ‘this=that: a life-size photo guide to food serves’.   Featuring sections on all the main food groups, this book has actual sized photos of the foods we want to be eating more of, and those we may need to cut down on.  You can simply put your plate up to the photos to check that the amounts and variety are about right – easy! There is practical advice for boosting good nutrition and reducing those guilty pleasures. It is highly recommended, either for personal use, or as a resource in a staff library or lunchroom.

See www.foodtalk.com.au for online orders.

Balancing the buzz – how much coffee is too much?

We are often asked in our workshops “how much caffeine is too much?” Caffeine consumption directly affects production of stress hormones, so it’s important to keep an eye on how much you have.

Stimulating the production of the stress hormone adrenalin, caffeine puts our body on alert, temporarily increasing heart rate and blood pressure.  While this is useful if we want to be ready for flight or fight, overloading the adrenal gland can also have some negative consequences, such as problems sleeping or feeling anxious.

On the plus side, a great cup of coffee is a relatively fast acting stimulant, waking us up, helping us to focus, and boosting the production of serotonin receptors in our brains. Studies show that caffeine can speed up certain thinking processes,
improving memory creation and retention when it comes to declarative memory (the kind we use when memorising lists).  However, it doesn’t seem to help when it comes to complex thinking or finding solutions.

Because caffeine can’t be stored in the body, its effects are only temporary. Generally people will notice the caffeine hit after about 10 minutes, and the effect usually lasts two to three hours. With regular consumption we are likely to find that
it takes more and more caffeine to get the same effect.

So, how much is too much?

The daily-recommended not-to-exceed intake level of caffeine is the equivalent of one to three cups of coffee per day (139 to 417 milligrams). It may sound like a lot, but don’t forget that caffeine is not only found in coffee, but also in black tea, green tea, chocolate, some soft drinks and energy drinks, so on a daily basis, you may be getting more than you think!

Slowly does it.

If you’re a big coffee drinker (regularly consuming 300+ milligrams a day), suddenly stopping may cause you to suffer withdrawal symptoms such as tiredness, feeling down, irritability, jitters and headaches. Instead, cut back slowly over a few weeks by reducing other caffeine sources such as tea or chocolate, and drink coffee that is half caffeinated and half decaffeinated.

Have you cut back on your coffee intake? We’d love to hear how you did it.

Related articles

• How To Break Your Daily Caffeine Habit And Use Coffee Strategically | Fast Company (junaidghory.wordpress.com)
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Lesson Learned

One of the key messages we stress in the resilience workshops is the importance of looking after our physical health.  We discuss how physical well-being is a basic building block of resilience and plan how to sleep well, eat well, exercise, and moderate the caffeine and alcohol intake.

Ironically, last week, I found myself repeating a pattern many of our workshop participants tell us is very familiar to them.  I was really busy, overwhelmingly so, and in order to try and get on top of all that needed to be done I skipped my usual mid-week Pilates class and weekend bike ride, ate more chocolate, consumed more red wine and went to bed late.  As the week went by I felt increasingly tired, irritable and overwhelmed, and couldn’t see how I was possibly going to finish even the most pressing tasks.  The metaphor headless chicken comes to mind.  Fortunately, a pre-planned short holiday with my children intervened and I had to stop.  I didn’t enjoy the first day of the holiday as my head still swam with to do lists and tasks needing urgent attention.  By the second day though I made an effort to shelve the work thoughts and focus on making the most of the holiday and the fun my children were having.  We ate well, spent the days being active, and I slept 12 hours each night the same as them.

Arriving back I sat down, reviewed and prioritised all the “to-do” lists, and have been systematically working through them the last couple of days.  Probably as a result of feeling calmer, not tired and with a clearer brain, the tasks that seemed overwhelming before the holiday are now manageable and in fact a number of them are complete.

Lesson learned?  I think so.  Back to scheduling in exercise as a priority, eating well, and turning the computer off at a reasonable hour so my brain can relax.  Such simple things and ones we advocate strongly, but easy to think we can skip them when the pressure is on.

Related articles

• Can Pilates Roll Away the Blues? (pilatesstyle.wordpress.com)
• This Simple App Makes Me Feel Twice As Productive (businessinsider.com)
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