health and fitness

lundi 1 février 2016

Christy Turlington Burns: From Supermodel to Activist

Supermodel Christy Turlington Burns has put her wanderlust in service to fellow mothers through Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit organization she founded in 2010, advocating for women’s health issues spanning the globe.

from WSJ.com: Lifestyle http://ift.tt/1Q7730A
via LIFESTYLE

Well: Pursuing the Dream of Healthy Aging

Researchers are seeking drugs that can slow the rate of aging and the development of the debilitating chronic ailments that typically accompany it.

from NYT > Health http://ift.tt/1Sn4nmd
via health&fitness

In search of sleep: ‘I am a night owl who desperately wants to be up with the lark’

We’ve all experienced those nights when it’s difficult to get to sleep and even more so getting up in the morning. But what if, like busy GP Farrah Jarral, your body clock is permanently stuck in night-time mode?

For years, I have been trying to score the perfect night’s sleep in the face of a body clock that perks me up like a hyper-alert raccoon the moment the sun goes down, and a career that demands serious mental acuity. I would love to have the carefree sleep of my borderline-narcoleptic mother, to be able to drift into oblivion anywhere, any time. Instead, I have a distinctly unpoetic relationship with an array of devices that make up my bedtime ritual. Electric toothbrush. Useless scented candle. Satin eyemask. Silicone earplugs. Acrylic biteguards. Memory-foam pillow.

I have tried cutting down on the blue-light brain poison of a scrolling Twitter feed and clamping down on disruptive feline co-sleeping. I used a sleep-tracking app for a while, until I realised that keeping a phone in my bed, connected to the entire, exciting world in all its timezones, was a big mistake. I ditched it, but only after learning that I require seven and half hours’ sleep. This magic number has become an obsession, as I run tense calculations of my projected sleep quota every time I get into bed. I have even tried waking up at my usual weekday time of 6am at weekends to avoid “social jetlag”, but it made me feel like the pig in the cage in that Radiohead song.

from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1NLyZWc
via health

Eyes wide shut: how to cope with night terrors

Nightmares are bad enough, but for some children – and even adults – there’s something far more terrible lurking in the dark

No one wants to hear about your dreams. Their eyes will glaze over when you tell them you only got three hours’ sleep because of that “weird” one about sharing a house with the actor Max von Sydow where you communicated through a gap in a bookcase. Their ears may prick up, however, if you have one of the more fascinating parasomnias. Bruxism (tooth-grinding) may not make the cut, but sleep paralysis, sleep walking and night terrors are fascinating, largely because we really don’t know what causes them or what purpose they serve, not to mention the bafflement and horror they bring with them.

As a species, we have been attempting to unravel the tangled mysteries of our nocturnal habits since long before Freud turned his attention to the symbolism of our dreams. We have all woken from terrifying nightmares, but night terrors are a level beyond that and, uniquely, the sufferer often wakes with little or no recollection of what disturbed their rest.

from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1Sm9eDY
via health

How was your weekend running?

Track session, parkrun, long run or just breaking a world record on a treadmill? As always, come and share your weekend exploits (even the non record-breaking ones) below the line

My loathing of treadmills is well documented on this blog, and I hold to my theory that treadmill miles relate to outdoor miles in the same way that dog years relate to human years - they are at least seven times longer. Which makes the fact that Susie Chan ran for 12 hours on a treadmill on Saturday (68.5 miles) breaking the world record in the process particularly jaw-dropping for me.

It’s not so much the physical exertion that amazes me, though heaven knows that’s impressive enough. No, it’s the mental effort. It would be one thing to run 68.5 miles in a line, towards a destination, with a physical finish line to cross. But in a room, on a treadmill? That requires an effort of will I can’t even begin to imagine. Well done Susie. Possibly a rest day today though, eh?

from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1Sm9fbf
via health

I’ve recently become sexually fixated on the firm touch of my wife’s gloved hand

I felt it during a ferocious cold snap; there was no question of removing winter garb, but now no intimate encounter has meaning without mentally replaying that night

I’ve been married for 34 years, but recently I’ve become sexually fixated on an event from my youth. It was during a ferocious cold snap; things took an amorous turn, but there was no question of removing winter garb. My younger self responded with unexpected vim to the firm touch of my wife’s begloved hand. Since that time, and especially recently, no intimate encounter has had meaning without a mental replaying of that wintry night.

Your erotic thoughts are your own business, and it is unnecessary to share them with anyone else – even a spouse. Many people have a fairly narrow sexual script, but you have one wonderfully erotic fantasy to replay whenever you want. In my opinion, you should feel comfortable using this scenario privately whenever you wish. But, on a more practical note, as people age it is normal to need direct genital stimulation as a prelude to strong arousal, so your wife’s hand could be providing more than an acting-out of a favourite fantasy.

from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1Sm9enr
via health

How was your weekend running?

Track session, parkrun, long run or just breaking a world record on a treadmill? As always, come and share your weekend exploits (even the non record-breaking ones) below the line

from Fitness | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1OZOgGM
via FITNESS