Emotional Wellness Blog with Dr. Judy

Definition of Wellness: “The quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.”

It seems to me that you either “love” Facebook or you don’t. I have friends that have it open on their computers all day long and post their comments throughout the day. I have other friends that won’t even discuss Facebook, let alone set up a page for themselves.

I happen to be one of those who love it and enjoy peering into the lives of my friends through this awesome venue.

As I was browsing through some of the postings of my friends, I noticed the above definition posted by Tina Gonda, a passionate and inspiring wellness enthusiast. As a health psychologist, I have always appreciated this definition of wellness as it acknowledges the power of the mind-body connection, so it caught my eye.

However, there was something different that leaped out to me as I read the definition this time – “… the result of deliberate action.”

You can’t just sit around and wait for physical and emotional health to happen. It takes action. Over the past 20 years, mind-body medicine has provided evidence that psychological and emotional factors play a major role in illnesses.  So in the reverse we know that it plays a major role in wellness.

In her book Happy for No Reason, Marci Schimoff points out a problem that all of us fall prey to: basing our happiness, our positive emotional state, on the external circumstances of our lives. Yet it has been documented through research that the activities you engage in and the daily choices you make affect the way you feel physically and emotionally.

Mind-body medicine focuses on treatments that promote health, including relaxation, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation, yoga and biofeedback. But there are other things that are so simple to do yet contribute much to our overall emotional well-being. Here are a few ideas to prime the pump:

• Do things that positively impact others. You will feel good about yourself and build self-esteem.
• Learn or discover new things. Take a class, learn a new language, join a book club, visit a museum or travel to someplace new.
• Enjoy the beauty of nature. Strolling through nature lowers your blood pressure and relieves stress. It also connects you to the earth’s vibration of life.
• Get a pet if you don’t already have one. Bonding with any pet is a wonderful experience but the unconditional love of a dog is like no other love.
• Engage in creative work. Find pleasure working in the garden, building something in the workshop, writing, drawing or playing an instrument.
• Exercise to relieve stress and lift your mood. Walk, ride a bike, take the stairs more often, park a couple blocks from where you are going, etc. Aim at getting 30 minutes a day.
• Spend time daily with people you like. Get face-to-face with friends and family that are upbeat and positive. Laugh with them.

Could this be the elusive fountain of youth and we have not recognized it? Make a deliberate effort to enjoy life. Studies have found that people with stronger positive emotions such as love, joy, laughter, enthusiasm, gratitude, awe, etc., have lower levels of chemicals that contribute to stress-related inflammatory diseases. This alone could add years onto your life.

Until next week, ENJOY the journey!

Dr. Judy

P.S.  If you are not my “friend” on Facebook, please feel free to invite me to be one.  And if you enjoy wellness messages you can “like” me on Dr. Judy Ellison – Wellness from the heart. Be well. Happy Posting!

We have all been blessed with the richness of this great planet.  The magnificence of every country is astounding and usually has something significant in it.

“Every solution to every problem is simple.  It’s the distance between the two where the mystery lies.”

― Derek Lindy

The “mystery,” that’s where it takes courage.  How do you keep faith and composure while you wait for the answer?

In my recent blog, I wrote about “Frustrations, trials and tests.”  Here was the gist of my problem:

The first day I opened my computer up and the mail program wouldn’t work, it was mildly frustrating. But, I had high hopes it would be an easy fix.  I couldn’t send or receive mail. It hadn’t happened to me in the ten years since I received the program.

It was Wednesday and I was supposed to post my blog, but the email wouldn’t send.  I am passionate about the Emotional Wellness blog.  I love to write them.   Now, it was really getting frustrating not being able to send it and I had some work to do on my attitude.

So what does a person do who is going through frustration, trials, and tests?

1. Watch your words and don’t speak negative. Negative produces more

negative.

2. Stay focused on finding a solution.

3. Keep yourself occupied with other things while waiting for an answer.

I didn’t go out desperately looking for an answer but passed the word around to a few people.  It was hard staying composed without a mail program, but it was a good practice for working on patience.

And then, the “MYSTERY” was solved!! The most amazing IT tech came to help.  He had a big job to sort through all the years of changed passwords and usernames.  Nothing worked together.  There were other glitches that needed to be worked out.  Then, for no apparent reason that we can see, it just started working.

I was ecstatic!  Keep the faith, because somewhere in the middle of a problem, the solution is a mystery working unseen.

Until next week, ENJOY the journey!

Dr. Judy

The first day I opened my computer up and the mail program wouldn’t work, it was mildly frustrating.  But I had high hopes it would be an easy fix. I couldn’t send or receive mail.  It hadn’t happened to me in the ten years since I got the program.

It was Wednesday and I was supposed to post my blog, but the email wouldn’t send.  I am passionate about the Emotional Wellness blog.  I love to write them.  Now, it was really getting frustrating not being able to send it and I had some work to do on my attitude.

I had people working on the mail program, but after a few days, it still wasn’t fixed.  You have a choice at that point to relax and know there is a solution to every problem.  It was a real trial, but I was able to stay in peace.

In scripture it says, “in this life we will suffer persecution…”  I don’t think I am suffering persecution, but something quite trying.   All I want is to have FUN!  This is not fun.  Yet, what does a person do who is going through frustration, trials and tests?

1.  Watch your words and don’t speak negative.  Negative produces more negative.
2.  Stay focused on finding a solution.
3.  Keep yourself occupied with other things while waiting for an answer.

I am still waiting for my answer, but it is sure to come.  If you have a unrelenting problem, don’t give up.  You never know what’s around the corner.

Until next week, ENJOY the journey!

Dr. Judy

It amazes me that the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” sung by Bobby McFerrin came out over 20 years ago. I remember it as if it were yesterday. It came out at a most challenging time in my life when I had moved my family back to Washington State and we did not have a place to live when we arrived.

We were planning on renting the first year of our return and thought it would be easy to find a house after we arrived. But to our chagrin, the prospects for a home began to diminish as we realized that the real estate market was in a boom and the rental houses were snatched up as soon as they became available, if not before.

After many days of searching, I got in the car with my kids and began driving around looking for a “for lease” sign.  We turned on the radio to listen to some music to relieve the days of worry and stress trying to find a home for our family. All of a sudden, whistling in one of the songs caught my attention and I turned up the volume to hear, “Ain’t got no place to lay your head… don’t worry, be happy.”

At that moment the worry and anxiety left and a smile broke out on my face. Just a few words, but so effective in shifting the feelings of fear into positive expectancy. We began singing the lines over and over. Within the day we had a brand new home – never lived in – to move into.

I learned a lot from that experience. Worrying about a situation only delays the solution and affects your health and well-being. Things tend to always work out in the end.

Sustained worry and emotional stress can trigger physical illness and a host of other health problems. The problem occurs when fight or flight is triggered repeatedly by excessive worry and anxiety. The fight or flight response causes the body’s sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormones can boost blood sugar levels and triglycerides (blood fats) that can be used by the body for fuel.

When the excessive fuel in the blood isn’t used for physical activities, the chronic anxiety and outpouring of stress hormones can have serious physical consequences, including: suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, premature coronary artery disease and heart attack.

So, if you suffer from worry and anxiety, find ways to self-manage the stress by channeling the energy into positive activities such as exercise, dance, singing, socializing with friends, meditating, and finally my favorite, practicing the relaxation response. This technique slows the autonomic nervous system down and allows the body’s physiological system to enter a state of warmth and peaceful calm.  

I will let Bobby close this week’s blog off with these lines…

Here is a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don’t worry, be happy

In every life we have some trouble

When you worry you make it double

Don’t worry, be happy…

Until next week, ENJOY the journey!

Dr. Judy

P.S. Keep Smiling!

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. ~ Anne Lamott 

We all go through hard times in life; tough and painful times. To each person, it will be something different and how we handle the tough time will vary.

Sometimes, we have had to make hard decisions and after we’ve made them, we have regrets, and then the emotional pain sets in. Today, I want to write about a subject we don’t address very often.

In the culture we live in, there are many young ladies that have had to face an unplanned pregnancy and have had to go through the agony of making the choice of keeping the pregnancy or having an abortion. It may be a teenager who doesn’t want to disappoint her family or a young single woman making a move forward in her career.  A baby just wouldn’t fit into the picture now.

These are the decisions being made behind closed doors, in the privacy of many young women’s homes. The decision to have an abortion is finally made after much anguish.

Years have gone by now and they have created a life, perhaps with children. All seems perfect on the outside, but many still carry the shame and guilt on the inside.  The pain has never gone away. Holding on to pain only causes us to live in sorrow, bitterness and more pain.

If you have had an abortion in the past and still have pain, ask God’s forgiveness and then forgive yourself. God’s grace is unmerited and his forgiveness immediate. He loves you without judgment, He just does.

Until next week, ENJOY the journey!

Dr. Judy

P.S. As you reach for God’s grace, I will be praying for you.

When I was a little girl living in Everett, Washington, I loved going to Forest Park!  You would laugh at the park back then that gave me so much pleasure.

The playground was made up of a merry-go-round made out of steel I guess, and was pushed by the four kids waiting to jump on when one of the four on it jumped off. You could be dragged around the circle if your legs couldn’t keep up. Yet in spite of being dragged a few times I loved it.

The only other playground equipment were swings and teeter-totters, that’s it. There were no real safety codes in those days and you could swing as high as you wanted even of you flew over the top of the swing set. I saw it happen.

I had so much fun, laughing and giggling when I was at the park. There were a couple polar bears to amuse the children but mostly a petting park for the little kiddies to go into. The goats were the most fun always trying to butt you over for a tumble. Such small things make a child laugh even blowing bubbles. 

Our culture has changed and we protect our children from head to toe but one thing hasn’t changed and that is the benefits of joy and laughter. Laughter, mirth, happiness and joy are all related in varying degrees and all bestow tremendous health benefits.

I know the power in laughter. I first learned of laughter therapy during my Masters Degree program as I studied different mind-body healing modalities. Over 25 years ago, Dr. Norman Cousins introduced the world to the powerful effects of laughter in his famous book Anatomy of an Illness. He described how by watching Marx Brothers movies he recovered from a life-threatening disease. Cousins made it a point to enjoy a hearty belly laugh several times a day.

Another high profile healer that uses humor and laughter is Hunter Campbell “Patch” Adams. A 1998 feature film titled, “Patch Adams”, starring Robin Williams as “Patch” was based on the life and approach to health of the title character. It’s worth viewing. Patch Adams – Collector’s Edition

There is a growing body of research that confirms the therapeutic value in laughter. After evaluating participants before and after a humorous comedy video, studies revealed that episodes of laughter helped to reduce pain, decrease stress-related hormones and boost the immune system in participants. There are many other documented benefits, but if it were just limited to these, that would be good enough for me.

Yes, TIMES have changed but the benefits of LAUGHTER never will.

Until next week, ENJOY the journey!

Dr. Judy