Rest & Relaxation- 02

Rest & Relaxation

1- Why Am I So Tired?
2- How to Beat Insomnia

3- A Woman's Guide to 'Me' Time
4- Tips to Reduce Stress in Women Over 50
5- Estrogen and Emotions

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3- A Woman's Guide to 'Me' Time

A Woman's Guide to 'Me' Time

Women today have been told we have it all -- careers, families, kids, community involvement, and relationships. But all too often, having it all leaves us with no time or strength left for ourselves.

Recent research has shown that women today are less happy than they have been over the past 40 years. There are many theories about why, but lack of free time can be a major reason.

"There's a tremendous amount of stress and pressure put on women: being parents, being daughters, mothers, wives, professionals. All of these roles combined leave many of us not taking adequate care of ourselves -- which is what sustains us and gives us the energy to take care of all these other responsibilities that we have," says Randy Kamen Gredinger, a Wayland, MA, psychologist and life coach specializing in women's issues.

Whether you're wrangling toddlers, sleeplessly waiting for your teen to come home, caring for your aging parents -- or all of the above -- every woman needs an occasional break for sanity's sake. This means taking time each day to do something for yourself.

But how can you make it happen?

Make Yourself a Priority

First, realize how important it is.

"I've been talking to women about this for years, and we seem to have trouble even feeling like we're worthy of being put on our own list of priorities," says Amy Tiemann, author of Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family and founder of Mojomom.com.

"If you can't do it because you feel like you deserve it, look at it this way: You are a first responder. An emergency can come up at any time, and you should be as well rested and restored as you'd want your ER doc or EMT to be," Tiemann says. "And besides, taking care of yourself will make you a better parent and partner. You'll be more fun to be around and more responsive to your family."

OK, so you're convinced. It's time to take time for you. Now, when can you fit it in? Don't wait for the time to just magically appear. It won't.

Schedule Your 'Me' Time

Make your free time as important as the pediatrician's visit, the conference call, and your meeting with the contractor. Treat it just like any other appointment.

"You have to build in battery recharge time," says Margaret Moore, co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. "We're very good at project management in our work lives, but not so well in our personal lives. Treat it like any project: I want to recharge my batteries so I don't feel so frazzled and worn out."

Try to find at least half an hour to an hour every day for you. It doesn't have to be all at once. And before you decide what you're going to do with the time you're building into your schedule, promise yourself that you won't waste it.

"We're a multitasking society. If we're having a conversation with a friend, we're thinking about the other things we have to get done," says Allison Cohen, a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles. "Instead, you need to be present in the moment. Whatever you're doing for you, don't be thinking about your grocery list or the PowerPoint presentation. There's a lot of time in our day that we could be enjoying, but we lose it because we're focused on what we have to do next."

You don’t need a lot of time, either. Here are ideas for making the most of even 5 minutes of "me" time.

If You Have 5-10 Minutes

• Sit on the porch with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Or a cup of coffee and no newspaper. Just watch the clouds go by. No phone or calendar allowed.
• Call a friend to chat. This doesn't mean planning the bake sale or organizing the neighborhood watch -- just talk, without an agenda.
• Move. Get up from your desk, stretch, and walk around the block or up and down a flight of stairs.
• Breathe deeply. While you're sitting in your office, car, or home, focus on breathing slowly and gently for 5 minutes. It's OK if your mind wanders a bit, but don't start planning what you have to do next -- just follow your breath.
• Pet your pet. Focus for 5 minutes on cuddling with cat or dog. You'll both feel better.
• Put on your iPod and hit shuffle. Then just sit and listen.

If You Have 15-30 Minutes

• Read one chapter of a book you've wanted to make time for. Keep a basket in your office or living room with a good book, magazine, crossword puzzle, or other short escapes.
• Find a nearby park and go for a brisk walk.
• Putter. This doesn't mean cleaning the house or organizing your kids' clothes. Instead, it means doing little things at home that you enjoy, like trimming the rosebush and putting together a bouquet for your office or kitchen.
• Soak in the tub. If you're a parent, make sure another adult is on duty so no one's going to yell "Mom!" Plan so you'll have some fabulous bath goodies on hand. Don't forget a glass of ice water or wine.

If You Have 30-60 Minutes

• Get a massage, a facial, or a mani-pedi.
• Take a nap.
• Schedule a class that you've always wanted to take just for fun. For instance, Amy Tiemann took an improv comedy class to get a night to herself after her daughter was born.
• Plan a long walk with a friend. Commit to it early in the week and honor the commitment. You're not training for anything, you're not trying to race-walk, you're just taking a long stroll with a good friend and enjoying the day.

Add your own favorites to these lists. Whatever you choose to do with your "me" time, make it relaxing and restorative.

"If you don't feel like it works for you, try something else," Moore says. "'Shoulds' are the enemy of relaxation. Don't think about what you should do, but about what makes you thrive."

4- Tips to Reduce Stress in Women Over 50

Tips to Reduce Stress in Women Over 50

Navigating the changes of midlife causes stress, there's no doubt about it, and we'd all like to reduce stress in our lives.

But stress can be positive, keeping us on our toes. Stress becomes negative when we continually face challenges without relief. Tension builds in the body, causing an assortment of physical problems -- such as headaches, upset stomach, high blood pressure, chest pain, and sleep problems.

For women over 50, the effects of chronic stress are compounded. Your body isn't as resilient as it once was, so it needs better maintenance -- a healthier lifestyle -- to repair itself. Face it: It's time to reduce stress.

The keys to less stress and greater happiness? They aren't more money or material objects, says Charles Raison, MD, assistant professor of psychiatryand behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. They're positive action, good health, good relationships, and a sense of optimism.

How to Reduce Stress and Achieve Emotional Balance

1. Exercise regularly. Exercise reduces stress, improves mood, and boosts overall health. It also helps you sleep better.
2. Build a support system. For some people, becoming part of a religious community helps reduce stress. For others it may be diving into a swim club, or a sewing circle. But wherever your find them, solid friendships help you feel warmth, security, connection.
3. Keep a positive attitude. Look for silver linings and good news. Make a gratitude list.
4. Let go of negatives. Accept that there are things you cannot control.
5. Be assertive instead of aggressive. Instead of becoming angry, defensive, or passive, assert your feelings, opinions, or beliefs.
6. Find ways to relax. Learn to meditate. Try relaxation tapes and CDs. Listen to the great music of classical composers.
7. Develop new interests. Having a sense of adventure can help you reduce stress. Tune in to your dreams. Find things to be passionate about. Find a hobby. Be creative!
8. Get enough rest and sleep. When you're under stress, your body needs time to recover. Give it the rest it needs.
9. Eat healthy, balanced meals. Your body needs good nutrition to fight the effects of stress. Also, don't rely on alcohol to quiet your anxiety.
10. Volunteer. When you commit yourself to helping others, you find purpose. You take the focus off yourself, but you achieve a feeling of accomplishment.

Don't let a harried and hectic world get the better of you. Make a little time, try a few of these tips -- and reduce stress.

5- Estrogen and Emotions

Estrogen and Women's Emotions

It's clear that estrogen is closely linked with women's emotional well-being. Depression and anxiety affect women in their estrogen-producing years more often than men or postmenopausal women. Estrogen is also linked to mood disruptions that occur only in women -- premenstrual syndrome, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and postpartum depression.

Exactly how estrogen affects emotion is much less straightforward. Is it too much estrogen? Not enough? It turns out estrogen's emotional effects are nearly as mysterious as moods themselves.

Estrogen: What's Normal?

Beginning at puberty, a woman's ovaries start releasing estrogen in coordination with each monthly menstrual cycle. At mid-cycle, levels suddenly spike, triggering the release of an egg (ovulation). They then fall just as quickly. During the rest of the month, estrogen levels climb and fall gradually.

Normal estrogen levels vary widely. Large differences are typical in a woman on different days, or between two women on the same day of their cycles. The actual measured level of estrogen doesn't predict emotional disturbances.

Hormones and the Brain

That's not to say estrogen isn't a major player in regulating moods. Estrogen acts everywhere in the body, including the parts of the brain that control emotion.

Some of estrogen's effects include:

• Increasing serotonin, and the number of serotonin receptors in the brain.
• Modifying the production and the effects of endorphins, the "feel-good" chemicals in the brain.
• Protecting nerves from damage, and possibly stimulating nerve growth.

What these effects mean in an individual woman is impossible to predict. Estrogen's actions are too complex for researchers to understand fully. As an example, despite estrogen's apparently positive effects on the brain, many women's moods improve after menopause, when estrogen levels are very low.

Some experts believe that some women are more vulnerable to the menstrual cycle's normal changes in estrogen. They suggest it's the roller coaster of hormones during the reproductive years that create mood disturbances.

Estrogen and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

As many as 90% of women experience unpleasant symptoms before their periods. If symptoms are reliably severe enough to interfere with quality of life, it's defined as premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Generally speaking, PMS is present when:

• Physical and emotional symptoms occur reliably a few days before multiple consecutive menses (periods).
• The symptoms go away after completing a period and don't occur at other times.
• The symptoms cause significant personal problems (such as at work, school, or in relationships).
• No medicines, drugs, alcohol, or other health condition might be to blame.

Bloating, swelling of arms or legs, and breast tenderness are the usual physical symptoms. Feeling overly emotional, experiencing depression, anger and irritability, or having anxiety and social withdrawal may be present. As many as 20% to 40% of women may have PMS at some point in life.

Estrogen and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

As with PMS, women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) regularly develop negative mood symptoms before their periods. Some experts consider premenstrual dysphoric disorder to be a severe form of PMS.

In PMDD, mood symptoms are more severe and often overshadow physical symptoms. The emotional disturbances are significant enough to cause problems with daily life. From 3% to 9% of women experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Estrogen appears to be involved in these mood disturbances, but exactly how is more of a mystery. Estrogen levels in women with PMS or PMDD are almost always normal. The problem may instead lie in the way estrogen "talks" to the parts of the brain involved in mood. Women with PMS or PMDD may also be more affected by the normal fluctuations of estrogen during the menstrual cycle.

Estrogen and Postpartum Depression

Having "the blues" after childbirth is so common it's considered normal. However, 10% to 25% of women experience a major depression within the first six months after childbirth. The abrupt drop in estrogen after delivery seems like the obvious culprit -- but this link has never been proved.

Postpartum depression is treated like any other depression, with antidepressants, therapy, or both. Some preparations of estrogen do show promise as a potential add-on to these established treatments.

Estrogen and Perimenopausal Depression

In the months or years before menopause (called perimenopause), estrogen levels are erratic and unpredictable. During perimenopause, up to 10% of women experience depression that may be caused by unstable estrogen levels. Some studies suggest that using a transdermal estrogen patch by itself can improve depression during perimenopause. Antidepressants were not given to women in these studies, so giving estrogen likely improved their depression.

Estrogen and Postmenopausal Depression

At menopause, estrogen levels fall to very low levels. Interestingly, taking oral estrogen does not improve depression in women after menopause. In large trials evaluating hormone replacement therapy, women taking estrogen reported the same mental health as women taking placebo. After menopause, women's rates of depression fall, becoming similar to men of the same age.