Contents
Introduction |
11 |
Personal Wellness Management |
13 |
The Dimension of Wellness |
14 |
Understanding Health Behavior |
17 |
Enabling Factors |
19 |
Making Decisions |
20 |
The Psychology of Health |
25 |
The Biology of Stress |
26 |
Physiological Mechanisms |
32 |
The Immune System |
36 |
Stress and Nutrition |
39 |
Personal Stressors |
40 |
Coping with Stress |
44 |
Relaxing Your Body and Mind |
46 |
Monkey Thoughts |
47 |
The Benefits of Meditation |
49 |
How Meditation Works |
53 |
Focusing on Breath |
57 |
Wellness and Nutrition |
61 |
The Human Digestive System |
62 |
Dieting and Metabolism |
69 |
You are What You Eat |
72 |
Need to Know About Nutrients |
74 |
Vitamin Supplements? |
103 |
Stress Nutrition |
108 |
Ten Tips to Eat Good |
109 |
Body Function |
117 |
Muscular Function |
118 |
Use of Muscles |
124 |
Posture and Muscle Imbalance |
128 |
Care of Back and Neck |
129 |
The Cardiovascular Function |
133 |
The Vascular System |
137 |
Respiratory Regulation |
141 |
The Neurological of Motion |
142 |
The Nervous System |
142 |
The Brain |
147 |
Survival of the Fittest |
151 |
Physical Activity |
152 |
| Physical Activities Impact on Quality of Life |
156 |
Cardiovascular Training |
157 |
Aerobic Exercise |
158 |
Heart Target Rate |
159 |
Getting Started |
162 |
Walking |
163 |
Jogging and Running |
167 |
Foot Movement |
169 |
Other Aerobic Activities |
173 |
Muscular Training |
175 |
How Does Strength Training Work? |
176 |
Program and Methods |
183 |
Methods |
188 |
Free Weights vs. Machines |
189 |
Muscular Imbalance |
192 |
Flexibility Training |
194 |
Methods |
199 |
Safety Basics |
203 |
Stability Training |
204 |
Stability Ball Exercise |
204 |
Basic Technique & Safety Issues |
208 |
Leading a Physically Active Life |
211 |
Good Intentions - Poor Results |
212 |
Common Barriers to Physical Activity |
213 |
Successful Behavioral Change |
218 |
Health Philosophy Beyond the Dumbbell |
227 |
Eastern Inspired Wellness |
228 |
Basic of Buddhism |
228 |
Yoga and Health |
236 |
Epilogue |
251 |
Glossary |
254 |
References |
264 |
Excerpt
Introduction
Human beings have developed a certain amount of skill to cope with life changes, and our modern western culture has developed some specific responses to the challenges of our time. Somewhere along the way, however, westerners have begun a quest for improved health and wellness.
Although western medicine has begun to stress preventative wellness and daily self-care, it still focuses on treating immediate symptoms of discomfort and unhappiness rather than the root of the problem. We procrastinate until weight problems, back pain, and stiffness become acute, throwing us out of balance. Then we look to medical professionals to ease our misery immediately, a strategy that inevitable addresses symptoms rather than causes.
One thing is for sure - achieving wellness is not an easy task. Imagine if every human being came into the world with an owner's manual, a set of operating instructions for a healthy, full, happy, and productive life. What would this manual say? In this book, I will try to explain some of the workings of the complex systems within the human body/mind and provide directions on how to keep them running smoothly to prevent breakdowns and to troubleshoot potential problems from both western and eastern point of views.
This together with a drawing on the latest research, I hope to offer you knowledge for a healthy performance and suggest ways to expand your individual possibilities.
My goal is that this book will serve as a guide for you you. Its information, advice, recommendation, and practical applications should prepare you to take the first step toward bring in control of your life and health. With its help, you can acquire a special power, the power to make good decisions, to assume responsibility, to create and follow a healthy lifestyle.
Yet knowledge alone can't assume you a lifetime of wellness. The rest depends on you. The skills you acquire, the habits you form, the choices you make, and the way you live day to day will all shape your health and your future. Living a healthy lifestyle is a science as well as an art, an art that requires you to tailor the principle of optimal health and wellness to your specific circumstances and needs. You cannot simply read this or any book and study wellness the way you study geography or mathematics. You decide to make health and wellness part of your daily life.
Good Luck!
Johan Klavestrand
