Feel Good Factors

Feel Good Factors

1. DHEA

Our body naturally produces the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the adrenal gland. In turn, DHEA helps produce other hormones, including testosterone and estrogen.

Natural DHEA levels peak in early adulthood and then slowly fall as one ages.

A synthetic version of DHEA is available for oral use, as a tablet, and a topical cream.

Often touted as an anti-aging therapy, DHEA is also claimed to ward off chronic illness and improve physical performance.

2. Serotonin

Serotonin helps regulate your mood naturally.

When your serotonin levels are normal, you feel:

happier
calmer
more focused
less anxious
more emotionally stable

What is serotonin?

Serotonin is a chemical nerve cells produce.

It sends signals between your nerve cells. Serotonin is found mostly in the digestive system. It’s also present in blood platelets and throughout the central nervous system.

Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. All essential amino acids must come from one's diet and is commonly found in foods such as nuts, cheese, and red meat. 
Tryptophan deficiency can lead to lower serotonin levels.

The deficiency could result in mood disorders, such as anxiety or depression.

What does serotonin do?

Serotonin impacts every part of the body, from the emotions to motor skills. Serotonin is considered a natural mood stabilizer. It’s the chemical that helps with sleeping, eating, and digesting. Serotonin also helps:

reduce depression
regulate anxiety
heal wounds
stimulate nausea
maintain bone health

3. What Is GABA?

The Brain-Boosting GABA

What Is GABA?

Gamma-aminobutyric acid, also known as GABA, is a neurotransmitter that helps send messages between the brain and the nervous system.

It is produced in the brain from glutamate. This process is catalyzed by the active form of vitamin B6 and the enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (GAD).

Its main function is to reduce the activity of nerve cells in the nervous system. A good amount of emerging research has found that it could play a role in many conditions, including depression, anxiety and stress.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid is thought to have a natural calming effect and is believed to reduce feelings of of anxiety and fear by decreasing neuronal excitability.

It is often used as a natural supplement to promote sleep, improve mood and ease premenstrual symptoms.

GABA Uses and Benefits

1. Relieves Anxiety
2. Improves Sleep
3. Reduces Depression Symptoms
4. Relieves Symptoms of PMS
5. Decreases Inflammation
6. Improves Focus in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
7. Increases Levels of Growth Hormone
   

4. What Are Endorphins?

They are responsible for the all-encompassing sense of happiness we sometimes feel.

Endorphins are a category of neurotransmitters that the body uses as an internal pain killer. A 1995 study (Harte et al) published in the Biological Psychology Journal tested the neurochemical release of two groups — 11 elite runners and 12 highly trained meditators — after running and meditation, respectively.

What did they find?

Both groups’ endorphin levels were greatly elevated.

Perhaps even more amazing, meditation's "feel-good effect" scored even higher than running!

Joggers have coined the term "runners high" to describe how wonderful the endorphin rush feels after a nice, long run. This happy, zen-like, alert state of bliss can be a powerful and highly pleasurable experience, going a long way to explain why so many runners are addicted to their sport.

Luckily, this wonderful mind-state is readily found through meditation. Maybe it is time for meditators to come up with a cool phrase for how good they feel after meditation?

What Are Endorphins

Endorphins are the popular term for chemical substances known as “opiate peptides.”

Which neurochemicals qualify as “endorphins,” and what do endorphins do exactly?

Endorphins include enkephalins and dynorphins, substances associated with feelings of pleasure, sexuality/sensually, euphoria and pain relief. Essentially, endorphins promote a sort of “bliss,” providing a sense of well-being.

Low levels of endorphins are associated with the opposite effects: physical and emotional pain (including chronic pain linked to disorders like fibromyalgia), addiction and higher incidence of risk taking behaviors.

When one talks about endorphins, they’re also referring to other neurotransmitters besides opiate peptides, including dopamine and serotonin.

Here’s a quick overview of how endorphins are released?

Medically speaking, we refer to chemical messengers of the mind that cause emotions as neurotransmitters. Endorphins are manufactured by the central nervous system (your brain, spinal cord and nerves that connect to many other parts of your body). Through the production of certain neurotransmitters, the pituitary gland of the brain gets the signal to release particular endorphins depending on the situation, which then bind to neuron receptors. There’s also evidence that the immune system releases certain endorphins based on rising levels of inflammation, which is a mechanism useful for dulling pain.

 
5. Melatonin

The hormone melatonin plays a role in the natural sleep-wake cycle. Natural levels of melatonin in the blood are highest at night. Some research suggests that melatonin supplements might be helpful in treating sleep disorders, such as delayed sleep phase, and providing some relief from insomnia and jet lag.

Melatonin is generally safe for short-term use. Unlike with many sleep medications, with melatonin one is unlikely to become dependent, have a diminished response after repeated use (habituation), or experience a hangover effect.

What is melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone made by the pineal gland , a small gland in the brain. Melatonin helps control the sleep and wake cycles. Very small amounts of it are found in foods such as meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables. One can buy it as a supplement.

What does natural melatonin do in the body?

The body has its own internal clock that controls the natural cycle of sleeping and waking hours. In part, the body clock controls how much melatonin the body makes. Normally, melatonin levels begin to rise in the mid- to late evening, remain high for most of the night, and then drop in the early morning hours.

Light affects how much melatonin the body produces. During the shorter days of the winter months, the body may produce melatonin either earlier or later in the day than usual.

This change can lead to symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), or winter depression.

Natural melatonin levels slowly drop with age.

Some older adults make very small amounts of it or none at all.

Why is melatonin used as a dietary supplement?

Melatonin supplements are sometimes used to treat jet lag or sleep problems (insomnia).
Scientists are also looking at other good uses for melatonin, such as:

Treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Helping to control sleep patterns for people who work night shifts.
Preventing or reducing problems with sleeping and confusion after surgery.
Reducing chronic cluster headaches.

6. Human Growth Hormone

Benefits of Human Growth Hormone

Human growth hormone can be injected in larger doses to promote weight loss and increase muscle size while a small doses can be used for general recovery, health and ignite the anti-aging process. Presently, there is a growing list of benefits of HGH treatment in children, adolescents and adults, such as:

1. Increased Muscle Strength

Human growth hormone has been known to improve physical capacity of individuals through stimulating collagen synthesis in the skeletal muscle and tendons, increasing muscle strength and improving exercise performance as a result.

In the International Journal of Endocrinology, a study with 14 healthy men at the ages of 50 to 70 were randomized into two groups. Seven subjects were administered HGH therapy with seven placebo subjects, and they were re-evaluated after six months. After six months, there was a significant increase in the leg press responsiveness muscles in the growth hormone group.

Overall, the study concluded an increased muscle strength in the lower body after human growth hormone was administered in healthy men. In HGH-deficient adults, participants who were administered long-term HGH therapy experienced normalization of muscle strength, increased exercise capacity, and improved thermoregulation and body composition.

2. Better Fracture Healing

Numerous of local growth factors and hormones are responsible for regulating mineral and bone metabolism, along with fracture healing. Administration of human growth hormone has been shown to speed up the regeneration of bone, making it a key part of bone healing. Applying growth factors like IGF-1 is known to stimulate the metabolism of bone.

In a study published in the journal BONE, growth hormone was systemically applied to recombinant species-specific rats by subcutaneous injections and was compared to the placebo group. As a result, the local growth factor application revealed a stronger effect on fracture healing than the systemic human growth hormone injection. These observations suggest that the local application of growth hormone speeds up fracture healing significantly without systemic adverse effects.

Human growth hormone plays a crucial role in the repair of wear and tear and expedites healing. Researchers have reported the beneficial effects of HGH in enhancing the healing of injuries and wounds significantly. A randomized, controlled, double-blinded study for six months of HGH therapy or placebo in 28 healthy older men with low baseline plasma IGF-1 was conducted at the University of California’s Department of Medicine. As a result, healthy older men who were administered growth hormone had enhanced collagen deposition during the wound-healing process, helping the healing process.

3. Enhanced Weight Loss

Obese individuals have limited response to growth hormone stimuli release, and after successful reduction of weight, growth hormone responsiveness can be partial or complete. Growth hormone accelerates lipolysis, the breakdown of lipids and involves hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids, and impaired secretion of human growth hormone leads to loss of lipolytic effect.

Dietary restrictions and growth hormone treatment effects on anabolic and lipolytic actions as well as the changes in growth hormone secretions and insulin were investigated in a study published in Hormone Research. Twenty-four obese participants were on a hypocaloric diet and treated with recombinant human growth hormone or a placebo in a double-blinded, 12-week randomized study. As a result, growth hormone treatment caused a 1.6-fold increase in weight loss, with the greatest loss being visceral fat compared to the placebo.

In the placebo group, lean body mass was lost, whereas lean body mass was gained in the growth hormone group. This study suggests that in obese participants who eat a caloric-restriction diet, growth hormone accelerates the loss of body fat and improves growth hormone secretion. Thus, human growth hormone can serve a therapeutic role to help obese people lose weight.

 
4. Stronger Bones

The pituitary gland stimulates the release of growth hormone and is essential for regulating bone growth, especially during puberty. Growth hormone stimulates the production of IGF-1, which is produced in the liver and released in the blood. With age, human growth hormone decreases and may be the cause of older individuals not being able to form or replace bone rapidly. The IGF-1/growth hormone duo stimulates bone-forming and bone-resorbing cells, leading to increased bone mass.

5. Reduced Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Adults who are growth hormone-deficient have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, leading to decreased life expectancy. In Sweden, 104 patients who are growth hormone-deficient were studied for cardiovascular disease risk. These patients had higher body mass and triglyceride concentrations compared to controls. These results suggest lipoprotein metabolism is altered by growth hormone deficiency, increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease.

6. Improvement in Erectile Dysfunction

It’s been suggested in recent studies that human growth hormone is responsible for male reproductive function and sexual maturation while deficiency is associated with loss of sexual erection and desire. Thirty-five healthy adult men and 45 participants with erectile dysfunction were exposed to tactile and visual stimuli in order to elicit penile tumescence in a German study. The increase in growth hormone was greater than 90 percent as determined during developing penile tumescence, followed by a transient decrease afterward. This study suggests that penile erection may be induced by growth hormone through its stimulating activity on human corpus cavernosum smooth muscle, making it a potential natural remedy for impotence.

7. Decreased Obesity

Insulin resistance and visceral/abdominal obesity are common in adults with hormone growth deficiency. Abdominal obesity is prevalent in individuals who show low growth hormone and insulin-like growth hormone serum concentrations as well. Human growth hormone treatment has demonstrated positive results in adults who are growth hormone-deficient in treating obesity naturally.

Thirty men ages 48–66 with abdominal/visceral obesity were treated with recombinant human growth hormone in a nine-month, randomized, double-blind study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Abdominal and visceral adipose tissue decreased along with diastolic blood pressure, and improved insulin sensitivity was one of the favorable benefits of human growth hormone found.

8. Better Mood and Cognitive Function

Quality of life and psychological well-being are restored when growth hormone therapy in growth hormone-deficient adults is administered. A Lithuanian study investigated the changes in cognitive function, mood and concentration from baseline after six months of treatment with human recombinant growth hormone. Eighteen adult patients with HGH deficiency participated in the study, and growth hormone was administered in 12 IU per week.

As a result, cognitive function and mood significantly increased after six months of therapy, according to mood scales. This study suggests that administering growth hormone can be a possible treatment option to improve cognitive function and mood in adults who are growth hormone-deficient.

 
9. Better Sleep

The majority of the growth hormone pulsatile secretion happens just after the onset of sleep and continues to rise when the first hours of sleep are reached. Individuals who are going through sleep deprivation, such as people who work the night shift or late studiers, can be affected negatively throughout the day. Lack of sleep alters pituitary and hypothalamus function, further altering growth hormone release time.

When sleep was deprived for 24 to 36 hours in a study conducted by the University of Chicago’s Department of Medicine, human growth hormone release was drastically decreased and noticeably decreased in growth hormone peak values at night. The 24-hour diurnal pulse of growth hormone release became random and more frequent throughout these waking hours. This study suggests that sleep deprivation can reduce growth hormone release the morning after and can severely disturb and alter the sleep-wake cycle.

Human Growth Hormone Deficiency

Signs and symptoms of growth hormone deficiency vary with age, and children can have different symptoms than an adult. Children being significantly shorter than children their age and grow less than two inches per year are common symptoms of growth hormone deficiency. Children with normal levels grow about 2.5 inches a year from age 1 until they hit puberty, when they can grow up to four inches a year. However, a decline in human growth hormone does not have any impact on a child’s intelligence.

Other symptoms of growth hormone deficiency in children include:

Facial features may appear younger than children who are the same age
Delayed puberty, sometimes will not go through puberty
Increased fat around the stomach and face
Prominent forehead
Slow hair growth

Adults may experience a combination of symptoms from human growth hormone deficiency, including:

Depression
Hair loss
Sexual dysfunction
Decreased muscle strength and mass
Memory loss
Lack of concentration
Dry skin
Increased triglycerides
Fatigue
Cardiovascular disease risk
Increase LDL (“bad”) cholesterol
Insulin resistance
Reduced bone density
Temperature sensitivity
Increased weight, especially around the waist

Best Ways to Increase HGH Naturally

1. High-Intensity Exercise

It’s well-documented in various studies that exercise-induced growth hormone response increases HGH secretion. Research suggests that the exercise-induced growth hormone plus endurance exercise associated with load, intensity, duration and frequency are the determining factors in the regulation of HGH secretion.

An exercise intensity above lactate threshold and for a minimum of 10 minutes elicits the greatest stimulus to the secretion of HGH. HIIT workouts are effective in promoting beneficial well-being, health and positive training outcomes, while stimulating HGH. 
 

2. L-glutamine

Supplementing with L-glutamine is known for enhancing exercise performance, maintaining acid-base balance and increasing the storage of glycogen in muscle. In an Iranian study, 30 healthy non-athlete males were randomly divided into placebo and glutamine supplementation groups and put through an eight-week resistance training program. Both groups performed the same weight training program three days a week for eight weeks. Both groups increased in performance, but the glutamine groups showed greater increases in lower- and upper-body strength, explosive muscle power, blood testosterone, IGF-1, and HGH compared to the placebo group.

3. L-arginine

Most studies have shown when administering oral L-arginine to participants, arginine alone increases the resting growth hormone levels at least 100 percent, while exercise can increase growth hormone levels by 300 percent to 500 percent.

4. A-GPC

According to a study in the 2008 issue of the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (A-GPC) might increase human growth hormone levels. Participants who consumed 600 milligrams of A-GPC two hours before resistance exercise had increased HGH levels post-exercise compared to those given a placebo.

5. Laughter

Researchers Stanley Tan and Lee Berk at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif., observed that two hormones, human growth hormone and endorphins, were increased by 27 percent and 87 percent, respectively, when participants anticipated watching a humorous video.

6. Normal Liver Function

HGH stimulates the liver into producing IGF-1, which is released into the body to stimulate the production of cells that are responsible for cell proliferation, increased muscle mass and increased energy. An individual would never experience the full benefits HGH has to offer if experiencing poor liver function, cirrhosis, fatty liver and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

 
7. Vitamin C

Studies have observed the correlation of reduced vitamin C concentration in decreased growth hormone secretion, obese patients, increased waist-hip ratio and increased heart disease risk, which is why consuming more vitamin C foods may help increase HGH.

Dopamine vs. Serotonin:

Their Effects & Key Differences

The endocrine (hormonal) system functions at a slower pace than the nervous system, but the two must work together to maintain internal balance and happiness. There are actually hundreds of different chemicals in the brain we call neurotransmitters or endorphins.

These cause positive feelings, but the two that are probably the most well-known are dopamine and serotonin.

The combination of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and opiate endorphins are often called “the quartet.” Together, they’re responsible for most of our perception of “happiness”.

Let’s take a look at how these chemicals function and play off one another:

Serotonin.

Serotonin is often called the “happy hormone” because it improves your mood and helps beat depression. We need healthy levels of serotonin for mood stabilization, getting good sleep, dreaming and visualization. It also influences many physiological functions one probably wouldn’t expect, such as blood pressure levels, digestion and regulation of body temperature. Adequate levels of serotonin provide emotional and social stability, while low levels of serotonin are associated with various mental disturbances including: depression, anxiety, PMS, sugar/carbohydrate cravings, trouble sleeping, obsessive thinking and addiction to alcohol or drugs.

Dopamine.

(It’s closely related to the hormone noradrenalin, also called norepinephrine).

Dopamine is considered one of the strongest “feel-good hormones” (neurotransmitters) that makes you feel energized, motivated and in control. Both dopamine and noradrenaline are associated with pleasure, motivation, alertness, concentration and euphoria. They are raised by sources of stress, but this doesn’t always mean “bad stress.” Noradrenaline levels tend to be higher in “positive stress” states like sex, being in love, during exercise or doing other fun things like dancing, laughing and listening to music. Low levels of dopamine/norepinephrine is associated with: depression, lack of concentration (brain fog), poor motivation and difficulty initiating and/or completing tasks.

There are other important neurochemicals to familiarize with, that include:

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid): relaxing and calming after experiencing stress, since it has a dampening effect on the central nervous system

Catecholamines: energizers or natural stimulants

Adrenaline (also called epinephrine): strong motivator, stimulating you to deal with and overcome stress

Acetylcholine: improves memory and mental alertness

Tryptamines: help with forming bonds and connection

Melatonin: helps to keep you in tune with the cycles of nature and day/night

DMT (dimethyltryptamine): useful for staying optimistic and seeing “the big picture” when stressed 

 

 

7 Benefits of Endorphins

1. May Help You Overcome Addictions

The release of endorphins can be helpful for allowing you to escape addictions, including some that you may not even realize you have — such as overeating/binge-eating or other “normal” sources of over consumption (like dependence on social media). When endorphins or other neurochemical levels drop, you’re more likely to look for unhealthy sources of comfort or reward, including drugs and alcohol. This is why healthy habits like exercise can be powerful for dealing with addiction, depression and boosting recovery.

2. Offer Relief from Stress, Depression or Anxiety

As you’ve learned, serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins all have powerful mood-boosting abilities. Several popular antidepressant drugs (such as Prozac or Zoloft) are called “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,” or SSRIs. They work to decrease symptoms of depression by blocking neurons’ reuptake of serotonin, leaving more available and circulating in the bloodstream. This helps elevate your mood, although artificially. The same serotonin and endorphin perks, although usually to a lesser degree, can be felt from increasing levels naturally through things like your diet, hobbies and sleep (see below).

3. Protect the Heart

Something that might surprise you about the “cuddle hormone” oxytocin is that it seems to improve immune function and even protects your heart from stress.

Consider this another reason to get a massage or hug someone for your health.

4. Make one Feels Sleepy, but Also Fights Fatigue

Endorphins, and especially serotonin, affect the overall moods, level of sleepiness and pain tolerance —all important parts of regulating the internal “clock” called the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm helps one to intuitively know the cycles of day/wake versus night/sleep. This helps to wake up refreshed but feel drowsy before bed and during the night.

Melatonin, dopamine and other chemicals, such as adrenaline, also affect the sleep cycle and send the brain a signal when it’s either time to wind down or rise and shine.

 5. Keep the Brain Sharp

Certain endorphins are highly beneficial for cognition, as well as fueling creativity and inspiration. We can thank the release of endorphins and neurochemicals like dopamine for allowing us to stay motivated and intrigued enough to produce great works of art, music and writing, to create scientific formulations and even to experience spiritual breakthroughs.

6. Help to Deal with Pain

Beta-endorphins are a type of neuropeptides involved in pain management, possessing morphine-like effects, according to a report published in Hawaii Medical Journal.

The neuron receptors that endorphins bind to help decrease the perception of pain just like some prescriptions. In fact, certain pain-killing drugs act on the same binding sites that endorphins do. In low doses, the opiates morphine and codeine are actually found in normal cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. However when their levels are dramatically increased, they cause strong pain-killing effects. In normal circumstances without opiates circulating in your system, endorphins take on the role of controlling pain enough to help one carrys on when injured or ill.

7. Help You Feel Connected to Others

Considering humans are a highly-social species, it’s not surprising we feel a natural “high”— thanks to the release of neurochemicals like oxytocin — when we experience a sense of unity with those around us, a deep connection with community or family and a shared sense of life’s purpose. Oxytocin is released during highly emotional moments like childbirth, when you’re in love and also during orgasms. It helps increase fidelity and monogamy in relationships, motivates us to strengthen personal connections, helps us stay honest and facilitates compassion/empathy towards others.

Natural Ways to Increase Endorphins & Feel-Good Chemicals

The amazing thing about the human brain and body is that we are all capable of producing our own “natural highs,” without even taking illegal or prescription substances for help. Positive moods also thankfully work in a cyclical pattern: when we release endorphins following behaviors like exercise or time spent with others, we are motivated to repeat these behaviors again in the future. When we ask ourselves, “What are endorphins,” it’s important to also understand how to naturally boost endorphin levels.

1. Exercise Regularly

A large body of research shows that people who exercise regularly have added protection against depression, tend to deal with anxiety better and also get better sleep. Exercise is one of the most endorphin-boosting things one can do, offering numerous benefits for both our bodies and minds (hence the name “runner’s high”). Studies show exercise even works similarly to meditation to increase well-being. Some of the ways that exercise releases endorphins and therefore improves your mood include:

Increasing self-esteem; we feel good about taking care of our own health
Giving a sense of accomplishment and mastery as one progresses (due to dopamine)
Increasing energy levels and helping to sleep more soundly (thanks to adrenaline and serotonin)
Keeping one motivated to keep trying and improving in the future (due to dopamine)
Leaving one with a more optimistic, positive and energized outlook on life

2. Eat A Healthy Diet

Because your diet is key for creating neurotransmitters, you can view certain healthy foods as near-perfect “brain foods.” Nutrient-dense foods can improve how one feels and thinks, plus balance the blood sugar, which acts as brain and body fuel. Stabilizing the mood with a healthy diet can also allow one to break one's dependency on processed food substances that interfere with normal brain chemistry and deplete the energy over time.

Here’s how to increase the release of endorphins such as serotonin through your dietary choices:

Consume enough protein.
Serotonin is made primarily through intake of tryptophan-rich foods, such as turkey or milk. Almost all protein sources will help release serotonin, including meat, fish, chicken, poultry, cheese, milk and eggs, which are complete proteins.
Don’t skip plant foods.
You can also combine a number of different plant foods, such as beans with sprouted grains, to get the same effects. In general, whole foods like seeds, nuts, beans, lentils, peas, corn or the germ of grains, such as buckwheat and oats, are all good plant sources of amino acids that help increase serotonin.
Even some veggies, such as broccoli, spinach or cauliflower, are relatively rich in protein.
Consume more antioxidant foods.
Free radicals are the major cause of the aging process and also contribute to mental illness, since they attack brain cells and contribute to inflammation. Increase your intake of antioxidant foods by eating colorful plants like leafy greens, sweet potato, squash, citrus, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, broccoli and alfalfa sprouts.
Eat healthy fats.
Fats comprise 60 percent of the brain. Essential fatty acids produce hormones called eicosanoids, which are necessary for many chemical processes within the body. They stimulate the immune system, fight inflammation and support the activity of neurotransmitters, including serotonin. Get healthy fats from coconut or olive oil, wild-caught fish like Alaskan salmon, nuts, seeds and avocado.
Avoid high consumption of alcohol and caffeine.
Using and abusing these substances can lead the body to compensate by building a tolerance due to down-regulation. This makes it harder to quit, requires one to increase one's intake to feel the same mood-boost, and causes side effects of “withdrawal” in some cases.

3. Laugh More!

Laughter is basically a quick-fix for feeling almost instantly better, thanks to the release of endorphins. Studies have even linked laughter with an elevated pain threshold. Try regularly doing something to keep your sense of humor, such as playing with children, watching something funny, recalling a funny moment, sharing jokes, or attending live comedy events.

4. Connect with Others (This Includes Touch, Volunteering & Finding Purpose)

Connection — through means like being touched when receiving a massage or a hug, volunteering to help others or just having a deep conversation with someone you trust — all releases oxytocin and other chemicals that help one to feel calm and comforted. Acupuncture and other hands-on treatments also seem to have similar effects according to some studies. Make time to foster healthy relationships, reach out to others in need, find a sense of purpose and notice how good you feel when you do something nice for someone else.

5. Learn Something New

Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter involved in stimulus-reward-learning, so it can help us learn positive behaviors and stay motivated when used to our advantage. Of course, the opposite is also true: a dopamine release is also triggered when we engage in a harmful habit (such as overeating junk food). This steers us in the direction of wanting to repeat these behaviors again.

Use dopamine's reinforcing ability to one's benefit by learning something new, experiencing something novel, such as new location when traveling or making progress in a hobby or at work. These can all release feel good neurochemicals, making one to want to repeat them. Challenge yourself regularly by finding new sources of engagement, and don’t shy away from taking on difficult tasks that can wind up be rewarding long-term.

6. Incorporate Soothing Tastes, Smells & Essential Oils

Aromatherapy, or simply smelling something that reminds you of comforting times (such as fresh baked cookies) has been linked to the release of endorphins. Essential oil scents such as vanilla, chamomile, rose and lavender can help one actually feel calmer almost instantly. And similarly, consumption of “guilty pleasures” like dark chocolate can bring on a feeling of comfort, thanks to the release of chemicals such as theobromine.

Wondering if the giggly, mellow feeling you might get from alcohol is related to endorphins?

According to recent studies, drinking alcohol may release a small amount of feel-good hormones (especially when you’re having a drink while bonding with friends), but too much will actually cause the opposite effects. 
 

7. Spend Time in Nature & in the Sun

Exposing yourself to nature and the sun for about 20 minutes daily helps your skin absorb UV rays and produce vitamin D, which is important for your mood. Sunshine and nature also seem to help regulate the release of neurochemicals like serotonin and melatonin.

What Are Endorphins?

Final Thoughts

Endorphins are neurotransmitters, or natural opiate-peptide chemicals, that pass along signals from one neuron to the next, causing feelings or emotions.
The release of endorphins is associated with feelings of pleasure, sexuality/sensually, motivation, euphoria, social connection and pain relief. Low levels of endorphins are associated with pain, addiction, sadness or depression, sleep trouble, brain fog and higher incidence of risk-taking behaviors.
Natural ways to release endorphins include exercise, eating a healthy diet, laughing, working on fun hobbies, learning something new and connecting with others.

Denouncement
 
The Reason I have denounced,

All the earthly institutions is,

Not that I have gone nuts recently,

But put my thinking cap and gear on

In an analytical sphere of activity



Let me dissect the emancipation,

In political sense and

All political dimensions from

Capitalism to

Communism to

Autocracy

Talk about Emancipation

Of the Ailing Masses

But delivers sweet nothing

But to them

The Rulers all the perks,

So denouncing politics is my birth Right





Coming to Religion

Of many dimensions

One has to kick the bucket

To enter

Hell or Heaven

But only the religious hierarchy

Has the bounden right to enjoy

All the spoils of earthly existence,

I want to be happy,

“Here Now"

And I do not want to kick the bucket,

Just like that,

So I denounce all religions

That offer rights

After the fact,

Or after life



Writing about Science,

Is redundant

Since we have not comprehended

The Dark Matter

Where all the secrets

Of Dark energy lie

With it the ability to wonder

Beyond the Matter World,

To Alien space dimensions

Of All,

So I denounce,

The already known science

But not the

New Science of many dimensions

Then again,

I am very happy

With the very nature to

I am born in,

And is part of,

Which is marvelous

And wonder of all,

Which One God have never fathomed

Or created

All by himself,

By the "So called intelligent design".

Footpath, Foothold and Flowers

Footpath, Foothold and Flowers
 
In the city and the villages that surrounded it, where I grew up,  almost anything that one throws away grows (plants and seeds) on its own provided they did not rot away due to too much water. There was no need to water the plants and like a clock set, the rain did come in 10 to 14 day cycles even in the dry season.

Inter-monsoon rain was regular and now I understand and believe that the vegetation itself fashion this rain and its cycles.

More trees mean more regular  inter-monsoon rain.

Less trees mean less rain, for sure, inter-monsoon period.

I lived for short period in Kurunegala and we moved there since doctors advised my father to move out to reduce the recurrence of wheezy episodes I had in Kandy, when very young. We moved back and I never had any problems and the problems were probably, related to growing up and possibly poor nutrition,

I ponder now.

That is just to restate the damp state of affairs of my city, yesteryear.

Even Kurunegala the weather, then, when compared to the present day, with lot of vegetation and coconut trees was very mild but with more frequent dry spells than in Kandy. Now we are going through the cycle of perennial failure of rain. 
The rain that falls in the upcountry where the most important the hydroelectric  power plants are located is failing now. 

All these are related to modernization and clearing up of the scanty vegetation for what is called the accelerated development.

It is going to get worse and there is no master plan to arrest it except adding more vulnerable projects including coal power plants. 
Coal power plants will cause irreversible damage to our eco-system and by the time it is recorded by scientific pundits I would have been long gone (deadwood on a cremation site) but I hope somebody will trace back to year 2000, where I started voicing this on a regular basis in the Web.

It would have been voiced even earlier, if it had not been due to the slow pace of development of the Web and the Internet, in Ceylon.

The  neglect and the failure of the printed papers industry (especially the newspapers and their monopoly deciding what to print) to expose the inevitable economic and and environmental catastrophe made me to be active at least in the Web. 
I felt of the need to identify the proactive indicators of disaster with the economic impact in mind for a small island state which is entangled in ‘debt trap’. 

If the printed media was timely, proactive, I would never have been active in the Web, let alone it is not my field of expertise.

Now I have made it a pastime.

I have moved into a new type of study, what I call the "my sphere of activity" (very limited indeed) and ‘my limited observations’ and I want everybody who is versed in biology (or not) would contribute to this type of observation and record observable events, since we cannot believe the government and its courtiers (the better time is henchmen) to do it. 

They will never make any worthwhile investment (except pass legislation, they themselves violate with impunity) to this effort since politicians and their stooges won't understand the impact of sustainable policy on environment (the better term is mother nature).

Like the mess we have inherited with the success in limited over cricket in 1996 (little after that except 2012, T-20s) and ordering the filling up of an ancient water tank and building a cricket ground on it, is the classic example of the idiocy of our policy makers cricket or otherwise.

We are set for power cuts in spite of thermal power added to the system.

Now if I do not water the plants including water plants they will dry up and wilt away in a shorter spell of time as short as three days.

Unfortunately, there is nobody to help me with, some background knowledge in biology to look after my plants. If I go out for a short holiday for two weeks abroad, all my plants, I have collected over a period of little longer than two decades will be no more. 
This has happened to me not once but twice because of my frequent foreign sojourns.

I am very late in using my power of observations.

When we were young we did not have to worry about plants wilting away.

The observation period should have been over 25 years, or more but due to my frequent absence away from home on foreign soils for work, I have missed a big chunk of observation.

The decline probably started rapidly after 1975, when the plantation section was nationalized by the ill advice of the political leftists of this country. 
The Oil Crisis in Middle East and the Cash Crisis in Ceylon aggravated the already volatile political situation with JVP riding high and then the government in power crushing the uprising brutally, in 1971.

I am one who believes that there was no need for an armed struggle by JVP at that time and if the government took correct political steps, like the leftists’ demise in this country, JVP would have headed for its own demise and self-destruction. 

By the way, if they were able to wrestle power, they did not have  even a rough sketch a political plan for this country. What it really achieved was to spark the armed struggle by LTTE. Even,  the LTTE would have achieved much for the Tamil people, if they worked with the local politicians and people, instead of becoming a pawn of the Indian secret service, the RAW. 
This little political intermission is mandatory since India for some reason did not want us to manage our problems and succeed economically and politically. 

Only India and Indians know why they took such an action.

Everything, I observe, is in the direction of loss of biodiversity. 
The little exotic (I have lost all the orchids except one tiny specimen) plants I have, if I do not replant will be lost, not  only in the wild, but in my garden too, which is very very tiny indeed.

Lot in my neighborhood has changed, except for a few coconut trees all the trees have been felled by the owners in less less than 20 years. The trees felled include, the breadfruit tree (where the birds used to perch on their evening return), the jack trees, water pistol trees, a Kithul tree and the tall tree (I do not know the name) where birds used to feed on the leaves and stems     (I do not know why) during long spells of drought. I believe this tree produces a chemical or chemicals that down the appetite of the birds (even squirrels) but stimulate the brain when fruits are hard to come by.

I never chew a leaf of this tree to see what chemicals it has to entice me, fearing interference with mother nature.

Glad to say, I have contributed to the few remaining ones which include a few exotic palm trees and my wife’s contribution is the mulberry tree and the bamboos. None of them was for commercial value but for shear beauty of their presence in our garden. I may have brought thousands and thousands of ornamental plants over the years, since the land was barren with a big rock in the middle.

There was a plant which I used to call ‘jute plant’ that grew in the crevices of the rock, it bloomed at the top of a tall flowering stem and produced hundreds of little adventitious shoots.

I could neither get a single one to survive nor to find a new plant from even the botanical garden. Its fiber is used in India and Bangladesh to produce rice sacks.
Strangest of my observations was the little white flower.
 
I got the seeds from botanical garden and tried to grow them in our plot but never succeeded.  But they get established in a place that I did not intend to, in the first place.

Very pleasant surprise; to see the vine exhibiting its beautiful white flower near the house of a person known to me. In fact, his wife had worked under my supervision for a brief period. The owners had left to Canada 20 years ago and that house is still empty and once in 5 years somebody cleans the garden up and there was no way the cleaner, not a gardener had planted it, there.

Few of them were still there, until recently.

But to my surprise, the new owner, bulldozed the garden in two days and no more of the vines left.
 
Same day, I went to the botanical garden from where     I got the seeds (from the hanging runners coming over the fence). To my horror those runners have all gone, no flowers and dried up stems were seen on a tall tree.

I think I did some honors to the Botanical garden for picking few seeds (never able to see flowering in our garden) and spread them in our garden which (now) had got washed away and landed on a foreign soil where nobody was living.
 
The sense of sympathetic joy was overwhelming then and that is why I have to pen it down here.

But that joy is no more with the builders coming in for the final kill recently. 
I now remember few years ago, just couple of meters away there was an exotic plant and on a rainy day dug up the yams added to my collection. I now have an enormous collection (personal favorite) of it on my rooftop garden.

The comment below is now redundant.

I will be picking up some seeds from those white flowers and try again to germinate them and perhaps, I might even donate few seeds to the botanical garden chief (previous one was a good friend of mine and I never asked him for any exotic plants except those on sale).

The present one when I met, I suggested  that he should start selling water plants (which has become a monopoly of a selected few) and I am glad to say he has obliged.

I should wind up after stating from whom I learned the secret of throwing seeds all over the footpath (by accident) where I walk, at slow pace, almost ambling.

It was my wife's grandma.

She had the habit of spreading the seeds all over the garden and I used to pull most of them out to get some order in the garden. She was a sweet lady and she needed flowers for her daily offering to Buddha and we had at least 5 varieties almost everyday.

Now she and her daughter and my mother are all gone we cannot pluck two varieties on a single day except on my rooftop garden but they come not from terrestrial plants but from an assortment of water plants.

Strangely enough, my rooftop garden has three to six including, three varieties of jasmine which I grow (a trick I learned from my mother) in the memory of my mother who died well past 90s (and the other two ladies too, I fondly remember when I see these flowers).

I wish, I should not live that long since, if I do that long there won't be any birds or wildflowers to smell in this blessed island.

But as long as I could walk up the footpath (any footpath, for that matter) I am going to pluck dry flowers and spread the seeds like how birds do.

I don't care where they start germinating and like a good Buddhist, I have lost the attachment to any worldly thing including flowers.

In this scenario, I differ slightly from Buddhist virtues.

I want our great great grandchildren to have a reminder of the old times not of my photographs but some of the beautiful and fragrant flowers which we are losing by the day.

I now collect the photographs of all the flowers.

We do not have bees and the the little innocent black variety which are there for the last 30 years, come daily to our rooftop garden to collect honey from my tiny flowers of water plants.

20 years ago, there was a seed I tried to germinate by various mean but never could. Then one day I asked the laboratory assistant who was a keen gardener and one of my patients, (until his death nearing 90s), told me that the seeds crack when there is intense heat and then when the rain comes it germinates and if I soak the seeds they will rot.

Just by accident, I picked up three of those plants to pot before they are run over by the three wheeler drivers who reverse onto the wayside in a hurry. The road is now finished with concrete to lure the voters. It gets heated up and the seeds on either side crack and germinate. 

Suffice is to say, all the seeds are coming from a plant / tree my mother in law planted.

When the older generation take the exit pathway like in America, we will have only commercial growers and mono-culture or tissue culture cultivars.

Common Sense

Common Sense

Since, I am almost about to sign off digitally from the Web few medical points of view are warranted save mostly opinion but facts checked as far as possible.

One reason, is that the Web has become a Junk Yard and Hit Rate depends on sentimentalization.

Another reason, is that I am making both spelling and grammatical mistakes due to poor vision (I do not want kill the language).

The bigger reason is that the Wisdom does not come through only medical means.

It comes through "Mindful Attention to the Mind" which is bombarded with half truths and half lies which can only be analyzed through the methods adapted by 13 qualifications of Kalama Sutta.

Coming back to medical facts that persuade the patient to take medications for life is mostly speculative and bear no scientific credence.

It is a simple principle in medicine, if one can avoid the pills and the scalpel, that is the best quality of life.

If I say each drug has 3 side effects and given drug has interaction with another drug, the side effects are in multiples not individualistic.

In this scenario only two drugs qualify for prolongation of life.

One antibiotics, the other low dose aspirin.

Immunization has prevented many infections and we have not found a vaccine for Influenza which effects all mammals, birds and the sundry.

Points of View.

1. Blood pressure treatment does not prolong life.

2. The effect of treatment on elderly patients over 65 years is flimsy.

3. Treatment itself causes hypotension and also postural hypertension (common with the elderly) and confusion.

4. That does not mean you abruptly stop medication for blood pressure.

One will end up with rebound blood pressure rise, heart failure and organ failure and even death.

5. Around 95% of the cases, cause of blood pressure is unknown, hence it is called "Essential Hypertension".

6. Blood pressure treatment slows heart failure and organ failure including kidney.

7. It prevents strokes but not heart attacks.

8. Heart attacks are mainly caused by thrombosis.

9. We really do not know why thrombosis occur in old age.

10. Thrombosis can be prevented by low dose aspirin and that is why it is in my list.

11. Blood pressure treatment should be complimented by aspirin to prevent both strokes and heart attacks.

12. Aspirin slightly increase the risk of haemorrhage into the brain (which is much worse than the stroke).

After accidental injury one may continue to bleed.

13. Excessive bleeding is a medical emergency.

14. Aspirin known to lower the risk of cancer and how it works is not clearly determined.

15. Now to my crunch point, the vital cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a vital biochemical with vast array of actions, including probably scavenger function of free radicals.

16. Its reduction does not prolong life.

17. Its treatment with anti-cholesterol drugs causes much debilitating dementia.

 

18. These drugs cause liver damage and myopathy.

Heart is a muscle and myopathy may effect the heart, too.

19. Healthy life style, exercise, sleep, meditation and vegetarian diet are probably better options for prolonging life than taking a pill that causes myopathy and liver damage.

20. Eat chocolates and dish out chocolates to your friends which has lot of feel good chemicals that are secreted during meditation.

21. Coconut oil is good for your heart and brain in dementia.

Do not succumb to the gullible lies of the American companies.

I call it, the Coconut Conspiracy

 

22. Feel good hormone that prongs life is "Growth Hormone".

Meditation increases its release and benefits only with a good liver.

23. Alcohol in any form is bad except its vasodilator properties and hot flushes.

24. Smoking is the biggest killer, world wide.

 
25. Chocolates do not have growth hormone (it is internal product which act through the liver).

26. Meditation practice for one hour tends to elevate feel good hormones and reduce the cortisol levels.

27. I will end up by saying that don't take all medical advices as "Gullible Truths". 
Additionally, the web is a Junk Yard!

Benefits of Meditation

Benefits of Meditation

An old piece without any mention of "Feel Good Hormones" secreted while meditating.

Best feel good hormone is "Growth Hormone" which prolongs one's life.
Feel good hormones especially growth hormone is secreted by physical exercise, too.
Piece of chocolates has many feel good hormones except growth hormone.
One has to have a good liver for growth hormone to act.
There is no place for alcohol to boost or release social inhibitions.
Worst culprit to your health is pollution, including smoking and vehicle exhaust.
Cholesterol lowing drugs have NO PLACE and they actually cause Dementia which the drug companies are trying to hide.

Now they have changed the concept to "Free Radical Damage" and "Oxidized Cholesterol" and scavenger receptors in macrophages having a role (going back to inflammation theory of the old). 
 

Both high blood pressure and smoking produce free radicals in the vicinity of the endothelium of blood vessels.

Unsaturated fats (except perhaps coconut oil) encourages free radical formation.

It is tiny electrons that do the damage and not the big molecule Cholesterol which probably scavengers (inactivate) free radicals.

The best antidote is good sleep (in two breaks, one long one short, the memory booster).

Vegetarian diet has many benefits.

This should be read in conjunction with Ambidextrous Activity appended below.

This is part of the introduction to my Book on Meditation.
 

Benefits of Meditation

There are many claims of benefit of meditation often poorly substantiated. Some of these benefit can be obtained without resort to meditation but simple change in life style.

Suppose a meditator changes his food habits drastically say to a vegetarian diet and practice meditation as a routine and finds that his blood cholesterol is lowered significantly, and then if he or she attributes it to the practice of meditation, there is a big flow in that argument.

One is not sure whether the change in diet did effect the blood cholesterol level or the practice of meditation or both did have independent or summation effect on the level of blood cholesterol. Unless one take a random sample and assess the partial correlation then only one can attribute combination or independent effects on a particular quantity tested.

Qualitative changes cannot be tested since one cannot quantify the results. In actual fact the effect of meditation is often qualitative and very individualistic and one cannot feel the same effect a different mediator would have felt at the time of his or her meditative stance or instance/s. this is very true as far a Jhana States are concerned.

With that reservation in mind one can describe the many unmeasurable benefits attributed to meditation in Buddhist literature.

Metta Meditation 

In Buddhist literature it is claimed that one who practices Metta Meditation falls to sleep easily and get up in the morning peacefully.

It is wished in the last three lines of the Sutta. By reciting Karaniya Metta Sutta one should feel physically and psychologically better, one is made free of illness and one attains the highest goal or victory.

That is of course the Nibbana. 
 

They may be just wishful thinking or one may actually feels better physically and psychologically.

It is also claimed that the natural immunity to cancer and infections are increased by practicing  

Metta Meditation.

This is something Venerable Ajhan Brahma Wanso preaches in most of his teaching.

Present Moment Meditation

This is something that is worth discussing here.

It has direct relationship to day to day activities.

I believe it has significant contribution to the efficiency of one’s trained skill, simply due to the intense concentration one may apply in his or her work skill at hand (without any distraction).

It is simply the focused attention to task at hand.

If one is focused on any work, the efficiency goes up by leaps and bounds.

This is very well shown in management tasks.

When focused attention is combined with attitude to work and other measurable increase in environmental components the work output and the efficiency level improve.

This is something shop or floor manager can use in day to day basis.

It is called a quality drill.

It does not matter how one qualify the content or the output but the efficiency of the skill concerned improve by both repeated practice and focused attention to the moment of the activity.

Samatha Meditation

There is no specific measurable benefit of Samatha Bhavana or meditation except the attainment of the four goals or paths of entry to Nibbana,

Buddhist spiritual goal is stream entry through development of Jhana.

Smatha probably is better for those who have less intelligent level (IQ) that one is not able to master the finer scientific tenets.

Vipassana Meditation

This the highest goal of Buddhist meditative practice.

It is claimed that all states of Jhana can be attained only by Vipassana Bhavana or Meditation.

I may be wrong in this assertion but that is what is spread among the lay person without full knowledge of or understanding of mediation.

This is called the gaining of insight.

Only when aspirant has gained the 5th Jhana then one could develop the five kinds of supernatural powers (Abhiñña) the divine eye, divine ear, recall past births, thought-reading and various psychic powers i.e. walk on water.

The attainment of the supernatural powers is not the real goal of Buddhism.

The attainment of these powers may actually be a distraction or hindrance to a true aspirant or a pathfinder (Buddhist path of glory).

The ability to absorb into Jhana states is the goal of Buddhist meditation and Jhana has no hindrance but Jhana is the way forward for stream entry.

The practice of meditation may bring many benefits and they are difficult to quantify or qualify except perhaps the benefit of present moment of meditation or focus which should be practiced without a label of religion or Buddhism.

It is when one has labels and have targets or goals of attainment, the practice of meditation becomes commercial enterprise of undesirable consequences but not simple a way development of mental culture and the simple way of life.

I am one who believe that mediation has value in all wakeful hours of the day. The only exception is when one is asleep and when one dreams.

I am one who talks about dreams and write about dreams and their physiological value is unparalleled only by the practice of meditation in wakeful states.

The meditation practice is the awareness of the wondering mind and its taming. 
 

That is the Buddhist Way.

The goal is not achieving miracle powers, even though they may or may not come as a by-product.

Sleeping (and dreaming) is the practice of letting the mind go into a unobtrusive and unhindered movement and of the the mind unaware of the physiological inputs that lapses into random aberrations of all sorts with dreaming as an interlude.

On the other hand meditation is to “let go the attachments” one has with all mental faculties both sensual and mind centred.

Goals of Buddhist Meditation

The goal is the attainment of Jhana states and stream entry by progressive cultivation of meditation in basically by four methods.

1. Metta Meditation.

2. Samatha Meditation with Kasina or various Kamatahan

This is adequately dealt by Venerable Ajhan Brahma Wanso in the book Happiness through meditation.

It is also published as “Meditation., Bliss and Beyond”.

It the best book currently available on Meditation in general and my intention is to make it more global and take the religious tag in the moment of its use.

Memory and Meditation

I want to share a drill I practice on day to day basis.

This is especially because, I am beginning to lose my memory and there are short lapses infrequent though, but enough to raise alarm bells on my part lately.

Once I forgot all my password for bank cards briefly.

This was during our long industrial action when I was having laid back approach to life and was not having adequate sleep (involved in Linux downloads and testing) at night.

This coincided with forgetting passwords for half a dozen emails and Linux forum passwords.

This shook my inner senses and I now have now have a ready made retrieval method based on memory drill.

The combination of Metta Meditation and moment meditation has worked wonders for me since then.

I now even have a simple protocol to remember 16 number Visa Card.

The memory loss is partly due to gray matter losing its material and neural networks due to old age which is seriously encroaching my body if not the brain.

Metta meditation makes one sleeps well not in one go but in two short spells (Night is the shortest spell when I do most of my work to avoid mosquito menace. The mosquitoes make me aware of my lack of Metta Meditation, too).

The dog is the target animal of Metta.

Then in the morning I have a brief 5 minutes Moment Meditation practice at the end of it, I have a mental list of 10 things or map out the tasks to do.

If the list go up to 20, I do it in two spells like my sleep.

A morning list and an evening list.

That has worked well for the last one year and I still do not carry apiece of paper with all the tasks.

If I have to carry a piece of paper to to remind me day to day work, I think I should say Good Bye and take first steps in the next birth.

That is my wish list.

Since I have not yet achieved stream entry, in spite of my mediation efforts, that will eventually happen and only option left for me.

There is another simple addition to this list.

I do not use a cell phone by default.

No electronic aids or tinkle too.

I do not want to gadget to master me.

I rather master my brain instead.

Ambidextrous of Activity
 
Instead of a programmed or rigid life style, I am proposing a balancing act or the right and the left coordination technique, in daily living and practises.
It is simple.

Learn to use both hands.
 
If you are right handed in writing try to use left hand for toilet cleaning (wipe the back with the left hand with tissues or without tissues).
Try combing with the left hand on alternative days.
 

Try the same with shaving.
 
I believe one has to be ambidextrous when shaving anyway.
 
If you take Route A for your walk (not jogging) one day, the next day make it the Route B and reroute your walking (for example turning left, where you turned right the day before and vice versa).
 
Never take the same route in two consecutive days.
 
It is difficult but with perseverance one can reschedule the routes.
 
In other words become ambidextrous in all your activities.
 
I have observed many right handed people have left handed strokes.
 
I postulate the concept that when one neglects an activity over time, that side of the brain gets less blood flowing in day to day life. 

So I believe the atherosclerotic patches appear on blood vessels supplying, that side of the brain, first. 

Or may be when shower of fat particles leave a plaque from the aorta or its major branches, the slow circulation (narrow to begin with) has a greater chance of obstruction.
 
Mind you I have been teaching atherosclerosis all my life.
 
Its emphasis changed over time and current belief is it is due to inflammation that trigger thrombosis.
 
I am entitled to have my own views about atherosclerosis / thrombosis, saga.
 
I do not even believe the cholesterol theory since cholesterol is a vital biochemical molecule which even produce sex hormones.
 
Now they have changed the concept to free radical damage and oxidized cholesterol and scavenger receptors in macrophages having a role (going back to old inflammation theory).
 
So trying to promote blood flow to the non dominant side of the brain by actively promoting ambidextrous activity is a plausible strategy.
 
This I believe is very healthy but a simple method and prevent strokes on the non dominant side of the brain.
 
I would expand on this further stating that learning a second language promotes the activity of the creative brain or the non dominant brain and the second language is located on the right side (the activities are represented in the opposite side of the brain due to crisscrossing of nerve fibers in the brain stem).
 
In actual fact the evolution has promoted this by design but we tend to neglect.
 
The Chinese are adept at using both hands.
 
The ancient Chinese wisdom was to promote children to be ambidextrous and knitting embroidery, crotchet are Chinese inventions.
 
My mother who lived up to nineties was a good exponent of these dying arts.
 
She also possessed the ability of two languages, thanks to British education.

Sphere of Activity
 
Few lines about sphere of activity is in order.

My definition of sphere of activity is the extent of the expansion of your geographical movement in your daily activities including work, shopping, going to the library or bookshops or any recreational activity, including meditation and religious activities.
 
That covers a lot and unfortunately the cellphone extends your sphere of activity beyond the shores.
 
I consider telephone as a hindrance except when one travels aboard.
 
The car also expands it.
 
I believe in reducing the sphere of activity to the minimum functionality one needs for survival.
 
Of course it reduces the traffic-jams of present day and one less person on the road is better for this planet well being (less fuming exhaust).


Why go to a meditation retreat when one can do “Moment Meditation” or “Plant Watching” as an exercise at home?