Sun, 15 Feb 2026 03:27:53 -0800WeeblyTue, 29 Aug 2017 16:31:14 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/the-love-hormone-by-dorthy-vogel​Have you heard about the "love hormone"? 
I, for one, had not heard of this phenomenal little hormone tucked somewhere in the hypothalamus until last week.  Ordinarily I am not the type of person who goes running to WebMD to find out what's going on in my hypothalamus, but when I heard it hid a love hormone, I suspected it might hold a secret to further happiness. 
So immediately I researched it and discovered the body produces it all by itself at those most delicate times when we are at our happiest. Thus it is familiarly called the "love hormone." Its medical name is oxytocin. 
This little hormone has been injected into humans by data-driven researchers who have charted its effects.  It has been found to make stingy folks more generous, uptight folks more relaxed, hostile folks friendly, and best of all, frigid folks sexy. The higher your oxytocin level, apparently, the more "out there" you become.
It works in dogs, too. "Animal studies have shown the oxytocin plays a role in bonding and social relationships," according to researcher Larry Young, PhD, of Emory University.
To date, Big Pharma is behind the eight ball when it comes to envisioning the love hormone's possibilities, but I have every confidence that once they discover its marketing potential, they'll have it mass produced and in every WalMart pharmacy in the world.
I'm waiting for them to bring it out in spray form. I predict everyone will be walking around with a spray can of oxytocin.  Imagine the uses!
Your hostile boss?  No problem. Squirt a whiff of the love hormone and s/he's yours.
That fund raiser? Do a little song and dance and keep spraying the air as you move; everyone will empty their pockets.
Ministers will no doubt use it on Pledge Sunday, and it should work better than guns against criminals. Cops could spray them with the love hormone and video-tape the perp as his rage evaporates. 
It may even end war, if the military industrial complex doesn't ban it first for fear of financial loss.
Of course, there are humps to be overcome between the discovery of the love effect of oxytocin and its widespread use.  For example, they do not yet know if oxytocin makes people happy or if happier people just have more of it, so there's the little problem of the cart and the horse, but I have every confidence they will iron out that wrinkle.
Meanwhile, advertisers have already caught on. Why do you see puppies in toilet paper ads, sexy girls in new car ads, and handsome hunky guys smoking? Because when people look at them their oxytocin spikes up and it makes them forget about bowels, car payments, and lung cancer.
Cause and effect; there's a bright new world a-coming.
]]>Tue, 22 Aug 2017 16:30:19 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/august-22nd-2017Need something done?  Ask a busy person.  August marked my 5th year here in the Illinois Valley and in that time, I have evolved into a busy person.  Last I counted, I was working 5 paying part time jobs and some volunteer jobs too.  Many have asked, “How do you keep up with all of it?” 
Two words: Restorative Yoga.  Although I have a love for action and getting things done, I have found it necessary to find time to “un-do.”  Stemming from the physical tradition, Restorative Yoga involves careful arrangement of the body over props and a calming focus on the breath and mind.  This is the key to what is most important about Restorative Yoga. 
Studies show that over half of American adults and one third of children report having major stress in their lives in the past year.  We are a society constantly looking for all things bigger, faster, and better.  We glorify how busy we are.  But this very merit badge is causing us chronic stress, which in turn leads to health problems.  When we are stressed, our sympathetic nervous system is activated.  This system pumps adrenaline into the body, makes our muscles tight, and turns off our digestive and healing systems.  Our bodies were never meant to stay in this heightened state for long.  Restorative Yoga can help you turn on the parasympathetic nervous system.  This “rest and digest” mode helps us to relax, process food, and heal the body. 
If you would like to try, I will describe what I call “everybody’s favorite restorative pose” or reclining bound angle pose.  Find a quiet place that you can remain uninterrupted for 10-20 minutes.  Gather a thick blanket or quilt and 2 or 3 pillows.  Roll the blanket into a 2.5 foot long roll about 5 inches high.  Do your best to smooth out the lumps and bumps.  Sit on the floor or your bed with the blanket a few inches behind you.  Lay back so that the blanket roll supports the length of your spine and head.  Draw the soles of your feet together and support your knees with pillows.  It may be useful to place a pillow under your head as well.  Rest your arms to the side, palms facing up a few inches from your hips. 
Make all of the small adjustments that you need to become symmetrical and comfortable.  The pose should feel luxurious.  Use extra support if needed.  Find stillness.  You can close your eyes or gaze softly to the ceiling.  Then, begin to bring your attention inside your body.  Notice the physical sensations.  Find the breath deepening.  Notice that the body expands with your inhalation and contracts with the exhalation.  Try to lengthen each exhale.  You can hold this pose for up to 20 minutes.   
As you come out of the pose, collect your knees together and roll to one side.  Use your hands to press up to a seat.  Notice the calm mind and the refreshed body.  Move slowly back into your day knowing that you can always take time to come back to this feeling. 

]]>Tue, 22 Aug 2017 16:28:08 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/values-by-nicole-rensenbrink4396855A basic tenant of mental health according to the model, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, is that people should know their values and act in ways that reflect them.  Values point to the answer of age old question, “What does it all mean?”  How we answer that question shows why we live the lives we do and how we feel about our lives when we’re feeble.
If people think the point of life is productivity, life is worth less during young childhood, before people are productive, and becomes meaningless when people can’t work or perform anymore.  If productivity is the point, then children are hassles to be dealt with and old people and the disabled have little purpose.
If “what it all means” is wealth/accumulation of resources, as it appears to be in societies that measure their gross national products as indicators of success, then it’s a good idea to for societies to make a bunch of garbage that breaks easily so that citizens will have to replace things soon (i.e., buy more and continue to increase the GNP).  Children are then expensive-but-hopeful investments for parents and consumers for society; the feeble are then resource drains for families though valuable medical consumers for society.
If the point is pleasure, then addictions are prevalent for the quick highs they produce, marriages less valuable than romance, and children and elders are usually burdens.
If there isn’t a point, or if people don’t answer the values question for themselves, then they are victimized by whatever hardships their lives hand them.
But, if the point is love, whether because of belief that “God is love” or “All you need is love,” there’s no higher calling than caring for others.  The work involved in caring for elders, children and the disabled becomes a testament to the degree of love felt for these people.  Children are gifts rather than possessions and becoming feeble becomes a sweet return to the receptive stance of early childhood that enables elders to be doted upon, once again.
And, if the point is just to appreciate life, then the goal is to express whatever gifts or talents people have to express fully, and it doesn't make much difference whoever, or whatever, is there beside you. 
It’s possible to believe more than one thing, but many situations force choices that reflect your dominant values.  What, then, does life mean to you?

]]>Mon, 17 Apr 2017 19:20:10 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/april-17th-2017When I was a child, back in the mists of the previous century, it was considered extremely rude not to eat what a hostess served for dinner.  No matter if it appealed to you or not, if you were hungry or not, if the meal contained items that made you gag, you had to eat it, for not to do so was a slap in the face of the homemaker. If you refused her offering it was as good as telling her she had failed as a human being, for her only job was domestic. It was up to the guests to assure her she was up to her calling.
This custom was even present at family meals, with a twist.  "You may not leave the table until you finish your plate."  This directive derived from the moral realm of "Waste Not, Want Not," and it came with reminders to "Think of the starving Hungarians!" 
I have no idea if the Hungarians were starving when I was a child and I don't think my mother did either, but it did make me swallow a big dose of resentment against them along with my sprouts.
Dinner customs have changed since women started pouring into the work force, causing domestic arts to take second place to talents that brought in some money, enough money to take the family out to dine, or to buy frozen or ready-made dinners.  This period of culinary culture was called the Great Domestic Relaxation.   
But, due to the poundage it put on, the populace got health conscious, which threw a devastating boulder into the dinner party.  Hostesses had to assume their guests would restrict what they were willing to eat according to various diet plans.
Guests would also discuss their plan at length, because it takes mental energy to stick to it, and if you're thinking about it, you're talking about it.  Ergo, we heard details about the Atkins Plan, the Cabbage Soup Plan, the Paleo Plan, the Fat Flush, the Glycemic Index, the Grapefruit Plan, the Macrobiotic, the Master Cleanse (PU-LEASE! At the TABLE?) the Nutrisystem prepackages, the South Beach Diet, and of course, those Weight Watchers with their little scales. 
Dinner parties fell by the wayside.
But the need for companionship rose again by dusting off an old idea: the Potluck.  The Potluck took off with a zoom.  Currently it is the custom to invite the guests to "bring a dish."  (That'll teach you, dieters, bring whatever concoction you want!) 
A potluck has the salutary effect of either leaving the hostess with enough leftovers to last the week, or if the guests bring their half-eaten dishes back home, their next day's dinner.  It's a democratic way of spreading the work load, and these days, the work load needs to be spread.  
With advancing age, I have discovered yet another boulder in the dinner party custom.  Somewhere in the upper age brackets, we women don't want the hassle of even putting on a potluck anymore.  We enjoy guests, but our hips and knees and lower back all protest against the prep and the cleanup.
Happily, I have discovered a way to get around this boulder. 
I wanted to form a group to watch a video once a week, but my plan stalled over the food issue until, one evening I went to a movie and noticed, at the concession stand, that the teeny tiniest bag of kid's popcorn was priced at $5.75.
POPCORN? 
My mind skipped a beat and my heart did a flutter as the amazing truth sunk in.  Somehow, when I had not been paying attention, that lowliest form of ingestible had turned into a gourmet food.  The big buckets cost $20.00 and movie goers were scarfing them up.  Popcorn had gone down the same route the simple cup of coffee took a decade earlier.   
So I emailed my invitation as a Popcorn Only night, stopped at a Farmer's Market, and purchased a big bag of popcorn. They even come in different flavors, just like coffee.  (I recommend White Cheddar.)
I am here to report that a Popcorn Only night works.  Popcorn fits the Foodies' preference for turning down unwanted edibles (you can ignore popcorn without guilt), the dieter's preference for abstinence, and the hostesses' preference for no work.
So for those of you who still enjoy company but don't want the food
hassle, think Popcorn. It has its own moral adage: "Less is More."  

]]>Sat, 11 Feb 2017 22:20:13 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/why-organic-by-steve-and-patricia-florinWhen we decided to become fulltime farmers we had a choice to make between going conventional or organic.  Since Steve had worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as in medical laboratories, it was no surprise we decided to go organic. 
Few people realize that less than one hundred years ago, all agriculture was organic. The development of synthetic pesticides began in the 1940s with the discovery of the effectiveness of DDT, chlordane, captan, 2,4-D and several other compounds that rid crops of pests. Certain chemicals do make agriculture more productive, nitrate being one of them.  After World War II, large nitrate factories that had been used to make bombs were converted into making fertilizer.
The result was fewer farmers were able to produce more food for a growing population. But this benefit came at a price—increased water and soil contamination and less soil fertility.
The public wasn't concerned until the publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, which exposed the toxic effect of chemicals on humans and the land.
The first goal of organic farming is to “grow the soil.” Healthy soil grows healthy plants, which tend to be more resistant to pests and disease, and, frankly, better tasting.
At our farm we rely on plant-based insecticide for pest control—an extract from the pyrethrum chrysanthemum. We use a small amount of organic fertilizer made from dried chicken poop. After the harvest we plant cover crops, then turn the plant material back into the soil. With time, our soil has regained health.
Some varieties of seed we grow are in danger of extinction, and with heirloom and open-pollinated plants, we can offer a broader selection of vegetables.
Techniques do exist that would make the plants grow faster, but we let them mature at their own rate, because forcing rapid growth can dilute nutrients.
Is organic produce more nutritious than conventional produce? Studies have come down on both sides of the question. We believe that if a vegetable looks and tastes good, it is probably loaded with nutrition.  Besides, you’ll want to eat more of it.
For us at Dancing Bear Farm, the key is sustainability. Will our food sustain people with better tasting and nutritious produce? Will our methods sustain those who live and work at the farm? Will what we do with this land sustain the land for future generations? That’s why we choose organic.

]]>Sat, 11 Feb 2017 22:19:14 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/morning-person-by-lindsey-gilletteWhile pursing my Facebook feed today, I noticed that many of my friends had children going back to school today.  I began to reminisce about how hard it was, whether I was in grade school or college, to get back into a regular schedule after so much unscheduled and late night summer fun.  I remembered thinking, “I’m just not a morning person.”  It took discipline and some conscious changes and over time, but I actually began to enjoy mornings.  Here are a few strategies that may come in handy when you are learning to get up a little earlier. 
            Create time to unwind:  Rather than setting you bedtime too early and becoming restless in bed, spend the last hour of your waking day to prepare for sleep.  Turn off the TV, cellphones, and computers as they all emit blue light, which has been shown to suppress the melatonin production that aids in sleep.  Put away your work for the day.  Set yourself up for success in the morning by choosing your clothes, packing a lunch, and collecting anything you will need to take with you.  Enjoy some light reading or spend a few minutes meditating.  Write a diary entry or a “to-do” list for tomorrow.  Take a warm bath with relaxing Lavender oil and sip on a cup of chamomile tea. 
            Create a soothing alarm: There is no rule that says your alarm needs to sound like the killing scene in a horror movie.  Consider tones that are more joyful to begin your day such as chimes or a fun song.
            Commit to getting up: When your alarm goes off GET UP!  The snooze button is a time-sucking trap that can ultimately bring more stress and chaos into your life.  If the snooze button is too much of a temptation, put your alarm across your room so that you have to leave the coziness of your bed to turn it off. 
            Morning Routine: When you get up, walk directly to a sink and drink a glass or two of water.  Rehydrating the minute you awake will help you build energy.  This is also a great time to take a multivitamin.  Squeeze in exercise.  Even 10 to 15 minutes of exercise can spike your energy levels for hours ahead.  Eat a healthy breakfast composed of a mix of carbs and protein, like fruit and eggs.
             Let the sunshine in: Open your blinds or take a short walk outside to expose yourself to the sun.
            The thing about caffeine: a cup of coffee or tea in the morning may help get you going, but consider observing some limits.  Coffee and tea have antioxidants and are free of calories if you enjoy them sugar and dairy free.  Limit to one or two cups before noon, as the caffeine may interrupt your sleep schedule later on.   Steer clear of energy drinks and pills. 
            Eat dinner earlier: Give yourself time to digest before you settle down for the evening. 
            Before you know it you will begin to reset your internal clock to awaken easier in the mornings.  Find a routine that you love and in time you too can become a morning person. 

]]>Mon, 02 Jan 2017 19:53:25 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/january-02nd-2017Something’s happened that I didn’t realize was possible: I’ve become a meditation convert.
I’d never thought it would happen.  I was a lousy meditator.  I would sit and try to clear my mind.  I’d breathe in and out deeply, working to pay attention to my breath.  I tried various mantras.  I tried to focus on something good like compassion. 
Yet, within a minute or two, my brain would be back to the races.  I’d think about a disagreement I had with someone, an idea for a new program, what to do with a character in a book I was writing, or the nature of good and evil.  As a therapist, I could think about interpersonal issues till the cows came home.  I didn’t like paying attention to my breath: it wasn’t really me and yet it went into me, so it seemed like I should have felt it more than I did.  I could feel my body around my breath, but how can you feel your breath when it’s really air, which isn’t yours?  This would set me off into an irritating debate every time.   Thinking about world issues was always fun: what I would do if I were queen of the universe for a day could keep me away from meditation for hours.  But, trying to focus my mind on something like compassion just felt fake, like I was trying be a Buddha or someone, and then I felt guilty, because really, I wasn’t that nice.
Then Cynthia Hobbins did a little mediation class at Healthy U and I went.  She was pretty relaxed about it and told me that meditation could be whatever it was to me.  I liked that.  So, I took off the pressure and for the first six months, all my practice looked like was me lying on the couch in the early morning before anyone else got up, with a hot cup of tea on my chest, not playing with my cell phone for a while.  Sometimes that was a half hour.  Sometimes only fifteen minutes.  I thought about whatever I wanted too and it was something I looked forward to every day.
Then, I started incorporating some of the work I do as a therapist into my practice.  I paid more conscious attention to my body, to the feelings I was having as sensations in my body, and spent time with them, as they were, not trying to make myself think, or not think, about anything else.
Next, I signed up for a 10 day Meditation Retreat to learn more and realized I was in no way prepared to actually sit, so shifted my practice to a half hour sitting each day (without tea).  I never made it to the Meditation Retreat, but the prep for it was awesome.  Now, I continue sitting for a half hour but it’s not my time to blank out: what I’d always thought meditation was all about; it’s my time for me.  I am curious about how I’m doing.  I feel what I feel.  I follow my discomfort and sometimes have hugely helpful insights.  Sometimes not; sometimes just feelings or sensations that I let be, knowing they are part of me and that I really can embrace them, no matter what.
My practice is more like time spent with a mom at the kitchen table than a yogi in the Himalayas.  Once I let go of what it should be, my meditation brought me back to myself.

]]>Sat, 31 Dec 2016 03:36:12 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/identity-by-nicole-rensenbrinkNo one changes (except by accident) unless they have a sense of reality beyond what they see, think and do.  If I am what I see, think and do, than I am a victim of fleeting thoughts, fixations, emotional voids, hormonal surges, impulsive reactions or physical disabilities.  Then, “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.”
This really stinks when I get a commercial stuck in my head, behave in ways I’m ashamed of, or have a headache.  I assume then that people should strive to understand me and any expectations of me they may have are their own delusions.  One can only change what one as power over, I then think, and “I cannot change who I am.”
But, if there’s more to me than my thoughts, feelings and behavior, I can do something about them.  If I define myself as a member of a family, organization or country, then I can (for better or worse) transcend many of my personal experiences to fit in with those of my family, organization or country.
And if I am a child of God, then my job is to listen for God’s strength and rely on God’s guidance to move me.
If there is both a “lower self” that is a victim of thoughts, feelings and actions, and a “higher self” that can transcend them, then I need to develop a stronger tie to my high self.
If values such as lover, honor and respect really exist in the universe as forces of their own, I can connect to those that ring true and let them propel my rise above my personal limitations.
If there really is no ‘self’ at all, nor even much of the reality I’ve been telling myself about my whole live, then my job is to be open to each present moment, where I can the freedom to think, act and feel mindfully.
Whichever path (or paths) I chose, luckily aware that I am capable of choice, I want to think through the quality of the anchor I’m attaching myself too.

]]>Thu, 27 Oct 2016 23:29:50 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/october-27th-2016Whether you are just beginning a running routine or you have been at it for years, it is important to take in to consideration some safety precautions. 
            Prepare:  Unless you are running on a treadmill, you should leave your headphones at home.  Wearing headphones while running seriously decreases your ability to hear the warnings of oncoming traffic, cyclists, or even other runners approaching you.  Wear bright colors, even in the day so that others can see you approaching.  Reflective gear and a headlight should be worn if running at night. Insure you carry some sort of I.D. or write your information inside the sole of your shoes. 
Hydrate: Our bodies lose between 6-12 ounces of water every 20 minutes of running.  It is important to drink 10-15 ounces of water before your run and about every 20-30 minutes along the way.  Stop running at the first signs of dehydration. 
            Run with a partner:  Not only is a partner great for motivation, but running in pairs or groups is much safer than alone.  Potential for abduction, animal attack, health failure, or serious injury can be frightening thoughts, but having another person with you would be a great asset in any of those situations. 
            Road Running: Run on sidewalks when available, but when running on the street, it is important to run against traffic in order to see cars or cyclists approaching you.  Look both ways before crossing any street and use clear communication with drivers waiting at stop signs.
            Routine:  It is important to alter your routine and route for safety reasons, but it is also beneficial in challenging your body’s muscle memory.  To help prevent injury, include a warm-up and cool down period with your run.  An example would be five minutes of easy jogging and two sets of ten walking lunges each side.  Follow this up with your run 20-30 minutes and a 10-15 minute stretching session.  Some examples of helpful post run stretches include: Calf stretches (on hands and knees, stretch one leg back straight with ball of the foot on the ground); Quadriceps stretches (standing, catch your foot with your hand and draw the heel toward your buttocks); Hamstring stretch (standing or sitting reach for your toes while keeping your kneecaps lifted and quadriceps engaged); Groin stretch (while sitting on the ground, press the soles of the feet together and resist the knees toward the earth); Shoulder stretch (while standing, interlace the fingers behind your back. Bend knees and fold forward lifting hands away from back).
            Prevent Post Run Pain:  After your final stretch, remember to hydrate.  If you experience soreness you might try icing or applying a topical pain reliever to specific areas.  Insure that your post workout meal is well rounded with protein, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables.  You may choose to alter every other day in workout styles with varying intensity, i.e.: running, yoga, running or even running, walking, running. 
            Running is an excellent workout.  Employ these safety tips and any others that you can come up with to enjoy your run safely. 

]]>Wed, 19 Oct 2016 22:00:20 GMThttps://www.healthyucenter.org/article-archive/october-19th-2016It’s funny how hard it is to see things clearly from inside them.  It’s hard to see your house from the bathroom and it’s just as hard to see how you, yourself, perceive things and what influence that has on your life.
I was raised in a politically active household where we liked to think and debate issues.  For me, things that happened in life were meant to be examined critically, picked apart, and then a reaction chosen from the resulting assessment.
Sounds smart, doesn’t it?  That’s what I thought, and I couldn’t imagine another way of living that was remotely intelligent.
But, when I was in graduate school, I was hugely disappointed to find out that I wasn’t going to learn any truths; only theories.  And theories are based on hypotheses that are then tested, and, if some unimpressive number results deeming them significant, they could be thought of as “true.”  Why certain hypotheses are tested at all, why we believe objectivity is possible by those doing these tests, and why we think this is a meaningful way to make sense of life, is only lightly brushed upon.
I learned in graduate school that I wasn’t going to know anything, not for sure.
So, I focused on what was wrong.  That was easy.  I assessed people’s problems, thought about how everything was messing up, spent lots of time on internet protesting various wrongs, and argued my causes with vehemence. 
Then, my father became ill and my life started to change, but no one, nor anything, was changing the way I thought they should.  I started to think about health and approaching old age.  I wondered what would matter at the end of it all.  I read about alternative ways of being, started yoga, paid attention to nature, and explored churches.  Eventually, it seemed that though intelligence had its place, it was often in the way of having the life I love. 
I found that my brain is addicted to problem solving, but when I’m problem solving, I’m lost in the past and possible futures.  I noticed that the only time I’m actually living the life I have is when I’m experiencing what’s happening around me at that particular moment.  I was sad to see that my life was zipping by without me really living it.  Life happens in the present just as it is; not in my plans for how it should be.  I noticed that when I pay attention to life at it is, that I like life a lot more than I ever did before and I have peace. 
Funny, how I never saw that before.  Strange, how long it took to shift perspective.  And amazing, how different life looks now.

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