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Wellness Tips/Articles
Holiday and Winter Wellness
Just in time for the holiday season, we have assembled some links below that speak to various aspects of wellness – physical safety, financial wellness, home safety, and relationship wellness. May this year’s holidays be fun, festive, and healthy for all of us!
Safety First During the Holidays - Familiarize yourself with crime prevention tips this holiday season.
Snow-Shoveling Safety Tips - Follow the tips given in this article to be safe when shoveling snow in the winter months.
Real Simple’s Money Saving Holiday Survival Guide - Use the holiday shopping guide and gift budget worksheet to keep your holiday spending in check.
Winterizing Your Home - Learn how to get your home ready for the cold winter months.
WebMD’s Home for the Holidays: Tips for Overcoming Holiday Anxiety and Stress - Become aware of the causes of holiday stress, how to control it, and ways to overcome it.
Stats and Tips On Ways to Avoid Holiday Domestic Violence
Winter of Wellness Summit: Igniting Optimum Health in All Areas of Your Life
Every moment you have the opportunity to heal your body, radiate total health and expand your capacity to lead a vibrant, fully expressed life. Led by pioneers in integral health, wellness and mind-body-spirit medicine, you will learn:
• Nutritional techniques for increasing natural beauty.
• Proven mind-body technologies that slow aging and increase longevity.
• Groundbreaking health and wellness research.
• Meditation and visualization techniques to help you access your inner healing wisdom.
• Holistic approaches to creating well-being in your family and your community.
This is a completely free Telesummit with top experts in the field. January 9 – March 22, 2012: Four sessions per week focus on wellness for the Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul. Listen to the calls via phone or computer. For more information and to register visit: www.winterofwellness.com
Ways to Keep Your Immune System Strong
Research has validated the link between moderate, regular exercise, healthy eating and a strong immune system. Throughout the winter season, taking care of ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally can help ensure a healthy immune system – one that’s capable of withstanding the winter onslaught of upper respiratory infections. See below for a PDF document and links to external websites with immunity-boosting resources.
Winter Time Health - Read about the health benefits of medicinal food and herbs in soups.
Taming the Wintertime Blues - Understand how interactions between the mind, body, and environment contribute to depression during the wintertime.
CNN Article: “Follow this eat-right plan to fortify your immune system" - Learn about how a balanced, high protein diet can improve your immune system.
Harvard Health Publications Article: “How to boost your immune system” - This article discusses how lifestyle, age, diet, herbs, stress, and exercise affect the immune system.
Boost Your Immune System WebMD Video
Taking Charge of Your Health - The University of Minnesota 'Taking Charge of Your Health' website has a wealth of resources to create a healthy lifestyle, navigate the health care system, and explore healing practices.
Cholesterol Health and Important Numbers
Approximately one in every six adults in the US has high cholesterol. Anyone, including children, can develop high cholesterol. It greatly increases the risk for heart disease ― the leading cause of death in the US. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in your body and many foods. Your body needs cholesterol to function normally and makes all that you need. Too much cholesterol can build up in your arteries. After a while, these deposits narrow your arteries, which put you at risk for heart disease and stroke.
How do you know if your cholesterol is high?
High cholesterol doesn't have any symptoms. As a result, many people do not know that their cholesterol levels are too high. However, your doctor can do a simple blood test to check your cholesterol.
Here are the desirable cholesterol levels:
Total cholesterol Lower than 200
LDL (bad) cholesterol Lower than 100
HDL (good) cholesterol 40 or higher
For more information about lowering your cholesterol, click here to visit the American Heart Association’s website.
National Stalking Month and Relationship Violence Resources
January is National Stalking Awareness Month and a time to focus on a crime that affects 3.4 million victims a year. This scary crime impacts victims' wellness in multiple ways to include as increase of anxiety, social dysfunction, severe depression.
This year’s theme—“Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It.”—challenges the nation to fight this dangerous crime by learning more about it. For the Wellness Initiative and the UMBC campus, creating awareness and addressing stalking is another way to contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of our community. We encourage you to learn the facts and the resources and we have included some links on the topic and this special awareness month.
The National Center for Victims of Crime – Stalking Resource Center
Information on promoting Stalking Awareness Month from The National Center for Victims of Crime
UMBC’s Relationship Violence Awareness and Prevention Website
If you or someone you know in our community is being impacted by stalking and you would like support from on-campus resources, please visit www.umbc.edu/vav and/or www.umbc.edu/rvap for more information. In the case of imminent danger, call 911.
We are providing these links to you as an informational resource.
Because we do not have control over the changing nature of content on
others’ websites, we list these third party sites for use at the
user's risk and explicitly disclaim any responsibility for the
accuracy, content, or availability of information the resources may
contain. Subsequently, we do not guarantee that information on a
listed site is accurate nor do we guarantee that listed sites do not
contain information which some individuals may deem inappropriate or
objectionable. We are providing these links to you only as a
convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not represent or imply
any association with their operators or an endorsement by UMBC of the
site or its content.
Immunity Boosting Tips:
- Don’t smoke.
- Eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated fat.
- Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight.
- Control your blood pressure.
- Find ways to laugh every day.
- Hold a hopeful perspective.
- If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation.
- Get adequate sleep.
- Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats thoroughly.
- Get regular medical screening tests for people in your age group and risk category.
Natural ways to lower your cholesterol:
- Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Exercise, such as walking for 30 minutes each day.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Don't smoke.