Free Pain Relief Newsletter  Click Here Pain Relief Articles - Healing With Movement Exercise:  A Natural Reliever For Chronic Low Back Pain 4 Natural Home Remedies to Ease the Pain of Sunburn Getting A Grip on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Exercise Your Way To Pain Relief Benefits of Alternative Medicine Neck Pain Management Migraines - Food and Diet Tendonitis Pain Relief Treating Arthritis - Naturally Getting Well With Smell Guided Imagery - The Healing Power of Imagination The Healing Power of Food Healing With Herbs Healing With Movement Healing With Water Self-Healing With Homeopathy Laughter Is Good Medicine Treat Your Own Back Pain Healing With Your Mind Healing With Movement By Gerri Shapiro, MS Ed. "I have two doctors,..   my left leg and my right."                                                             -George Trevelyan What if there was a miracle pill that if you took it each day would give you a 30% less chance of getting heart disease, a 50% less chance of diabetes and would help you live a longer and healthier life? How much would you pay for it? Put on your walking shoes for 30-45 minutes a day and you will reap all of these health benefits, according to recent health studies published in major medical journals. An hour a day, or a total of seven hours a week, is associated with decreased risk of Type 2 diabetes. As little as a half hour a day, or three hours a week, is associated with decreased risk of heart disease. Walking also provides weight-bearing exercise to help maintain bone density and prevent osteoporosis. Described by health experts as "almost perfect exercise", walking requires no equipment or expense and is the ideal way for most people to become more active. Dr. Harold Elrick was 81 years old in 2000, one of the oldest practicing physicians in California, and still running marathons. "Exercise is indicated for certain conditions just like a medicine. It's very effective," he says, "and the great thing is it has fewer side effects than any medicine." Medical evidence seems to back up these claims. According to the American Heart Association, up to 12 percent of all deaths in the United States can be attributed to lack of activity. Lack of exercise is linked to a greater risk of many diseases, including diabetes, colon and breast cancer, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Health Benefits of Walking The benefits you receive from walking can be quite high. They can include everything from cardiovascular health to helping alleviate depression. Strong scientific evidence supports the many health benefits of regular walking. (Source: U.S. Department of Health, 1996) Studies show that walking can: · reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke · lower blood pressure · reduce high cholesterol · reduce body fat · enhance mental well being · increase bone density · reduce the risk of colon cancer · reduce the risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes · help control body weight · reduce arthritis pain · help alleviate depression. Back Pain Until recently, heavy lifting was thought to be the main cause of back pain, but studies now indicate that sitting causes the most problems. Sitting puts a lot of strain on our lower back. The longer we sit, the more it hurts. That's because 40 percent more weight is placed on the lower spine when we are sitting. Our body, particularly our spine, was not designed to sit in chairs for hours on end. Research has demonstrated that regular walking can help ease chronic back pain. Diabetes Exercise benefits people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It helps lower glucose levels by removing glucose from the blood to use for energy during and after exercise. It also helps prevent large blood vessel and heart disease, a leading killer of people with diabetes. In some cases, regular exercise can reduce the need for insulin in type 1 diabetics and can reduce or eliminate the need for insulin or medication for those with type 2 diabetes. Some of the positive effects that physical activity can have on people with type 2 diabetes are: (Source - Medicine and Science in Sports and Medicine, 2000) · lower rates of obesity · strengthening of the heart · stabilizing blood sugar · making cells more responsive to insulin Fibromyalgia One of the best ways to obtain relief from fibromyalgia is through movement. According to Stacie Bigelow, author of Fibromyalgia - Simple Relief Through Movement - exercise, when done properly, can be very helpful. She recommends swimming, water exercise and tai chi as examples of helpful movement, as it gets to the core of fibromyalgia. It causes an increase in sympathetic nerve activity and helps restore balance in the autonomic nervous system. Emphasizing the importance of small activities, she suggests the following analogy: "Think of muscles like a cement trick. The truck is always in motion, even at a stoplight. If it stops, the concrete sets. This image is helpful in reminding people that muscles do start to stiffen if they are not warm and moving." According to Bigelow, people suffering from fibromyalgia can benefit from 60 minutes of gentle, daily movement. The more sedentary a person is, the more pain they will feel. Her advice: "Find something your body loves to do and you love to do with your body. Fibromyalgia patients feel betrayed, at war, and frustrated with their body. In its essence, managing FM successfully is realizing you and your body are in the same team. Work together as a team, not as adversaries." Longevity Regular physical activity is associated with reduced mortality rates for both older and younger adults (US Department of Health, 1996). In other words, walkers live longer! Stress & Depression Stress has many causes, but most experts agree that lack of exercise is a major factor. The inactive body tires easily and finds it difficult to cope with the demands placed upon it by modern living. Besides its physical health benefits, exercise is often said to help people simply feel good. And a growing number of studies are showing that these mood-boosting effects may even fight clinical depression. Exercise is the most reliable mood elevator known to man. It stimulates the production of endorphins, which heighten mood and relieve pain. Walking for 30 minutes each day has been shown to improve symptoms faster than antidepressant drugs typically do. Researchers concluded that exercise is a viable, and at least equally effective alternative to traditional medical treatment involving drugs. (Psychosomatic Medicine, Sept/Oct 2000 Heart Disease Overwhelming evidence has demonstrated that moderate exercise can cut your chances of having a heart attack by up to half. Scientific studies have shown that moderate physical activity, such as a brisk walk, enhances cardiovascular health and helps protect against heart disease. A Stanford University study found that people who were sedentary had a 30-40% greater risk of dying from coronary heart disease then those who exercised moderately. Brisk walking helps clear dangerous fats from blood and cuts the risk of clogged arteries. Walking at a moderate pace for up to three hours a week - or 30 minutes a day - can cut the risk of heart disease by as much as 40%. Walking firms up muscles and raises the heart rate. It strengthens the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, reducing your risk of heart disease. Walking Your Way To Health When you exercise, your body makes its own drugs. The mental changes that come from exercise are not solely the result of chemical fluctuations in the brain. Your mental attitude also changes as you become more confident of your abilities. Any time you set goals and achieve them though regular practice and discipline, you have feelings of mastery. You have replaced negative habits with positive ones. You have power. There is no doubt about it. Walking is good for you. It's good for your heart, it's good for your lungs, it's good for your muscles and bones and it's good for your feeling of well being. Whether you want to improve your general health, to keep fit, to control your weight, or to recover from ill health, walking can help. If you have been inactive for a while, you may want to start at a comfortable pace. Beginning with a slower pace will allow you to become physically fit without straining your body.                                        Try walking your way to health!