Interesting presentation on the 10 Warning Signs Your Heart Isn’t Working Properly. Please view and share with others. We all need to take care of our heart. We only have one and our body can’t function without it. Remember that prevention is better than a cure!
I enjoyed the Billboard article written by Patrick Crowley where Detroit duo, JR JR are highlighted, and Josh Epstein discusses why the band chose to take part of their earnings from their tour and donate them to the Jed Foundation to help with mental health and suicide prevention for young adults and youth.
Epstein created a Mental Health Awareness playlist on Billboard’s Spotify account, and then shares why he selected some of the songs. It’s an eclectic list and in my opinion does show the spectrum of the highs, lows, struggles and victories faced by those who knowingly and unknowingly battle mental health issues.
Check out the article and the playlist here:
So I did something rather odd just a few minutes ago while having an anxiety attack aka “panic attack” aka “please-stop-this-feeling-but-not-my-lungs-or-heart attack”, I searched online for detailed information on anxiety attacks.
Yep. I wanted to know more about this bear that has been jumping on and off my back randomly throughout my life. I also needed something to distract me as I tried to control my breathing.
Here’s what I found from that reliable (but don’t use it for academic research) source, Wikipedia:
While the various symptoms of a panic attack may cause the person to feel that their body is failing, it is in fact protecting itself from harm.
The various symptoms of a panic attack can be understood as follows. First, there is frequently (but not always) the sudden onset of fear with little provoking stimulus. This leads to a release of adrenaline (epinephrine) which brings about the so-called fight-or-flight response wherein the person’s body prepares for strenuous physical activity.
This leads to an increased heart rate (tachycardia), rapid breathing (hyperventilation) which may be perceived as shortness of breath (dyspnea), and sweating (which increases grip and aids heat loss). Because strenuous activity rarely ensues, the hyperventilation leads to a drop in carbon dioxide levels in the lungs and then in the blood.
This leads to shifts in blood pH (respiratory alkalosis or hypocapnia), which in turn can lead to many other symptoms, such as tingling or numbness, dizziness, burning and lightheadedness. Moreover, the release of adrenaline during a panic attack causes vasoconstriction resulting in slightly less blood flow to the head which causes dizziness and lightheadedness.
A panic attack can cause blood sugar to be drawn away from the brain and towards the major muscles. It is also possible for the person experiencing such an attack to feel as though they are unable to catch their breath, and they begin to take deeper breaths, which also acts to decrease carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
I also found out that it occurs more in women and those who are fighting hypoglycemia and hyperthyroidism, PTSD, OCD, inner ear disturbances, those with strong phobias, as well as other issues.
Jeesh how many people are out there being diagnosed as or chalked up to being crazy, and their only issue is anxiety and an inability to control it?
The information found also said that people who lack assertiveness are often pummeled by anxiety attacks because they hold things in too long and don’t assert themselves enough. That buildup of pressure eventually explodes into an attack. I guess one way to combat that is to learn to speak up and speak out more.
Then there’s the group of people with above average intelligence who break out in attacks because they have been conditioned usually since childhood to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, with an expectation to perform at the highest level all of the time. So the brainiac that you used to think was crazy when they randomly freaked out, was most likely having an anxiety attack.
Quite an interesting read. By the time I got half-way through my attack had pulled back and called a truce.
Want to read more? Want to learn more about the causes, classifications, and treatments for anxiety/panic attacks? Visit here
Oh and remember, when you’re having an attack:
– try to breathe slowly in and out of your nose and mouth (not just your mouth),
– don’t run out of fear (you will only make things worse),
– don’t get in a car and drive (if you lose consciousness that will only make things worse), and
– if you use the paper bag method to combat the hyperventilation—only breathe in the bag for a few breaths and then take a few breaths with the bag away from your face. Continue doing this until your breathing returns to normal.
~Natasha
Source:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_attack
Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. The Paradigm Life.
By Natasha Foreman Bryant
As a member of the Women 2 Women Conference host committee, it was great to hear about and see the write up by Ernie Suggs of the AJC for this year’s conference. I’m honored to serve as a Session Coordinator this year, and I’m excited to see, meet, reconnect, and hear these amazing women share their thoughts, advice, challenges, stories, and words of encouragement this Saturday.
To register for the conference after reading this article please visit: women2womenconference.com
Below please find excerpts from the original AJC post:
Conference will allow women to share life lessons
by Ernie Suggs
Maya Angelou, whose words have inspired millions, including presidents, kings and Oprah, will be in Atlanta on Saturday to inspire women.
Angelou will be the keynote speaker at the “Women 2 Women 2014 Inaugural Conference: Intergenerational Life Lessons & Legacies,” sponsored by Young Eventions Group, an Atlanta-based nonprofit mentoring organization for women.
+ Jenni Girtman
Conference will allow women to share life lessons
Angelou has written more than 20 books, including “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” one in a series of autobiographies; “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Die,” which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; and “Letter To My Daughter.” In 1993, President Bill Clinton selected her to compose a poem for his inauguration, which ended up being her most iconic work, “On the Pulse of the Morning.”
The day-long conference will be held at the Atlanta Marriot Marquis from 7 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. According to founder Sonjia Young, the conference is “designed to bring women together across generations to share life lessons and experiences that will inspire and empower attendees to transform their lives and be a catalyst for change in the home, community and in the workplace.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ernie Suggs chatted with the 85-year-old Angelou about the conference and what the inspirations will be.
+ Mary Altaffer
Conference will allow women to share life lessons
Why is this particular conference important to you?
It is quite important to women and to girls, but also to men and boys. The program hopes to encourage young women to believe in their own self-worth. When women don’t feel worth, they can’t insist upon it. Then men treat them the way they like. The conference hopes to develop a desire to be worthy of good treatment. And, with that, the health of the family is increased.
If there is a thinking that women are not feeling worthy of anything, when did that shift happen?
+ REED SAXON
Conference will allow women to share life lessons
The shift is going on now, but it didn’t just start. There was a time when women could not vote or own property – black, white and all persuasions. We have come a long way. We now have women heading important Ivy League colleges. We are thinking about Hillary Clinton in 2016. But that doesn’t mean we have come all the way. It shows that we need to grow in a sense of self-worth and a fair place.
What is it about your writings and words that continue to inspire and motivate people?
I have lived long enough that I should know something. In a few months I will be celebrating my 86th year on this earth. As soon as you know something, you should give it away. I used to think of myself as a writer who could teach. But really, I am a teacher who can write. As soon as you know something and you have tried it, tell it to someone. Also, never fall in love with a position. Have enough courage to change.
Related Gallery
Angelou’s birthday celebration
Is courage important to you?
For more details about the Women 2 Women Conference, or to register online:
women2womenconference.com
Source: AJC.com
Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Some Rights Reserved.
I just read an article that aims to highlight some new Porsche news. Some people love the idea, while others find it humorous that Porsche has plans to crank out premium-line bicycles, supposedly speaking to the environmentalist and the cycling junkie. The cost is going to be high, and has yet to be announced. So I wouldn’t be surprised if this all-or-mostly carbon bike doesn’t start off around $10k for the base model.
Despite what the article headline says, I don’t think that Porsche was primarily concerned with environmental responsibility when they made the decision to branch into bicycle development. I think that it’s an additional revenue stream, and as long as the quality of the bikes are up to par with the beloved Porsche vehicles, then they can check this “box” also. It’s about being competitive and meeting consumer wants and needs. If you can build it and people will buy it, then do it.
I’m a Porsche girl. I have been since I was knee-high. So I understand that some Porsche enthusiasts will buy one of the bikes just-because. Some may see it as a collector’s item, others just to show off, and then a small group will actually put their butts on the saddle and ride. At the end of the day, none of us need a Porsche-anything. But we love the thrill and excitement that comes from having it. It’s instant gratification that you get to feel over and over again. Something you just don’t get from chocolate or ice cream. To say, “I have a Porsche mountain bike” or, “I have a Porsche hybrid bike” may give some folks goosebumps.
What do you think? Would you invest in a Porsche bike? Read the original article and then share your thoughts.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/porsche-takes-environmental-responsibility-levels-bicycle-range-151537461.html
Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Paradigm Life. Some Rights Reserved. theparadigmlife.com
Gallup just recently released the following update:
Americans are no more familiar with the healthcare law now than they were last August, when Gallup began asking Americans about it. Republicans are more likely than other adults to say they are very or somewhat familiar with the law.
Read more here
Source:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/167351/americans-familiarity-healthcare-law-unchanged.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines
Copyright 2014.
By Natasha Foreman Bryant
A study shows an association between exposure to DDT (the chemical used to kill malaria-carrying mosquitos) and Alzheimer’s, but it has yet to be proven that DDT exposure causes Alzheimer’s since research has shown that patients had two high risk factors: the high levels of DDT “as well as a variation in the APOE gene, which is known to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s.” (USA Today).
Since scientists have found 20 genes that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s, only APOE has a large effect on Alzheimer’s, which increases the risk in people who “inherit two copies of the variations” by 10 to 12 times, Scientist Steven DeKosky says.
Although DDT was banned in the US in 1972 by the Environmental Protection Agency because of the risk to wildlife (jeesh no one also considered human life), it is still used in other countries, and its reintroduction was endorsed by the World Health Organization in 2006.
So can we expect an influx of Alzheimer’s diagnoses in the coming years both pre and postmortem?
“Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the USA, and affects more than 5.2 million Americans. As the country ages, the number of cases is expected to increase 40% by 2025,” according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
To read more about this story and the research behind it visit
Please join the Alzheimer’s Association in their fight to beat down and rid our world of Alzheimer’s. Visit: http://alz.org
Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Some Rights Reserved.
Sources:
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/27/ddt-alzheimers-risk/4915421/
Alzheimer’s Association: https://alz.org
By Natasha Foreman Bryant
A 69-year old man was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s two years ago, and he made a point of planning out his life needs, medical requests, etc. while he was still capable of making those decisions.
If you or someone you love has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, or are still in the early stages where decisions can be made personally or elected to another party, then please read this story. Read more about this brave man here
Source: Alzheimer’s Association http://blog.alz.org/making-plans-for-the-future-after-an-alzheimers-diagnosis/?WT.mc_id=enews2014_01_29&utm_source=enews-aff-46&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=enews-2014-01-29
By Natasha Foreman Bryant
Teacher. Corrector. Nurturing. Supportive. Caring. Loving. Tender. Warm. Patient. Understanding. Healing. Healer. Fixer. Graceful. Delicate. Strong. Respectful. Kind. Brave. Meek. Humble. Courageous. Lady. Love.
These words and more describe the traditional woman. These are some of the words that we think about when we think of mothers.
Baby Mama. B*tch. Baddest B*itch. Side Chick. Side piece. Breezy. Butter head. Barbie. Chicken head. Dime. Cougar. MILF. Ho. Jump off. Queen Bee. Diva. Gold digger. Vixen. Trick. Slut.
These are some of the words that are being used to describe women today. These are some of the words that women and young girls are using to describe themselves. These are some of the words being used by mothers to describe themselves and other women. The list continues to grow each year.
Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Painfully wrong. Females. Women. Ladies. Mothers. Sisters. It is time that we step up and act.
We must Woman Up!
I wrote a two-part letter to the men (see the links at the end of this post) asking that they step up and do their part to help bring about positive change in our households, schools, churches, and neighborhoods worldwide. I wrote and asked them to do their part to help young men and boys learn what it means to be a real man, a protector, nurturer, teacher, provider, father, husband, son, and friend. I asked men to do their part to help young women and girls learn what a real man is and is not, why they need to shake their fixation on finding the daddy that left them, was never around, or hardly noticed.
But this change requires us too!
Young men and boys learn how to treat a woman by looking at and getting directions from other males, but they also learn by watching and interacting with us. The kind of woman that you want your son, grandson, brother, nephew, or cousin to marry and raise a family with will either be the woman he sees in you, or the image he sees somewhere else—maybe on television, in magazines, or on the streets. You can either help present an honorable image, or you can carelessly allow him to seek out and connect with the next “jump off”.
It is our responsibility to change the image and view of women. It is our responsibility to not sell out for money, affection, fame, or perceived power.
Your Image: Healthy or Destructive?
Here’s the problem. If your model image of womanhood comes from what you see on television or view in magazines, then you yourself have not been exposed to any positive female role models. You have allowed the media, designers, corporations, and airbrushing experts (all mostly men) dictate to you the epitome of beauty, sensuality, and strength. I just watched an amazing video that reveals what Jean Kilbourne and thousands of women have been trying to make clear for over 40 years—the images we see of fashion models, actresses, and female celebrities are mostly altered and airbrushed in an attempt to entice and seduce men, and embed a message in the mind of women and girls, that only leads to our diminished esteem and an increase in eating disorders, suicide, and heightened destructive sexual behavior. Please watch this video and share it with others, males and females, old and young. We have to change the way we see ourselves and other women. We have to change the way men and boys see us. We have to change the way designers and corporations see and depict us.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are not just a “white girl” or wealthy girl issue. Eating disorders don’t discriminate. They can reach all of us. Starvation, forcibly vomiting, binge eating, and emotional eating are actions taken by females around the world from every socioeconomic background, race, color, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation.You can have a seemingly “perfect” life living in a two-parent household, beautiful home, fenced yard, with one or more cute pets, and still have an eating disorder. You can live in the projects with your grandmother or aunt, and have an eating disorder. You can be a straight A student and star athlete, and have an eating disorder. You can be a soccer mom, juggling your demanding career and back-to-back playdates for your kids—and have an eating disorder.
Either we think we’re too skinny, too fat, too wide, have too much cellulite, don’t have big enough breasts, or have some issue with our butt (too big, small, lumpy, flat, or too wide), whatever it is we aren’t happy. This unhappiness turns into us using exercise, food and other substances to drastically alter our bodies. Someone planted this seed in our minds. Someone told us we’re too fat or too skinny, and that seed rooted and grew quickly. We then fixated on this and it became our reality. Then our pain must be inflicted on others, because hurt people hurt people. So we then see the flaws in other women, and we do our part to share with them and others our opinion of these flaws. There is the chain reaction.
Plastic Surgery
Then there’s plastic surgery and this obsession with becoming a barbie doll—thinner, uplifted always-smiling face; big and even bigger breasts; perfectly sculpted legs and arms; toned and rounded hips and butt; and a teeny tiny waist. Women are spending one to six months of income (theirs or someone else’s) to achieve their ideal barbie doll image, and then when they still aren’t satisfied, they spend another one to six months of income to make corrections.
That is why honorable plastic surgeons inquire in advance your true intent for wanting plastic surgeon, what outside influences may be encouraging this decision, and if you are mentally and emotionally prepared for this change. You can make all of the physical corrections that you want with the help of a surgeon, but if you aren’t spiritually, mentally, and emotionally healthy, happy and satisfied, then you will never ever be happy with yourself or your looks. We must accept this for ourselves and we must explain this to the young girls and teens who are growing into their bodies and ingesting the toxins delivered by magazines and on television. It is our responsibility to have this discussion with friends and family. It is our responsibility to have this discussion with young school-aged girls and those young women ages 18 to 25.
It is our responsibility to tell the media, fashion designers, advertising and marketing companies, and other corporations that we are not inanimate objects, we are not objects. Period. We are women, ladies, girls, daughters, wives, girlfriends, sisters, cousins, teachers, entrepreneurs, and bearers of life. We are not to be dehumanized and exploited. To make this point clear that means that we have to also refuse to audition and interview for roles, assignments, and jobs that negatively portray us as objects of desire, and we have to stop carrying ourselves (and behaving) like mere objects.
Woman up!
Tune in for Part Two coming soon!
Your Sista girl,
Natasha Foreman Bryant
To read the two-part Call to Action for men visit:
Part One
http://natashaforeman.com/2013/12/12/a-call-to-action-for-all-men-part-one/
Part Two
http://natashaforeman.com/2013/12/13/a-call-to-action-for-all-men-part-two/
Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWKXit_3rpQ
Jean Kilbourne
http://www.jeankilbourne.com/
Oooh it’s getting better and better, and now The New Yorker has chimed in on ObamaCare, and its impact on small business and the U.S. As a small business owner I need to know all of the facts because every decision made, and every law passed, ultimately impacts me and the companies I operate. So I decided to quickly summarize their fact checking which you can find here: http://wp.me/p11NVc-6T
Share your thoughts and if you are a small business owner, does this information lessen your stress or confuse you even more?
For those of you who are anti-ObamaCare, does this change your mind or make you dig your heels in deeper?
Let’s have some healthy dialogue!
Copyright 2013. All Rights Reserved. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Paradigm Life.
Paradigm Life 