Tag Archive - stress

Don’t Have a Stroke – 10 Common Instigators That Put YOU at Risk

May 1, 2012 in Community, Diet, Exercise, Heart, Lifestyle Tips, Men, Women with 1 Comment

According to the American Heart Association, stroke is the third largest cause of death, ranking behind ‘diseases of the heart’ and all forms of cancer as well as the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. Each day your blood pressure is too high, your chance of stroke increases. Often times an increase in blood pressure is so subtle you may not even realize it. Are the following common instigators of anger a common occurrence in YOUR life?

  • Traffic jams
  • Rude behavior
  • Injustice
  • Embarrassment
  • Deadlines
  • Financial headaches
  • Humiliation
  • Infidelity
  • Physical pain
  • Failure

Anger has become part of our daily routine. Anger escalates heart rate, breathing, arterial tension and cortisol levels, increasing chances for an episode of stroke in your life! While it’s a perfectly natural emotion in small doses, excessive anger has the ability to trigger one of the deadliest health conditions affecting our community to date…STROKE.

Click here to take the stroke risk scorecard and see if you are at risk, then join us for the Stroke Awareness Seminar (download info) which will be held at the St. David’s Health and Wellness Center at the Chasco Family YMCA on May 10th from 6:00- 7:30 p.m. A physician from St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center will lead the seminar and we will be conducting FREE Stroke screenings, blood pressure and blood sugar checks. Please join us by registering at 512.478.3627 or 1.888.868.2104.

Holly Krivokapich
Health and Wellness Coordinator
St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center

Did you know… Friends Can Keep You Healthy?

October 12, 2011 in Diet, Exercise, Lifestyle Tips, Women with 0 Comments

Friendships buffer everyday stress and help keep you healthy.

Research shows that social interaction, laughing, smiling and feeling connected to others helps release the “happiness hormones”, serotonin and endorphins. These hormones increase your energy level, boost your immune system, minimize pain and reduce stress.

Chronic stress is known to impair the immune system, leading to increased colds and illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and yes, influenza – the common flu.

So the next time you’re feeling run down, tired and under the weather, ask yourself, ‘Am I enjoying enough time with my family and friends?’ Maybe all you need is more time to relax with your friends – take time, whether minutes or hours, with your favorite connections to stay healthy.

In addition to friendships, you can help strengthen your immune system by:

  • getting enough vitamin C on a daily basis; natural foods are best, but if you choose a supplement, aim for 200mg per day.
  • including vitamin E rich foods in your diet, such as seeds, vegetable oils and grains.
  • eating your carrots; beta-carotene is essential to building infection fighting cells.
  • choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables; these provide a boost of bioflavenoids which help to protect the cells in the body.
  • maximizing your zinc intake to strengthen the production of your white blood cells; foods such as fortified cereal have the largest concentration.
To find out more about St. David’s Spirt of Women or to sign up visit: stdavidswomen.com

Un-Expected Therapy

September 15, 2011 in Lifestyle Tips, Pregnancy, Women: Ages & Stages with 0 Comments


I recently started taking a pottery class- let me re-state this: I started taking a pottery class 4 weeks ago. In 12 hours of class time I have made a small jar or cup looking piece that is about 3 ½ inches tall and 2 inches wide. I have not fired it or glazed it yet. It’s somewhat depressing, but also inspiring at the same time.

I started taking this class to work on my skills and patience. Centering, centering, centering! It took me almost 6 hours to remember how to center my clay!

What I didn’t expect was to find a sense of community in the class. It feels almost therapeutic. The class consists of all women, all of us very different and at very different stages in life. Some of us have children, others don’t – some of us working busily in our careers, others retired.

Even though it’s challenging, working with the clay seems to provide us all the same benefit- relief. When I’m there in the studio, the only thing I’m thinking about is my current masterpiece.

There is a woman in the class is who about 7 ½ months pregnant or 30 weeks. As I watch her with the clay, I think how life is imitating art. How she is working so hard with this clay to get a perfected end result, much like her body is working hard to produce an entire perfect human being. Both are simply amazing. She is getting so close to the end result. Despite her growing tummy, she moves with intention and molds the clay.  She thought she would have to quit her classes as her stomach started to grow, but as it turns out she is more comfortable throwing pottery then she is most other times of the day. Her tummy lays low near the wheel as she pushes the weight of her body into her piece.  It doesn’t sound comfortable but she says she is!

The class talks about her upcoming due date offering tips and advice along with affirmations & validation.

I wonder to myself if she knew that this class would be an un-expected therapy when she signed up?

What are some of the activities that you did during pregnancy that offer other un-expected benefits?

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