We critters (including Peggy, Judy & Freddie) wish everyone, everywhere a very
Happy New Year
Celebrations, Holidays & Events
It’s “that” time year – Isolation, Not Loneliness, Shortens Life
We often believe that during holidays everyone, except us, is having a wonderful festive time, surrounded by loving family, caring friends, filled with fun, festivity and happiness.
At the risk of “bah humbug” what I most often heard from clients was holidays were filled with stress, trepidation, family feuds or deep pain at being alone while everyone else seemingly was partying.
Coupled with studies which suggest that the Christmas/New Year’s holidays are a risk factor for cardiac and noncardiac mortality.* the United Kingdom study on loneliness and isolation of 6,500 had an interesting conclusion:
Loneliness hurts, but social isolation can kill you.
“The study, by a team at University College London, comes after decades of research showing that both loneliness and infrequent contact with friends and family can, independently, shorten a person’s life. The scientists expected to find that the combination of these two risk factors would be especially dangerous.”
“We were thinking that people who were socially isolated but also felt lonely might be at particularly high risk,” says Andrew Steptoe, a professor of psychology at University College London.”
“To find out, the team studied 6,500 men and women ages 52 and older. All of them had answered a questionnaire back in 2004 or 2005 that assessed both their sense of loneliness and how much contact they had with friends and family. The researchers looked to see what happened to those people over the next seven or eight years.”
“And Steptoe says he was surprised by the result. “Both social isolation and loneliness appeared initially to be associated with a greater risk of dying,” he says. “But it was really the isolation which was more important.”‘
‘”At first, it looked like people who reported greater levels of loneliness were more likely to die, Steptoe says. But closer analysis showed that these people were also more likely to have other risk factors, like being poor and having existing health problems. Once those factors were taken into account, the extra risk associated with loneliness pretty much disappeared, Steptoe says.”‘
“But people who spent very little time with friends and family, or at social events, were more likely to die regardless of income or health status the team reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
“It’s not clear why social isolation is linked to mortality. But one possibility is that having other people around has practical benefits as you get older, Steptoe says. For example, they may push you to go see a doctor if you are having symptoms like chest pain, he says. And if you were to lose consciousness, they would call for help.”
Do Facebook friends count? How about texting?
“Other researchers say they are surprised and not necessarily convinced by the new study, even though they say it’s large and well-done.”
‘”It doesn’t negate the loneliness work that’s been done to date,” says Bert Uchino, a University of Utah psychology professor. He says this study may have reached a different conclusion than earlier ones because people’s definition of loneliness is changing in the Internet age.”‘
‘”People … may think that they’re connected to other people because they’re on Facebook,” Uchino says. So they may not report feeling lonely. But that sort of connection, he says, may not have the health benefits of direct contact with other people.”
*https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/01.cir.0000151424.02045.f7 (There are multiple explanations for this association, including the possibility that holiday-induced delays in seeking treatment play a role in producing the twin holiday spikes.)
On the fly: Catch on to these Lessons and you’re Hooked for Life
Most people don’t realize I’m an outdoor person at heart. I bike, hike, kayak and fish. I just returned from fly fishing with my cousin Kate in the Catskill Mountains in southeast New York. We had perfect weather and I was in my element with the tall green, green trees, flowers in bloom, blue, blue lakes and country roads winding through low hills and picturesque towns.
Judy asked me what life lessons I learned form fly fishing. I thought and thought but NOT while I was fly fishing. NO, never when, you are fly fishing which is the first lesson.
Life Lesson #1: Attention must be paid. Pay attention to what you are doing. Focus on the task at hand so you can do it well and improve your skills. Know where you’re casting your efforts . . . You get the drift.
Fly Fishing: To catch fish, I must pay close attention to what I’m doing: Watch where to throw my line, watch if I’m getting a nibble. Fly fishing requires lots of concentrated attention, similar to meditation . . . and life.
Lesson #2. Be prepared. Have a plan for unwanted but foreseeable events. If you fall in the water make sure it’s shallow but learn how to swim before you take the plunge.
Fly Fishing: When wading in a moving river, it’s possible I could fall in. My wading stick helps me avoid that, but I still keep a whistle to call for help,and have learned what to do (like positioning my feet downstream).
Lesson #3. Pack the essentials first. You have a limited amount of resources. First determine what is needed and then, if room, add what’s wanted. Clutter weighs you down.
Fly Fishing: I pack the essentials first, then add the frills: The most important is a net to catch the fish. Since I want to carry just a FEW pounds of equipment, I’m careful about what I put in my vest pockets. In one pocket I have what I need to change flies (in case the fish don’t find the fly I’m using tasty, or replace a fly when I invariably lose them to an aggressive bush, grabby tree, deep rock or floating log). Another pocket holds nippers to undo messy tangles of line (especially those that wrap around my body).
If there’s room, I add things that are not essential but handy – extra flies, line, goo that help a fly float, gadgets to help flies sink, and indicators that help me know when a fish has taken my fly.
Lesson #4. Have a big net—Be ready to capture the good things that come your way.
Fly Fishing: Most of the time I catch small fish but I’m ready for the biggest fish. I carry a BIG net because I can put a small fish in a big net, but can’t put a big fish in a small net. When I “land” my catch I look to make sure it’s a fish before cradling it back into the water to join his other fishy friends.
Lesson #5. Water-proof yourself. When you do fall down most of you will stay dry . . . otherwise you’ll get moldy.
Fly Fishing: I dress for success. That means waterproof clothing and boots, so I can stand in a stream trying not to fall in. But nice accessories are important, such as a cute vest with all the flys, and my wading stick (form and fashion all in one).
Lesson #6. Keep Casting. It takes a LOT of practice to know where and how to make a catch.
Fly Fshing I practiced casting first and a lot (because I couldn’t practice landing a fish until I caught one). Practice means noticing where my fly lands (in the water is definitely desirable), and learning were it is likely there’s a fish waiting. Practice means reading the currents and . . . improving my aim
Lesson #7. Tie down what’s important. When you find yourself in the wilderness you don’t want to “lose it” downstream.
Fly Fishing: I keep what I value close by and tied down. Standing in a moving stream and dropping something I need (like my fishing rod) means it’s GONE. Finding a way to attach important stuff -like my “nippers” that are on a “zinger” (a retractible string with a pin on the end) is what makes a good fly fisher person . . . which brings me back to Lesson #6.
. . . Kate and I caught a 6 fish and released them to swim free.
Peggy
April 29th, International Dance Day
“People reflect each other constantly,
but when they dance, perhaps what they reflect most is that moment of honesty.”
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, dancer and choreographer
Shake, rattle ‘n roll, Internationally by Peggy
“In 1982 the Dance Committee of ITI founded International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29th April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), creator of modern ballet. The intention of the International Dance Day Message is to celebrate dance, revel in the universality of this art form, cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers, and bring people together with a common language – dance.”
https://www.international-dance-day.org/
Click here for more flashy fun: Fly’n High
Happy Chocolate Easter
Dark chocolate, cocoa powder, cinnamon, olive oil, eggs are good for you. Sneak in a bit of veggies and you’ve got health food!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
2 cups zucchini, grated (Grate very fine so your brain doesn’t recognize anything healthy
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey or agave nectar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup flour (white, spelt, whole wheat – different flours = different textures)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chi[ps
Add Walnuts, flax seed or chia seeds (optional health foods)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.
- Grate zucchini. Press with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Fluff with a fork.
- In a large bowl, beat together oil, eggs, agave or honey and vanilla. Add zucchini.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
- Add dry mixture to the wet/zucchini mixture. Stir to combine. Add chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cook it Up Kitty eating healthy
Brain Myth – 100% Psycho Fact
We use only 10 percent of our brains . . . not
This has been repeated in pop culture for a century, implying that we have huge reserves of untapped mental powers. “But the supposedly unused 90 percent of the brain is not some vestigial appendix. Brains are expensive—it takes a lot of energy to build brains during fetal and childhood development and maintain them in adults. Evolutionarily, it would make no sense to carry around surplus brain tissue.”
Bird Brain by Peggy
1) “Brain imaging research techniques such as PET scans (positron emission tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) clearly show that the vast majority of the brain does not lie fallow. Indeed, although certain minor functions may use only a small part of the brain at one time, any sufficiently complex set of activities or thought patterns will indeed use many parts of the brain. Just as people don’t use all of their muscle groups at one time, they also don’t use all of their brain at once.”
2) “The myth presupposes an extreme localization of functions in the brain. If the “used” or “necessary” parts of the brain were scattered all around the organ, that would imply that much of the brain is in fact necessary. But the myth implies that the “used” part of the brain is a discrete area, and the “unused” part is like an appendix or tonsil, taking up space but essentially unnecessary. But if all those parts of the brain are unused, removal or damage to the “unused” part of the brain should be minor or unnoticed. Yet people who have suffered head trauma, a stroke, or other brain injury are frequently severely impaired. Have you ever heard a doctor say, “. . . But luckily when that bullet entered his skull, it only damaged the 90 percent of his brain he didn’t use”?”
Psycho-fact
Regardless of the exact version heard, the myth is spread and repeated, by both the well-meaning and the deliberately deceptive. The belief that remains, then, is what Robert J. Samuelson termed a “psycho-fact, [a] belief that, though not supported by hard evidence, is taken as real because its constant repetition changes the way we experience life.”
Sources: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/top-ten-myths-about-the-brain-178357288/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-ten-percent-myth/
March 12-18, 2018 is Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is a nationwide effort organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and the Society for Neuroscience to promote the public and personal benefits of brain research.
http://www.dana.org/BAW/
Happy Anniversary to US! Gratitude to YOU! . . . plus a drawing
One year ago TODAY CATNIPblog gave birth to a litter of critters and a gaggle of followers . . . YOU!
Gaggle
We’ve tried to remain true to our goal of sharing the information we’ve accumulated in our collective 60+ years as psychotherapists and our love of current neuroscience and neuropsychology research.
Our vow to each other: Peggy keeps us on the track while Judy tries to swerve around the curves and bends. So far our collaboration has worked – now Peggy is swerving and Judy is tracking.
We are GRATEFUL beyond words (even though we will find the words) to each of you for subscribing, commenting and giving us encouragement to blog our little fingers to the bone.
Our gift of gratitude:
We will use a random number generator to pick 3 names from our subscriber list. The winners can choose whatever prize they want from our ZAZZLE Store.
We’ll have the prize mailed – you can send it as a gift to someone else or receive it yourself.
If you haven’t subscribed it’s not too late. We will do the drawing on Sunday, March 17th.
P.S. More News! We’ll be coordinating some CATNIP posts with Curious to the Max
click here: CURIOUS to the Max.
CATNIPblog will stay focused on “Self-care tips, tools, techniques & neuroscience research for MIND, BODY & SOUL – shared with a wink and a smile”
AND . . . since Peggy & Judy have “stuff” – stories, poems, drawings etc. that aren’t geared to CATNIP’s mission, you’ll find them on CURIOUS to the Max . . . which is . . . how would we describe it? . . .
. . . open-ended . . .
“Curious STUFF that makes me love, learn and laugh”
Thank you all for your support!
