60 Minutes revisits a group of men and women over 90 who are helping scientists discover how to live a longer, healthier life. A follow-up report airs this Sunday.

If there are secrets to living a longer and healthier life, Dr. Claudia Kawas is searching for them.

60 Minutes first met Dr. Kawas, a neurologist and professor at the University of California Irvine, in 2014 when Lesley Stahl interviewed her for a story titled "90+."

Dr. Kawas and her team run a major study of aging California residents who began providing information about their diet, exercise, vitamins, and activities in 1981.

"I really believe that when we learn things from the 90-year-olds, they're going to be helping the 60 and 70-year-olds, not just how to become 90-year-olds, but how to do it with style and as good a function as possible," Dr. Kawas told 60 Minutes in 2014.

The multi-million dollar study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, discovered several factors that were associated with longer life. The study found moderate alcohol consumption of up to two drinks a day led to a 10% to 15% reduced risk of death compared to non-drinkers. It also revealed a caffeine intake equivalent to one to three cups of coffee a day was better than more, or none.

Sid Shero was 92 when Stahl last interviewed him. Scans of Shero's brain revealed the presence of amyloid plaques, the physical markers of Alzheimer's disease, but the World War II veteran was cognitively unaffected and our 60 Minutes team even found him driving around in a convertible.

This summer, Shero turned 99, and Stahl interviewed him once again, along with the other living participants from the original story.

The follow-up report airs this Sunday on 60 Minutes.

2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Is there a secret to living well into your 90s? - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Today's Essential Corona Virus Reads:

Ridgefield Wellness Coach and Personal Trainer Greg Herzog believes that we have a Major Healthcare Crisis on our hands.

Everyone is talking about Healthcare, but its also about you doing your part too IN DEFENSE OF FITNESS and taking personal responsibility.

What we need right now is a National Campaign to get in shape and get healthy, Feel better about ourselves and survive.. Its no longer about vanity. Its not too late to change!

There has been no emphasis on diet, exercise, or health, it's just figure it out yourself.

Shame on the media and government in not emphasizing how important diet and exercise are. Covid19 has now made it an issue.

Why couldn't they have gotten behind a campaign Get healthy so the virus doesn't kill you challenge.

Dr. Fauci, The Surgeon General and The CDC do not mention the one thing people could do; lose weight and get in shape.

So many lives could have been saved if the medical community took this on as a campaign. You need to do something now. Its your chance to change your life.

We need to stop glamorizing gluttony. Diabetes is not a theory. It is a life and death issue today. Stop with the body positivity. This is fundamental as to who lives or dies; being overweight is not a good thing, out of shape even worse. With Covid19 you are twice as likely to have poor outcome if your Obese.

One study found that the risk of death for people with a BMI of 35-40 increases by 40 percent and with a BMI over 40 percent, the risk goes up by 90 percent compared to those not living with obesity.

Even being mildly obese increase the chance of landing in the ICU by 5x. Our food, diet and lack of fitness is killing too many of us. Poor diet and lack of fitness is the leading cause of mortality. According to a NYT article. Countries with the lowest rate of obesity have had the least Covid19 deaths, our world ranking is 42. We had 40K deaths from obesity in August alone.

Obesity is already killing us slowly, mix it with Covid19 and its lethal; it kills you fast.

Obesity is linked to Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer, Eyesight Problems, Memory Loss, Pain, Fatigue, Anxiety, Depression, Immunity Issues and Gastrointestinal conditions, not to mention Covid19. This is science, not just my opinion.

Why do we have so many preexisting conditions? Fat. Europe is not like this. We weren't always like this before. We have been conditioned to fail at a very young age with no emphasis on proper diet and exercise. Its only wear a mask, wash your hands, keep your distance. Nothing about exercise, diet, inflammation, health, or your immunity.

The good news is Its not too late.

Greg Herzog is a Celebrity Trainer and Owner of OSTEOPATHIC FITNESS in Downtown Ridgefield, Author of the Fifteen Minute Executive Stress Relief Program, published by Putnam. Voted as one of the Top 50 Trainers in U.S. Greg has over two decades experience in the field of Health and Fitness.

For more info go to https://www.osteopathicfitness.com

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Post from your Patch editor: They're trading Thanksgiving dessert recipes in Patch&... - Patch.com

Let's face it, when life hits a few bumps in the road, so, too, do our diets and food habits. As the work from home lifestyle continues to be the new normal, everyone's getting used to spending an inordinate amount of time confined to their homes and home offices. There are shifts in work production, alterations of one's sleep and exercise habits, and drastic changes to what, when, and how food is consumed.

For most people, this can lead to a change in eating habits and schedules that are less healthy than they're typically accustomed to, making it challenging to stay focused on their health and fitness goals. Thankfully, there are plenty of excellent resources a mere smartphone app away designed to help you stay on track no matter how difficult it might seem.

Both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store offer plenty of apps that promote healthy eating and diet habits. But wading through the choices can be both difficult and time-consuming, as even the best apps aren't always right for everyone.

To help sort through what's available, we turned to Samantha Cassetty, an MS, RD, and national nutrition and wellness expert with a private practice based in New York City, for a bit of advice and her thoughts were especially insightful.

"There are many free and paid apps to help you learn how to eat more healthfully," Cassetty told Insider. "The most important thing is to find one that supports a variety of healthful foods in balanced amounts that are right for your needs."

Using a smartphone to track your diet isn't a new idea as some of the earliest apps on Apple's App Store were aimed at helping iPhone users eat healthier. After all, it's likely you carry a mobile device with you everywhere, making it ideal for providing insights and advice on what you should buy at the grocery store or order at a restaurant.

Some of the apps that are available even create extensive meal plans, provide diet and exercise routines, or offer consultations from dietitians and nutritionists. Others simply track what you eat in order to raise awareness of the calories you're taking in. Cassetty says there are benefits to both and that even basic food trackers are valuable.

"Free tools allow you to track your food intake, which is a form of self-monitoring that's been found helpful for reaching or maintaining a comfortable weight," she said. "They can also expose when you might be grazing or over-snacking, which happens when you're spending more time working at home with a stocked kitchen."

While Cassetty does find plenty of value in the use of smartphone apps to track dietary intake, she also urges caution, saying that "unless you're getting the tools and information you need to make lasting changes, it's unlikely you'll be able to maintain any weight you've lost."

She recommends working on developing an understanding of how to balance meals so they fill you up while tasting great at the same time. She also stresses the importance of developing healthier coping strategies rather than turning to food when we're bored, stressed, anxious, depressed, or even happy.

"Rather than focus on a goal weight, I think a better way to go is to focus on small steps you can take to create healthier habits," Cassetty said. "Examples include, limiting soda, upping your veggie intake at lunch and dinner, cooking an extra meal or two, drinking more water, and aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep each night."

Those are words of wisdom, no doubt, but Cassetty also expressed the importance of cutting ourselves some slack when things get especially stressful and difficult.

"I think it's important to be flexible and compassionate with yourself during these challenging times," she added. "You may not be able to eat as well as you'd like or maintain your healthy routines, and that's alright. As long as you're putting in some effort versus none at all it's a step in the right direction."

Updated on 11/17/2020 by Rick Stella: Updated the sections on how to find the right weight loss app and why you shouldn't rely entirely on an app to change your diet, checked the availability and links of each recommended app, and updated the prices where necessary.

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How to choose a diet and weight loss app that's right for you, according to a nutritionist - Business Insider - Business Insider

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world - but researchers from Otago have found increased consumption of dairy products could improve those grim statistics.

A multi-year study by a team from Otago University has found the nutrient-rich drink could help protect against bowel cancer.

Associate professor Brian Cox from Otago Medical School told Newshub milk, in particular, has a strong relationship with reduced risk.

Other dairy products like yoghurt showed similar benefits, provided there are at least three servings a week.

"It's not clear whether that's related to something else which is associated with the disease, or whether it's the primary reason for a reduced risk. So that still needs to be teased out," said Cox.

Natalie Reynolds was diagnosed with bowel cancer a week after her 26th birthday.

See the article here:
Adding more milk or yoghurt to your diet could help reduce the risk of bowel cancer - Newshub

What if I told you that if you commit to meditate 5-10 minutes a day on most days youll feel calmer, more focused and happier? Can I guarantee it? No. Almost, though. For the vast majority of people who try it, the practice of meditation works. Meditation requires no equipment and its free to all.

But what is it? Think of it like fitness training, but for the mind. Just as there are many different sports we can use to train our bodies, there are also multiple styles of meditation. Try one for a couple of weeks and youll likely experience what Dr. Herbert Benson, a Harvard researcher in the 1970s, identified as the relaxation response, which he said is an opposite, involuntary response that causes a reduction in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

When the relaxation response is triggered, people notice short-term benefits, including improved circulation, less anxiety and stress, lower blood pressure and blood cortisol levels, increased feelings of well-being and we might even perspire less. People also report feeling peace and order, serenity, gratitude and even bliss!

You can learn to meditate on your own, download a meditation app such as Calm or Headspace, or find guided meditations online at sites such as YouTube.

The easiest thing to do is to find a comfortable spot and give it a try.

According to Psychology Today: archaeologists discovered evidence of meditation in wall art in the Indus Valley, now Pakistan and India, dating from approximately 5,000 to 3,500 BCE. The images depict people sitting in what many of us would recognize as meditation postures. In other words, the figures sat on the ground with crossed legs, hands resting on their knees, and their eyes slightly narrowed but not completely closed. There are also descriptions of meditation techniques found in Indian scriptures dating back around 3,000 years ago.

There are many types of meditation. Here are a few to try:

Moving Meditation uses rhythmic physical movements to focus and calm the mind. This could be walking, yoga, running or even folding laundry or vacuuming. Also called Daily Life Practice Meditation, this is a great way to start a meditation practice.

Concentration meditation. You know on TV or in the movies when you see a character meditating and they are repeating a word or phrase over and over, maybe Om? Thats concentration meditation.

For this style, you focus on a single point, which could be the breath, repeating a single word or mantra, staring at a candle flame or counting beads on a mala. A mala is a string of beads, often numbering 108, used for keeping count during meditation. There will be one larger bead, which you hold. Then you slip the smaller beads between your fingers, repeating your mantra, until you come back to the large bead. Refocus your awareness each time you notice your mind wandering. Instead of following random thoughts, let them go. The more you do this, the better youll get at it and the more youll be able to focus.

Meditation for the cultivation of compassion. There is a famous quote by the Dalai Lama that says If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

For this meditation, you begin with yourself because you cant extend compassion to others until you can be compassionate with your own mind. Its like putting your own oxygen mask on first, before you help others with theirs. In subsequent steps, you will send compassion to loved ones, strangers, and even people you dislike. You will wish something called Loving-Kindness on each person, including yourself.

Say each phrase in your mind and imagine breathing warmth and compassion into your heart, then exhaling warmth and compassion toward yourself. Imagine the compassion reaching every part of your body.

Heres the most widely used script to say or think as you do this:

Now that you have wrapped yourself in Loving-Kindness, send it toward a friend or loved one:

This time picture your loved one and send all your love and warmth to that person.

Next, think of someone you dont know very well. Someone you feel pretty neutral about. Send all your wishes for well-being to that person, repeating your script while breathing warmth and compassion.

Now that youre all warmed up, its time to direct Loving-Kindness toward someone you are in conflict with or whom you dislike. Your wish is that they might also be filled with Loving-Kindness.

Another simple meditation for beginners is this one, as taught by Dharma Master Hwansan Sunim. This technique is called Breath Counting Meditation. Its an ancient practice, initially used by monks to increase their powers of concentration.

If your mind wanders, and it definitely will, dont worry. Just return your focus back to your breath. Just calmly notice what it is you were thinking about or what was distracting you, take a moment and let go of whatever it was you were thinking about. Then gently return your awareness to the breath, being present for each inhalation and exhalation. Try this meditation for two or three minutes to start, and then try it for longer.

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Meditation 101: How to do it and why it makes us feel better - Integris

Millions of people tuning in to CNNs election night coverage were treated to a special bit of irony. The networks Key Race Alertsthe bright red, panic-inducing way that CNN introduces resultswere sponsored by wellness app Calm. It was a savvy move for the eight-year-old company, which isnt alone in its quest to build the perfect app for chilling out.

Founded in 2012 by entrepreneurs Michael Acton Smith and Alex Tew, Calm today has a $1 billion valuation and a mission to help the world meditate, relax, and maybe even get some sleep. The app was named Apples 2017 App of the Year, and by 2019 it had more than 80 million downloads and $92 million in revenue, the latter according to an estimate from app analysis firm Sensor Tower.

But it wasnt until 2020a year defined by the coronavirus pandemic, economic upheaval, racial injustice, and a high-stakes US electionthat Calms bedtime stories and mindfulness sessions propelled the tech unicorn to new heights.

In April, as Covid-19 forced lockdowns around the world, first-time downloads of Calm jumped to 1.6 million, up 36% from a comparatively uneventful January. In May, a new deal with Kaiser Permanente made the app, which costs $69.99 for an annual subscription, free to the health insurance companys 12.4 million membersa move intended to help people cope with the uncertainty, stress, and sometimes fear brought on by COVID-19, a psychiatrist at Kaiser said in a press release.

Calm has also benefited from employers looking to expand the suite of digital mental-health services offered to stressed-out staff. Alex Will, Calms chief strategy officer, told CNBC in October that more than 20 of its 140 staffers are now focused on corporate sales, noting, So many organizations have recognized that mental health is a must-have for employees rather than a nice-to-have.

Most recently, Calms election-night deal with CNNincluding a 30-second ad during which Calm played the sound of rain hitting leaveswas a social-media hit, resulting in more than 9,700 mentions on election day, compared with 500 mentions on an average day the week before.

The company may be looking to capitalize on all this momentum by raising another $150 million at a $2.2 million valuation, Bloomberg reported in October. But in the increasingly crowded and competitive meditation app space, Calm cant afford to breathe easy.

$143 million: Funding raised by Calm so far.

2 million: Calms paid subscribers in 2019.

3.9 million: Calm downloads in April 2020.

30-35: The median age of Calm users.

10: Minutes it takes to listen to Calms most popular feature, the meditation The Daily Calm.

6: The number of languages Calm is available in (English, Spanish, German, French, Korean, and Portuguese).

Celebrities are a big part of Calms strategy. LeBron James offers sessions on topics like managing emotions and a champions mindset, while the apps streaming feature offers exclusive music from Moby, Ellie Goulding, and Sigur Rs. Celebs reading bedtime stories include Matthew McConaughey, Harry Styles, Laura Dern, Kelly Rowland, and Scottie Pippen. (Styles, whose story Dream with Me some reviewers find more sexy than soothing, is also an investor.)

Co-founder Smith has said Calm would love to win some Emmys and Oscars. This year the app made its television debut with a 10-episode HBO Max series called A World of Calm. Created with production company Nutopia, the series features narrators like Lucy Liu describing a turtles journey through a coral reef. The Hollywood Reporter described it as a distracting analgesic for contemporary agita and also a very, very, very expensive screensaver.

Theres no clear pattern by which the masters of Calm pair celebrities with tranquilizing topics. But spend enough time thinking about it, and the combinations start to seem inherently complementaryeven inevitable. Who else but lovable grump Nick Offerman could do justice to the bedtime story The Big Bad Wolf Learns Anger Management? What would Star Trek: The Next Generation alum LeVar Burton describe if not a Journey to the Stars? See if you can tap into your celebrity intuition to guess which star narrates which World of Calm episode (answers at the end of the article).

Calms biggest competitor is Headspace, a meditation app co-founded in 2010 by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe and former marketing executive Richard Pierson. Headspace has over 65 million users, $215 million in funding, and an estimated valuation of $320 million.

Headspace initially had an edge over Calm: It launched earlier and boasted more initial funding, while Calm struggled to bring in revenue and investor dollars. But starting in 2016, Calm quickly gained ground, expanding its premium content with Sleep Stories and daily meditations, and getting big publicity boosts from celebrity narrators and fans. Funding poured in, and Calm has since pulled ahead in reported revenue and app downloads.

Thats no guarantee Calm will stay on top. Headspace has a thriving corporate client business of its own, with more than 1,300 employers signed on, including Starbucks, Adobe, and Unilever. Its also investing heavily in clinical trials, hoping to prove the efficacy of its app and gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which would allow Headspace to be covered by health insurance. The company even debuted its own intentionally unstimulating nature series, Mindful Escapes, on the UKs BBC Four this year.

There are also plenty of smaller players, including 10% Happier (which caters to beginners and skeptics), Insight Timer (which has a library of more than 65,000 free guided meditations), and Simple Habit (which appeared on Shark Tank and bills itself as offering five-minute meditations for busy people). But Calm seems confident about its prospects. As Smith said of Headspace in 2018, were in mindful competition with each other.

Lets see how you did matching celebrities to topics. Kate Winslet: Horses || Keanu Reeves: Woodworking || Nicole Kidman: Birds || Oscar Isaac: Noodles || Idris Elba: Outer Space || Priyanka Chopra Jones: Chocolate || Mahershala Ali: Water

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Meditation app Calm is booming in anxious times - Quartz

I swear, sometimes I'm anxious before I even open my eyes in the morning. Do you ever feel that way? Like you've barely even realized you're awake before the stress and the racing thoughts come crashing in. For me, this makes it even harder to get out of bed; why get up and face my to -o list when I could scroll through Twitter and ignore my problems for another few minutes? Between the stress, the anxiety, and the procrastination, it's not really setting me up for a productive day.

If this all sounds familiar, you might consider adding meditation into your morning routine. This probably isn't the first time you've heard this recommendation, but take it from a former skeptic: a few minutes of meditating really does take a load off your mind in the morning, and the sense of calm and focus can linger throughout the rest of your day. Ahead, explore six calming guided meditations crafted specifically for the morning to help you wake up, get present, and set intentions to make the most of your day. The best part: none of them last longer than 10 minutes. Get comfy, hit play, and sink in.

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Start Your Day Off Right With These Calming 10-Minute Morning Meditations - POPSUGAR

Admin Associate, Shelby Gilson, at the Tarleton Student Counseling Services check in desk ready to help with any student needs.

Tarleton State Universitys Student Counseling Services is hosting weekly guided meditation sessions online, until Dec. 1, 2020.

The weekly guided meditation sessions are intended to help clear the mind and de-stress before finals. They are held every Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., and begin with a brief introduction, that lasts for around five minutes, as more people join the zoom session.

To join the guided meditation students and employees can go to Tarletons calendar and click the register button. The registration asks a few very basic questions including your email address.

[The guided meditation series] is evidenced based and used for increasing relaxation and focus. For a lot of people it also helps decrease anxiety. The first five minutes is an introduction and a debrief about what mindfulness is. Then one of us leads a meditation for the next 15 minutes, the meditation might be a mindful breathing exercise or a full body scan. Then we close out with a debrief, Assistant Director of Student Counseling Services, James Dinh, said. We keep things casual. You dont need to have your camera on or your microphone and you can unmute or talk in chat if you have questions.

The guided meditations were previously held in person, but had to be moved online because of COVID-19.

For this meditation its largely the same as when Ive done it in person. [The biggest change is that in person] I was able to have music or a singing bowl playing in the background, but Ive found that its difficult [to have those present] over video, Dinh said.

The guided meditations are open for anyone who wants to join, not just previous clients of the Counseling Center.

They dont have to be a client to join, any student, staff or faculty can join even though we primarily serve students. Either me or one of my interns will guide the meditation and people who may want added coaching have the option to set up additional meeting times, Dinh said.

The guided meditation sessions allow students to learn techniques for coping with stress and take with them for future use.

A lot of people, especially around finals, have difficulty coping with stress and around the holidays having a space where you can enjoy a moment of fullness and grounding helps a lot. Guided meditation also provides a space where students can practice the skills we teach, Dinh said.

The best places to meditate are in quiet rooms with few distractions.

The techniques we teach are things you can do on your own, its helpful to have a guide [at first] but then you can take a piece of mind to help aid the anxiety in your head or remember to stop and breathe and be present in your body.

Meditation is not limited in the types of clients they accept either. People with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD) are also encouraged to attend.

A good number of people who have ADD or ADHD love mindfulness and meditation. Really the idea with mindfulness is to allow our mind to notice our surroundings. People with ADD have almost a superpower that allows them to notice everything. Then theres the skill of noticing your surroundings without judgement and coming back to yourself, Dinh said. If you have ADD give it a try or figure out what your version of mindfulness is. Set aside a space free from distractions you can do this by even physically turning away from distractions.

There are more ways to remove distractions from your life than just practicing mindfulness.

Another way to remove distractions is on your laptop create separate profiles, one purely for school work with no icons to games. Then also have your regular profile so if you want to take a break you have to log out of your work profile and log into your regular one. You can also write things down for easy access and practice going back to what you have written down, Dinh said.

Some people believe that guided meditation can, over extended periods of time, lead to a healthier mind and better long term coping skills.

[Guided meditation] helps people to focus and gain memory retention. There are often claims of people using it to study. Being able to practice mindfulness helps the brains cognitive functions and over time creates neurological changes to help respond better to stress, Dinh said.

Tarletons Student Counseling Services offers more than just guided meditation services, they also provide therapy sessions and services for undiagnosable illnesses. This includes having people in the residence halls to help with any concerns students may have.

We are still providing [all of our] regular services including individual, group and couples therapy sessions. With couples only one member of the couple needs to be a student at Tarleton to be seen. We are not limited to diagnosable disorders, if [a client feels] stressed or if [their] work-life balance is [disproportionate] we take a holistic view to treatment, Dinh said.

The counseling services Tarleton provides cover most services that an external counseling center would and when Tarleton is unable to provide the services needed for a client they reach out to other centers in the community that may be able to help.

We do provide treatment for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder and we refer clients to the community if need be, Dinh said.

We have survivor advocates, this means that an advocate is assigned to anyone who may need help with situations such as harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence or stalking. Our advocates help you know that you have rights and arent mandatory reporters so [the client] has that choice to report or not.

Read more from the original source:

Mindful meditation to clear the mind for finals - JTAC News

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Welcome to the Voice of Change. Today we'll talk about the use of Affirmations to support your Meditation practice and/or the direction you want to go. Affirmations can be used to support you in numerous ways. They can be a way of clearing the direction you want to go. They can support your meditation practice, a health practice such as walking, or to support you in another area of your life. We'll talk about writing them as well as speaking them. In addition, I'll continue yesterday's conversation about meditation and share with you some of the 99 benefits ofmeditation. These range from physiological to psychological to spiritual, and scientific research to back its validity. Meditation has really gone mainstream in recent years. Corporations, professional sports teams and school systems all recognize the value of adopting mindfulness-based lifestyle practices as part of their daily routine. Tune if for this continued conversation about various aspects of spiritual practice.

Original post:

The Practice of Meditation and How Affirmations Can Support Your Practice - BlogTalkRadio

Transitions are difficult to navigateand we're dealing with a lot of them right now. Between the changing seasons, the days getting shorter, the transition of leadership currently underway in the U.S., and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there's no shortage of stressors these days.

Which is why it's so essential to make time for self-care, whatever that looks like for you. Whether you're short on time or a beginner to meditation, this quick guided mindfulness exercise by Jenn Tardif, the founder of 3rd Ritual, takes only three minutes, and it'll leave you feeling lighter, calmer, and more mindful as you continue your day.

In this meditation, Tardif encourages you to drop into your body, breathe deep, and let it go. With each breath, you'll release more and more tension, inviting kindness and compassion into your being.

Find a comfortable seat somewhere quiet, where you'll be undisturbed. Let's begin.

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3 Minutes To Mindfulness: A Quick Guided Meditation To Do Anytime - mindbodygreen.com