Es gibt Katzen Content:
Gegen Ende der Woche kann man den Stress ja dann auch mal wieder bleiben lassen… Und was liegt da näher als sich das Stress vermeiden bei den Katzen abzuschauen?
10 Cat Stress Busters
From Cat Fancy (May 1999 Issue)
TAKE MORE NAPS. A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine reveals most adults suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. We humans live our lives in a hamster wheel of activity, says Marty Becker, DVM, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul (Health Communications Inc., 1998). Cats never miss a chance to take a nap. They rest a lot and dont feel a bit ashamed of it. We should bathe ourselves in sunshine, plop on a couch and take a helpful hours nap.
STRETCH EVERY DAY. That familiar arch and lengthening your cat does with such ease sets a perfect example. Rather than typical calisthenics type stretches, experts advise trying something relaxing for your mind and good for your body-yoga. The low-impact exercise can assist in building flexibility and strength, plus serve as a relaxation technique to calm stress.
Some of the postures in yoga actually mimic the cat, says Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., a certified bioenergetic psychotherapist in Manchester, Conn., and author of Optimum Health (Bantam Doubleday, 1998). Yoga attenuates and assuages the sympathetic nervous system, he says. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for our fight or flight responses, such as, increased adrenaline. Yoga helps to calm those responses, allowing the body to relax. Joining a class or doing a videotape yoga workout at home even once a week can improve your health, he adds.
GET A MASSAGE. You probably give one to your cat every day, but when was the last time you enjoyed the stress-relieving powers of massage? Your cat is also proficient in massaging itself. When a cat cleans itself, it not only performs a bathing function, but it nurtures itself with a self-massage, Dr. Sinatra says.
EAT MORE SALMON. You heard right. In reality, your cats affinity for fish may be a healthy habit, Dr Sinatra says. Fish contains Choline, DNAE (a neuro-protective transmitter)
LEARN THE ART OF SILENCE. If you watch your cat sit by the window or in a favorite sunny spot, you may think its being lazy and just enjoying the sunshine, but it is actually doing much more. Your cat is meditating its own way. Cats tune out the world for short periods, Dr Sinatra says. Humans can achieve the same effect by focusing on their breathing and letting their minds clear in a meditative state. This discharges the nervous system, drops the heart rate, and reduces blood pressure. It can also reduce the hormone Cortisol, produced by adrenals.
Cortisol, which is produced when a body is under stress, can damage the body and affect the memory and brain when present in large amounts. Some researchers believe a connection exists between the overproduction of this stress hormone and Alzheimers disease, he adds. To incorporate this into your day, Dr. Sinatra suggests you take time to relax without thinking or doing anything. Listen to some music or lie down and close your eyes. Above all, he says take a few minutes jut to be.
KNOW YOUR BODY. Whatever cats do, they put their whole body into it, Dr. Sinatra says. How can this help you? Your Body can tell you a lot. When you take a walk, take in your surroundings. Get in touch with your breathing and try to focus on getting out of your head and into your body, Dr. Sinatra suggests. If people can release their thoughts and focus on things like the roll of their hips and the feel of a step as they walk, thats when a walk can be much more healing. Dancing may be better exercise for reducing stress than walking because you listen to the music as you move and concentrate on the movement of your body to the music, Dr. Sinatra says.
COMBINE PLAY AND EXERCISE. Exercise in humans doesnt have to be no pain, no gain. It can be recreational, Dr. Sinatra says. Daily exercise in itself will produce growth hormones, which for anti-aging is a must. Cats enjoy exercise, no question. Since your cat doesnt differentiate play and exercise, neither should you. Dont be afraid of seeming silly in your enjoyment of an activity, Dr. Sinatra says. When your cat attacks a string, actively rolls around with a toy or goes running through the house in a game of chase, it doesnt worry about what you will think. It enjoys the moment. The best thing humans can do to emulate cat behavior at play is to play with their children and grandchildren. More importantly, do it on the childs term and not yours. The sillier you are when playing with children, the healthier it is. Take time out for a game of tag, jump rope, tumbling with the kids on the floor or playing horse.
WALK AWAY FROM ABUSIVE SITUATIONS. Cats dont tolerate needless abuse, says Ian Dunbar, Ph.D., member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and director for the Center of Applied Animal Behavior in Berkeley, California. If a human owner tries to reprimand them harshly or physically, they turn around, shake it off and walk to quiet, secluded spot where they become independent and aloof. In reality, cats are highly social animals, and they are adamant about not socializing with unsocialized people, he says. This is a marvelous lesson for people. When you remove jerks from your life, life is peaceful indeed.
As a former chief of cardiology at Manchester Memorial Hospital, Dr. Sinatra suggests patients get away from stressful emotion-laden situation that can lead to a heart attack. I tell people if a situation evokes a bodily response, such as their muscles tightening up, thy need to leave.
BE FORTHRIGHT. Cats are always quite forthright when it comes to caring for their own needs, Dr. Dunbar says. They effectively train their owner to be a good butler and open doors, to be a good waiter and serve food, and to be a good masseuse and pet them on command. We can take a lesson from them by learning to be honest and unembarrassed about stating our own needs, he says.
MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF. Whether its scheduling a haircut, hiring a masseuse or taking a walk, you need to pamper yourself regularly. People who take time for themselves have lower heart rates, lower blood pressure and higher dispositional optimism, Dr. Sinatra says. Positive thinking is a powerful factor in preventing illness; pessimistic people get sick far more often than their optimistic counterparts.
(via: litux blog)