Better with IBD – Page 4 – feel | eat

Mindset Habit #2: Ask Yourself, “What if”

December 2, 2018December 2, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Ask yourself, “what if”

What if…

there is a way to feel better?
there is a way to eat better?
there is a way to move better?

No matter where you are starting from there is a possibility of finding improvement. Some of the habits and exercises may be difficult but what if some of them are easy, what if some of the skills you can learn and practice help you feel better?

You don’t need to have the answers to these questions right now. Simply pose these questions to yourself. Then sit back and relax.

We simply want to create a higher level of possibility in your current situation. Asking yourself questions like these helps get the ball rolling and produces space for answers to come in the near future.

Try this:

Ask yourself, “what if I was able to feel, eat, and move better?” What would that look like to you?

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #9: Practice Industriousness & Enthusiasm

November 30, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA, placed industriousness and enthusiasm as the two cornerstones of his “Pyramid of Success” [5] that he used to win 10 national championships – 7 in a row – in a 12-year span! He understood the importance of training one’s mind to overcome challenges.

Industriousness, Coach Wooden said, is “simply that you have to work and work hard…Worthwhile things come only from work.” With IBD the idea of “hard work” might sound a little harsh or stressful, possibly conjuring images of running countless sprints or following an intense diet plan.

I offer my approach to hard work with your IBD as simply, doing what you need to do to get the outcomes you desire. Repurpose the idea of “hard work” as simply doing what is necessary to achieve what you desire.

If we begin to go about our “hard work” with purpose and gratitude knowing that the work is beneficial then that “hard work” somehow doesn’t feel so hard.

Enthusiasm for Coach Wooden meant simply “that you have to like what you’re doing; your heart must be in it. Without enthusiasm, you can’t work up to your fullest ability.”

Everyone has at least one thing in life that they get excited about. And if it is possible to simply feel excitement, or enthusiasm, about something then we can learn how to carry that over into other larger areas of our lives.

Maybe you are enthusiastic about a certain show on Netflix? You enjoy the preparation that goes into settling in to watch the show. You enjoy the people you watch it with or maybe the solitude and escape if you watch alone. The point is that this enthusiasm is within you. Now ask yourself, could you feel enthusiastic about improving your mindset to help you live a better life with IBD?

What has seemed too challenging or too big of a task to even begin? Without even physically doing anything about it just yet, take a few seconds and imagine your challenge again but this time you feel enthusiastic about the hard work needed to achieve success. How does that feel?

Try this:

What are you enthusiastic about now – or what have you been enthusiastic about in the past? Just for today, could you recapture that enthusiasm? Could you take it and apply it to something that would help improve your IBD – something that maybe felt like “hard work” but could somehow feel enjoyable? What would that look like?

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #22: Build Your Resilience Web

November 29, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

A consistent trait I find amongst those living with IBD is an underlying resiliency. Living with IBD can teach you that life can be very tough, unfair, and painful. However, I often find that those given the greatest challenges find ways to endure and overcome, again and again.

That is living with resilience and that is a great sign of strength.

Use this Precision Nutrition resource to discover just how resilient you are!

Try this:

Color in each wedge with how resilient you feel you are in each area. The more of each wedge you color in, the more resilient you are in that domain. Share your results with a close family member or friend.

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #15: Be a (Power) Poser

November 28, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Quick, imagine someone sad and depressed – What does their body language look like? Where are their eyes looking? How about their shoulders? Down and slumped or up and back?

Now imagine someone happy, thrilled, and overjoyed by news of a clean bill-of-health – How is this person moving? Where are their eyes looks? Maybe up and out towards the horizon? How about their shoulders and body posture? Are the shoulders up and back, proud and tall?

What does any of this have to do with IBD?

Power posing, a term coined in Amy Cuddy’s TED talk, is the idea that our movement and posture (how we move and hold our body in space) affects our physiology (how are body functions).

Simply by standing up taller or taking up a bit more space in your immediate environment you can alter and improve hormone levels like testosterone while lowering stress hormones like cortisol.

Do you think this could help you think, feel, move, and even eat better?

Without ANY side-effects…except for the chance of improved well-being, confidence, and outlook towards the world.

Not too bad for a few seconds of improved posture.

Try this:

Watch Amy Cuddy’s Ted talk in the above link. Practice a power pose (arms outstretched overhead) for 30-60 seconds. Notice how you feel before and then after. Is this something that you could easily adopt into your daily habits?

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #10: Find Your Superpowers

November 27, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

The following chart is from Precision Nutrition. Use it to discover how you like to learn, how that can help you feel better, and how that lets you discover your superpowers! [6]

To learn best, you like to…

Your superpower type is…

Which means you kick ass at…

Move around and do stuff

Bodily-kinesthetic

Control and coordination of one’s body; physical performance and movement; manipulating objects and working with one’s hands

Reflect on large questions or phenomena (e.g. “What is the meaning of life?”)

Existential-theoretical

Considering deeper meanings; values and principles; one’s purpose and place in the world

Solve problems, judge and evaluate scenarios, use abstract reasoning, calculate

Logical-mathematical

Logic; abstraction; numbers and calculation; critical thinking and “objective” reasoning

Listen or create sounds and rhythms (e.g. little memorization rhymes)

Musical-rhythmic

Awareness of rhythms, tones, music, and sounds (including language)

Interact with your environment

Natural-environmental

Awareness of one’s relationship to one’s surroundings, especially the natural world

Reflect and self-question

Self-interior

Introspection and self-reflection; understanding one’s own inner world

Interact with others

Social-relational

Relationships, social interaction, understanding other people and interpreting their signals, moods, psychological states, and motivations

Talk, write, and read

Verbal-linguistic

Written or spoken language; reading and writing; telling stories; discussing and debating

See things or make visual materials (such as models or drawings)

Visual-spatial

Imagining and visualization, solving puzzles, seeing and manipulating things in three dimensions

Remember, people are usually a combination of several superpowers. Most people fall into multiple categories.

Try this:

Review the above info – notice what superpowers resonate with you. See if you can live them just a little bit more today. Try this habit for the next 3-7 days.

Better with IBD

Movement Habit #50: Ground-based IBD Movement Flow

November 26, 2018November 12, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

From the ground

Focus on

1. Side to side rolls

(3-5 per side)

In one piece, roll from right to left side then from left to right side. Use your eyes to look in the direction that you want to move

2. Getup to elbow

(1-3 per side)

From your back, as your roll to left side use your left elbow to push down into the ground to help prop your torso off the ground. Hips stay on the ground. Repeat other side

3. Deadbug

(3-5 per side)

From your back, arms point to the sky, knees are both in 90 degrees with feet off the ground. Reach left arm as your extend right leg – keep lower back pushed into ground throughout movement. Repeat other side

From seated to hands & knees

Focus on

4. 90/90 flow

(~20 seconds/side)

While seating, arrange both legs with knees bent about 90 degrees. Rotate upper body gently towards forward leg. Repeat on other side.

5. 4-way Cat & Cow

(~15 seconds/side=1 minute)

From a “hands and knee” starting position, gently round and arch your spine. Reset and gently bend your upper body side to side, looking over your right shoulder to see your right foot then repeat on other side. Fluid, not forced, is the focus here.

6. Bird-dog

(3-5 per side)

From a “hands and knee” starting position, with hands under shoulders and knees under hips, brace your core then slowly reach right arm as your extend left leg. Repeat on other side.

From ½ Kneeling position

Focus on

7. Eye drills

(5 turns/per direction)

From starting position, keep eyes focused on small object while rotating head from side to side, then up and down. ? and ? Switch knees and repeat.

8. Open hip flexor stretch

(3-5 per side)

From starting position, perform a gentle weight shift with knee tracking over foot.

9. “Hovers”

(3-5 per side)

From starting position, open front leg out to the side, perform a “hip hinge” – shifting body weight into the down hip. Inhale and brace while keeping torso rigid and strong. Your down hand will be able to “hover” just a few inches off the ground.

Try this:

Practice the following moves/exercises #1-9 at a comfortable pace. Rest when you need to rest. Do more if/when you feel capable.

Better with IBD

Movement Habit #50: Ground-based IBD Movement Flow

November 26, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

From the ground

Focus on

1. Side to side rolls

(3-5 per side)

In one piece, roll from right to left side then from left to right side. Use your eyes to look in the direction that you want to move

2. Getup to elbow

(1-3 per side)

From your back, as your roll to left side use your left elbow to push down into the ground to help prop your torso off the ground. Hips stay on the ground. Repeat on other side

3. Deadbug

(3-5 per side)

From your back, arms point to the sky, knees are both in 90 degrees with feet off the ground. Reach left arm as you extend right leg – keep lower back pushed into the ground throughout the movement. Repeat other side

From seated to hands & knees

Focus on

4. 90/90 flow

(~20 seconds/side)

While seating, arrange both legs with knees bent about 90 degrees. Rotate upper body gently towards forward leg. Repeat on other side.

5. 4-way Cat & Cow

(~15 seconds/side=1 minute)

6. Bird-dog

(3-5 per side)

From a “hands and knee” starting position, with hands under shoulders and knees under hips, brace your core then slowly reach right arm as your extend left leg. Repeat on other side.

From ½ Kneeling position

Focus on

7. Eye drills

(5 turns/per direction)

From the starting position, keep eyes focused on a small object while rotating head from side to side, then up and down. ? and ? Switch knees and repeat.

8. Open hip flexor stretch

(3-5 per side)

From the starting position, perform a gentle weight shift with knee tracking over the foot.

9. “Hovers”

(3-5 per side)

From the starting position, open front leg out to the side, perform a “hip hinge” – shifting body weight into the down hip. Inhale and brace while keeping torso rigid and strong. Your down hand will be able to “hover” just a few inches off the ground.

Try this:

Practice the following moves/exercises #1-9 at a comfortable pace. Rest when you need to rest. Do more if/when you feel capable.

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #5: Define Your Success

November 25, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden coined his definition of success in 1934 when he was a high school English teacher. He noticed that students had different levels of skill and ability. Some were better athletes than students and vice versa. In his English class, he noticed that one student could work up to his highest level of ability and earn a ‘C’ letter grade. Another student (maybe with much more advanced abilities) had the ability to earn an ‘A’ but only put enough effort to achieve a ‘B’ letter grade.

Which student would you consider a success in this example?

Frustrated by this discrepancy of perceived success (the B student was viewed as more successful than the C student) John Wooden crafted his definition of success as “peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” [3]

Sometimes we can distract and frustrate ourselves when we compare our situation with IBD to others without this condition.

We can often ask ourselves, “Why do they seem to achieve so much more? Why are they able to keep going when I need to stop and rest so often?”

So take a pause, a nice deep breathe, while you consider what you want to be your rules to gauge your achievements and success. A simple way to do this is to define what success means for you.

Give it a realistic timeframe. Give it an actionable and do-able quality.

An example might look like this.

“Since I just got out of the hospital yesterday my definition of success with IBD is to be able to walk around the block on my own without rest within 10 days.”

Defining success is yours and yours alone. Whatever you choose to make it resonate with you, make it motivating, and make it something that you feel comfortable and confident in achieving.

Enjoy your moment when you achieve your success. Savor it! Then quickly set another definition of success that will help you improve your life with IBD.

Try this:

Write out your current definition of success with your IBD.

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #13: Try an “Opposite Day” With Your…

November 24, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

If you think of the stress response, it involves lots of elements, united by a couple of common themes:

Option A – Fight or flight – your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) over-activation. If you notice that you are feeling too much stress then you are likely “on guard” and going through over-activation of your sympathetic nervous system.

Option B – Faint or freeze – your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) over-activation. If you notice that you often feel the need to release tension from stressful encounters you could likely be going through over-activation of your parasympathetic system. [7]

So what does this have to do with feeling better with IBD?

When you perform the habit of “Opposite Day” you allow yourself the opportunity to get back to neutral, relax a little, and regain a healthy composure that will enable you to better manage any potentially stressful event in the future.

How to use “Opposite Day” with Option A (aka derail the fight, flight, freeze stress mechanism)

Calm the SNS with belly breathing – breathe slowly, in and out – whenever you feel stressed out. Focus on two things:
- Make the exhale as long and steady as possible (minimum of 5 seconds)
- With one hand on your chest and the other hand on your belly, feel the hand on your belly move during the inhale

How to use “Opposite Day” with Option B (aka release the energy by completing the stress sequence)

Have you ever watched one of those wild animal shows where a lion is chasing a zebra and the zebra escapes the attack? What does the zebra do? It shakes and trembles for a few minutes to release that adrenaline and tension because it just survived a literal life-or-death situation! Then the zebra spontaneously recovers as if nothing happened. A few key points:
- Humans have the same stress response as the zebra…we just don’t use it as often
- Instead, we stay stuck in a state of arrested arousal
- We need to move and discharge the tension filled energy

Use either option to help restore your body’s stress response back to neutral and begin to feel more relaxed and calm.

Try this:

Remember when you practiced the 5 minute meditation? Use that time to assess your current stress levels. Do you need to relax or release tension? Perform the necessary technique from above as often as needed today.

Better with IBD

Movement Habit #47: Vision & Balance Practice

November 23, 2018November 19, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Now we move on to seeing better and improving balance. Remember:

Vision is a skill.
Our vestibular system (the system that keeps us balanced) is designed to respond to head movements.
Our proprioceptive system (our body’s understanding of where it is in space) is designed to control our movement through space

To help improve your vision and balance practice the following three drills daily for the next week.

Eye Circles

Make your eyes track the largest circle possible – in both directions – without moving your head. Start with your body lying on your back (a) then move on to more challenging positions.

Lying on your back [start here, easiest]
Sitting on the ground
Tall kneeling
½ Kneeling (do for each leg)
Standing
Standing on one leg
Standing on an unstable surface (BOSU ball or sand, etc) [finish here, most challenging]

Neck GTT’s (Glide-Tilt-Turn)

Glide your head forward like a pigeon. Maintain that position and gently tilt your head to the side. From this position turn your head on its new axis. All movement is smooth, gentle and focused on finding more movement throughout your neck.

Nerve flossing

On your right hand flex your fingers forward, externally rotate hand and wrist. Maintaining this stretch through the forearms gently reach your arm back, keeping the arm straight. If this is still feeling good, gently tilt your head to the left to increase the stretch from right ear to right fingertips.

For additional information and resources visit Z Health Education

Try this:

Set a timer for 10 minutes and smoothly transition through all 3 exercises. Start from sitting on the ground, when that feels easy progress to the next position, and so on, as each position becomes more natural and comfortable.