Mind-Body-Spirit Articles

More trainers are integrating life coaching with fitness training to improve clients’ results. Given the increasing popularity of life coaching, investigators from Lillebaelt Hospital and from IRS University of Southern Denmark in Kabbeltoft decided to evaluate its effectiveness in improv- ing health.

Self-determination theory (SDT) is a theory of motivation that aims to explain individuals’ goal-directed behavior. Motivation resides along a continuum, with intrinsic motivation on the far right, extrinsic motivation in the middle and amotivation on the far left. Intrinsic motivation is ideal; people engage in an activity because of internal factors and are therefore likely to sustain the activity for their own reasons.

“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness,” posited Joseph Pilates in his book Return to Life Through Contrology, first published in 1945. A recent observational study of Pilates practitioners provides support for his position.

Better Speech Comprehension If you have been fortunate enough to enjoy music training in your youth, you may be experiencing the benefits today in improved hearing.

Heart disease patients improve their odds. With growing research supporting the long-term health benefits of meditation, doctors may soon be prescribing the practice as a means of stress reduction for patients with heart disease.

Does Pilates—with its emphasis on precision, concentration and memorization of movement patterns—enhance brain function as well as physical function? Scientists from Yanshan University in Qinhuangdao, China, and Beijing Normal University in Beijing wanted to find out.

While many continue to hope for a “magic pill” to prolong youth and sustain health indefinitely, encouraging research demonstrates the power of a back- to-basics, integrative approach—a plant-based diet, exercise, stress management and social support.

Think about knocking on wood or throwing salt over your shoulder. Rituals such as these, involving movements that “push away” from the body, may make us feel better because we have built up an association between pushing actions and avoiding harm or danger, according to psychologists at the University of Chicago.

Mindful eating practices may help clients with a variety of health conditions to improve their nutrition habits. For people with type 2 diabetes, training in mindful eating was as effective in managing weight and blood sugar levels as conventional diabetes self-management education, reported a pilot study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2012; 112 [11], 1835–42; doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2012.07.036).