In this month’s newsletter:

Video: Foot Exercises
Free WELL: New program starting this fall
Room Available for Health Practitioner
Article: Better Balance Relates to Longer Life
Study: Depression Not Caused by Chemical Imbalance in the Brain
Recipe: Back To School Lunches

Video: Foot Drills

How do your feet feel? Are you taking good care of them? Do you think the rest of your body would feel better if your feet were stronger and more mobile and free?

Check out this 2 minute video for some ideas!

Free WELL: New Program Starting This Fall

Fall is a great time to shift our focus and energy inwardly and Free WELL is celebrating that with the launch of its new women’s program, Wellspring Within, designed by my wife, Women’s Coach and Educator, Dina Haggenjos. Check out this unique offering that is under $200 a month! Email Dina at [email protected] for more details!

One Room Available on 2nd Floor of Office in September

We are both happy and sad to announce that a room will be available soon on our second floor. Happy to welcome a new person here, but sad to see the fantastic Lauren Wales go. Actually, we are very happy for Lauren, also, as she will be moving to Florida to embark on an exciting new chapter. She will be missed greatly as an exceptional massage therapist, doula and friend.

We look forward to welcoming one more new practitioner to join us. Massage therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, nutrition, etc. – any great service in the health field will be considered.

Check out this link for more info and please pass on to anyone you know who might be interested. Thank you!

Successful 10-Second One-Legged Stance Performance Predicts Survival in Middle-Aged and Older Individuals

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A new study this year shows that the ability to balance on one leg for 10 seconds is predictive for longevity!

One-legged stance balance assessment technique:

Stand bare-footed on a flat platform.
Keep elbows extended, the arms naturally placed close to their body.
Fix gaze on an eye-level point at a 2-m distance.
Place the dorsal part of the non-support foot on the back of the opposite lower leg, as naturally as possible.
Static balance was assessed as the ability to complete 10 s in OLS, either left or right foot.

History of the one legged stance test:

“OLS has been used to assess balance for more than 50 years.”
“Unlike aerobic fitness, muscle strength and flexibility, balance tends to be reasonably preserved until the sixth decade of life, when comparatively, it starts to diminish quickly.”
“Balance quickly diminishes after the mid-50s increasing the risk for falls and other adverse health outcomes.”
“Each year an estimated 684,000 individuals die from falls globally.”

Results of the study:

The inability to complete the test with either the right or left foot increased with again, “practically doubling at each subsequent 5-year age-group interval beginning at age group of 51-55 years.”
When the NO was compared to a matched (age and other covariables) YES group, the NO group had an 84% increased risk of death in the following 7 years
- “Our data shows that middle-aged and older participants unable to complete the 10-s OLS had lower survival over a median of 7 years compared with those able to complete the test, with an 84% higher risk of all-cause mortality.”
“Inability to complete the 10-s OLS was associated with a significantly higher risk for all-cause mortality.”
Diabetes mellitus was three times more common in the NO group (38%) as compared with the YES group (12%).
“Good levels of balance are relevant for many daily life activities, there is considerable evidence that loss of balance is also detrimental for health and that some exercise interventions may improve balance.”

Remember that balance can often be improved with chiropractic care, exercise and therapy. It is quick and simple to assess.

Depression is not caused by a ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brain, say scientists

I am curious about depression. I noticed this article and wanted to share it as I appreciate perspectives that give all of us hope and capacity to change our states; rather than feel like our biology and biochemistry is entirely predetermined.

Key points from this actual study:

“There is no clear evidence that depression is caused by low serotonin levels, research suggests.”
“‘The popularity of the “chemical imbalance” theory of depression has coincided with a huge increase in the use of antidepressants.”
“Studies looked at the effects of stressful life events and found that the more stressful life events a person had experienced, the more likely they were to be depressed.”
“the increase in serotonin that some antidepressants produce in the short term could lead to compensatory changes in the brain that produce the opposite effect in the long term.”