Healthiest You Ever

“Legend has it that the Incan armies frequently marched for days at a time eating a mixture of quinoa and fat known as ‘war balls,’ and at planting time tradition demanded that the Incan leader would plant the first quinoa seed using a gold shovel.”

Once known as “the gold of the Incas,” this “grain-like” food—a complete protein—includes all nine essential amino acids, making it an excellent choice for vegetarians, vegans, and everyone else as well! Quinoa has extra-high amounts of the amino acid lysine, which is essential for tissue growth and repair. Combine this protein with quinoa’s high amounts of potassium and its magnesium content to help lower your blood pressure and strengthen your heart. For such a small “grain,” quinoa not only provides a whole lot of nutrients and helps boost your metabolism, but it may also be especially valuable for people with migraine headaches, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and other debilitating health issues. It is also a very good source of manganese as well as magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus, and B vitamins—and it has a delicious nutty texture.

Tip: Soak and/or rinse raw quinoa to shed a bitter coating and reveal its nutty taste. Most boxed quinoa has already been soaked and/or rinsed and, like most boxed rices, will cook in approximately fifteen minutes.

“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.”

A great way to get a workout and have fun is to play catch with a partner using a medicine ball.

2. Powerfully throw the ball straight out and away from you either at a partner who is ready to catch the ball or at a wall.

3. Have your hands out in front of you, ready to catch the ball as it returns to you. As you catch the ball, bring it in toward your chest to absorb the force in a gradual and fluid manner.

Another version of this exercise, which would be considered a progression, is to sit with your feet out in front of you. Place your feet hip width apart and bend your knees at about 90 degrees. Tilt your torso or upper body slightly back to engage your abdominal wall. Holding the ball at your chest, toss it to your partner (who can be sitting the same way) or against a wall. Catch the ball with your hands away from you and bring them in as you catch the ball.

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”

A life rich with friends and loved ones can be one of the best elixirs when it comes to keeping our brains strong and vital. The importance of social support was demonstrated during a recent study at a large nursing home. Residents were randomly divided into three groups and given the task of completing a jigsaw puzzle. All were given four twenty-minute practice sessions, followed by a timed session. Members of the first group were given a lot of verbal encouragement by the experiment director during the practice sessions, members in the second group were given direct assistance, and members of the third group received neither encouragement nor assistance. Those in the group that received a lot of encouragement demonstrated marked improvement in both speed and proficiency in putting the puzzle together during the timed session. In other words, their mental acuity apparently improved. Those who were directly assisted did less well, and those who were left alone showed no change at all.

This demonstrates how social support in the form of interaction and encouragement can improve cognitive function in older people. However, it also demonstrates that the support must be appropriate to the individual and what he or she wishes to accomplish, whether it’s a stronger memory or improved visual-spatial skills. Daily chats about the previous night’s television shows may be seen as social support, but mere conversation with friends won’t improve mental tasks. Invite your friends to join you in activities that involve something you’d like to master or learn more about, and then set aside at least one evening or afternoon when you can get together.

“My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win…. Channel your energy. Focus.”

A brick is a bike ride followed by a run. One explanation for the term is that a brick is what your legs feel like after one of the workouts. No matter why it’s called that, a brick can be a very effective triathlon training drill. For one thing, it simulates race day, when you will be starting the third phase of your triathlon, the run, immediately after racking up your bike. Bricks will train you to do something you probably have never done, as not many athletes would follow bike rides with runs without a reason. Plan to do a brick once a week.

1. There are two kinds of brick workouts, each emphasizing a different aspect of the training. In the first, you follow a ride of about seventy-five minutes with a run of fifteen minutes. Your ride will include some intervals—short periods of ramping up the pace followed by cool downs. The run will not be just a jog, but you will not push it.

2. Another brick workout consists of equal parts riding and running—forty-five minutes for each, for example—but the run is harder with interval workouts or at tempo pace (slightly faster than usual for the entire run).

No matter which brick workout you do, don’t wait a long time before you start running. You should be running within five minutes of dismounting.

The tree pose (Vrksasana) develops balance and upward stretch, much like a tree, which has a strong, extensive root system, allowing it to grow tall and branch out. Start by standing in Tadasana (see Week Thirty-Three). Gaze straight ahead with a soft but focused gaze. Shift your weight to your left leg, root down, spread the balls of your feet, broaden your heels, and press firmly down with your big toe and little toe balls of your feet and the center of each heel. Turn your right foot out to the side. Then bring your right foot up to the inside of the left leg to where it is comfortable. You may use your hand to help bring the foot up the leg. Press the sole of the right foot against the inside of your left leg, leg against foot, as if they were pressing the spine up. If your foot does not easily stay on the leg, it is fine to leave it on the floor, turned out, with your right heel resting against the inner heel of your left foot. Maintain the grounding in your left foot and the extension in your left leg, taking care not to hyperextend the leg. Press the neck of your big toe down and lift your kneecap. Extend your arms out to the sides, with your palms facing up. Stretch all the way from the centerline in your body to your fingertips. On an inhalation, take the arms up over the head, stretching from your side ribs to your fingertips, palms facing each other. Continue breathing through your nostrils, relaxing your throat and diaphragm, and softening the front ribs and belly. Balance ease and effort. Stay in the tree pose for several breaths. To come out of the pose, exhale, and release your arms to the side as your right leg comes back into Tadasana. Repeat on the other side. The benefits of the tree pose include:

“Habitat gives us an opportunity which is very difficult to find: to reach out and work side by side with those who never have had a decent home—but work with them on a completely equal basis. It’s not a big-shot, little-shot relationship. It’s a sense of equality.”

Swing a hammer, carry some lumber, and help build a home for a poor family, if this appeals to your social conscience. Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) is a nonprofit organization that works in tandem with volunteers in communities worldwide to build houses for low-income people. Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife spend a week every year swinging hammers to help erect affordable shelter for the poor on behalf of Habitat for Humanity. To date, the organization has built more than 400,000 houses, sheltering more than two million people worldwide. If you believe that you could be doing more to help the less fortunate, then grab your hammer, get out there, and work up a sweat with—and for—people like yourself.

DON’T JUST RAISE A ROOF, RAISE AWARENESS

Another great way to help others is to raise awareness for the United Nation’s World Habitat Day. Each year in October, events take place to focus on human settlement issues. Offer your support by counting down to it on your blog, posting it on your friends’ Facebook walls, or sending an e-mail reminder to everyone in your address book. See www.unhabitat.org for more information.

In Zen, walking meditation (kinhin) is the counterpart to sitting meditation (zazen), but walking meditation doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Zen. It is what it sounds like: meditation on the move. Walking meditation is different from sitting meditation because you have to be thinking about what you’re doing so that you don’t wander into traffic or bump into a tree. On the other hand, it isn’t really so different, because in sitting meditation, you become acutely aware of your surroundings. They just aren’t changing the way they change when you walk. Some people like to sit for most of their meditation session but then spend the last few minutes in walking meditation, and for some, who practice sitting meditation for longer periods of time, walking meditation gets the body moving periodically without breaking the meditative flow. To practice a walking meditation:

• Have a prepared path in mind so that you don’t spend time thinking about where to go during the meditation. Plot your path from beginning to end.

• Take time to breath slowly, centering yourself to prepare for the meditation.

• Take slow, deliberate steps. As you walk, notice how your breath feels as it comes in and out of your body. Notice how your limbs move, how your feet feel, how your hands and arms hang, the position of your torso, your neck, your head. Don’t judge yourself as you walk. Just notice.

• Once you feel you’ve observed yourself well, begin to observe the environment around you as you walk. As soon as you catch your mind so wandering (and it will so wander), gently bring your thoughts back to your breathing.