…a 2009 British study found that prolonged sitting on a therapy ball led to just as much slumping and “poor sitting position” as a desk chair.

Another study last year, by Dutch researchers [found that] the balls produced more muscle activity and 33 percent more “trunk motion.” But they also produced more spinal shrinkage.

“It is concluded that the advantages with respect to physical loading of sitting on an exercise ball may not outweigh the disadvantages,” the researchers wrote.

You’ll have to keep going to yoga.

The Claim: Replacing Your Desk Chair With an Exercise Ball can Improve Your Posture, NY Times

Volunteers who received [deep-tissue] Swedish massage experienced significant decreases in levels of the stress hormone cortisol in blood and saliva, and in arginine vasopressin, a hormone that can lead to increases in cortisol. They also had increases in the number of lymphocytes, white blood cells that are part of the immune system.

Volunteers who had the light massage experienced greater increases in oxytocin, a hormone associated with contentment, than the Swedish massage group, and bigger decreases in adrenal corticotropin hormone, which stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol.

Now, how do I get on this volunteer list?

Massage Benefits are More Than Skin Deep, NY Times

Fascinating article in Scientific American Mind this month: The Willpower Paradox. Turns out that resolving to do something is not nearly as effective as wondering if you will do it.

…Those primed with the interrogative phrase “Will I?” expressed a much greater commitment to exercise regularly than did those primed with the declarative phrase “I will.”

What’s more, when the volunteers were questioned about why they felt they would be newly motivated to get to the gym more often, those primed with the question said things like: “Because I want to take more responsibility for my own health.” Those primed with “I will” offered strikingly different explanations, such as: “Because I would feel guilty or ashamed of myself if I did not.”

This last finding is crucial. It indicates that those with questioning minds were more intrinsically motivated to change. They were looking for a positive inspiration from within, rather than attempting to hold themselves to a rigid standard. Those asserting will lacked this internal inspiration, which explains in part their weak commitment to future change. Put in terms of addiction recovery and self-improvement in general, those who were asserting their willpower were in effect closing their minds and narrowing their view of their future. Those who were questioning and wondering were open-minded—and therefore willing to see new possibilities for the days ahead.

I’ve always wondered why my softer declarations were more effective than my stricter ones. I wonder if I’ll remember this article in the future?

As I noted in the comments, I love ideas for work habit adaptation. I fidget all day long and finally figured out that a break every 90 minutes (as long as it’s not to the fridge!) is a really good thing. In college I propped a desk on top of another, to read standing. And I definitely miss the ease of an easel (with a stool to perch on). Maybe that setup will make its way into our computer tech some day.

Stay Grounded

Yoga teachers often use the word grounded. It’s a verb (to ground through the feet) and an adjective (a grounded feeling). But what does that really mean? It’s a yoga cliche, a phrase that’s used so often it’s lost some of its punch. And most of us didn’t know the definition to begin with.

Read the whole thing on The Huffington Post

New article in the Journal links prolonged TV watching to an increased rate of death — even for people who exercise! The problem is the extended periods of sitting still. And it seems that sitting on a plane, at a computer, or — gasp — reading a book is just as bad.

The results are supported by an emerging field of research that shows how prolonged periods of inactivity can affect the body’s processing of fats and other substances that contribute to heart risk. And they suggest that people can help mitigate such risk simply by avoiding extended periods of sitting.

So, break it up! Take a lap! Fidgeting is not such a bad thing after all. Sedentary / deadentary, Simon says stretch your legs.

Read the full piece at the Wall Street Journal.

[Thanks, Nick!]

For the past few weeks, I’ve been working on clearing my mind more often during the day. The natural tendency for a busy mind is to work ever-harder to crack a problem or find an innovative solution. The yogic belief is that a clear, unburdened, relaxed mind is actually a more creative, efficient problem solver. And now that belief has a boost from hardcore science.

In September, David Rock wrote about the precious gift of a rested mind. When rested, the mind is able to make associations and connections between seemingly disparate pieces of information that a busy mind cannot discern. A break from our work, particularly if that break involves an activity that has nothing to do with the problem we are trying to solve, can be extraordinarily beneficial. A busy mind will run in a closed circuit, making it difficult to develop a break out idea or solution. A rested mind that gets off-track for a bit gives us a better shot at finding the “aha!” we’re looking for.

This same logic holds true for the need to physically rest the mind more than most of us do. Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post is waging a public sleep challenge over at Huffingtonpost.com. (You can view her latest progress report here.) For the New Year, her resolution is to sleep 8 hours per night.

In the New Year, my goal is to be in my bed, lights out, for a minimum of 7 hours. So far, I’ve been able to hold myself to that. If something I wanted to have done before midnight isn’t done, it just has to wait for tomorrow. I also let myself wake up slowly, giving myself a full 30 minutes to just enjoy the feeling of being fully refreshed in my warm, cozy bed. This little trick has allowed me to feel much more aware as I head out the door and into the world.

For freelance writers with a computer-focused day job, it can be tough to break away from the screen. Yet, I find that I need, and even crave, that time away. My eyes need the rest and my writing is of a much higher quality after a break. Practicing yoga is a perfect way to “get away” from it all as a daily ritual. When I step onto my yoga mat, I force myself to let go of any thoughts about work, writing, relationships, and my person to-do list. I just focus on my breath and body; everything else has to wait. That mat is like an oasis for me, a respite from the busy world where I live most of my waking hours.

This idea of an oasis on my yoga mat got me even more excited about my yoga training. For 200 hours over the course of 3 months, my mind will be at rest; it will stop running in circles and I will focus only on my own body and the principles of living a yogic life. Come May, when the training concludes, I expect to wake up feeling more rested and at ease than I ever have in my life. What a gift!

• showed less activation in neurons associated with stress
• displayed less anxiety and helplessness
• maintained calmness and curiosity, even when injected with oxidizing chemicals

But of course it’s not instant:

Rats that ran for only three weeks did not show much reduction in stress-induced anxiety, but those that ran for at least six weeks did.

Six weeks ’til New Year’s. Go!

The New York Times: “Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious”

People with a high-reactive temperament — as long as it doesn’t show itself as a clinical disorder — are generally conscientious and almost obsessively well-prepared. Worriers are likely to be the most thorough workers and the most attentive friends. Someone who worries about being late will plan to get to places early. Someone anxious about giving a public lecture will work harder to prepare for it. Test-taking anxiety can lead to better studying; fear of traveling can lead to careful mapping of transit routes.

Kagan told me that in the 40 years he worked at Harvard, he hired at least 200 research assistants, “and I always looked for high-reactives. They’re compulsive, they don’t make errors, they’re careful when they’re coding data.”

…what distinguishes the high-reactives who learn to adapt from those who don’t often comes down to something simple, like finding one or two supportive friends — or, like Mary [a test subject] and her ballet, finding something they’re good at and can feel self-confident about.

No mention of yoga or other treatments for anxiety; the article is more focused on presenting the background research and the corresponding brain anatomy.

Any worriers want to be my intern?

Yellow pills
make the most effective antidepressants, like little doses of pharmaceutical sunshine.

Red pills
can give you a more stimulating kick. Wake up, Neo.

The color green
reduces anxiety, adding more chill to the pill.

White tablets—
particularly those labeled “antacid”—are superior for soothing ulcers, even when they contain nothing but lactose.

So I wasn’t crazy when I insisted that certain colors are necessary to wear on certain days. I’ve gotten some teasing for that one. And the whole color scheme of my apartment suddenly makes sense.

Frequency and wording also play a part:

More is better,
scientists say. Placebos taken four times a day deliver greater relief than those taken twice daily.

Branding matters.
Placebos stamped or packaged with widely recognized trademarks are more effective than “generic” placebos.

Clever names
can add a placebo boost to the physiological punch in real drugs. Viagra implies both vitality and an unstoppable Niagara of sexy.

So think about that next time you’re naming a yoga class or practicing a mantra…