Practice mindful meditiation to enhance your life.
After taking over as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989, Phil Jackson (he’d won two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973 playing with the New York Knicks) introduced mindful meditation to the team. They won six NBA championships.
In 1999, as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, he again introduced mindful meditation to his team. They won five NBA championships.
“As much as we run and we pump iron to build our physical strength up, we need to build our mental strength up,” Jackson later said.
Michael Jordan admitted “that Zen Buddhist stuff ” helped him become a better player.
And at the end of Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round, Jordan made what’s known as “the shot,” considered one of the most Zenlike baskets ever, to clinch the Bulls’ 101-100 victory.
Now, according to a study in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, there’s more evidence that Coach Jackson is spot-on: Researchers found that University of Miami football players who practiced mindfulness for 12 to 15 minutes a day were more able to withstand emotional and mental demands of hours of strenuous physical training. They had greater resilience and more sustained focus. Your takeaway? Whether it’s walking 10,000 steps a day, training for a charity bike ride or enjoying your daily workout at home, you can use mindful meditation to keep up your resolve and maximize your enjoyment.
In short, you’ll increase mental and physical toughness and become your best athlete, by finding time for mental clarity.
Flaxseed is powerful
One of impressionist painter Jean Renoir’s favorite techniques was to dilute oil paint with linseed oil and turpentine so that it ran down the canvas. He called it “juice.”
Well, these days linseed — what we call flaxseed — is having a Renaissance moment as a food and oil that leads to better health.
The benefits of flaxseed: Flaxseeds (always use the ground variety, not whole) deliver a substantial amount of vitamin B-1/thiamine as well as some B-2, B-3, B-5, B-6, folate (B-9) and choline. Plus every tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains almost 2 grams of fiber and 1.6 grams of omega-3 ALA fatty acid (which can ease symptoms of diabetic neuropathy).
One of flaxseed’s great assets is that it contains 75 to 800 times more lignans, a form of polyphenol, than other plant foods. The lignans and other nutrients in the seed are associated with a reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease, the slowing of prostate tumor growth, tamping down your stress response and quelling inflammation.
Flaxseed oil is a great source of ALA, but it becomes rancid easily so store it in the fridge no more than six to eight weeks. And, it does not contain the lignans, fiber or protein of the ground seeds.
So how do you get this power-packed seed into your diet? Grind the seeds in a coffee grinder as needed; aim for eating 2-3 tablespoons a day. They add flavor and texture to salads, soups and cereals, steamed veggies, broiled fish and smoothies.
Contact the You Docs at realage. com.