Trotula of Salerno

For all you history buffs out there, here is a blog entry about the namesake and inspiration of this blog: 

Trotula

She was a well respected gynecologist that lived and worked in Salerno Italy in the Medieval Ages. She cared for and taught many women and wrote a textbook on women's health that lasted for 500 years. She was skilled in many fields of medicine including surgery but also herbal remedies and energetics. She did not forego any methods when it came to helping women attain health and even beauty. I practice much in the same way. It has been somewhat difficult to find role models as many tend to either be alternative or conventional medical providers. With my education in Anthropology, medicine, OB/Gyn, herbal medicine, combined with my artistic temperament, and love of nature, I can really relate to her. Why not have a role model who died almost 1000 years ago when she was so amazing and embodied so may of my own views related to women's health. If you too love learning about amazing women, check her out here: 

http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/trotula-of-salerno-medieval-womens-health-advocate/

© Regina Zopf and Trotula Health, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Regina Zopf and Trotula Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Exercise: A must for mind-body health

We all know those fitness people we encounter in our lives who are happy, healthy and glowing. They definitely have the best career because they are getting paid to do what they love and getting paid to move. They are definitely my happiest patients. (We all know them and secretly love to hate them)!  But they’re not dumb for choosing that lifestyle…You do not need to quit your career and become a personal trainer to feel great. You do, however, need to move.

The most important thing to actually exercise is your personal motivation and drive to do it. Making the commitment to yourself on a deep level has to be the starting point. It might help to reframe why you are exercising. The payoffs from exercise are slow to come. It does not give you the same instant gratification that you get from say, eating some chocolate ice cream or having a glass of wine while you snuggle up to your favorite (dramedy, sit com, game show,…) on the couch. Therefore, if you are doing for a specific goal, like fitting into a pair of jeans, or even for losing weight, you might feel dejected and disappointed in your progress. Instead, it might be helpful to focus on a desire to do it for long term health and wellness, ie. Sticking around a bit longer to have time with the ones you love, having more energy to function in your daily life, or feeling well enough to enjoy that retirement you have been working so hard for.  Making the choice for something positive you really, really want!  

Remember, eventually you will have “feel good” benefits from your daily exercise routine once it is established. But, you have to get your heart rate up for around 10 minutes before the endorphins (hormones that give you a boost) kick in and if you are anything like I was before I started exercising, you may only last for 3-5 minutes before you start getting bored out of your mind or feeling like you are going to die, and are basically red in the face and drooling all over yourself! Remember, you can slow it down and you can breathe. Try timing your breaths to your steps, like 4 steps per breath or even 3. In other words, pace yourself.

I find that my patients who are able to exercise every day have made it a part of their daily routine. If you don’t do it, you won’t do it. Here, self-awareness is key. Observing your daily actions and mindfully deciding where you can actually fit your exercise in, what you actually need to accomplish it, and what some barriers to doing it might be. Then taking the time to make a plan and commit to it. Also, find something you love to do for exercise. If you love it, you are much more likely to do it. If you can’t do it for one day, or even one week, it is okay, don’t let this drag you down into the guilt cycle and into stopping altogether, just ask yourself again what might be getting in your way and make your choices. We all fall off the horse sometimes, and let’s face it, the hardest thing to change is habits. But it CAN be done!

The benefits of exercise are far reaching and the importance to mind body health cannot be overstated. It has to be a part of your life or you will never achieve balance in your mind body health. It does not need to be much. Just 30 minutes out of 24 hours, but the more you can do, the better.

Here is a list of what exercise can do for your mind body health:

• Burns the stress hormone “cortisol” putting your hormones into better balance
• Decreases blood pressure and improves digestion of glucose (sugar)
• It can improve your symptoms around your menstrual cycle, decreasing bleeding and pain
• It improves sleep patterns
• Trims your waist line reducing your long term risk of diabetes heart disease and all those other chronic diseases that lead to sudden death prematurely
• Silver lining? Eventually it gives you that svelt figure you’ve been hoping for, but I strongly precaution against doing exercise for physical appearance and instead focus on accepting yourself just as you are

© Regina Zopf and Trotula Health, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Regina Zopf and Trotula Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Self Awareness is key to health and wellness

I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.
Billie Jean King 

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” 
― C.G. Jung

Self-Awareness is arguably the most important aspect of gaining health and successfully making changes we wish to make in our lives. Our current state of health is often reflection of our habits of daily living, and in some cases our parents' and grand-parents' habits as well. Self-awareness and mindfulness allow us to identify these habits and to make the reasons for them being present a part of our conscious awareness. For example, one may go out for a smoke a cigarette every day at 10 in the morning. While they may not want to smoke anymore, it has become a part of their daily routine. It gives them much more than just nicotine. They may enjoy the "treat" it gives them during their morning, they may fraternize with coworkers and get filled in on the latest, they may get some air outside while getting a stretch and see how the weather for the day is shaping up. Trying to quit cold turkey might be possible, but then the positive effects are cancelled out as well. Anyone can see that there are positive healthy behaviors that are lost by simply quitting smoking. By observation, the individual can begin to introspect as to possible solutions that will fulfill the deeper drives in a more healthy way. Finally, when they make the change, self-awareness can help them to identify challenges that they might not otherwise have identified and return to planning and strategizing. When speaking with my patients about their desires to change behaviors for health and wellness, I always end the visit with this, "When you leave here today, don't make any change. Just observe." Being self-aware and understanding why you do what you do will help you to identify how to change in a way that will still fulfill your needs and in this way make it more likely for you to be successful at achieving the change you seek. 

Thought patterns can be habitual too. It's amazing, but thoughts actually have so much power over our physical health, our mood, even our relationships. Without even realizing it, we can completely affect our health just by the way we are thinking through the hormones or chemicals that are released from the hormonal centers of our brain. These thoughts may be triggered by subtle things, like the seasons changing, or perhaps not feeling productive, a friend not calling back, or a spouse being moody or distracted. Maybe being nervous about a presentation, hence the saying, "my stomach is in a knot". The bowels are tied intricately to the brain. Having self-awareness of thoughts and feelings and the way they manifest in our bodies is crucial. Taking care to notice what you are feeling physically, particularly in emotional states can be a very helpful tool to bring awareness to what you are feeling. 

Sometimes we may not be aware of our emotional states while they are affecting us. Bring them to the forefront by journaling or talking to a compassionate friend or loved one about what you are feeling. Chances are, they will have some insight into why you might be feeling that way, or inject some humor into your otherwise brooding mood. Finally, meditation is a way to stop these patterns of habitual thinking as well. It is also a way to observe the emotional and physical states you are experiencing in a detached way, allowing the feelings and emotions to exist fully and also to pass. Clearing the air for new feelings and emotions that may be of a more positive nature. Meditation that is focused on experiencing the part of you that has always been present, in other words, a search for your inner self is especially helpful. Finding that core is what can ultimately give you the strength, again and again, to achieve health and wellness you desire. 

© Regina Zopf and Trotula Health, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Regina Zopf and Trotula Health with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.