October 14, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode we feature:
An interview with the director of Performance Psychology at West Point Dr. Nate Zinsser.
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Talk to yourself… for motivation.
UNLearning Insomnia.
And more ways you can improve your health today!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:07):
Gib, hello and welcome to another edition of
the podcast. I'm Gib Gerard herewith another special
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica. Edition of
the podcast this week, her guestis none other than Dr Nate
Zinser, he's the director of theperformance psychology program
at West Point, all kinds of tipscoming at you for boosting
confidence in any situation. Sothat's I think we all need that.
(00:29):
I know I do. All right, here wego, without further ado. Here is
intelligence for your health.
With Connie Celica,your favorite hobby is good for
your health. For example,gardening or even just caring
for plants inside your home,increases your heart rate,
challenges your muscles andimproves joint mobility. Playing
backgammon or scrabble spurs newconnections between brain cells,
(00:51):
reducing your risk of dementia.
The rhythmic movement ofknitting relaxes you the same
way meditation and yoga do andscrapbooking stimulates areas of
the brain responsible forintelligence and memory. The
foods you eat have a huge impacton your lifespan. In fact, a
(01:11):
study from the University ofMichigan found that even one
serving of some foods canincrease your lifespan by up to
80 minutes or decrease it byover an hour, the researchers
developed a nutritional indexranking nearly 6000 foods based
on their impact on our lifeexpectancy, right down to the
minutes gained or lost ofhealthy, good quality, disease
(01:35):
free life per serving overallsugary drinks, fried foods and
processed meats like ham, baconand hot dogs were linked to the
most minutes of healthy lifelost. For example, a serving of
chicken wings translated tothree minutes of life lost from
the sodium and trans fats, and asingle beef hot dog translated
(01:56):
to 36 minutes lost, mostly fromthe detrimental effects of
processed meat at the otherextreme, fish, fruit, vegetables
and whole grains were linked tothe largest gains in longevity.
For example, baked salmon orrice and beans added about 12
minutes to a healthy life, and aserving of nuts added about 33
(02:18):
minutes. So what's the easiestway to eat your way to a longer
life? The researchers saytrading just 10% of your daily
calories from junk food andprocessed meats for fruits,
vegetables, nuts, beans and fishcould add 48 minutes to your
lifespan every single day, timeto book that ski vacation,
(02:41):
according to research, skiingmakes people happier and
healthier. The study waspublished in the journal applied
research in quality of life, andit found that the pleasure
gained from a ski trip is enoughto improve a person's overall
happiness, even if they only getto the mountains. Occasionally,
the skiers who got the mostbenefits were those who became
most engaged in the activity andwho forgot everything else in
(03:05):
their lives while they were onthe slopes, the researchers
found that even a one time skitrip had a positive impact on
participants. They also foundthat skiers showed a greater
level of enjoyment in theiractivity than snowboarders. How
do you normally spend the lasthour of your day before bed,
watching TV, reading, checkingemail? You may want to adopt
(03:28):
what sleep expert Michael Brucecalls a power down hour. It
refers to breaking up the lasthour before bed into three
crucial 20 minute segments.
First, spend 20 minutespreparing for the next day, say,
by packing lunches for yourkids, choosing the outfit you'll
be wearing, and writing down alist of the top tasks you'll
need to conquer. Dr Bruce says,The more prepared you feel
(03:50):
before bed, the more relaxedyou'll feel in bed. Also devote
20 minutes to personal hygiene,that includes brushing and
flossing, showering and anyother routine that helps you
feel your best before bed,having a wind down routine
primes your brain to get intosleep mode. Finally, Dr Bruce
recommends devoting the last 20minutes of your power down hour
(04:13):
to relaxing, whatever that meansto you, from reading to
meditating to not watching thenews. So again from sleep doctor
Michael Bruce, devote your powerdown hour to 20 minutes of
preparing, 20 minutes of hygieneplus 20 minutes of relaxing.
Okay, listen to this. If youwant to start working out more,
(04:34):
tell yourself I'm an exerciseror I'm a runner, instead of
telling yourself I'm going toexercise or I'm going to run,
according to the journal selfand identity, when people used
that strategy, they were betterat sticking to an exercise
regimen. That's because you'regiving yourself an identity, not
just a command, and that makesyou feel like exercising is part
(04:56):
of who you are. It also makesyou. Feel like you belong to a
community of exercisers orrunners, and feeling that you're
part of an active tribe makesyou more motivated to keep up.
Today, our special guest is DrNate Zinser, director of the
performance psychology programat West Point. He's got a new
book out called the confidentmind, and he says one of the
(05:18):
most powerful ways to build andmaintain our own confidence is
with positive or constructiveself talk. But many times, we
talk ourselves out of being moreconfident with negative
thoughts, like, I can't do thisor I'll never be good enough. So
I asked Dr z where our tendencyfor negative self talk comes
from,to a certain degree. There is
(05:39):
some evidence to suggest that weare wired, at least partially,
to be somewhat negative and tobe aware of the things that can
and often do go wrong. There'sevidence to suggest that because
our prehistoric lives wererather uncertain. That we're
(06:01):
wired that way to anticipatesome stuff going wrong, so we're
a little bit more vigilantabout, you know, potential
threats, because the majority ofour human history was spent in
very uncertain situations. Nowthat is long gone in terms of
our ability to feed ourselves,close ourselves, etc, but we
(06:22):
still have some of thatprimitive wiring operating. I
would say, however, that by farthe most powerful source of this
tendency to be negative isindeed social. We are criticized
at an early age. Our incorrectanswers on the spelling test
(06:44):
tend to be the ones that arehighlighted with the red pencil.
So the answer to your questionis, it's a little bit biology,
but it is much more sociologyand societal
today, we're talking to Dr NateZinser, director of the
performance psychology programat West Point, and he was just
(07:05):
saying that many of us are wiredto engage in negative self talk,
because focusing on potentialthreats and failures is part of
how we survive. But in order tobuild up our confidence, Dr
Zinser says we need to fill ourmind with positive, encouraging
and constructive self talk, andthe more specific our self talk,
(07:26):
thebetter. I'm not a big fan of the
more general, generic, so calledpositive self talk points. I'm
getting better every day inevery way I think people can do
a better job making it morepersonal and more specific to
their desired outcomes. I amsmooth and graceful coming out
(07:47):
of the starting blocks. Ifyou're a sprinter, I easily read
the movement of the safetieswhen you're a quarterback. I am
calm and in control during themost intense moments of the
heart transplant surgery. Soit's really a matter of thinking
(08:08):
about what's a skill that youwant to have, what's a quality
that you want to have, what's anoutcome that you want to have,
and you phrase a statement aboutit in the first person in the
present tense, with affirmativelanguage for each of those so
that you were affirming. Iachieve this outcome, I display
(08:30):
this quality, I possess thisskill, and I bring it forward in
each and every situation.
Here's a fun way to boost yourimmune system play a game like
Scrabble. According to a UCLAstudy, your body sees
competition, even in a boardgame, as something it might need
to defend itself against. Thatincreases immune cell function,
(08:53):
making them more active. Soimmune cells move more quickly
into the bloodstream, where theyspread throughout your body, and
that protects you from illnesscausing pathogens, so play a
friendly game against someone toboost your immune system.
Today's medical term prolongedgrief disorder, or PGD, that's a
newly recognized mental healthcondition that refers to having
(09:16):
unusually persistent symptoms ofgrief. And while there's no such
thing as a normal time frame forgrieving, PGD is typically
diagnosed when grieving lasts atleast six months in children or
more than a year in adults. Andit's not necessarily that you're
still crying and sobbing all thetime. In fact, many people with
(09:36):
PGD report feeling no emotions.
They just have a generalnumbness or a sense of disbelief
related to their loss that willnot go away, and you may also
feel some guilt over the factyou're not getting over your
grief. According to the AmericanPsychiatric Association,
prolonged grief disorder usuallycomes from the fact that some
(09:57):
deaths or. Makeups are so suddenand unexpected it's almost
impossible to get properclosure, and we feel like
there's unfinished business. Butremember, there's no right or
wrong way to grieve, and if youthink you're experiencing PGD,
you may want to think aboutseeking counseling or joining a
grief support group, and that'stoday's medical term, prolonged
(10:20):
grief disorder. Here's thedefinitive answer, should you
cover a cut or let it breathe?
Cover it. So says a report fromthe Academy of Dermatology, they
found cuts heal 40% faster whenthey're covered with a germ
killing ointment and a bandage.
If cold weather is getting toyou, you can warm up by
(10:41):
increasing your circulation.
Here are three ways to do that.
First, you can warm up with acup of hot cocoa, not just
because it's physically warm,but because the cocoa boosts
circulation. According toHarvard researchers, study
participants who did nothing butsip a mug of cocoa every day,
increased their circulation by10% in two weeks. Cardiologist
(11:03):
Dr Stephen Gundry says it's dueto the polyphenols in cocoa
powder, which dilate bloodvessels and increase blood flow
from your toes to your brain.
Another way to warm up watch acomedy. The University of
Maryland School of Medicine sayslaughing increases blood flow by
(11:23):
35% which is similar to anaerobic workout. One final way
to get your circulation goingand warm up, eat some
pomegranate seeds. Theantioxidants in the seeds
increase blood flow by 17% allyou need is a half cup of seeds,
or three ounces of purepomegranate juice a day. Okay,
(11:45):
listen to this. So you blew yourdiet and had three pieces of
pizza for lunch. Cut yourselfsome slack and move on. Research
in the Journal of ConsumerPsychology found that beating
yourself up about diet mistakesincreases the chance that you'll
repeat the mistake by over 20%that's because when we dwell on
our slip ups, it creates selfdoubt. We see it as a personal
(12:09):
flaw, and that depletes ourwillpower, so we're more likely
to eat half a gallon of icecream after that pizza binge. So
acknowledge your mistake,forgive yourself and move on,
you'll be less likely to do itagain, back with more health
intelligence from Dr NateZinser, director of the
performance psychology programat West Point. And have you ever
(12:31):
been in a situation where yourtalents and skills suddenly
abandon you when the pressure ison, like when the best player in
a basketball game suddenly can'thit a single free throw.
Athletes often refer to that asgetting a case of the yips. So I
asked Dr z where they comefrom. I think it's generally a
lack of confidence at thatmoment of truth. Suddenly their
(12:52):
certainty about themselves takesa back seat. They are in a
position to sink the putt, sinkthe free throw, make a wonderful
closing argument, and suddenlythey get the thought, what if I
mess this up? I've really got todo this right. And that second
guessing, that tension createsjust enough of a wiggle in their
(13:14):
hands or their feet or theirtongue and they misspeak or
create a mistake. In order toprevent that, man, you got to be
really good at being aware ofyour own self talk, and should
those doubting statements comeup, which they do, even for the
(13:36):
best of us, you got to be ableto acknowledge them. Oh, yeah.
Oh, here comes an attack. Stopit and then replace it with some
kind of thought like, well, I'vedone this a million times
before, or let's see how well Ican do it right now. And that
way the tension tends to recedea little bit to the point of
allowing your skills to expressthemselves most fully
(14:02):
back with more healthintelligence from Dr Nate
Zinser, author of the confidentmind, and he was just saying
that in order to avoid gettingthe yips or choking when the
pressure is on, we need to getreally good at recognizing our
own negative self talk And thenreplace our unhelpful thoughts
with something more positive. SoI asked Dr Zinser what he
(14:24):
recommends to get that processstarted.
Well, the most important stepthat I recommend to get going is
to start building up a consciousawareness of a lot of your
previous successes. A lot ofyour well developed abilities,
have a greater awareness andappreciation of how far you have
(14:47):
come and what kind of skillsthat you've developed. You know,
in the case of the golfer or thebasketball shooter, who's got a
Yip once in a while, well, theyseem to have forgotten all the
time. Times that they've done itwell, I asked my clients to
develop a list of their mostsuccessful moments, and I asked
(15:07):
them to screen their memoriesday in and day out, looking for
little examples of qualityeffort and small success and
indeed progress week by week, sothat they have this accumulated
sense of how good they can be,and that allows them to be more
certain of themselves when it'stime to sink that clutch putt.
(15:30):
A big reason a lot of peoplehave trouble falling asleep is
that they put too much pressureon themselves. It's known as
learned insomnia, and it happenswhen you worry so much about
whether or not you'll be able tofall asleep that you can't. Then
the next night, you startworrying again, leading to
increased stress before bed.
Pretty soon, it becomes aconditioned psychological
(15:51):
response, and every time youeven think about going to bed,
it ratchets up your stress. Sostop pressuring yourself to fall
asleep. In fact, force yourselfto stay awake. When you focus on
staying awake, it frees you fromsleep anxiety, and people who
use that technique fall asleepfaster than those who don't.
(16:12):
More intelligence for yourhealth. From Dr Nate Zinser,
director of the performancepsychology program at West
Point. If you'd like to knowmore about him or his new book,
The Confident mind, check out.
Nate zinser.com His name isspelled z, I N, S, S, E, R, and
(16:32):
typically, before any bigpressure situation, whether it's
giving a presentation at work orwanting to perform our best in a
game, we're taught to take adeep breath. So I asked Dr
Zinser how that simple move,just breathing, helps make us
more confident. We allknow it's important to take a
deep breath in order to calmourselves down. The great thing
(16:53):
about breathing is that ifyou're paying attention to your
breathing, by definition, youare present. You are in the
moment, because your breathingis happening right now. And
that's a good place to be. Ifyou're focused on your
breathing, you probably can't bethinking too much about
something that's happenedbefore, nor about something that
(17:13):
might happen in the future.
You're here. You're now. Soas far as breathing techniques
go it sounds like we don'treally have to focus on say how
many seconds we should inhale orhow long we should hold a
breath. It's more about focusingon how we feel with each breath.
Indeed, there are all kinds ofdifferent recommendations on the
(17:35):
length of inhale versus lengthof exhale versus holding those
are all fine to practice. Ispend 15 minutes every morning
just sitting quietly, activelyworking my breathing muscles.
And I think I'm typically acount of eight in and a count of
eight out. But the numbersaren't all that crucial. It's
(18:01):
are you taking control ofyourself, or are you let the
situation? Are you letting thesituation take control of you?
That's the crucial part.
The next time you're sidelinedby a headache or backache, take
some ibuprofen and listen toclassical music. The Journal
frontiers in neurology foundthat combination increases the
effects of over the counter painrelievers by 93% study subjects
(18:26):
who took a pain reliever andlistened to Mozart had a greater
reduction in their painresponse, and it worked faster.
The experts say it works becauseclassical music boosts the
production of a brain proteincalled BDNF that reduces pain
sensitivity, plus classicalmusic taps into our
parasympathetic nervous system,lowering heart rate and blood
(18:47):
pressure and stabilizing bloodsugar. So classical music makes
it much easier for our body toabsorb medications, which makes
them more effective. So try someibuprofen with a side of Mozart.
The next time you need to stop aheadache cold, here's an email I
received at Connie atintelligence for your
health.com. It comes from DaveBurke, who writes, I joined a
(19:10):
gym for the new year. What isthe best machine to use for
overall fitness? I want to makethe most of my workout. Well,
Dave, experts from Ohio StateUniversity say the rowing
machine gives the best workoutat the gym. First, you don't
have to already be in shape touse it. You can adjust the
resistance to your preference.
Another benefit of a rowingmachine, it's an all over body
(19:31):
workout that boosts yourcardiovascular health and
endurance. Other machines targetjust your arms or legs, but the
rowing machine works yourshoulders, your chest, arms,
back, core, glutes, quads andcalves all at once. So it's a
great machine to use if you'reshort on time and want to
maximize your workout. Rowingburns roughly 500 calories an
(19:54):
hour. That's about double whatyou'd burn walking on a
treadmill. And even though itworks out your entire body, it
is gentle since you're sitting,it's low impact and doesn't
stress your joints, plus it'sgood for stress. Rowing at a
moderate pace of seven miles perhour relaxes muscles in a way
that counteracts tension. Thanksfor your email, Dave. I hope
(20:15):
this helps. Okay, listen to thisif you're outside in frigid
weather, protect yourself froman asthma attack. Dr James
Wegner is an asthma expert atWashington University in St
Louis, and he says there's sucha thing as winter asthma, and
for many people, asthma attacksmay happen more often in the
winter. That's because cold aircan narrow the passageways to
(20:39):
your lungs and cold, dry air canmake the muscles inside your
throat start to spasm, so wear ascarf around your mouth and nose
that'll heat up the air beforeit gets into your lungs, so it
won't shut down your airway. Ifyou reach for high fat comfort
foods when you're stressed, youare not alone. But we now know
that eating high fat foods whenyou're stressed can lead to more
(21:02):
weight gain than eating thosevery same foods when you are not
stressed. That's according to anew study in the journal Cell
Metabolism. What happens isthis, when we're stressed, our
brain increases production of amolecule that prompts us to not
only eat more, it also reducesthe amount of calories we burn
for energy. In short, thisstress induced molecule leads us
(21:26):
to gain weight. So save comfortfoods for when you're feeling
good and relaxed and when you'restressed. Reach for foods that
give your body the nutrients itneeds to battle tension, like
fresh produce. In fact, a studyin the journal Social Science
and Medicine found that gettingone extra serving of produce
every day has a powerfulsoothing effect, and people
(21:49):
reported higher mental wellbeing after eating one extra
serving of produce. So the truecomfort food is produce, and it
won't make you gain weight whenyou're stressed, more
intelligence for your health.
From Dr Nate Zinser, author ofthe new book The Confident mind,
and one of the strategies herecommends for building more
(22:10):
confidence is visualization,where you simply imagine what
it'll be like, performing atyour best and being successful.
And while visualizationtechniques can vary from person
to person. Dr Zinser saysthere's one rule you absolutely
must follow, always close youreyes.
Well, if we want to envision aquality performance, we kind of
(22:34):
have to shut out what's in frontof us at the moment, because we
are indeed time traveling. We'regoing into the future. So let's
create a nice gray or blackslate in front of us, and now
let's get the theater of themind working. Let's get that
fantastic Go Pro perspectivevideo playing right in front of
(22:56):
us, living color, surroundsound, great special effects. I
think it's useful to close youreyes when you really want to
create something in your ownmind that is not what's right in
front of you at the moment.
That's it for our show today,our special intelligence for
your health with Connie Selig,edition of the podcast, I'm Gib
Gerard. Don't forget to ratecomment and subscribe on Apple
(23:17):
podcast. Spotify, wherever youget your podcast. It helps us
out a lot. And also you canreach out to us on social media.
On social media. All of ourlinks are listed down in the
show notes. We try to respond toevery DM, every mention of the
show, because ultimately, we dothe show for you guys. So thank
you so much for listening. You.
Gib, hello and welcome to another edition of
the podcast. I'm Gib Gerard herewith another special
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica. Edition of
the podcast this week, her guestis none other than Dr Nate
Zinser, he's the director of theperformance psychology program
at West Point, all kinds of tipscoming at you for boosting
confidence in any situation. Sothat's I think we all need that.
(00:29):
I know I do. All right, here wego, without further ado. Here is
intelligence for your health.
With Connie Celica,your favorite hobby is good for
your health. For example,gardening or even just caring
for plants inside your home,increases your heart rate,
challenges your muscles andimproves joint mobility. Playing
backgammon or scrabble spurs newconnections between brain cells,
(00:51):
reducing your risk of dementia.
The rhythmic movement ofknitting relaxes you the same
way meditation and yoga do andscrapbooking stimulates areas of
the brain responsible forintelligence and memory. The
foods you eat have a huge impacton your lifespan. In fact, a
(01:11):
study from the University ofMichigan found that even one
serving of some foods canincrease your lifespan by up to
80 minutes or decrease it byover an hour, the researchers
developed a nutritional indexranking nearly 6000 foods based
on their impact on our lifeexpectancy, right down to the
minutes gained or lost ofhealthy, good quality, disease
(01:35):
free life per serving overallsugary drinks, fried foods and
processed meats like ham, baconand hot dogs were linked to the
most minutes of healthy lifelost. For example, a serving of
chicken wings translated tothree minutes of life lost from
the sodium and trans fats, and asingle beef hot dog translated
(01:56):
to 36 minutes lost, mostly fromthe detrimental effects of
processed meat at the otherextreme, fish, fruit, vegetables
and whole grains were linked tothe largest gains in longevity.
For example, baked salmon orrice and beans added about 12
minutes to a healthy life, and aserving of nuts added about 33
(02:18):
minutes. So what's the easiestway to eat your way to a longer
life? The researchers saytrading just 10% of your daily
calories from junk food andprocessed meats for fruits,
vegetables, nuts, beans and fishcould add 48 minutes to your
lifespan every single day, timeto book that ski vacation,
(02:41):
according to research, skiingmakes people happier and
healthier. The study waspublished in the journal applied
research in quality of life, andit found that the pleasure
gained from a ski trip is enoughto improve a person's overall
happiness, even if they only getto the mountains. Occasionally,
the skiers who got the mostbenefits were those who became
most engaged in the activity andwho forgot everything else in
(03:05):
their lives while they were onthe slopes, the researchers
found that even a one time skitrip had a positive impact on
participants. They also foundthat skiers showed a greater
level of enjoyment in theiractivity than snowboarders. How
do you normally spend the lasthour of your day before bed,
watching TV, reading, checkingemail? You may want to adopt
(03:28):
what sleep expert Michael Brucecalls a power down hour. It
refers to breaking up the lasthour before bed into three
crucial 20 minute segments.
First, spend 20 minutespreparing for the next day, say,
by packing lunches for yourkids, choosing the outfit you'll
be wearing, and writing down alist of the top tasks you'll
need to conquer. Dr Bruce says,The more prepared you feel
(03:50):
before bed, the more relaxedyou'll feel in bed. Also devote
20 minutes to personal hygiene,that includes brushing and
flossing, showering and anyother routine that helps you
feel your best before bed,having a wind down routine
primes your brain to get intosleep mode. Finally, Dr Bruce
recommends devoting the last 20minutes of your power down hour
(04:13):
to relaxing, whatever that meansto you, from reading to
meditating to not watching thenews. So again from sleep doctor
Michael Bruce, devote your powerdown hour to 20 minutes of
preparing, 20 minutes of hygieneplus 20 minutes of relaxing.
Okay, listen to this. If youwant to start working out more,
(04:34):
tell yourself I'm an exerciseror I'm a runner, instead of
telling yourself I'm going toexercise or I'm going to run,
according to the journal selfand identity, when people used
that strategy, they were betterat sticking to an exercise
regimen. That's because you'regiving yourself an identity, not
just a command, and that makesyou feel like exercising is part
(04:56):
of who you are. It also makesyou. Feel like you belong to a
community of exercisers orrunners, and feeling that you're
part of an active tribe makesyou more motivated to keep up.
Today, our special guest is DrNate Zinser, director of the
performance psychology programat West Point. He's got a new
book out called the confidentmind, and he says one of the
(05:18):
most powerful ways to build andmaintain our own confidence is
with positive or constructiveself talk. But many times, we
talk ourselves out of being moreconfident with negative
thoughts, like, I can't do thisor I'll never be good enough. So
I asked Dr z where our tendencyfor negative self talk comes
from,to a certain degree. There is
(05:39):
some evidence to suggest that weare wired, at least partially,
to be somewhat negative and tobe aware of the things that can
and often do go wrong. There'sevidence to suggest that because
our prehistoric lives wererather uncertain. That we're
(06:01):
wired that way to anticipatesome stuff going wrong, so we're
a little bit more vigilantabout, you know, potential
threats, because the majority ofour human history was spent in
very uncertain situations. Nowthat is long gone in terms of
our ability to feed ourselves,close ourselves, etc, but we
(06:22):
still have some of thatprimitive wiring operating. I
would say, however, that by farthe most powerful source of this
tendency to be negative isindeed social. We are criticized
at an early age. Our incorrectanswers on the spelling test
(06:44):
tend to be the ones that arehighlighted with the red pencil.
So the answer to your questionis, it's a little bit biology,
but it is much more sociologyand societal
today, we're talking to Dr NateZinser, director of the
performance psychology programat West Point, and he was just
(07:05):
saying that many of us are wiredto engage in negative self talk,
because focusing on potentialthreats and failures is part of
how we survive. But in order tobuild up our confidence, Dr
Zinser says we need to fill ourmind with positive, encouraging
and constructive self talk, andthe more specific our self talk,
(07:26):
thebetter. I'm not a big fan of the
more general, generic, so calledpositive self talk points. I'm
getting better every day inevery way I think people can do
a better job making it morepersonal and more specific to
their desired outcomes. I amsmooth and graceful coming out
(07:47):
of the starting blocks. Ifyou're a sprinter, I easily read
the movement of the safetieswhen you're a quarterback. I am
calm and in control during themost intense moments of the
heart transplant surgery. Soit's really a matter of thinking
(08:08):
about what's a skill that youwant to have, what's a quality
that you want to have, what's anoutcome that you want to have,
and you phrase a statement aboutit in the first person in the
present tense, with affirmativelanguage for each of those so
that you were affirming. Iachieve this outcome, I display
(08:30):
this quality, I possess thisskill, and I bring it forward in
each and every situation.
Here's a fun way to boost yourimmune system play a game like
Scrabble. According to a UCLAstudy, your body sees
competition, even in a boardgame, as something it might need
to defend itself against. Thatincreases immune cell function,
(08:53):
making them more active. Soimmune cells move more quickly
into the bloodstream, where theyspread throughout your body, and
that protects you from illnesscausing pathogens, so play a
friendly game against someone toboost your immune system.
Today's medical term prolongedgrief disorder, or PGD, that's a
newly recognized mental healthcondition that refers to having
(09:16):
unusually persistent symptoms ofgrief. And while there's no such
thing as a normal time frame forgrieving, PGD is typically
diagnosed when grieving lasts atleast six months in children or
more than a year in adults. Andit's not necessarily that you're
still crying and sobbing all thetime. In fact, many people with
(09:36):
PGD report feeling no emotions.
They just have a generalnumbness or a sense of disbelief
related to their loss that willnot go away, and you may also
feel some guilt over the factyou're not getting over your
grief. According to the AmericanPsychiatric Association,
prolonged grief disorder usuallycomes from the fact that some
(09:57):
deaths or. Makeups are so suddenand unexpected it's almost
impossible to get properclosure, and we feel like
there's unfinished business. Butremember, there's no right or
wrong way to grieve, and if youthink you're experiencing PGD,
you may want to think aboutseeking counseling or joining a
grief support group, and that'stoday's medical term, prolonged
(10:20):
grief disorder. Here's thedefinitive answer, should you
cover a cut or let it breathe?
Cover it. So says a report fromthe Academy of Dermatology, they
found cuts heal 40% faster whenthey're covered with a germ
killing ointment and a bandage.
If cold weather is getting toyou, you can warm up by
(10:41):
increasing your circulation.
Here are three ways to do that.
First, you can warm up with acup of hot cocoa, not just
because it's physically warm,but because the cocoa boosts
circulation. According toHarvard researchers, study
participants who did nothing butsip a mug of cocoa every day,
increased their circulation by10% in two weeks. Cardiologist
(11:03):
Dr Stephen Gundry says it's dueto the polyphenols in cocoa
powder, which dilate bloodvessels and increase blood flow
from your toes to your brain.
Another way to warm up watch acomedy. The University of
Maryland School of Medicine sayslaughing increases blood flow by
(11:23):
35% which is similar to anaerobic workout. One final way
to get your circulation goingand warm up, eat some
pomegranate seeds. Theantioxidants in the seeds
increase blood flow by 17% allyou need is a half cup of seeds,
or three ounces of purepomegranate juice a day. Okay,
(11:45):
listen to this. So you blew yourdiet and had three pieces of
pizza for lunch. Cut yourselfsome slack and move on. Research
in the Journal of ConsumerPsychology found that beating
yourself up about diet mistakesincreases the chance that you'll
repeat the mistake by over 20%that's because when we dwell on
our slip ups, it creates selfdoubt. We see it as a personal
(12:09):
flaw, and that depletes ourwillpower, so we're more likely
to eat half a gallon of icecream after that pizza binge. So
acknowledge your mistake,forgive yourself and move on,
you'll be less likely to do itagain, back with more health
intelligence from Dr NateZinser, director of the
performance psychology programat West Point. And have you ever
(12:31):
been in a situation where yourtalents and skills suddenly
abandon you when the pressure ison, like when the best player in
a basketball game suddenly can'thit a single free throw.
Athletes often refer to that asgetting a case of the yips. So I
asked Dr z where they comefrom. I think it's generally a
lack of confidence at thatmoment of truth. Suddenly their
(12:52):
certainty about themselves takesa back seat. They are in a
position to sink the putt, sinkthe free throw, make a wonderful
closing argument, and suddenlythey get the thought, what if I
mess this up? I've really got todo this right. And that second
guessing, that tension createsjust enough of a wiggle in their
(13:14):
hands or their feet or theirtongue and they misspeak or
create a mistake. In order toprevent that, man, you got to be
really good at being aware ofyour own self talk, and should
those doubting statements comeup, which they do, even for the
(13:36):
best of us, you got to be ableto acknowledge them. Oh, yeah.
Oh, here comes an attack. Stopit and then replace it with some
kind of thought like, well, I'vedone this a million times
before, or let's see how well Ican do it right now. And that
way the tension tends to recedea little bit to the point of
allowing your skills to expressthemselves most fully
(14:02):
back with more healthintelligence from Dr Nate
Zinser, author of the confidentmind, and he was just saying
that in order to avoid gettingthe yips or choking when the
pressure is on, we need to getreally good at recognizing our
own negative self talk And thenreplace our unhelpful thoughts
with something more positive. SoI asked Dr Zinser what he
(14:24):
recommends to get that processstarted.
Well, the most important stepthat I recommend to get going is
to start building up a consciousawareness of a lot of your
previous successes. A lot ofyour well developed abilities,
have a greater awareness andappreciation of how far you have
(14:47):
come and what kind of skillsthat you've developed. You know,
in the case of the golfer or thebasketball shooter, who's got a
Yip once in a while, well, theyseem to have forgotten all the
time. Times that they've done itwell, I asked my clients to
develop a list of their mostsuccessful moments, and I asked
(15:07):
them to screen their memoriesday in and day out, looking for
little examples of qualityeffort and small success and
indeed progress week by week, sothat they have this accumulated
sense of how good they can be,and that allows them to be more
certain of themselves when it'stime to sink that clutch putt.
(15:30):
A big reason a lot of peoplehave trouble falling asleep is
that they put too much pressureon themselves. It's known as
learned insomnia, and it happenswhen you worry so much about
whether or not you'll be able tofall asleep that you can't. Then
the next night, you startworrying again, leading to
increased stress before bed.
Pretty soon, it becomes aconditioned psychological
(15:51):
response, and every time youeven think about going to bed,
it ratchets up your stress. Sostop pressuring yourself to fall
asleep. In fact, force yourselfto stay awake. When you focus on
staying awake, it frees you fromsleep anxiety, and people who
use that technique fall asleepfaster than those who don't.
(16:12):
More intelligence for yourhealth. From Dr Nate Zinser,
director of the performancepsychology program at West
Point. If you'd like to knowmore about him or his new book,
The Confident mind, check out.
Nate zinser.com His name isspelled z, I N, S, S, E, R, and
(16:32):
typically, before any bigpressure situation, whether it's
giving a presentation at work orwanting to perform our best in a
game, we're taught to take adeep breath. So I asked Dr
Zinser how that simple move,just breathing, helps make us
more confident. We allknow it's important to take a
deep breath in order to calmourselves down. The great thing
(16:53):
about breathing is that ifyou're paying attention to your
breathing, by definition, youare present. You are in the
moment, because your breathingis happening right now. And
that's a good place to be. Ifyou're focused on your
breathing, you probably can't bethinking too much about
something that's happenedbefore, nor about something that
(17:13):
might happen in the future.
You're here. You're now. Soas far as breathing techniques
go it sounds like we don'treally have to focus on say how
many seconds we should inhale orhow long we should hold a
breath. It's more about focusingon how we feel with each breath.
Indeed, there are all kinds ofdifferent recommendations on the
(17:35):
length of inhale versus lengthof exhale versus holding those
are all fine to practice. Ispend 15 minutes every morning
just sitting quietly, activelyworking my breathing muscles.
And I think I'm typically acount of eight in and a count of
eight out. But the numbersaren't all that crucial. It's
(18:01):
are you taking control ofyourself, or are you let the
situation? Are you letting thesituation take control of you?
That's the crucial part.
The next time you're sidelinedby a headache or backache, take
some ibuprofen and listen toclassical music. The Journal
frontiers in neurology foundthat combination increases the
effects of over the counter painrelievers by 93% study subjects
(18:26):
who took a pain reliever andlistened to Mozart had a greater
reduction in their painresponse, and it worked faster.
The experts say it works becauseclassical music boosts the
production of a brain proteincalled BDNF that reduces pain
sensitivity, plus classicalmusic taps into our
parasympathetic nervous system,lowering heart rate and blood
(18:47):
pressure and stabilizing bloodsugar. So classical music makes
it much easier for our body toabsorb medications, which makes
them more effective. So try someibuprofen with a side of Mozart.
The next time you need to stop aheadache cold, here's an email I
received at Connie atintelligence for your
health.com. It comes from DaveBurke, who writes, I joined a
(19:10):
gym for the new year. What isthe best machine to use for
overall fitness? I want to makethe most of my workout. Well,
Dave, experts from Ohio StateUniversity say the rowing
machine gives the best workoutat the gym. First, you don't
have to already be in shape touse it. You can adjust the
resistance to your preference.
Another benefit of a rowingmachine, it's an all over body
(19:31):
workout that boosts yourcardiovascular health and
endurance. Other machines targetjust your arms or legs, but the
rowing machine works yourshoulders, your chest, arms,
back, core, glutes, quads andcalves all at once. So it's a
great machine to use if you'reshort on time and want to
maximize your workout. Rowingburns roughly 500 calories an
(19:54):
hour. That's about double whatyou'd burn walking on a
treadmill. And even though itworks out your entire body, it
is gentle since you're sitting,it's low impact and doesn't
stress your joints, plus it'sgood for stress. Rowing at a
moderate pace of seven miles perhour relaxes muscles in a way
that counteracts tension. Thanksfor your email, Dave. I hope
(20:15):
this helps. Okay, listen to thisif you're outside in frigid
weather, protect yourself froman asthma attack. Dr James
Wegner is an asthma expert atWashington University in St
Louis, and he says there's sucha thing as winter asthma, and
for many people, asthma attacksmay happen more often in the
winter. That's because cold aircan narrow the passageways to
(20:39):
your lungs and cold, dry air canmake the muscles inside your
throat start to spasm, so wear ascarf around your mouth and nose
that'll heat up the air beforeit gets into your lungs, so it
won't shut down your airway. Ifyou reach for high fat comfort
foods when you're stressed, youare not alone. But we now know
that eating high fat foods whenyou're stressed can lead to more
(21:02):
weight gain than eating thosevery same foods when you are not
stressed. That's according to anew study in the journal Cell
Metabolism. What happens isthis, when we're stressed, our
brain increases production of amolecule that prompts us to not
only eat more, it also reducesthe amount of calories we burn
for energy. In short, thisstress induced molecule leads us
(21:26):
to gain weight. So save comfortfoods for when you're feeling
good and relaxed and when you'restressed. Reach for foods that
give your body the nutrients itneeds to battle tension, like
fresh produce. In fact, a studyin the journal Social Science
and Medicine found that gettingone extra serving of produce
every day has a powerfulsoothing effect, and people
(21:49):
reported higher mental wellbeing after eating one extra
serving of produce. So the truecomfort food is produce, and it
won't make you gain weight whenyou're stressed, more
intelligence for your health.
From Dr Nate Zinser, author ofthe new book The Confident mind,
and one of the strategies herecommends for building more
(22:10):
confidence is visualization,where you simply imagine what
it'll be like, performing atyour best and being successful.
And while visualizationtechniques can vary from person
to person. Dr Zinser saysthere's one rule you absolutely
must follow, always close youreyes.
Well, if we want to envision aquality performance, we kind of
(22:34):
have to shut out what's in frontof us at the moment, because we
are indeed time traveling. We'regoing into the future. So let's
create a nice gray or blackslate in front of us, and now
let's get the theater of themind working. Let's get that
fantastic Go Pro perspectivevideo playing right in front of
(22:56):
us, living color, surroundsound, great special effects. I
think it's useful to close youreyes when you really want to
create something in your ownmind that is not what's right in
front of you at the moment.
That's it for our show today,our special intelligence for
your health with Connie Selig,edition of the podcast, I'm Gib
Gerard. Don't forget to ratecomment and subscribe on Apple
(23:17):
podcast. Spotify, wherever youget your podcast. It helps us
out a lot. And also you canreach out to us on social media.
On social media. All of ourlinks are listed down in the
show notes. We try to respond toevery DM, every mention of the
show, because ultimately, we dothe show for you guys. So thank
you so much for listening. You.
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