I didn’t teach my Nia class today, I had a wedding to go to. I love weddings. About five years ago I was sad because I thought we were done going to weddings because most of my friends were married. Then about a year ago it dawned on me that the young friends that we have would be getting married eventually, plus there are kids of friends and relatives that would be getting married. That made me happy. I love weddings. Weddings are so wonderful because they are about love, they are about expression of love and expression of oneself and the couple. People can do whatever they want for weddings and that is one of the things I love. You love to scuba dive, get married under water! You love to sky dive, do a jump ceremony! You love horses, get married on horseback! You love dogs, let your dog be the ring bearer! You love to dance, have a reception filled with dancing! Whatever your hobby, it can be the theme of the reception. Whatever you want, you can do. It is basically a reflection of the couple. A lot of the time current trends have an impact and people might do the latest thing, but some people do the traditional wedding and reception. Whatever the case as long as it is what the couple wants then that is what makes it so special.
Often weddings are in the evening, but this one was at the same time as my Nia class so I couldn’t teach and then rush off to the wedding. The wedding was in the morning, at 10:15 am. (Wow! Now that I think about it, I think this is the first wedding I have ever been to that started on time! Wow. I just realized that.) It is my opinion that they could not have asked for a better day weather-wise. It was so gorgeous. There was not a cloud in the sky. The sky was clear and blue. The ceremony was performed out in the open so the sun was shining, but there was enough of a cool breeze that kept if from getting too hot in the sun. It was just perfect. The setting was amazing. It is somewhat of a local place that I had never even heard of. It is a gorgeous spot. The Pulgas Water Temple.
After the ceremony the reception was held at the same place that my husband and I got married and had our reception fourteen years ago. It was so nice to see how the place and “grown” and thrived. The bride’s room is full of glass cases where they have a favor from the weddings and receptions they hold there. I spotted ours, but the picture didn’t come out.
The real reason I am posting about this wedding is they did something so lovely at the reception I wanted to share. I have never seen this done and I loved it so much I wanted to put it out there. After the bouquet toss, they called all the married couples to the dance floor. Then they invited all of us to dance including the bride and groom. Then the DJ started calling off years. Asking who had been married less than . . . . as they called the number of years couples left the dance floor. So at the end the couple married the longest was left dancing with the bride and groom. This might be a tradition of the reception hall because the couple that remained received a bottle of champagne from the bride and groom “and Freedom Hall and Gardens” I thought it was so cute. So special. It is a reminder that marriages can last.
The couple that remained was the grooms grandparents. They have been married 61 years. That is definitely something to celebrate and deserves a bottle of champagne. Of course, it didn’t even cross my mind that I would be posting about it so I didn’t take a picture of them. But it really was special. I love this idea!
The day was gorgeous, the wedding locations was gorgeous, the reception hall was gorgeous, the bride was gorgeous, it was all just gorgeous. And I really loved the “married couple dance”. I look forward to the day when my husband and I are the last ones remaining on the dance floor for this very special dance.
I have a friend on FB who works really hard to feed her family healthy things. I think there are food allergies and intolerances involved so she has to be very particular with what she feeds her family. Often times she posts some pretty creative cooking ideas. One thing she is always asking about is greens. How do you cook your greens? She usually states which green she is working with but she always comes back with, “It is so bitter.” Now some of the greens she says are bitter taste a little bitter to me, but with olive oil, salt, garlic, and onion the flavor is masked. Some of them she claims are bitter aren’t bitter to me. I really think that the bitter taste has less to do with which vegetable than with our genes.
Back in 1931 a chemist (Arthur Fox) was pouring a powdered chemical (PTC) and some of its dust got in the air. His assistant said the dust tasted bitter, while he couldn’t taste anything. The chemist proceeded to experiment with PTC and the taste on his friends and family. Some could taste a strong bitter taste, while some could taste a mild bitter taste, while some could taste nothing at all. Seventy-two years later in 2003 the gene that is responsible for this was discovered. They call it the PTC gene or TAS2R38. This gene has seven forms, five of which are rare, and two of which are common. The two common forms are the ones that allow for tasting bitter and one that does not. Since all genes come in pairs we can end up with both being the tasting gene, or both being the non-tasting gene, or one of each.
If an individual ends up with both of the genes that allow for them to taste PTC then they will be able to taste bitter things more strongly than others. If an individual has the genes that are the “non-tasting” genes then they don’t taste bitter. Then there are the individuals that have one of each. It has been found that there is a familial link, if some family members can taste the PTC than other can too.
I would imagine that if an individual has a set of bitter-taste genes then it would be almost impossible to cover up the bitter taste of many vegetables. I am thinking that my friend and her family must have a set of those genes because she says she has cooked some veggies a multitude of ways and her comment is still, “It is so bitter.” Probably the only way to deal with the bitter is to cover it up entirely in a sauce but then that would somewhat defeat the purpose of trying to eat a nice green healthy vegetable. Plus I would bet that most of the sauces contain ingredients she is trying to avoid. She is determined though. She knows that the bitter vegetables have really good stuff in them so she keeps trying. In the meantime her family is still getting the nutrients even though it is bitter and doesn’t taste good.
There are test strips that can be purchased to see which gene you have. I found some on Amazon. Interesting, huh?
Do you have a good sense of taste? Do you taste bitter really strongly?
After teaching Nia a couple of weeks ago I realized I had a knot in my back. It was one of those things that felt fine while I was moving. So in my Nia class I didn’t notice it. When I was moving about the house I didn’t notice. When I stopped moving is when it starting hurting. It was one of those body issues that is so uncomfortable it is painful. I mean no matter which position I sat in, stood in, lied in, it was there. It was painfully annoying. I believe I tend to hold my stress there. I have posted about this “spot” before. I tried using a ball to rub it out. I asked my husband to massage it. Both helped but it came back the next day. It even kept me awake the next morning. I just wanted a few more minutes of sleep but my muscle was saying, no.
I had noticed when my husband was trying to work out the knot I had the strangest sensation. The spot of the pain was right beneath my shoulder blade but when he was pressing on it a tingling poking kind of sensation travelled up my entire shoulder blade. I thought that was very odd. I thought the muscle must contain a lot of nerves that run along the scapula. I thought it was odd that I had this disbursing sensation over my shoulder blade.
That was over the weekend and after Nia class on Monday one of my Nia students, a physical therapist, said she would look at it. She found the knot – as it was easy to feel and she began working on it. She said it was fascia! Ahhhhh! That explains why when my husband was trying to rub it out think it was a knot in the muscle I was sensing it all over my shoulder blade. (Wiki: “A fascia is a structure of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, binding some structures together, while permitting others to slide smoothly over each other.”) She pressed on both ends of it and was able to work it out. The next day it was sore, but I used the ball and it has been fine since. Fascia is fascinating. Fascia is the yellow stuff that is sometime still connected to chicken breast. And I am sure if you work with whole chickens you can see it too.
Here is a video about “fuzzy” fascia. Below the video on YouTube, Gil Hedley has noted that since the video was made in 2005 he has somewhat changed his ideas a little bit. But the video itself is still fascinating as it shows you the fascia in the body.
WARNING this video is of a cadaver. Mr. Hedley is using it to show what fascia is. He stated in his updated write up “ . . . it is normal for there to be “fuzzy” tissue between “individual muscles” within the muscle layer. As with all tissues of the body, all the matter of which it consists is transitioning at various paces, some quicker, some more slowly. “Fuzzy” tissues indeed cycle more quickly then some more dense tissues.”
As we know it is not just keeping our fascia mobile as the reason for moving, but it is interesting to see another part of our bodies that benefit from movement. I knew about fascia before discovering Nia, but I was introduced to Gil Hedley via Nia. Nia often makes the scientific connections in our continued education. There is a lot of continuing education material that deal with anatomy. Moving our fascia is just one reason why we dance.
A post ago I posted about Healing Sounds. In Nia classes participants are encouraged to make noise or what we call sound. One reason to sound is to let the teacher of the class know you are breathing. This holds true for many exercise classes. Wanting students/participants to be breathing holds true for all teachers. There are a lot of reasons to sound, it does not have to be for healing or feeling better. But as I stated in that post, I just happened to come across that information and those sounds so I thought it would be fun to bring the list to class and use them as a focus.
The first time we used the Healing Sounds in a Nia Class, I had written each sound down on a separate piece of paper and I taped them to the mirror. Before class I verbally reviewed each sound. Our focus was the Healing Sounds with an intent of bringing some healing. I invited the participants to make these noises during class. The general invitation was to make them any way; they could breath in and make the noise on one long exhale, they could make them quick and staccato, they could make the tone high or low. Whatever they wanted. Whatever they felt. As with most focuses I do bring them into play specifically at times so when we were punching or kicking I might have encouraged them to make loud and forceful sounds. I encouraged them at one point to try each sound. I also had them play with saying a sound at least six times as was mentioned in the information I had found. For my own practice I know that I used the sounds in a pattern and as with many things when one person does it others follow. So we did a lot of lead and follow with sound as each person thought of different ways to use the sounds. It was very fun.
After the class I read to them what the sounds were related to and what they assisted with. It was very fascinating. Some commented that they had been drawn to a particular sound and they could see how that would be an area in which assistance would be appreciated. Some had fun doing a good job of using all the sounds. Some admitted that some sounds were more fun to make than others.
The most recent time that I used the healing sounds I again taped up the papers with each sound written on it. But this time I read the information before class. So the participants were aware of what each sound was prior to dancing. The focus and intent were the same, but with the knowledge of what each sound assisted with some Nia students decided to focus on the specific sounds they felt would help them. Again we had the freedom of how to make the sound and when to make it. It is so exhilarating to hear my students weave sounding into the dance and to hear them make the sounds in their own way.
This second time around it was rewarding to hear my students say, “Yay! I was just thinking about the healing sounds and hoping you would do them again soon.” So they enjoyed it the first time and were looking forward to it.
I think I just decided today that with each routine I teach, with each round, I am going to do at least one class at each location (Willow Glen San Jose, Campbell, and Blossom Hill San Jose) where the focus is the healing sounds. Whether the belief is that they actually heal or not we all have a lot of fun with it. And they are sounds that my class actually make!
You don’t have to be in a Nia class to experiment with the sounds. Have you used them?
To me life is about learning. I have learned a few things since I started my Nia Class on Monday in Campbell in the evenings and my Nia Class on Saturday. It is much better for me to have Monday’s dinner cooked on Sunday. So I have been planning my weekend meals so that I have leftovers on Monday. You may have noticed that I didn’t post anything last Saturday . . . . lesson learned: I need to make sure my Saturday post is done on Friday. I have too many other things to do when I get home from my 10:00 am Nia Class. It ends at 11:00 so I don’t get home until 11:30 (at the earliest) or noon! So I really need to have my post done because the next thing I know it is 1:48 am on Sunday morning and I am just noticing I forgot to post on my blog. 😦 Well, it was only the second time I forgot. The first time also was a Saturday. This past week the weather has been gorgeous here in San Jose. I haven’t spent much time lately getting any pictures of our yard happenings. This past week while the weather was cool and nice I took a few. I thought I would share some with you. It has been awhile since I have shared some fun pictures on my blog.
This guy has an injured foot. I noticed his injury about the same time I hurt my foot. I try to keep an eye on him and make sure he gets some nuts. And he makes sure I know he wants nuts. He will find a spot where he can look in a window at me and stare. He will stare at me until I go outside and give him some peanuts.
He is doing that now. Staring. Of course, I went outside and gave him some nuts. Did you notice how clear the sky is?
Sometimes the squirrels drop whatever it is once they get it up to the roof. There is often fruit in our yard that doesn’t blog to any tree we have.
Here is a picture of the cat enjoying the sun. She will stay in the sun for a bit, then get too hot and move.
The blue jay was getting some nuts. I took a few shots “through” the chair then I went out and turned it so I could get a clear shot. And of course I sat there for a long time waiting. I got bored with staring at my camera at a peanut filled chair so I started taking pictures of the cat. What happens? The blue jay sneaks back while I wasn’t paying attention. But I managed to get a few.
Of course the squirrels wanted some too!
I wanted to get some shots of our blooming rose bush. A while back I was unhappy with the wilderness that was out the window so I went outside and did some pruning. It was completely “Edward Scissorhands” style as I just took the saw and went right and left and left and right and up and down and down and up and all around. I just wanted all the wildness gone. So I was very concerned that I wrecked the bush. So when I saw one rose I was very happy. And now that the whole bush is blooming I am really happy and wanting to share. I’ve posted about how weird our roses are. But I still like them, even though they start out really sunset orange and then fade to a washed out peach. They SMELL really good.
One bush has a single flower on it. The single flower is pictured below.
Well, thank you for stopping by and visiting our yard. We enjoy the entertainment the wildlife offers and the beauty that the flowers share with us. I hope you did too.
Do you have a flower garden? Do you have a vegetable garden? Fruit trees? Does any wildlife visit your yard?
In a Nia class the participants are encouraged to make sounds. There are many reasons to make sounds while you are working out. One, is to ensure breathing. As you are making a sound there is air going out, and in order to repeat it, there has to be air that was inhaled. So making sounds during an exercise class is a great way to let the teacher know there is breathing going on. There are also specific sounds related to specific things, but we don’t always have to be so particular. Sometimes just any sound will do. I did a post on Sounding in July of 2009. That is when I was brand new to Nia and new to teaching. I was still learning to be vocal. I had no probably being vocal as I was teaching but as a student I didn’t always participate. So I believe I understand some of the reasons a person might not want to sound and some of those reasons are the very reasons we SHOULD be making noise. All of these points can easily lead to additional posts, and they just might (a sounding series?), but for this post I am going to share what I found a while ago about healing sounds.
There are sounds associated with the chakras so a while back I was thinking I could bring a list of them to my Nia classes and I could use them to encourage my Nia students to sound. But I found a different list instead. Before I share the information with you I want you to play along with me. Pick one sound from the six below. Just pick one that appeals to you right now as you are reading it. Don’t think, just pick one.
SHOO, HAA, HOO, SSS, FOO, and SHEE.
Now keep playing along with me. Inhale and then say the sound you picked out loud on the exhale. Now do that six times. How do you feel?
Well, according to Sales Creators, a business problem solving company, the above sounds are healing sounds related to specific problems or issues. As I mentioned I had wanted to find some sounds that we could make in my Nia classes that would be fun and associated with chakras. As I was looking I discovered this information. At the time I didn’t know it was from a company that helped with business problems, I just discovered that now as I tried to locate the source of my information. In glancing quickly at the website, it looks pretty interesting. They actually speak to wellness of the entire person. What? REALLY? On a sales and marketing consulting company’s website? Yes.
Anyway here is what the information said in summary.
SHOO is a sound that helps alleviate problems associated with a sense of depression. The information states that you will feel better after having repeated it six times. The liver and the gall bladder is positively affected by the vibration of this sound.
HAA helps alleviate anger and helps calm the heart and regulate the small intestine.
HOO is a body temperature regulating sound. It helps one to not become too cold and balances the spleen, pancreas, and stomach.
SSS is a balance sound. SSS helps to regain equilibrium in the nervous system and the body. The vibration of this sound cleanses the lungs and regulates the large intestine.
FOO is another body temperature regulating sound but this one helps with a high body temperature. So to me is sounds as if you are typically hot making this sound will help cool you down. This sound is said to stabilize the kidneys, bladder, and adrenal glands.
SHEE helps relieve stress, tension, and anxiety. The instructions say that if you are under stress make this sound 36 times. It helps with regulating the blood circulatory systems and the central nervous system.
I truly believe that vibrations affect us, so to me it makes sense that certain ones would affect us in certain ways. I was hoping that without your knowledge, without you thinking about it you would gravitate to one of the sounds that would help you.
So, did the sound you randomly picked match up to what you were feeling? And now that you know what is associated with each sound are they a few you might want to try out?What do you think about vibrations and healing sounds?
Have you ever heard about doing a random act of kindness? We are often encouraged to commit acts of kindness. The acts can be simple and they could be random. Pay the toll on the bridge for the person behind you, pay for the coffee for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop, help someone whose car is broken down, things like that. Always for other people. But how often do you hear about doing small acts of kindness for yourself? Small acts of kindness for your body? I’m going to go out on a limb and say not often. I am not talking about getting a massage or buying something new that will add to our happiness. I am not talking about the “take time for yourself” kind of kindness. I am talking about little things that we probably don’t even realize would be a small act of kindness to ourself and to our body.
I was listening to a Nia Continuing Education recording and Debbie Rosas said to do small acts of kindness for ourselves throughout the day. In this Nia training she briefly mentioned the act being a shift in posture, something having to do with the body. The reference to an adjustment in the body reminded me of the information in my post about Dance Conditioning Tips. In reading the tips I thought they were not just for dance and could be applied to everyday living. The tip was to sense your body while doing a task and see if is in alignment. Well there are more things than just “off” alignment that could cause discomfort, so I was thinking of things that we could do to be kind to the body. Maybe some of them are just adjustments in the way we are sitting that can be made. If your neck is tense is your keyboard to high? Can it be lowered or can your seat be raised? Would the small act of sitting straighter be kind to you back? How about the much talked about and needed break? Taking just a few minutes away from the desk for a little stretch or shake out.
What about a glass of water? A small and simple way to be kind to your body. Would you object to closing your eyes for a moment and taking deep breaths? It’s a great way to show some body kindness. I bet you could go for taking off your shoes and wiggling your toes and flexing your feet moving your ankles—-I bet your feet would LOVE you for that small kindness.
Ok, I have one, it is a big one, and don’t deny you have done it because I would bet we ALL have done it at one time or another . . . . . don’t wait! Don’t hold it. Get up and go to the restroom. I bet more of us have done that than not. We have to go to the restroom because of that small kindness of a glass of water, but we just want to finish one more thing, then we will go. Then that one thing turns into another and next thing you realize you are sprinting to the restroom. Do your bladder a small kindness and don’t “do one more thing”. Stop what you are doing and go to the restroom.
These are all little things, so small, you might not even realize how big of an impact they can have until you try one. The “small” part allows you to do them without much or any interruption to your day. Just little adjustments or small acts of kindness for yourself to fit in easily to your day.
So what do you think? Do you think you any of these would be something you can do? Can you think of a small act of kindness that you can do? Can you think of a small act of kindness that you can do for your body? Do tell.
Have you ever been in a situation where the reaction of the person you are dealing with is completely odd? Before I became a Nia Student and teacher I worked in the mortgage industry. I started when I was 15 going on 16. I learned a lot working with Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Brokers, Lenders, Title Officers, Escrow Officers, County Recorders, borrowers, appraisers . . . . and the list goes on. One thing I learned early on was from a broker. While I don’t remember the exact situation (what it was he did not do), I do remember the utter perplexity I felt then the moment of absolute clarity. I have what I learned and easily applied it to many, many, many, many, many situations throughout my life. Sometimes it actually helps because I can work with the knowledge, sometimes it doesn’t help because it doesn’t matter that I know what is going on, the person is just going to be the way they are no matter what. Sometimes there is no defusing certain situations or people. The lesson I learned was actually about behavior. I observed that people tend to get over the top angry and blow things out of proportion when they are at fault. The situation I vaguely remember was that I could not do something for the broker because he had not supplied me with what I needed in order to do it. He was angry and his huge outburst completely flabbergasted me because it was not my fault, it was out of my control, in fact. . .. . and then I saw it clearly . . . .it was his fault and he knew it.
People tend to get more upset when they are the one at fault. Even when they are the one at fault they project the anger on the person they are dealing with and more often than not the situation goes down hill from there. Sometimes, as I mentioned, when you know what is happening, when you recognize that the person displaying the anger [(edited, added 02.20.13) is angry at themselves], sometimes you can defuse the situation. You can somehow let them know that it is ok they made a mistake and work to fix the situation. But sometimes that doesn’t work. Sometimes people just want to be angry. Or sometimes maybe it is that they have had such a bad day they almost can’t help but be angry. Or sometimes when the situation involves another person they can’t let go of their anger. If say, whatever it is they did in the situation affected their child or their spouse (or whomever), sometimes this is when they can’t let go . . . and I believe it is because of the guilt of their error.
In some situations it is impossible to help relieve the person’s guilt because you might not even recognize they are feeling guilty. You might not recognize that they feel bad for the situation they have created. It could be that it is not really a big deal to you and it can be easily fixed so when the person displays anger towards you, you might be shocked and not be able to work with it.
This reminds me a little of listening with love, but this is more listening with understanding. Of course, as I mentioned if you don’t have a sense of any wrong doing then it is difficult to understand why someone might feel guilty and then that could be where the listening with love comes in, right? “I have no idea what is troubling this person so that they are so angry, but I will listen with love because there has been no indication that I should do otherwise.” 🙂
With all the different ways to listen; the “not assuming” and the “understanding what someone is going through”, to the just “listen with love” sometimes communicating can be a challenge. We should keep trying, keeping talking, keep listening, even through someone else’s guilt.
Have you experienced what I am talking about? Have you seen or been at the brunt of someone’s anger because they were the one at fault? What did you do?
Not too long ago on Facebook a friend of mine posted a list I found to be very interesting. It was a list of food people crave (from Naturopathy Works). The list was an explanation and a counter to the craving.. If you crave this . . . . your body needs that. I thought it was awesome. I love the idea. The food craving or behaviors listed are generally “unhealthy”, the list then shows the thing that is needed; sometimes a vitamin, a mineral, or something along those lines. Then to be ultimately helpful there is a list of suggestions as to what to eat or do, in order to help with the craving or behavior. Isn’t that marvelous. Isn’t it interesting? I thought so.
If you crave Chocolate, your body needs magnesium so you could substitute a healthy alternative of raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits. Oh honestly, as I typed this I heard the collective future groan of the chocolate lovers that read this. I know there are people who believe there is no substitute for chocolate. And sometimes, there isn’t. If your heart, head, and mouth are dead set on chocolate, there usually isn’t anything that will suffice, but if you are actually willing to forego it and try something else to satisfy your craving there is a healthy alternative.
For some of the food cravings there is a list of things you might really need, coffee or tea for instance. If you are craving coffee or tea the list states you really need phosphorous, sulfur, NaCl (salt), iron. I would suggest that you then think about your diet and what you have eaten and decide what you might really need. For me I can honestly say I doubt I EVER need salt. I think I get quite enough of it in my diet. So I wouldn’t need to try the substitutions for salt which are: Sea salt, apple cider vinegar (on salad). I might want to try the chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes for the phosphorous, or the meat, fish and poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries for the iron. But I don’t think I would need the garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables for the sulfur, but maybe the egg yolks, red peppers, and muscle protein. If you read my blog you know I get a ton of garlic and onion (my only flavorings!) and cruciferous veggies. But I am not big on protein, so I am sure that is where I would get the help if I were to look for a substitute.
As I said this list has food cravings and behaviors, as in “General Over Eating” and for that the items needed are silicon with a substitution of nuts and seeds, but a behavior or elimination of avoiding refined starches. Other things this list states a body might need if it is over eating is tryptophan so try cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach, vitamin C supplements or orange, green, red fruits and vegetables for tyrosine.
I found this interesting and helpful. I haven’t had much time to put it to use, but I plan too. A healthy alternative is often a great way to go. But then there are times I feel it is ok to give into the craving, but the key is moderation. Do you find this interesting? Would you give it a try? Let us know if any of this helps satisfy a craving. 🙂
Are wrist blood pressure monitors accurate? I was wondering because my blood pressure seems low when I use my wrist blood pressure monitor. I know meditative body mind practices like Nia can help keep blood pressure down, but it seems really low. The first thing I looked at on the internet made me laugh. The question was, “How accurate are wrist blood pressure monitors? Mine consistently shows a lower blood pressure reading than that taken by my doctor.” And a portion of the answer said, “blood pressure measurements taken at the wrist are usually higher and less accurate than those taken at your upper arm.”
I often think that blood pressure taken at the doctor’s office is higher just due to the stress of being at the doctor’s office. Even if you don’t have what they call “white coat syndrome” sometimes the stress of getting to the doctor’s office (maybe there is traffic, or you have had to interrupt your busy life to take time to go to the doctor), the stress of WHY you are at the doctor’s (most of us don’t go to the doctor when we are healthy and feeling fine, so the fact that we are there could be stressful), or the stress of having to wait (often times we don’t get called in by our appointment time, or we do and we are stuck sitting on the table) can be causes for higher blood pressure readings than normal. I think that a blood pressure reading at home is more accurate because you are IN your life. You are IN your normal stresses. That is why I was wondering about the wrist cuffs because I think the situation (home monitor) is more ideal then doctor office monitoring. But with mine showing lower than I would expect I was wondering. It isn’t actually LOW, it is just lower than I expect. Because what I usually do is think, “Oh, I should check my blood pressure.” as I am downstairs so I run upstairs and try to sit and wait before taking it, but I end up pressing the button and just seems lower than I would guess because I was just moving around.
The American Heart Association states:
Blood Pressure
Category
Systolic mm Hg (upper #)
Diastolic mm Hg (lower #)
Normal
less than 120
and
less than 80
Prehypertension
120 – 139
or
80 – 89
High Blood Pressure
(Hypertension) Stage 1
140 – 159
or
90 – 99
High Blood Pressure
(Hypertension) Stage 2
160 or higher
or
100 or higher
Just like with all information I found conflicting information. I found information stating that wrist monitors were good and I found information stating they were not accurate. The main concern regarding accuracy was arm position. The common statement was that the readings accuracy is affected by the arm position so if the arm was not properly placed the reading could be wrong. Makes sense, but I was not truly understand why resting one’s left elbow on a table so that the right and monitor were at heart height would be such a challenge to people using a wrist monitor. I also found information stating that wrist monitors were more expensive than arm cuffs, but then the monitors that I saw being advertised on the internet were less than the cuff ones. So, again, a lot of conflicting information. I did see information stating that wrist monitor quality (meaning reading accuracy) had improved a lot I personally think that cuff blood pressure monitor, the kind where you put your arm in the cuff and secure it around your upper arm, is more accurate. However, I also believe they are more expensive, so I bought a wrist monitor.
If you are interesting in having a blood pressure monitor at home, I suggest you buy one from a place that allows you to return it. Then when you go to the doctor take your monitor and take your blood pressure with it to compare to the doctor’s blood pressure monitor. If it is not accurate then you can return it to where you bought it.
There is a technique for ensure your arm is in the correct position when using a wrist monitor that could be easier than the elbow-table method. Cross you arm over your heart, as if you are holding your right shoulder in your left hand. This ensures no movement and that the monitor is above the heart/level with the heart. Don’t hold your shoulder just let your fingers rest on the front of your shoulder. I thought this was an excellent method.
Are you thinking about owning a blood pressure monitor? Wrist or arm cuff? Do you already have a blood pressure monitor at home? Wrist or arm cuff? Do you get a little “white coat syndrome” at the doctor’s office?
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