Text Box: Nebraska Comprehensive Health Care 4545 S. 6th Street Lincoln, NE 68516 (402) 483-6990 Text Box: In This Issue... Text Box: Coping with Cancer, My Turn, Heart Rate Paced Breathing, Exercise, and Congratulations NC HCText Box: Heart Rate Paced Breathing – An exercise to promote relaxation Is the recovery from the holiday bills taking a toll? Do plans for the rest of the year leave you stressed? It is important for anyone facing or dealing with a stressful situation to find a way to keep cool under the pressure to maintain good health. The following strategy is commonly used to calm anxiety, manage stress, and more effectively cope with daily life. Begin by taking your pulse. Once you can feel your pulse, begin breathing along with the beats of your pulse. For example, inhale for a total of four beats, and then exhale for a total of four beats. (If this seems too fast, use a count of five beats. If it seems too slow, use a count of three beats. Adjust the remaining instructions accordingly). Remember to breathe smoothly and evenly and do not hold your breath. After five breaths using the four to four count, move up to a five to five count for five more breaths. Next, move to a six to six count, and continue for five more breaths. You will have taken fifteen full breaths by the time you have completed the exercise. The goal is to learn to breathe slowly and deeply. As you practice this exercise, pay attention to the relationship between your breathing and your heart rate. See if you can increase the number of beats you use with each full breath over time. You may notice with regular practice your heart rate has slowed down. This is only one way to achieve relaxation, but can be quite effective in stress reduction. Text Box: Exercise: Don’t Even Think About It? By: Lisa Smith, MA With the New Year well under way, the number 365 may pop into your mind. Yes, it is the number of days in a year but also likely the number of days you had intended on exercising last year. If this goal was not met, here is good news; it is never too late to incorporate exercise into your lifestyle. Here are some simple ways to add exercise into your daily routine without drastically altering your lifestyle: take the stairs, complete household chores, walk to your mailbox if possible, walk an extra length of the mall. These suggestions will help you step into exercise at an effortless pace and proudly stride through the New Year. Text Box: Congratulations!!! NMHC would like to extend congratulations to Matt and Devon for guessing closest to the number of jelly beans in the jar during the All 4 Kids Expo. We all hope you enjoyed your prize!