Recession Fears Threaten Workers' Vacation Plans

Here is another article on vacations just posted today by the same man who wrote the artilce I posted immediately before this one. He offers some updated info, and good suggestions for ensuring that you do get that well-deserved break!

Recession Fears Threaten Workers' Vacation Plans

Experts Offer 10 Ways to Take a Necessary Break

Tom Musbach, Yahoo! HotJobs

http://hotjobs.promotions.yahoo.com/tahiti/frontpage_article.html

The slowdown in the U.S. economy is threatening a necessity for workers: vacations.

According to the annual Yahoo! HotJobs vacation survey, 51% of respondents said they plan to skip taking a vacation this year, opting to save money instead.

Not a Frivolous Matter

"Vacations are usually the first thing to go when people feel job or economic pressure," says Joe Robinson, a trainer in work-life balance and author of "Work to Live." He continues, "We're programmed to believe that free time is worthless, a frill to shove aside, but vacations are as important as watching your cholesterol or getting exercise."

Skipping a vacation can also be bad for your employer.

Milo and Thuy Sindell, founders of Hit the Ground Running and authors of "Job Spa," say, "You are not helpful to the company and your coworkers when you are not operating at full capacity. Vacations help you to get rejuvenated to come back to work at full capacity."

Make It Work With Less

For those tempted to skip vacation this year due to financial worries, experts recommend the following tips:

• Remind yourself: Vacation is not a luxury. "You owe it to yourself, your family, and your company to take care of yourself by stepping out of the office for at least a few days at a time," says Liz Bywater, president of the Bywater Consulting Group, which helps improve organizational performance.
• Put aside some funds each week. "Even $50 a week [or less] can add up and make your trip happen," says Robinson.
• Plan leisure activities near home. "Stay at home and read, garden, hike, jog, bike, or whatever you like to do but never have enough time for during the weekends," say the Sindells. "Or be a tourist in your own city."
• Try home-swapping. You can swap with someone you know in another city, or use an online service, such as homexchange.com or even vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner). "It can have the look and feel of a vacation at a much more affordable housing cost than paying for hotel or resort lodging," says Michael Haubrich, president of Financial Service Group and an expert in financial planning for career issues.
• Keep the itinerary simple. Travel columnist Donald D. Groff recommends selecting a destination within 200 miles (a three-hour drive) from your home. If you're traveling by plane, fly nonstop whenever possible. "The sooner you get to your destination, the sooner your relaxation begins," Groff says.

Stress-Busting Strategies

The economic downturn is also adding to workers' stress levels. Nearly a third of the respondents (31%) are worried by how the economy is affecting their workplaces, and 34% said they feel pressure to improve their performance for fear of being laid off.

With 55% of respondents admitted to being "burned out" by work, stress and fatigue add another threat to vacations. Experts say you can prevent the threat in the following ways:

• Start small. "Start with an afternoon off to do something you really enjoy, even if it's just a walk at the beach or a visit to a farmer's market," says Beth A. Levin, author of "Making a Richer, More Fulfilling Life a Reality."
• If planning is a burden, don't. "Instead of planning a vacation, just take time off to be at home and figure it out each day as you go," the Sindells suggest.
• Enlist back-up support. Ask a trusted coworker to back you up while you're away and offer to return the favor, Bywater suggests. "It's much easier to relax when you know someone's got you covered."
• Choose according to what you need. You may need a peaceful retreat from stress, or you may benefit from something more active and exciting. "Avoid the kind of vacation that will leave you even more exhausted than before," she adds.
• Give yourself a deadline. "Stop thinking about it and just do it," says Bywater. "Think of it as 'doctor's orders.'"

Vacations threatened by work burnout

Even your computer knows you need a vacation!

I posted this article last year, but as we approach summer, I felt it was worth a reprint because the burnout and lack of vacations is still as big a problem as it ever was.

Work Burnout Threatens Vacations by Tom Musback, Yahoo! HotJobs May 21 2007

Despite summer's reputation for being a time of travel and leisure, many U.S. workers are not using all their vacation time and are too tired to plan a getaway, according to a new Yahoo! HotJobs survey.

Nearly half of the respondents (49%) said they feel "burned out" by their jobs, and many did not fully use vacation time as a remedy. Out of 1,800 professionals surveyed, 45% said they did not use all of their vacation days allotted in 2006, and 39% said they were too tired to take a "real" vacation during their days off.

"People don't always realize the true benefits of taking vacation time," says Susan Vobejda, vice president of marketing at Yahoo! HotJobs. "They focus more on the absence from work and related details, when in fact a vacation allows time to recharge batteries and come back to the office with new energy and increased productivity."

Why Create More Work?

There are several reasons why workers don't use all their vacation time: having too much work to do to take a vacation (36%), not being able to afford a getaway (34%), wanting to save vacation time for emergencies (32%), and worrying about coming back to an excessive workload after a vacation (15%).

"I think people have thrown in the vacation towel," says Debra Davenport, a professional mentor, licensed career counselor, and employment agent. "What's the point of taking a vacation when you're still strapped to your cell phone and laptop, and, worse, you return to the office from your break only to have 500 emails, 100 voicemails, and weeks of work to catch up on?"

Taking a “Mental Health Day”

When people do take time off, it's often used in ways unrelated to vacations. In fact, nearly a third of respondents (31%) said they use the time to run errands, such as doctor visits, and 30% said they often use vacation time as "mental health days" to cope with stress.

"The issue," says Davenport, "is making self-care a priority. Vacations are an extension of that mindset."

The Problem of Presenteeism

Liz Bywater, president of Bywater Consulting Group, which specializes in organizational behavior change, suggests that elements of corporate culture may be responsible for the work-vacation imbalance.

"Part of the problem is that our culture supports an ethic of 'presenteeism,' whereby employees show up for work even when they are too ill or tired to be effective on their jobs," she says. "There is an expectation, sometimes unspoken, that people will come to work under all but the most extreme circumstances."

Making Vacation a Priority

Bywater offers the following tips for making the most of vacations:

• Choose the vacation that best meets your needs. You may need a peaceful retreat from stress, or you may benefit from something more active and exciting. Avoid the kind of vacation that will leave you even more exhausted than before.

• Plan ahead for your time off. Take practical steps to manage your workload with your upcoming vacation in mind. Try to wrap up important projects before you leave. Don't leave behind time-sensitive tasks that only you can handle.

• Enlist help. Ask a trusted coworker to back you up while you're away and offer to return the favor. It's much easier to relax when you know someone's got you covered.

• Have no regrets. You earned the vacation, so enjoy it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelle here….does anyone else see the irony in this article?

How many of you searched for just the right job with just the right perks, which included three weeks of vacation a year, and don't bother to take any of them?

Employers should insist that employees take vacations. They should also insist that the employee leave the cell phone and laptop computer at home when they do take a vacation, but it is unlikely that they will. Why let go of someone, even temporarily, when you pay them to work a forty-hour week and then have them on call 24/7/365?

Stress is causing more and more illness in the forms of anxiety, depression, heart trouble, high blood pressure, skeletal and muscular problems, and yet do people consider serious stress-relief except on the most superficial, temporary level?

Not often. Employees and employers must find common ground on this topic. Employers must arrange for a person's job to be covered when they go on vacation….remember when that used to happen? I do. A person could go away for a week and not have two weeks worth of work waiting when he or she returned.

Employers, you are not doing yourselves any favors by burning out your employees. In the long run, you will lose more in sick days and training replacements than you will gain in working your people 24/7/365.

Employees, you must take the time that is yours by right and protect your health. In the long run, that is what a vacation is meant to do, give you a chance to get away from the craziness of the work world and enjoy the rest and relaxation of the leisure world….without cell phones and laptop computers!

A great vacation is one of the most holistic methods to reduce stress!

Make your plans now, and have a Great Vacation!

Osteoporosis drugs linked to heart disease: Another reason to avoid drugs and enjoy qigong!

The following article from the pages of Mercola.com briefly states a terrible side effect from taking Fosamax, a drug designed to offset the bone disease osteoporosis. This is followed by Dr. Mercola's comments, and then my own research into how the practice of qigong can prevent, and has even reversed, osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax is Bad for Your Heart

Women who have used Fosamax are nearly twice as likely to develop atrial fibrillation (quivering of your heart’s upper chambers), which is the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat.

Fosamax is the most widely used drug treatment for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. The FDA approved the first generic version (called alendronate) in February.

The drug was associated with an 86 percent higher risk of atrial fibrillation compared with never having used the drug. Atrial fibrillation can cause palpitations, fainting, fatigue, or congestive heart failure. They can also lead to embolic strokes.

Sources:

Eurekalert April 28, 2008

Archives of Internal Medicine April 28, 2008; 168(8):826-31

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Osteoporosis affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50, largely because many are clueless about what they can do to prevent this common problem.

All in all, it affects more than 25 million Americans. Additionally, close to 1.2 million bone fractures in the United States each year are related to osteoporosis.

Drugs like Fosamax, however, are not the solution.

What’s Wrong With Fosamax?

Fosamax is in the same chemical class (phosphonate) as the cleaners used to remove soap scum from your bath tub.

This is a metabolic poison that actually kills your osteoclasts. Osteoclasts are cells that break down your bone so your osteoblasts can rebuild them.

In normal healthy bone, this breakdown and rebuilding of bone are interconnected processes involved in the normal rejuvenation of bone. In osteoporosis, the net rate of bone resorption (breakdown) exceeds the rate of bone formation, which results in a decrease in bone mass.

It is quite clear that if you kill your osteoclasts your bone will get denser. However, what they don’t tell you is that eventually your bone actually becomes weaker even though it is denser.

Why?

Because bone is a dynamic structure that requires the removal of unhealthy bone and REPLACEMENT with new bone to stay strong. Fosamax does NOT build any new bone. It only kills the cells that break bone down, so your bone is not undergoing its natural regenerative process.

It’s tragic that drugs like Fosamax are allowed to continue being touted as the answer to osteoporosis, when it has so many detrimental side effects.

The fact that it can nearly double your risk of developing atrial fibrillation was, according to the researchers, a “completely unexpected and previously unrecognized adverse effect” of the drug. But many other adverse effects have already been discovered, including:

• Increased risk of ulcers
• Liver damage
• Gastric and esophageal inflammation
• Renal failure
• Skin reactions
• Hypocalcemia (calcium in your blood is too low)
• Osteonecrosis (jaw bone death)
• Serious eye inflammations and possible blindness

I warned about the dangers of Fosamax an entire decade ago, and it STILL makes no sense to take an osteoporosis drug that can literally rot out your jaw bone, give you ulcers, damage your liver, and cause heart failure or stroke. I’m sure Merck’s hope is that you WILL be blind enough not to see the folly.

How to Strengthen Your Bones Safely and Naturally

These simple guidelines can help you maintain, or increase your bone strength safely and naturally, without the use of drugs that might cause you even further harm:

• If you have low bone density, or worry it might become a problem in the future, increase your consumption of vegetables based on your body's unique nutritional type. If you find it difficult to eat the recommended amount of vegetables you need daily, you can also try vegetable juicing.

• Maintain a healthy balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fats in your diet.

• Eat according to your nutritional type. This will ensure that you’re getting enough nutrients for your bones, and will also help correct your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.

• Consider supplementing with vitamin K if you are not getting enough from food alone. Vitamin K serves as the biological "glue" that helps plug the calcium into your bone matrix.

• Get enough vitamin D, ideally from proper amounts of sun exposure. Vitamin D builds your bone density by helping your body absorb calcium.

• Exercise. Studies show that exercise is just as important to your bone health as eating a calcium-rich diet.

• Consider natural progesterone, which can increase your bone strength and density. It does this by serving as a growth promoter for the osteoblasts (the cells that build bone). However, please note that in general I am not a fan of progesterone creams for a variety of reasons. For more on progesterone, please review Complications Regarding Progesterone Cream.

• Avoid soda and sugar, which can increase bone damage by depleting your bones of calcium.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelle's comments:

It won't come as a surprise to my regular readers that I'm going to advocate the practice of qigong as a drug-free, natural and holistic way to reverse the effects of osteoporosis and build bone density.

The following excerpts are from a recent article on my Be Well with Qigong blog that shares recent research into the efficacy of qigong. To see the full article and the sources of information, click the link: "Qigong can help prevent and reverse osteoporosis."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Qi Dao Newsletter November/December 2006

The effects of baduanjin qigong in the prevention of bone loss for middle-aged women. Chen HH, Yeh ML, Lee FY., (American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 2006;34 (5):741-7.)

In conclusion, this study demonstrates promising efficacy of Baduanjin in preventing bone loss commonly occurring in middle-aged women. Thus, Baduanjin is valuable for promoting and maintaining the health status of middle-aged women.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Halting Bone Loss

http://www.worldtaichiday.org/WOMENandTAICHI.html

Studies have shown that QiGong practice raises estrogen levels in women, including those over 45. This is highly desirable because reduced estrogen levels after menopause cause a loss of calcium from the bones and increase the risk of osteoporosis and heart disease.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BRITTLE BONES/BONE LOSS IN WOMEN

World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day – Medical Research

http://www.worldtaichiday.org/MEDResearchBoneLossOsterperosis.html

Research from the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the stress hormones found in depressed women caused bone loss that gave them bones of women nearly twice their age. T’ai Chi and QiGong are known to reduce depression and anxiety and provide weight-bearing exercises to encourage building bone mass and connective tissue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Osteoporosis and Chinese Medicine

http://www.indiadiets.com/diets/dietician/Articles/Article17_Anna.htm

The increase of energy circulation [enhanced by the practice of qigong] within the body enhances the quality of the inner organs and their activity, improves and strengthens the bone marrow, straightens the position of bones and joints, removes the pains and the pathogenic conditions. Day by day, the qigong practitioners become more vital, more capable of working and rejuvenated. The osteoporosis patients who use the method of qigong increase in a natural way their kidney energy and regulate metabolism. Gradually, the bone tissue is replenished and it becomes possible to maintain healthy and powerful bone system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ancient Eastern Exercise Cures Osteoporosis (press release)

http://www.naturalnews.com/020815.html

Thursday, October 19, 2006 by: NaturalNews

Up until the time she was diagnosed with osteoporosis, Joan Foo had lost 40% of her bone density as a result of the disease. After the diagnosis and fed up with living a sedentary life, fate would have her attending a Qi gong class. This was the turning point in her life. After one year of practicing Qi gong, doctors were dumb founded and flabbergasted to see that not only had the condition stopped, it had reversed itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tai Chi and Women's Health

http://susanamatthews.com/TaiChi-and-Womens-Health.htm

You can increase bone strength by learning how to correct your posture—to become straight in gravity, so that the bones bear the weight. Bones in their natural, plumb position become stronger and joints become more fluid. If the skeleton is out of position, much energy is wasted in work done by muscles that are in tension and in opposition to each other. The person’s balance suffers. Chronic pain sets in. Wear and tear on joints increases. As the skeleton ages, the result of inappropriate articulation and weight-bearing is osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Exercises to improve bone strength and joint health are on Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong Practice DVD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelle here again…..

I have recently learned that Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong is one of the four qigong practices rigorously researched and proven to be of exceptional health benefit by the Chinese Health Qigong Association, a group founded by the Chinese government's State Sport General Administration. See "The four qigongs sanctioned by the Chinese government for health and healing."

If you don't live in Bend OR and can't join my class or can't find a class near you, you can still begin to enjoy the benefits of this practice: order the DVD of

Eight Simple Qigong Exercises For Health - The Eight (8) Pieces of Brocade (YMAA) DVD

This is a great DVD and includes explanation and instruction for practicing both standing and seated styles of Eight Pieces of Brocade Qigong.