Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. The world today is a much more stressful place to exist in than in years past. Which can bring along alot of challenges and obstacles… More
Padres * Warrior Tennis Night
Are you ready for a night full of fun and friends?
Join the Padres and the San Diego Tennis Community for Tennis Night at Petco Park, San Diego, California on Saturday, June 30th vs the Pittsburgh Pirates! First pitch is at 7:10 PM and stay after for a post-game laser show! Every fan in attendance will receive a Trevor Hoffman 500th Save Commemorative Bobblehead! In addition, $2 of every ticket purchased will help support the San Diego District Tennis Association Wounded Warrior Tennis Program. This will be a popular game since Trevor is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year and our Tennis Night discounted tickets are first-come, first-serve. Tickets may be purchased at https://groupmatics.events/ event/ustatennisnight.
Memorial Day: More Than Just Picnics & Parties
Memorial Day: More Than Just Picnics and Parties.
In honor of Memorial Day; I recently had the honor of assisting the (WWTP) Wounded Warrior Tennis Program’s Annual National Tennis Camp in San Diego. This program offers Tennis lessons and skills training for wounded, ill, and injured military veterans. They also provide tennis clinics every Tuesday at the Balboa Tennis Club of which tennis isn’t the only thing this program is about.
Tennis is an activity that provides a means for many lessons, in both sport and life. The participants in the camp came from many different backgrounds to share an experience of a lifetime together. It was a week of activity and exercise; from dancing to yoga and eye-hand coordination to on-court aces! There was sportsmanship and competition as well as camaraderie and double faults. Whatever the challenge, the veterans learned how to deal with it and continue on with the game.
I saw passion and devotion by instructors, volunteers, and campers alike. It was an extraordinary sight to see. Instructors sharing their knowledge of skills and love for the game of tennis that was equally matched by the veterans who played with all heart! Massage therapists gleamed with honor as they provided healing recovery for the players.
Volunteers anxiously await the arrival of the campers every morning offering hugs and smiles to start the day of tennis. You can clearly see that these volunteers would not have wanted to be anywhere else in the world but here with nothing but their hearts, smiles and hugs.
The annual camp also provided many opportunities for social interaction and fun activities for all involved. From the dinners and conversations together to getting up close and personal with the zebra’s and giraffes at the zoo. Sometimes stepping out of their comfort zones and the incredible interaction and bonding of these military veterans, instructors and volunteers paved the path to helping build confidence, friendships, and hope. See more photos here:
The WWTP Annual National Tennis Camp offers one stand out warrior an inspirational award every year. The Lam Le Award is named in honor of Sgt. Lam Le, US Marine veteran who after experiencing deployments and duties of protecting our country, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
Le was a patriot who loved tennis and had an upbeat attitude and personal warmth that was undeniable. This is how those who knew him described Le accompanied by tears and smiles as they share stories about him.
Le passed away in 2013 and left emptiness in the warrior tennis clinics and the annual camp. From what I learned about Le recently, those lucky enough to have known him would say he exemplified honor, hard work, overcoming challenge and adversities. He also had passion and a desire to improve his quality of life, which is where tennis comes in. Holley Anne; Le’s widow, describes this honorable award inspired by her husband, as “This award recognizes those who live out their lives genuinely, fearlessly, fully.”
Please see the presentation of the award and special heart felt video by Le’s widow, Holly Anne below:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hkhds15sdsjg7bu/Holly%20Anne%20Video.mp4?dl=0
So as you might imagine, the farewell banquet for the annual tennis camp is a night of laughs and smiles, as well as tears and honor. This year’s recipient of the Lam Le Award went to Adam Navarro from Chicago.
Lam Le’s memory continues to inspire family, friends, warriors throughout the tennis community. Le’s memory thrives through close friend and tennis instructor Spike, and Steve Kappes; co-founder of the Wounded Warrior Tennis Program, San Diego; as well as fellow warriors and annual campers. Please see the farewell video that captured the entire week of the camp below:
For me, the Wounded Warrior Annual National Tennis Camp was quite an extraordinary experience. Witnessing remarkable things such as camaraderie, friendships, laughter, competition, and a lot of passion and heart definitely touched a chord in me! This year, Memorial Day brings a little different meaning for me. Remembering those who made unimaginable sacrifices and feeling pretty darn thankful for the freedoms I get to enjoy every single day. Thank you for reading.
To learn more about the program, please visit: sdwoundedwarriortennis.org.
How You Can Be Mentally Resilient & Happy
MENTAL HEALTH MONDAY:
Easy Things That Can Make You Mentally Resilient and Happy!
*Travel: When I think of travel, the first thing that comes to mind is how to get there. If its flying, then it seems the storm comes before the calm. Meaning, the stress of flying that might include waiting in long security lines, sitting in cramped quarters, and the chance of getting ill. But wait; I also think about this as being only short term and there are several things you can do to prepare and avoid getting sick during travel. According to Fitlife360.net blog; you can stretch, do low impact exercise, and breath during your travel. This includes pre-flight, during flight, and post flight. Read complete article here: How To Stay Well During Travel.
*Train Your Mind: Another technique I practice is I train my mind to think about what’s on the other end. Excited to see a new place, explore new grounds, or just simply sitting by the pool on a beautiful day. Then I can truly say, that travel makes me happy. Of course, flying isn’t the only means of travel. You can take a road trip, or even just simply taking a walk in nature can spur those emotions of happiness. 
*Visit Someplace New: Feeling happy has an incredible effect on your body. It helps to lower cortisol levels to then make you feel more calm and relaxed. Thus, lowering the stress element in your body or mind that you might be dealing with. Happiness isn’t the only benefit that can result from travel. Visiting or moving to a new destination can be both exhilarating and intimidating. But it also toughens you up both emotionally and mentally. This is something I am all too familiar with. I have lived and moved around a few times while in the military, but I’ve also moved as a civilian, coast to coast; twice!
*Make a Change: Facing a new environment or culture, or even just dealing with change, almost forces you to learn to adapt and adjust to a life that might be out of your comfort zone. You learn to become more patient, and emotionally strong when coping with change or new surroundings. Read the complete article “Five Reasons Why Travel Is Good For Your Mental Health.”
There are so many other acts or tasks you can do that can make you as happy as you can be. I found a fantastic article in rd.com (Readers Digest); and here are some ideas that you can do starting right now to bring happiness into your life.
- Smile in the mirror.
- Hang out with happy friends
- Want what you already have
- Take a five minute break
- Call an old friend
- Treat yourself
- Make a list of traits that are uniquely you
- Go for a short jog
- Do a little dance
- Take a deep breath
These are only a few things that you can do starting right now. Make small changes now and it can bring huge results! Read complete article here: https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/how-to-be-happy/
Sources:
Fitlife360.net
Forbes.com
rd.com
Forbes.com
rd.com
Is The Internet Bad Or Good For Society?
TECHNOLOGY TUESDAY
Is the Internet bad or good for society?
I think long and hard about this question on so many levels. Realizing how the advancement of technology has made incredible strides in industries such as healthcare, business, and other fields; I still have many reasons to say how the Internet can be bad for humans. Today, humans seem to have less social interaction in person, yet we are the most social we’ve been in history. We share our lives on social media, we share car rides, homes, and our food! Yet, communication among humans might be considered worse than its ever been.
Many times at restaurants when I am eating out, well, I take that back; the few times I do treat myself and eat out, I will look around and see so many people and families with their heads down in their smart phones. Basically not talking to each other at all. It is quite a scene.
When I see these things like the folks sitting in the restaurant not talking to each other, it reminds me to do better in my own personal life. I do not allow my phone or notebook to control my life. I make sure I maintain a balance amount of human interaction and my technology. I make sure I get together with a friend for lunch or conversation every week. I try to plan a hiking trip each week in the local area and get outside to enjoy natural living things like plants and flowers, and the fresh outside air.
One other thing I do is read one book a month. I feel these things help me to live a more balanced and healthy lifestyle; both mentally and physically.
I found an interesting article on USNews.com, where a survey was conducted and resulted in some interesting responses. The question asked is: “Has the Internet been a good thing or bad thing?” You can read the survey results and complete article here:
Sources:
USNews.com
How You Can Improve Your Memory
MENTAL HEALTH MONDAY
How to improve your memory:
Life today has certainly become more complicated with all the distractions being thrown in our faces. There are the electronics, social media, new technologies, and more people in the world in general. Granted, some of these things have complimented our lives and made things more convenient. However, convenient isn’t always better.
On a daily basis, people are dealing with raising children, healthcare, activities, events, and so much more. Our minds are being challenged and we do tend to forget sometimes. It happens to all of us at one time or another. If I don’t write down a to do list for the day, I may end up forgetting to take care of one thing or two. But this may not really be a big concern at this time. As we grow older, our minds age as well. I notice as I am getting older, my mind doesn’t seem as sharp as it did when I was younger and serving in the military. I have been researching and reading books about how I can exercise my mind to improve memory skills and sharpness. I found a few other ideas that might help as well with respect to improving memory and help fight the aging process of the mind.
Here are a few ways that can help improve memory.
- Eat less sugar:
- “Studies have shown that people, who consume added sugar regularly, may have poor memory and lower brain volume than those who consume less sugar.”
- Try fish oil supplements
- Meditation
- Mediation and relation techniques have shown in studies that it improves short-term memory in people of all ages.
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Get enough sleep
- Practice mindfulness
- Mindfulness is a mental habit you can use in any situation…https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ways-to-improve-memory#section6
READ COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE:
Sources:
Healthline.com
Stress Management with Tai Chi
Wellness Wednesday:
Stress Management with Tai Chi: Often described as meditation in motion, Tai Chi has been traditionally practiced as a means of self defense. Today, it has become a graceful form of exercise and movements that can help reduce stress levels and offer other health benefits. Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that involves low impact series of movements that are slow and focused along with deep breathing. Practicing Tai Chi can help lower stress levels, reduce stress and anxiety, and improve flexibility. It can also be inexpensive and safe low impact form of exercise and can be practiced indoors, outdoors, or at work. Read complete article
Technology: Balancing Work & Life
Tech Tuesday
In today’s world, things have become more stressful and demanding with respect to balancing your life and work. In the past, work and life were defined at two different domains. It was formerly perceived as a negative if you fused family life with work demands. But as times are changing in our world today, one must understand the culture and climate within these two arenas. As technology advances with current demands and time, a fresh perspective of employees who are labeled as Dual-Centric (those who view work and life equally as important) experience more overall satisfaction and propose that employers need to embrace the whole individual in order to enhance employee well-being, explained in an article at sciencedirect.com.
Technology advances have been playing an extremely strong role in the shaping of both work and life. According to an article, “A Trend Towards Work-Life Fusion: A Multi Generational Shift in Technology Use At Work”, explains how technology is impacting the younger generation as they are constantly texting, instant messaging, engaging in conversation during class time, work meetings, and resulting in less and less face to face interaction. This has drastically affected the current work environment especially for the different generations (older and younger) and the behavioral norms will eventually clash…Read full article here:
Does Classical Music Make You Smarter?
Mental Health Monday
Classical Music May Make You Smarter:
A research study published in the Journal of Health Psychology produced many findings that listening to classical music may provide many health benefits, including sharp memory and brainpower boost. In an article in rd.com (Reader’s Digest); people who listen to classical performed better in scholastics. Researchers made the case that listening to this music allowed these students to be more open and receptive to the information, thus allowing them to store it and recall more efficiently.
In addition to brain benefits, listening to this type of music can also improve health in other ways. These include:
Lowering Blood Pressure
Emotionally Available
Better Sleep
More Chill
Closer To Others
More Productive
More Relaxed
The article also explains that another report published in Aging Mental Health, states that music was used as a tool to help make people feel more connected among a group of people with dementia. As well, the participants could play and discuss music together. Read complete article here:
Technology Tuesday
Tuesday Tech.
It is truly amazing how far technology in our world has come and how it affects our daily lives. The innovations just keep coming, to say that there is an app for everything is an understatement. Well, why not put technology to use for your own overall benefit well-being. There are apps to help you keep your fitness goals, as well as apps that remind you to drink water. There’s even an app that monitors a woman’s time for ovulation, cycles, and symptoms. Amazing! The question you might ask yourself is, if you had a choice to go back to the days of simple living, (no smart phones, social media, mobile apps) would you do it? Read complete article here:
Mental Health Monday
Diet and Mental Disorders.
When you visit the grocery store, what are the first things you see? You might notice several displays of pretty packaging, baked goods, and colorful beverages stacked up in front of you. You almost need to climb over hurdles to get to the healthy sections of the store. Unfortunately, the items that are promoted the most and conveniently located in the store, possibly cause the most harm to our bodies and minds.
The foods our bodies need most of to maintain optimium health are those items such as greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and wholegrains. The idea is to reduce the inflammation in our bodies; inflammation can have negative effects on our bodies and minds. There are several ways to maintain good health and reduce the inflammation in our lives and improve mental health. According to an article in U.S.News; if you eliminate gluten, something found in Wheat, from your diet, it can help bring leaner bodies and heightened energy. Read entire article here:
