Live for TodayDecember 2014

New Year Celebration Around the

Globe

Road To A

Longer Life

Happiness Is Key

Health Benefits Linked To Furry

Friends

Letter from the EditorDear Readers,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am very excited about this month’s issue of Live For Today. The December is-suse is full of interesting lifestyle related articles. The articles talk about ways that people around the world celebrate New Years Eve, the diet that will help you live a longer life, and much much more.

I came up with the theme of this issue to be about how a person can get more out of their lives. Many people try to come up with a new year’s resolution that they can actually stick with the articles in this issue will be able to help create an achievable resolution.

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Your Editor, Lauren Bonner

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Letter from the Editor Page 1-2New Years Celebration Around the World: A Photo Essay Page 5-10Health Benefits From Animals Page 11-14Mediteranean Diet May Lead to a Longer Life Page 15-16Excercise Benefits Infographic Page 17-18Happiness . . . Page 19-20

Table Of ContentsPage 3 Page 4

New Year Celebrations Around the World

JoyPeace on EarthFireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock to celebrate the New Year in London, Jan. 1, 2013.

Thomas Hayes, right, and his girlfriend Jenna Corby, second from right, both from Lyndhurst N.J., share a kiss, as Min Song, center, and her daughter Jiang Yu Zhuo, second from left, both from

China, hug as they celebrate the new year shortly after midnight in New York’s Times Square, Jan. 1, 2013.

Below: A man and his son celebrate the New Year at Alexander Battenberg Square in Sofia, Bulgaria, Jan. 1, 2013.

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Peace

Harmony

Love

Serenity

People watch fireworks along Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 1, 2013.

A woman with her daughter walks in a decorated street with lights to celebrate the New Year in Mumbai, India, Jan. 1, 2013.

Fireworks explode near Malaysia’s landmark Petronas Towers during New Year celebrations in Kuala Lumpur Jan.1, 2013.Fireworks light up the new year over Sydney harbour, Australia, Jan. 1, 2013.

New Year fireworks over the Marina Bay in Singapore, Jan. 1, 2013.

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New Year, New You

Shina from Singapore at the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 31, 2012.

Young children with their foreheads pasted with “2013” pose for photos as they wait for the arrival of the new year at Jiujiang Elementary School in Jiujiang,

east China’s Jiangxi Province, Dec. 31, 2012.

Revellers celebrate the new year following a count-down event at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China, Jan. 1, 2013.

Performers react as fireworks explode over the Singapore financial district to mark the start of the new year, Jan. 1, 2013 in Singapore.

A Thai woman dances at the New Year’s Eve party and countdown in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 31, 2012.

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Health Benefits From AnimalsHow Owning A Pet Can Improve One’s Life

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Written ByLauren Bonner

“Throughout history, animals have been observed to im-prove motivation,

self-control, and responsibil-ity, as well as other numer-ous other mental & physical benefits”. According to the book Animal Assisted Brief Therapy. Animals are much more than just pets, they are also healers. Modern medi-cine can only go so far with helping people. Sometimes you have to turn to alter-natives. It has been proven

that animals can help improve a persons health. Animals can help improve a persons physical, and psychological health, along with creating lasting rela-tionships among humans.

Many people think that animals are just great for pets, but pets can have a significant impact on a persons health. Pets have been proven to reduce risk of allergies, asthma, and eczema, along with lowering blood pressure, improving fitness, and creating a stronger heart. Partially why pets keep a person healthy is because they are dependent on a

person. Pets can not get up to walk themselves, feed themselves, or give them-selves attention. No, that’s why they have owners. According to an article entitled “Dr. Oz reveals why pets really improve your health” a 2011 study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health revealed that dog owners were 34% more likely to complete the recommended minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week. Other research has shown that owners walk 19 more minutes a week on average and that having a family dog

increases physical activity among adolescents.” Pets not only keep a person trim but can also elevate their mood.

Pets can increase mood elevating levels of serotonin and dopamine. Being around animals can immediately increase lev-els of oxytocin also. There are many other physical benefits to having a pet, these are just a few. Not only can pets keep a person physically healthy but they can also help a persons psychological needs. According to the book Animal Assisted Brief Therapy, They (being

Miriam Bonner feels that Cloey helps her feel better.Ashley Bonner and Cloey relax on the couch after a long day.

Lauren Bonner and Cloey often play together making them both happy.

One of the Bonner’s cats Sheba enjoys helping with homework.

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dogs) not only be a cata-lyst for positive lifestyle change, but also can offer and strengthen useful protective factors such as relieving stress, increasing self-esteem and negating depression. Having a pet can help develop a persons self esteem and teach them responsibility. Being near pets can help alleviate stress and anxiety and lift peoples spirits. Miriam Bonner aged said that “Having Cloey (our family dog) around is very comforting. She would come lay with me. She would lay as close as she could to me. I could feel her love. She gets me up and gets me going. She’s

very lovable. She wants to be by your side all the time”. You feel loved. Pets can not judge you. They can only love you. The re-lationship between a per-son and a pet is nonthreat-ening and unconditional. According to UNI’s policy only fish and service dogs are allowed. But hey a fish can still have a calming affect on people. Why else would doctors have them in their waiting room?

Because talking about animals helps people open up to people they help cre-ate long lasting and mean-ingful relationships. A lot of times some people have a hard time talking to oth-er people. Animals build

a bridge between people. They are the glue that keep people together. Animals will help people open up and let their guard down. They are a good conversa-tion starter. According to the article Furry Friends Can Aid Your Health, a study was conducted by Warwick University in Britain, found that 40% of dog owners say they make friends more easily as a result of having a dog. This study also monitored the outdoor routines of pairs of people one walk-ing alone and the other accompanied by a dog and that found that people routinely initiated social contract with the dog

owners. Pets are some-thing that most everyone can bond over, because most people have a pet at some point in their life.

Animals have many benefits. They can bring so much love and joy into a person life. Pets can completely change a persons life.

Animals can help im-prove a persons physical and psychological health, along with creating lasting relationships. Animals are much more than just pets, they are healers. Dogs are much more than man’s best friend, they can also be mans best medicine.

Animals know when you are sick and need some company.

Michael Bonner and the Bonner family dog Cloey.

Ashley Bonner plays with Cloey to relieve stress she has and any that Cloey may have.

Mediterranean Diet May Lead to a Longer Life

Eating the Mediter-ranean diet may lead to a longer life

De Vivo, associate profes-sor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School.

The diet involves eating items off a menu that is rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans and peas, unrefined grains, olive oil and fish. It keeps dairy, meat and saturated fats to a minimum.

And you can have a glass of red wine with dinner with-out cheating.

Can meditation really slow aging? “The diet has been consistently linked with health benefits that includes helping you manage your weight, and it can loweryour risk for chronic issues such as cardiovascular disease.” This new research looks at data from 4,676 healthy middle-aged women involved in the Nurses’ Health Study, an ongoingstudy tracking the health of

more than 120,000 U.S. nurs-es since 1976. It found wom-en who ate a Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres. A Mediterranean diet prevents strokes

Telomeres are part of your chromosomes, the thread-like structures that house your DNA. At the end of these chromosomes are telomeres, a kind of pro-tective “cap” that keeps the structure from unraveling. It thereby protects your genetic information.

Even in healthy people, telomeres shorten with age.

Shorter telomeres are asso-ciated with aging, lower life expectancy and age-related diseases such as artheroscle-rosis, certain cancers and liver disease.

Scientists have noticed some lifestyle choices such as smoking, being overweight or obese and drinking a lot of sugar sweetened drinks can prematurely shorten a person’s telomeres.

Scientists believe oxida-tive stress and inflammation can also shorten them.Fruits, vegetables, olive oils and nuts -- the key compo-

nents of a Mediterranean diet -- have well-known antioxidant and anti-inflam-matory effects. The team of U.S. researchers led by De Vivo therefore wanted to see whether the women who stuck with this diet had longer telomeres.

“This is the largest popu-lation-based study address-ing the association between Mediterranean diet adher-ence and telomere length in healthy, middle aged women,” they write. The study included completed detailed food questionnaires and blood tests to measure telomere length.

Each participant had a calculated diet score ranging from 0 to 9 points; a high-er score signifies a closer resemblance to the Mediter-ranean diet. Each one point change in diet score corre-sponded an average of 1.5 years of telomere aging.

Telomere shortening is irreversible but healthy “lifestyle choices can help prevent accelerated shorten-ing,” says De Vivo.

This study’s results provide “some insight into the underlying physiologic mechanism behind this association,” indicating that greater adherence to this diet is significantly associated with longer telomeres, she says. Because of the antioxi-dant and anti-inflammatory effects of the Mediterranean diet, following this diet “could balance out the ‘bad effects’ of smoking and obe-sity,” De Vivo says.

Written by Christina Lee

There are many health benefits to the Mediterranean diet including stroke prevention. Consuming the diet along with leading an active lifestyle will help lead to a longer and healthier lifespan.

The diet includes eating various fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, peas, unrefined grains, along with olive oil and fish. It is important to keep saturated fats to a minimum.

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Eating the Mediterranean diet has been found to imporove a person’s health.

*Facts were found on the WebMD article “Top 10 Fitness Facts”

Increases Brain Power Stress Reliever

Excercise is, as Excercise Does

Creates Energy Timeworthy

What Can Excercise Do For You?

Build Relationships Prevent disease

Gets your heart going Eat more

Improve performance More than just weight loss

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Happiness -- you know it when you

see it, but it's hard to define.You might call it a sense

of well-being, of optimism or of meaningfulness in life, although those could also be treated as separate enti-ties. But whatever happiness is, we know that we want it, and that is just somehow good.

We also know that we don't always have control over our happiness. Re-search suggests that genetics may play a big role in our normal level of subjective well-being, so some of us may start out at a disad-vantage. On top of that, be-tween unexpected tragedies and daily habitual stress, environmental factors can bring down mood and dry up our thirst for living.

Being able to manage the emotional ups and downs is important for both body and mind, said Laura Kub-zansky, professor of social and behavioral sciences at Harvard School of Public Health.

"For physical health, it's not so much happiness per se, but this ability to regulate and have a sense of purpose and meaning," Kubzansky said.

Why be happy?Many scientific studies,

including some by Kubzan-sky, have found a connec-tion between psychological and physical well-being.

A 2012 review of more than 200 studies found

a connection between positive psychological attributes, such as happi-ness, optimism and life satisfaction, and a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease. Kubzansky and other Harvard School of Public Health researchers published these findings in the journal Psychological Bulletin.

It's not as simple as "you must be happy to prevent heart attacks," of course. If you have a good sense of well-being, it's easier to maintain good habits: Ex-ercising, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep, researchers said. Peo-ple who have an optimistic mindset may be more likely to engage in healthybehaviors because they perceive them as helpful in achieving their goals, Kubzansky said.

Lower blood pressure, normal body weight and healthier blood fat profiles were also associated with a better sense of well-being in this study.

For now these studies can only show associations; they do not provide hard evidence of cause and effect. But some researchers spec-ulate that positive mental states do have a direct effect on the body, perhaps by reducing damaging physical processes. For instance, an-other of Kubzansky's studies found that optimism is associated with lower levels of inflammation.

If what you mean by happiness is specifically "enjoyment of life," there's newer evidence to support

that, too. A study in the Canadian Medical Asso-ciation Journal found that people ages 60 and older who said they enjoyed life less were more likely to develop disability over an eight-year period. Mobility was also related to enjoyment of life. This study does not prove that physical problems are caused by less enjoyment of life, but suggests a relation-ship.

Where happiness comes from: genes + environment

There is substantial evi-dence that genetics play a big role in happiness, according to Nancy Segal, psychologist at California State Univer-sity, Fullerton, and author of "Born Together -- Reared Apart."

Research has shown that identical twins tend to have a similar level of happiness, more so than fraternal twins. And in identical twins, one twin's happiness is a better predictor of the other twin's current or future happiness than educational achieve-ment or income, Segal said.

"If you have happy parents and happy children, I think that people usually assume it's because the children are modeling the parents," she said. "But that's not really so. You need to make the point that parents pass on both genes and environments."

What's more, there seems to be a certain level of happiness that individuals have generally, to which they usually gravitate, Segal said. That level depends on the person, and the situations he or she is in.

Even if genetics has a big influence, though, that doesn't mean anyone is biologically stuck being un-happy, she said. It might take more work if your baseline mood is low, but certain therapies have proven useful for elevating psychological well-being.

The environment is still quite important for psy-chological well-being, too, Kubzansky said.

"To say to someone, 'Don't worry, be happy,' is kind of not looking at the whole picture of, what are the environmental constraints on things they can do?" Kubzan-sky said.

Money and timeYou might be thinking:

"Maybe I would be happier if I had more money." There's that old cliché "money doesn't buy happiness" -- but is it true? A 2010 study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that emotional well-being rises with income up to a point, which seems to be a household income of $75,000. Day-to-day happi-ness did not increase with higher incomes.

But when participants were asked about overall sat-isfaction with their lives, that did continue to rise in

But when participants were asked about overall satisfaction with their lives, that did continue to rise in conjunction with income, even after $75,000, Princeton University researchers Daniel Kahneman and Angus Dea-ton found. Their results show a sharp distinction between how people see themselves

Happiness . . .

in terms of happiness "today" vs. life satisfaction.

"More money does not necessarily buy more happiness, but less money is associated with emotional pain," Kahneman and Dea-ton wrote. "Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve individu-als' ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure."

Would you be happier if you bought the car you al-ways wanted? Several studies suggest experiences make us happier than possessions. That's partly because once you have purchased some-thing, such as a new car, you get used to seeing it every day and the initial joy fades, experts say. But you can continue to derive happiness from memories of experienc-es over time.

Experiences form "power-ful and important memories that I wouldn't trade for any-thing in the world," Thomas Gilovich, professor of psy-chology at Cornell Universi-ty, told CNN in 2009.

But if you're in the market for a birthday present for your sweetheart, a material object can still be meaning-ful, becoming a keepsake with sentimental value that increases over time, Gilovich said.

Or maybe you'll be hap-pier once you've lived longer. Research has also found that some sense of happiness may come with age.

Older adults may be able to better regulate their emotions than younger people, expose themselves to less stress and experience less negative emotion, Susan Turk Charles, a psychologist at the University of Cali-fornia, Irvine, told CNN in 2009. More science needs to be done on whether the

diminished negative re-sponse is also associated with a feeling of happiness.

Happiness: Living in the moment

But what about right now -- what can we do to make ourselves feel more positive?

If you're seeking to increase your own sense of happiness, try mindfulness techniques. Mindfulness means being present and in the moment, and observing in a nonjudgmental way, Susan Albers, psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, told CNN in 2010.

Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and is key to meditation in that tradition. Therapies for a wide variety of conditions, including eat-ing disorders, depression and PTSD, incorporate mindful-ness. Focusing on the here and now is a counterbalance to findings that mind-wan-dering is associated with

unhappiness.Activities such as keeping

a gratitude diary and helping other people are also associ-ated with feelings of well-be-ing, Kubzansky said.

A variety of smartphone apps are also available that claim to help you monitor and enhance your moods. But don't feel you have to face emotional challenges alone; a professional ther-apist can help you get to where you want to be.

If a sense of well-being makes a healthier person, then policy-makers should also promote large-scale initiatives to encourage that, Kubzansky said. Creating parks to encourage exer-cise and insituting flexible work-family initiatives are just some of the ways that communities can become healthier as a whole.

So remember: A glass half full might be healthier than a glass half empty.

Written byElizabeth Landau

A young woman enjoys her day by sprinkling glitter all around.

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