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Halloween can be a teachable moment Oct 17th 2012, 05:00 With Mayo Clinic nutritionists Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D. read biography Latest entries A healthy diet is a smart investment Oct. 10, 2012 What will it take to reverse the obesity epidemic? Oct. 3, 2012 Don't go against the grain — Go whole grain Sept. 26, 2012 Eggs and heart disease — still controversial Sept. 19, 2012 What you can do to reduce food waste Sept. 12, 2012 Connect with others who've been there. Share stories. Learn. Join Mayo Clinic's online community. Free E-newsletter Subscribe to Housecall Our weekly general interest e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics. Sign up now View the Mayo Diabetes Diet Book Nutrition-wise blog Oct. 17, 2012 Halloween can be a teachable moment By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D. Halloween is a dilemma for many parents. They want to curb the candy but they don't want to be the candy cop. Why not try a new approach? Turn this challenge into a learning opportunity for your children. Halloween is just one of the many holidays and celebrations that tempt us with goodies. Clients tell me how football Sundays, birthday parties and other holidays sabotage their weight control efforts. Maybe it wouldn't be so tough in adulthood if these were learned behaviors earlier in life. Before Halloween, have a conversation with your children about how they will handle the candy landslide. Adolescents should be mature enough to participate in this discussion. Ask for their ideas about how much candy is too much and what can be done with the excess. Keep the conversation open and nonjudgmental. It might involve some coaching and even some bargaining. For example, you might negotiate with your children that they'll sit at the table to enjoy a few pieces of their candy, rather than plopping down in front of the TV and mindlessly munching their way through it. On Halloween night and the days that follow, check in. Ask your children to assess their plan. How do they feel it went and how do they feel physically? What might they do differently next time? Share your thoughts, suggestions and words of encouragement for other parents. Here's to happy and healthy children, Katherine blog index Mindfulness key component in compassion for self, others Oct 16th 2012, 21:31 Alzheimer's blog Oct. 16, 2012 By Angela Lunde Alzheimer's Caregiving Subscribe to our Alzheimer's Caregiving e-newsletter to stay up to date on Alzheimer's topics. Sign up now The responses to my last blog posting were validating, insightful and inspiring. I'm so grateful that we have this venue to recharge with one another and offer much needed support and perspective in both caring for someone with dementia and being a person living with dementia. I sincerely hope Craig's words from a posting he made a couple of weeks ago resonate with each of you. Craig is a terrific man I know, and as he shared in his posting, he's living with Lewy body dementia. Here is some of what he wrote: "I still have abilities. I still have contributions. I still have opinions. I still have regrets — mostly that I am written off, and the system gives everyone permission to do so. I still enjoy doing fun things. I still enjoy ... most anything ... I know that I am a burden, but help me stay as little a burden as possible for the longest time possible. That's right, Address ME ..." Also, I want to echo and shout out what Wendy recently offered when she said that this vital cultural shift must be about a "quest for compassion." I'm with you Wendy — embracing persons living with dementia as a society and within communities remains our ardent quest. We must act with compassion. For most of us, we probably think of compassion as a virtuous way of expressing care, concern or empathy toward the suffering of another individual. Yet, I'd also like us all to think for a bit about compassion toward one's self. Because the truth is, until we have self-compassion we won't be able to bring it to others. Kristin Neff, Ph.D., in her book titled "Self Compassion" (2011), says that self-compassion involves three core components: It requires self-kindness, that we be gentle and understanding with ourselves rather than harshly critical and judgmental. I believe that both caregivers and persons living with dementia tend to be very hard on themselves. Often they think that they aren't good enough, not worthy, or feel that they are not living up to some perceived expectations. They may believe they are a burden, feel inadequate, or sense that society makes them feel so. Self-compassion requires that we feel connected with others in the experience of life rather than feeling isolated and alienated from others and by our suffering. To some degree, this is where family, friends, support groups, specialized programs and perhaps even this blog or newsletter can help. But as Craig and so many others recognize, we have a long way to go to eliminate the isolation and alienation that many caregivers and persons living with dementia experience. Self-compassion requires mindfulness. I think of mindfulness as the act of being fully aware of our actions, our thoughts, feelings, and surroundings, as well as our interactions in each moment. Mindfulness is about identifying all feelings in a way where they are neither suppressed nor exaggerated. A number of studies suggest that when you bring feelings into awareness and describe or name them you diffuse the negative energy that accompanies them. In other words, mindfulness can help us live with less emotional reactivity and turbulence and move toward calm, perhaps even more happiness. In a recent Huffington Post article titled "How to Best Help Alzheimer's Caregivers — Teach Them Mindfulness," author Marguerite Manteau-Rao describes mindfulness as "the cultivation of intentional moment-to-moment awareness, without judgment ... mindfulness slows us down and takes some of the edge off our reactive tendencies." I'd say this includes being aware of our natural tendency to view a person with dementia as less competent or a lesser person. Mindfulness brings with it the ability to see the person living with dementia as a whole being. When this occurs, the relationship between the caregiver and the person living with dementia can transform into one of reciprocity. And then, an incredible shift happens. Instead of an encounter where there is a caregiver and a care receiver, there is simply a caring relationship. An interconnectedness takes place between two people and compassion is born. More about the practice of mindfulness next time. "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." - Dalai Lama blog index

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