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Your health: Relax those muscles

Just relax

Stressed muscles are tight, tense muscles. By learning to relax your muscles, you will be able to use your body to dissipate stress, recommends the Harvard Medical School newsletter.

Progressive muscle relaxation is best performed in a quiet, secluded place. You can be seated or stretched out on a firm mattress or mat. Tighten each muscle and maintain the contraction 20 seconds before slowly releasing it. As the muscle relaxes, concentrate on the release of tension and the sensation of relaxation.

Forehead: Wrinkle your forehead and arch your eyebrows. Hold; then relax.

Eyes: Close your eyes tightly. Hold; then relax.

Nose: Wrinkle your nose and flare your nostrils. Hold; then relax.

Tongue: Push your tongue firmly against the roof of your mouth. Hold; then relax.

Face: Grimace. Hold; then relax.

Jaws: Clench your jaws tightly. Hold; then relax.

Neck: Tense your neck by pulling your chin down to your chest. Hold; then relax.

Back: Arch your back. Hold; then relax.

Chest: Breathe in as deeply as you can. Hold; then relax.

Stomach: Tense your stomach muscles. Hold; then relax.

Buttocks and thighs: Tense your buttocks and thigh muscles. Hold; then relax.

Arms: Tense your biceps. Hold; then relax.

Forearms and hands: Tense your arms and clench your fists. Hold; then relax.

Calves: Press your feet down. Hold; then relax.

Ankles and feet: Pull your toes up. Hold; then relax.

The entire routine should take 12 to 15 minutes.

Women’s health walk

Delnor Hospital is hosting the 11th annual Walk for Women’s Wellness on Sunday, Sept. 25, beginning at Gunnar Anderson Park in Geneva. All proceeds from this five-mile walk benefit women’s health through educational programming, preventive screenings and special events.

The walk kicks off at 8:30 a.m. from the park and follows the bike trail along the Fox River. Adults, age 13 and up, cost $20 to register. Children, ages 4 to 12, pay $10. Same-day registration begins at 7 a.m.

For more information, call (630) 208-3338 or visit www.delnor.com.

Fatter Americans

Based on trends, half of the adults in the United States will be obese by 2030 unless the government makes changing the food environment a policy priority, according to a report published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Those changes include making healthful foods cheaper and less-healthful foods more expensive largely through tax strategies, the report said. Changes in the way foods are marketed would also be called for, among many other measures.

A team of international public health experts argued that the global obesity crisis will continue to grow worse and add substantial burdens to health care systems and economies unless governments, international agencies and other major institutions take action to monitor, prevent and control the problem.