SHC Core Value #4:

OPENNESS

Share information and solicit new ideas.

Openness begins with an accommodating attitude or opinion. It requires one to be receptive to new ideas, behaviors, cultures, peoples, environments and experiences that may differ from the familiar, conventional, traditional or one's own belief.

8 Sayings About Life from Around the World

Ways to think about love, life, and happiness from cultures around the world.

Russia: "Without effort, you can't pull a fish out of the pond."
Lesson: You have to work for the things you want. Rewards don't come for free.

Egypt: "If you marry a monkey for its wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains."
Lesson: Money is fleeting, but personality is forever.

Ethiopia: "He who knows much speaks with silence."
Lesson: Being a mouthy know-it-all will only expose the things you don't know. Choose words thoughtfully.

Kenya: "Treat the world well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was willed to you by your children."
Lesson: You're really just borrowing the planet, so don't waste its resources.

Burundi: "Where there is love, there is no darkness."
Lesson: When you're feeling blue, shift your focus – think of the love in your life, be grateful, and your cloud of sadness will pass. There’s less room for dark thoughts when you concentrate on love.

China: "To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root."
Lesson: You are a product of everyone in your family who came before you.

Finland: "Closeness without conflict only exists in the cemetery."
Lesson: If you know someone well enough, fights are inevitable. Don’t let conflict simmer. When you resolve the problem together, you'll be closer than ever.

France: "All of the Earth’s treasures can’t bring back a lost moment.”
Lesson: There's no rewind button in life. Put down your phones, iPads, and other "social" technology, and live in the moment with the people around you.

Source: www.grandparents.com

Take Control of Your Health: 6 Steps to Prevent a Fall

Every 11 seconds, an older adult is seen in an emergency department for a fall-related injury. Many falls are preventable. Stay safe with these tips!

1. Find a good balance and exercise program. Look to build balance, strength, and flexibility. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging for referrals. Find a program you like and take a friend.
2. Talk to your health care provider. Ask for an assessment of your risk of falling. Share your history of recent falls.
3. Regularly review your medications with your doctor or pharmacist. Make sure side effects aren’t increasing your risk of falling. Take medications only as prescribed.
4. Get your vision and hearing checked annually and update your eyeglasses. Your eyes and ears are key to keeping you on your feet.
5. Keep your home safe. Remove tripping hazards, increase lighting, make stairs safe, and install grab bars in key areas.
6. Talk to your family members. Enlist their support in taking simple steps to stay safe. Falls are not just a seniors’ issue.

Source: National Council on Aging

10 Reasons to Practice Yoga

1. Stress Relief
By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion, boosting the immune system and easing symptoms of anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. Pain Relief 
Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga, meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases, hypertension, arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions.

3. Better Breathing 
Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. Flexibility 
Yoga helps improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains.

5. Increased Strength 
Yoga postures use every muscle in the body, helping increase strength. These postures also help relieve muscular tension.

6. Weight Management
Yoga can aid weight control efforts by reducing cortisol levels as well as burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well-being and self-esteem.

7. Improved Circulation 
Yoga helps improve circulation and more efficiently move oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. Cardiovascular Conditioning
Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. Focus On The Present 
Yoga helps us focus on the present and become more aware. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. Inner Peace
The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons report this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

Source: Yoga Health Foundation

Testimonial

Seniors Home Care has been a great help to me. I’m especially grateful for the help I received from Joan. She was always very compassionate and understanding. She took me to doctor appointments and shopping, and any miscellaneous errands I needed to do. I would recommend Seniors Home Care to anyone who is in need of assistance.
Margaret M.

Recycling Fun Facts

• A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. That's closed loop recycling at its finest!
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
• An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!
• There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled.
• We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year.

Source: www.recycling-revolution.com
 

September is National Sewing Month!

National Sewing Month is a time to indulge your passion for sewing and is the perfect opportunity to introduce yourself to the craft if you’ve never tried it before. New and experienced enthusiasts can find free sewing projects and guidelines for sewing, embroidery, craft and appliqué articles available on the Sewing & Craft Alliance website at www.sewing.org.