Mind and Body

It’s been a long time because I’ve had a hard time finding the motivation to post…or maybe finding motivation to think of topics to post. However, that’s pretty appropriate, given today’s topic, which is fitness and motivation.

To start off, a little bit of understanding is necessary. I’ve been a pretty devoted runner for about four years now. I suppose it’s really closer to three, because in my junior year of high school I got very sick for pretty much the entire year due to stress and bad nutrition, and was lucky if I could run once a month. But before that year, I had been running nearly every single day for the past two years, gradually building up to 5 miles when I got sick.

Now I’m just working on getting back into it, and finding the motivation to run like I used to. The biggest motivator is something I’d all but forgot about, in some small corner of my mind: one of my dearest goals in life is to compete in the Ironman Triathlon. It’s motivating to tell myself I’ll never get there if I don’t start devoting myself to running and working out again.

So I started looking up training plans for an Ironman, just to see if I could expect to be in good enough condition to run one in, say, 8 years, and found one on Beginner Triathlete. The training plan is a good thing to look at, if you ever want to complete in a triathlon at all, let alone an Ironman, or if you’re just curious about what athletes go through to even finish this thing.

What I wanted to share with everyone today, however, was a side link I found, which is about motivation. Half of being fit and working out has to do with motivation.
The page is here if you want to read it, but it essentially outlines that motivation is not about FEELING good enough to go and get in a really tough work-out.
I felt this was important. A lot of the time, when I discuss my running career with others, they express to me how they wish they could do what I do, or lose weight or get into shape. And still others complain al the time about not having motivation for any number or type of thing; writing, practicing an instrument, running, whatever. The point is that people sit around and wait to feel like they want to do something, which, says this page, is not motivation. Motivation can be gotten by setting reasonable short- and long-term goals, and sticking to them.
I can relate to this pretty well, because for the past few months, I have had to relearn how to motivate myself, how to get myself to go out and run on days I just really didn’t feel like it, and I gradually started to realize I’d never get back into the shape I had been in a couple of years back if I maintained that attitude.
It was a nice reminder to find this here, telling me that motivation has more to do with making yourself meet your goals and then creating good habits so that motivation is habitual and a lot of effort is no longer required.

So, read that, take a look around that site – it’s got great tips on eating right, exercising well, and keeping in shape both mentally and physically. Just thought it would be nice to share.

So, I figure we’ve had enough of idle speculation with regards to the role of color psychology in depression, and I’m going to do a post about a movie I just watched last night.

It was called Casshern, apparently it was released in 2004, but was based on a 1970’s anime series, Casshan (known in Japan as Neo-Human Casshern). It was recommended to me by my mother. This is somewhat surprising, because the film is Japanese, and while I enjoy any sort of Asian film most of the time, my mother doesn’t. Particularly not Asian sci-fi, which is what I would classify Casshern.

The movie is essentially about a race of super-humans derived from special cells taken from “original humans,” or humans with the purest DNA, the first humans to ever be created. Using the cells from these people, the scientist Dr. Azuma runs an experiment which inadvertantly creates the super-humans. They are filled with rage and hatred for “lesser humanity,” which is ironic, considering their origins. Dr. Azuma’s son, Tetsuya, is also given these cells, granting him an invincible body. Thus, he stands as humanity’s only defense against the new race.
The movie takes place after a very large-scale war between the vaguely-established powers ‘Europa’ and ‘Asia.’ It is a somewhat complicated movie, and probably needs a couple of viewings in able to absorb the entire scope of the movie.

Casshern , being a sci-fi movie, is quite reminiscent of certain video games, namely JRPGs. The Final Fantasy series, and Final Fantasy VII in particular, bear some resemblance to the themes expressed in the movie. As the anime series has been around since 1973, it is highly likely that the FF series was inspired by it, and perhaps the movie was inspired by that series in turn.
I would recommend the movie to any fan of JRPGs, as they bear the same general mood, atmosphere, story, and themes, and also to anyone who is a fan of ‘puzzle movies,’ ones that require your full concentration.

There’s a lot of action, quite a bit of violence, but no sexual content, which is quite a plus in my book.

The movie was directed and written by Kazuaki Kiriya.

Continued from yesterday’s post.

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SAD is ordinarily treated by light therapy, or exposure to artificial sunlight. At a certain distance, this emits 10,000 lux into the eyes of the patient. Patients are instructed to sit near the light for a certain amount of time per day. This treatment has only recently begun to show its relevance in clinical trials, and has not been approved by the FDA due to the lack of  evidence with regards to its effectiveness. However, light therapy is increasingly being used in therapy, not just in SAD, but in other types ofdepression, as well.
Interestingly, light therapy’s effectiveness may be related to color and its influence on depression. This makes even more sense because light therapy is typically not effective treatment for very severe depression, in which case the usual anti-depressant and psychotherapy combinations are prescribed.

Color may play a very important role in depression.

Depressed people frequently describe themselves as living in dull, colorless environments, or feeling that the world around them is gray, sluggish, or otherwise colorless. Bipolar patients also provide a link to color – when taking Rorschach inkblot tests, bipolar patients almost always remark on the vibrant colors in the colored inkblot images. Because bipolar disorder is characterized by manic episodes coupled with spates of depression, this interest in color could be significant. Color may stimulate the mind, and provide some necessary psychological function. This might also explain the increased cases of depression in recent years; with the obsession with technology and work so prevalent in our culture, people often live dull, colorless lives because they do not spend enough time outside.

Spending time outside is another recommended “treatment” for depression, because depression is more likely to relapse if patients do not.

This is just theory, but something I would like to look into later on in my career. If you’re feeling down, try looking at pictures of flowers, or other images with lots of color, particularly warm colors which will stimulate the mind and provoke warmer emotions. It might just help.

Cont. directly from Part 1

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SAD is believed to be caused by a lack of sunlight, firstly because it is possible that a lack of sunlight in the winter causes the body’s circadian rhythm to be broken or disturbed. The circadian rhythm is responsible for letting the body know when it should be asleep and when it should be awake – its disruption may cause depression.

A lack of sunlight may also be associated with SAD because sunlight helps to manufacture serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood. Lack of sunlight often causes a lack of serotonin, and this may cause one’s mood to destabilize. The same is true for the hormone melatonin, associated with both depression and sleep. Long winter nights may cause the body to produce less melatonin, leading to sleeping problems and depression.

One reason sunlight is believed to be related to SAD is that people living further north, or further from the equator, are more likely to have SAD and are less likely to have much exposure to the sun.

While all of this is factual information, I am going to discuss another association with SAD and a lack of sunlight that is based purely in my observation and opinion.

A new branch of psychology, called ‘color psychology,’ has recently gained a lot of attention from the public. Many people are now basing the way they decorate their houses in this branch of psychology, because colors are believed to have some effect on people’s mood. Color, being something as inescapable as perception, is something that is apt to have an affect on our brains, because we have known it throughout the course of our evolution.

Sunlight is associated with color. In sunlight or bright light, color is much more vivid. In the spring and summer, there are wider varieties of color, and are closely associated with vibrant, bright, warm colors – red, yellow, orange, and other stimulating colors which are associated with arousal and stimulation, while cool colors such as blue and green are tranquilizing. Blue is associated with depression, as well. In the winter, there are much cooler colors; grey, black, brown, blue, white – all of which are stoic, tranquilizing, and may negatively affect mood.
I believe it is possible that color psychology may be associated with SAD and a lack of sunlight that people are not getting.

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Will be continued tomorrow with Pt. 3.

PLEASE NOTE:  This is a multi-part entry about Seasonal Affective Disorder. The first part will discuss what this disorder is, and the second, third, etc parts will discuss causes of SAD, how it is currently treated, my opinions on how color and color psychology relate to the disorder, and how research on it should proceed, respectively.

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Looking for a way to beat the summer blues?

If you suffer from depressive symptoms  during the summer or winter season, it could be that you have Seasonal Affective Disorder,or SAD. This disorder is generally a type of depression, although in rare cases, it may manifest as a reverse version of SAD; a manic or hypomanic disorder.

The symptoms of SAD most typically begin in the fall and continue into the winter, but get better during the spring and winter months. The opposite can be true, however, and symptoms may appear in spring and summer, ceasing in the fall and winter.

Winter SAD is characterized by typical depressive symptoms; feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, anxiety, sleeping problems, weight gain, lethargy, anhedonia (lack of pleasure in previously enjoyed activities), and a general lack of motivation.

Summer SAD, however, may include restlessness, insomnia, weight loss, and irritability among other possible symptoms.

If you suffer from any of these possible sets of symptoms, you may have Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Hello, world. The real introduction will be in my first actual post, but welcome to this blog, and let me point you in the right direction for the time being.
I’d recommend reading the About section to start.

Additionally, if you are at all interested in creative writing, then please look at my creative writing journal: http://theskyforwire.livejournal.com
That journal is where all of my writing for the past two years can be found, and it will give you an idea of who I am.

Thank you, welcome, please make yourselves at home.

The hardest part of starting a blog is definitely the introduction. So let me start out by saying hello.
I am Oneiro, which is the Greek word for ‘dream.’ I chose this as my internet alias for a few reasons; the first is because I learned of the word through an article I read about lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming, in case anyone is not familiar with the term, happens when one becomes aware of the fact that they are in a dream and are able to alter and control the dream. When hooked up to a brain scan during lucid dreaming, the scan will show brain activity going on that is the same activity that occurs when one is awake. I’ll talk about lucid dreaming a lot; it’s a fascination of mine.
I chose the title Oneiro secondly because a person’s dreams are the basis for that person’s motivation. Without dreams, goals, and foresight, people drift through life like plankton on the waves, with no ambition, with nothing but apathy for the state of the world around them. To dream is to change the world, and that is what I am all about.
Thirdly, I chose Oneiro as a title because in Greek mythology, the Oneiroi are gods of dreams, believed to live in the oceans in the far west. Oregon is in the far west, and ever since I can remember, I have been drawn to the ocean, which is why I live in Oregon now. I feel a connection to the ocean and to the realm of sleep, and I thought Oneiro would be a fitting title so as to honor that mythology and my connection with it.

From that, one can infer a great deal about what I believe, which takes care of a few problems that occur with introduction. Now, I can welcome you to this blog; I hope those who find their ways here find my ideas and perceptions interesting, and I sincerely hope that they will stay with me in the months to come as I fight to explore the culture and society I find myself immersed in, and through it, hopefully come to revelation and realization.
The important part of that is to know that without readers, this blog is nothing. Words will change the world by changing people’s minds. I want you, whoever is reading this right now, to tell me what it will take for you to follow this blog, and what you want to hear more of, in addition to the things I already intend to talk about (read the About section for more detail). Basically, this blog is about anything and everything, because anything and everything influence the mind and body.
Now it is time to become a part of the ocean of words that is today.com.