Bill, I agree with all of this. I was just trying to get your butt off the cushion to take a walk--in the garden. Hence clearing the mind and cleansing your body to experience "just this". Kristy
--- On Thu, 1/13/11, Bill! <[email protected]> wrote: From: Bill! <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Zen] News: Can sitting too much kill you? To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, January 13, 2011, 5:49 PM Kristy, When I use the word sitting I refer to zazen. I've said this many times. And for me zazen is shikantaza; and shikantaza is 'clear mind'. So...any activity I do (like daily life) with a clear mind (Buddha Mind) is shikantaza, is zazen. Washing dishes with a clear mind is zazen. I think at least you'll agree that washing dishes = daily life. ...Bill! --- In [email protected], Kristy McClain <healthyplay1@...> wrote: > > The point being that > sitting = < daily life. k > > > --- On Thu, 1/13/11, Bill! BillSmart@... wrote: > > > From: Bill! BillSmart@... > Subject: Re: [Zen] News: Can sitting too much kill you? > To: [email protected] > Date: Thursday, January 13, 2011, 5:12 PM > > >  > > > > Sitting is daily life. Daily life is sitting. ...Bill! > > --- In [email protected], Kristy McClain healthyplay1@ wrote: > > > > Amen. > >  > > Thanks for sharing this! k > > > > > > --- On Thu, 1/13/11, Edgar Owen edgarowen@ wrote: > > > > > > From: Edgar Owen edgarowen@ > > Subject: [Zen] News: Can sitting too much kill you? > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Thursday, January 13, 2011, 5:22 AM > > > > > >  > > > > > > > > > > > > For all you deluded ones who believe that sitting instead of daily life is > > Zen. > > :-) > > > > > > Edgar > > > > > > > >  > > > > > > > > > > Can sitting too much kill you? > > By Travis Saunders | Jan 6, 2011 10:39 AM > > We all know that physical activity is important for good > > healthâ€"regardless of your age, gender or body weight, living an active > > lifestyle can improve your quality of life and dramatically reduce your > > risk of death and disease. But even if you are meeting current physical > > activity guidelines by exercising for one hour per day (something few > > Americans manage on a consistent basis), that leaves 15 to 16 hours per day > > when you are not being active. Does it matter how you spend those hours, > > which account for more than 90% of your day? For example, does it matter > > whether you spend those 16 hours sitting on your butt, versus standing or > > walking at a leisurely pace? Fortunately or unfortunately, new evidence > > suggests that it does matter, and in a big way. > > What is sedentary behavior? > > Before we go any further, it’s important that we define the term > > "sedentary behavior". Sedentary behavior is typically defined as any > > behavior with an exceedingly low energy expenditure (defined as <1.5 > > metabolic equivalents). In general, this means that almost any time you are > > sitting (e.g. working on a computer, watching TV, driving) or lying down, > > you are engaging in sedentary behavior. There are a few notable exceptions > > when you can be sitting or lying down but still expend high energy > > expenditure (e.g. riding a stationary bike), but in general if you are > > sitting down, you are being sedentary. > > The above definition may seem rather intuitive, but this is not the way > > that the term sedentary has been used by exercise science researchers for > > the past 50 years. Up until very recently, referring to someone as > > sedentary meant simply that they were not meeting current guidelines for > > physical activity. In simple terms, if you were exercising for 60+ > > minutes/day, you were considered physically active. If you were exercising > > 10 minutes/day, you were sedentary. Case closed. But as we will discuss > > below, sedentary time is closely associated with health risk regardless of > > how much physical activity you perform on a daily basis. Further, it is > > entirely possible to meet current physical activity guidelines while still > > being incredibly sedentary. Thus, to quote researcher Marc Hamilton, > > sitting too much is not the same as exercising too little. (if you take > > only one thing from this post, let it be that quote from Dr Hamilton). > > Which is why it is so important > > that when we use the term "sedentary", we are all on the same page about > > what that means. > > Now that we know what sedentary behavior is, let’s look at its > > relationship with health risk. > > Epidemiological Evidence > > In 2009 Dr Peter Katzmarzyk and colleagues at the Pennington Biomedical > > Research Center published an influential longitudinal paper examining the > > links between time spent sitting and mortality in a sample of more than > > 17,000 Canadians (available here). Not surprisingly, they report that time > > spent sitting was associated with increased risk of all-cause and > > cardiovascular disease mortality (there was no association between sitting > > and deaths due to cancer). But what is fascinating is that the relationship > > between sitting time and mortality was independent of physical activity > > levels. In fact, individuals who sat the most were roughly 50% more likely > > to die during the follow-up period than individuals who sat the least, even > > after controlling for age, smoking, and physical activity levels. Further > > analyses suggested that the relationship between sitting time and mortality > > was also independent of body weight. This suggests that all things being > > equal > (body > > weight, physical activity levels, smoking, alcohol intake, age, and sex) > > the person who sits more is at a higher risk of death than the person who > > sits less. > > The above findings linking excessive sitting with poor health are far from > > isolated. For example, a similar longitudinal study from Australia reports > > that each hour of daily television viewing (a proxy of sedentary time) is > > associated with an 11% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality > > regardless of age, sex, waist circumference, and physical activity level. > > And as my colleagues and I summarize in a recent review paper (PDF), > > numerous epidemiological studies have linked sedentary behavior with > > obesity, cardiometabolic risk, and even some cancers. > > New evidence also suggests that in addition to the quantity of sedentary > > time, the quality of sedentary time may also have an important health > > impact. For example, Genevieve Healy and colleagues examined this issue in > > participants of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) > > Study. A total of 168 men and women aged 30-87 years wore an accelerometer > > (an objective measure of bodily movement) during all waking hours for 7 > > consecutive days, which allowed the researchers to quantify the amount of > > time that participants spent being sedentary, as well as how frequently > > they interrupted these sedentary activities (e.g. standing, walking to the > > washroom, etc). > > What did they find? > > The greater the number of breaks taken from sedentary behavior, the lower > > the waist circumference, body mass index, as well as blood lipids and > > glucose tolerance. This was true even if the total amount of sedentary time > > and physical activity time were equal between individualsâ€"the one who > > took breaks more frequently during their time at the office or while > > watching television was less obese and had better metabolic health. > > Importantly, the breaks taken by the individuals in this study were of a > > brief duration (<5 min) and a low intensity (such as walking to the > > washroom, or simply standing). > > Taken together, the epidemiological evidence strongly suggests that > > prolonged sitting is an important health risk factor. But what explains > > these relationships? Let’s now look at the multiple mechanisms > > linking sedentary time with increased health risk. > > Mechanisms > > Reduced Energy Expenditure > > Quite obviously (and by definition), when you are sedentary, you are not > > being physically active. And so one common assumption is that people who > > sit more are at increased health risk simply because they are getting less > > physical activity. However, somewhat surprisingly, sitting time and > > physical activity do not appear to be related for most people. For example > > a paper from the European Youth Heart Study published in PLoS Medicine > > reports no association between physical activity and TV watching in a > > sample of nearly 2000 children and teenagers, and other reports suggest > > that there is little evidence that sedentary behavior displaces moderate or > > vigorous physical activity. So while it makes intuitive sense that being > > sedentary reduces energy expenditure, it is likely through the reduction of > > very light intensity physical activity (e.g. standing, walking at a slow > > pace), rather than by reducing the volume of what we typically think of as > > exercise. This > may > > also help explain why the relationship between sedentary behavior and > > health risk are often independent of moderate or vigorous physical activity. > > Increased Food Intake > > In addition to reducing our energy expenditure, sedentary behaviors may > > also promote excess food intake. For example, a recently published study in > > the American Journal of Public Health suggests that the amount of > > commercial television (e.g. television with advertisements) that children > > watch before the age of 6 is associated with increased body weight 5 years > > down the road, even after adjustment for other important variables > > including physical activity, socio-economic status and mother’s BMI. > > In contrast, watching non-commercial television (DVD’s or TV > > programs without commercials) showed no association with body weight. > > Similarly, it has also been reported that each hour of daily television > > watching in children is associated with an increased consumption of 167 > > calories per day (PDF), mainly through increased consumption of high > > calorie, low nutrient foods (e.g. the foods most commonly advertised on > > television). Much of this is likely > just a > > learned behaviorâ€"watching TV exposes us to food ads promoting > > unhealthy fare, which is likely to have a disproportionate influence on > > younger viewers. Just as importantly, people may just really enjoy munching > > on food while relaxing on the couch. Either way, excess sitting (and TV > > watching in particular) seems to put us in situations where we choose to > > eat more than we would otherwise. > > Physiological Adaptations > > I don’t think the mechanisms described aboveâ€"that sitting too > > much may lead to reduced energy expenditure and increased food > > intakeâ€"will come as much of a surprise. But what I find truly > > fascinating is that sedentary behavior also results in rapid and dramatic > > changes in skeletal muscle. For example, in rat models, it has been shown > > that just 1 day of complete rest results in dramatic reductions in muscle > > triglyceride uptake, as well as reductions in HDL cholesterol (the good > > cholesterol). And in healthy human subjects, just 5 days of bed rest has > > been shown to result in increased plasma triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, > > as well as increased insulin resistanceâ€"all very bad things. And these > > weren’t small changesâ€"triglyceride levels increased by 35%, and > > insulin resistance by 50%! > > These negative changes are likely related to reductions in the activity of > > lipoprotein lipase, an enzyme which allows muscle to uptake fat, thereby > > reducing the amount of fat circulating in the blood (it also strongly > > influences cholesterol levelsâ€"the details can be found here). Animal > > research has shown that lipoprotein lipase activity is reduced dramatically > > after just six hours of sedentary behaviorâ€"not unlike a typical day at > > work or school for many individuals. Sedentary behavior may also reduce > > glucose transporter protein content in the muscle, making it more difficult > > for glucose to be taken into the muscle and resulting in higher blood sugar > > levels. What is most interesting to me personally is that these > > physiological changes in skeletal muscle have little or nothing to do with > > the accumulation of body fat, and occur under extremely rapid time-frames. > > This means that both lean and obese individuals, and even those with otherwise > active > > lifestyles, are at increased health risk when they spend excessive amounts > > of time sitting down. > > Should we be concerned about the health impact of sedentary behavior? > > Yes. > > Western society is built around sitting. We sit at work, we sit at school, > > we sit at home, and we sit in our cars as we commute back and forth. In > > fact, a recent survey reports that the average American accumulates more > > than 8 hours of sedentary behavior every dayâ€"roughly half of their > > waking hours. The situation in children is, unfortunately, no different. > > There is evidence that children in both Canada and the USA (PDF) accumulate > > more than 6 hours of screen-time (time spent in front of the TV, computer, > > or other screen-based device) on a daily basis. Keep in mind that > > screen-time is almost exclusively sedentary (active video games excluded), > > and that all these hours of sedentary behavior are in addition to the hours > > and hours (and hours) that kids spend sitting at school. In fact, a recent > > study reports that roughly 70% of class time, including physical education > > class, is completely sedentary (while slightly better than class time, children > were > > also sedentary for the majority of lunch and recess). > > In short, given the consistent links between sedentary behavior and both > > death and disease, and the ubiquity of sedentary behavior in our society, > > we should be very concerned about the health impact of sedentary behavior. > > What is the take-home message? > > There is a rapidly accumulating body of evidence which suggests that > > prolonged sitting is very bad for our health, even for lean and otherwise > > physically active individuals. The good news? Animal research suggests that > > simply walking at a leisurely pace may be enough to rapidly undo the > > metabolic damage associated with prolonged sitting, a finding which is > > supported by epidemiological work in humans. So, while there are a lot of > > questions that remain unanswered (e.g. Is there a â€Å"safe� > > amount of daily sedentary time?), the evidence seems clear that we should > > strive to limit the amount of time we spend sitting. And when we do have to > > sit for extended periods of time (which, let’s face it, is pretty > > much every single day for many of us) we should take short breaks whenever > > possible. > > Finally, if you take only one thing from this post, let it be > > thisâ€"sitting too much is not the same as exercising too little. > > >
