Breaking Generational Patterns

By Robin Stevens Payes

As the war in Ukraine broke out last February, I suddenly felt the energetic pull of family history. My Ukrainian-Jewish grandparents had escaped murderous pogroms against Jews to come to a land where they could live freely. But they carried with them the trauma of growing up poor, persecuted and under constant threat of oppression. Looking closely at my grandparents’ story, I could see the ways that their fear had been passed down to my mother. While they never discussed stories of the “old country” or the dangers they escaped, my mother had learned this survival lesson: success meant fitting in.

I began seeing the ways in which I had inherited it, too. I grew up walking on eggshells, worried that my mother might sulk if I didn’t live up to her expectations. When my brother chose his own path, my mother renounced him. Meanwhile, I shaped my life to be the child who would make her proud.

In grappling with my own multi-generational trauma, I began asking myself, how do we examine these negative patterns and break them?

Change starts in the genes

With epigenetics, researchers can now determine how changes in DNA are passed down after traumatic events— meaning trauma can start long before conception or birth. If the mother-baby bond is broken and a mother is unable to care for her child, the ability of young children to attach securely to a caretaker suffers. It might lead to a lifetime of insecure relationships affecting emotional development. Chronic stress in-utero can also result in impaired physical health. Even cultural and social conditioning in infants and children can cause epigenetic changes similar to the traumatic effects of violence and scarcity.

There is some good news: with awareness and intention, these impacts can be reversed. Nurturing positive emotional qualities such as love, gratitude, and empathy can offer an antidote. There are therapeutic techniques that can help an individual work through generational trauma. This means that, literally, changing your story can change your life.

Being aware of the problem is among the first steps to healing; to change your story, you must first know your story.

Re-storying: Healing the past to get to a healthier future

As we see trauma and violence playing out on a global scale and the damaging patterns of generational conflict, these same stories are reflected in popular culture. Social media is abuzz with #generationaltrauma stories. Tracing the family tree through Ancestry, or oral history programs like Story Corps, give us new ways to find and share family stories.

Good Hydration Linked To Healthy Aging

Adults who stay well-hydrated appear to be healthier, develop fewer chronic conditions, such as heart and lung disease, and live longer than those who may not get sufficient fluids, according to a National Institutes of Health study published in eBioMedicine(link is external).

Using health data gathered from 11,255 adults over a 30-year period, researchers analyzed links between serum sodium levels – which go up when fluid intake goes down – and various indicators of health. They found that adults with serum sodium levels at the higher end of a normal range were more likely to develop chronic conditions and show signs of advanced biological aging than those with serum sodium levels in the medium ranges. Adults with higher levels were also more likely to die at a younger age.

“The results suggest that proper hydration may slow down aging and prolong a disease-free life,” said Natalia Dmitrieva, Ph.D., a study author and researcher in the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH.

The study expands on research the scientists published in March 2022, which found links between higher ranges of normal serum sodium levels and increased risks for heart failure. Both findings came from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, which includes sub-studies involving thousands of Black and white adults from throughout the United States. The first ARIC sub-study started in 1987 and has helped researchers better understand risk factors for heart disease, while shaping clinical guidelines for its treatment and prevention.

For this latest analysis, researchers assessed information study participants shared during five medical visits – the first two when they were in their 50s, and the last when they were between ages 70-90. To allow for a fair comparison between how hydration correlated with health outcomes, researchers excluded adults who had high levels of serum sodium at baseline check-ins or with underlying conditions, like obesity, that could affect serum sodium levels.

They then evaluated how serum sodium levels correlated with biological aging, which was assessed through 15 health markers. This included factors, such as systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, which provided insight about how well each person’s cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, renal, and immune system was functioning. They also adjusted for factors, like age, race, biological sex, smoking status, and hypertension.

They found that adults with higher levels of normal serum sodium – with normal ranges falling between 135-146 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) – were more likely to show signs of faster biological aging. This was based on indictors like metabolic and cardiovascular health, lung function, and inflammation. For example, adults with serum sodium levels above 142 mEq/L had a 10-15% associated increased odds of being biologically older than their chronological age compared to ranges between 137-142 mEq/L, while levels above 144 mEq/L correlated with a 50% increase. Likewise, levels of 144.5-146 mEq/L were associated with a 21% increased risk of premature death compared to ranges between 137-142 mEq/L.

Similarly, adults with serum sodium levels above 142 mEq/L had up to a 64% increased associated risk for developing chronic diseases like heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation and peripheral artery disease, as well as chronic lung disease, diabetes, and dementia. Conversely, adults with serum sodium levels between 138-140 mEq/L had the lowest risk of developing chronic disease.

The findings don’t prove a causal effect, the researchers noted. Randomized, controlled trials are necessary to determine if optimal hydration can promote healthy aging, prevent disease, and lead to a longer life. However, the associations can still inform clinical practice and guide personal health behavior.

“People whose serum sodium is 142 mEq/L or higher would benefit from evaluation of their fluid intake,” Dmitrieva said. She noted that most people can safely increase their fluid intake to meet recommended levels, which can be done with water as well as other fluids, like juices, or vegetables and fruits with a high water content. The National Academies of Medicine(link is external), for example, suggest that most women consume around 6-9 cups (1.5-2.2 liters) of fluids daily and for men, 8-12 cups (2-3 liters).

Others may need medical guidance due to underlying health conditions. “The goal is to ensure patients are taking in enough fluids, while assessing factors, like medications, that may lead to fluid loss,” said Manfred Boehm, M.D., a study author and director of the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine. “Doctors may also need to defer to a patient’s current treatment plan, such as limiting fluid intake for heart failure.”

The authors also cited research that finds about half of people worldwide don’t meet recommendations for daily total water(link is external) intake, which often starts at 6 cups (1.5 liters).

“On the global level, this can have a big impact,” Dmitrieva said. “Decreased body water content is the most common factor that increases serum sodium, which is why the results suggest that staying well hydrated may slow down the aging process and prevent or delay chronic disease.” you can maintain a healthy weight include limiting portion size and being physically active. Learn more about how to maintain a healthy weight from NIA.

Keep your diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol under control. Follow your doctor’s advice to manage these conditions, and take medications as directed.

Cholesterol

High blood cholesterol levels can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries. Your doctor can check the level of cholesterol in your blood with a blood test. You must be fasting overnight or for 8 hours before this blood test. This will tell you your overall or total cholesterol level as well as LDL (“bad” cholesterol), HDL (“healthy” cholesterol), and triglycerides (another type of fat in the blood that puts you at risk for heart problems).

Don’t drink a lot of alcohol. Men should not have more than two drinks a day and women only one. One drink is equal to:

One 12-ounce can or bottle of regular beer, ale, or wine cooler

One 8- or 9-ounce can or bottle of malt liquor

One 5-ounce glass of red or white wine

One 1.5-ounce shot glass of distilled spirits like gin, rum, tequila, vodka, or whiskey

Manage stress.

Learn how to manage stress, relax, and cope with problems to improve physical and emotional health. Consider activities such as a stress management program, meditation, physical activity, and talking things out with friends or family. To learn more about stress management techniques, visit the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

Ask your doctor questions to learn more about your risk for heart disease and what to do about it. Learn what you can do if you are at increased risk or already have a heart problem.

What is my risk for heart disease?

What is my blood pressure?

What are my cholesterol numbers? (These include total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides.) Make sure your doctor has checked a fasting blood sample to determine your cholesterol levels.

Do I need to lose weight for my health?

What is my blood sugar level, and does it mean that I’m at risk for diabetes?

What other screening tests do I need to tell me if I’m at risk for heart disease and how to lower my risk?

What can you do to help me quit smoking?

How much physical activity do I need to help protect my heart?

What’s a heart-healthy eating plan for me?

How can I tell if I’m having a heart attack? If I think I’m having one, what should I do?

Warrior<<page 1

This exercise also works the stabilization muscles in your body including transverse abdominal, erector spinal, gluteals, deltoids and hamstrings, which not only helps with the execution for movements used in Martial Arts, but also helps with daily living activities.

Lie on your stomach on the floor with your arms stretched out and legs stretched out behind. Keeping your head relaxed and spine neutral, raise your arms and legs a few inches off the ground, while contracting your core muscles to stabilize your spine. Gently lower yourself back to the starting position and repeat. Recommended 8-15 reps.

Another factor in strength building is making sure one’s inner self is healthy by doing what you enjoy doing. Whether it’s taking a walk, reading your favorite book, surrounding yourself in nature, cooking.

“I do my weekly hikes because nature always brings me back to my core. It reminds me of all the positives in life, and always makes me appreciate life. I also do my stretches at the end of the day. This is my daily meditation where I wind down, stretch out my body to prepare for another day with a positive mindset,” concludes Yui.

OneFirelight brings a mind, body, spirit modality to the fitness space by combining the restorative effects of yoga practice, strength building of cardio/kickboxing, healing of sound meditation, and joyfulness of dance, OneFirelight results in calming the mind, strengthening the body, and uplifting the spirit. The unique and oneof-a-kind platform offerings are carefully curated to promote expressions of love, peace and unity.

While some health factors are beyond your control, there are a number of things that women can do to improve health and fitness.

Try OneFirelight with a 3-day free guest pass at www.onefirelight.com.