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A new decade has dawned. Make the most of it by resolving to be the best you that you can be. Here are 10 practical and actionable steps to a healthier, happier 2020 and beyond.

1. Start small

If you want to shed bad habits and develop healthy ones, make your move. Start with one healthy choice and keep going. Good habits can improve your health, boost your mood, increase your productivity and help you live longer, says Sarah Emanuel, manager of wellness services for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE).

Emanuel suggests making small changes over time for the rest of time. When you focus on one small part of your life that you can improve, the goal for better health becomes achievable in the long run.

2. Schedule the appointment

Set aside time this (and every) year for a checkup. Yearly wellness visits are important preventive care thats generally included in health care coverage. Its a chance to huddle with your doctor and review family history, chronic medical and surgical conditions and current medications.

The time you invest in yourself and your personalized prevention plan is never wasteful; it is immeasurably valuable, says Dr. Elsie Verbik, medical director for BCBSNE.

3. Download the app

When it comes to health and fitness, the most important piece of equipment is the human body but we can still supplement it with cool gadgetry.

Studies show people who use fitness trackers and exercise apps are more likely to exercise during their leisure time compared to those who dont. Fitbit, Apple and Garmin make popular fitness trackers. App favorites include Couch to 5K, Sleep Cycle and MyFitnessPal, a free diet and exercise tracking app endorsed by Omaha naturopathic doctor Nikki Kendall.

Its an easy way for me to review my clients nutrition, hold them accountable to healthy choices and adjust their recommendations as needed, she says. It also allows me to track their progress and overcome plateaus if they arise.

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4. Live in the now

A growing body of evidence suggests that mindfulness recognizing exactly what is happening in our moment-to-moment experience can lead to lower stress levels, greater resilience and an overall healthier future.

Mindfulness is more approachable than ever thanks to a virtual explosion of apps, podcasts, websites, online courses, audio books and teachers, says Laura Crosby, a meditation instructor with the Center for Mindful Living.

5. Exercise your creativity

As we look for new ways to fortify our physical and mental health, study after study verifies that it pays to get creative.

I believe everyone has the capacity for creative expression in some form and that being creative is innate to human nature, says Betsy Funk, a registered expressive arts therapist and co-founder of Omaha Therapy and Arts Collaborative.

She says making art (painting, drawing, sculpting and more) can have a calming, almost meditative effect on the artist, which can potentially decrease stress, anxiety, depression and blood pressure.

6. Shut it down

Getting a good nights sleep is a dream addition to any wellness plan: minimal effort, huge returns. Adequate sleep has shown to help ward off illness, reduce stress, improve mood and potentially decrease the risks of Alzheimers disease and dementia.

Sleep is a very restorative time for the brain, says Dr. Daniel L. Murman, director of the Behavioral and Geriatric Neurology Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

7. Vanquish visceral fat

Getting adequate sleep also is a proven way to fight dangerous visceral belly fat. Cutting down on carbohydrate intake, increasing protein intake, avoiding trans fats and getting regular aerobic exercise are critical, as well. Certified personal trainer Chris Haberling says each of those habits will help reduce your waistline, but ultimately, combining all of them is going to be the most effective and quickest way.

8. Stress less

The potential consequences of not managing high stress levels include digestive and cardiovascular problems, stroke, cancer, a weakened immune system and mental illness such as depression and anxiety.

To help keep stress levels in check, embrace relaxation strategies such as deep breathing, yoga or tai chi; practice radical acceptance; and embrace the tenets of good self-care: getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, limiting or avoiding alcohol and tobacco use, seeing your physician regularly, and exercising, exercising, exercising, says Jennifer Baker, a social worker and mental health therapist with CHI Health Clinic Psychiatric Associates.

9. Oil your joints

Think of exercising as oiling your joints. OrthoNebraska physical therapist Elisa Bowcott says several highly effective, low-impact activities can promote better joint health while helping to improve cardio-fitness, overall strength and range of motion. The list includes brisk walking, biking, swimming, water walking and time on the elliptical machine. (When starting any exercise program and especially if you have joint or other concerns its always sound strategy to consult and work with a medical professional.)

10. Unplug and recharge

Interacting with social media has its upsides maybe you engage with inspirational content or use it to stay in touch with friends. But there also are potential pitfalls of overuse, including feelings of social isolation, a lack of productivity and sleep disruption.

Michael Vance, director of Behavioral Health Services at Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, recommends channeling empty time on social media into more productive endeavors such as self-reflection, getting some fresh air, volunteering, checking in on a loved one or sending a message of gratitude to someone who has made a difference in your life.

After Joe Adams had a heart attack, he underwent numerous procedures to get his heart in working order. Just when it seemed things were on the right track, his heart started to fail again. Read more.

Tamara Mosby-Montegut started working out as a stress reliever. Now she wants to keep up with her husband when he tackles 50 pushups in a row. And she wants her daughter to follow their healthy examples. Read more.

Varun Narayanan wanted to shed the pounds he packed on during the holidays a few years ago. He dropped from 230 pounds down to 195. Now he treks up active volcanoes. Read more.

After giving birth to her fourth baby, Susan Sawyer wanted to drop the baby weight. She took up Jazzercise. Sawyer's stuck with the dance-based exercise for nearly 35 years. Read more.

Jessica Hawley thought her third pregnancy was different because she was having a girl. But baby number three was another boy. The pregnancy felt different because she was more fit this time around. Read more.

When Gary Gundy started having trouble getting up after squatting down for target practice, he knew it was time for a change. The La Vista man dropped 80 pounds in three years. Read more.

Valerie Heath started shedding pounds by using the family's Wii. Now she belongs to a CrossFit gym and works out six days a week.Read more.

To be around for her family, Ashlei Spivey needed to get in shape. She joined a boxing gym. Now her workouts leave her feeling like she stepped out of a movie. Read more.

Betty Watt survived a sometimes trying career as a middle school teacher. Then she beat cancer twice. And the whole time she was a regular at the gym. Watt and her husband Charlie workout at least five days a week. Read more.

Erika Hanna sometimes has a pint-sized workout buddy during her morning classes. Her son Henrik, 18 months, offered hugs as she held a plank position and occasionally chased a loose exercise ball around the room. The studio gives Hanna a chance to stick close to her kids while staying on top of her own health and fitness. Read more.

Gwen Leyden wound up spending a week in a wheelchair because of a chronic condition. Leyden gradually was able to walk without using a cane. Later she started using the treadmill and eventually worked up to weightlifting. Read more.

With high blood pressure and the possibility of needing cholesterol meds Rich Hazuka was headed down a dangerous path. He dropped 75 pounds thanks to diet changes. When he plateaued, he took up exercise. Now he's off his blood pressure meds and has no need for any cholesterol medication. Read more.

George Mach can't help but wake up well before dawn. With that free time, the early riser started a gym routine. He hits the gym three days a week. Read more.

As Gregg Learned aged, arthritis made physical activity a chore. He struggled to walk across the parking lot at work. But joining a gym has helped Learned to stay on his feet. Read more.

At one time, Laura Adams could barely finish a lap around the walking track. But the Bellevue woman, who weighed 300 pounds, stuck it out and dropped 115 pounds. Read more.

Vince Huerta has always tried to keep active. He decided to give powerlifting a shot and now, the Omaha South grad holds a number of records for the weight he's hoisted. Read more.

Paul Stultz takes swimming seriously. He joined a Masters Swimming club and is working on nailing strokes like the freestyle and butterfly. But one of his biggest accomplishments was hiking the Grand Canyon. Read more.

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New decade, new you: 10 things you really can set your mind to doing in 2020 and beyond - Omaha World-Herald

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Buddhist monk Pema Chdrn posits three qualities of the human mind natural intelligence, natural warmth and natural openness. A part of natural intelligence is the capacity to focus in on material specifics what some call left-brain traits.

Since my occipital lobe stroke on Aug. 30 of last year, Ive noticed that along with some deficits, my ability to achieve such one-pointed focus on detail has been significantly enhanced. (Scroll down for the 4-1-1.)

Singular attention to continued hiking, simple guitar strumming and writing pays off with more creative energy, new songs, more intriguing stories and backcountry rambles. Swift switching between left- and right-brain thinking styles, from details to metaphors and back, also has improved.

When ambling along the Lost Valley Trail or up Rattlesnake Canyon, I ascend into more right-brain enjoyment and forgetfulness about urban cares and responsibilities. After the right brain voraciously feeds in raw nature, the switch into one-pointed concentration feels seamless and easy.

I had worried about mental energy and the memory needed to keep all of the song lyrics Ive learned available, but those memories remain intact after the stroke, and even enhanced.

I feel better focus for writing. In the almost five months since Aug. 30, Ive scrawled a dozen of these columns and completed several chapters of my next outdoor tome, The Human Lemmings.

Obviously, the joys of deep time episodes outdoors overwhelm the city-mind, and I still ramble solo or with others into backcountry sites such as Fish Creek, Negus Meadow and even freezing Fir Canyon with impunity and firm self-confidence.

Today, many humans endure their own undiagnosed massive neurological crisis, about which Oliver Sacks issued a clarion call in 2015. American millennials, and especially white males, suffer greatly and have somehow surrendered their joi de vivre.

These are undeniably dystopian times for the young in particular. Having served as a classroom teacher for 45 years, Ive often tried to bring students back from this Slough of Despond, as John Milton called it in his aptly named poem, Paradise Lost.

Thus, I associate my stroke recovery and individual neurological crisis with this devastating whole-culture American mental breakdown. How else can you explain caging immigrant kids or the cultlike idolatry of President Donald Trump prevalent among these depressed white males?

Yet political dysfunction only mirrors the deep personal anxieties and fears plaguing Americans now children, adolescents, adults and the elder folk all experience it. How to handle these psychological and political issues, as well as the parallel neurological problems?

Answers I utilize, and have very much heeded after the Aug. 30 blow, include express gratitude, expand affection to those around me and beyond family members, and hike as if each venture is the last one.

Acceptance of being-in-the-moment is the crucial difference now, and Chdrn calls this taking the leap. This very instant, pounding letters on the keyboard, may be all there is; and one struggles to accept that this is time-limited.

Suffering and increasing debility frighten us more than death itself.

Forest immersion leads to some solitude in these concocted Stone Age times out on the trail. As the brain shifts more to the right hemisphere and away from left-brain precision, ones panoptic vision expands dramatically.

Once you slip into the trance of eternity, linear-time designations lose their power and worries evaporate. If the external eyes were like a camera, the induced shift forces us into macro or wide-angle perception and away from narrowed-down micro-vision.

Play, song, dance and poetry flower in your ecstatic right-brain visions when roaming the more remote trails. While my body lost right-side peripheral vision in both eyes (homonymous hemianopsia), and I experience occasional unsteadiness (ataxia), I move about fairly well and consider myself very fortunate.

If theres a bit of short-term memory loss, I cannot distinguish it from what happens as the brain naturally ages (Im 72). I enjoy hiking and writing more than ever, and after 20 years of desultory guitar practice without much progress, post-stroke my strumming and musical memory have dramatically improved.

Joking around helps, and we recall how silly and even stupid Socrates acted in front of his students. In 1905, Sigmund Freud wrote a prescient book, The Jokes and Its Relation to the Unconscious, and Im trying to be more playful in my dialogue with friends and well-wishers now.

I jokingly tell friends who ask about the stroke (it happened during an awful ocular migraine), Oh, Ive lost some peripheral vision and stuff, but the most interesting aspect has been a minor wobble in my walk hitting exactly every 27.5 steps on the trail!

Lately Ive been wandering working as your On the Trail columnist! to Upper Mission Falls along Tunnel Trail, up the newly reopened Cold Springs Trail and along Manzana Creek as far as Rays Camp (a 10-mile round-trip).

After a right-brain expansion of the skylike mind associated with our natural bent toward openness, it also paradoxically becomes easier to slip into left-brains one-pointed focus and precision.

Our human minds are naturally open, flexible, curious and originally pre-prejudice. Teaching the young for 36 years at Country Crane Day School in Montecito founded on Waldorf principles and established on 11 beautiful acres out of the city I know factually that young humans are more naturally right-brain oriented.

Its ironic then that in modern education we take kids who already know how to be and teach them how to do as the old saw goes. By middle age, these Anthropocene adults need a therapist, pastor or pills to help them relearn how to be again in the splendors of right-brain juvenescence.

The original right-brain dominance fosters many tremendous attributes when channeled properly, and its a sort of thinking we adults ought to try to relocate in our battered heart-minds (buddhi). Ecstatic hiking experiences form the cleaning grease needed to move lightly between open-sky right-brain infinities and narrowed-down left-brain precision.

William Blake reminds us in his famous proverb, If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would be seen as it is, infinite.

Once youve experienced a genuine stroke, the odds of successive strokes are sadly much higher. Thus, Seize the Day! shouts my right hemisphere to the Dan who controls executive function in this somewhat altered brain.

If youre a parent or grandparent, remember to haul your children into the wilds, and go out there often while maintaining your place in the city, too. Too much digital desiderata clouds our Stone Age-type perceptions, so I usually leave electronic artifacts behind (and Ive never trusted myself with a cell).

During this encroaching Anthropocene Age, the discrimination to know which modality serves you best right- or left-brain thinking also must be accompanied by the capacity to make these switches deftly and with discrimination as your skylike mind savors the expanding cosmos.

Pema Chdrn, Taking the Leap (2019), pages 5-6 for the three minds. I experienced a posterior circulation stroke on Aug. 30 in Santa Barbara, spent two days in Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and received excellent care at Sansum Clinic from neurologist Dr. Stephanie Rothman, Dr. David Dodson and the entire staff. Dr. Oliver Sacks, Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales (2019); David Talbot, Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of My Stroke (2020); Sigmund Freuds Der Witz (Wit) und seine Beziehung zum Unbewuten remained untranslated until 1960.

Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity and has written extensively about the local backcountry. His latest book, Autobiography in the Anthropocene, is available at Lulu.com. He serves as an archaeological site steward for the U.S. Forest Service in the Los Padres National Forest. He welcomes reader ideas for future Noozhawk columns, and can be reached at [emailprotected]. Click here to read additional columns. The opinions expressed are his own.

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Dan McCaslin: Post-Stroke Hiking and the Skylike Mind - Noozhawk

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As advancements in artificial intelligence improve, many medical practitioners are looking for ways to implement these changes. In a study in theScience Journal Nature, researchers from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago were able to use Googles DeepMind AI to improve the detection rate of cancers in nanograms. Breast cancer is one of the more common forms of cancer, afflicting around one out of eight women globally.

According to the American Cancer Society, Radiologists miss around 20% of breast cancers in mammograms, with half of the women who get screenings over 10 years getting false-positive results. The research, done in collaboration with Google Health, seeks to improve the process of detecting breast cancer as early detection allows for early treatment. The survival rate for women who find out they have breast cancer is99%for those who find out about their cancer early.

The study was done with researchers from Imperial College London and from the National Health Service of Britain. The group trained Googles DeepMind AI to identify breast cancer from thousands of mammograms. Afterward, they compared the AI systems performance against actual results. 25,856 mammograms came from the United Kingdom, while 3,097 came from the United States.

The AI was able to identify breast cancer similarly to trained radiologists and was able to reduce the number of false-positive results by 5.7% in the United States dataset and 1.2% in the United Kingdoms dataset. False negatives were also reduced by 9.4% and 2.7% in the U.S and U.K groups, respectively. The U.S has a higher incidence rate for both false positive and false negative rates because of the difference between how mammograms are analyzed. In the United States, only one radiologist has to read the result, with tests are done every one to two years. In the United Kingdom, tests are only done every three years but are read by two radiologists, with a third being consulted if the two cannot come to an agreeable reading.

The AI was also pitted against six radiologists, all of which performed worse than the AI when it comes to detecting breast cancer. Connie Lehman, Massachusetts General Hospital department chief of breast imaging, said that the results were expected as AIs have generally been found to perform the task better.

While using computers to detect cancers are not new, as computer-aided detection (CAD) is actually decades old, newer AI has been better at the task. This is because CAD uses human training to identify possible cancer tumors, whereas Ais are trained to seek for patterns and clues which humans arent trained to notice. Lehman states that this might exceed human capacity to identify subtle cues that the human eye and brain arent able to perceive.

While the technology is promising, its still a long way to go. As for many medical developments, actual mainstream deployment is still years away as further testing and regulatory approval is required. The study itself was also limited as it was done using only one set of imaging equipment, with the test group having a lot of confirmed breast cancers.

SEE ALSO:Googles DeepMind AI Can Predict Life-Threatening Kidney Illness 48 Hours In Advance

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Google's DeepMind AI trained by group of researchers to detect Breast Cancer - Brinkwire

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