In Letting it all out might increase chances of cancer survivorship, we shared that finding techniques to minimize stress is an effective way to better health. Our focus in that post was journaling and talk therapy as a means to expressing thoughts and feelings, rather than stuffing your emotions and keeping it all inside. According to the experts featured in that post, "It's about the link between the mind and the body and how your mind state can affect the disease state in the body."

In addition to journaling and talk therapy, cancer centers are offering cancer patients and caregivers self hypnosis techniques to help reduce stress as a part of an overall cancer treatment program. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's social work supervisor Aida Molano, who has taught hypnosis and self-hypnosis classes at the center for the last 16 years, is offering a 30-minute self-hypnosis CD online as a free download.

According to Molano, hypnosis can help patients and caregivers offset sleeping difficulties, fear of medical procedures, problems concentrating, pain and fatigue using hypnosis techniques. If interested, by clicking on this link, you can download the free 30-minute self-hypnosis CD.

Why don't more people stick with an exercise routine? Perhaps in part because it gets repetitious and boring. Exercise can be a lonely activity and it is more difficult to keep yourself motivated. Personal trainers have always been a remedy for both of the aforementioned problems, but realistically, how many of us can afford a personal trainer?

According to iTrain, with an MP3 player you can now download customized workouts with a personal trainer. The downloads are set to music and combines modern technology, entertainment, and health in a portable format. It doesn't matter what kind of workout you enjoy, iTrain seems to offer a program. There is iTread, iCycle, iClimb, iStrength, iSculpt Traditional and iSculpt Ballet, iStretch, iTeenTrain Hip Hop, iTeenTrain Kick Boxing.

Grace Lazenby, a fitness expert with 15 years in the Hollywood training industry, realized that MP3 players might be an excellent means of offering her fitness and training to the masses.

In addition to Lazenby, other fitness experts who keep you going through your workout include yoga instructor Heath House, boxing expert and member of the US Air Force boxing team Nick Narvaez, boxing expert and Group Exercise Instructor of the Year Keith Irace, and member of the Brazilian National Team of Gymnastics.

Anything that adds to the enjoyment of a workout is a bonus, and I can see the benefits of iTrain for all ages, but one of my first thoughts when I read about iTrain is that it makes an excellent gift for a teen or young adult.

via Adam at Netscape

In an earlier post, I mentioned that the Major League Baseball's Prostate Cancer Foundation's Home Run Challenge will be using Father's Day as a way to raise awareness about prostate cancer at the games played on Sunday. I said I thought it was a clever way solution for daughters who might feel awkward beginning a conversation about prostate health with their dad. I wondered if Hallmark made a card for the occasion, or how realistic it would be that many daughters would say, "Happy Father's Day and have you thought about your prostate lately."

I might have been alone in my opinion of a daughter's reluctance to speak about prostate cancer with her dad on Father's Day as a way to make him aware of his prostate and prostate cancer risks, but it appears the Prostate Cancer Foundation anticipated this awkwardness as common enough a situation they have developed a Father's Day Kit that offers women tips on how to start a prostate health conversation with their father. The kit includes conversation tips, an introduction to cancer, and frequently asked questions about prostate cancer.

You can download the Father's Day Kit here. I recommend downloading it, however, I am going to make an independent suggestion that I am certain will be frowned upon by all the organizations using Father's Day as a way to raise awareness for prostate cancer.

Skip  the conversation until Monday. Some days were meant for all the joy that can possibly be had, and I don't care how well you bring the subject up, reminding your dad of a disease he should be worried about seems more of a buzz kill than a help. Just enjoy your dad on the one day of the year designated to honor him for being a great dad, and allow him an opportunity to enjoy everything that Father's Day means in family gatherings and celebration. The conversation about prostate health can wait one more day.