Power Nap

July 20, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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A lot of people experience a natural drowsiness usually about 8 hours after waking up. Studies show that you can help yourself be more alert and reduce stress by taking a nap.

Sleep is cumulative meaning that if you lose sleep in a day, you will feel it in the next. You are building a sleep deficit that can damage your judgment, vision, performance, motivation, patience, vigilance and memory. Aside from that you can be experiencing moodiness and aggressive behaviors since lack of sleep can lead to high levels of stress.

Having a power nap allows you to have more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning and better health. Studies show that at least 20 minutes of sleep in the middle of the day will give you more rest compared to extending another 20 minutes in your sleep. After your nap, give yourself at least 5 minutes to recover from sleep and wake up before getting back to work or your studies.

A lot of experts recommend keeping your power naps between 15 to 30 minutes since any more than that can lead you to a deeper stage of sleep and will give you a hard time from waking up. Having a longer nap can also make you have difficulty sleeping at night. You can use your cell phone alarm to help you get up. Or if you are with someone, let them wake you up.

For deep sleepers, do not sleep in a lying position because this will definitely give you a harder tie getting up. Try sleeping in a comfortable chair.

Remember that too many naps in a day will decrease your productivity greatly so it is advised to take a power nap once in a day to keep you more rested instead of being more lazy.

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Yoga for Beginners

July 19, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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Yoga is becoming a popular exercise regardless of sex and age. This practice does not only promote mental awareness and relieve you of stress but it helps increase flexibility, improve circulation and can help build muscle. Such benefits can help you treat and prevent arthritis and heart ailments. Aside from that, you also get to lose weight.

People from different walks of life can practice yoga and you are not an exception. Here are some tips and pointers that you can use to help you create your Yoga routine:

  • When practicing yoga, you need to have your own comfortable space. A padded space is preferred because it lessens the chances of you slipping while you are doing the exercise. You can buy a yoga mat for this purpose.

  • The next thing you should consider is your attire. You should be wearing loose clothing but not to the extent that it drapes so that your actions will not be limited by your clothes. Plus you have to practice yoga with bare feet – there are a lot of positions that will be uncomfortable when it comes to shoes. Pull back your hair in a ponytail so you do not have to constantly brush it off your face. Lastly, make sure you take off your metal jewelry. Yoga is all about the movement of energy throughout the body and metal can disrupt this flow.

  • Your schedule is the next step. It does not matter how often you do them whether it should be weekly or daily – what’s important is that you do it regularly. But do not put a gap longer than a week between practices because this will definitely limit your progress. If you want the best results, then practicing yoga daily is the best way to do it.

  • Do not forget to think of appropriate warm up exercises. You can do stretches or go for a short work before starting yoga. That way your body is prepared for the practice that you are about to do.

Yoga can be practiced by anyone – all you need is the willpower to commit to doing the practice regularly.

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Hydrotherapy

July 19, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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Water is one of the basic essentials that we need in order to survive so it is no wonder that water is also used as a way to heal and relax – this treatment is called hydrotherapy.

Hydrotherapy has been used for centuries and is probably one of the oldest treatments you can find. Today, hydrotherapy is used as an aid to help treat muscular and joint injuries and arthritis.

For muscular or joint injuries, hydrotherapy works through the principles of buoyancy. Your body weight decreases up to 90% when it is submerged in eater. This helps relieve the pressure of weight that has been on your joints and muscles. The feeling of weightlessness can help you relax mentally and physically.

Hydrotherapy can also be done through hydrostatic pressure. This is a form of massage that sooths and heals through the use of water currents. This type of treatment is usually used by trauma and burn centers and is proven to relax tight muscles while releasing endorphins which are your body’s natural painkillers.

You have to take note that the water temperature greatly affects the healing properties of water and most relaxing therapies uses warm temperatures. Hot water dilates your blood vessels and raises your body’s temperature. This increases circulation which speeds up the body’s healing process. Most doctors advice that you soak in a water temperature of 104 degrees and a limit of 15 minutes.

Our bodies do not only react to the touch and feel of water but also to its sound. The sound of running water, raindrops and the roars of the ocean as the waves hit the shore are often used to promote mental relaxation and soothe tension.

There is no doubt that you can get a lot of health benefits with water. With hydrotherapy, you can be able to enjoy the healing touches of nature and have a relaxed feeling that is as smooth and calm as water.

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Aromatherapy and its Essential

July 16, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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Aromatherapy’s provenance dates back to at least 4000 BC. It was when a French Chemist, Rene Maurice Gattefosse accidentally discovered a laboratory who uses lavender oil to relieve pain and give assistance to the healing of slight burns. The etymology of Aromatherapy is from the Greek word fragrance (aroma) and the word treatment (therapy), this term was first used in the 1920’s by the said French chemist.

In current times, Aromatherapy has probably become the most popular holistic treatment to date. Ever so long, aromatherapy has been used to promote physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing. A lot of people have been experiencing the benefits drawn about by aromatherapy without actually realizing it. Modern medical science surprisingly agrees with our ancestors and has even proven the therapeutic effects from essential oils used for aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy is practically easy to administer, with the right knowledge and the right procedures. But essentially, the oils used for aromatherapy are absorbed by our bodies in two main ways absorption by the skin and inhalation. Essential oils when inhaled, helps activate nerve cells in the nasal cavity, in turn it sends signals and stimulates the brain, to produce positive feelings and emotion. All at the same time, it also provides physical therapeutic benefits, since the substances from the essential oils are drawn in the lungs and then absorbed by the bloodstream.

Moreover, aromatherapy has been proven to be helpful in battling various health conditions and is greatly responsible for promoting emotional well being. Some of the most notable psycho-emotional benefits brought about by aromatherapy include mental clarity, spirit stimulation, robust immune system, regulation of human hormones and it serves as an aid to skin regeneration – to name a few.

Lastly, we should always take note, aromatherapy is intended to be an alternative and a complementary medical treatment, and should not be considered as the sole major treatment. It is a good addition to the healing process of standard medical care. After all they say, when a person’s well being is in its most positive state, chances are the response to treatment whether medically or alternatively are always good.

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Visualization

July 8, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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If you want to divert your attention from your problems brought by everyday stress, visualization may be a good option for you to get the clutter out of your mind.

Visualization or guided imagery has been proven to give significant stress reduction benefits, including relaxing the body physically and efficiently and by helping you get in touch with deeper levels of wisdom. This can help you manage their lives in ways that can help reduce stress. In fact many hospitals are using visualization as an option to help with treatment – especially as a way for their patients to divert their attention from pain. This therapy is practiced with the aid of a professional or an imagery tape and your imagination.

It is similar to self-hypnosis due to the fact that you go to a deep relaxed state and that you deal with your subconscious mind. The difference is that in self-hypnosis, you are planting ideas in your head while visualization aims to extract ideas from your head.

When doing visualization, you are usually guided to a relaxing scene with great detail that it reaches your senses and your mind assumes that you are in that scene. You can imagine how something feels, smells tastes and sounds. The imagination makes it so real that it tricks your body into thinking it’s a reality. This puts you into a relaxed state. Some can imagine a “guide” situation wherein they imagine that their subconscious answers the questions that have been bothering them all day.

This stress relieving therapy is also said to provide insight and wisdom. It is an excellent stress management option and is easier than practicing yoga or exercise which is a plus for those who have physical limitations. There are no side effects.

With enough practice, you can do visualization anywhere. You can be surprised to know how much control you can take with a little practice.

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Healthy Habits

July 3, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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One way to help increase your tolerance over sickness and stress, is to implement healthy habits in your lifestyle whether you’re looking for health benefits, less stress or just for leading a happier life from day to day.

Maintaining a new healthy habit can be harder than it seems. Luckily, there are a few tricks that can make this easier. Here are some things that you must consider:

Simplicity

Do not take up a habit that will end up giving you stress as you master it instead of relieving stress. For example, if pilates can be straining and difficult for you then do not force it because it will only frustrate you. Choose something easier like walking.

Lifestyle

Do not force something that does not fit your lifestyle. If you are a morning person, then it is best not to choose a morning workout as your stress management habit. It will be too difficult to maintain. And if you are the type who gets exhausted by nighttime, a meditation session before bedtime is also not the best choice for you. And if you have to take care of your children, do not take a practice that requires privacy and silence.

Strengths

Identifying your strengths and weaknesses can help you find a good stress reliever that will fit you perfectly. If you are a verbal person then you can try journaling as a stress management habit. If you have a creative imagination then you can choose visualization.

Once you have made a careful evaluation of yourself and your lifestyle, choosing the right habit can be much easier. Remember that if you want to make it easy to stay with a healthy habit, it must be something you enjoy and those habits must fit in well with your personality.

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Music Soothes the Soul

June 17, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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Music has the power to touch our souls.

Do you remember a story in the Bible where David eased King Saul’s depression by playing his harp? You do not have to be a holy man to produce music that heals. It turns out that as long as the music is something you are comfortable listening to, it can do wonders to alleviate stress. Study shows that there are changes that happen to a person physically and emotionally when they listen to music.

Music is now being recognized as a powerful tool to help patients relax deeply. It provides a good distraction to those who are deeply agitated and is considered as a significant mood changer and reliever of stress.

Experts suggest that it is the rhythm or the beat of the music that can produce a calming effect on you. This is because when you were a baby in your mother’s womb, you were influenced by the sound of the heartbeat of your mother. The subconscious then associates the music with the safe and relaxing environment of the mother’s womb.

As well as it can be soothing, music can be nerve wracking as well. Choosing what kind of music depends on its individual preferences Some patients would show a good response towards Hard Rock or Heavy Metal music played in loud volumes while some would cringe at the sound of it.

Among the initial stress-fighting signs that occur when you hear music is an increase in deep breathing. Music is found to reduce heart rates and promotes a higher body temperature which is an indication of relaxation.

Some offices even play music in the background to help relieve the stress of their workers. But if you want to take your own “sound bath”, it is recommended that you use headphones to focus your attention to the music for a deeper experience.

Remember that music won’t calm you down unless you like what you hear. Aside from that, experts say that most people like listening to music from their childhood since it breeds familiarity which often results to calmness. Another popular choice of music is sounds of nature like ocean waves or the sounds of a deep forest.

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Coping with Anxiety

June 11, 2009 By marie Leave a Comment

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No one is really exempted from everyday stress that brings about anxiousness. Sometimes you may feel too nervous to do anything or too irritable to interact with anyone. This does not only damage you but also the people around you. Here are some sure ways to help you cope with anxiety.

Controlled Breathing

Whenever you are feeling anxious or nervous you would be having changes in your breathing since stress can be hyperventilating. This is caused by stress. You need to quiet down your breaths by replacing rapid breaths with slow and steady breaths. Maintaining healthy breathing is a good prevention for anxiety.

Back Off

Stay away from other people whenever you feel anxious. That way you are able to reserve your energies and you also avoid facing conflicts by overreacting to others. Having boundaries is also important for one to be able to cope and understand difficult situations.

Clear Out

It will be helpful to clear your mind of all thoughts that are upsetting you. Focusing on your problems is never healthy. Visualization is a good way for mental escapes that can take you away from troubling thoughts. Picture yourself in a scene wherein you are able to relax like in a beach or in a garden.

Get Some “Me” Time

Give yourself some quality time by pampering your mind, body and soul. You do not have to go to the spa. You can always lock yourself in the bathroom and soak yourself in the tub with a bubble bath and scented candles or take a walk in the park.

Go Spiritual

For larger anxieties or problems, you might need a change of pace to help bring balance to your life. You may need to take a short vacation from everything and everyone you know to find solace. Take a spiritual retreat and you can come back feeling refreshed and ready to face your problems.

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Johnny the Bagger

September 8, 2007 By Dan Leave a Comment

An inspirational message from Johnny the Bagger.

You really need to watch this video, it will make you cry and brighten your day.

Click on —>Johnny the Bagger

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