Healing Your Life From the Inside Out, Breaking the Bubble of Illusion

Often when we think about healing ourselves, we first think about our emotional or mental self - then our physical body. We rush to a psychiatrist, or doctor - hoping for relief, a cure, or a fix for all of our problems... for a magical pill that will take it all a way. It is this "dis-ease" within ourselves that causes the turmoil in our outer world.

Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually - if we are not okay with ourselves on the inside, we will manifest this into our external reality and we will probably not like the results.

The majority of us have created a bubble around us, protecting us from hurt and pain that we have experienced or from things we don't want to face. We pretend that we are happy with our life, our job, our spouse and the circumstances that surround us - when in fact, deep down we are wishing for something different.

When we are confronted about who we are, how we are, or about the problems that are clearly evident in our world - we just don't want to hear it. We get angry, we cry, we plug our ears and we say LALALALALALALA... "I can't hear you". We protect the bubble as if it is who we are, as if our safety, sanity and sanctity depends on it. There is no way we can allow anyone to burst our bubble and if for some reason they do, we feel exposed and vulnerable.

The truth is that those feelings are always there, we've just become so good at living in our bubble that they aren't noticed by us most of the time. When these feelings do "pop up" and become a problem, we sometimes attempt to cover them with alcohol or drugs - or any addiction that helps us avoid them.

The biggest problem with this type of behaviour (besides risk to our health) is that we are denying the very essence of who we are - we are suffocating ourselves with our painful experiences, instead of facing them. We refuse to let go of all the hate, anger and sadness that sits inside of us, and this is what is killing us! We need to let go of all the negativity and begin to forgive those who have hurt us - and more importantly we need to forgive ourselves.

I guess the reason I can write about this with such knowledge is because I have been living in a bubble for many years now. I have been denying who I really am at the core of my being because I wanted to protect her. It is in this protecting of myself that I have completely lost touch with that part of me, I have lost touch with the people around me and subsequently I have allowed someone else to live my life for me. I have been denying what I really want, and need because I haven't been present to get what the deepest part of my being really needs. And that is Love.

We have to learn love ourselves, completely and honestly - despite everything that we have experienced. We are worthy of love! Why am I so sure you ask? Because we are made from this Love. Some Great Force that sits in the very centre of all of us, created everything that we could ever need from an Unconditional, Unbiased Love. This Love is Ours, but we will never experience it while we are denying the very truth of who we are, while we are trapped in the very bubble that we have created in order to keep us safe.

We can not heal until we know who we truly are; and that is the person that is past all of the pain, experiences, labels and ideas of who we are that are limiting to our being. It's time to burst the Bubble of Illusion and heal our lives!

The most important thing to remember, in all of this, is that the world is your mirror - you must begin to heal your true self before you will see a change in the external world around you; this includes any physical, mental or emotional problems you are experiencing.

To begin healing, you will need to know where to start. Healing the Self is more than a way of healing, it is an incredible journey of self-exploration and discovery! You will also find many other great healing resources available at OneWorldHealing.net that can help you on your journey! Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Revitalize Your Energy for Fall

As we go into the Fall season, so much about Nature begins to slow down after the hectic Summer months. As the days get shorter, our bodies want to revert to our natural inclination which is to prepare for Winter and Winter's hibernation time. Because of this, it's possible for our energy levels to begin to drop.

But we, unlike Nature's animal kingdom, have our busy lives and it's necessary for us to keep up our energy and vitality at the highest and best levels possible.

Here are a few tips to help you accomplish this:

1 - Turn on more lights - Whether at home or at the office, turn on more lights. This helps ward off the natural sleepiness that darkness brings. Also, if you have access to and can use light bulbs which give off a natural light spectrum, these are most helpful. If you are prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), this type of light bulb is most important for you to counteract your condition.

2 - Go outside and breathe deeply - The cooler, dryer air of Fall can be stimulating. Breathe it in deeply to invigorate yourself and to clear out your lungs and other toxins from your body.

3 - Stick to a healthy diet - We are fast approaching the holiday season with all its candies and rich foods. By eating healthy now, you can enjoy a few more indulgences later. Also you will help avoid many illnesses that start going around this time of year. And don't forget to drink plenty of water and take your vitamins and supplements.

4 - Stick to you are exercise regimen - Exercise gets your metabolism fired up and contributes to improving your overall health, immune system and stamina.

5 - Get plenty of rest - Even though you want to be energetic, you also need to balance with good, restful sleep to maintain your body's equilibrium. One without the other can cause health issues.

6 - Make plenty of R and R time for you and your family - Get out and enjoy the benefits of the season; attend a Fall Festival or carnival, take walks and enjoy the colors that Nature provides this time of year. These add happiness and joy to your life to lift your spirits and your energy.

7 - Open up the windows - Our homes need to breathe too. Open up and let the air in to clear out all the old energy, mustiness, smells, etc.

8 - Meditate and bring the energy in - During your daily meditations, see yourself pulling in bright, energetic light; see it replenishing your natural batteries. Spiritual energy is just as important as physical energy, so welcome it in daily.

By using these tips, you will have an energy filled, joyful, and productive Fall season.

Please leave a comment and tell us what works for you to increase and maintain your energy levels? Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Why Is It Important to Be Physically and Mentally Healthy?

Why is it important to be physically and mentally healthy? Why should people bother with exercising, dieting and making sure that both their bodies and their minds are in their most ideal states? There are many benefits to being healthy, and there are many reasons why people choose to ignore them. However, some facts are just too true and too serious to ignore.

Why Should You Be Physically Healthy?

• Reduce risks of diseases. There's no way this could be denied. People who are healthy have better chances of fighting off cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and, as some researchers suggest, even cancers. Numerous studies have found the link between physical activity and lowered risks for diseases to be quite strong. This is probably the best benefit that good health can provide.

• Weight control. Being healthy means that you might have better control when it comes to how much you weigh. Healthy people are, most of the times, disciplined people who have learned to say no to heaping second servings and to say yes to exercises even if it takes them hours. All of these and more are why is it important to be physically and mentally healthy.

• Improves balance and widens range of activities. As you age, you may feel that you are being limited about the things that you can do. The things that you might have done for hours when you were young, you may not even bear to do for a minute. Daily activities might tire you right away. Exercises and many other physical activities can not only help strengthen your muscles and bones, but can also improve balance and prevent falls.

Why Should You Be Mentally Healthy?

• Reduces stress. Stress, in moderated amounts, can be beneficial to health. Stress can give you energy, and makes you productive and more alert. However, stress in excess can be severely damaging. It can increase the risks of certain cardiovascular diseases, and can get in the way of the body's natural rate of metabolism, thus leading to weight gain. Stress has also been linked to absenteeism and accidents in the workplace. If it can be effectively managed, your chance of getting promoted also increases.

• Improves mood and overall quality of life. Too much anger, confusion, fear, irritability and anxiety may be signs of mental unhealthiness. Happiness may be more easily attained if a person is mentally healthy. People who are mentally healthy will have healthier relationships, and have better physical health. They can also manage their problems better and can make better life choices.

Conclusion

Why is it important to be physically and mentally healthy? It is important because it can give you a longer and more fruitful life. If you get all these benefits from being physically active, how much more can it help if you are mentally active as well? Mental health and physical health are undeniably interlinked. Physical activities help manage stress and pressure better, while mental health improves the effectiveness of physical activities.

If you are looking for information on physically and mentally healthy, click on the link. Or visit lifestylesecretreview.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

How to Protect Yourself From Common Age-Related Health Concerns

Why do we fear old age so much? A Swedish sociologist Lars Tornstam describes this by asking what a 10 year old would say if we asked him what it would be like to be 20. It would be awful to him. There would be no play time. There would be no summer vacation. He would have to get a job! But at twenty he would look back at the age of 10 and say: "There's no way I'd want to be 10 anymore. I have so much more freedom now. I'm making money. I can do whatever I want." But what if you asked him what it would be like to be 40? "It would be awful. I'd be stuck in the rut of a job. I'd be stuck with a wife and kids." And so on. But the end of Dr. Tornstam's analogy is our concept of old age. For some reason our culture fears old age. In general we fear becoming elderly. Our concept of old age is associated with a lack of contentment with life.

Why is this? Why do we despise grey hair and wrinkles? Why do we fear those "golden years"? Why do we scramble to embrace the concept of youth? Why are we so quick to be associated with that insecurity and inexperience and foolishness of youth? How insecure, inexperienced and foolish of us! What do we think we will lose with old age? Is it the excitement of a new experience, or the opportunity of new tests and challenges? Is it the virility of sexual experiences?

It was a typical clinic day. I was seeing patients with diabetes and hypertension, colds, and a recent broken bone. The next patient on my schedule was Carl Fisk. I had never seen him before. He was scheduled to be in my clinic because his regular doctor was gone that day. The reason he was here was for a medication refill. I looked through his chart and found that he was 82 years old and about 3 years ago his wife of 51 years had died of breast cancer. "Oh no" I thought. "This is going to be a totally depressing visit". I had thoughts that his visit would be filled with discussions about depression and sadness. With this I took a deep breath and entered the room.

Mr. Fisk sat in the corner of the room reading a magazine. He had shiny grey hair and a bright smile. As I walked in he stood up to shake my hand. He wore circular glasses that shined in the light of the clinic room. He was well dressed with khaki pants and a tucked in, blue plaid shirt. I introduced myself, "so what brings you here today?" I asked, prepared for an onset of tears and a possible discussion of antidepressant medications.

"Well doctor", he began, with more energy than I had expected. Mr. Fisk had a strange smile on his face. Like a 10 year old who just got into a jar of cookies. "The last doctor I saw gave me a prescription for Viagra, and I wanted to see if I could get a refill."

Caught off guard I stammered and looked through his chart. He was in the clinic only 2 weeks ago and had a prescription for 10 Viagra pills. Did he use them up already? After regrouping, I continued on. In his chart there were no contraindications for him to take Viagra, and he had no adverse side effects. There was no reason he couldn't continue taking this medication. As I was writing his script (for twice the supply and refills), he said a peculiar thing. "You know doctor," he began. "People think that as you get older, you can't have sex anymore, but I haven't been this sexually satisfied in years."

We shook hands as he left and I moved on to my next patient. But I couldn't stop thinking about how happy he was. My initial notion was that he would be a sad lonely old man. But he was the exact opposite.

Over the next few months, I saw Mr. Fisk a few more times. Each time he was as friendly and happy as the time before. We began to get to know each other better. He had a new girlfriend, and was busy spending time with her and his daily golfing games. At the time, I was doing a Geriatrics Fellowship and it was exciting for me to find an elder so excited about life. We talked about this for a while, and he invited me over to his apartment to see for myself. I decided to take him up on the offer. After working around his busy schedule of golf, dating, and volunteer activities, we agreed to meet on a Saturday afternoon.

Mr. Fisk lived in a retirement community with a combination of houses and apartments, surrounded by wooded trees and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. His apartment was on the first floor in the center of the community. He answered the door with the same smile he always had, and invited me in. Mr. Fisk was a humble man. His apartment was Spartan in its decoration. As I entered, the kitchen was on the right, and the living room on the left. There were only a few pieces of furniture in the living room. A comfortable old green couch and a soft matching arm chair opposite it. There was no television in the room. There was just an old stereo with a record player. Mr. Fisk invited me to sit down on his couch and he sat in the arm chair. I started by asking him how his girlfriend was. His smile immediately broadened and his eyes beamed. "Oh, you mean my sweetheart!" he suggested, "well, we just got engaged! You have to see a picture of her!" Mr. Fisk jumped to his feet and ran to another room. He returned with a 4x6 framed picture of himself standing next to a lady with his right arm wrapped around her shoulder. She looked about his age. They were both smiling broadly. Her name was Janet. As we continued our conversation, he could not stop talking about his "sweetheart". It was as if he were a teenager smitten by love. Even when the subjects of our conversation would change he would find something about his new fiancé to bring up in the conversation.

During the afternoon, we talked about other aspects of his life. He was a retired pastor, he played golf almost every day with a group of friends. He volunteered in the community at a Nursing Home. His previous marriage had been wonderful. He had three children who were spread all around the country, but he was still very close to them. I left his apartment that afternoon with a sense that his days were busier, and fuller than mine seemed to be.

Since that day, Mr. Fisk married Janet. His children, came from all over to be at the wedding and he had a honeymoon at a beach in South Carolina.

Carl Fisk is extremely happy with life. He is content, and the opposite of what we think old age has in store for us. We fear the onset of old age as if it is the first nail of our coffin. But with old age we don't have to lose our ability to enjoy sex, we don't lose the excitement to fall in love again. When we are older and full of experiences, by stepping back and looking at our life, we only change the paradigm of what happiness is. Maybe that is what we don't realize when we fear old age.

My name is Arsheeya Mashaw. I am a Geriatrician in a rural town in Virginia. If you are interested in reading stories about my experiences as a Physician please look at my blog doctormash.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Pros and Cons of Corporate Wellness Plans

It is important to consider both the pros and cons of corporate wellness plans. While employee health and wellness is certainly a goal worth striving towards, business owners should always consider the costs and consequences of such an endeavor. If poorly executed, workplace health programs may become an unnecessary company expense. Additionally, employees may feel singled out if emphasis is only placed on a certain areas of employee health-such as weight loss or smoking. However, the benefits of corporate wellness plans are also worth considering. An effective wellness plan may result in higher employee performance and production levels. As well, a significant reduction in company health care costs, make corporate wellness plans a valuable financial option. Carefully considering the benefits and limitations of workplace health programs will allow business owners to choose corporate wellness plans that work best for their company.

The advantages of using corporate wellness plans are many. Promoting the overall well being of one's employees sends a message that the company is truly looking out for each worker's best interests. Good employee health not only lowers a company's health care costs, but also endorses individual employee health and wellness. When each worker is able to perform at his or her highest levels, increases in employee performance and production result. This profits the company both corporately and individually. As well, workplace health programs build a sense of community and support structure for long-term health and wellness. For example if a weight-loss program or running group is started, the employees who join the programs will find themselves surrounded by fellow workers who share the same passions. This sense of community and support system often lasts much longer than the program itself, resulting in long-term employee wellness.

It is also critical to evaluate the negatives associated with corporate wellness plans. Many employers do not consider the costs or consequences of implementing certain programs. Financial planning is crucial to implementing successful workplace health programs. While health care costs will be reduced in the long run, initial start-up costs must be considered. Whether hiring wellness experts, nutritionists, or building an on-site gym, start-up expenses must be accounted for. A carefully crafted financial plan that keeps the company's best interests in mind is critical to the success of every corporate wellness plan. Business owners must ask themselves if a gym is truly necessary or consider how his or her employee's would respond to a weight loss program. A keen understanding of how one's company functions will save business owners who are considering implementing corporate wellness plans, from expending unnecessary funds.

Employers should consider not using funds from their employee's paychecks to pay for the implementation of corporate wellness plans. Most workers already allocate a significant amount of their paycheck towards health care and insurance. Employees may resist workplace health programs that cause them to give up more of their finances. In this case, an employer should consider inexpensive means by which the company can implement wellness goals-such as a weight loss program with a gift card to a popular store as the prize. Another con to consider is that some employees may feel that a corporate wellness program has been specifically targeted at them-especially in the cases of weight loss or smoking. The poor health effects of these conditions are well-known, and often cause pain or embarrassment to employees who struggle with overcoming them to live a healthier lifestyle. Knowing one's company again in this instance, is essential. While some offices may find great success with competitive wellness programs, others may benefit more from an educational health approach. Hiring a wellness expert to offer additional solutions may reduce negative outcomes associated with workplace health programs.

To schedule a corporate wellness consultation today go to weightwellnesswellbeing.com. For more information on corporate wellness check out PatriciaBudd.com! Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Getting a Healthy Living Make-Over

We all want to be forever young, not necessarily in our actions, but in our physical bodies and our mindset. Hopefully, we don't carry the live forever young philosophy too far and act like children when we're adults. However, having faith as a child and believing that life is good and can be good, even when it sometimes seems bad-is the ticket towards getting a healthy living make-over.

To be in total body health, we need to take care of our three parts. We are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in body. We need to always remember that if one of those parts is not in total health, it will bring the other two parts down as well. Getting a healthy living make-over, begins with getting the right positive mental and spiritual outlook in our lives. Some people look to faith in God as the answer. You need to find your own meaning and purpose to life. Once those two parts of your body are in order, then you need to take a look at the physical side.

We should begin the healthy living make-over by taking our own personal inventory or health assessment. If we're feeling sleep deprived, that could very well be because of stress. The lives we live today are so filled with multiple stressors and we don't know how to organize our daily routines without driving ourselves crazy. On top of that, we need to add daily exercise, at least three times a week, to our schedules. Exercising helps release the endorphins and serotonin which create a sense of overall well-being in our bodies. True, a good workout can create sore muscles, but that's good because you're working your body the right way. However, there's something nice about the satisfaction you get after a good workout.

Ridding our bodies of harmful toxins is a must for a healthy living make-over. Toxins negatively affect our thyroid and can shut down our metabolism. For a natural detox, drinking a cup of hot or cold green tea works really well as a natural detox. Some green tea does have caffeine so drinking it after the evening hours can hinder sleep. We should always pay attention to the labels on our foods.

We should take omega 3 supplements-they stabilize our moods and have few negative side effects. Taking probiotics is also important. They are natural bacteria that help our bodies maintain natural balance of organisms in the intestines. They increase our metabolism and balance our digestive system. Fiber is essential to a healthy diet. Many of us do not get the right amount of fiber in our daily diets. That's why if you don't, then taking a fiber drink or supplements is a good idea. Fiber is essential in lowering bad cholesterol, regulating blood sugar and lowering the risk of heart disease.

Staying hydrating is so vital to healthy living. Water keeps every part of our body working properly each day. It assists in flushing out waste and keeping our body at the right temperature. We lose water every day when we sweat, urinate, breath and have bowel movements. You can survive longer without food, but not that long without water. It's essential to drink enough every day, especially as we exercise and in the hot weather.

Eating a healthy diet is important, but it's also been studied that eating smaller meals, two to four, every day can help stimulate our metabolism and improve our health and body composition. Some people have a very good metabolism and they digest their food and this happens consistently and quickly every time they eat. However, not everyone has this great metabolism. So, if you do eat small meals, it will aid your body in properly digesting your food.

It's easier to let our bodies go and not take care of all our three parts. The harder factor is to live each day with the mindset that a healthy living make-over is obtainable. However, when we live with the mindset that we are taking care of our bodies, this prevention will be the best medicine because we'll be less susceptible to sickness and disease. Prevention is always the best medicine.

Joanne Troppello is an author of romantic suspense novels joannetroppello.weebly.com/blog.html. She is married and loves spending time with her husband and family. Joanne and her husband, John own and operate Mustard Seed Marketing Group, LLC mustardseedmarketinggroup.com, they are Ind. Distributors with Shaklee and they are Empower Network affiliate members. They are network marketing coaches who teach that you don't have to be an SEO guru or a social media specialist to make their system work for you. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Your Ultimate Guide To Reiki

Reiki is a technique developed by a Buddhist monk in 1922. It is widely accepted as a method for therapy, stress reduction, relaxation and some professionals even consider it to be a form of medicine.

How Does It Work?

Reiki is based on the concept of an unseen energy force constantly flowing through and around us that actually causes us to be alive. If we have a high amount of this energy force, we will become healthy and happy. On the other hand, a low amount of this life force energy is considered to actually cause sickness, depression and general unhappiness.

Practitioners believe that reiki works through transferring this universal energy through the palms in their hands. Effectively, they are channeling this positive energy through their hands and onto the person.

This technique is actually surprisingly simple to teach. A student could simply attend a class with a master known as an "attunement". During this class, the master would pass the ability to access an unlimited amount of life force onto the student. In theory, this would then grant access to happiness and general wellbeing.

Types Of Reiki

There are roughly 25 different types of reiki, the following are the most widely used and important.

Karuna- The effect of Karuna can actually be transferred through chanting and is often used to help overcome addictions.

Usui- This was named after the founder of reiki, Mikao Usai. This was the first type of Reiki, the rest have branched from this.

Tibetan- Using many of the techniques used in Usai reiki, it is considered to be a very powerful Tibeten method for attunement.

Rainbow- This works by using the 7 main chakras within your body.to help repair the physical and mental aspects.

Gendai- Gendai can be translated into modern. The creator brought a strong Buddhist aspect to the original teachings.

Practitioners of reiki believe the only reason we are alive is due to the life force flowing inside us. They believe that it is flowing through us via the pathways known as nadis, meridians and chakras, as well as an aura surrounding us. This life force is used to feed out organs and major cells inside our bodies. If there is a lack of life force flowing to these areas, this is when we will experience bad health. They use reiki during these circumstances, in order to increase the levels of positive life force and increase happiness and health as a result.

If you feel that you would like to learn more about Reiki or would like to experience it for yourself to see if it works, then pop on over to Christi Reiki Master. She is a specialist offering reiki in Bristol. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Why Dissolving Your Fears Are Crucial To Your Success

I was watching the Big Bang Theory the other day...

Normally I loved this show to bits... the characters are so funny, so human, and the situations (plus Sheldon... ) are just brilliant.

I had brought the 1st season DVD set, and was watching an episode where we were introduced to Sheldons twin sister. She was tall, dark, and pretty, and predictably the other characters fancied her...

Now normally this wouldn't bother me! After all, most comedys have a pretty girl, where guys swoops to get into her good graces.

And for a while at least, the swooping wasn't too bad.

But then it got sickening. As the story progressed, the sister got far too much attention needed, and the usual date-asking game went on for too long...

... to the degree where each guy character took turns to knock on poor Pennys door, and asking the sister out... and all the while, the sister (politely, of course) said, 'No'

When it cam to Rajs turn, the poor guy didn't even speak (the character in the 1st season had trouble speaking to girls) and made a small wimper that excruciatingly lasted for a good minute (although it felt like more), before walking down the stairs. The sister took it in good spirits (mentioning something about a dog) and finally said goodbye to Sheldon. Then the episode ended.

I hated it! I hated the constant swooning, and (regretably) could relate to what some of the guys went through. Pretty women had power... and they knew it!

I remember a few of my earlier experiences, that guys would sometimes drool over women that had the looks, and the very thought disgusted me.

So much so, that for the next 5 hours, I was practically in a bad mood, going through emotional turmoil, before a thought hit me...

Why am I doing this?

This happens a lot. The producers are only trying to produce a comedy after all... Some people will like that stuff, and some people will hate it!

Not everyones taste are the same!

Then I thought about a comment made by Steve Pavlina on his site, about that fact that if you have an emotional reaction towards something, in nearly all cases, it means that a part of you sees that situation inside yourself.

Fast forward to William Burlmans tip for out-of-body exploration. "Confronting and dissolving the energy manifestations of my own fears, limits and blocks are essential for my spiritual growth"

What had happened, was what started out to be a good day (I had previously felt good before watching the episode) had turned bad, all because my soul showed me some, 'past programming' and I hadn't recognised it as such!

Even in good times, you will always see a manifestation of fear of some sort, and its primary reason is for you to simply, 'dissolve it'.

Why?

Because you are not thought... although you may use thought to create (in fact you do... )

You are not emotion... although you may use emotion to create (in fact you do, as emotion is, 'Energy in 'motion')

You are soul... unconditional love, unlimited creativity and infinite!

Period!

Therefore, you must always seek to dissolve any fear you have. Attack your fears... be relentless (if needs be).

Best way of attacking them... project unconditional love towards them!

Oliver Dodd is an expert in meditating and achieving peace using Chi, Theta and Delta meditation. If you would like to learn to meditate within 60 seconds and not only achieve peace of mind and spirit but also to manifest your goals in life, click here to begin! Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Sleep Is a Big Part of a Healthy Lifestyle

I am sure that is no secret as you all know I'm the Green Juice Coach + Healthy Lifestylist, but eating healthy isn't the only step in making sure your body is as radiant and gorgeous as it can be. Other habits and behaviors can put great stress on your body and lead to you not feeling your best; let's face it, you DESERVE to be healthy and feel AWESOME everyday!

Getting enough rest is one of the most important aspects of a healthy lifestyle, right along with getting the right wholesome foods! Really good sleep and resting your body helps with so many different aspects of your body that you may not even know, so check these out:

Metabolism: If you're not sleeping enough you may actually gain weight! When we sleep, our bodies go through various processes that process and store the carbohydrates we've eaten and also release hormones that affect our appetite.

Mood: This one may be obvious, we've all noticed ourselves or others get a little grumpy when we're/they're tired.

Disease: Your immune system may be seriously affected when you don't allow your body the correct amount of sleep. It's also been suggested that keeping your body rested may help you fight cancer - one of my doctors is a huge supporter of this idea. Yep, we need melatonin and we only get this when we sleep... in the dark!

Heart Healthy: Increased stress, hypertension and irregular heartbeat are all connected to serious sleep deprivation.

Safety: If you're tired during the day, especially extremely tired, you're putting yourself at risk for falling asleep while completing various tasks - including things like driving.

Learning: While you're sleeping, your brain processes the new information you learned. Without sleep, you're at greater risk for memory loss!

So, here are a few tips for making sure you get enough sleep through the night:

- Limit your caffeine (preferably, get rid of it all together)! If you're still taking caffeine sometimes, make sure you don't have any 3 - 5 hours before bedtime!

- Avoid daytime naps. If you need a nap, try to make it less than one hour and keep it before 3 P.M. If you feel the urge to nap, consider reading a book or popping in your favorite movie to keep you awake. Stimulate your mind!

- Try to keep a schedule of when you go to bed each night, and when you wake up.

- Minimize all the light and sound so that you can put your mind at ease at bedtime - get a cute little eye mask!

- Consider taking the supplement melatonin - check with your health professional to see how this may support you in your health journey.

- If you are hungry in the evening, simply enjoy a light snack before bed - never a meal!

- Don't put yourself through strenuous exercise prior to sleep - strive to be done with your exercise routine about 4 hours before bedtime.

Always strive for 7 to 8 hours per night, although sometimes people may need as little as 5 or as much as 10. Listen to your body and follow its orders - sometimes you will have to change your schedule around a bit to accommodate what it requires!

So, without a doubt, you definitely need your sleep! While eating organic raw and living foods will give your body a jump start into being the best that it can be, you're going to hold back the benefits if you deprive your body of the sleep it needs. It is all part of the self-care package to give your body what it craves. Make restful sleep a priority and not a luxury!

Tina Pruitt is passionate about living life out loud and sharing with others the wildly outstanding benefits of green juicing for vibrant, healthy living and shares her healthy, green living techniques and insights via her blog and ezine at The Healthy Lifestylist.
If you're ready to jump into a healthy lifestyle, be sure to sign up for the mailing list at The Healthy Lifestylist. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, hypnotherapist, counsellor and life coach in London.

Meditation Explained for Beginners

Meditation made simple.

First of all, yes, it is a practice, which means you keep at it. You do a little each day and each day a little more, just up to your comfort zone. Maybe each week, do a little beyond your comfort zone. Build up slowly. The Sanskrit name for meditation is "bhavana" and the Tibetan word for it is "gom", both mean, "to get used to something". As with anything you "get used to", the more you do it, the better you get at it.

Let's say, as a child you had tendencies to be shy. Each time you had the opportunity to converse or make friends with someone, most of the time you didn't. This gets easier and easier for you to do. Then you started telling yourself and others "Oh, I am shy.", "Oh, that is not me". This is what you rehearsed. This became a "bhavana". By the time you are 60 years old you are now this shy old man or lady. Or perhaps you had a quick temper. Unchecked, it became easier and easier and you felt validated. Sooner or later, you become a grumpy old person. Or perhaps you practiced kindness and loving-thoughts. Each time you received good news about someone, you tried to conjure up happy feelings for this person instead of feeling jealous. Each time someone asked for help, you did not get irritated but thought about what a great opportunity this was to help someone else. It will become easier and easier for you to do this. This is becomes your "bhavana". This becomes your meditation.

We are not inherently one thing or another. We are not absolutely one way or another. The potential of the mind is vast. Your inner potential is limitless.

How to Develop Your Meditation Practice.

Don't expect to transform magically into a peaceful Buddha-like god or goddess in one sitting. And above all, don't give up.

If someone said to you "Oh, you know, running one mile a day is really good for your heart and lungs." And you decide to run a mile the next day. Let's say you don't do any regular exercise and you don't really go to the gym. You would probably be so put-off running. You could even probably say "Running doesn't work", "It doesn't do you any good", "It's impossible to do". You would dismiss what this person said to you and move on.

Most people I meet who come to learn meditation with me tell me they have tried meditation before or they have tried it years ago. Meditation is not a one-shot deal.

Perfection of Effort

Many have read or learned enough about meditation to begin a meditation practice. Then they say to me. They have no time. Well, you have time to brush your teeth in the morning before you go to work. And you have time to eat lunch. Nothing stops you from taking a shower each evening. You view these as essential. You were trained from nursery school that these things you must do. But you were not trained to take time for yourself to relax your mind and release your thoughts, nor were you taught that it is essential. So begin, or end each meditation session by going through all the benefits of meditation in your mind both those benefits that you understand and already experience and those that are still not within the scope of your practice. Rehearse them, again and again, in your mind.

Begin the Meditation.

After learning, reading, best of all receiving the guidance of a qualified guru, begin your practice. Sit at ease and watch the thoughts in your mind. Relax and release the thoughts one by one. As a thought comes, do not give it any judgement, analysis or any energy. As thoughts come, simply watch them and allow them to dissolve back from which they arose. Know that you don't have to be involved with these thoughts right now.

Slowly your thoughts will lose their tight grip over you. You achieve a loosening and relaxing but with a very aware and alert mind. Peacefulness ensues. Remain in this platform of peacefulness as long as you can.

Once you achieve stability in the meditation you are able to hold this place of calm, then you can use this as a platform from which to analyze the thoughts. The only analysis you need is whether a thought is harmful or beneficial.

Meditation Continues After Sitting.

From this awareness of thoughts, you are now in a better position to act on the world around you and the people around you. You no longer simply react mindlessly, habitually, to what is happening inside you and around you. You no longer need to be pushed and pulled by thoughts and emotions. You live with much more control and awareness, shaping your future by how you act with full mindfulness.

When Things Go Crazy.

Then again you will get caught up with things and busyness. Put due diligence into your meditation practice. Use the session the center yourself again. Slowly meditation sessions and life in between will feel less fragmented. It might feel more fragmented before it feels more in harmony. Keep learning and keep practicing and keep at it until you reach your highest potential.

Go on a yoga retreat. Take a yoga holiday. Visit http://www.destinationyogaretreats.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, counselling hypnotherapist and life coach in London.

Can There Be Free Will While Functioning From the Conditioned Mind?

The human mind is conditioned by several factors, some overt and others covert. By and large, there are three major conditioning influences: (1) The Genetic (2) The Environmental and (3) The one due to Past-life Impact. A human being's mental make up is a complex product of experiential residues influenced by the above three. Let us call this as the Mental Content of a person. Decisions are actually made by this content though the apparent assessment, based on the superficial thought process, is too shallow to recognize this. It is because we sense, knowingly or unknowingly, the Mental Content in others that we are able to predict a person's reactions after we observe his or her behavior for some time. If that person can function entirely from a free will, uninfluenced by a background, it will be difficult for us to do so. This implies that the past plays a significant role in determining a person's reactions. One of Jesus' statements is relevant here: Forgive them for they know not what they are doing.

That brings us to the question: Where does free-will come into all this? The only psychological state that is free and untouched by the past is the simple self-awareness. It is like a non-interfering witness. That is the only thing free from being influenced by the Mental Content of a person. When that aliveness is there, the content's reaction is modified and one's response is imbued with compassion rather than be merely controlled by the past. To think that free will implies that one can take any decision one wants, uninfluenced by one's Mental Content, is to be ignorant of the hidden forces of past residues. Those who have sensed the content's power know that it is a juggernaut. As J. Krishnamurti says, "It is much too quick for you to control." Thus, the only thing that can dissolve its power is an action in the present which is the quiet self-awareness that is free of all emotions and, therefore, free of all the past. The joy of self-awareness clears the obstacles for more intense awareness to step in.

The general human tendency is to let the mind rule the roost through its inherited and acquired conditioning. Unknowingly, we all get caught in this momentum and lose our lives in the rut that captures us early in our lives. At some stage, some of us become reflective and realize with a shock the damage done to our psycho-physical system as a result of unknowingly falling a prey to the Mental Content. Can we do something to get out of the rut? The answer lies not in conforming to some systems, religious or anti-religious, but in standing alone, free from all conditioning. That is like shining like a single star in a limpid sky.

In Sanskrit, the phrase 'Gunas of Prakriti' is often used. This phrase means 'characteristics of the flow of cause and effect in nature'. Krishna says in the Bhagawad Gita, "Actions are done in all cases by the Gunas of Prakriti, but he whose mind is deluded by egoism thinks "I am the doer"". We see that this delusion is the same when one thinks "I am the one who is taking decisions."

There was an interesting neurobiology article by Christof Koch in the Scientific American/Mind (May/June 2012) entitled 'Finding Free Will". It establishes the myth behind the conventional ideas of free will. The following lines occur at the start of the article:

"In a remote corner of the universe, on a small blue planet gravitating around a humdrum sun in the outer districts of the Milky Way, organisms arose from the primordial mud and ooze in an epic struggle for survival that spanned aeons. Despite all evidence to the contrary, these bipedal creatures thought of themselves as extraordinarily privileged, occupying a unique place in a cosmos of a trillion trillion stars. Conceited as they were, they believed that they, and only they, could escape the iron law of cause and effect that govern everything."

When we see all these, we move into a region of deeper perspectives in our lives. Related topics are covered in this website on spirituality.

Gopalakrishnan T. Chandrasekaran received his doctoral degree in Coastal Engineering from the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA in 1978. He served on the research and teaching faculty of universities in India, the US and Kuwait. His book "In Quest of the Deeper Self" is the outcome of his philosophic reflections and his wish to share the outcome with others. He is a member of the International Association for Near Death Studies, Durham, NC, USA; lives in Kodaikanal, a hill town in South India. Blog: http://nde-thedeeperself.blogspot.com.

Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, counselling hypnotherapist and life coach in London.

What Goes Around Comes Around

If you live in Woodstock you call it Karma.

But by whatever name, after living on this earth almost eighty-five years.. I know it exists.

My Mother, Lord rest her, used to say, "If you do good you get good. If you do bad you get bad." It is a simple but excellent rule to live by.

Example, last New Year's Eve I checked my voice mail at 4:00 P.M. There was a message from a man who was anxious to speak to me. When I returned his call he told me that he had a terrible problem and was wondering if I could hypnotize him over the telephone. He explained that he had serious claustrophobia. So bad that even though he was an electrician, he could not go into attics or crawl cellars. He told me that his fiance's sister had been murdered and he had to fly to Chicago the next day (New Year's). He had never been on an airplane and was petrified that, if he tried to, he would become hysterical. I suggested that he come to my office that evening. He said, "But it is New Year's Eve."

Since, at my age,if I can stay awake, I am content to just watch the ball drop, I told him it was no problem for me. He got my address and I met him at 9:00 P.M. The first thing I told him was that there was not going to be any charge for two reasons. One, he had enough on his plate with this family tragedy and also I didn't want him to think I was so hungry for a fee that I would work on a holiday. That impressed him.

We did the Hypnosis and I sent him on his way. The next day he called from Chicago to thank me and told me he had a great flight with no anxiety what so ever.

That's just part of the story.

The following Thursday, my wife was blow drying her hair and the lights went out. When she called me I told her not to worry that it was probably a circuit breaker and I would take care of it when I got home. Unfortunately, it was not as simple as I thought it would be because I could not budge the darn thing.
I remembered my friend was an electrician and called him to ask why I could not fix it. He asked where I lived, was there in an hour and presto my problem was solved. When I inquired how much I owed him, he smiled and gave me a big hug.

Moral of the story? What goes around comes around.
The problem most people have in accepting this truism is that they expect immediate results.. tit for tat. It doesn't always work that way. An old Italian woman once told me that God is not a merchant, He doesn't pay off on Fridays. We don't always see the connection.

In my work, people often are seeking revenge. Someone hurts them and they want that person punished.

"Vengeance is mine says the Lord". I tell them to leave it to God. Rest assured that justice will be served. Otherwise nothing makes sense. We burden ourselves with anger and hate and it only makes things worse. We are never free if we harbor hate and revenge.

A world wide present day expression of this philosophy is the, "Pay it Forward Movement " where we count our Blessings by passing them on to others.. What a beautiful idea!

When you think about it, it is really nothing new. Just another expression of the Golden Rule. Do unto others... comes right from God Himself.

You know, it is a wonderful world and most people are good. The problem is that the bad guys get all the publicity.
It is easy to become cynical when the media is full of man's inhumanity to man stories. I have learned to focus on the positives. Even when someone disappoints me I try to think about where this person is coming from. What are his true motives? Is he in pain? Is he trying to help me but just expressing it incorrectly? We should be slow to judge.

A successful surgeon once came to me and complained that he had a low self esteem. He blamed it on his Father, long dead, who used to tell him repeatedly, "Why can't you be like your brother? Go out for the team." His brother was a successful high school football player. The doctor told me he was a stamp collector and found it hard to forgive his Dad for making him feel not worthy. I explained to him that perhaps his Father wanted him to have the same fame and adulation as the brother but just did not know how to express it. Sometimes it is just ignorant parenting.

I say the prayer of St. Francis every day. It is good to live by:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Pray it, live it and you will be delighted by, "What comes around."

Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, counselling hypnotherapist and life coach in London.

Corporate Wellness Plans Reduce Healthcare Costs

Concerns over the rising costs of healthcare are well-founded. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "only five cents of every healthcare dollar spent in the United States is expended on prevention, while about ninety-five cents are spent on treatment." For the financially conscious, this news is disconcerting. Their research also revealed that, "more than seventy-five percent of our health care costs stem from preventable chronic conditions." The equivalent of such a system is inconceivable.

Consider a large cliff overlooking a treacherous gorge. Rather than placing a fence or guard rail at the top of the cliff to prevent visitors and tourists from falling, a hospital is built at the bottom of the valley. When people slip and fall off the edge of the cliff they are treated for their injuries at the hospital. The health care costs for this treatment are extremely high, yet the cost to build a fence or guard rail is inexpensive in comparison. While this example may sound ludicrous, it is a metaphor to show the seriousness of current healthcare costs and conditions. It is imperative that action is taken to prevent disease and promote well-being, rather than continuing to apathetically accept rising healthcare costs.

Corporate wellness plans and workplace health programs are just one of the ways to "build the fence" so to speak. A vast majority of employees work for corporate and business related enterprises. Using corporate wellness plans to enhance overall employee health will target a high population. By stressing disease prevention and health promotion in the workplace, healthcare costs can be significantly reduced. A 2010 Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care Report conducted by the National Business Group on Health and Towers Watson admitted that, "The greatest challenge to managing health care costs is employees' poor health habits and the biggest obstacle to changing employee behaviors is the lack of employee engagement." To improve employee health and well-being it is evident that employees must become engaged and motivated to improve their overall wellness. Starting a corporate wellness plan is an effective way to inspire one's workers to become proactive in their own health. Workplace health programs that encourage prevention not only benefit an overall corporate health, but also individual workers. The focus on wellness, as opposed to achieving a single health goal, challenges employees to focus on long-term maintenance and commitment to their overall health.

Many people believe that corporate wellness plans or workplace health programs only will apply to their employees' general physical health. For example, they may assume that corporate wellness plans only have goals of weight loss or lowered blood pressure. However, it should be noted that wellness actually encompasses a person's physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Workplace health programs actually may overview one's dental health, financial well-being, overall fitness, mental condition, nutritional health, general safety, stress-management techniques, tobacco over-usage, and alcohol abuse. The goal of corporate wellness plans is a holistic approach to corporate health. Research increasingly shows that adding the services of a Health Coach to a company's existing Wellness Plan, increases employee participation and focuses more attention on prevention. Many wellness plans target only those employees who are on the verge of, or who have already developed a compromised health condition. Health Coaches interact with all employees and work with them to set long-term lifestyle changes to live healthier lives. That's a win-win for the employee and the corporations' Healthcare Costs!

Sources: http://www.engagementhealth.com/why-wellness--pages-12.php and http://wellnessproposals.com/request-free-wellness-quotes/

To schedule a corporate wellness consultation today go to http://www.weightwellnesswellbeing.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, counselling hypnotherapist and life coach in London.

What Is the Rational Basis of Mental Illnesses?

In the article "What is the origin of Wants and Desires?" it has been pointed out that many of our motivations or wants and desires are beyond biological needs and can only be explained on the basis of universal instinct to exist, evolve and diversify.

But even that is not enough. Besides being a part of a universal scheme, we all exist as individuals or discrete entities having unitary organization, in a state of dynamic equilibrium aimed at keeping our identity and integrity and meeting our goals and objectives. Besides this, a desire for self-expression and self-realization lurks deep inside every individual inspired by the individuality. All the above, collectively, constitutes individuality or personality of the individual and is the rational basis of inter-individual differences.

Universal instincts coupled with personality or individuality collectively approximate what Sigmund Freud has referred to as 'Id'. But to be effective, this 'Id' has to be duly supported by appropriate structure and function i.e. brain and mind. Mind is defined as the function of brain. But brain and mind have their origin in genome and all the necessary cellular and biochemical machinery that genome creates through regulated gene expression. Therefore, all our behavior, sentiments and intellect have a material basis as detailed above and any malfunctioning of any of the components directly or indirectly involved in keeping the mental equilibrium can precipitate mental illnesses. Neuro-physiologists are progressively discovering material/biochemical correlations of mental functioning.

Since, in order to satisfy the universal instinct to exist, everything has to exist in a state of dynamic equilibrium having internal as well as external harmony so that all the inherent conflicts and contradictions (Dialectical materialism) are in a state of effective resolution. This need for harmony inspires ethics, morals, laws (even manmade), a sense of justice, a sense of fair and unfair or a sense of right and wrong. Even need for an order and system is at least in part determined by this universal Law of Harmony. Much of the religion is inspired by the need to keep harmony with in individuals as well as with in human society. This is what has corresponds to Super-ego of Sigmund Freud.

To keep harmony and to meet individual satisfaction a large number of conditions with inherent contradictions and conflicts have to be satisfied all the time. Inherent contradictions and conflicts often demand intellectual resolution which may require at times resetting the fulcrum or state of dynamic equilibrium. This may be done consciously in humans but in all others it is done subconsciously. This is what corresponds to 'Ego' of Sigmund Freud.

Sigmund Freud for the first time recognized role of subconscious in determination of human behavior and causation of mental illnesses and even devised Psychoanalysis as the technique to unearth subconscious phenomena. But Sigmund Freud failed to appreciate true significance and scope of subconscious in nature and universe. Further he failed to appreciate that even in the domain of Psychology, most of the needs are satisfied subconsciously only. Nature and universe until the evolution of self-awareness or voluntary consciousness in humans have managed all their affairs subconsciously only. Voluntary Consciousness or self-awareness is only a minute fraction of whole of consciousness that permeates this universe. No doubt that voluntary consciousness is the highest level in the natural hierarchy of consciousness. It not only makes consciousness aware of itself but also allows action at a distance to its bearers.

Universal instincts assisted by consciousness actively and aggressively work to attain their ends and this motivational drive has been variously described by others including Sigmund Freud as libido or energy presumably because this is what gets the things done. However it is a misconception to call it as energy, since it is not the same as energy as understood in Physics. What we may call as libido directs utilization of energy for various ends but is not energy in itself.

So, our motivations, dreams, fantasies, idiosyncrasies, personal preferences, whims and fancies, actions are principally determined, directed and managed by subconscious. We have only a minimal control on our own actions. Prudence and pragmatism is a state of mind and its resultant action where our actions are grounded in comprehensive reality whether internal or external. A prudent and pragmatic mind is amenable to reason. Therefore in a prudent and pragmatic state of mind, role of unrealistic elements in driving our action is adequately regulated leading to a state of harmonious existence and optimum utilization of our resources. But a sick mind may refuse to see reason.

An individual has to cope with conflicts and contradictions all the time since conflicts and contradictions are inbuilt in nature. Inherent conflicts and contradictions often demand intellectual resolution either subconsciously or at the level of self-awareness. Therefore for any individual, existence is the result of a dynamic equilibrium. Nothing exists in a state of static equilibrium. This dynamic equilibrium demands perpetual management to keep existence, to maintain peace and tranquility and to keep body, mind and soul harmony.

Different individuals show differing sensitivity, predisposition and resilience to different disequilibrating factors (mental stresses). Individual's sensitivity to a particular factor may vary from being hypersensitive to insensitive. This sensitivity can be altered by mental training. Sensitivity and response to various disturbing factors is conditioned not only by universal instincts but also by innate personality, cumulative experiences and other material factors influencing behavioral, emotional and intellectual responses.

A particular behavior may be normal in one set of circumstances but not so in another set of circumstances. Therefore, various behavioral responses require context dependent interpretation. Hence, at times line of distinction between mentally healthy and mentally ill is exceedingly thin and its identification is dependent upon subjective experience of the observer.

Normally, in accordance with universal instinct to exist (Sigmund Freud described this as instinct to life) mind tries to keep its dynamic equilibrium or Zero state but if the mental stress far exceeds the ability of mind to cope, a mental breakdown occurs and mental illness is precipitated. Same mental stress can precipitate different mental illnesses in different individuals. Once mental breakdown occurs, it may lead to a vicious cycle leading to progressive deterioration of mental state. In a sick mental state, mind may refuse to see reason.

In coping with mental stress two options are generally available.

In repression the conflict is buried deep inside the psyche without any effective resolution. It acts as a time bomb waiting to explode. Sigmund Freud identified underlying repression as the reason behind most of mental illnesses involving sudden outburst of repressed emotions. He particularly emphasized significance of repressed sexuality as the cause of most of mental illnesses. However this is not completely correct. All types of deprivations and repressed emotions can precipitate mental illnesses.

The other option involves resetting or shifting or modifying the fulcrum or the state of dynamic equilibrium so that the individual is able to keep his dynamic equilibrium despite existence of mental stresses in the environment. This can be further improved by mental training. Often a proper understanding of mental stresses helps and this is precisely the reason for effectiveness of Freud's Psychoanalysis.

Armed with improved understanding of mental stresses, mind in line with universal instinct to exist tries to restore its dynamic equilibrium. Therefore with in any individual, there will always be compensated mental stresses that shape personality of the individual. But uncompensated mental stresses in a state of repression can precipitate mental illnesses any time.

Sigmund Freud has been wrong in laying undue emphasis upon sex as the principal cause of repression. Any unsatisfied, uncompensated demand can be a cause of repression. Hence reasons for mental illnesses may be as wide and varied as human wants and desires.

Summing up, mental illnesses may be viewed as the result of failure of normal compensating mechanisms concerned with maintenance of mind's state of dynamic equilibrium leading to a vicious cycle which can often be broken by various therapeutic interventions.

Author: Dr Mahesh C. Jain is a practicing medical doctor and has written the book "Encounter of Science with Philosophy - A synthetic view". The book begins with first chapter devoted to scientifically valid concept of God and then explains cosmic phenomena right from origin of nature and universe up to origin of life and evolution of man. The book includes several chapters devoted to auxiliary concepts and social sciences as corollaries to the concept of God. This is the only book that deals with subject matter of origin of nature and universe beginning from null (Zero or nothing). This article is inspired by author's understanding of `nature. Visit: sciencengod.com. sciencengod.com/what-is-the-origin-of-wants-and-desires.html. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, counselling hypnotherapist and life coach in London.

There Is More Than One Way to Get Fat

If you listen to any "expert" on the obesity epidemic long enough you soon realize that most of them figure that the only reason people get fat is because they eat too much and sit on their couch all day. But weight gain is far more complex than that. Medications, various life stages, hormonal imbalances and more can all cause those unwanted pounds to creep onto your body and then refuse to get off.

If you live a relatively active lifestyle and you eat a good balance of foods, in theory you shouldn't gain any additional weight as you get older. But a lot of older people do gain weight even when other aspects in their lifestyle haven't changed. If this is happening to you then a visit to your local doctor might be a good idea to see what is happening with your hormone levels, or to ensure that you don't have an underlying problem with your thyroid glands for example.

If you are on anti-depressant medication then this can also be the reason you have gained unwanted weight. Check with the side effects of any medication that you are taking to ensure that you are not being influenced by changes to your metabolism or the way your body processes the foods you eat. Also steroids taken for asthma can also cause you to gain weight, which can be equally difficult to shift.

Stress can often be one of the main causes of an unexpected weight gain. When you are under stress your body produces cortisol which puts the body into its fight or flight response mechanism. When the body is in this state blood is drawn away from the digestive system to be used in other areas of the body.

Long term stress can result in your body converting sugars into fat around your middle body area - your body is trying to protect your major organs. Unfortunately too much fat in that region can cause pressure on those same major organs which can lead to major health problems.

Because of the complexity evident in how we are all getting bigger, it makes sense that the diet programs that are based on the assumption that you are eating too much and doing too little, are not going to be overly effective. For example if a weight program that simply advises the user to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables while taking a ten mile hike, is used by a woman who is actually overweight because she lives in a stressful environment, then the woman is not going to lose any weight. What is worse is that he or she will also feel like they have failed as opposed to thinking there was any failure evident in the dieting program.

More information on the different reasons why some people get fat when others don't, such as a low iron count, pregnancy and childbirth, and more information on stress can be found in "The Happiness Diet: How to lose weight quickly and with a minimum of fuss", by Lisa Oliver - You can search for it on Amazon.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online, counsellor, hypnotherapist and life coach in London.

When Life Deals You a Tough Hand of ACEs

Last month I presented a lecture at Bastyr University addressing the relationship and causality between emotions and physical pain. I supported and addressed the use of non-pharmaceutical energetic methods for reducing and eliminating pain. By learning to unhook or rewire painful memories and associations in the brain, one can work in tandem with physical interventions like chiropractic to effectively resolve even long term chronic pain. For some, this would be an outrageous suggestion. For the room of people interested in Energy Medicine, this was a given and they were ecstatic to see that there was scientific evidence behind this perspective.

It is much easier and less complicated to believe that our physical symptoms or diseases are a direct result of purely physical causes - that makes sense to us. It is a paradigm that is influenced by our current model of disease causation. For example, if I eat too much fried fatty food I am likely to get hypertension and heart disease as a result. Genetic disease causality resulted in the human genome project being launched in part because of the idea that if we can name each gene and chromosome we might create early disease prevention with respect to diseases we are destined to have, and then we could manipulate that bad chromosome and voila, no disease!

Slow down I say! A new study shows that when twin's genetic makeup was studied with respect to genetic markers for disease and they were as likely as not to manifest the predicted conditions that they were "genetically determined to be susceptible". So if genes are not reliable as a measurement for disease, is there a more accurate predictor?

This might come as a surprise, but in the 1990's a highly accurate prognostic determiner of future conditions was discovered. It has a very strong statistical correlation between things that occurred in a person's childhood which resulted in brain changes that resulted in a wide variety of physical traits, habits and physical conditions later in life. Repeated studies have supported this idea.

The idea that a child's exposure to painful childhood traumatic events, also known as Adverse Childhood Experiences, (ACEs), was incredibly reliable in predicting major pathological conditions as an adult. The initial phase of the ACE Study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego from 1995 to 1997 with more than 17,000 participants. These ACEs include exposure to nine situations: childhood physical, emotional or sexual abuse, witnessing domestic violence of mother, neglect, exposure to family mental illness, alcohol or drug abuse, family member incarceration or loss of a parent due to death or abandonment; including possible abandonment associated with divorce.

The most fascinating aspect of this research is that there are very specific brain structures that are more susceptible to emotionally triggered physical functional harm and trauma at very specific ages. For example the corpus callosum is the part of the brain that connects the right and left brain hemispheres and regulates negative emotions, processes social cues and promotes learning. It has been shown to be vulnerable to infant neglect and sexual abuse trauma and results in an increased vulnerability to post traumatic stress syndrome.

The cerebellar vermis is a part of the brain that regulates attention, is one of the few areas of the brain that can grow new nerve cells after birth and regulates our ability to hold focused attention. It has been found to be strongly affected by all types of maltreatment before the age of nine. Damage to this area often results in attention deficit problems and a tendency for a body to produce higher cortisol stress hormone levels.

The higher the number of these ACEs, the stronger and more direct a relationship with the many of the following: alcoholism and alcohol abuse, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, fetal death, health-related quality of life, Illicit drug use, Ischemic heart disease (IHD), Liver disease, Risk for intimate partner violence, Multiple sexual partners, Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), Smoking, suicide attempts, unintended pregnancies, early initiation of smoking, early initiation of sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy.

I highlighted certain conditions that most people would perceive as predominantly physical or chemical conditions not necessarily resulting from emotionally stressful experiences.

To give you an idea of statistics, a person with zero ACEs has a 1 in 14 chance of having a heart attack. If they have 7 of the 9 categories experienced, their likelihood is 1 in 6 or two and a half times the risk. With nearly 25% of individuals studied having three or more ACEs, the acknowledgement of this important correlation could potentially save billions of health care dollars and thousands of lives in the US.

So what should we do once we understand that we cannot separate our emotionally stressful experiences from our physical conditions? As a physician it is important that with any patient that walks in my door, I must always open my perspective to look beyond the symptom and explanation that is offered as to what may seem the obvious cause of their ailment; especially in the cases of pain not directly associated to immediate injury. Some studies have shown health benefits simply by broaching the discussion with patients to discuss the connection between past emotional trauma and physical conditions. As a patient, it is worth being open to the idea that there may be a correlation and consider working to resolve past traumas as a form of preventive care that may save you from having to live through some very difficult and painful conditions that may be dormant or not currently symptomatic.

Finally, and most importantly if you are a parent, do not add guilt to the mix of what is already the world's hardest job, but just do everything within your control to affirm your children and realize that every loving comment and action that you offer them literally builds a healthier brain as a result. That, my friends, is something you can double down on!

Craig Weiner, DC has been in the health care field for 25 years, as a doctor of chiropractic, certified massage therapist, EFT practitioner, health coach, workshop leader, and creator of the Transformational Dialogues. Together with his wife Alina Frank, they are the creators of Path2Passion, a 6 week webinar series supporting couples in creating a powerful and intimate relationship. www.chirozone.net, reach at drcraig[at]chirozone.net. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Health Habits: Build Yourself Up

The NEWSS Is Good For Construction Workers

I can't say I'm much of a "handy man." When it comes to my career, I'm a writer, not a builder. And when something needs fixing around the house, I'm still a writer - I write checks to professionals who are much better than I am at the handyman thing.

That's not to say I haven't tried honest work, or that there aren't those who've tried to teach me how to do things like hammer a nail or turn a wrench. In fact, whether in the paid employ of a construction firm in my early working days, or as a volunteer helper on projects for friends (especially, as I recall, for the fathers of potential girlfriends), I've actually gained more experience in construction work than my kids would believe. I've helped demolish and renovate a house. I've installed insulation. I've hung drywall and laid flooring. I've done lots of trim carpentry, and even a little framing (mostly, I carried plywood for the guys who knew what they were doing). I've even done some painting without ruining whatever it was I was trying to spruce up.

When it comes to construction, I'm still a writer. But I have been close enough to construction work to learn that it's tough, demanding, and often dangerous.

A recent study published by the Center for Construction Research and Training bears that out. The researchers found that almost all construction workers end up experiencing at least one work-related injury or illness in their lifetime, and they run a greater-than-average risk of premature death. Death! Writers don't die prematurely at as great a rate, I'm happy to say... unless, perhaps, they try to add a room to their house.

According to the Center's study, a construction worker has a 75% chance of a disabling injury, and a one-in-two-hundred chance of being fatally injured on the job, over the course of a 45-year career. And lest you think we're just talking about taking a steel beam to the head, a person who starts a construction career at age 20 has a 15% chance of developing COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and an 11% chance of developing dust-related paranchymal changes in their chest x-ray.

Ugh!

If you're a construction worker, please don't quit. We writers need you, believe me. But make sure you keep yourself strong enough to be one of the 25% who doesn't let your work disable you. Build a solid lifestyle with the five key daily health habits I call The NEWSS: Nutrition (start by cutting out the garbage from your diet), Exercise (get 3-6 good workouts a week, and make sure you don't neglect your aerobic exercise because you think you get enough at work), Water (drink two liters every day, and more if you're working up a sweat), Sleep (get eight hours every night), and Supplements (take at least one good daily multi-nutrient).

Construction workers would also benefit greatly from regular visits to the chiropractor (to keep your frame healthy) and from periodic cleanses (to keep the pipes in your digestive system unclogged).

Construction is a noble profession, and the rest of us are awed and envious at the things you guys can do. Make sure your health habits are good enough to keep you around, doing those amazing things, for a good long time to come.

Michael Hume is a speaker, writer, and consultant specializing in helping people maximize their potential and enjoy inspiring lives. As part of his inspirational leadership mission, he coaches executives and leaders in growing their personal sense of well-being through wealth creation and management, along with personal vitality.

Michael and his wife, Kathryn, divide their time between homes in California and Colorado. They are very proud of their offspring, who grew up to include a homemaker, a rock star, a service talent, and a television expert. Two grandchildren also warm their hearts! Visit Michael's web site at michaelhume.net. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

The Key to Finding Workout Motivation

If getting into top physical condition was easy, who wouldn't put in the two seconds a day to look amazing and feel amazing? That is exactly the point, it is not really that easy. But that is fine, because in order to make exercise easy, we must understand how to get motivated in order to still workout and look good.

Self motivation is truly the key to leading an amazing life. If you decide to stray away from fitness, you will notice all of the things that you will leave behind. Workouts not only keep you fit, but they also keep your body functioning normally.

Now, despite knowing all of the benefits of working out, we still neglect to make time for working out every day. This is along with the fact that we know all of the benefits. This means that there is truly a self motivation issue that must be solved. Either that or you will find that you are inactive at the gym, afraid to mess up, or just too lazy to work harder.

Furthermore, as time goes on, your passion for working out decreases. This means that your goals will be even harder to stick to later in the year than it is at the beginning. Here are some tips to help make it through the tough times in your weight loss plan.

Getting Motivated for Exercise

There are various ways in which you can get motivated for exercise or working out. One of the best ways to do this is by looking at others around you trying to accomplish the same goal. This will allow you to then ignite your passion towards a similar goal. When you are working out, try to find someone of similar strength to train with. This will help you be more competitive and increase weight faster.

Try to Feel Good

This aspect should always be there no matter if you are working out or not. This will overall make your life more enjoyable. You should understand that some days when you are working out, you will be tired and not performing well. This is when you have to turn your brain off and just push through the pain. Those are the days that make you a better athlete or get you one step closer to your goals.

Give Yourself Credit

In order to ever move forward, you must realize that you have made progress. Ultimately, this is what you are going for, constant progress. I am saying this because when you work out, you will lose considerable weight or put on muscle, whichever your goal is. The thing is, make sure that you reward yourself in whatever way you feel fitting, because you have earned it through all of the hard training.

If you are interested in learning more about strength training, visit Beginners Exercise, my personal website. It is a guide to exercise, nutrition, weight loss, weight lifting and anything else fitness related. It especially is focused on the topics of weight loss and gaining lean muscle mass, but there are other topics covered likewise such as product reviews. This website is tailored for beginners in the exercise world, but really people of all ages can benefit from this web page. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

Energy: The Foundation of Happiness

Have you ever felt ineffective, drained, anxious or depressed? What exactly does this suggest? This could be a very considerable sign that your energy levels are not properly aligned! Your body has three main types of energy, including your physical, mental and emotional resources. There are approximately 50 trillion cells in the average adult human body. Each one of those cells is working diligently to produce some sort of energy your body will later on emit. If all of your energy types begin to work simultaneously, you will notice you're able to achieve great things with little to no effort. That is why it can be vital to get your energy levels aligned properly. It can reveal the simplicity of every day responsibilities and tasks, whether you're at work, school or at home.

There are many methods of controlling and aligning your energies. There can be adequate benefits such as obtaining self empowerment, guidance and healing within your body. The idea of energy alignment closely depicts the practice of self meditation which has a vast array of similar benefits. Most of the time your conscious mind's thought process is very technical and will not be aware of changes in your body that reflect your inner energy levels. This is where your unconscious mind comes into play. Once you have turned your mind off or at least made it quiet for the moment, you begin to feel your inner essence. Meditation is a practice of controlled thought, directed energy and contemplation which helps you better understand your body as one. Meditation comes from the Latin word "meditari" which means to think, contemplate, devise, ponder, and meditate.

"Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness", says Shakti Gawain. It is very essential to acknowledge every aspect of your inner body. Spending time out in nature, workouts, yoga and meditation can all give you the extra positive energy boost you need to get you through the day. You should frequently set aside time for you to be still, quiet and focused. The very basic fundamentals of meditation and energy levels derive from concentration, peacefulness and staying focused. A good practice you can try at home is to look at one simple object and focus on it for 5 - 10 minutes. Anytime your mind begins to wander away just block out all other thoughts and just maintain focus and continue staring at it. Examine the texture, size and any other detail that will keep your mind occupied. This technique will give you a beginning foundation to realize how to control and maintain your energy levels from being mentally drained.

Remember to stay focused on your energy levels inside your body that your mind tends to overlook. You will begin to start feel more energized and clear minded throughout the day. Practicing meditation a few minutes a day and feeling the inner energy of your being can dramatically improve your outlook on life, and your overall wellness!

Steven Johnson is committed to helping people maintain healthy and effective lifestyles. For more information on any other health supplements please visit his website Alternative Health Supplements at alternative-health-supplements.com. Providing quality counselling articles, hynotherapy writings and other mind help resources online.

7 Reasons To Stop Eating Fast Food

Almost everyone loves fast food. It's tasty, delicious and gives you a quick fix whenever you get hungry. Although it is sold worldwide, only a few really take into consideration the dangers of eating it. For someone like you who is concerned about health, I'm sure you are aware that it is wise to minimize your fast food intake or better yet, stop eating it for good. Do you know why? If not, here are the top seven reasons why you should stop eating it.

1. Poor animal conditions. Animals sourced for the main ingredients of your favorite fast food are frequently kept in poor conditions. They are kept in tight spaces with not enough room for them to even relax. They undergo extreme stress that most of them go crazy and hurt themselves or other animals. Most of them are even slaughtered in inhumane ways.

2. Pumped with medicine. The poor conditions of the animals in captivity cause them to get sick and their dirty surroundings get filled with bacteria. To stop them from getting sick, they are fed with medicine and antibiotics. The worst part is not all of those medicines don't leave the animal's body even after they get processed or cooked.

3. Filled with preservatives. Ever tried the French Fries experiment wherein you put a bunch of French fries bought from your favorite restaurant, put them in a jar, then wait for a week to see if they decompose? If not, you will be surprised that most of those fries do not even rot. That is because of the preservatives put in those foods to prolong their shelf life. It's not even natural or organic anymore.

4. Filled with empty calories. Although it can give you quick relief to hunger, it won't actually give you the nutrients your body needs. It is actually filled with empty calories that will just make you fat. You may have cured your hunger with junk food but you're also making yourself undernourished in the process.

5. Full of sugar. When I say sugar, I mean artificial sweeteners that are actually worse than sugar. Fast food companies use special types of artificial sweeteners partnered with high doses of MSG to increase the flavor of the food. These additives are harmful to the body in the long run and can cause diabetes or even cancer.

6. Bad for the stomach. We all know how important fiber is in maintaining a healthy body. It gets rid of toxins, cholesterol and other harmful stuff in our digestive system. It contains little to no fiber at all. Meaning, going on a heavy fast food diet may lead to serious diseases such as colon cancer.

7. It is addictive. With all those additives and artificial flavorings, it is designed for one thing, to make you crave for more. Fast food instantly becomes a comfort food that is very addictive. We all know what happens when you get addicted to it, you eat more which in turn makes you fat, undernourished and sick.

Sometimes it's okay to give in to these kinds of food once in a while. You can have some like once a week but make sure it's not a lot. But if you really want to stop eating fast food and become healthier, just keep in mind the dangers listed above before taking the first bite. I assure you, you can live without fast food.

"The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger."

~Chris O'Brien

Do you always eat fast food? Do you think you can stay healthy by eating fast food? Let us know what you think of the article by writing down a comment below.

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