What is the difference between pressure and trigger point therapies?

Trigger point therapy or acupressure therapy both are based on same principle of applying "finger pressure" to the effected part of bodies to get cure. Main difference between two therapies is that Trigger point therapy deals with applying pressure on muscle tissues for pain management and related dysfunction in body while acupressure therapy can be used as a diagnose tool as well as getting prevention and cure many mild to serious diseases. This article helps you learn about both therapies and what the difference between them is. What is acupressure therapy? Acupressure is a way of accessing and releasing blocked or congested energy centres in the body. Acupressure enables us to diagnose and cure diseases like Common Cold, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Migraine, Heart Attack, Paralysis and even Cancer.


Acupressure is based on the theory that the body has fourteen meridians travel through it. Each of these meridians is attached to a specific body organ. When a meridian develops a blockage the body is adversely affected and diagnosing and removing the blockage through acupressure is the best way to cure the patient. Acupressure is a way of accessing and releasing blocked or congested energy centres in the body. Acupressure enables us to diagnose and cure diseases like Common Cold, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Migraine, Heart Attack, Paralysis and even Cancer. 


The points on the palms and feet reflect the condition of their related organs. This makes acupressure a good diagnostic tool. By feeling the palms and feet with gentle pressure it is possible to get a fair idea about the diseased parts. If pain is observed on any point, the body part related to that point needs immediate attention. I have applied these techniques for self diagnose and found it very effective. Usually you feel pain in specific points of your hands whenever there is an abnormality around your body (in other words it is a symptom of some body or system disorder/pain or disease) The healing process is next step after diagnosis as you have to apply pressure for continues intervals at the effected or related painful points of your both hands.

      

Trigger point therapy

Trigger points are specific, hyperirritable and hypersensitive areas in muscle that suffer from decreased circulation, increased contraction and spasm. Lack of circulation creates a high anomaly of toxins and increased nerve sensitivity that can range from low ache to sharp pain.Trigger point therapy involves the applying of pressure to tender muscle tissue in order to relieve pain and dysfunction in other parts of the body. Sometimes massage and trigger point therapy are performed together. Research shows that sustained manual trigger point therapy is by far the most effective means of getting rid of chronic myofascial (muscle and tissue) pain. The purpose of trigger point therapy is to eliminate pain and to re-educate the muscles to perform pain-free habits. After several treatments, the swelling and stiffness of neuromuscular pain is reduced, range of motion is increased, tension is relieved, and circulation, flexibility and coordination are improved. 
Difference between both therapies: 
• Trigger point therapy involves the applying of pressure to tender muscle tissue in order to relieve pain and dysfunction while in acupressure therapy, pressure is applied for accessing and releasing blocked or congested energy centres in the body. 
• Acupressure points are concentrations of energy or blockages of the body’s energy pathways. 
• Trigger points are physical phenomena that can be felt by touch. 
• Trigger point aims to relieve pain and dysfunction on specific muscle areas while acupressure therapy is used to diagnose and treat illness including pain management. 
• Trigger points are mainly muscle centred point arount the body, while acupressure points are mainly at hands, feet and other parts of body.

Useful links and resources:
* What Is Acupressure?. Acupressure’s Potent Points: a Guide to Self-Care for Common Ailments
* Health and Vitality, at Your Fingertips

First published: at factoidz 'Trigger Point Therapy Vs Acupressure Therapy'

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Why we need to adopt hay diet?

A healthy diet is one that is arrived at with the intent of improving or maintaining optimal health. This usually involves consuming nutrients by eating the appropriate amounts from all of the food groups, including an adequate amount of water.
Usually we follow a particular diet plan for weight loss or weight gain aim. Among a long list of diets it is really difficult to chose a diet which fits you. But the main purpose of adopting a diet program should be staying healthy as well.

Today we are learning about hay diet which a nutrition mehod developed by the New York physician William Howard Hay in the 1920s. The founder of the Hay Diet was Diagnoseed with a kidney-related condition, high blood pressure and other illness, he discored the Hey Diet. The Hay Diet helped him to lose weight and to reduce the illness symptoms.

The Hay diet has traditionally been promoted as being effective for weight loss and digestive problems because it does not 'mix' starch and protein, thus preventing the body from having to produce starch-digesting and protein-digesting enzymes at the same time.

The Hay Diet claims to work by separating food into three groups: alkaline, acidic, and neutral. Acid foods are not combined with the alkaline ones. Acid foods are protein rich, meat, fish, dairy, etc., and "alkaline" the carbohydrate-rich starch foods like rice, grains and potatoes. It is also known as the food combining diet.

As hay diet is based on the idea that the body can not cope with proteins and carbohydrates at the same time because of the way they are digested. This came from the belief that the human body is used to eating only one type of food at time and that the combining of food is a modern habit that are ancestors never did.

Why hay diet?

The hay diet states that the things wrong with modern eating habits are

• Poor elimination of wastes and toxins
• Eating to few alkaline forming vegetables and fruits
• Incompatible mixing of food

This can be remidied by the hay diet because it

• Cuts down on protiens starches and highly processed foods
• Improves the elimnation of toxins
• Increases the intake of vegtables, salads and fruits
• Doesn't mix any foods that fight

Read more at: 'Diet Review'
Useful links:

* Therapeutic diets

Why flowers are good for giving as a gift?

There is a chinese proverb which says: "When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." 

Saying of Park Benjamin: "Flowers are love's truest language."



Flowers or bouquets of flowers are considered a very romantic gift for our dear ones. But why we prefer to receive or give flowers? Many research studies have proved that flowers have an impact on our emotional health. The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions.
Flowers also have a strong, beneficial impact on those who receive them. So giving and receiving is the best gift for our near and dear ones.

"What's most exciting about this study is that it challenges established scientific beliefs about how people can manage their day-to-day moods in a healthy and natural way," said Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Rutgers and lead researcher on the study.

A team of researchers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants' behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers. The results show that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods.

- It effects on humans increasing extraordinary delight and gratitude.
- Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods.

- Flowers make intimate connections. The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.
"Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy," said Dr. Haviland-Jones. "Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being."

Related: www.terrafolia.ca

Useful links:
* Bringing Flowers into Your Life

* 1-800 flowers reviews

Which one is better - Glasses or contact lenses?

Eye sight problems are common among most of the people such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism or Presbyopia. We need to wear or use glasses or contact lenses to ease vision related problems.
Contact lenses are now quite popular, worn by approximately 30 million people in the USA alone.

The choice between eyeglasses and contact lenses depends on what sight problem you have, and the degree of the disorder. There are contact lenses to correct nearly every kind of vision problem, including astigmatism and presbyopia. Even if you enjoy wearing eyeglasses, contact lenses can be worn on a part time basis to suit your needs. Contacts are especially a good choice for sports, working out at the gym, and other leisure activities.                                                                          

Contact lenses offer many advantages over eyeglasses:

Distortion: In glasses the lenses vary in thickness, depending on the weakness of vision. The shape of an eyeglass lens creates distortion and the thicker the glass, the greater the distortion. The eye, looking through the center and then suddenly switching to the edge, sees the object being looked at move. This is called the "prism effect". If you look through a prism you can see how a straight line becomes bent. Even though the prism effect is gradual as the eye moves across the glasses lens and does not disturb the wearer very much, it can be a nuisance. This distortion can also affect stereoscopic vision until the brain has had time to compensate.
Contact lenses can also have this effect, but to a lesser degree. For anyone needing high powered correction, wearing contact lenses should be a real advantage.

Lens Strength:
Because of its closeness to the pupil, the contact lens often does not need to be as strong as glasses. The image formed at the back of the eye for the near-sighted is larger and less dazzling than with glasses-an effect which makes many near-sighted people who wear glasses choose lenses weaker than their full prescription, so they many not see well. For far-sighted people the image is smaller than with glasses. The power needed for contact lenses can be greater than for glasses. However, when far sight is fully corrected by contact lenses close work is easier than with glasses because the wearer does not have to accommodate so much.
Eye Problems: Some eye disorders can only be treated by contact lenses. These are: extreme far and near sight, unequal vision and astigmatism. People with keratoconus (a cone shaped cornea) or who have had a cataract operation are often better off with a contact lens.
Cosmetic Effect: This is the major reason for many people trying contact lenses. Either they feel glasses don’t look good, or they find them heavy and uncomfortable. The freedom of contact lenses is worth the effort involved in getting used to them.
Comfort:
To start with, wearing contact lenses is certainly more uncomfortable than glasses. In the long term, provided you can learn to adapt, you don’t notice you’re wearing them. Glasses, on the other hand, may be heavy on the bridge of the nose, steamy or sticky in wet or hot weather. There are, however, some common eye conditions that make wearing contact lenses impossible:
Dry Eyes: If your tear glands don’t make enough tears your eyes will become gritty and sore. The discomfort is relieved with eyedrops and by avoiding a dry or rapidly ventilated atmosphere. But contact lenses would irritate the soreness and so are unsuitable.
Wet Eyes: Too many tears can interfere with your vision. Watering eyes may be due to a cold, a foreign body or crying. But if your eyes are continually watery, this may be due to a blockage in the drainage channels and until it has been put right, it will not be possible to wear contact lenses.

Adapting To Lenses: It takes some perserverance to get used to lenses and a lot of people give up in the first two or three weeks. Motivation is of course, all important.
Expense: The cost of contact lenses are generally higher than a pair of eye glasses, when factoring in the cost of saline and cleaning solutions, lens cases, etc. This is especially true if you are using disposable contacts, some of which are designed to be thrown away every month, week, or day.
Much depends on where you live, and whether free health care is available. Some insurance plans will not pay for contact lenses, as they are considered cosmetic and not essential.

With the comfort and ease of contact lenses today, there is nothing wrong with wearing contacts part time and glasses the rest of the time.

Note: Even if you wear contact lenses full time, you should have an up-to-date pair of eyeglasses handy to wear when you are not wearing your contact lenses. For the greatest safety and comfort, you should remove your contact lenses at least one hour before sleep. You should also remove your contact lenses and wear eyeglasses if your eyes feel dry or become uncomfortable for any reason. If the discomfort persists, see your eye doctor immediately.

Useful links:

* ‘Eye Topics’
* ‘All about contact lenses’
* ‘Eyes and vision’
* Wouldn’t You Rather Wear Contacts Than Glasses?
**** Article first published at 'Factoidz'

You may like to read: How to Keep Your Eyes Safe and Healthy Using Contact Lenses?

What are gravity defyer shoes and are they really beneficial for our feet?

A recent study showed that 80% of people suffer from lower back pain in their lives, while 75% of Americans  suffer some kind of foot problem. Wearing proper kind of shoe can solve some of your lower back/spinal or foot related problems. Leg fatigue, lower back pain and even headaches can result from standing and walking in shoes that fail to provide the combination of support and cushioning required by the user.

These Shoes are scientifically constructed footwear which absorb shock and propel you forward with a shock absorber hidden in every heel. Gravity defyer shoe maker claim that it can ease joint pain and pressure on Your Spine.                                              

How it works?

When you put on Gravity Defyer Shoes, scientifically designed springs push you from your heels to your toes and put you in constant movement. As your weight changes to the balls of your feet, the hidden shock absorber generates upward pressure, rebounding your body upward and propelling you forward in life.

How gravity defyer shoes were created?

Scientists investigating shock absorption for buildings and automobiles discovered a special polymer that was both lightweight and absorbed shock and vibration. This research lead to the development of the very first Gravity Defyer Shoe: the Catapult MMXT3. Others in the sport shoe industry had been trying for decades to produce a shoe that would provide the shock absorption and energy reciprocating power of the Gravity Defyer Shoes.

Can gravity defyer shoes help us getting rid of these problems?
Benefits of gravity defyer shoes:

• It helps ease Joint Pain and pressure on Your Spine
• You can jump higher and walk faster with these shoes
•  You look taller. As you will gain nearly two inches (2") of height without looking like you are wearing platform or elevator shoes.

Download free ebook -Life lessons from 108 Bloggers Around the World

'Life Lessons from 108 Bloggers Around the World' (

23 pages of PDF file) is a directory of life lessons and compilation of the best life lessons for anyone interested to download, read and learn from.


Abubakar Jamil who is the main creator of this ebook says: 'I believed that such an eBook would serve as an inspirational book that will teach you and me things about life, how others lived their lives and what they learned, the hard way or otherwise, and that it will have the potential to teach us a thing or two about living our lives more effectively.'


The ebook is a free gift from 'Abubakar Jamil' who is a personal development blogger, entrepreneur, graphic designer and the founder of the Self Improvement Blog—Abubakar Jamil.Com. His blog is about inspiring you to improve yourself in all the areas of your life.


The author says: Not only you will enjoy reading this eBook, but will also learn from it some great life lessons, that might just touch your heart and change your life around for the better in some way.


Download page: Life Lessons—The Best Self-Reflections From 108 Bloggers

How to speed up metabolism and stay healthy with acupressure therapy?

We know it that metabolism plays an important role staying healthy. We can speed up our metabolism with the help of acupressure therapy.

Metabolism is defined as being controlled by the chi, or life force present in all living beings, and by the chi's flow through various major organ systems. By manipulating the chi and changing how certain organs function, the Western concept of metabolism can be affected.
The Ear
The easiest to reach pressure points that affect appetite and metabolism are located in the cartilage above and in front of your ear canal. Pressing for several minutes on this cartilage will help to redirect the chi to lower appetite.
Spleen SP6
A pressure point that affects the spleen, called SP6, is a good pressure point for ensuring digestive health and optimal metabolism. SP6 is on the inside of your leg, around four finger widths above the ankle joint. The specific point is toward the back of the leg, very near the bone.
Spleen SP9
The pressure point SP9 also affects the spleen and has an effect on your body's water metabolism. SP9 is a little harder to find. To find SP9, look about three finger widths from the bottom of the knee cap and then go one finger width toward the inside of your leg. SP9 is located in an indentation just under the top of your tibia.
Stomach ST36
ST36 affects the stomach and the digestive system. ST36 is in the same general area as SP9. As with SP9, it is three fingers below the kneecap. However, it is on the other side of the leg, around one finger width toward the outside of the leg.
Stomach ST40
ST40 has a number of effects on your body. It clears excess phlegm, affects excess moisture in the chi and is important for digestion and metabolism. ST40 is around two finger widths behind your shin bone, half way down the outside of your shin.
Liver LV3
The LV3 acupressure point affects the liver, and thus has an effect on metabolism. LV3 is on the top of your foot in the skin between your first and second toes, where the bones for those two toes join in a "V" shape. LV3 also helps to prevent chi stagnation.
Liver LV11
LV11 is another pressure point that affects your liver. In addition, it clears additional heat and moisture from your body, and thus affects metabolism. It also helps your intestines. LV11 is located on the outside of the crease on the top of your elbow. To find it, hold your palm up; it is located on the thumb side of your elbow crease.

How to Fight with Fibromyalgia and Get Cure?

Fibromyalgia makes you feel tired and causes muscle pain and "tender points." Tender points are places on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms or legs that hurt when touched. People with fibromyalgia may have other symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, morning stiffness, headaches, and problems with thinking and memory, sometimes called "fibro fog."

No one knows what causes fibromyalgia. Anyone can get it, but it is most common in middle-aged women. People with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases are particularly likely to develop fibromyalgia.

Read more at:How to Fight with Fibromyalgia and Get Cure?

Study Shows Brain Activity Influences Immune Function

ScienceDaily (2003-09-04) -- Staying healthy may involve more than washing hands or keeping a positive attitude. According to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it also may involve a particular pattern of brain activity.

Theory:Numerous scientific studies show that keeping a positive attitude can keep a person healthy.

"This study establishes that people with a pattern of brain activity that has been associated with a positive affective style are also the ones to show the best response to the flu vaccine," says the Wisconsin researcher. "It begins to suggest a mechanism for why subjects with a more positive emotional disposition may be healthier."

Read more at: Science daily

Is drinking ice cold water bad for your health?

There is no scientific or medical study regarding the harmful or good effects of drinking ice cold water, but in alternative therapies like Chinese or Ayurvedic systems, there are some theories which say that drinking ice cold water on regular basis may harm you.

It is said that 'Long time drinking of ice-cold drinks can cause a lot of health problems, such as over weight, cough, headache, stomach problems, weak immunity, infertility etc.' and the reason is:

The average normal body temperature is 98.6°F (37°C). The ice drinks will bring down the temperature and slow down the energy and blood circulation inside the body. The coldness can be stuck somewhere in the body due to constant ice water intake, this will cause energy blockage. If the blockage occurs in the lower abdomen (which often happens to females), where uterus and ovaries are, many female related diseases and problems could appear including infertility and aging faster.

If the energy circulation slows, the metabolism slows, over weight is the result of that.
Aging and diseases are all the results of either slowing or blockage of energy inside of our body. Low temperature is one of the causes.
A cup of ice water may make you feel heavenly after a sweaty exercise or at the time you feel really hot. But that cup of water could hurt you 10 times more due to the sudden cooling inside your body especially if you quickly finish it.

According to Ayurveda, ice cold water or drinks hinder the process of digestion and slow down the Jatharagni (digestive fire). As a result, food is not digested properly, leading to the formation of sticky toxic material (ama) in the small intestine. Other effects include under nourishment and blockage of body's channels (srotas), which can further lead to hundreds of diseases.

Ice cold water is very bad for patients because their digestive fire is already weak due to low levels of immunity.

According to Ayurveda, you should always drink water at normal room temperature. If you live in very hot climate, you can drink slightly cool water. And the best is to drink lukewarm water. It helps in enhancing the process of digestion, clears the accumulated toxins, opens up the blocked channels, and balances Vata and Kapha (Ayurvedic humours representing Air and Water). If you are suffering from Pitta diseases (such as skin rashes, burning sensation, hyperacidity, etc.),

There is an urban legend that if you drink cold water, especially after eating, you’ll get cancer. The theory, which has been widely circulated via email, suggests that cold water solidifies fats you have just consumed, quickly causing toxins to create cancer in your body. Sites devoted to proving or disproving urban legends, like snopes.com, have defeated this theory quite effectively.

Useful links:

* A discussion at a health forum: Is ice water bad for u?

How to Get Happiness from Within and Get Health Plus Longevity?

Real happiness comes from inside, and we know that happiness brings health plus longevity, but how to get real happiness to stay healthier and longer? The simple answer may be to ‘be satisfied with your life as it is, and be thankful to God’. As happiness and sorrow are parts of our life we cannot choose only to be happy. But we can learn to be happy from within.

Happiness helps you bringing joy within yourself and spreading around you. This post helps you find ways to happiness and enables you to download valuable free ebooks. I have downloaded these priceless and valuable ebooks and realized that you have to pay a high price for the valuable stuff, but hats off to the authors of these books who devoted this information to mankind and shared it with all.

According to the World Health Organization, "Health is more than the absence of disease. Health is a state of optimal well-being." Optimal well-being is a concept of health that goes beyond the curing of illness to one of achieving wellness.

Fyodor Dostoevsky said: "Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it."

Read more: How to Get Happiness from Within and Get Health Plus Longevity?

How to Get Help with Herbs in Detoxification Process and Be Healthy?

Detoxification can help us stay healthy. And herbs help us in detoxification processes, as they can improve our body’s capacity to deal with it.

What is detoxification?
The whole purpose of "detox" is basically a process of getting rid of unwanted toxins from your body. This is done by only consuming natural and healthy products including only eating vegetables and herbs and removing any other forms of saturated fats or carbohydrates from your diet.

Combining herbal cleanse products with eating more fresh fruit and vegetables can be beneficial for detoxification.
Neil Levin, of Now Food says: ""the science of multiple chemical sensitivity. This is the science relating to the concept that at some point the total toxic load upon the body, which is mainly processed by the liver, may overwhelm the body's ability to detoxify and safely excrete excess chemicals, whether natural or synthetic. The use of certain nutrients to be utilized in these processes – notably antioxidants, minerals and amino acids - are ‘limiting factors' affecting an individual's detoxification capacity and chemical clearance rates. Detoxification is far more than just drinking tap water".

Simon Mills makes the point that if one of the body's elimination channels is overloaded, or not functioning as well as it could, it can affect the whole interrelated system. This is why skin problems are often dealt with by natural therapists by changing the diet of those affected, and giving them herbal cleanse supplements.

Other factors that can contribute to an overloaded body include:

• poor diet
• diet high in processed foods
• poorly functioning digestive system
• overeating, especially on a regular basis
• diet high in fat
• some medications, like antibiotics and others
• stress, especially over long periods of time
• lack of exercise

If food stays too long in the colon, it putrefies and produces more toxic by products. These can often be reabsorbed by the body, or at least produce irritation.

Erica Angyal cites these symptoms of an overburdened digestive system:

• diarrhea
• constipation
• abdominal pain
• bloating
• gas
• nausea
• vomiting
• burning sensation after eating

feeling very full after meals, especially if you haven't eaten much rumbling noises except the normal ones when you're hungry So, the benefits of an herbal cleanse, with an increase in fresh fruit and vegetables, is a great investment in your health. It's not really necessary to fast on juices or anything else. A long term, more gentle approach that encourages good eating habits and sustainable changes is better. Eating healthily, regular exercise and drinking plenty of water also helps your body become more efficient and you'll also be able to remove some of those excess fatty areas at the same time! Source article: Herbal cleanse

For more online resoruces and links:

• The 28-Day Herbal Program
• Herbal Body Cleanses
• Herbal Information and Research
• Liver cleanse recipes

First published : How to Get Help with Herbs in Detoxification Process and Be Healthy?

How Our Psychological Health Triggers Our Immune System

It is very obvious that unhappy persons suffer mentally and physically. The people with a positive approach towards life stay physically and mentally fit and healthy. But is there any relation between our mind (psychological health)and our immune system?

It now appears that immune function and psychological health may be directly related.

One recent study, for example, found that women with histories of long-term sexual abuse had lower ratios of certain immune cells, resulting in "significant immunological abnormalities." Another study suggests that the ability to express one’s distress can improve immune function.

This relationship between psychological health and immunity can have a profound effect on how the body reacts to illness. In the 1970s Carl and Stephanie Simonton began teaching cancer patients the use of visualization at the Cancer Counseling and Research Center in Dallas. Patients visualized forces coming to fight their cancer. The survival rates of their patients doubled. Some even experienced spontaneous remissions. Researchers do not fully understand this connection between psychological well-being and immune function, but there is considerable evidence that this link exists. Robert Ader and Nicholas Cohen conducted a series of experiments at Rochester University Medical School.

Beginning in the 1970s they administered a drug that lowers immune response in water flavored with saccharin to mice. They then measured the immune response of the mice. After testing, they administered saccharin alone. The mice showed the same immune suppression without being given the immuno-suppressant drug. The response came with exposure to saccharin alone – a conditioned response. This suggested a strong link between immune function and psychological learning.

Relationship between the nervous system and the immune system:

One kind of immune cells, lymphocytes, remain undivided and unchanged throughout your lifetime ö just like brain cells. One set of lymphocytes even develops at the same stages and in the same place as your brain cells. The immune system and the nervous system also share a number of features, including memory and recognition. It now appears that bidirectional pathways, two-way avenues of communication, exist between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. The phrase psychoneuroimmunology describes the combined study of the psyche, nervous system and immune system. Coined by Robert Adler as early as 1975, the fruits of this complex area of study have only recently begun to become available.

Yale researcher Bernie Siegel is widely known for his work on visualization. He focuses on helping patient to achieve peace of mind, and notes that when they do, diseases and illnesses often disappear. "My message is peace of mind, not curing cancer or paralysis," Siegel says. "In achieving peace of mind, cancer may be healed and paralysis may disappear. These things may occur through peace of mind, which creates a healing environment in the body."

Similarly, Jon Kabat-Zinn, who heads the Stress Reduction Clinic at University of Massachusetts Medical Center, emphasizes that use of meditation must center on healing not on cure. "In order to be effective for healing, we believe that the use of visualization and imagery needs to be embedded in a larger context, one that understands and honors non-doing and non-striving," he writes. "Otherwise, visualization exercises can too easily degenerate from meditation into wishful thinking, and the intrinsic healing power and wisdom of the simple mindfulness practice itself can remain untapped or be trivialized in the quest for something more elaborate and goal oriented." Ironically, it seems the best way to use meditation to increase healing involves letting go of the immediate goal and practicing mindfulness or meditation for its own sake. "To bring calmness to the mind and body requires that at a certain point we be willing to let go of wanting anything at all to happen and just accept things as they are and ourselves as we are with an open, receptive heart," Kabat-Zinn explains. "This inner peace and acceptance lie at the heart of both health and wisdom."

Links between the immune system and psychological well being are not yet fully understood, but they clearly exist. An integrated approach toward heath will involve not only the development of knowledge of the immune system, and learning detoxification and methods of supporting the immune system, but will incorporate some sort of spiritual orientation and practice. Unresolved psychological wounds appear to have a real impact on our health, and the work of psychological growth and healing cannot be ignored in moving toward full health. Perhaps most importantly, full health involves creating and sustaining an image of yourself as a healthy and fulfilled person. That work of visualization and imagery can be started today, at no cost, by first seeing yourself as the person you hope to be.

Source: Psychoneuroimmunology First published at: How Our Psychological Health Triggers Our Immune System ?

How to diagnose wet cough?

Cough may be dry or wet, but there is a lot of difference between symptoms and diagnose of both. This article helps you learn about cough, kinds of cough, symptoms and diagnose.

A cough is only a symptom, not a disease, and often the importance of your cough can be determined only when other symptoms are evaluated. Coughing is the body’s way of removing foreign material or mucus from the lungs and upper airway passages or of reacting to an irritated airway. Coughs have distinctive traits you can learn to recognize. There are two kinds of wet coughs, productive and non-productive wet cough. The symptoms of these cough conditions can help a health professional decide further test or go for treatment procedure.

 

Illnesses That may Cause a Cough

1. Common Cold
2. Pneumonia
3. Bronchitis  

If it is a wet, productive cough, the

• It could be pneumonia.
• Possibly bronchitis.
• It may be the flu.  

Read more: Wet Cough Diagnosis

Food Combinations That may Cause Gas

Correct food combinations are important for proper digestion, utilization, and assimulation of the nutrients in our diet. Different foods require different digestive enzymes to aid in the digestive process - some acid, some alkaline. When acids and alkalines come in contact, they neutralize each other and this retards digestion. Poor food combining or food combinations can be a cause of indigestion or stomach disorders in the body. Ulcerative Colitis, Gastritis, Acid Reflux are some of the stomach disorder examples. When wrong foods are consumed at the same time, you are likely to get digestive disorders.

The reason for these ailments is that certain food groups do not digest well together. Some foods digest primarily in the stomach, others in the small intestine. Some foods digest in minutes while others take many hours. Some foods require an acid medium to digest in and others an alkaline medium. Therefore certain foods eaten together do not digest properly and thus tend to become toxic.

Food combining is an area where everyone seems to have an opinion. One way to find out what is right for yourself is to experiment. Try it and see how you feel. Listen to your body. What works for one person may not work for another person.

By understanding the food combinations that you should avoid, you will be able to keep your digestive system in top working order and stay feeling healthier and happier in general.

Read more: Food Combinations

How to Redesign Your Diet to Deflate High Blood Pressure?

Most of us know the fact that food makes us healthy and at the same time wrong choices make us sick. Hypertension is known as the "silent killer" and is one of the most common diseases of the cardiovascular system. As hypertension in the body becomes prolonged, the risk for heart failure, vascular disease, kidney (renal) failure, and stroke increases. Mainly it is suggested that alcohol, salt and fats should be avoided to lower your high blood pressure.

Although there has been no cause identified for hypertension in 90 percent of people, dietary factors have been shown to influence blood pressure. People with hypertension can deflate high blood pressure by redesigning their diet. By changing a few simple dietary habits, including counting calories and watching portion sizes to boost weight loss, you may be able to lower your blood pressure — a proven risk for heart disease. Findings show that potassium, magnesium, and fiber may also affect blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables are high in potassium, magnesium, and fiber and low in sodium. Also, nuts, seeds, legumes, lean meats, and poultry are good sources of magnesium.

Read more: How to Redesign Your Diet to Deflate High Blood Pressure?

How Does Nutrition Help Bringing Positive Change in Child Behavior

There is a direct link with right food choices and child behavior. Normally we can notice that when a child is not properly nourished, he/she cannot perform well in physical or mental tasks at school or home. Nutrition play an important role in not only physical or mental growth of a child but in child’s behavior as well. This post provides facts and statistics proving that nutrition can help bring positive change regarding child behavior.

Experts have discovered that food can ramp-up children’s behavior. Now recent research and studies have proved that foods and ingredients can, indeed, make a difference. It makes perfect sense that what kids eat affects their behavior. It is well established that poor nutritional intake and deficiencies in zinc, iron, B vitamins and protein can impair brain function and lead to violence and antisocial behavior in children. Nutritional deficiencies, including zinc, magnesium, calcium and essential fatty acids, as well as carbohydrate cravings, have also been noted in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).

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How to Keep Your Eyes Safe and Healthy Using Contact Lenses?

Approximately 6% of contact lens wearers per year will develop some problem associated with their use, although the majority of these problems will be fairly minor. Use of contact lenses as an alternative of glasses is not safe and there are some risk factors involved we can still keep our eyes safe and healthy by getting knowledge of basic care, risk factors and precaution. This post is written to bring an awareness for contact lens wearers about the problems we can face due to some reasons and how we can keep our eyes healthy.

Contact lenses have provided an excellent alternative to glasses for correction of refractive errors. However, contact lens use is not without risk, and the potential for vision threatening problems is present. The wearing of contact lenses causes changes in the cornea in terms of structure, turnover, tear production and oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. These changes in themselves can produce problems and may also exacerbate pre-existing conditions.

Contact lens related problems may be associated with the type of lens used (e.g. soft, rigid, gas permeable), the frequency with which the lenses are changed, the cleaning systems used for the lenses as well as wearer related factors. The range of problems which may occur include minor problems from inadequate rinsing to loss of vision as a result of microbial keratitis.

Read more: How to Keep Your Eyes Safe and Healthy While Using Contact Lenses?

Useful links:

* Get discount contact lenses

How to select the sitting chair to help you get positive posture?

I use desktop usually at home or at school and due to negative sitting posture I was suffering from shoulder and back pain for long, until I realized that something was wrong with my chair and sitting position. I searched the net to look for information and suggestions for this purpose and I was happy to find the stuff.
Right now I am using an ergonomic chair while I am following the positive posture techniques to get relief from back pain. I have collected the relevant information at this post for my blog readers. Now in this post I want you to suggest and offer tips to select the sitting chair which can help you get the most suitable position to reduce shoulder/back pain.

Positive sitting posture means the proper way to sit at a chair while working beside the table. In my previous post I have mentioned some causes for should and back pain associated with negative sitting posture:
Link How bad sitting posture causes shoulder and back pain?

Sitting posture is an important factor in both your health and performance in the workplace. One of the main factors identified as causing an increase in back problems is computer and gaming use. A New Zealand study found that workers who spent an inordinate amount of time sitting at their desks were at a higher risk of developing deep vein thombrosis (DVT). Workers who used computers while sitting were at an even high risk.

The best way to reduce pressure in the back is to be in a standing position. However, there are times when you need to sit. When sitting, the main part of the body weight is transferred to the seat. Some weight is also transferred to the floor, back rest, and armrests. Where the weight is transferred is the key to a good seat design. When the proper areas are not supported, sitting in a seat all day can put unwanted pressure on the back causing pain. By selecting a sitting chair which is designed on the basis of ergonomics can help you get the positive posture and reduce the risk of shoulder and back pain.

The qualities you need to look for a sitting chair 

• A chair that allows you to take an upright seating posture. The angle between your upper and lower legs should be about 90 degrees and your feet should be resting (flat) on the floor.
• It should also have a sturdy frame , a great deal of support, especially in the lumbar region, and padding that has some give and supports your body without losing shape.
• It help increase back and neck support to help improve posture and prevent slouching.
• The seat should have enough width and depth to support user comfortably. The depth (from front to back of the seat) needs to be enough so that the user can sit with his or her back against the backrest of the chair while leaving approximately 2 to 4 inches between the back of the knees and the seat of the chair. The forward or backward tilt of the seat should be adjustable.

The material on the seat and back of the chair should have enough padding to be comfortable to sit on for extended periods of time.
• Lower back support in a chair is very important. The lumbar spine has an inward curve, and sitting for long periods without support for this curve tends to lead to slouching (which flattens the natural curve) and strains the structures in the lower spine.
• The backrest of an ergonomic office chair should be 12 to 19 inches wide. It should be able to support the natural curve of the spine, again with special attention paid to proper support of the lumbar region.
• The height of the backrest should be adjustable.
• The backrest should be adjustable for movement backwards or forwards.
• The chair should have capacity for 360 degree swivel.
• The height of the seat should be adjustable.
• The seat should have a non-slip surface. 
• Make sure the adjustable levers are not in a position where they might interfere with daily work.   

Useful links:

* Computer Chair Buying Guide A Step-By-Step Guide
* Free Stretching Exercise Reminder for Computer Users
* You Might Want to Sit Down for This

How bad sitting posture causes shoulder and back pain?

You need to learn the correct posture to avoid pain around your shoulders and back. Negative sitting posture is the killer of health, your spine will becomes the biggest victim.

One of the main factors identified as causing an increase in back problems is computer and gaming use. This is because many people, particularly when at home, do not use a suitable chair when operating these devices. This means that they will probably adopt an unsuitable posture and have their head at the wrong height, level and distance from any monitor or screen that they use.

Often, people using laptops or playing games will sit on an easy chair or even the floor. This is never healthy for these kinds of activities and if the person is operating a laptop that is literally on their lap, the shape of their back and spine and the way in which it is supported will be detrimental to their health.

Are you sitting right?

More than 80% of people have experience lumbago and overall back pain before, mostly caused by negative sitting posture.

Various studies show that the office staff suffer a number of occupational diseases, and the main one is a back pain.

How wrong posture is responsible for pain in back and waist?

A wrong sitting pose is one of the most frequent cause of pain in a back and waists.

Office worker spends at his desk more than 80000 hours of his life. However, many people sit with hunched backs. While this posture is easy to maintain for a very long time because of the minimal muscle tension, it is most damaging for the body. The load, which do not taken by muscles, is immediately transmitted to the spine.

As a result, the stress caused by the sitting too long in the wrong position, creating pressure on the intervertebral discs and constrained supply the muscles with blood. In addition, it can break down the entire metabolism in general, causing circulatory and gastrointestinal disorders, insufficient blood supply to the legs.

Solution

Instead of sitting forward in your chair, move your hip all the way to the back of the chair. Lean slightly back in comfort. If the chair back is rounded, put a small soft cushion in the space between your low back and the chair, to preserve healthy normal back posture instead of assuming the curved posture of the chair.

Buying an ergonomic chair is another solution of your neck, shoulder and back pain. Ergonomics is the study of equipment designed with humans in mind, meant to reduce operator fatigue and discomfort. So ergonomic chair helps increase back and neck support to improve posture and prevents slouching.

Useful links and resources:

* How To Fix Neck Pain(Upper Back Pain, Shoulder Pain, and Tightness)Without Drugs or Surgery