Today I present an article on a simple form of Qigong everyone can practice with great benefits.

Smiling Qigong – Mind Power To Create Your Health And Desires By Kevin Hufford

Today I want to share with you a quote from Joe Vitale who is a self-help author, speaker and entrepreneur. Joe said, “You want to become aware of your thoughts, you want to choose your thoughts carefully, and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life.”

Let’s read that again, “You want to become aware of your thoughts, you want to choose your thoughts carefully, and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life.”

You see, ALL THINGS COME FROM “NO”THING. Your body, your health, your world and your reality manifest as your spirit flows through your mind. From the “FORMLESS” (spirit) through the vehicle of the mind (conscious and subconscious) manifests “FORM” (your body and your physical world).

Your mind is the world’s most sophisticated and efficient manufacturing system. Everything that you think about comes to you. No exceptions!! What you think about most will manifest, it will happen. If you spend your time thinking about your head hurting, your head will hurt. If you think about not wanting to be sick, you will become sick. If you think “I am so tired,” you will be tired. This is the same for anything that you WANT or DON’T WANT.

Remember the subconscious mind, your connection to the spirit, the universal mind, does not distinguish between the concepts of positive or negative statements (want versus don’t want). Your subconscious mind will attract that which you think about the most.

THUS, to accomplish this you need to become aware of your thoughts and choose your thoughts carefully! You want to be thinking in a positive manner so that positive things will be attracted to you and manifest.

THIS IS ALSO TRUE OF YOUR WORDS! When you vocalize your thoughts they become even more powerful. You must speak what you think in a careful and deliberate manner as this will also influence what you attract and manifest.

BUT, Let’s not just attract what your desire or want. Let’s look at actually CREATING IT! One of the easiest places to begin to CREATE YOUR REALITY is with your own mood. You can create a HAPPY mood anytime you like by using the power of the SMILE. The smile is an awesome power.

PERSONAL SMILING QIGONG

1. Sit down in a chair and get comfortable, relax a bit

2. Inhale Deeply

3. Exhale Deeply, put a big smile on your face and feel your face radiate the smile, at the same time using your internal voice say “My smile creates my happiness and I am grateful”

4. Repeat this process for five minutes making sure that you use the biggest smile that you can do without giving yourself a face cramp. Ha! Have Fun With It!

I think you will discover that your mood will elevate and that you will feel and be in a much higher vibrational level. You can do this all the time. You can change the affirmation to any affirmation that you can think of and use the power of smile qigong to change your vibrational level.

UNIVERSAL SMILING QIGONG

1. Smile at everyone you meet or deal with as you encounter them during your day

2. Inhale and Exhale and say using your internal voice (make sure you say it internally, some people might think you are a bit nuts! Ha!) “I live in the abundance of happiness of the universe”

3. If someone smiles back, say “Hi, how are you today?” and share your happiness with them.

I used this today when I was out doing errands. At Wal-Mart I had to stand in line to receive some funds via money gram from Trinidad. The customer service employee and the associate manager were obviously irritated since they had just been locked out of the cash registers by the computer and were frantically trying to get things happening again. There was a line growing behind me and people were getting aggravated.

So, I began to smile. I smiled at the people behind the counter and I turned at smiled at everybody in the line behind me. The person behind the counter smiled, some people in line smiled and in about two minutes you could feel the tension disappear from the air and then almost miraculously the associate manager got the computer and the cash registers functioning and everything began to move along smoothly.

HAPPINESS RULES! SIMPLY SMILE, BREATHE and AFFIRM positive thoughts. You can create your own masterpiece.

And one last note – this works when you are driving and stuck in traffic too. Smile at the other people around you and Traffic Tension disappears.

Using “Mind Power” and “Qigong” you can easily begin to learn to create your reality. It is possible simply by choice to create an awesome day, awesome health and an awesome world. Please share this with all your friends and families and together WE CAN CREATE AN AWESOME WORLD.

Kevin Hufford is a respected qigong master and teaches classes, seminars and instructor certification in upstate New York, the USA and Internationally. He is the founder of a new and revolutionary system called Mind Power Qigong. For more information and to CLAIM YOUR COPY of “It’s Your Health, Create It NOW!” please visit – http://mindpowerqigong.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Hufford

TODAY’S TIP: You can not help but feel good when you smile. Keep a smile on your face.

Are you smiling?

Today I present an interesting article with information on Qigong and food.

Qigong Meditation and Food Healing: Ancient Medicine for Modern Times By Jeffrey Primack

Qigong is a 5000 year old “energy strengthening art” that combines powerful breath techniques and slow body movement. Oprah Winfrey’s Dr. Oz recently praised Qigong in 2007 when he said, “If you want to live to be 100, do Qigong!” It was also rated as one of the top natural healing exercises for reversing cancer. There are literally thousands of forms of Qigong, and well-known practices like Tai Chi, Acupuncture and Feng Shui were born from Qigong’s concepts. Qi (or Chi) means “energy” or “life force”, and Gong means “skill”, making Qigong the practice of working with one’s life force.

Qigong is practiced with increasing popularity, with an estimated 200 million practitioners worldwide, and its health benefits have been studied for many years. Among its powerful health-promoting effects are: improved blood circulation and microcirculation in the forehead, stimulated appetite, sexual function and digestion, accelerated metabolism, increased mental acuity and focus, and increased energy. Many published studies are reporting the healing power of Qigong in diseases like arthritis, cancer, diabetes and heart disease, to name a few.

What is behind the healing power of Qigong, and what sets it apart from other exercises?

A person can circulate as much blood as jogging for 2 miles while standing perfectly still in Qigong. Ordinary exercises, like jogging, cause the release of Cortisol (also known as the “stress hormone”), which contracts blood vessels. In Qigong the body is totally relaxed, yet the blood is mobilized to flow powerfully. People feel increased pulsation of blood in their hands while making the slow movements. Because there is no stress response, the blood can enter areas that may have been blocked off for years. This is why Qigong is so good at reducing body pain. Microcirculation to the forehead is increased and digestion is greatly improved. No other exercise offers this level of circulation to organs and glands.

Breath is also a vital aspect of Qigong and of our health. The best Qigong forms utilize the breath, specifically timing it with the movements. The deep, abdominal breath of Qigong absorbs more oxygen while relaxing the mind and lowering Cortisol levels. Advanced breathing exercises, such as the 9-Breath Method, which employs techniques from Tibet, increase oxygenation of the blood, and are scientifically proven to improve blood quality as shown by live blood cell analysis under a microscope. Most say it feels like a full-body vibration or a soft humming inside the abdomen. Many counselors and psychologist have had success helping drug addicted patients replace their addiction with the “natural high” that comes from such breathing techniques.

In addition to breath and movement, true Qigong as a holistic practice also includes intelligent use of food and herbs. This is especially relevant in modern times.

Using specific foods to reverse specific diseases is a time-tested practice. For example, foods like kiwi can often help people to reverse asthma. Something about the phytochemicals in kiwi dramatically improve breathing as shown by hundreds of people reversing their asthma with it. This is a huge part of Qigong. Not only breathing and moving exercises but also what you put in your mouth to eat.

Today’s environment is more toxic than ever before. Astounding levels of heavy metals and other toxins are dumped into the atmosphere, ultimately tainting our air, water and soil, and alarming amounts are found in our very day household products and even our food. Diseases like Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism, Cancer and Alzheimer’s are increasing at an alarming rate.

Fruits, vegetables, tonic herbs and medicinal mushrooms contain phytochemicals that unlock our body’s endocrine system and act as sparkplugs to the immune system. Unfortunately, many people do not get enough of them. Phytochemicals are most concentrated in the parts of the food that we often throw away; the seeds, stems, skins and rinds of the fruits and vegetables we eat. Many eat the right foods, but throw away the parts with all the “medicine.” For instance, we blend the avocado “with the big seed” in a high-powered blender along with other good tasting fruits and veggies. The avocado seed is tasteless, has the life force potential to create a huge tree and more soluble fiber than any food for scrubbing plaque out of the arteries.

In order to access the phytochemicals, they must be broken out of the cellulose fibers of the fruits and vegetables, hence “juicing” veggies is not nearly effective as blending the whole food. This is why smoothies from a high-powered blender have been so successful in increasing overall health and helping many people reverse diseases such as cancer.

Having shared this information with thousands of people, I can personally testify that most diseases are reversible with food. However, just eating healthy is not enough. In fact, it is the knowledge of using “specific foods for specific diseases” that most people are missing. For example, vegetables like the bitter melon contain a phytochemical structurally similar to insulin and can help in reversing Diabetes by helping the body naturally balance its blood sugar. Of course, the protocols are more involved, but the idea is that we are not using all the medicine that our creator has given us. The grapefruit is excellent to help reverse the cancer, but it’s the white pith that has the abundance of D-Glucarate, not the juice and not eating it like most people do. It is using the right parts of the food that brings out the real medicinal value. Believe it or not, this wisdom is also Qigong.

By building a healthy body, we increase our Qi while creating a stronger vessel in which to house it. A true holistic approach to healing will balance the body, the mind, and the spirit. The ancient healing technique of Qigong achieves all three through expanding our vibrational energy and empowering us to take charge of our health.

The author, Jeff Primack, is the founder of Supreme Science Qigong Center and has shared his 4-Day $99 QI REVOLUTION seminar with over 20,000 people. To find an event near you, and to learn more about Qigong and Food Healing, visit his website at http://www.Qigong.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeffrey_Primack

TODAY’S TIP: Keep an open mind and try different things, even it they are outside your comfort zone.

Have you tried Qigong?

Here are some tips on how to begin to meditate with emphasis on focus.

Meditation Tips – 5 Factors of Focus By Benjamin Langley

It is important for all students of meditation to get on the path of ever deepening focus!

This allows you to constantly work on long term growth, no matter what activity you use to practice focus.

It is also useful to know the different ways the term ‘focus’ is used.

• It is very valuable to have something to hold your awareness on (sometimes referred to as ‘focusing’).
• Where you choose to hold your awareness is called the object of meditation (but it is also sometimes called the ‘focus’ of meditation).
• When you practice meditating and get good at holding more and more of your attention on a single object for greater and greater periods of time, it is referred to as concentration or mindfulness (but it is often sometimes said that you have developed ‘focus’).

Focus (v): the activity of holding your awareness on something.

Focus (n): the object (physical or otherwise) your awareness is directed to during a meditation (where you hold your awareness).

Focus (n): the developed ability of directing more and more of your awareness over time.

These are simplified, but functional definitions.

Clearly, the term ‘focus’ can be used in several different ways. Keep this in mind when you study and practice meditation.

The following tips and techniques are the primary factors to keep in mind when developing focus through meditation or any other activity:

Focus Factor 1 – Pick a focus, and stick with it: This is particularly important in the beginning. It can sometimes be challenging to stick with a single focus. Our society seems to be built around the ever shortening span of attention. When you practice meditation, it is critical that you give a single focus/object enough time to really begin to develop the momentum of concentrated awareness. Once you start to develop this… you can branch out and play with variety as much as you like as long as you are satisfied with the continued building of momentum in your ability to focus.

Focus Factor 2 – Narrow your focus down to a single, specific aspect: Find the most specific element you can focus on, and hold it there. When it drifts, bring it back. This is the ultimate way to eliminate distractions. This is an incredibly easy way to focus in scope, but it can be rather challenging in practice. If it is an image, bring it down to a single aspect of the image. If it is a sensation, focus on one small spot or area of the sensation. Play with sharp focus. Once your focus develops here, it will be much easier to move on to other meditations.

Focus Factor 3 – Once your focus develops, branch out: Now that you have started to develop the momentum of your focus, it is useful to learn to become focused on anything you want at anytime. Practice building your focus everywhere during your day-to-day life. While going about chores, paying bills, interacting with a loved one, etc. start to bring a little bit more focus into a specific aspect of the activity.

Focus Factor 4 – Returning your awareness is the point of the exercise: If you choose to meditate for any length of time, then at some point your awareness will drift. If your focus never drifts, then you are not challenging yourself. The point is, when your awareness drifts, bring it back to your focus (whatever your object of meditation is). Most people live in a world of constantly drifting focus, and most of the time, they are not even aware of it. When you are aware of your focus drifting, you can direct it back to the object of meditation… and this is the very skill you are developing.

Focus Factor 5 – Work towards Samadhi: Depending on what tradition you practice, Samadhi could mean “any state of high concentration”… or it could mean “absolute absorption in the object of meditation”. I tend to use it both ways. You will first start to notice your Samadhi arising when it becomes easier to hold more of your awareness on the focus for longer periods of time. Eventually, you will notice that your awareness no longer drifts at all, it flows in a continuous stream of focus into whatever object you direct it toward. The goal of these exercises is a highly concentrated mind, whether you go for just a little bit more concentration, or you decide to go for complete concentration. With a little playful practice, you might surprise yourself with how quickly you achieve some level of Samadhi… it will usually take more practice to develop complete Samadhi… but I encourage you to remain open to rapid results.

These 5 factors of focus may not be all that you need to achieve all your goals in meditation and concentration, but they are more than enough to get started.

Enjoy your practice!

Benjamin Langley has been studying meditation, self-hypnosis, energy work, and other healing methods for over 15 years. He has taken the time to study, practice, and integrate these methods, and he has written over 400 articles on these subjects, as well as numerous podcasts and videos that can be found on his site and others.

If you want to get a deeper understanding of meditation quickly, you can find the best free meditation tips and techniques on the web at http://PeacefulProsperity.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Benjamin_Langley

TODAY’S TIP: Set aside time and place to meditate daily.

What do you focus on?

When I told a friend the story below he said to me that I should make a blog post about it. He told me that many people go through what I went through and could use information on how to deal with it. Here is that story.

I travel and perform. I do a first person narration on the life of Jim Beckwourth, a black mountain man in the 1800s. I was scheduled to perform in a story telling festival in a city which was about 150 miles from my home. I have been to that city before, although it had been some time in the past.

I thought I could remember how to get there so did not look it up on the map. It was a fairly easy route to drive. Well, somehow I turned off the direct road and ended going around the city and coming in from the opposite side. The way I ended up going did not have signs with directions to this city as the other more direct route did.

Without the signs I was not sure I was going the right way so I stopped several times to get directions. I was going through some really small towns and the directions were a little strange at times. Like the farmer who told me to go up the road about 12 miles and there was a road off to the right that would take me in the right direction. He told me that if I came to an abandoned bar I had gone to far. Well, I passed the bar and turned around.

I finally got to where I was going. I had allowed myself several hours before I was to perform so I would have time to check into the place they have arranged for me to spend the night and have something to eat. I was booked into a bed and breakfast and when I got there there was no one to check me in. I waited for sometime then decided that I would go check in with the people who were sponsoring my performance.

When I got to there office, after driving around town several times looking for it, a lady was coming out the door and locking up. She told me to go to the performance space and someone would be there. When I got there I walked all around the building looking for a way in. There was no one there.

My stress level had been raising since I made the wrong turn and was was continuing to climb. I had wasted so much time that I didn’t have time to eat. I took a deep breath and decided to go back to the bed and breakfast and see if I could check in. When I got back there someone was there.

I checked in and when to my room. By this time it was almost an hour before I was scheduled to perform. I had to calm down so I did a set of Qigong some breathing and sat quietly for a while. It calmed me down.

Then I went back to the performance space and there was someone there. My performance was a success and the audience enjoyed it.

I could have allowed the stress to completely ruin the evening and my performance. By using the stress relieving techniques I did helped me center myself and release the stress.

Many of us experience stress causing situations daily. You can control them with the proper techniques. It is with this in mind that this week we will talk about stress and some of the things we can do to control it.

TODAY’S TIP: Learn and practice stress control everyday, even on days when you don’t feel stressed. With practice it becomes habit.

Were you stressed today?

“This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men.” ~ Captain J. A. Hadfield

You can be relaxed in all that you do. All it takes is practice.

Your Recommended Daily Allowance for Relaxation

Stress is the curse of living in modern times. Everyone suffers from stress. And the stress we suffer takes a heavy toll on our bodies, emotions and minds.

Feeling stressed out, worn out by fatigue or just simply having a miserable day, the best thing to do is relax.

Watching television may be a form of relaxation for some, but is not a recommended method by experts. When we watch TV we are bombarded with commercials, ads, sounds and images. So how do we achieve relaxation? If there are thousands of ways we can get stressed, one of them is not meeting deadlines, there are also many ways we can relax.

In recent studies, experts have determined that heart disease is linked to anger and irritability is linked to mental stress. Too much stress brings about ischemia that can lead to or cause a heart attack. Relaxation takes on added importance in light of this matter. Managing your anger and attitude is significant to heart health, and relaxation can help you manage stress.

One way of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Recent studies have also shown that this method might reduce artery blockage, which is a major cause for heart attack and stroke. People practice transcendental meditation by repeating uttering soothing sounds while meditating, this is to achieve total relaxation. The researchers found that practitioners of transcendental meditation significantly reduced the thickness of their arterial wall compared with those who didn’t practice transcendental meditation.

Another study on another method of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to reduce high blood pressure by initiating several body functions for the brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins. Endorphin helps to relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.

Yoga is also another method for relaxation and may also have similar effects like acupuncture. In another study, participants were subjected to several minutes of mental stress. Then they were subjected to various relaxation techniques, such as listening to nature sounds or classical music. Only those who did Yoga significantly reduced the time it took for their blood pressures to go back to normal. Yoga is a form of progressive relaxation.

Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing influences almost all aspects of us, it affects our mind, our moods and our body. Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its effects right away.

There are several breathing techniques that can help you reduce stress.

Another easy way to achieve relaxation is exercise. If you feel irritated a simple half-hour of exercise will often settle things down. Although exercise is a great way to lose weight, it does not show you how to manage stress appropriately. Exercise should also be used in conjunction with other relaxation methods.

One great way of relaxation is getting a massage. To gain full relaxation, you need to totally surrender to the handling and touch of a professional therapist.

There are several types of massages that also give different levels of relaxation.

Another method of relaxation is Biofeedback. The usual biofeedback-training program includes a 10-hour sessions that is often spaced one week apart.

Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good alternative for people who think that they have no idea what it feels like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with stress related health problems.

Drugs are extreme alternatives to relaxation. They are sometimes not safe and are not effective like the other relaxation methods. This method is only used by trained medical professionals on their patients.

These relaxation techniques are just some of the ways you can achieve relaxation.  Another reason why we need to relax, aside from lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that suppress the immune system, relaxation gives the immune system time to recover and in doing so function more efficiently.

Relaxation lowers the activities within the brains’ limbic system; this is the emotional center of our brain.

Furthermore, the brain has a periodic need for a more pronounced activity on the right-hemisphere. Relaxation is one way of achieving this.

Relaxation can really be of good use once a relaxation technique is regularly built into your lifestyle. Choose a technique that you believe you can do regularly.

TODAY’S TIP: Whenever you are feeling stressed when others are around you simply take a few deep breaths and tell yourself to relax.

What technique is best for you?

“Fitness – if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.” ~Cher

The rest of this week will be devoted to fitness and how it relates to some common complaints. We start with arthritis.

Exercise and Arthritis

Your bones hang out in a lot of joints. Knee joints. Hip joints. The joints in your fingers and the joints in your toes.

Wherever bones meet, there is also cartilage, a rubbery, protective layer that ensures your joints bend smoothly and painlessly. But even cartilage cannot do this tremendous job alone. A thin membrane called the “synovium” provides fluid that lubricates the moving parts of the joint. When the cartilage wears out the synovium becomes inflamed, the result is generally a case of “osteoarthritis” or “rheumatoid arthritis.”

In osteoarthritis, the cartilage can be eroded so much that bone rubs on bone. This type of arthritis develops gradually over a lifetime as a simple result of the wear and tear placed on your joints over the years. Very few people escape some degree of osteoarthritis, though the severity varies a great deal.

As a matter of fact, if you are over the age of 50, you are likely to have at least one joint affected by osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis affects men and women equally and is by far the most common type of arthritis, with almost 16 million Americans in the list.

In rheumatoid arthritis, damage to the synovium is the source of trouble. Doctors and researchers are not absolutely sure what causes it, but most think that rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the immune system actually attacks certain tissues in the body, including those that connect the joints and the synovium.

Rheumatoid arthritis begins with swollen, red, stiff, and painful joints, but it may progress until scar tissue forms in the joint or, in extreme cases, until the bones actually fuse together. Almost 75% of the 2 million people with rheumatoid arthritis in the United States are women. The disease can hit as early as teen years.

Exercising Your Prevention Options

Investing a little time in developing a good weight-bearing low-impact exercise and stretching plan can add up to great results when it comes to staving off arthritis pain. Strong muscles help protect the joints from wear and tear, and the movement keeps joints flexible.

That is why the quest for fitness is at hand, even if you are 50 years and over. However, most Americans over 50 are still right where they always were sitting back and watching others jog by. Most of them contend that that is just for people who have been athletic all their life, or some say exercise is for young people and engaging into exercise will do them more harm than good.

There are still some that insist on excusing their selves in exercise routines because they justdo not have time or they have less energy than ever before. These are all lame excuses. Hence, it is time to start to get rid of those pains. Start exercising.

Consequently, preventing arthritis is not an exact science, but physicians have discovered a few ways to lower your risk. Here is how:

1. Do not weight around

The single most important measure anyone can take to prevent osteoarthritis of the knee is to lose weight if they are overweight. Extra weight puts extra stress on your knees. If you are 10 pounds overweight, for example, you put 60 pounds per square inch of extra pressure on your knees every time you take a step. That extra pressure can slowly but surely erode the cartilage in your knees, leading to arthritis.

A study has clearly supported the theory that weight loss weighs in on the side of prevention. In the study, overweight women who lost 11 pounds or more over a 10-year period decreased their risk of developing osteoarthritis of the knee by 50%.

2. Stretch those muscles

Any kind of stretching is good as long as you do not bounce, which can lead to a muscle pull. This is according to some of the professors of clinical medicine in New York City.

Try to hold a slow, steady stretch for 15 to 20 seconds, then relax and repeat. It is best to flex up by stretching before any exercise, especially running and walking. But it is also a good idea to stretch each day. Ask your doctor to teach you stretches that focus on potential arthritis trouble spots, such as the knees or the lower back.

3. Walking is always the best exercise

Take a good long walk at least three times a week or participate in a step-aerobics or low-impact exercise routine maximum results. There is no proof that running is bad for the joints, but remember, it may aggravate an injury if you already have one. Just remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.

The bottom line is that of all the healthful habits, exercise is the most important. This is because people are designed to be active. Hence, it is really important for people to exercise in order to stay healthy and keep those joints free from wear and tear.

Just keep in mind that the unexercised body, even if free from the symptoms of illness or problems like arthritis, is not at its full potential. Hence, start exercising right now!

TODAY’S TIP: Start your day with deep breathing and stretching. This will help to get your day started in a positive direction.

Do you wake up stiff?

“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.” ~Carol Welch

We talked about resistance training. Today I will expand on Cardio training.

Benefits of Cardio Interval Training

In a long-term study of the health of the people of in the United States, the U.S. Public Health Service documented the chances of developing heart disease among various groups in the population. Long before the any symptoms appeared, epidemiological research could identify high-risk groups.

Among the highest risk factors are male sex, age over 35, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high levels of certain blood fats, and a family history of cardiovascular disorders.

Other researchers have added to this list another risk factor: the compulsive, hard-driving, highly anxious personality. The greater the number of severity, the greater the person’s overall risk.

These threats to the heart can be divided into two main categories: those beyond individual control, such as age, sex, and heredity, and those that can be controlled, avoided, or even eliminated. Among those in the second category are what cardiologists call “the triple threat.” These are the high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, and high cholesterol levels in the blood.

If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, your risk of having a heart attack is twice that of a nonsmoker. If you smoke, have hypertension, and eat a diet high in fats without any exercise at all, your risk is five times greater than normal.

The Healthy Heart

If these risk factors endanger the heart’s health, what enhances its well-being and improves its odds of working long and well?

Obviously, quitting cigarettes and eating a low-fat diet will help. The next best thing you can do for your heart’s sake is to give it what it needs: regular exercise or a complete cardio interval training.

The heart is a muscle, or, more accurately, a group or “package” of muscles, similar in many ways to the muscles of the arms and legs. And just as exercise strengthens and improves limb muscles, it enhances the health of the heart muscles as well.

Since World War II, several large-scale statistical studies have evaluated the relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular disease. One well-known survey compared 31,000 drivers and conductors of some bus companies. The more sedentary drivers had a significantly higher rate of heart disease than the conductors, who walked around the buses and climbed stairs to the upper level.

The why and how behind these statistics were better explained by classic experiments with dogs whose coronary arteries were surgically narrowed to resemble those of humans with arteriosclerosis. Dogs who were exercised were had much better blood flow than those kept inactive.

The exercise seemed to stimulate the development of new connections between the impaired and the nearly normal blood vessels, so exercised dogs had a better blood supply to all the muscle tissue of the heart. The human heart reacts in the same way to provide blood to the portion that was damaged by the heart attack.

To enable the damaged heart muscle to heal, the heart relies on new small blood vessels for what is called collateral circulation. These new branches on the arterial tress can develop long before a heart attack — and can prevent a heart attack if the new network takes on enough of the function of the narrowed vessels.

With all these facts, it is now boiled down to a single question: What should be done in order to prevent such dilemmas?

Some studies showed that moderate exercise several times a week is more effective in building up these auxiliary pathways than extremely vigorous exercise done twice as often.

The general rule is that exercise helps reduce the risk of harm to the heart. Some researches further attested the link between exercise and healthy heart based from the findings that the non-exercisers had a 49% greater risk of heart attack than the other people included in the study. The study attributed a third of that risk to sedentary lifestyle alone.

Hence, with employing the cardio interval training, you can absolutely expect positive results not only on areas that concerns your cardiovascular system but on the overall status of your health as well.

This particular activity that is definitely good for the heart is a cycle of “repeated segments” that is of intense nature. In this process, there is an interchange periods of recuperation. It can both be comprehensive activity and moderate motion.

Consequently, the benefits of merely engaging into this kind of activity can bring you more results that you have ever expected. These are:

1. The threats of heart attack are lessened, if not eliminated

2. Enhanced heart task

3. Increase metabolism, increase the chance of burning calories, therefore, assist you in losing weight

4. Improves lung capacity

5. Helps lessen or eliminate the cases of stress

Indeed, cardio interval training is the modern way of creating a healthy, happy heart and body.

TODAY’S TIP: If you have trouble finding time to exercise break your exercise sessions into 10 minute segments two or three times a day.

Do you have heart?

“To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.” ~ Bertrand Russell ~

Stress is the main cause of illness and disease. The more you relax the less stress. Meditation is very useful in controlling stress. Here are some other techniques.

Your Recommended Daily Allowance for Relaxation

Stress is the curse of living in modern times. Everyone suffers from stress. And the stress we suffer takes a heavy toll on our bodies, emotions and minds.

Feeling stressed out, worn out by fatigue or just simply having a miserable day, the best thing to do is relax.

Watching television may be a form of relaxation for some, but is not a recommended method by experts. When we watch TV we are bombarded with commercials, ads, sounds and images. So how do we achieve relaxation? If there are thousands of ways we can get stressed, one of them is not meeting deadlines, there are also many ways we can relax.

In recent studies, experts have determined that heart disease is linked to anger and irritability is linked to mental stress. Too much stress brings about ischemia that can lead to or cause a heart attack. Relaxation takes on added importance in light of this matter. Managing your anger and attitude is significant to heart health, and relaxation can help you manage stress.

One way of relaxation is transcendental meditation. Recent studies have also shown that this method might reduce artery blockage, which is a major cause for heart attack and stroke. People practice transcendental meditation by repeating uttering soothing sounds while meditating, this is to achieve total relaxation. The researchers found that practitioners of transcendental meditation significantly reduced the thickness of their arterial wall compared with those who didn’t practice transcendental meditation.

Another study on another method of relaxation, acupuncture, seems to reduce high blood pressure by initiating several body functions for the brain to release chemical compounds known as endorphins. Endorphin helps to relax muscles, ease panic, decrease pain, and reduce anxiety.

Yoga is also another method for relaxation and may also have similar effects like acupuncture. In another study, participants were subjected to several minutes of mental stress. Then they were subjected to various relaxation techniques, such as listening to nature sounds or classical music. Only those who did Yoga significantly reduced the time it took for their blood pressures to go back to normal. Yoga is a form of progressive relaxation.

Breathing is one of the easiest methods to relax. Breathing influences alamost all aspects of us, it affects our mind, our moods and our body. Simply focus on your breathing, after some time you can feel its effects right away.

There are several breathing techniques that can help you reduce stress.

Another easy way to achieve relaxation is exercise. If you feel irritated a simple half-hour of exercise will often settle things down. Although exercise is a great way to lose weight, it does not show you how to manage stress appropriately. Exercise should also be used in conjunction with other relaxation methods.

One great way of relaxation is getting a massage. To gain full relaxation, you need to totally surrender to the handling and touch of a professional therapist.

There are several types of massages that also give different levels of relaxation.

Another method of relaxation is Biofeedback. The usual biofeedback-training program includes a 10-hour sessions that is often spaced one week apart.

Hypnosis is one controversial relaxation technique. It is a good alternative for people who think that they have no idea what it feels like to be relaxed. It is also a good alternative for people with stress related health problems.

Drugs are extreme alternatives to relaxation. They are sometimes not safe and are not effective like the other relaxation methods. This method is only used by trained medical professionals on their patients.

These relaxation techniques are just some of the ways you can achieve relaxation.  Another reason why we need to relax, aside from lowering blood pressure in people and decreasing the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, is because stress produces hormones that suppress the immune system, relaxation gives the immune system time to recover and in doing so function more efficiently.

Relaxation lowers the activities within the brains’ limbic system; this is the emotional center of our brain.

Furthermore, the brain has a periodic need for a more pronounced activity on the right-hemisphere. Relaxation is one way of achieving this.

Relaxation can really be of good use once a relaxation technique is regularly built into your lifestyle. Choose a technique that you believe you can do regularly.

TODAY”S TIP: Be aware of stress in your life. As soon as you start to feel stress do something to relieve it.

Are you stressed?

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” ~World Health Organization, 1948 ~

Sometimes it is the little things that can make a big difference. Stretching is one of those little things. Ever noticed how cats stretch for no apparent reason. Today I present an article on stretching.

Benefits of Stretching

The body is flexible. It is supposed to be flexible. You must be able to bend and reach that something you dropped on the floor. You must be able to zip the back of your favorite dress on your own. You must be able to reach that book you need to read at the top shelf.

These are simple activities. Nothing grand about them, you merely stretched out a bit. However, if there are difficulties in doing such simple motions, then you have to stretch your limits. You already need a stretching program.

What Is Stretching?

Stretching is simply the act of extending to full length the body or simply a part of it. This activity involves straightening or stretching the structure or the limbs.

How Does One Do the Stretching?

Stretching is fairly easy. As mentioned in the introduction, it is involved in the normal activities. It can be done by any people, regardless of age.

However the extent of stretching and flexing differs. The muscles tighten as a person ages. The range of joint movements can be minimized. This can very well obstruct an on-the-go lifestyle. That is why as the person grows older, bending or flexing becomes more limited. This is why stretching regularly, as part of a routine is very important.

Simple stretches can be done everyday. It can be incorporated in the lifestyle and the daily activities. It does not require much of your time.

Stretching exercises can also be done while training. Actually, stretching is an essential part of any training or sport. It must be done first before anything else. Stretching the body and the limbs is a good preparation for a more rigorous activity.

Most athletes would do the sit and reach, wherein they position on the floor, extend their legs and reach the tip of their foot with the tip of their hand. Actually, most trainers actually require their athletes to really do the stretching before playing.

There is actually an ideal length of time in stretching. It is best to do it in 10 minutes. This will give the body enough opportunity to move and flex the muscles, thus preparing it for more complicated and strenuous movements.

Experts however would frown upon going way beyond 10 minutes. Stretching the exercise to 30 minutes or more will already wear out the body. This will not be favorable if one is preparing for a game.

What Are the Benefits of Stretching?

1. Increase the Range of Movement
As one constantly do the stretching exercises, the length of the muscles and the tendons are also increased. This will help in increasing the range of your movement. Thus, the limbs and joints will be able to move, way before an injury can take place. You are definitely physically fit.

2. Increased Ability to Perform Skills
When you have a wide range of movement, the more you will be able to do more things. For example, you can jump high without feeling any pain when you land back on the floor. This will also help you start a new sport or improve more if you are in one. Stretching in this aspect also allows you to have a more active lifestyle.

3. Injury Prevention
One can prevent injury to joints, tendons and muscles with stretching. When the muscles and tendons are well-flexed, they are considered in good working order. This will help in a faster recovery and decreased soreness. The muscles of the body will be able to take more exhausting and rigorous movements with less probability of being injured.

4. Reduce Muscle Tension
If the muscles are given their regular exercises and stretching, it is less likely that they will contract. This will definitely relieve you of any muscle pain or problems.

5. Enhance Energy
Being able to move more will also give you more energy. Stretching will also help enhance your awareness, like knowing that you have a body that is capable of doing many things. As such, you are going to be more driven to move rather than sulk in the corner.

6. Reduces Cholesterol
Research also shows that doing prolonged stretching exercises, like yoga, will help reduce the cholesterol in the body. This of course must be done with a healthy diet at hand. This could prevent and even reverse the hardening of the arteries, allowing you to avoid coronary diseases.

Incorporate stretching in your everyday lifestyle. It has benefits you can not say no to. It also does not require much. It can be your usual activities, bending and flexing every now and then. After all, your fitness is everything so do what it takes to keep the body healthy.

TODAY’S TIP: When you get up in the morning make a habit of doing some deep breathing and stretching. You will like the effects.

Are you loose as a goose?

“Fast food may appear to be cheap food and, in the literal sense it often is, but that is because huge social and environmental costs are being excluded from the calculations. Any analysis of the real cost would have to look at such things as the rise in food-borne illnesses, the advent of new pathogens, such as E.coli 0157, antibiotic resistance from the overuse of drugs in animal feed, extensive water pollution from intensive agricultural systems and many other factors. These costs are not reflected in the price of fast food.” ~Prince Charles ~

We are all aware of the fact that our air and water is getting more polluted each day. There are programs advocated for each of us as individuals to do what we can to help lessen the situation.

There is a growing awareness about the benefits of recycling. We are seeing recycling center pop up in different locations. Many cities have started to encourage their citizens to participate in recycling.

We as individuals are becoming more aware, but unfortunately the will to do something about pollution is growing more slowly in big business. Many of our corporations still put profit above healthy air and water.

We can only do as much as we can do as individuals, but every little bit helps. There is one place where we can do more which is often overlooked. That is in our homes.

Studies show that some buildings, including our homes, are many times more polluted than the outside environment. Many people do not realize this and put their family at risk.

Probably the greatest source of indoor pollution is carpets. Many of the chemicals used in manufacturing carpets is toxic. Those chemicals are slowly released into the air inside our homes. They continue to be released for many, many years.Upholstered furniture also contain many chemicals, which are released into the air.

The chemicals we use to clean our homes are often toxic. Just because they are in closed containers does not mean they are safe. They will release toxic fumes even if they are in containers, especially if the containers are plastic.

Even many of our personal care products contain toxic substances. These substances can enter the body by breathing them or through our skin.

The consequences of indoor air pollution can be anything from a compromised immune system to cancer and various pulmonary diseases. This may be part of the reason we are seeing such a rise in childhood diseases such as asthma.

There is a need to educate ourselves to the effects of the chemicals we use and are present in our homes. You can start to offset some of the indoor pollution by taking some simple steps.

Start switching to natural cleaners. You may even already have the basic ingredients for some of the natural cleaners. Items such as white vinegar, baking soda, and peroxide can be used instead of chemicals.

If you are able, replace carpets with wood or laminate floors. The next time you need to replace your furnace look into including an air filtration system.

TODAY’S TIP: Equal parts of water and white vinegar make a good all purpose cleaner. Try it, it is even a lot cheaper.

How is the air in your home?