Energy Management - Stop feeling tired, overwhelmed and drained - Part 2

Read Part One

by Erika Gombosova

Today I’m going to focus on solutions, solutions, solutions. I want to provide you with tools, resources, and ways to take charge of your life and of your energy. Way too many times I see people waiting for a solution to their lives from the outside. Here is the big news: Your life and the wellbeing of it depend in large capacity on you. So, don’t wait around thinking that it is someone else’s responsibility. If you don’t like something about your life, find ways to change it. There is plenty of information and resources available.

Let’s talk spending versus investing your energy.
Do you ever think about what you are doing with the energy that is available to you? If you are like majority of people, I would dare to say the answer is NO. Most people are just going through the motions, never really paying attention to how they function in the best way, when their energy is low and when it’s high, and what affects their energy levels on a day-to-day basis.

Let me explain what Spending Energy means to me. Spending energy means participating in activities that expend your energy, but aren’t connected to a bigger picture or to a particular result you are looking for. Basically, you are doing something for the sake of doing it. It may sound crazy to you and you might even say to me: Erika I don’t really do anything like that. I would say hold on and really check this out here. You might not be aware of it on the surface. It may be things in your life that are not so obvious. It is all about paying attention.

Here are some things that I consider spending energy:

• Excessive thinking: Do you ever think about thoughts as an expansion of energy? Try being in a room and don’t do anything except think for couple of hours. I’ll guarantee that you will get a sense of how much energy it takes to think.
• Excessive talking: Talking for the sake of talking, either because you are not comfortable being quiet or because you like to hear yourself talk, it makes you feel important.
• Gossiping about people
• Doing things that don’t really get you anywhere: Watching TV out of boredom, looking at your e-mails constantly, surfing the Internet without purpose, etc.
• Doing things for the sake of doing because you can’t sit still: It makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Doing things the hard way, because you want to be right
• Doing things the hard way because you don’t like to ask for help
• Habitual doing: Doing things because you have done them for a certain amount of time; however, you never checked if they actually still serve you.
• Holding things in: Held up stuff creates energetic weight. Hence, you have to spend more energy just to accomplish simple tasks. The more stuff you have stored up, the more energy it takes to function in a world.

Investing Energy means living your life and having a bigger picture in mind with an intention behind your daily actions. You consciously choose to participate in activities that support and serve you and don’t participate in those that don’t have anything to offer.

So what do you do with your energy? Do you spend or invest?

Moving on to the next subject–How do you protect yourself from energy vampires?

First, you learn to recognize them. How? Easy. These are the things you look for:

• These people have a tendency to complain a lot.
• They like to make drama out of things.
• You feel drained and tired while in their presence or afterwards.
• They demand your attention and your help frequently.
• There is a feeling of heaviness while with them.
• They feel better after talking to you and you feel worse.

Now how do you protect yourself?

First: Learn to recognize these types of people. You can save yourself a lot of trouble and a lot of energy.

Second: Eliminate your contact with them. If they are a family member or someone you feel you can’t completely eliminate contact with, then reduce the frequency of the contact you have with that person.

Third: If you find yourself in situations that you can’t get out off and these kinds of people are present, this is what has worked for me: Putting White Angelica oil on my shoulders, head, and around heart. I have this oil with me at all times. It saved my life many times. It is designed to create a shield around your body so that negative energies won’t penetrate it. It works like a charm. If you are the person who works with a lot of people on regular basis, and you find yourself exhausted, you might want to consider giving this a try.

If oils are not your thing, then you can visualize a field of light around you with an intention to be protected from any negative energy. This may sound a little out there for you; however, it does the job. I’m talking from experience.

Here are the tools that I consider most helpful. I have experience with all of them. Look and see what speaks to you.

• Books
• Oils
• Q-link
• Supplements

Enjoy and don’t forget to have fun!

Read Part One of Have More Energy

If you would like to use this article for your own e-zine, not a problem; however, you MUST include the following for the attribution block: Copyright (c) Erika Gombosova, Emotional Healing and Self-Discovery Coach, and LiveYourLife.us. Erika helps people process their emotional trauma in a safe environment, helping them to develop more energy, clarity, confidence, improve relationships with themselves and others, improve physical appearance, and help them to live life more fully. Learn more about Erika and Live Your Life, visit www.liveyourlife.us.

About the Author:

Erika Gombosova is an Emotional and Self-Discovery Coach. Based on her own business and life experiences, Erika has discovered there are certain elements (what she calls the inner game) that get in the way of succeeding and moving forward in business and in life. She designed the Self Reclaiming System, which helps women entrepreneurs to move past their old programming and internal limitations to create the successful businesses and live

Image Source: http://flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/507781061/

I hope that reading the title of this article got your attention. We are going to talk about energy management. You heard it right: I have used the big word ENERGY. I know you are probably thinking to yourself right now: “Here we go. She’s going to start talking about some esoteric concepts that don’t mean anything to me.”

Let me tell you that isn’t going to be the case. My intention here is to demystify the esoteric concept of energy from a simple and practical standpoint.

Here is what we will touch upon:

• What does it mean to be an energetic being?
• How to manage your energy in the way that works for you.
• How to recognize an “energy drain.”
• What is the difference between spending versus investing your energy.
• How to protect yourself from energy vampires.
• How food affects your energy.
• What to do to feel more energized and alive in your life.
• Tools and resources you can use to affect your energy levels and also to protect yourself.

Since this would be too much information to cover in one article, and I also don’t want you to go to sleep while reading this, I’m dividing it into two parts. The first part we will talk about managing your energy. The second part will cover how to protect your energy and tools you can use, and will be discussed in the next issue of Live Your Life.

Let’s start from the beginning. Why am I the person you should listen to? I don’t think you SHOULD do anything in your life. Yes you heard me right. However, if what I’m saying is making sense to you and you feel attracted to it, then by all means read and draw your own conclusions about what I’m sharing with you. I always believe in questioning and trying things for yourself. Otherwise, how will you find your own way in life? This is my platform to share my own experiences with you and what I have learned through those experiences.

So if you are still with me, here we go:

The first time that I was introduced to the concept of energy was when I was 20 years old. Coming from a conventional medicine background you can imagine my response to the energy concept. (Too bad you can’t see my face, because it would be so much easier to show you than to describe what that looked like back in the day.) It was kind of the same thing as talking about UFOs. Not something I ever knew about, had no tangible experience with, and on top of everything, I was coming from a very rigid place, which was, “If I can’t see it, smell it, or touch it, then it must not exist.” Does that sound at all familiar to you? I had 1,000 questions and I wanted to understand it NOW! I was functioning from my intellect and that is where I stayed most of the time. Why? Because that is where I was comfortable.

Here is the reason: There were events in my childhood so painful and overwhelming that at one point in my life I disconnected from my emotions.

The result was me disowning a very essential and important part of myself–my sense of knowing. Call it intuition. I found out years later emotions are your essential connector to your intuition.

Pointer #1: It is usually challenging to believe in something that you never had a tangible experience with (and know that it exists).

Pointer #2: If at some point in your life (due to overwhelming events) you disconnected from your emotions (which by the way most of us do), your sense of knowing (intuition) is greatly diminished or masked.

That is why lots of folks are having a hard time relating to the concept of energy. We don’t operate in those terms in our lives, on a day-to-day basis. However, that doesn’t mean energy doesn’t exist and it doesn’t affect our lives just because we don’t believe in it.

Nowadays, it has been scientifically proven at the base of everything is energy. We are energetic beings that vibrate at certain speeds. The sooner you’ll get this concept, the better off you’ll be.

Pointer #3: You are in charge of your vibration.

However, if you don’t know that, aren’t aware of the energy concept and the practical application of it in your life, you most likely are the victim of your environment and people around you. What do I mean?

Everything you interact with on a day-to-day basis (be it people, things you do, or behavioral patterns you engage in) influences your energy levels and how you function in the world. So how do you recognize an energy drain?

Here are some things to look for:

1. People you talk to or interact with (in person or on the phone), afterwards you feel tired and drained (people who complain a lot, people you look at and don’t feel right about, people who always just want to talk about themselves and their tragedies, etc.).
2. Places and circumstances that leave you feeling tired (places with a lot of people like subways at rush hour, movie theaters or shopping malls, places where violent things have happened–like the Twin Towers, etc.).
3. The food you eat–especially processed foods (those that come prepared in a boxes and cans, pizzas, hamburgers, chips, things you put into the microwave, sugar in any form, eating lots of red meat, and potatoes, overeating, etc.), after you eat them your energy greatly decreases.
4. Doing more than you can handle physically and emotionally, going to extremes.
5. Always taking care of others and not having time for yourself.
6. Mostly “doing” instead of “being.”
7. Having unresolved emotional residue from the past (like childhood trauma, things you had a hard time dealing with, etc.). These things create energetic weight you carry around and make it harder to deal with things on a day-to-day basis. Basically you expend twice as much energy.
8. Excessive use of alcohol, coffee, or other substances including medications and recreational drugs. Energetically they create a gunk in your system and put you out of your body, so the more you use them, it becomes increasingly harder to function in life and be present with what’s going on. They decrease your vibration.
9. EMF (electro magnetic frequency). This is a low vibration frequency that most of us are exposed to on a day-to-day basis from TV, microwave, computers, cell phones, fluorescent lighting, energy plants (nuclear or hydroelectric), airplanes, anything you plug into an electric socket (hairdryers, toasters, etc.).

In closing our talk about energy management, let me tell you how a combination of some of these or all of these things can result in your life.

• Loss of physical energy
• Being tired a lot
• Feeling overwhelmed in life
• Feeling depressed
• Low sex drive
• Reoccurring physical symptoms like eye strain, headaches, backaches
• What’s the point attitude
• Having hard time focusing
• Sleeping disturbances
• Inability to relax
• Inability to fully enjoy life
• Various physical and emotional ailments

Stay tuned for part two, where we will talk about ways to protect your energy and tools that have helped me that you can use to help yourself and take charge of your life.

Enjoy and don’t forget to have fun!

Click here to read Have More Energy - Part two

If you would like to use this article for your own e-zine, not a problem; however, you MUST include the following for the attribution block: Copyright © 2006 Erika Gombosova, Emotional Healing and Self-Discovery Coach, and LiveYourLife.us. Erika helps people process their emotional trauma in a safe environment, helping them to develop more energy, clarity, confidence, improve relationships with themselves and others, improve physical appearance, and help them to live life more fully. Learn more about Erika and Live Your Life, visit www.liveyourlife.us.

About the Author:
Erika Gombosova is an Emotional and Self-Discovery Coach. Based on her own business and life experiences, Erika has discovered there are certain elements (what she calls the inner game) that get in the way of succeeding and moving forward in business and in life. She designed the Self Reclaiming System, which helps women entrepreneurs to move past their old programming and internal limitations to create the successful businesses and live

Purchase the book: Why Am I So Grumpy, Dopey and Sleepy?

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I’ve just been to visit my grandma. She’s ninety two years old and is a remarkable woman. I aspire to be like her but there’s no doubt in my mind I never will.

I’m usually an optimist but I know my constitution is not as strong as hers and over the years I’ve abused my body in a way she never has.

Now don’t misunderstand here. I’ve never smoked or taken non prescription drugs. I rarely ever drink; have never had a tattoo and only my ear lobes have been pierced. I’ve not slept around or had unprotected sex so what makes me so sure I won’t live to be the same age as my predecessor?

Toxic chemicals and EMF - the legacy of progress and the chemical revolution since the 1940’s.

Since my grandmother was born the world has seen many changes. Advancements have been made in all areas and life is, or should be, so much easier. However, for every positive there is a negative and for every up there is a down.

The down is the pollution which invades our lives both inside and out and the irreversible effects it has on all of us. Our immune systems get weaker with every generation.

Let me explain.

When my grandmother was young, particularly during and after the First and Second World Wars food was very scarce. If you were lucky enough to have food on the table it was fresh, seasonal, full of natural vitamins and minerals and actually tasted the way it was supposed to.

You ate everything that was put on your plate, sitting at a table with the rest of your family. Meals were taken at a set time with no snacks in-between. Eating was a social occasion and if you weren’t there you went hungry.

People were rarely overweight. They walked or used a bicycle to get where they needed to go.

Fast forward to 2006 where even sitting down to a meal is a rare event. Most people eat snacks sitting at their desks, in the car, bus or train and family meals seem to be reserved for special occasions. Exercise is something to be scheduled in.

Food is mostly frozen, prepacked and microwavable. It contains fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, flavorings and colorings as well as the chemicals which leak from the packaging.

What it rarely contains unless organic is sufficient vitamins, minerals and nutrients to keep us healthy, and it is now almost mandatory to take an effective daily multi-vitamin supplement.

However, that doesn’t appear to worry the majority of us. We seem more concerned with the size and appearance of the food rather than the actual taste or nutritional value. No-one considers we now need to eat several oranges to get the same amount of Vitamin C as my grandmother got from just one.

We ship produce thousands of miles around the world using up our natural resources, causing all sorts of pollution and global warming to satisfy our lust for year round availability. Just as our extended Christmas has lost its magic so has the novelty of strawberries and cream for Wimbledon and lettuce in the summer. Nothing is seasonal any more.

Legally our grocery stores have to check their sell by and use by dates but how many of us are conscientious about it at home? While the food may taste okay, who knows what lurks within? Sometimes I think food must have been embalmed rather than preserved as it has such a long expiration date.

Since the 1940’s and the so called ‘Chemical Revolution’ over 100,000 synthetic chemicals have been produced which simply did not exist prior to that date. Worryingly, very few have ever been tested for long term health effects either individually or in combination.

There are over 200 different types of cancer now and scientists agree that 80% of them are caused by harmful toxic synthetic chemicals.

Most of these come from our food but they are all around us and we cannot escape them. Many are in the products we use on our skin so the phrase “dying to be beautiful” could be taken quite literally.

My grandmother has never followed the cleanse, tone, moisturize routine, worn makeup, nail polish and perfume, or colored her hair. I, on the other hand have been guilty of all of the above.

Unlike me she’s never consciously sunbathed or spent hours on sunbeds. Having almost drowned as a toddler she never learned to swim so hasn’t spent time in chlorine filled swimming pools. Computers, mobile phones and until very recently, microwave ovens, have played no part in her life.

My grandmother never learned to drive and rode her bicycle until she was in her late eighties. I, on the other hand jump into the car and use it far more than I should.

I have a vacuum cleaner and central heating. My grandma is used to a hand brush and until relatively recently, coal fires.

All in all, my life is easy but I wish I could turn back the clock. If I knew then what I know now I think I’d have more chance of being like my grandmother. As it is, although forty years my senior, her memory is far better than mine.

She is a diabetic and takes medication but has never felt compelled to take vitamins and supplements. She has a home cooked meal every day, using meat and fresh vegetables.

To keep her brain active she does crossword puzzles and word searches and her hands are kept supple with knitting.

I take vitamins and minerals, probiotics and various other supplements every day just so my immune system can cope with the daily barrage of toxic chemicals to which I am unwillingly and often unwittingly being exposed.

I use certified organic skincare and personal products as that’s the only way to ensure I’m not absorbing toxins through my skin. I always assumed any product on the supermarket shelf would be safe but apparently not.

Out of the 10,500 plus synthetic chemicals used in the personal and skin care industry only about 11% have ever been assessed. Cosmetic manufacturers can use any ingredient apart from ten prohibited substances in their products and they are not required to undergo approval before they are sold.

That’s a bit worrying as your skin absorbs 60% of whatever you put on it.

Further, independent research has found that more than one third of personal care products contain at least one ingredient linked to cancer, and 70% of all products contain ingredients that may contain harmful impurities such as known carcinogens.

It seems my great grandfather was wise when he told my grandma if she was meant to have red lips she would have been born with them.

Technology has moved on and I keep my brain active working on the computer. The keyboard keeps my hands supple. However, it’s taking its toll.

My eyes are deteriorating faster than I wish and I dread the regular trips to the optician as I know they’ll be expensive. I get little exercise and certainly don’t feel as well as I should.

Daily I expose myself to radiation and wear a personal bio shield in the hope it will help reduce the harmful effects of EMFs - the electro magnetic fields around computers, cell phones, electric clocks, fluorescent lights, telephones, answering machines, hair dryers, microwaves and various other common devices.

Even with my best efforts I fear I’m fighting a losing battle. I can’t turn back the clock and undo the advances which we all now take for granted, but I know my generation is paying the price of progress.

That’s why I’ll never be like my grandma.

by Jean Shaw
About the Author: For details of the World’s First cosmetic, skin and personal care products certified to Food Grade Standards free of toxins and harmful synthetic chemicals see www.bestorganicsforhealth.com Jean Shaw is the author of I’m Not Naughty - I’m Autistic and Autism, Amalgam and Me www.jeanshaw.com

Image Source: http://flickr.com/photos/choruslinea1qms/90863557/

This technique is a step by step guide that combines self-hypnosis and some self-inner guidance with the idea of balancing your chakras. Now it is not really important to know what your chakras are - in brief, they are regarded as central energy points in your body in Eastern medicine and philosophy. They have certain colors associated with them that are going to be integrated into this technique within your mind.

I know it made me feel wonderfully energized, refreshed and very well balanced afterwards.

Step One:
Find a place where you are not going to be disturbed for a while and allow you eyelids to close. Imagine that as you close your eyelids, they melt and relax into your face and begin to send relaxation throughout your body.

Create some expectation; we all know how hypnotic expectation is, don’t we? Tell yourself that in a few moments you’re going to enter one of the most relaxed states that you’ve ever known.

You can take yourself into self-hypnosis (if you don’t know how, go get my book) or use any good meditation technique or relaxation strategy that you know. Take a few moments to focus on your breathing and engage in the moment. Notice what you are thinking and feeling.

Step Two:
Using your imagination, begin now to sense that you are floating on a soft cloud, almost like it is a mist that is gentle, soft, and completely supportive. It melds and molds itself to the exact contours of your body, imagine that you settle deeply into it and take sufficient time to really develop that comfort.

Imagine that the cloud is a beautiful, soft yet strong, strawberry red color. Imagine that the wonderful red mist gently envelops your entire being. Sense that it is bathing you in a soft and gentle relaxation.

Let that red mist move throughout your body, drawing away anything unwanted, leaving you in a soft, peaceful state. Imagine that red color in each and every cell of your being. Let that red mist sink into the very depths of the center of your mind.

Spread that red all through you, reaching all the way down to the tips of your toes, all the way down to the very tips of your fingers and feel yourself in harmony with this natural red color as your body is feeling more and more balanced and alive.

Let the red mist focus around the base of your spine. Maybe you can even imagine that your spine vibrates in harmony with red and the entire area of the lower back and spine goes into a total relaxation. When you really engage in doing this, you can create some magnificent sensations.

Imagine and sense that you are in tune with nature and all of nature is in tune with you. Breathe that red, gentle mist in and now allow a little, tiny red bird to gently glide around you, wrapping your body in a soft, red, blanket of balance and relaxation.

If you are not a fan of birds, then you can of course imagine anything else - angels or a loved one, or that the blanket wraps itself around you unaided. Choose what suits you personally.

Step Three:
Having done this inside your mind, next up imagine floating on a soft, almost peach-like orange color. Allow yourself to be in harmony with this orange (just as you were with the red) and right around the area of your abdomen there is an energy center that vibrates with this color of orange.

Allow this orange mist to bring this gentle softness, this natural awareness to your body and feel it almost like a sponge, absorbing and releasing anything you might need to let go of, bathing you in a soft mist of peace, relaxation and comfort. Feel and sense anything unwanted being absorbed into the mist from all the parts of your body.

Allow this orange to penetrate your body and give you peace and comfort, feel the freedom as you do this. Feel yourself relaxing more and more as this orange mist flows in and around all the parts of your abdomen. Then in whatever way you feel resonates with you the best, imagine a little orange ribbon gliding gently and gently carrying the mist over and around and through your body, your body wonderfully at ease and relaxed. Take enough time to really enjoy doing this.

Step Four:
Now in your mind’s eye imagine yourself floating on a yellow mist, the soft color of lemon, beautiful, lemon yellow right there in the center of your chest.

Take all the time you need to really be in harmony with this color of yellow and the middle area of your body and the center of your chest is relaxing more and more as you can imagine that area has an energy center that vibrates to the color yellow. Breathe in the soft yellow mist, the comfort of that gentle softness with each breath that you take really let it flow throughout you now, let it move through your entire being.

Allow your body to be at peace as the yellow mist eases and soothes your body.

Imagine that all of nature is in tune with this yellow and you are in tune with nature. Feel the freedom of the atmosphere that you are creating in your mind.

As we did previously, now imagine a silky ribbon of yellow, floating gently around you, wrapping the mist of balance and awareness around your body with a blanket of gentle, soothing tranquility.

Breathe in the yellow velvety mist as it bathes you in a sea of peace, taking all the time you need to sense deep comfort.

Step Five:
Imagine that you are floating on a green mist, actually begin to see, sense, imagine and feel a green mist all around you, absorbing into your skin, feeling immersed, enveloped in that green mist, a beautiful color of green. Green as lush grass.

And as you breathe in this soft, green mist the gentle softness is all around your heart, and you feel your heart begin to relax all around that area, all the way up to the area of your throat. As you relax imagine that you can feel your heart opening, opening and connecting with the world around you.

Imagine that your chest and your heart area vibrates now to the color of green and feel the peace and the relaxation that that brings. Begin to feel this green bringing the relaxation all through your body, gentle softness, this wonderful green color.

Anything unwanted around your heart is being absorbed by that green, floating it away, drawing it away, leaving only peace, balance and comfort in its place. Each time that you breathe in the mist of the green, imagine and feel your body becoming even more limp, loose, safe, and comfortable.

Feel the green cleansing and freeing you, allowing your body to work in perfect harmony with nature just as it was intended to do. Then imagine a soft, silky green ribbon, floating around you… as with the previous steps.

Step Six:
Ok, so now just imagine yourself floating on a mist of blue. Just engage your mind in that idea that you are gently floating peacefully on this beautiful blue color. While doing that, allow your throat and your neck relax all the way up through the back of your neck and your throat and your neck are feeling calm and relaxed.

Breathe in the blue air and feel it drifting and floating throughout your entire body. Allow this gentle blue mist to draw up and soften and balance all the muscles in your body. Think that your body is at peace as the blue mist works through it and soothes it.

Imagine that the blue mist carries takes away anything unwanted, leaving only comfort, ease and safety.

Once again, imagine that all of nature is in tune with blue and you are in tune with nature. Your body has been perfectly designed to work in harmony with nature and so let all the natural processes of just ‘being’ occur for you while you are doing this.

Feel the comfort increasing within you as the blue mist fills every cell and every muscle and now imagine that silky ribbon, floating around your body, gently touching your body with a blanket of blue mist, bathing you in a sea of total relaxation.

Step Seven:
Finally, imagine yourself floating on a misty cloud of violet, a beautiful violet-rosy color, a very soft combination that creates a nice lavender color.

Imagine that the soft color of violet, that very soft purple, penetrates your body and allow yourself to go deeper into your own mind. Imagine that you draw this purple into your body. Feel that beautiful color bringing you serenity and peace.

Ensure that you feel safe and comfortable on this beautiful soft purple mist. Tune into nature, tune into this natural feeling with this violet color you are in and begin to breathe in the gentle violet mist. Breathe it in and feel the muscles of your mind working in harmony with the way that nature intended.

Feel yourself totally relaxed, feeling the wonderful things that are happening within your body at this moment.

Step Eight:
Now inside your mind, imagine a combination of all the colors you have been thinking of throughout this technique form a rainbow and surround you. Imagine that they combine to form a beautiful white light, purifying, cleansing, filling your body and your mind with the glorious sense of comfort, rejuvenation and balance.

Right there at the top of your head, bring that light in, a beautiful clear bright light, floating all the way down through your entire body, filling all the spaces between all of the cells, bringing you the comfort of knowing that you deserve to have the experience of a peaceful, balanced, energized life.

Step Nine:
Now allow yourself to be completely immersed in this beautiful rainbow of the energy of life, you allow your mind and your body to be very receptive, very open to creating the experience that you want and that you deserve.

Bask in the colors for as long as you like.

Step Ten:
When you are ready, you can allow yourself to come back to the awareness of the place that you are in. Tell yourself that when you open your eyes, you feel very balanced, very balanced and energized. Then open your eyes, wiggle your fingers and toes, reacquaint with your surroundings and enjoy being more balanced and refreshed.

Take some time to really balance yourself and get recharged in this way - it is so lovely to do so. Even if you think that chakras are nothing more than new age hocus pocus, this is still a wonderful exercise that is very relaxing and energizing. You don’t have to believe in something for it to be real.

Author: Adam Eason
About the author: Adam Eason is a UK based, renowned consultant, speaker and best-selling author. Please visit his website for a vast range of personal development resources and to receive your amazing free, instantly downloadable hypnosis session for ultimate relaxation and the sensational free ebook ‘The Happy Brain Manual’ filled with techniques, tips and strategies to make more of your brain: http://www.adam-eason.com Thank you.

What is complementary and alternative medicine? Complementary and alternative medicine usually refers to practices that are not integrated into conventional medicine. Treatments in the category of complementary and alternative medicine are constantly changing. Treatments change when studies prove them to be effective or not.

Some of the treatments used in complementary and alternative medicine are:
* Homeopathy * Ayurveda * Acupuncture * Herbs

Are the treatments safe and will they work? Educate yourself before starting any new complementary and alternative medicine treatment, and always tell your doctor which ones you are trying.

The two terms complementary and alternative are often grouped together; however, they are not necessarily the same thing. An example of a complementary treatment would be something used along with the conventional therapies your doctor prescribes. Alternative therapies are generally something used instead of conventional methods. An example of an alternative therapy or treatment might be seeing a homeopath or naturopath instead of your regular doctor.

Some complementary and alternative medicine practitioners use similar principles to what your conventional doctor might do. Others might be quite different. The basic philosophies of
complementary and alternative medicine include:

• Your body heals itself
• Prevention is the most important element
• Learning and healing go together.

The complementary and alternative medicine practitioner sees himself or herself as a teacher and mentor to guide you. You are the one who does the healing. There are five broad categories the National Institute of Health uses for classification of therapies used by complementary and alternative medicine practitioners, they are:
* Healing Systems * Mind-Body Connections * Dietary Supplements and Herbs * Manipulation and Touch * Energy Therapies

Contrary to what you might think, most doctors are not opposed to complementary and alternative medicine. About half the doctors in the United States refer people to complementary and alternative practitioners.On the dark side is that some alternative medicine practitioners make exaggerated claims about curing disease. They may ask you to forsake treatment from your conventional doctor to use their unproven treatments. It is true also that some forms of alternative medicine can even hurt you. It is wise to educate yourself before using treatments, and always discuss your plans to use alternative and/or conventional treatments with your personal physician. Your doctor most likely is the best source to help you sort out the good from the bad.

Source: Mayo clinic (2006)Disclaimer: *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any kind of a health problem. Always consult with your health care provider about any kind of a health problem.

Author: Connie Limon
About the author:Connie Limon. Please visit us at http://nutritionandhealthhub.com and sign up for our weekly health and nutrition tip. Articles are FREE to publish to your newsletters, website or blog.

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This classic PETA video shows graphically why a vegan or vegetarian diet is the only ethical choice. You will be shocked and horrified when you witness the horrific treatment of factory farmed animals.

This method of self-hypnosis is a perfect marriage between the Eastern and Western concepts of health management and overall well-being.” NaturalHealthBlog
Try the Seishindo meditation out for yourself at NaturalHealthWeb.com and learn more about Seishindo at seishindo.org

Meditation is healthy, safe and affordable. In fact it’s free. The only expense you’ll have is a meditation mat, which isn’t even necessary-at least from my experience. Meditation has been around for 5,000 years, and was originally a spiritual component of yoga. Through the years non-yogis adopted it, intuitively sensing and connecting the practice with greater peace of mind. Personally, I can’t say enough good things about meditation. Its use has rewarded me with less worry and much more energy. But I’ve never been one for anecdotal evidence. Let’s get to the science…

Transcendental Meditation
Recently, there’s an incredible amount of science tied into the benefits of meditation. The studies are endless and cover a variety of meditative practices. On Transcendental Meditation alone (mantra repetition) there are over 500 studies. Some are more noteworthy that others. A study in the Japanese Journal of Public Health found that through Transcendental Meditation, industrial workers sleep improved and their smoking decreased. Another study conducted at the MERU Research Institute, in Buckinghamshire, England found that the length of time practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program correlated with younger biological age and younger functional age.

Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation, which asks us to focus on our breath to facilitate awareness of the present moment, is another widely studied meditation technique. After studying the effects of 8-weeks of mindfulness meditation on participants, a 2003 report in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine concluded: “A short program in mindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immune function.” Impressive, but fairly vague. To get a more committed response to the benefits of meditation we have to turn to Taiwan. In 2002 their journal Chang Gung Medicine reported that “training in MM may be a medically superior and cost-effective alternative to pain medication for the control of headaches with no underlying organic causes in highly motivated patients.”

Stress Reduction and Meditation
What causes these positive physical changes? To answer this, other research has looked at the specifics of what happens in the body during meditation. . Researchers at the Maharishi School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, found that meditation has an enormous impact on stress reduction. When they examined a group who had meditated for four months they saw that they produced less of the stress hormone cortisol. They were therefore better able to adapt to stress in their lives, no matter what their circumstances were.

Having balanced cortisol levels is essential to mental and emotional health. Notice I say balanced rather than none. We don’t want to completely eliminate cortisol. If we did we’d be dead. Even low cortisol levels can be dangerous. Not enough cortisol is the identifying trait of Addison’s disease. John F. Kennedy had this condition, which he denied passionately during his presidency. Yet during his term he regulated his levels through hydrocortisone (synthetic cortisol). The reverse of JFK’s condition is called Cushings Syndrome.

The five most common and noticeable changes of this condition include; red face and puffy cheeks; excess fat surrounding the collar bones, muscle weakness, and hypertension. But we don’t have to have Cushing’s Syndrome to be damaged by extra cortisol. The changes we experience may be subtle variations of these. Plus, the changes caused by excess cortisol are age dependent. Young people may stop growing and teenagers can develop acne. The mature among us aren’t safe either. Since excess cortisol damages bone-tissue those over age 60 may develop fractures related to osteoporosis. So it’s evident that if we can regulate cortisol, especially through a natural process, we owe it to ourselves to try.

“The brain waves of meditators show why they’re healthier. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex—brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before.” Psychologytoday.com

Other Benefits of Meditation
Regina Drueding, MD, is a meditation instructor at Life Circles in Utah, USA. She quotes the benefits of meditation as follows: “more energy, improved quality of sleep, decreased anxiety, lessened chronological aging, improved concentration, improved visual acuity, increased alertness and heightened immunity.” She writes: “Besides the benefits mentioned earlier, meditation results in improvement of hypertension, sleep disorders, headaches, heartrhythm disturbances, chronic pain – pain due to cancer, infertility and irritable bowel syndrome. Following meditation, mental and physical refreshment result – and benefits are cumulative with regular practice.”

How to Meditate

Meditation is both simple and complex. It’s like defining the color orange: When you see it you know it. Similarly, the experience of meditation is best, well…experienced. In an article in New View magazine, Shippensburg University’s Dr. C. George Boeree describes the basics of Buddhist meditation. In summary, the beginner’s technique is as follows:

1. Sit or kneel comfortably.

2. The hands are loose and open with the palms up, one atop the other and thumbs lightly touching.

3. Head is upright. Eyes may be closed or open. If open they should focus on your hands or a spot nearby.

4. Beginning meditators should count upwards to ten on each exhale. Breathe in a relaxed and natural way. Then begin again at one and repeat. Continue to breathe naturally.

5. Continue for 15 minutes.

In my personal experience, I don’t find that the specific length of time is as important as repetition and persistence. To paraphrase, 10 minutes daily beats 15 minutes once a week. This brings me to another point: We all have different personalities and as such, different meditation approaches suit some more than others. Thankfully there are many varieties of meditation. Some varieties have sub-varieties.

Mindfulness meditation is one of these versatile practices. Perhaps it’s because its essence-awareness of the present moment-is so versatile. Mindfulness in our daily life can be practiced by slowing down and attending to our surroundings. What are our 5 senses telling us? We can use mindfulness in the middle of a hectic day, such as paying attention to our breathing when stopped at a traffic light. We can also use other everyday events as triggers for mindfulness. Buckling your seatbelt? Make this a reminder to return to the present. Really think about what you’re doing and the details of the experience.

The more traditional may benefit from a more formal mindfulness practice. You may sit in the identical form as in traditional Buddhist meditation- on a chair or kneeling. However, you may also sit with your legs crossed. Your eyes are closed and your posture is both straight and relaxed while your head remains upright. Focus on your breath and allow mental chatter to float by without regard. Thoughts, emotions and sensations will come, but don’t be influenced by them. Keep focused on your breath. If you are getting involved with your thoughts don’t worry-your efforts aren’t destroyed. The key thing is to bring your attention back to breathing and continue. This can go on for 5 minutes to 5 hours. It’s up to you.

Transcendental Meditation is another popular form of meditation. Generally, this type is practiced twice daily for a period of 15-20 minutes. Again, this technique involves sitting comfortably. Yet in contrast to basic Buddhist the eyes stay closed. Each student is given a mantra and is instructed to induce relaxation through use of this mantra. Since many of either can’t or won’t go to a formal TM class, a no-fail mantra I recommend is the classic OM. In The Heart of Yoga, T.K.V Desikachar writes that repetition of “OM” enables us to maintain mental and emotional calmness, overcome obstacles and enable understanding. It is the shortest of the mantras, and is said to be suggestive of God. If you’re uncomfortable with the religious aspects of OM I suggest a word that has positive meaning for you, such as love, calm or peace. Calm is an ideal substitute, since vocally it resembles OM.

Final Word
You may never, ever choose to meditate. Yet if this is your choice it may be valuable to question why. For a long time I was reluctant because of images of the dropout hippie 60’s. Yet when I tried it the experience overcame my reservations. If you try it the same may happen to you. If it doesn’t you haven’t lost any money, and you’ve gained a new experience.

“If you practice regularly, the benefits of meditation will promote a sense of calm and control, you’ll feel far more relaxed and happy. Your ability to concentrate will be greater. You won’t become stressed about things and you’ll feel more peaceful and relaxed about everything. One of the greatest benefits of meditation is learning to go with the flow and things that used to irritate you before simply become insignificant.” Project-meditation.org

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Resources:
Getting in the Gap: Making Conscious Contact with God Through Meditation (Hay House Inc., 2003)

The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh (Beacon Press, 1975)

Galina Pembroke

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

Capitalism and industrial agriculture have brought us food that is not only inexpensive but in some cases can last almost forever. While this may seem convenient for many, we have to question the safety and sanity of putting stuff in our mouths that our bodies no longer recognize as food thanks to genetic modifications, pesticides, irradiation and more. We are also putting in our mouths and bodies the fear, stress and pain of every animal that suffered and died so we could eat cheap meat. Modern food may be cheap and convenient, but what is the real cost?

By: Stewart Hare

The modern food industry rears its animals, grows its crops, manufactures and markets its foods with the impetus to cut costs, produce and sell more products.

To make profit they disregard animal welfare, promote unhealthy eating and advice, contaminate the land and livestock with pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics and go against laws of Mother Nature with genetic engineering and irradiated foods. While the companies involved within the food industry are making fat profits, the majority of western societies are also getting fatter and unhealthier. Rich western countries such as the Unites States and Britain are spending billions of dollars treating diseases such as cancer, yet the cure rate has not gone down and nobody seems to be trying to figure out why people are getting sick in the first place. Such research would no doubt bring up questions about the food we eat and modern day food industry practices.

Animal welfare is the price to pay by intensive methods that the modern factory food industry uses to increase rates of production. Every day 100,000 broiler chickens die prematurely in UK farms due to factory farming methods. In the UK 70% of the 29 million egg-laying birds are housed in battery cages, 35 million British Turkeys are fattened in cramped sheds that contain up to 25,000 birds which results in many ailments caused by overcrowding and 500,000 sows are kept indoors in cramped conditions throughout their lives which causes them to suffer from muscle weakness and lameness. Modern day dairy cows are bred to produce as much milk as possible and when either infertility or ill health set in (partly due by their welfare conditions) they are no longer of use and are culled. This is normally after only 5 short years.

“Industrially produced food appears to be inexpensive, but the pricetag doesn’t reflect the actual costs that we taxpayers bear. Factory farms pollute communities and adversely affect public health, thereby increasing medical costs for those living near such farms—costs that are often shouldered by public budgets.” Sustainabletable.org

For nearly 50 years, antibiotics have been used in farming as disease prevention since the cramped conditions of factory farming are exceptionally conductive to disease. The negative effects that antibiotic use in our food has on human health is now coming to light In the UK most intensively reared animals are given antibiotics on a daily basis. This is mainly as a preventive measure or to treat illness but some are given as growth promoters. The bacteria that live in these animals quickly become resistant to antibiotics. The antibiotics used for animals are similar to those used to combat human health problems and it is becoming more evident that there is a cross-over effect with the bacteria that cause illness in humans. Human bacteria are becoming more resistant to the antibiotics that we use, thus reducing effective treatments.

The genetic modification (GM) of food involves the artificial insertion of a foreign gene into the genetic material of an organism to create a food substance which is more economical to product. There are presently two types of GM crops, one to be resistant to herbicides in order to kill weeds and the other has been engineered to produce toxins to kill pests. In 1996 the first GM crop was grown in the US, now three quarters of the worlds GM crops are grown in North America. Soy and maize are the main GM crops grown in the US and oilseed rape is the main GM crop grown in Canada.

“If you recently ate soy sauce in a Chinese restaurant, munched popcorn in a movie theater, or indulged in an occasional candy bar - you’ve undoubtedly ingested this new type of food. You may have, at the time, known exactly how much salt, fat and carbohydrates were in each of these foods because regulations mandates their labeling for dietary purposes. But you would not know if the bulk of these foods, and literally every cell had been genetically altered!” 50 Harmful Effects Of Genetically Modified Foods

Advocates of GM crops claim that GM crops can provide a solution to world hunger with higher yields and are better for the environment because of their need for less herbicides and pesticides. Unfortunately, the benefits claimed by GM crops owners have not happened but many problems have. The facts are that GM crops do not increase yields and do not reduce the use of herbicides. GM and organic crops can not co-exist, in Saskatchewan Canada GM contamination wiped out the whole organic rape seed sector. In the US many people reported allergic reaction to GM Starlink maize which then had to be recalled with the estimated cost of $1 billion.

Pesticides are chemical substances that are used in modern farming to kill or control pests. Although there are some naturally based pesticides used in modern farming, the majority are made from synthetic chemicals. The usage of pesticides increased after the Second World War to increase food production. Pesticides have a very harmful effect on the environment and on people’s health. Pesticides have a major adverse effect on wildlife and are not only toxic to the pests that they target but also beneficial species, the whole food chain, the entire ecosystem and of course, human beings. Pesticides can adversely affect fertility and human health. Farmers and farm workers are especially venerable to short term poisoning and long term chronic illnesses. Some pesticides are non-toxic when used on their own but combined with other pesticides they can become extremely toxic. Organophosphates are probably the most dangerous pesticides that are used in modern farming and they have been linked to cancer, Parkinson’s disease, decreased male fertility, chronic fatigue syndrome in children and fetal abnormalities.

Food irradiation is the process of food being exposed to doses of ionising energy or radiation to extend shelf life and to kill insects, bacteria, molds and other harmful organisms. Advocates of food irradiation claim that it is safe but the real problem arises with how fresh and safe the food is, as food inspectors have no way of telling if the food is old or contaminated with food poisoning causing bacteria. Irradiation destroys Vitamin C, Vitamin E and the B complex of vitamins. It can cause unpleasant changes in texture, color and taste and not enough is known about its long term affects on human health.”

“Irradiated fruits and vegetables benefit the packer and grocer, not the farmer or consumer. The consumer receives an inferior product that appears fresh, but has depleted vitamins and enzymes.” Organicconsumers.org

In conclusion, the modern day food industry is motivated by profit and greed and as a result animals, the environment and humans are suffering. If a check on the way that the food industry produces its products is not implemented then further damage will be done to the environment and we will also see further increases in degenerative diseases such as cancer as well as an increase in both animal and human suffering.

If you truly understand the extent that the food industry controls what shows up on grocery store shelves and you are ready to stand up and take proactive steps to deciding what is actually in the food you eat, here is what you can do:

Buy Local
Join a Food Co-op
Grow Your Own Food
Buy sustainable, cruelty free, free range organic foods

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Stewart Hare C.H.Ed Dip Nu. Bespoke consultations for a healthier natural life website: http://www.newbeingnutrition.com Get a free initial nutritional therapy diagnosis now…

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

It is such a sad tribute to modern medicine that we are so disconnected from our whole selves that we fail to think of our bodies, minds and souls as one. The medical system is so dehumanizing and objectifying that doctors have unfortunately succeeded in separating our bodies from our real selves for treatment.

While modern medical practitioners may believe themselves to be healers, only the human body is capable of healing itself. Likewise, a person cannot heal from emotional or psychological trauma if they are not willing to heal.
Medical doctors place bandaids over our injuries and can mend broken pieces and can even drug away the symptoms and pain, but true healing always takes place internally.

Rather than a single minded focus on healing itself, perhaps it is better to let it go and find patience and acceptance to achieve the deepest healing, as Heart of Healing suggests:

“An intensive focus on healing can result in the kind of goal orientation that makes it impossible to relax and enjoy what you have right now. I haven’t in any way abandoned my focus on health and healing — it’s a way of life for me, but I have been learning to let go of the outcome of my efforts. This kind of acceptance, for me, has become the ultimate meaning of healing.” Heart of Healing

There is a reason why music and art aid the physical healing process. People with pets heal faster. Laughter is truly the best medicine. Your mental state can drag your physical health up or down like a hot air balloon.

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