Massage, Mind & Body

Here’s a great reason to address credit card debt, instead of putting it on the back burner:

“The more income is tied up in debt, the higher the chance of health problems,” says lead study author Paul Lavrakas, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Survey Research at the university. “But stress levels count too. Even people who felt stressed about smaller debts had poorer health.”

This according to a Prevention Magazine post. Check it out in its entirety.

For those of you who have been hesitant to attempt twisting yourself into pretzel-like positions for the sake of ultimate zen relaxation and the increased flexibility that yoga promises, you’re in luck. It also is officially linked to decreased back pain–at least according to a recent study posted at Psychology Today:

New Twist on Back Pain

Yoga is not just for yuppies anymore. If you’re one of the 65 million Americans who suffer from chronic back pain, you may want to give the routine a try. A Seattle study found that after 12 weekly classes of low-impact viniyoga, participants were more likely to be back to their regular routine than people prescribed conventional exercise. After six months, yoga buffs had less discomfort, used fewer pain relievers and had more range of movement.

Reason enough? Ask your back after a few weeks of this low-impact exercise and you might even surprise yourself.

Now I think I’ve heard everything…A new study finds that inhaling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee may actually provide instant relaxation instead of alertness as one would think. Health Day gives more details:

Just sniffing that first hot cup of coffee in the morning may help ease some stresses you might be feeling, a South Korean trial indicates.

When rats inhaled the aroma of roasted coffee beans, a number of genes were activated, including some that produce proteins with healthful antioxidant activity, the researchers reported.

The experiment was done with laboratory rats, some of whom were stressed by being deprived of sleep. The researchers did detailed genetic studies that showed the activity of 11 genes was increased and the activity of two genes was decreased in the rats that smelled the coffee, compared to those who did not. In effect, the aroma of the coffee beans helped ease the stress of the sleep-deprived rodents.

In other words, the stress caused by sleep loss via caffeine may be alleviated through smelling the coffee aroma.”

Read the article in it’s entirety here.

Who hasn’t felt tension creep into our muscles as if in a blink of an eye? Actually if you listen to your body, or mentally “scan” each body part, you are more likely to recognize and address tension before it goes to far.

Yoga instructor, writer and overall wellness expert Kellye Davis, described the best way to scan your body and bring relaxation to each part from head to toe. This except was taken from this month’s Massage Magazine. Read on… Continue Reading »

There’s an interesting “new” website that I happened upon called Skinny Myth. They attempt to address the most popular diet and weight loss myths. One that they tackled was whether one automatically gains weight when he or she quits smoking. Here’s the response… Continue Reading »

Remember my post about the artile asking the question, ‘what if no American was fat?’ (Here’s a refresher)? Well, Leah Day at ChetDay.com put together a thought-provoking response to the original writer’s possibly discriminatory subject. Here is an excerpt:

Yes, you have to eat to be fat. A lot of people believe fat people are just big, stupid cookie monsters with no soul. We laugh at them and shake our heads at their ungainly strides, never considering what it must be like to live a day in their shoes.

Truth of the matter is, it’s very hard to change eating and lifestyle habits and it’s even harder to alter your metabolism if that’s the way it’s operated for more than half your life. Most fat people have yo-yo dieted for years without any success and it’s their self-esteem that pays the price.

Try not eating sugar for a week and see how far you get. Read your ingredient labels and don’t eat even 1 gram of sugar. I bet you can’t do it because you’ve never had to watch what you eat. Fat people are constantly watching, morbidly obsessed with losing weight because they live in a society that has shouted negativity at them from the day they got chubby.

I find it really interesting that MSN doesn’t write articles “What if we had no welfare?” or “What if oil companies actually had to pay taxes?” or even better “What if all major corporations were forced to disband?” Let’s start measuring the social and economic costs of welfare and what a drain that is on our country. Better yet, let’s start actually holding our oil companies accountable for their disgusting profits at the expense of American drivers.

The entire piece (or rebuttal if you will) offers a refreshingly open and accepting point of view while leaving room to question authority (which is usually a good idea). Check it out for yourself.

Headaches are such a pain in the…well, you get the idea. I’ve posted about this nagging subject quite a few times in the past (see here and here for just a couple of examples). Below is an excerpt from an article written for Oracle 20 /20 Magazine by Li Hua L.Ac. TCMD of Atlanta Acupuncture Center that addresses the difference between Western and Eastern causes of headaches. Continue Reading »

For those of us who still rely on wine (or other beverages), cigarettes (legal or otherwise), and food to increase endorphins and give us that feel-good feeling, the post below give a good reason to get moving instead. Yahoo Health’s Tip of the Day had this to say:

Happiness Is All in Your Head
Researchers recently noted all sorts of endorphin activity when they studied the brain scans of people who’d gone for a 2-hour run. Their emotion- and mood-controlling brain regions were particularly saturated with the feel-good hormones. But you don’t necessarily have to run marathons to boost the natural mood-enhancing chemicals in your blood. In fact, you might not need to run at all. Just 30 minutes of walking can lift your spirits.

Here’s the enitre post where you can learn more details and click on some other helpful links to support in starting an exercise routine.

Flowers have been used for ages to express love, gratitude, sympathy and a myriad of other emotions. Not to mention the passion and lust that ignites from the perfumes that first have flowers to thank for their hypnotic scents. Well below are some details from Natural Health Magazine about select flower extracts, what their properties are and what ailments they are good for. Continue Reading »

We’ve always heard that we should drink 8 glasses of 8 ounces of water daily to maintain optimal health. But is this a proven fact? A recent study challenges this notion and Chet at Chetday.com posted on it. Check it out… Continue Reading »