Stress Guide 101

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Boost Your Immune System Naturally With Aromatherapy

The ancient cultures in the East have used essential oils and aromatherapy for thousands of years to help to boost the immune system among other things; the West is just now catching on. Aromatherapy has proven itself to be a safe and effective way of protecting and enhancing your immune system.

One of the biggest causes of problems in our immune system is stress, which is an issue for almost everyone. Some stress can be a positive thing, but an abundance of stress can wreak havoc on your body by causing excessive levels of the hormone, cortisol. The reason for the existence of this hormone goes back to primitive times and is there to help us react in dangerous circumstances. The problem us that the same substance is also utilized to return your system back to the pre-danger state so if you are in a semi-constant state of stress you maintain high cortisol levels.

Why does this affect your immune system? The presence of an abundance of cortisol in your blood for long periods lowers your immune response. The way to use aromatherapy to enhance your immune system begins with using essential oils like chamomile, lavender, and tea tree oil that help you to relax. These can be heated to form a vapor, used in massage oils, or as we are seeing often now, put into aromatherapy candles.

A massage performed with essential oils is helpful with your circulation, relaxes you and nourishes your skin. In addition the vapors will help to take away anxiety as you inhale them. Your skin is your body's first line of defense against infection and keeping it from entering your blood. Use Tea Tree Oil as a powerful antiseptic to help keep your skin healthy and to treat problems like warts, burns, and acne.

Another powerful essential oil that has been used to treat bacteria since biblical times is frankincense. This scent was burned frequently in temples and other public places where many people gathered because it was known then to be a powerful bacteria and virus fighter. It is widely used for its ability to boost the immune system.

Take a lesson from the ancients and implement aromatherapy into your health regimen. It will help keep you from getting sick and if you are sick it will assist you to recover more quickly. It doesn't to much matter whether you choose to burn the essential oils as a vapor, use as massage oil, or usearomatherapy candles, just know that they will strengthen your immune system and try to decrease stress as much as possible.

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About the Author:

Gregg Hall is an author and internet marketing consultant living in Navarre Florida. Find more about scented candles and aromatherapy candles at http://www.aromatherapycandlesplus.com

You must have noticed your lips curled tightly in a straight line. Your eyeballs seem to pop out with that hate look. Witness the head-on collision of your eyebrows. See the many wrinkles spreading all over your forehead. Oh, is that steam coming out of your nostrils and ears, like that of a raging bull ready to attack?

From your face, now look at the rest of your body. Notice how your fists are clenched. Your arms and muscles are flexed in boxing position. Your feet are eager to go. You are ready to attack.... yourself!

What had been just described was the typical facial expression and body language of a person in a fighting mood. People react to anger this way due to some reaction that releases chemicals within the human body.

Now, try another exercise. Again, while in front of the mirror, try to widen your lips resembling a smile. As you do this, slowly notice how your eyeballs sink in as your eyes turn into a horizontal slit. Your previously clashing eyebrows now seem to go separate ways as if they just got divorced. Your forehead are unmarked by wrinkles. Your flaring nostrils and red ears now appear normal with absolute absence of steam.

Your fists are unclenched, muscles are loose, and arms are beside you as if hugging your funny bones. Your feet are energetically tapping the floor ready to burst in laughter. You feel as if you are seated at the front row of a live comic show.

The first exercise shows how you look when you are angry, while the second exercise describes you when you are happy. Notice the big difference?

With this perspective, it only proves feelings like anger, resentment, and hatred makes you physically look older and hostile; that by just one look, you can make an innocent child cry and scamper for safety. Ill feelings take its toll on your health.

On the reverse, feeling of joy makes you physically look younger and vibrant. The smile on your face makes you appear approachable even to a child. As a bonus, joy results to improved health and well-being.

Based on the above exercises, it only proves that the body language is a reflection of the current feelings and emotions within. This, therefore, holds the key to reversing negative feelings.

Simply put, to reverse ill feelings, change your body language or just smile!

Feeling bad? Consciously change your frown into a wide grin and feel the anger dissipate and melt away. Straighten up your sluggish posture, walk at a faster pace and smile!

Your emotions and feelings can be reversed by the way you move your body. When you are not in the mood, simply use your body to immediately acquire a positive mood.

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By Abbas Abedi-To make all aspects of your life easier you might take a look at my blog http://stress----relief.blogspot.com

Most people believe that success in business and finance is primarily the result of mental processes, but success has a physiological basis. The state of both the body and the mind determine your "success response."

There are three components of every problem in life - whether it's related to money, business, health, creativity, relationship, etc. - and you have to address and clear all three components to resolve whatever problem is preventingsuccess in any given area.

The three components that need to be addressed, (or healed), at their source are: stress, cellular memory, and blocked energy. Let's look at each component separately.

~~Stress~~

The body has two modes: stress and growth. You're always in one state or the other on every level from the cellular to the systemic.

Circumstantial stress, such as a personal confrontation or losing your car keys, is temporary and not normally harmful in the long run.

And then there is physiological stress, or the internal response to memory. Unconscious, physiological stress is caused by negative memory or embedded wrong beliefs that are stored at the cellular level. Negative memories or beliefs turn off the success response. Positive memories turn on the success response.

~~Cellular Memory~~

There are many ways to clear harmful cellular level memories: Reiki therapy, or Alexander Lloyd's Healing Codes are two examples. In both these methods, there is never a focus on digging up and closely examining wrong beliefs and negative memories.

There is little value in churning conscious memories and focusing attention on them since the level of memory you can access consciously is not the real source of anything that is blocking yoursuccess response. Instead, the idea is to tip the balance toward a favorable physiological response.

In other words, heal destructive cellular memories to heal anything, including lack of success.

~~Blocked Energy~~

Everything is a frequency or a vibration of energy. That's right, everything. A ceramic cup and the coffee it holds seem like a solid and a liquid respectively, but they are in fact mostly empty space - vibrating energy that your senses interpret as coherent forms.

There is also a vibration of energy for every thought and idea you hold. Each has its own frequency, and you can easily understand this when you check into your physical/emotional state upon thinking of something that pleases you versus something extremely annoying or upsetting. Changing the thought changes your state of being.

So, when you have destructive cellular level memories (unconsciously) vibrating at a certain frequency, there is an effect on yoursuccess response. Higher frequency energy is blocked. Once the blockage is cleared, it's easier for you to be in the flow of success.

Again, clearing energetic blockages doesn't usually happen at a conscious level. I recommend Reiki therapy, but there are other forms of energy work that might be more suitable to you.

First, there is awareness of the benefits of dealing with the three physiological components of success - internal stress relief, positive cellular memory, energy flow. Then there is discovery of the approach that feels right to you.

Start looking around, and see how quickly the information you need will appear. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

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About the Author:

Lila Norden, internet publisher and business consultant, offers valuable information and insights for advancing your business and financial success. For helpful resources, strategies, and additional articles, visit http://yesinvesting.com/

Nobody has to tell you how stressful it is living in today's society. Because the cost of living has sky rocketed, we have to worry about paying bills, holding on to our jobs and providing for our children. Many of us work long hours seated at a desk, leaving us unable to get much exercise. To make matters worse, after we finally get home and put dinner on the table and get our children settled in for the night, we end up plopping down on the couch, in front of the television.

Some of us may head to the computer to surf the web or answer email correspondence. The combination of daily stress and lack of exercise has a poor effect on our bodies. It also impacts our minds because without a way to reduce stress, it may adversely our sleep habits and cause forms of insomnia. This can decrease our ability to think clearly during the day and can make it difficult to complete even simple tasks. That's why it is of great importance to find an outlet for our stress and have fun as well. One such way is to participate in recreational sports.

Participating in recreational sports is an excellent way to relieve stress. It can be as simple as joining your local bowling league. Bowling is a lot of fun and it's something that the whole family can participate in. You can rent the shoes for it at the alley and use their bowling balls, so you don't have to buy expensive gear. If you have extra space in your home, you can invest in a ping pong table.

It might not seem like it but ping pong is a great form of exercise because you have to move around your side of the table a lot to keep the ball in play. It also requires you to swing your arm which provides additional skill. Many people have turned to golf as a way to get in shape and relax. Golf requires a lot of walking and swinging of the club. Most golf courses are designed to look like parks so playing a game of golf can take you out of your stressful atmosphere at work and place you in a peaceful setting where you can get some exercise and relax at the same time.

There are many other choices available in recreational sports. You can choose to take a dance class, or go bicycle riding. You can team up with some friends and take daily walks around the neighborhood or even in the mall. Mall walking is very popular and many stores open early to allow people to walk through them without having to do so while the shoppers are there. There's also tennis, running and horseback riding. For the brave, there is parasailing and extreme sports like mountain climbing that burn calories and relieve stress while providing them with the thrills of a lifetime.

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Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as sporting goods online at http://www.sportinggoodsupply.com

The early summer period is considered ideal for you to take care of your neglected self, to rectify any of your bad winter habits, to find the necessary time to improve your health and fitness levels, to offer some small "gifts" to your body and consecutively to improve the quality of your life. Following the above list is not something one should recommend only to people that are healthy and fit, but most importantly to those who work too much, are always under stress, do not engage in any type of physical activity, and of course, have bad eating habits.

Reduce the Stress Factor: This comes first in this list of advices, since stress is directly related with a variety of health problems. Experts suggest that those suffering from stress should sleep for 30 minutes during the day; apart from the required 6-8 hours of night sleep. Even if your work does not allow you to be home before 6 p.m. try sleeping for half an hour when you get back. It is rejuvenating and equals two hours of night sleep. Moreover, instead of watching TV you should listen to your favorite music, sit comfortably on the couch and read something pleasant. The continuous parade of images on the TV screen increases your stress levels, while reading and listening to a tune can both entertain you and help you reexamine your worries later with a clear head.

Eat Healthier Food: Apart from stress, the high levels of sugar in your blood in combination to an unhealthy diet you follow can weaken your heart. Thus, you should add to your daily nutrition, foods that contain fibers, like whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, pulse, etc. If you cannot say goodbye to sweet flavors, it is best for you to eat dark chocolate, honey roasted nuts or dried fruits. These will provide you with the sugar you want to taste, but will not add tremendously to your daily calorie intake.

Find Time to Exercise: Imperative for your good health and your normal heart's operation is to exercise regularly and frequently. If it is difficult to find those extra minutes during the day to visit the gym or participate in any sport, select to use the public transportation that is available in your area and get off one stop before your final destination in order to walk; if that is feasible of course. If you have to drive, try parking five minutes further away from your house or office and then walk the rest of the distance. Use the stares instead of the elevator and during the weekend if you select to dine outside your house, go somewhere that you can walk before dinning (e.g. sea, mountain).

Drink Water: Extremely important for your body to stay fit is to drink water. Water is one of the few things you should never exclude from your diet. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day and try to choose water instead of a soda drink or coffee during or after dinning.

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Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://fitness-talk.net/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://forahealthyman.com/ and http://learntobecloser.com/

It will take you to faraway places with white sandy beaches and clear azure skies in the blink of an eye. It will take you back in time to the days of prehistoric monsters or thrust you forward to the Big Brother world of tomorrow. It can even fill your eyes with tears one moment and make you laugh out loud the next.

Reading a good novel or story will open a window to the world and give you a vision of things you never dreamed possible. And the side benefit is, reading is one of the best ways to reduce your stress level and can even help you solve whatever problem is ailing you.

Reading is the great escape and it also works well as a way to relax. When you curl up with a good book, you put the rest of the world and all its troubles out of your mind as you are taken to distant places to learn about different time periods, and to expose yourself to new ideas and philosophies. You are essentially taking a vacation of the mind -- but one that can be virtually cost-free, especially if you live near a library.

Of course, reading is also a great way to reduce stress by gaining the knowledge you need to solve problems. For example, let's say you're overweight and this is causing you stress. You find that the more weight you gain, the more stressed you become, which just causes you to eat more. Instead of getting stressed out, why not read a good book about nutrition that will teach you how to plan meals better, so they're low-cal and low-fat. This could very well result in reducing your weight problem and it could even disappear altogether along with the stress that is bringing you down.

Reading can also be a source of great hope, giving you ideas and inspiration that will relieve your stress. Biographies and rags-to-riches stories about famous people will teach how they overcame their struggles. These stories of triumph might even inspire you to seek ways to overcome the challenges in your life.

Of course, there are also times when reading can increase your stress level. For instance, if you are studying for a test, or reading about tragedies in your local newspaper, you might find your stress levels skyrocketing. That's why it's important to choose your reading material carefully. If you're feeling stressed, why not pick up a book that will relax you. A good travel book, or cookbook, or book of poetry are far better choices than news magazines filled with stories about all the things that are wrong in the world.

Self-help books are also a very effective way to help reduce stress. They encourage you to explore your feelings and they recommend such techniques as listening to soothing music, learning how to play a musical instrument, or just engaging in deep breathing in order to deal with stressful situations.

One of the best stress reliever is reading a good novel. It's the best medicine there is without the side effects of drugs. When you read a good story, whether it be a historical fiction or a mystery thriller or a comic novel, it almost always transports you away from anxieties and frustrations. It allows your imagination to run free and then leaves you feeling refreshed and invigorated. When you are reading it forces you to concentrate, to exercise your mind in a way that passively watching TV or a movie can never match.

In the long run, it doesn't matter what you read but how much you read. Try reading while standing in the grocery line, or at the bank, or while pedaling your stationary bike. The more you read, the more you will want to read because you will quickly discover its short and long term stress reducing benefits.

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Find out more about Mental Health at healthandfinesse.com

First and foremost, anyone who feels they show any type of symptoms of anxiety or depression must always check with a healthcare professional before treatment.

An herbal remedy that was first recorded for its medicinal applications is called Rhodiola Rosea. This herbal remedy has been used extensively in Russian medicine since 1969.

Rhodiola Rosea is a natural remedy and the latest to join the ever-growing arsenal of natural stress and anxiety reducers.

Rhodiola Rosea is a native plant of Arctic Siberia and commonly known as Golden Root. Eastern European and Asian cultures have used this herb for centuries for work productivity and longevity, physical endurance, resistance to high altitude sickness, to treat fatigue, anemia, depression, impotence, infections, nervous system disorders and gastrointestinal ailments.

Considered an adaptogen, which means it has an overall stabilizing effect on one's body without disrupting any other functions. Because of its ability to normalize the hormones, it may well be an effective treatment for people that suffer from anxiety and depression.

Westerners have only begun to become aware of the health benefits of Rhodiola Rosea in spite of its long history. Because of studies, which tested its effect on combating stress and anxiety, natural health care practitioners, have started paying more attention to this herbal remedy.

Studies have been conducted to identify its effects on chemical, biological and physical stress. Adaptogen's have been shown to improve the body's overall ability to handle stress.

Studies have been performed to test the effects of Rhodiola Rosea when stress is caused by some sort of intense mental work such as a final exam. These tests resulted in an increase in mental clarity and a reduction in the affects of fatigue, which in turn produced much improved quality of work.

In a report by the American botanical Council Rhodiola Rosea was tested on both anxiety and stress from a physical and emotional standpoint. The report showed most of the users found that their mood had improved, as well as their mental clarity and their energy level. Another study has shown the possibility thatRhodiola Rosea could increase one's stress tolerance at the same time protecting the heart and brain from physical effects of stress.

Consumers need to be aware that Rhodiola can also be sold using a species that do not share the common properties of Rhodiola Rosea or could possibly be ineffective for treatment. The properties should be a minimum 0.8% salidroside and 3% rosavin.

Always remember to fully investigate any herbal remedy and check with your health care professional to be sure it is the right remedy for you.

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About the Author:

Carlie Edwards publishes articles & useful information on Today's Issues & Topics. For more information on Anxiety Panic Attack visit: http://anxiety-and-panic-attack.com. To find a variety of topics & issues visit: http://health-and-beauty-worx.com