Most of us, at one time or another, have faced some sort of overwhelming challenge. Whether it be in business, relationships, or health – some challenges can take us for a loop, places where we don’t want to go… if we allow. We’re human – even the most seemingly, perfectly grounded person – struggles at times.

If you’ve been severely challenged or are presently worrying and stressing over a difficult situation – try showing a bit of thanks – gratitude – for all that IS working right in your life. And, build from there. Gratitude is powerful.

Did you know that next to immunodepressants, gratitude heals organ transplant patients fastest?

The Mississippi University for Women found out in a study that patients who kept a gratitude journal scored better in mental health tests than those who didn’t, even when they started off at the same level of mental health. They generally healed faster, had more vitality and were happier.

It doesn’t stop there – those who are unwell are not the only people who benefit from an attitude of gratitude. The debate continues as to whether material well-being and happiness makes a person grateful or whether it is the other way around. Tests were done where participants were all of the same income level, their lives were more or less the same in terms of satisfaction and happiness and their mental health was at par.

Some were asked to keep a gratitude journal and others were asked to go on living as usual. After 2 months, the people who kept gratitude journals showed significant leaps in happiness and well-being. They said they were much more energetic and felt that they got what they wanted. They felt that they traveled towards their goals faster.

What is the connection between gratitude and well being?

There’s really no single explanation, but there’s agreement on one thing: the more grateful you are, the more positive you feel about life and about yourself, and the more you achieve.

Gratitude helps you see all things in their perspective. In the past, when you’ve felt grateful for something or someone – did you see how suddenly that thing’s or person’s value swelled and became even more meaningful to you?

If you wake up and immediately give thanks for a great, blue sky, you’ll notice that the day seems much richer. If you give thanks for your spouse, your brain has a way of picking it up and making you see even better things about them and this makes you feel happier. Happiness leads to well-being.

Gratitude also makes you focus on the things that you’re grateful for and you therefore attract more. It’s the old law of attraction, which holds that what you think about grows. If you’re grateful for strong, fulfilling relationships, they tend to grow and therefore you’ll be happier. If you’re grateful for a strong business, it will grow and you’ll feel more fulfilled.

Does it really matter why gratitude leads to well-being?

You now know that it does, so why not start to practice it. How would you gain from being able to put your challenges in perspective, faster? I was able to start making positive moves to create the outcome that I preferred. Yes, it required a time commitment. In fact, as a busy woman, fitting “gratitude time” into my day was very difficult at first. But, I found the time because it was that important.

I discovered that if I wanted to do it, I had to set aside a time for nothing else but “gratitude time” and my journal had to be in a place where I couldn’t ignore it. After awhile it became my habit – the first thing I do before I get out of bed.

I think about and write down what I am grateful for. The more grateful I am, the more I have to be grateful for – the better I feel and the more productive I am throughout my day. What a powerful way to start your day!!

I encourage you to make a gratitude journal. Plan it in such a way that it’s in your path everyday and you can’t ignore it. You’ll find that after days, even just hours of your first journaling, your perspective will be different and you will have given yourself more time to go forward and focus on what matters most.

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What is Health?

How do you define health? Is it a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being? Is it merely the absence of disease or infirmity? Or is health a resource for everyday life, rather than the objective of living; a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities?

Good health is harder to define than bad health (which can be equated with the presence of disease), because it must convey a concept more positive than mere absence of disease, and there is a variable area between health and disease. Health is clearly a complex, multidimensional concept. Health is, ultimately, poorly defined and difficult to measure, despite impressive efforts by epidemiologists, vital statisticians, social scientists and political economists. Each individual’s health is shaped by many factors, including medical care, social circumstances, and behavioral choices.

Health Care

While it is true to say that health care is the prevention, treatment and management of illness, and the preservation of mental and physical well-being, through the services offered by the medical, nursing and allied health professions, health-related behavior is influenced by our own values, which are determined by upbringing, by example, by experience, by the company one keeps, by the persuasive power of advertising (often a force of behavior that can harm health), and by effective health education. Healthy individuals are able to mobilize all their physical, mental, and spiritual resources to improve their chances of survival, to live happy and fulfilling lives, and to be of benefit to their defendants and society.

Achieving health, and remaining healthy, is an active process. Natural health is based on prevention, and on keeping our bodies and minds in good shape. Health lies in balancing these aspects within the body through a regimen consisting of diet, exercise, and regulation of the emotions. The last of these is too often ignored when health advice is dispensed, but can have a pronounced effect on physical well-being.

Diet

Every day, or so it seems, new research shows that some aspect of lifestyle – physical activity, diet, alcohol consumption, and so on – affects health and longevity. Physical fitness is good bodily health, and is the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. The field of nutrition also studies foods and dietary supplements that improve performance, promote health, and cure or prevent disease, such as fibrous foods to reduce the risk of colon cancer, or supplements with vitamin C to strengthen teeth and gums and to improve the immune system. When exercising, it becomes even more important to have a good diet to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macro nutrients whilst providing ample micro nutrients; this is to aid the body in the recovery process following strenuous exercise.

If you’re trying to lose weight by “dieting”, don’t call it a diet, first of all – successful dieters don’t call what they do a “diet”. A healthy diet and regular physical activity are both important for maintaining a healthy weight. Even literate, well-educated people sometimes have misguided views about what makes or keeps them healthy, often believing that regular daily exercise, regular bowel movements, or a specific dietary regime will alone suffice to preserve their good health. Despite the ever-changing, ever-conflicting opinions of the medical experts as to what is good for us, one aspect of what we eat and drink has remained constantly agreed by all: a balanced diet.

A balanced diet comprises a mixture of the main varieties of nutriments (protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins). Proper nutrition is just as, if not more, important to health as exercise. If you’re concerned about being overweight, you don’t need to add the extra stress of “dieting”. No “low-fat this” or “low-carb that”; just healthful eating of smaller portions, with weight loss being a satisfying side effect. Improve health by eating real food in moderation. (For many reasons, not everyone has easy access to or incentives to eat a balanced diet. Nevertheless, those who eat a well-balanced diet are healthier than those who do not.)

Exercise

Physical exercise is considered important for maintaining physical fitness and overall health (including healthy weight), building and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system. Aerobic exercises, such as walking, running and swimming, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance and muscle density. Anaerobic exercises, such as weight training or sprinting, increase muscle mass and strength. Proper rest and recovery are also as important to health as exercise, otherwise the body exists in a permanently injured state and will not improve or adapt adequately to the exercise. The above two factors can be compromised by psychological compulsions (eating disorders, such as exercise bulimia, anorexia, and other bulimias), misinformation, a lack of organization, or a lack of motivation.

Ask your doctor or physical therapist what exercises are best for you. Your doctor and/or physical therapist can recommend specific types of exercise, depending on your particular situation. You can use exercises to keep strong and limber, improve cardiovascular fitness, extend your joints’ range of motion, and reduce your weight. You should never be too busy to exercise. There’s always a way to squeeze in a little exercise, no matter where you are. Eliminate one or maybe even two items from your busy schedule to free up time to fit in some exercise and some “YOU” time. Finding an exercise partner is a common workout strategy.

Emotions

You may have heard about the benefits of diet and exercise ad nauseam, but may be unaware of the effect that your emotions can have on your physical well-being and, indeed, your longevity. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life. Mental health is how we think, feel, and act in order to face life’s situations. Prolonged psychological stress may have a negative impact on health, such as weakening the immune system.

Children are particularly vulnerable. Caring for and protecting a child’s mental health is a major part of helping that child to grow into a normal adult, accepted into society. Mental health problems are not just a passing phase. Children are at greater risk for developing mental health problems when certain factors occur in their lives or environments. Mental health problems include depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia and conduct disorder. Do your best to provide a safe and loving home and community for your child, as well as nutritious meals, regular health check-ups, immunisations and exercise. Many children experience mental health problems that are real and painful, and they can be severe. Mental health problems affect at least one in every five young people at any given time. Tragically, an estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need. Mental health problems can lead to school failure, alcohol or other drug abuse, family discord, violence, or even suicide. A variety of signs may point to a possible mental health problem in a child or teenager. Talk to your doctor, a school counselor, or other mental health professionals who are trained to assess whether your child has a mental health problem.

Control your emotions. If a driver overtakes you on the wrong side, or pulls out of a side road in front of you, don’t seethe with rage and honk your horn; You’re hurting no one but yourself by raising your blood pressure. Anger has been linked to heart disease, and research has suggested that hardening of the arteries occurs faster in people who score highly in hostility and anger tests. Stay calm in such situations, and feel proud of yourself for doing so. Take comfort in the knowledge that such aggressive drivers only increase their own blood pressure. Your passengers will be more impressed with your “cool” than with your irascibility.

If you are in a constant rush, feeling that every second of your life counts, just slow down a little. Yes, every second does count, but consider the concept of quality of life. Compare how you feel when you’re in a hurry with how you feel when you’re not. Which feels better? Rushing everywhere increases your stress level. The body tries to overcome stress by making certain physiological adjustments. Some time after you slow down, the physiological adjustments and the stress symptoms revert to normal. If you don’t ever slow down, the physiological adjustments and the stress symptoms persist. It is this persistence of the body’s response that matters. You may develop physical, physiological or psychological problems, and may not be able to lead a normal life. Many cases of stress are somehow connected with money, or rather the lack of it. Such people struggle to make ends meet or to acquire more material possessions. This brings us to our final discussion: attitude.

Attitude

It is always pleasant to enjoy the fruits of our labors, of course. Sometimes, however, it seems that whatever we do, it’s just not enough to be able to afford that new car or that foreign holiday. So, what do we usually do then? We work harder, longer; we increase the stress on our minds and bodies; we spend less time with our families and friends; we become more irascible and less likeable people. If you find yourself in this situation, just stop for a moment, and consider: Is it all worth it? What is the purpose of life? Surely it is to be happy. You’ll probably be happier if you adopt the philosophy that true quality of life is not to be found in material things. If you convince yourself that you want less, you’ll need less. If you need less, you’ll cope with life more easily, and the happier, and therefore healthier, you’ll be. Buddha called this “enlightenment”. Enjoy a “good-health attitude”. Focus on your abilities instead of disabilities. Be satisfied with what you have, rather than be dissatisfied about what you don’t have and probably never will have.

If you simply cannot cope with a healthy diet, exercise and emotional control, but genuinely prefer to eat junk food, be permanently drunk, be under constant stress, and be disliked by others, then enjoy your life while it lasts, but understand that the trade-off is that it will probably not last long. If you accept this willingly, you’ll be happy. There is some merit in the philosophy that it is better to live a short, happy life than a long, miserable one.

Conclusion

Personal or individual health is largely subjective. For most individuals and for many cultures, however, health is a philosophical and subjective concept, associated with contentment, and often taken for granted when all is going well. The evidence that behavioral factors such as diet, physical activity, smoking and stress influence health is overwhelming. Thus, health is maintained and improved not only through the advancement and application of health science, but also through the efforts and intelligent lifestyle choices of the individual and society. Perhaps the best thing you can do for your health is to keep a positive attitude. Optimal health can be defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual health. Maintain a positive attitude!

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“Optimum health is not just the absence of disease but the presence of wellness in mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and social areas. Some would also include financial health.”

Introduction

Optimum health is essential at all levels, from the individual to the society we live in to the environment around us. We have to start thinking of wealth not just in terms of possession of money and properties but also the possession of mental, emotional, physical, social and spiritual well-being.

Mental Health

The truth is mind is the forerunner of all states.

With a proper mindset, a poor man can still be happy. Conversely, if the mindset is not right, no matter how much material possessions you may have, you may still be a very unhappy person. Thus, Gandhi said, “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not enough for even a single person’s greed.”

So a healthy mind is one that possesses a mindset that can lead to happiness and contentment with self and the world around us. It provides clarity of thoughts, good insight and the ability to see things through an unbiased mind.

To be able to see things through an unbiased mind is no small feat. It is extremely difficult to note or observe the unfolding of events and phenomena without judging. We habitually associate emotions or feelings to events, and allow such emotions to direct our actions. Our likes for certain things and dislikes for others are closely associated with our emotions.

Emotional Health

It is our emotions that lead us to act impulsively at times. Thus a high level of self-awareness in this area is extremely useful. In fact, it is essential to our well-being. After all, things and relationships that may take us years to build can be destroyed in a moment of anger.

There are positive and negative emotions. Positive emotions such as love, compassion and joy should be cultivated, while negative emotions such as fear, anger and hate need to be eradicated.

When asked about this, a wise sage of India once illustrated with a story:

An old man said to his grandson, “Boy, I have two tigers caged within me. One is love and compassion. The other is fear and anger.”

The young boy asked, “Which one will win, grandfather?”

The old man replied, “The one I feed.”

At times, it may seem that we have no control over our emotions. This is not true. The truth is how well we manage our emotions depends on how aware we are of our emotions, particularly on the arising of our emotions. The earlier we are able to note the arising of our emotions, we better we can manage them.

More and more researches are showing that our well-being is closely linked to our emotional and mental health. Our body’s immune system is generally enhanced by positive mental outlook and emotion. Conversely, it is depressed by negative mental and emotional states. Thus, stress, worry, anger and fear are some states that may lead to physical illnesses such as hypertension, cardiac diseases, peptic ulcers, depression and a host of other ailments.

Physical Health

To maintain an optimum physical well-being, therefore, requires us to focus not only on our body but also our mind and emotions.

On a physical level, our body can be kept healthy through adequate sleep and rest, proper nutrition, regular exercises and a healthy environment that is free from pollution.

Spiritual Health

Throughout the ages, wise men have consistently informed and taught us that we are essentially spiritual beings.

Although medical science has not been able to reveal to us our spiritual nature, there are many indirect evidence that we would be foolish to ignore. Stories from people who had gone through a near death experience (NDE), or dying people with heightened nearing death awareness, or simply a cure from an ‘incurable’ disease all suggest that there is more to life than just the physical state.

Major religions of the world all based their teachings on the belief that we are essentially spiritual beings. According to these teachings, our physical existence is secondary.

While it may be true that we should focus our life more on our spiritual nature than our physical nature, it would be difficult for the majority of people to do so, at least not immediately. Things cannot change overnight. Mindset, however, can, and that is perhaps the best place to start.

Financial Health

However, on a more mundane level, most people are still stuck on how to survive from day to day, where to get the next cheque to pay for the house installment, so on and so forth.

Practically, therefore, we need to look into ways to achieve a financial state that would theoretically free us from the constrain of ‘forced’ work. This is where the concept of financial freedom is so attractive. According to this concept, one should strive for a state where we have one or more than one source of income that can be generated passively, that is, even when we don’t work.

This is what Robert Kiyosaki termed as ‘passive income’.

According to him, passive income can only be achieved by becoming an investor or a business owner, not a sole proprietor or an employee. To become an investor or a business owner, you must spend the time and money to acquire financial intelligence. Unlike IQ or EQ, you can acquire financial intelligence through self education.

To get a financial health check-up, consult an accountant, a banker or a financial planner you can trust.

Healthy Relationship

“No man is an island, entire by itself.”

As a medical doctor, I am in a unique position to confront and comfort dying patients. One of the most important thing that I have observed is that dying people do not ask about their money or possessions. Instead, they focus their remaining energy and strength on trying to heal wounded relationships. It is as though there is an inherent need to get a proper closure to a relationship.

Thus, forming and cultivating a healthy relationship is important for our well-being. Unfortunately, this is something we often ignored until it is too late. If there is any forgiving to be done, or the need to be forgiven, leaving things to the last minutes may end up with an unfulfilled desire for a closure.

Knowing this now, shouldn’t we spend more time and effort in improving our relationship with our loved ones, especially with our parents, spouse, children and siblings?

Dr Tim Ong is a medical doctor with 15 years of experience in family medicine. He is also a speaker, trainer and counsellor in his community. He has a personal website at KlinikOng.com

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The end of Memorial Day means one thing: the summer is here. And what better way to kick-start some fun in the sun than by consuming one of the most flavorful tropical fruits the season has to offer— pineapple. But aside from its yellow-golden center appropriately resembling the sun itself, this fruit actually provides a magnitude of health benefits that can aid in longevity. To learn how pineapple can improve your overall health, continue reading below.

Fights Sickness and Viruses. Pineapple is loaded with tons of vitamin c and antioxidants—two substances your body needs to remain healthy. These substances diligently work to fortify your immune system so that harmful toxins, better known as free radicals, don’t attack your body and result in certain illnesses such as the flu and the common cold.  While illnesses such as the common cold may not seem too life-threatening, free-radicals have also been linked to causing serious diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Thus ensuring that your body’s defenses are in tip top shape is crucial.

May Prevent/Alleviate Arthritis and Respiratory Diseases/Pain. Because pineapple is an excellent source of vitamin c, it will naturally help strengthen your bones which may help fight against rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. But because pineapple is also filled with bromelain—a substance that experts say reduces inflammation in the body—it may not only help alleviate the pain associated with arthritis (which by definition is the “inflammation of the joints”) but it may also help subside the pain with other inflammation-inducing illnesses such as bronchitis, sore throats, acute sinusitis and even asthma.

Helps Regulate Weight. Pineapple is a metabolism boosting food and like with all other foods that increase metabolic rate, pineapple can help you lose weight. This is because it takes more energy to digest pineapples. The more energy one uses to digest food the more calories he or she can burn. Thus   in-turn you will be able to replace fat with muscle more easily while working out at the gym.  To reap the most calorie-burning benefits, it’s usually best to consume pineapple about an hour or so before your planned work out.

Improves Oral Hygiene. Lastly, consuming pineapple can help you maintain kissable breath all day long. This is because pineapple contains special digestive enzymes that rid the odor that may be lingering from food in your stomach. The watery fruit also helps keep your mouth moist— a condition that is not only connected to bad breath but also gum disease and tooth decay.

Author Bio:

This guest post is contributed by Leslie Johnson, who writes about health, green living, parenting related articles at masters in health administration.

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We have all heard the saying ‘laughter is the best medicine” but how much truth is there to this statement? Apparently a lot! Research has found that happiness itself may cause good health, and may be as important a factor as certain unhealthy habits such as smoking. A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined the link between happiness and a number of health factors in 200 Caucasian adults, age 45-59 years, all of whom worked for the government in London, England. The study assessed each participant on a work day and weekend day, measuring them at work and play for a number of criteria including blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormone (cortisol) levels. Participants were measured under normal conditions and after a mental stress test. Under each condition participants ranked their happiness on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). There were no differences in happiness between people who were married or single, male or female or of varying socioeconomic status; however the happiest participants had the best results across the board for the health markers. I.e. happier people had lower heart rates, and an average of 32% lower levels of cortisol which can have a direct effect on other elements such as blood sugar.

Another study exposed subjects to the cold virus and found that happy people were less likely to get sick, and if they did contract the virus, displayed fewer symptoms. (Source: Carnegie Mellon University). Happy people are less likely to have surges of cortisol, which decreases immunity and makes you more likely to get sick.

Positive, happy people are also more likely to take good care of themselves, have a stronger support system, and live longer. One of the most convincing studies was done on a group of nuns who had almost identical histories, eliminating variables such as diet and socioeconomic background. The study involved this group of nuns each writing an auto biological sketch of her life upon acceptance into the convent, and then examining these sketches six decades later. The study found that the content of these sketches was surprisingly indicative of whether these nuns were still alive, and how healthy they were. 90% of the nuns that had written positive and cheerful sketches were still alive at age 85, while only 34% of the least cheerful nuns were alive. The happiest nuns actually lived a full 10 years longer!

Do you want to be happier, healthier, and live longer? Who doesn’t! But the million dollar question is “How?” Here are 7 strategies to increase your current level of happiness:

1. Make your negative thoughts positive: Aynsley Smith, director of the sports-medicine research center at the Mayo Clinic has a simple method of training her students to focus on positive thoughts. She has her students carry a clicker pen around with them and whenever they notice they are dwelling on negative issues, they are asked to click the pen. This acts as a trigger to change one’s ‘thought channel’.

2. Keep a gratitude journal: Studies show that people who practice grateful thinking on a regular basis can increase their natural level of happiness significantly. Grateful thinking encourages us to be aware and spend time thinking about the positive experiences, things and people in our lives. Keeping a gratitude journal is a simple process – grab a blank notebook or journal and each night before you go to sleep, think of five things you are grateful for and write them down. Review your day and write down anything that made you feel good or that you are appreciative of – big or small. You can review your entries daily and develop a pattern of seeing things in a positive, grateful way.

3. Exercise: Many tactics to increase our happiness are short lived and actually end up making us feel worse. I.e. an extra glass or two of wine, indulging in too much chocolate ice cream, etc. Exercise not only helps in the short term, but has lasting effects that are more conducive to long term happiness. Exercise helps to reduce anxiety and increase feelings of happiness due to the release of endorphins (feel-good hormones). Regular exercise is also thought to improve sleep patterns, bringing us to another important element in increasing your happiness.

4. Sleep: Sleep deprivation has a profound effect on your happiness. Studies show that a bad night sleep is one of the top reasons for being in a sour mood at work, whereas one extra hour of sleep at night can do as much if not more for your daily happiness than a $60,000 raise. We mentioned that exercise is related to a regular sleep cycle, but the two are actually interrelated. Being well rested means you are more likely to commit to a regular exercise regime, particularly if you exercise each morning, before your work day takes over.

5. Emphasize and utilize your strengths: rather than spending your thoughts and energy on correcting the things you do ‘wrong’ or that need improved upon, emphasize and utilize your strengths – find tasks that relate to your strengths and put them to work! Strength-use leads to feelings or pride and accomplishment, resulting in greater happiness.

6. Show kindness and compassion daily: Volunteer your time to a cause that means something to you. Be a listening ear for a friend in need. Perform random acts of kindness on a regular basis. Helping others has a dramatic effect on our own happiness. Sonya Lyubomirsky, Psychology professor at Stanford University indicates that this is most effective when all five acts are performed on the same day. Professor Lyubomirsky’s instructs,

“In our daily lives, we all perform acts of kindness for others. These acts may be large or small and the person for whom the act is performed may or may not be aware of the act. Examples include feeding a stranger’s parking meter, donating blood, helping a friend with homework, visiting an elderly relative, or writing a thank you letter. One day each week, you are to perform five acts of kindness. The acts do not need to be for the same person, the person may or may not be aware of the act, and the act may or may not be similar to the acts listed above.”

7. Set SMART goals: That is goals that are specific, measureable, attractive, realistic and time-framed. The likelihood of achieving SMART goals is much greater, and achieving your goals leads to greater confidence and happiness. Each time you achieve a goal that you have set for yourself, you are one step closer to creating your ‘ideal life’.

The first step to achieving greater happiness is having an understanding of the implication being happy has on the rest of your life. We all deserve to live long, happy, healthy lives; take matters into your own hands, start with the above strategies and get happy today!

Terrene is a marketing coordinator with Noomii, a coaching resource center for life coaches. Noomii has an extensive directory of life coaches worldwide.

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Often times our own, personal wants and needs become low priority. Whether the reason is because of our fast paced society, or we simply do not have the energy; either way this is not a healthy way to live. See, the extended hours many of us put into work and other activities is time that could be better spend working out and improving our overall quality of life. Not only do we suddenly not have time for proper exercise, but thousands live off of diets filled with processed, sugary foods. The combination of these two factors is quite dangerous to mankind.

Have you ever noticed a feeling of lethargy or just simply a lack of energy? Look at the people you surround yourself with and pay attention to their energy levels too. See, you do not have to be sick to be “ill”. Thing is, people see these symptoms and rush off to the doctor for a quick fix, but this does not fix the underlying problem; your overall health.

See, while diseases and infections can be taken care of by a doctor, your overall health cannot. A doctor sees health as the lack of a sickness, whereas health is really determined by how your body functions. Your health is your responsibility, no one person can make you do what it takes to lead a healthy life.

At some point in your life you need to ask yourself – “Am I getting everything I can out of life or am I merely just getting by?” We stay so busy that we thing dragging through each day is normal and that is the only way to live life. But, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Living a lifestyle in this manner leads to nothing but a dark and gloomy life in comparison to what it could be.

It is time that, as a society, we stop depending on doctors and medications to “fix” us. If you are not suffering from a true infection or disease and are simply blaming your lack of motivation on illness, you need to seriously re-evaluate your life. Health comes from what you put into your body and the activities that you perform, not from the number of medications that you are taking or the ability of your local practitioner. There is no “cure” for this “condition” of stress and laziness that so many suffer from; not a cure you can get from a prescription anyway.

Rather than depending on medicine to cure your so-called ailments, it is time to get off the couch and take your health into your own hands. Your health is nearly entirely up to you. The more you exercise and the cleaner you eat, the healthier you will become. Your body needs fuel to function properly, and without the right type of fuel it begins to feel lethargic and stops functioning as it should. It also needs a certain amount of exercise as exercise is what gives it the motivation to produce more energy for you to get through each day.

So, ask yourself “Do I want to be healthy by definition of “not sick”? Or do I want to be healthy by definition of in good health from the inside out?” If you have chosen the latter then you are finally in the right mindset to get the most out of life; including a few extra years at the end if you approach it right. Take you healthy into your own hands, start eating natural, whole foods and working out and you will begin to feel like a new person in no time at all.

Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body, regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook “I’ve Found the Fountain of Youth – Let Me Show You Too!” http://www.over50looking30.com

Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who in her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards losing weight, becoming strong, fit and youthful at any age.

Sign up for her free newsletter on Weight Loss Tips http://FitnessWeightloss.com and get her free report “Discover ‘Secrets’ That Most People Will Never Know About To Really Lose Weight”.

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“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”

- Buddha

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Modern medicine has seen a lot of changes in recent years, but there’s still too much focus on dealing with specific physical ailments rather than preventing them. Learning to utilize the intensely symbiotic relationship that exists between the mind and the body can help you to maintain a healthy life. Here are five practical ways to achieve optimal health that your doctor won’t share with you:

1. Change Your Thoughts. The role of the placebo effect has largely gone unnoticed, misunderstood and even trivialized, which is unfortunate. The mind’s effect on the body (which we call the placebo effect) could be the single most important part of the healing process. Many people believe they do not have control over their own thoughts. This is not true. Changing thoughts, like anything else, simply involves practice. The things that tend to get our attention are things we do not like about our lives, or the negative thoughts, while the things that are positive about our lives go unnoticed. Change your thinking to one of optimism and gratitude. Consciously looking for things to enjoy, appreciate and be thankful for is enough to dramatically change the energy that you are projecting into your world, as well as into your body. Learn to recognize your negative thoughts and beliefs, and then replace them with thoughts that feel good to think. Soon, you will find you have let go of the thoughts that are standing in the way of your physical and mental health.

2. Stop Paying Attention to the News. We often get so familiar with our normal routine that we do not realize we are filling ourselves full of information that is not in line with good health. Many people get out of bed and immediately tune into the news. This ensures that you will start the day off on a negative foot. News, like any other business, must find a way to sell. Shock value sells. Negativity sells. It evokes a strong reaction from the reader or watcher that ensures it will get the attention needed to stay in business. The news paints an inaccurate view of our world. We often think that it is important to pay attention to “reality” and what is going on in the world, but the extreme and negative things that are going on, are not all that exists in our world. There are also (even more so than the amount of negative things) positive things going on every day. These are the things that don’t make for good headlines. When we hear or see something negative, but can’t do anything about it, it fills us with the feeling of powerlessness and fear. It helps form an inaccurate belief that the world we live in is one which we should be afraid of. We also form the belief that we can be a victim at any moment. This way of seeing the world is incredibly detrimental to all aspects of mental and physical health.

3. Eat for Health. You are what you eat. When you are in a positive mind set, you will find that you gravitate towards foods which are a match to your overall health. When you are in a negative mind set, you will gravitate towards foods which are not a match to your overall health. It remains true that physically taking steps towards health is no match for taking mental steps towards health. However, when you are nourishing your body with healthy things, it can definitely help you to achieve mental health as well. Realize that feeding your body in a healthy way is one way of showing love to yourself. Try to have fun expanding your palette. No matter what you’ve heard, healthy food does not have to taste bad, it can even taste better than unhealthy food. Deliberately look for restaurants with healthy options on their menus. Eat whole foods, fresh vegetables and fresh fruits. Eat less processed foods, and get help to slowly overcome your attachments to sugar, alcohol, caffeine and other “junk” foods. This should not be a stressful transition to make. The stress involved in dieting often only worsens the problem instead of solves it. So, set attainable goals and make the transition from unhealthy foods to healthy foods a gradual one. In no time, you will notice a difference in your energy level and your overall health.

4. Find an Exercise You Love to Do. It is no secret that regular exercise plays a large role in health. You are living life in this physical body, so… use it! You do not have to be athletic to exercise and it does not have to be a source of stress for you. In fact, exercise for the sake of exercise when you don’t enjoy it is detrimental to health. No one likes to force themselves to exercise. The way to get around the stress involved with exercise is to make exercise a part of something else you love to do. If you do not yet have a particular exercise you enjoy, you can start by searching for an activity that incorporates exercise which raises your heart rate for at least 30 minutes. You may try several activities before finding the one that really fits. Any type of exercise turns from a burden into a joy when you are focusing on what you love to do. For example, people who love being in water can exercise by swimming and because they love water so much, they will look forward to the exercise they are doing. The focus involved in a game of racket ball, for example, can make players forget the amount of exercise they are actually getting. Physical exercise can also be a great way to get out and socialize in the community. Exercising with other people makes the process of exercise not only easier but more enjoyable. A lot of people are looking for other people to exercise with. If you integrate exercise into your daily routine, it will lead to a longer, healthier and more fulfilling life.

5. Put out Into the World What You Want to Get Back. Simply put, you get back what you give out. We have a tendency to expect others to change the way that they are thinking and acting without realizing that the only person we can ever change is ourselves. The interesting dichotomy is that the minute you change the way you think and act, the world outside of you will also change. Begin to experiment with this by practicing random acts of kindness. Some good examples include: writing an affirming note with a message such as “you are worthy of all this life has to give” and putting it anonymously on someone’s car windshield or opening someone’s door for them. These simple activities empower you. They help you to see that you can make a positive change in the world. You will start to feel capable and proactive. The positive way you will feel as a result of doing this will reflect out into all aspects of your body and mind. You will begin to notice very quickly that you are being treated the same way you are treating others and there is nothing quite like a supportive environment to help you achieve your optimum health.

Taking steps towards your mental and physical health, along with making your health a priority, enables you to live the fulfilling and joyful life which you deserve to live. Your life is an open canvass. Enjoy it and make a masterpiece of it. Let your physical and mental health pave the way.

Teal Scott, The Spiritual Catalyst is a contemporary spiritual guide who writes and teaches publicly about spirituality, the meaning of life, and the road to health and happiness.

See more at http://www.thespiritualcatalyst.com.

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Why are some people happy and others not? There are certain factors that contribute to one’s ability to be “happy” under most circumstances. These are a few…

1. Flexibility. The old saying “once you make a plan, God laughs,” has proven true time and time again in my own life. Being able to adjust to changing life events, even as minor as dinner plans, with flexibility and ease leads directly to happiness. Why? Flexibility means forsaking control – willingly. Quite a feat to be sure, but a gift – only to be received if you are willing to give up control first.

2. Don’t take it personally. As my father wisely once said, “Some people are just a@@holes.” You can be assured in your life that your will encounter some real “pains in the bottom”, difficult situations, unfairness, and other assorted crap. Promise. And the person sitting next to you, same thing. The same goes with any other person you meet in your life too. We are all stumbling through at times. So, relax, take a breath and imagine what you would like to happen in whatever situation is causing you difficulty. Focusing on what you want enables you to emerge from any frustration with clarity.

3. Humor. Once you are able to either laugh at yourself or whatever the situation, you bring lightness to your heart. Laughter feels good. Watch funny movies, read amusing books, talk to a friend who always makes you laugh, go bowling. Just by adding more laughter to your life and you will notice, gently a quiet lightness entering your thoughts and being.

4. Positive attitude. I am not suggesting to live like some annoying, over-the-top Polly-Anna, but to live your life on the foundation that, “all is well.” This isn’t to deny there are problems or tragedies in life, but it does focus on solutions instead of the difficulties.

5. Gratitude. Happy people are reminded each day of their blessings – the good and the difficult. As much as it drives me nuts, challenges are opportunities. Opportunities to learn, to grow and most importantly, to know yourself better. True gratitude is born out of compassion – just as much for yourself as others.

6. Confidence. Not swaggering, but a calm knowing of ones own abilities. Confidence also means knowing you will stumble on occasion, but the confident person knows not to make a habit of it.

7. Presence. Happy people live right now, in this moment – not dreaming about yesterday or fantasying about tomorrow. Here and now – laughing about the things that others might be frustrated by, and knowing all is well…

8. Choice. All happy people know happiness is a choice. Some days it’s easier to be happy, while other days may be a bit more of a struggle. However, knowing that you have the choice to lift yourself up or push yourself down – often leads to better decisions.

Happiness is not derived from one isolated event, but by attitudes and beliefs. Gratefully, like choice, each of us has the power to change our attitudes and beliefs with time and attention.

Happiness isn’t for someone else, it’s for you. It is for each one of us to sink deeply into the happiness of this moment, however mundane the pleasures. May you discover happiness already waits for you, deep within.

Kelly Ballard is a workshop leader, Intuitive Guide and Healer. Through workshops, private sessions and guided meditations Kelly specializes in helping others discover positive solutions for immediate change/growth in their lives thus drawing their most abundant life into reality. Find out more information about her services and meditation CDs at http://www.kellyballard.com Contact her directly at 720-984-4232 or email kelly@kellyballard.com She lives in Boulder, CO.

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What keeps us alive? Three things sustain us; water, food, and fresh air. Of course we cannot get by for long if even one of these essentials is missing. Without good food we could only last two or three weeks. Without water, we would die in a matter of days. Without fresh air, we could not live more than a few minutes.

More important than the food we eat, or the water we drink, is the blessed pure air we breathe. It is indeed, the elixir of life. The very best locations for enjoying the benefits of fresh air are at the seashore, the mountains, or in the country, away from city life. It is imperative that we distance ourselves from poisonous fumes, second hand exhalations, dust, decay and putrefaction.

It is even unwise to sleep near a composter. Many well meaning people have placed composters in their backyards in an effort to produce an organic garden and get back to nature. No waste vegetables or piles of decaying leaves should be permitted to poison the air near or within the home. The warmth and moisture associated with decaying vegetable or animal matter promotes germs and mould. Spores are then released into the air and they in turn are active in the production of disease.

While pure fresh air is the elixir of life, impure air can be the harbinger of disease and death. We must be vigilant in checking our living spaces for contaminated air from sewers or poorly maintained heating systems. Furnaces and ducts must be clean and efficient at all times. Ventilation is of paramount importance.

With regard to the therapeutic properties of fresh air, it should be kept in mind that the oxygen in the air we breathe affects the whole body as if it were charged with electricity. This electrical energy, absorbed by the blood, is carried to all parts of the body, including the nerves and the brain. A good breath of fresh air can revitalize, energize, and stimulate the mind that has been dulled, as well as the body that is fatigued.

Doctors should promote the life saving benefits of being out of doors. Medicines are necessary to fight certain conditions, but it is the change to a healthier lifestyle that really works wonders. Nature is the physician of God and there are life giving properties even in the balsam of pine, in the fragrances of cedar and fir. Wounds also heal much more rapidly when exposed to fresh air and sunshine.

Air has a very soothing effect on the body when it comes into contact with the entire surface. Whenever possible and modesty permitting, let your body breathe. Internal breathing is the function of the lungs. External breathing is accomplished through the medium of the skin. Dress in light cotton clothing where possible. The skin has millions of minute openings known as pores. It is through these pores that external breathing takes place.

In closing, I would urge you to consider moving to the country, the mountains or the sea shore. If you cannot do that, then at least visit those locations as often as possible. You would never dream of eating food someone else has chewed, so why should you breathe air that others have exhaled. Put some distance between yourself and the congested, contaminated environs of the commercial, industrial cities. Without an abundance of fresh, pure air, the interchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the lungs cannot take place. This important work of normalizing the blood chemistry is essential for optimum health.

Those who are sick and those who are well need to be in closer contact with nature. We shall derive health giving and even life giving benefits from time spent in the pure fresh air, amid the trees, vineyards, flowers and orchards. Take a deep breath.

© 2006 — Zane Madison — To learn German please visit this website.

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