Laughing Yoga Health Benefits

Looking for a healthy pick-me-up? "Laughter Yoga" is a relatively new concept that still emphasizes breathing like traditional yoga, but encourages laughter as exercise for the belly, diaphragm, lungs, and perhaps most importantly, the mind. Laughing Yoga proves true the old maxim - laughter really is the best medicine! As simple and profound as traditional yoga breathing, laughing yoga helps the practitioner feel happy and healthy. Laughing yoga encourages healthy breathing, but its benefits reach far beyond the lungs. Laughing yoga practitioners profess general health improvements such as lower frequencies of respiratory infections like colds and the flu, but they also claim to experience a genuine mood-lifting effect. It's truly incredible how just a bit of laughter can improve your whole day!

Originally launched by a physician in Mumbai, India in 1995, laughing yoga is based upon the scientific principle that the human body cannot differentiate between "fake" laughter and "real" laughter, so no matter how you slice it, the body will reap the same physiological and psychological benefits. Whether "real" or "fake," laughter lowers the levels of stress hormones in the blood stream. Laughing fosters hormone levels that literally "put us in a good mood." Many laughter yoga devotees claim to have used these exercises to overcome depression, or at least to laugh away troubles after a long, stressful day.

A session of laughing yoga requires you to leave your shyness at the door, but if you have trouble doing so, your "laughter leader" will help you shed your inhibitions. Exercise warm ups include lots of clapping, eye-contact with your fellow practitioners, rhythm and movement, and simple chants to promote heavy exhalations from the belly, invoking classic yoga diaphragmatic breathing. Most of all, warm-up exercises are designed to ease the class into a silly mood. Before you know it, you'll find yourself laughing. Sometimes your laughter leader will lead you through "gibberish" exercises, encouraging everyone to babble like babies. Sound silly? Of course it does! That's what makes it so effective at promoting laughter and feelings of child-like playfulness.

Healing Meditation for Body and Soul

What is healing?

Healing means bringing your mind and body to a stable and healthy state. Healing is not a simple process. It consists of various ups and downs until the body or mind is completely healed. If you want your body to heal from an ailment, you go to a doctor and take medicines. But what about your mental health? What if you want to heal from a trauma or a negative experience? In such a case, you need meditation to heal and get back to your healthy self

What is meditation?

Meditation is an art that helps in all types of healing, but unfortunately, is overlooked by almost everyone. It is very beneficial to the body, mind, and spirit, as it raises the energy levels of a person. It is believed that people with high energy rarely fall sick. Disease causing microbes have a difficult time living in a body that vibrates on higher frequencies.

I agree that there are many people who don't believe in such theories, but it is actually proved. Russian scientists have experimented and proved this hypothesis. They have found a method to purify water by using energy at high vibrations. They took contaminated water in a pyramid and applied high frequency energy. By doing this, they destroyed all microbes in the water without adding any chemicals. The reason behind it was that the pyramid increased the vibrations and destroyed bacteria present in the water.

Though it is proven that meditation is good for healing, how many people actually meditate? While some people don't believe in it, others are just too lazy and think it is time consuming. They say that they cannot focus their minds on one thing, which is why they cannot meditate. This is actually a normal thing and it will take some time before they can start focusing.

If you are also facing the same problem, here are some tips that will let you focus on yourself during meditation rather than the internal chatter in your head.

Essential Oils and Its Uses

In ancient times, essential oils are very much respected because of its medicinal and healing properties. For many centuries, it was considered as a treasure of an empire, and was even mentioned in The Holy Bible for over 500 times. But what really is an Essential Oil?

Essential oils are aromatic liquids taken from flowers, trees, roots, bushes, herbs, barks and seeds. Known as the essence of the plant, pure essential oils not just protect the plant, but it carries its aroma as well. It is generally extracted by distillation. Contrary to the name itself, essential oils are not really "oily" in effect. Most of them are clear liquids, while some have light colors.

These oils are usually mixed by other substances to create perfumes, soaps, lotions, candles and even household cleaning products. They are also used as flavoring agents in food and beverages.

Essential Oils Enable You to Live Healthier, More Energized and Stress-Free

Feeling good goes way beyond your emotions. It has a direct correlation with your working potential. If you're under too much stress, you can bet that it will show somewhere. Aromatherapy is the ideal solution here, but you have to know how to apply it to your particular case, because there are many different kinds of essential oils, each one having that much more uses.

For example, you can add them to the water and take a bath. A very good way to relieve muscle tension if you're an active sportsman. Then again, you can also use them directly on your skin (they have to be diluted first), or spray them in the air and inhale them. Essential oils are not be confused with synthetic fragrance oils, because the latter do not have the therapeutic properties, so always be careful about that when buying.

If you have decided how exactly you want to use them, I can start with my own recommendations. So for aerial use I would suggest something like Lemon or Orange, because these scents are liked by most of the people, and it's a good chance they will please you as well. Not only that, you will experience stress-relief too. This can be within minutes of inhaling or it could vary, depending on the current level of stress in your body and mind.

Acupuncture Treatment Brings Real Relief

It used to be believed to be a placebo treatment, but more studies are showing that acupuncture is a real way to treat chronic pain. Patients suffering from neck, back, muscle, or joint pain have a greater chance at extended relief when they receive acupuncture from an alternative health center.

Why Not Medicine?

People who have disorders with recurring discomfort, such as dysmenorrhea, are able to get relief from common over-the-counter, or prescription medication like an NSAID, however this often comes with side effects and can interact with anything else you take. With physiotherapy, there are no side effects, and you can combine types of therapy that treat all conditions, including simple inflammation.

Chiropractic Care

Offices that have a physiotherapist that is practicing various techniques will also have other Eastern world methods available. Acupuncture also works well with a deep muscle massage, and herbal remedies. Physiotherapists are required to go through the same rigorous educational training that medical physicians take. The schools must be accredited and board exams are taken before one receives their license.

Keep Healthy Through Autumn - Five Elements Style

As the indistinct Summer we've had gives way, nature changes to adapt to the next phase. We look forward to the beautiful Autumnal colours but also perhaps feel a hint of sadness at the departing season. In terms of the five elements, we are leaving the late Summer (Earth Element) and entering the Metal element. Although the non-human organic eco-system adjusts to this change automatically, we vary in our ability to take on the changes.

The Metal element is made up of the two meridians (energy channels) which are named the lung and large intestine channels. The two meridians cover our respiratory and elimination systems as expected from their names but also has influence at the mental and emotional level. For example, the phrase in the title "letting go" is the mental/emotional equivalent of the physical elimination of waste carried out by the large intestine. At the non-physical level, letting go is very much associated with grief and sadness too. Then our lungs are organs of breathing, taking in fresh air and exhaling carbon dioxide. The inhalation at the physical level is linked with the taking in of new ideas and being inspired by them. Interestingly, in the Eastern medical view, the lung, which is the interface boundary between the outside air and our inner tissue, is totally equivalent to the skin.

So as we slide into Autumn, there could be a sense of grief and finding it hard to accept the new energy of the season. Metal is sensitive to light, and the drawing in of the days will add to the sense of sadness. Yet as mentioned, the stunning colours can be very inspiring as can be the fresh crisp frosty days. The majority of us work in buildings and do not have the time to be more connected to the natural world. So changes of season can present physical and emotional challenges. We could be more susceptible to respiratory infections or have skin problems. Our bowels and urinary tract can play up. Emotionally we might feel down and out of sorts and perhaps have a sense of general malaise.

Aromatherapy Massage - The Benefits

Aromatherapy massage tends to be more relaxing than other forms of massage such as Swedish. Longer, slower strokes are used, and the massage is much less vigorous. However this does not mean that Aromatherapy massage is not as beneficial in relaxing the muscles, it is just done in a different way.

When going for an Aromatherapy massage you should discuss with the aromatherapist what you hope to achieve from the therapy, if you have particular health or emotional problems you would like treated make sure your therapist knows this. Once you have told the aromatherapist all of your symptoms they will blend together some essential oils with a carrier oil that they feel will benefit you.

There are many essential oils to choose between, so trust your therapist to pick a blend that will include top, middle and base notes. You should feel able to ask your therapist why they are choosing the particular oils added to the blend, and you should check you like the scent of the blended oils before the massage begins.

Important Details Regarding the Effects of Tanning Sprays

Spray tanning has for long been deemed as the safest solution to sun tanning. Nevertheless, a new report has pointed out that, spray tanning might not be the most ideal solution to spray tanning. This follows various scientific researches, which have all indicated that spray tanning has its fair share of risks.

According to reports released by ABC news, sprays used for purposes of tanning have been found to contain some chemicals which could have negative effects to human health, if used overtime. Among these chemicals which are contained in these sprays include dihydroxyacetone, which is commonly referred to as DHA. Apparently, scientific studies have proved that, DHA causes genetic mutations in cells contained in a dish. Even though no scientific studies which have been conducted in order to prove whether DHA would similarly cause genetic mutations in human cells, there are studies which have concluded that DHA poses health risks. Experts all over the world have called on for additional research in order to determine other health detrimental effects on human health.

Dr Rey Panettieri, who is a renowned toxicologist, a lung specialist and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, during an exclusive interview with ABC hinted out that, chemicals contained in tanning sprays could react with compounds present in human body cells. According to him, this could play a role in promoting the development of cell cancers and malignancies. Therefore, he urged people not to embrace tanning sprays, until all harmful effects linked to them are established. In the US, The Food and Drug Administration body have accredited the use of DHA, but for external use only. This therefore means that, this chemical should never be inhaled, applied to body parts that have sensitive cells such as lips and eye lids. Similarly, people have been discouraged from ingesting DHA, thanks to the fact that this chemical might end up poisoning the body. There are also score of experts, who are equally concerned with DHA's potential to cause lung cancer whenever inhaled by human beings and animals.

Organic Hair Oils and Beauty Products

Organic health and beauty products are definitely making a mark and increasing in popularity all over. Ethically produced skin and hair care products are also seeing a rise in popularity and people become more eco conscious and aware of what they are buying.

A credible eco beauty, health and fashion brand should ideally have a transparent supply chain that shows clearly how and from where the ingredients are obtained. In other words the ingredients should be sourced ethically or paid for fairly and from sources that are sustainable and not endangered. Over the past few year large multi nationals have had some bad press. Palm is an ingredient that is most commonly found in a vast array of beauty and hair care products. Produced in large scale this has been depleting the forests of countries like Indonesia from where it is sourced. This is where ethical brands hold their competitive edge as source in smaller quantities and from sustainable sources. For the eco consumerism is set to rise and the growth of such brands looks quite promising.

You only have to attempt searching online and there are a number of ethical and organic health and beauty brands that offer hair, skin care products and supplements that are natural and many are organic certified.

Benefits of Morning Meditation

I often hear people say that they are extremely stressed about so many things in life. These things include work, money, children, lack of free time, etc. We live in a society in which "busyness" is looked upon as productive, but the truth of the matter is "busyness" is wearing people out. People are walking around tired, apathetic, and full of anxiety. Stress is actually becoming an epidemic. There always seems to be somewhere to go and something to do to keep up with the "Joneses".

People tend to speed up instead of slowing down. They start running when they feel pressured instead of taking a deep breath, sitting down, and relaxing for awhile to gather their thoughts and a plan. I liken it to a woman running frantically down the road as a car is chasing her. She is running and screaming for her life, when all she really has to do is get off the road and let the car pass by.

With so much stress piling on, what is a plausible solution? Let me share with you one simple practice that everyone can follow easily and from the comfort of their homes that will help them overcome the problem of stress and tension - meditation.