HEALTHY MIND

Brain function of homeostasis

2012-01-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

Human health is dependent on homeostasis within the cells, tissues, and organs of the body.

The term homeostasis came from two Greek words, homeo which means ‘the same’ and stasis which means ‘standing’. Literally translated, ‘staying the same.’

Homeostasis is not a static state, it is a dynamic state. Homeostasis is achieved through a variety of automatic mechanisms that compensates for internal and external changes.

Correcting imbalances to maintain homeostasis requires a variety of body reflexes – that is, automatic responses triggered by various stimuli. Reflexes occurs without conscious control. Two types of reflexes exists: nervous system and hormonal.

The nervous system receives and transmits information via electrical impulses between nerve cells. The nervous system, which consists of the brain, spinal cord, sensory receptors and nerves, receptors input from variety of sensors that detect change.

The brain plays a central role in controlling energy intake, in the form of feeding, and energy expenditure including basal metabolism, physical activity and adaptive thermogenesis.

The communication and coordinated action between the brain and the peripheral tissues is achieved by peripherally secreted molecules in response to nutrients and integration of neural endocrine and metabolic signals in the hypothalamus.

At any time, the brain and spinal cord receives thousands of signal from receptors in the body. These signals alert the nervous system to a variety of internal and external conditions.

One good example of homeostasis is the control of water balance in the body. If the body not drink enough, receptors – osmoreceptors and thirst receptors in the brain are stimulated and the body stimulated to drink more, which is a behavioral response mediated through nervous system.

Brain function of homeostasis

Protective effects of alcohol on cognitive function

2011-11-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Definition of cognitive functioning includes the processes by which an individual perceives , registers, stores retrieves and uses high information.

While dementia is a global decline in intellectual functions involving memory, orientation, visuospatial abilities, executive function, language thinking and often changes in personally and emotions.

Study conducted among older adults, suggested that alcohol is associated with enhanced ability, especially in women.

This was seen at an intake of two to four drinks per day in women and four to eight drinks per day in men, an intake above what is usually considered moderate.

However, it is well known that higher intakes have a damaging effect on brain function. It is also well known that excessive use of alcohol may result in a variety of psychological and physical health problems, highlighting the interaction between physical and mental health in late life.

Detail study also said that cognitive function and dementia reported benefits of alcohol consumption.

There is increasing evidence that moderate intake of alcohol improves cognitive function, psychological well being and quality of life in elderly people.

There were two major studies by Rutenberg (2002) and Zucalla (2001) reported effects of moderate alcohol consumption for both cognitive impairment and dementia in late life.
Protective effects of alcohol on cognitive function

The Immune System

2011-10-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

Besides the ANS and endocrine system, the mind communicates with the body via the immune system.

The central and automatic nervous systems can engage in bidirectional communication with immunologic cells in blood, tissue and immune organs.

The immune system is responsible for combating infection and ridding the body off foreign organisms and toxic substances.

The immune system can be influenced by the mind via the nervous and endocrine system. Nerves of the sympathetic nervous system connect to certain immune tissues.

There is a two way flow of information between external and internal environments and that the mind is a intermediary between the two.

The mind is an emergent property of the whole body. The brain is part of the body and plays important part in the interpretation of signals from the external and internal environments.

Many immune cells respond to the presence of the hormone cortisol as part of the stress response.

Moreover, immune system releases special chemicals called cytokines, which can affect the nervous and endocrine systems.

It is scientific evidence to indicate that the brain regulates immune functions through efferent autonomic and neuroendorine pathways.

The brain is designed to respond to incoming signals from senses and it has been suggested that the afferent signals received from the immune system are dealt with in the same way as afferent sensory information.
The Immune System

Alzheimer’s disease

2011-09-20T23:24:00.001-07:00

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disorder , clinical defined by a gradual decline in both memory and impairment of at least one other area of higher intellectual function.

That decline is termed by physician as dementia.

As the disease progress, people with Alzheimer’s become unable to care for themselves, and their loses of brain function eventually leads to the failure of other system in the body, causing death three to twenty years from the onset of symptoms.

Typically for Alzheimer’s disease, memory of recent events is the first function affected, this usually shows up as problems with remembering appointment, new names and new routes in unfamiliar neighborhoods and in absorbing decreased amounts of information from reading a newspaper or book or from watching TV.

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease are actually much more problematic than just the simple lapses in memory and these symptoms begin to interfere with the ability to perform normal activities.

*Difficulties with ordinary task and daily activities
*Making unusual decisions or acting inappropriately
*Difficulty leaning new things
*Dependency-fear of leaving familiar soundings
*Social withdrawal, apathy and passivity

A brain from a person with Alzheimer’s does not look the same as that of a person who died of ‘old age’. It is much more shrunken. It can be up to one third smaller and lighter because of the shrinkage.
Alzheimer’s disease

Parkinson’s disease

2011-08-07T21:56:00.000-07:00

Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting over 1 million people in the United States alone.

Parkinson’s disease is named after James Parkinson, who in 1817 wrote about the condition he called ‘the shaking palsy’.

The disease affects the part of the brain that makes a chemical messenger (dopamine) that helps to tell the muscles what to do.

Dopamine is a chemical that has a range of functions around the body but has an especially important role as a neurotransmitter in the brain.

Dopamine is stored in vesicles in the end of a nerve process and the arrival of an electrical signal down that nerve fiber leads to the vesicles of dopamine release.

It is a slowly progressive disease of the brain. Although it mainly affects mobility, it can also affect emotions, thinking, communicating and bodily functions – (including those of the bowel and bladder).
Parkinson’s disease

Dementia and Fish Diet

2011-06-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

What is dementia?
It is descriptive term for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of disorders that affect the brain. People with dementia have significantly impaired intellectual functioning that interferes with normal activities and relationships. They also lose their ability to solve problems and maintain emotional control and they may experiences personality changes and behavioral problems, such as agitation, delusions and hallucinations.

Fish Diet for Dementia
Small brain lesions, detectable only on scans, have been linked to the loss of thinking skills and dementia. Might eating fish, which is thought to be good for the brain, affect the development of these lesions, called silent brain infarct?

There was a study involved 2,313 generally healthy older people, most in their mid-70s, who had brains scans at the start of the study and again five years later.

Lesions were detected in about 23% of the participants. Those who ate broiled or baked tuna or other fish high in omega 3 fatty acids three or more times a week were 26% less likely to have brain lesions than were those who ate such fish once a moth or less. Eating fish once a week reduced the risk by 13%. No benefit was found for eating fried fish.

Who may be affected? Older people. Although head injury, stroke or brain tumor can destroy brain cells and lead to dementia, the condition becomes more prevalent simply with age. In another study, the French researchers found the links between eating fish which has high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and a reduced risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease when there asked elderly people about their eating habits. This research involved 1,670 people age 68 or over living in south west France.

It was found that those who ate fish or seafood at least once a week had a significantly lower risk of developing dementia over the seven years of the study.
Dementia and Fish Diet

Health and Wellness

2011-06-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Because wellness is dynamic can continuous, no dimension of wellness functions in isolation.

When you have a high level of wellness or optimal health, all dimension are integrated and functioning together.

The whole is made up of four components: mind, body, spirit and emotions.

To recognized our own health status, the person must remind itself that they are more than just physical bodies. The person must come to appreciate the true integration, balance, and harmony of mind, body, spirit and emotions.

The person’s environment (including work, school, family, community) and his or her physical, emotional, intellectual, occupational, spiritual and social dimensions of wellness are in tune with one another to produce harmony.

Wellness can be characterized as an integrated state of optimum function, a continually evolving and changing process.

Health educators commonly refer to six dimensions of health and wellness emotional, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, social and physical.
Health and Wellness

What is Intelligence Quotient?

2011-04-03T01:57:00.001-07:00

Intelligent quotient (IQ) is an related measure of intelligence level and described as 100 times the mental age. An intelligence test (IQ test) is by definition, any test that purports to measure intelligence.

The word ‘quotient’ means the result of dividing one quantity by another and definition of intelligence is mental ability or quickness of mind.

Intelligence is the ability to respond adaptively to new situations, to think abstractly and to comprehend complex ideas. Also intelligence can be defined as a person ability to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment.

It is not one thing, but a combination of several different abilities tied up in a packaged or the ability to adjust to the problems of life.

Generally such test consist of a graded series of tasks, each of which has been standardized using a large representative population of individuals.

Such procedure establishes the average IQ as 100.

It is generally believed that a person’s rating is hereditary and that the rate of development of a person’s mental age remains constant until about the age of 13 years, after which it slows up.

Alfred Binet developed the first intelligence test for school children in Paris between 1905 and 1911. ‘Intelligence quotient’ was born after hio work was translated into English at Stanford University in America and adapted by psychologist LM Terman as the Stanford-Binet test.
What is Intelligence Quotient?

What is Happiness?

2011-01-18T18:04:00.000-08:00

In modern world, happiness is ill-defined. Variously refer to as contentment, joy, pleasure, satisfaction, elation, cheerfulness, and ecstasy.

Happiness is just about anything person could imagine. Happiness is a good job, good health, being love etc. Happiness is just about anything, anyone, anywhere might think of as making themselves happy.

Happiness is part of special category of mental experiences that include such positive things, as joy, pleasure, satisfaction, etc.

Philosophers have been long discussing about happiness. One of the earliest thinkers on the subject of happiness, the pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus, maintained that happy life was enjoyable, not because of what the happy person possessed, but because of the way happy person reacted to his or her circumstances.

For Aristotle he said that happiness is a kind of activity of the soul in accordant with complete virtue, there fore human must enquire the virtue.

The connection between happiness and mental health is quite strong, but happiness and the ways of reaching it has not become a part of the mainstream research in modern day.
What is Happiness?

Hormones and Mind

2010-08-23T04:07:00.001-07:00

Hormones and Mind
Besides the autonomic nervous system, the mind can affect physiology via the endocrine (hormone) system.

Hormones are chemicals produced by special organs and tissues in the body.

Each hormone regulates specific biological functions.

Hormones notify the body of changes outside and inside the body fat that must be responded to in order to maintain health.

Many hormones respond to changes in thoughts and feeling. For example, if the mind interprets a situation as threatening or frightening, regardless of whether the danger is real or imagined, adrenalin and several other hormones are released into the blood that make the body alert and ready for action.

The hormones bring about an increased heart rate and mobilize stored nutrients to supply energy for dealing with the danger.
Hormones and Mind

The Environmental Model of Health

2010-07-07T05:53:00.000-07:00

The Environmental Model of Health
The environmental model of health emerged with modern analyses of ecosystems and environmental risks to human health. In this model is defined in terms of the quality of a person’s adaptation to the environment as conditions change.

This model includes the effects in personal health of socioeconomic status, education, and multiple environmental factors.

Unlike the medical model, which focuses in diseased organs and biological abnormalities, the environmental model focuses on conditions outside the individual that affect his or her health.

This conditions include the quality is air and water, living conditions, exposure to harmful substances, socioeconomic conditions, social relationships, and the health care system.

In many respects the environmental model of health is similar to ancient Asian and Native American philosophies that associate health with harmonious interactions with fellow creatures and the environment.

In particular, as the environment changes, one’s interaction with it must change to remain in harmony. Illness is interpret as disharmony of human and environmental interactions.
The Environmental Model of Health

Neuron Function in the Brain

2010-06-07T07:01:00.001-07:00

Neuron Function in the Brain
The neuron, the basic cellular structure of the nervous system, transmits nerve impulse throughout a complex network of interconnecting brain cells.

The brain contains approximately 180 billion cells, 50 billon of which transmit and receive sensory-motor signals in the central nervous system (CNS) via 15,000 direct physical connections.

Investigation of the structure and function of neurons and their synaptic connections provides insight into basic psychopharmalogy at the molecular level and may provide a method for describing how various neuropsychiatric disorders emerge and progress.

The CNS is comprised of two major cell types, neurons and neuroglia. While neurons conduct nerve impulses, the neuroglia (“nerve glue”) provide structural support and insulate synapses (the connections between neurons).

Glial cells make up about 50 percent of the total volume of the CNS. Glial cells serve various functions, including transmission of signal across neuron, structural support for neuron, repair of injured neurons and production CNS fluid.
Neuron Function in the Brain

Using Your Mind to Heal Your Body

2010-05-07T03:24:00.001-07:00

Using Your Mind to Heal Your Body
Everyone has accidently cut or burned his or her hand at one time or another.

Perhaps you were chopping vegetables and the knife slipped or perhaps you reached for a pan on the stove forgetting that the handle was hot.

The usual response to such accidents is anger at being careless or forgetful and anger at the the sudden pain.

We jump around, curse and generally act in ways that exacerbate the injury and delay healing.

A much better response to minor accidents injuries that do not require immediate attention is the following.

In the case of a cut, place cloth over the would and press gently to help stop the bleeding. Then sit or lie down.

Close your eyes and allow your self to become mentally and physically quiet.

Visualize the injure part with your mind and see it as it was just before the accident.

See the skin coming back together. Feel the pain recede. Notice that there is no bleeding. Continue doing this for five minutes or longer until you feel calm.

For the accident caused a burn, place an ice bag or cool, wet cloth over the would. Then lie down and visualize he skin becoming cooler and looking like the norm skin around the burn.

By immediately calming the mind after after an injury, inflammation and other harmful and other harmful physiological reactions in the area are reduced.

Healing process begin immediately when you send positive, calming thoughts an images to the injured area. Continue to visualize healing in the injured area.
Using Your Mind to Heal Your Body

Evolution of a Psychoanalytic Perspective

2010-04-13T23:43:00.001-07:00

Evolution of a Psychoanalytic Perspective
Psychoanalysts with a positive attitude toward spirituality have had to work their way around the view of their progenitor, Sigmund Freud.

Around the same time that William James championed the meaningfulness of religious experience, Freud, himself experienced in physiologic research was inclined to invalidated spirituality and religion as having no part in a healthy and mature adaptation.

He ascribed religion to a neurotic perspective rooted in unresolved childlike fixations.

Early on, however views were expressed within the psychoanalytic mainstream that ran counter to Freud’s bias. Oskar Pfister, a Lutheran pastor and psychoanalyst, was a long time friend of Freud’s.

He emphasized the meaningful nature of religion as a unifying vision of the world, one that transcended the uncertainties of life and encouraged ethical responsibility.

But the most elaborately Freudian view emerged on the writings of Carl Gustav Jung. He later parted ways with Freud, having come to differ with his mentor’s stark empiricism and emphasis on sexuality rather than people’s higher spiritual values.

He accepted the concept of an irrational personal unconscious but came to believe in a collective unconscious, positing the existence of innate mental constructs, archetypes – primordial images that existed in all individuals.

These are serve as the basis for elaborating the diverse religious imagery and myths that across different cultures.
Evolution of a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Medical Models of Health

2010-03-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

Medical Models of Health
Scientist and health education have developed three main ways to define health

The Medical Models
The environmental model
The Wellness or holistic

The medical models main tenet is that health is the science of one or more of the “five Ds” – death, disease, discomfort, disability and dissatisfaction.

Followers of the medical model rely almost exclusively on biological explanations of disease and illness and tend to interpret disease and illness in terms of malfunction of individual organs, cells and other biological systems, e.g. liver disease, heart disease or sickle cell anemia.

Within the medical model, the health of the population is measured in terms of vital statistics which are data on the degree of illness (morbidity) and the numbers of death(mortality) in a given population.

Vital statistics include prevalence and incidence at which certain disease occur. These statistical measurements allow comparisons between population and also within the same population over time.
Medical Models of Health

Autogenic Training

2010-02-25T21:00:00.001-08:00

Autogenic Training
Autogenic training uses autosuggestion to establish a balance between the mind and body through changes in the autonomic nervous system.

The method has been shown to be effective in reliving anxiety and improving the quality of life in people with chronic medical conditions.

Autogenic training involves learning to concentrate on one of six basic autogenic phrases for a few minutes each day over a week or more.

After weeks or months of practice , one is able to attain a deep sense of relaxation often within seconds, which can result in healthful physiological changes.

The German neurologist Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1884-1970) is credited with the development of promulgation of autogenic training, which he himself described as a self hypnotic procedure.

During his medical training in dermatology and neurology, Schultz became fascinated with heterohypnosis, which however, had a dubious image to many of his medical supervisors and peers at that time.

The breakthrough of autogenic training came after Shultz opened his own medical practice in neurology and psychiatry in Berlin in 1924.
Autogenic Training

The Starting of Cultural Reintegration

2010-02-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

The Starting of Cultural Reintegration
As is often the case, the leading edge of a cultural integration can be highly deviant.

The cultic movements of the 1960s and 1970s emerged as early signed of reintegration around spiritual commitment.

They benefited from the fact that their newly minted religious norms could generate relief from the anomie of the counterculture.

Members of groups such as the Moonies, the Hare Krishnas and – for their elders – Scientology reflected the aberrant consequences of a need to find definition, clarity and strong and binding ties, which had been lost over the preceding decades.

Intensity of commitment was based on deification of dubious leaders who laid claim to people’s material assets, to their option to live as they choose, and even to their choice of mate; this was a radical response to the loss of family ties and traditional values.

These new communities of belief of origin, gave expression to the need to feel a sense of rootedness.

This initial radical response was soon superseded by the search for adaptation more consonant with traditional religious culture.

Fundamentalist belief offered both social stability and a relationship with a religious format that many of the maturing baby boomers’ parents would have understood.

For other it was a less well defined disposition, one that drew on a variety of spiritual tradition and religious, one that reflected a desire to integrate diverse beliefs in a world made smaller by electric media and international travel, and one that reflected the liberal education that had frame the world view of many who were now seeking some of sense of transcendence.

Children of the counter culture generation could no longer sustain sectarian enmity as a cultural norm; they had seem and experienced too much.

Now they would encompass an ecumenical view of life’s purpose, one that legitimated the diversity their country now sanctioned.

Spirituality a seemingly vague term for the pursuit of personal meaning, fit the bill.

It even allowed for mutual respect, or at least guarded acceptance of discourse between fundamentalists and secularists.

It thereby provided a large tent that could house diverse views of transcendence and allow acknowledge of a certain commonality across the country’s many subcultures.
The Starting of Cultural Reintegration

How to define Health and Wellness

2010-01-24T04:37:00.000-08:00

How to define Health and Wellness
Health, like love or happiness is a quality of life that is difficult to define and virtually impossible to measure.

Health is defined differently among experts, but all definition have a common theme: self responsibility and adopting a healthy life style.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or uniformity – World Health Organization, 1947.

Wellness has been defined as: an approach to personal health that emphasize individual responsibility for well being through the practice of health promoting lifestyle behaviors. – Hurley and Schlaadt, 1992.

Wellness is many times referred to in a broader context than health which sometimes means only physical health.
How to define Health and Wellness

Relaxation Response

2010-01-09T20:22:00.000-08:00

Relaxation Response
The relaxation response is an automatic physiological response that is the opposite of autonomic nervous system activation.

The relaxation response decreases oxygen consumption respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension.

A variety of mind body methods can produce the relaxation response, such as mantra meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imaginary.

For example, patients are taught to sit quietly and silently repeat the word “one.” Methods that elicit the relaxation response share these feature:
*A quiet environment

*A focusing of the mind’s attention, such as silently repeating a word or phrase or focusing one’s breathing

*A passive, accepting mental state

*A comfortable physical position
Relaxation Response

Spirituality

2009-12-06T01:11:00.000-08:00

Spirituality
The term spirituality has now gained considerable currency in American culture.

Celebrities avow their spirituality orientation, politicians justify their actions on spiritual grounds, an bookseller stock their shelves with little volumes of “daily affirmations.”

But the use of the term has only recently become part of popular parlance, and only in relation to our contemporary pluralistic culture.

In previous generations people found transcendence in the sectarian religious denominations into which they were born.

The trappings of other religious groups were dismissed as misguided and dangerous.

“Spirits” were associated with séances ghosts and the netherworld. Nor does spirituality appear in anthropologic studies.

“Spirits” are conjured up s ancestral figures that wield power in what some might call “primitive” societies.

They are associated with shamanistic practices that we see as being quite different from our own.

The contemporary perspective on spirituality became evident following the radical cultural transitions that took place in the United States over the latter part of the twentieth century.

Traditional social moorings were shaken and dislodged, and people’s need for transcendence emerged in new form.

Gender roles and sexual behaviors were also dramatically transformed. Widened access to contraceptive led to acceptance of premarital sexual intercourse,

The women’s movement began to erase distinctions between the sexes that had defined home life and work life for generations.

Another dramatic change had taken place in how people assumed their identities of mature adults, as the developmental; norms for adolescent were evolving.

When the twentieth century began, people ended their education to begin work at a relatively young age.

By the latter part of the century, adolescent was prolonged as parents ceded their children to liberal educational institution where youth could devote themselves to contemplating their direction in life, even their life’s very purpose.
Spirituality

Mind in Action

2009-11-09T00:00:00.001-08:00

Mind in Action
Everything that we see is the result of mind in action. We all have a body and we have what is called a physical environment; we could have neither if it were a physical environment; we could have neither if it were not for mind.

The law implanted within us is, that we need nothing except ourselves and this creative mind to make anything; and just so far as we depend upon any condition, past, present or future, or upon any individual, we creating chaos because we are dealing with conditions and not the causes.

Every living soul is a law unto himself, but of this great truth few people are conscious.

It seems difficult for the race, which feels itself to be so limited, to comprehend the fact that there is a power that makes things directly out of itself, by simply becoming the thing that it makes, and that is does this by self knowing.

But we will not demonstrate until we see at least some of this, the greatest truth about life.

We should realize that we are dealing with the principle that is scientifically correct.

It will never fail us at any time but is eternally present.

We can approach the infinite mind with a depth of thought and understanding, knowing that it will respond, knowing that we are dealing with reality.
Mind in Action

The Autonomic Nervous System

2009-10-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

The Autonomic Nervous System
A major way by which the mid and body communication is through the autonomic nervous system (ANS), a group of nerves that regulate many of the body’s physiological processes, such as heart rate, blood pressure, constipation, sweating and incontinence.

Centers in the brain, principally the brain stem and hypothalamus, receive information about the state of the body and in response activate the nerve fibers of the ANS to maintain appropriate physiological balance.

For example, when you exercise, the ANS stimulates the heart’s pacemaker cells to increase your heart rate, thus increasing the amount of blood pumped to moving muscles.

The autonomic nervous system derives its name for the fact that its activities normally operate without conscious control.

Thus, you do not think about how fast your heart should beat or whether you should sweat to cool yourself when jogging.

Even though the ANS functions without conscious control the signal it sends to the body can be affected by thoughts and feelings.

For example, nearly all students are familiar with the nervous stomach and sweaty palms that accompany taking an important exam.

Realizing that it is possible to do poorly in an exam (a thought) leads to anxiety (an emotion), which activates the ANS to produce symptoms.

Panic has an immediate effect on breathing and heart rate, and stress can constrict blood vessels, causing headaches or high blood pressure.

Many students live fast-paced hectic lives that full of time pressures and stress. Besides doing school assignments many students work at jobs and nearly all try to maintain harmonious social relationship with family and friends, and which take time and attention.

More over, the modern environment is filled with cell phones, the Internet, TV video games, iPods, and other stimuli that compete for one’s attention.

Trying to accommodate all of life’s demands produces near continuous physiologic arousal mediated by the sympathetic nerves of the ANS, causing among other things, sleep disturbances, muscle tension, gastrointestinal symptoms and an increased risk for cardiovascular disease.
The Autonomic Nervous System

Sleeping

2009-09-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

Sleeping
We cannot continue one form of activity very long without some kind of rest, for both the body and the mind need to rest.

The most complete kind of rest for mind and body is sleep.

When we sleep, the mind is largely free from its usual forms of activity, although our dreams show us that the mind is not entirely inactive.

The deeper the sleep the less distinct will be the dreams. The amount of sleep needed by various people differs greatly.

A young child needs twelve hours out of the twenty four for sleep, a growing boy or girl about ten, while most grown people require only about seven or eight.

Some persons seem to get on very comfortably with even less.

It is best to remember, however that we are much more likely to have little sleep than too much.

Sometimes a boy or girl takes a kind of pride in sitting up late and studying far into night.

This is likely to be done just before examination time under the impression that better preparation can thus be made for the tests. This is a great mistake.

Sitting up late to study, the night before usually renders one less fitted to pass an examination.

The many facts we try to cram into our heads during such midnight study are not all found there the next morning.

We are weary, and the brain does not work as it should.

To get a good night’s rest is a much better method of preparing for an examination than to study until the minds gets tired.
Sleeping

You Are Always ‘Right’

2009-09-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

You Are Always ‘Right’
The primary function of the subconscious mind is to follow the instructions of the conscious mind. It does this by “proving” that whatever the conscious mind believes is true.

In other words, the job of the subconscious mind is to prove the conscious mind is always “right”.

So if you consciously believe that you can’t be, do or have something the subconscious will create the circumstance and find the people to prove that you are “right”.

The subconscious functions like the automatic pilot of an airplane. If the autopilot is set to go east, you can manually override the controls and go north.

But as soon as you let go, the automatic pilot, and you will fly east.

Your subconscious does not change the reality of the world around you. It just filters the information that you present to it in order to support your belief or the picture that you hold in your mind.

For example if you believe that business is bad, or that there are no new opportunities for your business, your subconscious will ignore new opportunities to improve your business.

Instead, it will only point out problems that support your belief that things are bad, or that there are no new opportunities.

Your subconscious cannot think for your self. It will draw to you only those things that are consistent with your deepest inner belief, nothing more, nothing less.

If you do not know this as a truth, and do not realize that you create your reality out of your ideas you will feel powerless to change your life for the better.

Instead you will feel that you are the victim of people, circumstance and conditions.

If you accept yourself as powerless you will look ro something or someone outside of yourself to fulfill your desires.

When you come to the understand that everything that you want can be created through your mind, through the use of right thinking, which is simply clear thinking, you come to the realization that only you can give yourself what you want.
You Are Always ‘Right’

Exercise Reduce Stress

2009-08-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

Exercise Reduce Stress
Exercise returns your body to its normal equilibrium by releasing natural chemicals that build up during the stress response.

Exercise can improve your resilience to stress in various ways. Some of its benefits are listed below. Exercise performs the following functions:

Releases endorphins into your bloodstream creating a sense of well being.
Decrease muscle tension caused by emotional stress and produces a relaxation response in your mind a well as in your body.
Increases alpha-wave activity in the brain, thus allowing you to clear your mind so you can focus and concentrate more easily.
Rids your body of toxins.
Improves your overall flexibility and posture, thus decreasing any spinal stiffness or pain caused by stress.
Relieves indigestion and chronic constipation caused by stress.
Lessens fatigue and improve overall energy level.
Combats insomnia caused by stress and produces more restful sleep.
Provides natural outlets for your daily pressures and enables you to better cope with the stress of modern day busy life.
Strengthens your heart and lungs, thus improving your overall physical fitness level and health.
Increases your resting metabolism or energy expenditure and help you to lose weight thus, you both look and feel good and can shed a negative self image caused by stress.
Helps you realize that if you can change your attitude and behavior toward exercise, then you can change you ability to manage the stress in your life.
Improves blood flow to the brain that nourishes it with needed oxygen and helps eliminates waste products.

Exercise Reduce Stress

Mind-Body Communication

2009-07-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

Mind-Body Communication
Advances in identifying the biological mechanisms of mind-body communication confirm that the mind can affect health in powerful ways.

Joy, creativity and contentment lead to a state of mind-body harmony, which we experience as bodily health and subjective well being.

Fear, anxiety, stress and depression contribute to mind-body disharmony, which increase risks for a variety of illnesses, impedes healing and fosters a sense that life is difficult and unpleasant.

Nerve cells in the brain’s thought and feeling centers connect to other nerve cells in the brain and body, hormone-producing tissues and organs and immune cells throughout the body.

In this way, mental activity is able to influence many of the body’s physiological processes and maintain homeostasis.

A classic method for using the mind to later bodily functions is biofeedback.

This method employs a recording device to facilitate learned self-control of physiological activities.

The recording device is connected to a region of the body and information without biological activity in that region is “fed back” on a screen or by means of a sound to the person in whose body the activity is taking place.

Using this visual or auditory information about the activity, the person can learn to control the activity in a desired way.

Biofeedback has been used successfully to treat more than 150 medical conditions, including high blood pressure, back pain, panic attacks, and headaches.

Biofeedback also can be used to produce changes about a state of relaxation.
Mind-Body Communication

The Beginning of Cultural Reintegration

2009-05-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

The Beginning of Cultural Reintegration
As is often the case, the leading edge of a cultural transition can be highly deviant. The cultic movement of the 1969s an 1970s emerged as early signs of reintegration around spiritual commitment.

They benefited from the fact that their newly minted religious norms could generate relief form the anomie of the counter culture.

Members of the group such as Moonies, the Hare Krishnas and for their elders – Scientology reflected the aberrant consequences of a need to find definition, clarity and strong and binding ties, which had been lost over the preceding decades.

Intensity of commitment was based on deification of dubious leaders who laid claim to people’s material assets, to their option to live as they chose and even to their choice of mate; this was a radical response to the loss of family ties and traditional values.

These communities believe, or ad hoc families, constituted by serving ties with the members’ families of origin, gave expression to the need to feel a sense of rootedness.

This initial radical response was soon superseded by the search for adoption more consonant with traditional religious culture.

Fundamentalist belief offered both social stability and a relationship with a religious format that many of the maturing baby boomers’ parents would have understood.
The Beginning of Cultural Reintegration

Positive Mind

2009-05-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

Positive Mind
Many people believe that good health is related primarily to proper nutrition and physical fitness.

Whereas both are vital to health, the most important factor that determines your state of health is your mind.

Positive thoughts about yourself and others and positive emotions such as contentment and love contribute to vitality, optimism and joy which can motivate living healthfully, aid healing and recovery from illness and injury and increase longevity.

Negative thoughts and emotions contribute to depression, pessimism and decreased health and longevity.

In Western culture, they are accustomed to thinking of health and healing in terms of dugs, medical treatments and surgery.

In other cultures, past and present, health and healing are accomplished by mental processes such as faith, magic and spiritual practices.

Even in our culture we recognize that attitudes play an important role in promoting health and recovering from illness.

All physicians are aware that a person’s attitude greatly affects the probability of recovery from illness.

The mind affects health and well being because the mind and body make up a single, unified organism. No body exists without a mind; no mind exists without a body.

The mind and body communicate with each other by means of the nervous, endocrine (hormone), and immune systems, allowing thoughts, beliefs and feelings to change body chemistry and physiology.
Positive Mind

Spirits and Culture

2009-04-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

Spirits and Culture
The term spirituality has now gained considerable currency in American culture.

Celebrities avow their spirituality orientation, politicians justify their actions on spiritual grounds, and booksellers stock their shelves with little volumes of daily affirmations.

But the use of term has only recently become part of popular parlance, and only in relation to our contemporary pluralistic culture.

In previous generations people found transcendence in the sectarian religious denominations into which they were born.

The trappings of other religious groups were dismissed as misguided even dangerous.

“Spirits” were associated with séances, ghosts and the netherworld. Nor does spirituality appear in anthropologic studies.

“Spirits” are conjured up as ancestral figures that wield power in what some might call “primitive” societies.

They are associated with shamanistic practices that we see as being quite different from our own.

The contemporary perspective on spirituality became evidence following the radical cultural transitions that took place in the United States over the latter part of the twentieth century.

This took place decade by decade following the halcyon days of the “Eisenhower Era,” on through the dramatic social changes of the counterculture, and then toward a tentative resolution on what is meaningful to people in the domain of personal belief.

Consider the changes that disrupted established attitudes over this period in relation to religion, race and ethnicity.

Gender roles and sexual behaviors were also dramatically transformed. Widespread access to contraceptives led to the acceptance of premarital sexual intercourse.

The women’s movement began to erase distinctions between the sexes that had defined home life and work life for generations.

Another dramatic change had taken palace in how people assumed their identities of mature adults, as the developmental norms for adolescence were evolving.

When the twentieth century began, people ended their education to begin work at a relatively young age.

By the latter part of the century, adolescence was prolonged as parents ceded their children to liberal educational institutions where youth could devote themselves to contemplating their direction in life, even their life’s very purpose.

The demand of marriage and child rearing were deferred.

Young people could now take advantage of these opportunities to move away from their families to other parts of the country and to find cultural relativism as they traveled across any continent they chose.
Spirits and Culture

Creativity

2009-03-20T05:57:00.001-07:00

Creativity
Creativity may be more important than IQ in allowing a Michelangelo or a Mozart to break new ground.

But what is creativity and what do we know about creativity over the life span?

Defining creativity had provoked as much contr0versy as defining intelligence.

However, creativity is often defined as the ability to produce more responses or works.

Moreover, it is enough for these products to be outlandish; they must in some way be appropriate in context or valued by others.

In structure of intellect-model, the expert captured the idea of creativity by proposing that it involves divergent thinking.

Divergent thinking requires coming up with variety of ideas or solutions to a problem when there is no one right answer.

Indeed, the most common measure of creativity, at least in children, is what is called ideational fluency – the sheer number of different, including novel, ideas that one can generate when asked.
Creativity

Spirituality

2009-02-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

Spirituality
People in all culture seek out meaning beyond the material usually within the context of religious practice, but when longstanding religious traditions are found to be unfulfilling, marked changes in belief and practice may come about.

In the eighteenth century the Great Awakening heralds the emergence of Baptist revivalism throughout the American colonies, as the traditional churches of Europe came to be seen as lifeless and impersonal.

In the midst of another transformation, the emergence of spirituality as a way for many people to meet their need for a meaningful life.

This development has been intertwined with evolving models of mental function and psychotherapy.

And since mind and brain are not related, it will also be considered in light of emerging research that sheds light on the neurophysiology that underlies spiritual experiences.

Large majority (84%) of Americans believe that prayer for others can have a positive effect on their recovery from illness.

Many of the “disorders” that psychiatry has described in its lexicon would be considered by these people to reflect a spiritual deficit a much as a problem in the mental health profession’s domain.
Spirituality

The Smile

2009-01-18T21:57:00.001-08:00

The Smile
“I’m happy to be here.” It’s a wonderful way to introduce yourself. It’s wonderful recurring tool for any communicator. But a word of caution: In order to be effective, the smile has to be two things.

It has to be genuine and it has to be absolutely appropriate. Otherwise, you’ll look like the village idiot.

Picture the person smiling and saying, “I’m sorry about the death of your family,” or, “Let’s talk now about AIDS.”

It always comes as a shock when the TV reporters look as if they’re smile or grinning when they broadcast, “Three thousand people were left homeless when the earthquake struck in Nepal,” or the weather reporter who appears to be having a great time telling you, “Another tornado is on the in the Southeast.”

The smiling face is a happy face.
It must only appear at happy or pleasant times. I don’t think it’s possible to smile too much if the message is a pleasant, happy one.

There is such a thing as a nervous smile.
It’s an unfortunate face to show. I’m thinking of the person who’s being interviewed on television at a moment of terrible stress. Quite often you’ll see the grieving widow talking about the accident that took her husband’s life telling the interviewer what a terrible experience it was and the near-grimace appears like a grin. We wonder if he had a fabulous insurance policy. Or the people you’ve seen talking to a reporter while cleaning up after a devastating flood. The face is really in a resigned “acceptance” mode, but again it appears like a grin and we’re left wondering.
The Smile

Four Tips to Keep a Man Happy

2009-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

Four Tips to Keep a Man Happy
So how do you keep a man happy? There are a lot of things that you can do to keep a man happy. Having a relationship with a man can be a lot of hard work because it is up to us women to make sure that our man is happy.

Otherwise, they may start going to someone else to make them happy. This is definitely not something that any woman wants happening. .

Here are some tips for ways you can keep your man happy with you and your relationship.

Every woman knows that when a man can do something that they enjoy such as watching sports, being with their buddies or anything else that men like to do, the man will be happy. So why not doing something with your man that they like because this will show them that you care enough about them to make an effort to do what they like. You may not enjoy the activity as much as your man but this is one definite way to keep them happy.

Be spontaneous. This doesn't just refer to the bedroom though it definitely helps to make your man happy. You want to be ready to do anything at any time. Men don't always make plans to do something. There are a lot of times that they just decide that they want to do something and then they do it. So when you can be ready to go at a moment's notice than your man will be happy with that because they don't have to try to convince you to go with them, and they don't have to wait on you.

Give your man compliments and make them feel like they are the best thing that ever happened to you. Men like to feel important and to feel like you need them. It doesn't matter if you do or not. You have to let your man know that they are important to you.

Always be honest with your man. This may be a hard one to do for some but it is necessary because no one likes to be lied to, especially men. So be honest whenever you can because it will come back to haunt you if you don't.

These are only four small things that you can do to keep your man happy. There are many others and you may even know of some yourself. No matter what you do for your man, if you want them to be happy than you have to make them feel good about being with you and make them feel good about themselves.
________________________________________
Erica Miles invites you to visit her how to keep a man happy website today. If you are a progressive, pro-active, open minded woman, who understands that there is fierce competition out there, you will enjoy my site. For highly researched tips and tricks that will help you to keep your man from straying or leaving you please click here now. ===> http://www.keep-a-man-happy.com
Four Tips to Keep a Man Happy

Relaxation

2008-12-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Relaxation
Many of us have heard and read about relaxation, yet some of us still confused as to what relaxation is, its benefits and how to do it.

There are different types of relaxation techniques, each having specific guidelines and uses. Some techniques are used only to achieve muscles relaxation, while others are aimed at reducing anxiety and emotional arousal, or diverting attention.

The term “relaxation” means different things to different people. We can all identify ways to relax. For example, we may walk, watch TV, listen to music, knit or garden. These methods however are different because they include some from of physical activity that requires your mind’s attention. Relaxation techniques are also different from taking nap because using the mind actively to help the body achieve a relaxed state.

The goal of relaxation is to turn off the outside world so the mind and body are at rest. This allows you to reduce any tension.

Muscle relaxation
Muscle relaxation is one of the most commonly used cognitive techniques for symptoms management. It is popular because it makes sense to us. If we are told that physical stress or muscular tension intensifies our pain, shortness of breath, or emotional distress, we are motivated to learn how to recognize this tension and release it.

In addition, muscle relation is easy to learn and remember for practice in different situations. It is also one technique from which we can recognize some immediate results, such as the positive sensations of reduce pain, stress or muscle tension and calm, normal breathing. Muscle relaxation is not likely to fail because of distraction caused by symptoms or thoughts. It is useful strategy to reduce pain, muscular tension, and stress, while helping to control shortness of breath and to achieve a more restful sleep.
Relaxation

The Inside Beauty

2008-12-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

The Inside Beauty

What is Beauty? When we heard of the word beauty we immediately sink into a mind set where the physical or external beauty only matters. But ask the question whether you are beautiful inside of you. Your inside beauty-that is a healthy and happy mind set- depends on your mind, your thought process or simply saying your core value. As we cannot see the inside beauty it is measured through your smile, happiness, satisfaction, involvement, excitement and positive attitude.

All these measures help you to have a vibrant inner beauty. How? First they help you to have a healthy mind, thereby inducing your inner beauty. If one feels that he is healthy and happy it reflects automatically in his/her personality. All medicines and treatment will not help to cure a disease or ailment if the mind develops a fear psychosis. Belief and happiness is the best treatment.

Always feel happy, energetic, have high self-esteem and develop leadership qualities.
The light hearted people-taking everything lightly without getting tension and derives satisfaction and happiness in every thing they do-attract more people towards them. They may lack physical beauty, but their inner beauty-reflects through their smile mannerisms, body language, speech and approach-attract others.

All cosmetics and skin-care products will enhance the outer beauty only when the inner beauty blossoms within oneself. Feel healthy and happy in the inner core value and enhance your physical health and beauty. Know the secret that a healthy mind is the best immune system.

In a nutshell

Always smile

Always be excited

Always have positive mind frame

Get satisfaction even in small petty things you do

Always feel you have done something purposeful

Have high self-esteem (not ego)

Have pleasing colors, frames and posters with flowers and natural scenery around you.

Always feel young and energetic

Earning money is important, but staying healthy while earning money is most important. Then only you can enjoy your life style. That is why we place emphasis on internet business opportunities, so that one can achieve financial freedom without losing his/her health. It's all because there is no stress or strain or risk factors associated with internet business opportunities. We have formulated a step by step approach for your success.
The Inside Beauty

Illness of the Mind

2008-11-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Illness of the Mind
Psychopathology concerns itself with illness of the mind. This is vast subject that has received discussion from philosophers, theologians, administrators and lawyers as well as from physicians. Doctors who spend most of their working time straddled between health and illness rarely ask this question and even less frequently attempt to answer it.

World Health Organization definition of health states ‘health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’ If total well being is required perhaps virtually all of us are excluded.

Illness may be thought of in physical term that mental diseases are disease of the brain. Although this statement reasonably fits the organic psychiatric and can be broadened to encompass learning disability (mental retardation), one is less comfortable trying to include psychotic and neurotic disorders, and personality disorders just do not fit at all.
Similarly disease may be described in terms of what doctors treat. In defining this, researcher states ‘the diagnosis of patienthood has as its sufficient and necessary condition the experience of therapeutic concern by a person or himself and/or the arousal of therapeutic concern for him in his social environment’. Mental illness becomes, then, a term to describe the symptoms and condition of those people who are referred to a psychiatrist.
Illness of the Mind

What is Psychopathology?

2008-11-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

What is Psychopathology?
Psychopathology is the systematic study of abnormal experience, cognition and behavior: the study of the products of a disordered mind. It includes the explanatory psychopathologies where there are assumed explanations according to theoretical constructs, and descriptive psychopathology which is the precise description and categorization of abnormal experiences as recounted by the patient and observed in his behavior.

Researcher has described two formulations of descriptive psychopathology in the 19th century. Psychologists and brain scientists, predominantly, tended to regard morbid phenomena as quantitative variations on normal mental functions – the continuity view. Psychiatrists, working directly with the mentally ill (alienists), considered that some symptoms were too bizarre to have a counterpart in normal behavior – the discontinuity view. Both formulations have contributed to the current state of descriptive psychopathology. Undoubtedly the quality of empathy shown by the doctor contributes to an understanding of the patient, but there is a limit, for example with psychotic phenomenon where the patient’s notions and behavior may no longer be understandable using empathy and patient and doctor may be mutually alienated.
What is Psychopathology?

Mental Retardation in Children

2008-11-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

Mental Retardation in Children
Organic Retardation
More severely retarded persons often have what is called organic retardation; that is, their retardation is due to some identifiable biological cause associated with hereditary factors, disease or injuries. Down syndrome, which is associated with an extra chromosome, is a familiar example of organic retardation. Many other forms of organic retardation are associated with prenatal risk factors – an alcohol mother, exposure to rubella and so on. Such children, because they are seriously delayed and often have physical defects, can often be identified at birth or during infancy.

Cultural Retardation
However, the most common form of mental retardation, cultural/familiar retardation, is not usually recognized until a child performs poorly on an IQ test in school. It appears to be related to some combination of low genetic potential and a poor environment. Culturally/familial retarded children are generally mildly retarded, come form poverty areas and have apparent or sibling who is also retarded. Probably 75% to 85% of mental retardation of this type: exact cause is unknown.

What becomes of mentally retarded children as they grown up? For one thing, their mental ages continue to increase well into adulthood because they are developing at a slower than normal pace, but for the same reason, their IQs remain low.
Generally, these mentally retarded adults had poor life outcomes in middle age in comparison with non retarded groups.
Mental Retardation in Children

Healthy Mind

2008-10-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Healthy Mind
There is more to good health than just a physically healthy body: a healthy person should also have a healthy mind. A person with a healthy mind should also be able to think clearly, should be able to solve the various problem faced in life, should enjoy good relations with friends colleagues at work and family and should feel spirituality at ease and bring happiness to other in the community. It is aspects of health that can be considered as mental health.

Even though we talk about mind and body as if they were separate, in reality they are like two sides of the same coin. They share a great deal with each other, but present a different face to the world around us. If one of the two is affected in any way, then the other will almost certainly also be affected. Just because we think about the mind and the body separately, it does not mean that they are independent of each other.

Just as the physical body can fall ill, so too can the mind. This can be called mental illness. Mental illness is “any illness experienced by a person which affects their emotions, thoughts or behavior, which is out of keeping with their culture beliefs and personality and is producing a negative effect on their lives or the lives of their families”.
Healthy Mind

Conscious Mind

2008-09-20T17:28:00.000-07:00

Conscious Mind
Conscious mind is that part of our mind which reasons, thinks, discriminate, contemplates and analyses. Emotions or feelings of all sort, i.e. likes, dislikes, love, hatred, jealousy, anger, joys, sorrows etc., are all experienced in this mind. Imagination of all sorts of future happenings and worrying about the past are all done through this mind.

Through physical sense (sight, sound, smell, touch and taste), conscious mind remains in contact with the outside world. All voluntary movements of the body are done by our conscious mind only, through the respective organs of action.

Besides, the conscious mind also remains in touch with the subconscious minds. Impulses and urges for subconscious mind induce the conscious mind to behave in a certain way and to indulge in certain types of action. However, the conscious mind on the other hand is also subject to pressures from society and outside world which expect it to act or behave in a certain way so that its image is not tarnished. It results in a conflict of the subconscious mind’s urges and the social expectation doesn’t match and thus conscious mind remains in a state of conflict and turmoil. It if increases too much, it results in many psychosomatic diseases.

The central idea in mind control is to remove this conflict in the conscious mind by exposing the subconscious mind totally and removing all types of biases, prejudices, fears, suspicious, and negative emotions stored there.
Conscious Mind

Meditation and Healthy Mind

2008-09-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Meditation and Healthy Mind
The purpose of mediation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peace, we shall free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we shall experience true happiness; but if our mind not peaceful, we shall find difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions. If we train in meditation, our mind will gradually become more and more peaceful, and we shall experience a purer and purer form of happiness. Eventually we shall be able to stay happy all the times, even in the most difficult circumstances.

Usually we find it difficult to control our mind. It seems that our mind is like a balloon in the wind – blown here and there by external circumstances. If things go well, our mind is happy, but if they go badly, it immediately becomes unhappy. For example, if we get what we want, such as a new possession, a new position, or a new partner, we become excited and cling to it tightly.

However, since we cannot have everything we want and since we shall inevitably be separately from the friends, position, and possessions we presently enjoy, this mental stickiness, or attachment, serves only to cause pain. On the other hand, if we do not get what we want, or if we lose something that we like, we become despondent or irritated. For example, if we are forced to work with a colleague whom we dislike, we shall probably become irritated and feel aggrieved, with the result that shall be unable to work with him or her efficiently and our time at work will become stressful and unrewarding.

By training in mediation, we create an inner space and clarity that enable us to control our mind regardless of the external circumstances. We develop mental equilibrium, a balances mind that is happy all the time, rather than an unbalanced mind that oscillates between the extremes of excitement and despondency.

If we train in meditation systematically, eventually we shall be able to eradicate from our mind the delusions that are the causes of all our problem and suffering. In this way, we shall come to experience permanent inner peace.
Meditation and Healthy Mind

How Yoga Benefit Our Body

2008-09-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

How Yoga Benefit Our Body
One of the most rewarding aspects of yoga practice is discovering how mind and body can unite in a harmony of movement and coordination. We will open to new vistas of understanding about ourselves. While participating in many other forms of exercise, it is possible to allow our mid to wander. In yoga, our mental focus on the stretch, coordinated with deep and regular breathing, produces an internal and external unity that gradually increases with practice. This concentration eventually becomes a form of mental discipline that be applied to all phases of our life.

Yoga is extremely beneficial for anyone of any age. With continued practice of this versatile system of exercise, we can see results quickly because as we release tensions, we liberate our vast resources of energy.

Practicing yoga also promotes high levels of organic health. It can help us to keep a youthful bearing and outlook that radiate feelings every woman wants: energy, beauty and poise.

Yoga increases circulation and flexibility. Our spine provides the housing for the central and autonomic nervous systems, and thus our entire body benefits as our spine becomes to function with greater ease, and our muscles start to work more smoothly and efficiently.
How Yoga Benefit Our Body

Level of Mental Retardation

2008-08-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

Level of Mental Retardation
Mental retardation is defined as “significant sub-average general intellectual functioning resulting in or associated with concurring impairments in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period”. Translated, this means that to be diagnosed as mentally retarded an individual must show, before adulthood, and IQ score below 70 and have difficulties meeting age-appropriate expectations in everyday life.

Four level of mental retardation are recognized, each of them representing a portion of the IQ range below 70: mild, moderate, severe, and profound.

A mildly retarded adult (IQ 55 to 69) is likely to have a mental age comparable to that of an 8 to 12 year old child. Mildly retarded persons can learn both academic and practical skill in school with special instruction and they can potentially work and live independently or with occasional help as adult.

Moderately retarded individuals (IQ 40 – 54) can also learn basic academic skills and many life skills, but they are more likely than mildly retarded people need supervision and support in order to hold jobs and live in the community.

Severely retarded persons (IQ 25 - 39) typically can learn many basic self-help skills and communications skills, but they typically master few academic skills and need a good deal of continuing training and support as adult.

Finally, profoundly retarded persons, with IQs below 25 and mental ages below years, show major delays in all areas of developmental and require basic care, often in an institutional setting, though they are important differences among mentally retarded individuals.
Level of Mental Retardation

Mental disorder populations

2008-07-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

Mental disorder populations
Active planning was implemented to treat people with mental disorder in their communities in order to decrease all health care costs. There are thee major populations of individual who may be community based or outpatient mental health care consumers:

The physically disabled or elderly infirm who require home services for mental; health care. These individuals use a variety of payment options that affect the quality and duration of their care at home. The first two payment options, Medicare and Medicaid, which are sponsored by the federal and state governments, are the most common options for individuals in this category. In addition to Medicare and Medicaid, health care costs are funded by private health insurance, health maintenance organizations, or self pay.
Individual with nondisabling mental disorders who are able to continue working and fulfilling their normal social roles. The ability of such individuals to continue their normal roles is supported by the use of psychotropic medications. Psychotropic medications alter the neurochemistry of the brain so that brain chemistry approaches more normal levels. Disabling mental symptoms are reduced to more comfortable levels. Outpatient individual or group therapy augments pharmacotherapy.

Individual who are psychiatrically disabled. There is a growing percentage of people with chronic, disabling mental disorders because of the decreasing public and private support for mental health services. This segment of the population is particularly affected by the current crisis in health care costs. Inadequate funding and lack of comprehensive policy planning left woeful gaps in care, particularly when accompanied by the national trend of deinstitutionalization. Currently, the most commonly used treatment option open to the chronically mentally client is the community mental health center.
Mental disorder populations

What is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

2008-06-15T02:09:00.000-07:00

What is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
ADD is when the reticular activating system in your brain, which is a part of your body’s central nervous system, is dysfunctional. This area of the brain is responsible for coordinating the information from one region of the brain to another via norepinephrine, due to external information. When it is impaired, there is excessive stimulation causing the mind to be overworked and unable to cope, leading to a lack of focus and other symptoms.

There are many forms of ADD, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Attention Deficit Behavior Disorder (ADBD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD), to name a few. Of these, ADHD is the most well know form of ADD, and affects approximately 5% of all children in America, making it the most common neurological disease.

Many factors contribute to ADD, and the breakdown of the reticular activating system. Excessive sugar consumption reduces the brain’s sensitivity to norepinephrine, making it difficult for the brain to pass messages to different regions of the mind. Other factors include oxygen deprivation during birth, genetics, a dearth of nutrients in his diet, and substance abuse during pregnancy, among others. Statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health show that up to 5% of the population has ADHD, and that up to 20% of pregnant mothers smoke during pregnancy, with 11% consuming alcohol.

Common indicators that an individual is suffering from ADD include learning disabilities, agitation, aggression, short attention spans and poor memory retention. The symptoms of ADD are also easily confused with other diseases or attributed to different factors, making it difficult to diagnose. For example, the main symptoms of ADD are forgetfulness, restlessness, depression, inability to focus and impulsive behavior. However, thyroid, depression, anxiety, or a stressful environment can also result in the same symptoms. Excessive sugar consumption can cause impulsive behavior and restlessness, and allergies can cause reactions that reduce the neurotransmitters in the brain causing the same symptoms.

There are many treatments available for those who suffer from ADD, and the most common one is the use of antidepressant drugs. However, these medications need up to 6 weeks to take effect, and have severe side effects such as increasing depression, agitation, and suicidal notions. There are also alternative treatments, such as herbs and nutrients used to balance the brain chemistry that has been impaired. These are encouraged as they do not have side effects, and are specially designed to provide the necessary acids, hormones and neural growth needed to assist the reticular activating system.

For those who are suffering from ADD, it is recommended to cut down on sugar intake as sugar consumption is linked to aggressive behavior. Individuals should also be tested for allergies, especially those triggered by food dyes. In line with this, soft drinks should be avoided.
What is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Written by: Greg Frost

Mental Disorders Cost Society Billions In Unearned Income

2008-05-09T05:12:00.000-07:00

Mental Disorders Cost Society Billions In Unearned Income
Major mental disorders cost the nation at least $193 billion annually in lost earnings alone, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study was published in the May 2008 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

"Lost earning potential, costs associated with treating coexisting conditions, Social Security payments, homelessness and incarceration are just some of the indirect costs associated with mental illnesses that have been difficult to quantify," said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. "This study shows us that just one source of these indirect costs is staggeringly high."

Direct costs associated with mental disorders like medication, clinic visits, and hospitalization, are relatively easy to quantify, but they reveal only a small portion of the economic burden these illnesses place on society. Indirect costs like lost earnings likely account for enormous expenses, but they are very difficult to define and estimate.

In the new study, Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D., of Harvard University, and colleagues analyzed data from the 2002 National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), a nationally representative study of Americans age 18 to 64.

Using data from 4,982 respondents, the researchers calculated the amount of earnings lost in the year prior to the survey among people with serious mental illness (SMI). SMI is a broad category of illnesses that includes mood and anxiety disorders that have seriously impaired a person's ability to function for at least 30 days in the year prior to the survey. It also includes cases of any mental disorder associated with life-threatening suicidal behaviors or repeated acts of violence.

Eighty-six percent of respondents reported earning income in the previous year. But those with SMI reported earning significantly less - around $22,545 - than respondents without SMI, who averaged $38,852. Although men with SMI took a greater hit in earnings than women with SMI, men still earned more overall than women with and without SMI.

By extrapolating these results to the general population, the researchers calculated that SMI costs society $193.2 billion annually in lost earnings. The researchers attributed about 75 percent of this total to the reduced income that people with SMI likely earn, while 25 percent is attributed to the increased likelihood that people with SMI would have no earnings.

"The results of this study confirm the belief that mental disorders contribute to enormous losses of human productivity," said Kessler. "Yet this estimate is probably conservative because the NCS-R did not assess people in hospitals or prisons, and included very few participants with autism, schizophrenia or other chronic illnesses that are known to greatly affect a person's ability to work. The actual costs are probably higher that what we have estimated."

The researchers concluded by recommending that future studies on the effectiveness of treatments should consider measuring employment status and earnings over the long term to document the effects of mental disorders on a person's functioning and ability to remain productive. Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com Mental Disorders Cost Society Billions In Unearned Income

3 Tips For Running To Lose Weight

2008-04-12T07:30:00.000-07:00

3 Tips For Running To Lose Weight
Although running to lose weight is not for everyone, but if you are capable of running, then you will find tremendous benefits. To get the most out of your running exercise, it is important that you follow a few, simple guidelines. After all, you want each running outing to be effective, but also enjoyable. The great thing about using running to lose weight is that you can do it wherever you go. Therefore, if you travel, you can still find a place to run. If it were raining, an indoor treadmill would be the ideal solution.

Running to lose weight has been a favorite option for millions of people. Something about getting outdoors in the fresh air is invigorating, boosting a person's level of energy and clearing the mind. While you could use a number of exercises to drop pounds, running to lose weight works exceptionally well, while building up lean muscle and improving the heart and lungs.

As mentioned, if you are going to use running to lose weight, you want to do it the right way. The information below will help you with the various decisions needing to be made.

Proper Running Attire
While running to lose weight should be fun, if you were not wearing the right attire or shoes, you will find the experience a miserable one. The last thing you want to do is come home with a foot full of blisters or sick from not having enough layers on. It is important to wear clothing that provides ventilation, but also clothing that is not too hot or too cool.

Additionally, we strongly recommend that you invest in two to three pairs of high quality running shoes. Then, alternate the shoes each time you go out running to lose weight. This will make your feet more comfortable while reducing the risk of chin splints.

Carbohydrates and Protein
Before you go out running to lose weight, it is important to fuel the body. For this, you should eat a little bit of carbohydrates about 30 to 45 minutes ahead of time. A great option would be a cup of cooked pasta, topped with a little bit of protein in the form of chicken or cheese.

Safety
Of course, whether you plan to go running to lose weight during the day or nighttime hours, you always want to put safety first. Sure, listening to an MP3 player or iPod makes the time go faster but it also blocks out your hearing. Unfortunately, many people have been attacked while running and listening to music, having been snuck up on from behind. Instead, stay in populated areas, use well-lit roads, parks, or paths, avoid the headphones, and if possible, run with a friend or dog.

Remember, in addition to running to lose weight, you can also incorporate various forms of exercise, breaking up the routine to make it more interesting. For example, you might start running to lose weight on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then bike, swim, or hike on Tuesday and Thursday.

In addition, for the greatest success, it is imperative that you start on a healthy diet, trying to keep calorie intake between 1,200 and 1,500 daily. By choosing the right foods, especially those high in fiber that will make you feel full, you will actually eat more but with fewer calories.

By using running to lose weight, you will easily burn 200 to 300 calories every day. When you add that up over the course of a week, you have lost one to two pounds, which is considered a healthy weight loss goal. Keep in mind that a pound is equivalent to 3,500 calories. Therefore, if you can use running to lose weight along with other exercise options and a diet of fewer calories, you can be certain the pounds will begin to fade.

In addition to enjoying the benefits to the body by running to lose weight, you will also enjoy benefits for the mind. Running is an excellent way to de-stress and relax. Since stress has also been shown to have a direct link to weight gain, by reducing stress, you have just found yet another benefit of this type of exercise.
3 Tips For Running To Lose Weight
By John Mcewen
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Aging Factors

2008-02-21T20:35:00.000-08:00

Aging Factors
Life quality encompasses a whole raft of considerations from the physical, psychological to the social and cultural and there may be difficulty fostering change dealing with thoughts and physical conditions that have been part of life from early childhood. Stress is possibly the major cause of early aging. The stress response becomes problematic when the body becomes over-stressed and impacts on the capacity to cope with day to day stuff. Body response to stress is to activate the nervous system and trigger the hypothalamus to initiate greater production from the adrenal glands of two hormones adrenaline and cortisol for release into the bloodstream. These hormones speed up heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. The physical changes prepare you to react quickly and effectively to handle the pressure of the moment.

Failure to control stress levels over an extended period can have dire consequences on health generally and if sustained will cause premature aging. The cardiovascular system becomes constricted, the immune system less efficient and the body's capacity for carrying out normal and vital functions is hindered.

Stress management techniques are well known but require discipline to implement. Stress circuit breakers can be simple things such as taking a periodic 5 minute break or set aside one possibly two 15 - 20 minute periods each day and just sit with a still mind. If really time restrained just step away from whatever is demanding your attention and take 2 or 3 deep breaths exhaling slowly through pursed lips. Breathing releases nitric oxide into the circulatory system causing blood vessel relaxation, improved circulation and stress reduction.

More time intensive stress control measures may be learning a yoga technique, Tai Chi, boating, golfing or just getting out into nature. A good night's sleep in conjunction with reduced alcohol intake can have wonderful rejuvenating qualities.

Malnutrition is a major cause of aging. Perhaps a little surprising when most people reading this live in a "land of plenty". Plenty in this context could be read as plenty of junk, junk food. For the first time in decades average life expectancy in many developed countries is forecast to decline over the next 20 to 30 years, the reason is poor diet. Obesity is now a major epidemic and is rapidly becoming a leading cause of serious health problems and premature death.

There is absolutely no better option to home prepared meals using fresh ingredients, eaten slowly whilst sitting down either by yourself or with the family or friends. Ingredients should be fresh and preferably organic as their nutrient value will be higher than conventionally farmed produce and free of chemical residues.

Exercise is the third plank in a healthy body strategy Observation of older persons suggests weakening muscle strength is an inevitable part of aging. Age related hormonal changes will result in loss of muscle mass although the rate of loss can be substantially reduced with an appropriate exercise programme. Three to four times per week of varied activity (aerobic and resistance exercise) lasting a minimum of 30 minutes per session will see dramatic improvements in fitness levels, general health and feelings of well being.

A desire to live a long and healthy is not wishful thinking. In the early twentieth century the academic community became aware of populations of people living in various locations on different continents whose life expectancy was well beyond one hundred years, the Abkhasia people in Russian Georgia, Okinawans in Japan, people living in Vilcabamba in South America and the Hunzas of Pakistan. Research defined a common thread with the centenarians in each society, they enjoyed community respect, were amazingly active each day and consumed low calorie highly nutritious diets. Investigation showed that as a group they were remarkably free from illness and diseases common in developed countries. Diabetes was unknown, cardiovascular health was remarkable, cancer almost unknown and without exception they had a bright, optimistic and reverential outlook on life.

Mental fitness for those not suffering an illness is largely the control of stress. The mind body connection is an intimate one with total interdependence Feelings of contentment and wellbeing reflect on body health in the same way physical conditions affect the mental world. The aim of living to 100 is worthy only if those older years are with good health. For most people the years we live and the quality of those years have a lot to do with lifestyle choices made earlier in life. Why not make the decision to bring about change in a measured and determined fashion, you might be surprised how good it feels.
Aging Factors

Babies’ depression

2007-12-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Babies’ depression
Turns out there might be some truth to the popular wisdom that plump babies are happy babies. A landmark public health study has found that people who had a low birth weight are more likely to experience depression and anxiety later in life.

"We found that even people who had just mild or moderate symptoms of depression or anxiety over their life course were smaller babies than those who had better mental health," said lead author Ian Colman of the University of Alberta's School of Public Health. "It suggests a dose-response relationship. As birth weight progressively decreases, it's more likely that an individual will suffer from mood disorders later in life."

The study analyzes information drawn from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, one of the longest-running cohort studies in the world. The survey tracked more than 4,600 people born in Great Britain in 1946 for symptoms of anxiety and depression over a 40-year period.

The results represent an important chapter in the "nature versus nurture" debate, supporting the theory that conditions in the womb do indeed have an effect on our future development.

The connection between birth weight and mental health isn't the only fascinating find made by Colman and colleagues at the University of Cambridge and University College London in England. "One of the surprising findings from our research was that people who had worse mental health throughout their lives had also reached developmental milestones--like standing and walking for the first time--later in life than those who had better mental health," said Colman.

The researchers emphasize they are not saying all small babies will experience poor mental health in the future. They also say this study is not about babies born full-term versus babies born premature, since the data collected back in 1946 made no mention of gestational age at birth.

"Being born small isn't necessarily a problem. It is a problem if you were born small because of adverse conditions in the womb--and low birth weight is what we looked at in this study because it is considered a marker of stress in the womb. When a mother is really stressed, blood flow to the uterus is restricted and the fetus gets fewer nutrients, which tends to lead to lower birth weight," explained Colman.

At the same time, because the mother is stressed, stress hormones are passing through the placenta to the fetus and may affect the fetus's neurodevelopment and stress response. "Under these conditions, the part of the child's brain that deals with stress could be programmed incorrectly in utero--the brain doesn't develop as it would under ideal circumstances. If this theory is correct, you would find that when stressful events occur, the people who were smaller babies would be more likely to become depressed or anxious," said Colman. Notable strengths of this study include the nationally representative sample, the sample size, and the long follow-up with the members of the 1946 cohort, whose anxious and depressive symptoms were measured at 13, 15, 36, 43 and 53 years of age.

"The idea that things that are happening in the womb might predict your health much later on in life is absolutely fascinating. And the public health implications of that are huge," said Colman. "I have been asked by many people what the 'take-home message' of this study is, and I would say that, in the simplest terms, it is 'We should take better care of pregnant women.' The kind of stress that pregnant mothers are under has a significant long-term effect on the developing fetus."

The full research article is published in the December 2007 issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Babies’ depression

Health and Weight Loss

2007-10-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

Health and Weight Loss
For some, losing weight is a never-ending battle that entails personal and social consequences. Being overweight is now a health problem for about two-thirds of the current U.S. population. Being overweight and obese increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and some forms of cancer, and other diseases. As a social problem, being obese or overweight makes a person more susceptible to ridicule and name calling. In fact, it is now common to hear friends and relatives greet each other by saying, “Oh! You gained weight!” The more complimentary form is when people greet others by saying, “Wow! You look like you've lost a lot of weight!” Either way, the subliminal message of these greetings point to society's obsession with physical beauty. No wonder, many overweight and obese individuals struggle with maintaining their confidence and self-esteem in the face of society's aesthetic demands.

Due to these health risks and social consequences, more and more people are now becoming more conscious about their figure and lifestyle. Fitness and health industries are now experiencing a business boom due to the sheer number of people who want to shed excess weight. Somehow, even the busiest executives and hardworking employees are finding time to break some sweat. A lot of people have also become more conscious about their eating habits to the point that they now count every calorie in every meal they have.

Still, not all can afford the expensive gym memberships, much less have time to run on a treadmill or lift weights. Majority of people who need to lose weight struggle with having to cut down on food intake or in staying away from calorie-rich foods. Lack of time, discipline, and will to shed off those excess pounds has led many weight watchers to a “quick fix” method --- using so-called ““miracle diets.” While a lot of diet plans offer “guaranteed” results, many do not have the focus to stay with their eating plan. The effectiveness of the trendiest and most popular diet fad ultimately depends on a person's ability and willingness to choose the right food and amount to eat. It's really not about the recipe...but about the person's desire to cut down on food.

Now, for some, there is an even better “quick fix” method of going on a diet. Instead of going to the gym and missing out on one's favorite delicacies, some people take weight loss pills. These weight loss pills work by helping reduce the absorption of fat in food that we eat; or act as an appetite suppressant.
There are a number of weight-loss pills available at the local drugstore, supermarket, and health food store. There are even weight loss pills that can be bought online. However, the safety and efficacy of these pills have not been adequately substantiated or proven. Some fake weight loss pills are downright dangerous.

Most people have heard of contemporary herbal weight loss pills, such as the ephedra (ma huang) pills or Hoodia Gordonii which are very popular today. In the last few years, hoodia has been heavily marketed as the latest in a long list of “miracle herbal products” that promote weight loss and over-all health. The ban on certain weight loss diet pills such as ephedra has opened up a new market for Hoodia. The said drug is now sold in health shops and in the Internet in various forms: capsulated, powder, liquid, or as tea. Despite its popularity, there is no published research or random controlled trial in humans to show that Hoodia is safe or effective in pill form. Many of the Hoodia products being sold today are difficult to analyze in terms of purity or freshness.

To provide the public a safer and tested product, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a reduced-strength, over-the-counter version of weight loss ingredient called Orlistat. It is a prescription weight-loss medication for adults aged 18 and older. Orlistat, otherwise known as Alli, helps promote weight loss by decreasing absorption of fat by the intestines. The capsules are taken with meals, up to three times a day. This ingredient or pill is among the list of very popular weight loss diet pills. Still, Orlistat is intended to be used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie and low-fat diet, and regular exercise.

Losing weight is important to maintain one's health and to sustain a person's sense of comfort and confidence in social settings. People who are still in search for the best weight loss diet pill should make sure that the products they use are safe and FDA-approved. Losing weight should also be done in a very gradual manner. Starving one's self is a no-no. Indeed, losing weight should ultimately be about regaining one's health and not just to attain physical perfection --- if there is such a thing. Losing weight and reaching the ideal number of pounds takes time. There are no shortcuts to weight loss and to achieving optimum health.
Health and Weight Loss

Eating Disorders

2007-05-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

Healthy Mind
Perhaps no psychological disorders are more unique than period of adolescence than the eating disorders that afflict adolescent girls and young women. Both anorexia nervosa and bulimia have become more common in recent years. And both are serious—indeed, potentially fatal – conditions that are difficult to cure.

Anorexia nervosa, which literally means nervosa loss of appetite, has been defined as a refusal to maintain a weight that is at least 85% of the expected weight for one’s height and age. Anorexic individual are also characterized by a strong fear of becoming overweight; a distorted body image (a tendency to view themselves as fat even when they are emaciated); and, if they are females, and absence of regular menstrual cycles. Up to one 1% of adolescent girls suffer from this condition, and 95 out of 100 of its victims are females.

Bulimia nervosa, the so-called binge/purge syndrome, is also rooted in a strong “fear of fat”; it’s victim believe they are far fatter than they are and want to be far thinner. Bulimia is more prevalent than anorexia, affecting up to about 5% of high school and college male.
Healthy Mind

A Sound Body, a Healthy Mind

2007-04-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

Healthy Mind
You eat right, get enough sleep, and see your doctor when you should.

That's all well and good, but a growing body of research shows that a really healthy body relies on a stimulated, contented mind.

Physical and mental well-being are closely intertwined, said a leading expert on the physical benefits of good mental health.

According to expert, achieving a balance among the emotional, spiritual and physical facets of health should be an end in itself. It also means paying attention to those aspects of life that can bring you pleasure or pain.

Work -- where most of you spend one-third of your adult lives -- is one such arena.
One of the main ways in which people seek meaning in life is through their work -- through being productive and feeling productive. And noted that the type of job you have may not be as important as your attitude toward that job.

There was a study done several years ago where they looked at the job satisfaction of people who worked in hospitals -- everyone from the people who scrubbed the bathrooms, the cafeteria workers, the nurses, all the way up to physicians and hospital administrators. Satisfaction with their job had nothing to do with what kind of a job they had, but it did have to do with how much they saw their job contributing, in important ways, to the overall goal of the hospital.

Studies have also shown that job satisfaction can help boost physical health, perhaps by reducing stress. But loving what you do can also create that state of "flow" that psychologists believe is important to mental health. Even more than leisure-time pursuits, work helps put people into that flow state, where they are no longer focusing on themselves but the task at hand.

Then there are relationships, and the emotional ups and downs they bring. For most people, interacting with others enhances well-being.

The research shows that people who are extroverted and people-oriented tend to be happier than people who are introverted and more socially isolated. That’s especially true for long-term, intimate relationships such as marriage, which has been shown in study after study to enhance both mental and physical well-being.

Remember, when you're married, you have someone monitoring your health and your behaviors, helping you make the kinds of changes that you need to maintain your health.

What people tend to get from happy marriages is companionship, social support, emotional support -- all of which people are capable of getting from other relationships, too.

For many Americans, the relationship that sustains them the most is a religious or spiritual one.

Other studies have also shown that stimulating activities -- everything from crossword puzzles to travel to sports -- enhance brainpower and stave off age-related mental decline.

Exercise, especially, “works better than some drugs" at beating depression. Organized sports can also help people achieve that healthy "flow state" while engaging in stimulating socialization.

All of these activities, and more, can work together to create a mental and physical equilibrium that encourages all-around health.

However, the exact recipe will probably be different for everyone.
Healthy Mind

Beautiful Body Beautiful Mind

2007-02-19T20:38:00.000-08:00

Healthy Mind

What is beauty? Is it the emaciated model strutting down the catwalk? The muscle-bound man flexing for the passing females, perhaps? Or the young woman who's overly made-up face testifies to the falsehood that beauty can be obtained from a jar?

The adage "Beauty is more than just skin deep" is, in fact, more than just an old saying; it's truth.

Beauty cannot be obtained simply by slapping on colors and textures to the skin. It is a reflection of health. And not just the health of the body, but of the mind and spirit, as well. In short, beauty is a reflection of total inner health.

Keeping up a positive attitude, helping others, and spreading joy has its own rewards. One of those is the beauty reflected in the countenance of such persons. But these qualities don't always come naturally, and must be worked at. Looking and feeling beautiful go hand in hand.

Sometimes, in order to feel more beautiful, one needs to look more beautiful. Yet some people are unable to look more beautiful until they feel more beautiful.

There is, however, a way to encourage inner beauty to the surface. True beauty comes from inner nourishment. A positive attitude and helping others nourishes the spirit. Education and higher learning nourishes the mind. And natural foods, herbs, and supplements nourish the body. In fact, there are a wide variety of nutrients that can bring out that inner beauty we all have, and make it shine like a beacon for all to enjoy.

Healthy Mind

Tips For A Happy Marriage

2007-01-15T06:37:00.000-08:00

Healthy Mind
Marriage is a sacred vow to love your partner for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till … well you know the rest. But for many people, the pressures, challenges, and monotony of married life has shrouded its wonderful positive aspects.

Great marriages don’t just happen. You have to do something to make it last. Improve your marriage now. Remember that improvement is not a one-time event. It’s a process, so better start now.

Being happy starts within you. If you can’t be happy with yourself, then there’s no chance that you’ll be happy with someone else.
The Qualities of a Successful Marriage

Love
Love is the most essential component in a relationship. It is the powerful force that binds two unique individuals together. A relationship will not start without love.

Support
Being a supportive spouse can be both a rewarding and a difficult role in a relationship. Being supportive means strengthening the partner. The sense of responsibility grows deeper when your spouse faces certain problems. To avoid conflict, respect your spouse’s personal decisions. Show that you have faith in your mate. Be the shoulder to lean on. Work together to maintain balance in your life together. Don’t be threatened by your spouse’s accomplishments. Be proud of your spouse’s achievements.

Tolerance
The given meaning has only one denominator. Patience. Without it, the word tolerance is nothing.
Always remember that it pays to be patient. As the saying goes, patience is a virtue.

Communication
All arguments can be solved through proper communication. If your partner annoys you for things he or she has done consciously or unconsciously, approach your spouse. Talk to each other. Explain that you are offended by that act. Remember that he or she can’t read minds. Don’t try to keep it inside. It will corrupt you. The annoyance will grow in your heart. Don’t wait for it to burst one day. As early as possible discuss the problem with your spouse. If a certain thing bothers you, tell it straight to your spouse. It doesn’t hurt to be straightforward. It is just a choice of words on how you will express yourself.

Realistic Expectations
Don’t expect too much from your spouse. They are also humans bound to commit mistakes.

Caring
Show your spouse that you’re concerned. During lunch, ask him or her if he or she has already eaten. Small simple things can mean a lot to them. Take time to notice your spouse. Say I love you everyday.

Nurturing
Grow with each other. Nurture intimacy. Live together and raise your children.

Sense of Humor
Laugh together. Have fun together. Always put on a happy face! Smile immensely. It can really change the way you and other people feel. Happiness is a choice, so don’t choose to frown. A wrinkle on the face is ugly.

Smiling is considered as one of the fountains of youth. Smile wide. Make the world a brighter place to live in. Don’t forget to laugh and joke around. Be kind and smile at everyone, especially your spouse. If tensions start to grow, smile at him or her.
Laugh out loud. It’s the best medicine in town. Heal your body, mind and soul. Fill your life with laughter so that you won’t have much room left for negative emotions.

Commitment
A happy couple in a happy marriage develops bonding rituals. These become the pillars that hold up the marriage. Show your dedication every day.

Respect
Appreciate each other’s eccentricities and differences, especially as woman and man. Learn to be happily different. Learn to give and take. Practice kindness and politeness with each other in at least 95 percent of your interactions.

Know how to handle conflict
Don’t make things worse by not talking to each other. Look into your spouse’s eye when asking him or her. Don’t delay the conversation for quite a long time. This will only make the conflict worse.

Solve problems together
Resolve arguments rather than letting things fester. Speak up. It will not aggravate the situation.

Interdependence

Learn to reciprocate.

Enjoy one another
Focus on enjoying life. Live a carefree life. Think that your spouse is the one that really matters in this world. Do things together. Excite your relationship by finding new ways to enjoy each other.

Focus on enjoying life
Play in the rain together. Isn’t it great to be a child once in a while? Run like a madman while you chase each other in the rain.
Healthy Mind

Pathway to Success

2006-12-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Healthy Mind

Who and what are winners'
* Winners take responsibility for themselves. They know what they wantand set realistic goals for themselves.
* Winners make it happen, losers let it happen (but then losers Ibelieve are only misguided winners). `Losers` probably lack only a rightattitude, maybe a bit of knowledge or perhaps motivation or direction atcrucial times.
* Winners have a positive self image. They read biographies of famouspeople. They watch educational and inspirational cassette tapes for selfimprovement, as well as stimulating television programmes in general.Winners have a quest to gain knowledge and make the most of themselves -they know their time is limited and precious and so they make the mostof it.

It is easy for you to become a winner too. You can read positive booksand other inspirational works. Like this one. You can listen tomotivational tapes, which can also serve to improve one`s attitude tolife. At first I was very skeptical, but they definitely do work if youallow them to sink in through repetition (it is not brainwashing, butcontrolled learning). I feel I am learning something new every day.There is such a great amount of truth and knowledge to be found inbooks.

Feed your mind continually with positive thoughts.Remember to take time out to relax and unwind. Before the mind can berelaxed, the muscles must be. A relaxed body makes for a healthy mind,which can absorb information more easily. So you can watch the`soapies`, if that gives you enjoyment and relaxes you! But DO EXERCISEas well. I definitely don`t get enough of that. Winners visualizesuccess and positive outcomes to their endeavours and they know when torelax. Remember how and what you think determines the way your life willturn out; because our thoughts determine our attitudes.

It is said that winners have only 5% of the available talent, but have95 per cent of the drive. Usually there is not such a great differencebetween the world`s top sportsmen, in terms of pure talent. Much of whatdistinguishes the winners amongst them comes from the mind ... thinkingpositively that you are a winner and handling pressure. Think of thesportsmen who got to the top through sheer hard work, far more thantheir natural talent. I often think of a small man, like South African (my former country) golfer Gary Player. A man not physically endowed (sounds rude that!), who was out-driven metres and metres by the far larger American golfers. He was always at his best, when the `chips were down`. Not French fries.

Remember, on your journey to the top (if that`s what you want ... andit`s not for everyone), sheer hard work and DETERMINATION is just asimportant as your intelligence and ability. Together with a POSITIVE attitude (mindset), it is probably the single most important step on your stairway to success.

To be successful yourself, associate with winners - not because they are successful people whose coat-tails you want to hang onto. Rather,because they are positive people who have achieved something in life, nomatter how small it may be. They do not have to be rich and famous - aslong as you enjoy their company ... and them yours. There`s nothing wrongwith admiring or envying them as role models.Ask yourself: Would I like to `fly with the eagles, or scratch with theturkeys`'There`s a famous t-shirt that states:`It`s hard to soar like an eagle when you`re surrounded by turkeys.` `Eagles may fly high, but weasels don`t get sucked into jet engines.

Remember:
- Success comes from 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration.
- famous American inventor, Thomas Edison and one of the men, who has had the most impact on the world in the twentieth century.What will YOUR impact be on the world'
Healthy Mind
Source:articlehub.net

Tips for Happiness

2006-11-19T01:28:00.000-08:00

Healthy Mind
Are you truly happy? Do you even know what it means to be happy and what it takes to achieve happiness? These are important questions for anyone who is seeking happiness to ask themselves. If you want to be happy you need to understand that you can be happy and that you should be happy. Many people make the mistake of believing that they don’t deserve happiness and accept their unhappy state as their destiny. The truth of the matter is that happiness, like anything else in life, needs to be nurtured. The following are a few tips to create happiness in your life.

Understand what it is that will make you happy. Everyone has unique requirements for attaining happiness and what makes one person happy may be very different from what makes someone else happy. Revel in your individuality and do not worry about whether or not your desires are comparable to those of your peers.

Make a plan for attaining goals that you believe will make you happy. Your mood will very likely increase as your pursue your goal because you will feel better about yourself for going after something you value.

Surround yourself with happy people. It is easy to begin to think negatively when you are surrounded by people who think that way. Conversely, if you are around people who are happy their emotional state will be infectious.

When something goes wrong try to figure out a solution instead of wallowing in self pity. Truly happy people don’t allow set backs to affect their mood because they know that with a little thought they can turn the circumstances back to their favor.

Spend a few minutes each day thinking about the things that make you happy. These few minutes will give you the opportunity to focus on the positive things in your life and will lead you to continued happiness.

It’s also important to take some time each day to do something nice for yourself. Whether you treat yourself to lunch, take a long, relaxing bath or simply spend a few extra minutes on your appearance you will be subconsciously putting yourself in a better mood.

Finding the humor in situations can also lead to happiness. While there are times that require you to be serious, when it is appropriate, find a way to make light of a situation that would otherwise make you unhappy.

Maintaining your health is another way to achieve happiness. Being overweight or not eating nutritious foods can have a negative effect on your mood. Additionally, exercise has been known to release endorphins that give you a feeling of happiness.

Finally, it is important to understand that you deserve happiness. Those who believe that they are not worthy of happiness may subconsciously sabotage their efforts to achieve happiness. If necessary, tell yourself each day that you deserve to be happy and remind yourself what steps you will take to achieve the happiness you desire.

Happiness is hard to define but most people are aware of whether they are happy or not. Many people believe that happiness is a form of luck and that some people are destined to be happy while others are destined to be unhappy. I try to incorporate the tips above into my life and have had great success in achieving happiness. The tips in this article are small but meaningful steps that you can take each day to lead you to true happiness.
Healthy Mind

Collection of Happiness Quotations

2006-11-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Healthy Mind
Chinese proverb:
If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will avoid one hundred days of sorrow.

George Matthew Adams:
If you have nothing else to do, look about you and see if there isn't something close at hand that you can improve! It may make you wealthy, thought it is more likely that it will make you happy.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh:
If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.
Chinese Proverb If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.

The Dalai Lama:
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
English proverb: If you want to be happy for a year, plant a garden; if you want to be happy for life, plant a tree.

Coretta Scott King:
I'm fulfilled in what I do... I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes-the finer things of life-would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense.

John Ruskin:
In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it: They must not do too much of it: And they must have a sense of success in it.
Richard Bach: In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chosen this lifetime.

Susan B. Anthony:
Independence is happiness.

Healthy Mind