To find your mantra you can go to a peaceful place, sit in a comfortable position, and focus on a word or phrase that you find relaxing. Autogenic means something that comes from within you. During this type of relaxation, you repeat words or suggestions in your mind to help you relax and reduce the
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It has been documented that thoughts and emotions have a powerful influence over our physical health. There was an interesting study conducted at UCLA in the early 1990s where 14 professional actors were recruited to study the effects of emotion on the immune system. During the study, the actors were told which mood state they would be experiencing.
They then read the appropriate scenario, which was about 100 words long, and were told to create and experience a realistic mood by developing the scene and verbally and behaviorally acting it out while seated. Actors were encouraged to use their own personal memories to intensify the experience. Once the actors were in a particular emotional state, the researchers drew blood to measure any physical changes that may be associated with particular emotional states. What they found surprised everyone. Simply by shifting from one emotional state to another, the actors could stimulate or suppress their immune function. Subsequent studies have measured all kinds of physical changes that result from emotional states, such as changes in hormone levels, brain chemistry, blood sugar levels, even the ability to heal properly. In fact, the mind-body connection is so strong that an entire field of science has emerged called psychoneuroimmunology.
More and more scientific studies are published on a daily basis proving the idea that thoughts and emotions have a powerful influence over our physical health. This is one of the reasons why people are much more likely to get sick during job changes, holidays and other stressful times; or why people who are depressed have a much higher risk of developing cancer. How can emotions affect our immunity or resistance to disease? Research shows that the brain can release hormones and other chemicals that affect white blood cells and other parts of the immune system. Though the chemicals also have other functions, they are a link between our thoughts and our ability to resist diseases.For example, when people react to stresses with fear, their brains send a "danger" message to the body. Hormones are released to raise blood pressure and prepare muscles for quick action, as if to fight or flee from danger. The stress hormones also depress the disease-resistance system, and over time, can damage the brain, heart and digestive tract.Thoughts can cause physical abnormalities such as ulcers, indigestion, nervousness and high blood pressure. Thoughts can also depress the immune system, which leads to a wide variety of diseases. Whether a person experiences poor health, and how soon, depends on that person's heredity, environment, diet, and behavior.
An Australian study in the late 1970s showed that when one spouse dies, the other experiences a weakened immune system. This helps explain why grieving spouses have more diseases and a higher death rate than others of similar age. Other studies have shown that heart patients who are depressed have more heart problems than happier heart patients; depression was a better predictor of problems than physical measurements were.
Cancer is more common in people who suffer a major emotional loss, repress anger and feel helpless. Cancer patients who express their emotions rather than denying them seem to recover more often. The link between emotion and cancer is so strong that some psychological tests are better predictors of cancer than physical exams are. This does not mean that everyone who has cancer or some other disease has simply thought it upon himself. There are many factors involved in disease; even the best attitude is not going to prevent ill effects from genetic malfunctions and some chemical and biological hazards. A new study shows physical proof how one of those aspects - a strong and happy marriage - can be a boon to your health. According to the study, physical wounds take much longer to heal in marriages marred by hostility and conflict than those in which couples build a more pleasurable home life.
As our thoughts and emotions have such a powerful influence over our physical health, we must take proactive steps to regain our health through healthy thinking, relaxation, and positive affirmations. Explore this section for more on how to calm your mind and improve your health.
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Find Your Mantra
Category: Health & Wellness, Healthy Thinking, Relaxation Techniques
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Relationships with Others
Category: Health & Wellness, Healthy Thinking, Get Positive
Relationships are important for good emotional health. Numerous studies have shown that people who have close friends and intimate relationships are healthier, happier, and live longer. In fact, the simple act of petting a dog, holding a child, or seeing someone you love causes a decrease in stress hormones
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Soothing Sounds
Category: Health & Wellness, Healthy Thinking, Relaxation Techniques
To rest your mind and take a visual journey to a peaceful place, consider listening to soothing sounds. If you have about ten minutes and a quiet room, you can take a mental vacation almost anytime with soothing sounds. Consider music such as relaxation CDs or internet radio stations to help you unwind.
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A Back Saver Wallet
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, What You Wear
Most men carry a wallet in their back pockets and in many cases it can be over a half an inch thick. Sitting on a half inch wedge for hours at a time over a period of years is one of the most overlooked causes of spinal misalignments and spinal pain including back pain, neck pain and even headaches.
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A Good Mattress
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, At Home
Most people spend approximately one-third of their entire life lying in bed. The quality of your mattress can make a huge difference between waking up feeling refreshed and waking up in pain. In fact, old worn-out mattresses are an extremely common contributor to chronic back and neck pain. Good health
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A Healthy Backpack
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, What You Wear
Another important wellness essential product is an ergonomically designed backpack. It is amazing how we can put thousands of pages of data onto a microchip smaller than the eye can see, yet kids are carrying backpacks that are heavier than ever filled with text books. Many schools are taking away kid's
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BOSU/Disc
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Exercise
A great way to both work on strengthening the core muscles that wrap around your waist and support your spine and improve your balance and coordination is with a new workout tool called a BOSU which stands for "both sides up." On one side it is a half of a balance ball on the other side it is a flat
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Buy Good Shoes
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, What You Wear
Most people spend close to two-thirds of their life in shoes, so wearing shoes that fit well is very important. Our feet endure tremendous pressures daily. For example, an average day of walking brings a force equal to several hundred tons on your feet. Feet are subject to more injury than any other
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Cervical Pillow
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, At Home
There are a variety of different types of pillows that are made of different grades of foam and have custom curves designed into them to support your neck. If you are like most people, you sleep on your pillow for six to nine hours every night. Shouldn't you sleep on something that will help you maintain
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Core Trainer
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Exercise
The Core Trainer is an innovative, effective piece of exercise equipment from Panasonic that allows you to sit down and perform low impact exercises that help lead to high impact results. This is made possible by innovative counter-balance exercise technology, which constantly moves you off your center
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Desk Chair
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, At Work
The basics of a healthy ergonomic workstation include a bio-mechanically correct chair to sit in. It is best if it's adjustable to support your unique height and curves. Humanscale offers a variety of seating options designed to keep you healthy and well while you are working. These products are an investment
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Detox
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Nutrition
Every person should cleanse the system of toxins and let the digestive tract rest at least once each year. Cleansing is one of the most direct and effective ways to improve your overall health quickly. Free radicals and toxins can build up in your body over time and may cause fatigue, poor immune function,
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Essential Fatty Acids
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Nutrition
One component of nutrition that deserves significant attention is essential fatty acids (EFAs). EFAs cannot be produced by the body and therefore must come from the food we eat. They are the main structural components of our cell membranes, and keep our cell walls healthy by allowing nutrients to flow
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Exercise Ball
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Exercise
These days an exercise ball is a great tool to have and use at home. You can do a thorough workout on it, you can stretch on it and you can use it as a desk chair. Make sure to get the correct size. There are great videos that you can use to learn basic exercise routines.
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Foam Roll
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Exercise
A foam roll is exactly what it sounds like a long roll made of foam which can be used to help with balance and coordination exercise, to help you stretch your muscles and to "roll out" the stress and tension in your muscles in order to release the lactic acid that builds up in muscles and causes pain.
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Greens
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Essentials, Nutrition
Dietary essentials for wellness include getting the five to ten servings of vegetables and fruits per day that will provide you with antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals necessary for optimum functioning at the cellular level. To help you achieve this goal, we suggest a whole food phytonutrient
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