Stand up for Yourself (Without Creating Conflict!)

When you’re juggling work, family and other responsibilities, adopting a go-with-the-flow attitude can make things easier. But the tactic may backfire: If you never stand up for yourself, you’ll never get what you need or want -- and you may end up feeling helpless.

Fortunately, there are ways you can stand up for yourself without alienating others or creating conflict. One rule, regardless of the situation: Always begin with “I” statements, such as “I feel … ” or “I’m worried about … ,” says Helene Rothschild, a marriage and family therapist in San Jose, Calif. That way, you’re taking responsibility for your feelings rather than blaming someone.

Relaxation with Scented Candles

Candles are something most everyone has around their homes scented and unscented. Unbelievably candles are inexpensive and a great way to relax the mind and body. You don’t even have to do anything but set some around and light them.

Relaxing with Nature Does your Body Good

Part of coping with pain or health difficulties includes having a self-care regimen that does your body and mind good.  being out in nature has a way of making you feel restored. This is more than just a personal opinion: research shows that nature helps us feel better.

walking barefoot is the natural way to walk

Urbanization has greatly affected the way in which we walk and as such we no longer use our feet in the way they were intended. Due to the rapid urbanization of our environment in the past few hundred years, with streets being covered in tarmac and concrete paving slabs providing pavement to walk along, the ground has changed from soft, uneven woodlands and fields to flat and hard surfaces. Then someone invented shoes. It was the last step that divorced us from the Earth.

Causes of Fatigue and Sleepiness and How to Fight Them

Fatigue Cause No. 1: Not Enough Sleep

It may seem obvious but you could be getting too little sleep. That can negatively affect your concentration and health. Adults should get seven to eight hours every night. 

Fix: Make sleep a priority and keep a regular schedule. Ban laptops, cell phones, and PDAs from your bedroom. Still having trouble? Seek help from a doctor. You may have a sleep disorder.

Things You Can Learn from Your Pets

How to plan the perfect holiday

Wanna get away from your boring daily life & spend some quite time with your family? People often dream of a perfect holiday with white sands, blue beaches, palm trees and so on. But traveling or sometimes even planning a trip can be more of a stress. Here are some tips to make your holiday a memorable one.

Eating Healthfully During Stressful Times

You just found out that your glowing engine light means another repair bill. That will strain your checking account, which you’ve already been juggling like a circus performer.

The repair shop vending machine stands nearby, offering sweet, fatty, crunchy and salty snacks. You make your choice, hoping to banish worry with high-calorie help, even though you’re not really hungry.  

Yet a candy bar or bag of chips gives only a momentary boost to sagging spirits. Refined sugars and starches in most packaged snack foods “make you feel better for a minute, then worse,” says Bethany Thayer, MS, RD, director of wellness programs and strategies at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

7 wonders of water

Heart-Healthy Pasta? 'Super Spaghetti' Just Might Be

Scientists in Italy and Spain say they have developed a new type of pasta made with barley flour that may reduce the risk of heart disease for lovers of spaghetti and other wheat-based noodles.

Top Concentration Killers

Culprit: Social Media

Whether you're living with ADHD or just have trouble focusing from time to time, today's world is full of concentration killers. Psychologist Lucy Jo Palladino, PhD offers a few tips to manage distractions, starting with social media. It's easy to connect with friends -- and disconnect from work -- many times an hour. Every status update zaps your train of thought, forcing you to backtrack when you resume your work.

Brain Foods That Help You Concentrate

Ginseng, Fish, Berries, or Caffeine?

Listen to the buzz about foods and dietary supplements and you'll believe they can do everything from sharpen focus and concentration, to enhance memory, attention span, and brain function.

But do they really work? There's no denying that as we age chronologically, our body ages right along with us. The good news is that you can increase your chances of maintaining a healthy brain -- if you add "smart" foods and beverages to your diet.

Depression

Depression: What Is It?

It's natural to feel down sometimes, but if that low mood lingers day after day, it could signal depression. Major depression is an episode of sadness or apathy along with other symptoms that lasts at least two consecutive weeks and is severe enough to interrupt daily activities. Depression is not a sign of weakness or a negative personality. It is a major public health problem and a treatable medical condition.

Shown here is a PET scan revealing "hot spots" of increased activity in the brain of a non-depressed person.

Negative Ions Create Positive Vibes

There's something in the air and while it may not be love, some say it's the next best thing -- negative ions.

Negative ions are odorless, tasteless, and invisible molecules that we inhale in abundance in certain environments. Think mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. Once they reach our bloodstream, negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy.

 

8 Tips to build a Successful Social Network

The question, ‘How can you build a friend’s network that helps you?’ actually asks,’ How do you need to think, feel and behave so that you can have mutually beneficial relationships with others and overcome interpersonal problems with the help of your social network?’

There are different ways to answer this question. One way could be to think of relation-ships as a result of a large number of factors. To be simple, just think of what can help leaves on a tree to keep them healthy. If the tree has strong roots and other related nutrients required are available from soil then tree prospers evergreen. All such things we learned at school that they are useful for its growth. If you cut down any part of the tree either roots or branches, it will have an impact on the tree entirely.

This is the analogy that explains you the importance of having relationships that can help you to in fact make your living comfortably.

But how do you make new relations that really help you in need?

5 Tips for sleeping smart

A good night’s sleep will always refresh you physically and mentally. Everyone needs adequate sleep to remain productive with their study or career. But, most of us do not understand our own sleeping patterns. We either under-sleep or over sleep both of them result in tiredness and unproductive days. Here are some simple tips to sleep smart and awake fresh every day.

5 Simple Yoga Exercises to keep you fit

Yoga ensures flexibility to your body so that you will be active and organized in your daily routine.

10 tips to solve almost any problem in your life

We all have problems. Some seems big and some seems small. Here are some tips to solve almost any kind of problem no matter how big they are; no matter who you are. Think of a problem as an opportunity to learn new things. May be a problem will teach you a lesson or help you to overcome a fear. Problems will appear to come back to you until you learn to master them.

8 Reasons why Laughter is good for you

Life would be boring if one spends his/her lifetime worrying about everything. Life is too precious to spend your time worrying. Laughter is the best medicine available for all ages and there is only one side effect, which is it will entertain the people surrounding you. No one will be friendly with you if you are always worried about something.

7 Ways to manage stress

Stress has become a biggest part of everyone’s life. Stress can be due to physical, emotional or mental challenges. You can’t avoid being stressful but, you can handle stress to overcome the ill-effects of being stressful.

4 Reasons why you should eat fresh food

Eating right and eating in right quantities is the only way to be healthy. By the way, what is good food, anyway? Good food is the food that will not produce any ill-effects for your body. You will feel fresh and healthy when you eat, will give sufficient energy when you finished eating. Everyone is unique and has different dietary needs. Fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts are generally considered as good food.

Here are few reasons why you should eat right food.

DESIDERATA

DESIDERATA
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

30 Happiness Tips

For many of us, the goal of life isn't ultimate wealth, a massive amount of stuff, or the perfect car. It's happiness, plain and simple.

Some people may be created happier than others, with enjoyment of life programmed into their hardwiring. For others, getting to happiness isn't always that simple. You weren't programmed that way.

But like any programming, yours can be changed. Rewrite your life program to include as many of the following tips as appeal to you, and the ultimate goal of happiness can be yours. If you've already achieved complete happiness, well done!

Time

People come into your life for a reason

people came into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime, when you know which one it is you will know what to do for that person

sleep!!

This video helps you relax and fall into deep sleep.

Dreams,,,

Live your dreams
A little each day.
They aren’t out of reach
Unless you fail to reach out.
Put off unimportant things

Happiness

Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they could be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life, — if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing. 

Helen Keller