How to Help People with Painful Conditions

/ Jacqueline

So many people have to live with painful conditions day in and day out. Sometimes, their pain isn’t obvious, but it’s still there. For example, someone with a bad back may experience ongoing pain and never say much about it. People whose lives are impacted by pain are often very brave and make a point of keeping their suffering to themselves. However, now and then, they may let it slip just how much they struggle to stay positive in the face of discomfort.  Many people end up taking painkillers as a solution. This can seem like the best way forward especially when you are in urgent need of pain relief.  These days it’s all too easy to buy co-codamol 30/500 and other strong prescription painkillers at online pharmacy sites without realizing that these are only short term solutions.

ArthritisIf you know someone who is living with a painful condition, you should be aware that you can help. While you might not be able to take that person’s pain away, you may offer them some advice or just be a supportive and loving friend, partner or family member. Sometimes, people who live with pain feel very alone with their pain. They feel like no one understands.

Suggest Some Alternative Therapies

In addition to providing the proverbial shoulder to cry on, you may want to ask the person if they have considered natural pain relief methods. For example, some people experience a lot of pain relief via acupuncture, which happens when tiny needles are stuck into the body’s pressure points.

When pressure points are stimulated with needles, a lot of people find that their pain eases or disappears. While every type of pain might not respond to acupuncture, a lot of pain does respond to it. Chinese medicine has been around for centuries and acupuncture is a drug-free way to explore alternative pain relief. Results vary, but those who use it and get good results definitely believe in it.

Also, there are a few natural supplements which are quite effective. Comfrey Cream is great for soothing pain topically and St. John’s Wort is available in capsule form and soothes pain as it also helps to boost and balance mood.

While you shouldn’t pressure someone in pain to do things that they don’t want to do, suggesting alternatives may, at the least, open up a good dialogue between the two of you and help the other person to know how much you care. In our busy world, taking the time to show someone in pain that you think about them, look for possible solutions to their problems and want the best for them is a powerful expression of friendship.

The value of stretching every single morning

/ Jacqueline

Most people simply cannot wait until the end of the day when they get to slide into their super comfortable bed and just kind of relax and unwind. But maybe you would be better off stretching.

And while it’s tough to beat slipping off into dreamland after a quick visit from The Sand Man – especially if you’re feeling worn out and stressed out – there’s a reason why you are waking up feeling a lot stiffer than you did when you went to sleep.

stretching 1

As you lay down, fluid in your body is going to work its way into the soft and spongy discs in your spine but it’s also going to begin to pull up in your muscles as you stay in a stationary position for an extended amount of time. All of this fluid is going to over saturate your muscles and your discs, and when you wake up its still going to be there.

You’ll have to work that fluid out to get limber, and there are a couple of ways to do so – but nothing beats some solid stretching!

Start off with a hot shower

A lot of people dive right into stretching just as soon as they rollout of bed and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. At the same time, you can definitely improve your stretching results (and cut down on your stretching time) by warming your body up and flushing some of that fluid out of its collected pools with a nice hot shower.

Stand under the warmest water you can handle at the end of your shower for about three minutes or so (especially targeting your back with the water) and then get to stretching. You’ll be a lot more limber than if you started off ice cold.

stretching 2Start at your neck and shoulder and then work down to your toes

Because you’re going to be looking to flush fluid from your muscles and your spine, you’re going to want to start with a “top-down” kind of approach that systematically moves this fluid out of your muscles and back so that you feel a lot more limber.

Start by actively stretching out your neck, your shoulders, and your arms before you start twisting side to side and then bending down to touch your toes. After that you’ll want to do a couple of “air squats” to push the fluid out of some of the biggest muscle groups in your body – your legs and your rear end – and then you’ll want to go up to your to tippy toes to push fluid out of your extremities.

Does Obesity Harm Our General Health?

/ Jacqueline

Yes, obesity does have the power to harm our general health. While every person who is obese doesn’t suffer from health problems as a result, the percentage is higher than it should be. If you’re obese, you’re more prone to an array of health issues, including diabetes, heart problems and high blood pressure.

Our bodies are placed under strain when we are carrying around too much weight. Our bodies need to work harder in order to handle the weight and this stresses our body systems and organs. For this reason, we do encourage you to consider losing weight.

obesity 1

You don’t need to become skinny. You simply need to focus on losing weight and moving into an ideal weight range. You should take your body type into account. Some people aren’t meant to be really thin. They have larger frames. So, do some research and then decide what your ideal weight should be.

Is Dieting Hard for You?

Dieting is very hard for some and it’s safe to say that people who are obese have a hard time with it. Eating is often an emotional issue. We eat to forget about our feelings and we turn to food as though it’s a best friend. If you suffer from emotional eating issues, as so many of us do, you should talk to your doctor about it.

One option is therapy, which may help you to better understand how past traumas and childhood experiences led you to become obese. Another option is bariatric surgery or diet drugs. Bariatric surgery is a serious procedure which limits the amount of food that the stomach can hold. It has its drawbacks, but does spark rapid and sustained weight loss.

obesity 2

Diet drugs also have risks. Only a doctor is qualified to recommend you for bariatric surgery or to prescribe diet drugs. You’ll need to fit certain guidelines in order to qualify for this type of procedure or a diet drug prescription.

Are You Committed to Losing Weight?

If you have the motivation, you will be able to lose weight without surgery or drugs. So many people have and some of them were very overweight. It’s all about reducing portion size, getting the junk out of your diet and moving around more. It’s the slow, sensible and healthy way to lose weight. Find a caloric amount for each day, don’t exceed it, and get half an hour of exercise. Drink lots of water. If you do these things, you will lose weight.

There are real reasons why you aren’t sleeping as well when away from home

/ Jacqueline

A lot of people fall in love with the luxurious mattress and bedding that top flight hotels and resorts have, and many people simply can’t wait to dive right into that bed and drifted off to sleep in the kind of ultra-bedroom experience that most just don’t have at home.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people that try and get some solid second time on vacation aren’t able to enjoy anywhere near as restless sleep as they would add home – even if their bed pales in comparison to the “ultimate sleeping experience”.

Why is this, you ask?

Well, scientists believe they have at least a handful of answers (and solutions) that can help you get better sleep when you aren’t cozying up in your own home.

not sleeping 1

Safety has a lot more to do with bedtime comfort than anything else

Our brains (and the rest of our body, for that matter) are always on the lookout for attacks and dangers that we have to avoid to keep us safe. When we enter into a new place our body and our mind are always looking for patterns to recognize and hidden dangers that we don’t look for when we are home, and this state of hypervigilance isn’t at all conducive to getting a solid night’s sleep.

Even if you consciously feel completely safe in a new space your brain is still going to go wild on an unconscious level, always looking for dangers and especially paying attention to different sounds while you sleep. Your brain isn’t going to feel at all bad about jerking you out of sleep just because it hears something that is unfamiliar, and your night is going to be anything but restless.

not sleeping 2

How to prevent these kinds of sleep risks from happening in the first place

The easiest way to combat these automatic safety concerns and get some fantastic sleep away from home is to bring “sensory deprivation” of equipment with you.

We’re talking about eye masks and earplugs that block out the world around you and allow your brain to shut down and relax the same way you would when you are home.

Now, you obviously aren’t going to want to utilize these sensory deprivation solutions unless you actually are in a completely safe place – but if you are, this is the fastest ticket to visiting the Sand Man and getting the solid night of sleep you had been hoping for.

How to Relieve Workplace Stress

/ Jacqueline

Regardless of what industry you work in, everyone experiences a stressful day. Even though it’s expected, stress is something that can have severe consequences on your mental and physical health. Instead of allowing the burdens of the workplace to make their way into your personal life, learn how to curb the effects of workplace stress. With a combination of small physical and mental exercises, you’ll be able to enjoy your career and leave work at the office.

workplace stress 1

Taking Enough Breaks

It can be tempting to sit through your entire 8 to 10 hour shift and finish all of the work that you have on your desk but it can also be a great way to slow down productivity and hinder your performance. If you’re the type of person that sits in one position every day, either at a desk or at a workstation, it is important that you give yourself time to take breaks. You’ll want to move away from your work area and go for a quick walk for about 5 to 10 minutes, making sure that you stretch your legs, arms, and back. You’ll feel refreshed and ready to tackle more projects.

Preparing Your Mind

Before you leave the house every morning to get to work, leave a few minutes for quiet meditation. It can be stressful to have to wake up, immediately get ready, and rush out of the house. 10 to 20 minutes of your time should be sufficient enough to reflect on the accomplishments that you have made during the week and to recite positive affirmations. When you encounter stressful situations throughout the day, take a few minutes to meditate before you come up with a solution to the problem. It allows you to clear your mind so you can make the right decisions and stay peaceful.

workplace stress 2

Find the Cause of the Stress

If all else fails, figure out what it is that is causing your stress and work towards improving that issue. For example, if you’ve noticed that your boss pressures you to finish projects faster because you have the tendency to procrastinate, improve your time management skills. If there’s a member of your team that is simply difficult to work with, talk to them and figure out how you can micromanage your approach to accommodate them. When it comes to having a healthier state of mind, be prepared to make compromises.

This is how you future proof your bad knees

/ Jacqueline

99.99% of the people that you come across on a daily basis are going to complain about having bad knees (or a bad back).

The sad truth of the matter is that 99.99% of all those people actually DO have terrible knees and a back that is everything but pain free.

Thankfully though, that doesn’t have to be the kind of life that you lead. You can create truly bulletproof knees with intelligent training, the kind of knees that can’t stand up to all kinds of pressure, stress, and fight back against injury – even if you’re knees aren’t exactly in the best shape right now.

Here’s how to go about future proofing your knees for life!

bad knees 1

Focus on your posterior chain before you do anything else

A lot of people are going to dive right into training the muscles right around the knee and flexing the ligaments and tendons inside the knee, but that’s the very last thing you’re ever going to want to do if you are already dealing with knees that could pop at any point in time.

What you’ll want to do instead is focus on strengthening up your posterior chain – your hamstrings and your glutes – so that you can take a lot of pressure off your knees with these major muscle groups.

Kettlebell swings and deadlifts are fantastic for overhauling the posterior chain, and that’s where you’re going to want to start.

Always go through a full range of motion

If you are going to be training your knees over there something that you’ll want to do after your posterior chain is up to par) you’ll want to be sure that you aren’t doing half squats or partial lunges.

bad knees 2

These halfway exercises seem like they put a lot less stress on your knee but the truth is they are devastating to the joint as it isn’t ever able to be properly exercised or two utilize all of the corresponding muscles.

You’ll overload portions of the knee while under loading others, and you’ll risk a tremendous amount of injury without even realizing it in the first place.

Switch up your cardio to something less impactful

Running, cycling, and rowing can feel great – and all of them are pretty easy to get into – but they are all going to put a lot of stress on knees that are already pretty stressed out.

Change things up by hitting the pool and lightning your load (so to speak) and your knees will eventually become bulletproof.