Improving yourself starts out with challenging bad habits. Whatever it might be. You know you could do better without it. While some habits are worse than others, you’ll learn strategies that can break any habit.

1.Extinction - Discover whats reinforcing the habit and stop it. Ask yourself, “What makes me do this?”. Whatever it is, is what you need to suppress.

2.Alternate response - Try to get the same reinforcement from a different response. For example, if you smoke, try to get the same pleasure from doing something else.

3. Que’s & Antecedent - Narrow down the incentives that cause the habit.

4. Response Chain - Break the chain of responses that cause the habit. If you get the urge to smoke when your alone, avoid being alone. Then you’ll stop the chain of events that cause you to smoke.

5. Negative Practice - Associate the bad habit with something discomforting. If your bad habit is doing cocaine, imagine how your body will feel when your lungs start bleeding. You’ll start to see how your habit is hurting you. You can really have some fun with this one!

You can try just one method or multiple. The more you understand about how your habit works, the more you can focus on breaking it. One thing that might help you is a journal of your progress. This will encourage you to keep on going when you have the urge. Remember that asking your friends and family isn’t a weakness but a way of having encouragement to fall back on.
Good luck!

Meditation is a great way to take control of your life. Getting started is the hard part, but once you get it, you’ll feel more in control of your thoughts and actions and the little annoying things will no longer matter. Furthermore, meditating is is a terrific way to boost your health and immunity. 10 Ways to Boost your Immunity

If you’ve ever tried to meditate and just couldn’t get it , you could be doing something better. There are some techniques here to help you, but use these as a supplement to your already established ideas on meditation. Here are the things you’ll need to prepare in order to immerse yourself

1. Quiet environment - You need to be in the most comforting place for you. Some suggestions would be a nearby park,beach, or forest. If you’d like a more closed setting, try your office or even your bedroom. Whatever makes you most comfortable. Slight sounds or interruptions could distract you quickly, so take close consideration before picking a spot to meditate regularly.

2. Comfortable position - Put yourself in a position that doesn’t bother you. Preferably hands and feet flat on the floor. Try not to lay down because you might be tempted to fall asleep if you’ve been having a long day.

3. Focal Point - This can be a picture with a focal point like the one below. Or it can be a saying that is repeated. A popular chant that will keep you concentrated goes as follows. Aum,Nam,Ya,Hoe,Ren,Yey,Key,Hoe. A short one is Ra,Ma. Ra is said when you inhale and Ma, when you exhale. Feel free to create your own chants. Don’t be afraid to sound stupid, you’ll be the only one hearing yourself.

4. Proper Attitude - If you don’t believe you can meditate. You’ll have a lot of trouble doing it. If you’re as optimistic as possible, things will be much easier.

Meditating is for everyone and after doing it many times, you’ll see that its much easier than the first time you did it. Think of it as a skill. The more you do it, the easier it’ll be to get into it .Let meditation help you find the happiness in your life and put you in control of your life,mind, and spirit.

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Some of these can be surprising, but using a combination is the way to go. Especially when cold and flue season come around.

1.Echinacea- A herbal remedy that acts as an immune system stimulator. Mostly known to increase resistance to infection and impurities to the blood such as boils, erysipelas, septicemia, cancer, and syphilis. This can be found at GNC or your local drug store. You can buy it in capsule,liquid, or tea form. Do not take these if you take any immunosuppressants¹.

2.Astragalus- Increases production of immune cells and in turn, improves immune function. It is often used in traditional Chinese medicine with ginseng. The root is used in teas,extracts, or capsules². Check here for side effects and cautions.

3.Laughter- It is known that laughing benefits your immune system by increasing the number and activity of natural killer T-cells, the first line of defense against viruses and damaged cells³. Go ahead, have a good laugh!

4.Ginseng- Plants known to increase the body’s resistance to stress. There are 11 types of Ginseng, but Panax ginseng is best known. There have been claims that ginseng increases libido and even inhibited cancer in animal models⁴.

5.Mushrooms- Specifically mythical griffin. Also known as Maitake,Sheep’s Head, Ram’s Head and Hen of the Woods. It has been used in traditional Asian medicine to enhance the immune system. You can get these off your own oak trees :).

6.Vitamin C- A highly effective antioxidant found in oranges,blueberries,apples,bananas, and many other fruits. The recommended intake for men is 90mg a day and for women, 75mg a day⁵.

7.Aloe Vera- Stimulates the immune system by increasing T-cells. Many new studies have been showing up supporting aloe vera’s role in helping the immune system. Some Notes on Aloe Vera here.

8.Vitamin E- Antioxidants such as vitamin E protect your cells against the effects of free radicals, which are potentially damaging by-products of energy metabolism.Commonly found in Vegetable oils, nuts, green leafy vegetables, and fortified cereals. The recommended intake is 15mg for men and women⁶.

9.Exercise- During moderate exercise immune cells circulate through the body more quickly, and are better able to kill bacteria and viruses. Regular exercise show that these effects become long lasting. However, too much exercise has proven otherwise⁷.

10.Meditation- People who meditate end up happier and in turn, producing more antibodies than those who don’t meditate. The best way to take control of your life and mind. This is another free one, and if your having trouble getting started, check out How to Meditate : 4 Ways to Help you get Started

A combination of these almost guarantees optimal health and most definitely increases resistance to colds and other viruses. Be sure to research side effects and interactions before taking Astragalus,Ginseng, and Echinacea.

1. http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/20/2200 [↩]
2. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/astragalus/ [↩]
3. http://www.thevegetariansite.com/health_stress.htm [↩]
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10880039 [↩]
5. http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/959704173.html [↩]
6. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamine.asp#h3 [↩]
7. http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/injuryprevention/a/aa011502a.htm [↩]

Thinking creatively is the key to putting an industry to work for you. If you love what you do, then you have the only prerequisite needed for creative thinking. So basically there are 3 things you need to be successfully creative.

1.Information - ALOT of information. If your going to innovate in any way, you need to know everything there is on your niche. Google is your best friend, use it to research anything . Traditional education,workshops,clubs, anything to nurture your interest .The more you know, the more you’ll want to create and get started in the Creative Process.

2.Ideas - Now that you know everything there is to know about your passion, you’ll have the urge to create something new. Since you’ve read everything there is to know on your topic, creativity will be the only way to more forward. And if you truly love what your doing, the urge to contribute will be greater than ever

3.Junk filter - This is probably the hardest part to thinking creatively. You need to ask yourself “Is it good?”,”Can i do better?”. You’ll need to filter the bad ideas from the good ones by deciding whether or not they are worth pursuing. Later, when you’ve created whatever it is you were working on, you’ll need to step back and truly evaluate it, as if you were another person looking from outside.

These are the stages that all creative individuals go through. What better way to leave your mark on humanity than to create? Remember, you don’t need to be a special type of person to be creative, you just need the patience to learn,pursue, and filter your ideas.

Excess stress. We all have it, but the way we deal with it is reflected in our minds,attitudes,and bodies. Physical symptoms often include sleep disturbances, muscle tension, headache, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. There are sometimes accompanied by emotional symptoms such as nervousness, anxiety, changes in eating habits including overeating, loss of enthusiasm or energy, and mood changes¹

As if those aren’t bad enough, people who keep stress untreated have a higher chance of drawing into high risk behaviors such as drinking,drug abuse, smoking, and poor nutritional choices. Continuing to have excess stress is very harmful to our immune system and overall health. Below is a roster of stress management techniques.

16 Ways To Reduce Stress

1.Find your Life Purpose - Knowing what you want in life is key to being an all around happier person and therefore, not stressed. If you have no idea where to start, i suggest “How to discover your life purpose in 20 minutes” by Steve Pavlina, a notable personal development guru. A purpose driven life gives meaning to your existence and gives you a reason to brush off those little annoying things which might upset you.If you cant remember the other things in this list, remember this one and you’ll be on your way to reducing excess stress in no time.

2. Dance and/or Sing - Relief is on the way! You don’t even need to leave home to do this. Wikihow has a great article on “How to Dance to Relieve Stress“. Scientific studies have shown the positive value of music therapy on the body, mind, and spirit of children and adults. Music has been found to decrease the overall intensity of a patient’s experience of stressful pain and can result in a reduced dependence on pain medication².Singing; on the other hand, can slower your heart rate and breathing meaning lower blood pressure and a lower chance for chronic stress to damage your body.

3. Get a Pet - Cat,dog,fish, or horse it doesn’t matter what kind of pet you pick. An animal can be a better listener than a person and studies have shown that petting a dog as well as watching a fish tank can lower blood pressure. So if you’ve ever seen seen a tank in a dentists office, it wasn’t decoration! Dogs particularly pay attention to even the smallest nonverbal behaviors, making it their duty to stick with you in your time of need.

Different animals provide different kinds of interactions, so there is no one perfect pet, except the one that is perfect for you.³

4. Garden - Gardening can be a very pleasant experience . Go out and enjoy the the fresh air and landscape. Grow whatever you’d like. Your plants are your creations. Pick them out, watch them grow, take care of them and before you know it you’ll have your own little piece of heaven.If you don’t have much space, you can still garden. You’d be surprised at what you can grow along the side of your house, in container gardens on your porch, and even in window boxes⁴.

If gardening is approached as a chore, it will only add to your stress, if its viewed as enjoyable, it can help relieve stress.For many people gardening relaxes the mind, body and spirit⁵.

5.Power Nap - According to Websters Dictionary, a power nap is “a brief refreshing sleep, often during the workday, that provides energy to work longer and more efficiently”. This is a great way to manage your stress as you’ll be less grumpy and more able to focus on your duties. A few people already get the luxury of free power naps. British Airways, Nike Inc. and Pizza Hut International allow their workers nap breaks and find productivity increased as a result A NASA study found that a short nap can boost workers’ output by as much as 34 percent⁶.

6. Laugh - Possibly the fastest way to reduce stress (besides #7). A good laugh has many short term effects. It enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. Furthermore, laughter can also ease digestion and stimulate circulation, which helps reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress⁷. Over time, laughter boosts your immune system, relieves pain, and increase personal satisfaction.

7. Smile - And I don’t mean those smiley face stress balls, those are coming up. When you smile your body releases feel-good hormones, while the stress hormone, cortisol, is reduced. Smiling helps you feel calm and in control. It lowers your blood pressure and makes you feel good about yourself. If you need help smiling, here are a few tips.

• Be around funny people
• Rent or watch a comedy
• Tell a joke
• Think happy thoughts

If you aren’t in debt, skip this section.

8. Get out of Debt - Knowing that you owe your bank thousands of dollars inst a going to make your day any better. If you’re currently debt free, consider yourself lucky and make sure you can afford something before you decide you want to make payments on it for the next x amount of years. If you are debt and have the money, make double payments . Also consider the following alternative options:

• Expense reduction

• Debt consolidation

• Mortgage refinancing

9. Aromatherapy - If you’ve never looked into aromatherapy before, its basically the use of essential oils. Essential oils are the chemicals in plants that give them their smell. Different from perfumes in that perfumes almost always use synthetic chemicals . These oils can be used to promote a feeling a emotional and physical well being and is commonly used spas around the world⁸. You can do a Google search and find different oil concoctions to treat any stress related problem.

10. Have Sex - You should have learned this some time or another in your K-12 years. Briefly, sex keeps stress at bay. Like smiling and laughing, it releases endorphins and other feel good hormones into your body. Research has found that sex before a stressful event keeps you calm. So if you’re nervous about an upcoming occasion, sex …even minutes before, can keep you calm for up to a week⁹. So if you do your math…you can figure out how often you need to…(delicate subject!).

11. Be Yourself - Some people take their entire lives to get this one right. What does it mean to be yourself and how can you? Being yourself means not worrying about how others see you. It means having confidence in everything you do, every calculation, every leap, and every action. Simply, it means taking off the invisible mask that you put on every morning and just do what makes you happy.

Note: You should do this even if you plan not to try the other options

12. Meditate - Not only will meditation relieve stress, but it’ll also help you to take control of your mind and thoughts. Meditation has been used as a stress management technique for thousands of years by various ancient civilizations , so you know it works. The benefits of regular meditation include:

• Inner calmness and peace of mind
• Reduction of stress and anxiety
• Greater control over your own mind and its activities
• Keener intelligence and sharper concentration
• A deepening sense of communion with the Absolute
• Joy and happiness¹⁰

If you’ve tried meditation and just couldn’t get it, here are a few techniques to get you started.

13. Get a massage - No one can say that they will feel stressed after a good massage. It can relieve tension in your muscles, and most people use it for relaxation, relief of stress and anxiety, or to reduce muscle soreness¹¹. If you have a spouse or partner, it might be nice to exchange massages every once in a while. If not, check your local phone book for a massage therapist or chiropractor.

14. Tai Chi - A Chinese system of slow meditative physical exercise designed for relaxation and balance and health¹². It can be learned by anyone regardless of age,sex, or athletic ability. Tai chi is especially popular with older adults because of the low impact movements and minimal stress on muscles and joints. There are many different styles of tai chi, and the intensity of each varies.

Pros of tai chi:

• It’s self-paced and noncompetitive.
• You don’t need a large physical space or special clothing or equipment.
• You can do tai chi anytime, anyplace.
• It’s easy to do in groups as well as by yourself.
• You can add new movements as you become more proficient.

Cons of tai chi:

• With proper instruction, tai chi has virtually no side effects.

You can find tai chi classes in cities throughout the United States. To locate a class in your community, contact your local senior center, YMCA or YWCA, health club or wellness center¹³.

15. Yoga - All kinds of body aches are said to be due to bad posturing and the subsequent accumulation of toxic products in the body. By performing yogic postures there is a free flow of energy in and out of the body which helps in the proper functioning of the body and the subsequent relief of muscle tension¹⁴. And because it fosters self-awareness, Yoga is a promising approach for dealing with the stress response.

16. Stress Relief Ball - A piece of polyurethane magic. If you honestly just need to bluntly “let it out”, go ahead and squeeze. By squeezing the ball, you direct attention away from the source of stress and into the ball¹⁵ , instead of into the workplace. Don’t think badly of yourself if you do end up getting a stress relief ball. Many people own them, so squeeze to your hearts desire! These balls come in every form from classic smiley to toilet bowl.

Conclusion - Stress has a different effect on everyone but among them are ulcers and heart disease. Heart disease being the #1 cause of death in the world. No one is asking you to do all of these. They’re just simple suggestions and one of them is bound to work for you. Good luck :), and remember to bookmark or subscribe to feed. Comments are greatly appreciated.

Words to live by:

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” - William Arthur Ward

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2. http://www.joyfulaging.com/JoyfulDancing.htm [↩]
3. http://www.webmd.com/content/chat_transcripts/2/110384.htm?pageNumber=2 [↩]
4. http://panicdisorder.about.com/cs/selfhelp/ht/nature.htm [↩]
5. http://mygarden.housenstyle.com/index.php/2007/07/26/gardening-to-relieve-stress/ [↩]
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7. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/SR/00034.html [↩]
8. http://ezinearticles.com/?Using-Aromatherapy-For-Stress-Relief&id=508171 [↩]
9. http://www.reuniting.info/science/articles/sex_calms_nerves_before_public_speaking [↩]
10. http://www.yogachicago.com/jan03/meditation.shtml [↩]
11. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/massage/SA00082 [↩]
12. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tai+chi [↩]
13. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/SA/00087.html [↩]
14. http://www.stressfocus.com/stress_focus_article/yoga-stress-relief.htm [↩]
15. http://www.stressfocus.com/stress_focus_article/stress-relief-balls.htm [↩]

No matter how successful a particular diet plan is, most people do gain back the weight. In addition, within a few years people not only regain their original weight, they add three to four extra pounds. You can lose weight on most “diets”. The trick is not only to lose weight but to keep it off.

Fad Diets

Fad diets are extremely popular because everyone is looking for a quick easy way to achieve weight control. A fad diet is one that promotes an approach to eating that depends on one food (ex: cabbage), a particular combination of foods, or the elimination of a dependence on one major food group. These types of diets are not based on well-founded nutritional practices. Fad dieting ultimately leads to failure because any weight loss is usually not permanent.

The main problem with fad diets is that they don’t promote a change in daily eating habits and lifestyle. It’s a good thing that most people cant keep a fad diet. Most lack the necessary nutritional balance and may cause harm if followed for long periods of time.

There is no magic combination of foods that cause weight loss

A weight loss plan should NOT:

• emphasize a particular food
• guarantee a weight loss of specific pounds
• eliminate one major food group
• sat it is “fast”,”easy”,or “quick”
• be linked to a food product that is only available through the diet program

Diet aids (Pulls,Candy,Gum,etc)

The goal of diet aids are to curb the appetite, numb the taste buds, or provide a feeling of fullness. Just because these aids are sold over the counter doesn’t meant they are completely safe. The drawback of all diet aids is that they don’t contribute to permanent weight loss.

Why doesn’t it work?

Diet pills can cause high blood pressure, dehydration, and/or poor nutrient absorption. Over time there is a need for higher doses, ultimately leading to dependency. Again, the only way to really keep off wait is by diet and exercise.

Fasting and extreme calorie restriction

Some people mistakenly seek self starvation or fasting as a means of quick weight loss. Fasting tens to confuse the body and starts burning up the wrong tissue. Weight lost by fasting and other ddrastic measures such as extremely low calorie diets is mainly lean body muscle, not fat.

Another problem from severe calorie cutback is that the body decreases the rate at which calories are burned and actually stores fat more efficiently. Fasting is not an effective or safe approach to weight loss.

Now is the time time to establish a weight loss plan and follow it. Don’t make excuses-make the time!