Meditation has been part of the human experience for a long, long time. The earliest reports of defined meditation practice date back to about 1500 BCE in India, and became part of Western practice during the Roman Empire. As neuroscientists have studied meditation, they’ve discovered some interesting ways in which it affects the physical structure of the brain. These include effects that can be seen in autonomic functions and neurotransmitters as well as changes in blood flow and brain waveMeditation has been extensively studied for its effects of stress reduction and other clinical functions, and there have been several preliminary studies in its potential as a pain relief treatment. Now researchers at Wake Forest have published a study measuring the physical effects of meditation on pain — and it turns out it might be more effective than morphine.
“This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation,” said Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., lead author of the study and post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.As I’ve mentioned before, I love this kind of research. I don’t think that the future necessarily has to be shiny and filled with genetic engineering, robots, and flying cars. I’m excited at the myriad means in which ancient techniques for a variety of things are being revived in the modern context and given the due scientific study that they deserve. I think there’s a rich area for research into improving people’s lives by studying the practices of our ancestors and refining those practices with the modern tools at our disposal.
“We found a big effect – about a 40 percent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 percent reduction in pain unpleasantness. Meditation produced a greater reduction in pain than even morphine or other pain-relieving drugs, which typically reduce pain ratings by about 25 percent.”
For the study, 15 healthy volunteers who had never meditated attended four, 20-minute classes to learn a meditation technique known as focused attention. Focused attention is a form of mindfulness meditation where people are taught to attend to the breath and let go of distracting thoughts and emotions.
Both before and after meditation training, study participants’ brain activity was examined using a special type of imaging — arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging (ASL MRI) — that captures longer duration brain processes, such as meditation, better than a standard MRI scan of brain function. During these scans, a pain-inducing heat device was placed on the participants’ right legs. This device heated a small area of their skin to 120° Fahrenheit, a temperature that most people find painful, over a 5-minute period.
The scans taken after meditation training showed that every participant’s pain ratings were reduced, with decreases ranging from 11 to 93 percent, Zeidan said.
Now, this doesn’t mean that everything’s going to turn out to be useful. There’s plenty of bad things in there, too. I don’t, for example, think that we’ll ever have any useful homeopathic hospitals. But I do think there’s plenty out there worthy of study
Basics of nutrition
People today are probably more concerned about food than ever before. We worry about eating foods that contain too much fat or carbohydrates and so we cut down on things like meat, bread, potatoes and dairy products. The problem with making dramatic changes to our eating habits like these is that we may also be cutting out good sources of iron or other vitamins and minerals. Suddenly we start feeling tired and irritable.How can we have a healthy life style?
It is said that repetition is the mother of learning. This is exactly what we're going to do , we'll repeat over and over again what are the basics of nutrition and the rules for a healthy eating. Following this basics of nutrition are enough to maintain your ideal weight and also have energy and a boost of vitality.
First basic of nutrition , eat in the morning. At least ten minutes are required for you to sit quietly and eat your breakfast. Morning intake has huge benefits for your health. If you skip breakfast find that you'll be with 30% more likely to become obese. Additionally, it increases by several tens of percent the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. Those who eat in the morning are more cheerful, can focus more easily and are more effective at work.
Monitor your snacks carefully. It is very important that the food eaten between meals is not consisted of those unhealthy products such as crisps and sweets, but more healthy foods such as fruit, yogurt, cheese, homemade popcorn, nuts, seeds. A small change in attitude brings huge benefits.
Basics of nutrition include eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains in abundance. Reduce intake of saturated fats, trans fatty acids and cholesterol. And limit sweets and salt.
Beware of sweet liquids. Many people are careful about what they eat, but they did not care about what they drink, although liquids can constitute a significant portion of daily calories. In the category of sweet liquids there are all the fizzy drinks, sweetened coffee, tea with sugar and juices. Sugary drinks are about 25% of total daily calories, twice that amount 20 years ago.
Choose integral foods. It is perhaps the simplest rule of basics of nutrition, which does not impose any restrictions. Choose whole-grain bread, whole grain cereals for breakfast, brown rice and so on. Study the label of the products you buy. If you want to benefit from the advantages of a healthy intake , choose products with fewer ingredients. Automatically fewer ingredients mean fewer additives.
You can search for food pyramids that divide food into categories - such as dairy products, meat and beans- to guide you in your choice. No product alone can't provide all the nutrients your body needs. That's why a varied diet that consists of foods from each group provides the necessary nutrients to be healthy.
Control the food portion size and the total of consumed calories. And last but not least, include physical activity in your daily routine.
Eating healthy is a condition of a healthy life and despite temptations you can eat healthy and have a balanced diet with a little effort, a bit of attention and a bit of willpower.
Who should take supplements?
Food supplements can be
either vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids (components of proteins). Food supplements are found in the form of pills, capsules, tablets or liquid form. These supplements are added to food, they do not substitute it. But why would anyone start taking vitamins and supplements when the Mother Nature gives us everything we need? Isn't it pointless to chew pills to bring to our body what is necessary for its proper functioning?
The answer is undoubtly no because nowadays, for various reasons, many people fail to consume every day what is strictly necessary and defaults this fact leads sooner or later, to deficiencies malaise and even diseases.
People use supplements to improve their health. Regular supplements include vitamins and minerals (like vitamin C), plants or other substances that come from a natural source (such as glucosamine). People have used dietary supplements for thousands of years to treat some diseases. Sometimes these supplements are the base of the commonly used medicines today. For example, willow bark was used to treat fever, centuries ago. Pharmaceutical companies have identified the substance responsible for this effect from willow bark and used it to get aspirin.
A woman who does not consume enough calcium daily to maintain healthy bones risks in the future to suffer of osteoporosis, but if she would compensate for deficiencies with a supplement of calcium, she will have a good chance to escape from such a disease.
For athletes in particular supplements are very important, and the modern sports nutrition dedicates an important role to supplements existence.Individuals involved in sports are tempted to use chemical and pharmacological agents that could positively influence their strength, resistance, responsiveness to training, the recovery effort and body composition. These substances are called ergogenic.
But maybe you want to get better results (to develop more muscle mass or lose weight), even if you do not participate in sports contests. Nutritional supplements can be helpful in this situation because they provide a concentrated amount of important nutrients (proteins, minerals, etc..) without containing fats and water (elements that induce a feeling of fullness faster).
Pregnant women, or convalescent persons or those subjected to acute stress would better start to think of vitamins and food supplements, they can be a precious help for the overcoming the obstacles and the extremely demanding periods for the human body. Many people have found that vitamin C taken at the beginning of a cold or flu succeds in alleviating symptoms and reducing the duration of the disease. Some even say that they have defeated the flu with vitamin C, when they administrate it from the first symptoms.
Thus it is preferable to try to do everything you need for the food to fully meet your needs, but when you fail to do this, you have to resort to vitamin and supplements for the proper functioning of your body.
Workout routine for a perfect body
For us workout was invented!A beautiful body must be maintained through sport. It is no need to practice a performance sport or complicated workouts in order for you to have a nice body. Some simple exercises, repeated daily, will help you modelate your muscles and also get rid of extra pounds. See what areas you need to train and how to have an enviable body.
So here is your workout routine:
Abdomen - a particularly important exercise for women. To work well this area, you can do crunches on the diagonal, touching the elbow to opposite knee.
- another effective exercise is to sit back, arms outstretched to the side, perfectly straight. Keep your hands and feet stuck , with the tips of the feet pointing toward the ceiling.
Raise your legs so your base of your feet are parallel to the ceiling, as you do "candle. "Tighten your abdominals muscles and slowly descends the legs to the right, as low as you can, keeping them stuck. Raise the legs to start position, then lower them to the left side , thus making a complete exercise. Repeat this exercise 10 times. It is very important not to rush, but to do the exercises slowly and correctly.
Buttocks - a very popular exercise for those who go to the gym to look sexy. For working the buttocks muscles, with your hands behind your head, take a bar on your shoulders and do squats, making sure to keep your back straight!
- Support your weight on your knees and forearms, keeping your gaze to the ground. Starting with the left leg, bend it at an angle of 90 degrees and raise it toward the ceiling. Make sure you follow the directions position. After 15 repetitions for left leg, follow the example for the right one.
Biceps - one of the most important groups of muscles, biceps helps at drawing/pulling. Stand in an upright position with legs slightly bent and weights in each hand, raise them one by one. Do sets of 8-12 reps, and rest for 45 seconds between them.
Chest - the second most important group of muscles in the body, the chest area can be worked in several ways. One option is to stay horizontal and push a bar or dumbbells up,vertically. For woman the proper weights variate from 2 and 5 kg, and more for men.
Thighs - the most powerful group of muscles in the legs area, however is very easy to work, both at gym and at home. Get some weights in your hands and make a big step forward, bending one leg from the knee and having the other leg fully extended, with the feet base on the ground. Do sets of 8-12 repetitions with 1 minute break between them.
However, keep in mind the fact that besides physical effort , in order to get the desired results, proper diet and rest hours are really needed!
What's wrong with fast food, you ask?
What's wrong with having that tasty old fashioned American burger?Well, it should do no harm for the body if it is consumed occasionally, but if it's transformed into a custom or a dependence, especially by the children, it will surely raise some dangerous health issues. It is well- known world wide that the majority of the american children are overweight due to their exposure to junk food.
Fast food is tasty, tempts you, is available for good prices and it not gives you too many headaches trying to cook yourself; in this manner you kill two birds at once, you don't make a mess in your kitchen and with this occasion you have the chance to go out in town.
But we easily forget that our health depends on what we eat each day. To begin with, fast food eaters ingest excessive amounts of cholesterol, making them dangerously susceptible to heart attacks.A routine for 3-days in which you eat fast food will not have a very nice effect on your physical condition, apart from the fact that you will take weight very easily, you will have heart or blood pressure problems and many other complications you do not expect.
Any type of food that is extremely low in nutritional value is considered unhealthy. And the fact that it is high in fats, sodium and sugar, does not make fast food a candidate for good health.
In general, fast food burgers and other dishes from this industry have a very attractive look by adding additives and dyes to raise the texture, the appearance and the flavor of the product, but also prolong their life harder. But these additives and dyes are actually some chemicals, more exactly the Es that you sure you heard about and those that you should beware of.In addition, fast food has very few enzymes that produce vitamins and minerals, but containing a number high in calories. When we eat these products full of calories, the body is forced to transform them into energy, fact that represents a big disadvantage considering that this type of transformation process should be reserved only for vital metabolic reactions.
The risks you expose yourself consuming often junk food , low in vitamins, but providing a high number of fats, sugar and oils include serious diseases such as obesity, dental problems, diabetes, and heart disease. Only you can decide what to do with your body!
If you want a balanced diet, you don't have to cut out all your favourite foods, but it means to reduce eating fast food!
New hobby : Home-made beauty products?
Beauty products must be delicate, yet effective, with fewer toxins and, why not, cheap, so that they become accessible to the most of us. Certainly, you heard about the benefits of masks prepared at home with just fruit or vegetables. So why not turn this into your new hobby? You should test these one hundred percent natural treatments for skin, hair and body. You can prepare on your own true elixirs of beauty. The benefits of natural beauty products are that they do not contain additional toxic ingredients, preservatives, they are fresh, cheap and really effective. But especially because they don't contain conservants , they should be used only when they are prepared and are not recommended to keep them a long time.
So here you have some quick and easy recipes for your home made beauty products.
Seborrheic skin needs aqueous hydration (not fat), with cleaning substances that regulate the secreting pace of glands in the skin. Therefore, you need a delicate mask: egg whites, a tablespoon of honey, two cucumbers and juice from a lemon. Then, beat the egg whites until they become a foam. Peel the cucumbers, grind them and squeeze the lemon. Mix well all these with a tablespoon of honey and until the contents became homogeneous. Then you apply it on your face and massage it for 5 minutes and leave the mask on for half an hour, then wipe it with a damp towel. It is recommended not to stretch the mask in the eye area.
Nourishing mask with avocado (for all skin types)
Make a mash from a crushed avocado and mix it with a little olive oil. Apply the paste obtained on a clean face, avoiding eye contour. Leave it for 15 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with water.
One of the most handy and common facial masks is that with just honey because it is rich in vitamins and minerals and helps remove signs of acne or of unsightly signs , nourishing the skin.
Yogurt is another ingredient that can be used as a beauty product. It is recommended for people who have predominantly dry skin,and for those whom flaking and blackheads does not give peace. Apply three times a week, on the face and neckline and remove it after 20 minutes.
Sugar facial scrub
Mix two tablespoons of sugar with three tablespoons of warm water. Apply immediately the obtained paste on the face, performing a massage rotations. Insist especially on the forehead, nose and chin, then rinse with water.
Clay - a natural cosmetic
This "land" has the absorption capacity and power of penetration. On one hand, it absorbs the impurities and toxins, on the other loads the skin with minerals. Of course, there are several types of clay. The green is for greasy complexions or those with problems. The yellow is very good for all skin types. And the pink clay, a mixture between red and white clay, is very gentle and recommended for sensitive skin. An example of mask( anti-fatigue) that combines clay : A mixture of white, moisturizing and purifying clay and anti-old age essential oils, sweet almond oil, cornflower.
For dark circles, puffy or red eyes , you can either apply slices of cucumber on each eye, then wait 20 minutes to act in depth, or fresh apple. But you can opt for chamomile tea bags at a bearable temperature, that you'll use in the same manner.
For shiny hair, prepare a mask in which you have added a little honey and olive oil. Apply it on the entire length of the hair and remove it after 30 minutes.You can get another mask for the maintenance of your healthy hair mixing honey, egg and olive oil. Apply it after you wash your hair with shampoo, massage the scalp for five minutes and took it away completely at shower. Masks can be applied twice a week to feed your hair thoroughly.
In a nutshell, if traditional cosmetic mask offers a lot of high-tech beauty products, natural creations remain extremely valuable and less expensive. Without any conservatives, they prove their beneficial effects for skin care. That's why it's good to spoil you by taking care of your skin and giving you a moment of relaxation right at your house, where you feel most comfortable.
