Alternative

If you just need something to help you relax and unwind from a hard day of work, or any other stressful activities, then aromatherapy might be for you. You might think that aromatherapy is just another new age trick that is designed to get your money and make you think you feel better. But this is not so. Studies have shown that this treatment can actually help with stress on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. Not convinced? Here is some background information on it.

Aromatherapy relates to the natural method of healing the mind and body with essential plant oils that are either rubbed into the skin or inhaled. Some commonly used aromatherapy plants are juniper, rosemary, lavender and sage. This message was first used in ancient china. The ancient Chinese used these methods in a medical use.

In all of aromatherapy products, the main ingredients are essential oils....

Influenza is a common contagious disease with flu-like symptoms. Influenza is caused by a sphere or filament-shaped virus. The most problematic part of these viruses is that they keep on changing. Such mutated virus strains can adversely affect a person even though that person had immunity to another strain of the influenza virus. And the situations worsens if separate strains combine. Such a combination can be really fatal as the newly emerged virus gains in its immunity against the extant vaccines.

A person becomes rather weak during the bouts of influenza. The patient’s immune system also fails to operate naturally. As a result, influenza can turn into another life threatening ailment known as pneumonia. In fact, annually approximately 25,000 American citizens die because of influenza or pneumonia. Medical reports have shown that people above the sexagenarian age group have ...

Pure essential oils have a wide range of therapeutic uses and benefits. Remember the method applied can affect your results.

First, please remember that essential oils should never be applied neat (undiluted) to your skin. There are absolutely NO exceptions to this! This includes the soles of your feet or palms of your hands. When using oils neat for inhalation purposes please exercise care and dispense your oils on a tissue or cotton ball for direct inhalation.

Research shows that Cold-Air Diffusing certain essential oils may:

1) Reduce bacteria, fungus, mold and unpleasant odors:

Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Lemon or Lavender are known to have properties that will achieve these desired outcomes for you.

2) Relax and relieve tension, as well as clear the mind:

I highly recommend you try Lavender or Frankincense for these benefits!

3) Help with weig...

First, please remember that essential oils should never be applied neat (undiluted) to your skin. There are absolutely NO exceptions to this! This includes the soles of your feet or palms of your hands. When using oils neat for inhalation purposes please exercise care and dispense your oils on a tissue or cotton ball for direct inhalation.

AROMATHERAPY SKIN CARE METHODS FOR FACIAL CLEANSING AND CELLULAR RENEWAL:

FACIAL STEAM ~ As part of a deep cleansing routine disperse 3 to 5 drops of essential oil in a teaspoon of milk or honey and mix into a pint of steaming hot water.

Pour this "HOT" mixture into a stainless steel mixing bowl and lean with your face forward, over the bowl being sure to cover your head with a towel to catch the steam on your face.

Breath in the steam and relax, enjoying your facial steam until the waters cool.

Or you may use your oils...

Herbal supplements have become extremely popular lately as people become more aware of herbs healing properties. Many people have gone to herbalists to study herbs healing properties for their ability to ward off things like colds and flu. Herbs are sought for depression, menopausal symptoms, lowering cholesterol and migraines. Herbs healing properties on these maladies have been in news of late. There is however a few things you should know about using herbs healing properties and how it can effect you if you are having surgery or are taking other medications. You need to tell your medical doctor about any herbs or herbal concoctions that you are using.

For instance if you are taking echinacea for a cold, you must stop taking it three weeks before your surgery as it can interfere with immunosuppressant drugs subscribed after a transplant surgery. Other effects echinacea ca...

Fibromyalgia is a complex and baffling health condition that is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. It is estimated that approximately 5 million Americans are suffering from this condition. Because conventional medicine has very few effective options to offer at this point, people with this condition are often branded as hypochondriacs and told that their problem is in their head.

Many people with fibromyalgia experience severe and debilitating pain that tends to move around the body. In addition, people with this condition often exhibit neurological problems that can manifest as memory loss, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and depression. Since this condition has a neurological component, it is very convenient for these people’s symptoms to be discounted as signs of neurosis.

This condition is very real and it is horribly disabling and debilitating to t...

Today, peppers rank second in importance only to Piper nigrum (black pepper) among the worlds spices, and hundreds of different cultivars are grown in warm regions, and under cover in temperate parts. About ten wild species and four or five domesticated species of shrubby annuals, biennials, and perennials are included in the tropical American genus (Capsicum, pepper, Solanacae).

Capsicum peppers were first described in 1493 by Dr Chauca, a physician on Christopher Columbus's voyage, and were introduced from S america to India and Africa by the Portugese. China and Turkey are the worlds largest chilli pepper producing nations, and most major producers (C and S America,West Indies, USA, Japan,, Thailand,Hungary,Italy) have cultivars adapted to local conditions and cuisines.

Capsicum may be derived from the latin capsa "box", from its characteristically hollow fruits. Most c...

Cannabis is the greek word for "hemp", from which the word "canvas" is derived, after the plants fibrousness. A genus containing a single species of tall coarse annual, found in most moist soils, especially as a weed of nitrogen-rich soils near human habitation.

In Victorian gardening manuals it is listed as an elegant "dot-plant" for summer borders. The Scythians, who lived north of the Black Sea 3000 years ago, produced intoxicating vapours by throwing cannabis on to hot stones. Cannabis has been grown in Asia and the Middle East for over 4000 years, both as a fibre plant and as a drug. Therapeutic uses were described in Indian medical texts before the 5th century BC. Today its possession and use are illegal, or subject to strict controls, in most Western countries and Australia and New Zealand, but legal and socially acceptable in many parts of Asia and the Middle East, where...

Chervil has been a medicinal and culinary herb for centuries. Chervil seeds were found in Tutankhamun's tomb and, Romans were fond of it and in medieval times it was regarded as the "finest salade herbe", even being listed as an essential ingredient in 15th century manuscripts. Chervil provides a ready source of Vitamin C, so there is an added bonus to keeping a supply during winter.

Chervil is a hardy annual that grows about 25cm high. Despite its fragile appearance chervil prefers cooler weather because it tends to bolt (seed) when the weather is warmer. In winter plant chervil in a sheltered sunny area and water regularly to keep the soil moist, but not sodden. Chervil makes a fine window box plant and forms an attractive bushy plant that can also be used as a border to a herb garden.

Medicinal properties: a good source of Vitamin C, the leaves have a m...

Aloe Vera has been called ‘The Burn Plant’, ‘The Silent Healer’. ‘The Medicine Plant’, ‘The Miracle Plant’ and other complimentary names.

From these descriptions one would conclude that Aloe Vera has many useful medicinal properties, and indeed it has. However, such is the power of the regulatory authorities around the world that it is not possible to claim that Aloe Vera will successfully treat a particular condition unless a pharmaceutical company spends many millions of dollars on tests. This is a pity. Such companies are not able to copyright Aloe Vera, so there is no incentive for them to spend the money to conduct the required tests. Consequently, Aloe Vera remains on the periphery of medicine, restricted to being ‘an alternative medicine’.

One area where Aloe Vera has gained considerable reputation is in the cosmetics world. ‘Contains Aloe Vera’ is frequently seen o...

Common complaints for new mothers include lower back strain, shoulder and neck and arm pain, and headaches. The good news is that all of these conditions are preventable. The aim of this article is to help you to understand the cause of these symptoms and how to prevent them. Following are some tips on posture and correct lifting techniques, along with some preventative exercises.

It is important to remember that all exercises should be absolutely pain free. If you experience any pain while attempting them stop immediately. The chances are that you need some treatment so do not attempt the exercise again until you have sought medical advice.

Injury Prevention
The time you are most susceptible to back injury in particular, is in the weeks following the birth. The abdominal and pelvic muscles and ligaments are stretched and weak, dramatically reducing the core stability...

A kind of eating strategy can help you lower your blood pressure. We all know that whatever we eat will affect our cholesterol. But don't forget that whatever we eat also will affect our blood pressure. Recommendations from the American Heart Association lay out a menu for eating your way to lower blood pressure.

Here are some ideas you can do:

You should loss a few pounds of your weight, because it can also lower your blood pressure. Taking off 4.5 to 5.4 kg lowers systolic blood pressure by more than 4 points and diastolic pressure by almost 4 points. Cutting back what you eat by 100 calories a day translates into a 4.5kg loss over the course of a year. More weight loss usually translates into more reduction in blood pressure.

You are also sugested to cut out about three-quarters of a tea-spoon of salt a day. It can lower your systolic blood pressure by 5 points an...

Sound…it's all around us. We are constantly enveloped in it, bathed in it, irritated by it or soothed by it. Sound affects the body in countless ways! Since we are surrounded by sound, and because our ears never "turn off," it is easy to assume that we have no control over sound. The truth is, however, that we can choose and use sound in beneficial ways.

Sound is vibration. The human body is in a perpetual state of vibration. It follows logically, then, that external vibrations (sound) have an impact on the body. We can choose which vibrations we allow to influence our bodies. We can eliminate, or cancel out, the vibrations we don't want to absorb. We can do this by choosing sound (usually in the form of music) with which the body resonates, thereby creating a safe and comfortable environment.

The way in which the body is affected by sound can be exp...

Aromatherapy candles are candles that are scented and lit to create a feeling of calm inside the user. Candles are said to enhance mood and emotions, and so are aromas. Wise men and women thought to combine the two in what came to be known as aromatherapy candles. Available among many different types of candles, aromatherapy candles stand a cut above the rest.

A painstaking effort goes into making aromatherapy candles and the prices match both elegance and efficacy of the aromatherapy candle that you buy. Good quality aromatherapy candles are made of high quality wax with pure essential oil added. Wax and the aroma used define the price tag the candle displays.

Good manufacturers use natural waxes like palm, beeswax and soy for an exquisitely cleaner flame. Petroleum based wax, which is an artificial wax, is a poor substitute and makes for an inferior aromatherapy candle.<...

Cancer has become very prevalent these days. The society blames it on the modern lifestyle that everyone has become accustomed to. Fast foods, smoked foods, junk foods, carbonated drinks—all of these are just partly to be blamed, so they say.

Cancer is just around the corner lurking somewhere and preparing to attack. Cancerous foods resemble the red and crispy apple that Eve took from the Tree of Knowledge. They are the foods that look to good to leave alone, the foods that people in our society eat on a regular basis.

Ideas about how to avoid cancer have surfaced over the years. Researchers have never stopped uncovering tips and precautions to avoid this dreaded disease. A myriad of herbal medications turned into pills and liquid of all sorts have further been introduced to the public—all of which claim to provide therapeutic effects to prevent cancer.

Green tea is ...

Alternative medicine is a combined term used for various methods or practices of healing brought in practice by physicians or non-physicians, in addition to or apart from the conventional medicine. It is estimated that a little over 33% of the US population uses some form of alternative medicine that is mainly comprised of remedies derived from several different types of traditional and ethnic therapies. All of these therapies have diverse practice and/ or product based guidelines that are not a part of conventional Western medicine. This may include meditation, acupuncture, prayer, herbal supplements, chiropractors, massage therapy and other natural medicines.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a separate division, called The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, that looks into the research, ethical and validation and related issues of alternativ...

Alternative medicine schools are educational institutions in which the processes and practices of non-Western medicine are taught and disseminated. This is a valuable addition to the health industry. There are a number of schools in the US, that offer education in various branches of alternative medicine including degree programs in holistic health care, naturopathy, Chinese herbology and medicine, acupuncture, nutrition, clinical counseling, psychology, spiritual psychology, Avurveda and more.

Three the well known alternative schools are Five Branches Institute, College and Clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine an Southwestern College.

Five Branches Institute, College and Clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine located in Santa Cruz and San Jose, California emphasizes traditional Chinese medical theory and dia...

Although fasting has been esteemed as a near cure all, or that great physician within, there are different types of fasts. Two are the main stand-outs, but let’s go in depth into the differences between the both.

Quite simply, a fast is abstinence from solid food for a considerable length of time in the aim of giving the digestive organs a rest. Not to mistaken for starvation, this practice greatly benefits our overall health and is by far a greater cure of our ills-both physical and mental-than all of the drugs of the medical fraternity combined.

Now, let’s assess the two main ones:

1. The Complete Water fast: This, admittedly, should be conducted with extreme caution or in a specialized sanitarium if undertaken more than 3 days.

2. The Juice Fast: This is much easier for the general populace and can be undergone as long as you feel like it.

From experie...

There are many herbal flu remedies. Seasonal flus and colds are things that most people have to deal with at one time or another. There are also products that help to boost the immune system, possibly preventing many of the seasonal viruses and these may be considered natural flu remedies, as well.

One of the better known herbal flu remedies is echinacea. There have been numerous clinical studies showing that echinacea stimulates the immune system and is effective in the treatment of influenza. One study in Volgograd showed that echinacea, not only contributed to quicker recovery, but also reduced the risk of post-flu complications. When it comes to natural flu remedies, echinacea is one of the better choices, both as a treatment and a preventative.

Another one of the effective natural flu remedies and/or preventatives according to scientific studies is beta glucan. ...

Hypnosis is most commonly associated with losing weight and stopping smoking. While these are wonderful benefits from the practical application of hypnosis, they are just a small sampling of the possibilities.

For example, hypnosis can be an excellent tool when applied to school work, studying, or academics in general. As the new school year begins, for both children and those adults who are returning to school, anxiety and unease are often heightened. Hypnosis can be an effective tool for calming your nerves and taking the edge off your stress. But that's not all. It can also aid in increasing your concentration, in developing a better memory, in building stronger study habits, even in making the learning process easier.

Many of these same skills can be applied to career development as well. Self confidence, decision making, verbal and written skills, motivation, concentr...