Secrets of Mind and Reality

Vitamins and herbs are good, inexpensive medicine for many common health conditions

It seems that every time we visit the doctor for treatment of a health condition, we’re handed a prescription that creates wallet shock when you go to pay for it. A few of these and you find yourself wondering how you’ll meet other necessary household expenses. In many cases, you can get the same or even better results with a vitamin supplement and herbs, without the side effects of the pharmaceutical product. Using vitamins and herbs appropriately, you can, in many cases, save hundreds of dollars which can be put to better use elsewhere!

It’s true that there are a number of pharmaceutical drugs which will do a better job, depending on the condition. However, there are so many cases in which vitamins and herbs can correct and treat common health conditions, it’s certainly worth taking a look.

Modern science has a pharmaceutical remedy for virtually every health condition. Allopathic physicians are not generally conversant in natural remedies or nutrition. As a result, we’re being steered away from inexpensive natural remedies, which have been used for thousands of years to relieve and correct conditions, from indigestion to menopause. Let’s take a look at just a few of the ways you can put vitamins and herbs to work for you, safely and effectively.

Naturopathic medicine treats health conditions from a holistic perspective. Let’s say you suffer from heartburn and indigestion. Perhaps you’re eating the wrong foods. Do you have a vitamin deficiency causing the problem? Might the solution to your indigestion be as simple as preparing foods with herbs that counter indigestion? Turmeric, scotch broom and ginger tea have been used for centuries to effectively ease indigestion and heartburn. These herbs go a step further, helping to correct the cause, rather than just temporarily allaying the symptoms.

How about cholesterol and cardiac problems? Garlic has been demonstrated to be equally effective in reducing the LDL (bad) levels, while boosting HDL (good) levels, when compared with expensive pharmaceuticals. The common culinary herb, rosemary, is a proven tonic for the heart, as is Motherwort. Hawthorne berry also has a tonic effect on the entire cardiovascular system. Cayenne pepper greatly improves circulation. Beta carotene and vitamin E, taken as supplements, or in foods, are of terrific benefit to heart patients. Omega-3 supplements, found in substantial quantities in cold water fish, are excellent in protecting the heart against disease. There are many other vitamins and herbs that help prevent and in some cases, can even reverse damage.

Nervous tension and anxiety are common health problems these days. Try some vitamins and herbs before you fill expensive prescriptions which typically are potentially addictive. Passion flower, St. John’s wort, valerian and skullcap are all effective natural remedies. Calcium and magnesium supplements, in a balanced ratio, are valuable in treating these conditions.

If you suffer from osteoarthritis, supplements of magnesium may bring considerable relief. Most Americans consume way too much calcium, creating a magnesium deficiency. As with heart conditions, Omega 3 supplements are good medicine for the osteoarthritis patient. Capsaicin cream, available in tubes at the health food shop, may be used topically for potent pain relief at affected sites. It works by reducing perception of pain, triggering endorphins, our brain’s natural response to pain.

There are literally dozens of common health problems that may be effectively treated with a vitamin and herb program. Consulting with qualified nutritionists and herbalists is a good first step. At little expense, you can find relief for your condition and your wallet!

Seven tips on organizing your life and easing everyday stress

Getting organized is something everyone knows to be a good thing. Being organized makes it easy to find things, prevents delays in getting on your way and so, eases some of the stress we’re all used to living with on an everyday basis. It’s somewhat of a paradox that, while we know that organizing creates a measure of order, hardly anyone pursues the well organized home with due diligence. I guess it’s that old procrastinating tendency some of us were born with that is the culprit. We also know that a lack of organization breeds stress, something which we all abhor. Here, we take a look at some very practical tips on organizing, intended to help people who aren’t born neat freaks!

Eleanor Roosevelt was renowned for her well organized household. She was a very busy woman, of many accomplishments. Where did she find the time to be both organized and accomplished? It wasn’t because she obsessed over housekeeping or organization. Her motivation was of a strictly practical genesis. She didn’t want to waste precious time looking for her keys, when she could be making things of real substance happen. We can all take a page from Mrs. Roosevelt, an expert in shaving time on the mundane aspects of life and using that time for accomplishing tasks of a more substantive nature.

If you have to search half a dozen places, every day, for your keys before you can leave the house, begin with this simple and non-obsessive tip on organizing. If your home is the poster child of cluttered living, you can easily decrease your stress levels by making a specific place for those items you need everyday. Keys, purse, wallet and your calendar are a good beginning. This is no fairy tale. I know plenty of people who waste 10 minutes a day looking for each of these items! You could prepare dinner in less time! Add on the frustration you experience, wasting time you don’t have and you’ve got a formula for constant irritation.

While being House Beautiful organized is an admirable objective, you’ve got to be realistic. When you’re juggling the average person’s list of daily responsibilities, turmoil is right around the corner. Things happen and the usual tips on organizing your life somehow never really materialize. It’s a nice thought, but …

Our practical tips on organizing are aimed at the regular person, who doesn’t have time to devote their life to being an organizational expert. You’re just seeking a measure of organization that prevents thoughts of tearing your hair out over where those darn keys are!

Our tips on organizing prescribe taking just a step at a time. You don’t have to be organizationally perfect. You just need to determine which facets of your lack of organization irk you most. Fix those first and revel in the release from frustration, savings in time and decrease in stress. This is indeed a good beginning!

Now that you’ve got a place for your keys, bills and calendar, you’ve gained time previously wasted. Is your kitchen a mess? Does the spatula or whisk disappear on a daily basis? Take a few minutes every day to get the kitchen in order. Putting a meal on the table is thus faster and less stressful. Two down, and how many to go?

It’s important to realize that implementing these tips on organizing is not a contest. Once you’ve got the show stoppers out of the way, you can tackle those hall closets and kitchen cupboards, all in your own good time. As you proceed down the road to organizational loveliness, your cluttered nightstand becomes a nice Saturday morning project. The disorganized mess of boxes in the garage becomes a welcome challenge. OMG, you’re getting organized. You might now be well qualified to be giving out tips on organizing to your friends! Why will they listen? They see how you’ve mellowed out! Hooray for you and all of us ordinary folk!

Successful Relationships

Successful relationships all have certain things in common while unsuccessful relationships encompass all forms of misfortune and disaster. An unsuccessful relationship can be anything from a stale, old marriage were communication and romance have failed to a situation where serious problems like dating violence or drug abuse threaten the lives of one or both partners. A lot of relationship success, therefore, is the absence of serious personal problems. To be in a successful relationship, you need to be stable, happy, and self-actualized. You need to have the power within yourself to be happy before you can make someone else happy.

Successful relationships, however, require a whole lot more than that. There are plenty of people out there who are pretty happy on their own but aren’t able to communicate well enough to be in a successful relationship. I know all that from experience. A few years ago, I was dating a woman I thought was the woman of my dreams. She was beautiful, intelligent, driven, and extremely successful. I was also very together and successful, and I didn’t see any reason why it shouldn’t work between us. We both had prestigious jobs where we could make good money, and we were both calm, rational people.

Nonetheless, the relationship failed and failed miserably. We did not have what most successful relationships need: communication and the ability to compromise. Both of us were such type a personalities that we were unable to see where the other was coming from. Each of us always assumed that he was right and that the other one was wrong. We could discuss things for hours, but would still never come to an agreement.

We parted amicably, and we and stayed in touch for a couple of months, but I knew that I needed some serious help. I don’t know what she did after our dating experience, but I went in for therapy. I realized that there was one area where I really needed to grow if I was going to ever have successful relationships. Before I tried any more online dating sites or even went to a singles bar looking to make a connection, I knew that I would have to do something about my stubborn streak and learn how to listen.

Changing your whole attitude and learning a skill is Every bit as hard as it sounds. It took me months to make a breakthrough, and at times I was on the verge of giving up. In some ways I found the psychiatrist to be every bit as stubborn as I was, but I persevered and really made a breakthrough. Since then, I have had nothing but successful relationships. When I go out with a girl, I can say what I mean and hear what she means.