Saturday, August 29, 2009

Light Treatment - Chroma Therapy

In a nutshell, chroma therapy refers to healing with colored light. Color therapy or chroma therapy is an interesting method to treat various illnesses among which are sleep disorder and depression.

Chroma therapy encompass ways such as visualizing and meditating on a color or being close contact with certain colors with the understanding that it could help treat sleep disorder and therefore enhance a person's physical and emotional state.

Chroma therapy has been practiced since ancient times. The Indian ancient art of treatment such as Ayurvedic treatment encompass chroma therapy. Colors are believed to be associated with not just the physical body but also the spiritual as well as emotional aspect of life and that the wholeness of the entire body depends on each charkas, areas of energy in the body which is link to a color.

It is interesting to note that despite the limited knowledge light and of what constitute color, ancient medical practitioners are able to utilize chroma therapy to help treat patients suffering from various sicknesses. We know that light is made of colors and different colors has different wave length (different energy waves).

How does chroma therapy treatment works? The photo receptor cells of our eyes turn the light that enters the retina into electrical impulses. This in turn signals the brain to release hormones. Different energy waves from the light stimulates the releases of different hormones.

Thus chroma therapy can be used to treat various illnesses such as insomnia (by stimulating melatonin) and other sleep related disorders by controlling the release of hormones. Medical research indicates colors in particular while and blue light stimulates calmness and relaxation.Below is a summary of the different colors and its benefits

Red:
Chinese culture adore red so much so that red color is considered auspicious color and attract good luck .Red color is used during wedding days or other happy occasions.
From scientific perspective, red light is known to increase blood pressure and affect the adrenal glands and releases adrenaline into the body.

Red light is good for blood circulation and increase energy. Those who are prone to emotional disturbance should avoid it because it may increase anxiety and anger. It is also advisable that those with heart problems avoid red.

Pink:
Some people believed pink rejuvenation, comfort and calming effects. It is a good emotional color and believed to increase one's compassion and help fertility issues.

Blue:
It is considered one of the best colors. It helps to calm the nerves and mind, enhances anti septic effects and speed up the healing of throat, stings, itches and bites conditions. It is also helpful for treating insomnia and inflammation of the eyes. Blue light has cooling effect for treatment of fever, measles,chicken pox and mumps.

Green:
Helps to relieve tension due to shock,improve digestive system and alleviate headaches.Some people also claimed that it helps lower blood pressure, and relaxes the heart.


Indigo:
Helps to remove fear, purifies blood stream and helps in the treatment of boils, ulcers, bruising, insomnia and reduce varicose veins.

In summary chroma therapy is beneficial in certain ways for treatment of various diseases however it should always be used as complimentary medicine in conjunction with other standard medical treatments.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

How To Deal With Anger Management

Everyone, children and adults alike experiences anger. Everyone has good and bad days. It is not surprising that not everyone is able to control their anger effectively through proper anger management techniques. Anger can be triggered by a variety of circumstances and sometimes you can be agitated and angry for no apparent reasons.

Destructive and harmful responses to anger are usually the result of behaviors learn from the adults in life who express their anger in inappropriate ways. It is common for you to imitate others, conscious as well as subconsciously and sad but true, destructive behaviors are usually learned from those you cherish the most.

Uncontrolled outburst of anger may also land you in trouble and you may live to regret for the silly impulsive actions that cause you end up on the wrong side of the law. The law may be forgiving but society never forgets. You may forget what you did but who knows, family members, relative and friends may remember what you did for life.

Being angry all the time is detrimental to health. Angry feelings raise blood pressure, disrupt sleep, interfere with your appetite, destroy relationships and may even cause imbalance of hormones which thereafter trigger other health problems.

Now that you know why being angry is really bad for health and wellbeing, isn't it time to learn how to control unhealthy anger? Anger management is the process to control anger. The goal of anger management is to reduce internal responses and emotions that is cause by anger.

One good approach is to identify and determine the things that agitate and provokes you to anger and develop effective strategies manage your response to it without provoking angry responses.

Strategies such as relaxation techniques, problem solving, behavior modification, communication and change of environment can help you to control anger. The following suggestions can help you to reduce your stress levels so as to enable you to control yourself when you are face with situations that provokes your anger.

Simple relaxation techniques
Simple relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, and relaxing imagery can calm anger. Try to think about the things that makes you happy, recall past experiences and occasions that makes you feel good. Try to replace agitated thoughts and impulses with more rational ones.

Hold your peace and say nothing
There is no point in trying to reason or argue with someone who is extremely angry. Likewise your anger may cloud the mind and impair your reasoning and judgment so much so that speaking in anger may aggravate the situation and likely to hurt other's feelings. Try to remain calm and silently outward for couple of minutes or as long as you deem necessary to give emotion within you to subside.

Give yourself a break
If you find yourself unable to control your anger, it is best to to walk away from angry situations. Take a walk or find some other means to give yourself a break.

Think before you speak
Always be mindful that the words that comes out from your mouth cannot be retracted. Most people regret things they say in anger, so think before you speak.

Lift up your countenance and smile!
Smile has a powerful effect on diffusing tensions. Let the opposing parties know that you are offering goodwill through your smile.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Fountain Of Youth

Most people (inclusive of the late Michael Jackson) would go as far as pay any price to attain eternal youth. Science has yet to unlock the secret to eternal youth even though there is increased understanding and knowledge as to what affects aging.

Is it possible that some day the breakthrough in the field genetic bio-engineering might just enable we human to understand and unlock the key to immortality? I guess no one knows for sure, not at the least for the next 5 or ten years to come. Come to think of it, wouldn't the world going to suffer from over population and scarcity of food if everyone lives forever?

Here's an interesting article on a girl who doesn't age. Enjoy reading and who knows, you might just be the lucky person who someday might be able to benefit from science breakthrough in anti aging technology and treatment.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Different Types Of Anger And What It Could Do To You

Everyone experience anger one way or another throughout life time. Individual has different tolerance to agitation and stress. Once the tolerance threshold is reach, a person may blow up literally speaking and let go off anger in unhealthy ways that may further aggravate situations.

There are many forms of anger and recognizing the different types of anger will enable you to cope and deal with it. Anger can be classified into the following categories namely:

1)Chronic Anger
It's best to avoid direct confrontation with person of such character. Such people hate the world they live in, dislike themselves, hate almost everybody else and temper flare up at the slightest agitation. A person who suffers from such a problem do not have a rational explanation of why he or she is angry all the time. Multiple factors could leads to chronic anger and professional councilors,doctors or psychologist are usually needed to deal with the person suffering from chronic anger.

2)Deliberate Anger
This type of anger is usually deliberated anger or fake anger and is quite often used by boss to control their subordinates. The anger usually don't last long and it leaves quickly when the objective has been met or if it is being confronted.
If you feel that your boss is deliberately picking on you and manifesting such anger, don't try to fight back because chances are that you won't win. Just take it as it is and the anger will subside quickly since there is not much the boss could do if you keep your cool. Depending on circumstances, deliberate anger can escalate into other form of anger, more so if you choose to confront head on with people of such nature.

3)Judgmental Anger
People suffering from insecurity or pride may try to humiliate other's by putting them down in front of gatherings so as to try to make themselves look superior.

4)Passive Anger
This is a form of controlled anger whereby the person experiencing it is able to suppress his emotion outwardly and not showing it physically. Such person person often choose to vent his anger by mocking the person who angers him, usually in a very sarcastic and insulting manner.

5)Healthy Anger
This is also known as constructive anger and person of such nature deals with his or her anger by turning the anger into some form of constructive and beneficial responses such as self improvement. Person of such behavior is able to manage and control his anger. Successful people usually possess such traits.

Which of the above category of anger do you belong to? Why not turn the anger which you may experience from time time into contructive anger? After all you may cause yourself more harm than good by your uncontrolled anger which only serves to increase your stress hormone unnecessary.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

How To Reduce Stress - Anger Management Tips

One of Forrest Gump most famous words are ‘Life is a bunch of chocolates, you never know what you're are gonna get.’ Life sure is full of surprises and unpredictable. Life is full of ups and downs. You never know what could happen to you with every new day, for better or for worse.

We deal with all kinds of people and with all kinds of situations. But one thing is for sure – we do face people and situations that irritate or anger us. So, it is better to face the fact that we do get angry at times and to start dealing with it for our own good.

It is not uncommon for us to find it difficult to prevent people from getting to us while we're in our workplace. Do evaluate if somebody is trying to make you angry by intention. If this is true, then there’s all the more reason for you not to let them get the satisfaction of driving you up the wall.

Keep your cool and be levelheaded! On the contrary if someone gets on your nerves unintentionally, you need to curb this kind of anger as well, or you may end up hurting somebody for no apparent fault of theirs. If this is the case, a friendly chat may be the solution.

When anger appears as a result of direct provocation, it is usually with an intention to get you into some sort of trouble. Do not succumb to it. Instead, breathe in and breathe out calmly, and you will clear your mind by doing so. The minute you fly into uncontrolled rage, you’ve already lost the battle.

If you are the object of someone else’s anger, try and get your self as well as him under the effect of calmness, by speaking in a soft tone. It is the natural feeling to shout at the other, but try and avoid that; you may resolve the situation in a matte of seconds this way. If you find yourself in a trying situation where you cannot actually display your anger, you could vent it into something harmless like scribbling on a piece of paper. This works well especially in places like formal meetings and business discussions. Physical exercise is another great way to lose some anger and get something constructive out of it in the bargain.

Get in control of your anger and release it in doses when and if required. If you are in charge, you need to let the person in question know that he has angered you. This can be done in a number of ways, and different people need to be spoken to differently. Yelling is rarely ever the right route and would only aggravate and destroy relationships.

Finally, when you have done something wrong yourself; do be honest enough to accept the fact and to apologize where necessary – this by far is the most important anger management strategy.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Sleep Disorder Link To Chronic Diseases.



Getting adequate good night sleep is one of the most important aspects in your entire life. We all need sleep for repair, regeneration and rejuvenation. Our body produces melatonin in the dark and it plays a role in both sleep and aging.

In young people, the pineal gland generally secretes melatonin naturally, but this is not the case in older adults. Older adults exhibit a decline in melatonin production as they age. Besides contributing to sleep loss, this reduction alone is associated with many age-related degenerative disease.

Melatonin is produced primary at night and affects well being thus sleep loss has been associated with depression. It is a known fact that sleep debt elicit depression like symptoms. Sleep deprived people have low levels of melatonin, which triggers an inflammatory response.

Inflammation is process whereby our body natural defense system comprising white blood cells and other chemicals known as inflammatory chemicals protect us from foreign harmful substances such as bacteria and viruses.

In some circumstances, the body natural defense system or immune system triggers inflammatory response unnecessary, usually in the absence of foreign substances which it is suppose to fight off and this cause damage to the body tissues. Chronic inflammation can create havoc to the body immune system and affect vital organs.

In addition to its ability to control your daily cycle which better known as circadian rhythm, melatonin modulates the expression of a number of genes related to inflammation. It may therefore have a two-pronged effect in improving mood: Its ability to regulate your daily cycle, and its ability to control inflammation. Controlling inflammation is more important than most people would ever imagine.

Chronic insomnia can lead to early death. Ongoing research indicates insomnia's role in promoting constant state of low grade inflammation which accelerates many diseases and aging. Low grade inflammation is recognized as one of the leading contributors of heart attacks and strokes.

Recent reports of sudden death involving otherwise healthy people while running on thread mill or doing rigorous exercise has been attributed to low grade inflammation. More and more people suffering heart attacks and strokes has normal healthy cholesterol level .

More doctors has now come to understand that low grade inflammation is as dangerous, if not more dangerous than high cholesterol in contributing to heart disease and stroke. Insulin resistance leading to diabetes can also be cause by low grade inflammation.

In summary, the act of preventing chronic inflammation within the body by simply getting adequate sleep could very well help prevent obesity, hypertension, stress, rapid aging as well as a whole host of chronic diseases.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Good Night Sleep - Get A Good Therapeutic Pillow

One of the things that we tend to overlook with regards to having good night sleep is bed items such as the pillow, mattress, bedding and sleep clothes. Some people would go for the cheapest bed items and I have to admit I used to be one of them. I would never give a second thoughts nor would I ever consider paying for a pillow that cost 50 dollars or more.

We spend a third of each day of our entire life in bed thus it is important to get a pillow that give us best comfort and good night sleep. Don t' try to skim or shortchange yourself by getting a pillow solely based on the cheapest price. Most of us don't realize what a pillow is for anyway. A good pillows helps to support the neck and spine and keeping it properly aligned while we are sleeping.

One fine day I decided to shop around for something that would provide comfy head rest and at the same cooling to the body. In the end I decided to opt for a therapeutic pillow. There are various therapeutic pillow brands to choose from. Choose a pillow which contour to your body and ensure proper spinal alignment as you lie down to rest.

Not all therapeutic pillows are created alike though. You don't need to spend extravaganza for the fanciest fluffiest pillow. Firstly you need to know what kind of sleeper you are, for instance whether you a side sleeper or back sleeper. I am side sleeper and the fact that I am completely deaf in the right ear makes me naturally a left side sleeper. Some therapeutic pillow are designed specifically for back sleep only or for side sleep. When in doubt, check out with the sales representative and ask for the type which is appropriate for you.

You should also opt for a contour pillow with memory foam. Memory Foam is temperature sensitive and responds to your body's warmth and adapts the shapes to your neck and head for optimum comfort and support.

In summary, what really matter is that you should get a pillow that provides good neck and head support. Good therapeutic pillow helps to improve blood circulation and reduce sleep apnea (snoring ) by enhancing airway through. Thus don't overlook that little piece of item in your bed. For all you know, the pillow just might the culprit which has been keeping you from getting a good night sleep.