Essential oils are popular among the holistic healthcare crowd - they are portable, smell delicious, and are purported to have amazing healing properties. What you may not know is that essential oils can be dangerous if not used properly. Unfortunately, a lot of marketing hype now surrounds essential oils and aromatherapy.
Seeds are a great way to add nutrition to your meals without including a lot of unnecessary calories. They can be added to smoothies, oatmeal, salads, protein bars, and even desserts like cookies. Some of the most nutritious, tastiest seeds include chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, and hemp seeds.
You might have heard of this mysterious practice from China called "Qigong" (pronounced chee-gong), but what is it? Qigong is the yoga of China; or, perhaps more accurately, yoga is the qigong of India! Why would that be? Qigong comes from two words - qi, meaning energy, and gong, meaning work or effort.
Had I known years ago what I know now, I would have lived my life a little differently. I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder while in college. I was frankly a bit surprised, since I thought my problem was depression. But no, the university psychologists felt that anxiety was my real problem and prescribed Zoloft.
Qigong (pronounced chee-gong), the "yoga" of China, is in many respects where yoga used to be decades ago in the West - a somewhat unknown, "fringe" practice shrouded in mystery and mysticism. This is starting to change as people of all ages look for new ways to promote health and reduce stress.
While most yoga teachers are trained to deal with physical limitations and injuries, do not assume that your teacher is knowledgeable in this area. Some teachers may tend to push students past their limits. The worst offenders are teachers who, not understanding the limitations of someone struggling in a pose, physically attempt to push the student deeper into a pose and end up causing injury.
Joel Osteen is an inspirational speaker whose television broadcasts reach millions of viewers weekly. His positive pep talks are reminiscent of Anthony Robbins seminars. His website is plastered with the slogan “Discover the Champion in You.” He’s the author of Your Best Life Now, which holds the No. 1 slot on the New York Times best-seller list for hardcover advice books, and has remained on that list for 59 weeks.