Essential oils can be a great way to keep moving. They’re super helpful after an injury but are also great for preventing injury.
Two great steps to take to support your musculoskeletal system and reduce the chance for injury are to use a warm-up liniment on muscles before physical activity and to use a soothing topical on joints and sore muscles afterwards.
Icing may help with acute pain, but recent research confirms that icing actually reduces inflammation—in the case of injuries, this can actually be detrimental long term. In fact, many of these methods actually hinder blood flow and prevent the body from healing itself. Not sure what you should be doing for recovery (and why) and what you should avoid?
Did you know that at least 10% of the dogs in the U.S. suffer from heart disease? The rate is even higher in elderly dogs (my old chihuahua has the beginnings of congestive heart failure), and in certain breeds. Breeds with a susceptibility to heart issues include chihuahuas, along with basset hounds, lab retrievers, German shepherds, golden retrievers, boxers, rottweilers and others. If you have one of those breeds, it’s not a bad idea to start support early and, of course, to make sure your dog is checked out by the vet regularly.
When I was little, I would suffer from terrible stomachaches in school. They were so bad that I would have to go to the nurse’s office at times and even be sent home. It turns out I was lactose intolerant—that coupled with having high anxiety did not mix very well.
We like to wistfully muse about our lives. To play with the concept of this—literally—self-contained unit of time. This line of thinking has been called introspection, reflection, egocentrism, existentialism…I spent a considerable amount of time inside this line of thinking when I was in school. Whenever I would share my thoughts with friends or classmates I’d inevitably get “whoa, that's so deep man” in reply, and not much else. This irked me to no end. Yet, their disinterest had meaning in and of itself. How was running on this proverbial hamster wheel at all relevant to daily life?
You may have heard of using lemon balm for preventing and treating cold sores. And it’s great. We know it’s helpful from a long history of traditional use as well as from research studies. But lemon balm’s not the only game in town.
Incorporating herbs into your lifestyle can take many forms, from cooking with essential oils to making your own body scrubs and lips balms.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is quite common and involves unwanted recurring thoughts and behaviors. OCD may, for example, take the form of an obsession with germs (the “O” part), perhaps resulting in compulsive hand-washing (the “D” part). Or it may take the form of having to have things in your space organized symmetrically.
You know exercise is important, so why not give your pelvic floor a workout? It turns out many of us could benefit from giving that area some attention. According to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, nearly one-quarter of women have pelvic floor dysfunction.
Wide eyes and a gaped mouth. Your heart is racing and your breath picks up pace. You start to sweat as your body prepares…
You’re familiar with this feeling. Actually, we all are. These are the trademarks of stress. But for everything that’s happening on the surface, there is a rolling torrent of reactions happening inside. Our body is preparing for action: to fight or to flee.