Category: Health & Wellness

Health and Wellness is more than doctors and medicine. It’s about taking care of your mind and body; about being positive and affirming. Wellness is about staying active and moving more. It is a conscious and self-directed process towards achieving your full potential.

We look at it holistically. It encompasses your lifestyle, well-being, motivation and environment.

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10 Simple and Natural Fall Allergy Remedies

Natural Fall Allergy Remedies

As the temperature dips and the leaves change, are you one of the unlucky ones whose nose is running and eyes are itching? Does the congestion in your sinuses let you know that Fall is on the way? If you suffer each year with seasonal allergies to pollen, mold and dust, then try some these non-diet related, natural fall allergy remedies.

10 Natural Fall Allergy Remedies

  1. Wear Those Shades
    Wear sunglasses outdoors to reduce the amount of pollen that reaches your eyes.
  2. Plan Your Day
    Try to limit your outdoor exposure to early mornings or to early evenings when pollen counts are usually lower.
  3. Block Out Those Allergens
    Keep windows and doors to the outside shut as much as possible to keep pollen from entering the home. Keeping your air conditioner on throughout this season on may reduce your exposure to allergens.
  4. Scrub Down Those Surfaces
    Wash down walls and surfaces with soap and water weekly to remove pollen that has entered the home.
  5. Suck Up That Dust
    Vacuum all soft surfaces weekly with a HEPA rated vacuum cleaner filter to remove dust and pollen.
  6. Clean Those Hard-to-Reach Areas
    Have your duct work cleaned out and your chimney swept yearly to reduce the pollen an soot that has collected in these areas of your home.
  7. Stay Squeaky Clean
    Shower and wash your hair each night to remove the pollen that has collected on your body throughout the day.
  8. Pet’s Need a Bath Too!
    Scrub those pets who venture outdoors to help remove the pollen that collects on their fur.
  9. Flush Away the Pollen
    Use a saline nasal spray to flush pollen out of your nasal cavities each day. Some suggest using a Neti Pot to flush the sinuses, but it is recommended that you learn of the dangers before you use one. Also, flush eyes with clean water if you have been exposed to the allergens.
  10. Cover Your Face
    Wear face protection such as a mask when working in the yard.

There it is, 10 easy ways to help combat those seasonal allergies. Can you come up with any more natural fall allergy remedies to share? Please let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

-Tracy

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Designing Personal Space: Organize Your Interior to Boost Healthy Habits

Bedroom Sanctuary

Have you ever thought about how a simple thing like changing the color of your walls can impact your mood? Our environment has a huge influence on our psyche and the way we organize our personal space can make us feel different or encourage us to act a certain way. If you want to incorporate healthy habits into your lifestyle, you can be savvy and organize your home interior so that it impacts your everyday decisions and supports you on your path to a healthier you. Here are ways you can do that in four different rooms of your home, taking care of both your mind and body.

Give your kitchen a healthy makeover

Healthy Yogurt
Photo Source: Pixabay

The kitchen is the heart of the house – a favorite place of gourmands and the key room for preparing healthy meals. Of course, you should always keep your kitchen organized, tidy, and clean. But, how can you optimize it so that it encourages you to stick to healthy habits? First of all, declutter your space and throw away all the processed food (or at least – reduce it to a minimum). It’s a misconception that healthy nutrition has to be tasteless. You just have to make smarter choices, so keep that in mind when going grocery shopping next time. Invest in a good juicer and leave fruit on display: that way, you’ll get a visual reminder to eat healthy. You’ll start to associate your kitchen with health and it won’t take long before you form new habits.

Make your exercising room workout-inspiring

Make Workout Room Inspiring
Photo Source: Pixabay

Besides the obvious physical benefits of working out, it is also known as one of the best ways to achieve balance in mental health. Your exercising room should be designed accordingly: no cluttered space, no dull colors, and no distractions. It’s a place where you should find inspiration to stay committed to your fitness goals. Yoga is a great way to stay physically active while taking care of your mind, too. Eastern philosophy is layered and deep, so it’s not surprising many people step away from the Western exercising techniques and turn to it instead. Always have a yoga mat ready and try meditating. Decorate your room with prayer flags and candles in order to create a space filled with serenity. Design your room so that it’s inviting and you associate it with a peaceful feeling of doing something good for yourself. Depending on the type of your physical activity, you should color the walls to boost up your level of energy or calm you down.

Design your bedroom as a personal sanctuary

Bedroom Sanctuary
Photo Source: Pixabay

We often go to bed overwhelmed with negative thoughts, which may create a restless feeling and cause insomnia. You can try to make the best of designing your bedroom so that it’s your personal sanctuary. Good sleep is crucial for one’s healthy functioning. Opt for a calming color for the walls (pastel ones work the best) and make it as warm and welcoming as possible. Pick natural fabrics for the sheets and light a few scented candles before going to bed. Opt for soothing and calming scents (e.g. lavender) and you’ll feel the tranquility you’ve been craving for.

Fill your living room with light and greenery

Design room with light and greenery
Photo Source: Pexels

The living room is most frequently the noisiest one, as it is the room for socializing. It should reflect who you are through home décor. Consider the overall style of your interior design and try to adapt the details to it. Make sure your living room has a lot of light since it impacts your health more than you probably assume. The presence of plants can also have an influence, as they create a connection to nature, clean the air, and also help with your work flow – who knew!

Being healthy goes beyond just eating smart and exercising, but it does take commitment to lead a healthy life. Designing strategies can empower you on your path: organize your space and get a little health boost in doing so.

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3 Little Known Tips to Reduce Negative Thinking

Reduce Negative Thinking
Reduce Negative Thinking
Reduce Negative Thinking

When you hear the question, “Do you see the glass half full or half empty,” what do you say? Do you smile and say you are an optimist but secretly admit that you don’t see the bright side of things as often as others? Or, do you openly admit that you are a pessimist and have been told that you are too negative? Are you looking to reduce negative thinking? If being a pessimist has caused some conflict in your life or you simply wish for more positivity, then these three tips may help you get the shift you need.

Tips to Reduce Negative Thinking

1. Make Pessimism a Strength

Do you tend to see the obstacles way ahead of everyone else? Have you thought “I told you so” more times than you can count? If so, then you probably are a strategic thinker. If you are strong in strategic thinking then you will find yourself looking ahead and analyzing the “big picture” more than task-oriented thinkers. While some people are focused on today, this strength allows you to focus on tomorrow and beyond.

This thought process may be what drives your pessimism and negative thinking. Being able to look further down the road will naturally bring questions and concerns that others may have not considered. Instead of seeing your observations as pessimism, change your outlook to focus on the strength of helping the group avoid pitfalls long-term. Present your “negatives” as the value you bring to the group and this may help you reduce negative thinking.

2. Focus on Delivery

While you may find your observations a strength, be careful how you communicate. The delivery of your message will make or break you – period. Optimists want to focus on the positives, so they will hear your concerns as negativity unless presented in a specific way. I have learned from experience that these communication techniques work best for me:

  1. Only share the concern mostly closely related to the topic of the current conversation. If you share too much or discuss long-range concerns too soon, others will not absorb all of what you are saying. This will lead them to believe that you are just being negative.
  2. Be open-minded. You may believe you “know” the outcome, but if you are seen as unwilling to listen or unwavering in your decision, others will feel that you are just being difficult to work with. You may have to actively allow other ides to be presented in order to move forward.
  3. Utilize positive attitude and body language. If you seem defensive, sit closed off or look inattentive with your group, then any concerns that you present will generally be received as pessimistic.

If you pay close attention to how you deliver your concerns and at what point in the conversation you share them, you will find that others will react to you in a more positive way.

3. Go Along for the Ride

If there is one thing I have learned from being a pessimist is that you need to go along for the ride. Stay quiet more than you speak, listen more than you share and be open to ideas of the conversation. Deliver only what is relevant in the moment and understand that for many people, the path to resolution is like an onion. The layers will be peeled back; it just takes time to get there. Think of each step as moving in the right direction.

While being a pessimist has the stigma of being a negative personality trait, it is actually a strength that many groups need in order to be successful. If you present your ideas in an open and planned manner, others will be less inclined to see you as having a negative influence and more as a strong mentor of the long-term vision. Once the perception of negativity shifts, more positivity and the ability to build self-confidence is sure to come into your life.

Thanks for reading,

-Tracy

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