The Inspiration Place

Archive for the ‘Health and Fitness’ Category

To eliminate pain, there are certain techniques that you could try from meditation and yoga and we give you a bit about them here. These techniques are easy and quick to do and they are simple enough for anyone to learn.

It has been a popular technique through the ages across the world not just as a stress buster but also to manage pain. Contemplation is what meditation is all about and you get to that inside space by focusing on a thought or object or activity till all is calm and peaceful inside you.

Different techniques are available and may be performed with chants, meditation music or in absolute silence. The focus could be on some object close by or you could focus on the breaths that you take as they go in and out of your body. The main thing here is the fact that you need to be undisturbed so finding a quiet place is necessary.

Choose the place, choose the chant or object you want to focus on and then find a comfortable position - not lying down which could have you falling asleep in that relaxed state. Done right, this gets you into a detached state even though you are aware of what is going on around you - this is a relaxed rather trance-like state.

Generally people experience the limited Alpha State. In many religions, meditation is part of the spiritual practice. Buddhism uses it in order to focus and direct one’s mental path to get to the point of enlightenment. Although it can be performed in any position including standing, sitting, walking or lying down, the sitting position or ‘zazen’, is the most recommended.

In relationship to meditating, there are several psychological and physical benefits that have been documented, several of them arising out of a research project that was conducted by Professor Herbert Benson at the Harvard Medical School. Just twenty minutes is enough to make a visible difference in controlling your blood pressure, your heart and breathing rate and you metabolism.

The deeper states will very often bring about mental images like bursts of color and images and maybe even a still, small voice. Some of the follow-on studies have reflected that meditation can also help to relieve anxiety and stress, migraine, headaches, depression, fatigue, chronic pain, and insomnia.

With better awareness comes a better state of health and you will find that your functioning - whether physical, mental, emotional or psychological - is so much more enhanced and healthy.

Though traditional use of meditation was to be seen in spiritual well being, recent popularity is due to its ability to relieve stress and achieve relaxed tranquil state of mind in the midst of the rat-race. When you combine yoga and meditation, you will find it a perfect recipe to help you to a life without stress and tension.

No longer is conventional therapy the only means of healing as people are turning to alternate methods. Integrated therapies are known to combine the mainstream medical treatments with many of the alternative or complementary therapies, for which some scientific evidence of efficacy and safety now exists. You have recourse to healing in certain areas when you use alternative lines of treatment when it is not really addressed in conventional medicine. When we talk of alternative therapies, they could include a whole lot of healing techniques like naturopathy, homeopathy, massages, faith healing, etc. When you use this instead of the regular lines of treatment, you usually do it expecting your ailments to get completely cured.

Quality of life and general health improves with alternative health therapies. One feels calmer when pressure, stress, insomnia, nervousness and despair are reduced. Alternative health therapies can help you to reduce all of the symptoms that are associated with cancer, like feeling sick, pain, constipation, breathlessness, tiredness, diarrhea, and poor appetite along with moderating all of the side effects that are associated with the traditional treatment for cancer.

They alleviate pain which could conceal a grave situation and this is a possibility as today they are frequently used with traditional medicine. These therapies are offered free of cost or for a minimal charge by some cancer support groups; they are also a part of cancer treatment provided by hospitals and hospices. Several of the people that now have cancer are known to use all of these therapies in order to help support them throughout the stages of cancer and the treatment itself. They should not be considered an alternative for the traditional medicine.

Americans for example, now spend billion annually on alternative health products such as vitamins and herbs. Studies in 2005 by Tindle, Davies, Phillips and Eisenberg showed that about 72 million American adults use alternative and complementary therapies. Herman, Craig and Caspi, in 2005 showed that more than billion a year is spent out-of-pocket on alternative therapies.

It is important, however, for best results that the alternative health therapy providing the most effective treatment be used. For many people that suffer from MND or Motor Neuron Disease, individual therapies have been conducted and have proven to actually improve the overall quality of life for these individuals, these individual therapies can include: aromatherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, massage, hypnotherapy, reiki, meditation and reflexology. Before you consider any of the alternative therapies that are available, it is always a very good idea to consult with your physician, it is also important that you double check that any treatment that you take in addition isn’t going to adversely affect any of the current treatment programs that you are on.

When integrating alternative therapies with conventional treatment and therapies, it is extremely important to be honest and open with the treating health care team and physician. You could even find out from your physician if he is qualified to practice any of these therapies. Your doctor will be pleased to refer you to the therapies that will help you. For many people these days, alternative therapies help to cope up with stress and anxiety and making them react to conventional medicines in a better manner.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a condition where a person suffers from profound fatigue which doesn’t ease even after a night’s sleep and can sometimes be made worse by any mental or physical work. The question is there a cure is on the lips of sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well as people suffering from the symptoms of another debilitating disease – Crohns.

It is unknown just how many sufferers there are of this mysterious disease and the debate is still on about its causes and ultimately what method of treatment will be the most successful. The extreme fatigue of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is most often accompanied by four or more of the following symptoms: impaired short-term memory or concentration, tender lymph nodes in neck and under arms, multi-joint pain without swelling or redness, fatigue lasting more than 24 hours after physical exertion and can also include a sore throat, muscle pain, headaches and un-refreshing sleep.

Not only must the person be suffering these symptoms but they need to have persisted for at least six months to be officially recognized. In Fibromyalgia syndrome, severe shooting or radiating pain can be observed in certain pressure points, unlike in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome wherein the patient has a constant niggling pain in most parts of the body. Should you be diagnosed with Crohns Disease or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome you would be wise to do as much research as possible on the subject but only from current, reputable sources.

The conditions of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/or Fibromyalgia have to be validated with medical tests and to eliminate any other conditions. Unlike people who suffer depression and feel tired constantly, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome sufferer’s tiredness only seems to increase after any mental or physical exercise. Because depression is not a condition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, you will find many sufferers who are free of depression although it can be a symptom.

Since Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has specific symptoms, it is easier to detect the illness in someone if they aware that such an illness exists. Chronic Fatigue on the other hand is a symptom of a number of diseases, whereas, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is the illness itself.

Given all the theories on the subject, there are a number of natural remedies which have been known to help sufferers. One alternative which makes interesting claims is that of the Far Infrared Sauna and might be worth investigating further. You could help treat any depression you may feel as a sufferer of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by taking some safe natural remedies. There is also a homeopathic remedy available which can help with the fatigue and exhaustion you may be feeling. Another two natural remedies, Omega 3 and pure Ethyl EPA have become popular since the release of the book “beat chronic fatigue the natural way” in treating this debilitating disease.

However, if you think you have chronic fatigue syndrome, you should go to a doctor first for immediate advice.