Archive | Guest Post RSS feed for this section

Guest Post: Time to Cleanse your Chakras

10 Jan

Thanks to Amanda for this guest post!

If you need help with chakra balancing, you will benefit from this chakra cleanse ritual.

Chakras are the energy centers of the soul. Are your chakras open or blocked? There are many reasons for the blocking of a chakra, including trauma, bad habits, and injury. If you handle the stress in your life in an improper manner, you could have a blocked chakra, resulting in physical and emotional health issues.

A person who is balanced is in touch with their physical needs and takes good care of their body, feeding their mind, spirit and body, healthy thoughts, emotions and nourishment. They are peaceful and serene; they are healthy and active. they are conscious of their feelings and the feelings of those around them, and they can facilitate their own processing of feelings as well as determine how to handle the feelings of the people in their sphere of influence. They are spiritually minded and feels that they are one with the universe. They speak their truth honestly and without hindrance, and they are able to listen to the needs and desires of others as well. They are creative and solution-oriented.

If your chakras are imbalanced, you can balance your chakras through a combination of yoga, meditation, color therapy and the use of stones.

Choose one stone from each of the following categories so you will have one stone for every chakra:

First Chakra – Black, Red or Brown Stone
Black Tourmaline – Good for when you feel your ability to survive is threatened
Hematite – Protects your emotional space if others feel invasive
Tiger’s Eye – Physical security

Second Chakra – Red or Orange Stone
Bloodstone – Energy
Carnelian – Sexual energy or creativity
Red Jasper – Flowing energy of earth
Ruby – Passion

Third Chakra – Yellow, Coral, Yellow-Green Stone
Argonite – Calming
Citrine – Manifest abundance
Golden Calcite – Personal empowerment
Malachite – Creativity, solar plexus

Fourth Chakra – Pink or Green Stone
Aventurine – Heart health
Emerald – Love
Green Tourmaline – Opens the creative aspect of the heart
Lepidolite – Calms the heart, relieves stress
Pink Calcite – Release emotional pain, learn to love again
Rose Quartz – Self Love

Fifth Chakra – Blue Stones
Aquamarine – Serenity while communicating
Blue Topaz – Fearless communication
Chrysocolla – Confidence in self expression
Larimar – Deep, vulnerable, honest communication

Sixth Chakra – Dark Blue or Purple Stones
Amethyst – Tranquility
Azurite – Release old beliefs and form new ones
Charoite – Overcome fear
Kyanite – Sense of Purpose

Seventh Chakra – White or Clear Stones
Clear Calcite – Spiritual perspective
Danburite – Serenity when life is difficult; eternal perspective
Herkimer Quartz – Dissolves chakra blockages

The one crystal you will really want to have for a chakra cleansing ritual is Herkimer quartz – this stone clears all chakra blockages.

You can either wear the stones or perform a ritual where you place the appropriate stone on the appropriate chakra and meditate. Follow this ritual with a regular yoga practice, ask your yoga instructor to teach you how to perform poses that will open and balance your chakras.

About the author: Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on grants for graduate students and free federal education grants.

Guest Post: Easy healthy meals that taste great too

13 Dec

Big thanks to Carolyn K. for this entry! One of my many resolutions for 2012 is to be better about healthy meal planning, so I’ll definitely use these tips!

At times it seems like there’s a war going on between nutrition and taste. One day you need an excuse to eat the delicious meals because they’re prepared with high-fat ingredients. The next day you try to justify making the super healthy meal that’s going to take hours to cook. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to make delicious and easy healthy meals if you follow these tips first.

Plan, plan, plan

In a typical week, you probably plan out most of your time. You have to figure out when you can work out or get in a yoga session, along with all the regular stuff like work and after school activities if you have kids. If you make a plan for all of that, why wouldn’t you also plan your meals the same way? You’ll be able to maximize your nutrition and time, if you have a good plan beforehand. Consider mixing things up by including a vegetarian day once a week (or more!) to work in low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods on a regular basis.

Concentrate on health and nutrition

These days, you’ll see all kinds of ways to “eat healthy,” and some of them aren’t very specific. Some of the worst offenders tell people to eat an organic or vegan diet because it’s healthier, but don’t give any additional pointers. I can eat a bunch of fried organic mushrooms dipped in a nice creamy sauce, but it isn’t going to help my health much. Likewise, I can enjoy a nice vegan meal, but it won’t do me any good if I overeat and eat three servings instead of one. The reality is that you are the only one who can make sure your diet is up to snuff.  Using nutrient-dense foods like fresh fruits and vegetables is a good start, but you also need to keep track of the other things you eat.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that things like organic foods are going to be good for you. Do your homework, check the labels, and remember that (most) everything in moderation is a good thing.

Making a plan and sticking to it, along with incorporating healthy ingredient choices, will make it much easier to keep your nutrition where you want it to be.

Carolyn writes about food for the Blog Content Guild.

guest post: how yoga can help improve arthritis

29 Apr

Special thanks to Mariana Ashley for this guest post!  Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online college. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.

——

According to statistics, one in every 5 Americans is diagnosed with some sort of arthritis. In fact, nearly 50 million adults in the United States are arthritis suffers. In short, arthritis is a condition that causes inflammation, stiffness, and pain in joints. The disease is commonly associated with those that are 65 and older, but arthritis can effect even those as young as 18. While there is no cure for arthritis, there are simple and practical ways that can reduce the pain associated with arthritis, including participating in yoga. This may seem like an implausible idea—after all how can one who can barely get out of bed position themselves into a pretzel? But contrary to popular belief, researchers say yoga movements and its breathing exercises can help bring fresh blood and nutrients to muscle tissue which helps reduce inflammation, help build cartilage, strengthen joints and improve overall health.  Continue reading below to learn some simple and gentle yoga moves to help alleviate the pain of arthritis—no acrobatic skills needed.

(Disclaimer: While experts suggest practicing yoga for one to two hours per week, make sure to consult your physician to discuss plans first.) (more…)

Guest Post: Mood Food: 5 Tasty Ways to Beat the Blues

3 Mar
Big thanks to Wendy Lau for this submission!
—-
Wendy Lau is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on getting your bachelors degree online for the Guide to Online Schools.

When feeling tension or down, or sad, there are many ways people go about finding comfort. Some people go shopping, others resort to alcohol and then there are those who turn to food. Turning to food can be an issue if you are overindulging yourself in unhealthy food. There are foods you can turn to that are healthy and that have properties to help make a person feel better.

Some healthy foods act as stimulants to elevate mood and help the body release serotonin, or “pleasure hormones.” Many of these healthy foods also improve the immune system so you have a quicker recovery process to any challenges that come your way.

There are many foods to help you beat the blues, and we nailed down five of them here that should be easy for you to find at the grocer or supermarket. These are also foods that are readily edible or that are easy to prepare.

5 Healthy Foods That Can Help Change Your Mood

1. Almonds

Faced with tension, almonds are who you need to go to. A handful of almonds will pack your body with vitamin B and E.  Vitamin B helps improve the function of red and white blood cells, while Vitamin E is an antioxidant that bolsters your immune system. A handful of almonds a day may also help maintain a healthy cholesterol level, according to the Almond Board of California. This is a much healthier way to beat the blue than popping Doritos in your mouth. (more…)

Guest Post: How Writing Can Help You Balance Your Life

13 Dec

Big thanks to Anna Miller for this great post! 

We often think of writers as eccentric people who make a living writing novels in a cabin on their own. Or we think of writers as people who use the act of writing to communicate important information, such as a breaking news story. We think that these people are good at writing, and because they make a living from it, then most likely writing is a process that’s only for the experts.

But what we don’t often realize is that writing is something that’s available to all of us, if only we can be confident in our abilities. You don’t have to be a great writer in order to use writing to balance your life. There is a kind of writing that only you will see. It’s the kind of writing that you use to help you during periods of intense self-reflection. It’s writing for you and for you alone.

So, with that in mind, here are five useful ways of writing that can help you reflect upon and balance your life.

Keep a Dream Journal

Keeping a dream journal is a great way to help you recover and understand your emotional state. Dreams are often outlets for the suppressed emotions we’ve experienced throughout the day to bubble up, so it makes sense to try to evaluate them, as they can give us insight as to what is troubling us or making us happy. Try keeping a dream journal during the especially emotional periods of your life. The minute you wake up, freewrite for five minutes in your journal, doing your best to retell the dream exactly as it happened. Then, let the journal sit throughout the course of the day. When you get home, take a moment to reread your dream journal. Spend some time writing a reflective paragraph on what the dream might mean to you and your day.

Write an Angry Letter (But Don’t Send It!)

Another thing you can do is use the letter format as a way to purge yourself of excessive emotions. A favorite of mine is to write an angry letter to someone who I feel has wronged me. I take a moment to write the letter quickly and angrily, then let it sit overnight. I review it and make changes the next day. Then, once I’m happy with it, and once I feel that my emotions have rebalanced, I shred it. I can use the letter to help me deal with the situation or I can use the letter to let the situation pass by. In either case, the process of writing and revising the letter helped me balanced my emotions.

Write a Story

One really interesting way to use writing to balance your life is to consider writing a story. This is useful for when a situation you were involved in didn’t go your way. Writing a story with yourself as a character lets you examine the real situation as it happened and plan out other scenarios. This is helpful for honing your social skills and letting you understand how you respond in different social situations.

Keep a Memory Journal

Another great use of writing is to write down all of the memories you can remember. Keeping a memory journal can help you organize and understand the trajectory of your life. Remember, that’s why we love to read novels so much, because they often give us a complete and meaningful understanding of a characters life. Through a memory journal, you can also create that same feeling in your own life.

Track Your Activities

Finally, for a more pragmatic way of balancing your life, you can use writing to track how you go about your daily routine. Spend a week to write down what activities you do each day and how long you do them. After that week is over, look at the time your spending on each activity and compare that to your list of goals for achieving a balanced life. Where can you shift your time? What activities are useful and what seem to unbalance your routine? Write down a plan for changing your routine.

————— 

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topics of online degree programs.  She welcomes your comments at her email Id: anna22.miller@gmail.com.

Guest Post: Music Therapy in Wellness

21 Oct

Thanks to Maria for this awesome guest post!!

—-

If you’re seeking to work toward balancing your mind, body, and spirit, music therapy may be a helpful tool to consider. You can engage in solitary music therapy yourself by listening to relaxing recordings at home, attending concerts or recitals, and choosing soothing radio stations or CDs to reduce stress while driving. However, many advocates of music therapy acknowledge that holistic benefits are better achieved when interacting with a therapist. Professional music therapists can also help you decide how best to maintain personal wellness with music, improving overall physical coordination, motivation to become engaged in wellness treatments, emotional support, and willingness to express feelings. No matter what your unique wellness needs might be, music therapy can provide a way to help you become a happier, more balanced member of society.

The Benefits of Music Therapy

Because music can have such a profound effect upon people and their wellness, some of the benefits are simply incalculable. Those that can be measured are defined by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) as follows: promoting wellness, managing stress, alleviating pain, expressing feelings, enhancing memory, improving communication, and promoting physical rehabilitation. The benefits of music therapy are so widespread that they affect every aspect of the mind, body, and spirit, providing a perfectly balanced approach to cumulative wellness.

How Music Therapists Can Help

There are many different ways in which music therapists can use their expertise to enhance your wellness, including diagnostic procedures to determine which areas of wellness might need attention in your unique case. They can use your responses to musical stimuli to assess physical health, emotional well-being, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills, then design individual and/or group music therapy sessions based on your needs. These sessions may include musical improvisation, song writing, discussion of lyrics, receptive music listening, combinations of music and imagery, learning through music, and music performance. In addition to these staple components of music therapy sessions, your therapist may have innovative ideas to add and you could experience something that’s even better tailored to fit your needs. Many music therapists also invite you to participate in planning
your own interdisciplinary treatment, including other types of therapy, and join them in consistently evaluating your wellness progress. You can ask your therapist to help you decide on ways to continue music therapy at home between sessions or if you decide to discontinue your visits. When you choose to try music therapy, you’re retaining control of your wellness and simply enlisting professional help to maximize the efficacy of your treatment plan and help you to achieve your goals.

About Your Professional Music Therapist

Professional music therapists hold BAs or higher in music therapy and have studied musical, clinical, and music therapy foundational principles. They’ve spent 1200 hours in clinical training, including a supervised internship, and have studied AMTA Professional Competencies. All professionally practicing music therapists have passed the national board certification exam, obtaining MT-BC (Music Therapist – Board Certified) credentials from the Certification Board for Music Therapists. They follow specific standards of clinical practice and a code of ethics determined by AMTA, so you can trust them to help you improve your wellness. You can request a list of certified music therapists in your area by calling AMTA at (301) 589-3300 or e-mailing the organization at findMT@musictherapy.org.

Bio:  Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, researching various online programs and blogging about student life issues. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

Guest Post: 5 Fantastic Reasons to Juice

23 Aug

This is a guest post by John McIntyre. Thank you, John!!

——–

When it comes to supercharging your body with life-enhancing nutrients, juicing is a perfect fit. You’re filling your body with powerful vitamins and minerals, along with many other healthy things.

If you’ve never tried it, you’ll be absolutely amazed if you do. Not convinced? Then have a look at these five fantastic reasons to juice.

1. Fill your body with liquid sunshine.

When you compare fresh fruits and vegetables with the standard western diet, juicing really is like drinking liquid sunshine. Most of what you’ll find in supermarkets has been stripped of its nutritional content. This means you can eat a ton of it yet experience no real benefit.

With juicing, you’re taking the incredible healing power of fresh produce and giving it to your body in a form that tastes great and is super easy to digest. Your body makes use of the nutrients almost immediately (I can usually feel a juice within 5 minutes) and you’ll notice a huge difference in all areas of your life.

2. Feel great.

As you feed your body highly nutritious food you’ll begin to feel great. The more you do it, the better you’ll feel. Over time, you’ll get so used to feeling great, that you’ll find it impossible to go back to the lethargic lifestyle that typically accompanies the western diet.

The 21st century has seen the exponential rise of medications for mental illnesses such as depression. I believe (as many others do) that in many of these cases, a change of diet is all the person needs.

Juicing has the power to lift your mood and give you an amazing sense of well-being for the whole day. Studies have even shown that citrus fruits such as lemon and grapefruit have mood-enhancing effects!

3. Look great.

If you leave your house each morning feeling great, it goes without saying that you’re going to look great too. You’ll be smiling more, your skin will be brighter and there will be a spring in your step.

4. Lose weight.

The modern western diet is largely responsible for the massive rate of obesity in today’s world. Many people feed their body food which has no nutritional benefit or simply cannot be digested.

When this happens, the body cannot function correctly. Processes such as digestion and the metabolism grind to a halt and the weight goes on.

However, since juicing supplies your body high concentrations of nutrients, it has the power to get these vital processes moving again. Your digestion, metabolism, motivation to exercise, immune system and more will all function so much better with good food.

Add to that the fact that many fruits and vegetables have little to no fat whatsoever. For example, one of the benefits of celery juice is that it has virtually no calories and also acts as an appetite suppressant!

5. Make the most of life.

When you wake up feeling like a million dollars with a body that feels amazing, you’re naturally going to make the most of life.

When you have your health, you have everything you need to enjoy life.

About the author: John McIntyre writes for Healthy-Juicing, a site with tasty recipes, how-to’s, and extensive information on juicing.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 42 other followers