| Rest, Recovery and Relaxation - Time for the body to repair and strengthen itself.
Most of the reconstructive work your body does happens while you sleep. Deprive yourself of this vital activity and you will, to some degree, age more rapidly and decrease your performance in virtually every aspect of your life. Yet, one or the biggest complaints of our senior population is that we don't sleep well, we don't feel rested when we do and don't have inadequate energy when we're awake. In this category we will attempt to bring you the information and means to get enough sleep, the best quality of sleep and how to promote and improve the body's various repair mechanisms to have the waking energy to live life to the max.
Strategy: Order your life to get enough sleep on a daily basis to feel energized and avoid fatigue.
The other facet of rest is the relaxation time we want in each day to smell the roses or whatever else recharges your batteries for the next activity. Yes, it would be good to be the Energizer Bunny all the time, but pushing beyond fatigue is a stress that tears you down. Fatigue is a warning that your energy production is unable to keep pace with your activity level. Often all it takes is to lie down and shut your eyes for a few minutes, and life is SO much better. We plan to feature techniques for rest, restful activities and making recovery a conscious part of living life to the fullest.
Strategy: Listen seriously to your fatigue; curtail activities and take a nap when it hits you. We promote weight training as the most effective form of exercise for seniors. But in order for the benefits of weight training to be realized, the body has to be allowed to recover, both systemically and locally. Local recovery refers to the secession of Delayed Onset Soreness - the soreness you feel starting about a day after an intense workout, that usually subsides after the 3rd or 4th day. Before local recovery, your muscles are fragile and susceptible to injury if you tax them, particularly from the kind of stress you incur playing sports. Systemic recovery refers to secession of post-workout fatigue; it is the recovery of the central nervous and endocrine systems, and the clear sign is a sense of feeling energetic again. In both instances, the older you are, the longer it takes, and the better your overall health, the faster your recovery.
You can't do dead-lifts or squats on Friday afternoon and then dig ditches Saturday morning. You will be hammered for days and maybe injured, because you haven't allowed time for either systemic or local recovery. A Heavy workout for back and legs requires 3-4 days to recover from before you can put any serious stress on those body parts. Don't do protracted aerobics on the same day you train with weights because it will drag you down systemically; your body will go catabolic and tear down muscle instead of building it. We suggest that you can do light aerobics the next day, but don't try to run a 10K.
Strategy: Use weight training as your primary exercise/physical activity. Space your activities to allow local and systemic recovery. Don't let your recreation put you into a state of chronic fatigue.
A whole class of post-workout products (mostly drinks) has developed to aid in restoring energy levels after a workout. They really help us seniors bounce back. My favorite, providing electrolytes, creatine, glutamine and all the right stuff to drive them into your recovering muscles, is BSN's CellMass. It warns against use if you are on MAO inhibitors or have hypertension, heart, liver or thyroid problems (see a doctor first). I took the risk and have had terrific results.
Strategy: Use sports recovery drinks to help the recovery process. Another powerful product for stimulating repair and recovery is MHP's Secretagogue Gold. Taken at night on an empty stomach, it coaxes the pituitary gland to secrete increased levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) while you sleep. The results, from personal experience, are profound - better sleep, feel and act like a kid, increased daytime energy, fat stores drop significantly, and recovery from a serious workout day is complete by morning.
An important benefit of recovery/rest is the reduction of stress, especially chronic stress that continually tears you down. We ran across an interesting site (Stressfocus.com) with games that reduce chronic stress responses: Stress Relief Games
Related Articles: recovery rest relaxation energy meditation sleep insomnia naps
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1. Natural Remedies to Boost Low Sex Drive
by Brur Champ
There are a number of reasons why both men and women experience low sex drive including, hormonal imbalance, nervous disorders, nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, endocrine disorders and numerous other factors.
A healthy sex drive is a natural part of a human being's makeup, so it you are experiencing low sex drive it's important to investigate the cause with your doctor. Fortuna ...more...
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2. Insomnia: Causes and Cures
by Rune Brekke
Insomnia: Causes and Cures
If you've been counting sheep till the wee hours of the morning quite regularly, you're a victim of insomnia. This condition can not only make you dread the night, but also disturb your normal flow of life. And it’s common enough to afflict around 3.5 million people in the US alone! What causes Insomnia? There are some known causes of insomnia, like ...more...
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3. Therapeutic Massage
by Marina Petroni
Therapeutic massage is the use of massage to heal mental and bodily aches and strains. Also known as manipulative therapy, therapeutic massage provides physical and psychological benefits. Physically, the effects of massage include injury healing, pain management and circulation improvement. The psychological aspects, through muscle manipulation leading to tension relief achieved by m ...more...
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4. Play golf and travel in Brazil
by Eduardo Reisinho, publisher of Brazil-Travel-Guide.com (http://www.brazil-travel-guide.com)
Sao Paulo - the heart of industrial, commercial and entrepreneurial Brazil - is also the main reference for Brazilian golf. Sao Paulo has more golf clubs and players than the rest of Brazil put together. So, if you are planning a tourist or business trip to Sao Paulo, consider using one of its many golf greens. Any reputed hotel will give you the answers you may need for access to ...more...
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5. Sleep and Body Temperature - The Connection
by Wendy Owen
There is a definite relationship between our core body temperature and our feelings of lethargy or energy. When the body is warm, we feel wide awake. When the body is cool, feeling of tiredness and sleepiness prevail.
Not everybody realizes that our body temperature works and ticks like an internal clock controlling our sleeping cycles. Body temperature also controls the metabolism, circ ...more...
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6. Build a Storehouse of Energy and Resiliency
by Steve Brunkhorst
(C) 2004 by Steve Brunkhorst
http://www.AchieveEzine.com
Did you ever feel like your "get-up-and-go" got up and deserted you? Has a stressful situation left you feeling drained and unmotivated to perform the simplest tasks?
Most of us have experienced times of stress followed by fatigue. The resiliency to work, play, and enjoy life after stressful times requires e ...more...
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7. How to practise Relaxation
by R.Pettinger
In modern society there are so many pressures on our time and lives that it can seem difficult to be able to find time for relaxation. Even if we do find time we may have so many thought and anxieties going through our mind that it seems difficult to be able to switch off and enter into a more relaxed frame of mind. Many people consciously want to be able to relax and these are a few ...more...
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8. Gain 100% Control Over Your Relaxation and Sleeping Time
by William Thomas
In today's high stress, high anxiety world, rest is the single most important thing you can do for yourself. The time that you select to relax or sleep can rejuvenate your body and mind or, it can be a frustrating task of tossing and turning to seek comfort and relief from pain.
Sleep experts and the medical community constantly remind us that unless we rest well and comfortably, problem ...more...
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9. Sleep Deprivation and the Elderly
by Mary Desaulniers
Copyright 2006 Mary Desaulniers
My grandmother used to be up at the crack of dawn?not because she had to, but because her body clock had shifted to a different time frame with increasing age. My step-mother used to complain that after Dad retired, he woke up every morning before six. The connection seems inevitable?older people do not need as much sleep as younger folks do. While changes in ...more...
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10. Relax Into Health
by Wayne McDonald
I’d like to share a little secret about relaxation techniques for athletes (or health-minded people that workout) and anyone that wants to feel more focused, calm, healthy and peaceful.
But first, let’s define relaxation techniques, or more specifically, meditation. To begin, it’s not necessary to be a Zen master to learn meditation. Anyone can jump-in at any time and start meditat ...more...
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11. Sleep Deprivation, What Are The Consequences?
by Wendy Owen
Sleep is probably best described as the loss of awareness of what is happening around us. The brain itself never sleeps and still continues to function, although the brainwave rhythms are altered and gradually slow as we approach the deeper stages of sleep. Sleep deprivation exists when we are not getting the sleep we need. This varies from person to person, the average adult requires si ...more...
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12. 3 Sure-fire Ways to Reduce Pain and Speed Healing
by Steven Hefferon
The last time I gave advice to a bodybuilder was in 1981. I was a freshman in high school, and I told a friend's brother to "slow down his reps." I thought that was good information, seeing as how I had just read it in article by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Well, this guy put the weight down and kneed me in the thigh so hard I couldn't walk for an hour. Twenty-six years later, I can still hea ...more...
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13. Options for Managing Stress
by Matthew Keegan
Many individuals don’t realize how a little bit of moderated stress can actually be a good thing or the fact that it helps our bodies cope and deal with the pressures of life. In prehistoric times, stress was the body’s way of telling humans of danger. In order to help cope with the coming threat the heart rate would accelerate, muscles would get tense and the senses would actually heighten. ...more...
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14. Aromatherapy For Stress
by George Key
Over the years, specific essential oils have been celebrated for their ability to help individuals fight anxiety and relieve stress. The most well known oils which fall under this particular category, include clary sage, lavender, rose, mandarin, lemon balm and ylang ylang. The fastest ways to feel the effects and to get the stress busting benefits of these essential oils is to inhale th ...more...
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15. 2000 Years of Stress Relief
by Mitamins Team
“Stressed out” is a common phrase these days. While some stress is healthy, unwanted stress can be harmful - and it is harmful stress that is becoming increasingly common today. A huge industry has grown up out there on claiming to provide stress relief. Stress and anxiety seem to be the new illnesses of the modern age and more...
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16. Tips to Help You Get to Sleep
by Mitamins Team
Insomnia is not a disease itself, though it can be a side effect or complication of other diseases or conditions. Insomnia is commonly thought to be caused by stress, nervousness or excitement. Mild insomnia or temporary conditions can indeed be caused by these states. However, insomnia can also come about from physiological causes such as circadian rhythm disorders, sleep-wake imbala ...more...
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17. Circadian Rhythms Disorders and Sleep Phase Syndrome
by Nishanth Reddy
Sleep forms part of human’s biological need to rest. As a person sleeps, the various physiological processes of a human body figuratively put into an apparent arrest and some parts of our system that were mostly exploited can be replenished for future use. However, imagine a system so disrupted that our normal scheduling for sleeping and waking is totally altered. Some people tend ...more...
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18. Sports massage can help athletes stay healthy, perform better an...
by Terry McDermott
If you engage in any regular athletic activity then you have likely experienced the consequences of your attempt to maintain a level of fitness. Muscle strains, pulls and aches are common occurrences of both professional and amateur athletes alike. Sports massage can help reduce the frequency and severity of these ailments. And that's just the start of the benefits. Whether you a ...more...
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19. Cancer is an energy
by Simon Mitchell
Einstein, a genius scientist of the 20th century, and central to the new energy physics, stated that 'a problem cannot be solved by the same mind set that created it'. Cancer is a case in point. Cancer is a dis-ease that stems partly from the products of the mechanistic, anthropomorphic and exploitative philosophy at the heart of our culture, which we tend to ignore. Its effect ...more...
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20. Marriage Counseling--Are You a Workaholic?
by Barbara Bartlein
Justin, a thirty-five year old executive at a high-pressure investment firm works 60-70 hours per week. Even on vacation, he often slips away from the rest of the family to go on-line, check messages and answer phone calls. Until recently, he saw nothing abnormal about his behavior; in fact, everyone at his job works like that.
In the United States, we value work. Americans ...more...
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21. Energy-Rechargers for Winners
by Patricia Wagner
Are you tired of being tired? Here are 12 helpful tips to help increase your energy level.
Want more energy so you can live a more fulfilling life? Energy is life's fuel! According to Benjamin Franklin, "Energy and persistence alter all things."
Buckminster Fuller believed that real wealth is ideas plus energy. He is famous for designing the lightes ...more...
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22. Benefits Of Aromatherapy Essential Oil On Your Mind And Body!
by Neelima Reddy
Aromatherapy is an ancient holistic healing, relaxing and energizing process for your body and mind with the use of fragrance. It is regarded as the complementary medical tool in the United States. This is mainly based on aromatherapy essential oil, which is extracted from plant and their parts. These can be extracted from plant leaves, roots, flowers, resin, nuts and bark.
Aromather ...more...
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23. Supplements for Sleep - Blaylock Tip of the Week
by Dr. Blaylock
I get some very good advice from several newsletter that I think is worth passing on to my readers. If you like this material, you will find links at the end of the article for getting more information and signing up for the Blaylock Report.
A good night’s sleep is one of the best defenses against aging and disease. But millions of Americans lie awake night af ...more...
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24. Mattress Selection - A Practical Approach
by Nguang Nguek Fluek
I have been using the same old bed ever since I was a teenager and it had been comfortable until 3 years ago, when my legs had finally cross the finishing line at the border of the mattress. It bothered me to feel my legs hanging in mid air when I sleep. Enough is enough. A new mattress is a must.
I for one am a tall person of 183cm. I also weigh 86kg and that makes any soft matt ...more...
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25. Do You Want To Relax And Think Clearly?
by Steven Gillman
Learning To Be In The Moment
Imagine thinking clearly, and feeling relaxed at will. Could you get more done? Enjoy life more? Would you like to know how to do that right now? Start by learning how to put yourself more in the moment with a simple mindfulness exercise.
Basic Mindfulness Exercises
A basic mindfulness exercise begins with sitting down, relaxing and brea ...more...
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26. How to Stop Taking Sleeping Pills and Stay Sane
by Wendy Owen
Copyright 2006 Wendy Owen
Over a million people worldwide rely on some form of prescription sleep medication. Many of these could sleep well or better without it. The trouble is these drugs are so habit forming, they don?t know how to stop taking them. They can?t get off the merry-go-round.
The thing that keeps us taking these drugs is fear. Fear of withdrawal, fear of never having a g ...more...
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27. Your Mattress Can Make Or Break You
by Nguang Nguek Fluek
A good night's sleep is important and that it's the time your body rebuild itself, and its our duty to make sure that our sleep is uninterrupted and smooth. For years many of us have always wanted better health and vitality. However, most are not aware that we are actually sleeping on top of the answer everyday. In order to get quality rest, and I stress on the term "quality rest", one n ...more...
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28. Advice on Effective Sleep for Good Health
by Matt Daren
Effective sleep solutions are available to anyone who suffers from any type of sleep disorder. As part of our effective sleep solutions this article will answer some of the questions that you may have.
Are you aware that you will spend almost one third of your life sleeping? During the time our body is awake the nerve cells constantly active become more or less fatigued. This is wh ...more...
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29. Stress Management and Mastery: The Power of REST
by Jeff Herring
Rest.
It's a good thing to do. As the story goes, even God rested one day out of seven.
Yet our culture treats rest like it's a dirty four-letter word.
Benefits and suggestions
1) Relaxation: You can say you heard it here first - it's OK to relax. Yet many of us act as if it's a dangerous or wrong thing to do. Rest brings the relaxation of your mind and your m ...more...
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30. Stressed? Relax Right Now with 5 Super-Simple Stress-Busters
by P J Smith
Stressed? Relax Right Now with 5 Super-Simple Stress-Busters
Stressed-out? Don't know which way to turn? Then, check out these five simple steps for instant sanity. They're quick and effective. And best of all, you can do at least one of them right now, right where you are, in the comfort of your own home or cubicle.
(1.) Breathe: Often and always, of course. But also DEEP-ly ...more...
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31. Insight Meditation Helps You to Bring Calmness In Your Mind!
by Neelima Reddy
Insight meditation belongs to the comprehensive body of teaching Dharma, depth awareness, inner peace, emotional and psychological insights.
Though it has been for a long time, the benefits of Insight Meditation is recognized and being practiced by many in now-a-days. Professional sport persons are using this to increase focus and attention towards their play and have derived the resu ...more...
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32. Sleep Deprivation- The 3 Shocking MYTHS About Sleep That You Don...
by Whozylee Aris
MYTH #1 ) “If you sleep longer, you'll be more awake and have more energy in your life”
TRUTH: Sleeping Longer ROBS You of Energy and Damages your Sleeping System
There are several reasons why sleeping longer damages your sleep system. What most people don't know is that there is a very important element of your inner sleep clock which is prior wakefulness. When you sleep ...more...
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33. What is Qi? (How to Get More Energy)
by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc
This is one of the most common questions Americans ask about Chinese Medicine, and not an easy one to answer. Qi (pronounced "chee" and sometimes spelled 'chi') is possibly the most essential and the most controversial aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Biomedicine often feels it can quite easily dismiss parts or all of TCM by maintaining that modern science cannot verif ...more...
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34. Drug Rehab Programs - Drug Rehab Center - Residential Drug Treat...
by Cliffside Malibu
Drug Rehab Programs - Residential Drug Treatment Facility -
Drug Rehab Programs
Drug addiction is a complex and severe problem. It encompasses a myriad of issues, which can make it difficult to combat. That is why drug rehabilitation is so important. There are many drug rehab programs available that ...more...
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35. Leisure-time versus full-day energy expenditure: a cross-section...
by
Leisure-time versus full-day energy expenditure: a cross-sectional study of sedentarism in a Portuguese urban population
Diane L Gal , Ana-Cristina Santos and Henrique Barros
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Porto Medical School, Porto, Portugal
BMC Public Health 2005,
5:16 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-5-16
...more...
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36. Why Do Make-Ahead Recipes Work So Well To Reduce Your Dinner Par...
by www.dishadvice.com
One of the “tricks” I find most useful for hosting stress-free dinner parties is to make some of the recipes ahead. I find that too many last minute jobs can overwhelm me, so I plan ahead to eliminate as many as possible.
The more dishes you can prepare a day or some hours before guests ring your doorbell, the more you reduce your stress. Here are some reasons:
• You avoid a ...more...
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37. Lack of deep sleep may increase risk of type 2 diabetes
by John Easton
University of Chicago Medical Center
Suppression of slow-wave sleep in healthy young adults significantly decreases their ability to regulate blood-sugar levels and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, report researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center in the “Early Edition” of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, available online as soon as Dec. 31, 2 ...more...
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38. Sleep loss boosts appetite, may encourage weight gain
by John Easton
University of Chicago Medical Center
Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that partial sleep deprivation alters the circulating levels of the hormones that regulate hunger, causing an increase in appetite and a preference for calorie-dense, high-carbohydrate foods. The study, published in the 7 Dec. 2004 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, provides a mechanism l ...more...
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39. Quick Relief from Anxiety and Stress Without Tranquilizer Drugs
by Tiesha D. Johnson, RN, BSN, LE Magazine
Daily stress and anxiety not only wreaks havoc with our sense of well-being, but also shortens our lives by contributing to heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive impairment.1-3 Drug companies offer medications to treat the symptoms of anxiety, but fears of addiction and side effects cause most health conscious people to avoid them.more...
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40. Top Essential Oils for Aromatherapy Bath
by George key
An aromatherapy bath is a great way to relax and heal both the body and the spirit. Using just the right essential oil can help remedy skin ailments, promote relaxation and even set the mood for a romantic evening.
In this article we will discuss various oils and their benefits when used in a aromatherapy bath. We will also provide a great recipe for you to use when you are taki ...more...
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41. Coping with Narcolepsy
by Anne Wolski
Copyright 2006 Anne Wolski
Are you one of those people who can drop off to sleep anywhere? Do you find that you are going to sleep at inappropriate times? Are you constantly fighting to stay awake during the day despite having a good night?s sleep? If so, you may be suffering from a condition called Narcolepsy.
Narcolepsy is a condition in which the sufferer has episodes in which he/sh ...more...
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42. Subtle Energy for Healing; The Work of Dr. Yury Kronn
by Boyd Martin
In 1933 came the first hint that something was horribly wrong with Modern Physics' view of the universe. The galaxies and star clusters were moving away from each other, and doing it in ways that just couldn't be possible given the basic assumptions of science at the time. From that day forward, scientists have been baffled and befuddled as the view of reality continued to depart f ...more...
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43. Aging alters sleep and hormone levels sooner than expected
by John Easton
University of Chicago Medical Center Aging alters sleep and hormone levels sooner than expected
Researchers from the University of Chicago report in the August 16 issue of JAMA that there are at least two stages of age-related deterioration of sleep quality and that, for men, the first stage occurs sooner than expected--between the ages of 25 and 45. They also found that changes in ...more...
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44. A role of melanin-concentrating hormone producing neurons in the...
by
A role of melanin-concentrating hormone producing neurons in the central regulation of paradoxical sleep
Laure Verret* , Romain Goutagny* , Patrice Fort , Laurène Cagnon , Denise Salvert , Lucienne Léger , Romuald Boissard , Paul Salin , Christelle Peyron and Pierre-Hervé Luppi
CNRS UMR5167, Institut Fédératif des Neuroscienc ...more...
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45. Natural Sleep Aid Tips and Remedies
by Helene Malmsio
Summary of some of the natural and simple free sleep aid remedies described in greater detail and with recipes and instructions at www.sleep-aid-tips.com
Balance and perspective:
At certain times, insomnia may result from stress.
Massage techniques can ease tense necks, aching shoulders and upright torsos, and face massage can be an instant calmer.
Som ...more...
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46. Fall Asleep Easier, Sleep Deeper, and Watch Your Body Fat Disapp...
by Mike Geary
I want to take a step away today from my normal discussions about various training techniques or nutrition ideas, and look at another vitally important aspect in your life that plays an important role in your success with your fitness goals. And that aspect is...
How well do you sleep?
I've noticed that one of the challenges for many people in their fitness endeavors is getting e ...more...
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47. Night Eating Syndrome and Sleep Walking
by Nishanth Reddy
Eating while sleeping? It’s probably a disorder. Has this happened to you? You woke up one morning, and you found that there were wrappers of candy bar all over your kitchen. Incidentally, your stomach aches and you see that you had chocolate smudges all over your hands and face. Your parents or your husband tells you that you are up all night long eating, but surprisingly, ...more...
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48. How energy efficient are you?
by Coach Pat Morgan
While out for a run the other day, my mind wandered to the energy efficiency ratings associated with appliances and how we, too, utilize energy at different rates based on a variety of things.
At the physical level, we burn energy constantly and can improve our efficiency through diet, exercise and weight control. We exert mental energy thinking, problem solvin ...more...
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49. The Top Six Massage Techniques
by Nishanth Reddy
Massage is probably the oldest and simplest existing form of medical care that it has been applied for relaxation, fitness, and other health purposes. Basically, massage therapy is a therapeutic technique that involves manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. It is the calming, therapeutic process of kneading, stroking, and pressing the different areas of the body to alleviate pain, reli ...more...
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50. About Theraputic Massage
by Gerry Van Dyke
Various types of bodywork have been used for centuries to support health and promote healing. In many parts of the world, forms of massage have been a primary method of health care because of its affordability and accessibility and an important part of many cultural traditions. Now there is an impressive body of both anecdotal and formal research documentation that attests to the therapeutic ...more...
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