health

November 6, 2018 By BalanceYourPower

Heart Disease

Alternative Therapy for Heart Disease

It seems amazing that an organ as strong and as resilient as the heart can be slowed down and diseased, but this is a very real possibility that affects more people than you may imagine. In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States each year. This equates to 1 in 4 deaths. Each year 720,000 Americans have a heart attack. 205,000 of these heart attacks are in people who have experienced one previously.

Heart disease costs the United States $108.9 billion each year, including expenditures for medications, health care services, and lost productivity.

Heart disease is often tackled by modern medicine by prescribing drugs and surgery. Unfortunately, the treatment plans for this condition can be just as frightening as the condition itself, which causes many people to ignore their symptoms and avoid medical help.

Luckily there are alternative therapy options for those suffering with heart disease that are both natural and effective. When used in concert with conventional medicine these options can increase the probability of healing success, and can go a long way toward prevention of heart disease.

What Happens When You Have Heart Problems

Heart disease is defined as any condition that prevents your heart from working correctly. Over time, heart disease can cause a deterioration of the heart’s arteries and vessels, dramatically increasing your chances of heart attack.

Coronary heart disease is the most common type. It is defined as the hardening of the arteries on your heart’s surface. The hardening of these arteries is caused by plaque accumulating on the artery walls and this plaque is typically caused by too much bad cholesterol in your system.

When left unchecked, the plaque can continue to build up and narrow the arteries, making it harder for blood to flow through the heart and the rest of the body. This makes the likelihood of a blood clot, heart attack, or acute chest pain very high.

When these conditions are not treated or improved, they can lead to sudden death. It is important to maintain heart health in order to maintain a healthy body. There are many everyday practices and habits that can lead to heart disease and these often start when you are young and build up gradually.

The Road to Heart Disease: Risk Factors and Prevention

One of the most prevalent risk factors is family history. If heart disease is part of your genetics, you might be at higher risk for developing this disease yourself. However, there are still preventive steps that you can take to protect yourself against future problems.

If your family history is clear, there are still measures you can take to minimize the risk of heart disease later in life. Here is a list of the factors you can control, and how you might manage them:

Avoid high levels of low-density lipo-protein cholesterol, also known as bad cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipo-protein, also known as good cholesterol
Avoid high levels of triglycerides, which can increase when you consume too many fatty foods and take in excess calories.
Avoid or quit smoking
Exercise more regularly
Avoid a high fat diet
Monitor high blood pressure
Monitor ongoing stress, anxiety, and depression
Monitor weight gain to avoid being overweight and obese
Monitor diabetes

Alternative Care

The best alternative medicine for heart disease is prevention. Stop it before it starts, and stay on top of symptoms and risk factors.

Most modern medicine becomes necessary once heart disease exists, but by simply trying alternative preventative practices and treatments you might be able to avoid the damaging effects of this condition.

Alternative Methods for Heart Disease Prevention

Consult with a holistic nutritionist that will teach how to eat smart and fill your diet with healthy foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. These include fish, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.
Consult with a holistic practitioner that can help assess your individual needs and provide a customized treatment plan to get you on the road to general health and wellness.
Practice regular exercise a few times a week and get regular check-ups to stay on top of your heart health.
Dietary Treatments: Learn to avoid foods high in fat and cholesterol
Chelation Therapy: This treatment rids the body of heavy metals and is often used for mercury poisoning. It adds the amino acid EDTA to your body, which can help remove dangerous blockages from the arteries
Stress Reducing Exercises: Engage in Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, and other similar exercise routines.

Schedule your next session to evaluate your body’s toxicity level and nutrition needs.

November 3, 2018 By BalanceYourPower

Anti-Aging

Holistic Approach to Anti-Aging

As people live longer, many of us search for a way to slow down the effects of aging. Many people use different creams and gels, or use plastic surgery to keep their youthful appearance. But there is a holistic approach that we can use to combat aging.

Holistic healing, unlike the topical creams and gels, treats the underlying cause for the problem and not just the symptoms of the problem. While we may never be able to stop the aging process, we can use holistic practices to slow down the aging effects.

Your Skin

The skin is the largest organ in the human body and is easily impacted by day to day factors. You cannot have good skin if you are not eating right, getting enough sleep, or if you live your life in a state of constant stress.

Inflammation and Free Radicals

Understanding that free radicals cause inflammation in the body is very important because, according to Dr. Michael Klentze, international medical director of the Vitalife Corporation at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, inflammation is what causes us to age. Free radicals occur naturally and, if your body does not get enough antioxidants to fight them, they are free to go about the body and do their damage.

Damage caused by free radicals can be stopped by eating antioxidant-rich foods or taking supplements such as vitamin C, coenzyme Q10, zinc, and magnesium. Water is also an important factor in slowing the signs of aging. Your body is made mostly of water and if you allow it to dehydrate you will see more wrinkles. Ensuring that you get enough water will also allow your skin to retain its elasticity over time.

Proper Circulation

Using holistic healing to maintain proper circulation is important when it comes to slowing down the aging process. Your entire body relies on proper circulation, and without it you will quickly see your body start to age and “fall apart”.

How Holistic Healing Works

There are reasons one person ages faster than another, and it is those reasons that can be treated with holistic healing. You cannot separate the health of your skin, your mind, and your body. You must be treated as a whole person. The chances of you reducing the signs of aging by simply focusing on your skin are slim, but if you focus on your entire body ensuring that you are physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy you will see that you can significantly reduce the signs of aging.

Reversing the Signs of Aging

It is also possible to reverse the signs of aging with holistic healing. One way to do this is to ensure that your body is getting enough essential fatty acids. Each cell must have essential fatty acids in order to function properly, help to nourish the skin, and provide tone. You can find essential fatty acids in foods such as leafy greens, walnuts, fish oils, and flax seed oils.

Exercise

Physical activity is an important factor when it comes to reversing or slowing down the aging process. Our bodies are made to move, and physical exercise can help to raise your metabolism as well as reduce your weight. Ensuring that you are not over-stressing your body by causing it to carry around extra weight is an important part of slowing down the aging process.

Through adding exercise and supplements to your daily routine, ensuring you are getting enough water and sleep, and keeping stress levels at a minimum, you can help to reduce the signs of aging. The best way to slow down the signs of aging is to focus on your body as a whole ensuring that you are in the best health possible instead of focusing on your specific physical aging symptoms. This way you will be likely to keep your youthful appearance for years to come.

Balance

Keeping your body in its optimal state of balance will keep your stress levels low, your cells oxygen-rich, and your emotional and physical health at their peak. Knocking down the walls of resistance to exercise, healthy eating, and emotional stability are key to your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Schedule your next healing session now to explore your possibilities. You may even find your own personal Fountain of Youth!

October 31, 2018 By BalanceYourPower

Health Benefits of Probiotics

The Health Benefits of Probiotics

Most people spend a lot of time trying to get rid of bacteria in their lives, but what if we told you not all bacteria is bad for you? In fact, your body relies on millions of healthy, helpful bacteria to keep you safe and healthy every day. And by giving your body beneficial probiotics, you can improve the population of helpful bacteria inside your body that are necessary for your continued health.

Eating foods rich in probiotics can not only prevent illness but also treat some disorders and imbalances. Learning which foods are high in probiotics, as well as the benefits these organisms offer to your body, will help you feel better and stay healthier over time.

Understanding Probiotics

You have bacteria, yeast, and other microbes all over your body, both inside and out. Luckily, many of those organisms are helpful bacteria that perform vital functions for your cells, tissues, organs, and body systems.

Probiotics and the beneficial bacteria they support can help to:

Boost your immune system, allowing you to heal faster from sickness and injury.
Prevent infection by stopping hostile bacteria from taking over.
Improve your digestion, which allows you to better absorb nutrients from the foods you eat.

The majority of helpful bacteria in your body live in your gut and keeping your digestive microflora healthy not only aids your digestion but also ensures your immune system is working properly. These two systems are directly linked. When you throw off the balance of good versus bad bacteria in your gut, such as when you are sick or when you are taking antibiotics, you need to help your body replenish the friendly bacteria in your system. Eating probiotics can restore this balance, which creates a barrier against harmful microbes.

Probiotics and Antibiotics

When you take antibiotics to treat an infection, you not only eliminate the bad bacteria that are making you sick but also the healthy, beneficial bacteria that can make you well. When you take probiotics during and after using antibiotics, you are helping to restore the natural gut microflora that your body needs quickly. This also can help increase the effectiveness of antibiotics, which can help you feel better faster and require fewer and smaller doses of antibiotics in the future.

Probiotic-Rich Foods

Foods that are cultured or fermented are good sources of probiotics, as bacteria are what create their flavor and texture. Examples of foods that are high in probiotics include cultured yogurt, miso, tempeh, kefir, buttermilk, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, and nattō. While some of these foods have bacteria which grow naturally, some include bacteria that are adding during the preparation process. These foods and beverages contain one or more of the following strains of probiotics:

Lactobacillus acidophilus
Lactobacillus casei
Bifidobacterium bifidum
Lactobacillus bulgaricus
Lactobacillus gasseri
Saccharomyces boulardii
Lactobacillus plantarum
Bifidobacterium lactis
Enterococcus faecium
Bifidobacterium longum

Adding probiotics to your diet is one health move you can make to improve your health. These foods contain beneficial bacteria your body needs to fend off unwanted visitors. Help your body today by including probiotics in your next meal or snack.

Eating Probiotics

You can also be sure the bacteria in your system have plenty of fuel by feeding them a high-fiber diet. The fermentable fiber in fresh vegetables, fruits, flax, and chia seeds are perfect for giving probiotics the food they need to maintain your healthy bacteria levels.

In addition to eating foods that contain probiotics, you can create an environment that is supportive of the healthy bacteria in your body. You can start by altering the pH of your digestive system by eating more sour foods. Fermented vegetables and vinegars contain small amounts of probiotic, but their acid content is the most powerful part of their benefits. They contribute to a gut environment that allows probiotics to flourish.

Supporting a Probiotic Environment

Any food that claims to have probiotics should contain at least one of the strains listed here. This is also true for probiotic supplements, so always read the label if you are in doubt. And it’s always a good idea to muscle test your supplements before you buy them to make sure you are purchasing something that will provide the best benefit for your body. If you don’t know how to muscle test, we can help you with that.

In addition to eating foods that contain probiotics, you can create an environment that is supportive of the healthy bacteria in your body. You can start by altering the pH of your digestive system by eating more sour foods. Fermented vegetable and vinegars contain small amounts of probiotic, but their acid content is the most powerful part of their benefit. They contribute to a gut environment that allows probiotics to flourish.

October 28, 2018 By BalanceYourPower

Depression

8 Natural Healing Methods for Depression

Dealing with the blues does not necessarily mean that you have to start popping those orange pills. Studies show that one of the major deterrents to treating mild depression is the fear of patients to be addicted to anti-depressants.

While conventional anti-depression drugs provide an effective way of treating diagnosed depression, it is by no means the only way to elevate your mood. There are a host of natural healing methods that are considered safe and effective in improving mood and altering brain chemistry to take your blues away.

Exercise to Boost Your Mood

Exercising literally pumps you up because it releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins that interacts with your brain receptors and diminish the perception of pain. Much like morphine, endorphins suppress pain by triggering a feeling of happiness and a positive outlook. Unlike morphine though, endorphins are naturally occurring chemicals that do not lead to dependence or addiction.

Scientific evidence points that doing a 30-minute routine of moderate aerobic exercise at least three times a week is effective in alleviating symptoms of depression. Those who maintain their exercise routine even after being treated of their depression are also less likely to return to a depressed state.

Eat Healthy

Depression tends to disrupt normal eating habits, pushing those who suffer the symptoms of depression to either overeat or starve themselves. Taking control of your eating habits does not only keep your body nourished, it also restores a certain sense of control over your life, which also in part relieves your state of depression.

Some studies show that eating foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids found in tuna and salmon, as well as those that are rich in folic acid such as avocado and spinach, helps relieve depression by restoring chemical balance in the brain and nervous system.

Meditate To Relax

Much of the anxiety, stress and symptoms of depression that we experience can be relieved by giving ourselves some time to relax and clear our mind. Meditation enables deep relaxation by clearing the mind of distracting thoughts and focusing on proper and deep breathing. It provides us a means to have an altered state of consciousness.

Meditating on a daily basis is a good anti-depression practice because it trains us to let go of our thoughts, focus our attention on the here and now and cultivate an attitude of acceptance and openness, which could also help relieve depression and the negative feelings associated with it.

Do Yoga

Although most yoga techniques also involve meditation, yoga promotes an added incentive of exercising the body to improve balance, strength, and flexibility while also practicing proper breathing techniques to help clear the mind and focus.

As a whole, yoga works to align the spine, invigorate the nervous system, improve blood circulation, promote mental clarity, reduce stress and anxiety, and promote relaxation and emotional wellbeing. It provides a potent way of alleviating symptoms of depression.

Get Enough Sleep

Being in a state of depression can lead to altered sleeping patterns and make getting enough sleep feel like a tiring battle. Unfortunately, being sleep deprived can heighten your depression and make matters worse.

While it might prove difficult to sleep well, make a concerted effort to make necessary changes in your sleep routine to ensure that you get enough shut-eye when you need it most.

Try going to bed and getting up at a specific time every day to encourage your biological clock to cooperate.

Remove all distractions from sleeping such as TV, computer, or even your mobile phone (the male energy of the devices is not conducive to a good night’s sleep). You can also try a short power nap during the day to relax and feel rejuvenated.

Take Anti-Depression Herbal Supplements

Supplement your diet and boost your mood by turning to natural supplements. Try a relaxing drink of chamomile tea or some St. John’s Wort. Both herbs are said to relieve depression and anxiety.

Have a Massage

We know that touch therapy promotes relaxation and uplifts our mind and spirit. Specific massage modalities such as Swedish, Shiatsu and Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi promote relaxation and healing. The use of aromatic oils and music that promotes relaxation during massage provides a holistic experience to deal with the blues.

These natural healing remedies for depression work well to complement whatever medication or psychotherapy session you may be using to help you improve your mood and promote emotional healing.

Create an Environment for Healing

And, of course, we are here to help you discover the emotional and physical imbalances that are creating the environment that might be blocking your natural state of being.

October 25, 2018 By BalanceYourPower

Challenge Your Body and Beliefs

How Often Do You Challenge Your Body

In order to improve we need to challenge ourselves. Having challenges involves setting new goals or changing our old goals so that we always have more to do. But how often do you challenge yourself? How often should you challenge yourself? How do you determine challenge?

How often we challenge ourselves should depend on how great a challenge we set for ourselves. Pushing ourselves a little bit every day can be good, and so can pushing yourself to the max from time to time. But, if you push yourself to your limits every day, you might not be giving your body enough time to recover.

Challenging Your Muscles

This is especially true for weight lifting and resistance training. When we use our muscles, acids can build up in our blood, which leads to that burning feeling. Muscle fibers can also undergo wear and tear. Both of these things are healthy and normal parts of exercising, but if we don’t give our blood time to flush out that waste, or our muscles enough time to repair those fibers, we can harm our bodies.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) advises against working out the same muscle group more than three times per week for beginners, four times per week for intermediate athletes, and six times per week for advanced athletes.

While you shouldn’t challenge the same muscle group every day, you can still challenge yourself every day by only working out one or two muscle groups every day and alternating days for each exercise.

The ACSM also has recommendations for how to challenge yourself. With a partner, a coach, or a spotter, find a weight or resistance that only allows you to successfully complete and exercise once. This establishes your “1 Rep Maximum.” As a beginner, you should be lifting no more than 75 percent to 80 percent of your 1 Rep Max, though advanced athletes may go for as much as 80 percent to 100 percent.

Challenging Your Heart

Your biceps aren’t everything. To be completely healthy you also need to exercise muscles that people don’t see – like your heart. The American Heart Association recommends half an hour of intermediate cardio five days per week, or half that much time if you’re doing rigorous exercise, which is discussed below.

Unlike with weight lifting and resistance training, there doesn’t seem to be a point of diminishing returns on aerobic exercise. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute recommends that for a real challenge you can do as much as 300 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, but also say that “the more active you are the more you will benefit” without placing an upper limit on that claim.

Just like with other muscle groups, there are actually ways to quantify whether or not you’re being challenged. Most of these recommendations involve percentages of your estimated maximum heart rate.

Most of us shouldn’t be going above 80 percent of our maximum heart rate. This is estimated by subtracting your age from 220.

So, if you are thirty years old, your maximum heartrate is probably around 190, so you shouldn’t be doing anything that brings your heartrate above around 150. In order to challenge yourself and get the benefit of exercise, however, you should probably be going above or around 60 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate. For that same thirty-year-old that would be around 114, or roughly twice the average resting heart rate.

There are easier metrics though: If you can sing a song while exercising, you’re probably doing intermediate difficulty or less. If you have trouble talking while exercising, you’re probably doing more rigorous exercise.

Challenging Your Emotions and Beliefs

Are you living in a perpetual state of stress? Is your lifestyle good for your health? Is your job a place to recharge or a place you hate? Do you enjoy your life? Are you living the life you’ve chosen?

You ARE good enough. You have the RIGHT to choose your lifestyle. You have the means to live a happy life. If any of those statements made you stop in disbelief, I challenge you to explore the underlying emotions and the belief system you’ve created that is not serving you and is not allowing you to live your best life.

YOU HAVE THE CHOICE. When you’re ready to take the first step toward your new life, schedule a session and see what’s possible.

October 19, 2018 By BalanceYourPower

Exercise After 50

Exercise After 50: What You Should Be Doing

Many people get exercise wrong as they age. Why? Because they often stop altogether. This is one of the worst things you can do to your body, especially at a time when exercise is needed more than ever.

The aging process speeds up breakdown of muscle and connective tissue, and can leave you immobile – especially if you sit there and do nothing about it!

Already over 50? No problem, you can still take action to help prevent an unfortunate outcome. Read on to discover what exercises you should consider incorporating into your fitness plan.

Aerobics

Aerobics, also known as cardio or cardiovascular exercise, is important at any point of life, but more so as we get older. Aerobic exercise plays an important part in maintaining the health of various organs, including the heart, lungs, and brain.

Though there are many different types of aerobic exercise, you should probably start with low-impact to protect your joints until you get ready to handle more.

Some to consider:

Walking
Swimming
Cycling (including stationary bikes)
Jogging
Dancing

Strength Training

Many people associate strength training with becoming a bodybuilder, but your body actually needs resistance to stay functional. People that weight train regularly have a greatly decreased risk of fractures, pain, and immobility typically caused by muscle atrophy.

You should consider basic strength training until you feel ready to add resistance. Added resistance is good, but do it only when you feel you are capable. Injury is a risk you don’t need to take to strengthen your body.

Some exercises to consider:

Squats
Bench presses
Push ups
Pull up/ assisted pull ups
Lat pull downs shoulder presses
Deadlifts / hyperextensions
Triceps presses
Dumbbell curls
Yoga
Pilates
Tai Chi

Flexibility Training

The single most underrated aspect of any training program is the flexibility component. It’s easy to overlook because you don’t see immediate physical changes, but in the long run it can greatly improve your ease of movement. Think of it as insurance – the insurance that safeguards you from possible immobility or injury. Flexibility training has numerous benefits on a body aged over 50, such as:

Decreased pain after training – One reason muscles and joints ache after a workout is because of an inability of muscles to elongate or stretch back out without placing undue stress on connective tissue.
It promotes balance – Loss of balance occurs frequently as we age due in large part to loss of muscle mass, but also because of stiff connective tissue. Flexibility training can significantly help you maintain balance as you age.

Include these in your flexibility training to reap the benefits:

Dynamic Stretches – These are stretches performed prior to your workout to get the muscle and connective tissue loose and ready for activity. This significantly helps to reduce the risk of injury during an active workout.
Static Stretches – These are stretches performed after working out a muscle group, to relieve muscle tension. Static stretches help stretch the muscle fibers and reduce pain after your workout.

Conclusion

A complete plan should include aspects from each of the exercise types mentioned above to maintain the integrity of joints, heart, and muscles. Staying mobile will help extend your high level of health and quality of life as you age. If you have physical pain that prevents you from beginning an exercise routine, talk to your doctor for suggestions. You can also set up an exploration session – maybe we can figure out why your body is sending you the pain signal and restore balance to that area so the pain signal can go away. Then you can exercise and enjoy it without pain!