How to Curl Your Eyelashes

If you are one of those women who was born with limp, straight eyelashes, an eyelash curler will open your eyes as nothing else can. This strange looking beauty tool can make your eyes pop while lifting and lengthening your lashes.

Learn how to us this innovative tool the proper way by following these simple steps:

Step 1: Before you use the eyelash curler, apply any eyeliner and eye shadow. Do not apply your mascara yet. The mascara applied after curling will prevent smearing and lash breakage.

Step 2: Make sure your lashes are clean and dry. If you attempt to curl wet lashes, they will not curl but will appear bent instead.

Step 3: Open the eyelash curler. Place your upper lashes into the opening, or mouth of the curler. Slightly close your eye and then open it wide to move all of the lashes into the mouth of the curler. Make sure to hold the curler in a position that is parallel to your eyelashes.

Step 4: Carefully slide the eyelash curler closer to the eye so that it comes to rest at the base of your eyelashes. Make sure that you do not place it over the skin on your eyelid.

Step 5: Holding your eye open, slowly close the curler. You should see your eyelashes fan out over the upper portion of the mouth. If you feel pinching, this means you need to readjust the position of the curler.

Step 6: Keep the curler closed and slowly count to five. Make sure that you keep your face and your hand steady. To add additional curl, use the eyelash curler at multiple intervals up the length of your lashes. To do this, start at the base, move the curler slightly up the length of the lashes, and clamp it again. Continue along in this manner until you have reached the end of your lashes. This process will create a smooth arc.

Step 7: Repeat this procedure with the other eye.

Step 8: Once both eyes are completed, apply mascara.

For beginners, remember that practice makes perfect. This tool takes some getting used to, so do not give up after your first try! Keep on practising until you perfect your technique. Also, keep in mind that curling the lower lashes is not necessary!

Be sure to regularly clean the eye makeup off the eyelash curler and replace the pads on the curler every few months.

Do not pull the curler away from your face while it is closed on your eyelashes. Doing so may pull out your eyelashes. Make sure to open the curler completely before moving it away from your face.

Finally remember to never share your eyelash curler with anyone else. This can cause eye infections to spread!

Health and Fitness 6:05 PM No comments

Benefits of Using Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil is an essential oil that has natural antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory. It is great for the skin and other conditions such as sinusitis, tonsillitis, bronchitis, and viral or bacterial infections.

Tea tree relieves many hair related conditions including: dandruff, cradle cap, baldness, psoriasis, and lice. It's also said to prevent hair loss and is effective for promoting hair growth. This oil is often used to make tea tree shampoo as it heals scalp irritations and infections. It cannot help new hair grow but its antiseptic properties can unclog blocked hair follicles so that hair that was previously inhibited can grow again.

The oil's antiseptic properties help remove build up on the hair shaft that can be the result of product usage or minerals from the tap water. You can also apply a few drops of tea tree oil to your favorite shampoo once or twice a week to clarify the hair. Simply apply, then massage in from the scalp to the ends of the hair and rinse out.

Add tea tree oil to a light oil, such as olive oil, and apply it to the scalp before shampooing. Tea tree oil is sometime added to a pre-shampoo mixture for a while now to relieve a dry itchy scalp. The oil is often mixed with other items that are said to aid hair growth. The mixture is applied to the scalp and massaged in. Then the oil mixture is left on the scalp overnight before shampooing in the morning. There are a number of hair growth forums with various "growth aid" recipes

Other uses for tea tree oil include: acne, minor wounds, bug bites, athlete's foot, and fever blisters.

The author has used tree oil for so many thing over the last few years. The oil has been used for acne relief. When a pimple appears on the skin, you can simply dab a Q-Tip with oil and place it on the infected area. In a day or so that pimple is gone and there is no scaring.

Bug bites relief is are another common use for tea tree. First, wash the area with warm soapy water. Next you want to let the area air dry. Do not rub or pat. This may break the skin and cause greater irritation when the oil is applied. After the area is completely dry, put a small amount of oil on a cotton ball and press it on the area for a few seconds. In no time, the itching stops.

Health and Fitness 6:00 PM No comments

Are the Foods You Are Eating Making You Sick?

"But how could what I'm eating have anything to do with... autoimmunity, headaches, sinus congestion, achy joints, anxiety, sleeplessness?" is often the very next question.

I'm going to explain how foods can lead to issues anywhere and everywhere in the body.

It is easy to tell when a food - ice cream let's say - leads to digestive symptoms, like bloating and gas, within an hour or two of eating it.

Or when a peanut causes anaphylactic shock and a trip to the emergency room.

But when it comes to often unrecognized reactions to foods, the answer is delayed, inflammatory reactions.

It's not so easy to figure out which foods are causing delayed reactions, especially when they cause symptoms in locations other than in the digestive tract, and when those symptoms are experienced everyday.

The food reactions begin to look like our normal way of feeling... or we start to think of it as part of aging.

I say "you deserve to feel good everyday!"

So it's well worth it to track down those delayed reactions to foods and to choose to eat different foods... in order to feel at your best.

Are you wondering how you can start crossing off the symptoms on your list?

Fatigue, low mood, bloating, weight gain, joint pain, frequent infections, decreased focus...

Step 1: Get an IgG food intolerance panel done. Or maybe it's time for a recheck if you've been avoiding your reactive foods for a while.

There are many ways to check for food reactions now. Some cost over $1000; and some check every type of immune response to food. I find that the most cost-effective and health-efficient way to figure out which foods to cut is with an IgG food panel - because it identifies those delayed reactions to food.

IgG stands for "immunoglobulin G" and is one of the antibodies that our bodies produce in response to "foreign invaders" such as viruses, bacteria and food when it sneaks past the intestinal lining. The key is that IgG is produced 2 hours to several days after exposure... so it signifies your specific, delayed reactions to food.

And just like with an infection, IgG antibodies lead to inflammation that can spread throughout the body to where you are susceptible. For one person that might be the sinuses, for another it might be the bladder or joints.

You can do an IgG panel with a finger poke and a few drops of blood sent to a lab that specializes in identifying these antibodies to 96 foods.

Step 2: Eliminate the foods that have the highest IgG reactions.

A cleanse can be helpful for those of you who've already been avoiding reactive foods, but maybe got a little off track during the holidays, or need to freshen up.

So if you are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired...

• and especially if you've already tried eliminating lactose (which is a sugar in dairy)...

• and you've already checked for IgE reactions (immediate response) to food with your allergist...

• and even if you've tested negative for Celiac disease...

Then finding out your IgG reactions to food will give you the information you need for choosing foods that don't trigger a whole body inflammatory response... and that allow your body to heal.

This IgG panel has made a difference in the lives of my patients...

"My five-year-old daughter has been avoiding gluten, dairy and eggs since receiving her results two weeks ago... and her stomach issues have improved 50% or more. She has not complained of stomach pains and diarrhea episodes have decreased."

"So far I'm staying away from eggs, bananas, gluten and sugar... and I'm feeling great! The reflux has gone away, I lost 15 pounds and my anxiety has decreased tremendously."

"I feel better than I have in thirty years! Since changing my diet a month ago... I'm more successful at work and instead of worrying about what my family would do without me, I'm enjoying every minute with my wife and son."

So if you are wondering how to take your health to the next level, or how to break the vicious cycle of feeling terrible... I encourage you to consider whether you are ready to find out which foods are making you sick.

While the IgG panel is NOT considered diagnostic, and is not covered by insurance... over the past 13 years helping people feel better, including myself... I've found it to be a key factor in turning un-wellness into wellness.

Feel good because you are eating what feels good to your body!

Health and Fitness 5:58 PM No comments

How To Choose The Best Psychologist For You

Have you recently felt stressed out, tired, and run down? Have you worked hard to overcome problems, only to notice they feel insurmountable and that they never seem to get better? Today's working world can be stressful and overwhelming, and coupled with other common issues--such as children, family, and debt--it's not unusual to feel as though the stress just won't go away.

While many are quick to head to the doctor to address physical issues, too few know that high levels of stress can lead to physical ailments. And even fewer take steps to routinely check their mental health or even take care of issues that have been nagging them. Your mind is a powerful instrument, but it too can get run down, similar to overworking a muscle. This is why more and more Canadians today are researching how to find the right psychologist for them, so they can be proactive about their mental health, allowing them to be active, happy, and filled with life throughout their years.

First, one must ask what a psychologist is. Not to be confused with psychiatrist, a psychologist provides counseling and therapy but cannot usually prescribe a type of medicine. A psychiatrist often has a degree in medicine, but a psychologist will have a doctorate in counseling and therapy, and often must pass regulations on top of this. They work to help people understand their thoughts, feelings and emotions, and often help people work through them to either change them or modify their outlook. As all counseling and psychotherapy is a joint effort between patient and psychologist, any good psychologist works hard to create a comfortable, supportive setting and relationship between themselves and the patient.

Thus, when searching for the right psychologist for you, the key thing to look for is your level of comfort. This often involves speaking with the psychologist, sometimes numerous times, to learn whether or not you feel this is someone that you can trust with details of your life. Once you have discovered and researched the psychologist's experience, credentials, and licensing and found that to be satisfactory, establishing this level of trust is the next and likely biggest step in your road to improving your mental health.

Asking specific questions of the psychologist will help you on this journey. Consider questions such as: I'm having so-and-so issue, what experience do you have in dealing with this? What sort of treatments, techniques, and practices have you used in the past? How long have you been practicing, and where does most of your experience stem from? How flexible are your hours? Are you easy to reach in case of an emergency?

The answers to these questions can help you decide if this psychologist is right for you. Once you have decided that this therapist is someone you are comfortable with, it becomes a question of what sort of issue you are trying to fix. Being open with your psychologist, and indicating if your feelings are of depression, hopelessness, anger or many others will help that psychologist in creating a therapy plan for you. Most patients report feeling better in eight or so sessions, and many more report significant changes within a few months. In the end, if this psychologist isn't working for you, it's best to be open to tell them as well. In the end, finding the right psychologist is one of the most important things you can do for your mental health.

Health and Fitness 5:50 PM No comments

Boost Your Metabolism

Metabolism is the process by which the human body converts the calories in food and beverages into energy. It is actually a biochemical action that is necessary for life to exist and for a body to sustain itself. The energy that is used to regulate heart rate, circulate blood, breathe and secrete hormones is converted from calories that are combined with oxygen through the metabolic process. This energy is necessary to sustain the body at rest as well as during exercise.

A basal metabolic rate or BMR is the actual number of calories that a person's body requires to function on a daily basis without additional exercise. This is the ideal number of calories for a body at rest to function normally.

Measuring your basal metabolic rate allows you to understand the actual number of calories required for normal daily activities. It also makes it much easier to determine how many calories should be removed in order for you to lose weight

There are several factors that affect a body's basal metabolic rate. The size of the person determines the rate that calories are burned. In general, a larger person with more muscle mass will have a faster resting metabolic rate than a smaller person. The muscles require large amounts of energy to sustain them even during rest. This forces the metabolism to work harder to keep up with the demand for energy.

Since lean muscle mass increases one's metabolism, men will usually have a faster resting metabolism than a female. Because women tend to carry less lean muscle, they normally have a slower basal metabolic rate. This is generally true of men and women of the same age and weight. Unless strength training is part of your fitness regimen, loss of muscle mass through the aging process will slow the metabolic rate of both men and women.

One of the issues that strict dieters tend to encounter when they try to lose weight is a slow-down in the body's ability to burn calories efficiently. Starvation diets signal the body to slow normal processes including actually decreasing the number of calories required to sustain the body. This is one of the reasons why most caloric-restricted diets almost always fail in the long run. When a body is subjected to a starvation situation, it compensates by saving energy.

For healthy weight loss, the best plan to follow is a calorie restricted diet that just meets the needs of the body's resting BMR. Adding exercise to this plan causes the body to work harder and burn more calories to sustain itself even at rest. This creates a deficit between the number of calories required to function at rest and the number of calories burned. Exercise can also quickly add muscle to the body which again increases your metabolic rate.

Health and Fitness 5:44 PM No comments

The Many Benefits of Meditation

In American society, we have adapted to doing everything as quickly and efficiently as possible. We spend hours upon hours a day working nonstop, while never giving our minds and bodies a chance to rest and catch up. This combination of stress and pressure can slowly take a toll on our well-being to the point that we find ourselves sick and unable to function. Learning how to meditate can help to alleviate some of the problems that we currently face on a daily basis.

Much like going to the gym to work out and strengthen our bodies, meditating is a way to strengthen our minds. Recent studies conducted by Harvard Medical School have shown that deep relaxation changes our bodies on a genetic level. According to the studies, meditation and yoga can induce relaxation, which increases "disease-fighting genes." Those genes were more active in people who practiced yoga and meditation in comparison to those who practiced no form of relaxation techniques.

Researchers found that the genes that protect us from disorders, such as pain, high blood pressure, arthritis and infertility issues, were switched on. These changes were brought on by the "relaxation effect", which is said to be comparable to any medical drug without the negative side effects.

The experiment also showed how responsive genes are to behavior, mood and environment, and showed that the genes could switch on or off. During the study, they asked one group to start practicing relaxation methods, including mediation or yoga each day, and they found that after two months their bodies began to change. Cells that contribute to protecting the body, fighting inflammation, and ridding diseased cells were being activated.

You may ask, "How can relaxation have such a strong effect on our bodies?" Well, for one, think of the negative effects that stress has on our bodies. Stress releases excess amounts of adrenalin and cortisol in our bodies. These chemicals contribute to raising our heart rates, blood pressure and also weaken the immune system. On the flipside, inducing relaxation through meditation releases the "feel good chemicals," such as serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals are linked to cell repair, lowering heart rates, and strengthening our immune systems.

The next time you are having a really stressful day and find yourself with some extra time, try meditating and quieting your mind. The Healing Place has recorded relaxation meditation and a cancer fighting meditation. So why not try it out? Not only may you find yourself relaxing, you may also turn on your disease-fighting genes on the way!

Health and Fitness 5:33 PM No comments