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The borage flower (Borago officinalis) is well known for its lovely blue color. The flowers have been used since Elizabethan times for both decoration and for their healing qualities.

Recent research has shown that the plant may actually stimulate the adrenal glands, encouraging the production of adrenaline, that famous ‘fight or flight’ hormone that is responsible for getting our bodies prepared to do battle. Herbalists describe the borage flower as cold, moist, and slightly sweet. The leaves and flowers are known to contain saponins, tannins, mucilage, vitamin C, potassium and calcium. The seeds of the borage plant are known to contain essential fatty acids, including y-linolenic acids and cis-linoleic acids. These fatty acids are nutritional, and are the components of soap.

The fresh blue flowers of the borage plant have been traditionally used to decorate salads and other foods, and the flowers were also used to make syrups that were used to treat coughs and colds. The leaves of the borage plant have been more of a mainstay in herbal medicine.

The leaves of the plant are described as fleshy and coarse, and they have been traditionally used to treat stress or to counter the effects of steroid therapy. The leaves can also be used dry in a variety of herbal remedies. For instance, the dry leaves of the borage plant can be used to treat dry, lingering raspy coughs. They can also be used to stimulate milk flow for nursing mothers. The leaves of the borage plant can also be used to treat the early feverish stages of whooping cough or pleurisy. Traditional herbalists recommend that the borage plant leaves be harvested throughout the growing season.

The seeds from the borage plant are also used in traditional herbal medicine. The oil extracted from the borage plant seeds are often used as an alternative to the popular evening primrose oil. This oil is often used to treat problems associated with menstrual disorders. It also has a beneficial effect on rheumatic disorders. The oil extracted from the borage plant seeds is considered to be soothing and healing; it is also recommended for use externally, where it can be applied to treat eczema. Borage oil is now commonly available commercially in capsule form.

The leaves of the borage plant can be infused and taken as a hot tea to treat lung disorders and feverish colds. Mothers who are lactating can combine this infusion with fennel to stimulate milk flow. The leaves of the borage plant can also be pulped to create a fresh juice. Naturopaths and herbalists recommend 10 ml of juice three times a day to treat grief, anxiety or depression. The leaves of the borage plant can also be diluted into equal parts water to create a lotion to treat dry skin or rashes. Capsules of borage oil can be taken daily as a supplement to treat skin problems such as acne and eczema. They may also be taken to help treat the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: anxiety, borage plant, cold, Depression, Herbal Remedies, rheumatic disorders, stress

Shiatsu is a holistic and alternative pain relief therapy. Shiatsu can benefit a person suffering from a variety of diseases and disorders.

Many turn to the practice of shiatsu for everything from anxiety to endometriosis. While shiatsu is an excellent practice, there are other therapies that are closely linked to shiatsu that might prove just as beneficial. Let us take a look at five other alternative therapies that work very well.

Acupressure. Acupressure has been used successfully in China and Japan for over 3,000 years. This is a form of therapy that makes use of the combination of acupuncture and massage, and may have been a precursor to shiatsu in Japan. When acupressure is done the practitioner massages the points on the body deemed as acupoints as firmly as possible with his fingertip or thumb. The pressure exerted from acupressure can be done in more than one way. Some acupressure practitioners use their fingers while others use their thumb, the palms of their hands and even their knees in some cases. How soon a person will experience relief from pain depends on the cause of the pain. Chronic persistent types of health problems will take longer to show Improvement while other problems can show Improvement fairly quickly.

Do-In is a type of alternative therapy is an excellent precursor to an acupressure treatment. Do-In is a system that utilizes stretches, exercises, beginner acupressure techniques and special breathing techniques. This is an excellent way to start with alternative health therapy if you are new these natural ways of healing.

Acu-yoga combines yoga with acupressure for pain relief. In this case yoga postures are used In order to stimulate acupressure points on the body. In this practice the entire body is used for this relaxation and not just the hands. Acu-yoga is meant to be done at home. The yoga stretches are particularly good if you want to get to hard-to-reach spots on your body and your back.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is a Japanese method of acupressure that you can do yourself. Jin Shin is not about massage. Rather, it uses cradling or touching the body for pain relief. The aim of this practice is to calm and harmonize the body as well as the spirit and mind. This is done by way of touching what are known as 26 “safety energy locks” that are located in the human body along various energy pathways. A Jin Shin Jyutsu can even involve cradling or a combination of touches or it can be as basic as holding one or two fingers over certain parts of the body.

Zen shiatsu is a strenuous involved practice that incorporates yoga-like stretches and mediation on a daily basis. Zen is a type of Buddhism that got its start In Japan. The yoga-like stretches are designed to open up the meridians of the body. Practitioners of this alternative therapy also may use of heavy pressure on their body and they put their entire body weight into relaxing the muscles. This kind of vigorous shiatsu cannot be done at home—it takes a practitioner several years to become proficient.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Massage Therapy.

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Tags: acupressure, acupuncture, anxiety, Massage Therapy, yoga

Anxiety is a type of stress related disorder that commonly affects a tremendous amount of people. The practice of shiatsu is very beneficial in relieving anxiety. Let’s take a closer look at the steps that are taken to get rid of anxiety by way of shiatsu.

Step One

The third eye point can be found in the center of the forehead, located slightly above the eyebrows. Feel for a tiny indentation located in the bone in the forehead region. This is important to know for the first step of shiatsu. Take your finger and press firmly, but not too hard, on the spot that is slightly above the third eye point. Do this by placing your index finger of one hand on the third eye point and then place your middle finger over top of t5he index finger and then press down three to five times for a period of five to seven seconds.

Step Two

Take your left arm and carefully bend it in order to find where the elbow crease is and then unbend it properly. The point in question can be found at the lower end of the crease of the arm which is to be found in the direction of the fingers and it is opposite the side of the hand where the thumb is to be found and it is on the inside of the center of the arm. Take your left arm and bend it and then hold it for a period of 30 seconds and then gradually release it and then do the same with the right arm. This step is particularly good for getting rid of heart palpitations or decreasing the incidence of them as heart palpitations are very likely to be a part of acute anxiety and anxiety attacks.

Step Three

There are more points that are effective in the practice of shiatsu and are beneficial in ridding an individual of anxiety, insomnia and worry and will help to balance out the mind and body connection. One suggestion is to use three fingers and with pressure that is medium to firm press where the head has a midline, which is approximately the middle of the top of your head (imagine your hair being parted down the middle of your scalp). Start at the hairline in the front and work to the top of your head and then go all the way back down the hairline to the back of the head. After each press of the fingers move in the proper direction approximately 1/2 an inch. At each spot that you press halt for five seconds and then repeat the sequence once and then twice.

Take your thumb and press it into the indentation located at the back of your neck. In other words look to the middle section of the base of your skull. Press as firmly as you can for a period of five to seven seconds and then repeat it again. Use three-finger pressure to press in the spot at the top portion of your shoulder, which is ½ inch to the back of the shoulder. Press as firmly as possible without hurting yourself and then repeat this action two times.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Massage Therapy.

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Tags: anxiety, Massage Therapy, shiatsu, stress

St. John’s Wort has slowly become one of the most popular herbs for treating mild symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is said that the St. John’s Wort plant got its name from the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. It is said that the knights would use the plant to the terrible wounds that they came across on the Crusade battlefields. St. John’s Wort also had a supernatural aura attached to it. In those medieval days, many believed that St. John’s Wort had the ability to dispel evil spirits.

People who suffered from mental disorders were often given the plant in order to calm the so-called evil spirits. St. John’s Wort was often also associated with choleric disturbances and humors. Some believe this is because of the plant’s yellow color. The yellow color of St. John’s Wort has caused some people to associate the plant with hysteria and jaundice.

The taste and character of St. John’s Wort has alternately been described as cool, drying, bitter yet with a hint of sweetness. The main constituents of St. John’s Wort are glycosides, volatile oils, flavonoids, tannins and resins. The primary actions of St. John’s Wort can be described as analgesic, astringent, antidepressant sedative, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and restorative toward the nervous system. There are many ways to prepare St. John’s Wort to take full advantage of its properties. One of the most popular ways to take St. John’s Wort is through a capsule or tablet. These have become so popular that they are now available at most local drugstores and pharmacies.

However, taking St. John Wort as a fresh herbal remedy is always recommended as it ensures that you are receiving the best quality and potency available. Here are a few ways you can take St. John’s Wort naturally. You can take St. John’s Wort as an infusion to treat symptoms of depression, anxiety or emotional upsets. St. John’s Wort is also recommended to treat the symptoms associated with menopause or premenstrual syndrome. Some herbalists also use St. John’s Wort to treat colds and infections. St. John’s Wort is often combined with elderflower to treat colds.

St. John’s Wort is often also prepared as a wash or cream. As a wash, use an infusion of St. John’s Wort to bathe wounds, bruises, skin sores, or other skin problems. As a cream, you can use St. John’s Wort to treat areas of localized nerve pains. In the past, St. John’s Wort has been used to treat the painful symptoms of conditions such as sprains, sciatica, cramps, and it has even been used to treat help relieve breast engorgement during lactation. Cream made with St. John’s Wort has also been used as an antiseptic and styptic. As an antiseptic, St. John’s Wort cream can be used on sores, skin ulcers and scrapes.

St. John’s Wort can also be prepared as an infused oil or tincture. As infused oil, you can use St. John’s Wort on burns and muscle joint or inflammations. As a tincture, take several drops a day for a minimum of two months to treat nervous tension or depression.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Herbal Remedies.

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Tags: anxiety, Depression, flavonoids, Herbal Remedies, st john wort

Ideally, eating disorders should be treated by a trained health professional as soon as the problem is detected. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Many patients resist professional help, or are in denial about their condition.

An eating disorder is a serious condition that rarely improves on its own, and these conditions can pose serious permanent health risks, even death. If professional help is not sought out immediately, there are certain things a patient can do while arranging for medical and psychological help. If you suffer from an eating disorder, here are six things you can do to help prevent serious and permanent health damage.

1. Spend time with friends, family members, and loved ones every day. If you suffer from an eating disorder, spending time with those you love and trust can do much for your physical, spiritual and psychological health. Make it a point to spend time with those you love every single day, even if it’s only to go to a movie or to run errands. Spending time with those you love can not only help lift your spirits, it can help distract you from potential triggers that can lead to emotional eating, excessive exercising, or stringent dieting and eating habits.
2.  Get busy. Fill your schedule with things you love to do. If you have a lot of time on your own, sign up for a class you think you will enjoy or consider doing volunteer work. Filling all the holes in your schedule with work and fun can help keep you healthy. 
3. Keep close track of your feelings. Emotional eating, dieting, and excessive exercising are often triggered by strong feelings, such as frustration, depression, loneliness, sadness, and anger. One way to keep track of how you feel is to practice a routine of daily journal writing. Writing down your feelings, no matter how negative, can greatly help relieve the stress and anxiety that often accompany them. 
4. Also keep track of “self-talk.” Self-talk refers to the little voice in your head that is often critical and negative. Becoming conscious of negative self-talk can help the eating disorder patient diffuse the power of such an internal dialogue. 
5. Strive for a healthy well balanced diet, and avoid dieting at all costs. Dieting relies on deprivation, and deprivation often leads to frustration and other negative emotions. Instead of thinking of food in terms of dieting, consider adopting an overall healthy diet that strives for moderation. Eat a variety of fresh foods, and try to eat your meals in the company of others rather than eating alone.
6. Limit your exercise to three to five times a day, and try to limit the exercise times to thirty minutes or less. You should seek out activities that they will enjoy, rather than engage in strenuous or competitive activities. Non-competitive sports activities and other fun activities like dancing and walking can be beneficial and restore the patient’s understanding of movement as something joyous.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Eating Disorders.

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Tags: anxiety, Depression, Eating Disorders, stress

Have you ever noticed that when you’re going through an episode of depression that you dream more? When we’re depressed, we dream three times more than a non-depressed person dreams.

This additional dreaming can have detrimental effects. Research has shown that pent-up feelings of frustration and emotions with no outlet are very hard to deal with, and can cause depressive episodes. But at the same time these feelings go deeper and become the fodder for dreams.

To make it clear, think about what happens when something upsets you. Most people can absorb an upsetting moment, and deal with the consequences. When you get upset you feel angry and you back away from it. If you are depressed, often you don’t do anything to reduce the upset.

The problem is that those who have emotional issues often do nothing about it. The upset feelings just sit there, making them feel more and more anxiety, as they’re unable to deal with it. The feelings remain, and difficulties appear. Since these unfinished emotions are still there, the brain must deal with them when the person is sleeping. So the dreams start.

The dream allows the completion of the unfinished emotional business and so frees the brain to rest. In the dream the emotional experience is played out in some way so the person resolves what’s upset them that they were unable to deal with otherwise. In cases where the person can tidy this up in a dream it can be emotionally helpful, but in the case of a person who is in a depressive episode this is more difficult. They take so much emotional baggage to bed with them.

This lack of problem resolution causes more problems because the mind has so many emotional entanglements to deal with. The person must work hard to dream them away. People who are depressed experience a greater portion of their sleep in REM mode, (Rapid Eye Movement) instead of Slow Wave Sleep.

Slow Wave Sleep allows the body to renew itself during the night and so is very important to one’s health. It also affects a person’s ability to be motivated. Without refocusing off the bad and preparing for the next day’s activities in a positive way, depressives suffer each day with no improvement over the last. Those who have continuing problems with something that they’re unable to clear up may notice a recurring dream as the mind tries to rid itself of the problem.

The act of dreaming is actually not restful; it brings a person to an active state. The body treats the dream as real and puts out stress hormones and adrenaline to deal with the events of the dream. The body may try to diminish the number of hours they are in the dream state and the depressive may find they are waking up early because of this.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: anxiety, Depression, sleep, stress

Anger has been proved as a root cause for various problems like anxiety, heart attack, etc. But, as the saying goes, “Where there is a will, there is a way”. Among various techniques to control and manage anger, one very effective technique is relaxation. It can be done in many ways and makes your mind and body relaxed to relieve you from anger. One may need to learn the correct technique to get complete results.

Breathing

Controlled breathing is a very effective way of getting calmed down. The method has a logical reason behind it; anger makes us breathe faster, but if we just do the opposite of it, i.e. if we just start breathing slowly by taking deep breaths, the problem is solved even before it started. The important point to be noted is that you should take deep breaths, involving your diaphragm, not shallow breaths using just your chest. Next important thing to be followed is that the processes of inhaling and exhaling should be very slow.

Whispering soothing words like ‘calm down’ while exhaling even enhances the effectiveness of the technique. So, whenever you feel like getting angry on something, make a habit of taking in and out slow deep breaths to control yourself.

Imagery

This relaxation technique helps relaxing from anger and fills the person with positive feelings and calmness. This technique can be applied by someone else or by the person affected himself. It involves painting an imaginary picture of something you enjoy. It can be a scene of your favorite destination, having you there enjoying and smiling. Completely involve yourself in the scene and see yourself doing all the fun activities that you love to do. See your near and dear ones there. This will make you forget the tension and anger. In no time you will feel relaxed and smiling. This is the key to effectiveness of this technique. Our body and even our facial muscles become stiff on getting angry. Smiling, not only relaxes mind, but it relaxes our facial muscles as well.

Other Relaxation Techniques

Other than breathing and imagery techniques, there are various other ways too, to control anger and anxiety. For example, saying relaxing words to oneself in a low soothing voice, acupuncture, meditation, etc. These techniques just distract you for some time, from the situation that is making you angry, and gives you time to control your emotions and anger.

Before getting angry over some issue, try and clarify the matter with the person concerned. This may even solve the problem without your getting angry over it. Meditation is also very helpful in controlling anger. Concentrate and practice deep breathing, along with saying positive and relaxing words. Once you have controlled your anger, you have assured a happy life for yourself.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Anger Management.

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Tags: acupuncture, Anger, Anger Management, anxiety, relaxation techniques

Alzheimer’s disease is probably one of the most feared diseases by adults. A part of the dementia category, Alzheimer’s affects the brain’s cognitive thinking, memory and eventually the ability to function. While some people with this disease become violent or aggressive, others become meek and easily lead. These are two extreme behaviors on opposite sides of the spectrum and you will likely find that the disease is also somewhere in between.

Below is a list of the disease’s various stages of development. If you or a loved one develops this disease, for which there is no cure, you will know what to expect as time passes. These various stages indicate just how far along the disease is and many times doctors will use a particular stage in their diagnosis.

Stage one of Alzheimer’s disease is an average adult with no cognitive or any other noticeable impairments.

Stage two of Alzheimer’s disease shows some individual understanding of functional regression. During this period, adults complain about forgetting the names of people they know or where they put their keys.

Stage three of Alzheimer’s disease shows some soft regression, especially in intense situations such as work. Anxiety increases causing even more noticeable problems such as trying to come up with words while talking or writing, short-term memory becomes hazy or even getting lost when traveling to unknown places. Misplacing items is common and problems in concentration affect many areas of life.

Stage four of Alzheimer’s disease is still relatively mild and a person still easily recognizes the familiar such as close family and friends. They can still travel without anxiety to places they know. However, their reasoning skills and areas where in-depth planning is required take some assistance. Planning a special dinner and paying the bills are just two of many different small problems that creep up. This is one of the biggest denial periods because no one wants to believe that Alzheimer’s disease is becoming a problem.

Stage five of Alzheimer’s shows a medium descent into the disease. People afflicted now cannot live without assistance. Dressing, cooking and other every day activities require help from loved ones. There is some disorientation in regards to time issues. They may remember memories of family and close friends but they forget new acquaintances, what they had for dinner and even some important things about their lives now. Their minds are in the past.

Stage six of Alzheimer’s is rather extreme with a rapid decline in memory and where they are. People in this stage can no longer fend for themselves in any way and will need help going to the bathroom, dressing, making something to eat and even feeding itself. Sleep is a problem as is wandering around feeling lost. Emotional and personality changes may happen and in some people wild mood swings as present in dementia may manifest itself.

The final stage of Alzheimer’s disease, the ability of speech is almost gone and people will rarely talk. All ability to sit up, smile, walk or even holding up their head is gone. In this last stage, the brain cannot seem to tell the body what to do and can take a while to die.

Many adults are lucky and don’t have to experience Alzheimer’s disease. However, this primer gives you an idea of what you should expect if you or someone you love is diagnosed with the disease.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Healthy Retirement.

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Tags: alzheimer, anxiety, dementia, healthy retirment