Archive for January, 2008


Anger is destructive, control it with yoga

The human body undergoes a lot of changes when you are angry. Blood flows in to the hands, driving you to grab any weapon or nearby object, your heartbeat increases and there is an adrenaline rush. This stage is called fight or flight response, which is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system, which is a branch of the autonomous nervous system. Here are a few yoga asanas, pranayama and meditation techniques, which will help in calming you down. Try to practise them for 30 minutes everyday to get results.

Sashanka asana:

1. Sit in Vajrasana, slowly raise both your hands while breathing in and slowly put your palms down on the floor and breathe out.

2. Bend your elbows to touch the floor, finally touching the floor with your forehead. Remain in this position for at least for 30 to 60 seconds.

Savasana:

1. Lie down on the floor and spread out your hands and legs. Let the palms face the roof. Close your eyes.

2. Observe your abdominal movements while you are breathing in. If your breathing movement is correct, your abdomen wall will move upwards when you breathe in and go in when you breathe out. Remain in this posture for at least 10 minutes.

Chandra Bhedana pranayama:

1. Sit in a comfortable posture and close your eyes. Close your right nostril with your right thumb.

2. Breathe in slowly with your left nostril; close both your nostrils with your right thumb and ring finger.

3. Then touch the chest with your chin. Remain in this position for six seconds and slowly straighten your neck.

4. Slowly breathe out through your right nostril while closing the left nostril with your right thumb.

5. This is one round. Repeat 1020 times. This pranayama activates your para sympathetic nervous system, which in turn calms your temper.

Meditation to calm anger:

There are quite a few meditation techniques that can calm you down. Here is a simple technique that can be learnt and followed easily.

1. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, straighten your back and observe your breathing.

2. Observe your abdominal movements, while you breathe in the abdominal wall should come out and while you breathe out it should go in. Do this for two minutes.

3. Slowly count backwards from 100 to 1 in your mind, giving a gap of one second between each digit.

4. During that gap say Om or utter any other sound you like.

5. While you are counting down if you miss a digit, begin counting from 100 again.

6. Practice this for at least 15 minutes.

Note: Anger is a natural instinct, which you cannot completely get rid of. But by practicing yoga and meditation you can understand how much damage anger can cause and you will learn to distance yourself from this emotion.

Exercise - Dancing for Life and Fitness

Dance is a whole-body exercise that can be as vigorous or gentle as you wish and is as good for the mind as it is for the body. If you would like to begin dancing investigate some kinds of dance that you have never seen of tried. Try a course through the local recreation agency; go for at least a month before deciding whether you enjoy it. Folk dance Aerobic dance 5 Find a club that does the kind of dance you are interested in and welcomes beginners. If you used to dance and would like to do it again … Ballet Ballroom dance Arrange with a teacher to attend two or three trial classes. Find a book or video to refresh your memory of the basics Jazz dance Modern dance Tap dance.

Fitness Excerise and Workout for Woman

The point of exercising is to keep the body in good working order so that it will remain fit and last longer. Fitness exercise keeps the muscles firm and strong and makes the heart pump blood more efficiently round the body. The lungs expand fully, drawing in more oxygen. The arteries are enlarged and strengthened. Blood pressure goes down, as does the concentration of blood fats. Adrenalin, built up by stress is dispersed. Not only exercise reduces the risk of a heart attack, it makes you physically and mentally alert and improves your ability to relax.

In short, Fitness exercise is good for you, especially for women’s. But it is good for you only if you enjoy it. Punishing forms of exercise, intended to thrash the reluctant body into fitness, would not succeed if they make you miserable. The best unfit, begin gently, not expecting too much of yourself, and gradually build up your strength and energy until you can push yourself a little harder and enjoy it.

Aerobic exercises

Aerobic exercises - those that involve processing oxygen efficiently through the body, such as running, rowing, swimming and cycling are much better for body maintenance than anaerobic exercises, which involve very vigorous bursts of activity that will leave you exhausted. Anaerobic exercises are sports such as squash, tennis and sprinting. The kind of exercise that is best for overall fitness involves a sustained effort. And aerobic exercises are the best possible training if you want to succeed at anaerobic sports.

Other forms of exercise include ballet and yoga and involves graceful and rhythmic movements that develop the suppleness of the body, the tone of the muscles and the lubrication of the joints.

Best home made facials for all skin types

A facial is one of the most common ways of refreshing your skin. It gives your skin a new and fresh look. Below are some simple yet efficient homemade face masks that you can make and use in minutes.

Homemade facial Recipe

Take Egg - 2 eggs , Almond/ olive oil - 1 cup , Banana - 1 large and then Beat egg yolk and almond/olive oil till thoroughly mixed. Then mash a ripe banana and mix it in the mixture of egg yolk and oil. Smear over the face and neck. Leave it for 30 minutes. Then rinse it off with cold water. It is very much effective in removing blemishes.

Advantages of Facials

  • The skin is deeply and thoroughly cleaned from inside.
  • Provides in-depth moisture to the skin.
  • Makes your skin glowing

Sunburn Home Remedies to get rid of sunburn

Given below are some of the home remedy for Sunburn

Mix 2 teaspoons tomato juice and 4 tablespoons buttermilk (chhach). Apply. Wash after ½ hour.

Mix olive oil with equal quantity of vinegar and apply an hour before your bath.

Rub mustard on sunburn. Let it dry. This will pull the heat out and help it tan.

Drink plenty of fluids to keep your body hydrated, and to replace the lost by the sunburn.

Make a mixture of grated cucumber with milk and apply it on the sunburned skin

Apply aloe vera or vinegar on the affected skin; it will stop inflammation and pain.

Add 20 drops lavender and chamomile essential oil for a cool and soothing bath.

A thin paste of sandalwood applied to the sunburn area is beneficial.

Apply apple cider vinegar to the burnt skin using cotton ball.

Home Remedies to get rid of blackheads and whiteheads

Given below are some of the home remedy for blackheads and whiteheads .

  • Warm a little honey and apply on the trouble spots. Wash it after 10 – 15 minutes.
  • Make a paste of roasted & powdered pomegranate, mix it with fresh lime juice and apply over boils , acne , blackheads and whiteheads .

  • Apply grated potatoes as poultice to treat skin blemishes , wrinkles , boils , acne scar , blackheads and whiteheads .

  • Make a paste of ground radish seeds with water and apply it on face to remove blackheads.
  • Take 1 teaspoon of fresh coriander leaf juice with ½ teaspoon of tumeric powder. Use this treatment overnight and wash it off in the morning. Repeat for a week.
  • Beat an egg white part. Add 1 teaspoon honey and with a cotton swab, apply it on face. Keep it for around half an hour. Rinse with warm water.
  • Apply grated potatoes to treat blackheads. It is a good treatment.
  • Take 1 teaspoon lime juice mixed with 1 teaspoon of finely powdered cinnamon. Apply it at bed time and wash it off in the morning.
  • Take lime juice, almond oil and glycerime in equal proportion. Make a lotion and apply it on face. It is an excellent method to remove blackheads as well as spots on the face.
  • Apply undiluted lemon juice on the affected area. Do this 2 -3 times a day.
  • Mix glycerin soap, fuller’s earth (multani mutti), almond powder in the ratio of 2:1:4 i.e. for each 20 gram of glycerin soap add 10 grams of fuller’s earth with 40 grams of almond powder. Mix in it boiled water and make a paste. Apply the paste on the blackheads.
  • Mix 1 teaspoon lime juice in 1 teaspoon finely ground cinnamon (dalchini) powder and apply on affected areas frequently.
  • Mix 1 teaspoon each turmeric (haldi) powder and juice of fresh coriander (dhania) leaves and apply daily as a face pack before going to sleep.
  • Mixed fresh lime juice to a glass of boiled milk as a face wash for pimples, blackheads.
  • Apply a paste of fresh methi leaves over the face every night for 15 minutes and washed with warm water. This treatment use for two weeks.
  • Apply a paste made of ground radish seeds and water on affected areas.
  • Apply paste of roasted and powdered pomegranate skin with fresh limejuice over blackheads.
  • Use green tea as a face scrub to loose blackheads.

Bridal Makeup Tips

Bridal Makeup is one thing where every woman wants to achieve perfection. Whether you are an Indian bride or other countries, you need to have some basic knowledge of makeup tips, if you are planning to get married soon. Here we will take a closer look on bridal makeup tips to ensure that you look your best at the wedding day.

Bridal Makeup Tips

1. As your wedding day come nearer, you may find it stressful and this tension will show up in your complexion also. Try to be stress free as much as possible when organizing your wedding. You can actually treat yourself with a soothing facial or body massage.

2. Don’t forget to drink at least 8 glasses of water to hydrate your skin.

3. Book an appointment with your beauty parlour in advance and make sure that you select the one with whom you are comfortable with.

4. Follow a 3 step skin care regime i.e. cleansing, toning and moisturizing of the skin twice a day. Also avoid using soaps and other cosmetics products if you have a sensitive skin type.

5. Use of home made facial masks is very effective. Try a good face mask once a week and your skin will be glowing!

6. Taking healthy diets and eating fresh fruits and vegetables is a must and should not be compromised.

7. Make sure you pay equal attention to every part of the body, be it nails, feet, hair etc.

8. Schedule a manicure and pedicure every 15 days to make your hands and feet look at their best.

9. And lastly, get enough beauty sleep. You will need this.

Dandruff - Get Rid of these Flaky White Menace

Dandruff is a common condition in which the scalp produces white flaky matter, emanating from it during all seasons. Dandruff forms when dead cells of the scalp mix with oil, clump together, and forms white flakes. The dead cells are mostly the result of a mild inflammation of the scalp caused by a fungus called malassezia. This tiny organism grows rapidly on the scalp under conditions of stress, suppressed immunity, hormonal imbalance in the body, and lack of cleanliness, increased oiliness of the skin, and diseases or illness.

The formation of dandruff is often accompanied by itching of the scalp. Treatment of dandruff is mainly focused on developing formulas and applying home remedies. Following is a brief description of more effective home remedies for dandruff.   

Home Remedies for Dandruff Control   

Fenugreek Seeds

Fenugreek seeds are widely used as a dandruff home remedy. Soaking a couple of tablespoons of fenugreek seeds in water at night and grounding them into a paste in the morning provides an easy home-made dandruff cure. The fenugreek seed paste should be applied on the scalp and let it stay there for an hour. Washing the scalp and hair well with soap-nut or shikakai cleanses the scalp from dandruff.

Curd and Lime

An easy home treatment for dandruff is applying curd or lime juice to the scalp. After keeping the curd in open for two to three days, the scalp should be massaged with it for half an hour and left for some time, and then washed thoroughly to remove the curd and the dandruff. Another one of the tried home remedies for dandruff is lime juice. A few drops of lime juice mixed with a little Amla juice should be used daily at night (before going to bed) to massage the scalp. Washing in the morning clears the scalp of all dandruff.

Washing and Brushing  

This is one dandruff home remedy that does not cost anything and is most easily followed. Washing the hair at least three times a week without using a harsh shampoo or formula helps clean the scalp of the fungi that cause dandruff. Chemical dyes should be avoided as much as possible. Brushing the hair daily and thoroughly massaging the scalp with one’s fingertips stimulate blood flow to the roots of hair. Thus dandruff is easily dislodged and the growth of new hair is facilitated.  

Apple Cider Vinegar

Mixing one-fourth of a cup of apple cider vinegar with equal amount of water makes a good anti-dandruff mixture. It should be sprayed into hair and scalp, wrapping the head afterwards in a clean towel. After about 45 minutes, the towel should be removed and hair thoroughly washed. It is important to save the eyes from the mixture while spraying it into the hair. The solution of apple cider vinegar should be applied in this way once or twice a week.

Beetroot and Ginger Juice

Mixing beetroot juice in vinegar and applying to the scalp helps in removing dandruff. Beetroot may be mixed with an equal amount of ginger juice and applied to the scalp. Upon washing hair after a while will clear the head and remove dandruff.

Dietary Control on Dandruff

Diet also helps control the problem of dandruff to some degree. Including more fresh juicy fruits and leafy vegetables in daily diet has a positive effect on health of the scalp and hair. Meats, white flour, sugar, strong tea and coffee, and the intake of all kinds of processed foods should be reduced in order to assist the body in dandruff treatment via home remedies.

Sensitive Skin Care Advice

Sensitive skin reacts externally and internally to changes in life. Can be both oily and dry, it can be easily disturbed by skin-care products and cosmetics. Sensitive skin most often stings and burns from reactions you can feel, but not see - a condition dermatologists call subjective irritation. The skin in this condition looks absolutely normal to the other person. It tends to go blotchy and have broken  veins at the same time, it might show a flushed or reddened look or might even itch.

You might need to consult a Dermatologist in serious cases, in other instances proper care and attention can help you to survive with sensitive skin type. The following is a simple step-by-step process anyone with sensitive skin should follow:

Sensitive Skin Care Tips

1) Two or three times a week use a deep cleansing mask specifically formulated for oily skin.

2) Wash your face no more than twice a day using a natural pH balanced cleanser.

3) Use a toner that is appropriate for oily skin.

4) Use a moisturiser designed specifically for dry and sensitive skin.

5) Use your natural skin care regime every single day.

6) Ensure your diet is very high in nuts, grains and vegetables and very low in saturated fatty foods.

7) Drink plenty of water each and every day to help keep your skin hydrated.

Combination Skin Care Tips

Combination skin has dry and oily areas. The oily areas classically form a T-shape over the face to include the forehead, nose and chin, while the skin around the eyes tends to be dry.

Combination Skin Care Tips

It is impractical to use different types if products for different areas to the face, so just use more or less of the same product – moisturise the dry areas a little more richly than the oily ones and cleanse the oily ones more deeply. Use a light under-eye cream every other night.

A homemade mask of fresh parsley juice (just crush the leaves with a pestle and mortar) and honey is guaranteed to even out combination skin.

Use yoghurt on your face to neutralise combination skin. A maximum of twenty minutes a week is more than enough.