InnerSelf

by Marie T. Russell. We all know that stress is bad, that working 18-hour-days is not healthy, and that working at a job you hate can lead to depression. But did you know that job burnout may be increasing your risk for a heart attack and Type 2 diabetes?

by Greg Anderson. After I was told by my surgeon that he thought I had about thirty days to live, I was put in touch with an exceptional cancer survivor who was convinced that healing and forgiveness are inextricably linked. After weeks of resistance, I took her counsel to heart...

by Tony Burroughs. It always seems strange to me that when I go to a sporting event in a large stadium and they play the national anthem, almost everyone in the crowd stands up and supposedly holds their hand over their heart, off to the side of their chest. But wait a minute! That's not where our heart is at all. Our heart is in the exact center of our chest...

by Stephanie Marohn. Bipolar disorder is a complex condition. No single factor is respon­sible for creating it, and no single therapeutic measure can reverse it. This means that you must discover what factors are involved in your case and take steps to ameliorate them. The following are steps you can take to eliminate the causes, triggers, and contributors to your bipolar disorder.

by Connie Bennett. While we often hear that cancer may be linked to smoking, asbestos, pollution, pesticides, sun exposure, or red meat, one of the best-kept secrets is that sugar fuels the growth of cancer. Don’t believe me? Consider a few studies...

by Stephanie Marohn. Nutritional deficiencies and imbalances are a common feature in bipolar disorder and other “mental” illnesses. Correcting these often produces dramatic improvement. Unfortunately, nutrient status test­ing and intervention are not standard practice in conventional psy­chiatric medicine.

by Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT. Anxiety and depression are the most prevalent psychological disorders today. Major depression alone is expected to be the second-leading cause of disability by 2020 worldwide. I personally suffered from intractable depression and chronic dysthymia for thirty-five or more years. I also suffered from anxiety and panic attacks...

by Chuck Fata & Suzette Hodnett. Our bodies have forgotten how relaxation feels. We have come to accept our fast-paced, over-loaded, and increasingly impersonal lives as normal. As self-help author and motivational speaker Richard Carlson stated, "Stress is nothing more than a so­cially acceptable form of mental illness."

by Christopher Vasey, N.D. The body is therefore not always up to the task of properly protecting itself. It is sometimes necessary, depending on the case, to strengthen and stimulate, or reawaken, the body’s defense mechanisms. There are a host of various remedies that make this stimulation of the immune system possible...

by Sondra Kornblatt. No one wants to suffer pain or illness, but losing mental capacity is also near the top of most people’s lists of things they’d like to avoid as they age. And many fear their brains will lose hold because of Alzheimer’s disease. It’s hard to avoid hearing about Alzheimer’s...

by Dr. Jay Lipoff. The neck is the forgotten area of the spine, especially during travel. And although many people have accepted neck soreness as normal, it’s not. If you ignore the pain, you may be setting yourself up for headaches, radiating pain, disc pain, shoulder tightness and arthritis.

by BJ Gallagher. "The truth is, we don’t know that the cancer just might come bearing gifts ... and that this last year of her life might very well be the best..." Life changes after diagnosis...

by Christopher Vasey, N.D. A fever is a sign of a healthy, functioning immune system. Helping us understand what a fever really is and how it can benefit the body, Dr. Vasey asks us to stop considering fever as an enemy to be conquered and start seeing it as the healing ally that it truly is.

by Mark Schwartz.  Nearly all of us feel a little blue or a little down every now and then. It happens. Occasional temporary feelings of sadness are a natural part of life. However if you frequently feel this way, or if the feelings are excessive, you may be suffering from depression. Approximately 9.5 % of the population or nearly 19 million adults in the U.S suffer from some form of depression.

by Shawn Messonnier, DVM. Natural therapies all have their place in the treatment of pets with arthritis. Often one of them can serve as the sole therapy. When needed, lower doses of conventional medications can be combined with natural remedies to help pets on extremely painful days.

by Stephanie Marohn. For some people, it is sufficient to clear the five basic groups, but most people with severe conditions such as bipolar disorder have more extensive allergies. The larger basic collection of allergens includes magnesium, essential fatty acid oils, amino acids, grain mix (including gluten), yeast mix (including acidophilus), artificial...

by Barb Rogers.

Exhaustion was the catalyst that took me to a recovery program. I was just so tired — tired of being sad and lonely, tired of fighting everything and everyone, and tired of living with my strange thoughts that would surely lead me to insanity. Do your days feel like an exercise in frustration and misery? Do you wake up with a feeling of...

by Chönyi Taylor. The mind of addiction goes like this: “So I need to stop playing computer games. I will take up marathon running instead.” Keeping away from the addiction does not stop the need for addiction and the need to look at the underlying pain or unhappiness...

by Marie T. Russell. Cancer, which has been around for a long time, has been increasing in recent decades. Even with the tons of money poured into research, the "cure" has not been found. Or has it?

by Chönyi Taylor. When the pain is too much to handle, then some relief gives us space to rest and recuperate. But if we choose to numb our pain all the time, we can end up in a closed and lonely world. If we choose to face our pain, then we have the opportunity to understand its source and that helps us to...

by Joan Borysenko.

If you’re feeling frustrated, aggravated, or disempowered, and if you catch yourself always blaming other people for your problems or complaining about their performance, you need to connect with what is really going on. You need a real...

by Joyce Whiteley Hawkes, PhD.

Each cell has its own biological clock that controls its individual rate of repair, replication, and death. Cancer cells are part of your body. At one time, they functioned perfectly well. For mostly unknown causes, a cell of any tissue type may...

by Joyce Whiteley Hawkes.

Is any process more natural and, at the same time, more fearfully loathed than aging? Witness the booming anti-aging industry, a cornucopia of cosmetics, supplements, and treatments designed more to calm our fears or fuel our fantasies than heal the damage from destructive factors such as...

by Joan Borysenko. I wanted to know precisely why I felt like a zombie. Was I stressed out of my mind, overloaded with information that was jamming my gray matter and making myself so crazy-busy that I was running on empty? Had I become a poster child for Prozac, or was I...

by Chönyi Taylor.

The mind can be changed. I doubt whether anyone would dispute that point although we often feel as if we are stuck with an obstinate mind that refuses to do what we want it to. In addictions this feeling of being stuck can be very powerful. But...

by Cynthia Sue Larson.

Remember that whatever the source of your energy leaks, you are the one who is best able to make changes that will bring about improved energy levels in your life. As tempting as it may seem to blame someone or something else for past injustices or handicaps in your life, you will gain...

by Marcelle Pick, MSN, OB/GYN NP.

The first person to identify the effects of chronic stress was Hungarian scientist Hans Selye. From Selye’s point of view, stress itself was neither good nor bad—it was simply challenging. He believed that without any stress at all, life would be pretty boring, an endless repetitive round of one familiar thing after another...

by Joyce Meek Yates & Amanda Conrad.

Just like the muscles in your body, the brain thrives on the motto of "Use it, or lose it." Stimulate your brain by making it work beyond its normal routine. Don't let your thought processes get stuck in a rut! Try...

by Jonathan Brostoff M.D. & Linda Gamlin.

Few would deny that acupuncture is an effective system of altering bodily responses—its dramatic effects in producing local deadening of the nerves, so that surgeons can operate on a fully conscious patient, are convincing evidence that this is a powerful form of treatment. Whether acupuncture effectively treats all the ailments for which it is offered is another matter.

by Jonathan Brostoff M.D. & Linda Gamlin.

There are various herbal medicines on sale that claim to alleviate hay fever and perennial allergic rhinitis. The following ones have been tested: Butterbur (Petasites hybridus); Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica); Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba); Luffa complex (also marketed as Pollinosan); Grape seed extract; Quercetin; Perilla 6000 (contains Perilla frutescens)

by Jonathan Brostoff M.D. & Linda Gamlin.

Conventional medicine has some powerful weapons against hay fever but many people still turn to other forms of treatment. This chapter looks at all those that we have come across and tries to assess whether or not they may help you.

by Jonathan Brostoff M.D. & Linda Gamlin.

The traditional treatment used for colds—inhaling steam—can be very effective in hay fever. Use a mixing bowl from the kitchen, pour in boiling water, put a towel over your head and shoulders, and sit with your face over the bowl so that you are inhaling the steam. Menthol, eucalyptus, and other essential oils with a decongestant action are sometimes added to the hot water to improve...

by Jonathan Brostoff M.D. & Linda Gamlin.

You will, no doubt, meet people who have "found the cure" for hay fever. There are two things to bear in mind when considering such claims. One is that most people grow out of hay fever as they get older, usually before the age of 30. The second point to consider is the placebo effect, a phenomenon well known to medicine, whereby any new treatment will have some positive effect for most people. Belief that the treatment will work is the crucial element...

Every night sit comfortably in a chair and rest your head back, like you do at the dentist. You can use a pillow. Then release your lower jaw. Just relax it so the mouth opens slightly, and start breathing from the mouth, not from the nose. Don't change your breathing -- let it be natural. By and by your breathing...

by Bowen F. White, M.D.

Do we have to "put reality on the back burner" to have fun? That's what it seems like. After all, with all the problems in the world and all the stress in our lives, escaping reality seems to be required. Our current life circumstance is putting pressure on us to experiment and discover the variation that allows us to better adapt. We may discover that stress is...

by Pam Montgomery. There are many "core heart feelings," but the simplest and easiest to access is gratitude. Showing appreciation elicits an immediate response in your body that lessens the stress response...

by Pam Montgomery. Heart disease is the single leading cause of death in the United States, claiming more lives than the combined next four causes of mortality. Fifty-eight percent of all deaths are directly or indirectly related to cardiovascular disease, as 2,500 people die of heart disease each...

by Doug Marsh. Experts have been studying the eye from many different angles for over a couple of centuries, yet the researchers seem no closer to understanding how vision really works than when the quest first started. At least nineteen theories have been postulated about the cause of myopia. Opinions also vary widely on how to treat myopia...

People with acne may try to stop outbreaks and oil production by scrubbing their skin and using strong detergent soaps. However, scrubbing will not improve acne; in fact, it can make the problem worse. Most doctors recommend that people with acne gently wash their skin with a mild cleanser, once in the morning and once in the evening. It is important that patients thoroughly rinse their skin after washing it.