InnerSelf.com

by Vijay Vad, M.D. Endorphins do make you feel good, no question about it. Narcotic drugs, including morphine, heroin, and cocaine, are classic endorphin releasers, but as we know, they can have horrific side effects, including addiction. Endorphins give you the high without the crash...

by Keith Johnson.

Both your brain and your body work in harmony together to help you operate at your peak if you know how to use them. Almost as instantly as the mind thinks something, there is an observable response in the physical body. Let’s do an experiment together. I want you to try an...

by Marcelle Pick.

The way you treat yourself can make an enormous difference in how your body, mind, and spirit respond. Changing your internal conversation is one key way to turn down the stress and turn up the relaxation. I’ve struggled with these issues, too, and I know how hard it can be to create a new conversation. The key is...

by Patrick Thias Balmain.  Most of us have a relationship to the outside world based on conflict, the power struggle. It is quite tiring. One must always be on the alert. Could there be another way of doing things? Each of us has a tendency to either move toward people, things, novelty or to move away from them...

Belly dance (by whatever name it is called) is excellent for any age. It is a celebration of womanhood, a dance by women for women's purposes. It can be practiced in preparation for childbirth. After childbirth, the dance can be practiced as a way to tone the abdominal muscles. This dance has also helped many women who have suffered from PMS and menstrual discomfort because the movements bring about better circulation and blood flow in the pelvic area.

by Larry Johnson, O.M.D., L.Ac. Throughout history, peoples in many parts of the world have sought ways to develop their energetic potentials for improved health, martial power, and to bring themselves closer to the divine. In China these practices are called QiGong. It is believed that the correct regulation of body, breath, and mind will harmonize yin and yang, balance Qi and blood...

by Lucy Pappas - Bellydancing is the last vestige of goddess worship in the Middle East and is in danger of becoming extinct. Bellydancing began as ritual for childbirth preparation in the ancient Middle East. Before Islam and Christianity, when the Mother Goddess was worshipped, sex and childbearing were sacred. During this time, many societies were matriarchal, and bellydancing was performed by women for women.

by Chia Siew Pang Goh Ewe Hock. The majority of those who practice tai chi do so mainly for the benefits it gives as an exercise. Relatively few learn it only for its martial aspects. As an exercise, tai chi is suitable for people of all ages, particularly those on the wrong side of thirty. The very nature of the art stimulates blood circulation, loosens and limbers up joints and at the same time promotes mental relaxation.

by Carla Inniss, Have you ever marveled at the amazing flexibility of your cat? Ever felt a warm sense of contentment just watching your dog take a long yawn and then a happy stretch that reaches all the way down to her toes?