The Easiest, Cheapest Way to Stay Healthy

An easy action that takes just 20 seconds can cut your risk for catching a cold, flu or other contagious diseases by up to 51 percent, recent studies show. And if everyone made it a regular habit, one million deaths a year would be prevented, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which calls this habit the single most important way to avoid spreading infection.
Frequent hand washing with soap and water can save you money—and misery—by helping you avoid medical bills, missed workdays, or having to stay home with a sick child. And you’ll also protect your friends and family: A CDC survey found that 40 million Americans a year fall prey to illnesses spread by hands, which can harbor up to 500,000 bacteria per square centimeter.
The 11 Germiest Places in Your Home

Clean Hands Save Lives

Not only does lathering up protect you from respiratory illnesses like colds, but it also helps ward off more serious conditions, including hepatitis A, meningitis, and potentially life-threatening superbug infections, such as MRSA. Overall, 80 percent of all infectious diseases are spread by touch.
Here are just a few research findings that illustrate the protective power of clean hands:

• Kids who washed their hands four times a day had 25 percent fewer school absences due to contagious diseases and 57 percent fewer sick days due to GI bugs. 
• When 40,000 Navy recruits were instructed to wash their hands five times a day, their rate of respiratory infections fell by 45 percent, according to a study published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
• A 2011 study found that when students disinfected their hands three times a day with ethanol gel sanitizer, there was a 66 percent drop in pupils who missed four or more days due to illness and a 20 percent rise in students with zero absences, compared to data from the previous year.
• Hand washing reduces risk for colds and other respiratory illnesses by 21 percent, according to the CDC.
• Washing with soap and water lowers risk for diarrhea and severe or fatal intestinal infections by up to 59 percent, a systematic review published in Lancet reported. 

At-Home Remedies that Really Work

Our Dirty Little Secrets

Ninety-one percent of Americans say they wash their hands after using a public toilet, but an observational study conducted in the six US airports found that only 26 percent of men and 17 percent of women actually did. And here’s something to ponder before you shake someone’s hand during cold and flu season: A recent survey also found that only 24 percent of men and 39 percent of women always wash their hands after they cough or sneeze.
Hand hygiene among doctors is even worse, with 73 percent of pediatric ICU physicians claiming that they soaped up between patients, but when the MDs were secretly observed, only 10 percent actually washed. If doctors and nurses were more diligent about hand hygiene, up to 80,000 Americans lives would be saved each year.
Experts caution patients to ask healthcare providers a simple question before any hands-on exam: “Did you wash your hands?” That’s important even if the provider is wearing gloves, reports Texas Health Resources Infection Control.

When to Wash Away Germs

To stay healthy and avoid spreading germs to others, the CDC and other experts advise washing your hands before and after preparing food, before eating, after changing diapers or using the toilet, after sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose, after touching an animal, and after touching garbage.
Follow these simple steps:

• Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and remove jewelry. A recent study compared bacteria counts on the hands of 50 healthcare workers who wore rings to 50 who didn’t. Hand washing lowered levels of staph bacteria by nearly 50 percent for those without rings, but only 29 percent among ring wearers.
• Lather up with soap. Avoid antibacterial products, which don’t work any better than regular soap, according to the Mayo Clinic, and can even lead to bacteria becoming resistant to that antimicrobial ingredient.
• Rub hands together for at least 20 seconds. To get the timing right, kids can recite the alphabet as they scrub. Pay equal attention to all surfaces of both hands: Research shows that righties don’t wash their right hand as carefully as the left, while the opposite is true for lefties. Fingernails and fingertips typically harbor the most microorganisms.
• Rinse thoroughly under running water—the force of the stream sweeps dirt and germs down the drain. And be sure to dry well, which helps rub away remaining microbes. A study published in Epidemiology and Infection found that when people touched someone else with freshly washed, but damp hands, they transferred a whopping 68,000 microorganisms, compared to just 140 when their hands were dry.
• The CDC says that while soap and water is best, hand sanitizers containing at least 60 percent alcohol can do in a pinch. However, they don’t eliminate all types of germs.

 By Lisa Collier Cool
 Jan 11, 2013

A Recipe for Positive Mental Health

• Balance is a concept that can be beneficial to every aspect of your life--but especially when thinking about your personal health as a woman.  Work must be balanced by play. Exercise must be balanced with rest.  Nutritionally, we must also bring our bodies into alignment and balance by nourishing ourselves with the right amounts and kinds of foods, the proper supplements that will enhance the the efficacy of the foods we've ingested, and the proper amount of hydration for our body weight.  When we apply the concept of balance in a conscious and deliberate manner daily, it helps us cope with the onslaught of challenges we face, and even find the humor in them.

• Bliss is fleeting, but its benefits can serve you long after it dissipates.  Keep a list of positive affirmations in your journal or a small spiral notepad and keep it with you everywhere you go.  Write yourself a note when you're feeling joyful and positive and later refer to it when life feels like it is sucking the wind out of you.  Remind yourself that every human condition and emotion is fleeting and subject to change.

• Recharge yourself!  Women must time to renew ourselves, and if you aren't quite sure how to best do that, employ the advice or services of a friend who is exceptionally good at self-care.  Ask her how she does it and adapt her answer to fit your life.  As women, we forget to take the time to do the things that will renew our energy source.  If praying will get it done, fall to your knees on a daily basis! Have a cup of tea. Paint your nails.  Pick up your guitar (or that hairbrush and pretend it is a microphone) and belt out the most stirring rendition of your favorite feel good song at top of your lungs.  Listen to or watch a stand-up comedian.  Perhaps a roll around the skating rink will do it for you, or just sitting down with a good book. One of my coolest memories of my mother is her telling us to give her "twenty quiet minutes" when she came in from work so she could get her head together and change into her mother hat.  This small action taught me that, as a woman, you have to demand that your needs get met along with the needs of others around you.  Whatever that thing looks like for you, do it!  It is so okay to do something nice for yourself and focus on just yourself for a nice minute.  I promise you that the world won't fall apart! Initially, you may feel guilty about it but "me" time, for a woman, is as crucial to well-being as any of the other things we do for others.  

Compassion Creates A Place of Peace Within

Making peace with your inner enemies begins when we understand that there are no inner enemies, but rather, different inner voices attempting to move us toward a deeper understanding of ourselves and our deepest needs.  As each of these  counter-voices is acknowledged, accepted and brought to the surface and allowed to be expressed, it ceases to be problematic and, instead, it becomes an interesting ally.  You can feel your energy shift within yourself when you allow yourself to view your issues from this perspective.

An exercise that I employ and one that could work for you, is to picture yourself at your absolute worse--mean, harried, depressed, nasty, evil, ugly-acting, belligerent to the point of being a real B&%#.  Now, appreciate yourself for noticing how you feel and where you are, then tell yourself that you are still very loveable and forgive yourself for allowing the expression of even the worse of aspects of yourself. 

We are unable to forgive others for being their worse if we are not able to forgive ourselves.  Self forgiveness softens, dissolves negative feelings of bitterness and enlarges our ability to be compassion and accept the flaws of others around you.  Forgiveness is not about forgetting but it is about being able and willing to let go. It's coming to the realization that the hurt we have experienced is as a result of holding on to the painful way we have perceived them. 

Try recalling something you have done, said or thought that was against your better judgment.  Does this incident still haunt your memories? Is it causing you to suffer?  How willing are you to re-remember it?  How willing are you to hold on to the pain?  Observe how willing you are to hold onto the worse memories and make them larger than life!

We cannot show compassion toward other if we don't practice being compassionate toward ourselves.  Recognize your own struggle to attain happiness and avoid hardships and you become aware that we are all human, doing the best with what we have.  Immediately, you will begin to feel compassion for everyone around you, especially ones engaged in some of the same struggles you are dealing with.  These feelings of compassion allow us to do whatever is needed to bring awareness to a situation.  Compassion is not pity or sympathy but it is a way of looking at life and all humans and if everyone matters.

Breathe acceptance into yourself deeply and create that place within.  You can do it! I believe in you.

JumpStart Your Day

Here are a five ways to ensure that your day begins on the best note possible.  Even if you don't do all of them, if you do one or two, you will still be off to a great start.  Wishing you a positive, peaceful and productive day.


Say a morning prayer

For those who find it difficult to pray, this can be done in three stages.  First give thanks for the new day; then, for other people, wish for health and happiness; and finally, for yourself, pray for (or aspire to) the qualities that will equip you best for the coming day

Freshen up and breathe it in.

Throw open a window.  Breathe in the fresh air.  Even in winter, this is a very invigorating experience. Start the day with deep drafts of air and blow away the cobwebs that have settled on your well rested spirit in the night.  Even if you've had a window part-way open all night, this is a good way to get the air circulating freely.  Don't let bad weather put you off--rain or snow can be just as refreshing for the spirit as brilliant sunshine.  

Immediately after getting out of your bed, take many deep breaths.  As you breathe in, keep your chest still and push out your abdomen--as if you were blowing up a balloon in your stomach.  As you breathe out, drop your shoulders and imagine yourself squeezing out air, as though pressing water out of a sponge.  Do this for at least ten complete breaths.  As you do so feel the energy of the new day entering your body.


Drink lots of water.

Have at least six glasses of filtered, bottled or distilled water daily. This will help flush out impurities and prevent energy-sapping dehydration.  A lack of water can seriously affect the function of all our bodily systems, leading to problems such as dry skin, headaches and poor concentration, to name but a few.  If you opt for bottled water, do a mineral water tasting.  You may be surprised by how different they daste, depending on their source and the method of treatment.  Buy a number of different types and decide which one you prefer.

Stretch it out.

Taking time for a long stretch will do your body wonders.  Especially women of a "certain age," Even if you do just the basic body groups: stretching your arms and legs does wonders for getting your energy flowing.  On YouTube, I found several excellent videos for stretching the body, including one that shows you stretches you can do from your bed.  This is perfect for those of you who might need to get moving before you get moving--like me! If I don't do it first thing in the morning, it's likely not to happen.  Here is the video I found, but I would be pleased if you send me your favorite stretch routine and I will share it with everyone.

Be Grateful

We all have problems in our lives from time to time.  How quickly we overcome the challenges we face often depends upon our outlook.  Having a sense of gratitude for even the small things in our lives goes a very long way toward making room for more good to come to us.  So when we worry about our lives, we should begin to place our minds on others who may have lost their lives or lost a loved one recently.  Think about those women who may have lost a child in the womb, or a mother who will have to care for your ailing or impaired child for the rest of their lives...there are so many things that could happen to us.  The human condition is fragile and we have got to find ways to be grateful for what we have and for what we don't--for what we are and for what we aren't.  There are a lot of things we could have that we would never want and a lot of things we aren't that we would never wish to be.  Everything is relative.