I was speaking to friend recently who told me that as we were experiencing the hottest month of April on record and Summer was drawing ever closer, she could feel her hay fever coming earlier than usual this year. She was bunged up, sniffing and snuffling along as she spoke.
Without giving too much thought to it, as the conversation went on I made a few unusual references to things… chatting about when we were at school together:
“I can remember my parents old house when we were first starting at secondary school, I would open the front door into a large uncongested hallway and I remember always seeing the curtains at the far end flapping and expanding from a strong breeze that was blowing in through an open window, my Mum used to love having the windows open… whenever I want to feel relaxed, I often remind myself of how I can feel less congested, more open, like a breeze flowing through me, whenever I remember how I used to feel then. Do you remember that house? …..”
The idea was that while my friend was receptive to me during our conversation, I wanted to get all kinds of imagery into her mind that was going to be a relief from the expected and anticipated negative notion that she was getting her hay fever symptoms earlier this year. When she left me, she was sniffing a lot less!
Self-hypnosis and hypnotherapy are not necessarily always an all-out cure for allergies, though I have seen some amazing things happen with their use. Of course, first of all, I recommend seeing a doctor and taking a conventional treatment route – you know I have to say that.
I have found that when dealing with an allergy of any kind, when you get your imagination working for you for the better, then you are more likely to start taking control of your symptoms.
I want to share with you a really good technique to help you with the process of using your mind to overcome allergies.
Follow these few simple steps:
Step One: First up then, be in a place where you are not going to be disturbed, get yourself relaxed and concentrate on your breathing. Use any technique that you can to get yourself relaxed and then into a receptive trance-like state. Ideally, go and get a copy of my self-hypnosis book and learn how to really get yourself into a deep state. Tune in to your breathing, engage in the moment and become aware of what you notice – by that, I mean notice the thoughts you are thinking, sense your sensations and just observe yourself in this moment. Then imagine drifting deep inside your mind.
Step Two: Having spent a good period of time to get yourself at ease and receptive of mind, imagine now that your mind is scanning through your body. Heighten your awareness of your body.
Especially become aware of areas that that are always free from allergy. Notice the qualities of those areas, how do they feel and seem to you? What are the qualities of these parts of you? Then examine parts that are or have been affected by allergies currently or in the past. Make a contrastive analysis of the two. Compare them as much as you can ands of course become as acutely aware of the differences in those parts.
Think about the tiniest of changes that used to happen when you were experiencing your allergy.
This might sound a bit crazy… Do your best to simulate or imagine in your mind the feeling or signal of your old allergy symptoms coming on. Examine the imagined feelings of those allergy symptoms beginning, then feel it recede. Capturing the sense of, or prelude to, an oncoming allergy symptom is a self-hypnosis technique that is far more useful than the kinds of things many people do when they first sense them – like acknowledging the symptoms and then expecting to have a Summer full of a stuffed up nose and watery eyes, like my friend that I mentioned earlier for example.
Use your imagination to control those oncoming sensations and move them away from you, let them abate, imagine them easing off. Like you are stopping them at the root, at their genesis.
Practice doing this for a little while… Be in control of the symptoms – Feel these precursors, senses, or signals of old allergic symptoms and then pushing them away is teaching your mind how to be in control of that old allergic reaction, isn’t it? Do this step for as much time as you feel you need to really get it mastered.
Step Three: With this step, you want to use your imagination and suggestions to yourself for changing your perception of the substances or situations that used to trigger your allergic reaction. Naturally, we want to change the way you react to these triggers.
For example, you can change your perception of shaggy dogs to short haired, tidier looking dogs. Maybe you imagine dried, cut grass turning into shredded paper. Or how about dust turning into fresh water spray?
In this receptive state, you want your brain and body to respond to the old reactive thing that you used to have a allergy of – in the same way that it responds to things that you are at ease being around.
While in this receptive, relaxed state, you might imagine a particular type of flower and then see it change–just as the seasons can change–into a different plant. It may turn into a different flower or it may transform into pieces of tissue paper. Change it into anything that frees you from the old allergic response. Practice with new perceptions, new colours, calming more than tensing, and relaxing more than ever.
Spend a few minutes working on these kinds of suggestions and imagery to successfully begin the process of decoding in your mind.
What you are doing here is getting to work on preventing allergic reactions to substances by creating new triggers of your own – ones that you can use in the future when you encounter those substances. So that your brain and body react to those old things in a new way! .
Step Four: Finally, just go through everything that you have done again. Recap everything during this period of time you have spent inside your mind. Imagine that by thinking it all through again, you reinforce the changes inside your mind.
Then, once you are sure that you have absorbed all you need from this session, take a nice deep breath, open your eyes and go about your business, whatever that might be. I recommend that you go and do some different activity straight away. The content of this time inside your mind is going to be far more effective if you don’t try to consciously analyse it. Allow your unconscious mind to process what it has done at the deeper level and you can simply enjoy the results.
You may notice feeling more calm and feeling more control over your old allergies in the first few weeks of daily practice. Remember to set reasonable goals for yourself. A long suffered problem often takes time to correct.
Remember that your progress will depend on your motivation to practice, the severity of your old allergic reaction and the level of belief you have in yourself.
Be patient with yourself. Nurture and encourage yourself regularly – the same way you would nurture and encourage a loved one. People that have had allergies have possibly suffered with it for a long time, they often expect it to carry on happening in the same way and so it does… just carry on happening the same way. That is a lot of programming to overcome. You are now investing in long-term relief and exploring the amazing power that you truly have when you learn to use your mind. Often, the longer someone has endured an allergic reaction, the more embedded the allergic reaction may have become. It takes time for some to erase this pattern–but it is not indelible.
Use Self-Hypnosis To Be Free Of Allergies
Weight Loss Supplements – What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You!
Weight loss supplements, diet pills, weight loss formulas are all a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. alone. So many people are looking to diet pills or wonder drugs to help them lose weight in the fastest possible time without trying to change anything in their eating habits and lifestyle. People are just too busy to get any exercise and they are not too disciplined to curb their appetite and eat only the right amount of food to help them function normally. Many are saying that food addiction is becoming increasingly common to many Americans – we eat even if we are not hungry and just love food period.
This is the reason that most Americans are getting bigger and bigger over the years. There is an abundance of food everywhere you turn and the latest fad is serving up bigger and bigger portions as well. Think about all the upsize, super size, biggie size, etc, that many fast food restaurants offer to their customers. And people wonder how did they get this big and heavy and isn’t there a way to lose weight, if not overnight, at least in a month? These wrong concepts are what make the diet supplements and other diet fads so popular; they feed on the people’s insecurities and their impatience to lose the weight they have gained over the years.
Many diet supplements, weight loss supplements, herbal or otherwise, promise a miracle cure for those who are overweight. The advertising is just too good to pass and so convincing that many will try them without even considering if they are safe or not. They promise to help you lose weight and get the body of your dreams in a month’s time, which is in reality not healthy to do since the healthy way of shedding weight is at most 3-5lbs. a week.
So if you are excessively heavy, it will take more than a month to get back in shape, and you need more than a supplement to achieve that. A total lifestyle change and healthy eating is needed if you are serious in seeing changes.
Weight loss supplements are sad to say not regulated as drugs, this means they are not fully tested for side effects. Many supplements were later found to be dangerous and some are related to deaths, and some were found to damage internal organs especially the heart. If you opt to take these then you should be aware that these wonder pills are not fully tested and you are making yourself available for these companies to experiment with.
Whatever side effects you may experience as well as others will then be documented and if there are too many reports of incidents for that particular supplement, it is then banned in the market. That is how it works with supplements, your safety is not guaranteed because they are classified as foods and not drugs, therefore not regulated.
If you are serious about getting back in shape, the best road to recovery remains the same. And active lifestyle (exercise, movement) and healthy diets are the best way to go. They are proven and weight loss is more permanent and lasting.
Continue reading Weight Loss Supplements – What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You!
The Recognized Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
There are times when our own immune system begins to work in a manner that adversely affects our bodies. The reasons behind this remain largely unknown despite extensive research, and the causes of rheumatoid arthritis are even today not known exactly. However, medical specialists working in this field have been able to identify a series of factors that can be associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
In the US, 1.2 million adults, equaling 0.5 to 1 percent of the population, are rheumatoid arthritis patients. However, the numbers are declining positively, revealing some secrets of the possible causes of rheumatoid arthritis. More research into the decline will be able provide more understanding of how it all begins.
Middle age is often when the symptoms start to come up, but that doesn’t mean younger people don’t get afflicted. Rheumatoid arthritis affects women more than men, causing most of the damage in older women. Although most causes of rheumatoid arthritis are now identified, medication and treatment are still expensive for the ordinary income earner.
While genetic (hereditary) factors are believed to be the primary causes of rheumatoid arthritis, there is still the necessity to trigger the condition, and this is believed to be caused by environmental factors. Some have the genetic mapping for symptomatic rheumatoid arthritis, while others are only gene carriers. This revelation points in the direction of figuring out what the triggers are for inducing the condition. There is a single gene associated with developing rheumatoid arthritis, but it doesn’t become dominant unless certain other secondary factors influence it.
Environmental factors can be so many and varied too. The exact trigger is still not found, but research points towards some bacteria and viruses. It cannot be ranked as a disease, and it is absolutely not contagious. Some of the related causes of rheumatoid arthritis are linked to the hormones secreted during pregnancy and the period when mothers breast feed babies. The use of hormonal birth control also affect the possibility of getting rheumatoid arthritis.
Typically, immune system molecules known as interleukin 12 (IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) are thought to be the major causes of rheumatoid arthritis in pregnant women. These molecules produce swelling in reaction to certain external triggers and causes tissue destruction at times, which are the primary symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Since rheumatoid arthritis limits physical activity and causes severe joint aches, many who suffer from the condition are also susceptible to depression, anxiety and other generalized mental health problems.
Not all the answers are crystal clear yet, but there will be a day when extensive research, experimentation, clinical trials and gene therapy find ways to eliminate the trigger potential of the known causes of rheumatoid arthritis. Eventually, this will lead to the discovery of a complete cure for the condition.
Continue reading The Recognized Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Allergy Help With Advanced Hypnotherapy
The chances are that either you or someone you know suffers from some form of allergy. In fact, one in three people in the UK suffer from some form of allergy. Each year there is an increase of 5% in those reporting allergic reactions and as many as half of these are children. In the USA, it is estimated that there are well over 35 million people who experience allergies of one kind or another. Exactly why allergies appear to be increasing so rapidly is something of an enigma.
Some researches believe that it is because we are becoming too sanitized. They suggest that because we live in an increasingly germ-free environment, our immune systems are under-exposed to germs and allergens so that we fail to build up a defence to these triggers as we grow and develop. Our immune system then over-reacts to these things when it is exposed to them.
Other experts believe that allergies are simply the result of the increasing pollution that the world is experiencing. Despite intensive research into the reasons why we are becoming more allergy prone, however, the verdict is out. All that can be truly said is that more research is needed.
In the majority of cases, allergies are more of a highly uncomfortable inconvenience than anything else. But in extremely severe instances an allergic reaction can be so severe as to threaten life. Because of this, if you or someone you care about is experiencing a severe allergic reaction then the very first thing to do, of course, is to visit a doctor or medical advisor in a hurry.
The most common allergy symptoms are quite well known and include rashes, itching, sore eyes, runny nose, sneezing, wheezing and coughing.
When the individual comes into contact with an allergen, an allergy is triggered. This is simply any substance that causes an allergic reaction. Almost anything can be an allergen. It all depends on the individual.
The 3 most common allergens, however, are dust mites, pollen and nuts. Other allergens include medicines, chemicals, and pets such as cats and dogs.
With food allergies, however, it is estimated that about 90% of all allergic reactions can be attributed by just 7 items: peanuts, nuts, wheat, seafood, eggs, milk and soy products. Most of us, of course, have no problem when we come into contact with these things. The human body’s inbuilt defence system just seems to deal with them automatically and we are easily able to cope without any great difficulty. But with the allergic individual, this is simply not the case.
For the person experiencing an allergic reaction, an allergen is incorrectly identified as a threat. This causes the immune system to flood the body with powerful – and usually inflammatory – chemicals called antibodies in order to fight off and destroy this perceived threat.
It is this process and the release of these antibodies that cause the actual allergic reaction and those troublesome symptoms.
Contact with an allergen may occur through the mouth, nose, lungs, stomach or skin.
A very useful strategy when it comes to dealing with allergies is to keep some form of diary or journal. In it you could note your observations about the history of the problem.
Write down and record when it first appeared. Is it connected to any other situation or thought process that makes it more severe? When have you experienced the worst allergic reactions? What were you doing? What was happening at that particular time in your life?
You might even enlist the help of your family in order to obtain greater insight and clarity for those early years of your life. It can be surprising how much those close to us can recall and notice things that we ourselves have forgotten or overlooked.
The reason for such a diary is to enable you to get a clearer picture and greater understanding of the condition as it relates to you personally. Note how many times anxiety, fear and tension have made the condition worse.
The next step might be to learn self-hypnosis or to work with a qualified hypnotherapist, in order to strengthen the immune system and help your subconscious mind to control the triggers that set off the allergic response.
In hypnosis, powerful post hypnotic suggestions can be delivered to the subconscious mind that can help it respond in a better, more helpful manner when in the presence of allergens and triggers.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy will probably not produce an overnight, miraculous cure of your allergy. But with patience, you can programme your subconscious mind to work for you so that you can experience real relief from the ongoing agony of allergies.
Best Cost Dental Implants
Are you looking for the best cost dental implants? With these implants costing so much money, it is essential to be able to go through and find better prices. This article will give you some hints and tips.
There is no doubt that this dental implant method is not cheap. In fact it generally runs into the thousands of dollar price levels.
If you needed more than one implant, then this could cost a lot of money. The good news is that many dentists in the US, also offer finance. So, this is allowing more and more people to be able to get the work done now!
The reason why this procedure is so expensive, is because it is a specialist treatment, and is only available through a fewer number of dentists than all the dentists out there.
As such, it is something that is expensive, but it doesn’t have to be too expensive, in fact you can save, and you can save big!
Going to state with lower living costs is a prime example of being able to save big. You can save a lot of money through this method, and it can make all the difference.
Saving a thousand dollars or more per implant, shows that savings are possible. It can pay for travel and staying also. So, it can result in big savings, especially if you have more than one implant, and the good news is that it can still get you high quality treatment in the process.
The first step to find these places is to look online. Many of these dentists have web sites.
Nutritional Therapy For Dyslipidaemia
Patients on HAART may develop abnormal serum lipids, including hyper-cholestero-laemia, hypertriglyceridaemia and decreased HDL cholesterol, which predisposes them to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and pancreatitis.
Nutritional therapy for dyslipidaemia
PLWHA with hyperlipidaemia should reduce their intake of total fat, especially satu-rated and trans-fatty acids, salt and dietary cholesterol. Overweight individuals should lose weight and all PLWHA should maintain a regular aerobic exercise regimen. Those with hypertriglyceridaemia should also limit simple carbohydrates, avoid alcohol altogether, and quit smoking because it dramatically increases the risk of cardiovasculardisease. Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids may enhance dietary efforts to lower triglycerides. Although lipid parameters may not completely normalize, PLWHA may be spared the addition of further medications to an already high pill burden. It is essential to consider dietary strategies within the context of HIV disease, maintaining adequate energy and protein intake to prevent weight loss in susceptible individuals.
Abnormal Glucose Tolerance
Abnormal glucose tolerance has been associated with HAART, especially protease inhibitors. Studies have shown that fasting glucose may be normal but 1 hour and 2 hour glucose tolerance tests are elevated. The aetiology is not clearly defined although insulin resistance appears to be the underlying mechanism. PLWHA with a family history of diabetes may be at increased risk of developing abnormal glucose tolerance. The first line of therapy for hyperglycemia is diet and exercise.
Nutritional therapy for abnormal glucose tolerance
PLWHA should be counselled to consume consistent, mixed meals (protein, carbohydrate and fat) at regular intervals throughout the day, to limit simple carbohydrates and increase fibre intake. Aerobic exercise facilitates glycaemic control, especially after a meal.
Osteoporosis
Loss of bone mineral density has emerged as a significant problem for HIV-infected men and women. The risk factors for developing osteopenia or osteoporosis include genetic predisposition, being underweight, having low lean body mass, not achieving potential peak bone mass density, having an accelerated rate of bone loss, low calcium intake, vitamin D deficiency, inadequate or excessive protein intake, heavy alcohol use, low physical activity, smoking, male or female hypogonadism, malabsorption, or amenorrhea/menopause. The aetiology of bone loss in HIV infection is unclear but studies have shown increased rates of bone turnover, disturbance of calcium and vitamin D metabolism, suppression of osteoblast formation, and negative effects of high levels of cytokines. Many HIV-infected persons have multiple risk factors for bone loss regardless of HIV infection. The development of osteopenia or osteoporosis results in increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fractures which further debilitates already vulnerable patients.
Nutritional therapy for bone mineral density
Nutrition is one of the most modifiable factors in the development and maintenance of bone mass. People with normal bone density require 1000-1500 mg of elemental calcium, 400-800 IU of vitamin D, 320-420 mg magnesium and 1.0-1.5 g/kg protein. Those with low bone mineral density require 1500-2000 mg elemental calcium and 800-1200 IU vitamin D. Other nutrients such as vitamin K, vitamin C and zinc are also essential for bone formation but the benefits of supplementation are unproven. Smoking, alcohol, excess salt and caffeine have also been implicated in loss of bone mineral density. Body weight and lean body mass should be maintained in the ideal range. The importance of weight-bearing exercise cannot be overstated. Not only does exercise stimulate bone formation, but individuals who exercise are stronger, and are less susceptible to falls.Diarrhoea and malabsorption should be treated to enhance absorption of necessary nutrients. Osteoporosis treatment is provided according to standard medical therapy guidelines.





