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The U.S. Public Health Service ongoing study of the lifelong effect of health within the population of the United States had recorded the chances of heart disease developing among the different categories of people. Epidemiological research is the study of circumstances that is causing the health and illness of populations. The research are able to determine groups of people in the high risk zone even before they showed any signs or symptoms. The study have identified a group with the highest risk as being a male, with the age of over 35, a cigarette smoker, having a history of high blood pressure, maintaining a high levels of some types of blood fats and having a family history of cardiovascular complications. To add to that list, some researchers have included the uncontrollable, hard-driving and extremely anxious personality as another risk factor. The bigger the amount of severity, the higher the person's total risk. There are two fundamental categories for these warning signs. First are those that are not in the control of the individual such as sex, age and heredity. The second one are the ones that is controllable, avoidable or even can be eliminated. It is among those within the second classification are what cardiologists term as "the triple threats". "The triple threats" category consist of cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol level in the blood. Whenever a smoker puffs a pack of cigarettes per day, their risk of getting a heart attack is about twice that of a non-smoker. What is worse if you smoke, living with hypertension and consume food with enormous amount of fats without any exercise at all, the risk that you put yourself in is five times more than the normal people. Now if this risk criteria are causing heart's health to be in danger then what will improves its well-being and better the odds of being functioning long and well? It is definitely obvious that giving up smoking and eating nutritious diet that is low in fats will help you. Nonetheless, the next best action that you can provide for your heart's sake is to supply it with what it needs naturally and if you had guessed consistent exercise sessions or a complete cardio interval training then you are right. What we know about the heart is that it consists of a group of muscles and it is no different to the muscles of the arms and legs. These limb muscles are strengthened and improved with regular exercise and it will no doubt boost the health of the heart muscles too. Many prominent statistical studies since the World War II have assessed the dependency between physical exercise and cardiovascular disorders. There is a famous survey which compared over 30,000 drivers and conductors of a few bus companies. The drivers who are mostly in a sedentary sitting position had a very much higher rate of heart disorders than the conductors. The conductors had the chance to roam around the buses and climbed stairs to get to the top level of a double decker buses. Another fine experiments involving dogs with coronary arteries that are surgically narrowed to mimic a human arteriosclerosis can clarify the why and how behind those statistics. Compared with inactive dogs, those that are allowed to exercise had a healthier blood flow. A new development between the connections of the imperfect and almost normal blood vessels seems to be stimulated by the workout. This mean dogs that are exercised had a healthier blood supply provided to the muscle tissue of the heart. Looking at the human heart, it reacted exactly in the same fashion to transport blood to the part that was ruined by the heart attack. The heart uses a new tiny blood vessels for a process called collateral circulation so that it can go about healing the damaged heart muscle. These latest branches on the arterial tress are able to appear a long before a heart attack. If the new structure can take over efficiently the function of the narrowed vessels then heart attack can be avoided. Gathering all of this facts, what action can we take to avoid such predicaments? In constructing these subsidiary pathways, some studies have found that moderate workout a few times a week is more efficient for the task than an intensely vigorous workout done two times that frequency. More supporting researches concluded that there are proven connection between exercise and a healthy heart based from the data that shows the group that do not exercise had almost 50% higher risk of heart attack than the other control group of people. The cause of a third of that danger, according to the study, is due to sedentary lifestyle alone. Thus by getting involved in cardio interval workout, you can be sure to achieve positive development not only on aspects that concerns your cardiovascular system but also on the overall condition of you health too. In a nutshell, merely committing into this type of exercise can lessen the threats of heart attacks, allows the heart to perform efficiently, increase metabolism, improves the lung capacity and decrease stress. Have no doubt that cardio interval training is the sensible way of actualizing a healthy heart, mind and body.

You may want to get your health on track and build up a physically fit body by committing to the training in boxing fitness programs. This is the ultimate way for you to achieve a tougher body and boost your confidence. Your fighting condition could be improved too with such boxing workouts. Some positive results that many people can see after a few sessions of boxing training includes a strengthened and more defined arms and legs. Beside that, these sessions and classes will assist you in developing a sense of inner strength and emotional balance. The mainstream physical fitness industry had boxing workout classes introduced to their routine sessions a few years back. People are convinced when they saw the improvement in the areas of cardiovascular and toning of the muscles that are produced by this workouts. If you are familiar Tae Bo training videos, you will know that boxing and kickboxing exercises are made popular by it. The movement in aerobic exercises share a lot of similarities with boxing training. In cardio boxing classes you will immediately realize that the clever variations of aerobic movements is evident in their sparring jabs, power punches, defenses, leg works and overall body positioning. To step up towards a more demanding workout you will need to learn the proper techniques of the punch and kick combinations. With knowledge of the right techniques, you will build up your confidence and thus your strength will develop faster. All the combination that you execute on the jabs, blocks and kicks are done against an imaginary opponent. These are classes where students throw punches and stab their feet onto the air. An emerging trend in this form of exercise can be seen at some sessions where robust equipment like punching bags or padded hands are utilized to add variation to the routine. Whenever you commit to an hour of cardio kick boxing workouts, about 350 to 500 calories are burnt so you enjoy more benefits aside from the physical aspects. Another thing to take note is that your heart rate can achieve 75 to 85 percent of regular heart beat and this is in the zone of recommended range during training any exercise period. After a while you may also enjoy an improvement in your speed, resistance and enhanced flexibility and reflexes of your muscles. Try doing a repetitive movement on arms by sparring and punching while jogging to get your arms and legs strengthened and become powerful. All this types of movement will improve your joints, develop balance and coordination which allows your body to be stable and have a great form. There are other benefits of boxing or kickboxing beside the physical aspects. At the same time you will learn skills in self-defense which you may call upon in an unwanted situations. The feeling of satisfaction and achievement can be felt whenever you execute a proper punch or kick. Some people will take it as a form of relaxation and to nurture a character of self-motivation. Stress can be greatly reduced from your everyday life and you will feel a sense of relief. With stress minimized, you will be able to eliminate any feeling of anger that is within you. You might remember an experience where you are very relaxed and free from stress or anger like on a vacation or a simple walk at the beach. Without such negative elements, your body will feel light and somehow you get the peace of mind you had been longing for. If you asked around, many fitness trainers will recommend boxing workouts if they see that you are a beginner. No matter what your body condition is right now, boxing training allows you to immerse in the session at the pace that you feel comfortable. The classes encourages you to push the boundary of your limit as long as you do it safely and are conditioned for it. Boxing training will bring about a huge number of positive results. Get the physically fit body that you can be proud of and that will keep you in a superb shape. Since you have the choice of working out and exercising at your own comfortable level, do have a great time and enjoy the fun of these boxing workout programs.

Have you ever thought or daydream about having a more powerful and a simply stunning body? You can achieve such results by getting up on your feet now and start working out the resistance training way. If you have seen exercises that work the muscles properly by including the use of weights, machines and even one's own body weight then you are most likely to be looking at resistance training in action. Some people calls it strength training or weight training and this techniques are very effective in shaping a healthier body. Usually training method like this is used by athletes who need to build up their bodies. So it is no surprise that many people would assume that when resistance training is executed, the body will grow larger. The truth is that it will not become that way at all. It is the strength of the body that will rise and not the muscle size whenever resistance training is applied. This methods can be trained by anyone since what it does is to build and tone the body's muscle thus giving it a more pleasing look. Even the senior citizens can be allowed into this program. This group of people will undergo training steps that are suitable for them like standing free-weights resistance or the medium intensity seated machine training. Bench press, dumbbell or barbell are some of the many workout equipments and machines that is associated with a resistance training program. When such equipment is used, the muscle is put to the challenge against those weight. By adapting to the extra weight, the cells of the body will then result to hypertrophy or the expanding and increasing of the nerve cells to assist with the muscle contraction. It is a good practice to first consult with your doctor before commencing any form of resistance training. This is especially important for people who are diagnosed with any medical conditions or are overweight. Take note that this kind of program is not one of those thing that you can delve into on your own. The knowledge of getting the proper equipment according to the needs of your body is essential. Another crucial aspect to consider is to have your body conditioned initially before you start working with the weights. Although the weights provide great leverage for your workout sessions, resistance training can also be achieved without applying those equipments. Push-up is one wonderful example because it can be done at any place as long as you have enough space for movement. In this case, your muscles are being challenged by you own body mass. The various benefits of resistance training are as follow. Throughout your resistance training program, the bones are consistently remodeling. What this mean is that the muscle tissues break down at the very same moment they build up. The peak of this modifying process occurs during puberty but as you grow older there may be issues with the bone mineral density since the remodeling may not be as functioning as before. Post-menopausal women will experience this problem more apparently. Bone mineral density is mostly backed by the hormones. To solve the issue of the lack of hormones to keep up the bone mineral density, physical workout is the option to take with resistance training as one type of activity that you can consider as a solution. Resistance training program will produce strong bones and muscles as long as you commit to the workout. When your body can perform the exercises with considerable amount of weight, your capabilities to tackle a more strenuous activities will great increase. You are more likely to lead an active lifestyle because that lazy feeling is minimized. Challenging your muscle with the weights will definitely melt away those undesirable fats. Believe that the body tone will shape up and as you become leaner, you will start to look better. For the elderly, committing to resistance training will assist in their recuperation process and minimize the risks associated with the age. They are able to perform basic task without the need of help from other people. Being more independent like this can absolutely decrease the danger of injuries to them. With consistent sessions of resistance training, you can be assured of a lowered heart rate and also lowered blood pressure. This is especially true after any exercise and the risk of heart disorders is reduced greatly. However, this kind of program must be done correctly with commitment and long term consistency. Follow the schedule as recommended by your doctor or trainer and do it regularly. If not done properly, the benefits of the training may not be achieved and could result in injury. The main point here is to just take your time by doing the motion correctly one step at a time. Once your body is conditioned to take the training, you can proceed to a more demanding tasks. How strong your body will become and its look on the whole are at stake in such resistance training program so just be sure to enjoy it properly.

Learning the correct way to breathe deeply can make a total impact on your health and also help you lose weight. Breathing deeply is something that most of us never really think twice about but maybe it's time to focus on breathing and train ourselves to breathe properly. The beauty of retraining ourselves to breathe properly and implementing some easy breathing exercises into our daily routine is that in a rather short time, you will feel the difference and it's not that difficult. Let me explain. . . -- Simply lay down totally flat on your bed, your couch, or floor. Relax for a second or two before taking a deep breath. Now breathe in deep through your nose. Push your belly up while taking the air inside. Stick your chin on your chest and watch your belly rise. When you've got as much air as you can hold, stop and hold your breath. Try holding it for ten or twenty seconds. If you're like most people, you're dying to let it out at the end of the twenty seconds. Go ahead. Pitiful isn't it? Not only that, but did you feel your lungs stretching out? You don't feel that very often do you? It feels good and bad at the same time, right? That's because you're not used to it. -- Try it a couple of more times. It gets easier each time, right? Don't you feel relaxed and refreshed at the same time? Your body is saying thank you, thank you! Just that very tiny bit of deep breathing and your body feels better. This is an immediate reaction. Now, think about this and how it works. . ..that extra oxygen you allowed into your body is now moving through your bloodstream, slightly increasing your flow, and getting rid of excess waste and fat. All that in a matter of seconds! Makes sense doesn't it? Think about it... Oxygen is fuel for your body as is food. There are no calories in oxygen. You can breathe in all you want for as long as you want and still no calories! Not only that, but the extra oxygen you take in will cause the chemical reactions in your body to take place much faster, thus, you burn more calories than you take in. This in turn speeds up your metabolism and makes you burn more fat. There are many other benefits to making breathing deeply a part of your daily routine. They include improving your immune system, flushing out those unwanted toxins, makes your blood pressure rock steady, helps you sleep deeply like a baby, adds more oxygen in your body which increases your energy, and increases blood circulation. The list of benefits goes on and on. Clean and unpolluted oxygen is the key. -- Keep practicing. Get used to how deep breathing feels. Close your eyes and sense the rhythm of the deep breath you're taking. Memorize it. Now sit up. Again, try to accomplish the same deep breath while sitting up. Sit up straight. Start breathing in through your nose -then slowly stick your chin on top of your chest and watch your belly inflate with air. This may be a little harder because you might unconsciously revert back to shallow breathing. You'll know that this is true if your belly isn't inflating and you feel all the air in your lungs high in your chest. Don't give up. Concentrate on inflating your belly. Once filled as much as possible, hold it for twenty seconds and release through your mouth. You should practice sitting up and deep breathing a few times to get used to it. Now you can do it anywhere! You should, by now, have a real sense of how to breathe deep. Take a day or two and just practice the techniques (lying down and sitting up). After a day or two of practice, you're ready to make deep breathing a part of your daily program and routine.

Quitting smoking may just be the hardest thing anyone will have to do in their life. It was definitely difficult for me. I took the hard-core, cold turkey route as opposed to using any stop smoking aids, but today those looking for relief and freedom from their nicotine addictions may not have to fight so hard. Nicocure is a new, all-natural stop smoking aid that claims anyone can quit smoking in 30 days or less. That certainly is quite a claim, but is it all just marketing hype and fluff? I am not 100% sure what to think about nicotine addiction. I quit smoking myself cold-turkey without the use of any stop smoking aids such as Nicocure. I felt that if my desire was truly strong enough that I would be able to overcome anything. It still took over 20 attempts even then. My own mother struggles with it daily and has tried to quit numerous times with a variety of methods. Maybe this really has nothing to do with willpower or desire, but instead we should recognize that this addiction is so powerful we could all use a little help. So where does one turn? Nicocure claims to have that answer. There are so many different products on the market today all claiming to help people quit smoking. This is definitely BIG business, but if these products all did what they claimed they could do, I do not think I would see so many people struggling. The developers of Nicocure would agree and they cite one major reason for the failure of these other products that really caught my attention. The two major types of stop smoking aids on the market today are gums and patches. According to Nicocure, the problem with all of them is that they contain nicotine. nicotine is the substance of the addiction in the first place so a serious question arises here. Is it beneficial to fight nicotine addiction with nicotine? Once you finish the gum or patch program what have you accomplished? It seems to me that you have accomplished nothing except keeping nicotine in your system. You get off the patch and the gum and you still have the same problem. Withdrawal is just around the corner. This is why Nicocure was developed and why it claims to make the difference that other products cannot. Nicocure patches offer what seems to be an effective and alternative to the nicotine-derived products we are so used to seeing today. As a 100% all-natural and herbal formula, Nicocure claims to mimic nicotine just enough, so that the brain is satisfied, while the body completely removes the addictive chemical from its system. It allows your brain to continue releasing dopamine just as it did while you smoked. The point here is that you will be able to rid your body of that nasty nicotine chemical without having to go through the physical and psychological anguish that causes so many to fail early on. So the question remains...does it actually work? Nicocure wants to put this question to rest, so they offer a guarantee. If Nicocure does not help eliminate your cravings for nicotine, and end your smoking habit permanently within 30 days of purchase, they will refund 100% of your money. As always I remain skeptical, but I also know how much easier my battle could have been if Nicocure was available at the time. With the dangers of nicotine so great, and the benefits of quitting so numerous, this is a guarantee I would be willing to accept, and one I will be introducing to my mother.

The body is designed to be flexible. If you dropped anything to the floor, you should be able to bend and get that thing back. That novel on the top shelf should be able to be easily attained by you. For most people those are uncomplicated movement. Not a big deal about them since you barely need to stretch out. However, if you face complication in performing such basic motions then you have to push the boundaries of your stretching limits and this article will give you an introduction into stretching program. The action of extending your body to its entire maximum length or even a part of it is known as stretching. This exercise involves stretching or straightening the build or the limbs. To execute stretching is quite easy. As mentioned above, it is involved in our daily activities and can be performed by anybody no matter what is their age. The difference though is that the amount or magnitude of stretching and flexing are unique to each individual. The array of joint mobility can be limited and thus preventing a more active lifestyle. So as a person aged, they will realize that bending and flexing motions are minimized. This is the reason that you need to incorporate stretching as an important part of your routine. Basic stretches can be practiced everyday and it will easily gel with your daily tasks and lifestyle without taking much of your time. Stretching has a critical role in any training program or sport and are advisable for you to perform it before any strenuous sessions. By stretching your body and limbs you will be in better shape for a more rugged activities. You can observe that some athletes would perform the sit and reach whereby they sat on the ground with their legs extended and start reaching for the tip of their foot using the tip of their hand. Such stretching activities are demanded by athletic coaches before of their games or training sessions. The optimal length of time to do the stretching is 10 minutes. By giving it that much time, you allow the body adequate opportunity to flex the muscles and put it into motion. This will help the body to adapt better for more rigorous and elaborate movements. However, fitness experts would not recommend going too far beyond 10 minutes. If you do stretching for 30 minutes or more, your body will already grow weary. This would not be a good idea If you are preparing for a competition. There are many benefits in performing stretching consistently. You will get to increase your range of bodily motions. As you perform your stretching exercises regularly, the length of the muscles and the tendons are extended. This way the limbs and joints are able to maneuver, way before an injury can occur and you will absolutely be able to count yourself as physically fit. Your ability to carry out a certain skills will be boosted. The various range of movement that you possess will allow you to do more activity. You can leap higher and when you land back to the ground, you will not feel any discomfort in your body. You can take up a new sport or sharpen your skills better in your current sporting activities. This ensure that you maintain an active lifestyle. Stretching is known to help avoid injury to joints, tendons and muscles. Having a well-flexed muscles and tendons will maintain them in good working order. It promotes rapid recovery and will help minimize any soreness. The muscle of the body will be able to absorb strenuous and rigorous motions with low chance of being injured. Your muscle are less like to contract due to regular workouts and stretching and this can reduce muscle tension. Any muscle pain or complications can be avoided. With stretching, you will discover that your body is capable of performing many things that seems impossible before. This will motivate you to participate in new activities in the future and thus enhancing your energy level. Prolonged stretching like yoga are proven in research to be effective in the reduction of cholesterol in the body. It works best with a diet of healthy food. Such activities like yoga could also stop and even reverse the hardening of the arteries that can cause some coronary disorders. You will get to enjoy a lot of things in the future if you integrate stretching into your daily lifestyle. The benefits are something nobody can say no to. It is not a hassle at all since it can be activities that you do as you go about your everyday life like bending and flexing. Go ahead and do what it takes to maintain a healthy body as fitness is everything.

Imagine a car that's idling too fast. It's revved up and working hard but nothing useful is happening. The motor's burning more fuel, creating more pollution and experiencing added wear and tear. Well, it's kind of the same with muscle tension. It doesn't help you move and it certainly doesn't make your muscles stronger. So really your muscles are working hard but not doing anything useful or accomplishing anything. In fact, muscle tension causes a lot of wear and tear on your body. It strains tendons (which hold your muscles to your bones). It pulls joints tighter together (leading to grinding/crunching sounds and worn out cartilage). It limits your movement, interferes with your co-ordination and may even make you more accident-prone. Tension also burns up the fuel in your muscles (which makes you feel tired) and creates toxic waste products called "metabolites" (the equivalent of car exhaust) which fatigue your muscles and make them feel sore and achy. WHY CONTROL TENSION ? • You'll feel more comfortable. • You'll prevent problems from occurring (like kinks in your neck). • You just know from experience that tension isn't good. 2 CAUSES OF TENSION 1. Stress is one of the major sources of muscle tension. When under stress, you become like a turtle trying to pull its head into its shell. So your shoulder muscles might simply tighten up or they might round forward and lift up as your head pulls back. And if your stress level is high, you may actually notice your shoulders around your ears. 2. Just sitting or staying still for periods of time causes your muscles to tighten up. By remaining "static", you're basically training your muscles to lock your back or neck in a certain posture. Then when you begin to move, your muscles remain tense in an effort to maintain your position. Plus it takes some time for your muscles to realize that they can let go and relax. So the longer you sit without moving, the more you train your muscles to lock into position and the longer it takes to release them. KEY TENSION AREAS Simply based on the way tension is created, the areas most vulnerable to tension are your neck, shoulders and back. Although tension can develop in any muscle in your body, these are the areas that are most commonly affected. TENDERNESS AND TENSION One of the best indicators of tension is tenderness, which is the discomfort you feel when you press on a muscle. Blood vessels normally deliver oxygen and nutrients to a muscle and flush away waste products. But, when your muscles are tense, they're essentially squeezing their own blood vessels. So now, the muscles are working hard and creating lots of waste that's not being washed out of the muscle. And as these "metabolites" (i.e. waste) begin to accumulate, they start to irritate pain nerves. If the tension is significant, you'll actually start to feel achy. If the tension is less severe, the nerves become sensitive and any added stimulus, like a squeeze to the muscle, can cause discomfort. 1 EASY WAY TO RELIEVE TENSION Massage can play an important role in helping you deal with your tension and your massage professional, like a mechanic, can adjust how fast your "muscle motors" are idling. Basically, massage does two things: First, it helps induce a relaxation response. This reduces the common defensive reactions in your body, including that "turtle-in-the-shell" action of your neck muscles. Relaxation also causes your brain and nervous system to slow down, which in turn lowers the tension level of all the muscles in your body. Second, massage pulls and stretches, which physically releases the muscle. In addition, the sensations that your muscles feel, both conscious and subconscious, give your brain information about the level of tension that exists in your muscles. This helps your nervous system adjust your muscles to a normal level of tone. Remember too that the effect of a massage on tension is almost instantaneous. You feel the tension leaving your body immediately. You don't have to wait days or weeks to see results. Also, regular massage both reduces your tension and trains your muscles to maintain a lower level of tension. And when your muscles are healthy and relaxed, they won't be tender and you won't feel any discomfort, even when you're receiving a massage. 1 EASY WAY TO PREVENT TENSION One of the areas most likely to get tense is the shoulders. (In the nearly 8 years that I've been doing chair massage, the shoulders are still the Number 1 area people ask to have massaged because they're experiencing tension there.) The muscle that makes up the shoulders is called the trapezius, often referred to as the "traps". It's an easy name to remember because this is the muscle that "traps" a lot of tension. The good news is you can help prevent tension from building up in this muscle. If you're sitting or standing still for any significant period of time, be sure to move this muscle through a full range of motion, at least once in a while. Something you can try is the "20/20 Rule": For every 20 minutes that you are inactive, spend 20 seconds moving. This helps ensure that your muscles don't have the chance to lock into any particular position. Use the two simple exercises in this article to bring your "traps" through a full range of motion and keep your muscles relaxed and tension-free. Download your exercise illustrations here: http://www.bodyworkbiz.com/courses/downloads/illustrations/s7937ks9.zip If you have specific health concerns, consult your medical doctor. The information in this article is educational only and is not intended to replace the advice of your personal health care provider(s). Chris Simon is a Certified Chair Massage Practitioner specializing in relaxation massage for muscle tension and stress. He's been providing on-site chair massage to people in their homes and employees at their workplaces in Hamilton and throughout Ontario since 1999.

I hear that a lot. People often confuse hypnosis with, well, magic I guess. People misconstrue hypnosis with a panacea. HYPNOSIS WILL NOT MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT, YOU MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT! That's right, hypnosis cannot make the pounds just melt away, and nothing can. What hypnosis can do is pretty amazing; just not miraculous. So how do people lose weight using hypnosis? Good question. They don't. There is only one way to lose weight: burn more calories than you take in. It is a math problem. That simple equation becomes the biggest problem for most people losing weight. People using hypnosis to lose weight do so because they want to learn to use their brain and change the way they think about food and exercise. They learn quicker, and form new habits to replace the ones that were (no pun intended) feeding into their weight problem. If you replace the bad habit with a good one that satisfies the same need, there is no desire for the bad one anymore. Get it? Here is an example my husband uses: "I could move in with you and walk around with you all day and all night, and every time you tried to eat something unhealthy, I would knock it out of your hands. I could hold a gun to your head and make you exercise and that you are not snacking at night. After several months, you will have all new habits, and wouldn't need me there anymore. Or, I can hypnotize you to learn the habits you need and how to use them, and you will do it on your own in about 30 days. Remember, I have four kids that come with me. Which way would you prefer?" Hypnosis is, by definition, a change in state. Happy to sad, relaxed to tense, angry to calm. When you change your state, you become more suggestible. Here is where people get confused: more suggestible DOES NOT mean that someone can make you do something you would not ordinarily do. Is it possible? Yes, but with several visits and lots of work: in other words, you would know what is going on. Hypnosis just allows you to accept beneficial suggestions without you getting in the way. You're simply more open to new ideas and possibilities. People often ask me, "Can bad things happen under hypnosis?" My answer, "Not with us." Think of hypnosis like a gun. If a police officer has it, you aren't worried about the outcome or how they will use it. If a felon has the same gun, it takes on a whole different view. Suddenly, you fear the worst and are terrified of what can happen. There are immoral and unethical people in every profession, so just be careful. Make sure you talk to your hypnotist before you allow them to hypnotize you. If you don't feel comfortable, leave. Don't be afraid to ask for referrals from people who have used the hypnotist before you. Hypnosis for clinical use is growing in popularity. Weight loss is by far the largest clinical use of hypnosis. Its popularity is largely based on the fact that there are no pills to take, no invasive procedures, no patches to stick on, and you get to relax while you do it. It is an attractive alternative for people of every age, color, religion, and sex. Hypnosis is a means to learn what you need to do, and change the habits you have in a condensed time. In comparison to other habits, weight loss is one of the most difficult habits to change... and it is a habit. To lose weight, you have to change your habit of the types of foods you eat, the habit of how much you eat, the habit of when you eat, and your exercise habits. Now, that's a lot of habits! Let's look at smoking as a counter-example. When you stop putting cigarettes in your mouth, you're a non-smoker. The habit in smoking is putting the cigarette in your mouth. Try to stop putting food in your mouth to become a non-eater. You can't do that too long. You have to develop new habits to continue doing what you do but in a new and responsible way. If your mind has a mind of it's own, find a hypnotherapist in your area.

The best supplements for heart health should address as many of the major controllable risk factors for developing heart disease as possible. There are numerous health heart supplements, but only a few may actually be beneficial. The major risk factors for heart disease that are controllable include obesity, stress, unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and physical inactivity. Although physical inactivity is not something that the health heart supplements can address, it can be advantageous to take supplements that are designed to increase energy. Many people find that after a day of work and commuting, they are just too tired to be physically active. Often this is related to poor quality diet during the busy workday. It takes some self-motivation, but the right health supplements can help. Some herbs, minerals and vitamins that increase energy levels and stabilize them throughout the day include Green Tea, folic acid, magnesium, vitamin C and the B vitamins. These nutrients serve many unique functions in the body, but all are necessary for energy levels adequate to improve physical activity levels. The best supplements for heart health should contain adequate quantities of each of these. There are many other vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other nutrients that are important for overall health. If your daily diet does not include everything your body needs to function efficiently, then you will have low energy levels. While focusing on a healthy diet is of utmost importance for health, heart supplements can provide some extra insurance. In addition, a complete daily vitamin and mineral supplement designed for your sex and your age group should insure that you get all of the essential nutrients that you need on a daily basis. Stress is one issue that the best supplements for heart health will address. Stress in our lives is unavoidable. Chronic or long term stress caused by frustrating jobs, money problems and/or troubled personal relationships may be unavoidable. Often it is impossible to change these situations, but it is possible to change the way you respond to them. Chronic stress can also lead to depression, which often accompanies heart disease. Gingko Biloba and Sam-E have been shown to relieve the symptoms of depression and have been used as complementary therapies for patients with heart disease. Gingko Biloba, when combined with ginger, has been shown to reduce anxiety, caused by chronic stress. The best supplements for heart health contain Gingko Biloba and Sam-E. In addition to physical activity, meditation and other stress reduction techniques, people under consistent stress need extra vitamin C. Vitamin C is needed by every cell of the human body. It cannot be produced by the human body, so it must be obtained from food or supplements and quantities in the blood stream are quickly depleted. This is one reason that many of the better health heart supplements contain vitamin C and the reason that dosage recommendations are typically for three times a day, rather than just once per day. If a person takes a mega-dose of vitamin C once a day, the body will use what it needs at the time and excrete the rest. The better choice is to split the dosage into three reasonable quantities. In this way, the body will have adequate vitamin C levels throughout the day, keeping energy levels consistent. Controlling Cholesterol and Blood Pressure Naturally You may have seen news articles and information from alternative health care providers maintaining that unhealthy cholesterol levels can be controlled naturally. Prescription medications (statin drugs) designed to inhibit the production of cholesterol within the body can also inhibit the production of Coenzyme Q-10. This enzyme can be created by the human body when overall nutritional levels are good, but when production is inhibited, muscle death (including the heart muscle) can occur. When statin drugs were originally patented, the designers recommended adding CO Q-10 to the mixture, but the manufacturers never followed through with this recommendation. They simply added the warning that muscle pain, particularly in the legs, should be reported to your doctor. It is the opinion of many health care professionals, including this writer, that once deep muscle pain is felt, there could already be a problem. It is not necessary to include CO Q-10 in health heart supplements, as long as statin drugs are not being taken and nutrition is good. The best heart health supplements contain ingredients that will lower levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol naturally. These include rutin, policosanol, inositol and, once again, vitamin C. Blood pressure can also be controlled naturally, with proper diet, exercise and stress reduction techniques. Grape seed extract has been used to maintain normal blood pressure levels and the best health heart supplements contain this ingredient as well. Not all supplements are the same.

A social phobia is a fear of interacting with others on a social level. Examples would be talking in front of other people, waiting in line at the checkout imagining others are looking at you, or even fear of talking on the phone. Self-confidence is a feeling, which allows individuals to have decisive, yet realistic views of themselves and their status. Self-confident people trust their own aptness, have a general sense of control over their lives, and believe that, within reason, they will be able to do what they want to do. Self-esteem is a point of view that is learned through experiences. When a person experiences success, that person will tend to expect to be successful at his/her endeavors. And that very expectation itself will cause a feeling of confidence. For example: A man wants to be an extreme fighter, so he gets a trainer and a manager. His manager will not arrange a bout for his boxer until he has developed enough skill and stamina. And even then, the manager will only put him up against a challenger that he knows his fighter can batter. When his fighter beats the opponent, he is successful, and starts to gain confidence in his abilities. With each combat, the manager puts his warrior up against a rival who is only a slightly better rival then the last, but not good enough to beat his man. By the end of the third fight, the young contender begins to expect to win his fourth, and so his confidence continues to flourish. This series of events continues to repeat itself. And as long as the fighter contestant is victorious, his expectations of success, and his feelings of self-confidence will continue to increase. As another example: A young lady who is in fear of being in high places wants to learn to dive into a swimming pool from a high diving board. So she finds a diving coach and he asks her to take a jump into the pool from the first step of the ladder that is going up to the diving board. The first step of the ladder isn't awful high, so the young lady feels no fear, and she jumps from that step, and lands in the water unharmed. Next, the athletic coach has her jump from the second rung of the ladder, and so forth. I assume that you get the picture here. With each incremental step up the ladder, since the girl was able to jump without harm, and the next higher step is only slightly higher then the last, the fear of harm factor is negligible, and the girl expects to be successful. When she jumps in and is unharmed, the girl's self-confidence increases, and her expectation of success on the next rung up the ladder increases. If a person who has a long history of success and feelings of self-esteem does fail, they still tend to expect success the next time out. Conversely, when a person who is weak in the self-confidence department fails, they tend to lose confidence, and expect failure, which often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Having self-confidence doesn't mean that individuals will be successful at everything. People, who have true self-confidence, usually have expectations that are sensible. Even when some of their expectations are not met, they continue to be confident and to accept themselves. People, who are not self-confident, tend to rely disproportionately on the approval of others in order to feel self-assured. They refrain from taking risks for fear of failure. They belittle themselves and tend to discount or ignore compliments that are offered to them. Conversely, self-assured people are willing to risk the disapproval of others because they generally have faith in their own know-how. They acknowledge themselves; and they don't feel they have to conform in order to be accepted. Just because one feels confidence in one or more areas of their life, doesn't mean that they will feel optimistic in every part of their life. For example, a person might feel self-assured about their musical ability, but not feel confident as far as members of the opposite sex are involved, such as in a dating situation, or social relationships. How Is Self-Esteem Developed initially? Many effective realities influence the maturation of confidence. Parents' attitudes are decisive to the way children view themselves, especially in their early years. When parents provide acknowledgment, children receive a good foundation for seeing themselves in a positive light. If one or both parents are disproportionately demanding, or if they are overprotective and discourage moves toward independence, children may start to believe they are incapable, inadequate, or inferior. However, if parents encourage a child's moves toward self-reliance, and they are not overly critical when the child makes mistakes, the child will learn to accept herself, and will be on the way to developing self-confidence. Just because a person does not have confidence, it does not mean that he/she doesn't have abilities. A lack of confidence is often the result of focusing much too strongly on the unrealistic expectations of other people principally friends and parents. The affect of friends can be more effective and powerful than that of parents in shaping the feelings about one's self. Beliefs That Continue to Influence Confidence In response to external influences, people develop beliefs. Some of these are constructive and some are harmful. Several assumptions that can interfere with confidence and positive ways of thinking are: ASSUMPTION: It's important that I'm successful at every challenge I undertake. This is a totally unrealistic assumption. In the real world each person has his strengths and his weaknesses. While it is important to always do your best, it's more important to learn to accept yourself as being human, and fallible. Feel good about what you are good at, and accept the fact that you don't know everything and you don't need to be an expert at everything. ASSUMPTION: I must be perfect, and loved by everyone, and satisfy everyone. Again, this assumption is a totally unrealistic assumption. All human beings are deficient. It is better to develop personal standards and values that are not dependent on the approval of others. ASSUMPTION: Everything that happened to me in the past remains in control of my feelings and behaviors in the present. ALTERNATIVE: While it is true that your confidence was especially vulnerable to external influences when you were a child as you grow into adulthood consciousness and a new point of view on what those influences have been. In doing so, you can choose which influences you will continue to allow to have an effect on your life. You don't have to be helpless based on what happened to you in the past HERE ARE SOME STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING CONFIDENCE Emphasize Your Strengths. Give yourself credit for everything you can do. And grant yourself acknowledgment for every new thing you are willing to undertake. Take risks. Adopt the point of view of: I never fail, because there are NO failures. However, sometimes I learn what does not work and once I've learned what doesn't work in a given situation, I can test some other action. Use Self-Talk: Use self-talk as a method to counter harmful assumptions. Then, tell yourself to stop. Substitute more reasonable assumptions. For example, when you catch yourself expecting perfection, remind yourself that it's impossible to do everything perfectly, and that it's only possible to do things to the best of your ability. This allows you to accept yourself as you are improving yourself. Make mental movies: Visualize yourself in the various scenarios that you currently have low levels of self-confidence in. But see yourself behaving in the way that a person who has tremendous self-confidence would. There are many effective NLP and hypnosis processes that can build a titanic amount of confidence from within your subconscious mind. There are even NLP techniques that will let you take confidence that you do have in areas of your life, and then transplant that confidence to areas of your life that need more confidence! Self-Evaluate: Learn to factor yourself independently. Bypass the frequent sense of chaos that comes from relying on what other people think.