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4 Sacred Crystals That Relieve Anxiety

March 12, 2016 by Power of Positivity

If you have been a long-time sufferer of anxiety, then you know exactly how much it can prevent you from living a normal, happy life. Anxiety can completely debilitate the sufferer, as the physical and mental symptoms associated with it can interfere with many aspects of daily life. Anxiety comes in many different forms, but most people who have it moderately or severely report similar symptoms – fast heartbeat, nervous sweat, a feeling of uneasiness, shaky or weak legs, and just an overall feeling of total panic and fear.

Unfortunately, anxiety disorders affect 18% of the population in the U.S., or 40 million adults age 18 or older. Anxiety disorders are the number one mental illness in America, and people spend billions per year on treatment.

Some people prefer over-the-counter prescription medicines, and others would rather turn to natural remedies first for some relief from their anxiety. People use countless methods to treat their anxiety, from taking salt baths to meditation to yoga to eating holistically, to prayer to listening to hypnosis tapes, and more. However, did you know that certain crystals can help to relieve anxiety?

Depending on the crystal, it can help to balance the energy of a person, and even an entire room, by taking away any negative energy present. Because all mental, physical, and spiritual dis-ease in the world occurs due to an imbalance of energies, healing crystals can help to restore that balance and alignment to the body.

If you suffer from anxiety and have grown tired of all the treatments you have tried thus far, you might consider using crystals instead to heal.

Here are 4 sacred crystals that relieve anxiety:

1. Blue Lace Agate

This beautiful crystal helps to promote peace and happiness, and ward off stress and anxiety. It radiates calmness and tranquility, and aids in balancing the energy of the wearer. The stone itself looks as the name would suggest, with lines of grey or blue running across it; this pattern greatly resembles the rise and fall of ocean waves, which further adds to the stones’ powerful calming energy.

The agate works to strengthen and stabilize the energy of the wearer, and also aids in opening the throat chakra for better communication and articulation of thoughts into words. For people with social phobias and a shy personality, this can do wonders to help you become more assertive and leave your fears about speaking up behind.

2. Jet Stone

Jet stones are actually fossilized and metamorphosed driftwood. They have a black color and appear very polished and smooth. To the naked eye, you probably couldn’t tell that the jet stone came from fossilized wood – but under a microscope, you’d easily be able to spot this.

Jet stone has been used since ancient times to relieve anxiety and depression – it carries with it an energy of great strength and protection to those who wear it. It is also used to prevent psychic attacks and remove negative energies from your aura that have been placed there by other people. The jet stone can additionally be used to help the wearer deal with grief, which can also cause anxiety.

3. Shungite

Shungite is a dark, metallic-looking stone that people in Russia have used for purposes of water purification. Shungite can therefore help to detoxify the human body and restore energetic balances by removing negative energies within.

This crystal can help with anxiety by absorbing negative energy from electronics, called EMFs. These incredibly harmful waves of energy emitted by mobile phones and other electronics can wreak havoc on the body, and increase anxiety exponentially. Therefore, shungite can help tremendously in relieving anxiety.

4. Hematite

This magnetic, metallic stone looks quite mysterious at first glance, but you will quickly discover its benefits after you wear it for a while. It is associated with grounding and healing energies, helping to connect the wearer with the Earth. Due to this, it can easily remove excess anxiety and stress from the body. This grounding energy allows us to feel safe, secure, and strong, and will keep anxiety at bay.

While you can use these four crystals to combat anxiety, you can choose from many others to help you heal, as well.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use crystals to relieve anxiety, watch the video below!

5 Bad Things In Life That Can Put You Directly On The Path to The Best Things

March 12, 2016 by Power of Positivity

If you’ve lived on this planet for any time at all, then you’ve experienced both facets of life, on the good and bad ends of the spectrum. Life can sometimes seem overwhelming, and when we hit obstacles and fall down a seemingly neverending black hole, it feels like we’ve hit rock bottom. However, did you ever think about the possible benefits of hitting a dead end? What if we could pull something positive from these experiences? The following experiences are definitely not the most pleasant to deal with in the moment, but they have hidden lessons if you dig just a bit deeper.

Here are 5 bad things in life that can put you directly on the path to the best things:

1. Losing your job

Sure, hearing those two words from your boss – “You’re fired” – never feels good. It hurts your ego to get terminated from a job, not to mention, it hurts your bank account. However, maybe that just means that you have been needing a different job better tailored to your interests and skills. Maybe the job you had wasn’t right for you all along.

Losing a job gives you the opportunity to go out and look for something else that excites you, something where the people appreciate your hard work and value you in the company. Or, maybe you’d like to try self-employment and run your own business. People think losing their job is the end of the world, but it isn’t – it’s just the end of one chapter. You get to consciously create the rest, so don’t allow one roadblock to stop you from living out the rest of your journey.

2. Ending a relationship

Probably even worse than losing a job is the feeling you get after you lose someone you really love. You go through the stages of sadness, anger, frustration, denial, and acceptance. You lose sleep, lose your appetite. And you wish things had just gone differently. You wish you had said something different, done something more to save the relationship…but don’t mull over what you could’ve done. Obviously, you came into each other’s lives for a reason, and you left for a reason.

Some people just aren’t meant to stick around with us forever, but we can appreciate their company while we have it, and focus on what we learned from them. If your relationship ends, this gives you the chance to rediscover yourself, mingle with new people, and enjoy freedom for a while.

It might feel like you have a black cloud over you if you’re freshly single, but it will pass. Focus on getting to know yourself again, and getting involved in activities that light up your soul.

3. Getting betrayed by “friends”

If you had a group of friends that didn’t stay by your side when you truly needed them, then they weren’t really friends in the first place. It’s painful to get burned by people we thought cared about us, and when it happens, the world just looks a bit darker, and we start to trust people less. We start to close ourselves off from new relationships and meeting new people.

However, don’t let your heart grow cold just because of a few people. Pick yourself up and focus on meeting new friends you know will have your back. Of course, you can’t ever really know for sure what kind of friends you have until you really need them, but in general, following your heart and trusting your intuition will allow you to manifest the right friendships and meet kindhearted, genuine people.

4. Being told you aren’t good enough

How many times have you been told this in your life? How many times have you let it get to you? If people can’t see our worth, then it isn’t our problem. The only person’s opinion that matters is your own. If you value yourself and know your own capabilities and potential, then it doesn’t matter what others have to say.

When people try to bring you down, this just gives you more of an opportunity to build up self-love and self-confidence and remind yourself why you’re an amazing, valuable person in this world.

5. Getting rejected

This could apply to many things – rejection from a love interest, a friend, a boss, a college, or even family – however, it all hurts the same way. We naturally want to feel loved and accepted, so when someone rejects us, our ego takes a blow. We want to crawl in a hole and forget about the whole experience, but to grow from it, we must examine things more closely and see what lessons might be hiding underneath the surface.

For one, rejection can teach us to love ourselves more. Where you don’t get love or acceptance from others, you can give it to yourself. For another, rejection can show us that other people’s opinions don’t hold as much weight as we might’ve previously thought. If someone doesn’t like you or agree with you, does that really matter? Does it affect your life or your own self-worth in any way? At the end of the day, we have ourselves and our own self-image. If those are intact, nothing else can affect us, and the negatives in life can easily turn into positives.

This 5 Minute Hand Exercise You Can Do With Just Your Hands Relieves Health and Emotional Issues

March 11, 2016 by Power of Positivity

We’ve shared many self-healing techniques. But this ancient Japanese therapy is so easy that you could do it while speaking to a group of people, and no one would know you were trying to relieve anxiety.

Many healing systems have shared beliefs about the body’s energy being important for curing illness. Hindu, Asian, Greek, Native American, Tibetan and Mediterranean healing wisdom all believe in a life energy force that we must balance and harmonize for well-being.

This ancient Japanese technique employs a similar technique we have written about previously; acupressure. This method that we will describe today is easier and shorter. Still, it can be just as effective in only two to five minutes at a time.

An earlier feature article on tapping that shares the self-healing technique of tapping to activate energy points on the body. You may have also read Here’s What Happens When You Touch These Points on Your Hands, which told you about another self-acupressure technique.

This Ancient Japanese Technique Relieves Anxiety and Depression

This ancient Japanese healing technique is helping nurses

Nursing is a high-stress job due to the demands of their employers, doctors that they work with, patients, and demanding family members of patients. Researchers taught this acupressure technique to nurses and measured their stress levels before and after one month of daily practice.

They found that the nurses in the study had ‘significant increases in positive outlook, gratitude, motivation, calmness, and communication effectiveness and significant decreases in anger, resentfulness, depression, stress symptoms, time pressure, and morale issues. Nurses reported less muscle aches, sleeplessness, and headaches.’

The treatment not only helped the nurses’ feelings of stress but helped their ability to care for patients. Researchers found ‘significant increases in nurses’ caring efficacy in areas of serenity in giving care, tuning in to patients, relating to patients, providing culturally congruent care, individualization of patient care, ability to decrease stressful situations, planning for multiple needs, and creativity in care.’

How to perform this ancient Japanese healing technique on yourself

Children often self-soothe by sucking their thumbs or fingers. People sometimes rub or clasp their hands when they are nervous. Both of these self-healing actions use hand and finger pressure, which stimulates the energy meridians that are important in acupressure therapy.

The video link will explain the technique that you will be using. You will be grasping a different finger of either hand depending on what emotions that you are working on improving.

Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient Japanese energy healing technique that you can use anytime you have both hands free. You can also teach this to children to manage their own emotional states.

Guess which finger is associated with anger? That’s right the middle finger. Starting with the thumb, the fingers of each hand represent the following emotions in order:

Worry
Fear
Anger
Sadness
Self-Esteem

Grasp the finger of either hand with firm pressure, using all of the fingers and thumb of your other hand. Wait until you feel a pulse. You will know it is working when you feel the pulse. Most of our fingers do not have a pulse that is strong enough for us to feel, except for the thumb.

The technique should take only 2-5 minutes of firm pressure on the finger before you feel a pulse. If you feel a pulse immediately, hold the finger until the pulse slows down. This ancient technique is a great tool to use the next time you are feeling anxiety or depression.

How this ancient Japanese technique is even helping people with cancer

No matter what stress you are going through in your life now, you can imagine that a cancer diagnosis must be one of the most anxious moments for a person to encounter. Cancer patients have uncertainty, fear, and sadness over being unable to do things they would be doing if they were not going through cancer treatment.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, tried this ancient Japanese technique as a way of healing the stress, anxiety, and depression of women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. After ten sessions of acupressure given by a trained practitioner, the women in the study could feel better physically, and emotionally, reported living fuller lives, and were seeking balance in daily living.

Patients were also taught how to do the technique during the treatment sessions. It is important to note that these women were told to practice daily. That’s because the effects of this ancient technique are believed to be cumulative. In other words, the more you use it, the better it works.

One woman said that this Ancient Japanese healing technique ‘helped me heal from surgery and then with the side effects of chemotherapy: fatigue, nausea and sleep disruption. I would go in feeling very low and come out rejuvenated and able to cope with whatever the next week of the illness had to throw at me. At a time when my resources were dwindling, you can’t imagine what a gift this was to have 10 free sessions.’

Here’s What Happens to Your Body When You Eat One Avocado A Day

March 11, 2016 by Power of Positivity

“Avocado offers nearly 20 vitamins and minerals in every serving, including potassium, lutein and folate.” – WebMD

Few foods pack a heavier nutritional punch than avocado. Consider that an average avocado contains nearly 1000 mg of potassium (twice as much as a banana), almost 20 essential vitamins and minerals, and 18 amino acids. That’s quite incredible for food just slightly larger than a pear.

What happens to our body when we eat avocado makes it truly unique. The fruit (yes, it is a fruit) helps control blood pressure, maintain eye health and repair cells. As a dense source of B vitamins, they also strengthen the immune system and fight off disease and infection. Plentiful C and E vitamins give avocado their cancer-fighting properties.

Some people will stay away from avocado due to its high-fat content, but this position isn’t logically sound. Avocado does contain significant amounts of fat, but it’s of the healthy fat variety. Monounsaturated fat is beneficial in helping to reduce bad cholesterol levels, which is important in maintaining heart health. Trans and saturated fats are the types that should be strictly limited.

Here’s what happens to your body when you eat one avocado a day:

Avocado also has satiety-producing effects, meaning that we feel fuller more quickly. Any food that is delicious, healthy, and curbs our hunger (as opposed to reaching for more) is rare, and that’s exactly what avocado does. This effect is attributed to the fruit’s healthy fat content, stabilizing insulin and glucose levels while stimulating our metabolism. The cumulative effect is that avocado can aid in weight loss.

Eye health benefits of avocados are achieved through the minerals lutein and zeaxanthin. These nutrients help to improve vision and protect against eye disease macular degeneration. All told, avocados are a terrific food for preventing eye disorders.

Avocado is a rare fruit with a good amount of protein. An average-sized avocado contains approximately four grams of protein, among the highest amount of any food in its class. The protein in an avocado is also high-quality and immediately available, which is not the case for many meat-based protein sources. The protein derived from avocado helps us to: maintain and build muscle, keep our skin healthy, and keep our bones, blood and cartilage healthy.

At 10 grams a serving, avocados are very high in fiber, particularly of the dietary, insoluble type. This type of fiber aids digestive health and bowel regularity. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve water (hence “insoluble”), which means it’s more efficient in moving material through the digestive tract than soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber, such as that found in avocados, can help protect colon health and reduce inflammation. Further, avocado fiber helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

The benefits mentioned above only begin to scratch the surface of avocado’s benefits to our health. Almost important as what avocado contains is what it does not. The fruit is low in refined carbohydrates (the fat-producing variety), sugar and sodium.

Here are some additional, less-known health benefits of avocados:

– Helps nutrient absorption.

Due to its rich fat content, avocado helps absorb soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. When eating with other foods, avocado’s absorption properties ensure that our bodies get the maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals and nutrients derived from those foods.

– Helps ease arthritis symptoms

Avocados contain omega 3 fatty acids, carotenoid antioxidants and phytosterols, all of which help reduce inflammation. These properties are particularly helpful to individuals suffering from arthritis and osteoarthritis pain.

– Reduces the risk of certain cancers

Because of its potent mix of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, avocados can effectively decrease the risk of certain cancer types. The journal Seminars in Cancer Biology published a study in 2007 which discovered that phytochemicals in avocados can inhibit the growth and proliferation of precancerous and cancerous cellular bodies.

– Promotes heart health

The combination of mono- and polyunsaturated fats in avocados helps to reduce the body’s level of cholesterol. In addition, high levels of the B6 vitamin and folic acid regulates homocysteine, which creates a cumulative and interactive effect with an avocado’s healthy fat content. The result is the reduced risk of metabolic syndrome – symptoms that increase the risk of diabetes, stroke and coronary artery disease.

7 Ways To Be Selfless In A Selfish World

March 11, 2016 by Power of Positivity

Today’s world seems to function with a mixture of self-absorption, self-promotion, and downright selfishness, with a sprinkling of compassion and generosity. Unfortunately, it should be the other way around, but we can all do our part to make important changes. Read on to find out how you can increase your love and kindness for others on this planet while you still can.

Here are 7 ways to be selfless in a selfish world:

1. Practice loving-kindness meditation

To become more selfless, psychologists have discovered through many studies that loving-kindness meditation can increase altruism in people. Yep, that’s right; you can train your brain to become more compassionate through a simple meditation sequence. You can develop the skill relatively easily if you have never felt very compassionate.

In the study conducted by Psychological Science, the researchers gave half of the participants a 30-minute audio recording that they listened to once a day for two weeks. The recording adapted the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness meditation, and scientists called it compassion meditation. In the recording, participants were guided to extend compassion to themselves, friends, acquaintances, and anyone they had encountered troubles with.

After the two-week period, the participants played an online game intended to calculate their selflessness. The game consisted of three players, one (the participant) who had $5, another who had $10, and a third who had no money. The computer-generated player with $10 was asked to share some of his money. But he only gave $1 to the impoverished player. Then, the participant could choose any amount of his $5 to give to the poorest player, and whatever amount he chose would be doubled by the richest player. For example, if the participant decided to part with $2, the wealthiest player would have to give up $4.

The results from the game revealed that people who had received the compassion meditation training spent nearly twice as much as others who received a different type of training designed to get participants to think about a stressful situation in a less distressing way.

Also, the participant’s brain activity reflected the increase in altruism. Brain scans revealed that people who underwent the compassion meditation training had heightened activity in neural networks responsible for understanding the suffering of others and regulating emotions.

So, by practicing loving-kindness meditation for thirty minutes a day, you can become more selfless while making your brain healthier. Sounds like a win-win situation!

2. Perform random acts of kindness

Put what you’ve learned in your meditation practice to good use and fill other people’s lives with more compassion. Not only will it make you feel great to extend kindness to other people, but it will also improve their lives. Think about it – what if you smiled at a stranger every day? This would encourage them to smile and might even change their outlook on the world as well. Ripples create waves, so remember when you go out in public and notice other people who look worried or stressed.

All of us can offer some sort of help to other people, whether through our words, actions, or smiles. After doing a nice deed for someone consistently, it will start to become second nature.

3. Listen more

Do you spend time relating to other people and putting yourself in their shoes?

If not, try to really understand your family member or friend who has been going through a rough time, or just needs advice about something. You can relearn compassion by taking the focus off your own struggles for a while, and instead giving your attention to someone else in need. Everyone goes through some sort of trouble in life, but you could be the one to relieve some of the stress by simply opening your ears and heart.

4. Give some of your paychecks to a charity

One of the best ways to become more selfless is to give away some of your hard-earned money to those less fortunate. Sure, it feels great temporarily to buy a new pair of shoes or new clothes when you get paid, but you’ll feel more long-lasting happiness from giving to others who have less than you do. Homeless shelters or other non-profit businesses wouldn’t be able to survive without your contribution, so let that sink in for a minute.

5. Volunteer at a homeless shelter/with children/etc

Don’t have money to give to a charity? Why not just volunteer your time instead? Many places, such as foster homes, homeless, and dog shelters, desperately need volunteers. Although giving money to a charity also helps tremendously, being there in person will allow you to see your contribution put into motion. C

6. Practice patience

If you haven’t noticed, we live in a very impatient world; we can get anything we want with the click of a button or the swipe of our finger. We live in an instant gratification age, furthering the selfishness we see today. We have an entitled mindset, generally believing we should always come first. Next time you have to wait in line somewhere or can’t get what you want/need immediately, remember to practice patience. In some other parts of the world, they might be waiting on food or water they haven’t had in days. Put things into perspective when you have to wait – it will help you become more selfless.

7. Treat others how you’d want to be treated

This variation of the Golden Rule still applies today. One of the best ways to increase selflessness in today’s world is to simply treat others with kindness, just like we would want from others. If we could just do that one thing, we would see a huge transformation in our world.

Here’s Why Women Should Stop Wearing High Heels

March 11, 2016 by Power of Positivity

High heels have been making quite a fashion statement for many decades now, but at what cost? Millions of women put them on each day for work or to go out without even giving it a second thought, because let’s face it, high heels make us feel sexy, attractive, and desirable. They can also add a nice touch to an outfit, accentuate long legs, and even give us added confidence. However, high heels have a dark side to them as well, unfortunately. I mean, who can really say that they have ever owned a comfortable pair of heels? They add a lot of added strain to your feet and legs, put pressure on your joints, and cause blisters. People go to great lengths to get noticed, but here’s why women should stop wearing high heels in their pursuit….

You may not feel like cutting them out of your life completely, but after you read what high heels can do to your health, you might consider wearing them a lot less, at least.

Here’s why women should stop wearing high heels:

1. High heels can cause arthritis in the knees

Most people only consider the bunions and callouses that can develop as a result of wearing heels, but they can also do considerable damage to your knees. A Harvard study found that wearing two-inch heels puts 23% more pressure on the inner knee than wearing flats does. Due to the added strain from the heels, your knee must automatically push forward when you walk or stand in order to keep you upright.

Did you also know that women have double the chance of developing osteoarthritis in their knees than men?

We can’t totally blame the heels, but they probably have a little something to do with it. As women, society pushes all sorts of products and messages on us in order to make us believe we need something outside ourselves to feel beautiful. Heels might look sexy, but when you develop knee problems because of them, you might want to stop wearing high heels once and for all.

2. High heels can damage your foot and leg muscles

When you wear high heels, the shoe naturally points your heel upward, which makes the Achilles tendon —a group of muscles at the base of the calf – shorter. Since this tendon and other calf muscles become shortened due to the heels, it puts added pressure on your muscles and can cause extreme pain and soreness. According to osteopathic physician Dr. Natalie A. Nevins, the shortening of these muscles can result in plantar fasciitis, or inflammation in a group of muscles located on the bottom of your feet called the plantar fascia.

3. High heels put added strain on your neck

You might think that high heels only put pressure on your lower body, but they actually affect your upper body as well. The strange posture you have to stand in while wearing heels can put added pressure on your back and neck, since you must arch your back and walk with your head in an unnatural forward position. If you do wear heels to work or school, try to change into flats at some point in the day to give your feet – and body – a much-needed rest.

4. High heels can result in sciatica

Not surprisingly, wearing high heels can put a lot of added strain on your lower back as well, since you must shift your weight and entire posture in order to accommodate them. According to Dr. Carrie Bowler, wearing high heels often can cause sciatica—chronic leg pain or numbness that makes any activity involving walking or sitting very painful and sometimes impossible. “As muscles in the groin and hip flexors tighten,” says Bowler, “lower back and gluteal muscles compensate and can go into chronic spasm, creating pressure on the sciatic nerve.”

5. High heels can result in bone damage

You might be thinking about twisting your ankle or falling down a flight of stairs due to wearing heels, but we’re actually talking about damage that can occur just by walking in them regularly. According to a report in the Washington Post, podiatrists explain that walking for an extended period of time in heels can cause stress fractures or cracks in the bones of the feet.

So, to recap, wearing heels can cause back and neck damage, lower back pain, bone fractures, and possibly arthritis. Like we said, heels certainly can add to an outfit and make you feel sexier and confident, but are permanent health problems and constant pain worth the price you pay? Absolutely not, this is why you may want to stop wearing high heels.

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Here are 4 sacred crystals that relieve anxiety:

1. Blue Lace Agate

2. Jet Stone

3. Shungite

4. Hematite

If you’d like to learn more about how to use crystals to relieve anxiety, watch the video below!

Here are 5 bad things in life that can put you directly on the path to the best things:

1. Losing your job

2. Ending a relationship

3. Getting betrayed by “friends”

4. Being told you aren’t good enough

5. Getting rejected

This Ancient Japanese Technique Relieves Anxiety and Depression

This ancient Japanese healing technique is helping nurses

How to perform this ancient Japanese healing technique on yourself

How this ancient Japanese technique is even helping people with cancer

Here’s what happens to your body when you eat one avocado a day:

Here are some additional, less-known health benefits of avocados:

– Helps nutrient absorption.

– Helps ease arthritis symptoms

– Promotes heart health

Here are 7 ways to be selfless in a selfish world:

1. Practice loving-kindness meditation

2. Perform random acts of kindness

3. Listen more

4. Give some of your paychecks to a charity

5. Volunteer at a homeless shelter/with children/etc

6. Practice patience

7. Treat others how you’d want to be treated

Here’s why women should stop wearing high heels:

1. High heels can cause arthritis in the knees

2. High heels can damage your foot and leg muscles

3. High heels put added strain on your neck

4. High heels can result in sciatica

5. High heels can result in bone damage

If you still haven’t been convinced to give up high heels, watch this video on the subject for more information:

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