8 Ways to Protect Yourself From Emotional Manipulation

Here are 8 ways to spot emotional manipulation and how to protect yourself from it:

1. There is no use in trying to be honest with an emotional manipulator. You make a statement and it will be turned around. Example: I am really angry that you forgot my birthday. Response – “It makes me feel sad that you would think I would forget your birthday, I should have told you of the great personal stress I am facing at the moment – but you see I didn’t want to trouble you. You are right I should have put all this pain (don’t be surprised to see real tears at this point) aside and focused on your birthday. Sorry.” Even as you are hearing the words you get the creeped out sensation that they really do NOT mean they are sorry at all – but since they’ve said the words you’re pretty much left with nothing more to say. Either that or you suddenly find yourself babysitting their angst!! Under all circumstances if you feel this angle is being played – don’t capitulate! Do not care take – do not accept an apology that feels like bullshit. If it feels like bullshit – it probably is. Rule number one – if dealing with an emotional blackmailer TRUST your gut. TRUST your senses. Once an emotional manipulator finds a successful maneuver – it’s added to their hit list and you’ll be fed a steady diet of this shit.

2. An emotional manipulator is the picture of a willing helper. If you ask them to do something they will almost always agree – that is IF they didn’t volunteer to do it first. Then when you say, “ok thanks” – they make a bunch of heavy sighs, or other non verbal signs that let you know they don’t really want to do whatever said thing happens to be. When you tell them it doesn’t seem like they want to do whatever – they will turn it around and try to make it seem like OF COURSE they wanted to and how unreasonable you are. This is a form of crazy making – which is something emotional manipulators are very good at. Rule number two – If an emotional manipulator said YES – make them accountable for it. Do NOT buy into the sighs and subtleties – if they don’t want to do it – make them tell you it up front – or just put on the walk-man headphones and run a bath and leave them to their theater.

3. Crazy making – saying one thing and later assuring you they did not say it.If you find yourself in a relationship where you figure you should start keeping a log of what’s been said because you are beginning to question your own sanity –You are experiencing emotional manipulation. An emotional manipulator is an expert in turning things around, rationalizing, justifying and explaining things away. They can lie so smoothly that you can sit looking at black and they’ll call it white – and argue so persuasively that you begin to doubt your very senses. Over a period of time this is so insidious and eroding it can literally alter your sense of reality. WARNING: Emotional Manipulation is VERY Dangerous! It is very disconcerting for an emotional manipulator if you begin carrying a pad of paper and a pen and making notations during conversations. Feel free to let them know you just are feeling so “forgetful” these days that you want to record their words for posterity’s sake. The damndest thing about this is that having to do such a thing is a clear example for why you should be seriously thinking about removing yourself from range in the first place. If you’re toting a notebook to safeguard yourself – that ol’ bullshit meter should be flashing steady by now!

4. Guilt. Emotional manipulators are excellent guilt mongers. They can make you feel guilty for speaking up or not speaking up, for being emotional or not being emotional enough, for giving and caring, or for not giving and caring enough. Any thing is fair game and open to guilt with an emotional manipulator. Emotional manipulators seldom express their needs or desires openly – they get what they want through emotional manipulation. Guilt is not the only form of this but it is a potent one. Most of us are pretty conditioned to do whatever is necessary to reduce our feelings of guilt. Another powerful emotion that is used is sympathy. An emotional manipulator is a great victim. They inspire a profound sense of needing to support, care for and nurture. Emotional Manipulators seldom fight their own fights or do their own dirty work. The crazy thing is that when you do it for them (which they will never ask directly for), they may just turn around and say they certainly didn’t want or expect you to do anything! Try to make a point of not fighting other people’s battles, or doing their dirty work for them. A great line is “I have every confidence in your ability to work this out on your own” – check out the response and note the bullshit meter once again.

5. Emotional manipulators fight dirty. They don’t deal with things directly. They will talk around behind your back and eventually put others in the position of telling you what they would not say themselves. They are passive aggressive, meaning they find subtle ways of letting you know they are not happy little campers. They’ll tell you what they think you want to hear and then do a bunch of jerk off shit to undermine it. Example: “Of course I want you to go back to school honey and you know I’ll support you.” Then exam night you are sitting at the table and poker buddies show up, the kids are crying the t.v. blasting and the dog needs walking – all the while “Sweetie” is sitting on their ass looking at you blankly. Dare you call them on such behavior you are likely to hear, “well you can’t expect life to just stop because you have an exam can you honey?” Cry, scream or choke ‘em – only the last will have any long-term benefits and it’ll probably wind your butt in jail.

6. If you have a headache an emotional manipulator will have a brain tumor! No matter what your situation is the emotional manipulator has probably been there or is there now – but only ten times worse. It’s hard after a period of time to feel emotionally connected to an emotional manipulator because they have a way of de-railing conversations and putting the spotlight back on themselves. If you call them on this behavior they will likely become deeply wounded or very petulant and call you selfish – or claim that it is you who are always in the spotlight. The thing is that even tho you know this is not the case you are left with the impossible task of proving it. Don’t bother – TRUST your gut and walk away!

7. Emotional manipulators somehow have the ability to impact the emotional climate of those around them. When an emotional manipulator is sad or angry the very room thrums with it – it brings a deep instinctual response to find someway to equalize the emotional climate and the quickest route is by making the emotional manipulator feel better – fixing whatever is broken for them. Stick with this type of loser for too long and you will be so enmeshed and co-dependent you will forget you even have needs – let alone that you have just as much right to have your needs met.

8. Emotional manipulators have no sense of accountability. They take no responsibility for themselves or their behavior – it is always about what everyone else has “done to them”. One of the easiest ways to spot an emotional manipulator is that they often attempt to establish intimacy through the early sharing of deeply personal information that is generally of the “hook-you-in-and-make-you-sorry-for-me” variety. Initially you may perceive this type of person as very sensitive, emotionally open and maybe a little vulnerable. Believe me when I say that an emotional manipulator is about as vulnerable as a rabid pit bull, and there will always be a problem or a crisis to overcome.

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The Miracle Of Tea Tree Oil: 80 Amazing Uses For Survival

Essential oils have been used for healing and medicinal purposes for centuries and most certainly long before we had pills, capsules and big pharma to take care of our medical woes. And while there is a place for manufactured pharmaceuticals in our survival medicine kit, there exists the possibility that none will be available or that they will be in such scarce supply that they should be reserved for only the most dire of circumstances.

For that reason, many preppers and individuals seeking self-reliance are learning to use essential oils to manage the both routine and not-so-routine maladies that occur in daily life. There are about a dozen or so essential oils that belong in every survival kit including tea tree, peppermint, lavender, clove, rosemary and lemon among others. All of these essential oils have healing properties but today I would like to focus on just one, tea tree oil.

A Brief History Of Tea Tree Oil

It is believed that the Aborigines of Australia have been using the leaves of the indigenous Malaleuca Tree (whose leaves are used to make tea tree oil) in their medications for centuries. They inhaled the oils from the crushed leaves to treat coughs and colds, sprinkled crushed leaves on their wounds and used an infusion of soaked leaves to treat sore throats or skin ailments.

Use of the oil itself, as opposed to the un-extracted plant material, did not become common practice until researcher Arthur Penfold published the first reports of its antimicrobial activity in a series of papers in the 1920s and 1930s. In evaluating the antimicrobial activity, he found that tea tree oil was 11 times more active than phenol.

The commercial tea tree oil industry was born shortly thereafter although interest in tea tree oil ebbed after World War II, presumably due to the development of effective antibiotics and the waning image of natural products. Interest was rekindled in the 1970s as part of the general renaissance of interest in natural products.

80 USES OF TEA TREE OIL FOR SURVIVAL

For thousands of years, the derivatives of the Malaleuca Tree have been effective in treating a wide variety of ailments. Here are 80 reasons why you should use it, too!

Abrasions & Minor Cuts: After cleaning the area well, apply a few drops of the oil directly. If a bandage is needed, allow a few drops of the oil to penetrate a cotton ball, then lay it face down on the wound with a bandage on top.

Acne: Add a drop to your normal cleansing routine or dab a very small amount on acne breakouts. You can also add 20 – 40 drops of the oil to your regular face wash.

Air Freshener: Keep a supply of cotton balls soaked in tea tree oil packed away in a plastic bagor tin. When confronted with foul smells from cooking, musty orders from dampness or even the medicinal smell in a sick room, take a few out the freshen the air and remove the nasty smell.

Allergies: Use topically by massaging into the chest, abdomen or the reflex points of the feet.

Arthritis: To help reduce pain associated with the swelling of arthritis, add 20 drops of tea tree oil to 2 ounces of grapeseed or other carrier oil. Massage into affected area 2-3 times a day.

Asthma: Add a few drops of oil to a pan of water and heat on stove. When cooling, drape a towel over head and breath in for a few minutes.

Athletes Foot: Clean feet thoroughly, especially between toes. Add oil directly to feet every two weeks, dusting with corn starch after. Or add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp of grapeseed or other carrier oil and massage on feet and between toes daily.

Baby Care: Keep your diaper pail clean and fresh with a spray of tea tree oil mixed with water.

Bacterial Infections: Use topically, either massaging into the reflex points of the feet, adding several drops to a bath or cautiously applying over an infected site.

Bad Breath: Rinse with 1 ounce water and 1 drop oil. Do not swallow!

Bladder Infection: In a shallow bath, add 10 – 15 drops of oil. Sit and wash area carefully.

Blisters: Wash area carefully, then apply as for cuts and wounds.

Boils: Apply a warm washcloth for a few minutes. Then apply a drop or two of oil to the area – the infection should rise to surface and eventually be released.

Bronchial Congestion: Use as directed for Asthma. Add 5 – 10 drops to 1 ounce of carrier oil, and massage into chest and throat 2 – 3 times daily.

Bronchitis: Add 1-2 drops to a pan of hot water and breath in the steam, or massage the oil over the chest.

Bruises: After icing, apply oil as directed for Arthritis.

Bunions: Massage area with 5 drops oil to 1 tbsp. of carrier oil.

Burns: Run icy cold water on area. After a few minutes, add a mix of 5 drops oil with 1 tsp. raw honey. Repeat 3 – 5 times daily.

Calluses & Corns: Massage area with 5 drops oil to 1 tbsp. of carrier oil. Repeat 2 times daily. Once the corn or calluses have become soft use tweezers to remove, and apply a few drops of tea tree oil and cover with bandage.

Canker Sores: Apply a drop or two of oil directly to infected area with a cotton swab, 2 times daily. Also, rinse as directed for bad breath.

Carbuncles: Add a drop or two of oil to cotton swab and apply directly to carbuncle. Repeat twice daily.

Chapped Lips: Add 1 or 2 drops of oil to lip balm. Apply to lips as necessary.

Chicken Pox: Apply a drop of oil directly to blisters. Allow to dry, then dust with corn starch. Repeat every few hours or until blisters disappear.

Chigger Bites: Apply a drop of oil directly to bites.

Cold Sores: Apply a drop or two of oil directly to the sore with a cotton swab. Re-apply 2 – 3 times daily.

Coughs: Use as directed for bronchial infections. For a vaporizer, add 10 drops to steamer and leave on 5 – 10 minutes.

Dandruff: Add 20 – 30 drops oil to any shampoo. Apply a few drops to scalp and massage after washing.

Dermatitis: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp of grapeseed or other oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily.

Dry Skin: Add 5 drops oil to 1 tbsp sweet almond oil. Massage into skin.

Earache and Infection: Add 2 – 3 drops of oil to 2 tbsp warm olive oil. With a dropper, drop a small amount into aching ear, tilting head to one side for a moment. Use cotton swab to absorb oil. Repeat 2 – 3 times daily.

Eczema: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp grapeseed oil or coconut oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. Also can be applied undiluted.

Emphysema: Use as directed for bronchial infections. For a vaporizer, add 10 drops to steamer and leave on 5 – 10 minutes.

Flea Bites: Apply a drop of oil directly to bites.

Gout: Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of carrier oil; massage into affected area 2-3 times a day.

Gum Disease: Create a mouthwash with purified water, 1 drop of peppermint oil and 1 drop of tea tree oil.

Head Lice: Add 20 drops of oil to 2 tbsp shampoo. Massage into scalp and hair, leave on for 10 minutes. Rinse. Repeat 3 – 4 times daily, until eggs are gone.

Hives: Add 10 drops of oil to 4 tbsp of witch hazel. Apply with cotton ball. Or, mix with coconut oil (which is naturally healing and soothing itself) and gently apply to the infected areas.

Homemade Mouthwash: Make a simple homemade mouthwash with purified water and tea tree oil.

Household Cleaning: Can be used aromatically or added to homemade cleaners to kill germs and prevent the spread of colds and flus. You can make a general tea tree cleaner by combining 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Shake to blend and use for household cleaning tasks. This is especially good in the bathroom and in toilets.

Immune System: To stimulate the immune system, diffuse through the air on a regular basis, massage into the soles of the feet to increase your immune response.

Infected Wounds: Adding the oil to steaming water, hold the infected area over the steam. Or dilute 1 drop of tea tree with 1 cup of water and rinse the infected area 1-2 times a day, as needed.

Inflammation: Massage over the inflamed areas, gently and always toward the heart, or diffuse and inhale the tea tree oil directly or indirectly.

Ingrown Hairs: Add 1 – 2 drops of oil directly to area. Repeat every 2 hours or until signs of infection disappear.

Insect Repellant: Add 15 drops to a quart of water and use as an effective insect repellent.

Jock Itch: Apply 10 – 15 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of carrier oil. Apply 2 times daily. Dust with corn starch, to reduce chapping.

Laryngitis: Add 5 – 10 drops of oil and pinch of sea salt to 1 cup of warm water, gargle 2-3 times a day. Do not swallow!

Laundry Helper: Add 1/2 teaspoon tea tree oil to your laundry for towels and other fabric prone to getting moldy.

Mildew and Mold Remover: Spray an all-purpose cleaner made with 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil and 2 cups of water on growing mold and mildew. Shake well before using and do not rinse.

Mosquito Bites: Apply a drop of oil directly to bites.

Muscle Aches and Pains: Add 10-15 drops of oil to half cup Epsom salts, and dissolve in bath. Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of carrier oil. Massage well.

Mumps: Massage over the body and into the feet, and diffuse through the home.

Nail Fungus: Add 1 – 2 drops of oil directly to nail and the surrounding tissue. Allow to dry completely on hands before touching anything. Repeat morning and night for a week.

Pest Control: Household ants and other pests dislike Tea Tree Oil, so a few drops put at the point of entry will deter them. Wipe cupboards out with an oil and water solution to keep ants away.

Plantar Warts: Apply oil undiluted to affected area 2-3 times daily.

Psoriasis: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp carrier oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. Also can be applied undiluted.

Rashes: Mix with coconut oil and massage over the affected areas.

Rheumatism: To help reduce pain associated with rheumatism, add 20 drops of tea tree oil to 2 ounces of carrier oil. Massage into affected are 2-3 times a day.

Ringworm: Apply a drop or two of oil undiluted, repeat 2 times daily. Can also mix 1 drop of tea tree oil with 1 drop of lavender oil for added benefit.

Rubella: Dilute as needed and massage into the affected areas.

Scabies: Apply 1 – 2 drops of oil directly to area in the morning and at night.

Sciatica: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp carrier oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. Also can be applied undiluted.

Seborrhea: For skin: Add 10 drops oil to 1 tbsp of carrier oil and massage into affected areas. Repeat 2-3 times daily. For scalp: Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp shampoo. Massage into scalp and hair, leave on for 10 minutes. Rinse. Repeat 3 – 4 times daily. Bath: Add 10-15 drops of oil to bath.

Shingles: Add 10-15 drops of oil to half cup Epsom salts, and dissolve in bath. Add 10 drops of oil to 2 tbsp of grapeseed oil or coconut oil and massage well.

Shock: Massage tea tree oil into the soles of the feet as needed.

Sinusitis: Use as directed for bronchial infections. For a vaporizer, add 10 drops to steamer and leave on 5 – 10 minutes. Also add 2 drops to a neti pot.

Sore muscles: Fill your bathtub with warm water. Add a few drops of tea tree oil to the water to relax tight muscles.

Sore Throat: Add 2 drops of oil to 1 cup of warm water with pinch of sea salt, gargle 2-3 times a day. Do not swallow!

Staph Infection: Best used topically, rubbed into the soles of the feet to increase the immune response and fight infection.

Stye: Add 5 drops oil to a pan of steaming water. Drape towel overhead and steam 5 minutes. Apply warm compresses directly to stye.

Sunburn: Mix 1 TB coconut oil with 1 drop of tea tree and 1 drop of lavender and gently apply to to sunburned areas.

Tattoos: Apply after tattoos to avoid infection. Use undiluted, diluted with coconut oil or as a spray with purified water.

Thrush: Gargle with sea salt, warm water and 1 drop of tea tree.

Ticks: Apply a drop or two directly to the tick and the surrounding area.

Toenail fungus: Rub the tea tree oil directly onto the affected toenail and underneath the tip of the nail. Apply 1 to 2 drops of tea tree oil. Apply the oil once a day, preferably at bedtime.

Toothbrush Cleaner: Apply oil directly to toothbrush 1-2 times a week to kill bacteria.

Tonsillitis: Inhale from steaming water with tea tree, gargle, and massage into neck and soles of feet.

Vaginal Infection: Add several drops to the bath water.

Viral Infections: Diffuse tea tree oil throughout the home or inhale from steaming water.

Warts: Apply undiluted directly to wart. Use morning and night, until wart begins to disappear. Dilute if necessary for sensitive skin.

Wounds: Soak wounded area in water with tea tree oil, or spritz from a bottle of water with several drops of oil. Depending on the wound and your own sensitivity you may be able to apply directly.

A NOTE ABOUT CARRIER OILS

In order to effectively use essential oils – not just tea tree oil – it is often necessary to dilute the essential oil in another oil so that it can be easily spread or massaged on the affected area. These oils are called “carrier” oils. Common carrier oils include coconut oil, grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil and others.

Fractionated coconut oil [remains liquid] and grapeseed oil are favorites because they are odorless and in the case of fractionated coconut oil, immune to rancidity. In practical use, any oil can be used if you do not have one of these more therapeutic oils on hand.

The properties of the various carrier oils is beyond the scope of this article but my favorite? Easy. Fractionated coconut oil. Is is relatively inexpensive, odorless and has a long shelf life making it perfect for the survival kit.

THE FINAL WORD

My first experience with tea tree oil occurred in the ’80s when I was faced with a nail fungus that would not go away. The pharmaceutical solutions at the time (and for all I know, even now) were harsh and required frequent monitoring of liver enzymes. For a simple, non-life threatening nail fungus, I chose to pass. After using a topical application of tea tree oil for three months, the fungus was all but gone.

I then became interested in aromatherapy (which uses essential oils). I read every book I could get my hands on and dabbled at creating synergies (a combination of two or more oils that create a chemical compound that is greater than the sum of its individual components). My bible then, and even now, is The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood.

Since then I have used essential oils off and on for a variety of woes and have never been disappointed. My recommendation is that you pick up a few essential oils – and especially some tea tree oil – and start to use them now to supplement any other remedies that you are using to keep your family and your home in tip top shape.

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10 Excellent Ways To Start Your Day

We live in busy times when most of us have to work around 40 hours a week. In order to lead this kind of lifestyle, one should sort their time and energy properly throughout the whole day. Healthy morning rituals can really have a positive impact on the way you spend your day. Not everyone realizes that what you do and the way you think in the morning can affect your mood, motivation, energy and the way you do things throughout day.

It is of great importance to start your day the proper way in order to grow, feel happier and to be more productive. Read on for ideas on how to make the best of your mornings.

1. Early to bed, early to rise…

If you really want to improve your mornings and work on building some new healthy morning habits, you would probably need more time. Getting up earlier is a way to add an extra hour or so to your day. But if you love the peace and quiet the late nights provide you with and you have turned into a night owl, you would probably love the peace and quiet that the early mornings offer, too. Getting up before others gives you not only a feeling of satisfaction but also provides you with extra time to follow your morning rituals before you leave the house for work/school.

2. Stretching

Most people experience a feeling of stiffness right after waking up. This can be dealt with really easily by following a stretching routine every morning. There are so many benefits to stretching but you can only feel them if you stretch regularly. If you are not sure how to stretch properly, you can find tons of them on YouTube. Choose the ones that you think will suit you best and just do them every single morning. You will sense the change yourself.

3. Listening to music or an audiobook

Listening to your favorite songs in the morning is a great way to uplift your spirit and get prepared for an exciting new day. It sets a positive mindset and gets you pumped for an active day. Depending on the responsibilities and plans you have for the day, you can adjust the genres of music that you wish to start your day with. If you have planned a day for relaxation, music that is not too loud would be best. But still, it is a matter of choice. Another great source of inspiration in the morning is a good audiobook. Listening to one is a great option for a start of the day because it stimulates the imagination, works on your abilities to focus and can inspire you in a variety of ways. Plus, songs can often be catchy which can affect your work during the day, but audiobooks are less likely to influence your day in a negative way.

4. Drinking a glass of warm lemon water

Every day when you wake up your body is dehydrated because you haven’t drunk any water for about 8 hours while you were sleeping. This is why it is so important to rehydrate your body first thing in the morning. Avoiding that and having breakfast right after you have woken up isn’t a good idea because the first thing your body really needs at that time of the day is water. Drinking a glass of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice is a perfect start of the day. This beverage helps your digestive system to prepare for the meals you are about to take during the day. Plus, the lemon makes water tastier. You can also add a spoon of honey to sweeten the sour taste of the lemon water.

5. Scraping Your Tongue

Along with brushing your teeth, scraping your tongue is a great way to improve your mouth hygiene. Once you try it, you wouldn’t want to give it up. It does not only help you get rid of the unpleasant morning breath, but you would also taste your food better as it rids you of that “film” over your tongue that stays there even after you have brushed your teeth. If you don’t know what to use for that purpose, you can either buy a toothbrush that comes with a tongue scraper on the back or a plastic triangle-shaped scraper. If you can’t find either of these, you can simply use a spoon.

6. Green smoothie

Nourishing, your body with fresh food that contains essential for the body minerals and vitamins, is a must if you want to start your day in a healthy way. That is why a green smoothie is one of the best choices for breakfast. It helps boost your immune system, boosts energy and satisfies your hunger. Making a green smoothie is an easy job. You just throw some spinach, kale and other green vegetables or fruit in the blender and voilà! It is an easy way to provide your body with the much needed fiber, phytonutrients and minerals. Just remember not to eat anything else at least 30 minutes after you drink the green smoothie. Try this out and notice the change in the way your body feels during the day.

7. Rebounding on a mini trampoline

Rebounding 100 times is an excellent start of the day. Some of its benefits are that it wakes up your whole body, you train your balance, stimulates lymph movement, works every muscle group of your body, helps the functioning of your thyroid, reduces stress and so on. By the end of the 100th jump, you will feel your body tightened and your mind- awake.

8. Smiling in the mirror

It is amazing how smiling at yourself in the mirror in the morning can change your whole day. This sends signals to your brain that stimulate the release of hormones that make you feel happier. It also boosts your confidence and you feel more determined to go after your goals. It is a simple way to encourage yourself to do your best every day. Once you make it a habit, you will feel amazed of the way it changes your mindset. You become a more positive and happier person. Yes, that simple trick does wonders!

9. Dry brushing your body

This is an old Ayurvedic practice which can help the circulation and sloughs off the dead skin cells. Choose an exfoliating brush that is not too rough but also, not too soft, because otherwise it won’t be able to do its thing. The way to do the brushing is to start from the area where your heart is, then move to the limbs and the rest of your body. After you have finished with this process, take a shower and apply body lotion in the end in order to keep that suppleness. Dry brushing your body can make your skin smoother, and you will feel it much nicer.

10. Today’s top 3

Leading a busy lifestyle can trick you into forgetting which the most important things you need to do for the day are as you have so many responsibilities to do and plans to follow. Making it a habit to do a list of the top 3 most important things that you need to do before anything else will help you avoid the confusion when you do your tasks for the day. If you succeed with following the list of these three things every day, it will give you the feeling of fulfillment and it will become easier for you to differentiate the important activities from the others. Also, you would like to start small as it will be easier to follow that habit every day and after you make progress, you will simply feel more confident to replace the easier tasks with some bigger and bigger goals for the day.

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4 Warning Signs That Warn You, That Your Body Lacks Water

Water makes up over 2/3 of our body, but all too often we replace water with other beverages and forget to drink enough of it. But, the truth is when you begin to feel thirsty you are already dehydrated, think about, how many time do you reach for a beverage during the day to quench a thirst?

When you are dehydrated, your body is below the required limit for the normal functioning of the body. Don’t wait to become thirsty to reach for the water, when these signs hit pick it up and drink some water!

Fatigue

There are many things that lead to fatigue, but if you feel tired during the day it could be because you reach for the caffeine to often and not for the water enough. First thing in the morning have a glass of lukewarm water; it helps to wake you up better than coffee, and it will wake up the liver and digestive system as well.

Dry Skin

Chances are if you are dry on the outside, you are running dry on the inside as well. Don’t use lotions and cream to cover up the problem, have some water instead.

Constipation

Water helps to lubricate the digestive tract; it also helps to keep the moisture inside the intestines. When you are not consuming enough water, you will more than likely have problems with bowel function.

Headaches

Headaches are a sign that you need water, so when you get one skip the chemicals and down some water.

Sources:

blog.doctoroz.com

www.medicinenet.com

thorzt.com

How Bone Broth Reverses Aging Naturally

There are so many anti-aging products on the market today, and with those number you would probably think you could find something that works. But, the truth is there is no magical chemical cream that will make you look 20 again, but you can, however, use natural remedies to make aging a come a bit more gracefully.

What would you say if I told you that bone broth could be the new fountain of youth?

What is it?

Some people love it, some people hate it, and some people have no clue what I am talking about. Bone broth is a simple and extremely nutritious broth made out of poultry or meat bones that are rich in protein and minerals.

So, why is this helpful to my skin?

Collagen

Collagen helps to build strong skin, and helps to protect against wrinkling and again. The gelatin found in collagen helps to prevent inflammation and heals the digestive tract. An unhealthy digestive tract lead to aging.

Iodine

When you use fish bones, they are rich in iodine. Iodine helps to protect against sluggish thyroid, which is the number one cause of energy loss, weight gain, and thinning hair.

Glycine

Glycine helps your liver rid itself of toxins that age you.

Mineral and Nutrients

Nutrients like hyaularic acid, chondroitin, glucosamine, and glycosaminoglycans help to keep your joint flexible. Minerals like phosphorous, calcium, and magnesium are minerals that help ward off the signs of aging.

How to make it:

The ingredients you use for your broth are very important. When the quality is better, the quality of the broth is better. Try using beef, chicken, or lamb bones to make your bone broth. Don’t use industrial fats and oils in your broth, use butter. Here’s how you can make your own bone broth:

Place bones into a large stock pot and cover with water.

Add two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the water prior to cooking. This helps to pull out important nutrients from the bones.

Fill crock pot with filtered water. Leave plenty of room for water to boil.

Heat slowly. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for at least six hours. Remove scum as it arises.

Cook slow and at low heat. Chicken bones can cook for 24 hours. Beef bones can cook for 48 hours. A low and slow cook time is necessary in order to fully extract the nutrients in and around the bone.

You can also add in vegetables such as onions, garlic, carrots, and celery for added nutrient value.

Sources:

www.mindbodygreen.com

paleoleap.com

www.hollywoodhomestead.com

12 Pieces Of Buddhist Wisdom That Will Transform Your Life

1. LIVE WITH COMPASSION

Compassion is one of the most revered qualities in Buddhism and great compassion is a sign of a highly realized human being.

Compassion doesn’t just help the world at large, and it isn’t just about the fact that it’s the right thing to do. Compassion, and seeking to understand those around you, can transformyour life for a number of reasons.

First, self-compassion is altogether critical towards finding peace within yourself. By learning to forgive yourself and accepting that you’re human you can heal deep wounds bring yourself back from difficult challenges.

Next, we can often be tortured because of the fact that we don’t completely understand why people do certain things.

Compassion is understanding the basic goodness in all people and then seeking to discover that basic goodness in specific people. Because of this, it helps you from going through the often mental torture we experience because we don’t understand the actions of others.

But even more than that, expressing compassion is the very act of connecting wholeheartedly with others, and simply connecting in this way can be a great source of joy for us.

The reasons for practicing compassion are numerous and powerful. Seek to live in a way that you treat everyone you meet as you would yourself. Once you begin trying to do this, it will seem altogether impossible. But keep at it, and you’ll realize the full power of living with compassion.

2. CONNECT WITH OTHERS AND NURTURE THOSE CONNECTIONS

In Buddhism, a community of practitioners is called a “sangha”. A sangha is a community of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen who practice together in peace towards the united “goal” of realizing greater awakening, not only for themselves but for all beings.

The sangha is a principle which much of the world can greatly benefit from. People come together in groups all the time, but it’s usually for the purpose of creating monetary riches or obtaining substantial power and rarely towards the united goal o1f attaining peace, happiness, and realizing greater wisdom.

The principle of the sangha can be expressed in your own life in many ways. The sangha is ultimately just one way of looking at life, through the lens of the individual “expressions” of the totality.

By living in a way that you’re fully aware of the power of connecting with others, whether it’s one person or a group of 100, and seeking to nurture those relationships in the appropriate way, you can transform your life in ways that will pay dividends for years to come.

3. WAKE UP

One of the most powerful points on this list, the power of simply living in a way that you’re fully awake to every moment of your life pretty much couldn’t be exaggerated even if I tried.

Mindfulness, greater awareness, paying attention, whatever you want to call it- it changes every facet of your life and in every way. It’s as simple as that.

Strive to live fully awake to each moment of your daily life and overcome your greatest personal struggles, find a great sense of peace and joy, and realize the greatest lessons life can teach you as a result of living fully awake to the present moment.1

4. LIVE DEEPLY

To live deeply, in a way that you become keenly aware of the precious nature of life, is to begin down the path of true peace and happiness.

Why? Because to live in this way is to gradually become aware of the true nature of the world. This will happen essentially in “sections” of the whole, such as realizing your interconnectedness (you begin to see how everything is connected to everything else) and impermanence (you begin to see how everything is ever-changing, constantly dying only to be reborn in another form).

These realizations are the bread and butter of Buddhism and all spiritual practice. These “sections of the whole” are fragments of the ultimate realization, ways for us to understand that which can’t be fully understood in the traditional sense.

By living in a way that you seek to realize these various “qualities of the ultimate” you find greater and greater peace in realizing the natural way of things. This cultivates in us the ability to savor every moment of life, to find peace in even the most mundane activities, as well as the ability to transform your typically “negative” experiences into something altogether nourishing and healing.

5. CHANGE YOURSELF, CHANGE THE WORLD

Buddhists understand that you can hardly help another before you help yourself. But this isn’t referring to you gaining power or riches before you can help others, or living in a way that you ignore others.

This is mostly referring to the fact that because we’re all interconnected, by you helping yourself you create an exponentially positive effect on the rest of the world.

If you want to make an impact on the world, don’t falsely convince yourself that it’s “you or them”. You don’t need to drag yourself through the mud to help those around you. If you do this, you’ll greatly hamper your ability to create a positive impact.

At the deepest level of understanding, by making it about you you’re also making it about them because you know there’s no separating “you” and “them”.

Take care of yourself and seek to be more than just a help, but an example of how to live for others to follow and you’llcreate waves of exponential possibility that inspires others to do the same.

6. EMBRACE DEATH

Death is an often taboo topic in Western society. We do everything we can to not only avoid the subject, but pretend that it doesn’t even exist.

The reality is, this is really unfortunate and in no way helps us lead better lives. Becoming keenly aware of your ownimpermanence and deeply understanding the nature of death with regards to our interconnectedness are both things which can help us find great peace.

In Buddhism, students in many sects at one point or another “meditate on the corpse” as it were (a practice which is said to have originated at least as far back as the Buddha’s lifetime).

This is literally what it sounds like. They meditate on the image of a corpse slowing decomposing and imagine that process through to its end, eventually resulting in a deep and profound realization on the true nature of death.

That might sound a little intense to you, but the truth is, if you live you’re entire life acting as if you’re never going to die or ignoring your own impermanence then you won’t ever be able to find true peace within yourself.

You don’t necessarily have to meditate on the image of a corpse, but simply opening up to yourself about death so that you’re no longer shielding it from your mind (which you’re likely doing unconsciously, as that’s how most of us were brought up in the West) can begin to be a great source of peace and help you appreciate the many joys in your everyday life.

A true appreciation for life can never be fully realized until you come face-to-face with your own impermanence. But once you do this, the world opens up in a new and profound way.

7. YOUR FOOD IS (VERY) SPECIAL

Buddhist meditative practice, particularly mindfulness and contemplation, helps you realize the precious nature of the food in front of you. Indeed, with how integral a part food plays in our lives, to transform our relationship with food is to transform a key aspect of our entire lives, both now and in the future.

By contemplating on the food in front of us, for example, we can come to realize the vast system of interconnectedness that is our life, and how our food coming to be on our dinner plate as it is depended on numerous elements coming to be.

This helps us to deepen our relationship with food, cultivate a deep sense of gratitude before each meal, and learn to respect the delicate but ever-pressing balance that is life.

8. UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF GIVING

Giving is more than the act of giving Christmas and Birthday gifts, it’s also about those gifts which we give each and every day which we don’t typically see as gifts at all.

Buddhists hold a very deep understanding of the nature of giving, particularly in that life is a constant play between the act of giving and receiving. This doesn’t just help us find peace in understanding the way of the world around us, but helps us realize the amazing gifts we all have within us that we can give others in every moment, such as our love, compassion, and presence.

9. WORK TO DISARM THE EGO

The easiest way to sum up all “spiritual” practice is this: spirituality is the act of coming in touch with the ultimate reality or the ground of being, and as a result spiritual practice is the act of overcoming those obstacles which keep us from realizing that.

The primary obstacle in our way? The ego.

To put it short and sweet, the reason the ego is the major obstacle in spiritual practice, or simply the practice of finding true peace and happiness (whatever you choose to call it, it’s all the same), is because it’s very function is to pull you away from the ground of your being by convincing you that you’re this separate self.

The process of unraveling the ego can take time, as it’s something which has been with us, intertwined with us, for years. But it’s infinitely rewarding and altogether necessary if we want to realize our best life.

10. REMOVE THE 3 POISONS

Life is filled with vices, things which attempt to bind us to unwholesome ways of living and therefore do the very opposite of cultivate peace, joy, and greater realization in our lives. Among these, the 3 poisons are some of the most powerful. 

The 3 poisons are:

1. Greed
2. Hatred
3. Delusion

Together, these 3 poisons are responsible for the majority of the pain and suffering we experience as a collective species. It’s perfectly normal to be affected by each of these poisons throughout your life, so don’t knock yourself for falling for them.

Instead, simply accept that they’re something you’re experiencing and begin working to remove them from your life. This can take time, but it’s a key aspect on the path towards realizing true peace and happiness.

11. RIGHT LIVELIHOOD

We should all strive to work and make our living in a way that’s more “conscious” or aware. This generally means not selling harmful items such as guns, drugs, and services that harm other people, but it goes deeper than that.

There’s ultimately two aspects to this: making a living by doing something which doesn’t inhibit your own ability to realize peace and making a living doing something which doesn’t inhibit others ability to realize peace.

Facing this can lead to some interesting situations for some people, and as Thich Nhat Hanh has mentioned this is a collective effort as opposed to a solely personal one (the butcher isn’t a butcher only because he decided to be, but because there is a demand from people for meat to be neatly packaged and made available for them to be purchased from supermarkets), but you should strive to do your best.

Following the teaching on right livelihood can help you realize the harmful effect that your own work is having on you and therefore coming up with a solution can result in a largely positive shift in your life as a whole. Only you can decide if a change needs to happen though.

Whatever the case, seek to make a living doing something that promotes the peace and happiness of yourself and those around you as much as possible.

12. REALIZE NON-ATTACHMENT

This is a difficult point to put into so few words, but a profound one I felt would be greatly beneficial to mention nonetheless.

To realize non-attachment in a Buddhist sense doesn’t mean to abandon your friends and family and live alone for the rest of your life, never truly living again just so that you don’t become attached to these desires.

Non-attachment refers to living in a way that you exist in the natural flow of life and generally living a typical modern life, building a family, working, etc., while simultaneously not being attached to any of these things. It simply means to live in a way that you’ve become aware of and accepted the impermanence of all things in this life and live in a way that you’re ever-aware of this fact.

It’s perfectly normal for a Zen student in Japan, once having completed his training, to actually de-robe and go “back into the world” so to speak. This is because, once they’ve reached this level of realization, they see the beauty in all things and are compelled to live fully absorbed in all the beauty and wonders of this life. From this point on, they can truly “live life to the fullest”, while not clinging to any of these things.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean that you stop feeling emotions. On the contrary, these emotions are welcomed and expected, and fully experienced with mindfulness in the moment of their impact. But this is simply the natural course of things.

Once these emotions subside though, and when we have no mental formations or obstructions to block our path, a natural healing process takes place that heals the wound and allows us to continue on living in peace and joy instead of dragging us down into darkness.

Source:

“12 Pieces of Buddhist Wisdom That Will Transform Your Life,” from buddhaimonia.com, by Matt Valentine