Natural and Sustainable

1. Witch Hazel: One fo the few natural remedies to get FDA approval for medicinal use. It’s used on small cuts and injuries, insect bites and muscle pain.

2. Arnica: From the sunflower family, arnica can relieve pain and inflammation from sore muscles, sprains, and bruises.

3. Eucalyptus Oil: Sprinkle a few drops of this essential oil on a lcoth and breathe it in to relieve symptoms of asthma, solds and respiratory problems.

4. Oscillococcinum: Many belive this homeopathic treatment reduces the severity of fever, chills, aches and pains.

• Organic Throat Lozenges: Use lozenges that soothe sore, scratchy throats and give you vitamin C and zine, without ingredients you don’t need. Try Organix by the makers of Cold-Eeze and Zand organic herbal lozenges.

• Aloe Vera Gel: A natural skin soother, aloe vera hydrates skin that’s dry and overexposed to the sun. Aubrey Organics has a bertified organic version.

• Calendula (marigold): This ointment, derived from marigold leaves, can help skin problems like burns, rashes, eczema and minor wounds. Try an ointment or gel version on diaper rash.

• Chamomile: A longtime popular herbal remedy, chamomile tea is famous for easing tummy troubles.

• Saline Mist: This inexpensive, drug-free spray helps relieve congestion from colds and allergies, and hydrates dry nasal passages.

• Mullein: Leaves from this flowering plant act as decongestant, relieving symptoms of asthma and bronchitis.

• Gripp-Heel: Dissolve these supplements on yoru tongue at the first symptons fo cold and flu. Click here for more information.

• Neti Pot: This gently-bottle-like pot natural flushes out nasal passages, helping to prevent sinus and other infections. Use twice a day during dry winter months and allergy season. Click here for a demo of how to use the Neti pot.

** Lynn Little has taken over writing for Mississippi State here at 451 Press. She even has posted an old college photo of herself. Lynn has been with 451 Press since June of 2007 and currently writes the SEO Dance blog. She is a great blogger and promises to bring the same energy and information to the Mississippi State blog as well. Read her welcome message here.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Weather permitting, take your exercise outdoors whenever you can. Be thankful for the wonderful world we live in and all it has to offer us by taking care of it.

Scrubbing and shinning you home with green cleaning products can reduce your family’s exposure to dangerous chemicals considerably. But what happens when you kids head to school? To keep noxious industrial-strength cleaners away from students, the New York City-based grassroots group Wellness in the Schools (WITS) has persuaded more than 40 area schools to switch to healthier alternatives.

Kids spend most of their waking hours in school, and the buildings are being cleaned with toxic products that leave behind residue from the chemicals added to most cleaners that aren’t health-conscious. Most of these cleaners are made to do a specific duty and not have lung, heart and skin in mind when that is done.

Aiming for a citywide move away from those conventioanl cleaners, which most have been shown to trigger asthma in chilkdren and possibly lead to chronis disease later in life, WITS promotes the use of products in lime with child-safety guidelines set by non-profit groups Grassroots Environmental Education.

If you want your child’s school to join in the green-clean movement, downloading WITS’s one-page cleaning supply purchaseing guide and passing in on to your child’s school administration is a great place to start.

The largest school system in the country was made to make the change so the smaller school systems should be eager to make the change. And since these are products that are both cost-effective and efficacious, why shouldn’t schools start replacing the old cleaners now.

**Having trouble with procrastination? Then over at Artists Passion, Wendy Withers has some steps to help you get past the problem. Read the steps here. They may help you finally get that task done that you have been putting off.**

*Natural and Sustianable Living Tip: Use natural, not artificial fragrances. Use essential oils in an oil diffuser to help cut down on smells in your home. A good mixture is teatree, lemon and rosemary during the winter months to help cut back on colds and flus.

The single best thing you can do to keep the flu out of your home is to get vaccinated. There should be plenty of vaccine to go around, so don’t feel like you will be taking away from someone else. Two-thirds of the population are recommended to get one. That two-thirds includes people 50 and over, children between six months and their 5th birthday, anyone in close contact with young children, anyone with chronic disease of heart, liver, lungs, or kidneys, people with diabetes, and health care workers.

If shots give you the willies, there is another option. A vaccine in the form of nasal mist has been approaved since last year and is approved for use in healthy people between the ages of 5 and 50. The nasal spray is made from live, but weakened virus (whereas the traditional shot is made from killed virus).

Whichever vaccine you choose, remember that neither is 100 precent effective because the virus that causes flu can mutate very quickly. So make sure you also practice good winter hygiene. Wash you hands whenever you come in from any contact with the outside world and carry some baby wipes or anti-bacterial wipes in your purse or handbag or car so that you can wash up even when you are away from water.

**Into cars? Movies? How about horror flicks involving cars? Over at Automotive Blogger, M. Mayder talks about all the great horror movies involving cars. And just in time for Halloween too.**

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Take your lunch to work or school in reuseable containers and have a no-garbage lunch. Which in turn creates zero waste for the landfill.

To alleviate cold germ induced allergies, turn to vitamins, herbs, yoga, omega-3s, and more.

1. Take Your C: Vitamin C has emerged as an anti-allergy agent for many years now and now you may need it more than ever. Allergy sufferers should take 200 milligrams of vitamin C daily. The presence of an antioxidant like vitamin C might therefore decrease the severity of allergy attacks and colds.

2. Dress For Success: Cotton and wool fabrics attract more tree pollen as the trees loose their leaves for the winter than a cotton-poly blends. Since pollen can collect on skin and hair, a post-outing shower will also reduce the level of allergens in your home.

3. Butter Up: An ingredient in butterbur (Petasites hybridus) inhibits histamines and leukotrienes (chemicals released after allergen exposure that make you itch, sneeze, or stuff up). Butterbur is as effective as cetirizine (Zyrtec®). 50 mg. of butterbur twice daily works as well as 180 mg daily of fexofenadine (Allegra®). Other herbs used for relief are infusions of nettle and elderflower (1 tsp. each to 2 cups water, taken daily for three months). For congestion, place five to 10 drops of chamomile essential oil in 3 cups of hot water, and inhale for 10 minutes.

4. Rinse Out: The passages in the nose are quite narrow and the lining is very tender; therefore, it takes only minor swelling and irritation or a little extra mucus to plug you up. Nasal irrigation rinses mucus and debris out of the nose and clears the passages. Use a spouted Neti Pot to apply a saline solution of 1/4 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of baking soda dissolved in 8 ounces of lukewarm water; you can buy the pot (with instructiuons) at health-food stores. If you find the technique tricky, try Nasopurek, a product that supplies the saline solution in a squeeze bottle for easier application.

5. Breathe and Pose: Yogic breathing methods held clear mucus from the nose. Also, Yoga reduces asthma attacks and improves pulmonary function. Using medication, chest-opening postures, and breathing techniques have been found to lead to better results then beathing along. Attacking the problem from three angles, relaxation, the mechanics of how the chest wall works, and learning to be a more effective breather, seems to make more sense. Yoga for Asthma, and interactive CD-ROM by yoga master B.K.S. Lyengar, can be use by people with allergies or winter cold sufferers.

6. Hide Inside: Cold and allergy suferers are advised to stay insdie with doors and windows closed furing peak pollen hours (usually 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Equip your ventaliation system with an allergy-grade filter to resude exposure and symptoms. Air cleaners ar ledd effetive by can still heko; choose one with a sustantioal colume of sirglow and a HEPA (high-efficiency particalate air) filter.

7. Eat Your 3s: Certain foods like vegetable oils and baked or fried goods provoke an inflammatory response, potentially exacerbating allergies. But a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids (cold water fish, flaxseeds) seems to reduce that chain reaction.

These natural responsees can reduce allergic reactions and colds and flus. Because chronic conditons can and may lead to asthma, consult a specailist if symptoms continue or get worse. To find an allergist near you, visit American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. You can also sign up with the National Allergy Bureau to receive e-mail alerts about pollenb and mold couts in your area.

Want to stay up to date with politics? Check out Political Frenzy

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Use greener cleaners in your how, car and RV or boat. Baking soda and viegar will clean just about anything. Use the “old school” method and put a little elbow grease into your cleaning. Your family and pets will be healthier and your furniture and fixtures will last longer too.

……It’s also good for your health too.

A few minutes of dedicated quiet each day reduces stress levels and offers a way to appreciate things that are obscured by noise and commotion. I recently read an article in a Men’s Health magazine while I sat at the dentist office and waited my turn at drilling. I realized as I sat there how quiet and calm it was in the entire building. Other than the phone ringing from time to time, the drilling in the distance and the dental assistance and secretary talking quietly, it was rather calm. I have had a tooth, giving me issues since June and finally decided to see my dentist (it needed a root canal by the way), but ultimately being affraid of the dentist, it is a rather calming place to be.

The pleasing sound of the drill could actually put someone to sleep if there wasn’t pain associated with it at times. It’s a smooth, steady, not ear piercing sound. I did not feel any pain with my dentist visit and ultimately I nodded off till I was disturded by my dentist when the procedure was over.

In silence and quiet, we are calmer. Silence helps us connect to that which we normally miss out on, elements of our experience that are subtle yet rich. The article in the magazine talked about places to go and have a 10-30 minute meditation after working out. It stated “that our bodies are being put through so much on a day to day basis, it begs for calm at one point within 24 hours, other than sleep.”

For some people, settling into silence isn’t easy. It can be associated with bottled-up energy and forced-down feelings. It’s easy to confuse silence with being silences, yet silence serves not to close us down but to open us up. Silence doesn’t sperate us from our inner world, it links us to is.

The world around you may not be quiet, but you can still be still. Silence does’t mean blocking out sound. You can experience the silence of not reacting to sound. If you do seek to reduce the surrounding decibels, invest in some noise-canceling headphones or tune to other trusted outlets of tranquility. Such as:

• Designed to facilitate, labriaries can also be conductive to contemplation and meditation.

• Most place of worship are open every day and offer instant, free access to silence regardless of your religious affiliation.

• While not required to be quiet, aficionados of musems tend to keep it to a low murmur.

• Between the opening chants, teacher’s instructions, and deep breathing, a great quiet can be savored at yoga studios.

• Creating silence in your everyday life is one thing, a hushed haven over another. The Insight Meditation Society offers silent retreats all year; other venues can be found at Retreats Online.

While giving up the adictive power of noise requires willpower. When was the last time you radio, television, iPod, and cellphone were all switched off at the same time? You don’t have to be a meditation guru to enjoy the benefits of silence. Start with specific moments. In the spirit of exploration, tell yourself that for a week you won’t turn on the TV during meals. You will just eat your food and be able to more fully experience its taste, and scent. View this as an adventure, not a shore and soon you will tune in to the healthful sound of silence.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Get a library card. There is a whole new world that lays beyond the doors of your local library. From books, magazines, and kids books and kits that can entertain an whole room of children to a great selection of movies that normally cost to rent at your local Blockbuster®. The library is a great place to go and get away from the hustle and stress of everyday tasks.

Enjoy tips: read more at Household Tips here on 451 Press.

With the cold weather coming one of the main things to happen every season is sore throats. A sore throat, pharyngitis, is generally caused by a viral infection such as the cold or flu; other culprits include allergies, dryness, and muscle strain. To help soothe the mucous membranes that line a burning, irritated throat, try these natural cures.

•Throat Coat®: This tea from Traditional Medicinals™ contains a blend of herbs, including licorice root, marshmallow root, and slippery elm, known for their demulcent properties. Avoid if you have impaired liver or kidney function, or if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Use it by pouring 8 ounces of freshly boiled water over a tea bag and steep. Covered, for 10 to 15 minute. Four to six cups daily are recommended .

•Cold-Eeze®: The active ingredients, zinc, plays a role in maintianing membrane health. Also, sucking on a lozenge stimulates the production of saliva, which bathes the throat. Nausea is a common side effect of zinc, so don’t take it on an empty stomach. Avoid citrus for a half-hour before or after taking a lozenge. It can interfere with zinc’s effectiveness. Consult your doctor if you’re pregnant or nursing. Use it by completely dissolving one lozenge in the mouth at the first sign of symptoms; repeat every three to four hours as needed.

•Natural Herbal Sort Throat and Mouth Spray®: Anti-inflammatory herbs such as echinacea are delivered directly to the throat in a lubricating spray sans alcohol, which is drying to the mucous membranes. Safe as long as the advised dosage isn’t exceeded. Use it by taking four squirts four times a day, sprayed directly into the throat with Natural Dentist Herbal Sore Throat and Mouth Spray™. Or try one to three sprays of Herbal Fitness Herbal Throat Spray™.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Install low-flow showerheads and take shorter showers to conserve and save water. Also install low-flow toilets, a lot of water is wasted during one flush of the toilet.

“Winter Wellness Guide” 16 through 20 of 20

16. Keep Your Sinuses Clear: This is an especially challenging time of the year for the mucous membranes because of cold outdoor temperatures, indoor air pollution (heaters are on and windows closed, trapping pollutants), and dryness caused by forced hot-air heating systems. Mucous membranes thrive and maintain a strong degfense against viruses when the air is clean, moist, warm (65 to 85 degrees), oxygen-rich, and filled with negative ions. We breathe on a average of 23,000 times a day, and if the air we’re breathing itself creates cronic irritation to the mucous membreanse and makes us more susceptible to viruses. Use a botanical saline nasal spray, such as Sinus Survival Spray, which contians saline, aloe vera, godlseal extract, and grapefruit seed extract. It keeps mucous membranes moist, washes out inhaled particles, and has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal prperties. Use the spray every two to three hours throughout the day, especially in heavily polluted and dry conditions. Also try medicinal eucalyptus oil, which you can inhale from a tissue held over your noise and through a steam inhaler.

17. Eat Dark Chocolate: As October progresses, many women start to feel moody and depressed and experience intensified PMS. Craving for choclate goes through the roof. Make sure you have high-quality dark choclate available; 90 percent cocoa is too much, but 70 percent should be about right. Seasonal affective disorder is closely linked with PMS being worse during the winter, so borrowed light from windows and sky lights in your home and office can make a powerful difference.

18. Lighten Up: At least 30 minutes exposure to natural light outdoors, in addition to using a light box indoors, helps combat seasonal affective disorder. Natural light seems to have certain ingredients that just can’t be duplicated by an indoor light box. A common problem for people with seasonal affective dsiorder is serotonin deficiency. St. John’s wort (600 to 900 mg per day), 5_HTO ( 50 -200 mg per day), or SAM-e (400 to 1,2000 mg per day in enteric-coated tablets) can be quite helpful in rasing serotonin levels.

19. Eat Your Vitamins: Fresh thyme and rosemary in your cooking during the winter is a great addition. Thyme is an antiseptic and a digestive aid, while rosemary promotes circulation. Make sure to eat fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, including clementines, kiwi, oranges, dark-green vegetables, peppers, escarole, spinach, and broccoli. Add roasted red peppers to sandwiches and salads, too. Also have 1 tbs. of flaxmeal a day, usually in cereal or yogurt or even oatmeal in the morning, This assures that you will be getting a good balance of omega-3 fats, which help boost the immune system.

20. Drink A Warming Ginger Tea: Ginger boosts the immune system, clears the lungs, aids in digestion, and tastes yummy. Make a winter homemade brew: Mix 1 tbs. fresh grated organic gingerroot, 1 tsp. fresh organic lemon juice, and 1 tsp. honey in a 12-to16-ounce cup of very hot purified water, and let steep for five to 10 minutes before drinking. The honey, if locally farmed and pesticide-free, is also stimulating to the immune system.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Always turn off a light when you leave a room, you will not only see the changes on your energy bill you will also be helping conserve wasted energy that coal-producing power plants have to keep producing. Why leave the light on anyway?

“Winter Wellness Guide” 11 through 15 of 20

11. Have A Bowl Of Qi Soup: A thousand years ago, the Chinese started their tradition of eating a festive soup on the eighth day of the last lunar month (known as la ba) to bring about winter wellness. They beleive that winter is the time for the body to store nutrients and that eating well will bring improved health for the upcoming year, La Ba Rice Soup usually includes rice, red beans, soybeans, peanuts, walnuts, chestnuts, red dates, or lotus seeds. In chinese medical theory, these ingredients are potent anti-aging foods. Red dates, chestnuts, and lotus seeds tonify qi, the vital energy of the human body. To make the soup:
1. Choose any combination of the ingredients mentioned above.
2. Place two-thirds rice and one-third nuts, beans, dates, and/or seeds in a saucepan.
3. Add enough water to cover all the ingredients, then soak overnight. Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer until the beans and rice are very soft. Take one small bowl a day.

12. Save Your Skin: When the weather cools, we turn on our heaters, drying out the air and consequently our skin. Change to a mild cleanser, like Cetaphil, Aveeno, or just a natural glycerin soap, and use it only on those areas that require washing: generally just the folds in the skin, or where skin touches skin. After washing, be sure and moisturize those areas that are prone to dryness-lower legs, hands, and forearms, and upper back-with cream-based moisturizers; the lotion based moisturizers, tend to dry the skin rather than emilliate them. These basic steps can prevent developing dry, cracked, itchy skin later.

13. Spruce Up Your Shower: After your done washing, turn off the water and put seven to 10 drops of black spruce oil in your hands. Black spruce oil is anti-bacterial and anti-infectious, and it supports the adrenal glands, which suffer when we get tired from the winter weather and lack of light. Spread the oil all over your skin from head to toe, except the mucous membrans. Always make sure to rub the oil on your abdomen, since there’s a lot of lymphatic tissue in that area. Then do 30 seconds of deep breathing and rinse off with cool water. When people follow this regimen every morning in the witner, it’s extremely rare that they get sick in any way.

14. Say “Good Day Sunshine!”: Start the day with a sunshine ritual. Get yourself a set of flatware that is bright. Like ones with yellow handles, bright yellow bowls, plates, cups and a matching teapot. Make a pot of warming ginger tea and have a steaming cup with your yellow bowl of cereal and bananas. If you rise before it’s light out and it’s dark, try eating by candlelight. Play music in the morning with a sunshine theme, like “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles. The feel is similar to that at the time of the winter solstice. Bringing light from the darkness, and warmth and positive energy as well.

15. Brighten Up: If you live in a climate that gets very gray in winter, without a lot of sunlight, create a feeling of sunlight in what you wear. The first piece of clothing you reach for in the monring, whether it’s a cozy robe or your running gear, it should be in a vibrant color like orange. It will embrace you in warmth and raise your energy level.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Support your local economy and cut fossil-fuel consumption by keeping your shopping and errand trips local. If you have to drive a ways to purchase something or to pick something up several times a week, try grouping all of those trips into one. If you drive a great distance to work, take up carpooling and cut fossil-fuel waste by half.

“Winter Wellness Guide” 6 through 10 of 20

6. Plant A Winter Herb Garden: Try indoor winter gardening with full-spectrum lamps and lightbulbs. Gardening is meditative and connects us to the eart. It can really make a different in our mood, especially at a time when we tend toward psychological hibernation. You can geow your own St. John’s wort, or rosemary for its antioxidants, or sleep-enhancing herbs like valerian and hops. The seeds are widely available, and you can plant them in a box that can be transported outside once spring arrives.

7. Stop Winter Dryness: Vaginal dryness is an issue for menopausal women and can be more of problem during the holidays, when increased alcohol consumption leads to dehydration. Earth’s Botanical Harvest vaginal suppositories, available by prescription, work wonderfully; they contain vitamin E, black cohosh, and wild yam, and are very norishing, safe, and healing to the vaginal tissue. Use them four to five nights a week for two weeks, then every other night for one week, and then two nights a week.

8. Move Your Body: In the winter, when it gets dark out at 4 p.m., it’s harder to motivate yourself to go outside and exercise. Make a pact with a friend that you’ll take a walk every day. A winter walk, even at night, can be rejuvenating and wonderful. Make it your reward to come home to a nice fire. Winter is also the time when many new dance classes start up. Sign up for a tango or a salsa class-or just dance around your house for fun. It’s festive, and it can help lighten your mood and provide a good opportunity for socializing.

9. Fly Healthy: Prevent airborne illnesses when traveling by lubricating the nostriles and the inside of the ear with raw (unsalted) sesame oil. Olive oil is a decent substitute by does not possess the same anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties as sesame. Protecting yourself from food-borne illness is simple: Don’t eat the standard plane fare! Try fasting on hot herbal teas such as chamomile and mint or on hot water with lemon and honey, or call the airline ahead of time to request an East Asian vegetarian meal. The regular vegetarian meal tends to be loaded with poor-quality dairy that can depress the immune system, but the East Asian selection is more likely to be vegan. They can’t really mess that up too much.

10. Relax From Head To toe: The people who get sick in the winter are the ones who are stressed out. To stay healthy, make and effort to activate the relaxation response every single day. Try this exercise:
1. Sit or lie in a comfortable and quiet place with your body fully supported by a chair or the floor. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths, deep inhale, deep exhale.
2. Bring your attention to the top of your head. Focus on your scalp and your forehead, noticing wheather there’s any tension there. Give it permission to just let go.
3. Progressively move your attention down through yor body, from head to toe, assessing each of the muscles alone the way and then mentally releasing any tension you find. Move from your head to your neck, shoulders, upper arms, lower arms, and fingers, your back all the way down your spinal column, around to you belly , your hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, calves, the arches of your feet, and your toes. The idea is to let go of the tension in your mind.
4. Take all the time you need. If there are places that still seem to holding tension after you finish, return there. Give that place permission to let go. Only when you feel completely relaxed should you slowly bring your attention back to the present.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Always wash your clothes on a full load or adjust the water level to accomadate the load size that you are washing. The less water wasted during that time will show up on your water bill later as well as show up in the amount of water wasted over all. Don’t be an addition, be a solution.

“Winter Wellness Guide” First 5 of 20.

If you are always looking for new ideas to help you feel your best, especially during the rigors of the winter season, here are ideas to help you think past the chicken soup and echinacea with hints to stay healthy, happy, and energetic through the holidays and beyond.

1. Spice Up Your Stir-Fry: Use lots of fresh gingerroot and fresh garlic in your cooking to boost your immune system and protect agasint viruses. Hot peppers are good for enhancing circulation ahd keeping you warm. Toss plenty of these into your next stir-fry. Ginseng has a stimulating, immune-enhancing effect. Get a black ginseng paste extract at natural-foods stores, put a spoonful in hot water, add honey, and drink. If you do wind up getting sick, try the chinese herb Andrographis paniculatea. It’s one of the mose potent cold fighting herbs on earth, its’ cheap, and the World Health Organization recommends it. Take two capsules of 250mg twice daily. It’s a pretty powerful herb and should get rid of your cold quickly. Another herb to try is Umcka. A syrup that knocks out colds quickly.

2. Soak Your Feet: At the first sign of a cold or flu, soak your feet up to the ankles in hot water. As hot as you can stand it without scalding. Do this for 20 minutes before going to bed. Also take 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day for five days.

3. Try A Homeopathic Cure: For people interested in flu prevention, the homeopathic medicine influenzinum 9C is great. Although no studies have confirmed its success, it’s widely used throughout Europe by doctors and the public with reportedly good results. Take one does per week for four weeks, and then take one does 30 days later. For the very first stage of a cold, Aconitum 30C, and consider Allium cepa (onion) 30C if your symptoms resemble exposure to chopped onions-i.e. water eyes and a profuse, watery nasal discharge that tends to irritate the nostrils. If you have a cold with a thick, stringy nasal discharge, take Kali bichromicum 30C. The does schedule for the previous three remedies is four times a day for up to two days. If you’re not over a cold after two days, it’s not the correct remedy for you and a more accurate homeopathic medicine needs to be taken.

4. Take A Breath Break: The best way to keep healthy is to keep breathing. Just as not putting oxygen into an aquarium causes the water to turn thick and murky, not getting oxygen into the blood lowers immnity and prevents the release of endorphins. We should all go outside to take a breath break the same way smokers take cigarette breaks. Hwen you notive that you are not breathing deeply, you should consciously take a full, long inhalation. Here’s one exercise to do every day. Stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width, slap each hand onto the opposite shoulder, and twist side to side, aligning your breath with the movement and inahling through the nose, exhaling through the mouth. Do this for 20 to 30 breaths. It’s a quick and energixing exercise. and it really get the spinal fluid moving. There’s no one right way to breathe, but people who breathe through the nose are less likely to get colds and coughs. On a plane, when the people around you are coughing, be especially careful to breaht through your nose. It helps filter out cold germs.

5. Rub Your Feet To Sleep: If you are prone to insomnia, get your sweetie to rub jojoba oil onto the soles of your feet, then put aon a pair of cozy socks you don’t mind ruining and rest with a water bottle on your abdomen until you check out. Invest in a soft, cozy designer cover for your hot-water bottles as well and throw out your electric blanket.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: The plastic bags that come from Wal Mart and places like wise are a problem for the earth. Some people reuse them for trash liners for the bathroom trash cans and bedroom cans, etc. But, the plastic on those bags are not biodegradeable. Instead opt for recycled plastic trash bags or better yet paper bags. When you are getting your items at Wal Mart or the grocery store bagged ask for paper, ALWAYS!