Author Archives: Ernest

About Ernest

Ernest Dempsey is a writer, blogger, citizen journalist, and editor. He is the editor in chief of the journal “Recovering the Self” and a staff writer at the Green Heritage News.

Dog Ownership Linked to Decreased Heart Risk

Dog Ownership Linked to Decreased Heart Risk

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Guest Blogger: Hayley GrantonDog Ownership Linked to Decreased Heart Risk

Loneliness, depression, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, lack of activity, and stress can all put a strain on your health and lead to a weakened heart. Studies have shown that dog owners have a better chance of avoiding these risks that those who don’t have pets in their home.

According to experts in emergency care in the Woodlands, sharing your home with a dog has been shown to raise self-esteem. This alone is a factor in reducing stress. Walking the dog and playing, inside or out, is exercise that benefits the heart, making it stronger and more resistant to a heart attack. Of course, there’s no guarantee that a heart attack won’t occur, but research suggests that owning a dog improves survival.

A dog can pull you out of a bad mood as simply as gazing at you with loving eyes. The unconditional love you get from your pet will offer stress relief, social support and even help you control your blood pressure. Elderly people claim that owning a dog improves their attitude and that they are more satisfied in life.

Even those who take blood pressure medication are prone to spikes caused by tension and stress. It’s easier to deal with stressful situations when you have the social support of a loving dog that is always available to listen to your troubles and distract your mind from worry with his antics. A soothing walk with man’s best friend trotting at your side can put your problems into perspective and help you cope with problematic circumstances.

If you don’t already have a dog in your home but think that you would enjoy the companionship that can reduce health risk, consider the option carefully. There is no health benefit in owning a dog that will be a burden. You must be able to care for the dog properly. If you travel a lot, dog ownership could be a problem.

The dog, like you, needs exercise to matter what the weather is like. Will you be able to walk your companion in cold and snow? Will you be able to clean up muddy paw prints when your pet comes back inside? Can you afford medical care for the new member of your home?

If you are able to care for a dog, you’ll find that just the responsibility of caring for him will remind you just how capable you are. Following a routine for dog care will give your day structure and stave off boredom and depression.

bouncing back after baby

5 Moves to Help You Bounce Back after a Baby

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Guest Blogger: Brionna Kennedy bouncing back after baby

Having a baby is surely a blessing. However, one thing you may not feel so blessed about is the additional weight you put on while pregnant. It is perfectly normal and acceptable to gain weight during a pregnancy. At the same time, after the baby is born, you are left trying to adjust to your new size and working on getting that fit pre-baby body back. Even though it may seem a bit challenging, there are several moves that can get you shedding those excess pounds in no time at all.

Assorted Stretches before Exercising

It is most important to stretch before performing any exercise. You can sit down with your legs pointed straight ahead. While you are doing this, have your toes pointed toward the front of you, and stretch your body down to get your legs prepared for the workout. Some people also enjoy doing gentle yoga stances and positions to prepare them for the more strenuous workout routine that they will perform. While stretching, you may also want to wear kinesiology tape by StrengthTape. This tape is specifically designed for athletes and people who are planning to exercise because it helps to protect the joints and the muscles.

Cardiovascular Exercises for Calorie Burning

If you want to burn those calories at a faster pace, you have to incorporate some sort of cardiovascular exercise into your routine. The good news is that there are plenty of exercises to choose from. You can choose from jogging, brisk walking, cycling, aerobics, and even swimming. There are also plenty of workout programs that will show you routines for moving your body and burning off calories fast.

Lifting Weights for Strength

After a cardio workout, you should also be lifting weights. While lifting does not necessarily cause you to shed calories at a fast pace, it does help you build muscle, which is something you need if you want to have a toned body. Lifting weights will also help you to prepare for lifting your baby, especially as he or she gets heavier.

Use a Fitness Ball

Want to strengthen your abdominal core? After all, your abdominal muscles surely went through a lot during those nine months of carrying around your precious baby. If you want your stomach to be flat and toned after giving birth, you have to perform abdominal exercise. Crunches are one of the most popular abdominal exercises. If you want to achieve faster results, use a fitness ball when you do your crunches or any other exercises.

Carry Your Baby

Believe it or not, the little one that you carried around for so long can help you to lose weight in more than just one way. Aside from breastfeeding, you can also lose weight faster by carrying your baby around in a sling. Who knew that carrying your baby could be such a workout?

With these five great moves in mind, you can successfully bounce back after having a baby. You certainly can get back into shape after having a child. You simply need to be determined as well as ready and willing to work out. Parenting.com offers a lot of articles and reference for how to lose that baby weight as well.

About the Author

Brionna Kennedy is native to the Pacific Northwest, growing up in Washington, then moving down to Oregon for college. She enjoys writing on fashion and business, but any subject will do, she loves to learn about new topics. When she isn’t writing, she lives for the outdoors. Oregon has been the perfect setting to indulge her love of kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking.

troubled teens

How to Talk to Your Teen about the Dangers of Synthetic Drugs

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Guest Blogger: Desmond Whitetroubled teens

Following are some of the helpful tips on talking to your teen child about the dangers of synthetic drugs.

Take the Time to Talk

Keeping your teenager safe from costly mistakes is often a challenge. Teenagers have a wide range of activities that they enjoy and can seem hard to catch for a few hours of serious conversation. Although it might seem challenging, it is important to take time out of your schedule and talk to your teen about synthetic drugs. By taking the time to discuss the dangers of the drugs, you are reducing the risk that your child might try experimenting with drugs that are very dangerous.

Learn about Synthetic Drugs

Before you can discuss the topic and dangers of the drugs, you need to understand what they are and the risks involved. Synthetic drugs are man-made substances that have a wide range of names and different effects on the body.

Research the different drugs and find out the signs of substance abuse. For example, find out about bath salts, synthetic marijuana and spice. Read about the different substances and learn the specific dangers of each drug. The exact effects will vary, but you need a solid understanding of the possible dangers to discuss the topic with your teen.

Ask Your Teen for His or Her Impressions

Avoid lectures or long discussions about the dangers of drugs. Although you want to impart that knowledge to your teen, it is better to start the conversation by asking questions and finding out what your teen already knows from media, friends or school lessons.

Learn about the topic from your teen’s point of view. Keep the conversation as light as possible before you start talking about dangers from the drugs. By getting your teen to answer questions and think about the topic, you are able to reduce the risk that your teen will stop listening or will require another lecture in the future.

Observe the way your teen reacts to questions, including the non-verbal communication. If you notice odd behavior or elusive responses, then you might need to think about alternative solutions or getting professional help.

Bring Up the Consequences

When you are talking to a teen, scare tactics are an ineffective way to handle the topic of drug abuse. Instead, focus on consequences that your teen cares about the most. For example, tell your teen that he or she will lose interest in playing a favorite sport or might not be able to continue performing in an upcoming play.

Immediate consequences are more effective as a deterrent to substance abuse than the long-term physical consequences. Teenagers can overlook long-term health effects by assuming that it is not likely to happen to them. By focusing on the real downsides of the drugs that will occur immediately, your teen might be more receptive to the further consequences to health and well-being. Talk about the physical dangers after discussing the loss of hobbies and friends.

Discuss Media Exposure

Drug abuse is often depicted in music, movies and other media outlets as a glamorous activity. Ask your teen about his or her feelings when synthetic drug abuse comes up in a media source. Talk about peer pressure or the reactions of friends. Bringing it out into the open will prevent subconscious messages from causing temptation.

Talk about Personal Experiences

If you used or abused drugs in the past, then it might be necessary to talk about your personal experiences with substance abuse and recovery. Although it is hard to admit your faults to your children, it can be a powerful way to deterring your teen from making the same mistakes or taking the same missteps in life. Focus on the downsides of your experiences and discuss the journey to a drug-free lifestyle. If you did not take drugs personally, then you can use other examples in the family, among your childhood friends or similar close relations.

Talking about synthetic drugs is challenging, but it is also necessary. Removing the temptation from your teen by explaining all of the consequences, focusing on experiences and showing that addiction can happen to anyone is possible. It just takes a little time and the right approach to get the attention of a teenager.

About the author

Desmond White is a writer that specializes in addiction treatment and his true passion is helping people find treatment for addiction. He is currently promoting Best Drug Rehabilitation, click here to learn more about their facility and holistic treatment programs.

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How to Help Handicapped Children and Adults through Social Work?

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Guest Blogger: Sandy Baker KrabatPilot_3

Sandy Baker — Handicapped people are part of our society, and they include adult and kids. Despite their disabilities, most of them even try their best to participate with common people in just about any activity that would be fit for them. Some of them receive help from the government through special health programs, but others are not enjoying life because of limited resources.

Some of the most common disabilities we know are blindness, loss of hearing, and those physical conditions that can easily be noticed, such as not being able to stand and walk. Social work for handicapped children and adults has gone beyond the traditional methods of treating their disabilities. Below are some of the ways in which you can help them through social work.

Seek Help from Social Workers

Social workers help handicapped adults through direct counseling and help them improve their capabilities. They also help them deal with their relationships with others; solve their personal, family, and community problems; and other problems affecting their daily lives. This includes inadequate housing, lack of job skills, unemployment, and poverty. Handicapped children usually enter a child welfare system and are given special educational services. Social workers usually arrange consultation with patients for services they need, and making sure that the services are helpful. They review eligibility requirements and visit them regularly. There are social workers who are also working with community organizations, administration, or in research work.

Bring Them to Health Professionals

There are a lot of physiotherapists or physical therapists and psychologists who provide free help to handicapped children and adults. They also give advices to family caregivers and provide counsel to patients, as well as assisting them in their needs after discharge, such as giving recommendations on the equipment they need. There are also many non-profit organizations that offer free medication and special health care. Generous philanthropists, huge private companies, and even ordinary citizen are supporting these institutions. Then there are mental health social workers who provide complimentary services for persons with mental problems.

Provide Them Special Equipment

These days, technology is helping a lot of physically challenged people, particularly with the special equipment they need, such as Quest88 disability aids that have features and accessories that can help them stand and walk. There are now versions of walking skeletons that can be guided by hand and those that can be steered by the feet.There are also walking frames that could be useful for kids who need upper body and pelvic support while walking for longer periods. The pediatric standing frames, apart from assisting the children to stand, can also improve their circulation, digestion, and breathing.

These therapy and mobility products for children and adults are particularly designed to assist and sustain their physical development. This includes walkers, standing frames, and even gym equipment. Other therapy equipment can also be used for certain therapeutic activities. Most companies producing such products provide demonstration before you decide to buy them.

Handicapped children and adults now have more opportunities to get aid. Social work has extended beyond the traditional methods of treating their disabilities. It’s just a matter of getting to the right people in the right places to find the product that is suitable for the theme. Likewise, charitable foundations are now easier to find.We can search them using the Internet, with social media helping a lot to introduce them to the world.

About the Author

Sandy Baker is the Marketing Head at Quest88 disability aids. There he assists his team to design and manufacture products to assist children and adults with standing and walking development, independent mobility, cycling and leisure, and gym based therapy.

sun

How to Use the Sun

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Guest Blogger: Sara Stringer sun

These days we are told to avoid the sun as much as we possibly can. Those harmful UVA and B rays, according to experts, are going to be the cause of a whole host of problems. We’re told to stay inside, slather ourselves in sunscreen, hats, and protective clothing whenever we go out and do everything we can to keep the sun from touching us. What a bunch of hooey!

While it is true that you do want to take a few precautionary measures, like sunscreen, it’s also true that the sun is a tremendous source of healing and powerful energy. When “used” properly, it can be a fantastic resource for you and your family. So how do you take advantage of all that it has to offer?

Feng Shui

Move your furniture around so that your chairs, tables, and sofas are as close to the windows of your home as possible. This allows you to use natural light while you read, write, do art projects, hang out, etc. The light from the sun will light your projects. The vitamin D is good for your body to absorb. This is especially important if you want to create healing spaces within your home. Sunlight has healing properties—physically and emotionally.

Mood Enhancements

You probably already know about those “simulated sunlight” lamps that SAD sufferers use to help them get through the darker and colder winter months. People who go to tanning salons in the winter say that after their weekly fifteen minute session, they feel an immediate and powerful boost in their moods. While we wouldn’t advocate the use of a tanning bed, we are saying that getting out into natural light for at least a few minutes during the day is going to help you regulate your moods.

Utilize It

We’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the literal ways that sunlight can power your life. Solar panels, chargers, etc can be fantastic editions to your home and lifestyle. You might also opt in to an energy plan that gets some of its power through solar sources. Canada residents, take note: http://www.albertaenergyproviders.com/alberta-electric-providers/Alberta/E/Edmonton is a great resource for finding a company that will help you get the energy you want from the source you like the best. US Residents: search through your state references to figure out which companies have the best solar power plans.

NOTE: line dry your clothes in the sun. They’ll dry more quickly, shrink less, feel better on your skin, and smell way better than they would if you simply tossed them into the dryer.

Physical Health

Exposure to sunlight is what induces your body to produce Vitamin D. Medical research has proven that low Vitamin D levels have a direct relationship to the health of a person’s skeletal structure. Getting some sun helps you have healthy bones!

Obviously it is important to practice moderation. Too much of anything—even sunlight—can be harmful. So go outside for a little bit everyday but don’t overdo it! And make sure that you do take steps to keep the harmful rays from damaging your skin and body.

About the Author

Sara Stringer is freelance writer who enjoys writing about natural health alternatives. In her spare time, she enjoys maintaining an active lifestyle through swimming and practicing yoga.