There is a time for everything

Generally speaking, I have been against doing anything to promote credit cards for bad credit, because of the rates and I won't write to promote things that harm people. However, as a lender now in a peer to peer lending marketplace, I can see that there is a need for people to start out somewhere when they are trying to restablish their credit, and I also see that there are worse things than 29% APR rates (predatory loans with far worse rates). Sometimes people can be in jams with their health, as is the topic of this blog - and sometimes credit is a very necessary thing. Whether or not you are responsible when you get a lender who takes a chance on you for a bad credit card is up to you. But you have the chance, with the choice of offers, to re-establish your credit.

Taking care of yourself

One of the most important things a person can do is to take care of themselves first. Why would a person not want to, anyway?

But I see so many people, particular in my line of work as a caregiver, who neglect themselves. As a result, their energy levels decline, and people get frustrated with them because a load of stress gets put on others when they do not do what they need to do.

From firsthand experience, I know how important it is to take care of oneself first and worry about others later, if at all. Burnout can be caused by taking on too many worries, concerns, and responsibilities. The wisdom of vitality is to know your limits, and to know what responsibilities to shirk - the ones that aren't yours to take on.

Garlic, for sinusitis

It seems that one thing or another is always tripping my sinusitis. Usually, it is wheat, potatoes, or oatmeal, or some food additive. This time it was buckwheat. That is surprising. Basically, any food that is gluey in nature does this to me. Also, anything with sugar does too. It causes a type of candida reaction in me.

So, it was back to the garlic. For the uninitiated, garlic can help cut the candida reaction and return you back to the land of clear noses. My nose is clear due to the raw garlic I had yesterday on top of my lentil soup. Thank goodness!

Tension and pain in my back

I had a kink in my back after the day of shaking during a stress reaction. It felt like some nerves were kinked. No matter what I did, I could not get comfortable. I tried using my ladybug massager to work it out, but it persisted. Desperate, and not having money in the budget for a massage, I tried something else. I took a hot shower and let it run on my back. I have not experienced that pain since. That's a trick to remember!

Parsley, an adrenal booster/dreaming more by eating parsley

I dream much more when I eat parsley. In October 2007, I noticed this, but thought maybe it was a fluke. But I ate a whole bunch of parsley last night for adrenal gland function (what gives energy), and noticed a whole bunch of bizarre dreams. It was anything from poodles stuck under a cellar door, to little boys barfing on the edge of a pool and everyone in the pool having to get out because of it. For me, I know for a fact, that if I dream, I feel well, and if I don't dream, I am in need of working on my health. The parsley helps me dream and to have energy.

Interesting sleep trick: Black Tea to prevent napping?

I've been having a split sleep schedule for months now. I end up napping for 1-3 hours a day, and then staying awake. Then I end up going to bed between 2 and 3 am. I then get up at 6, 7, or 8 for work, and am sleepy during the morning till about 12. Last night was the first night in months that I have slept 7 hours at one time. The thing that I did differently was to have black tea when I was scrapbooking (that has caffeine). I would like to try this again ... to see if it can help me normalize my sleep by the caffeine helping keep me awake during that lag time where my body wants to nap.

The biofeedback program helps stress levels and ability to relax

In the wake of stressful events, using my biofeedback program has been helpful to control the stress reactions I am having to hearing about a cut in hours. The screen shows you a pink pearl if you are not relaxed. It shows you a blue pearl if you are relaxed. It knows this because of the sensors you wear on your hands which measure your heartbeat.

An underlying cause for my health issues - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - was the inability to manage stress before it got to me. The biofeedback helped last night to be able to return me to a state of relaxation.

It's how you look at it

I was scrapbooking with a friend last night and she expressed having felt overwhelmed with her big schedule, but also expressed that it could be thought of two different ways. Either she could choose to feel worn out by it, or she could choose to look at it a different way. She could choose to feel that she had a very rich, fulfilling life. What a great way to look at it! From my experience of wanting every day for nearly three years to be ABLE to pull off a big schedule like that, I totally agree with the way she chooses to look at it.

Walking in the fresh air

Walking in the fresh air created a new sense of wellbeing. I know this isn't a newsflash, but rarely do people actually get outside to deliberately get some deep breaths of fresh air. I work in a smoky environment so it is extra important to be able to get those breaths of fresh air when I get home. It goes and it makes the blood more rich and full, and that is what feeds the entire body and its organs its nutrition.

Learn to control stress before it controls you

The wisdom of vitality is to learn to control stress before it controls you. I am having a stressful week with some changes in hours at work which will affect me financially.

What I am doing to work at controlling my stress is to: take a walk around the neighborhood breathing deeply, use my biofeedback software, talk to my boss about the issues with work, talk to my doctor about how to control stress, eat well, sleep well, and write a lot in my journal. A hot shower really helped too.

My first reaction to the stressor was to shake all over. It's not good for the body to be under stress for extended periods of time.

Managing your heart health

Heart disease is a number one killer, but no one really understands that it is totally preventable.

I was reading a book called "Take a Load off Your Heart," and I realized just how preventable it really is. I also realized some of the habits I have that will cost me when I am older, if I don't change.

Stress management was an important key in preventing heart disease. Not only avoiding stressors, when possible, is vital, but also, learning how to effectively deal with stressors when they arise, is critical, since it is impossible to avoid all stressors.

Eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains in their natural state is very helpful for preventing heart disease. So is getting out and exercising.

But especially important - is having a positive attitude and knowing how to manage emotions.

Biofeedback for Relaxation and Stress Control

For the past couple weeks I have been trying a new method of stress control. This is a computer program with sensors that you attach to your fingers that monitors your pulse and heart rate. Biofeedback, in other words.

I have been wanting this program for a long time, since a Life Coach in my area did a demo, but had no justification to buy it until my doctor, when I asked her what I could do to control stress, recommended biofeedback.

The last week has been stressful with work. I am a caregiver, and I also have to interact with my client’s family. They started crossing my boundaries big time and I started feeling really stressed.

Besides talking to my boss about what the family was doing that they shouldn’t, I took some evenings out to try out my new biofeedback software.

I found that the gentle music in the program put me right to sleep the first few times, but as I have been practicing with the program more and more, I am learning to control my heart rate (which is an issue to me), and effectively reduce my stress level.


The imagery in the program is stunningly beautiful. I like the exercise where you breathe to raise your energy, and you juggle balls in the air just by the way you are breathing. There are other exercises where you must be calmly breathing, like the fog horn.

All in all it has given me a sense of calm and relaxation and peace that I didn’t have before, and as each stressful moment occurs, even while I am still at work, and I feel stressed (by a poor set of directions to a store that makes me get lost, for example) I say, I am going home after work to use my biofeedback software.

I bought both the sets because it was more cost effective that way. When I master the first set, the second set will be the advanced meditation techniques.

Magnesium -- for Fibromyalgia

Magnesium, which is found in greens, legumes, seeds, nuts, and whole grains - is helpful to combat muscle twitching and muscle tension - which many with Fibromyalgia face.

I have fought a long battle with magnesium deficiency this year, and was put on Calcium-Magnesium-Zinc this year. This not only got rid of the muscle twitching, but made other improvements too. It also improved my blood sugar and levels of anxiety. I feel much calmer and the muscle tension went away.