Lifestyle Choices

Regardless of income, background or lifestyle, modern women have no excuse for being badly groomed. We can all transform our appearance simply by bothering to attend to details — and a little regular care and attention doesn’t take as much time as you might think. Here are some guidelines.

Hair

Clean, conditioned and well-cut. Individual needs obviously vary but, at minimum, have your hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks. (more…)

Many of us never worry about our health until we are in danger of losing it. Then we are willing to pay any price, pouring out the savings of a lifetime in a vain attempt to try to win it back again. Our health is our greatest possession. Why should we throw it away through ignorance? There is no substitute for good health. We must take care of it while we have it. Our whole future depends upon our maintaining a sound mind in a healthy body.

Hospitals all over the world are filled with people who have disregarded the laws of health. Some may not have realized their danger. Others knew but did not care. They evidently thought that they could dodge the consequences. Perhaps they did for a while. But eventually even the strongest constitution will break if we continue to disregard the laws of health.

Many a chronic invalid might have enjoyed good health all through his life if he had only known how to keep well. Instead of living a happy life, free from sickness, he has become a burden to himself and perhaps to the community as well. Prevention is always far better than cure. Knowing how to live will keep us out of trouble. It will enable us to live out our years in peace and contentment, free from unnecessary pain and illness. (more…)

To keep your clothes looking good, working strong, you should know something about what they’re made of and how best to care for them. Here is a miniglossary of fabrics as well as info on proper care and handling.

Cotton.An all-purpose favorite. Comfortable, cool, or cozy and toasty, this is one fiber that really lets your skin breathe, never makes you feel hot or sticky. Can be knit into bulky summer sweaters, comfy Ts, or crisp like poplin summer slacks, starched menswear shirts. Care: Hand or machine wash. It can be dry cleaned, but that’s not necessary unless it’s a lined garment, like a jacket, or one that can lose its shape, like a dress. When washed, press with a hot iron. (more…)

The Living Skin

Beneath the epidermis, in the dermis, or true skin (which unlike the epidermis is entirely a living thing), are found the nerves. They register pleasure and pain, touch, heat and cold. Here, too, is a rich supply of blood vessels and lymphatics plus all the various skin appendages: the hair follicles, with their sebaceous glands, and the sweat glands. Also important in the dermis is an elaborate network of fibers made by special cells called fibroblasts. These fibers look like the warp and woof of fine cloth. They are collectively known as connective tissues and are made up mostly of protein called collagen together with about 2 percent elastin. This network gives your skin its form and resilience. So long as it remains smooth and ordered, your skin stays young-looking and firm. When its fibers start to bunch up and harden or to cross-link and become disorganized, your skin rapidly begins to sag, to wrinkle, and to age. This aging process has many causes. It can occur as a result of exposure to the sun, internal wear and tear from illness, or an insufficiency of certain vitamins and minerals (particularly vitamin C and the trace element zinc), or exposure to cigarette smoke and pollution. It also appears to be part of your genetic programming. (more…)

There are three parts to any good external skin care regimen, regardless of your age or the type of skin you have:

1. Regular, thorough cleansing

2. Protection from moisture loss and external roughness

3. Protection from the ultraviolet rays of the sun

These are the basics. They are simple, and there need be no mumbo jumbo about them. One can include a fourth part to skin care too, and that is treatment. This extra can correct problems, help preserve youth, and revitalize the look of skin.

You can give your skin treatments either internally from vitamins, minerals, and diet, or externally in the form of hydrotherapy, or by applying special creams, oils, or herbs, or by using specific exercises to strengthen muscles before they have a chance to sag or to correct neglect. The treatment part of skin care is where the art comes into it, and here you need to consider your specific skin conditions and problems. The other three are all parts of the simple craft of skin care, and it is very simple indeed. (more…)

The “dependent” type (sometimes called “oral” in psycho- analytical literature) looks to others to provide a sense of worth, emotional care, physical care and even a reason for living. His underlying attitude is that others should go out of their way to provide for him and in fact that they owe him care. His catch phrase is “I can’t”, which translated means: “You must do it for me”. He believes he should not have to work, especially physically, and that one way or another theworld is responsible for taking care of him.

If your attitudes were as obvious as these, you might find ithard to live with yourself without changing. Such attitudes are usually disguised — you do not think “Ah! this woman gives me a sense of worth and makes me want to live,” but you fall madly in love, believing that she is everything. (more…)

Hospital may be advised or needed in cases of black or white depression. If you or a friend are likely to be admitted, it is worthwhile considering the advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

Hospital provides a refuge, a place of asylum. Although the concept of asylum has had rather a bad press in recent years, for someone who is desperate, a period of rest can be a life-saver. Hospital provides a break from all the pressure of the outside world and a place where most basic needs are taken care of. For someone in the very depths of hopelessness, a period of asylum can break the vicious circle of trying to perform, failing, feeling worse, feeling the pressure mount higher, trying again with even less hope, failing, and so on. Asylum does not necessarily need to be a hospital, but the reality is that there are few places that are willing or able to deal with very severely depressed people. (more…)

The skin on your hands, knees, elbows, and feet is not as delicate as the skin on your face. Still, like the skin on your face, the other skin on your body can look its best with a regular skin-care program.

Your hands express a lot about you. Like the skin on your face, the skin on your hands is constantly exposed to the elements, as well as to dirt and detergents. The skin on hands can easily become dry, chapped, and wrinkly. Your nails, too, can become dry and brittle. But with a little care, it is easy to make your hands soft and smooth, and your nails strong and hard.

Helping Hands

Detergents are found in dishwashing liquid and other household cleansers as well as (more…)

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) was first described in the early 1980s. HIV (Human ImmunodeficiencyVirus) was discovered as the cause of AIDS in 1983. It is still unclear exactly where the virus originated.

Factors that have caused the virus to spread rapidly include socioeconomic instability, multiple sexual partner activity, as well as intravenous drug usage and migration of people across large distances. HIV is generally spread in three ways: via sexual intercourse, with HIV-infected blood directly into the body, and from mother to child transmission during pregnancy, childbirth and via breastfeeding. HIV is not spread by casual, everyday non-sexual contact. It is not spread by kissing, hugging or touching. Neither is it spread by handshaking, sharing food utensils or from toilet seats.

The HIV virus attacks and slowly destroys the immune system. There are three stages during the infection — being well with no symptoms, mild disease episodes and then very severe illness. Some people are rapid progressors (disease progresses and becomes very active) whereas others are slow progressors (they remain generally very well often for 10-15 years). (more…)

Osteoporosis is a common condition in South African women. It is a progressive disease in which the bones gradually become weaker, and is associated with loss of bone density and thinning bone tissue. It is a silent and painless disease, primarily affecting women after menopause when the hormone oestrogen begins to decline. The lack of oestrogen triggers an increase in bone resorption, i.e. bone loss. The average woman begins to lose bone mass from about age 35; those who have been physically active are far less prone to osteoporosis.

1. The risk factors for osteoporosis include a thin body frame, women who smoke and drink alcohol, and lack of exercise. While osteoporosis causes no specific symptoms until it is advanced, some early warning signs include a gradual loss of height and a stooping of shoulders. Eventually the bones will fracture, causing significant problems in many areas from the spine to the wrists.
2. Did you know that osteoporosis is almost entirely preventable? But don’t only start thinking about it at 45! The earlier you think about it, the better. Eat calcium-rich foods and engage in regular weight-bearing exercise.
3. For good self-care, especially while you are younger, make sure you are taking sufficient calcium, exercising regularly and eating a well- balanced diet. It is best to take calcium in a formulation, together with magnesium in a dosage of at least 800 micrograms of calcium daily. and eat good quality low-fat dairy products. Cut back on coffee and alcohol. They both leech calcium from your bones.

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Taking better care of oneself includes caring for the body and the mind, and being aware a how one affects the other. This is why holistic health care, as described in this chapter, cai be so beneficial. It’s hard to say whether Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) belong: in Mind Care or Body Care, because it is so important for both. It is the link between a healthy mind and a healthy body.

In a world where GPs are busy and overworked, where medical costs keep increasing and the health-care system is struggling to keep up with demand, many people are seeking CAM to help solve their health problems. You may have wanted to try alternative therapies but been unsure about their properties, what they do and offer. That’s understandable, as there are quite a few! (more…)

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred; forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world your best anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway. (more…)

Everywhere we go, the two biggest excuses people give for not taking care of themselves are that there is not enough time or money. In today’s busy world, with financial pressures high and time constantly squeezed, it is easy to accept that these are valid excuses. We disagree. We believe that the reason why people neglect their self-care is not lack of time or money: it is simpler than that. It is because they have not made themselves a priority. When was the last time you had a relaxation body massage? If it was last week, congratulations. However, it may have been months, even years since you had the pleasure. Some of you may be yet to experience one. If your reason for not having had one recently is that you have not had enough time or money, you may see our point more clearly. Is it really because you have not had the time or money? Or is it that you do not see having one as a priority? Does it seem to be a luxury rather than a necessity? (more…)

The key to healthy living in this sophisticated world is simplicity, but so often we overlook the most simple and logical things we can do for ourselves. Remember this: it is always okay to take some time out of your hectic day to take care of yourself, your mind, your skin, your body, your mood. In fact, it’s more than okay — it’s vital. It’s the foundation stone of a healthy life. (more…)