10 Healthiest Cities For Woman

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• Wellness

According to MSN Health, these top 10 cities are rated the healthiest for woman to live.

1. Burlington–South Burlington, VT

Tucked between the Adirondack and Green mountains on the shore of Lake Champlain, our top town boasts outer and inner beauty: Women here have some of the list’s lowest rates of diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension. Possible keys to their hardy hearts? Residents exercise and walk to work in large numbers and few women smoke.

Plus: Burlington offers 40 percent more ob/gyns than our list average and has low rates of cervical and ovarian cancer deaths.

2. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD

The unofficial motto of our silver-medal city: “Safety first.” In addition to boons such as low unemployment and terrific health care, the Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick metro area has 46 percent less violent crime than average and 54 percent fewer rapes. Plus, residents are nearly 40 percent less likely to be in a fatal car accident.

Plus: Montgomery County’s Super Fare Share program gives local workers up to $114 to put toward their monthly commute.

3. Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, ME

“You can work downtown, hop on a bike at lunch and quickly be in a wooded area by a stream,” enthuses Heather Chandler, 38, publisher of the Sunrise Guide, a book of green-living tips for southern Maine. The area (including South Portland and Biddeford) posts primo scores for water and air quality and has nearly 70 percent more green buildings than the average.

Plus: The clean environment in the Portland metro area may contribute to below-average rates of asthma and allergies

4. Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA

The smart cookies in this metro area can choose from 90 percent more ob/gyns and internists than is typical. And they get some of the most Pap smears, mammograms, breast exams and checkups.

5. San Francisco-Oakland, CA

Exercise, smart eating and shunning cigarettes make Bay Area women healthy 24/7: They report sleeping well all but six days a month.

Plus: Getting plenty of shut-eye can help prevent hypertension, too. Women here have the healthiest hearts in our survey.

6. Honolulu, HI

This tropical town has more than scenery: Waikiki women have the list’s lowest chance of dying of breast cancer and the second lowest for skin cancer—despite living in a place with 271 sunny days a year. Lung, colon and ovarian cancer deaths are also relatively rare. Continue Reading

Think Your Way To Good Health

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• Inspire

This is a great list-

Get out negative emotions. Letting negative feelings and emotions build up can cause negative health effects as they stress you out and make you feel bad overall. Give yourself an outlet to think about and deal with these emotions rather than just ignoring them.

Try hypnotism. Many people report that hypnotism allows them to change their thoughts and behaviors. While it may not work for you, it doesn’t hurt to try it out to see if it can’t help you to change your thinking about bad habits and negative attitudes.

Realize change is possible. When reflecting on things you want to change in your life, don’t get discouraged by goals that seem far off. Remind yourself of things you’ve changed in the past and use that to motivate you to change things from unhealthy habits to the way you deal with stress.

Think about things that energize you. If you’re feeling run down you may be able to use your brain instead of caffeine to give yourself a jolt of energy. Try thinking about things you love to do or that you’re excited about taking on. This may wake you up enough to get you started on your day.

Imagine yourself aging more slowly. They say you’re only as old as you feel, and that can be true if you think young. Visualize yourself aging more slowly and staying healthier longer and you may have a better chance of actually doing so.

Feel in control. Don’t let things in your life override the way you feel or think. Use your thoughtto figure out a way to get control of a situation whether it’s at work, at home or your entire life.

Embrace your faith. Studies have shown that having faith can have a big impact on your recovery from illness and possibly your overall health as well. If you do have a faith that you follow, make it a part of your mental wellness routine.

Trust in yourself. You won’t be able to change much with your thinking if the first thing that comes to mind is how you’ll likely fail. Trust that you can make a difference in any aspect of your life you want to bring more happiness or well-being to and chances are you will.

Be honest. There isn’t much use in trying to think yourself healthy if what you’re thinking is a lie. Be honest with yourself about your past, good or bad, and commit yourself to thinking about making realistic, healthy choices.

Live consciously. Don’t blindly go through life eating what is put in front of you or doing things just because they may be easier even though they may harm you in the long run. Follow your own thinking and make your own decisions about everything that comes into your life.

Accept what comes your way. There are some things in life that there is no way to change, no matter how much you think about them. Learning to turn your thoughts to acceptance rather than forcing things to change is a big part in maintaining mental and physical health.

Forgive yourself. We all make mistakes, do things we regret and go back on our word sometimes. Don’t let minor setbacks destroy the positive thoughts you have for yourself. Forgive yourself for these transgressions and start over fresh the next day.

Meditate regularly. Numerous studies have shown that meditation can have a very beneficial impact on the brain and even change how your brain processes things over time. Make time in your schedule for meditation and you may learn to control your stress and your mind.

Relax and let stress go. You can use your thoughts to help rid yourself of stresses. When you’re feeling overwhelmed take a minute to relax and focus your thoughts on something else. Over time, you may be able to better handle the big and little stresses that come your way.

Think about each breath. It can help to focus your thoughts and draw stress away if you make a conscious effort to think about each breath as you take it in and out. It will help relax you and bring you more in touch with your body’s rhythms.

Control your thoughts at bedtime. For many who are stressed, getting to sleep at night can be a challenge. Use your thoughts to shove out all the worries and tasks that are floating around and to concentrate on relaxing, restful thoughts even if that means just counting sheep. Continue Reading

How Date Night Might Effect Your Marriage

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• Wellness

Most couples know their marriages are happier when they make time to have fun. But often it’s the fun that’s first to fall by the wayside as demands pile up, especially in a trying economy when couples often work long hours or hold down more than one job.

Now research from the University of Denver supports the idea that finding moments to be together free of financial, family or other stresses — just to have fun together — is not an indulgence.

“The more you invest in fun and friendship and being there for your partner, the happier the relationship will get over time,” says Howard Markman, a psychologist who co-directs the university’s Center for Marital and Family Studies.

“The correlation between fun and marital happiness is high, and significant.”

For men, the connection is even more important, the researchers say. They found that men are more likely than women to call their spouse their best friend.

Markman and co-director Scott Stanley in 1996 began a long-term study of 306 Denver-area couples. The yet-unpublished study is based on a fun and friendship scale the pair developed, with statements such as “We regularly have great conversations where we just talk as good friends,” and “My partner really listens to me when I have something important to say.” They analyzed questionnaires from a subset of the sample — 197 couples in their second year of marriage.

One of the reasons couples have trouble is that they have different takes on fun and bonding, Parrott says. “Intimacy and friendship for a man is built on shared activity, but for women, shared activity is a backdrop for a great conversation. What she wants on date night is a time of intimacy and friendship. He’s disappointed because she’ll never go to a game or golfing, and it’s during shared activities that his spirit is most likely to open up.”

Thomas Bradbury, who co-directs the Marriage and Family Development Laboratory and Relationship Institute at the University of California-Los Angeles, believes having fun together can become a self-fulfilling prophecy for couples: “People in happy relationships generate these activities, and as they generate these activities, it keeps their relationship strong and healthy and fresh.”

Source: ABC News ” Married Couples Who Play Together Stay Together”

How To Keep An Affair Away By Using Feng Shui

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• Wellness

If you aren’t familiar with feng shui it the aim of feng shui is to create a living and working environment in harmony with nature and the flow of energy. Proper practice of feng shui is meant to maintain good health, wealth, relationships, creativity and other parts of life. Feng shui is a very old and amazing practice. It can be used for ever single aspect of life.

Ward Off Commitment Phobics
If you habitually hook up with lovers who fear commitment, clear your Love Gua of fragile ornaments and unstable furniture. Place two handsome pottery bowls side-by-side on a sturdy shelf or table. Leave the bowls empty until you’ve met your love match. Fill the pots with matching plants once you’ve met your soul mate. (It won’t be long now!)

Stop Being a Lone Wolf
Are you having trouble finding a mate? Check your Love Gua for artwork and photographs depicting lone images. Signal your desire for romance by displaying a beautiful image of a romantic couple in this space. A single chair can also ward off love. Replace it with an attractive love seat that is covered with sensual fabric. Above all, check that your bed has enough space on either side for a person to comfortably enter and exit.

Discourage Unwanted Company
If you’ve been the victim of an extracurricular love affair, take steps to prevent this from ever happening again. Make sure that your Love Gua and bedroom are clear of images that are triangular in shape. This includes diamonds, sunbursts, and pyramids. Position the bed flat against the wall. If you must place the bed on a diagonal slant, place a tall plant in the empty space behind the headboard. Otherwise, you will be drawing further unwelcome energy into the bedroom. Above all, avoid triangular headboards like the plague!

Spice Things Up
If your relationship is as comfortable as an old shoe, boredom can ensue. Spice things up a little by keeping both your Love Gua and bedroom spacious and airy. Ideally, your furnishings should not take up more than half the total space of these areas. Relocate big, cumbersome pieces to other parts of your home. Position scented candles in front of a bedroom mirror and light them each night. The leaping flames and fragrant aroma will add zest to your love life. A string of fairy lights can also help.

Source: AOL Feng Shui

Eco-nize Your Halloween Fun

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• Eco Friendly

It’s that time of year again. Time to pull out the orange and black decorations to showcase our Halloween spirit. What better way to have fun with the family then do make the decoration together. Since this year we are in a green mind set why not set out to find some great Halloween ideas that can be re-used, reduced, and recycled.

Egg Carton Bats

Materials:
Egg carton • Black Paint • Googly Eyes • Yarn (any color) • String • Scissors • Glue • Paint Brush

Directions:

1. Separate three cups from an egg carton using scissors.
2. Cut out part of the bottoms of each end cup to look like bat wings.
3. Paint all three cups black including the underside and let dry.
4. Glue two googly eyes and yarn for a mouth on the middle cup.
5. Thread a string through the top of the middle cup to hang.

Toilet Tissue Roll Bat

Materials:
Empty Toilet Tissue Roll • Black Paint • Black and White Construction Paper • Scissors • Glue • Black and Red Marker

Directions:
1. Paint toilet tissue roll black and let dry.
2. Trace two bat wings and two triangle shaped ears on the black paper and cut out.
3. Cut two small triangle shaped fangs, a small circle for a nose and two circles for the eyes from the white paper.
4. Glue on construction paper pieces to the toilet tissue roll.

Why not make some cookies from scratch. Simple sugar cookies are great Halloween treat for parties or family fun. Continue Reading