4 Benefits of Practicing Meditation

Meditation is great for all ages but becomes increasingly helpful during stressful times and with age. Meditation benefits spiritual, physical, and mental sectors of life. Making a goal to meditate more has the potential to add a multitude of benefits to the value of your lifestyle. Here are four specific benefits that meditation could bring to your life:

Good for the Heart 

Meditation has been shown to improve hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and high cortisol. With that being said, it could positively impact your heart health. It could provide a natural cure for conditions that harm heart health.

Regulates Sleep Schedule 

Mind tired and body wired? Meditation can help the mind and body get on the same track. This could mean an easier time going to sleep and relaxing the mind and body when the time comes. Meditation can potentially cure insomnia with practice and in combination with other holistic health practices.

Increases Strength of Mental Health 

Meditation is a way to take a step back and look at the here and now. Learning to be still and clear the mind is a skill that will be applicable in nearly any stressful situation. Practicing meditation will allow your mind to handle stress and anxiety in a multitude of situations better. Meditation has been proven to give the mind more control over sleep, which has helped some insomniacs with their struggles getting to sleep.

Meditation also helps those with depression. Studies have shown that groups who have practiced meditation have shown fewer cases of depression and anxiety. Meditation decreases ruminative thinking and negative thoughts. It also has been found to help those struggling with an addiction to alcohol or other substances.

Weight Loss 

Meditation allows the mind and body to connect and listen to each other. This might help you realize that your body wants more natural foods and physical exercise. The mind has the potential to become increasingly aware of what the body needs to live fully. Meditation allows those struggling with their weight to look within and see what is best for their body and lifestyle. It allows you to think clearly while not being self-critical. 

Meditation increases the mind-body connection that leads to a happy spiritual, mental, and physical balance. A life full of mindfulness and meditation is life on a path towards balance and fulfillment.

Five Ways to Naturally Increase Cognitive Function

Diet, exercise, mental health care and small lifestyle changes  can make a huge difference in the way the brain works. Feeding our minds the right nutrients is crucial to staying alert and focused. These five tips can make or break daily productivity, increase cognitive function and decrease the chances of Alzheimer’s.

1.Eating Certain Foods

There is no single food that can promise strong cognitive function forever, but there are foods that have been proven to increase brain power. A diet high in leafy vegetables such as: broccoli, spinach and kale may help slow cognitive decline.

Naturally fatty foods also feed the brain. Some of these foods are: coconut milk, nuts, avocados and fish. Foods high in fat can decrease chances of Alzheimer’s disease.

2. Exercise 

Regular exercise changes the brain to improve cognitive function, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Exercise reduces anxiety, helps sleep patterns and increases quality of life. Exercise is great for the brain because it often clears the mind and allows relaxation. This might seem like it would exhaust the brain, but it actually increases focus. Exercise helps the mind fall asleep better at night also.

3. Getting the Right Amount of Sleep

Exercise helps the mind and body wind down and get to sleep, which is another essential lifestyle pattern that is best for brain activity. Nobody works well or can focus with lack of sleep. It may be fine for one night, but the body and brain take far too long to recover from poor sleeping habits. This confuses the mind and decreases focus. It is important to have a steady sleep schedule so the brain can take a break at night and feel recharged for the next day.

4. Avoiding These Foods

Stay away from bread and sweets, no matter how tempting. Eating healthy foods instead of reaching for a muffin at lunch can save the mind from crashing mid-afternoon. The sleepiness that happens after lunch is from eating the wrong foods that aren’t doing the mind any favors. It may be hard to stay away from unhealthy carbs and refined sugars, but the energy levels will be rewarding and make this lifestyle change worth it.

5. Meditation 

A Forbes article discusses that meditation can preserve the aging brain. Meditation also eases anxiety and depression, which can lead to a healthier life and increased focus. One study found that just 2 weeks of meditation increased the focus and memory for students taking the GRE. In a previous Relax Holistic blog post, we discuss how to begin a meditation regimen today.

Being conscious of how lifestyle choices affect cognitive function will bring the body one step closer to a healthier, happier life. These 5 tips are doable for most lifestyles and worth trying for the noticeable increase in brain function that will follow.

If You Haven’t Tried Smile Exercises, You’re Missing Out on Natural Health

natural health

You might think it sounds silly, but just like the rest of your muscles, you need to exercise your face muscles as well. You do curls to tighten and strengthen your biceps, why not do exercises for your face? You’ll save a lot of money and avoid going under the knife by doing these smile exercises instead of surgery like facelifts. Your holistic doctor will be happy, and you get to enjoy knowing that you’ve embraced natural health. These exercises will enhance your smile, reduce visible lines, and increase blood flow. With extra toned face muscles, you will look younger and healthier. You don’t need any expensive equipment, or a gym membership to do these exercises. All you need is a mirror.

The Smile Exercise

This is the first exercise you’ll want to do to begin rejuvenating your face the natural health way.  The first thing you’re going to do is start with your face and lips relaxed. After that, stretch the corners of your mouth to the sides without letting your lips separate. Once you’ve got your mouth in position, hold for ten seconds. After ten seconds you’ll expand and stretch part of your lips to expose about half of your teeth, and hold for another ten seconds. After that ten seconds, you’re going to smile as wide and hard as you can, showing all your teeth. Again, you’ll hold this for ten seconds. Once you’ve completed your last step, do all the steps in reverse until you get to the relaxed state.

The Smile Line Eraser Natural Health Exercise

The next step in your natural health journey to facial rejuvenation is the smile line eraser exercise. This exercise will get rid of the fine lines that appear around your mouth. This exercise has a name in yoga, which is the fish pose. First, you’ll purse your lips as dramatically as possible by sucking in your cheeks and rolling your lips out. Try to smile while you’re doing this, and hold your pose as long as you can before releasing.

The Silly Rabbit

If you have kids this is a fun one to do with them, which gives you the opportunity to teach them about natural health early. Smile as wide as you can without opening your lips. Once you’ve got your big smile on, wiggle your nose like a rabbit, then hold this pose for five seconds. For best results, you should do these 10 times.

The Face-Lift

Your final smile exercise is the aptly named Face-Lift. To do this one, open your mouth slightly with your upper lip relaxed, flare out your nostrils and wrinkle your nose in an exaggerated motion. Then, pull up your upper lip and hold it that way for 10 seconds. After ten seconds, slowly release your lip. This is another exercise you’ll repeat 10 times.

Try not to laugh, though smiling is encouraged. If you do this you’ll save a lot of money on a facelift, and you’ll avoid any surgery or toxins, keeping yourself in natural health. The doctors at Relax Holistic can help you create a full natural health plan, from exercise to diet. You can call (310) 838-1600 for the Culver City location, (310) 652-3200 for the West Hollywood location. If you prefer to do things online, you can request an appointment from any page on the website, or fill out the contact form on the homepage.

How does Rapid Release work?

How does Rapid Release work?

Rapid release is a high speed vibration therapy that delivers immediate results. It loosens muscles, speeds recovery, targets problem areas quickly and effectively. Great for…

rapid-release-tech

  • Massage
  • Breaking Up Scar Tissue
  • Breaking Muscle Adhesion
  • Warming Up Muscles Prior To Athletic Events
  • Relaxing Muscles

Optimize your Mobility. Prevent Injury. Train Smarter. Recover Better.

Soft tissue disorders are usually a result of overuse, injury or surgery.

The Rapid Release Pro2 is embraced by chiropractors, athletic trainers, cross fit athletes, massage therapists and other practitioners. Professional sports organizations including teams in the MLB, NFL, NBA, PGA, Olympics and more use Rapid release.

We can get you fast relief to soft tissue problems affecting nerves, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Here is a partial list of conditions caused by scarring of soft tissue:

Rapid Release Tool

  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Tendinosis
  • Muscle Spasms
  • Trapped Nerves
  • Range of Motion
  • Contratures
  • Neuromas
  • Adhesions
    • Back Pain
    • Shoulder Pain
    • Ankle Pain
    • Headaches
    • Knee Problems
    • Tennis Elbow
    • TMJ

Patients love the effective, relaxing treatments.

Scar Tissue forms in the body as a temporary patching mechanism for wounds caused by surgery, trauma or repetitive stress. This scar tissue is made from collagen just like our skin but without blood supply it dies, dries out, constricts and becomes brittle. Scar tissue fastened to tissues not normally connected, is called an adhesion.

Adhesions can spread, entrapping nerves, causing pain and numbness or limiting range of motion. Un-diagnosed pain and restricted mobility are likely to be caused by the adhesion. Scar Tissue Therapy ™ is focused on relief of soft tissue problems caused by scar tissue adhesion. The shearing force of planar wave energy passes safely through flexible healthy tissue, but readily absorbed by the brittle, dense scar tissue.

Scar Tissue Therapy is fast, painless and lasting.

RRT has determined the optimum frequency that resonates with the scar tissue for maximum effectiveness by using high speed video shot at 2000 frames/second. With only a 2mm stroke, this therapy is feels good and is completely safe. We believe that Scar Tissue Therapy™ is the most effective way to treat painful scar tissue. Our practitioners at Relax Holistic use this therapy to re establish improper muscular function due to scar tissue or adhesions, caused from surgery or muscle or tendon injury.

In just one visit there is noticeable improvement in range of motion and decreased Pain.

Candida and Its Effects On Your Overall Health

Candida and Its Effects On Your Overall Health

Candida is a common condition but is also less well known. Many bodily disorders are associated with Candida, so it is important to recognize if you do have it.

Candida is yeast overgrowth and it can affect many different areas of the body. Yeast overgrowth emits toxins into the body that result in chronic illness and causes a variety of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritability, and ‘foggy’ brain.

If you have Candida, don’t fret. We will go over how to test for it, understand its causes, recognize the symptoms, and offer holistic care options available to you for treating it.

Testing for Candida

A simple way to test whether you have a yeast imbalance is to take the spit test. This is something you should do first thing in the morning without having put anything in your mouth yet.

You will need to grab a clear glass and fill it with distilled or filtered water. Do not use tap water as it may contain many impurities that will affect your test. Collect saliva in your mouth with your tongue and spit it into the glass. Observe what happens to your spit for 15 minutes to see if yeast colonies are present in your saliva.

Yeast colonies are present if you see:

  • Saliva stays at the top and you see thin strands that look like strings or spider legs extending downward
  • Saliva floats to the bottom and looks cloudy
  • You observe little specs floating in saliva

Symptoms

Candida can affect all parts of your body as it doesn’t discriminate. Here are different areas of the body that Candida effects and their symptoms:

Head: dizziness, fatigue, mood swings, anxiety, depression, insomnia, bad breath, migraines, headaches, poor memory, brain fogginess in the morning, cravings for sugar, earaches, sinusitis, poor vision, floaters, and learning disorders

Body: joint pains, fibromyalgia symptoms, muscle weakness, rashes, itching, eczema, chronic fatigue syndrome, sore throat, flu-like symptoms, muscle pain, digestive problems, insomnia headaches, fever, swollen glands, exhaustion, swollen body and weight gain

Digestion: abdominal gas, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating after eating, constipation, diarrhea, cramping, GERDS, indigestion, vomiting, and stomach pains

Genito-urinary: Vaginal yeast infections, premenstrual syndrome, infertility, impotence, prostatitis, jock itch, diarrhea, constipation, cramping, and acid reflux

Causes

The most common type of candida involves gut flora.  The health of intestines is key to the overall health of your body. When your gut flora is unhealthy, you will usually suffer adversely. Several other factors that influence yeast overgrowth in the body are:

  • Antibiotics – One or more cycles of antibiotics is enough to weaken the digestive system.
  • Regularly eating refined sugars, starches.
  • Regularly drinking soda or alcohol.

Candida and other intestinal conditions affect your holistic health

Curing Candida with Holistic Care

If any of these observations occur, don’t panic as Candida and most diseases of the body can be easily addressed!  It takes just a little guidance and a bit of willpower for 3 months to rid oneself of unwanted yeast. You may need to change your diet as well as consider holistic care options such as acupuncture.

Our Relax Holistic Acupuncturists can address concerns of symptoms you may have arising from yeast, with acupuncture treatments that correct yeast imbalance and dampness in the body.

Relax Holistic has three convenient locations in West Hollywood, Marina del Rey, and Culver City. Call for a free consultation and they will be happy to discuss any health concerns with you.