Smile is Contagious

Many situations are resolved by just one smile. This is the power of a smile. Tense situations are also loosened by just a smile too. Smiling doesn't just make someone else's day better but also your own. It's a way to destress as well.

I went to the polyclinic for consultation yesterday as it was the 8th day that I had diarrhoea. Met this particular lady at the counter whom I think her serivce wasn't very good. The way she talk to my mother was rather rude. How nice if she would just smile when she talk.

Went to have my consultation when my number was called. Frankly saying, I was not very happy with how I was received by that doctor. Yes, she doesn't smile too. Her patient care is not up to standard. It really feels different to be a patient after experiencing how the life of a healthcare worker is.

Went to collect my medicines at the pharmacy later on. The staffs there were relatively friendlier. The cashier didn't smile at me initially. Smiled at me after I smiled at her.

Some may think that it's odd to smile when someone is not smiling at you. Well, someone somehow have to take the first step. I have been a little more initiative after NDP and my attachments. Still improving though. I can do it so can you.

Furthermore, one looks more beautiful when they smile. To look more radiant, smile more alright!

Cheers! ^^

Health Commentary

I have been reading this column recently. I find that it is rather interesting as it provides insights into the commonly and uncommonly known health problems. The website is http://healthcommentary.org/.

Even though most of the case studies used are based on United States, the main message about the health problems applies to other countries as well. Feel free to take a look as it caters to the general public with the layman terms used, making it easy to be understood.

In order to have a healthy lifestyle, it is always good to gain knowledge on the health issues beforehand. Wishing you great health and hope that you enjoy the articles!

Volunteerism

To many, volunteering may seems to be a waste of time as all you give are hard work and no monetary return. Besides from the one-sided effort, some may even be criticised for their hard work.

But why are so many people who are still continuing to volunteer for the various events? The reason is that the contributions would allow one to gain fulfilment spiritually that is worth a lot more than monetary rewards.

The job is of course inevitable to be tiring no matter what event that one is involved in. What really matters most would be the experience gained. Having unpleasant events not to occur totally is almost impossible. However, that doesn't mean that a volunteer can be treated with little respect for the sake that they are get themselves involved in events on their own accord.

For organisers, the welfare of volunteers should be taken care of as they are very great by sacrificing their time for the event while they could have been doing something else. Volunteering works are beneficial spiritually but that doesn't mean that all are that rewarding. As everybody are different, the volunteering work that suits one would be different. Furthermore, it is really not recommended to volunteer in an event if there is total no respect for the volunteers.

In conclusion, volunteering work is good for the soul and mind when it is done with the fact that the event suits the individual and that the individual do it with sincerity. It is of course wonderful if nothing undesirable occurs.

Cheers for the volunteers!

Know Your Limits

The main aim of exercise is to keep yourself healthy. It would defits the purpose of exercise if it is to be done excessively and improperly. Some factors must be taken note of while exercising to prevent the body from being harmed. Hydration is one of the main thing to be taken note of.

Besides from doing the necessary warm up, exercise should not be continued if you are not feeling well. Some may feel that they are uncomfortable in a way because they did not do their warm up well or they have not been exercising for a period of time. They would continue with their exercise because they somehow had reached a certain standard in the past. Well, as everybody's physical limits is changing constantly, any unwell felt must be taken note of. It is not recommended for one to continue exercising with any uncomfort felt.

Exercise through playing game may sometimes get one so engrossed in the game that they forget to hydrate themselves. Some may even focus so much on winning that they exert themselves over their body limits. This is something that is to be taken note of.

According to what I watched from a TV programme, it is recommended for one to drink 200ml of water every 30 minutes. For people who have just exercised, drinking of condensed water is not recommended as there may be dire consequences. Drinking of water that contain calcium and some other nutrients would be better.

Anyway, in short, I believe that you know your body well and what does the signals shown represent. Enjoy exercising with awareness!

Warm up!

Having sufficient warm-up is very important before attempting any exercise that are vigorous. This is to prevent muscle tear and spams for it would be really unpleasant.

I did some moves the other day without warming up and somehow sprained my ankle the other day because the muscles at my thigh is not ready for that sudden move.

Just want to remind you to remember to stretch well and get your body well warmed-up before attempting any vigorous exercise no matter how rush you are. I believe that you do not want to hurt yourself, with the fact that you are exercising to keep yourself healthy rather than hurting yourself.

A little tip here. Have a slow jog to warm up your muscles before doing stretching. This is to prevent you from tearing your muscles if you were to pull too hard.

Enjoy exercising!

Exercise

There are a lot of excuses that can be thought of and be used to get one throw his or her plan to do some exercise away. Instead of just jogging, one can choose to do some sports like swimming or badminton. They can sign up for lessons if they want to do the sports yet do not have the techniques.

Besides from sports, one can also choose to take up yoga classes or martial arts type of classes. It's not really sports but exercises that keep the body healthy.

If all these doesn't suits you, you can choose to take a stroll for about 15 to 30 minutes. Though it is not that vigorous type of workout, it's a form of exercise too. Instead of taking a bus ride to the train station, walking to the train station can be tried. Exercise and save money, cool huh?

For me, I don't really like the idea of going to an air-conditioned gym to workout. The main idea is to sweat out. I really enjoy jogging and the idea of learning yoga and martial arts though.

Wishing you healthy! ^^

Mood

It is normal for a human to have different moods in different situations. There are two main types of factors that determine the person's mood -- internal and external factors.

Our brain is more complex that what we may think it is. Music does affect, or rather determines, our mood. Instead of 'listening' to the music, our brain receives the wavelength that is transmitted from the music that the ear is listening to. The brain can even receives wavelengths that are unable to be captured by the ear. It is the wavelength received by the brain that cause the change in mood.

Besides from music, the air of the surrounding is also a determining factor of a person's mood. Different composition of the air would triggers the brain differently. This is why different frangrance are used in aroma therapy.

What I mentioned above are two external mood determinants. The internal determinant would be usually be the type of food consumed. What I would like to focus here is tea. There are many different types of tea that provides us with different effects. I am not sure about others. As for me, Chinese tea would refresh my mind and to an extent have a calming effect. English red tea however, would aid me in digestion. There is one tea that I have yet to try -- chamomile tea -- for it is rather expensive for me. Many books on herbal healing has mentioned about the calming effects that it will provide, which is good for curing headaches and pre-menstrual mood swings. Maybe you can give it a try if you feel that you can afford for the tea.

Anyway, to maintain a good mood, you have to be your own therapist. Only you yourself know what is the remedy to provide you with a calm mind. As for those that totally have no idea of what to do, I would recommend a combination of classical music with a nice cup of light tea. As for the air, just fresh air will do. You can also try placing fresh flowers or apples at home. Personally, I don't think artificial frangrance will work as well as nature frangrance.

Wishing you good mood every second! =)

Motivation

Hello my friends.

In life, there are the ups and downs. When we are feeling down, we really hope that there is someone by our side to boost our morale and make us feel better. This is a desirable situation which does not necessary occurs all the time when we are feeling down. It is true that external motivation can helps us gain back our confidence. However, the most important issue is internal motivation.

I have read a lot of articles online for motivation. There is a particular website that I would like to share with you.
http://www.lifescript.com/
This website contains not just healthy living tips for the body but also for the mind. What I would like to highlight here is Dr. John Sklare's column. His articles are rather unique and motivational. I believe that it is worth for you to take a look.

Happy Chinese New Year =)

Treating Insomnia

I believe that many of you out there are suffering from insomnia. Turning to sleeping pills seems to be the fastest way to solve the problem of a busy commuter. However, the usage of the pills may lead to some undesirable side effects. Before solving the problems, the root cause must be identified first. There are mainly two types of causes which are oversleeping and stress.

As an individual grows, the amount of sleep needed would tends to decrease. It is of course natural that one is unable to sleep in the night if the person has slept too much in the day, providing that the person hasn't been doing anything that is energy draining. What I would suggests is to get involve in activities instead of sleeping the whole day to kill time when there doesn't seems to be anything to do. There are actually a lot of things out there to be done. This would also at the same time help in balancing the soul and mind. If can't sleep, don't force yourself to sleep. Allow the nature of your body to take it's own course.

The best way to solve insomnia inflicted by stress is through natural means. What I mean by this is to consume healthy foods instead of pills. There are many types of nuts out there that provides lots of different types of nutrients that is very useful in body building. The eating of nuts before bedtime may aid one in relieving stress, and thus more able to sleep without trouble. In addition to that, one may also choose to drink a cup of milk with a spoonful of honey added, as it helps to relieve stress as well.

What I have listed here is just two ways out of the many ways available. So, do check out the other ways available and do share with me of the ways that you know of. Thank you and may you have sweet dreams and untroubled sleep everyday! ^^