Mind Power To Think Away Pain

Pain can be mysterious, and its causes unknown. But if you could see the pain -- or, at least, your brain's reaction to it -- you might be able to master it.
A study asked people in pain to control a pain-regulating region of the brain by watching activity in that area from inside a real-time magnetic resonance imaging machine. Results showed subjects could reduce their pain dramatically.Humans can take control of a specific region of the brain, and thereby decrease pain, "Most people found it very exciting to be able to watch the activity in their own brain, moment by moment, as it took place," A pain psychologist Texas, said she thinks the study lends scientific data to what scientists already knew empirically -- that people can decrease their own pain by focusing on certain thoughts.

It probably also helped that subjects could watch their brain activity unfold on a screen, she said. For years, some therapy methods have allowed patients to monitor and try to control their biofeedback by concentrating on things like skin temperature and heart rate.It will be some time before such therapy could be available for commercial use.

They're investigating the process and right now they're focusing on a study to investigate the effects of long-term neuroimaging therapy. One day, patients may even be able to think away other problems like depression, anxiety and dyslexia."We don't yet have a good answer to what happens if you keep practicing and practicing," he said. The magic here is that as humans, we have in fact the power to control our levels of pain with our mind. Such a feeling is overwhelming and we tend to feel victim to the pain we experience. However, with the power of relaxation and visualization, patients have cured themselves of violent migraine headaches, and even been able to undergo surgery without any anesthesia.In The Science of Being Well Home Study Course, you will find some exercises in chapter two to show you exactly how to reduce the amount of pain you experience, and make it disappear completely. Strangely enough, it starts with focusing directly on the pain. In our experience, we tend to do the opposite and will the pain away, to deny it and attempt to block it. However, we must learn to recognize that pain is a trigger survival mechanism in the body, alerting us that something is out of balance.

Simple techniques can help you immediately to stop physical pain and assist you in feeling better and looking younger. In the Science of Being Well Home Study Course, you will find many examples and stories to help you develop your own powers of healing using simply the power of your mind. This is not revolutionary. These secrets have been around for ages. To learn more, claim your FREE report of the First Secret to Abundant Health on www.thescienceofbeingwell.biz today!!

By: Dr. Laurence Magne
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Self Improvement And Motivation

Natural Therapies For Back Pain: Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Yoga And Herbs

by: Caroline Colby

Back pain can cause you immense pain. Other than drug medications, there are many natural therapy methods for your pain. Take a proactive approach to your pain and you will then be able to live life to its fullest. Here are some facts to reveal how common back pain is. Back pain in the U. S. currently accounts for approximately 50-60% of pain complaints for workers. It is surprising to note that it does not matter what type of job you hold. Whether you are a factory worker to a professional, you are equally susceptible to back pain as your colleague. Back pain not only afflicts the working population in general, but there are other causes for pain as well. Degenerative diseases like osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect more of the female population.

Spinal cord injuries resulting from accidents are another leading cause to back pain. Natural therapies for back pain tend to focus on holistic principles. This means the integration of the physical, psychological and spiritual components of life toward treatment. Some researchers say that your social, economic and cultural background can indicate whether you are more likely to experience back pain in the future or not. Neuromuscular Therapy is a new type of natural therapy for back pain. There are many clinics that provide massage therapy in the U.S.Deep body massages can aid you by massaging away pain from nerves that are swollen within muscle tissue, and improve the flexibility of your body. Massage therapy also helps you to relax and that helps in back pain pain relief.

Another beneficial natural therapy for back pain that people have found advantageous is acupuncture. Acupuncture is a 2,000-year-old Chinese treatment, which stimulates the nerve pathways through the spinal cord and to the brain, with the use of needles. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a painful therapy at all. The use of the needles stimulates the nerve pathways to release hormones, so your brain do not experience pain as much. Also, the body stimulates release of other hormones to aid in healing. A good exercise for reducing back pain is yoga. The practice of yoga grew out of eastern therapies of medicine and religion beliefs. Hatha and sivananda yoga are beneficial because they are gentle in the physical training, and the two various styles of yoga use relaxation techniques through proper breathing and meditation states. Through relaxation and meditation, muscles relax and external stressors are eliminated.

This benefits your body because the overactive electrical impulses that make your muscles tense are reduced. Lastly, a natural therapy for back pain is with the use of herbs. Herbs are non addictive and in most circumstances, do not result in major side effects. One popular herb is boswellia because it does not produce inflammation. When boswellia is used it will reduce stiffness because blood supply is increased in the back. Ginger is useful too in your fight on back pain. It stops pain-causing hormones from being released. Also, ginger can be used on a long-term basis. Over the counter back pain products that contain menthol and camphor are also particularly helpful. Be sure to seek the advice of your healthcare practitioner the next time you pay him a visit. Discuss the various options of massage therapy, yoga or acupuncture as complementary therapies. Many healthcare practitioners are more open to these options than ever before. Who knows? One of these therapies may just be what you are looking for in terms of pain relief.

About The Author Caroline Colby writes on massage therapy. She believes that this form of therapy helps improve blood circulation and is effective for cases of arthritis, back pain, headaches and other common health ailments. For more articles and resources, please visit http://www.massage-therapy-central.com.

Enlightenment

The Roots of Hatha Yoga

by: Jennifer Marie Jordan Hatha Yoga is the yoga that most people know as simply, “yoga.” Practiced for emotional and physical health and wellness, Hatha Yoga focuses on both the purification of the mind and the body, aiming to pave a path to vitality and wholeness. Hatha Yoga was introduced by a man named Yogi Swatmarama, a yoga sage in 15th and 16th century India. Known for calmness and peacefulness, Yogi Swatmarama is a name that has now become synonymous with delight, one who paved the way for an exercise that enhances the mind, body and spirit. He began with Hatha Yoga by writing the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a Sanskrit that was based on Swatmarama’s own experiences as well as the words of older Sanskrit texts. It details information about asanas, bandhas, kriyas, shakti, pranayama, and several other areas.

The book, as well as Hatha Yoga itself, is rich with hints of Hinduism. Perhaps the oldest religion in the world, Hinduism is a religion based on acceptance, building its foundation on a plethora of text and scriptures. It aims to teach people mystical truths, while providing guidance on how a person can grow to become morally, spiritually, and physically whole. Hinduism also believes the “Heaven on Earth” concept, noting it’s possible to achieve salvation while alive rather than only in death. Part of this salvation is achieved through balance. Because the word “Hatha” is derived from Sanskrit words meaning sun (“Ha”) and moon (“Tha”) it only makes sense that Hatha Yoga places a lot of concept on the focus of balance. A type of yoga that teeters between two streams (the Ida (mental) and the Pingala (body) currents), Hatha Yoga uses the Shushumna Nadi (the current of the self) to open up various Chakras (cosmic points within the body that are awaiting release).

Once this happens, a state of quieted thought and a still mind occurs while consciousness remains. This is called Samadhi and it is known as a stated of bliss. Hatha Yoga is based on holistic principles, moral disciplines and physical exercise. It focuses greatly on poses (Asanas), breathing techniques (Pranayama) and meditation. Similar to the sun versus moon concept upon which its name is based, Hatha Yoga take energies that are in opposition – dark and light, yin and yang, fire and ice – and uses them to find a balance between the mind, body, spirit, and external forces of life. A variety of breathing techniques, meditations, and poses all help to drive the person doing Hatha Yoga to a path of enlightenment. Among some of the most practiced poses are Bhujangasana, also known as the Cobra; the Eka Pada, also known as the one-legged king; the Halasana, also known as the Plow; the Padmasana, also known as the Lotus; and the Simhasana, also known as the Lion. Hatha Yoga, like the word “yoga” itself, greatly uses the concept of unity, the unity between man and nature as well as the unity within each person: without unity between the mind and the body, it’s hard to accomplish anything.

Depending on the individual, Hatha Yoga may be used to unite people with different things. For some, Hatha Yoga may be used to form a union with God, the Self, ones True Nature, or the Divine. For others, Hatha Yoga may be used to unite them with a much needed recovery from a stress in their life. Still for others, Hatha Yoga may be used simply as a way to unite them with themselves. Hatha Yoga, having been around for hundreds of years, is rooted in principles that will never change, however as times are always changing these ancient principles can be evolved and applied to the 21st Century. Overall the roots of yoga teach people to obtain what everyone seeks: physical and emotional health, a clear mental state-of-mind, and a life driven not by worries, but simply by joy. TWISTED is a medical yoga studio at the Center for Osteopathic Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. Twisted integrates osteopathic medicine, hatha yoga and mindfulness practices to teach optimal balance between physical, mental, and emotional health. It aims to educate and help people to live a healthy life from the inside out. Rehabilitation programs offer a comprehensive treatment regime for the whole being, empowering each person one breath at a time to stimulate the body’s natural healing potential.

About The Author Jennifer Jordan is senior editor of http://www.yogatwisted.com/. Specializing in articles that not only teach yoga techniques, but also teach techniques on fulfillment and enrichment, she aims to educate students proudly enrolled in the school of life.

The Modern Period of Atheism

Modern Period of Atheism

By the 1770s, atheism was ceasing to be a dangerous accusation that required denial, and was evolving into a position openly avowed by some. The first open denial of the existence of god and avowal of atheism since classical times may be that of Paul Baron d'Holbach (1723–1789) in his 1770 work, The System of Nature. D'Holbach was a Parisian social figure who conducted a famous salon widely attended by many intellectual notables of the day, including Diderot, Jean Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Benjamin Franklin. Nevertheless, his book was published under a pseudonym, and was banned and publicly burned by the Executioner.

The pamphlet Answer to Dr Priestley's Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever (1782) is considered to be the first published declaration of atheism in Britain — plausibly the first in English (as distinct from covert or cryptically atheist works). The otherwise unknown 'William Hammon' (possibly a pseudonym) signed the preface and postscript as editor of the work, and the anonymous main text is attributed to Matthew Turner (d. 1788?), a Liverpool physician who may have known Priestley. Historian of atheism David Berman has argued strongly for Turner's authorship, but also suggested that there may have been two authors (see Berman 1988, Chapter 5).

Afterward, the French Revolution of 1789 catapulted atheistic thought into political notability, and opened the way for the 19th century movements of Rationalism, Freethought, and Liberalism. An early atheistic influence in Germany was The Essence of Christianity by Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872). He influenced other German 19th century atheistic thinkers like Karl Marx, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900).

Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Catholics and others who believe that she appeared to three shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917. The title of Our Lady of the Rosary is also used in reference to the same apparition; the children related that the apparition specifically identified herself as "the Lady of the Rosary". It is also common to see a combination of these titles, i.e., Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima

Between May and October of 1917, three shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto reported visions of the Virgin Mary in the Cova da Iria fields outside the hamlet of Aljustrel, very close to Fatima, Portugal. They had this experience on the 13th day of each month at approximately the same hour. Lúcia described seeing Mary as "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun."

A photostatic copy of a page from Ilustração Portugueza, October 29, 1917, showing the crowd looking at the miracle of the sun during the Fatima apparitions (attributed to the Virgin Mary)According to Lúcia's account, Mary confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fatima. She exhorted the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. The children wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. Most important, Lúcia said Mary asked them to say the Rosary every day, reiterating many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace. Many young Portuguese men, including relatives of the visionaries, were then fighting in World War I.

more on the Lady of Fatima

Hinduism

Hinduism is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. With its foundations in the Vedic civilization, it has no known founder, being itself a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. It is considered the world's "oldest extant religion," and has approximately a billion adherents, of whom about 890 million live in India, placing it as the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Hinduism provides a vast body of scriptures. Divided as revealed and remembered and developed over millennia, these scriptures expound on a broad of range of theology, philosophy and mythology, providing spiritual insights and guidance on the practice of dharma (religious living). Among such texts, Hindus revere the Vedas and the Upanishads and consider these as being among the foremost in authority, importance and antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Tantras and the sectarian Agamas, the Pura?as and the epic Mahabharata and Ramaya?a. The Bhagavad Gita, a treatise excerpted from the Mahabharata, is widely considered a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.

Hinduism Buddhism