"Pampering Yourself at home"

Pointers for Pampering Yourself in Just 30 Minutes a Week

(ARA) - Work, children, spouses, school and friends – your life is hectic. It’s hard to find time to do it all, let alone a half hour of quiet time for yourself. Yet setting aside just 30 minutes of “me time” each week can help you look refreshed and feel beautiful for days. Here are some tips for making the most of your weekly pampering routine.

* Make time during a shower or bath to exfoliate with a scented body wash, using a sponge or cloth. Concentrate on the areas where skin toughens up like the elbows and knees. Follow up with moisturizer on all areas of your body to keep skin smooth and soft. If your hair is feeling flat and dry from winter’s cold temperatures, try applying a hydrating masque before you blow dry your hair. These concentrated conditioners saturate and smooth the strands, nourishing the scalp for healthy, shining hair all season long.

* Flip on the humidifier as you emerge from the shower. Winter air is much drier than in the summer months, and the body notices it. Having a humidifier running in the bedroom keeps the skin softer and reduces breakage in the hair. Plus, humidifiers also can help with your breathing by loosening up the airways and defeating congestion.

* Treat your teeth to some pampering as well. Remember that smooth, polished feeling you get when you run your tongue over your teeth after walking out of the dentist's office? Now you can enjoy this intensely clean feeling at home. Crest Weekly Clean Intensive Cleaning Paste polishes teeth with ingredients similar to what dentists use, says Dr. Michael Apa, a dentist in New York City, and should be used as a complement to your regular brushing and flossing routine.

* Soak your feet in warm water with salts. Use a pumice stone to soften heels and calluses before giving yourself a foot and lower leg massage to relieve any remaining tension. Also, make professional pedicures last by touching up nail polish in between appointments.

* Finally, before crawling under the covers for a blissful night's sleep, continue the moisturizing treatment for your hands and feet. Lotion helps your nails grow strong and also slows down the signs of aging. Apply lotion on your hands and feet – avoiding the spaces between your toes – and slip on socks or gloves to hold in the moisture while you dream. Make sure you remove any jewelry before this treatment to protect the metal and stones.

Laugh Your Way to Stress Relief

The profits of laughter actually go deeper than we recognize. There are various responses inside your body that take place when you laugh and they all immediately assist with Stress Relief.

Even after a truly bad day having a good laugh can help place everything into perspective. It is a great way to bring out stress, and to improve the expectation of your day.

Laughter is among the best medicines for illness, depressive disorder, anxiety, relaxation, internal respiration and stress. To this instant their released research has displayed that laughter brings down blood pressure, keeps down stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and rises the immune system. … laughter creates healthy or positive emotions and is a great technique of Natural Stress Relief.

·Increased aerobic activity which applies your diaphragm a work-out and gains your body’s power to distribute oxygen.

·An addition in positive emotions that can attend in the battle of disease.

·Reduction of stress hormones including adrenaline, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.

·Improved and strengthened immune system.

·Improved blood pressure. This appears to have a more detectable effect in women.

·The cleansing of your lungs and respiratory system. When you laugh you empty your lungs and breathe refreshed air into your respiratory system.

It is far easier to be cheerful than to be grouchy and you will use less energy if you view your day from a happy perspective.


Relaxation Idea

Watch Cartoons!

There's a reason the Cartoon Network shows cartoons 24 hours. It's not for kids anymore! Watching cartoon and laughing at absurd situations helps us to relax and blank out our own troubles for a while.

Fun Relaxation Techniques

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Relaxing Can Be Fun

Relaxing isn't all hard exercise. Yes, it can be difficult once in a while – specially if you're just beginning to connect with places where you've expressed fear or stress for a long time. When you start to open up to the energies in your body, you may experience a period of frustration, or discomfort. However, it's possible to move through this phase fairly quickly, and reach a place where you'll be able to sense your body and learn to relax.

What fun relaxation techniques can parents do with theirs children and teens?

Children are encouraged to express themselves through music, creative movement and music-related activities. The goal is for children to enjoy their musical experiences and that enjoyment builds their self-esteem through positive and fun interactions.

These incorporate ”fun relaxation techniques” and provide opportunities for children to express themselves through singing, the use of rhythm instruments, dancing with scarves or ribbons and trying out several musical props.

You are never too young or too old. Many people who start taking music lessons as adults are doing so because they didn’t or weren’t able to when they were younger. There is usually much more carrying on than just improving musical skills. These lessons are often about coming through fears or old bad habits (negative self-talk) that have expanded over the years.

Children and adults alike enjoy these easy, imaginative, creative and fun relaxation techniques, for creating optimism, resilience and happiness.

The research proves that physically active healthy people have better cognitive ability and more zest for life than their inactive counterparts. Most people are very surprised to discover the link between their energy and vitality and their performance at work and home. Get prepared to experience inspired to take your health & physical fitness to the next level with fun relaxation techniques.

Three quick and fun relaxation techniques for you and your loved ones.

Happy Stretch

· While sitting down intertwine your fingers behind your head.

· Relax your elbows and shoulders.

· Smile, breathe, and stretch your elbows back.

· Feel your shoulder tightness releasing.

Repeat this calming exercise throughout your flight.

"Tension is who you believe you should be. Relaxation is who you are."

E-mail Meditation

While you are reading your e-mail, remember to breathe slowly and focus your attention on your breath. Make the out-breath two times longer than the in-breath. This will instantly calm you.

"Kind words may be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are really endless."

Together

Grab your friend or loved one and try this partner stretch.

· Stand side-by-side.

· Lift your outside leg up and place your foot on your inside upper thigh.

· If your foot slips, you can hold it up with your hand.

· Wrap your inside arm around your partner's waist and hold tight for balance and support.

· Stand tall and feel your head rise toward the sky.

· Breathe in unison and relax into the pose.

· Take 5 deep breaths.

· Switch sides with your partner and stretch the other leg.

"Happiness is made to be shared."