Stress Management - 10 Steps to Cope

If you've been told you're a workaholic, it's wise to take note. You don't have to have a 8 to 5 job to be a workaholic. When the scale is tipped towards constant work of any kind instead of balance between work and play, you probably know it, but may not be listening to the signs and symptoms along the road.

By ignoring the signals, stress can cause major health break down.
Your body may tell you it is under too much stress through insomnia, desire for binge eating, fatigue, and foggy thinking with trouble remembering and focusing. I add binge eating, because many head straight to comfort food when stress compounds.

As stress continues to burden the body, the immune system will be affected and system breakdown is inevitable. Below are some suggestions to rise victorious over stress and fatigue once your body starts to wave a red flag:

1) Take inventory of your life to determine if there is anything you're deeply unhappy about, including work, relationships, weight, etc. If any area in your life is shouting for attention, then address it. Either seek help from a professional or friend or go on a retreat and regroup your priorities.

2) Are you eating too many sweets? Sugar is addicting and well known to cause ill health. Either decrease your sugar intake or totally eliminate it from your diet. Poor nutrition will affect your mood, specially too much sugar.

3) Exercise daily, even if it is for 15 to 20 minutes per day. Exercise does not have to be aerobics or heavy. Gardening, walking, or dancing around the house to your favorite music will do you a world of good to improve circulation and fatigue.

4) Regular massage relieves any toxins and tension that may have built up in your muscles from stress. Take your own bottle of emu oil with you and ask to have it rubbed into sore muscles. Your skin will feel silky smooth and you'll get temporary relief from painful muscles as well.

5) Make sure the emu oil you buy has the seal of the American Emu Association on it, or it may be contaminated. You can find the highest quality Emu oil at http://www.cleure.com/.

6) It is always a good idea to retreat to a beautiful and tranquil setting either for a day or a weekend to re-energize. When you get back you will see things with a clearer mind.

7) Be productive and content on focusing only on today. The load of yesterday's problems plus worries of tomorrow can be too heavy to carry. The heavy load weighs on you and fatigue sets in. The overload makes you want to sleep, but the worrisome thoughts create insomnia.

8) Take the day off and visit a homeless shelter to volunteer and give to others. Your spirit will be uplifted with gratitude and thankfulness.

9) Take a day just to daydream. Your mind can manifest whatever you focus on and believe in. If you constantly focus on worries and problems, you magnify and attract those things into your life. Instead magnify the good things you would like to see in your life. You should exercise this for at least a few minutes daily.

10) Be grateful for what you have. Make a list of the good things in your life and think about them daily. Stay away from multi-tasking. Studies have proven we get more done when focusing on one thing at a time.

More Warnings About Cosmetics

Stores stock thousands of brands of cosmetics to help us look like the latest Hollywood actress.

We buy the ads and the products lock, stock and barrel to the tune of $200 billion in retail sales in the year 2000. According to TNS Media Intelligence, ad sales in 2006 for the cosmetic industry lead any other industry with a staggering 2.2 billion dollars.

These cosmetics in pretty containers that we dish out lots of money for, are more based on psychological factors rather than the price. The higher end cosmetics offered in stores base their price on hand holding, and the brand they have built with their packaging and advertising campaigns. These companies claim they spend millions on research and use more expensive ingredients.

Truth be told, the FDA does not assess the safety of cosmetics and the industry are left to police themselves. The basic ingredients used are mostly the same whether it's purchased at a high end counter in a fancy package, or for a tenth of the cost at a low end store.

As consumers what you need to know is that there are ingredients in high end or inexpensive cosmetics that could cause health concerns. For example, the following is a small list of ingredients that could cause allergies and possibly lead to chronic illness, yet found in many cosmetics. Others are know toxins:

Pthalates - Known toxin. Found in many nail polish, including expensive brandsAlcohol - Dries the skin

Salicylatic acid - Claimed for many uses, can cause allergies

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - This is an industrial detergent and can cause allergies

Herbal extracts, Essential oils - These may cause drug interactions if you're on a particular medication

Tea Tree Oil - This is a plant with anti-fungal properties that has become popular and added to many products. It's better suited for athlete's foot than cosmetics and skin care.

As wise consumers, we must become educated before buying cosmetics and skin care with our hard earned money.

As you can see, consumers must beware and become educated before going for the pretty package. There are two good websites that shed lite on this subject: Environmental Working Group (http://www.ewg.org) and Cleure (http://www.cleure.com).

Safe, Clean, and Pure Cosmetics and Personal Care

The natural product industry is indeed big business. In 2006 the natural product industry rose to over $56 billion dollars! This multi-billion dollar industry, wants you to go "natural" with all of your personal care and cosmetic products.

Consumers need to be aware that just because the label reads "natural", doesn't mean it really is.
There are no FDA (Food and Drug Administration) labeling guidelines or restrictions for adding the word natural to a product. Nor are any ingredients tested for safety by the FDA before manufacturers add them to the personal care and cosmetic products you buy.

In fact, real natural products would have to be kept in the refrigerator or it would become rancid!

The truth is that most "natural" ingredients such as herbs must be soaked in preservatives before adding them to a product. Since the preservative is not a separate ingredient, it does not need to be listed on the label. Therefore, you the unsuspecting consumer, think you are getting something natural, when you're not at all.

Before falling for the deceptive marketing of the word "natural" on a package, think about it. If the shelf life is over a week, it ain't natural! Actually, most products, natural or not, are made to last about two years on the store shelf.

A better option are products that contain "safe", tested for safety and truthfully labeled chemicals. Just like all natural ingredients are not natural and good, not all chemicals are bad.
The consumer advocacy organization Environmental Working Group lists which ingredients are toxic and must be avoided and even grades personal care and cosmetic companies for safety.

Check your favorite product out at their website www.cosmeticdatabase.org.

As consumers we need to be wise before spending our hard earned money on products that claim to be "natural" but really are not.