Search Results for: blog ten more things to do with essential oils

Put Some Green In Your Spring

I’m attempting a greener spring, and not just outside but inside as well. When I think about how many chemicals my family is exposed to, inside the house, it makes me a little sick. I try to do the right thing and have as little impact on the is planet as I can but, let’s face it, we are all used to our modern conveniences. I’m typing this on a computer made up of lots of plastic and metal, connected to electricity and a modem, in a warm, well lighted house. All of those things come together for one little … Continue reading →

One Green Step At A Time

I really try to live a greener life, to have as little impact on the planet as possible. It’s not always easy and sometimes when doing the green thing takes longer or is more work, I’ll slip back into my neglectful ways. There are simple things you can do to reduce your family’s impact at home, things that don’t require a lot of thought and effort which means you will actually do them. The easiest thing is to implement meatless Mondays, or really any day you want, but one meatless day a week. Swap our your cleaners. As you run … Continue reading →

Ousting Anxiety: 11 Steps to Taking Charge of Your Life

Those of us with high levels of anxiety generally respond in one of two ways. We either immerse ourselves in one “productive” task after another, or we do nothing at all. The root cause is the same – fear that we do not have control over our lives. When we scramble around manically marking things of our to-do lists, we are holding out hope that the more we get done, the closer we’ll be to control. And the more control we have, the closer we’ll be to relief from anxious thoughts and feelings. After all, once we have nothing left … Continue reading →

Ask a Health Blogger: Dry, Bloody Nose

Lately when I blow my nose, I see red or brown streaks on the tissue. What’s going on? I’ve had a stuffy nose lately — but I thought it was just fall allergies. Should I be worried? I don’t think you have an emergency on your hands. My first question in response is: how dry is it in your house? When I have blood in my snot (red or brown streaks), it’s often because things are dry. I also tend to get nosebleeds a LOT during the winter. Something as simple as running a humidifier in your bedroom might help. … Continue reading →

Pets without Odors

When I invite a friend over, I go into a bit of a cleaning frenzy. I vacuum and dust and clean the bathroom… but I also brush the couches and pick mud out of the door tracks. I fuss over the various spots that various dogs have left on the carpet, hoping to somehow hide them with clever lighting or furniture movements. The only person who’s ever commented on or obsessed over the smell, however, is me. I have two big dogs and I worry that my apartment is stinky because of them. (I have the same worry about my … Continue reading →

How Clean is Your House – TV

As I was flipping through the channels last month, I saw something that caught my attention. A woman with a British accent was explaining all the bacteria she’d found in a family’s home. The father looked a little frightened. The mother looked as if she were going to be sick. I stopped flipping, and sat down to watch. And after the show was over, I got up and cleaned house in fear of what nasty bacteria were lurking in our sinks. This half hour show is called “How Clean is Your House” and can be seen on BBC and Lifetime. … Continue reading →

Five Tricks for Navigating My Mom’s Dementia-Filled Days

When my mom had her mini-stroke a few weeks back, it negatively impacted her dementia in a major way. She went from exhibiting mostly mild symptoms with a few moderate ones thrown in, to exhibiting mostly moderate symptoms with a few severe ones thrown in. If I was gulping about being a caregiver before, I’m triple gulping about it now. I had hoped some of this was related to the stroke and that in time she’d come back to me. But she’s not shown any improvement. If anything, she gets a little worse each day. This has presented major challenges … Continue reading →

What Your Nose Knows

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Don’t knock your nose — scientists believe that the nose is capable of recognizing thousands of smells. In fact, studies are showing that your sense of smell may be as much as ten thousand times sharper than your sense of taste. That’s pretty amazing! So how does smell work? Inside your nose are millions are cells that act as scent receptors. We have hundreds of different kinds of smell receptors that allow us to identify lots of different odors. Once your scent receptors detect a smell, they send the information to a cluster of neurons in the brain known as … Continue reading →

Herbal Stress Soothers

Thanks to both internal (PMS) and external factors, I’ve been feeling pretty stressed lately. When I found myself snapping at friends, family, and coworkers, I decided it was time to stop and do some damage control. First, I made a plan. I wanted some physical activity to help blow off steam and I wanted something to help me relax when I was done. For the physical side, I decided to clean the apartment. I’d have the added bonus of a fresh, clean home when I was done — and the chance to work some stress out of my system. For … Continue reading →

Skin Care in the Air

Travel can be rough on your skin. Really, it can be rough on your whole body: sitting still for hours, cramped conditions forcing weird contortions, and more. But for today, let’s focus on your skin. Despite being often surrounded by moist, fluffy clouds, the air inside an airplane is dry. Like desert dry — humidity levels can be as low as five percent. What does that mean for your skin? It means the air can strip away moisture and leave wrinkles and other imperfections more pronounced. As crummy and cranky and tired as flying makes me feel… I sure don’t … Continue reading →