According to Ayurveda, the ancient Indian science of health and healing, the Kapha Dosha (humour) is primarily responsible for fat and adipose tissue in the body and therefore reducing Kapaha is the key to a successful weight loss program. Below you will find some effective tips from ayurveda to help reduce Kapha Dosha and thus battle obesity and being overweight.

Of the four dimensions of our being, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual, in this article I will cover the Physical Dimension which is most important for the reduction of Kapha and the correlating reduction in weight.

Weight Loss Tips from Ayurveda:

1. Ayurvedic Diet for Weight Loss:

Obviously an anti-kapha diet is the place to start when looking to lose weight. This means eating lots of fruits, vegetables, spicy foods and whole grains.

2. Exercise for Weight Loss:

The following Ayurvedic guidelines should be followed for proper exercise with regard to weight loss:

* More Exercise the Better: Kapha\’s qualities of fixed, dull, heavy, soft and cold are all negated via exercise. In other words, the more exercise you do the more you reduce Kapha and therefore fat in your body.

* Exercise Without Excessive Strain: According to Ayurveda, Kapha individuals need the most vigorous exercise, but at the same time, the exercise should never be extreme. Find a good balance between doing too little and over doing it. Breaking a nice sweat is good, but being totally breathless is probably too much.

* Be Consistent: A Kapha body type has a propensity towards weight gain so you need to make exercise a daily part of you life. The hardest part will be to get the exercise program underway. Once this is done Kapha people tend to be very determined and steady, so they will be able to adhere to it long term. Getting started though is another matter for Kapha types and usually requires shock treatment. In the spirit of shock treatment, understand that by NOT exercising and NOT losing the weight you are putting your longevity and quality of life at risk. Enough said, start today!

* Yoga for Weight Loss: Yoga offers an excellent way to include holistic exercises into your fitness program. These exercises will not just help you lose weight, but will also help your overall health and well-being.

* Post Exercise Diet: After exercises do not drink cold liquids. This period is key as you are trying to increase the metabolic fire in your cells so they burn more calories and drinking cold liquids at this time will negate this important benefit which exercise bestows.

3. Hard Physical Work to Burn Calories:

According to Ayurveda reduction of Kapha is promoted by living a physical, active lifestyle. In today\’s age of technology, computers, TVs, TiVO, internet, etc, manual labor is getting more rare for people to do. So you need to consciously incorporate physical work into your life. Whether that be mowing the lawn, tending to the garden or shoveling snow, it is important to not live a sedentary live of watching TV and eating twinkies.

4. Massage Therapy to Reduce Fat:

There are many treatment modalities in Ayurveda of which massage is highly recommended. In the context of weight loss and reducing Kapha, strong massage with light oils such as mustard or flaxseed is helpful.

5. Sleep Guidelines for Weight Loss:

No napping or going to bed early. If you want to reduce Kapha and weight remember you burn more calories when you are awake and being active, than when you are happily snuggled under the blanket.

The above recommendations will surely help you with your weight loss goals and in addition to helping you get slim, they will also make you more healthy and fit.

Hemorrhoids in pregnancy can turn an otherwise healthy pregnancy into a nightmare. Read on to see why pregnant women get hemorrhoids and what you can do to prevent or relieve hemorrhoids during pregnancy.

As a certified nurse midwife I have treated many cases of pregnancy and hemorrhoids. It was not until I personally experienced hemorrhoids during pregnancy that I understood how painful these little monsters can be.

What are hemorrhoids?

Hemorrhoids are swollen varicose veins on or around the anus. The veins within the anal canal become swollen because of weakened vein walls allowing blood to pool. This causes the walls of the vein to expand creating the visible ball on the outside of the anus called a hemorrhoid.

What causes pregnancy hemorrhoids?

Pregnancy requires a woman to increase her total blood volume by 40% to accommodate her growing baby nutrition and circulatory needs. This increase in blood volume requires that the pregnant woman’s blood vessels relax and expand to hold the extra blood. This is one of the major reasons why pregnant women are prone to blood clots, varicose veins and hemorrhoids.

Pregnant women are also prone to constipation due to extra fluid absorption and relaxation of the bowels.

Constipation combined with the increased pressure on the rectum and perineum due to the growing baby is another reason for hemorrhoids during pregnancy.

Types of pregnancy hemorrhoids:

Internal hemorrhoids during pregnancy:

You can’t see or feel these hemorrhoids, but straining or irritation from a passing stool can injure a hemorrhoid’s delicate surface and cause it to bleed. You may notice small amounts of bright red blood on your toilet tissue or in the toilet bowl water. Because internal anal membranes lack pain-sensitive nerve fibers, these hemorrhoids usually don’t cause discomfort. Occasionally, straining can push an internal hemorrhoid through the anal opening. If a hemorrhoid remains displaced (prolapsed), it can cause pain and irritation.

External hemorrhoids during pregnancy:

These hemorrhoids tend to be painful. Sometimes blood may pool in an external hemorrhoid and form a clot (thrombus) causing severe pain, swelling and inflammation. When irritated, external hemorrhoids can itch or bleed. The pain of hemorrhoids may be comparable to being stabbed in the rectum by a knife or hot poker.

What can you do to treat hemorrhoids during pregnancy?

The good news is that hemorrhoids usually improve after the baby is born. In the meantime, there are a number of things you can do to treat hemorrhoids. Any one or more of the following may help relieve hemorrhoids during pregnancy:

Take a warm bath with baking soda or place baking soda (wet or dry) on the area to reduce itching.

Use witch hazel to reduce swelling or bleeding.

Use Tucks Medicated Pads.

Avoid sitting or standing for long periods.

Drink plenty of fluids.

Drink prune juice.

Do not delay going to the bathroom.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

If you are suffering very badly from pregnancy hemorrhoids please consult with your obstetric provider for hemorrhoid medication.

Mangosteen and minerals, 2 ounces twice a day has helped many pregnant women relieve inflammation and pain from hemorrhoids during pregnancy. Mangosteen is a fruit that has been used for hundreds of years as an all natural, pregnancy safe anti-inflammatory and a pain blocker. Mangosteen also supports you body to the demands of pregnancy.

Wondering where to get more information about a high quality mangosteen and mineral product then go to my pregnancy web site at http://www.VemmaMidwife.com

You may also be very interested in an amazing message that was telepathically dictated to me for humanity from my son when he was seven-weeks old. Yes you read correctly! I have the ability to communicate with baby’s emotions from inside and outside the womb. Down load this AMAZING MESSAGE FREE at http://www.PregnancySuccessCoach.com/Message_For_Humanity.html

If you wish to ask me a personal question about your pregnancy or an issue in your life then visit http://www.PregnancySuccessCoach.com/Ask_Hannah_Section.html

Hannah Bajor. C.N.M.,M.S.N.

Certified Nurse Midwife

Pregnancy Success Coach

Every month Anne LaFleur sends employees in her office a quiz about various wellness topics. When the topic was depression, she received twice as many responses as usual from co-workers.

When LaFleur, vice president of human resources at a credit union in Pawtucket, RI, took a Mental Health First Aid course in February, she quickly understood the reason for the high level of interest in mental health issues. The training also helped her identify people in her office who may be suffering a mental health problem and taught her how to provide help and refer people to self-help and professional resources. “The training made me realize that mental health issues are very common, yet one of the least talked about problems,” LaFleur says.

More than one in four people suffer from a diagnosable mental health problem in any given year. Mental illness likely costs businesses more than billion a year, billion of it in lost productivity. The statistics point to the significant need to incorporate mental health into burgeoning employee wellness programs, which have received a shot in the arm with the passage of federal healthcare reform legislation.

Mental Health First Aid has proved to be an ideal program to promote improved mental health in workplaces across the country.

LaFleur is one of more than 6,000 people certified in Mental Health First Aid since the training was introduced in the United States two years ago by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare along with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Those who participate in the 12-hour Mental Health First Aid course learn a five-step process to assess a situation, select and implement appropriate interventions and help a person developing signs and symptoms of mental illness or in crisis receive appropriate care. Participants also learn about the risk factors and warning signs of specific illnesses such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addiction.

Evaluations show that the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid program saves lives, expands people’s knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments, and reduces the stigma associated with mental illness by helping people understand and accept mental illness as a medical condition. One trial of 301randomized participants found that those who took the training had greater confidence in providing help to others, greater likelihood of advising people to seek professional help, and decreased stigmatizing attitudes.

Unexpectedly, the study also found that Mental Health First Aid improved the mental health of the participants themselves.

“By understanding the signs and symptoms of depression, I learned to recognize this in myself,” says Kellie-Ann Heenan, director of human resources at a company in Lincoln, RI.

Heenan, who had the training in February, has an adopted son from Russia who suffers from a number of emotional issues.

“The tools I learned made it easier to connect with him and better understand where he’s coming from,” she says. “In the end, the training improved my own mental health.”

LaFleur has also applied the lessons she learned in the course to her home life.

“My kids are in their 20s and they go through the typical ups and downs,” says LaFleur, “I use my Mental Health First Aid training to see how my kids are feeling.” LaFleur says she was surprised by the range of mental health issues covered in the course.

“We looked at how to deal with both crisis and non-crisis situations, and it made us very aware of the terminology we use that may not be socially correct,” she says, noting that describing co-workers as “crazy” or a “nut case” may be hurtful to people going through an emotionally trying time.

The training proved to be particularly helpful to Lynn Corwin last January when two fellow employees walked into her office in a panic. They told Corwin, director of human resources at the organization, that a co-worker was extremely upset about the recent earthquake in Haiti. The distressed young woman had a close friend in Haiti and had been unable to contact the person for five days. Fearing the worst, the woman was having difficulty managing her emotions, let alone being able to work.

While the two workers had no idea how to deal with the situation, Corwin sprung into action.

“I used what I learned in the course to calm the woman down and talk with her about how she’s feeling,” says Corwin. “I explained to her that it was OK to be upset, and to not be embarrassed about it.”

“The training left me with a greater sense of confidence about how to deal with a variety of people issues that come up in every office,” concludes Heenan. “There’s such a stigma around mental health and people don’t want to talk about it, so having the information gives me confidence that I’ll be able to handle these types of situations when they arise.”

Mens health concerns seem to have faded away as women’s health issues have come to the forefront of media and medical attention. Most men take their mens health concerns seriously only when they become too ill to work or in too much pain to ignore a problem any longer.

The health of men and potential problems are numerous and just as serious as many women’s health problems and require yearly doctor checkups as well. Mens health concerns are often overlooked and some are discovered too late to provide assistance or care for and it simply does not have to be that way.

Men and womens health concerns share a top contender for the cause of death for both men and women and is heart disease. If a man or even a woman changes their lifestyle and makes the necessary visits to their physician, heart disease can be detected and even prevented.

Health can improve with lifestyle changes including eliminating smoking and alcohol from daily life, regular exercise and eating a healthier, balanced diet. Statistics state that approximately 350,000 men die every year in the United States from heart disease and it can be avoided.

Cancer affects a mans health and claim almost two hundred thousand lives every year from lung cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer. Again, mens health and lifestyle changes as well as more frequent visits to the doctor can prevent or treat these life-threatening conditions along with the introduction of supplements or herbs like Saw Palmetto for the prostate. The reduction of fat and eliminating smoking and alcohol consumption as well as increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables into a daily diet can help prevent or maintain health during the treatment of these kinds of mens health issues. Another cancer that can present a challenge and isn’t often heard of is testicular cancer.

A male health concern that isn’t spoken of very often is that men are prone to become affected by both anger management issues and depression. Men are far more likely than women to commit suicide and early recognition and treatment can be effective and improve a man’s quality of life. Mens health issues also include diabetes, obesity, fatigue and frequent urination.

As men it’s critical to stay as healthy as possible. One of the best ways of doing this is to eat a healthy diet and do regular exercise. However, in todays busy world this isn’t always that easy so it’s best to find a workout routine that fits around your work schedule.