A Secret Method to Wipe Out Your Headache

A colon massage is a way to rub down your abdomen to stimulate the activity of the colon, getting things moving again. It can energize the muscular, wave-like contractions of the intestines (peristalsis) to move their contents along during digestion and, eventually send the waste products out the rectum. You can find relief from constipation; headaches; flatulence; bloating; and even fatigue. Another secret I will share with you is that by combining this method with therapeutic grade essential oils, you increase its effectiveness many-fold.

You can even teach your children to do a colon massage for themselves

You already know that over eating, or eating the wrong foods, can cause tummy aches, diarrhea, or constipation. Your food choices can also cause headaches. For example, eating too much salt and animal products could give you a squeezing, vise-like pain in the back of your head. A frontal headache can be caused by overindulging in sugar, chocolate, alcohol, or fruit juice. Side head pain can be caused by taking excessively greasy or oily food. Food additives, like MSG can cause pain at the top of your head. So, the next time you are stuck in the throes of a pounding headache, give yourself a colon massage using Essential Oils. See how quickly you find relief.

Let’s start with a quick review from your high school anatomy class. I know, you thought it was soooo boring, and you would never, ever use the information the rest of your life. Surprise! Here’s where that knowledge will come in handy.

The colon begins where the small intestine ends - on the lower right side of the abdomen. It proceeds upward to the bottom of the rib cage. Crossing the stomach, it stretches to the left side of your abdomen. For those of us who are older, or a little pudgy, the colon may droop in the middle. A longer portion of the colon drapes down the left side, connecting to the rectum, deep in the center of your body.

Begin by laying down on a flat surface – preferably on a bed or the floor. Bend your knees.

Apply a few drops of peppermint, fennel/anise, tarragon, diluted ginger, Release, Di-Gize, or even one of the citrus oils. All are excellent for digestive issues. If the essential oils are too intense, just rub a small amount of unscented vegetable oil (olive, sesame, almond, or coconut oil ) on top of the essential oil. You can also mix a drop or two of the essential oil with a teaspoon of the carrier oil.

With a closed fist or the tips of your fingers, begin massaging on the lower right side of the abdomen in small circles. Work up along the right side. Continue massaging across, a little under the rib cage. Then proceed to rub, in your circles, down the left side. Follow the path of the large intestine.

Take your time. There is no reason to rush. Massage at least 1-2 minutes before moving to the next area. Pressure can be applied during the massage. How much pressure depends on the tolerance level of each individual. Usually you will find an area that is exceptionally tender or downright painful. This is the area where you want to concentrate your massage. Start with a more gentle pressure, but stay with it until you can get in there and massage with conviction. More than likely, your headache originates from that very spot.

Continue massaging until you feel your headache dissipating or your abdomen feels soft and squishy and the tender spots are not quite so tender. I like to do at least 3-4 complete passes over the large intestine followed with gently kneading the center of my abdomen, to give the small intestine some encouragement. You might find that you will release gas or you may have to use the bathroom. Both of these are good signs.

I prefer to perform my own colon massages. You, on the other hand, might choose for someone else to do the massaging. The technique is still the same. Up the right side, across and down the left. If you do have someone available who can do foot reflexology, complete your session with them working on your large intestine vita-flex points in the same direction and using the same essential oils.

Colon massages can help to ease colic in babies and soothe digestive upset or headaches in children. Be sure to dilute the essential oil 50:50 before applying to their sensitive skin. For newborns, just massage lightly in a clockwise direction without the essential oils, opting to put the peppermint or Di-Gize on the bottoms of their feet instead.

Next time you have a headache, or feel bloated and gassy, Take a break and treat yourself to a colon massage with the extra added boost of essential oils. You may well find renewed energy to get on with your day.

A Simple, Inexpensive Method to Improve Your Health

How do we break the inflammation cycle and encourage the body to operate at a heightened level of efficiency?

Toxic substances stimulate the immune system to go into action. These substances can range from foreign chemicals to bacteria, viruses, fungus, or parasites.

The immune system’s response to toxins generates free radicals which create inflammation throughout the body. A healthy body can clear this inflammation in a short period of time. However, our day to day food, lifestyle, and environmental milieu hammers on our bodies. These assaults erode the efficiency of the body's anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Thus, inflammation builds up in various parts of the body leading to a degeneration of health and vigor.

Throughout the history of natural medicine, cleansing has been a mainstay - or at least beginning - for optimizing health. A variety of techniques have been used, for instance:

★ Fasting.
★ Modified fasting using fruit and vegetable juices.
★ Eating raw foods.
★ Following a mucus-less diet.
★ Supporting the blood and liver in their cleansing activities.
★ Using herbs, plant fiber, or salt water to purge the colon.
★ Colonics
★ Enemas.
★ Charcoal.
★ Stimulating the kidneys.
★ Sitting in a room or shelter which encourages profuse sweating.
★ Application of hot and/or cold water baths.

From the Aruvedic tradition of India comes yet another tool to add to this arsenal: oil pulling. It is mentioned in the ancient Ayurvedic text, Charaka Samhita, where it is called Kavala Gandoosha or Kavala Graha. It has been brought to the attention of modern practitioners by a Dr. F. Karach. He presented oil pulling in a paper before a meeting of oncologists and bacteriologists belonging to the Academy of Science of the USSR.

Oil pulling is a traditional Indian folk remedy for strengthening teeth, gums, and jaws. It helps to prevent tooth decay, bad breath, bleeding gums, dryness of the throat, and cracked lips. It is also used to reduce enamel wear from stomach acid in hangovers and bulimics.

Other systems of the body benefit from oil pulling as well. Dr. Karach lists these examples of ailments which are alleviated by oil pulling:

★ head-aches.
★ bronchitis.
★ tooth pain.
★ thrombosis.
★ eczema.
★ ulcers.
★ diseases of stomach, intestines, heart, blood, kidney, liver, and lungs.
★ women’s diseases.
★ diseases of nerves.
★ paralysis.
★ encephalitis.
★ prevents the growth of malignant tumors, cuts and heals them.
★ chronic sleeplessness.

The procedure is simple, inexpensive, and uses readily available ingredients. First thing in the morning (and before meals, on an empty stomach), oil is swished around in the mouth for 15 to 20 minutes, then spit out. That is all there is to it. No fancy equipment or complicated techniques are required.

Cold pressed sesame oil is regarded as the best oil for this use. Extra Virgin coconut oil or Sunflower oil also comes highly recommended. If these are not available, you may try refined oils or another pure vegetable oil that does not have genetically modified sources. However, oils other than sesame or sunflower have not been shown to be as effective.

Sesame oil is derived from the plant Sesamum indicum of the Pedaliaceae family. The seeds of the plant are known as benne, 'gingelly' or 'teel'. It is often used for cooking and as a flavor enhancer in Indian, Chinese, Korean, and to a lesser extent Southeast Asian cuisine. Due to the natural antioxidants present in the oil, it is least prone among cooking oils with high smoke points (its average smoke point is 420°F) to turn rancid when kept at room temperature. Still refrigeration is recommended for optimum freshness.

Sesame , one of the first crops processed for oil, is considered the queen of the oil seed crops because of its nutritional qualities and many desirable health effects. Few people have allergic reactions to sesame. If you have a mild allergic reaction, try a different brand of oil, as manufacturing practices vary from one to another.

Sesame oil has a high concentration (41 percent) of polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is a good source of vitamin E. Among six edible plant oils tested, sesame oil had the highest antioxidant content. The antioxidants present in it are mainly sesamol, sesamin, and sesamolin. Sesamin has been found to inhibit the absorption of cholesterol as well as limiting cholesterol production in the liver. It reduces the formation of fat cells and acts to lower blood pressure. Sesame oil is said to generally fortify the constitution during recuperation from severe or prolonged illness.

As with most plant based condiments, sesame oil contains magnesium, copper, calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin B6. Copper provides support for the nerves which regulate heart beat and provides relief for rheumatoid arthritis. Magnesium supports muscle, blood vessel, and respiratory health. Calcium helps prevent colon cancer, osteoporosis, migraine and PMS. Zinc promotes bone health.

Sesame seed oil helps joints keep their flexibility.

Keeping the skin supple and soft, sesame oil has multiple uses in skin care. It heals and protects areas of mild scrapes, cuts and abrasions. It helps tighten facial skin, particularly around the nose, controlling the usual enlargement of pores as skin ages chronologically.

In The Green Pharmacy, the prominent herbalist James Duke states that sesame contains at least seven pain-relieving compounds. Thus, sesame may also have some power as an analgesic.

In lab cultures, sesame seed oil inhibited the growth of malignant melanoma - a skin cancer (Prostaglandin Leukatrines and Essential Fatty Acids 46: 145-150, 1992) and replication of human colon cancer cells (Anti Cancer Research 11: 209-216, 1992).

Two scientific studies indicate the effect of oil pulling against specific bacteria in the mouth cavity. Streptococcus mutans, which reportedly causes dental caries, was measured. Subjects swished sesame oil in their mouths for ten minutes a day. Within a week, bacterial counts in the mouth were significantly lowered.

The mouth contains many blood vessels quite close to the surface. When food is thoroughly chewed, it mixes with saliva which contains a large number of enzymes. Many nutrients are absorbed through the buccal tissue (tissues inside the mouth) before food descends to the stomach. In fact, with enough chewing, forty percent of carbohydrate digestion takes place in the mouth. Thus, the beneficial effects of the sesame oil can be transmitted to the body, without swallowing it. While some controversy exists about whether molecules can be passed through these membranes into the mouth, there is a sense in which oil pulling may remove toxins from the body.

Oil, which is composed of fat molecules, is a medium which is very absorbent. The fat in your body stores certain vitamins, excess hormones, and many toxic chemicals.

Sesame oil is reputed to penetrate the skin easily, and is used in India for oil massage. Sesame seed oil absorbs quickly and penetrates through the tissues to the very marrow of the bone. It enters into the blood stream through the capillaries and circulates. The liver does not sweep sesame seed oil molecules from the blood, accepting those molecules as friendly. Oil soluble toxins are attracted to sesame seed oil molecules which can then be washed away. These same properties may take place in the buccal tissues during oil pulling.

Here is the oil pulling procedure, step by step:

Step 1: First thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, and before drinking any liquids (including water), pour exactly one tablespoon of sesame or sunflower oil into your mouth. Use one teaspoon for children old enough to be able to swish it without swallowing it – most sources suggest an age of five. If you wear dentures, oil pulling is done with the dentures out of your mouth. Some people choose to accelerate oil pulling’s effects by swishing two or three times a day. It should be done before meals or several hours after a meal, on an empty stomach.

Step 2: Swish the oil around in your mouth without swallowing it for about twenty minutes. Move it around in your mouth and through your teeth. Sip and suck it through the teeth. Use a gentle chewing motion from time to time. Don't tilt your head back to gargle. Keep swishing. If your cheek or jaw muscles get sore while swishing, you are putting too much effort into it. Relax your jaw muscles and use your tongue to help move the liquid around the inside of your mouth. When you do this correctly, you will feel very comfortable. Pretty soon, it will become second nature. You will find that the oil starts to get watery in the first ten minutes, as your saliva mixes with it.

Step 3: As the end of the oil pulling session approaches, the oil/saliva mixture in your mouth becomes thicker. This is quite normal, since it is pulling out toxins from your body. When 20 minutes are up, spit out the oil into the commode. It is best if you do not spit into the sink. Do not be alarmed if it looks yellow or whitish – this also is normal.

Step 4: Rinse out your mouth a couple of times with warm water or with a good mouthwash and spit into the commode. I prefer to rinse and spit with regular hydrogen peroxide diluted half and half with water (or use full strength). Once again, do not swallow. The hydrogen peroxide is very effective in rinsing out any toxins or organisms which may be left in the mouth.

Step5: Brush your teeth. Use a damp toothbrush with a small amount of baking soda. A small amount goes a long way and minimizes the abrasive effect of the baking soda. The baking soda will normalize the pH of the mouth.

Sesame oil has the following advantages over the standard and commercially available mouthwashes: it causes no staining, has no lingering aftertaste, and causes no allergic reactions. It is five to six times more cost-effective than the commercially available mouthwashes and is, moreover, readily available in the household.

For more information:

http://www.oilpulling.com
http://www.ijdr.in/text.asp?2008/19/2/169/40476
http://www.jisppd.com/article.asp?issn=0970-4388;year=2008;volume=26;issue=1;spage=12;epage=17;aulast=Asokan
http://iadr.confex.com/iadr/2008Toronto/techprogram/abstract_105440.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/sesame-oil
http://www.youthingstrategies.com/qualities.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2603/is_0006/ai_2603000655/

Health Tip of the Day - Water

Your body is made up of approximately 70% water. When the body does not move, the water in them becomes stagnant, creating a breeding ground for disease. As you move your body with exercise, you stir the water, refreshing your body, renewing your energy and regaining strength.

Dehydration may show up as a headache, tiredness, lightheadedness, nausea or anxiety. If you experience any of these symptoms, drink 1 to 2 glasses of pure water and notice if you feel better. Avoid caffeinated beverages such as black tea, coffee and soft drinks as well as alcohol-they can actually rob your body of water. To jazz up a plain glass of water, add a twist of lemon or lime or even a splash of fruit juice.