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Stay Healthy and Save Money

budget-health

Today’s Union Budget presented by Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley provides for new health protection scheme that will provide health cover up to Rs One lakh per family. And for senior citizens an additional top-up package up to Rs 30,000 will be provided. This is good but, how about staying healthy and reducing health costs once for all.

Lifestyle plays an important role in heart ailments but, perhaps many have not taken this to heart. Getting angioplasties and stents that cost thousands of rupees do not prolong life or prevent heart attacks in stable patients. Similarly, lowering blood sugar with drugs does not fully prevent the economic and human costs of diabetes (including heart attacks, strokes, amputations, impotence, kidney failure, and blindness), but lowering blood sugar with diet and lifestyle prevents all of these human and economic costs.

Bringing about lifestyle changes is easier said than done. Simple lifestyle changes like walking or cycling instead of driving, climbing stairs instead of taking an elevator, eating nutritious food or making dietary changes, exercising on a daily basis and incorporating some behavior modification technique can have a big impact on you and your pocket for the better. And rather than buy a pricey gym membership to get in shape, there are ways to work out on the cheap or choose a fitness tracker with a coach to guide you.

Her are 6 healthy habits that can keep you fit.

  • Portion Control and Mindful Eating: Watching how much you eat is one of the best ways to maintain your weight. Have smaller portions of food instead of filling your plate in one go and have 5 small meals a day that is healthy and nutritious. This will help you manage your weight, keep your cool, maintain your focus and avoid cravings.
  • Exercise Daily: The best way to start your day is with some good physical activity. We all know the importance of physical activity, but still only a less percentage of the population in the world follow the same. Exercise has been found to decrease your chances of depression, anxiety, and stress. It is also related to higher success in your career. If you don’t care about your body, every other aspect of your life will suffer. Take care of your body. It is the only place you live.
  • Have Enough Water: Staying well hydrated is one of our body’s basic needs. Water is needed to enable the body to keep eliminating the toxins generated, to produce digestive enzymes, maintain healthy skin, hair, organs and to help your body absorb essential vitamins, minerals and natural sugars. Water also regulates the body temperature, cooling one down by evaporating through the skin. Drinking at least 3 litres of water a day is a must.
  • Get A Healthy 7+ Hours of Sleep: Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right time can help protect your mental and physical health, quality of life, and safety. Sleep is just as important as eating and drinking water. Despite this, millions of people do not sleep enough and experience insane problems as a result. The way you feel while you’re awake depends partly on how you have slept or what kind of sleep you have had. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health.
  • Think Positive and have a sense of Gratitude: Being positive and thinking positive builds a healthier immune system and boosts overall health. Body believes what you think so think positive. Gratitude is good for our bodies, our minds, and our relationships. Showing gratitude also keeps one happy. Gratitude also blocks toxic and negative emotions and
  • Avoid Stress: The human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. Here are few things you can do to avoid stress. Namely meditate, deep breathing, be alert, relax, laugh out loud, listen to music, and chase your hobbies.

So let’s stay healthy and save money and rather use that money for things we love to do.

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We Can I Can

WCD-messages

“We can I Can” is the theme for this year’s World Cancer Day and this theme will continue through 2018. The idea of ‘We Can I Can’ is to explore how everyone –together and individually- can do their part to reduce the global burden of Cancer.

Today is World Cancer Day and experts say that one of the best ways to reduce the risk of Cancer is by adopting a healthy lifestyle. It is said that you can reduce the risk of many common cancers such as bowel, breast, uterine, ovarian, Oesophagus, kidney and liver by maintaining a healthy weight, eating right and making physical activity part of your daily routine.

As individuals ‘I Can’:

  • Make healthy lifestyle choices that include avoiding tobacco, getting plenty of physical activity, eating a healthy diet
  • Learn to detect signs and symptoms of cancer it only makes it easier to treat
  • Support Cancer patients and survivors with physical and emotional impacts of cancer after treatment
  • Share stories of own cancer experiences, communicate with decision makers and join support groups to help make positive changes for all people affected by cancer
  • When possible return to work after cancer treatment to restore normality, routine, stability, social contact and income.

As community ‘We can’:

  • Educate people about the link between lifestyle behaviors – including smoking, poor diet, and lack of physical activity – and cancer risk.
  • Dispel myths that lead to stigma and discrimination against people with cancer in some communities.
  • Encourage schools and workplaces to implement nutrition and physical activity policies that can help people to adopt healthy habits for life.
  • Improve access to affordable cancer health care for all populations.

(source cancer.org)

We all can do our bit. I remember there is an organization in Mumbai called Ugam, a voluntary support group formed by Childhood Cancer survivors. UGAM means “To Rise” underscoring their determination to rise above all obstacles in life & be VICTORS. UGAM, based in Mumbai is the youngest unit of the oldest & most prominent NGO, The Indian Cancer Society( ICS) under its survivorship programme.

Ugam’s vision is to ensure that every childhood cancer survivor finds his/ her way to celebrate life after winning the battle with cancer. Ugam helps in self-empowerment of the survivors. It helps in fulfilling their dreams that were put on hold while they were battling this tormenting disease and the hardships of the treatments. Helping in overcoming social fears and hindrances, overcoming their physical and mental disabilities and moving ahead despite them, Educational and career related assistance and guidance.

Ugam provides a platform for them to talk about their experience and problems and help in building their confidence and self-esteem. Ugam tries and gives them a reason to lead a social and personal life in the future.

We at GOQii are advocates of a healthy lifestyle and doing Karma. So let make a beginning…..

Here is another interesting read….

http://goqii.com/blog/foods-for-breast-cancer-prevention/

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Home remedies to remove dark circles under your eyes

how-to-remove-dark-circles

Are you a workaholic, stressed out at work or due to other reasons and seldom sleep well at night? Then you must have also noticed dark patches under your eyes at times and wondered what are those dark patches and how can you get rid of them?

Dark circles occur when the skin under the eyes becomes discolored or dark. They are mainly caused due to insufficient sleep, genetics, stress and also aging. Dark circles can appear to both men and women, regardless of their age.

Although dark circles are not a serious problem, people find that it comes in the way of their looks. Of course the market has an abundance of expensive cosmetic products that promises to alleviate the problem but, the chemicals they contain can affect the delicate skin underneath your eyes in a negative way. In order to avoid these harsh chemical based cosmetics to cure the dark circles why don’t you try some simple and easy home remedies to get rid of those dark circles.

The causes of dark circles are:

* Lack of sleep

* Mental or physical stress

* Crying for long period of time

* Too much work on the computer

* Certain medications

Home Remedies for Dark Circles:

  • Tomato

Is a brilliant home remedy that can erase the dark circles under your eyes as it naturally helps in lightening the skin. Mix 1 teaspoon of tomato juice with a teaspoon of lemon juice and apply it under your eyes.  After applying it, leave it on for about 10 minutes and wash it off with water. Repeat this remedy at least 2 times a day. You can also drink tomato juice mixed with some lemon juice and mint leaves in order to

D get rid of dark circles.

  • Cucumber

Is another home remedy that will not only help in removing the dark circles, but also acts as a soothing agent for the eyes. Cut 2 slices of a fresh cucumber and keep them in the refrigerator for a while. Then place the cucumber slices over your eyes for about 10-15 minutes. You can also mix cucumber juice and lemon juice and apply it under your eyes. It is a natural remedy that will help you get rid of dark circles.

  • Rose Water

Soak cotton pads in rose water and put them over your eyes and leave them there for some time. You can also use rose petals and milk to make a paste and apply it over the dark circles. Rose water is one of the best home remedies for quick removal of dark circles under the eyes as it lightens the skin and also acts as a natural soothing agent.

  • Potato:

Grate a raw potato, strain it and extract its juice. Soak a cotton ball in the juice and place it on your eyelids. Apply it properly so that it covers the dark area under your eyes. Leave it for about 15 minutes, and then wash it off with water. Potato is a natural bleaching agent, which makes it one of the best home remedies for reducing dark circles under the eye.

  • Mint leaves:

A paste made of Mint leaves and tomato juice is another good cure for dark circles. Apply this paste on the area under the eyes. This remedy will eliminate the dark patches of skin.

  • Orange

Who ever thought that orange juice can also do wonders to remove dark circles but it   indeed does? Mix some orange juice with a few drops of glycerin and apply the mixture over the dark circles. It will diminish the dark circles and will also give a natural glow to the area around your eyes.

  • Turmeric Paste

Make a paste using pineapple juice and turmeric powder. Apply the paste on a regular basis to get rid of the dark circles fast.

  • Practice Yoga or Meditate

While, yoga and meditation can bring down the dark circles in your face, it also helps in rejuvenating our body and also brings a natural glow on your face while, at the same time, removing the dark circles under your eyes.

So instead of spending loads of money on expensive cosmetics to get rid of your dark circles try these easy home remedies and be rest assured that you will be back to looking beautiful in few days.

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An “ATTITUDE” of “GRATITUDE”

 

healthy-habits-harbor-happiness-zero-dean

I vividly remember myself humming these few lines back in school:

“Thank you for the world so sweet,

Thank you for the food we eat,

Thank you for the birds that sing,

Thank you GOD for everything.”

WAIT a second! This is not a religious blog but, simply about being thankful for the good in our lives focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. Seeing the cup of life as “half full” than as “half empty”.

Sadly, I could not continue saying those 4 lines as I grew up. But why should I not feel grateful about things that are around me or happen to me now?

This thought stuck my mind a month back and since then I became serious about being “grateful” in life and making it a lifelong habit. Of course, it was going to be something beyond these few lines considering the amount of experience I’ve had or the number of things that I should be grateful for. Best thing about it was that it was doable and it required no inventory.

Just 5 min of your day, but in turn provides great rewards in happiness, healthy, mind-fullness, career, personality, deeper relationships. The benefits are endless but, doing so takes a bit of practice (talk about HABITS !) .

Speaking about its benefits on Health & Well-Being (since that’s my forte), here are some of the ways it affects us:

  1. HAPPINESS:

Experts say that practicing gratitude can increase health and happiness levels by about 25% ! And we all know that to achieve optimum health we need a healthy body, but we also need a healthy mind. Like muscle building, your mind also takes a while to build up and get strong. For this essentially practicing gratitude certainly helps.

  1. POSITIVE ATTITUDE:

Gratitude also turns what we have in to enough, shrinking away our worries, negativity, comparisons. You end up with a more positive outlook towards your goals and your life.

  1. SLEEP :

It improves sleep quality, time required to fall asleep and increases sleep duration. Just thinking about a few things we should be grateful for induces melatonin (sleep-inducing hormone) and knocks us out. Gratitude and positive emotion in general are among the strongest relaxants known to man. A safe and free sleep aid!

  1. INCREASES LONGEVITY:

Indirectly of course. Gratitude is strongly related to a positive emotion and we all know that the optimists live a few years longer than the pessimists! So, gratitude —-> positive emotion —-> extra months / years on earth!

  1. STRESS:

Gratitude reduces feelings of envy, makes our memories happier and lets us experience good feelings. All of this helps us bounce back from stress. Whenever I am under this funk , feel down or demotivated, all I do it’s : grab my journal and start counting my blessings !

  1. YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO EXERCISE !

While there is no strong evidence that supports this, it should not surprise you if being grateful for your health would increase the tendency to want to protect it by exercising more. (Start practicing and let me know if it works for you! )

In a nutshell: Gratitude is no one-stop-shop , but it is a massively under utilised tool for improving the quality of life . You will be amazed to realise that all the goodness we take for granted.

Now you should be asking me, HOW can I bring more gratitude in my life???

Well, while there are many ways to practice this, one way that I follow and find the most practical is: Maintaining a gratitude journal.

All it requires is noting 1 or more things ( I write 3 everyday ) you are grateful for on a daily basis . No fancy notebook or App required. The real work goes on in your head. But if using a tool is helpful, go for it.

Here are a few handful of apps / websites that specialise in Gratitude:

Thankfulfor.com ( http://thankfulfor.com/) , Gratittude Journal for Iphone , Gratitude Plus for Ipad , Treater for IOS and Android .

I have picked up a few examples from my journal to give you an idea about how can you start:

  1. I am grateful for being able to sleep on a clean white bed sheet.
  2. I am grateful for the comfortable shoes I am wearing right now.
  3. I am blessed to have access to technology.
  4. I am lucky have my own bedroom space.
  5. I am grateful for a day off!
  6. I really enjoyed the lunch today.

Start off with small and simple things and gradually get deeper and complex. All of this takes less than 5 mins a day. It’s that simple! Trust me, once you start, you will want to go on and on and start falling short of space!

Keep a few things in mind, before you made a decision to go ahead:

Be genuine, No false praises, Be as specific as possible, Try to actually “feel” that feeling of gratitude.

So do you have 5 minutes to change your life forever ?

Thought so!

Go ahead and let’s make GRATITUDE PRACTICE a daily habit!

(WARNING: This exercise is super powerful and can make you feel really good. You might also find yourself smiling while filling up your journal.)

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]