Posted on Leave a comment

Health and Living – Emotional Health

 ????????????Hey Earth’s Enrichers

There are six principles that develop a well-rounded, healthy life. These principles are physical health, intellectual health (mind), spiritual health, emotional health, social health and environmental health. In the past few weeks, we have covered physical, intellectual, and spiritual health. For each one of those principles we have explained what they entail and how they can easily be included into the healthy life that you deserve.

For this week we will be talking about emotional health. Of course, the majority of you are able to guess what this principle means. To elaborate, emotional health has a lot to do with how you feel about yourself and others. It incorporates your ability to maintain and create social and interpersonal relationships.

Analyze this for a second:  what does it take to build a relationship? Or rather, what does it take for you to build a relationship? This should be thought about in a personal way because not everyone is as good at being social as others. It depends on how outgoing you are or how much self-esteem you have. This is why emotional health is important.

Emotional health is the ability to cope with stress and achieve/maintain self-esteem. The main objective is to have emotional stability. For instance, patience (a virtue that can be hard to come by) is achieved when one is able to effectively deal with unforeseen events and not let stressful situations get overwhelming. This means staying calm when things get crazy and coming up with a solution.

The inability to handle day-to-day issues on a sustained basis can be a sign of poor emotional health or (if diagnosed by a professional) a sign of mental health illnesses.  We’re not addressing these more severe instances, but more minor irritations.  Day-to-day issues usually tend to be minor in scale like dealing with traffic, spilling a drink, or even dealing with difficult co-workers. If you deal with situations equivalent to these on a normal basis and all of a sudden they begin to get to you more than usual, perhaps it’s time to come up with a de-stressing hobby.

Now, sometimes emotional stability can be hard to maintain; after a while things that are deemed trivial could get on your nerves especially when you have more pressing issues to attend. If that begins to happen, try new means of relaxation. For instance, if you often do not take relaxing bubble baths, perhaps now may be a time to start. Or you could even start joining a fitness club to work out the stress. Burning energy is a great way to deal with stress and relaxing in a nice refreshing bath can help you detox.

Venting or expressing one’s emotions can also be a good way to balance your emotional health. This can be done verbally or can be written down. If something is bothering you, it’s okay to calmly talk to that individual about it. If you cannot talk to that individual, try coming home and discussing it with your loved ones or people you trust. Another way to deal with it is with an “angry letter.” This is something your write but you don’t send. It helps you vent in a way that doesn’t hurt someone else’s feelings and is best kept in a private place like a journal.

It’s important to not let your emotions get the best of you. If you are able to control them and maintain a calm demeanor when things go wrong, then you are at optimal emotional health. Everyone gets mad and makes mistakes’, we are all human. So when we do get mad, it’s best to find healthy ways to release those emotions. Doing this helps you build better relationships and better deal with your environment.

The EE 411: Stress Relievers and Emotional Cleansers 

Here are a few tips for stress relief:

  1. Counting to ten
  2. Taking deep breaths
  3. Keeping a Journal
  4. Venting in a healthy way
  5. Kick boxing or any physical activity like running
  6. Painting
  7. Playing or listening to Music
  8. Hanging out with friends or family
  9. Forgiveness (sometimes it’s easier to move on)
  10. Relaxing bath (Calming Spa Seaweed bath salts would be perfect for this! You can detox your mind, body, and soul)
  11. Meditating is basically good for everything

Emotional Cleansers:

  1. Treat yourself: have your favorite treat (dessert, food or even treat yourself by shopping). It’s okay to treat yourself to get your mind off it, just don’t overdo it.
  2. Reach out to someone and tell them how you feel whether it’s a friend, loved one, or a professional.
  3. Laughing is good for the soul.  If you have had a bad day, turn on your favorite comedy and cheer yourself up.
  4. Forgiveness: try to let things go and move on. Consider how things could have been done differently and do it better next time.
  5. Have an intense music session. If you must, sing to the top of your lungs, play air guitar, and dance your troubles away. You will soon be too exhausted to remember them anyway.

Share with Us: How do you deal with your emotions? What sort of outlets do you have?

(This post was brought to you by Earth’s Enrichments.  Similar posts can be found by visiting our Blog.  More information about our  company and products (USDA Certified Organic Soaps, Organic Bath Salts, Organic Sugar Scrubs, Organic Body Balms and Organic Lip Balms) can be found on our Website. Thank you Earth’s Enricher!) 


Posted on Leave a comment

Living Healthy – Heart Healthy

 HeartOkay, Earth’s Enrichers–We need to you to stand up, take your right hand and place it over the left part of your chest and repeat after us, “I pledge allegiance to my heart, the most important organ in my body. For as long as I breathe, I dedicate myself to its well-being in my pursuit of healthy living!” Give yourself  applause!

To help you fulfill this pledge we will share a few heart healthy tips. First things first, what do you know about your family’s health history, particularly in reference to heart disease? This is a very important aspect of your health. It’s like your life’s cheat sheet. It gives you insight into  possible health challenges in your future and time to conceivably avoid health issues that  your grandparents or parents could not.

Did you know that most heart diseases are hereditary? This does not mean there is a 100% chance you will end up with some form of heart disease if it is found in your family’s history. It just means that there is a likely chance you’re a candidate and you may need to think about changes in your lifestyle.

When it comes to a healthy heart there are four things we want you to keep in mind:  exercising, managing stress, making healthy food choices and finding a hobby.

When it comes to exercising for the heart, cardio and stretching are great ways to strengthen the heart.  Aerobic exercises (cardio) like jogging, biking, swimming, or even power walking are great for the heart. It’s just like any muscle. The more you work out the heart, the better it gets. In fact, the stronger it gets. Cardio or staying active in general (with regular practice) could burn calories, lower bad cholesterol, and help reduce blood pressure. The lovely thing about cardio exercise is that you could start at any time (consult your doctor too). When starting off, it’s better to start out easy. Perhaps, one day start by walking at a certain speed for a certain amount of time and increase your goals over time. Stretching like yoga, is great for relaxing the body and helping to reduce stress. Stretching is also an opportunity to meditate, this could help you find solutions to your problems and also relax the tension in the body.

Unmanaged stress can contribute to heart disease. It has a tendency to raise blood pressure and increase cholesterol.   Stress is a part of life and cannot be avoided; however you must manage the stress and not let the stress manage you.  Stress  affects your whole body, including your heart.   If stress is unmanaged it could even lead to stress eating in some cases. Don’t give in.  Stress eating  is another factor that affects heart health.

 Some foods are designed with the heart in mind. Take for instance, rich dark chocolate, has an ingredient that can help stave off heart disease (eat responsibly). Tree nuts like almonds, walnuts, or pecans are also great for your heart. It tends to lower bad cholesterol.  Also, foods that have a lot of salt should be excluded out your diet. Salt is one of the main factors contributing to heart disease. Highly processed and fast food can contain high amounts of salt.  Along with high amounts of salt, eating fatty foods should also be consumed at a minimum. 

Monitor the amount of calories you have taken in during your day, especially if you aren’t physically active. Physical activity disposes any calories your body doesn’t need or is not using. Keeping track of your calorie intake will help you balance out your diet to take the unnecessary work off your heart.

This is probably most important or at least the most fun — find a hobby. Find something you enjoy doing and most importantly, make the time to do it. It will help you relieve  stress.  You deserve to engage in activities that are solely for enjoyment. Try new things to see what you really enjoy doing. Take a painting class.  Have you always wanted to learn to play an instrument?  Do it.  You deserve it, even if it is keeping up with your favorite TV show or comedy. Did you know that laughter is good for the heart? It literally stops stress from eating away at your health.

Your body should be taken care of like a well-oiled machine. Your heart is the engine that helps keep the machine going. Give it what it needs to keep it running smoothly. Begin with small steps.  On you next shopping trip, park further away from the mall.  Walk a little more.  Take the stairs.  Try a cool yoga pose in the morning before going to work or class. Book a class or get a book for that hobby you have always wanted to try .Try making better eating choices.  Chose the meal or snack with the less sodium. Chose the snack that has the nuts.   Chose dark chocolate instead of the bag of chips. Go with the lean instead of the fatty piece of steak, no matter how hard that choice might be. Trust us, we know that’s a hard choice to make 🙂 but it’s all worth it in the end.

The EE 411: Good Choices

Here at EE we always encourage you to take care of your body and do your own research to help you give your body the best care possible.  You deserve it. We encourage you to become more active in the pursuit of healthy living.

In the meantime here are some good choices we have come across when it comes to maintaining a healthy heart:

  • Quit smoking and stay clear of second hand smoke. Cigarettes are the leading cause of heart disease.
  • Avoid salt and fatty foods.
  • Eat fish two to three times a week.  The fatty acids (omega 3) in fish could help reduce heart disease, but consuming too much fatty acids could cause other health problems. Eat responsibly.
  • Eat dark chocolate in moderation. No problems here.
  • Go for the red wine. When consumed properly, it helps improve the level of good cholesterol and lower chance of blood clotting.
  • Tree nuts are a better snack than chips.
  • Laugh
  • Find a hobby.
  • Exercise
  • Spend time with your pets. If you like animals pets can be another great means of relieving stress because they love you no matter what.
  • Keep track of your blood pressure. It’s good to know where you stand in terms of health. It is also important to test your blood sugar sometimes too.
  • Have some tea. Teas like Green and Black may be good for your overall health besides, it’s really good.
  • Have some blueberries. They contain vitamin D and Fiber along with antioxidants. Considered great at fighting diseases.
  • Start your morning off with oatmeal. It lowers cholesterol, helps your body detox, and reduces the risk of heart disease.
  • Eat your spinach. The nutrients in spinach help protect against heart disease. It is full of minerals, fiber, and vitamins.
  • Sleep! When your body is well rested, it’s one less cause of stress. A good night sleep is a key to a successful day.

(This post was brought to you by Earth’s Enrichments.  Similar posts can be found by visiting our Blog.  More information about our  company and products (USDA Certified Organic Soaps, Organic Bath Salts, Organic Sugar Scrubs, Organic Body Balms and Organic Lip Balms) can be found on our Website. Thank you Earth’s Enricher!)