Your feet may be among the most underappreciated and hardest working parts of your body. They will carry you hundreds of thousands of miles during your lifetime, pound the pavement for you when you are looking for a job and keep you on your toes when everything else around you is falling apart. For all they do for you, don't you think your feet deserve proper care and a little pampering? Here's how to make sure that your feet feel good and keep on doing what they are supposed to do.
The Basics - Proper Footwear
Treating your feet properly starts with proper footwear. If you are on your feet a lot during the day, be sure that you choose shoes that fit well and offer proper support. Some very basic tips for properly fitted footwear include:
- Shop for shoes in the late afternoon because your feet will expand over the course of the day. It is best to fit your shoes when your feet are at their largest.
- If your feet are two different sizes (and that's true of many people) buy your shoes to fit the larger foot. Better to pad then to live in pain.
- Have the salesperson size your feet when you are standing, not sitting.
- Choose shoes with a roomy toe box and moderate heel.
- If you must wear heels for work, keep a pair of comfortable shoes that you can slip into for walking and commuting.
Footwear is more than shoes, though. The socks that you wear can also make an enormous difference in the way your feet feel - and in preventing some common foot problems.
- Choose socks that fit your feet right. Loose socks can wrinkle inside your shoes and cause blisters and discomfort.
- Choose socks that have cotton or wool blend that lets your feet breathe and wicks moisture away from them. Your feet will stay cooler and bacteria will have less moisture to breed.
- If you wear pantyhose or stockings, consider slipping a pair of cotton pedi-socks on over them for the reasons above.
More Basics - Routine Care
Most women lavish attention on their faces - daily scrubs and exfoliation creams, moisturizers and special cleansers - but few do much more for their feet than run a cloth over them in the shower. A monthly pedicure is no substitute for routine daily care for your feet.
- Wash your feet with warm water everyday. Do not soak them more often than once a week, though, or you will dry out the skin.
- After washing, dry thoroughly with a clean, soft towel. Make sure to dry between your toes.
- Keep skin soft and smooth with a thin layer of foot lotion, petroleum jelly or skin lotion applied to the tops and bottoms of your feet. Do not put lotion between the toes to avoid causing an infection.
- Smooth rough heels, calluses or other rough spots with a pumice stone. There are some great new products on the market that make smoothing your feet easier and prevent injury to your skin.
- Trim toenails once a week. Cut nails straight across to avoid ingrown toenails. If toenails are exceptionally thick or yellowed, or if they curve or press into the skin, have your toenails trimmed by a foot doctor or a pedicurist.
Home Care for Common Problems
You can head off serious problems by caring for your feet properly and dealing with common problems before they become acute. Some foot problems need medical treatment and can become serious health threats. Others are little more than an annoyance. Whichever categories your foot problems fall into, here are some tips for dealing with common foot problems.
Sweaty, smelly feet
If your body produces excess perspiration, you can end up with moist feet inside dark shoes - the perfect breeding ground for bacteria - which can lead to smelly feet. If you have a problem with smelly feet, there are several ways to deal with it:
- Keep your feet clean with daily washing. Pay particular attention to the areas between your toes, where dead skin cells can collect and contribute to the problem.
- Use foot powder in your socks.
- Wear cotton socks, or invest in anti-bacterial socks.
- Use odor-absorbing insoles in your shoes.
Dry, cracked heels
The skin on your heels is especially prone to drying and cracking. This condition can be especially common in people with diabetes and in older adults. The best way to deal with cracked heels is to prevent them with good foot care, but sometimes that is not enough.
- Use a pumice stone to gently rub away dry, dead skin.
- Wash feet regularly, but go easy on the soaking. Too much soaking will dry out your skin further.
- Do not use razors or other trimmers to remove dry, dead skin.
- Keep circulation going in your feet with regular exercise and stretching.
Stephanie Larkin is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about beauty and personal care as well as personal care products such as the Ped Egg
Think Positive to Improve Your Confidence and Your Entire Life
Self confidence is one’s ability to believe in one’s self. Those with a high self confidence are optimistic, assertive, and eager individuals ready to take on the world and conquer the goals. On the other hand, people with a low self confidence find themselves often distant and despondent, constantly questioning themselves and often passive or submissive. Self confidence is the key to success in academic pursuits, athletic activities, employment field, and private life, literally every aspect of one’s life. Individuals that entertain a high sense of self confidence usually go on to phenomenally succeed, whereas individuals with a low sense of self confidence tend to be brought down by their inner demons and fail.
The trap of low self confidence is extremely easy to fall into and very difficult to remove oneself from. That tiny voice in the back of the head that criticizes, questions, and insults can easily grow louder and louder the more you listen. Instead of the traditional angel on one shoulder, those with low self confidence would find the devil there more often than not. Instead of boosting themselves up by enjoying their accomplishments or congratulating themselves on a job well done, individuals with low self esteem find their shoulder devil is constantly picking and finding fault in the midst of triumph.
They key to maintaining a high self esteem is positive thinking. Individuals that think of themselves in a positive light are more likely to have a higher self confidence than those nay-sayers in the crowd. One way to remain positive and keep an upbeat aura is to surround oneself with positive people. Avoid individuals who criticize, nit pick, and put down. These negative individuals are a sinking ship and will only bring you down with them. People who surround themselves with positive people, find it easier to maintain a high sense of a self worth and banish that devil from their shoulder. If you find yourself in a situation where you must deal with individuals with a negative outlook, confront them on the matter.
If you find yourself surrounded by so-called friends who constantly make you feel poorly about yourself and lower your self confidence, it might be time to part ways. Remember, friends, family, and loved ones are supposed to make you feel good about yourself and have your best interest at heart. This is not always the case and friends by title alone can do more harm than most enemies. Furthermore, personal relationships can have the same if not worse affect on one’s self confidence level.
Always remember to think positive, believe in yourself and your ambitions and goals and you can achieve whatever you desire.
For a greater understanding of the power of your mind and your thoughts and this can affect your financial freedom, get a copy of the original classic by Napoleon Hill titled "Think and Grow Rich"
John is the owner of the website http://www.OriginalThinkAndGrowRich.com where you can get a FREE copy of Napoleon Hill's Book Think and Grow Rich. Head over now and claim you copy, free.
Yoga, Union with the Ultimate
Absolute Being, Absolut Knowledge, Absolute Bliss ( Sat, Chit, Ananda), the eternal triad which is the Universe and we are, is the substratum of the entire Universe. This is the great secret which we must discover in our long evolutionary journey.
Now enhance your Being, Knowledge,Bliss, which are from time immemorial considered as Wisdom's frame of reference.
Through adding to your Sat (existence), developing your Chit (subsistence) and enjoying Ananda you will witness a spiritual evolution or realization in your mind. With practising yoga, one sees the Absolute Self everywhere through his eyes of wisdom. He will become absolutely impersonal. He will not have a bit of selfishness in him. His Id will be completely annihilated. And in times he will attain the Eternal Bliss of the Self
The word "Yoga" itself is derived from a Sanskrit word "Yuj", which means to unite. Union with Cosmic Intelligence is the Yogic objective.
What we sow, we reap and this Universal Law is known as the Law of Karma, the Grand Law of Causation. We have to understand that the miseries of life and the Negativity which we experience are all the inevitable clearing process of exhausting our Karma. We have to understand that despite our sufferings, mistakes and ignorance, the Divine Will is leading us, through every circumstance, towards the final Realization. This faith will give us equanimity.
Even in rags, I am a god
Fallen, I am divine
High I triumph when down trod
Live will I when slain !
It is natural that our faith may be assailed by some misfortunes which happen to us. We have to understand that Initiation is a process of intensive culture and accelerated evolution and the bad experiences which happen to us are merely wages.
What can all these trials and tribulations do to the Godhead within us, the Almighty Self, He who transcends Space, Time & Causality? Him the jail cannot confine nor the gallows end !
Let us follow the Four fold path of Yoga. They are…
Jnana Yoga Union via Wisdom The method by which the intellect is used to negate the bondage of material world.
Raja Yoga Union via Psychic Control The psychological approach focusing on concentration and meditation.
Karma Yoga Union via Action This is the path of eliminating the ego and attachments through selfless service.
Bhakthi Yoga Union via Love A way of union through conversion of the emotions to devotion.
Human mind has immaculate powers. And it differs from person to person. People can awake the hidden psychic and occult powers in them by understanding and realizing the power of their mind. The four-fold path of Yoga offers some unique ways to emancipate oneself from the material world using the divine intelligence.
The Intellectual Man can go for Jnana Yoga or Union via Wisdom
The Active Man can pursue Karma Yoga or the Union via Action
The Adventurous man can followe Raja Yoga or Union via Psychic Control
The Emotional Man can look for Bhakthi Yoga or the Union of Emotions
Practising any one of the four powerful and vigorous Yoga paths will take you beyond the five concentric sheaths to the Absolute Self, which is the cosmic power in individual bodies
While Raja and Jnana Yogas are more or less for the initiated, Bhakti & Karma Yogas are for the ordinary man. You can understand the basic principles of Yoga by reading some books on the science. An good beginner's book dealing with Self Development is Dr Ashok Selvaraja's 7 Golden Secrets to know your Higher Self. The characteristics of both the lower and the higher selves are highlighted and Cosmic Union becomes easy.
Article by G Kumar, astrologer, writer and programmer of www.eastrovedica.com He has 15 years research experience in Stock Market Astrology and in various other branches of Astrology. Recentlyhe was awarded a Certificate by the Planetary Gemologists Association as a Planetary Gem Advisor. Free Yoga tips at Blog http://fourfoldyoga.blogspot.com & lens at http://www.squidoo.com/fourfoldyoga
Making It Meaningful
Do you feel a sense of absolute awe and wonder with your life? Does your life flow effortlessly with synchronicity and abundance? Do you feel you are aligned with your purpose and feel fulfilled, completely happy and at peace? If not, why not? You already know the answers lie within you. You have a sense of being guided to fulfill your life purpose don't you? Otherwise why would you be reading this? Your Spirit is guiding you to fully realize who you are and why you were born so that you can fulfill the purpose of your existence. Once you realize that there is something to be realized, your realization has begun. The fact that you are reading this indicates that you have already awakened your consciousness and are being guided. But being guided to what? Each of us is being given the opportunity to connect with the part of us that already knows why we were born by acknowledging the volition that compels you to read these words. The more you get in touch with that, the more connected your mind will be with your Self. To the degree we connect with this inner knowing, we live a life of prosperity, happiness and peace. I have observed this in literally thousands of cases over the past twenty years. Virtually everyone who learns the tools and practices them finds greater prosperity, happiness and peace. Everyone. You find meaning in life when you find your Self. Self-realization is the key. What keeps people from this enlightened state is what their mind does. The mind resists. This is the test. It resists making the commitment to the practice, it resists going beyond what is already known, it resists help, it becomes fearful, prideful, distracted. When you come to the point in the evolution of your consciousness that you make the commitment to full self-realization everything in your life shifts. The doors of opportunity open up for you. The universe supports you. The Divine enters into your life in ways that appear miraculous and your heart is filled with love, peace and joy. I see this every day, I am watching thousands of people enlighten. I am hoping that you will join us and enter into this Kingdom of Heaven that lies within. I welcome you into this present moment. Close your eyes and connect with what you are feeling. I will meet you there. From the heart, Steven
Steven S. Sadleir is the Director of the Self Awareness Institute and is recognized as a Shaktipat Master in two lineages. He has developed powerful distance learning programs for people of all cultures and faiths, trained thousands of people from all over the world, and welcomes all of you who are ready for full Self-Realization. Visit http://www.SelfAwareness.com for FREE guided meditation mp3s and ebook!
Mindfulness Meditation and the Law of Attraction
Do you feel overhwelmed and at odds with your life? Does it seem like your mind rambles incessantly, as if you can never experience a moment of peace? Many people in our modern world describe their lives as frenzied and imbalanced. The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. Many Asian cultures have understood something for the past several thousand years that modern people are gradually beginning to discover: That we have to learn how to work with our minds in a conscious and healthy way if we are to attract peace, abundance, and joy into our lives. Without a consistent method of cultivating awareness, we will be forever resigned to circumstances that feel out of our control. That is why so many modern people are struggling. We have lost the ancient practice of connecting our inner world of thoughts, feelings, and energy with our outer world of the circumstances we attract into our lives. Because of this, everything that appears seems to be random. We lose trust in the unfolding of the universe. As a result, our minds are filled with anxiety and worry, which only attracts more seeming chaos and confusion into our lives. Does this sound familiar?
The law of attraction states that what you focus on expands. If your thoughts and feelings resonate with anxiety and confusion, then you will attract more of those qualites to you through your relationships, work, finances, etc. The key is not to trick our minds into creating positive thoughts through affirmations or other methods, but to develop space around the workings of our minds altogether. Herein lies the magic of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is a method of becoming acutely aware of everything that happens within the scope of our perception. We shed light on what we think, feel, and sense. We make conscious all of the subconscious material that typically sabotages our good intentions. We don't try to change it. Instead, we just become extremely aware of it. We do this by sitting still and doing nothing but watching how our mind works without attachment or judgment. We just sit and witness what takes place within us and we start to draw parallels between what we believe to be true and what we are constantly attracting into our lives. Many people, particulalry Westerners, try meditation for a period of time and then give up after getting frustrated with the process. This is because we are always looking for results. We are deeply attached to our expectations of what should happen. Most of us try to use meditation to shut our minds down, to dwell in a space of 'no thought.' If you try to use meditation to stop thinking, you are in for a rude surprise. You simply cannot do it. In fact, the harder you try to stop thinking, the louder and more obnoxious your thoughts become. This is not the way. The main intention of mindfulness is to be fundamentally OK with whatever arises as you practice. Whether you have a good thought or a bad thought, you give it the same attention. You remain neutral. By doing this, you stop feeding the energy of your thoughts. This is the first step in cutting through the vicious cycle of thought-feeling-reaction that keeps so many of us habitually attracting the wrong kinds of energy, people, and circumstances into our lives. If we believe what we think, the energy of the thought will evolve into a feeling. The momentum of the feeling will cause us to react to it, which will create a cause in the world that will always lead to an effect. The effect will always be a reflection of that initial thought impulse. So, if your thoughts are habitually centered around negativity, greed, fear, or narcissism, then the effects you will see in your life will mirror this back to you.
Mindfulness is a process of becoming truly proactive for the first time in your life. Most of the time, we are just reacting to what we think and feel, which brings us endless cycles of conflict and disappointment. When we remain neutral to our thoughts and feelings, then we will gradually make contact with an aspect of ourselves that is spontaneous and awake. We will act (not react) from this place. We will attract what we truly desire into our lives based on a conscious process of heightening our senses. And, yes, at some point the mind does slow down. We experience wonderful and refreshing moments of peace and openness. The universe is naturally seen as a benevolent place. Instead of our typical attempts to outsmart the universe, mindfulness is a humbling process of surrender and gratitude.
Cultivate space, endless space, around your thoughts and feelings. Allow your spirit to inhabit your body fully. Don't buy into self-defeating storylines and beliefs. Don't try to force yourself to see the positive in life or repeat useless affirmations that you have no innate connection with. Instead, taste the perfection of this moment as it is. If you can feel in your bones that you are fundamentally OK and that life is precious, you will attract much more meaningful relationships with people, better health, more fulfilling work and more prosperity on all levels of being. That is the power of mindfulness.
Kevin Doherty, L.Ac., MS is alicensed acupuncturist in private practice in Superior, Co. where he teaches many of his patients how to meditate for better health and overall quality of life. For more information about Kevn and his approach to meditation, go to http://www.mindfulnesscd.net
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