Many people wonder how they can stay well
this winter, considering the onset of the flu season
and the fear of a possible influenza epidemic.
Fortunately, acupuncture and Oriental medicine
provide proven steps toward preventing illness
and maintaining good health in cold weather.
We hear about so many people catching the flu -
but in reality it is only a portion of those exposed
to a virus that get sick. Why? According to Oriental medicine's
teachings, our bodies get sick when we are in a
weakened state. It is only when our immune
systems are weakened and our bodies are out of
balance that we are vulnerable to sickness.
Acupuncture originated in China between
3,000 and 5,000 years ago. It corrects imbalances
in the body's energy systems that cause illness.
Practitioners of Oriental medicine identify Qi
(pronounced "chee") as the life giving energy
that needs to flow freely through the body for
good health. Integrated with a wise lifestyle,
Oriental medicine can help prevent illness.
Here are Five Tips for Avoiding Illness This Flu Season:
1. Exercise a little bit everyday. Exercise moves the
lymphatic system, thereby helping to detoxify the poisons
in your body.
2. Keep warm. Make sure your neck and chest are
protected from wind, drafts and cold. Use a scarf
around your neck when going outside and wear turtle neck
shirts or sweaters. The neck is an area where wind
can invade the body and cause sickness. The Oriental
medical perspective is that wind invasions make people
more vulnerable to developing colds and flu.
Always keep your feet warm and dry.
3. Get adequate sleep and relaxation. Your body is
vulnerable to stress without enough rest. Think about
doing some deep breathing exercises to help relax and
unwind at the end of the day. Use stress-reduction
methods like Qi Gong meditation or yoga.
4. Eat smart. Avoid refined sugars (processed
food and baked goods, alcohol, etc.). A diet of
refined or simple carbohydrates (white sugar,
white bread) raises the body's Ph and allows
bacteria, mold, yeast and fungi to thrive. Simple carbohydrates
suck up the nutrition your body needs to
detoxify, nourish and build new cells and
antibodies. This makes you MORE susceptible to illness.
Vitalize your nutrition by eating more fresh, organic
foods and less processed food. This food has
more "Qi" in it.
5. Get Acupuncture. When you get regular
acupuncture treatments (as little as once per month)
it actually boosts your immune system. Acupuncture
strengthen the "Wei Qi" or the protective energy
that safeguards us against colds and flu.
Use these Five Tips for Avoiding Illness to keep your
body strong and healthy this winter. You
can resist illness, the flu or the common cold.
For more than 19 years Steven Sonmore helped people transform their health problems into solutions for attaining better health. Steven is a licensed acupuncturist, Oriental bodywork therapist and herbalist. He offers complete health care with acupuncture, Chinese herbs, nutritional counseling, Oriental massage, and facial rejuvenation. He is licensed by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice and certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. For more information visit http://www.orientalmedcare.com or write to info@orientalmedcare.com or call 612-866-4000. Copyright 2005 by Steven Sonmore. All rights reserved.
Free online coupons1. Spiritual involvementprayer, reading about spirituality, meditation, yoga.
2. Consistent sense of humorlaughing at oneself and the ironies and paradoxes in life.
3. Frequent periods of joyful, happy experiences. Ability to recognize and circumvent ironies, paradoxes and hypocrisy.
4. Unflappable positive expectations; frame events in a constructive lightthe glass is half full versus the glass is half empty.
5. Ability to readily adapt to changing conditions.
6. Rapid response and recovery of stress response systems to repeated challengesa.k.a ability to bounce back.
7. Enthusiasm for physical activity.
8. Consistent pattern of identifying and communicating feelings.
9. Daily sense of peace of mind, gratitude and generosity.
10. Continuing presence of support from and for family and friends.
"Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside." Brian Tracy
As humans, we have the ability to make conscious choices as to how we want to live our lives. Our choices determine the outcome of our life experiences.
If the ten signs of Good Health arent solidly fixed in your lifeyou can choose to change.
Be patient and give yourself time to develop new behaviors, thoughts and identityone that is congruent for your comfort and security.
Make small, incremental changes in the way you think and behave. You dont need to turn yourself inside out to create a change. Small changes can create the biggest difference.
Learn to recognize the emotions you are acting out and find healthy ways for expressing those emotions.
Stop the negative self-talki.e. stop judging yourself or comparing yourself to others.
Stay focused on your goaldo something every day, internally and externally, to alter old habit patterns.
Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, international speaker and inspirational leader. Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net
Beauty TipsShort term health insurance is a great product for those transition periods between employers. The policy offers options for the number of months you want coverage and some allow a one-time renewal without qualifying health questions. This feature is important, so read each application carefully.
Today, no one can afford to go without health coverage. When you consider that a week in intensive care can run upward of $250,000, a major accident or illness can destroy your entire financial future. Even less catastrophic health problems can set you back for years. Health insurance is the only affordable way to handle most medical problems. If you develop a major medical problem when you don't have coverage, insurance companies can deny or postpone future coverage due to pre-existing conditions. In other words, you don't want to go even for one millisecond if you have a pre-existing condition, since with continuous coverage with no lapse in coverage, the pre-existing condition has no bearing on your situation, but if you had even a momentary lapse in coverage can make your pre-existing condition a coverage issue.
When you leave a job, you get the option for coverage under COBRA. These plans are often quite expensive but very worthwhile if you have pre-existing health conditions. If you and your family are healthy, then a short-term policy could mean hundreds of dollars of savings for you when you compare the rates to COBRA. If you have pre-existing conditions, you may not be able to get coverage. What if your children are healthy and you aren't? Then cover the children with short-term health insurance and carry COBRA coverage for yourself. This savings can still be substantial.
HIPPA guarantees that you have the right to buy coverage and are exempt from the pre-existing conditions exclusion if you follow a few steps. You must have had 18 months of continuous coverage under a group plan, use up any COBRA, not be eligible for Medicare or Medicaid and apply within 63 days of losing your previous coverage. Finding good health coverage in that period is imperative to those whose health is less than perfect.
If your need is just between jobs, between college and your first job, after retirement but not quite at Medicare, or while you wait for your new employer's plan to start, then short-term health insurance may be just what you need. The premiums are frequently a lot less expensive than the traditional health care plan and coverage is almost immediate in most cases.
If you determine that you have a need that is longer than short-term health policies cover, consider a plan with a health care savings account and a higher deductible. This type of plan is particularly good for those that seldom go to the doctor. As the savings plan grows, you increase your deductible, and therefore shrink you premium payment even further. Don't forget to sign up for a short-term health policy while you wait for the company to accept you for coverage. No one can afford to go even one day without some form of health insurance.
For more insights and additional information about Short Term Health Insurance as well as getting a free no-obligation online health insurance quote, please visit our web site at http://www.healthinsurancetipsguide.com
Exercise EquipmentWhen you take responsibility for yourself, you inevitably take responsibility for others. Your responsible actions will lead as an example and when it comes to your family this is of the utmost importance. Children watch what we do and not so much what we say we will do.
As a consequence, what you put on the table to eat will reflect what you consider to be healthy. The first tip when it comes to health and wellness is understanding. Education is critical, knowing what you eat and why it is you need to exercise is far better than just lecturing your kids on what they should eat. Sharing this and discussing it with them will bring about a broader appreciation for the subject.
Children like to emulate their parents so you must lead by example, after all, you do want what's best for your children, right? By the way you can make this fun. Just by going out and playing with the kids or going on walks gets everybody out and moving around.
By exercising, the blood flows better throughout the body which can help with mental tasks and also helps with sleep. Just by being physically fit you can take on your daily chores with far more ease and energy. The notion of course is to have your children grow up fit and strong.
Having good energy is vital, it increases vitality and it also frames your outlook on life as a whole. The less energy you have the more down you are, in this state having to do anything becomes a bit of a nightmare. Your energy will rub off on your children. You see, wellness covers a wide spectrum which can include behavior and attitude.
Being healthy also improves your self image; you will in general feel better about yourself and the way you look. When you are healthy you are a more of a balanced human being. Health and wellness includes harmony.
You yourself as a parent need to be healthy in order to provide the most you can for your children. Healthy parents will provide a healthy environment and together with your children you can learn about eating right and staying fit.
A healthy family will have less stress, because health is not just about the absence of disease it is just as equally about a state of well being. Teach your children about nutrition and organic foods. When it comes to exercise you do not have to spend hours at the gym, instead you can take brief walks after dinner.
Read power reports for your Family Health and Wellness at Mens-Womens-Health.org
2006 was a record year for the insurance industry. $60 billion in profits were recorded, one of the industry's highest grossing years in history. A primary contributing factor to these record returns was a 2006 hurricane season that was uneventful in comparison to the few years that preceded it. In contrast, insurance companies had been compelled to raise premiums for coastal and earthquake insurance after witnessing the damaging impact of numerous hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2004 and 2005. This shift resulted in the profit windfall of 2006.
Subsequently, the commercial insurance market has been flooded with capital looking to get a piece of future returns. This has created new carriers, new capacity, and alternatives that are itching to get in on the action.
For apartment owners, the result is that commercial insurance carriers will be stepping over themselves to win your business. Growth for these carriers is imperative, thanks to shareholder demand, despite the impossibility of them maintaining the record profit pace of 2006 or the inflated premiums for another year. To expand, these commercial insurance carriers will be forced to enter industries that may have previously been considered too risky. Writing new lines of coverage is their only way to grow. To win your business, they will have to increase coverage or lower premiums to undercut the competition.
The end result is that you, as an apartment owner seeking multifamily insurance, will win with more favorable insurance terms. The carriers have to deal with the influx of new capital, new carriers, and new capacity in the marketplace. Any first year Economics student can tell us that when demand stays constant but supply increases, prices are going to drop. In this case, with these particular conditions in the commercial insurance market, the prices will be falling quickly.
Unfortunately, buyers are usually the last ones to know where the market stands at any particular point in time. Most commercial insurance clients only review their policies once each year, but the market can change significantly in the interim. Additionally, many of the reports that are generated by the large brokerage firms and insurance carriers are inaccurate. This creates "sticky" pricing on the downward side of the market cycle.
Understanding the market, with a foundation of accurate information as a basis for that understanding, is an imperative first step towards getting a good deal on a policy. Many commercial insurance brokers and agents, however, do not have enough experience in the multifamily insurance business to accurately assess the market. Even some of the larger brokerage firms, who do have the requisite experience and knowledge, are just as bloated and slow to react as the market itself.
Typically, information about the commercial insurance market comes from select industry groups and the carriers themselves. What commonly occurs is that statements are issued and information is distributed that is six months behind what is actually attainable in the marketplace at that particular time. The result is that multifamily owners end up renewing their policies at lower rates thinking that they are getting favorable deals; however, the reality is that they are leaving money on the table.
The oversupply of capital in the marketplace favors multifamily owners, if they are armed with the knowledge to take advantage. What might your commercial insurance agent or broker not be telling you that he or she should be to avoid common errors?
1. Choose the right broker and meet your carriers. Working with a broker who is an expert in multifamily insurance, and who works with multiple properties, can ensure you are getting a favorable deal. If you are your broker's only client, the chances that you are getting the best terms possible are slim. Working with an experienced multifamily broker who is backed by a solid team will allow you to efficiently manage claims, know the latest trends in pricing, understand the best timing for a renewal, and know which carriers offer the best deals. Plus, if your broker handles large dollar amounts worth of coverage, he or she can exercise more leverage on your behalf. Having a relationship with your carrier is important as well; if they know your expectations and know you, garnering favorable terms and the occasional favor will be much more likely.
2. Have a renewal strategy and renew early. If the market softens, you may want to cancel a current policy and grab one that gives you lower rates, depending on how much you have already paid in premiums. Lowering premiums mid-term could also release money being held in escrow, freeing up more cash for you. In addition, consider other timing factors such as planning to renew near quarter's end when carriers are looking to make their numbers, or before hurricane hype sets in if you manage coastal properties. The last thing you want to do is not have a strategy and end up renewing too late. You may be held hostage by last-minute quotes, and not give yourself enough time to shop your business in the market for the best deal.
3. Know your replacement cost per square foot. You cannot simply reduce your insured valued or replacement costs with the expectation that it will result in lower premiums. Most multifamily insurance carriers will run your insurance schedule through their own model and then price you based on their replacement cost estimates. If you underestimate yours, you could wind up paying the same price for less coverage.
4. Do not over-insure. The odds of every property you own being decimated by a natural disaster are small. Why buy coverage to protect against that very event? In tough markets, you are costing yourself money by paying for limits you will almost certainly never meet. However, by effectively planning a probable maximum loss (PMSL), you can more accurately estimate how much coverage you should have. Then you can sleep a little easier knowing you are adequately covered and saving money at the same time.
Morgan McMillan is a commercial insurance expert and Vice President at McGriff, Seibels & Williams in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S.
Morgan McMillan has has been honored by Risk Finance Quarterly for his expertise and experience in creating successful risk management solutions for his clients.
Follow the links to learn more about probable maximum loss and the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the most active in history.
Quickoffice Symbian Crack / KeygenContent insurance for landlords is often forgotten. Many landlords assume that their tenants are responsible for insuring contents and for the most part they are. To clear things up tenants are responsible to take out cover only for the contents that belong to them.
Why you need content cover?
Even if you are renting a property out on an unfurnished basis you may still have several valuable items inside that may require insurance. For example carpets, curtains, window blinds, refrigerator, cooker, oven, hating systems etc are all typically found in a so called unfurnished rental property. Consider for the moment what the combined cost of all of these items are and you will find that you may have quite a substantial amount of goods worth a small fortune uninsured in your rental property.
You should first check carefully what is covered by your existing policies. A few buildings policies may cover some internal items. One example may be if your rental property floods and ruins all of the carpets downstairs. In some cases the cost of this damage may be covered by a buildings policy, and in others may not. The lesson to be learned is to check you policy with a fine tooth comb.
Getting a good deal on content insurance for landlords
Getting a good deal on your cover can be tricky. You must remember that normal residential household policies will not do the job. You will need specialist commercial cover because you are renting out your property. One way to get a great deal (especially if you own more than one property) is to negotiate content and buildings insurance cover with the same provider.
To learn more about how to get the cheapest content insurance for landlords or buy to let property insurance please follow one on these links.
Quickoffice Symbian Crack / KeygenCat health problems are many and varied, and feline illness symptoms, like that in humans, often overlap. Your cat is at increased risk for developing illness if recently injured or debilitated by some other condition, or recovering from a procedure or surgery. In addition, your cat is also at higher risk if there is stress due to a recent life-changing event in the home. This may include the addition or removal of a family member or other pet, change of residence, or other event.
It's possible for your cat to contract viruses and bacterial infections such as a flu or a cold. She can also get parasites, diabetes, and certain cancers. In addition, there are any number of feline specific health conditions.
Some of these cat health issues will require treatment. If you suspect your cat has an illness, it's best to call your veterinarian up front and get some direction. That way, if things seem to get worse, both you and your vet will be better prepared to handle the situation.
General signs of cat illness --
Cat health problems of a general nature include some of the same things that people face when they have a cold, flu, infection, or injury. Symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, lethargy, and nasal discharge are common. If your cat has the flu, or an infection in the mouth, you may notice excessive drooling or fever.
Some other more serious signs of illness are excessive vomiting, blood in the vomit, evidence of worms, or signs of pain. If you notice that your cat has trouble breathing, walking, jumping, or faints or falls down, get her to the vet immediately. Also of concern is rapid weight loss or gain, or a bloating or tightness in the abdomen.
Eating and drinking --
A classic sign of a health problem in animals is refusal to eat, so loss of appetite is usually a sign that your cat isn't feeling good. Difficulty in chewing or eating, of course, is an obvious problem. Increased thirst is a sign of a number of diseases, including diabetes. Failure to drink can lead to dehydration, which can be life threatening. Hovering over the drinking bowl but refusing to drink is a definite sign of trouble if it happens for an extended period.
Defecation and urination --
Any indications of problems with urination or defecation may be a sign of disease. These behaviors should be watched closely, including any failure to use the litter box, as there may be a physical cause. Occasional constipation is common in cats, and is most often caused by hairballs, but if left untreated may develop into a serious condition. One of my readers found out that her cat had impacted anal glands and required medical treatment. In male cats, blockage of the urinary tract is life threatening, so difficulty urinating is a warning sign.
Other things to look for are evidence of blood in urine or feces, including black tarry stools, or crying out while using the litter box. Diarrhea may indicate intestinal disease and can lead to dehydration.
Keep alert to any changes in your cat's routine, and keep a journal. If you see warning signs of cat health problems, notify your vet and get advice on how to proceed. In part 2 of this article, we'll cover problems with the eyes, mouth, skin and hair, as well as behavioral changes that may indicate cat illness.
Kurt Schmitt has created a resource for cat lovers with over 150 articles, including many on cat health problems. Of particular interest are these more than 70 cat illness warning signs.
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