Stress is a serious issue, bad enough that there are specific classes, degrees, and therapists for stress. Large corporations are even concerned about employees and occupational stress so much that they offer free counseling and hold seminars. I mention stress first here because it is a nervous  disorder and that is something new to most people. Other than regular nervousness other nerve disorders would be insomnia, nervous tension, crying, and restlessness. Most of these conditions will be handled a little different and I will explain. Herbs on your body that would be classified as a ‘nervine’ can either: ‘calm the spirit’, ‘anchor the soul’, or relaxes the nervous system. Calming the spirit refers mild settling down, such as a relaxing herbal tea. Honestly most herbs fall into this category although some are stronger than others. I would technically break this up a little bit, but I didn’t make the system. Mild forms of calming the spirit are usually ones that taste and smell great like Chamomile, and more powerful forms would be Valerian. When we refer to ‘anchoring’ the soul these are real powerful herbs that act heavily on your body to put you out. These are considered ‘heavy’ herbs, the anchor is pulling you down, much like you feel when you are in-fact tired. Most of these are actually minerals and should be used with caution and would include Amber and Oyster Shell. Lastly we have herbs that considered mild to medium ‘calming the spirit’ but more importantly calms the nerves and helps relieve stress, Skullcap would be a great pick here. Now, non of these issues should be taken lightly. Stress, insomnia, and tension can affect your performance, focus, and cause tightness and headaches.

Now to hit you with some knowledge. Lets talk about some real winners in the herb department here.
I can’t sleep. I hear this one all the time, but I want to break this down a little bit.
I can’t really get to sleep. Tea is gonna work best here. It is proven that regulating your body temperature you have a better sleep schedule. You don’t even need to buy herbs here, try taking a warm bath 2 hours before bed time and see how that works for you. Back to the tea. We want to employ calmatives here and ones that taste good in a tea. Chamomile, Lavender, and citrus/mint(lemon balm, peppermint) are all good here. Find what taste good for you and go with that just an hour before you want to go to bed.
I have insomnia or can’t stay asleep. Lets move to ’sedatives’ here. Getting a diagnosis would be best as it would help pick the right herbs, but lets throw something general at you and see if it sticks. Valerian, Skullcap, Suan Zao Ren, Mu Li, and California Poppy would make a great combo here. Valerian and Skullcap are really great sedatives and work as the main herbs. They both are important because depending on the condition one of these may not work for you, but the other will.  Suan Zao Ren is a great herb that is becoming popular even to Western Herbalists because Lady’s Slipper heavy use has brought it to near endangerment. Mu Li is oyster shell, and basically what is happening here is you are getting a large dose of Calcium and Magnesium as well as other minerals. Mu Li should be in half the dose as the rest of the herbs. California Poppy brings up the rear with a great ability to repair nerves and sedate pain as well. California poppy also contains no toxins like other poppies may. I would highly suggest this combo be pilled or made into a tincture as it will not taste so great as a drink!
Stress! Most nervines are tonics and this is exactly what we want to do, tonify the nervous system. This means our next formula needs to have Valerian, Lobelia, and Skullcap in it. We have already discussed 2 of these, so whats the deal with Lobelia? Well Lobelia contains lobeline and is known as a smoking replacement as it has similar properties of cigarrettes but without the nicotine. Lobelia is a herbal muscle relaxer and the reason it is important in many formulas. When your body is relaxed it will open up to treatments and allow a greater effect to be made. So we have some tonification and a muscle relaxer, what else? Honestly its up to you, there are lots of great herbs to throw in here, Hops would make a great addition and it seems the world loves hops :)… Pilling this or a tincture would be best and I would recommend the tincture as it would be an easy dosage and the alcohol would act as a stimulant. With some wide variety of herbs in this one I would also recommend Ginger for stimulation and harmonizing this combo.

If in doubt ask, but if nothing else it should help you out when walking down the aisles looking for something.

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First-Aid is my forte so look forward to lots of tips like these. Nosebleeds can have many causes. Pregnant women often get random nosebleeds, a strike to the head will obviously cause a nosebleed, too much Vitamin A, and lots more. In any case, regardless how you got it, a nosebleed is quite an annoyance. Ive seen so many different nosebleed remedies around and honestly I haven’t had enough nosebleeds to test them all. I stick with what I know, and this is what I’m going to pass on here.
In Chinese Medicine the body has meridians of acupoints on the body. Without going too deep here, more info can be found elsewhere including Oriental medicine and its forms and others on Web Health Articles. Points on your body can affect parts of your body that are not even close to the points treated. This happens to be the case when you dealing with nosebleeds. There are 2 major points and both are on your hand. An easy little trick to putting pressure on these points is to get some string or rope and wrap it around your hand like so.

It is best to do this on your primary hand, although it really doesn’t matter all that much. This trick alone can treat almost any nosebleed by itself in about 20-30 seconds.Your next step is to now tilt your head back and apply cotton in the nose. If cotton isn’t available you can squeeze your nose to apply direct pressure. If the trauma was caused by a blow and is becoming inflamed, then ice may also be necessary.
The best case scenario is to have some herbs off hand that can stop bleeding. Agrimony is a good one, but should be burnt and have the ashes used for best results. San Qi, Tien Qi, Notoginseng, or whatever you prefer to call it would be the best case scenario. San Qi is my #1 herb and has a bunch of uses, but stops bleeding as its first property. Some powdered San Qi on the cotton ball or snorted will almost instantly stop even the most serious nose bleeding. If its a serious wound you should internally take some San Qi as well. There are 2 formulas that would be nice to have around for this specific case. Dimmak Herb’s Dimmak CLOT The Stop Bleeding Powder is my first recommendation and works in all first aid situations. Second pick would be the slightly more famous Yunnan Baiyao. Both of these formulas are available in pill and powder forms as you should have both on hand!

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I’ll spare you the false hopes of losing 30 pounds before Christmas. Ill let the magazine rack, that you no doubt have passed since November, tell you how to lose 25-30 pounds of weight in a month. Honestly I would like to see some healthy proof of these claims, but we will save the magazine bashing for another day. Instead I am going to give you some help on keeping up your metabolism and hopefully not gaining any, if only 5 pounds, this Holiday for those who actually have family and will be visiting. For those of you married, you have 2 stops (and there are a  few of us that have 3 stops because of a parent separation) so thats 2-3+ meals your gonna have to deal with. Most of these suggestions will seems simple and some may be obvious, but I am trying to convey some less orthodox tactics that you can add to your arsenal!
Eat some soup of drink broth before the meal.This is essential in China relating to Chinese Medicine to keep your body temp regulated. Yes, this what we are trying to do! By taking in warm broth before the meal your metabolism fires are roaring, and a simple cup will work great. If there is enough time passed before you eat after the soup you will actually feel yourself getting quite hungry. I know Miso Soup isn’t a Thanksgiving Day traditional item, but Miso Soup can be bought in little convenient packets and just add hot water. The Miso Soup has seaweed in it and allot of other minerals that increase metabolism further! This is why the Japanese have Miso Soup before meals (not exactly the fattest country).
Avoid Cold Drinks Before the Meal. This is an extension of the previous tip, and you should be able to understand why after reading the previous tip. However, drink lots of fluid after the meal. Warm fluids would be best, but go ahead and drink up after!
Choose Your Food Wisely. Sorry but I have to be obvious here. If you make your own Thanksgiving meal change to fresh produce and steam it, take it easy on the sugar, and substitute or reduce when able. For example Yams and Sweet Potatoes are pretty sweet by themselves. Try reducing sugar and marshmallow here. Not cooking, just make good choices. Wheat rolls, baked turkey, green beans, and the such are all quality choices here.
Take Herbs with Mild Laxative Properties. Heard the supermodel laxative diet plan? Well, I would imagine that would work but I will never condone taking a laxative unless a doctor is giving you one. Herbs with laxative properties are different so let me explain. When a herb has laxative properties it promotes bowel movements naturally by lubricating, stimulating bile excretion, and stimulating peristalsis (the rhythmic contraction of your bowels). Commercial laxatives simply turn your bowel contents into liquid, which weakens your bowels and creates dependency AND causes griping! Now, what I am not telling you to do is eat and overdose on some Senna and sit on the toilet waiting. I’m simply suggesting that if you plan ahead, this WILL work and here are some specific examples.

• Possibly the BEST suggestion I have is visit Dimmak Herbs Herbal Supplements and buy a bottle of DEUCE or REGULATOR. Take 1 pill/capsule morning and night through the entire holiday season. since this is really only a little over a month this would be okay to do especially since the formulas are safe but incredibly effective. REGULATOR actually being a bowel TONIC is quite beneficial here.
• Of course I can never get away from those wanting the EASIEST opinion. Go to any grocery store and go to the pharmacy section and get a bottle of Castor Oil. This bottle will be small and fit in your pocket easily. Castor Oil is absolutely gross to most people thanks to the texture but is really effective and is really soothing. For this suggestion only do this on the days of big meals, don’t make a big habit out of Castor oil. Your dosage will be a tablespoon after the meals, close to the evening time so your bowel movement will be in the market.
• Aloe Vera Gel is a wonderful herbal supplement. Aloe is close to Castor oil properties and is excellent for your body. Aloe can be found as gel or juice in grocery stores and health food stores. Get the highest amount of aloe you can 90%+. Your dosage will be 1oz morning and night throughout the season.

There should be one option there you can deal with. Let me tell you what NOT to do. Do NOT take Senna, never take senna. Senna is NOT a good herbal laxative and is not good for your bowels. Do NOT use commercial laxatives, EVER. Avoid ‘colon cleanses’ and ‘colon blow’ and whatever the hell else people are throwing out there. Only use products that are well trusted. I will review products for anyone interested, but with herbal supplements not being regulated you never know what is being formulated in those products. Many products also like to use popular herbs, some of which turn our to not be good additives to formulas (although not surprising to herbalists).

I hope some simple tips here go a long way in the next month or so for you. Stabilizing yourself now will save you from paying a bunch of money for that gym membership that doesn’t get used! Help save your new year’s resolution on something a little more special that your weight, again.

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As you can see a button is now at the top of the page that says “Ask Sean”. Now you can do more than comment on this blog. If you want to ask a question or write about something specific, just click the button and fill out the form. If your email is chosen, your name and website along with a discussion on your topic will addressed in a future blog posting. This will get you back links to your site while getting the information you want. This is a reward by giving me topics to write on and obviously making them targeted, so I know what people would like to hear about! Please keep the questions health related: Diet, Fitness, Oriental Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Herbs, Sports, Sports Medicine, First Aid (my favorite), Ailments, and anything else Health related that you can think of!

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Im also accepting reviews of natural products. Contact me and get me a sample of your product and some ingredients and I may accept to review your product in a future blog posting!

I look forward to hearing from health fans from around the world as I make this blog an ability to have some ‘discussion’ to it

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