To begin with you must employ the concepts of the five phases of Feng Shui. According to the tenets and basis of Feng Shui philosophies and practices the five physical elements in nature – fire, earth, metal, water and wood represent the movements of qi. The operative word here is phrases. This cannot be stressed enough. The movement, operation and interaction of each phrase are what is being studied and evaluated, not the particular element in itself. Life is not a vacuum, to be evaluated piecemeal all by itself.

It is always best to remember that all energy phases interact and even intertwine. Whether it is a tree, a rock, a household cat or a human being there is actually always a constant bundling and intertwining of the most vital qi energies of Feng Shui. The energy phases of Feng Shui are constantly evolving, interacting and interleaving on a full time and regular basis. It is one giant, constant stream and river flowing of constant interaction. From creation and birth to maturity and decay, everything and anything revolve and revolves around changes of yin and yan, always involving the most vital qi energies.

The most ancient and revered Chinese believed most strongly that the interaction of these five basic phases creates all that exists on the cosmic, Earth as well as human planes. We encounter these great forces of nature on a regular and most daily basis. Each phase has its own qi character, and of course interacts with the other phases and forces of nature in entirely different ways as well as means. Fire rises, earth qi revolves, metal qi contracts, water qi falls and lastly wood qi (the qi of the forest and trees) expands.

In the end it can be best said that how these five phases interact with one another determine the balance of qi in nature in our living working space and in our very beings.

If you have been the victim of a natural catasphrophy – be it a great storm like Hurricane Katrina. Ike or Gusta, a wildfire in California raging the coastal areas or perhaps even a victim in the latest financial meltdowns in 2008 often the very causes to a great degree can all be related to the balance and balances of the five phases of Feng Shui in your abode – home, home office or office and as well to the ultimate balance and applications of the principles and practices of Feng Shui in your life as well as lifestyles.Feng Shui!

About the Author

Morris E.R.J. Brown Budget Hotels St. Vital Shopping Center Winnipeg Theme Hotel Room http://www.blogdirectorybid.com

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Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the cause of hair loss should be looked into before going for treatment. This problem can be caused by multitude of reasons including heredity, illness, hormones, medical condition, stress and diet.

It is absolutely normal to shed up to 150 hairs each day as a part of the cycle in growing of new hair. At the same time, if experiencing excessive loss you must know the root cause behind it. This loss can affect any age group of men, women and children.

Hormonal changes seem to be the main cause of hair loss. Many people start losing their hair at the time of hormone changes. These changes can be dominantly observed in case of a woman. During pregnancy, miscarriage, discontinuing birth control pills may lead to the problem in one way or the other.

The above changes affect estrogen and DHT levels and those affect the hair growth and loss process. It is during the post childbirth that women shed their hair. Usually, after pregnancy hair loss occurs between three to six months. This is usually a temporary affliction.

High fever also plays a crucial role in hair loss. The growth is altered, when the body temperature substantially rises, causing hair to shed. Diseases such as thyroid, liver, renal failure, viral, fungal infection, anorexia, bulimia, anemia and hypothyroidism all contribute substantially to the loss of hair. Once the illness or medical condition is brought under control, growth returns.

Diet and nutrition are the next major factor contributing to the changes in the hair growth and loss cycles. A person’s diet should have essential fatty acids, strong amount of proteins, and zinc. Deficiency of any of these elements will lead to the cause of hair thinning. In addition to this, excess amount of Vitamin A and Accutane can also cause hair loss and thinning.

Elevated stress levels and emotional stress can also result in hair loss. This problem has a strong correlation with the high level of stress. Hair responds more to physical and emotional distress than any other part of the body. This kind of problem is usually solved when the source of stress is spotted and eliminated.

The treatment for hair loss depends on individual cases. If it is on temporary basis, most likely it will be solved without any medications or any medical procedures whereas if the loss is on permanent basis, then treatment begins with a hair replacement specialist.Hair loss is a very common condition that can affect any age group in some fashion. However, before going for any treatment, it is essential to know the root cause of your hair loss.

About the Author

Cindy Lee is the owner of Cindycut Intl., and internationally respected  retailer to wearers and wholesaler to stylists desiring affordable education and tools necessary for you to become a professional in the field of Custom Hair Replacement.  For more information on Hair Loss Secrets visit her site at BaldWoman.com

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There’s everything for everybody

Exciting and never-before-heard-about jobs have come out of the woodworks and the news travels around fast via the internet. In one way or other people have a legitimate home business or know someone who has one and is living on a nice pile of extra income without getting out of the house. These guys can spread themselves on the couch literally and watch movies all day and make money!

Heard of writing movie reviews? That is just what they are doing. They watch movies and scoot to their PC to write movie reviews and get paid handsomely. The job has indeed done wonders to their couch potato careers because a nice movie review pays them $50-$100 if they are lucky enough to get the high paying sites. Six movie reviews a week can fatten their bank accounts in no time. This legitimate home business sure pays.

The potato couch has other options, putting up a blog site and get up that coach to write four blogs a week about armchair travel and sports and put in a dash of couch cuisine. If he is lazier, still he can hire someone to set up his affiliate site that automatically earns money while dozes or watch TV.

Should Business Be Always Online?

No. You have options though to find business that will require you minimal use of the internet. You get money making ideas, tips and leads to companies or suppliers ready to help set your business up. Or if you want to be the boss (why not?), use the internet to make your presence felt in the global market if you are selling products.

If you have a “specialty”, business like minding vacation homes social networking will work. Google your way around for tips and find where these vacation homes are concentrated and how these are maintained. You can put up a company of dependable family friends to start your house minding business via the internet.

How to know if a legitimate home business is legit?

Around the world, people are finding great legitimate home business opportunities making use of what they do best - watching movies, shopping, eating, and writing. As if it were not enough, there are more opportunities just waiting to be found. Take those people who are using the internet to advertise their home business and making a tidy income from it. It could be anything from cleaning houses to party planning.

Like the usual scam sites, you’ll know you’re getting scammed if the site hesitates to give you leads buts keeps on tantalizing you with overnight riches and 100% guarantee you’ll succeed without moving a muscle.

When you browse for a legitimate home business, you’re looking for a business that’s for real. Sites offering lists of these ventures pre-screen the companies looking for service providers or retailers for their products. These sites will also help you calculate your return of investments for a nominal fee and show you how you can succeed with your legitimate home business.

About the Author

Money attracts money so if you’re looking for a legitimate home business or a legitimate home business opportunity don’t expect a free lunch. A legitimate home based business will need the works. Ask the people behind BestRetirementAlternatives.com.

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For starters, if this is an annual or recurring event, you may find it helpful to seek the advice of others who have put on successful events in the past. These folks can be a wealth of information both on what worked and what didn’t. Avoid their mistakes before you make them yourself. You will likely find that people who have gone through the cycle of planning a big event will be happy to help you with suggestions and recommendations to make the banquet a hit.

Once you have identified previous planners and others who have offered to lend a hand, you should form a banquet committee. Choose the members of the committee wisely as you will need to have people who will move the project forward in a creative and efficient way. Disputes and egos will only slow down the entire process, but you’ll definitely want to tap the talent and experience of those around you. Find out specific areas that each member of the committee is good at such as room decoration, meal preparation, managing the guest list, organizing the entertainment, etc.

As your banquet planning project moves forward you’ll find that there are some elements over which you have no control. This is a good thing as it decreases the number of decisions that you will have to make. Make a list of important information and things that you cannot change such as…

* The date. Many banquets will take place on a specific night for reasons pertaining to the theme or honored guest(s). Retirement or anniversary banquets are good examples.

* The location. If the banquet hall is owned by the group having the banquet or if there is a special meaning to the location, or if the availability is limited you will have to make the location work.

* The guest list. This is often set in stone and can be a challenge when reconciling the number of people coming with the available facility.

* The theme and order of events.

* The budget.

Now you have your committee formed and a good fix on the variables that you can and cannot control. Meet with your committee and hammer out a list of priorities based on all the variables. Have everyone think of the successful banquets they have attended and what made them successful. Having the priorities clearly defined will be very helpful when cutting costs to meet your budget. Focus on the high priorities, delegate tasks based on each committee members strengths and you will accomplish a very successful event with a minimum of stress and frustration.

About the Author

Cheri Brennan is an avid banquet and event planning enthusiast. She has planned many events for friends, family and corporate settings. To get more great articles, tips and banquet planning ideas click over to http://banquets.newinfohighway.com.

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To my mind the experience with the team format highlights the illusion of believing that a client exists as such and that the client’s problems or difficulties exist as such. By “as such” I am referring to the idea that the client and his or her difficulties can be apprehended or discovered as they “really” are, objectively, in pretty much the same way that a physician (with the help of lab tests, etc.) can detect/diagnosis an established medical disease, a chemist can analyze the chemical composition of a substance, an ordinary member of our society can identify common artifacts like televisions and cars, and so on. What the team format brings to the fore is that who the client “is” and what his or her problems are cannot really be divorced from who the client is talking to and why/under what conditions they are talking.

Most of the clinical literature it seems to me postulates a client and his or her problems as existing (somewhere) apart from and beyond conversations with a specific interlocutor. It is harder to maintain this idea when the same client is simultaneously having conversations with different therapists. It’s not that for example a client describes a drug abuse problem to one therapist and denies it to another, it’s rather that what the client says to one therapist about what the drug problem means, what’s relevant to understanding it, and so on changes somewhat as the client meets with different therapists. This is no more mysterious than understanding why in everyday life we all say/tell different things to different people—the audience and social interaction change as we converse with different people.

If we are going to talk about something as complex and multifaceted as personal experience, the interests and responses of the interlocutor really matter as the conversation develops. A conversation does not belong to just one person. Everything the therapist says and more broadly his or her total manner of being and interacting affect the social interaction at hand, and thus what the client says, how he or she says it, and what he or she does not say. This is obvious enough from the perspective of everyday social experience but it conflicts with a deep conviction in clinical psychology that the client has an essence (somewhere) that is independent of the present social situation. Psychological testing is based on the supposition that a non-social or socially neutral situation can be contrived for the purpose of detecting the individual’s essence. In a rather conspicuous way this effort is self-contradictory because instead of exploring what is uniquely individual about the person the point of testing is to compare the person to others on a pre-established set of questions and response possibilities.

The hard part to keep in mind is that except for superficialities when the client talks about personal history there are no facts to report (contrast the client reporting where he or she grew up to relating the emotional atmosphere of the home). The client (all of us) have an unarticulated felt sense of a topic like the emotional atmosphere of the home growing up, but there are many possible ways to express it and features to focus on, and the point I am emphasizing here is that what the client actually says to a specific person on a specific occasion is not independent of the other person’s interests, responses, and so on. The team format, again, makes this point conspicuous.

The client in the intensive team format situation covers so much more ground—by virtue of meeting with multiple therapists—than with a single therapist that it is hard to think that the single therapist format can compete with the team format. Of course the team format is unavoidably expensive, but even in a short period a great deal can be accomplished.

About the Author

David Jacobs, Ph.D., is a senior psychologist at Practical Recovery (addiction treatment san diego). His research focuses on how traditional diagnosis and psychiatric medication can impede the psychotherapy relationship.

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CRAFT is motivational rather than confrontational. Concerned Significant Others (CSO) learn how to motivate loved ones to change, by rewarding sober activities and discouraging activities that include drugs or alcohol. The motivational approach to getting a loved one into treatment leads to a lower percentage of relapse. When the reasons not to use outweigh the reasons to use, people are more likely to enter treatment. CRAFT training provides CSO’s with skills to help shift the balance in favor of not using and entering treatment.

CRAFT goals are to:

· Increase the CSO’s happiness, independent of whether or not the IP (Identified Patient) enters treatment.· Decrease the IP’s substance use.· Get the IP into treatment

CRAFT uses Positive Communication to improve the probability of the IP entering treatment. CSO’s are encouraged, when talking to the loved one, to:

· Be brief in describing concerns· Be positive and hopeful· Refer to specific behaviors (“I see” or “I hear.”)· Describe their own feelings (“How I feel when this happens is…”)· Offer an alternative for the future (“What I would like to happen is…”)(A quick way to remember the above is “facts, feelings, future.”)

CRAFT is especially useful for the CSO who has seen previous attempts to get a loved one into treatment fail, who is tired of nagging, pleading, and threatening, and who feels worn out. In addition, CRAFT is an appealing approach to those who are turned off by harsh confrontational interventions.

CRAFT works within your values and beliefs. The process is based on the understanding that no one has better information about the behavior of the substance user than the Concerned Significant Other. CRAFT teaches you how to use the information in a motivational way to increase the chances of the substance user entering treatment.

CRAFT will help you learn:

· New skills to cope with old problems· How to increase your loved one’s sobriety· How to keep yourself safe· How to improve the quality of your life

The CRAFT method will coach you, in a very practical way, to discuss costs and benefits of your loved one’s substance use. Research finds that it is best to acknowledge that the substance user drinks or takes drugs because it makes them feel good, provides an escape from problems, and/or allows them to be more social. What is often neglected by the substance user is the cost of drinking or taking drugs. This is where the opportunity for change exists.

CRAFT is scientific. CRAFT is non-confrontational. CRAFT is a way for CSO’s to improve the quality of their own lives, while decreasing the possibility of use by their loved one and increasing the possibility of a loved one entering treatment. Best of all, research shows that CRAFT works.

About the Author

Tom Brown, Ph.D., is a senior clinical psychologist at Practical Recovery (alcohol addiction treatment) where he helps individuals overcome addiction and achieve a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life.

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Biofeedback uses computers to help you become more aware of the subtle changes that occur in your body. Once you are more aware of them, you can control them better.

How does it work?

Many physiological processes in your body are hard to detect, but computerized monitoring allows you to notice them better. The monitored information is then “fed” back to you in an understandable form. By being able to see this information on a computer monitor, you can learn how to control the processes better.

Why would I care about controlling my physiological processes?

Most people know that we control our body by using our mind. For example, if we are agitated, we can use our brains to calm our body. But did you know that many nerves that control our behavior actually go from the body to the brain? If you can create a calm body, you can create a calm state-of-mind.

What will biofeedback help me with?

Biofeedback has been used for stress and anxiety disorders (including muscle tension and panic), TMJ, low back pain, chronic pain anywhere in the body, migraine headaches, breathing disorders, Raynaud’s Syndrome, IBS, hypertension and addiction (when you are calmer cravings tend to diminish). There are also many additional health benefits from biofeedback.

What physical processes does biofeedback monitor?

The most common physiological processes monitored are heart rate, respiration (breathing), sweating, peripheral temperature, blood pressure and muscle tension.

How does receiving feedback about physiological processes help me control them?

If you shot a basketball in the general direction of the basket, but could not see the basket itself, your shooting would not improve. When you set the goal of relaxing, and then get feedback about exactly what is happening in your body, you will get better at relaxing.

How fast does it work?

As with any therapy, the results will vary depending on your condition. Although lasting results may take 10 sessions or more, some people see results in 3-4 sessions. As with learning any skill, how fast you improve will depend on how much you practice.

What is a typical biofeedback session like?

Your biofeedback therapist usually begins treatment with a comprehensive assessment of your physiological processes and your awareness of them. Then you will jointly design a biofeedback training program to improve your capacity for self-regulation, based on your needs and goals. Electrodes are “pasted” to you so that you can get feedback on the computer monitor. The paste is easily wiped off. The electrodes do not transmit any electricity to you. You therapist will guide you through the entire process. Near the end of each session you will discuss the progress made, and the next steps to take. If you rent or purchase small practice equipment and use it at home you will make faster progress.

This sounds like meditation.

You’re right! There are many similarities between meditation, yoga, self-hypnosis, and biofeedback. However, biofeedback can help you achieve awareness of physiological processes much more quickly than other techniques. If you already use other techniques, you can master them faster!

About the Author

Julie Myers, Psy.D., BCIAC, CATC, provides biofeedback at Practical Recovery alcohol addiction treatment, where she focuses on resolving problems that give rise to or maintain addiction.

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Breathing properly for singing is the single most important factor in obtaining good solid technique in order to sing better. Every singing sound we make, at least, is dependent on consistent and steady airflow. If you have more control of this air flow, you will have more singing control and thereby have better quality of your singing, including strength, duration, and capacity.

Breathing for better singing should always include relaxation techniques for quiet inhalations, specifically. Exercises and stretches, include some yawning, yes you heard right, yawning exercises, as you inhale and exhale, to help relax the muscles surrounding the vocal cords.

First, stand relaxed yet tall and with good posture. For more information on this, go to www.breathing.com. They have some excellent details on breathing and posture.

Since breathing is a three-dimensional process, try this. Breathe in deeply to connect with the diaphragm (muscle that lies underneath the lung sacs, as the lungs are not muscles). Your rib cage should expand and you should have a sense of “expanding” clear around the rib/abdominal area, as the diaphragm lowers, thus, filling the lungs. Exhale completely.

Do the above for 4 counts in and 4 counts out….all the while thinking of not only the three-dimensional expansion, but the silent intake of air, using that “yawning” sensation, which is only a helper for this training…yawning may not work perfect for other vocal techniques, like voice placement, but it does help relax the muscles for a quieter, quicker intake of air. Push out with the belly muscles as you sing or do your vocal exercises. You can even lie on the floor for this one with a book or a couple books on your belly to see how your breathing is doing. Can you raise the book while inhaling? If so, that is just one aspect of the three-dimensional aspect of proper breathing. This is just to demonstrate how you should be breathing. A coach online or offline should assist you in keeping track of these, to make sure you are developing proper habits. Poor habits are so hard to change, so give yourself some time, training, and practice. Do the above everyday (except the book part) for better control of your breathing and forming proper breathing habits.

There are, of course, things you should not do while learning the above techniques, and that is you should not move your shoulders, head, or neck while learning these habits. Your chin should not go out or up or down to low, but be level. To breathe properly, specifically for singing, you will want to keep “the instrument” in the appropriate position. You should appear natural and the breathing should seem effortless.

There are also exercises that will assist you in developing better breathing control and stamina without hurting your singing voice. This includes exercises like breathing in through a pretend straw for better breath control and development. Try this. Pretend you are breathing in through a straw (a small pressure hole created by your lips) and perform the above 4-count breathing exercise. This will help strengthen your breathing strength, control, and stamina for those long “tah-dah” notes or just sustained notes that always seem to fall short. There are also many breathing exercises for assisting in developing breath control, strength, and stamina, such as inhaling (yawn) your breath, then “ha-ha-ha-ha-ha” exhaled for 5 times and seeing if you have any breath left, which you should.

Learning to sing better through breathing is such a critical step in developing your better singing voice. I just cannot stress that enough. I do hope these tips have assisted you in obtaining some breathing techniques to take with you for your overall healthier lifestyle and in singing better! Let’s march onward to assisting you in continuing your onward progress in taking care of your voice, breathing, and coming soon…warm-ups!

About the Author

Doralyn Bigelow. Vocal coach, teacher, & mentor for over 20 years. Doralyn provides vocal lessons locally and online vocal coaching, products, and mentoring. Visit http://www.SingYourMusic.com to find out about free vocal coaching sessions and to access specific tips for voice care, warm-ups, etc

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So, what do you for the person who has it all? If you’re looking for truly unique and innovative gift idea consider giving an online photo album! You’ll love will be completely surprised to find that you’ve taken the time to construct a photo album based on their preferences and displayed it online without them having to lift a finger.

The biggest challenge in constructing this gift will be getting your hands on the photos your loved one normally keeps in a scrapbook. He might have to do some reconnaissance work to sneak existing photo albums out of the house and scan them into a computer before returning them again to their rightful place. If you can manage this task, the rest is butter.

The important thing to remember when tackling this gift idea is that your constructing the album for someone else. That means that you should try and design the project to their specifications, and they’re liking, instead of your own. It might be a challenge to choose color schemes and patterns that you would not normally select. It might be a good idea to use your loved one’s favorite colors, colors they use around the house, when planning the aesthetics for your online photo album.

Once you’ve put together design of your album, you’ll find it very easy to upload an organized the photos that you’ve selected. Add captions and texts to convey various emotions. Remember this photo album is a gift; make sure you keep it to your loved one’s specifications.

Once the creative work is done, all that’s left to do is present the gift to your friend or loved one. A great way to present a gift of this type is to give a card complete with the address of the photo album inside. Be sure and let the recipient know that there something special waiting for them at the URL address that you’ve written in the card.

Your friend or loved one will truly appreciate the time and effort you put into creating an online photo album just for them. You will also appreciate the effort it took to sneak those photos out of their homes! Most people appreciate a thoughtful personal gift. What could be more personal than an online photo album complete with memories in place?

So, if you’re at a loss for a gift this holiday season, consider the online photo album is the perfect alternative to standard tangible gift. No running to the store, and standing in line, and best of all no post-Christmas returns. Online photo albums make a great gift for anyone who appreciates a good photograph. Remember online photo albums don’t have to be specifically people. You can construct an online photo album gift with pictures of pets, children, or simply beautiful landscapes.

About the Author

MJ Johnston writes for a variety of websites, including Hoorray, a photo sharing site that offers the quickest and easiest way to build a free online photo album, as well as free online photo storage.

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In most other countries AA also has meetings, but does not dominate the recovery environment. In these countries there is a much greater opportunity to choose from an array of recovery approaches (including the DIY—do it yourself—approach).

The reason AA’s dominance is harmful is that this dominance reduces choice. Unfortunately what most people who have addiction problems are told is that is “AA is the only successful approach.”

From a scientific perspective, there isn’t even sufficient evidence to confirm that AA is a successful approach. This fact may surprise you, given how much you may have heard about AA’s success. AA is clearly successful as an organization. Its success as an approach to recovery remains to be verified, and may never be.

Every three years the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services sends a report to Congress entitled Alcohol and Health. The 1990 report states: “The effectiveness of AA has not been scientifically documented, and methodological problems make such an evaluation difficult” (pg. 265). The National Academy of Sciences published in 1990 a massive report entitled Broadening the Base of Treatment for Alcohol Problems. The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by Congress as its advisory body on the application of scientific knowledge to public policy, and in the United States there is no higher authority on such applications. This report (commissioned by Congress in 1986) states: “AA is considered by many lay persons and professionals to be the most successful treatment for persons with alcohol problems, despite the lack of well-designed and well-executed studies that can be cited to support or negate the validity of this perception” (pg. 111).

Although the above quotations may seem ancient in the internet age, the conclusions they report have not changed. Addiction scientists have moved on to other issues.

When professionals and AA members keep saying that AA is the only way, it discourages the tens of millions of Americans, who may want to consider changes in their behavior, from considering the range of options available. Instead of thinking “there must be alternative approaches out there, I’ll look for them” many people get discouraged and delay doing anything. In fact there are scientifically validated non-AA-based treatments, as well as free support groups (including SMART Recovery, Moderation Management, Women for Sobriety, LifeRing Secular Recovery and Secular Organizations for Sobriety). However, when you hear “AA is the only way” it may not occur to you to look for alternatives.

I believe, therefore, that AA’s dominance is harmful to the millions who are discouraged from considering all their options. Because there are so many of these individuals, the harm to them outweighs the benefits AA provides to its participants. AA could continue to do its helpful work without people being misled that AA is the only or best way to recover..

As alternative approaches gain more prominence this situation in the US will gradually change. In the meantime you can be helpful by clearly stating whenever relevant that there are many approaches to change, and that AA is only one among many.

About the Author

A. Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP, is a board certified clinical psychologist and president of Practical Recovery non-12-step alcohol addiction treatment, an addiction treatment facility in La Jolla (San Diego), CA, focusing on collaborative care and self-empowerment.

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