4 Ways You Are Making Your Hair Fall Out

It is not all about your mom’s dad when it comes to hair loss. There are number of ways  you could be onsetting the process without even knowing. Before the age of 21, ¼ men will begin to notice thinning or loss of hair. This is something that is extremely common, but can really put a dent in your confidence. To keep the hair you do have on your head, try avoiding these mistakes.

Hold Back That Shampoo

Washing your hair with shampoo every day may make you feel clean, but it could be doing damage to your hair. Over time it begins to strip natural oils which are in your hair to make it retain moisture. If you do this too often, your hair can turn brittle and weak.

 

Unless your scalp is extremely oily, try opting to rinsing your hair with shampoo every other day. If you are concerned about the smell, try putting a few drops of rosemary essential oil onto your fingers and massage it onto your scalp while in the shower. According to Healthline, rosemary essential oil has anti-inflammatory properties and promotes nerve growth. Most importantly, it can improve circulation on the scalp, which can bring blood to hair follicles and prevent them from falling out.

Stressed Out

Between relationships, money and your job, there are plenty of reasons why stress can make its way into your life. Stress can begin to impact your entire body, but when it comes to your hair it can certainly assist in the process of it falling out. Your hair has developed a growing and resting cycle. When stress creeps into your life it has the power to disrupt this rhythm, resulting in possible clumps of hair falling out.

Mental health is extremely important and something that is often overlooked. Spend some time working on your mindfulness by trying some simple meditations. These mental health apps help to clear your head, lower your blood pressure and focus on the present. This will keep your head filled with hair.

Cut Out The Product

Men often opt for hair gel, waxes and pomades to get that stylish finish they are looking for. It might not be damaging your actual hair (if you wash it out), but what it could be doing is putting strain on your scalp. If you begin to do this for a while, the pores on your scalp and your hair follicles can become clogged.

Keeping your scalp clean is very important as this can create the inability to grow hair or even lead to an infection on your scalp. To avoid using so much product, speak with your barber about the shape of your head and what hairstyle would go well with that. No one should have to use product every day. Let your hair breathe.

Change Up Your Diet

When you are looking to make a change for your body, first examine what you’re putting into it. Protein is what creates keratin, the protein that hair is made out of. Lack of protein in a diet can cause your hair to become brittle and cause breakage. If you want a healthy head of hair, try eating more spinach.

This superfood is loaded with folate, iron and vitamin A, all of which are beneficial to hair growth. Vitamin A is important because it assists the skin glands in producing sebum. Sebum is an oil that will moisturize the scalp and keep hair feeling thick and healthy. Also, studies have shown that lack of iron has been linked to hair loss. Iron helps to send red blood cells through the body carrying oxygen. This will boost your metabolism and aid in growth and repair.

Let Pain Be Your Teacher

With all the news on television, it appears as if there are those who are truly hurting in life. It is for this reason that this article is a must. Many times we want to either numb the pain or get rid of it because it can feel like too much. We are also wired to want to avoid pain and seek pleasure. Although it’s natural to want to avoid pain, pain is also natural and for a good reason. The good reason is that it is feedback.

“What kind of feedback?”, you may wonder. The kind of feedback will depend on where you are in life as well as the kind of pain that you are feeling. There are different degrees of pain and different kinds of pain and in order for you to know which one it is, it is important to go within yourself to find out.

There are emotional and mental pain and then there is physical pain. All these kinds of pain can be associated with the main pain that may have been ignored which is the spiritual pain. With emotional pain, I am referring to any sadness, anxiety, depression, anger, worry, desperation, among other things along these lines that one may feel. I consider them pain because when they are not addressed, they can paralyze and hinder you from living your everyday life.

With mental pain, I’m referring to two things: The first one is the physical symptoms that are associated with the emotional pain that one may feel. The physical symptoms may be consistent headaches, dizziness, or lightheadedness. The second include thoughts and perception. I include thoughts because our thoughts turn into emotions and actions and when the thoughts are not healthy ones, they can create havoc in our life. Our perception shapes the way we view and feel about the things around us and what happens to us and when the perception is not a healthy one, this can be disastrous to one’s well-being.

With physical pain, the list is very long to cover but some of them may include leg problems, high blood pressure due to stress, etc. One thing I must say is that if you feel any physical pain and it is consistent, please seek medical attention. If after seeking medical attention you don’t have any medical condition, then most likely what you’re feeling is psychosomatic symptoms.

Once the pain is there, what can one do about it? It’s easy to want to numb it by either going shopping, eating, drinking, partying, using drugs, among other things that one does to numb the pain. In today’s article, I would like to invite you to allow pain to be your teacher.

How do you allow pain to be your teacher?

 

1. Admit to yourself that you feel pain. The first step to anything is to first recognize that something is going on. Notice how I didn’t write that something is wrong. I don’t write this because pain is there to advice you of something so this pain can’t be wrong. It’s just there to give you feedback and feedback is necessary so that changes can be made in order for things to be better. You can’t have a solution or answer without first recognizing and admitting that something is going on.
2. Accept and embrace the pain. Accept and make friends with your pain. By doing this, you let go of the resistance. Holding on to resistance just make things worse and the pain persists.

How do you become friends with your pain?

Take that moment that you’re feeling that pain to be with yourself. If possible, take 10 minutes to yourself where you will not be disturbed. Take a deep breath in….and then breathe out. Do this a couple more times until you are relaxed. Place your hand on your chest or wherever you feel pain. Close your eyes if you have to but as you have your hand on your chest or wherever the pain is, ask yourself: “what do you want me to know?”; “why do you feel this way?”; “what is it that I am doing or not doing that you want me to be aware of?” Then wait to see if you get an answer. You may not get an answer right away but what you are doing by placing your hand on your chest, or wherever the pain is, and asking yourself these questions is that you are reconnecting with yourself. You are digging within for the answers that you need. You are digging within for your own wisdom.

For instance, if it’s anxiety you are feeling, ask yourself why you are feeling this way. Remind yourself that you are safe and loved. Ask it what it needs you to know and what should you be doing next. What this exercise that I am suggesting does is that it helps you reconnect with yourself because it is that connection with yourself that will lead you to greater well-being.

Last year, I had pain in my knees for some odd reason. Turned out I had patella maltracking but I also questioned myself “how I got to that point?”. As I started digging deeper, I realized I had a lot of stress in my life and I was also struggling with some confidence issues in terms of how I was going to move forward.

With this exercise and article, I want to empower you to know that your body was meant to be healed. Your body is the vessel that your soul chose to reside in. Your pain is a reflection of something that is going on within you that calls your attention. So, I would like to encourage you to think about this pain for a minute. What kind of pain is it? Is it a pain of neglect, fear, lack, or worry? Allow the pain to speak to you and advice you as to what you need to be doing. The one thing to understand is that the soul is not separate from the body and anything that the soul is feeling, your body will feel by default.

The pain that you’re feeling will guide you to what area either within yourself or in your life you need to address. Allow that guidance to flow into your life. You have the best guidance system within you. Every time you feel any pain whether that is anxiety, sadness, depression, etc. all that pain is feedback from your soul and you must listen to that.

To end this article, I would like to encourage you to start viewing your pain from a perspective of your soul speaking to you through your vessel which is your body. Allow the pain to be your friend. It’s there to guide you, not hurt you. Place your hand on the area where the pain is and ask it questions. The point is to reconnect with yourself because it is there where your answers reside. You will notice as you do this that the pain tends to lessen and you are subconsciously empowering yourself. This empowerment, without you realizing it at first, will add greatly to your well-being.

Your pain can be a precious jewel if you allow it. Let pain be your teacher and show you what you need to be doing or going in life.

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Aura Elena Martinez is a Wellness and Life Coach, Blogger and Writer, owner and founder of Live to the Max™

Aura Elena Martinez is a Wellness and Life Coach, Blogger and Writer, owner and founder of Live to the Max™/Viva al máximo™, who encourages others to live their fullest in every way, the way they are meant to be.

To be inspired or to contact Aura, visit http://www.auraemartinez.com/ or you can follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/AuraEMartinez, you can also follow her online radio show at https://blogtalkradio.com/AuraEMartinez  or you can follow on Instagram @AuraEMartinez.

Weight Loss vs. Happiness

We work with reputable affiliates to give you tools to achieve your goals. This post includes such links. Full disclosure here

So you are struggling to lose weight because you know once you achieve your goal you will be happy right? Well, let me be the bearer of bad news; that’s not going to happen!

Happiness is not determined by a measuring tape or a weight scale.
Photo by Jeanne Claire Maarbes

Did you know you can get paid for working out?

We work with reputable affiliates to give you tools to achieve your goals. This post includes such links. Full disclosure here

Say what?

Yes, people. Gone are the days when only professional athletes got paid for breaking sweat and improving personal bests.
Here is the plan for you in a nutshell:
BEAT – a network of companies – uses blockchain technology to “incentivize sports, improve health and with this will hopefully increase the number of heart beats every one of us can enjoy in his or her lifetime”.
Basically they act as a “bridge of trust between sportspersons and sponsors”.
Ow woow wooooow – hold on – what’s blockchain?
A blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly. – Wiki
And that’s all I will say about that. Find out more here on this World Economic Forum video:

Umm, you were saying something about getting paid for working out?

Yes, so here is how it works basically:

BEAT – who are they?

BEAT is a network of companies, with a common desire and goal to get you to practice the sports you love even more. You know how they say: ‘ if it sounds too god to be true then it isn’t true’ ? BEAT however, is one of those few exceptions to this rule.

What do I need to do?

All you need to do is create an agreement with a sponsor. In that contract you need to define goals that you will reach together. When you reach those goals, you get rewarded by your sponsor through a trusted third party.

Ok, sponsors, third parties, me. Who else is in this?

The four entities that are involved are you – the sportsman (you), the trusted third party, the beat  blockchain,  and your sponsor.

Here is BEAT describes all three parties:

“A Trusted Third Party is any legal entity providing infrastructure to capture and verify sports activities reliably and who is willing to extend it in order to fulfill various requirements.”

“A Sportsperson is any private person doing sports. The BEAT Blockchain shall enable this person to store the activity and health data of this person anonymously in an encrypted way in the BEAT Blockchain.”

“A Sponsor is any private, legal or political entity offering targeted rewards for reaching certain health and sport activity goals. “

“The BEAT Blockchain is hosting the activity and health data of the sportsperson, the verification of such data, keeping track of the BEAT Tokens transferred, supporting the offering of BEAT Contracts, their acceptance by the sportsperson as well as the execution of the BEAT Contracts.”

Interesting so far? When I heard about this I jumped straight to their site do know more:

https://beat.sportalliance.com/?x=B1qMKuHDz

What if I don’t want to be rewarded in tokens?

So you are not interested in getting BEAT tokens as you are not a cryptocurrency kinda guy. That’s ok!

BEAT clearly states in their white paper: “The sponsor and sportsperson can also agree on a reward outside of the BEAT Blockchain”.

So there must be some kind of app thingy to track my activity right?

Not just apps dude! You know what? I am just too excited about BEAT to think straight right now.

Why don’t I just let them tell it to you. Straight from the horse’s mouth:

Now go get it:

https://beat.sportalliance.com/?x=B1qMKuHDz

Planning to workout before work? [Infographic]

We all know that one of the most popular resolutions every year is related to fitness. While many people start off strong maintaining their fitness resolutions, one of the hardest things is to keep finding the motivation, especially when working a full-time job. That’s why T.M.Lewin put together a helpful piece of content with advice and information that makes maintaining a fit lifestyle possible even when working a typical 9-5. If you’re unfamiliar with T.M.Lewin, they’re a menswear company that designs suits, pants and shirts that are perfect for the office making style achievable even when constantly on the go.

 

Here are tips to make it possible to achieve your fitness resolutions even while working a full-time job:

 

1. Have achievable goals: First and foremost, make sure the goals you set are realistically attainable.

2. Make a schedule: Scheduling workouts into your calendar is a way to remind yourself of what you’re trying to accomplish if you’re feeling uninspired to exercise.

3. Set a deadline for your goal: Having an end date for when you’d like to accomplish your goal can be a great motivator to sticking to your schedule.

4. Switch up your form of exercise: You don’t have to be committed only to the gym in order to accomplish your fitness goals. Doing activities like biking or walking are excellent ways to give yourself a break from the gym while also fitting exercise into your day.

Shocking Revelation on Why You Quit Exercise!

You could be exercising and eating right and still not getting the results you should. You know why? The surprising answer could be that you are suffering from the “nocebo” effect. It’s the evil twin brother of the “placebo” effect.

Women vs. Men: 9 Exercise Facts You Probably Don’t Know but Should

Men and women have different fitness needs.
by photostock

1. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only 6% more men engage in regular exercise than women. It’s high time gyms became more “female-friendly”.
2. Women are not “female-men” and men are not “male-women”(I bet you didn’t know that) so they need a completely different training regime, nutrition plan, and amount of hydration during exercise.
3. I had to talk specifically about squats because women love their squats.  Women should use a wider stance when doing squats as their pelvises tilt more. The feet should also face more outwards and the practitioner should avoid going too low. Failing to do so could cause serious injury.
4. Men may have better upper body strength but women have better lower body strength.
5. Women exhibit a higher lactate threshold during long distance running thanks to their slow twitch fibre percentage. The longer the distance the more advantageous it becomes.
6. The heart responds differently to exercise when it comes to men and women. The American College of Cardiology recently declared the “220 minus age” to be flawed. The formula was developed 40 years ago based on a group that was predominantly male.
7. Women tend to burn more fat than men during workout and men burn more fat than women post workout.
8. One of the best ways for men to subjectively track fat loss is to measure their waist. Women can use both the waist and the bust to distinguish fat loss from weight loss.
9. Men who lift weights grow primarily type II muscle which make them bulk up. Women grow primarily type I muscle fibers that are not able to grow as big.

A Fit and Healthy 2018 Starts With Your Mind

 

Bridge the gap between your fitness goals in 2018 and where you are today. Image by stockimages

Well, here we are again – New Year’s resolutions time! It’s that time when we resolve to do all the things we know we should do in order to live the better life we imagine for ourselves. And for most of us, those resolutions last all of ten minutes! Then we’re back doing the same old things that have brought us to a life that we’re less than happy with. And as the old saying goes: If you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life.

This is true for all areas of our life, but specifically we’re going to look at health and fitness in this piece. Most of us aren’t exactly where we want to be in terms of our health and fitness level. We want to be healthier, more trim and toned than we are at the moment.

We start off with the best of intentions. We decide that once and for all: We’ll eat more healthily, we’ll go to the gym and do all the things we know we need to do in order to get fit and healthy this year. So we do that stuff for a while, and then we stop.

What usually happens is that we reach a point where the temptation to eat or drink what we know we shouldn’t becomes too strong. We succumb to the bad weather blues when it comes to going out for a run, or we stay in bed for that extra hour instead of getting up and going to the gym for the workout that we committed to a few weeks ago. Then we gradually slip back into our old patterns of too little exercise and too much of the wrong kinds of food.

So how can we avoid slipping back like this and keep our new healthy eating and fitness regime going?

The Most Exhilarating Exercise You Can Do

Exercise and nutrition have been creating such a huge popularity over the years. Everyone wants to look like those hard bodies on the cover of the fitness magazines. The problem is that it takes work and time. Not everyone wants to put that much effort and many people just don’t have the time to fit it in.

No time. No desire. No problem.

Getting fit doesn’t mean having to drive out to the gym and pretending you know what you are doing, in the hopes of tightening up those buns and getting the washboard abs. Exercise is meant to be fun! We should want to do it and look forward to our workouts. As unrealistic as this seems for many, it can be achieved. 

The Psychology of Money

As I am evolving my Holistic Body Love business as a Mindset Coach, Body Love is more than just your relationship with food, body image, and how you speak to yourself…Body Love includes your Relationship with Money.

So I’m shifting today’s focus on your Money Mindset and where it’s at right now.

When you think about Money, what immediately comes up for you? Perhaps some of the following statements:

I don’t have enough.

I can’t afford it.

I am scared of it.

I don’t understand it.

Money is dirty.

Money is evil.

Only greedy (or bad, or evil, insert negative description here) people have money.

If you have lots of money, it means you are selfish.

I wish I had more money.

It would be great if I had a lot of it!

What are your Money Behaviours?

Do you go into your relationship with money blindly? Meaning you don’t know how much money you have in your account and you keep spending? You are not aware of how much debt you may have, and yet you keep burying your head in the sand out of fear?

Do you hoard your money?

Do you live pay check to pay check?

Do you hide how much money you spend, make, save, etc. from others (i.e., family members, spouse) so they are left in the dark?

Do you spend mindlessly everyday/often on things such as coffee, fast food, cigarettes, unused memberships (such as to a gym) and then complain about not having enough money?

How Money Conscious Are you? 

Do you know exactly where you put your money each month?

Do you consciously budget your money?

Do you save your money?

Do you invest your money?

If you are common-law, married or in a romantic relationship, how do you discuss money with your partner?

Where Did You Learn your Money Beliefs from? 

Do they parallel that of your parents?

Many of us may have a scarcity mindset rather than abundant mindset when it comes to Money.

Exercise to move towards Abundance and Empowerment Mindset with Money:

1. Get yourself calm first (because many of you will be anxious) by throwing on a guided meditation to help you feel more grounded. Check out apps like Headspace or Buddify.
   • For extra support, I highly recommend you use Young Living Essential Oils to support you by topically applying it on the areas that feel the most stress and tension in your body when you think about money (such as temples, shoulders, neck, back) as well as bottom of feet and/or inside wrists. I suggest one of the following: Lavender, Stress Away, Peace & Calm, or Frankincense to help you feel more grounded. To order, you can  start a free Young Living account here  to get 24% off retail price! 

2. Next, I invite you to pull out your journal and write down the answers to the questions above so that you can consciously start understanding where you’re at. This is not about judging or shaming yourself! Beaware of that part of you that starts to do that and keep breathing in the oil(s) to help your limbic brain (emotional brain) and nervous system remain as calm as possible.

3. Create a list of professional people who could support you such as a financial planner, accountant, money mentor or coach and connect with them to have them help you feel more empowered with knowing how to manage your money.

Stay tuned for a follow up post in how to replace scarcity mindset with abundant mindset!

Let me know how you did, I would love to hear!

As a Mindset Coach, I work with empowering people who are sick and tired of their limiting beliefs about money getting in their way of financial abundance. 

I also work with heart-centred business entrepreneurs who need to get out of their own way to spread their gifts to serve the world and create financial abundance in their business, whether that is creating a program to getting unstuck with their money shame story and really soar to manifest their dreams. I love helping people build their confidence and business! 

If this is you, book in a complimentary strategy session here to see how I can support you in growing financially abundant and serve the world with your gifts!