Simple holistic treatments can include sipping chamomile tea to calm your anxieties, taking a valerian supplement or burn some lavender essential oil in your bedroom. Regular exercise, keeping active, music therapy, eating healthy, practising breathing techniques are all helpful ways to ensure a good sleep.

It’s important to understand that everything that comes in contact with our body affects our health and the condition of our skin. That’s why choosing natural skin care products and ingredients is important. The liver filters the toxins and poisons from the food we eat, but whatever we place on our skin is directly absorbed. This includes deodorant, lotions, gels, cleansers, toners, make-up, perfumes, and more.

The internet provides many answers to healthy skin. You can search through web directory or search engines and the answers are far too many sometimes. Here are a just a few natural skin care health solutions for you to check out:

• For a great moisturizer try olive oil: this healthy fat is good for you, and is great for your skin. You can also use it to soothe sunburned skin.

Rub your skin with baking soda while in the shower once a week, for a smooth, silky feeling. You can also do this on your face to remove black heads.

• Vinegar can work wonders for smelly feet and armpits. Mix water and vinegar 50/50, and use in place of deodorant: it will keep the unpleasant sweat smell away, without any irritation. As for your feet, if you suffer with athlete’s foot, a week of vinegar foot bath will help a lot, sometimes completely getting rid of your condition.

• Fresh tomatoes are great for the oily areas of your face. (Please do a patch test by appying some tomato juice on your arm first, as your skin may be sensitive to it). Rinse thoroughly immediately after using the tomato juice.

• Egg yolk mixed with honey makes for a really great mask: put on your skin, leave it on for 20 minutes, and rinse off. Excellent for sensitive skin. Honey gives a tingling/ticklish sensation, so if you are sensitive to that, use the egg yolk alone.

Natural health remedies can help us some money and avoid the mad chase of more beauty products. This can be good news during the economic crunch which means you can still acquire healthy skin despite a tighter budget.

High-Rite for High Blood Pressure and Hypertension

$39.95

Besides that, exercise encourages your heart to pump blood throughout your body more effectively, which means that you will have healthier blood and a reduced risk of heart disease. Fatty deposits will be reduced, which in turn helps reduce the risk of many health problems such as diabetes and obesity. People who exercise regularly tend to have a positive attitude due to the increase of endorphins flowing through your body.

So as the year is ending in few weeks’ time, it’s time to schedule in some workout time in your new year’s resolution list. Make exercise a part of your lifestyle, make it a part of your journey to better health.

After a little web research on cleaners and Anilox roll cleaner, I found out that many eco homes are jumping onto the fruit enzyme bandwagon too. Some call it ‘The Garbage Enzyme’ but the term ‘garbage’ makes your nose sniff a little. And after sampling a bottle of my cousin’s fruit enzyme cleaner, I don’t think the nice smelling ‘citrus waste’ deserves to be called ‘garbage’ at all. It does smell good and most importantly, it works well as a natural household cleaner. For those who are building an eco home, here are some wonderful uses of this natural and environmental friendly fruit enzyme:

1) Use it for your dishes and laundry. Dilution is necessary.

2) Use for washing bathrooms and getting rid of stubborn stains in the toilet bowl. Use it concentrated on the stain, leave it for 10 minutes then flush.

3) Mix a tablespoon with water to clean vegetables and fruits

5) Use the concentrate as a natural insect repellent (use undiluted) for ants, cockroaches..

7) Great as a floor cleaner - living your floors oil and grime free! (My favourite)

8 ) The residue from the enzyme works well as a fertiliser for vegetables, flowering and non-flowering plants

9) Use the citrus residue as a facial mask!

Here’s the recipe for the natural fruit enzyme household cleaner:

300 gms of lemon and orange scraps
1 litre of water
100 gms of brown sugar or molasses

Mix them up in a 2L jar or container (plastic or glass). Cover loosely to allow fermentation to take place. Make sure it’s covered tight or the container may ‘explode’! Label the bottle for reference. The natural enzyme cleaner requires three months to ferment. Once ready, just filter the enzyme with a piece of muslin cloth or fine sieve and store it in a bottle or container. The remaining ‘waste’ or residue can be used as a plant fertilizer or a natural body rub!

Serenite-LT Tablets - Natural Long Term Solution for Insomnia

$37.95

From my research, I have learnt that insomnia is most often caused by sleep disorders though there are other causes including fear, stress, anxiety, medications, herbs and caffeine. My hubby had a double shot of white coffee few days ago and he found himself wide awake the entire night! And he’s usually the one who sleeps more soundly than a baby! So he spent the night going on line and looking at pa job listings in a new directory. An overactive mind or physical pain can also be the cause which explains why relaxation techniques can help to improve sleep patterns. In order to cure insomnia, it is necessary to find out the underlying cause.

Some natural remedies for insomnia have included drinking warm milk before bedtime, taking a warm bath in the evening; exercising vigorously for half an hour in the afternoon, eating a large lunch and then having only a light evening meal at least three hours before bed, avoiding mentally stimulating activities in the evening hours, and making sure to get up early in the morning and to retire to bed at a reasonable hour.

I was also told that traditional Chinese medicine can also treat insomnia naturally with acupuncture, dietary and lifestyle analysis, herbology and other techniques.

Although these holistic treatment methods have not been scientifically proven, some have reported taht these remedies can help to break the insomnia cycle without the need for sedatives and sleeping pills. Warm milk contains high levels of tryptophan, a natural sedative. Using aromatherapy, including lavender oil and other relaxing essential oils, may also help induce a state of restfulness.