Good mental health is not just being free of mental illnesses that would require you to see a doctor. Instead, you can look at it as having the “ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.” In short, it is important because it is a prerequisite to being able to live your life to the fullest.

Just because you are an achiever doesn’t mean that you have sound mental health. Indeed, we only need look at the number of famous people in history who have taken their lives or lived their lives in a destructive cycle to know that it isn’t about success. It also doesn’t necessarily follow that being in a good physical condition will result in good mental health, although we know that being fit does help. So if this is the case, how then do you escape the clutches of psychological problems that may be haunting you? How do you stay mentally fit?

I may be no medical practitioner but I truly believe that it starts with educating yourself. While it is true that people with severe psychological problems and mental illnesses may not be able to deal with it on their own and need professional help, the rest of the population can take care of their mental health by developing habits that will slowly build your resilience, just like a body builder does to get muscles. But to be able to develop what those habits are, you first need to figure out what they are, the techniques you can use, and which of those apply to you. You need to educate yourself.

Feeling down today? Don’t brush it away. Get to the root of things and start taking care of your mental health.

Image via Your Basic Lefty

In the womb human embryos have a prenatal tail but as the embryo develops into a fetus the tail is absorbed by the growing body. But this didn’t happen to Oram and he now has a tail 13 inches long. Despite this Oram has refused any operation to have it removed saying he wouldn’t be the same person without it.

Oram lives in West Bengal and  was born on the date known as Rama Navami, which is the birthday of Hindu King Rama. Because of this Oram is regarded by many as an incarnation of the ape like Hindu deity Hanuman. Thousands of people queue up each day to seek blessings from him. In a corner of the courtyard of his home, Oram has set up a small Hanuman temple, where he receives offerings on Ram Navami, which he later offers to the deity.

The monkey god Hanuman

“I was born on Ram Navami (birthday of Lord Ram).” he says. “People have a lot of faith in me – they get cured of severe ailments when they touch my tail. I believe I can do a lot of good to those who come to me with devotion,”

The author writes for The Freaky, a site that posts weird news and strange medical stories from around the world.

A study conducted by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that over three quarters of men with a low sperm count did not eat enough vegetables and fruits.

Studies have also shown that obesity can increase male infertillty. Aim to be the right weight for your height by eating sensibly and exercising on a regular basis.

Follow the principles of healthy eating. Eat a variety of foods that will help ensure you have all the nutrients you need such as zinc and selenium, which are essential for good sperm production.

As well as eating healthily, men with infertility problems should also quit smoking should also quit smoking and cut down their alcohol consumption.

The effects of drinking alcohol causes a noticeable decrease in sperm count, as well contributing to an increase in abnormal sperm and lowering the proportion of motile sperm. Alcohol also drastically inhibits the bodies absorption of zinc, which is one of the most important minerals relating to male fertility.

Researchers at the University of Saarland found that men who smoked a minimum of 20 cigarettes every day had lower concentrations of protamines, two proteins found in sperm, than men who didn’t smoke at all. These protamines are thought to be an integral part of cell division, and they ensure the correct chromosomal formation during conception.

Though it is pretty tempting to go for quick fix/crash diets, we all know that going on one is not the right way to go about losing weight. First of all, crash diets are not not good for your health. And second, they’re not an effective way to keep those pounds off. Sure you might lose a few pounds when you go on a crash diet, but since this kind of dieting is but reactionary, you’ll find that those pounds will come creeping back snagging you into an endless crash diet roller coaster.

If you want to shed the extra pounds you got from eating way too much during the holidays (and even before that), the best way to go about it is still a lifestyle change. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but it is still true nonetheless. No diet nor exercise regimen will last for long if you don’t make it a part of your lifestyle. You need to make a decision to make some key changes in your life that will allow you to slowly imbibe healthy behaviors until they become habits. Doing this may mean that the holiday pounds you put on won’t go away in a snap, but it does mean that come the end of next year, you’ll be more likely to stick to your healthy habits so that you won’t be in the situation you are right now.

Image via Crash Diets

To help you have a more healthy holiday so that you can enjoy a longer fun-filled life, here are some tips you can follow:

• Commit to a healthy holiday – It all starts with a decision. If you decide early on that you’ll go all out to enjoy the holidays and binge, then there’s no way you’ll resist all the temptation. Commit to a healthier lifestyle this holiday, so that as the temptations come, you’ll have more resolve to overcome them.
• Eat before going to a party – You cannot control the kind of food served in parties you attend, so make it easier to resist the urge to pig out on unhealthy party food by eating before you leave the house. This way you’ll be full when you get to the party and will feel more like mingling with people than hovering over the table.
• Stay away from the table – Find a comfy spot in the farthest corner from the food and drinks station. The more inconvenient it is for you to get food, the less likely you’ll come back for seconds.
• Wash everything down with water – The free-flowing drinks may be tempting, but decide to wash down your food with water. Before you know it, you’ll feel too full to eat and drink too much.
• Serve healthy alternatives – If you’re hosting your own party, or will be cooking the Christmas dinner, make sure that you serve lots of healthy alternatives. You can do this by substituting healthy ingredients whenever you can, and using cooking healthier cooking techniques (i.e. roasting instead of deep frying).

Image via Burn the Fat Challenge

One health-related gadget that I fully approve of if you do decide to get one is the Basis wristband. The wristband, which is not yet out in the market but is already available for reservations, looks just like an ordinary and somewhat even a bit ugly wristwatch until you look more closely. It is in fact a multi-sensor band that stands out among other heart rate monitors because it also collects other data like calories burned, physical activity, and sleep patterns. What’s even more impressive is that it does more than just gather data for you, but it actually processes this data and helps you make sense out of it to so you can adjust your daily activities to help you achieve your health goals, whether that be weight loss or improve your sleep quality. You can access all your health data on your personal online dashboard, which you can view on your PC, your tablet, or your phone. In short, this is a real all-in-one health monitor that you can use regardless of what your current lifestyle might be.

And if my rave is not good enough for you, know that the Basis wristband has been awarded the CES 2012 Best of Innovations Award for Health and Wellness.

Image via Basis

As a consumer myself, I have to admit that I have fallen multiple times for the great spiels that marketers have spent much effort into making their health products seem more believable. I too have used an “easy-to-use” exercise machine that just weren’t easy to use at all, fallen for vitamin supplements that I later found out was not FDA approved, and felt like buying so many health gadgets that I thankfully were able to resist buying mostly because of steep prices.

On the other hand I have also found supplements that, while not doing wonders, seems to be helping me boost my energy and curb my mood swings, a good pair of sneakers that has seen some better days but did me a lot more good than any exercise machine, and lots of healthy recipes that have become go-to meals in our house.

In my quest to become healthier, what I have learned is that the equation less is more usually works best. If you feel like you need to buy something in order to start your journey to better health, you are doing yourself a great disservice. You can start getting healthy with what you have today. Sure, there are some great products out there that will surely benefit you health-wise, but they will only be truly effective if you put in the required effort to live an overall healthier lifestyle.

Go ahead and buy health products and gadgets if you must, but be discriminating in your choices. Make sure you only get those that will truly be good for your health and that you know you can use regularly. Don’t become overly dependent on them. Focus more on the simple choices you make every day for a healthier you, and maybe a healthier wallet too! And as the image above implies, if you’re not making smart choices then guess what kind of choices you’re making.

Image credit: Eating Yourself Healthy

Create a Cheerful Environment

The skies may be cloudy, but that doesn’t mean your home and office have to be the same. Colorful accessories, a bright shade of paint and even cheerful artwork can make a huge difference in your mood. You may even want to add brighter shades to your wardrobe and the linens throughout your home. More importantly, don’t forget to open the windows and let in some natural light.

Get Some Exercise

Exercise is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety and everyone knows how stressful the season can be. If it’s too cold to exercise outside, walk on a treadmill or break out some workout DVDs. The cheerful disposition of many trainers is often enough to brighten your own mood. Regardless of how you exercise, make sure to get at least 15-30 minutes per day to improve your mood.

Go Outside

It actually doesn’t matter if the sun is out or not, the natural light can make a big difference in your mood. It’s recommended to try and get a little outside time within two hours of waking. This simple step can brighten your mood and help fend off depression.

Invest in a Light Box

People have been using light boxes to treat seasonal affective disorder for years and with good reason. A light box can begin to treat SAD in as little as two to four days. It is recommended that you speak to your doctor before investing in a light box to ensure you’re getting a model that is high quality.

Medication

Last, but not least, SAD can be treated with medications, such as Paxil, Zoloft and Prozac. Because these medicines come with side effects, you may want to try the methods listed above first. It’s also important to note that it can take 4-6 weeks for these medication to take effect.

Seasonal affective disorder is more serious than people realize and is a real condition. Thankfully, you don’t have to live with the symptoms on a daily basis. There are simple methods you can use to improve your mood. Best of all, many of the treatment methods are all natural.

I’m sure you know that good health will enable you to work longer hours and give you more freedom in terms of job choice, but that is not what I mean by health contributing to your wealth. What I am referring is not your own physical health, but merely your health blog, which I guess is good news to you if you are not particularly healthy, since anyone can start their own health blog.

Health blogs are extremely popular since health is one of the life issues that every single person has had to deal with. It doesn’t matter whether that person merely has a common cold he wants to get rid of as quickly as possible or is suffering from more serious ailments; the point is that you can be pretty sure that your health blog will have readers as long it contains informative and/or useful content.

Once you have a health blog, you can start making money from it through different monetization strategies, from affiliate ads to selling your own health related products. Your only problem then is finding a way to reach the millions of readers out there looking for information on their particular health issue. As a health blogger, this mean that you have try different avenues of promoting your blog.

One of the no fuss ways to promote your health blog is by using the services of web portals like Blog Search Engine. All you need to do is sign up your blog with them for $14.99 and get listed in their index as well as get reviewed. This will earn you a link and increase your visibility as well. You can also upgrade to packages that will earn you more links and make you the featured blog for the month.

After you do this, you can forget about the whole thing and concentrate on putting up good content on your health blog so as to attract more visitors and get the ones who do come to keep on coming back. Who knows, maybe your health blog just might make you wealthy.

No Side Effects

Since acupuncture is a process that does not involve any surgical procedures, medical treatments or prescribed medications, there are typically no unwanted side effects. A patient cannot overdose from acupuncture. Furthermore, though there may be initial sites that are red, the needles are so thin, they will not leave behind scars and the skin will heal relatively quickly.

Physical Ailments

Acupuncture can be used to treat a wide variety of physical ailments and issues. This includes everything from physical pain such as a migraine or lower back pain to illness related pain such as asthma, Crohn’s Disease, fibromyalgia and more. It can also be used to treat simpler issues, such as an ear infection or headache Other issues that can be treated using acupuncture include hot flashes, certain infertility issues, diarrhea, colds, bronchitis as well as autoimmune disorders such as lupus.

Emotional Issues

Acupuncture is not a therapist, but it can be beneficial emotionally. Acupuncture can be used to treat various emotional issues, such as postpartum depression and general depression. It can also be used to treat anxiety, irritability, and stress.

Cost Effective

Acupuncture costs less than traditional Western medicine. A trip to the doctor may include the cost of the visit, the cost of prescribed medication and the cost of any associated referrals, MRIs, CT scans or any other diagnostic tests. Meanwhile, acupuncture sessions are usually based on set fees with no surprise. Patients who go in for a headache treatment will pay for that and no additional fees for various diagnostic tools or medications. Plus, some insurance companies will cover a portion of the cost of acupuncture. Unlike many other health related products or check-ups for which you may need a lot of money, Acupuncture is much cheap.

Not as Painful as Perceived

The idea of being stuck with several small needles often invokes thoughts of extreme pain. However, many acupuncture patients report feeling little to no pain at all when undergoing an acupuncture session. It should be noted, however, that there may be various sensations at the site of insert for different patients which can range from a tingling or burning sensation that is typically brief in length.

With few to no side effects, aside from some patients experiencing a burning or tingling sensation, there is not much risk associated with trying acupuncture. Treatments are also affordable, so you won’t have to take out any sort of bad credit cash loans, even if it’s an emergency medical situation. Plus, since acupuncture can be used to treat a variety of issues, anyone can try this alternative to traditional Western medicine.