Feeling Good

by Prof Dr. Bilal Semih Bozdemir

FEEL GOOD
100 ways to get better every day

This information is for educative purposes only.

They shouldn’t be interpreted or commented as medical advices and they’re not meant to replace professional medical advices. If you have some questions or concerns about your health, you should look for advices from a health care provider. You should talk to your doctor before starting any exercise program. How can you make yourself feel better? Let’s start answering the following questions: Do you do your check-up regularly? [ ] Yes [ ] No Weekly do you do an exercise for at least 30 minutes on 4 days or more? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you have a balanced diet? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you mostly have an 8 hours long sleep every night? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you follow your doctor’s advice about stop smoking cigarettes, loss of weight or limitation of alcohol consumption? [ ] Yes [ ] No Are you frequently irritable or angry with the people you care about? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you have frequent headaches or stomach-aches? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you frequently feel sad or cry for no obvious reasons? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you frequently feel busy and nervous? [ ] Yes [ ] No Do you have social, medical or economical anxieties due to drugs, alcohol, gambling or shopping? [ ] Yes [ ] No

The truth is we all take care of ourselves in a physical and emotional point of view. For many of us this means doing more exercises, losing weight or eating more healthy foods. For others it’s synonym to learn how to find time for the people we care about or to learn how to get rid of stress. That’s why everyday we have the energy we need to deal with all the struggles we face daily. To feel better in our lives what are the things we should do? Look at the questions above for some answers. If your answers were “NO” for the first five questions, there are related to your physical health. If the answer was a “YES” for the last five questions, they’re the ones related to your emotional health. Feeling good includes both your physical and emotional health. You will find here 100 ideas to know how you may do that. While reading the following advices think about how you may be more careful about your whole existence. Should I eat more healthy foods? Should I spent more time having fun? Should I do more physical exercises? Should I renew my personality? Later on, note what you could do for your mind and your body to feel better by using the advices here in addition to your own ideas. In the Harvard physician George Vaillant’s book entitled “Aging well”, it is explained that growing up to a healthy oldness is actually mostly due to our own behaviours instead of our stars or genes. Take good care of yourselves. Create close friendships. Choose to feel good with anything even if it’s that awesome at all. Specialists think these are the secrets for a successful growth and a lifetime happiness. *** 1- Start your day in the right way. Breakfast increases memory, it develops your mental condition. And it helps you control your weight. Several research studies showed that students who have had a breakfast before an exam, got higher results in it. The same thing is true for adults. People who regularly have their breakfast are usually thin. Always start your day with a healthy breakfast like cereals containing fibres or oats puree and a cup of fruit juice. If you are someone who is not used to have a breakfast try to take as a breakfast the bananas, half creamy milk and orange juice mixed drink called “smoothie”. A recent research showed a daily breakfast help develop memory in healthy old people.

2- Reduce your caffeine consumption. The taste of your coffee is great but it safer to drink it when you decide to. However too much caffeine makes you addicted. Besides it provokes discomforts in your stomach and breaks the orderliness of your sleep. Medicine specialists advise a daily consumption of 300 milligrams caffeine and not more than that. This equals to 2 cups of brewed coffee. Start from today to change your usual preferred coffee to a tea or others drinks containing a light amount of caffeine. Which one of these drinks contains more caffeine? Is it the cup of 8 ounces (227 grams) brewed coffee? Or is it the cup of tea? The answer is the cup of 8 ounces brewed coffee. 3- Make a change. The schedule you change is to be used for your comfort, feeling good, going from home to work and vice versa. *

Listen to books from the recorded tapes. You may listen to language learning tape, inspirational audios and an audio book. Many community libraries own audio books. * Be an attentive listener. Avoid radio programs that make you waste your time and make you feel upset. * Spend most of your time in silence. Think again about your day, imagine the future and spend your time with your thoughts. * Make this change with people you love for two days each week if possible. * Choose travelling in public transports if you’re able to. Spend your time reading books and thinking very well about your day. 4- Do a 30 minutes long exercise everyday A regular physical activity reduces the risks of heart attack and death, decreases the development of diabetes and is also responsible of the reduction of risks of colorectal cancer. Besides it helps to prevent high blood pressure and favours the loss of weight. * Think of yourself as an active person. * Do other physical activities alongside your daily routine. Join active walking sessions. Ride a bicycle. Do some minor daily works around the compound and in the yard. Choose stairs instead of the elevator. Every day of the week try to do physical activities which help you breathe better for 30 minutes. If you can’t be active for 30 minutes in the beginning you should at least show a 10 minutes long resistance. 5- Provide a continuous secretion of your endorphins Health care specialists renamed endorphins as “good feeling” hormones. Endorphins are chemical material secreted by the brain, influencing our mood, pain reducing and producing every feeling of goodness. They also help us to have a better sleep. If you want your body to secrete more endorphins, the best way is to regularly do physical exercises. Even a measured training reduces tension and develops your mental and physical health. According to some endorphin specialists the positive effects of endorphins may last for hours. Surely, before starting any tough exercise program, you should be checked up by the person in charge of your health care. 6- Smile According to the Harvard University’s official journal “If you try to smile more, even if you’re faking your smile, you’ll be very happy in your office”. Wearing a Happy face brings up several advantages to you and your neighbouring people. This is true both for your personal and business life. Smiling provides each and everyone a good feeling. *Smile at your executive officer and to your colleagues *Smile at your partner when they are comes to a door. *Smile when you’re having a conversation on the phone with your mother. *

Do it right now. Smile and notice how much relaxed and enthusiastic you’ve become. According to the researches’ results in the Psychology Bulletin published by Yale University, women usually smile more than men. 7- Walk everyday We’ve all become less active than we used to be and the rates of obesity are higher than never seen before. In America 7 adults out of 10 aren’t regularly active in terms of physical fitness. The greatest way to take care of ourselves and to feel good is to walk. Walking is a good thing for people of every age. It helps you to lose weight and keeps your muscles strong. By starting a simple plan, you can make your walks become a daily habit. Walk for 10 minutes one day in a week. You may then increase it to a daily 30 minutes long walk for four days a week and more. For each mile you walked you burn 95-100 calories. Hint: When you walk wear a pedometer or a step counting device. It keeps you motivated and it’s an easy way to observe your distances. These devices can be bought in sport centres.

8- Find yourself exercise companions If you usually do exercises with someone, you can’t run from it. *Do exercises with someone you love. Find a partner of walk or find yourself a friend in the gym centre after work. Your exercise friend has to be someone you would never want to chagrin. This way you will never be able to postpone any training when you are very not keen to practice. *Practice with your partner or life companion. Couples going together to the sports centre show more commitment to the exercises. * Let your dog e your exercise partner. * Schedule your exercises and try to obey that schedule. According to the last statistics, in America, 60% of adults and more than 13% of kids are overweight. 9- Do mental exercises According to medical researchers, doing mental exercises develops your memory and reduces the risks of diseases such as “early dementia” and “Alzheimer”. *Try to use your brain to differently perform the habits you used to have. Brush your teeth with your other hand. Schedule a new business hour. * Try to solve crossword puzzles and other similar games. *Learn a new language. *Play a musical instrument and start learning how to. Brain development: How does our brain react to this? Change the order in the inverse way and you will reach what is called “feeling good”. 10-Trust your instinct Instinct is the internal voice which tells you how you think, how you feel and what to do. Specialists consider it to be part of what is called “emotional intelligence”. When you trust your instinct the results are mostly positive. *When analyzing information trust your instinct. If something seems not to be right, check it once again until you reach the required information for you to take a good decision. *Let your parents guide you. *When it comes to security or safety, trust your instinct. If someone makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe pay attention to that feeling and take some precautions for you and for the people you love. 11- Avoid your bad habits All of us holds one or two temperament like smoking cigarettes, gambling, eating too much, too much spend money, getting fat or being a partner who is insufficiently supportive, a partner, colleague or friend. Choose a bad habit of yours and try to change it this year. Just remember the following advices from specialists. 1- To abandon your bad habits, you have to think about now and after. “If I eat French fries now I’ll feel good. But some time later I won’t feel that good at all. If I don’t eat those fries now I will see the punishment later on.” 2- Apply this at any time, once in a day. You may repeat that bad habit. That’s quite normal. Learning new habits is a process that takes time.

Abandoning or getting rid of bad habits takes even more time. 12- Do physical exercises for physical strength development Bodybuilding creates strong muscles and increases metabolism. Besides it develops your balance and posture and helps preventing the loss of bones. It is an ideal way to stay in a strong and a good shape for both men and women. Specialists think that doing séances of bodybuilding for weeks is enough to slowly strengthen muscles. Starting that schedule at home is easy. All you need is halters, ankle weights, exercise mats and books or videos about strength training they will help you get started. Ask your doctor before starting bodybuilding sessions. Is this right or wrong? : Bodybuilding rejuvenate your femur (thigh). According to Miriam E. Nelson’s book named “Strong Women Stay Young” this is right. 13- Work out of business hours These exercises taken from the book entitled Office Yoga will help you feel better no matter which kind of work you do. Arms stretched: Open your arms to the sideways.

Strain your toes against a facing wall. Take a breath and relax. Telephone stretching: While speaking on the cell phone, stretch your legs and rotate your foot wrists and your feet. Once in an hour leave everything you do and relax for a couple of minutes. Do some exercises or go to the nearest sport centre or fitness centre during your lunch break. For greater relaxations just read the book Office Yoga: Simple stretches for busy people written by Darrin Zeer. 14- Accept the responsibilities for your health. If you take some responsibilities to have a good health and you choose to live a healthy life, you’ll increase your chances to live until an old age. * Try to make some check-ups. If you’re over 65 years old, you should do your annual flu vaccination, pneumonia vaccination, and others immunizations advised by your personal doctor. * Join the workplace blood pressure and cholesterol screenings and make in a routine basis breast films screenings, Prostate Cancer Screening Test, the Pop test made to screen for womb cancer, colonoscopy of the great bowel and others important disease preventing screenings suggested by your doctor. *Stop smoking (with cigarettes) and limit the amount of alcohol you drink. * Keep active in a physical and an emotional point of view. 15- Find yourself a doctor you like and you trust A recent research showed that patients who could create a good relationship with their doctor feel healthier. * Don’t wait until you are sick before look for a doctor. A doctor who knows your medical records can help you to take the best precautions for your health. * Look for a doctor you trust who is at the same time well educated and experienced and well introduced by many establishments. That person should be a good listener and someone who takes seriously your worries. Choose a doctor suitable according to the place you are in and your personal schedule. * Look for a coherent care from a doctor or a group of doctors.

This will prevent you from incoherently mixing the therapies form different doctors. 16- Help everyone to feel good. Doing some things for the others helps you to feel good too. This could be also good for your physical health. A recent research held in Michigan University proved that someone who helps others and is supportive to the others, has a longer life. * Help your friends, relatives or neighbours in legworks, transports, shopping, baby sitting and other tasks. * Join volunteering organizations. * Teach your child how working together in the local small restaurants (soup kitchens) or helping the aged neighbour and giving others several things could make a person feel good. * Gather the garbage left on the ground of a beach or in a park. * Allow other people to have your parking area and give the priority to others while in a line or a row.

17- Go away Staying away for a week, is the best way to reduce your stress and develops your good mood and feel good. It is the best way to focus on a single thing: Just relax… While you’re away, don’t bring your work with you. Shut your phone off except for emergency cases. And leave behind you your computer and your worries. Thus you can concentrate more easily on your friends, family and yourself. You will feel as if you were renewed. 18- Spend your time outside We mostly spend our time indoors. But being outside breathing a fresh air feeling the sun is beneficial for a healthy life. A small sunlight makes you feel good as long as you put on some sun cream it help you to get rid of the sensation of depression. And it’s a source of Vitamin D. Being outside when the weather is good stimulates the envy of doing physical activities. Try to spend your time outside as much as you can. * Read a book or a newspaper outside during the lunch break time. * Try to deal with gardening. This a rewarding activity, a good therapy and training. * Go for nature walks with your friends and family or go for a walk in a camp. 19- Spend your time with domestic animals Owning a domestic animal is helpful for both your physical and mental health. Several researches proved that spending your time with your pet reduces your stress, loneliness and the feeling of depression. It even reduces the blood pressure. Spend some of your time with your domestic animal every day. The best way to reduce the stress after a long day at work is to play with your domestic animal. If your rules or situation don’t allow you to own a pet, suggest to your friends to have a walk with the domestic animal. 20- Take some multivitamin drugs everyday The Journal of the American Medical Association encourages every adult to take their multivitamins. Multivitamins may help to prevent several chronic diseases such as some kinds of cancers, osteoporosis and cardiac diseases. When you buy the multivitamins you should always check their expiration date. For a good absorption take them while you’re eating. Ask for advices from your doctor about vitamins and calcium. 21- Take the amount of calcium you need Calcium is required in order to have a healthy and balanced diet, and it helps to prevent osteoporosis at older ages. However, mostly we don’t take the amount of calcium required by our body. * Kids of 9 years old and above should always have 1,300 mg of calcium in their daily nutrition. Give to your children partly skimmed milk and yoghurt rich in calcium, cheese and other milky products, fibers including calcium, orange juice and fibers of dark green vegetables that contains calcium. 8 ounces (227 grams) of a cup of milk includes 300 mg of calcium. * Mostly, adults until 50 years of age need a daily amount of 1,000 mg of calcium. Pregnant women and people above 50 years old need an amount superior than this quantity. * It is considered that half of kids younger than 5 years old, 35% of young boys and 85% of young girls aren’t consuming the required amount of calcium as suggested by the specialists.

22- Be a healthy traveller You have to pay attention to yourself especially when you’re quitting home or schedules you are used to. * Drink a lot of water and always carry a bottle of water wherever you go. Remember to drink water when you fly because air cabins are dry. Drink a quantity of water from a cup equivalent to 8 ounces (227 grams) before the flight, during the flight and after it thus your water needs are fulfilled. * Eat healthy foods and don’t skip the breakfast. * During journeys on a plane or in a train, put some healthy snacks inside your bag. * While away from home, keep on doing your exercises regularly. * Plan a relaxation time every day in order to solve and to get rid of your stress. You can put some order in your thoughts, you may ask for some massage, watch a movie or read a book.

23- Enter the sleep mode The majority of people sleep at nights only for a duration from an hour to 6 hours and 54 minutes which is less than the required 8 hours long normal sleep suggested by the specialists. A sleep that is too much short influences your mood, your work and how you feel. If you are experiencing some problems to sleep or to fall asleep at night, or you spend your day sleepy, this means you are deprived of sleep. Enter the sleep mode to develop your sleep. Before lying on the bed, help your body to enter “slowing down “sleep time when your body is in a hyperactive alertness status. In that period of time don’t work, don’t pay the bills, don’t do any physical exercises, and don’t watch disturbing TV programs. You can use that “slowing down” time to read a book and to relax and then you’ll fall asleep. Hint: If after 20, 30 minutes you still have problems to fall asleep, get out of the bed and do something relaxing like reading a book. Try to get back to bed after half an hour. Repeat this if necessary 24- Join a community Create a community, a relationship network and you will feel better for the rest of your life. Meet the kids and the adults in neighbouring houses. Meet the parents of your child’s classmates and talk once every month together with them about parental matters. Organize in your workplace activities that gather people together. Join religious group communities. Propose your colleagues, neighbours and friends to help them. Give your time for religious organizations. Join activities which can gather young people and old people. Be the person who gather altogether people in your large family. 25- Laughter All of us are friend with funny people. Jokes are a way to get rid of tension and bad moods. When a joke is suitable, when it doesn’t disturb the others and doesn’t prevent you to work, may change your day at work in a more entertaining one. * Use jokes to brighten a difficult situation. * Look for opportunities for your friend to laugh. Start with the joke of the month contest. Cut off and paste in an obvious place funny caricatures. * Buy funny cards for your colleagues. * Don’t be afraid of laughing. 26- Know the Food Pyramid Facts There are basic advices to help you to eat healthy foods and have a balanced diet in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. Let the pyramid guide and help you by choosing all fibers, various fruits and vegetables and limit sugar and excessive fats. Some specialists suggest to consume less red meat foods and more foods including fibers. Here is the renewed version of the USDA Pyramid in 2005: Animal fats, vegetable fats and sweets: Use moderately.

The group of milk, yoghurt and cheese: 2-3 portions. Vegetable group: 3-5 portions. The group of meat, Poultry-house animals, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts: 2-3 portions. The group of fruits: 2-4 portions. The group of bread, fiber, rice and cake: 6-11 portions. 27-Be aware of how much you eat. Americans eat greater portions and more than in any other culture worldwide. The amount and the way you eat should be suitable according to your envy to lose weight. Do you really know how much you eat? * A 4 ounces (114 grams) of sweet bread is equivalent 4 Pyramid portions. Most of the adults should eat on a daily basis from 6 to 10 portions of bread and fiber foods (take a look at the last lower stair of the pyramid). That’s the reason why, a small sweet bread, according to the revised version of the Pyramid, approximatively suits the half of your daily needs in fibers, this also requires a lesser amount of fibers and bread.

Think about how you could change your habits. For example, instead of a whole sweet bread, just eat a half bread and a few fruits. * A medium plate of French fries is equivalent to 4 Pyramid portions. This is the half of your daily intakes of fibers. So forget about the French fries and order a smaller size of food. 28- Try to lose weight when you need to Excessive weight has become so common that The U.S. Surgeon General sees the excessive weight as the main medical conditions at the national level. 2 adults Americans out of 3 and 13% of the kids are fat or overweight. The overweight adults and kids have a greater risk to catch some types of cancers, the type 2 diabetes, cardiac diseases, calcification and other diseases. If you really need to lose weight talk to your doctor and discuss about the best method you will need to achieve it. Later on, try to lose weight with the portion control, a diet schedule including physical exercises and with the support you need to keep on doing this. 29- Have a balanced diet In the book of the Harvard Medical School medical professor Walter C. Willett, M.D. named “Drink, and Life Healthy” there is this advice: “practise defensive eating strategies”. The way to achieve this has been explained according to Dr. Willet: * Try to stop eating before being full to satiety. * Be very selective. Don’t eat a lot just because you have several foods in front of you. * Avoid your appetite. Before eating, try to have snacks containing lower calories such as carrots or celery stalks. * Let your food be very simple. Avoid everything. You can eat simple, good and balanced foods. 30- Make healthy choices when you are eating outside Eating in the restaurant doesn’t necessary mean unbalanced or unhealthily. * Share your food with someone or bring back home the half of your food to heat it the following day.

Typical restaurant portions are generally twice greater than portions for a single person. * Send back the bread basket. * Avoid fries * In fast food restaurants, order grilled chicken and do the garniture by your own. Choose spices containing less fats. * Drink water instead of soda. Tip: When you consume calories and fats estimating the foods values is not an important amount. 31- Increase your energy Physical activity and a good nutrition pattern is the best energy increaser. * Never skip the breakfast. A good and balanced breakfast increases your energy for the whole day. * Do exercises. Being active is the best way to make your energy increase and keep it continuously high. * Limit the amount of alchohol you drink because it consume energy. * Avoid eating too much.

Frequents little snacks and foods continuously make energy reinforcement carry on. Choose foods that give you enrgy such as fruits, nuts and yoghurt. Avoid sweets, potatoes chips and other foods including low nutrients and rich in calories. 32- Listen to music and relax There is no doubt that music is a characteristic of every human culture. Music may make use have fun, keep us from our sadness’s, stimulates our brain and help us relax. Determine a music which makes you relax in order to use it to reduce your tension. * Listen to music on your way back home after a long day at work. Make for yourself a collection of music that make you relax. When you feel helpless or need to have fun listen to those music. Enlarge your musical horizons by buying CDs and recorded tapes from a local library or by searching in the legal music services online. * Do your own music. Sing or play a musical instrument. * Be respectful. A music that makes you relax may make other feel upset. 33- Try to have short sleeps (naps) More than 50% of Americans are sleep deprived. The insufficiency of sleep is more common in young people. A research conducted by The National Institute of Mental Health shows that a quick, relaxing and strong sleep can create miracles on your physical and mental health. This work showed that a 20 to 30 minutes long sleep can reduce your stress. Sleeping more than that may break your sleep balance and interfere with your habits. That’s why you shouldn’t exaggerate. According to The National Sleep Foundation 1 adult out of 5 makes frequently or sometimes professional mistakes due to the lack of sleep (insomnia). 34- Behave well with your feet According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in America more than 43.1 million people (1 person out of 6) have a problem with his foot.

And mostly this is caused by the wearing of unsuitable shoes. Here are the advices from the AAOS: * Measure your shoes’ size each and every time you buy a new shoe. * Women should not wear high heels shoes that are higher than 2.25 inches (5.715 cm). From the longest toe’s extremity to the extremity of the shoe there should be an interval of 0.5 inches (1.27 cm). If the shoes are too tight simply don’t buy them. 35- If you have hearing problems ask for help The deafness is common especially after 50 years old. A person out of 3 people above 65 years old have is partially or completely deaf. The symptoms of the loss of hearing are problems experienced in hearing clearly, problems to hear on the phone, and being obliged to raise the volume of a radio or a TV before being able to hear the voices. If you have a problem to hear well, speak with your doctor. Most of the hearing difficulties can be solved with the diagnosis and the therapies and helps from a specialist of ears. 36- If you look after someone ask for help. It is emotionally and physically tiresome to look after an old dependant or someone we love.

That’s why it’s important for you to look for some support for yourself. * Remember that you are not obliged this by your own. Ask for help from your family and friends. * Receive help from a group of support. Support groups are a place in which you can share your story or what you’re experiencing, your feelings and knowledges with other people. To find a support group in the society ask your doctor, talk with the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or your colleagues. * Talk to people you like about how you feel. Let them to know what you feel. 37-Watch beautiful things. The action of having a break during your exciting day and looking at beautiful things may develop your vision and provide you a good feeling. * Hang in your office the picture of someone you love. * Save time to observe the sunset. * Put in your office a vase full of flowers. * Everyday hang in a place you like a favourite writing or picture. 38- Be very cautious if you work at nights. According to a research made by Circadian Technologies if you are a night worker, it will be more important for you to take a good care of yourself. People in the society working more in the evenings and at nights have higher risks of having a heart condition and face some problems due to the fact that they experience irregularities in their sleep. Pack healthy snacks and foods. Avoid fast foods and unhealthy excessive foods. * Do physical exercises on a regular basis. This also allows you to sleep well. * Relax one hour before the moment you want to go to bed or for a period of time near that moment. To relax take a warm bath or have a shower. According to the Alcohol Statistics Bureau approximatively 24 million Americans work outside from 7a.m. to 7p.m. 39- Avoid excessive charges by being aware of them. Avoid the differences of opinion in a commitment. Decide whether or not you want to do something what and why you want to do. Think about everything you’ll be responsible of. * If you’re in need of school fees, don’t immediately plan the visit you want to pay to your parents at the same time. * Take a closer look to the schedule in a regular way.

Think about a long term program in order to make sure the responsibilities won’t come up simultaneously. * Don’t wait to be in a crisis before looking for help. * Learn how to start saying “No” to the requests you can’t really take into accounts or for solutions that can’t be logical for everyone. 40- Take a break Taking a break helps you to relax and rejuvenate. But the majority of us generally have enough break as we normally should. According to a national research conducted on families with non-profit purposes, and companies (NGOs), 25% of Americans feel being under so much pressure at work that they can get the benefits from their whole salaries. A too much hardworking let a compensation on your health, personal and professional relationships. Spend time doing activities you have fun doing. Spend time with your friends, family and yourself. 41- When you’re in need ask for help Many people are better helpers than help takers. If you feel submerged by your work or when you face personal or family situations it is difficult for many of you to ask for help. Remember that asking for help is not a sign of weakness but a sign of ability and strength.

This will help you to reduce your tension and make you feel good. If you’re having a hard time and you need some help talk to a person you trust and ask him or her: “Please can you help me?” The majority of people want to help. They need to know what they will have to do. If you can use a support and you aren’t really sure or simply don’t know about how you could find it contact the EAP or workers resources program. 42- Lean how to recognize stress and how you could deal with it. If you have a flu, take good care of yourself. If you have symptoms of fear pay even more attention to yourself. Symptoms of stress are avoidance (staying away from) of family relatives or friends, being in a crying mood or frequently crying, sleep more than normal or having problems to sleep, drinking too much alcohol, eating too much or smoking with cigarettes and having a lower production rate in the office. If you are experiencing one of these symptoms you’ve got to make some changes in your life. * Plan a time to relax and have a short walk even if it is for a game or to pay a visit to a friend of yours. * Breathe. One of the best ways for the body to relax and calm down your mood is to breathe deeply. * If the stress symptoms are persistent, talk about it to your doctor or contact your EAP. 43- Help your kids to deal with their stress Kids can also feel stressed and present symptoms as much as adults do. This includes headaches, stomach-aches, excessive skipping of food or meals, difficulty to fall asleep or sleeping too much, decrease of performances at school, aggressiveness or angriness, being online for hours or watching TV or playing on the computer for too long. Here are what you could do, if you child has one or several of those symptoms: * Try to learn your child fears or worries. * Make sure that your children have slept enough and had done their exercises. * Protect them from being exposed to the violence on TV. * If you don’t succeed in trying to reduce these stress symptoms, contact your kid’s teacher or adviser or a psychologist or talk with your kid’s doctor or your EAP. 44- Keeping fit after menopause the following steps will help you feel better during and after menopause. *

Try to do a 30 minutes long physical exercise everyday. This is good for the wellbeing of your bones and your heart, to balance your weight, regulate your sleep and your mood. * Take the required amount of calcium you need to strengthen your bones and prevent calcification. According to the advices made by The National Institute of Health, women who don’t take a hormonal reinforcement during menopause should have a daily intake of 1,500 mg of calcium. * Do some relaxation and stress reducing exercises like yoga and meditation.

45- Try to avoid the belly generally observed in middle age before it binds. The best way to avoid the belly binding observed in middle age is to do aerobic exercises. Join for at least 30 minutes four time in a week a type of exercise such as walking, running, swimming, working in the garden, climbing, riding a bicycle or any other kind of exercises. The aim of doing this is to do exercises in your highest heartbeat rates, 75 to 85%. Your heart’s highest beat rate in a minute is calculated by subtracting your age from 220. For example, for someone aged 42 the highest heartbeat rate is 178 (220 minus 42). A 42 years old person who has no medical condition may want to do physical exercise at 140 to 160 heartbeat rate. Before starting any kind of exercises talk with your medical specialist. People who have the great obesity rates are between 65 and 74 years old for the men and from 55 to 64 years old in women. 46- Choose healthy snacks According to the Health and Nutrition Letter of Tuft University when people are watching TV the five most commonly consumed things are ice cream, chocolate, nuts and salty foods like potatoes chips and popcorn cooked in a microwave. If you choose the healthy foods you like, you will avoid being overweight and will feel better. The following snacks have a value from 100 to 250 calories. * All the fruits such as apples, bananas or oranges. * A cup of cereal crackers with a low-fats milk. * A few grams of dried groundnuts. 47- Cook healthy lunches Try to make your children like your favourite foods, help them to be able to choose healthy foods. Ask your children what they would like to eat and encourage them to plan a lunch. Propose them for approvals healthy meals like fruits, vegetables, meats with less fats and cheese so that they like it. These are some alternatives to what you could cook for your kids at the lunchtime: * A sandwich of mustard turkey in a complete cereals bread. * Sticks of carrots and celery. * Grapes * Low-fat milk You can find in several nutrition books a wide range of heathy foods or balanced diets. 48- Drink water Drinking some water helps you to feel less hungry, it doesn’t contain any calorie and it has so much unmentioned benefits for your health. How much water should we drink? The standard advice of the nutritionists (specialists of nutrition) about daily water intakes is to drink 8 cups of water. If you live in hot weathers or if you’re too much active you’ll need to drink more water. If you are used to carry in your bag, car or in your working environment a litre of water remember to drink it daily. Being a little bit thirsty may make you feel more tired. That’s why! 49- Benefit from medical screenings In many offices or workplaces offer their workers the possibility to do medical screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol and other conditions. It’s mostly free of charge or too much cheap. A screening or check-up you do in routine may reveal a medical condition you have without being aware of it and before it becomes too much serious. Go for regular check-ups and ask your occupational doctor for advices. A research carried out by The Commonwealth Fund discovered that a specific number of men don’t usually have their routine check-ups done and barely have their symptoms observed by a specialist or when they’re in pain, they usually come too late to signal it in order to get a medical care. 50- Draw borders between home and work It is very important for you to leave your work at the office as soon as your business day is finished. Here are four hints for you: * Use callers’ ID to see the Telesecretary, voicemail or calls. Shut down the phone. * Give a priority to spend a good time. * When you reach home give yourself a few minutes to change your clothes. Change your clothes, eat some snacks or before starting the routine you have at home after finishing your business day, do something to leave the day behind you. * Schedule some things that will suit your daily program to reunite at home your friends or relatives.

51- Do something to avoid being exhausted. If you work for long hours and are usually tired, you are a good candidate for exhaustion- which is the complete opposite of feeling good. The symptoms of exhaustion are headaches, tiredness, lack of excitement, decrease of libido, heart failure, angriness and not having enough time for family matters. If you feel exhausted, you’ve got to make some positive changes in your life. Being exhausted influences your health and personal life. * Ask for the support you need in order to balance your professional life. Ask for some support and help from your CEO. Or contact your EAP and the workers resources program. * Talk about your fears to your medical specialist. * Enforce yourself to have some daily “little escapes”. Go out for a walk in the lunch break time. Or allow yourself to think during your busiest day. 52- If the problem still continues ask for a professional’s help If you’re facing a problem you are unable to solve on your own, talk to a professional about it. * If you have some worries regarding your children take a look at the school guide book or speak with your child’s doctor or with your EAP. * If you take care of your grandchildren or older relatives of yours, contact group of support or your EAP or the workers welding program. * If you have a problem of gambling, addiction to shopping, difficulties in your relationship or any other personal major concern, try to contact your doctor, therapist or EAP or the workers welding program. * Ask for a spiritual guidance from a religious community. 53- Be careful with your posture It is very important for your health to adopt a correct posture especially when you’re trying to sit down for a long time and without interruption. To reduce the tension inside your legs and in your back, set a correct height for the chair you’re sitting on, your feet should be flat on the ground. You and your thighs should be parallel to the ground base. Sit and dispose your back perpendicularly to the chair. While working don’t spread in the place you sat in, don’t either slouch or hunch your back and don’t cross your legs. Don’t use the armrest of your chair to spread (spill over into). Every 20-40 minutes get up from the computer and let your body rest. Working on a computer is very tiresome for your body’s upper part especially for your eyes. It’s essential to get up and have a walk. Meanwhile try to do things which are not related to computers. 54- Protect your back What do you think is the best and most effective way to prevent backaches? Is it doing physical exercises regularly, lying on a flat bed or is it using a backpack instead of carrying your briefcase on your shoulders? According to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the answer is to do a physical training on a regular basis. A correct physical exercise strengthens your back and belly muscles and helps you to prevent backaches (pains in your back). Discuss with your medical specialist about the best or most suitable exercises for you. According to the American Occupational Therapy Association, 6 kids out 10 aged from 9 to 20 said that it was because of their carriage of a heavy backpack that they suffer chronic back pain. To prevent the pain when you child attaches the bag straps make sure that they’re too much tight and that the backpack is really on the body’s axis and that the kid is not carrying more than 10 to 15% of his own weight. 55- Ask for help to deal with headaches If you can’t get rid of your headaches and it affects your personal life, ask for help. * Take an appointment with your medical specialist doctor for him to make a correct diagnosis. Take some information about the type of headaches you’re experiencing and the therapy you should apply for it. *

For a rare or less frequent headache, try the technique consisting to take a warm bath. The cause of headaches is thirstiness. Several doctors suggest that you drink an amount of 8 ounces (227 grams) of water. If you your medical condition is chronic, it’s better for you to solve it with your doctor. Headaches affected millions of people and according to the National Headache Foundation, due to a productivity decline in the companies, millions of dollars are spent for absences at works and medical fees. 56- Receive help for chronic pains Look for a group with non-profit purposes! According to a voting made by America more than the half of Americans complain about chronic and repetitive pains last year. 3 people out of 5 from the people suffering of pain have a long term pain every year. Pains in the back are on the top of the list and alongside with the arthritis and articulation pains, followed by knee pains, headaches and pains in the shoulders.

The people aged from 18-34 are also as the older ones suffering from those chronic pains. The best way to get helped with chronic pains is to get informed about those pains, to take them seriously and find a doctor who seriously care for them. If you doctor can’t take it seriously or don’t want to treat it, go see another doctor. 57-Plans some things while waiting Plan expected things, things to wait for, always look at the future with optimism. Plan to go the cinema with a friend of yours and a lunch or a dinner with your family the next week or month. Schedule an entertaining tour with you family for the next summer. Plan something to celebrate the next holidays or plan to spend time with people you love. Plan a day to play with your children. Imagine yourself climbing a mountain, plan to have a long walk or to visit an old friend of yours you don’t usually see enough, or your nephew or niece or grandchild. To feel good planning and thinking prior to action is very essential. But while doing plans for something you’re eager to do the fact of even hoping does indeed make you feel good. 58- Be there for your friends Friends can always be the best supportive people. Here are some simple ways of being by the sides of your friends: * Give them your time. A continuous rest time, face to face or on the phone, is the best gift to offer your friend. * Be for your friend the reminder of positive things. * Send them cards, e-mails, SMS or voice messages so that your friends know you’re thinking about them. * To help your friend to have a moment to rest propose him to deal with his relatives. * Pay your friends a personal visit whenever they are sick or if possible whenever necessary. 59- Spend time for good intimacy. Intimate relationships are one of the greatest pleasures of life. But this also need planning and working. You have to consider being together as a priority. Otherwise they will also be a way to do the laundry or to pay the bills. * Spend time for intimacy. Some people are keen on “going out at nights”. Some others can plan leaving home and spend a night away from the familiar things. * Do together things that could help you get closer to each other and wake the feeling of intimacy. Have the breakfast together in the bed. Spend your afternoon together. Swim together. Do some massage and back massage to each other. * Be friendly. How often do you kiss each other or hug each other? 60- Touch someone you love A physical touch does so many magnificent things. It makes people feel reposed, comfortable, stimulates a better sleep and helps you to make yourself more felt by your lover. Touch someone you love. * Hug your boy, your daughter, family, grandfather and grandmother, cousins and friends. * Spend more time to repose or to lean. * Give a welcome and a goodbye kiss to your beloved ones. * Teach your children the importance of the physical contact, attention and commitment you previously described to them. 61- Try to identify signs of your alcohol problems (alcoholism) Alcoholism may start at the very beginning of life or in later years. Here are the symptoms of alcoholism: * Drinking to calm your nerves, to forget your grief or in order to reduce depression. * Failure to stop drinking after two cups of drinks (standard drink: a glass of beer, 5 ounces (142 grams) of a glass of wine, 1.5 ounces (43 grams) alcoholic beverages including 80 degrees of alcohol) * Telling lies about drinking habits or hide them. * Drink when you feel lonely. * Having medical, social, business, financial or legal problems due to the liquors. If you think you are alcoholic, immediately ask for help. Contact your doctor or the related support groups. 62- Receive some help for drug or alcohol addiction Drug and alcohol addiction are responsible of so many diseases family problems, depression, physical problems, financial problems, car crashes and problems in the workplaces. Have any of your friends, some relatives or your employer ever expressed their worries about your use of drugs or alcohol? Is it difficult for you to stop drinking or using drugs even if you try? If you really worry because you do have some drug addiction or alcoholism problems, it is important to ask for a professional’s help. Contact your EAP or workers welding program. Try to find organizations dealing with alcohol and drug addictions.

63- Talk to your daughter or to your son about alcohol According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention each student out of 4 in ninth grade explained what they perform in the bacchanalia/ Dionysia (that they got drunk) last month. Just because they drank five kind of liquors or even more than that. Kids are drinking nowadays at younger ages. Girls drink alcohol as much as the boys do. Researches showed that if when they are near their parents kids are kept under a certain discipline and are told by their parents about the expectations they drink less. Try to frequently explain to your kid the dangers of alcohol consumption and seriously control their alcohol consumption at younger ages. Contact your EAP or your workers welding program d-for more information about the use of alcohol at younger ages. 50% of the deaths in children aged from 15 to 24 are caused by alcohol or drug addiction. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) 64- Remind your daughter or your son to put on their security belt According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, adolescents experience car crashes more than any other age groups and wear the security belt less often than anyone else. * Insist to oblige them to wear their security belt and wear yours as an example. As soon as your child leave the house remind him or her about it. * Sign the SADD contract for a lifetime with your kid (Students Against Destructive Decisions Contract for Life - www.saddonline.com/contract.htm). This obliges the youth to fasten their security belts and not to get drunk while driving. Parents are required to bring their children back home safe when they are insecure. 65- Don’t start a rancour Researchers discovered that when you are angry stress and tension increase and when you forgive they decrease. In some researches it has been found out that forgiveness help reducing pains in the back and depression. One of the best ways to live a heathy life at older ages is to manage your anger and keep it under control. * Decide to forgive some people. If you still have some unsolved anger about some people in your office, workplace or in your personal life try to make peace with them. Try to send that person a letter. Or just call them to meet and have a talk in order to solve the old grief. If this isn’t possible, just give up that anger and move on. * Try to forgive yourself. Feeling guilty about things that are going wrong is as unhealthy as being angry with someone else. 66- Spend time with people younger than you In order to feel better in your life you need to continue to learn and to self-develop. We learn so much from people older than we are. There are so many things to learn from younger ones especially about arts, music, technology and the future. They offer us a fresh and new perspective. * Learn from your child and from his/her friends. Spend time with the young people. * Try to be open to learning from your colleagues, neighbours who are younger than you. * Read young authors’ books. Go and watch young directors’ movies. From time to time change the radio channels and get to know young people’s songs. 67- Eat with your family Eating altogether is a god thing for families. A research carried out by Michigan University, eating at home is the best way for children to have a successful life and less behavioural problems at school. The time spent eating in schools, is stronger than learning lessons, or the time spent while praying, while playing games, or doing artworks. Finding a time for a family reunion and for a regular food eating at the same dinner table is quite difficult. However try harder to achieve this and keep in mind that the time you spend together is indeed important and is useful. Besides always remember that the only moment you have a meal together as a family shouldn’t always or only be at the dinner. If the moment when you are together is at 7 a.m., you should have a breakfast together at this time. National YMCA investigations showed that the greatest source of anxiety for 21% of young people is the inability to spend enough time with their family. 68- Change your habits Health care specialists advise us to change our habits to do more physical activities alternately do cardiovascular and strength training and exercises alternately so that you may reduce your problems and damages in your muscular structure. Changing your common habits is also a good thing. * Try to eat need foods, go to new places and meet new people. * Change your daily life habits. “Do something you aren’t used to. Do some other things alongside with the traditional the direction you always do run to.” says Pema Chodro. 69- Try to take over your ego to separate some things from one another. According to George Vaillant, the author of Aging well, the key to a vibrant life, from youth to old age is to feed one’s spirituality. Spirituality reduce the sensation of stress, stimulates the feeling of goodness and strengthens the social links. Whatever the way you’re getting a spiritual renewal through, perhaps with prayers, meditations, by spending time outside or helping others, you’ve got to regularly spend time doing it. 70- Turn off your phone. Cell phones are important to contact or to communicate with your colleagues, customers and people you care about. However, when you’re about to shut off the phone -don’t you mind others- for your own sake and your inner peace. * If you speak personally with someone, turn off your mobile phone. *

Turn off your mobile phone when you are with friends or relatives, so be with them literally. This makes them feel better. * Close to your phone for a while to remain unreachable for a while- at a moment you are not working and don’t want to be disturbed with phone calls. 71- Take a break to feel better Taking a break is good for you, especially if you are having a break to do healthy things. * Get up from the chair. Stand up and give yourself a stretch in your office. If you can get a little bit away from the place you are in have a short walk in the room. * Tell one of your colleagues a joke. * If you feel upset or blocked due to a project you have been preparing, take a break. Come back a little bit later. * If possible breathe some fresh air during your break as much as you can. 72-Help your child feel good. The American Heart Association suggest that kids and adolescents should do a 60 minutes long, intermediate level or hard-core physical activity everyday. As a parent help your children to be more active and feel better. Try to go have a walk together with your family, mountain walk or ride bicycles together. Play some family games on paper or baseball. Limit the time your kid spend watching TV or playing computer games. Walk with your kids on their way to school. To go out with the dog, be accompanied by your child. Always be by the side of your relatives whenever some of them are in a hospital or healthcare unit. Let him or her be more active in the next family reunion. According to a research carried out by the American Obesity Association, 24% of parents think that children are less active today than they were when they were kids. 73-Protect your body when you’re at sports Here are some advices for both adults and children: * Always wear the recommended protective clothes. While riding a bicycle, or when you skate, when you’re snowboarding, when you ski and riding a bike use a helmet that correctly suits your head. When your child is playing make sure he/she uses the recommended safety equipment such as nozzles, bracelets, knee braces etc. * Take a time of 5 to 10 minutes to warm up first and stretch before and after the physical activity. Stretch for a least 10 seconds and 30 seconds at the most. Encourage your child so that he spend time to stretch too. *

Don’t run to the excess. Too much exercise can’t be as harmful as a less long one is. According to the data provided by the government, kids born in the period of high birth rates, because they don’t wear a helmet, have nearly twice more head injuries. 74- If your troubles or worries keep you awake, ask for help. Stress provokes insomnia in millions of people. According to an investigation carried out by the Good Sleep Council family affairs, jobs and money are the three most common problems people think about. Talk to your doctor if your problems don’t allow you to have a good sleep at night. Some symptoms of stress show depression or some other problems. Talk with your doctor whenever you have any kind of worries about your health regarding this situation. Hint: Put some papers and pens by your bedside. If during the night something important comes across your mind and that you wake up, immediately write it down. TYou will comfortably go back to sleep knowing that your idea will still be there when you get up in the morning. 75-Cook some soup Chicken soup is known for many things from keeping the spirit (mind) alive to provoking the sensation being calm. Here is a recipe you can realize in less than an hour. Ingredients: 6 cups not too salty chicken broth, 1 pound (0.45 kg) boneless, skinless chicken breast, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 chopped medium onion, 2 chopped medium carrots, 2 chopped celery, salt and pepper, 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley. Put the chicken stock and bring to the boil on the stove. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 30 minutes. Get the chicken platter. When cool, break it. While the chicken cools down, the soup pot, do a “sauté” of the onions over medium heat until they begin to colour. Then, add carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Bake about 8 minutes. Add the cooked chicken broth. Bake for 10 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Add the chicken pieces and stir latest parsley and serve. It’s for 4 people. 76- Start a hobby or join a class Give yourself an activity you will like or join education classes for adults. Learning new things or spending time for doing things you like, may be very pleasant. Besides, it is a method to forget your problems. Meet people sharing common interests with you. * What do you like to do during your free time? What kind of themes are you interested in while reading a book or watching TV? These may be tips for you to know what you should try to learn. * Think about your hobbies and your occupations you were used to perform in the past. Would you like to do once again one of those? * Try to contact your local high school or community college or library in order to look for programs of education for adults and skills development courses. 77- After completing the feeling of anger deal with it Sometimes being angry is quite a normal thing. Nevertheless, when these emotions aren’t canalized in a productive way, they may overlap with other areas of our lives. * Try to learn your signs of anger so that you may know how to control or deal with it. * These signs may be feeling angry, irritable, squeezing your fist or and may strain especially muscles in the neck, jaw and in your back. * When you notice that you are angry, take a deep breathe. Count up to five. Exhale and then repeat from the beginning. * Identify your problem as early as possible so that it doesn’t worsen and become difficult to solve. * To receive some support to deal with your anger management problem, or if you regularly meet the people you frequently get angry with, simply contact your EAP, your doctor, or your religious community leader.

78- Save time for yourself All of us need time for ourselves or to spend it with other people. Moments we spend lonely are beneficial for our body and our mind that period of rest is the best moment to think about your whole life and your day. It is the most suitable time for you to gather your mind and to remain silent. * Try to be alone for a while every day. A moment of silence will allow you to find your current time. * Read books, spend time doing something that will make you happy such as taking a shower or going out. * Do not feel guilty when you relax yourself. After a busy day it’s good to just to sit in a comfortable chair to soothe your nerves. 79- Ask for help to deal with depression 10 % of people are suffering of depression. Here are some general symptoms of depression: an irresistible sadness, hopelessness, inability to concentrate, fatigue, changes in eating and sleeping habits, loss of interest in being things you use to like such as sex, headaches, digestive disorders, chronic pain, permanent physical disorders such as death and suicidal thoughts. Depression can be treated. If you have major concerns about your health just talk with your health care adviser or EAP. If you are continuously thinking of death or suicide, immediately call for help. You can get a special screening test for depression from the internet. 80- Try to know the symptoms of depression in your kids Kids and adolescents can also be depressed as adults are. Being irritable or having a bad temper, overeating or not eating enough, sleep disorders or multiple sleeping, difficulty to concentrate, loss of energy, low motivation, feeling sad, crying more than usual, headaches, stomach aches, not wanting to play with friends, regularly skip school or poor performance in school, alcohol or drug addiction, death or thinking about suicide are commonly considered as the signs of depression in the children and the adolescents. Look for unusual or abnormal behaviours. For example, a disappearance or a lack of your money may be a sign that your child stole it to buy alcohol or drugs. If you notice symptoms of depression, talk to your child, listen to him and seek professional help. Depression can be treated. Ask for help from your health counsellor, school counsellors or a therapist. 81- If you don’t have time just make a change If your schedule is too much tight with no free time and your life isn’t what you expect it to be, you will have to give up on some things. * Be realistic about how much time can anything really take, so you may have a lot of plans for yourself. * Facilitate a whole lot more exciting when you or your family members have important things in the second degree. * Plan the night before your lunch and organize the work to be done to reduce your haste in the morning.

82- Enlighten your life The seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs generally in spring or winter due to the decrease of sunlight. The symptoms may be soft or hard/violent and 5% of the Americans suffer from it. SAD can lead to sleep disorders, depression, bulimia or anxiety. You may use these tips to avoid suffering from SAD. * In Autumn and in winter let the doors and windows shutters and curtains open so that sunlight come inside the rooms. * Spend time outside to benefit from sunlight in sunny days. * If you are someone complaining about a SAD, ask for advices from your doctor. There are several medical therapies and general ones that may be helpful. 83- Know the place in which you feel the most comfortable When you are aware of the place in which you feel the most comfortable- actually, in which conditions do you feel more comfortable and relax? - There you feel better. Then you will feel a greater comfort in your office and in your house. * Touch the things you think and the ones you feel. * Define for yourself objectives and priorities, so you may live according to your ideals, the work you struggled for / your life balance. * Try to leave the places in which you feel relaxed. Bruce Tulgan says that: "To thrive, you must force yourself to leave the place you're comfortable in. This allows you to take healthy risks and work to achieve your health goals. "

84- Find yourself a coach or be a coach for someone else It is a good thing for you to have a life coach. A coach inspires you, he will show you the right direction and help you in the struggles in your personal and business lives. Your coach can any of your neighbours, your friends, your relatives, your teachers or even anyone in your entourage. Help your child to find a coach too. Being a coach brings rich rewards. You can look on the internet for more information about how to become a coach. According to the National Coaching Association, children and young people who have a coach are more successful in school, not interested in drugs and alcohol and are the more likely to continue until college. 85- Feel good with money expenses. Our best memories include things that do not have any value in terms of money. For instance, sitting with one’s cousins in front of a warm fireplace on a cold night. Jump in the waves with your beloved one. Reading a nice book and talk to your friends about it. Watching the Milky Way (the stars) with your partner. Looking at pictures of people you love. To lie on the sofa with your kids on a rainy day. Having a dinner with your friends and your neighbours, using what is available. Watch a movie that will make you feel good. There are hundreds of ways to feel good without spending any money at all. You simply have to let them become a part of life. 86- Take a tea break A tea break is good for you. People knew this information for centuries everywhere in the world. Only drinking a cup of tea is a very good way of being comfortable with a colleague and repose nerves and cancel the difficulty of your day. Studies showed that certain herbal teas or the drinking of a decaffeinated tea reduce risks of heart disease, prevent cancer, it even soothes the throat pains and reduces stress. 87- Do some yoga The word equivalent to Yoga in Sanskrit means the reunion of the physical, emotional and spiritual personalities. Yoga is helpful for every age. It helps the body to feel better, develops the balance and flexibility in articulations and muscles, wipes out the tension inside muscles and strengthens them. Yoga takes your stress away, it makes you more vigilant and awake, helps the development of concentration and also helps you to keep calm and feel comfortable. Try to make Yoga to become a habit for you. Only 15 minutes in a day may bring you some great results. Make sure to find a well experienced and qualified teacher. Approximatively 18 millions of adults Americans receive a type of yoga lesson. (AARP Magazine)

88- Subscribe to or join some massage sessions. Massage is not just an indulgence. This opens your mind, it is a way to relax your muscles and to feel more relaxed. Massage therapy is sometimes used in the medical treatments of chronic pain and headaches. More and more health professionals understand the benefits of this therapy. Discuss with your doctor and check whether massage therapy could efficiently be or not applied or if alternative medical treatments could be included in your treatment as one of his advices. * Book a professional massage especially after a stressful business day or whenever you feel tense. * When you feel that your muscles are tense, ask your partner, companion or your friend to rub your shoulders a few minutes. * Have a massage done to your child. According to a study conducted in Sweden, children massaging each other's don’t fight with each other. 89- Let your tired eyes rest Try to avoid eye fatigue, especially in jobs that require attention or while working on the computer. * Let your eyes rest after a while. Stare at fixed objects away from you from a far position or don’t continuously look at your computer, for example take a look at what is going on outside from a window. After working for a period of 20 minute on a computer, take a look at objects that are a bit far from you. * Sit at a certain distance away from the computer screen. In general, the preferred viewing range is between the eye and the computer screen should be 20-40 inches (51-102 cm). *

Reduce the brightness. Keep away from the windows or use a protective screen for the computer screen’s brightness. Tip: Every two years, you should see an eye doctor or an ophthalmologist. This is very important especially if you have a medical condition such as diabetes. 90- Take good care of your teeth Encourage everyone in your family to protect their teeth in order to avoid problems that may occur later on. * Brush your teeth thoroughly twice a day with a soft toothbrush which enables you to access all of your teeth and to scrub them. Use once a day a dental floss to prevent the formation of plaques and gum diseases. Encourage your child to use the floss too. * Until your child learns how to brush his teeth holding a toothbrush by himself you should brush him the teeth twice a day. * Replace your toothbrush every three months. * Pay a visit to your dentist every 6 to 12 months. * Don’t put your baby to bed with a bottle or sipper cup at night or at the bedtime. * When you dress your child put him a mouthpiece or a face mask in order to prevent him get injured while playing. 91- Abandon cigarettes that’s to say stop smoking today Stop smoking adds years to your life whenever you decide to and you indeed leave it. Researches proved that after 10 to 15 years of smoking habits, before the time of death of the former smokers, the amount of smoking become worse the closer they are to the time of their death. Here are four tips to quit smoking as suggested by the American Lung Association: * Join the American Lung Association's smoking cessation programs such as Freedom from Smoking. You will find lots of useful information and tips on the website of the association (www.lungusa.co). * Determine the best time to stop smoking. Do not try to abandon your habit of smoking under a lot of stress. * Select the day on which you want to abandon it. Expand your intervals of smoking as the day you schedule is getting closer. * Do not give up. The possibility of being able to cease smoking increases with every effort that you make. 92- Talk to your kids about smoking. The best way to keep your child away from cigarettes or smoking is for you to become a non-smoker. The other best thing is to talk with your child about the dangers of tobacco. Here are a few tips from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control: * When your child reaches ages from 5 to 6 years old start telling him about the harm of tobacco and continue telling him that even during his school years. Talk about the risks of tobacco use. If friends or relatives died from tobacco use, then do mention of it. * Try to know whether your child has friend smokers. Describe him ways to refuse tobacco from them. * When family members cease smoking when children are young, they reduce the chance of children being young smokers. (From the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

93- Do some meditation Meditation is a way for both your body and your mind to relax in that slowing down, your mind get rid of the clutter and help you relax. Take a few minutes and try this simple meditation exercises. Sit on a chair in a quiet room or sit comfortably in a consistent manner. Close your eyes. Focus your attention to quiet thinking, focus on a word or a sentence. If your attention is scattered, then redirect it. Concentrate on feeling every breathe you gave away. 94- Practice the deep breathing. Focus on breathing and to practice deep breathing can help relieve your tension and stress. Here's an exercise you can take a few minutes each day: stand or sit upright in a comfortable position, so that you can squeeze your stomach. Put one hand on your navel. Now take a deep breath slowly and deeply through your nose, let your stomach expand as much as possible. Hold your breath for a few seconds and then slowly open your mouth. Make a conscious effort to exhale while you’re relaxing your abdominal muscles and you will also need to exert. While you relax your stomach muscles and keep deep breathing, your stomach will rise up and descend for an inch in your hands for every breath. When your lungs are empty, begin once again to take deep breaths. Only after three to four breaths, you should starting feeling all the relaxation in your whole body. 95- Spend time for personal relationships People who have a close relationship feel good, they worry less, have less depression and usually become more satisfied as they are growing older. But building personal relationships require some efforts. * Take the time to build a friendship, no matter how busy you are. Schedule a moment in your calendar to be with your friends. * Do not allow your very good friendship to deteriorate due to a misunderstanding. Always talk openly. Communication is the key to long-lasting friendship. * Continue to build new friendships throughout your life. * The happiest people are people happy with their surrounding environment, with their family and friends, so never mind those people next door who waste themselves only in their daily activities and easily forgive. (Authentic Happiness, Martin E. P. Seligman) 96- Try to create a personal communication if possible In today's rapidly evolving digital world, the place of time spent face to face is replaced by the time we spent with e-mail, receiving phone calls and text messages. But communication between people is an important part of emotional health. Make a conscious effort exerted to communicate with the people in your personal life. * Take a break from the phone or e-mail and try to talk personally with them. * Read books to your children and talk to them before bedtime. * To have a good time with your close relatives visit each other when you have time. * Go out with your partner or spouse, so that you can be together and talk to each other. You will be then able to communicate with each other again, and therefore you will make each other feel better. 97- Schedule a day to have fun in your calendar When you're busy and your program is full, you can forget a day of fun in your calendar. Get in the habit of looking in front of you and book certain days for family meals, trips to the park, visit friends, to watch a funny movie, go do something fun only for yourself or friends. Having fun you makes you healthier and keeps you happy and renovated. 98- Pay attention to what is important When you work hard or too much and that you think about millions of things at once, it’s quite easy to forget about the important things. In order to remain focused on the important things, you need time to think about your life, values, priorities and about where you go. Do you take care of your physical health? Are you happy?

Do you laugh enough? How is your relationship with the people you care about? While asking yourself these questions, and thinking about what is important, you will discover what kind of changes you need to make, so you will have time to be more balanced and spend time doing the most important things in your life. 99- Talk to yourself to feel good Optimism is a skill most of us can learn. You just need to practice. Here are a few things you can tell yourself when practicing to feel good: * These are opportunities to thrive, learn and to test your patience.

So you tell yourself these kind of things to recover from situations like blasted tyres, passing a bad day at work, and then the fact that you missed a flight. * "Today is a beautiful day, because ..." (You may complete the sentence on your own) * "I'm feeling better." If you keep on telling yourself so many times that you feel better, you will indeed feel better. * "If you think about the worst, the pain gets worse and you will suffer twice. If you think of the best, and you have the worst after all, you suffer from only once pain. " said the humourist Loretta LaRoche. 100- Understand that it is never late It is not too late to start your plan to feel good, to spend time with your kids, to teach a new skill, to get fit, to return to school, to start a diet, to be there for your friends, to begin exercising, to go to a place you've never been, to say “I love you” to your partner, your family, your child or your friend. Now you are ready to use the clues of the ideas you’ve just read about. Write down here the steps to achieve your tips and the goals you would like to reach. For example, for " the 23th tip: Go to sleep. Steps you can take: Turn off the TV an hour before sleep, take a shower and use this time to read a good magazine. " Try your new tips and change your old habits as you continue your plans to feel better. And even before you get to know it, you'll feel better.