Entries Tagged 'wedding health' ↓

Worried about your complexion leading up to that big day? According to a poll in Women’s Health magazine, Zits are the #1 wedding day worry. Stress can pay a heavy toll on your skin, but I think this is something that can easily be solved!Whenever I have a big event coming up. I start preparing way ahead of time to make sure my skin looks great. I personally think gradual changes make a big difference over time. One of the first things I try to do is drink a lot of water. I also try to sneak in a few facials, but if I don’t have the time or extra cash I steam my face before I cleanse at night. I’m also always on the search for that perfect product that works best for my skin. Now I have shared with you before that I have really, really dry skin, so zits are not really my problem, but a dry scaly patch can be just as devastating for me. By the way that skin care line (md formulations) I told you about a few weeks ago…I’m still loving it! Check it out if you have dry skin.

But, for you ladies worrying about zits…I recommend you take a look at the “Beauty All Stars” in the July/August 2007 issue of Women’s Health Magazine, it contains a list of what they think are the best beauty products of the year including skin care, hair care, and make-up.

The product they named for acne treatment was Proactive Solution. This “zit zapper” was very successful for a friend of mine. The one I’m definitely going to try is there choice for the best facial exfoliant, the Neutrogena Advanced Solutions At Home MicroDermabrasion System. They say it promises a “megawatt glow.” I will let you know how it turns out.

But overall, I think the key is start early and don’t do anything drastic within a week of the event!

Anybody else find some good face care tricks?Sign up for our free monthly newsletter!

Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

Thanks to Misterbisson for the photo!

Since most of you are preparing yourselves for the BIG day, and I’m sure you want to be radiant, I thought you might be interested in a skincare line that I just started using and love! First of all, I struggle with very dry sensitive skin, so if you can relate this may be for you too. It is the MD Formulations Sensitive Anti-Wrinkle Kit.. My problem is everything I use including my sunscreen causes some kind of reaction, whether it is dry patches or bumps that are hard to see, but I know they are there. Living in the Mojave Desert and being outside with my horse almost all day, I can’t live without my sunscreen. So this is what led me to try this Anti-Wrinkle Kit, I was desperate to get that glow I see so many other women with.

Well I think I finally cracked the code, at least for all of us with dry sensitive skin. I’ve been using it for about a week now and my skin is looking great, and no more bumps!

Oh yeah, the only bad thing (for me) is I found it on Amazon for $10 less than I paid on another website. If you want it click on the picture above or on the link.

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Rhonda
http://www.ourweddingplus.com/

This week I’m out in Boulder, Colorado with my husband. What a beautiful place! This is my first time in Colorado and it is amazing. Hot too, mid-90s, I didn’t expect that! Since I currently live in the Mojave Desert in California, not one of my favorite places, ts nice to see green trees and grass rather than the brown I’m used to. Anyway, while I’m out here I’m going to try to find a yoga or Pilates studio to keep me busy during the day. I love yoga and I love Pilates. I think they are great workouts for both the body and the mind.

So, getting to the point, I wanted to pass on some info I came across that might be a great option for our stressed out brides out there. My stress always settles in my back. It never fails, when I get stressed or I’m worrying about something my lower back starts hurting. I found this video from very popular yoga instructor Rodney Yee. It focuses on the back and might help my lower back issues.

I’m going to try it and I’ll let you know how it goes after I do it for a while.

By the way Gaiam.com has a lot of yoga stuff, if you are interested they are currently running these coupon codes.

1) Coupon Deal: $25 off orders over $150
Coupon Code: QHV6
Valid from Apr 23, 2007
Valid to Dec 31, 2007

and

2) Coupon Deal: Free shipping on orders over $75
Coupon Code: AFS2
Valid from Jan 1, 2007
Valid to Jun 30, 2007

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Rhonda
http://www.ourweddingplus.com

If you are getting married you experienced it in one form or another. That pressure that we put on ourselves and we experience from others when planning your wedding. Where does it come from and what can we do about it?

The mental stress is the obvious part, there are also a lot of things you should take into consideration during planning to make sure you have a healthy wedding for you and your guests.

I mentioned last week that I had the unique opportunity to participate in an interview with two leading health professionals about wedding health issues. This interview covered both mental health and physical health and turned out to be pretty interesting.

The two doctors that participated are Revolution Health’s Senior Medical Director Val Jones, MD, who wrote “10 Tips for a Healthy Wedding” and Dr. Charles Foster, Research Director of the Chestnut Hill Institute.
As Senior Medical Director Val deals with health issues across the broad and puts special emphasis on prevention. Val spent several years in the 90s as a minister before going into medicine, so she’s been around a few weddings herself! She also draws her experience from her own wedding, almost precisely two years ago.

Dr. Foster has thirty years clinical experience working with couples, families, and individuals. Internationally known for his work with couples in transition, he has consulted with organizations in Holland helping traumatized refugee families seeking asylum and has worked for the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts to train priests in how best to prepare couples for marriage, to take just a couple of examples. He has also researched and co-authored six books on relationships.

Checkout the audio from the interview…

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Rhonda

Our Wedding Plus

Today I’m honored to have a special guest blogger Randi Ragan, the owner of Green Bliss Eco Spa, ranked in the top ten Holistic Spas in Los Angeles by http://www.wholelifetimes.com/. Randi is a former Hollywood screenwriter and has spent over 10 years in the wellness industry as a yoga and meditation teacher, lecturer, spiritual retreat leader, and creator of customized healing ceremonies and rituals. You will see more from Randi here at Our Wedding Plus. She will be guest blogging on natural health, wedding stress reduction, and fitness. If your in the LA area check out Green Bliss Eco Spa, she can even bring a spa party to you with LA’s only eco-luxury moble spa! If you have a question for Randi, contact her throught the “Ask the Experts” link on the right column.

Not a person living hasn’t experienced some sort of stress reaction to a big, important event
in their life, even if it is a joyous, happy occasion, such as a wedding. It’s ironic, then,
that the preparation for a celebration can cause such adverse health effects sometimes.

As any health expert will tell you, prevention is 90% of the cure. That’s certainly true here, with pre-wedding and wedding day stress: accept that this is a period in your life when extraordinary things are underfoot. Make getting enough sleep and the drinking of plenty of water, a daily habit, like brushing your teeth. Take your vitamins regularly, get therapeutic massage and body work as often as you can afford it, and try to develop a regular work out routine – maybe even sampling a yoga or meditation class if you’ve never tried one, or up your attendance if you are already attending; and above all, remember to breathe.

Our breath to our mental state of mind, is like the canary in the coal mine is to the miners: it serves as an early warning system of what will follow in our bodies. Training yourself to take deep, long, fluid breaths as a habit of existing, will completely change how you deal with stress. At first, try just taking 5 minutes in the morning and 5 in the evening to practice conscious breathing. Try inhaling for 10 counts, holding your inhale for 5 counts, slowly exhaling for 10 counts, and holding the exhale for 5 counts.

I also would encourage using breath work as a part of the massage and bodywork experience. It’s obvious to most of us that therapeutic massage is great for dealing with stress. But what most people don’t know is that by working with your breath while the therapist is manipulating certain areas of the body, the muscle tension and stress will sometimes release more effectively. All Green Bliss Eco Spa therapists are trained to work intimately with the breath during bodywork sessions.

The more you can learn to breathe consciously, the more your heart rate stays steady, the more your internal chemical balances stay regulated, and the more oxygen your brain will receive. All of these physiological markers will then determine how your brain processes stress: your breath is a weapon against letting the mind spiral you into worry, agitation, and anxiety. Your decision-making will come from a place of clarity and confidence, your ability to communicate to those around you, more precisely, and your ability to become a more astute and flexible problem solver will increase. In short, you will become the calm, cool, and collected bride of your fantasies.

The goal is to live in the moment with all of the experiences coming your way as your count down the days to your big day. The journey toward the destination can be just as sweet and rich as the final result if you let it. Every day is a miracle; the miracle of having found the love of your life starts with breathing in that love, and then breathing it out to all those around you.

By Randi Ragan
Founder and Owner of Green Bliss Eco Spa
LA’s only eco-luxury mobile spa and spa party service
Named a “Top 10 Holistic Spa for 2006”

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