All posts by Sumana Rao

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Meditation benefits for kids

Meditation benefits for kids

Brain is a happy place. Today kids are more stressed out than we realize. When young brain is burden with anxiety, depression, sadness it results in chaos in little world. Meditation is new type of detention in many schools! Meditation benefits kids. Reason for this mindfulness is helping children in many ways. They stay calm, anxiety free. In fact, ranging from ADHD to anxiety, depression, and stress -meditation is helping in several types of conditions in children.

The benefits of meditation to children is tremendous.

  1.  Prepare for challenges: Meditation helps them to analyze their life in small ways and gives a feeling of stability. It helps them to focus and stay alert while they undergo hormonal changes in puberty
  2. De-stress during studies: Anxiety, anger and worries these are part of children life too. They worry about their grades, get upset about rumors and feel angry when things does not go the way they wanted. To keep mind out of tension and to bring their focus back on studies meditation helps. It frees them from negative thoughts and helps to refresh. Meditation is inexpensive and healthy way to bring relaxation in child’s life.
  3. Supporting healthy mind: Fear and frustration are two emotions that all children go through during development. It results in tantrums, irritability and screaming. To overcome fear in the fast paced world children to have a stable mind. Emotional stability needed for a healthy mind. Meditation helps to bring back them to cope with emotions of frustration and fear.
  4. To focus: Children mind is fragile and is very active. When they are out of focus mind cannot be calm. Moreover, electronic gadgets and technology challenges them to act and find solution quickly. Social media – tweeting, snap chat, Facebook, games, surfing, data etc makes them to communicate very fast. Challenge for parents to keep children focused on studies and those tasks that help children to be a good human. To focus on learning and effective communication meditation helps. It helps to rest their monkey mind and gives clarity to be creative and perform better.
  5. Mindfulness: Once children understand mindfulness they themselves start paying attention to various tasks. It helps them to take control of their action and behavior.

Guided meditation for children

  • Sit down comfortably on a mat or clean floor. Close your eyes.
  • Now bring your attention to your breath.
  • Take deep inhale and slowly exhale.
  • While practicing breathing for next 5 minutes, give your attention only to breathing. Take deep inhale and exhales
  • Count to ten while inhaling and exhaling. No matter what, continue focusing on breathing – inhales and exhales.
  • Count breaths at end of each exhale.
  • After 5 minutes bring back your breath to normalcy and open eyes.

As you keep practicing meditation you will feel changes in daily activities and will have more focus on studies and extra curricular activities. Your communication skills, confidence will improve too!

 

Children photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com (Free for comemercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 28, 2019
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Ash gourd juice benefits

Ash gourd juice home remedies

Ash gourd also known as winter melon or green pumpkin belongs to same family as cucumber. In Ayurveda it is used to treat many health conditions under then name Kushmanda. Ash gourd contains almost 96% water. It is also source of Vitamin B and C. Because of high water content it is preferred remedy for weight loss. Ash gourd juice extracted by simple procedure is helpful in curing some of the common conditions.

To prepare ash gourd juice – remove outer skin and cut the white pulp into small pieces. Grind and strain and collect healthy juice. To give taste add little lemon juice, salt and black pepper.

Consuming the ash gourd juice helps to feel fit and reduces fatigue. Ash gourd juice can be used for some of these common conditions.

  1. For stomach ulcers: Cooling effect of ash gourd juice reduces stomach and mouth ulcers.
  2. To cure intestinal parasites: Especially in children, drinking ash gourd juices removes stomach worms.
  3. To reduce acid reflux /acidity: By cooling the digestive system, it reduces acidity
  4. To reduce anxiety, depression and other mental illness: It helps to relief mental stress, anxiety and addiction problem.
  5. It is good for hair growth: Applying the juice on hair by mixing with few drops of coconut oil and lemon juice helps to increase hair growth as it reduces dandruff.
  6. For good heart condition: It is a preferred vegetable for healthy heart condition and drinking ash gourd juice reduces cholesterol deposition.
  7. To reduce bleeding; Drinking the juice, reduces mouth ulcers and gum bleeding by acting as anti-coagulant. It also stops bleeding in kidney and stomach ulcers.
  8. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic: It reduces body inflammation and brings back sleep.
  9. To treat piles and constipation: While reducing excess body heat, ash gourd juice reduces heat related problems like constipation and piles.
  10. For kidney and gall bladder stones: It is a bladder purifier and helps to reduce buildup of kidney and gall bladder stones.
  11. For jaundice condition treatment: Drinking the juice helps to reduce jaundice symptoms
  12. To reduce asthma attack: People who suffer from asthma attack can also drink ash gourd juice as it reduces lung inflammation.
  13. Helps to remove poison by promoting vomiting (scorpion, snake, spider bites)
  14. Helps in reducing purpura or blood clot on skin surface
  15. Reduces weakness and fatigue: While keeping nerve system calm, ash gourd juice boosts energy
  16. Helps to sharpen mind -Drinking a glass of ash gourd juice every morning keeps organs cool and alert. For those who lack attention to tasks, drinking ash gourd juice helps to reduce agitation and brings back focus.

Image credit: Image by 仔 条 from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on:
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Heart attack prevention tips in women

Tips to prevent heart attack in women

Like men, more women also suffer from heart attack that could be fatal. For women heart disease is becoming number one killer. Reason for this is, women either neglect symptoms of heart conditions or don’t know what their symptoms are related to.  

According to Health.org “heart attack occurs when the blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked (often by a blood clot). This happens because coronary arteries that supply the heart with blood slowly become thicker and harder from a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances, called plaque”.

Chest discomfort, nausea, indigestion, heartburn, pain in arms, lightheaded, jaw or throat pain, weakness, sweating are few symptoms of heart attack in women too. According to cardiologists, although both men and women can experience chest pressure during heart attack women can also experience heart attack without chest pressure. Instead women might experience shortness breath, pressure on lower abdomen, fainting, upper back pressure and fatigue. This is also called silent heart attack or known as silent ischemia (lack of oxygen supply) of heart. It means, heart attack can happen without a person knowing or experiencing it.

Instead of suffering from such fatal conditions, preventing development of conditions is better because prevention is the best medicine. The top seven health improvement tips for women to improve heart conditions are:

  1. Monitor blood pressure: Having high blood pressure leads to severe heart conditions. Those who have high blood pressure need to give attention to maintaining blood pressure symptoms.
  2. Quit smoking: Smoking anyway is not good for health. Smoking interferes with blood circulation, lung health and heart health. If you are a smoker, quit today! If you find it hard to quit smoking take help from helpline, programs and products. Now a day’s nicotine gums and body patches are available that help to quit smoking. Get therapy to quit smoking or talk to your doctor who will guide you on how to stop smoking.
  3. Healthy eating and healthy weight: Obesity puts woman at risk of heart conditions. Monitor your BMI (body mass index) and if it is high, by appropriate diet and regular exercises overweight and high BMI can be come to normal. Best and proven ways to reduce weight is portion control, eating fresh fruits and vegetables, moderate to vigorous physical activity. Eat a healthy diet that’s low in sodium, saturated fat and trans fat.
  4. Diabetes: People who has high blood sugar often show symptoms of heart conditions or they are at risk of having heart disease. Doctors can help you to reduce and maintain blood sugar level. Proper diet planning, good exercise and healthy eating helps to maintain blood glucose level.
  5. Control cholesterol: Cholesterol and triglycerides are two culprits that hurt heart. At high level bad cholesterol will clog arteries and puts pressure on heart by not supplying blood that it needs. It will cause heart attack. Regular checkup of both triglyceride fat and cholesterol, good diet that does not support both culprits and medications if needed to control both will help to reduce risk of heart attack.
  6. Alcohol consumption: If you like to drink alcohol products then limit your alcohol consumption. Choose alcohol products wisely. Understanding the amount of calories alcohol drinks provide is essential to avoid heart conditions.  One glass of red wine per day is enough and good for heart health.
  7. Cope up with stress: Lowering stress level is highly critical for good heart health. Stress can build up blood pressure, diabetes, increase obesity and ultimately is risk for heart health. There are ways to reduce stress – being active, talking to friends, being mindful, getting support from family, visiting places – these are few ways to reduce stress level to prevent heart condition.

Educate yourself, talk to doctor, talk to health experts and get support from family. There are health numbers that helps to define our health conditions. Observe the symptoms and understand the difference in symptoms between different conditions that will help to keep up good heart health condition.

Reference:

https://www.heart.org/

https://www.medicinenet.com

https://www.goredforwomen.org

https://www.womenshealth.gov/

Image credit: Heart attack anatomy –

Photo by ATC Comm Photo from Pexels (Fee for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 27, 2019
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E-cigarettes flash drive

E-cigarettes flash drive

Electronic cigarettes also known as e-cigarettes are battery powered devices that operates like aerosol and delivers nicotine and flavorings. E-cigarettes are also known as e-vaporizers will contain other chemicals apart from nicotine.

E-cigarettes can come in different shapes and forms. Cigars, traditional cigarette form, pipes, pens and now it is available in the form of USB memory sticks. They all operate in similar manner and contain similar components. In 2018 and 2018 sale and use of e-cigarette reached sky high indicating epidemic use of tobacco product in US.  At present more than 460 different e-cigarette brands are available in the market. A 2018 data from FDA and CDC showed that more than 3.6 million youths use e-cigarettes including 1 in 5 high school and 1 in 20 middle school students.

The growing concern is e-cigarettes shaped like USB flash drive is being used by students in schools. Use of nicotine by younger generation can harm brain development and the harmful effect continues till the age of 25. In recent years amongst youngsters a popular e-cigarette device called JUUL which is shaped in the form of USB flash drive is popular. JUULing is the name given to use of JUUL  by youngsters. Apart from JUUL other brands like MarkTEn Elite, a nicotine delivery device and PAX Era a marijuana delivery USB like device.

The use of any tobacco product is not good for health. Nicotine will harm brain and interferes with brain development. For example, according to JUUL- e-cigarettes manufacturer, one JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes! There is widespread use of JUUL by students in schools. Reports on news outlets as well as on social media sites usage of JUUL e-cigarettes by students in school restrooms as well as inside the classroom.  Aerosol E-cigarette contains fewer harmful chemicals unlike smoke from burned tobacco products. Nicotine salt is the new form of nicotine that acts less harsh on throat and easy to use by youth. But all e-cigarettes contain nicotine and other heavy metals such lead, tin and nickel that can cancer as well as other health issues.  E-cigarettes can explode and cause serious burns. It impacts learning, attention and memory skills. It also imposes risk on future of the student.

Parents should be aware of shapes and types of e-cigarettes to monitor children to reduce risk on health of children. JUUL’s nicotine liquid refills are known as pods and available in several flavors like fruit medley, mango, mint and cool cucumber. JUUL is the top selling e-cigarette brand in US. Other top brands include Mig 2, Morpheus E-cigarette, The Blu Xpress kit etc. Many of them boast how good their vaping product is – disposable, rechargeable, fogg vape with other advanced technology to attract users. When parents talk to children, they should know the facts about e-cigarettes. Encourage child a open dialogue about e-cigarette. By quitting and tobacco free set an example to child. Have a natural discussion with child while watching movie, hiking or when someone using an e-cigarette on video or outside.

Teachers and educators must implement and enforce tobacco free policies in school environment. Watch students using USB devices in classroom and test it out whether they are really using USB device or vaporing in classroom. Many teachers admitted that they were not aware of students bringing e-cigarettes in the classroom because they looked like USB device. Both evidences and studies show that young people who use e-cigarettes will become regular cigarette smokers. Both parents and teachers should provide support and resources if the child wants to quit smoking. Educators also should stop accepting sponsorship programs from tobacco selling companies and must stop showing ads sponsored by such companies. In schools if there is a tobacco free policy make sure students aware of it and it is enforced. The more often parents and teachers talk about the harmful effect of e-cigarettes with young people they likely to listen about it.

https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco

https://smokefree.gov/quit-smoking/

https://www.juul.com/

Image credit; Photo by Thorn Yang from Pexels (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 26, 2019
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Microbes in beard

Beard has more germs than dog fur science says

Growing beard is always a hot trend among men. Growing beard is helpful for those who suffer from Irritant folliculitis and inflammatory condition called dpseudofolliculitis. It also protects face from the Sun.

Beard harbor bacteria that are harmful for health according to science!

Bit of bad news for men who are proud of their beard! As per scientists’ men’s beards harbor more microbes than dogs carry in their fur.

Recent study published in February 2019 issue of the Journal European Radiology, from Switzerland’s Hirslanden Clinic revealed that men who have beard have more microbes harbored in beard than dogs.

Professor Andreas Gutzeit from Switzerland Hirslanden Clinic said that the researches found significantly higher bacterial road in specimens taken from men’s beard compared to dogs’ fur. According to the report, the men also left the scanners more contaminated than the animals!

In this study, skin and saliva samples collected through swab of 18 bearded men aged between 18 to 76 showed higher microbial counts. Fur and saliva samples of only 23 out of 30 dogs had higher count of bacteria. Some of the men whose beard were tested came out with positive results and seven of the men and four of the dogs found to harbor microbes that posed a threat to human health. These microbes were identified as Enerococcus faecalis, a common gut bacterium that causes infections especially in urinary tract and Staphylococcus aureus, a common skin and mucous colonizing bacteria that can cause serious infections if it enters the blood stream.

Every sampled beard had bacteria crawling and nearly half had bugs – both ware hazardous to human health. Those dogs who went through MRI showed significantly lower bacteria count compared with levels seen when used by human beings.

According to Dr. Gutzeit, based on their finding, dogs are much cleaner than bearded men. Based on the findings, dogs can be considered as clean compared with bearded men.

Authors resent study also wrote” the central question should perhaps not be whether we should allow dogs to undergo imaging in our hospitals”, the team concluded by saying, “but rather we should focus on the knowledge and perception of hygiene and understand what poses real danger and risk to our patients”.

On the contrary an earlier study published in 2016, says beards may be more hygienic and bacteria resistant than shaved skin and beards may contain bacteria which could be (potentially) developed into new antibiotics. The founder of beard liberation front, Keith Flett – ‘I think it’s’ possible to find all sorts of unpleasant things if you took swabs from people’s hair and hand sand then tested them” I don’t believe that beards in themselves are unhygienic. There seems to be a constant stream of negative stories about beards that suggests it’s more about pogonophobia than anything else.   

According to Daily Mail, where the article report was published, Scientists wanted to discover whether there was a risk that humans might pick up a dog-borne disease from an MRI scanner that was also used by vets.

Well, people who like to go beard must maintain hygiene and neatness of the beard. Because growing beard has its own advantage – a guy can look mature, sexy and as they say “beard is new six pack” for those who cannot afford six pack ab!

References:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk

https://medicalxpress.com/news/

https://www.livescience.com

https://www.independent.co.uk/

Image credit: Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 22, 2019
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Baked veggie cheese ball

Baked veggie cheese ball

Kids love to eat cheese. On school day when they come home, evening they look for tasty snack. Just eating cheese adds lot of calories to the body. To encourage children eating vegetables add veggies with cheese and prepare vegetable cheese balls. Instead of frying in deep oil, try baking the veggie cheese balls.  Serve veggie cheese balls with tomato ketchup and kids will love it. Try veggie cheese ball recipe for your kids.

Ingredients

  1. Potato – 2 medium size
  2. Corn kernels – 1 cup
  3. Onion – 1 medium size
  4. Broccoli – 1 cup
  5. Cauliflower – 1 cup
  6. Green peas – 1 cup
  7. Corn starch – 1 Tbsp
  8. Cilantro – 2 Tbsp chopped
  9. Oregano -1/2 tsp
  10. Salt – as needed
  11. Cheese cubes – 1 cup
  12. Oil – to spray

Preparation:

  1. Boil and mash potatoes.
  2. Cut cheese into smaller pieces
  3. Cut and add all vegetables, cilantro, oregano, salt and mix well
  4. Add cheese and corn starch to vegetable mix and continue mixing well
  5. Prepare small even size balls and arrange it on parchment paper or baking sheet on a tray
  6. Spray little oil on the veggie-cheese balls
  7. Set oven to 350F. After preheating, place veggie-cheese balls inside oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. In between turn the balls to bake all sides equally.
  8. Once the veggie-cheese ball turns golden brown color, remove and serve hot with green chutney, tomato ketchup or your choice of dip.
Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 20, 2019
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School day activity time for kids

Recommended School day activity time for kids

Parents often worry about children’s activities and how much time child should be allowed to play or do the homework during school day.  Education experts as well as pediatricians has recommendations on child’s school day activity time that could help parents to understand how much time should be allotted for various activities of a child.

  • Physical activity: According to American Association of Pediatrics, everyday 60 minutes physical activity helps children to be fit and healthy. In the 60 minutes children can play in the play ground, play in school football / soccer team, play with friends and classmates or take a karate class. Any sort of physical activity that helps to build strength in child is recommended everyday for 60 minutes.
  • Outdoor time spending: To get benefit of Sun and nature, children must spend time outside. Sitting and bound to indoor for long hours results in loneliness and affects social behavior, can lead to vision problem and obesity related to overweight. Outdoor walking or playing at least 60 minutes a day in the green nature is good for children health. This outdoor activity can be unstructured and children can play or read sitting on bench.
  • Socializing time: Having friends will help children to build social skills. They will understand the nature of living together, will learn to listen, share and help others. Friendship will help them to control and handle the emotions.  Half an hour to couple of hours spending time with friends is recommended. If parents feel that their child need to mingle and socialize more to learn certain skills or to overcome shyness then, they can decide how much time their child should spend in socializing based on child’s behavior.
  • Spending time with parents: Daily encourage and spend some time with child. If parent is stressed out and push themselves to spend time with children will have negative effect on children’s growth. Parents need to make sure that while talking and spending time with young minds a positive conversation will boost child’s morality.  Don’t stress on spending time with children. If both parents and children have common time to spend together, everyday then child should get benefit from positive attention. Pediatricians recommend a quality time of 6 hours per week with children.
  • Sleep time:  According to child’s age recommended sleep time for children

a)       14 to 19 – At least 9 hours sleep

b)      6-13-year-old need 9-11 hours of sleep

c)       5 year kindergarten child need 11-13 hours sleep

o   Time in school classroom: Children go to school most part of the year. Once they are inside the classroom they need to concentrate on learning and studies. On an average recommended timing in the class room for a child is 6.7 hrs. per day in an academic year (PS -The number of school days might vary in different schools).   This time is enough for child to sit and listen and learn the subjects that are allotted for the year.

o   Homework time: Based on the grade of the children homework time varies. Recommended time to do homework everyday for a kindergarten child is 10 minutes per evening. Frist grade and second grade children – 30 minutes, Fourth and fifth grade – 50 minutes. Sixth grade – 15 minutes per academic class, Seventh and eighth – 20 minutes per subject, Ninth and 10 the grades = 25 minutes ;per subject, 11th and 12th -30 minutes per subject. However,  parents must also understand that time spending on homework depends on child’s ability to learn and practice skills. If homework is more then expect child to spend little more time on each subject or it depends on the requirement of an assignment or type of coursework. If you feel your child is spending too much time on homework and getting less sleep – talk to child to know more about homework policy or any issues that child might be facing.

Electronic screen: Everyday 20 mins to half an hour time should be sufficient for a child to play with smart phone. The negative impact of playing with smart phone is more. In fact, children below age 10 should not be encouraged to handle smart phones. Watching TV for entertainment is an hour to 2 hrs per day. 

References:

  • https://www.verywellmind.com
  • https://www.verywellfamily.com
  • https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
  • Image credit: Photo by Yogendra Singh on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)

Image credit: Photo by Yogendra Singh on Unsplash (Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 19, 2019
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Honor your commitments

Honor your commitments

Do you find it hard to keep up with your promise? Do you  say that I will do it later and never get around doing something that you committed for? If you are not honoring your commitments in your life then you also should have tasted the outcome of not doing something that you promised.

If you commit to do something or promised to work on solving issues and did not get to it, then you are breaking trust!

Honor your commitments

When you tell somebody who trusted you that you will call them and don’t. It can happen with your parents, family, friends, in business or colleges

  • You have a bad habit and you promised your loved ones that you will change and did not attend to it
  • You had a list of tasks that you committed to do and did not complete the task
  • You promised your life partner on something and could not fulfill
  • You said yes to attend a program and did not even bother to show up or call
  • You committed to finish your work on time and you did not
  • You made a commitment to yourself and did not take care of it
  • You promised your customer and did not provide the service

These are few examples in daily life where we committed to complete or promised to work on something which is in our capability to attend. Sometimes we may not able to keep up promise due to unavoidable circumstances. And if the reason is genuine it may look fair. But, if you can complete a task or capable of keeping promise and did not attend to it with negligence or you feel inside it is ‘okay’ if you do not attend it to today, then it is not acceptable. It means you are breaking the trust of someone who believed in you.

Little things to big things that you have committed to do and did not get to do it can have bigger impact on your life. If you don’t honor a commitment for the world it means you cannot be trusted and your promise does not mean much.

What is the impact of not keeping with your words?

Mainly, this will prevent you from achieving your goals and causes only harm because people around you – family, work and community think that you are not trust worthy. You will lose respect. Once you lose respect it is hard to gain back the trust and respect. People begin to see you as egoistic, unreasonable and untrustworthy. Moreover, they will stop taking you seriously.

Honoring your commitments helps you to feel positive and good. When you promise to do something and fulfill it, it means a lot to the other person. It not only enlightens their day or life but also yours. Honoring commitment means “you are doing what you said you are going to do on time”.  This act might look simple but it is powerful. Trust is something which we cannot buy using money. It is the feeling that builds in someone’s mind about you because of your actions. What is important is to set up your word as law unto yourself and others. If you escape or start giving excuses for not doing something, you might end up feeling guilty every time and it only will harm your will power.

Honoring commitment comes by practice. There is no harm in practicing. Before promising and committing to do something think and then utter your words. This way you will take control of your mind and action. If you cannot attend to something then learn to say no politely: Person might get upset with you for a bit, but if you cannot commit then learn to say no. If many people approach you for several favors you cannot attend to all. It is difficult to commit to several requests. Simply say no or say you have other priorities.

If you honor the commitments you have made to yourself, it will help you to take control of your life and you have power on your life. Honor the promises that you made for yourself and it will help you to honor the commitments that you made to others. To practice, limit the number of to do list for yourself and attend to task. Instead of focusing on ten different items commit yourself for 3- 4 tasks. By this you know, you can complete the list and be guilt free. Practice fulfilling commitments for two weeks and you will see a change in behavior. You will learn to say either no or yes easily, once you realize how fulfilling commitments affects your life.

Trust is what you are honoring when you are committing to do anything. Trust is the seed for any healthy relationship and core for the business. You will know if someone honor their words you can trust them. If you must grow your business, you need to keep your promise and it grows your reputation. People want to be associated with you. This helps to reach your goal in life. In other words, the extent to which you honor your commitments to others and yourself is the what creates your success.

 

Image credit: Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
(Free for commercial use)

Author: Sumana Rao | Posted on: August 13, 2019
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