On February the 1^st, the American Association for the Advancement of Science confirmed that the massage therapy is clinically beneficial when applied onto a skeletal muscle that has been damaged through exercise. The research was performed on 11 young male participants that had injured muscle, where the injury was caused by exercise. The muscle biopsies that were acquired from their quadriceps, right after a 10 minutes massage treatment, and after a 2.5 hour recovery, showed that the massage helps reducing the inflammation and promotes the mitochondrial biogenesis.

The main healing effect of the massage therapy was weakening the production of the inflammatory cellular substance cytokines, thus lessening the cellular stress that was caused from the myofiber injury.

This is a great discovery that confirms the always known healing effects of the massage, especially in the reduction of pain.

There are some home massage tools you can use as well and some can be found online at Serenityhealth.com.

Today, the Feng Shui principles are mostly used by people to build their personal environments in such a way that will raise the positive influences of the good qi. Through the use of the Bagua map they can determine the “perfect spot” on which a certain element should be placed. This “perfect spot” is a location and an axis in time.

The theories on which the Feng Shui system is based are:

Qi (ch’i)

In the Feng Shui the Qi is considered as the life force, the moving positive or negative energy and it is one of its essential theories. In this system the qi refers to the structure’s orientation and age and how it interacts with its surrounding environment, including the local microclimates, the slope of the land, vegetation, and the quality of the soil. The Feng Shui system seeks to utilize the vital qi by proper positioning of the graves and structures.

Polarity

The polarity in the Feng Shui system is expressed as Yin and Yang theory, consisting of two pieces, one that is creating an effort, and other that is receiving it.

Metal, earth, fire, water, and wood are the five elements or forces of the Feng Shui system, and another one of its essential theories. They are more referring to the forces essential to human life, than to the actual substances. One of the Feng Shui’s goals is to compose the building object with these yin-yang force fields.

Bagua (eight trigrams)

The Bagua diagram is the third Feng Shui foundation theory. The Four Celestial Animals constellation and its marker stars are used to define its directions. The East is the Green Dragon, the South is the Red Phoenix, the West is the White Tiger, and the North is the Dark Turtle.

The sunburns are caused if we stay exposed to the UV rays for too long. They usually appear 24 hours after the exposure and the pain is most intensive 6 to 48 hours after the exposure. The skin usually starts peeling after 3 to 8 days.

Water is one of the most important things our body needs when we are experiencing sunburns because our body then tends to dehydrate. We need to make sure that we’ll drink as much water as we can to stop this dehydration of our body and our skin. We must avoid alcohol during the healing process since it also dries out our organism.

One of the most recommended natural remedies for sunburns is the lavender essential oil, which you can apply directly on the skin, or make an ultra-soothing mixture, combining 20 drops of it with 8 ounces of cold water and applying it with a soaked clean cloth.

You can also make a refreshing and healing mixture which you can spray on your skin after sunbathing. For a 4 ounce spray/mist bottle you will need to combine 4 ounces of cold aloe vera juice (not aloe vera gel) and 20 drops of the lavender essential oil and shake them good. You can spray this mixture over the affected skin areas multiple times per day. The mixture is better kept in the refrigerator when not used for extra cooling relief when applied.

Remember, if you suffer fever, dizziness, chills, extreme fatigue or large blisters with discolored skin, you should immediately seek professional medical help.

Each of these roof gardens is constructed in the form of a piece of pie on a surface of about 70 to 100 square meters. There is a green area with lawn and planting soil for the residents to be able to enjoy a real garden experience even though they live in a building in the center of the city. The green roof gardens have implemented a ZinCo System build-up “Heather with Lavender”, with Floradrain® FD 40 drainage base element that provides constant functioning conditions for the lawn and the planting areas. The front walls of the gardens are made of steel and glass to allow full city view delight.

The apartments of the Fitche-Bunker building are accessed through a community courtyard. The courtyard itself is also landscaped and has beautiful garden fountain for the residents to enjoy great relaxing moments even when they are outside their own rooftop gardens. There also are bamboo troughs, an underground parking and an extensive green roof.

The Fitche-Bunker building green roof gardens are constructed and designed by a German company named Grünlogistik. They are great examples of how the nature could be successfully brought to the city living.  Adding a water fountain to these roof gardens is the perfect accent as well!  Check out solar fountains online at Serenity Health!

The most common material choices include cast stone, copper, slate wall fountains, and some contemporary and art fountains including marble as one of the material options. However, the material of the feature does not have to be the same as the material the basin, the pool or the tray placed bellow is made of.

When deciding the position of the wall fountain inside the house there are several convenient options for this use. If the available space is limited a smart thing to do is to hang the fountain on the wall so it will be away from the path of the people, children, and the pets moving around the house. These fountains are usually lightweight and hanging them on the wall is not hard, but since the water can make them heavy, the hanging hardware is sufficient enough to hold all that weight.

Another great way to use all the benefits of the wall water fountains in a limited space is to build it into the wall. There are custom water fountains that can be made pre ordered to fit just any desired area. You can also consider placing some styles on the floor, especially if they are heavier. It can be placed next to a wall for more space to move around, or in a corner next to the entrance to make a great first impression when entering the house.

In the end, no matter where you decide to position your wall fountain, it is very important to take good fountain care and maintain it regularly for it to be able to provide years of soothing relaxation.  See a full selection of wall fountains online at Serenity Health.

Patio Makeover Collections: These sets consist of wallflower sets, accent rugs and coordinating pillows, all matching and perfect for any outdoor furniture collection or even in a sunroom! 

Accent Patio Rugs and Pillows:  If you don’t the whole set you can purchase just the rugs or pillow and create your own look.  Affordable outdoor pillows and rugs are perfect for any outdoor setting.  

 Wallflower Sets: These canvas art pieces can be placed outdoors and are sold in sets of individually for those that need just one for that bare spot.  You will truly love the vibrant colors and the nice small size allows for easy placement of multiple pieces. 

If you like this look be sure to visit Serenity Health and see all of the colorful choices to brighten up your patio today.

Before I continue, I should tell you another story that will eventually tie back into the story above. About two weeks ago, a friend of mine came over with this little simple but cute table top fountain. It had a little piece of bamboo on the top with the water flowing out of it into a small bowl. There was also a bit of grass sticking out of one side and at first I had asked her what I was to do with it and why she had gotten it for me. She told me that she specifically bought it for me and that it was a feng shui fountain. I just laughed at her. I placed it on the center table in my living room, but I never really used it until a few days ago.

On the particular evening mentioned in the first story, I came home unusually beat and I decided to engage in a bit of feng shui activities, which means that I decided to plug in my fountain. I lay down on the sofa listening to the low trickle of the water from the bamboo and I could literally feel my stress level diminishing, it was unbelievable. I wanted another one of these babies so I called my friend and asked her for the specific name or type as I had already found out that feng shui fountain wasn’t a specific brand.  It was a Calming Bamboo Tabletop Fountain and the name does say it all. I got another one and brought it to work and placed it on my desk. Work is never stress free, but it sure felt better with my bamboo fountain.

Instead of electrical cords, solar fountains utilize solar panels which are generally included with each fountain purchase. As with any other solar powered device, the panel draws its energy from the sun which is then used to power the pump. Therefore, once the sun is out, your solar panel will be fueling your fountain pump and displaying a beautiful fountain waterfall, however after the sun goes down, the panel will no longer be receiving energy from the sun and as such, you will need to utilize a battery for the rest of the time that you wish to have a flowing fountain.

If you already own an outdoor water fountain and would like to convert it to a solar powered water fountain, there are kits that you can buy to convert it. They usually include a solar powered water pump and solar panels. The solar energy that is derived from some of these kits works similar to the aforementioned process, but there are others that are able to store the solar power so that you can use it to power the fountain at your convenience rather than only when the sun is up.  You can find a full selction of solar fountains at www.serenityhealth.com.

Decorating my outdoor area has become a passion of mine. I have read a lot on this subject and have redecorated this space in my home for so many times that I can now say I have become some sort of an expert in this field. But even though I have all this experience I still get in situations when I cannot decide what I like the most for my garden. Last year, when we bought our new fire pit, I had really hard time choosing which one is the best. Since our garden is pretty large, I narrowed my search to only large fire pits, but there were three that stuck in my mind to even this day:  Large Bronze Crossweave Firebowl Fire Pit with a beautiful and classy bronze finish and broad fire bowl for a large wood burning fire; the Round Bravo Fire Pit with mesh side inserts for you to enjoy the flames from the fire glow while listening to the crackling sounds of the fire; and the HotSpot Square Fire Pit that we bought at the end.

This HotSpot Fire Pit is wood burning with a unique square form which in my case was its winning feature. It is made of pressed steel and its legs are from stainless steel with chrome finish which gives it a modern and stylish appearance that perfectly fits our house decoration style. It has a double grill area for combined cooking and firepit use, and that is what my husband loves the most since now he cannot get away from it, preparing great foods for our kids and guests. I absolutely love this large fire pit and the ambiance it makes while sitting around it and enjoying its heat and sparkling sounds, and I recommend it to everyone.

Engraved stones:

Custom engraved stones with greetings and pictures for specific occasions and conveying special feelings are available in good variety and different sizes. You can keep them for decoration or gift them at appropriate times. These stones beyond doubt make exclusive decoration pieces and presents. You can make your own engraved stones; they are available at shops though.

To make them at home, first select the size of stone that you want, and best stones for this purpose can be found on sea shores or near rivers, i.e. slippery, round stones, or you can use precious ones if you wish to. Then, write or draw whatever you want with a marker. Finally, insert a ball tip into the electric graver. Slowly, trace the outline of your design. Use different tips to give more details such as shading and colour. Lastly, relish the beauty you have made!

Pet memorial:

Pets become an important part of your life, but they can not stay with you forever. So you should keep their memories. On stones, you can engrave their paw mark or draw their sketch. Such stones possessing memories of your pets are called pet memorials.

Garden stones:

These are stones, aka patio stones, you can place in your garden to create a walkway. It is both useful and pleasing to the eye. It is easier to make than a brick walkway and is a more distinctive style as well. There is no need of concrete and you can alter their manner anytime, be it a straight walkway or round; be it grey stones or black; you can keep bringing change to your garden and make it more and more beautiful.

You can find a full selection of engraved rocks of all types and sizes at SerenityHealth.com.