We don’t notice how important breathing is until it’s blocked making it hard for us to breath. We won’t die from a blocked nose, but not being able to breath through our nose feels uncomfortable, irritating, and miserable. We can try to blow our nose until our ears explode but sometimes the mucus just doesn’t want to come out.

Nasal Sprays

Drug companies saw a huge market and swoop in to help relieve our suffering. For our temporary relief, they created nasal sprays, but according to the article Millions Suffer From Addiction to OTC Nasal Sprays, chemical nasal sprays have side-effects.

Side-effects of chemical nasal sprays:

• Contains active ingredients like Phenylephrine, Xylometazoline, or Oxymetazoline which are bad for the body
• Cause addictions
• Worsen the symptoms over time

They also made saline nasal spray, but according to Dr. Grossan’s article Nasal Saline Sprays – The Additives May Be the Problem it contain additives and preservatives that cause burning and worsen the symptoms in some of his patients. Nice try drug companies, but sometimes a good old reliable method that doesn’t cost us any money is still the best. What is this method? It is a nose wash.

Nose Wash

It is a natural and safe way to relief stuffiness. It removes mucus in our nasal cavity that is causing the congestion so we can breath freely. It allows our body the opportunity to fix the problem rather than suppressing the functions and its symptoms with medications. Over time the body may be able to fix the problems rather than being dependent on the medication.

This is a good tool to learn because it will bring great relieve during allergies, or cold and flu season, and allow our body to cure to the problem. Here’s what you need and the instructions.

Materials

What you need: 500ml water container (I use one with a large cap so it’s easier to wash.) 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon salt Make the salt solution: Fill half the bottle with filtered water, about 250ml. Put 1/4 tsp salt into the water bottle, screw on the cap, and shake until the salt dissolves.

Instructions

Nose Wash: Lean forward over the sink Tilt your head so that one nostril is above the other. Slowly pour the salt solution in the top nostril. The salt water should flow out the lower nostril. Continue for 10 seconds, then stop pouring the salt solution. Straighten your head and allow the salt water to drain from the nose, and gently blow the nose to remove the remaining water and mucus. Repeat step 1-5 for the other nostril. Continue switching between the two nostril until the nose feels clean or until you finish the salt solution.

Tips:

• It will feel strange and uncomfortable pouring water into your nose so try it when your nose is clear. There shouldn’t be any pain, but when water gets to certain areas, you will feel the same pain as breathing in water during swimming.
• Learn to do the nose wash when your nose is unblocked.
• Feel the sensation of the water flowing into the nasal cavity and down toward the throat.
• Try gently inhaling and exhaling to direct the water flowing into and out of the nose.
• Try a swallowing motion to control the water flowing down toward the throat; bring the water down toward the throat without letting it drain into the throat.
• Lean your head at different angle to feel the water draining toward the nasal cavity or the throat.
• When your nose is blocked,
• Blow your nose to remove some of the mucus first.
• Dislodging:
• Inhale to help the salt water flow into the nostril, then blow to remove the water and loosen the mucus.
• Switch to the other nostril and inhale and blow.
• Repeat until the salt water can flow into the nostril easily and drain out the other nostril. You may need switch 4 to 5 times.
• Use different lean and tilt of the head to direct the water to different areas.
• Blow your nose to remove the remaining water and mucus after the nose wash.
• When you feel a sore throat, but it feels like it’s on the top of the throat just behind the hard palate, it’s most likely in the area where the nose drains down the throat. You can use the nose wash to get the salt water down to that area to relief the soreness.
• You can buy water containers call Neti Pot designed to pour easier into the nostril. There are also formulated salt solutions for rinsing. Mouse over the pictures below for details, and click to get the product description.

References:

• http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/27323.php Millions Suffer From Addiction to OTC Nasal Sprays
• Dr. Murray Grossan, http://www.ent-consult.com/salineadditives.html Nasal Sailine Sprays – The Additives May Be the Problem, 2003

There is no end to education.
It is not that you read a book,
pass an examination, and finish with education.
The whole of life, from the moment you are born
to the moment you die, is a process of learning.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

The only thing that interferes with my learning
is my education.
Albert Einstein

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it,
or who said it, no matter if I have said it,
unless it agrees with your own reason and
your own common sense.
Buddha

The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
Albert Einstein

Why do you want to read others´ books
when there is the book of yourself?
Jiddu Krishnamurti

So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively,
then you are listening not only to the words,
but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed,
to the whole of it, not part of it.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Those who say it can’t be done are
usually interrupted by others doing it.”
Scott Reed

Only the body can heal itself,
something it is eager and usually very able to do
if only given the chance.
Dr. Isabelle A. Moser

A little starvation can really do more for the average sick man
than can the best medicines and the best doctors.
I do not mean a restricted diet; I mean total abstinence
from food for one or two days. I speak from experience;
starvation has been my cold and fever doctor for 15 years,
and has accomplished a cure in all instances.
Mark Twain

To enjoy good health,
to bring true happiness to one’s family,
to bring peace to all,
one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.
If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment,
and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Buddha

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine,
but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame,
in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
Thomas A. Edison

“Pure, lasting, and abiding health is the result of conscious discipline in
cleanliness of body, mind, and spirit. All else is compromise..”
Bernard Jensen, DC, Ph.D., nutritionist

Only the body can heal itself,
something it is eager and usually very able to do
if only given the chance.
Dr. Isabelle A. Moser

A little starvation can really do more for the average sick man
than can the best medicines and the best doctors.
I do not mean a restricted diet; I mean total abstinence
from food for one or two days. I speak from experience;
starvation has been my cold and fever doctor for 15 years,
and has accomplished a cure in all instances.
Mark Twain

To enjoy good health,
to bring true happiness to one’s family,
to bring peace to all,
one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.
If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment,
and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Buddha

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine,
but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame,
in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
Thomas A. Edison

“Pure, lasting, and abiding health is the result of conscious discipline in
cleanliness of body, mind, and spirit. All else is compromise..”
Bernard Jensen, DC, Ph.D., nutritionist

I never doubted that manufacturers would try their best to give us good safe products at a reasonable price. They spend so much time and energy to make the products and to make their brands stand out, so I didn’t think twice about using the products.

Several years ago, I was a voracious enthusiast of alternative therapy, which just means that I wanted to understand what I needed to do to keep my body healthy without resorting to pills and medicines. Knowing this, my sister-in-law gave me a little book called Cancer-Causing Chemicals in Cosmetics & Daily Use Products (1). It showed a list of cancer causing ingredients that manufacturers put into our daily used products like soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, lotions, deodorants, etc. I checked the list against some of products that I used each day and sure enough, they are full of cancer-causing and possibly cancer-causing ingredients. My delusion was broken. Most manufacturers wants to give us reasonably priced and effective products, but could care less about the ingredients being slowly absorbed through our skin into our bodies and eventually causing painful diseases. Thanks a lot!

I have reformatted the list from the book so it’s easier to read and find the ingredients. I print the table and keep it in my wallet to check against the products I plan to buy. It’s amazing to see how many products contain these ingredients. It’s best to avoid products that have too many of these ingredients; it’s a potentially high risk disease-causing problem that can be prevented if we choose wisely. Print it out and compare for yourself the next time you go shopping.

Confirmed Cancer Causing: D&C Red No. 33 also (CI 17200) FD&C Blue No.1 also (CI 42090) FD&C Yellow No. 5 also (CI 19140) FD&C Yellow No.6 also (CI 15985) Fragrance Mineral Oil also (Paraffin, paraffin oil, paraffinum liquidum) Petrolatum Phenylenediamines Saccharin Talc

Hidden Cancer-Causing: BNPD also (2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol (or Bronopol)) Cocaminde DEA Diazolidinyl urea DMDM hydantoin “-eth-” ingredients Formaldehyde also (Quaternium-15, DMDM hydantoin, MDM hydantoin, Methanal) Imidazolidinyl urea Lauramide DEA “-oxynol-” ingredients Padimate-O also (octyl dimethyl PABA) “PEG” ingredients Polyethylene Polyethylene glycol Polysorbate 60 Polysorbate 80 Quaternium-15 Stearamide DEA Triethanolamine also (TEA) Urea also (Imidazolidinyl urea (Germal II), Diazolidinyl urea (Germal 115)

Suspected Cancer-Causing: Alcohol Benzophenone-3 Butylated hydroxyanisole also (BHA) Carageenan Denatured alcohol Floride also (Sodium monofluorophosphate, Sodium fluoride) Kathon GC also (Methylisothiazolinone, Methylchloroisothiazolinone) Lanolin and/or lanolin compounds Methylisothiazolinone Methylchloroisothiazolinone Oxybenzone Polyvinylpyrrolidone also (PVP) Sodium lauryl sulfate also (SLS) Sodium laureth sulfate also (SLES,Sodium lauryl ether sulfate) Titanium dioxide also (CI 77891)

Reference:
1. Consumer’s Association of Penang, Cancer-Causing Chemicals in Cosmetics & Daily Use Products, Penang: Consumers’ Association of Penang, 2000

I have been busy working on a new look for the website. I spent a lot of time programming to get things working correctly. With a week and a half of long hours, I can feel the my eyesight getting more strained and blurrier. I fell back into one bad habit — not taking breaks to rest my eyes. I worked long and hard to get the task done, and I compromised my eyesight to do it. It would have been better if I had looked away every few minutes and focused on something far away. In my haste to get it done, I forgot to take care of my eyes. It’s so easy to fall back into our old routines. I have been exercising my eyes for years, but somehow, I can still fall back into bad habits.

Good habits I want to develop when I’m working:
• every ten minutes, scan the room and focus on objects far away
• every half hour, close my eyes and/or massage around the eyes for a few minutes
• every hour, take a break and relax my eyes (maybe look out the window) for at least 5 minutes

These are simple thing to do, but I didn’t do it. I will try writing these three things on a post-it and stick it on the monitor the next time I’m pressed to get something done.