Sharing is Caring, Especially When It Comes to Cleaning

Color-In Your Home

March 19 by

I love color. The more color in the home, the merrier your sacred space. When in doubt, replace those bare colored walls and rooms with a few splashes of color.

Colors play an important role in the design and feel of your home. Whether you incorporate color into a room with an area rug, fun piece of furniture or patterned carpet, each color signifies a different meaning and brings in a specific feeling.

So before you go adding the rainbow to your home, have a little look at some common colors and what they mean.

Red: Commonly associated with energy, war, strength, determination, passion and love. Red helps bring images and text to the foreground and emphasizes emotional intensity.

Orange: As a mixture of red and yellow, orange represents joy, enthusiasm, creativity, success and stimulation. Orange increases oxygen to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity.

Yellow: Commonly associated with happiness, intellect and energy, yellow arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Use yellow to evoke cheerful, pleasant feelings.

Green: This color represents nature, growth, harmony, freshness, fertility and safety. Green comes across as the most restful color on the color wheel. Use green to evoke safety and health.

Blue: Commonly associated with the sky and sea, blue represents trust, loyalty, depth, and confidence. Blue evokes a calming effect associated with tranquility and cleanliness.

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The Health Benefits of Chocolate

March 19 by

Many health gurus and scientists talk about the health benefits of chocolate. However, eating a regular milk chocolate bar every day will likely only make you less healthy.

So what exactly do they mean when they talk about healthy chocolate?

First, it’s important that we differentiate between the health benefits of cocoa, the raw product of the cocoa bean, and chocolate. Chocolate is a processed byproduct of the cocoa bean, and often contains less than 20% cocoa. Any health benefits from cocoa will only be found in very high quality dark chocolate bars. Chocolate bars with 60% cocoa, and no added sugars are a far cry from the sweet milky chocolate that most of us adore. Real cocoa is slightly bitter, and closer to coffee than a chocolate bar.

Cocoa can be found in any health food store, or even in your local grocery store. Cocoa enhances your mood and is a great stress reliever. Cocoa also improves blood flow and lowers high blood pressure.

Next time you crave chocolate, reach for a high cocoa content variety and reap the benefits of this super yummy bean.

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The History of Daylight Saving Time

March 12 by

Yesterday, the second Sunday of March, residents of the United States entered Daylight Saving Time (DST). As we Spring forward, we take one hour of our morning sunlight and add it on to the end of the day.

DST was originally adopted in the US and much of Europe during the first World War. In 1916 Germany and Austria changed time during the summer as a way of conserving fuel needed to produce lighting in the evening. During the next two years the energy saving move spread like wildfire throughout Europe, England and Australia until it came to the US in 1918.

In 1919 DST was repealed because people generally woke up and went to bed much earlier than they do today and hated the new law. Some States kept the new time table, and others chose to keep the same time year
round.

During WW II the law was once again put into action, and for three years DST was in effect all year long. Between 1945 and 1966 every state was free to choose whether or not they participated in DST, until it became too confusing and in 1966 The Uniform Time Act of 1966 was put into place.

Since then various changes to the law have been made. For the most part American’s enjoy the added hour of sunlight, and only a few regions refrain from changing time.

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Is it Spring, Yet?

February 28 by

With nicer weather and longer days, it feels like Spring is already here. In the Northern Hemisphere Spring starts on March 20th, less than one month away. So what does it mean when we say that Spring is on its way?

The seasons are determined by the tilt of the Earth’s axis towards or away from the sun. Meteorological Spring is determined by the vernal equinox (around March 20th in North America). This refers to the day that the hours of sunlight and daylight are exactly equal; 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night.

In the southern hemisphere of Earth, the Spring comes during our Autumn, and in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia the first day of Spring in September 1st. According to the East Asian Solar term, the Spring starts on February 4th and ends on May 5th, similar to the Celtic Spring which starts in early February. In Sweden, a country with limited daylight, the first day of Spring is considered the day where the average temperature during the day is higher than zero degrees Celcius for one full week!

Even though it’s not technically Spring for almost another month, it’s time to open the windows and let the sunshine in!

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How to Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

February 20 by

With the rising cost of health care, America’s been turning it’s attention to preventative medicine. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a repetitive hand injury that involved pressure on the nerve which runs from the wrist through the forearm. This occurs when our hands are in a flexed position for long periods of time, similar to the position of the hands when you are at the computer or driving.

One of the best ways to prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is to look around your work space, and change anything that could be causing excess strain on the wrists. Purchasing a mouse pad with wrist support, and a foam wrist support for your keyboard will greatly reduce your risk of developing this debilitating injury.

Taking breaks when you feel your hands begin to tire is important in preventing injury. There are also many ways to stretch the hands and wrists in order to keep your hands happy. Here is a video of yoga stretches for preventing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Remember, preventing injury now could help you avoid costly surgery later.

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