If you use essential oils in your bath, add them just before entering so their delicate healing properties won’t evaporate in the steam before you get in the tub. Oh, and swoosh the water to disperse the drops thoroughly so there are no ‘hot spots’ of oil.

From The Australian Women’s Weekly Health Series Eating Disorders book. Click here to buy the book. As the names indicate, eating or dieting disorders involve a struggle with eating and unreasonable dieting – strictly limiting the amount and types of food eaten, “losing control” and eating too much, or having to get rid of the […]

From The Australian Women’s Weekly Home Library Series, Headaches: Relief at Last, A$12.95. Buy the book here. A headache is a fact of life for countless people every day, but that doesn’t mean that it need be endured in silence. This up-to-date guide explains the causes of most common problems, from tension headaches to migraines, […]

Stress can harm your heart and compromise your immune system, resulting in a lowered resistance to infection. Try these three quick tips to beat stress and bring instant calm. 1. Shrug Your Shoulders This releases tension held in your neck and back. Slowly and deliberately raise your shoulders as close to your ears as you […]

As if helping to lower cholesterol and relieving some menopausal symptoms isn’t enough good news, soy may soon have a new health claim to make. In a small study conducted at Hull University in England, researchers tested the effect of soy supplements on diabetic women. For 12 weeks, one group of the women ate meals […]

Worrying thoughts drive the vicious circle of anxiety. With every worrying thought, anxiety rises a little more. Challenging such thoughts enables you to jump out of the vicious circle and stop anxiety rising. As we’ve seen, worrying thoughts can be challenged with three questions: What is the evidence for what I thought? What is the […]

First, examine the pattern of worrying thoughts that can lead to stress. Now that you’ve worked through these four practice exercises, you may find it helpful to compare your responses with the various possibilities that follow. Possible response to Practice 1 What is the evidence for what I thought? When anxious I feel as if […]

Working nights may lead to more than just sleep deprivation, according to a study published in the American Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which reported a startling 60 per cent increased risk of breast cancer for women who had worked nights for more than three years. Why? Researchers think that night workers produce less […]

Yes, choose! We have little control over many stressful events and the bigger the event, the smaller we may feel by comparison. For example, when we hear about famine in Africa, we may feel overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the problem. Very few of us, however, would refuse to give food to a hungry […]

Feeling overwhelmed? Here are five easy ways to streamline your life, find more time and feel less stressed. 1. Have a clean-out. According to feng shui, the Chinese art of placement, the clutter in your home correlates with parts of your life that need attention. Key spots include your entrance, which represents how you approach […]