Happy Friday! Yesterday I was very busy researching and writing articles for Associated Content and Constant Content. I wrote one article on my birthstone, the garnet. I learned a lot! Did you know that there are green and yellow-brown garnets as well as the red, pink, and purplish ones? I also learned about the metaphysical and physical healing powers of the garnet. This is just a snippet of what I learned:

If you are wearing a garnet ring, garnet necklace, or garnet charm bracelet, you are wearing a metaphysically powerful as well as physically warming stone.

According to ancient Egyptians and Greeks, as well as New Age and Crystal healers, this gemstone has many of the highest healing qualities. Garnet is said to have restorative properties which are recommended in the healing of toxicity and blood poisoning as well as circulatory dysfunction. The garnet is also widely revered as helpful in arthritis and muscle pain due to its warming energy.

The several shades and qualities of garnet are purported to promote differing powers in spiritual and mental states. If you were to be suffering from stress and worry, you would want to wear a garnet charm bracelet of the more purple gemstones. The purple garnets include Grape and Mozambique.

Those who are experiencing a lack of purpose and focus may want to wear their birthstone ring of green garnet. Andradite and African Jade are beautiful examples of the green garnet family.

Orange shaded garnets are known to symbolize commitment and you may want to choose a beautiful Mandarin orange or Malaya garnet necklace as a gift for your special loved one.

Yellow-brown garnets, known as Hessonite, come mainly from Sri Lanka. Although these are thought to be of lower quality (their name comes from the Greek word “hesson” meaning inferior) they can be quite beautiful. The Hessonite is known for aiding in overcoming addiction and promoting stability and security.

Garnets, with their traditional warming powers, are also known to promote sensuality, passion and fertility. These are the jewels you will want to wear most often with your soul mate and special friends to enhance your feelings of intimacy and kinship.

This all led me to the conclusion that I should be wearing more garnets than just the one birthstone ring I wear daily!

In the course of my research, I ran across a beautiful website by intuitive jewelry artist Robyn Harton. She makes her crystal and gemstone jewelry by hand, and it is gorgeous. There is plenty of information about the healing powers and lore of gemstones and crystals here, and beautiful handcrafted items you'll want to share with your loved ones. Please visit Robyn here or visit my favorite links:

http://www.crystalsandjewelry.com/

Good morning, my friends! Well, this morning we have snowin Paradise, California. It's so beautiful! I can say that because snow very seldom interferes with our lives here at 1700 feet. It began yesteray and apparently continued in the night and it's just gorgeous!

I want to share some information with you today in keeping with the theme of exercises for scoliosis. I myself have not yet tried yoga, but found an interesting article for those of you who may be interested. My personal recommendation would be to consult your doctor about your spinal condition before attempting any particular exercise, as needless to say *I* do not know what positions may or may not be recommended for you.

Thank you to the author Saurabh Jain and Article Alley for this free reprint article! (Please see my favorite links!)


Yoga: The Most Effective Scoliosis Exercise
01st April 2006
Author: Saurabh Jain | Views: 189

Before we understand about scoliosis exercise let us have a brief overview of what scoliosis is.Scoliosis is a back condition in which a person has side-to-side spinal curves in addition to the normal curves through which the lower portion of the human back curves inwards. This condition can result in severe deformity of the back and cause back pain. There are surgical interventions for curing this problem. The most effective remedy for such a condition are Scoliosis exercises. Although many exercises help in reducing the Scoliosis-related problems, yoga is improving the problem of uneven curves and it is considered the best Scoliosis exercise. Yoga postures are helpful for providing relief from scoliosis because they enable us to stretch our body and help regain the normal shape of the spine.

The most effective yoga exercises for the treatment of Scoliosis-related problems include the Crocodile twist, the Supine knee chest twist, the passive back arch and the one leg up-one leg out posture. These exercises are very helpful in raising one's lowered shoulder and reducing the back pain.

The Passive back arch scoliosis exercise has been found to be helpful in not only reducing scoliosis-related pain, but also providing relief from the problems related to condition called pectus excavatum (sunken chest). Pectus excavatum is generally caused due to tight muscles across one's chest and back and soft bones in the rib cage and spine.

The One leg up and one leg out scoliosis exercise have been found to be very effective in reducing muscular tension in legs.

The Seated twist is a good remedy for the treatment of thoracic twist. This exercise also helps to rectify the alignment of the body and is simple to perform.

The Joint freeing series of scoliosis exercises are particularly helpful for people suffering from scoliosis with tight shoulder muscles. The Head to Knee pose helps in maintaining the alignment of the body and straightening of the spine. The spinal and the abdominal twists result in the stretching of muscles in the shoulder.

This article is free for republishing

Source: http://www.articlealley.com

Occupation: Writing
Saurabh Jain is the Executive Editor of Online Back Pain Resource. He has developed this site to provide valuable information to people suffering from back pain. This site enumerates different causes and factors related to back pain. The site is a free online resource for back pain and its remedies. The visitors can also find valuable information and reviews about the different equipments and therapies for back pain relief.

Visit www.backpain-resources-online.com for more information.

http://www.backpain-resources-online.com

Today's a fine day, so far!. I got up early (5:45 am) and got a couple of articles written and submitted. Hoping they do well! I love the research and writing, so I finally feel like I am accomplishing something and enjoying it at the same time.

Parents may be wondering if their child with scoliosis should be doing a special set of exercises to address his scoliosis. Here is a general statement from the NIH regarding scoliosis and exercise:

"Can People with Scoliosis Exercise?

Although exercise programs have not been shown to affect the natural history of scoliosis, exercise is encouraged in patients with scoliosis to minimize any potential decrease in functional ability over time. It is very important for all people, including those with scoliosis, to exercise and remain physically fit. Girls have a higher risk than boys of developing osteoporosis (a disorder that results in weak bones that can break easily) later in life. The risk of osteoporosis is reduced in women who exercise regularly all their lives; and weight-bearing exercise, such as walking, running, soccer, and gymnastics, increases bone density and helps prevent osteoporosis. For both boys and girls, exercising and participating in sports also improves their general sense of well-being."

http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/scoliosis/scochild.htm#exercise

I would appreciate any feedback from parents who have had success with actual correction to their child's curvature through exercise. It would seem to me development of the muscles on the other side would help, but this article seemed to contradict that. I know the exercises my son was given did not affect the curve, but we were not diligent with the process.

I will be doing some further research on this aspect of developing scoliosis and posting it here soon.

Did everybody enjoy the Academy Awards broadcast? I thought some of it was puzzling, as it usually is: what the heck was up with those bizarre dancers acting out icons for the movies, lol? I just don' tknow why they have to throw that stuff in. I thought Ellen deGeneres was fantastic -- she always is! The spots with Al Gore were amusing. Mellis Etheridge was *outstanding*! And none of the acceptance speeches made me crazy!

Hello, everyone! I am finally back after my long absence. It was not due to physical difficulties, but rather my very slow dialup connection which did *not* afford me any ability to multitask. Multitasking is essential when you live on your computer!

I have started making a meager living through online paying forums and writing sites. This is really exciting for me, as I am not good at business networking but I can do my bit at writing!

Please, if you are needing supplemental income, I can recommend all of these sites. They are all paying, legitimate businesses. On top of that, this is much more fun than promoting a lot of businesses for which there is very little return when you are *not* a good salesperson! Please consider visiting my links and signing up if you are interested.

After turning it around in my mind, I have also decided to place a "donations" link on this site. If you do contribute, it will be warmly appreciated.

Life here with my elderly parents has been an altering experience. I was able to help my mother out after all of the kindness and generosity she has extended to me while I have been needy. My mother had a knee replacement in October. While she was hospitalized , she had a mild heart attack. It of course terrified us all but she is now doing well but taking many medications. She's a trooper! At 86 it only took her a couple of months to want to be up and start doing chores again. It probably made her crazy seeing how I did them, lol!

I still have some severe pain at times but I am able to give it the old "mind over matter" treatment a bit better than I used to. However I am interested in trying a legal alternative to marijuana, which is called satvia. If anyone has had experiences with satvia, please feel free to message me with your tales.

I am going to begin publicizing my blog again, so if there is anyone with spine-related or other chronic pain related blogs, I would love to link to yours. We should all be helping eachother out! This is my small effort for today, so I go to relax and keep my mother company on this nice rainy Sunday. Thanks to all of you for coming back to see me!