Cut through the hype and learn what works

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 2 million people are diagnosed with skin cancer in the United States each year. There are more than 2,000 over-the-counter sunscreen formulas on the market today.

What's cluttering your life? Is it the stuff in the corner of the bedroom, or the stuff in the corner of your mind? What are you tolerating that keeps you from expressing your true self? 

Regardless of whether the threat is a simple cold or the flu, there are several things you can do to protect yourself from unnecessary downtime.

 

Jane had just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. She was happy to have a name for the mysterious, traveling pain she had felt for some time, but she was still worried about how to deal with it. She'd done research on the Internet, but the information left her more confused. "There are so many causes and ways to treat it," she said. "I don't know what to do."

In northern climates when the heavy snows fall and the sun moves south, many people find their moods shift from upbeat to downright depressed. The severe form of winter depression--called seasonal affective disorder, or SAD--affects at least two million North Americans. Another thirty-nine million experience milder symptoms of moodiness and extended sleep patterns that somewhat resemble hibernation.

Tip No. 1: Take Five

After your therapist leaves the room at the end of your massage, take your time getting off the table. Instead of jumping off the table and running back into the busy world, lie on the table quietly, take a few relaxing deep breaths and just enjoy some peaceful stillness for a few minutes.

Choosing from a menu of massage techniques may sound like a heavenly dilemma (so many techniques, so little time …). But the choice you make is a weighty one — and it’s not just about your preferences for light or deep pressure, but also your health and physical condition right now.