NaturalCounselor Health and Wellness Blog For Women

Have you ever thought of using laugher therapy for stress relief or as an instant vacation from your daily troubles. 

As you may have heard, laughter is the best medicine.  Laughter can  boost your immune system, and lower your blood pressure (especially in women).  It eases pain (you can completely forget about your pains or aches while laughing), and laughter can help reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

Are you depressed, fatigued, have a stress illness or have problems sleeping. Laughter therapy may help.

Oh, and did I mention that laughter therapy moves our lymph and increases oxygenation, which helps with detox cleansing of our body?

But the most important is that laughter helps us to raise serotonin level, which is very important for fighting our seasonal blues.

So let us laugh !!!!

“Women have a passion for mathematics. They divide their age in half, double the price of their clothes, and always add at least five years to the age of their best friend.” — Marcel Achard

“Man has will, but woman has her way.”– Wendell Holmes

“Women now have choices. They can be married, not married, have a job, not have a job, be married with children, unmarried with children. Men have the same choice we’ve always had: work or prison.” Tim Allen

“I could sooner reconcile all Europe than two women.” — Louis XIY

“When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.”– Elayne Boosler

“Girls have an unfair advantage over men: if they can’t get what they want by being smart, they can get it by being dumb.” — Yul Brinner.

“From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.” — Raymond Chandler

“Any woman can fool a man if she wants to and if he’s in love with her.”– Agatha Christie

Take an Instant Vacation from your stress with laughter therapy.

Breathe, smile, laugh and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health Counselor and Nutrition and Relationship Coach

Do you like winter? How do you feel during winter months? How about winter blues or seasonal depression? To feel fabulous you may need more serotonin in your system, a chemical that can help us get into a better mood.

You can boost your serotonin level with laughter, indulging in dark chocolate, eating more tryptophan rich foods, using aromatherapy and essential oils such as sage, lemon and grapefruit, lavender rosemary, and last but not least, sex.

Seasonal Blues, Better Sleep and Other Good Reasons to Eat Walnuts

Or you can simply eat more walnuts, one of the richest sources of serotonin and omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are both necessary to fight seasonal depression and insomnia. And speaking about omega-3 essential acids, they can also whelp you achieve a healthy heart, better memory and beautiful skin.

Fresh walnuts, like all healthy nuts, help us to suppress appetite which can help lose weight.

Walnuts are also rich in fiber, so they will help us get rid of constipation, lower blood pressure and cholesterol level, prevent colon cancer and diabetes, get rid of headaches and migraines, reduce risk of heart attack and stroke, get our hormones back in balance, and reduce PMS.

* Click to listen to our discussion on How to Deal with Seasonal Depression with Medical Intuitive Iuliana Lixandru

* Click to listen to our discussion on Beating Seasonal Depression by Practicing Gratitude with Sue Urda, the Connections Expert

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

How are you feeling right now? Feel overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, emotional?  You might suffer from seasonal depression – sometimes called the winter blues.

To boost the levels of serotonin necessary for dealing with seasonal depression you may need more tryptophan. The legumes: peas, beans, and lentils are some foods rich in tryptophan.

So, to feel better and overcome depression and the winter blues, you may want to try one of these three lentil recipes.

French Lentil Soup for Fighting the Winter Blues

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 cups green lentils
• 8 cups bouillon
• 1 potato, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 pinch cayenne, to taste
• 1 pound swiss chard, chopped
• Juice of one lemon
• pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

Bring the onion, garlic, celery, lentils and bouillon to a boil in a large pot. Add the potato and spices, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the swiss chard and cook 15 minutes more, or until the lentils are just tender, not mushy. Stir in the lemon juice and Immunity Boosting Spices. Serve with ground pepper to taste.

Healthy Lentil Pate Recipe for Seasonal Depression

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry green or red lentils,
• 2 medium carrots chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 2 tbsp/olive oil
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 1 tbsp tomato pasta
• black pepper and salt to taste

Directions:

To cook lentils, cover them with water and boil for 1-2 min. and then simmer for 15-20 min. (until tender). While cooking lentils, saute onion and carrots in olive oil for 7-10 min., add garlic, tomato pasta, lentils and ghee. Mix thoroughly, season with black pepper and salt. Don’t forget to add Immunity Boosting Spices. Serve warm. You can also use food processor if you want it smooth.

Tasty Pomegranate Lentil Soup to Help Overcome Depression

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup lentils, picked over
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups (2 quarts) water
• 1 cup long-grain rice
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup pomegranate juice or 1/4 cup grenadine syrup
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint or 2 teaspoons crushed dried leaf mint
• 2 Tablespoons raisins

Directions:

Add water, drained lentils, rice, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer on low about 45 minutes, until lentils and rice are tender. Add basil, green onions and pomegranate juice to the soup. Simmer an additional 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a small skillet, add mint and saute until butter turns golden. Divide soup into serving bowls. Drizzle each with the mint brown butter and sprinkle with a few raisins to serve.

Bon Appetit!

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

Winter is here. During this time of the year many of us have the winter blues or seasonal depression. Did you know that simply using flashlight three times a day might help? My radio show guest Caroline Sutherland reminded me about this effective light therapy while we were talking about anti-aging, weight loss and detox. I highly recommend you listen to the show if you missed it.

Have you tried eating walnuts or squeezing orange skin to boost our serotonin level? Aromatherapy might help too – you can use different essential oils to reduce stress, get more energy and fight seasonal depression.

Here are some tips from Aromandina.com

• Bergamot and Grapefruit keep negative emotions under check while Ylang Ylangrelieves any kind of mental stress.
• If you need to regain your lost energy levels, take a pick from zesty citrus scents like Orange, Lemon and Mandarin.
• Try Clary Sage and Jasmine to calm your senses and perk up your spirits.
• Use these oils in a diffuser, in your bath water or as massage oil to keep yourself warm, happy and energized through the winter.
• It may be a good idea to try out our brand new product called Citrus Delight. This bright happy and warming blend of Bergamot, Grapefruit and Lemon is just perfect for keeping blues at bay.

If you want to know how to use essential oils for weight loss, detox and healthy pregnancy, you can listen to my interview with Cristina Proano, Aromatherapy Specialist on my Radio Show for Women “Feel and Look Fabulous with Irina.”

Listen to our discussion on How to Deal with Seasonal Depression and Anxiety with Medical Intuitive and Certified Natural Health Practitioner Iuliana Lixandru.

And of course, always breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com