In treating addiction, the benefits of acupuncture are relaxation, and release of tension. According to World Health Organization (WHO) traditional Chinese acupuncture “maps out the subtle networks and interrelationships that reveal our bodies to be dynamic, cellular ecosystems.”

Life energy, called “chi” passes through the body via meridians which can become blocked as a result of stress and trauma. With acupuncture, needles are inserted through the skin to the sites of blockage along the meridian lines, which assists to clear natural energy fields and so restore good health to the body.

Equipment used for acupuncture is fine sterile needles. Release of tension points in the body can also be achieved by cupping, massage and laser treatments.

Although the practice of acupuncture lacks a supportive scientific evidence base, WHO accepts the many studies which have been carried out on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as providing evidence of success in its applications.

Many people, tired of using drugs, turn to TCM and the benefits of acupuncture for the relief of migraines and back pain, two of the most prevalent non life threatening ailments of our time.

Benefits of acupuncture include help as a fertility treatment, for children’s health, to relieve sinus and inflammation, for weight loss and many types of skin problems.

As with all types of natural holistic remedy, acupuncture relies upon the skill and experience of the practitioner and places no reliance upon drugs.

According to a 2002 report by the Journal of American Medicine Association, in tests to confirm the efficacy of acupuncture as s single means to treat cocaine addiction, results were inconclusive. Early reduction of cocaine use was not maintained during or post treatment, with less than half of the cocaine addicts showing reduction in cocaine use as a result of the treatment. It is noted that attendances at related counseling sessions were low.

This evidence suggests that acupuncture alone will provide some level of addiction relief, but that further assistance and support is needed to obtain full and permanent recovery from cocaine and drug addiction.

The report confirms the general efficacy of counseling to support recovery from drug addiction. The use of auricular acupuncture, as defined by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA), would appear to be one avenue of providing a reduction of physical tension and stress to achieve temporary relief from the symptom of addiction.

Best results for addiction recovery and complete detoxification would seem to occur when holistic drug counseling is central to the treatment program, with any of a variety of holistic treatments made available to support recovery.

When looking for a holistic means of recovery from addiction, the most important factor to take into consideration is a focus on dealing with and resolving the emotional conflicts that cause pain, stress and tension in the body. Without effective resolution of the causes of addiction, any treatments that provide relief will not be effective long term. When triggers for drug use occur, the tension will simply increase to the point where the addict feels a compulsive need to use drugs again in order to get relief.

The use of psychoactive substances is the only means by which an addict will achieve satisfaction until he is enabled to resolve the emotional conflicts that cause emotional and physical pain. Whilst the benefits of acupuncture and other holistic treatments for the relief of physical symptoms assist, long term and full recovery from addiction is only achieved, in a drug free context, with the focus on holistic counseling methods to resolve emotional conflict.

The answer to the question of whether a new coach will impact your choices for a fantasy football draft is simple, of course it does. Let us look at the best example in Philadelphia with the Eagles. Chip Kelly’s first practice as the new Eagles’ head coach caused quite the stir in the City of Brotherly Love. They signed Felix Jones from the Cowboys, they have a new and exciting strength and conditioning program that requires specific amounts of sleep, and may display a new 3-4 defense starting in pre-season. If you have watched the University of Oregon play in the PAC 12 you probably think the Eagles’ offense will be a high paced run and gun shoot, reminiscent of Warren Moon and the Oilers in his heyday. However, that isn’t it. Kelly will run the bowl, hence the signing of Felix Jones. Now the Eagles will have McCoy, Bryce, and Jones as a new 3 headed monster in the backfield. So yes, if you don’t get McCoy as one of your top picks you may want to think about Zach Ertz the new Tight End from Stanford who will play a major role in the offense. Because the QB won’t be the high profile player of the offense I would stay away from Drafting Vick, Foles, or Barkley.

As for the defensive side of things, because of the pace of the game the ball is likely to change hands quite a bit over the course of the game, giving the other team plenty of opportunities to score, whether it be by field goal or touchdown. A 3-4 defense will hopefully produce more turnovers so I definitely think if you have to take a backup defense, the Eagles will be much improved in this area. Let’s face it, they can’t be much worse than they were in 2012.

Keeping with the Philadelphia theme, let’s look at the Kansas City Chiefs with Andy Reid. Big red brings in Alex Smith to a team that couldn’t win the Kansas State High School Championship last year. However, they had several pro Bowlers on both sides of the ball and a QB who wants to show the world that he is a worthy starter in the NFL. If you went with a draft pick for a running back, Alex Smith is going to have one heck of a year and to show the commitment Reid and the Chiefs have in the arm of Smith, they went ahead and signed Dwayne Bowe, a stud wide receiver to a long term deal. So just because the Chiefs will most likely have a losing record again in 2013 when it comes to fantasy football, don’t look past the combination of Smith and Bowe on the offensive side of the ball. We know from Reid’s past in Philly that he can be absolutely pass happy at times, even when it might not be in the best interest of winning.

The moral of the story is make new judgments each year on the team, especially those with new coaches; they could get more out of players that didn’t previously produce as much with their prior coach. So, don’t forget to take a look at teams with losing records from last year that have new coaches because it may prove valuable in your later round picks. Use this strategy and it won’t be long before you will be ruling your Weekly fantasy football games.

The Biggest Challenge: Separating the Forest from the Trees The biggest challenge in writing a forecast report is finding a way to give the client an understanding of which events are the most important. It is rather daunting to be presented with a 16-100 page report consisting mostly of one-paragraph-long descriptions of upcoming astrological events. There are three basic approaches that forecast report writers use to help clients “separate the forest from the trees”: Destiny and Decisions and Sky Log use this method to give users an indication of the importance of the event. When the description is twice as long as the one next to it you get the idea that this is a notable astrological event. The extra text is there to give the client advice on how to deal with the major events. Yet one still longs for a more direct method of communicating the relative importance of each event.

TimeLine puts one to six asterisks (*) next to each event to indicate how important it is. TimeLine is the only forecast report that rates the importance of each astrological event. I quibble with the algorithm used to rate each event, but I really like the clarity of having stars show you how the author rates the importance of each event. It left me longing for a means to put all the five and six star events on top so I could focus in on the most important events of the upcoming year. TimeLine does not have longer text for major events. This is unfortunate. Sky Log is the only forecast report that puts all the big events up front. I really like this approach. How cosmic it is that an author by the name of Steve Forest came up with the best solution to the “forest and tree” problem. The Sky Log report for Robin Williams is 73 pages for a full year report, but putting all the important transits up front keeps one from getting lost. A “Details” section of the report lists all the events in date order like the other reports. But even in the detailed section, Steve Forest gives a quick summary list of the events of each month before describing them in detail. Steve Forest’s Sky Log report has longer interpretations than any other forecast report. The big events have interpretations that go over one page. He gives generous advise on how to deal with each of the major and semi-major astrological events. His is the only report to include house delineations along with his delineations of the major aspects.

Forecast reports scan a 3-12 month period looking for significant interactions between the movement of the planets in the sky and one’s natal chart. All forecast reports list the transiting aspects. Sky Log and TimeLine also do progressions, sign ingresses and house ingresses.

Forecast reports are long. There are two ways to keep them to a more manageable length – decrease the time period covered by the report or decrease the number of transiting planets covered by the report. Taking the transiting Sun, Mercury, and Venus out of the report cuts the report size to one half or one third. Astrologers charge more for the longer reports and many people buy them so they have something to look at every day. It’s certainly more informative and thorough than the horoscope in the newspaper. Here’s how time period and selection of transiting planets affect the page-length of a forecast report:How Well Do they Work? To test how well these forecast reports work, I decided take a look into 1986 – the most difficult year in Robin Williams’ life. It was a bad time in his career with two movie flops (Club Paradise and The Best of Times) but a much worst time in his personal life. According to Andy Dougan’s biography Robin Williams published in 1998, “This was a period where Williams would later refer to himself as ‘walking through his personal life with all the certainty of a hemophiliac in a razor factory'” p. 104 Williams began a three-year period of deep soul searching. He started therapy for the first time in his life and begin divorce proceedings. The divorce proceedings took three years and he married Marsha Graces the same month his divorce was finalized. We expected to find important loneliness (Saturn) and death and rebirth (Pluto) transits during this time. We were not disappointed. Saturn squared Williams’ Moon and Venus that year. Pluto was trine his Moon and later conjoined his Ascendant in 1987 and 1988. The big changes in life are often a long time in coming. Sometimes a big event occurs that summarizes a whole period; other times it is a series of smaller events. Similarly, the big astrological events (transits from outer planets plus progression) can take a year or more to take their full effect, but when Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto comes to call it will change your life. Click on the following aspects from 1986 to see what the three report writers would have told Robin Williams about that very difficult year: On August 9th and 10th, 1986, Robin Williams hit a career high when he performed at the Metropolitan Opera house in New York. According to his biographer, “The concert at the Met was and remains a high point in Robin Williams’ career. This was before Good Morning Vietnam and all the success that follows that, but it is a landmark in Williams’ career in that it marks the first time that he was able to put it all together… [It] finally presents the sharpest comic mind of his generation functioning at the peak of its ability…

This was Williams clean and sober and, thanks to Marsha Garces, who was a vitally important part of his life at this stage, this was Williams able to confront his life through art. He strides around the stage at the Met with confidence and poise and delivers a routine which is almost a meditation on his life thus far.” pp. 157-158 I thought it might be interesting to look in on this time, mid-August 1986, to see if he had any “high point” aspects going on. Indeed he did. But to find it one must print out the full detailed report for each of the report writers. In astrological theory major events are like bullets from a gun. The outer planets build up pressure over a long period of time and transits of the inner planets act like triggers to release the energy. Check out what each of the report writer had to say about this high period that catalyzes all the learning from the big three transits listed above: All of these reports contain little astrological jargon and are thus easily digested by the astrologically naïve client. Yet for the astrologically naïve, I believe that Steve Forest’s Sky Log report provides the best organization and most advice. For the astrologically literate, Sky Log can seem repetitive and verbose. For these people, Destiny and Decisions or the TimeLine report may be a better option. For ease of use, one would like to stay within the same software family. If you stay in the same software family, you don’t have to reenter the birth data. Kepler users will want to take a very close look at Destiny and Decisions. Win*Star users will want to focus on Sky Log and TimeLine. Solar Fire users do not have the option of a commercial grade forecast report writer, but the free one in Solar Fire is quite passable. Astrolabe will be publishing a commercial grade forecast report in the fall of 2001.

Swimming is a great exercise for those looking for a challenge without the sharp joint pain that other exercises such as running can prove. And upon diligent exercise, you’ll soon look very fit as you kick and swim your arms in the water. But looking fit is only half the battle–you also want to look stylish in your suit.

Downeast swimwear has plenty of swimwear to ensure you look stylish, no matter what sort of suit you want to wear for the day. If you’re feeling a one piece suite with a halter neckline, you can find it. Or a two piece with a nice rose colored brief, you can find it. There is no reason why you can’t look modest while still looking chic and stylish.

Whether you want to visit the pool when the long awaited summer months return, or if you take a sunny beach vacation where beach season is always in, find the right suite style and color for you. It can be a tough process finding a flattering swimsuit, especially if you want to look modest doing it. You can dress at the beach or pool with confidence once you find the right suit. There are plenty available in the catalog that will appeal to every curve of your body.

Every season is different and styles of swimwear are changing according to that season. Whether you are taking the canoe out on the river, sun tanning at your best friend’s pool, or taking the boat out on the lake, there are stylish suits out there for your enjoyment. Looking modest and stylish in your swimwear can seem like a nightmare, and you may think about avoiding the process altogether. But fret not, there is no reason to miss out on the swimming season when the right suite is easily available to you.

Downeast swimwear is a dream for those looking to look chic and stylish while looking modest in their swimming suite. With a wide selection of tankini tops, swim skirts, conservative bikini bottoms, one piece suits, swim cover-ups and many more colors and styles, one can look nice and modest at the same time. If you prefer in-store shopping or online, the catalog of swimwear is wide while always keeping modesty in mind. The hours upon hours of searching the racks of stores all over the mall looking for an appropriate but stylish swimsuit are over. The truth is, one can still have their polka dots, trendy prints, tropical stripes, retro styles and swim skirts, while still looking modest enough to go on the boat with grandparents or a beach trip with your family. Whatever the size, the right modest swimsuit is out there.

I haven’t worn a pair of trousers in over a year. The last time I distinctly remember wearing a pair of jeans is when I sensibly decided to forego wearing my floral empire waist dress when I moved house last spring. Hauling boxes and heavy lifting has never been my forte and doing it in a dress and ballet flats is just ridiculous, right?

The fact is, I haven’t regularly had a rotation of trousers that fit me and that I could just throw on in about six years. I used to have an impressive collection of designer jeans and trousers – I still cringe when I remember how much money I used to spend on jeans that I thought would “last forever”. I really thought I would be buried in those Citizens of Humanity jeans that cost me $300 a pair. Sob.

It’s not to say that I eschew wearing trousers because I don’t appreciate them. Katharine Hepburn wore them in the 1930s with a certain panache, Coco Chanel, Halston, and Yves Saint Laurent all designed pantsuits that could rival any dress in sex appeal. In the 1980s, career women wore trousers in the boardroom and beyond. There is something to be said about a woman who can style up a pair of dressy trousers with a soft romantic blouse, a gold pendant necklace and a pair of heels with confidence. Unfortunately I am not one of those women.

As much as I drooled over Riccardo Tisci’s sleek pantsuits for Givenchy AW10, especially a bright tomato red number, and Hannah MacGibbon’s romantic draped blouses and soft wide leg pants for the Chloe AW10 collection – try as I might, I just cannot imagine wearing them myself. I always admire the street style shots of the women who just know how to rock a trouser or pantsuit – they have this effortlessly cool way of dressing that blows any old-fashioned “feminine ideals” out of the water. One of the first people that comes to my mind is Kate Lanphear, Senior Style Editor at ELLE US magazine. Every season I see her at London Fashion Week tottering around in impossible to walk in high heels and usually an amazing pair of trousers.

Sometimes I think I’m in a major style rut that I need to snap out of. I mean how long can someone live in dresses and playsuits? Surely there needs to be a bit of variety mixed in somewhere. Maybe I’m just stuck in the past, my love of all things vintage and vintage-inspired naturally leading me to things like pillbox hats, fur stoles, dresses and leather gloves. Sure, movie stars like Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich wore pantsuits in the 1930s and 1940s and no one could forget the Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic Le Smoking Tuxedo, but regular women from that era were usually found in a nice frock.

Blogs like A Dress a Day are no help to my reliance on this particular item of clothing. I’ve lost count of how many dresses I own and I am naturally drawn to the dress section of any boutique. There is just something so effortless about sliding on a dress in the morning. And I can’t deny the fact of the matter. If I wear the right dress, a buffet lunch and my expanding belly don’t feel the same strain it would if I was in a pair of jeans. Ok I said it – one of the reasons I live in dresses is because I hate the feeling of the tight waistband after a big lunch or dinner. I could choose moderation at the dinner table but what fun is that? I’d like the half-chicken dinner please.

Throwing on a dress is minimal effort, especially if you’re tired and can’t be bothered to accessorize tops and the right shoes. With dresses, it’s easy to just throw on an old cardigan, boots or flats and you’re ready to run out the door. With pants you have to plan the top, the right belt and the right shoes. You can’t really wear a peg leg trouser with a pair of ballet flats can you? I don’t want to find out..

The fact of the matter is I love my dresses. But maybe it’s time to give my black opaque tights a break for a change, buy those navy silk peg leg trousers and master my fear of wearing pants.

Over the years, I’ve gone to great lengths to improve the appearance of my skin, hair and nails – but of all the things I’ve tried, namely expensive products and treatments, it has been the inclusion of a number of ‘superfoods’ to my diet that has made a real difference.

Some of these foods are nutrition powerhouses – that is, ounce for ounce they contain more vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals than other foods, or they bring hard-to-get nutrients to the table. Because of their taste and texture, others are a great substitute for less nutritious choices. A few of them are even foods you may have written off as unhealthy and will be surprised to find can be part of a nutritious diet – but all pack a real punch when it comes to beauty-boosting properties.

Fish:The best source of omega-3 fatty acids we have is fish. In fact, eating two servings of fatty fish a week can lower your risk of heart disease. But don’t let the word “fatty” put you off. Very little of the fat in fish is saturated and the rest of it is healthy. Mackerel, bluefish, sardines, herring, tuna, and salmon have the highest concentrations of omega-3s, although other fish contain them, too.

Olive oil: Olive oil has significant health benefits. It’s been shown to lower total blood cholesterol levels without lowering HDL (good cholesterol) levels; it may even raise them. And it’s a good source of carotenoids and antioxidants, including vitamin E, an elusive antioxidant that appears to help prevent heart disease.

Soy: Tofu – soybean curd – is the most commonly eaten form of soy. Though a lot of people think it’s too bland, that’s exactly what can be great about it. Tofu takes on the taste of anything you cook it with. Studies have shown that an ingredient in soy called isoflavones decreases the risk of heart disease, and there’s ongoing research looking at the link between soy and cancer reduction.

Mushrooms: Mushrooms are a good source of the antioxidant selenium as well as potassium and B vitamins. So, no, they’re not, as many people think, nutritionally empty and, while they’re low in calories, they’re exceptionally filling.

Walnuts, Almonds and Nut Butters: Nuts provide a healthy and satisfying form of protein and fat. When you eat a small handful of walnuts or almonds, the fat and the intensity of their natural flavour will probably make your hunger vanish. Nuts – almonds in particular – are a good source of fibre and protein.

Eggs: They’re great little packages of nutrients and provide exceptionally high-quality protein. If you’re prone to high blood cholesterol levels, you may want to stick more to egg whites than to whole eggs, but don’t worry, you’re not being short changed: egg whites contain a good deal of protein.

Leafy greens: The days when salads were primarily made from iceberg lettuce are gone. Or at least they should be gone. Iceberg doesn’t have much to offer in the way of vitamins and minerals, but darker greens do. Make your salads from mixes of romaine, watercress, spinach, rocket and other dark greens. Strong-flavoured greens like kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, and mustard, collard and beet greens are rich in beta-carotene and one of the few good vegetarian sources of calcium.

Berries: Gram for gram, berries have more antioxidants than any other type of fruit. You can toss berries – blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries and raspberries – on top of cereal or nibble on them for a snack. They also make the perfect ending to a nice meal.

Chinese Herbs for Hair Loss Using Chinese Herbs for Hair Loss F or many people, all natural is the best solution which is why Chinese herbs can be quite effective. Today, many people are looking for alternative approaches to improving their health either because more modern medicine and treatments have failed them, or because the process is simply too costly. Nevertheless, one of the most commonly used treatments that are all natural include a number of Chinese herbs. You can use these treatments as an option for improving your hair condition, but be sure that you address the underlying problem too. In Chinese medicine, the body is treated based on the flow of the blood, or Qi through it.

When there is an illness or a problem, such as hair loss, the condition generally is caused by a stoppage or an uneven flow of blood to a specific area of the body. To cure this condition, several methods are used. Often to relieve the constraint, which causes the hair loss, Chinese treatments will involve the use of ancient herbs and remedies. Chinese herbs can be many, depending on who you ask and what other symptoms you have. One option is to include He Shou Wu in your diet. This is also more commonly known as Fo Ti. Other Chinese herbs for hair loss including fleece flower root and multiflori. You can find additional options by talking to a professional at the local health food store.

Or, look for a quality health food supplier online. There are other herbs that are more commonly known to help with hair loss. Some of these are Chinese herbs.

The options include:

• Aloe
• Stinging nettle
• ArnicaCatmint
• Horsetail
• Southernwood
• Sage
• Birch
• Licorice
• Marigold
• Rosemary
• Parsley
• Nettles

Those that you will see promoted as Chinese hair loss herbs include:

• Oyster
• Mulberries
• Psoralea Seeds

When you decide to go with Chinese herbs for hair loss, be sure to look for quality products. You always want to have the purest and the highest quality products available. In addition, you will need to follow the requirements of your alternative products provider to be sure that you take in the right amount of the product.

Back before the internet existed, the road to achieve notoriety in the music business was very hard for all those people who have ever had the dream of becoming musicians and making a living out of their art. You needed to get signed by a record label that would take the risk of investing in your talent to pay for your studio recording, your marketing and publicity and also make sure that you would get booked for gigs to travel the world to get more exposure.

Since the arrival of the internet there have been some huge changes in the way this industry works. Buying a CD from a record store is no longer something that people are doing so much and you can listen to virtually anything online for free. This has forced the industry and the artist to adapt in order to survive and it given birth to places such as iTunes, that allow artists to sell their music on the most popular mp3 online store around and we are going to guide you through the process of getting your music onto iTunes.

First of all you need to find out if you actually want to deal directly with iTunes. iTunes requires that you have 20 albums in your catalog at the very least. You also need to have your UPCs/EANs/JANs for everything that you are going to be distributing. These are barcodes that are used in different regions. Last but not least, you have to provide your international standard recording code (ISRC) for all of the audio tracks that you plan on selling. These are very difficult demands for most independent artists, but this is no reason to give up because you can still work sell your music with them by using what is known as an aggregator. This means that there are some companies that work with iTunes to help smooth out the process for you. Their requirements are usually quite simple and you keep all your rights, you usually get 100% of the royalties and sales reports for trends and streaming of your music for sampling.

There are two places that can be recommended in particular: one is called CDBaby and the other is TuneCore. They both offer very similar features for indie artists and signing up is very easy. CDBaby will charge you $59 for each album that you upload to the store. This is a one-time fee and if you only upload singles you have to pay $14.95 for each one. If you really want to take advantage of this kind of store we suggest that you upload an entire album and save money in the process. TuneCore charges you $9.99 a year per single and $49.99 a year. You retain your rights in both of them and you also get $91 percent of the iTunes generated sales.

When you decide on which aggregator you will use you should encode your files properly for the best results. There are usually options for mp3 and wav files and you will get detailed instructions on bit rates and sample sizes. There are no demands for the quality of the music to be professional either. There are thousands of indie artists who are making their music with small home studios that are nothing but a laptop and a decent sound card. Technology now makes it way easier if you really want to give the music business a shot.

The music business will continue to evolve with the internet and if you really want to get some sales going you need to learn about internet marketing and promoting just as much as you learn about the music business.

A real life example is a song that Jay Golden (a PGA golf professional) who made a song as a tribute to his friend Moe Norman, who is a professional golfer known for his miraculous ability to hit dead straight shots consistently. You can listen to a sample or download the song on the link below from iTunes:

I interviewed Jay Golden about his song and his responses to my questions are below:

What made you want to do a tribute song to Moe?

“I heard about MOE NORMAN for many years prior to meeting him and was intrigued by his ability and personality. When I met him, watched his clinics and spent time with him, it only added to my appreciation of his dedication to hit PURE GOLF SHOTS time after time.”

How did you find the process of getting the song published on iTunes?

“Having written many golf poems – including “EVERY GOLFERS DREAM” which was included in the best seller “CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE GOLFERS SOUL” – as well as many golf songs, I felt this was a ‘natural’. I sent Barry Morrow – who wrote the screen play for the movie “RAINMAN” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as well as a screen play about MOE NORMAN – a copy of MOE KNOWS and he liked it! The movie is currently on ‘hold’.

To answer your question more directly, I knew about iTunes and a good friend of mine with computer skills (a tour hopeful who I have coached, Stuart Drahota) formatted it to be placed on iTunes.”

In conclusion, producing and selling your own song is no longer a monopoly held by an elite few. Indie music producers now have the ability to market their talent. Who knows as to where it will take you? Just look at Justin Beiber’s success by appearing on YouTube. And songs like ‘Gamnam Style’

& ‘What Did The Fox Say?’ which are not technically brilliant songs, just took off and became popular worldwide.