To quit drinking should be the obvious thing to do for someone whose health is adversely affected by the drinking of alcohol. But every alcoholic takes some time to accept that he is one. By the time the realization sets in, he is in a much deeper mess than before, and extricating himself from it is that much more difficult.

The problem with drinking is that it is socially sanctioned in so many cultures. Then there is the association with fun, good times and manliness about the act of drinking so assiduously built up by the multibillion dollar liquor industry. They cleverly associate drinking with major sports, fashion and lifestyle events around the world. This carefully crafted image of harmless fun and good times often leads to an endless spiral of drinking parties, binges, and more and more reasons to drink for some young people. What they need to do is to view things in perspective, and realize that their future will be one of grief, disease and misery if they do not quit drinking and adopt a healthy lifestyle

In fact nations have been brought to ruin because people will not quit drinking. Take the case of Russia for example whose people have a historical love affair with Vodka. Empires and governments have come and gone, but the Russian people will not sober up. This has caused untold damage to their national productivity, the health of the citizens and indeed the problem has become so grave that another Russian head of state has had to exhort is people to quit drinking.

The realization that drinking ruins one’s career, family and social life, health and not to speak of one’s finances is a powerful reason for people to want to quit drinking. There are people who are strong willed enough to totally give up drinking for ever once they have realized the folly of continuing with pernicious habit. Then there are others who need more time and professional help to assist them in quitting.

Sleep is something that many people tend to take for granted. They go to bed after a long day of school or work, and they expect to wake up the next day refreshed. Well, for every person that does, there are many more people who do not, or even go to sleep at all.

People with sleeping problems are generally thought to be suffering from one of the many sleep disorders that have been classified throughout the years. If a person thinks that he or she is indeed faced with a significant sleeping problem, it is important that they first consult their doctor, because what they think might be the result of one of the sleep disorders, might actually be something else.

Also, sleeplessness might be a sign of poor behavioral habits. For example, if a person is in the habit of drinking lots of coffee each day, the amount of caffeine in a regular cup of coffee is enough to keep anyone awake for a long period of time! Caffeine can also be found in soda, as well as even some foods.

Speaking of food, if a person eats right before they go to sleep, that will automatically cause them to stay awake. Why? Because energy is given from ingesting food, so the body, although tired, simply will not act like it is tired at all. In order to prevent gas, and to facilitate the best digestion possible, it is best to eat at least two hours before going to sleep.

All of this having been said, one of the most prevalent actual sleep disorders that people suffer from is sleep apnea. In this sleeping problem, people stop breathing for anywhere from a minute at a time, to several minutes at a time. In order for the brain to remain functioning at all times, it is very important that it get the necessary amount of full oxygen.

The symptoms of flu, or influenza, that sets it apart from an ordinary cold are fever and body aches. You can also have the normal cold symptoms of discharge, headaches, cough, and sore throat as these can relate to any upper respiratory tract problem. You also might have gastrointestinal problems.

Most people suffer from the occasional cold during autumn, winter or spring. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Discharges can be a toxic clearing, so should never be suppressed.

However, most people would prefer to avoid the debilitating types of flu. Here are seven ways that you can start now, to remain healthy next season.

1 Make sure you eat well. This means lots of fresh fruit and vegetables that should make up at least 50% of your diet. Raw is best. Eat lots of green, leafy vegetables. Avoid or limit processed food (white sugar, artificial sweeteners, white flour, white rice). Limit dairy and meat.

2 Get plenty of sun. These days, the sun has an unfounded bad reputation. If you’re not getting enough sun, it’s likely you’ll never be well. How much is enough sun? That depends on you, your location and the season. But I suggest one hour is the minimum daily exposure (not necessarily in the middle of the summer, in the middle of the day).

3 Make sure you keep your liquids up. Drink when you’re thirsty. Avoid or limit soft drinks.

4 Adequate rest is essential to keeping your body healthy. If you are burning the candle at both ends, don’t expect to avoid any illness.

5 Taking a whole food (as opposed to the common synthetic) supplement can be hugely beneficial in topping up any nutritional deficiencies that may be caused either by your diet or by the way food is produced. Blue green algae are the best whole food supplements.

This is the latest article in our yoga central series and today we will be looking at a pose known as Cobra Pose or Bhujangasana. We will look at how to properly carry out the pose, the benefits you can get from it and anything that you need to consider before beginning. Please read the entire article before trying the pose.

How to Carry Out the Pose

We have put together instructions on how to carry out the pose correctly however there are also a number of modifications that can be done to make the pose easier as well as deeper. These modifications will be found lower in the article.

1. Begin lying on your front on the floor. Interlock your hands behind your back, resting on your hips, keep the elbows slightly bent. Breath in, expanding the chest and breath out and lift the up off the chest keeping the elbows slightly bent. Hold for about 10 seconds and then release placing your hands under your shoulders.

2. With your hands under your shoulders in the floor anchor the pose by pressing the hips and the feet firmly into the ground. Do not over activate the bottom.

3. Now breath in an gently lift your torso of the ground, keeping the elbows bent. Imagine your hands are still interlocked behind your back. Keeping the neck long gently lift up until you are comfortable or until the arms are straight. Do not compress the neck and keep your gaze forward and slightly down.

4. If you are comfortable and can keep the neck long, take the head back deepening the pose. Continue to keep your gaze slightly down. Remember to anchor the pose through your feet and your hips.

5. Hold the pose for 15 to 30 seconds and remember to breath. Then exhale and gently lower yourself back to the ground and rest. Repeat the exercise.