Osteopathy is a technique that uses manipulation and massage to help distressed muscles and joints and make them work more smoothly. The profession began in 1892 when Dr Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), an American farmer, inventor and doctor, opened t...

We massage ourselves nearly every day. The natural reaction to reach out and touch a painful part of the body forms the basis of massage. As long ago as 3000 BC massage was used as a therapy in the Far East, making it one of the oldest treatments used by ...

Some people love nothing more than to be inside, reading informative material, typing on their computers, running reports, and making phone calls; when they drift off into visions of their dream job, images of a cubicle come to mind. Other people, though,...

Yoga originated from India about 4000 years ago. It has been continually practised but it is only in the present century that its use and practise has become more widespread. Yoga has an effect on the whole person and combines the mental, physical and spi...

Urban decay and deprivation are a major source of distress for large sections of the population. Inadequate housing, noise, pollution, crowding, violence and poverty create some of the most cumulative and pervasive forms of stress. These factors affect ho...

Doctor Hans Selye describes how the body reacts to stress in terms of the General Adaptation Syndrome. He separates the stress response into three phases: Alarm Response, Adaptation and Exhaustion. The Alarm Response is the fight or flight response that g...

It is tempting to think that mental and physical stress is an ailment only of modern civilisation but that is a misconception. Stress has been a part of the human condition since the beginning of time and is an integral part of human survival. It is an ac...

In Shiatsu, according to traditional Eastern therapies, organs have a dual function - physical and energetic functions. The twelve organs are split into two groups that are known as zang and fu. Zang organs are for energy storage and the fu organs prod...

Shiatsu originated in China at least 2000 years ago, when the earliest accounts gave the causes of ailments and the remedies that could be effected through a change of diet and the way of life. The use of massage and acupuncture was also recommended. The ...

Stress is what our minds and bodies experience as we attempt to deal with the changing environment that affects our lives. We often think of pressure at work, queuing for services or rush hour traffic as stress. While these events may well be triggers, st...

How many different kinds of Animals are in existence? The figure may be thirty million with 1.5 million new animals being identfied every year. Scientists use a classification system to organise these animals into groups; each type of animal is then given...

Hypnotherapy has its origins in the Greek word, hypnos which means sleep. In western europe the word hypnosis was first used by a scottish doctor called James Braid. Over in India James Esdaile used it as an alternative to anaesthetic for the operations h...

Like all living things animals undergo changes as each new generation succeeds the one that existed before. These changes are usually so small that they are difficult to see but over millions of years they can completely alter the way that animals look an...

How many species of animals have been identified to date? The answer is close to two million and they are the most varied living thing on planet Earth. They have struggled to overcome tremendous obstacles, adapting their lifestyles in order to survive. T...

Walking at a moderate pace of 5 kilometres per hour will provide you with enough energy to met the definition of 'moderate physical exercise'. Furthermore walking is able to provide the kind of preventative benefits that are usually seen with the more st...