The easiest thing to do is keep your skin squeaky clean. Washing your face with a good cleansing bar or foam will fight oil build. Just be careful that the wash Is not too harsh for your skin type. A gentle soap used twice a day will keep your skin clear without being hard on the skin.

Shaving can cause a build of oils due to the products used and less care in cleansing. Shaving cream doesn’t substitute for a good washing. When shaving, use extra care and wash the face thoroughly before using shaving cream. It’s also important to use a good razor that is not dull. Be sure and rinse the face well after shaving and use aftershave that doesn’t include oil in the ingredients.

For females, an important factor to consider is the type of make up used. Ne’er use oil based products. Read the ingredients and be sure the package states that the cosmetics are non-comedogenic. Some make up actually helps support healthy skin, so if you’re fighting acne, that would be a god choice for you.

These are some of life’s serious crisis situations, where we have to let time heal, and try not to fall apart in the process.  Some of the solutions below will help insomnia, but they will not heal grief.

However, if you are continually staying awake over trivial matters, these solutions will aid you to get a good night’s rest.  Remember – not every solution will work for everyone, so try the easiest ideas and make them fit into your lifestyle.

Do you have one or more problems, on your mind, that are troubling you at bedtime?  If so, write it down and leave it on the kitchen table where you sit in the morning.  This is a form of compartmentalization, where your subconscious mind works on a solution, and you and your conscious mind get some needed rest.

You will be surprised what happens the following morning.  The problem is much less important or your subconscious found the solution.  This technique is so powerful that many successful people use it, even when they don’t really have a problem.  This keeps you organized, on a daily basis, and you will get more accomplished in life.

That leads into the next idea, which is establishing a daily routine.  Your body has a natural cycle, and most of us ignore it.  Modern humans are more out of tune with their bodies than ever before, so we have to get back to basics and design a schedule for all tasks – including sleep.

You should exercise every day, but your exercise routine should end two hours before bedtime, at the latest.  This allows your body and mind “cool down” time.  If you can exercise earlier in the day, feel free to do so.

Exercise will give you extra energy during the day, and help you get a good night’s sleep, when you need it.  If you don’t exercise, don’t feel alone, but do take action.  Gentle Yoga postures are a great way to start.

If you find the right Yoga teacher, you will learn controlled breathing (pranayama), stage-by-stage relaxation, and meditation.  Each is a powerful technique for winding down before bedtime.  You always practice controlled breathing with either, stage-by-stage relaxation, or meditation. Some people practice stage-by-stage relaxation in bed and fall asleep in the process.  This is not a bad thing, if your ultimate goal is to fall asleep.

Now let’s look at a few other ideas, such as alcohol and hidden caffeine.  Alcohol has a way of getting you to sleep, but sleep is often interrupted during the night.  One suggestion, if you enjoy drinking:  Have one small drink; preferably wine, with your meal.

Caffeine is in coffee, many teas, many sodas, and a variety of other drinks.  Drink water later in the day, and give your body a rest from caffeine.

Here are a few actions to take before bedtime:  Eat very light, read a book about something peaceful, and take a shower or a bath.  You don’t have to do everything, but one of the above-mentioned ideas will work for you.

Sweet Dreams.

Both times, I was hit badly and constantly turned to the bottle for a solution. The bottle never will be a solution and yet, I hoped it would be.

Yoga and the soon-to-be-mother
There’s all this hype about Yoga that I didn’t fully understand before – what’s all this clamor about Yoga for pregnancy?? What’s the big deal? You have a big belly, retch half the time, have a sudden liking for pickle and have to wear your husband’s clothing….you need Yoga to help you deal with all that?

But of course, I only began the understand the benefits of Yoga as a mother when I started going for the classes, read about them in books, magazines and websites. This amazing method can help mothers regain their physical strength and sends them into a journey of self-discovery and improvement. Instead of helping you deal with others, in Yoga, everything starts from within. Therefore, to solve a problem, you have to go inside.

And inside a mother, it’s always a battle zone…and it’s tumultuous half the time. Pizza or no pizza? Sex or no sex tonight? What kind of mother will I be? Will I sprain my own child’s fingers when I try to put his/her clothes on? With the kind of bizarre thinking (and hormones) going on inside our mind and our body, mothers often have a  difficulty finding peace. Your doctor will tell you time and time again that although nutrition is important, finding peace, quiet and calm in yourself and in your life is just important for an expectant mother.

Yoga for the regular mother
Considering the fact that Yoga can help bring calm into calamity, it’s obviously a good choice for you to try out Yoga if you’re thinking of starting an exercise program. Better yet, join a gym…which is what I did. I used to scoff at people who join gyms and judging from the loud dance music, I remember thinking to myself… “Yikes…gym is just a sorry excuse for a disco. Instead of serving peanuts, they serve fruit mixes. Instead of alcohol, they serve bottled water. But everyone’s trying to get into a social thing in the gym. It’s a social club!”

And as a mother, I don’t have the time to join a social club.

But I was wrong. As soon as I gave the 10-day free classes trial, I was hooked. No makeup, no dressup (oh, the younger gym-goers still dress up to the nines and apply mascara for gym) and no pretense. I go to the gym and attend the Yoga class to sweat – to end up looking ugly but feeling damn good!

Mothers can open up their minds and free up their hearts after Yoga
Yoga has this tranquilizing effect on people that can hardly be explained with words. It has to be felt. It’s like you’re striking those poses, stretching those muscles and bending over backwards…and all this while, your mind is opening up and all impure thoughts are just flying out of it.

Yoga can be like ‘taking out the trash’.

And this can be good for the whole family, especially the kids, as well. After a session of uninterrupted Yoga, you’ll feel renewed. Even a grumpy, sleeping, tired and beaten-out mother will have more energy to spend time with the kids. Instead of feeling disgruntled and trapped, a mother can use Yoga to actually find an opening, a release that helps relax, not only the body, but the mind as well.

I don’t know about you…but I am going for more classes because I have seen the benefits. Yoga can do a whole lot for the ordinary non-married kidless people….imagine what it can do for a mother.