7 Honey-Based Natural Home Remedies!

The medicinal properties of honey were first recognized by the ancient Egyptians, and ever since it has been used as a natural home-remedy solution. Honey contains powerful anti-inflammatory components that help strengthen your immune system and protect you from diseases.

Honey can soothe an upset stomach, prevent fatigue, repair sore muscles, treat toothaches, get rid of fungus in athlete's foot, and even aid in weight loss. Suffice to say, you should always have a jar of honey in your cupboard. Here are 7 natural home remedies you can prepare using a dash of honey.

1. Ginger and Honey: Treating an Upset Stomach

Ginger helps alleviate symptoms of inflammation while promoting proper blood circulation. Honey contains many essential enzymes that prevent harmful bacteria, such as E. coli and candida, from entering your body. 

What you will need:
• 1 cup of honey
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger root
• A pinch of ground ginger (optional)

Directions: 
1. Pour 1 cup of honey into a saucepan and add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped ginger root. 
2. You can add a small pinch of ground ginger if you’d like as well, but it does have a strong flavor. 
3. On low heat let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. 
4. When it’s done let it infuse for 2 hours or up to 2 weeks in a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid. 
5. Strain when it’s finished, if you’d like.
6. Alternatively, you can also add chopped ginger root to herbal tea.

2. Homemade Cinnamon Mouthwash: Bad Breath

Cinnamon is widely used to calm upset stomachs and treat other gastrointestinal disorders. Cinnamon also contains the carminative herb, which is used as a flavoring agent in the production of toothpaste and mouthwash to kill off bacteria.  

What you will need:
• 2 lemons
• ½ tablespoon of cinnamon
• ½-1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons of honey
• 1 cup of warm water
• A bottle or jar with a tight fitting lid

Directions:
1. Add ½ tablespoon of cinnamon into a bottle or jar with a tight fitting lid.
2. Add the juice of the 2 freshly squeezed lemons along with 1½ teaspoons of honey. 
3. If you’d like you can also add ½-1 teaspoon of baking soda and leave out the honey, or use both. 
4. Pour 1 cup of warm water, which is used to melt the honey, into the jar, and stir well. 
5. When you need to freshen up your breath, give it a quick shake and swish/gargle 1-2 tablespoons for 1 minute.

3. Honey and Coconut Water Drink: Sore Muscles

Coconut water prevents dehydration, which can lead to headache, fatigue, and a dry mouth. Coconut water helps repair damaged tissues in the body and keeps your joints functioning properly at all times.  

What you will need:
• 3 cups of coconut water
• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 cup of fresh water
• 1 cup of ice
• ⅛ teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons natural sugar or honey

Directions:
Blend everything in a blender and drink as a healthy shake.

4. Honey and Brown Sugar Scrub: Dry Skin

Honey and brown sugar combine to exfoliate and moisturize the skin. The mixture fights acne and wrinkles while cleansing the pores at the same time. Make sure you use a toner after the treatment process to remove any excess oil. 

What you will need:
• 2 ¼ cups brown sugar
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼  cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions:
1. In a bowl combine all ingredients until fully mixed. 
2. Store the mixture in an airtight container. 
3. Tie the jar with bakers twine, add a wooden spoon, and you have the perfect sugar scrub gift.

5. Apple Cider Vinegar and Honey: Acid Reflux

The natural antibiotics contained in apple cider vinegar help prevent gastric acid from entering the stomach, which causes reflux problems. The cider and honey work together to promote healthy digestion. 

What you will need: 
• 1 cup of honey
• 2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:
1. Add 1 cup of honey to a saucepan, and then pour in 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. 
2. Allow the mixture to heat over low flame for 10 minutes, stirring well about halfway through. 
3. Place the mixture into a jar and let it sit for a while or until you are ready to use. 
4. It doesn’t need to sit as long as something like cinnamon sticks or cloves would.

6. Fenugreek Seeds, Honey and Ginger Remedy: Asthma

Fenugreek seeds help fight off respiratory problems, such as asthma and bronchitis. Honey helps prevent airway constriction, which occurs when mucus accumulates in the bronchial tubes. Ginger contains many natural anti-inflammatory properties that allow you to breathe better. 

What you will need:
• 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds 
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste (make it from fresh ginger root)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 4 cups of water

Directions:
1. Add the fenugreek seeds to water, and allow them to simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Strain the water after 30 minutes.
3. Put the ginger paste into a sifter and press to extract it’s juice.
4. Add the ginger juice to the water you just strained.
5. Add honey to this solution and mix well.
6. Drink a glass every morning.

7. Clove and Honey: Toothache

Cloves contain a pain-relieving anesthetic called eugenol that is used to treat toothaches and gingivitis. Honey acts as a natural antiseptic that kills germs and bacteria, which add to the infection.  

What you will need:
• 1 cup of honey
• 5-10 whole cloves

Directions:
1. Pour 1 cup of honey into a saucepan, and then add 5-10 whole cloves. 
2. Heat for 10 minutes, over a low flame, before letting it infuse for 2 hours or up to 2 weeks, placing it in a jar with a tightly fitting lid. 
3. Strain when it’s finished (optional).

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Here Are 5 Different Pranayams That Can Cure 5 Different Diseases!

This ancient art of breathing can cure nearly all diseases. The following breathing exercises are a gateway to healthy life and help you to realise your inner self. 1. Bhramari Pranayama for throat In this pranayama the breathing sounds like a humming bee. To do this, sit in a relaxed posture and close your ears with your thumbs, place your index fingers on the temple and close your eyes with the other three fingers. Slowly inhale through your nose and hold it for a few seconds. Keeping your mouth closed, slowly exhale by making a humming sound. Repeat it 5 times. 2. Anulom-Vilom Pranayama for eye sight and heart diseases This pranayama is all about deep breathing and has no sound as such. For this exercise sit in a comfortable position, close your right nostril with your thumb and slowly exhale from the left nostril. After exhaling slowly and steadily inhale through the same nostril. Do the same process with your left nostril with your ring finger and exhale through the right nostril. Repeat this process for 2-5 minutes. 3. Kapalbhati Pranayama for reducing belly flat This pranayama is all about forceful and active inhalation and exhalation, where you have to inhale normally and exhale forcefully. During exhalation the stomach muscles should be moved fiercely (pulling it closer to your back). Do this breathing exercise for 2-5 minutes. 4. Ujjayi Pranayama for snoring issues and thyroid Start this breathing exercise with normal inhalation and exhale completely. Bow your head down blocking the free flow of air and inhale as long as you can. Hold back for 2-5 seconds. While exhaling, close your right nostril with your right thumb and breathe out through your left nostril. You can repeat this exercise for ten to twelve times. 5. Bhastrika Pranayama to strengthen your lungs This breathing exercise starts with deep breath-in where we expand our stomach. The air is completely breathed out with strength, sucking your stomach towards the backbone. During inhalation, your stomach should be extended to the maximum. Do this exercise for 1-2 minutes and do take rest.

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Reduce Stress in Seconds with These 8 Pressure Points!

We all have our own ways of dealing with stress. Some people escape to a sunny beach, some prefer a nice glass of wine, and others even do their best to ignore it. Each way has its advantages (and disadvantages), but we can’t always do what's best at the exact moment we need to. This is where pressure points become a quick and effective long-term solution. Pressure points are areas in the body that can trigger various physical and mental effects when pressure is applied to them.

1. The Scalp

The scalp is full of pressure points, many that can effectively and discretely reduce stress levels. You can sit at your office desk, lean back and use two fingers to massage the point where the neck meets the skull for about 20 seconds. Much of the stress we accumulate during the day collects in the shoulders and neck muscles, and applying pressure to this point can relieve much of it.

2. The Ear

This pressure point is known as Shen Men (The Spirit Gate), and some experts claim it’s the best stress-relieving point in the body. In reflexology, it’s also used to reduce inflammation and pain throughout the body. It’s recommended that you massage this spot with a cotton bud or even a pen, and to take deep, slow breaths during the massage.

3. The Chest

Stress can make us forget to breathe, or take shallow breaths. This point helps reduce the stress that accumulates in your chest, while reminding you to breathe normally again. Use three fingers to massage this point, or one finger to tap rhythmically on the area while taking deep breaths. If you experience chronic stress, combine massaging this point with the point between your eyebrows. The connection between these two points helps to calm the nervous system. 

4. The Stomach

Many reflexologists prefer to use this point because it helps create movement that frees the chest and diaphragm, which improves the breathing process. Patients who have this treatment instinctively take deeper breaths and almost always report a sensation of relief.

5. The Forearm

This is a classic spot for reflexology and acupuncture. Stress and anxiety create reverse energy flow in the body, which this spot is supposed to repair. It helps your energy to move in the right direction while aiding your mental focus and reducing stress. 

6. The Palm

The moment you press on this spot, you’ll feel your stress evaporating.. It is located on one of the most important meridians (an energy channel), which affects the heart, liver, and pancreas. It's believed that much of the stress we experience is stored in the liver, so applying pressure on this point is highly effective. It is also a great spot for treating headaches, stomachaches, indigestion, and insomnia – all of which could be symptoms of stress.

7. The Calves

If you feel stress in the upper part of your body, massaging this spot is perfect. The area could be quite tender in people who deal with a lot of stress - women in particular.

8. The Foot

Pressure on this point can help ease a stressed mind that over-obsesses a certain worry. Some reflexologists believe that this is the best meridian for treating the pancreas and that its location, at the center of the foot, helps patients reduce stress and pay better attention to their bodies.

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6 Moral Stories You Must Read!

Stories that have morals and messages behind them are always very powerful. In fact, it’s actually quite crazy just how powerful a few hundred words can be.

1. An Old Man Lived in the Village

An old man lived in the village. The whole village was tired of him; he was always gloomy, he constantly complained and was always in a bad mood. The longer he lived, the viler he became and more poisonous were his words. People did their best to avoid him because his misfortune was contagious. He created the feeling of unhappiness in others.

But one day, when he turned eighty, an incredible thing happened. Instantly everyone started hearing the rumor: “The old man is happy today, he doesn’t complain about anything, smiles, and even his face is freshened up.”

The whole village gathered around the man and asked him, “What happened to you?”

The old man replied, “Nothing special. Eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness and it was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m happy now.”

Moral of the story: Don’t chase happiness. Enjoy your life.

2. The Wise Man

People visit a wise man complaining about the same problems over and over again. One day, he decided to tell them a joke and they all roared with laughter.

After a few minutes, he told them the same joke and only a few of them smiled.

Then he told the same joke for a third time, but no one laughed or smiled anymore.

The wise man smiled and said: “You can’t laugh at the same joke over and over. So why are you always crying about the same problem?”

Moral of the story: Worrying won’t solve your problems, it’ll just waste your time and energy.

3. Having a Best Friend

Two friends were walking through the desert. At one stage in their journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything he wrote in the sand, “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to have a wash. The one who had been slapped got stuck in a mire and started drowning, but his friend saved him. After he had recovered from his shock, he wrote on a stone, “Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write in stone, why?”

The other friend replied, “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Moral of the story: Don’t value the things you have in your life. Value those who you have in your life.

4. The Greedy Lion

It was an incredibly hot day and a lion was feeling very hungry.

He crawled out of his den and searched here and there, but he could only find a small hare. He caught the hare, but with some hesitation as he knew the hare wouldn’t fill him up.

As the lion was about to kill the hare, he spotted a deer coming his way and thought, “Instead of eating this small hare, let me eat that big deer.”

So he let the hare go and went after the deer, but it vanished in the forest. The lion now had nothing to eat as the hare was also long gone.

Moral of the story: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

5. Two Friends and the Bear

Vijay and Raju were friends. One day while on holiday, exploring a forest, they saw a bear coming towards them.

Naturally, they were both frightened, so Raju, who knew how to climb trees, climbed one quickly. He didn’t spare a thought for his friend who had no idea how to climb.

Vijay thought for a moment. He had heard that animals don’t attack dead bodies, so he fell to the ground and held his breath. The bear sniffed him, thought he was dead, and went on its way.

Raju, after he had climbed down from the tree asked Vijay, “What did the bear whisper in your ears?”

Vijay replied, “The bear asked me to keep away from friends like you.”

Moral of the story: A friend in need is a friend indeed.

6. The Fox and the Grapes

One afternoon, a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from a lofty branch.

“Just the thing to quench my thirst,” he thought.

Taking a couple of steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. The fox tried again but still failed to reach them.

Finally, giving up, the fox turned his nose up and said, “They’re probably sour anyway,” and walked away.

Moral of the story: It’s easy to despise what you can't have.

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