Conquering The Holiday Let-Down

Do you feel a little let-down when Christmas is over and company goes home?

That's pretty normal, after you've spent weeks preparing for the big event and looking forward to seeing far-away family. Preparations may have dominated most of your free time lately, and now you're left with a "hole" in your schedule. And you may be feeling a bit lonely if loved ones have been here and now they're gone again.

So what to do? Personally, I take a little Feel5ive just to help me get back on track.Then I make myself busy with cleaning the house - because company always makes a bit of a mess.

Next, I get back to work. In addition to doing what must be done in the week between Christmas and the New Year, I take my "spare time" and set some goals for the coming year. Then I try to put them into a time schedule and write down some suggestions to myself about how I will accomplish them.

Planning for next year takes some focus and concentration, which means I don't have time to feel sorry that I can't keep my kids at home for the rest of their lives.

If your feelings are a little more extreme - as in true distress because you can't be with them and assuring yourself of their safety at all times - you might want to try the Bach Flower Essence Chicory.

First read about how Chicory can help you, then go to Feel Bach! to place your order.

Will You Stop Smoking in 2010?

Now's the time when we're thinking of New Year's resolutions - and thousands of us will decide that now is the time to stop smoking.

It's a very good idea - both for health and financial reasons - but of course it isn't easy. You might need a little help.

Chemical products flood the market, but if you have an aversion to pharmaceuticals and worry as much about their side effects as you do about smoking, I have good news - FeelBach! has a product to help you keep that resolution.

Stop Smoking is the Bach Flower Essences blend that will gently re-balance your energies and allow you to make the break.

A smoking addiction is more than just habit, and it's more than just a craving for nicotine. Smoking is very often a part of "who you are." You identify yourself as a smoker, and changing our own ideas of who we are can be a wrenching emotional experience.

Stop Smoking will help you overcome all three of these reasons why you smoke. And at only $7.95 per bottle - it's much more cost effective than a therapist!

Plan Ahead for Happy Pets this Holiday Season

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and all the other holidays can be stressful times for your pets.

You're busier than ever, possibly not giving them the attention they crave. You're also likely to be a little bit wound up from the extra tasks you've assigned yourself. Since pets do pick up on their human's anxieties, they may be upset just because you're becoming frazzled.

On top of that, two other stressful events can upset their lives:

*Too many strangers in the house, some of whom aren't very smart around pets, and

*Being displaced from home to either accompany you on a holiday visit or to be left in a kennel.

To get ready for these events, now is a good time to make sure you have two important pet remedies on your shelf: "Feel5ive for Pets," and "Home Alone."

The Feel5ive will help them remain calm while they deal with strangers and the hubub that occurs when the house is filled with extra people. It will also help them stay calm in the car while you're traveling.

To alleviate depression and anxiety if you're leaving your pets in a kennel, you need Home Alone. Start giving it a day or two before you leave, and give the kennel operators specific instructions to put it in your pet's water dish every day until you return.

Home Alone is also good to use if shopping and visiting are keeping you away from home for longer periods than normal during the day or evening. (If you have a dog or cat who always suffers from separation anxiety, this should be a part of his or her routine every day.)

FeelBach's other pet product - Thunder Storms - may also be needed, depending upon where you live. Some communities do like to shoot fireworks, especially for New Year's Eve. If your dog will panic when that happens, plan ahead with this Bach Flower Essence blend in the water dish all day.

At only $7.95 each, these products can assure your pets of a happy holiday season - and if you're a pet lover, you know what that's worth to you, as well as to them.

One more thing - don't forget about yourself!

Thanks to Dr. Bach, there's no reason for you to go through this holiday season under stress. Feel5ive may be all you need to stay calm, but if you have other old issues that mar the holidays, do take the FeelBach! questionnaire and get help.

Getting into the holiday spirit

Are you having a tough time this year getting into the spirit of the season?

I sure am - and it's all because of Mother Nature. We have no snow, and I never feel like it's Christmas unless I can see colored lights through a veil of falling snow.

Silly, isn't it?

But, in spite of that, we made the annual trek out into the forest today to find a tree. Now I just have to move furniture and do a little cleaning so it can come in the house. Then the smell of a a fir tree and the colored lights should do something to remind me of the season.

But what if you can't go cut a tree? I checked out the lot in town, and a 7' tree was $49 - plus tax. My guess is that in places farther from the tree farms, they cost even more. That makes it tough for families who have been hit by the economic crisis.

So, maybe they're using artificial trees. They're still spendy, but at least you only purchase them once.

The problem is, they have no aroma of pine or fir to stir the holiday spirit.

We had an email this week from someone who has written a great article on just what to do about that, and so decided to share it with you.

Bach Flower Essences can further your holiday spirit by allowing you to free yourself from hurtful emotional baggage, and then just enjoy the season, but if you need "tree scent" in a treeless home, check out this article.

Feel5ive to the Rescue!

Sometimes we forget the things we know, and that's what happened to me last night.

It was an annoying day. My computer had gone haywire AGAIN and I was trying to make-do with a laptop hooked up to my monitor, mouse and keyboard. That made for a mess around my desk. The cords for everything were in a tangled, confusing mess.

Before I took the computer for repairs earlier in the day I had printed out things I needed to save, so I had papers everywhere.

My office was not a soothing place to be.

I had a lot of work to do, but kept getting interrupted with phone calls that went on for far too long. That always leaves me feeling annoyed and frustrated, and last night it seemed compounded.

Add to that the fact that my big cat was picking on the little one. Every now and then one or both of them would land on the desk, scattering papers. When I chased them off they glared at me and sharpened their claws on the carpet.

Then the dogs joined the fray. They wanted to annoy the cats, except for when they wanted to go outside.

I was at that point where I wanted to either scream or break something. I was way too wound up and upset to do the work I needed to do - and that made me even more upset!

Then, all of a sudden, I remembered that I do have a bottle of Feel5ive in the cupboard upstairs.

An hour later I was back at my desk, actually working. I still wasn't pleased with the inconvenient set-up, but it was no longer turning me into an unpleasant person. And... when I quit being wound up, my dogs and cats settled down too. I guess their misbehavior was just a reflection of the mood I'd allowed myself to get into.

Thank goodness for Feel5ive!