Skin Cancer Are You at High Risk For Skin Cancer

By: James S Pendergraft


If you have been reading newspaper or listening to news regularly over the past few years, you should have come across several warnings telling us to protect ourselves from skin cancer. Whilst there are many who do pay attention to these cautions, a shocking count of women still ignores them. If you are amongst those women that ignore these warnings, you are likely to think that it's impossible for you to get affected by skin cancer. Again, you might feel it to be no harm, if you miss applying sun tan lotion while moving out.

Skin cancer is not a rare phenomenon, as people consider it to be. Whilst it's true that staying unprotected in the sun for short duration seldom leads to cancer, you might still face its wrath. Most women get affected with skin cancer after exposing themselves to the sun for a long period of time. As a matter of fact, almost 75% of women diagnosed with it every year have a history of constant sun exposure. Although cancer might occur after severe sunburns, it usually results for many years in the sun.

Do you stay long in an open environment for long periods and get frequently bathed by sun without having any protection on your skin? If you do, then are you at high risk for skin cancer? Again, is there any spot on your skin, which has been bothering you for long? Can it be cancerous? If you even have a feeling that the spot can be cancerous, you should immediately schedule a visit with your doctor!

Definite diagnosis can only be made once a biopsy is performed.

Over 99 percent of women, who are diagnosed with cancer on their skin, have:

Basal cell skin cancer: Women developing these sores find that a pimple or a scab grows on their skin, bleeds or drains, and then scabs again. This cycle is seen to continue repeatedly and has been found tough to heal completely.

Squamous skin cancer: It looks similar to basal carcinomas. They also appear rough and have scaly patches on the skin, which do not disappear.

These 2 cancer types usually appear in nose and similar other regions of the skin, which frequently receives direct rays from the sun. Skin of your nose is very much tender, and can be at high risk for non-melanoma cancer. Both basal cell and squamous skin cancer are treatable, if you choose to remove them surgically.

Usually, women develop non-melanoma cancers on their nose or face. However, sometimes melanoma occurs on their face too. Such cancer types spread rapidly and can be deadly, if it stays undetected and untreated in its initial stages. Sometimes, it's difficult to differentiate the two types. This is the reason why you should see a doctor, whenever you notice something wrong with your skin.

If you have a belief that you are at high risks of skin cancer, you should immediately schedule appointments with your doctor. Skin cancers can be successfully treated, if they are caught in their initial stages.

Your life might totally depend on the early detection & diagnosis of a bothersome sore on the skin. So don't even think about delaying!

Women's Abortions Clinic Dr. James S. Pendergraft opened the Orlando Women's Center in March 1996 to provide a full range of health care for women, including abortions, physical examinations, family planning, counseling, laboratory services and sexually transmitted disease screening and counseling. Women's Abortions Clinic

Breathe Your Way Towards Healthier Life - 5 Simple Steps of Tai Chi Breathing

“I don’t have the time to exercise!”

“I am busy! How can I spend 10 or 15 minutes to just sit there, closing my eyes and meditate?”

“I don’t have the room to do this!”

“I can’t stretch like that!”

“At that specific time, I’m not available!”

Do all the above sound familiar to most people who want to stay healthier but could not do so due to a number of reasons? The list can go on endless…

“How nice if I can get to do something easily – at anytime and anywhere, and stay healthy!”

Yes – now you can!

Huh? How?

By just changing the way you breathe, that’s all!

“Kidding me???”

No, I’m serious!

Most of us, in fact 98% of North Americans do not breathe correctly. Friends, co-workers, students, clients and vendors I came to know around me do not breathe correctly. Some of my friends I keep contact with through the Internet know how to breathe correctly but do not do so.

There are two reasons why they do not do so. First, they do not know the correct breathing methods. Secondly, they know but do not know how to learn and practice so that it becomes a habit. I would like to share in this article on how to solve these two reasons so that you too can breathe your way to healthier life and well-being, easily at anytime and anywhere.

First of all, let me explain what are not the correct breathing methods then only move on to the correct method. Most people breathe using the chest or the upper diaphragm. Worst still if they breathe through the mouth. Breathing in this way will result in shorter, shallower and coarser breath.

Shorter, shallower and coarser breath does not allow the air to go in deep enough to oxidize the cells in the lungs. This of course results in lesser oxygen intake into the blood systems. Breathing through the mouth will let unwanted elements in the air to go into our blood systems. Mouth breathing is one of the reasons that cause you to snore in your sleep.

Even if you are tired or gasping for air after strenuous sports or activities, try to breathe through the nose, except when you are swimming.

The correct breathing pattern is long, deep and in smaller flows. Long breath allows more time for the lung cells to be oxidize and send more oxygen into the blood system. This increase the metabolism rate, and increase blood circulation throughout your mind and body.

I believe most of you know what deep breathing is about, and I’m sure some of you have done this. Felt better each time you did deep breathing? Of course, you did. I will explain this from the Chinese point of view why deep breathing is good.

In meditation practice, martial arts or qigong practice, one of the requirements to make these practices effective is to “Sink the Qi into the Dantian”. Qi here means vital energy, and in the same time – air. Dantian is the acupuncture point (acu-point) at 1-2 inches below the navel which gathers the vital energy Qi for our body.

Sinking the Qi into the Dantian – can be achieved through long and deep breathing. With more vital energy coming into your body, your energy level will increase, and you will have a healthier and clearer energy body.

Breathing should be done in smaller flows. This will result in a calm and relaxed disposition and composure.

How to achieve all this?

The secret to long and deep breathing, with smaller flows is to breath with your abdomen or lower diaphragm. This is called Abdominal Breathing.

Abdominal Breathing is the key areas taught by most instructors, whether they are Tai Chi Chuan instructors, martial arts shifu, Qigong master, Yoga guru or meditation masters. From my experience in energy healing – my master emphasizes on abdominal breathing during healing session and energy meditation!

Unfortunately, some people took abdominal breathing lightly. Sad to say, some don’t even bother to learn and practice. Understandably, they have been breathing using the chest over the past… what, 10 years, 20 years 30 years? It has become their habit. So, if you want to change your breathing pattern overnight and make it a habit, you need to put in the effort to do so.

This comes to the second reason as to why people do not breathe correctly despite of knowing the technique.

First of all, I came to know that most instructor tell their students about abdominal breathing. Some showed them how to do it. But the students have to consciously doing it, and in the same time focus on the movements, motions, postures, steps etc and etc and soon before that, their forgot about their abdominal breathing!

Most of them focus on the form, not on the essence! I have a Tai Chi friend from New Zealand who shared with me that his friends do Tai Chi, but do not feel Tai Chi. Breathing forms the essential parts of the practice and for you to understand and ‘feel’ the flow of Tai Chi.

Secondly, I came to know friends who tried to practice abdominal breathing, and they got confused and breathless – don’t know which is which: the chest or the abdomen! They gave up instantly.

Thirdly, I myself took almost 2 years of conscious and constant practice to make it a habit! Now, I’m doing it unconsciously – as a habit! Thus, to consciously doing it is easy. To make it a habit takes time and effort. That’s why most give up after that!

So, how to make it a habit?

Based on Tai Chi Chuan’s healing and breathing system, plus my 23 years of experience in various meditation forms, martial arts and Tai Chi Chuan, I derived a 5-Step Systems which I call as Tai Chi Breathing to help my friends to ‘habitualize’ abdominal breathing. The 5-Steps are:

• Step 1: Connect the channels with the tongue touching the upper palate.
• Step 2: Abdominal breathing by using the lower abdomen.
• Step 3: Use the nose to breathe, with the mouth tightly closed
• Step 4: Breathe deeply, with long, slow and with tiny flows of inhaling and exhaling.
• Step 5: Maintain the slow and constant breathing rhythm.

These 5 steps each consists its background and reasons, and I designed many exercises and practices for each of the steps specifically for you to master each of the steps, towards making it your breathing habit.

These steps look easy, but they require exercises and constant practice in order to make it a habit. I have friends e-mailing to me saying that how these steps helped them to keep focus and conscious effort to make abdominal breathing a habit in their life. One of them told me that he stopped smoking because of this!

Where can you get these exercises and practices. Go to my website under my name or author profile to find out more.

Till then, I wish you with great health, great joy and happiness. And may you breathe your way to a better life!

May the Energy of Tai Chi be with you! :)

***** Copyright (C), 2005 C. Guan Soo *****

You are free to distribute or publish this article provided you do not change any of the content, and/or delete my name and URL from the article. Thank you!

Written by,
C. Guan Soo
Tai Chi Chuan Practitioner

C. Guan Soo is a Tai Chi Chuan practitioner who has 23 years experience in various meditation forms, martial arts, healing, charka healing and meditation as well. He is a keen learner of eastern philosophies including I-Ching, Daoism, Buddhism, Veda’s and Jainism. You can find more details about the breathing techniques on his website: http://www.TaichiBreathing.com