The help must register with the neighborhood police station so that police men on the beat can periodically visit – this is not only a carry gesture. It is also a deterrent for bad elements.

On the main door, get a one – way peep hole (Or “magic eye”) fixed. Also, get a door security chain fixed so that one doest not open the door fully before identifying and speaking to the person on the other side. Picture identity systems can also be considered in which all visitors are visible on a screen inside a house.

Motivate your father to be friend neighbors. We can also keep an eye on him on a daily basis.

Encourage him to become a member of the area residential welfare society. Most such societies take a keen interest in taking care of senior citizens.

He should avoid getting unknown workmen or hoppers in the house, especially if alone.

Advice him to make an identity card of personal information to carry always with him. It should have emergency contact number, blood group, and details of any medication.

Urge him to brush up on technology – feed immediate relatives ‘and dependable friends’ members on the land line on the one touch dial system as well as on the cell phone. His personal doctor’s number is top priority.

Add six to eight drops of your favorite scent to water in a diffuser or place the drops directly into a bowl of boiling water.

Use lemon, lime, bergamot, or grape fruit for entrance halls.

Combine with uplifting lavender or calming geranium, depending on the time of day.

Give your linen cupboard a fresh fragrance by adding a few drops of essential oil to water in a spray bottle and spray on garments before ironing, create an air freshener by adding six to eight drops of oil of your choice to 600 ml water.

To rid a room of stale tobacco or cooking smells use cinnamon, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, orange, tea tree, Rose Mary or lime. Saturate wool balls and place in the corners of a room, in cupboards or hidden places throughout the house.

MOVEMENT

Enrich relationships and stir up stagnant qi with mobiles, wind chimes, flags, scarves, or incense smoke. Flowing water in the form of a fountain is also a good idea.

LIGHT

Use mirrors to deflect unsavory qi by pointing those outwards towards whatever is undesirable, like a factory outside. Lighten up dark areas or corners with soft lightning. Avoid too much of yin energy in the vicinity of your home, symbolize by churches, hospitals or cemeteries. Open windows often to ensure you don’t attract too much yin energy

SOUND

Harsh noises cause qi to become in harmonious and unsettled. Use wind chimes, belts, or even the gurgling sounds of water features to soothe the atmosphere. A ticking clock in harmonious music also adds to flowing qi.

THE BEDROOM

Places of calmness and tranquility bedrooms require earth objects to bring relaxation. Square shapes and pastel tones should be used. Try to avoid too many bright colors and busy patterns. Ensure the bed is always placed against a solid wall. This gives you a command of the room, position which is extremely important for a restful sleep. Never sleep with a bed placed in line with a door. If the room is too small and the bed cannot be moved make sure you sleep with the door closed.

Mirrors opposite the bed are also not advisable as they disrupt the energy flow, and pictures of water can cause insomnia and attract bad luck. If you can’t get rid of sharp edges pointing towards the bed cover them or place a plant in front of them.

THE KITCHEN

The kitchen is one of the most active areas in the house. This is where we cook our food to nourish our bodies. Bright colors should be used. Be careful not to keep the kitchen feeling too yin with colors of white and black and too much metal. Make sure you don’t place the fridge, washing machine or sink opposite your stove – the clash of fire and water could cause disagreements in the house.

THE BATHROOM

Always close the door and toilet lid to prevent the loss of qi and a possible opportunity. Lots of good lighting, ventilation and mirrors keep qi reflecting and moving throughout the room and the house. Dripping taps are a sign of wasting money. Another way to contract opportunity and prosperity from being flushed away is to keep a bowl of pebbles or a flower arrangement on a toilet tank or on a shelf above the toilet. This element of earth helps control the water.

THE LOUNGE

Reserved for relaxation, conversation, interaction and relationships, the lounge needs plenty of yang energy, which is symbolized by pendulum clocks, ceiling fans, plants and TV sets. Colors should be warm and round objects and streamline curves – shapes which symbolize action – are suitable. Photos and paints should be used extensively. If the view from your lounge has harsh lines or angles like a neighboring home or city skyline, break up the lines with large plants. Place furniture strategically apart to break opposing straight lines which will allow qi to follow gently and break up dead areas with larger items of furniture, plants or fish tanks.

Not sure if you need glasses? Try reading a car number plate from a distance of 20.5 meters – the legal requirement used in a driving test. If you struggle to make out the number, you may need specs.

A large waist could mean you are twelve times more likely to develop diabetes. Measure your middle between the top of your hip bone and the lowest rib, and after you have breathed out – no cheating! If your waist id eighty cm or larger for women or ninety four cm larger for men, you could be at risk. Trim your waist line with sensible diet and exercise plan.

Examine your moles

Research shows around three percent of all cancers are melanomas – moles or skin lesions that have become cancerous. Women tend to develop melanomas on their lower leg while men to tend to get them on their back. If you have a mole that changes shape or color starts itching or bleeding or looks inflamed make an appointment with your doctor immediately.

Check your BMI

Your BMI can tell you if you are over weight. To calculate yours divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters, squared. A healthy BMI is 18.5 to 25, anything over 30 is obese.

Do some press-ups

“Press-ups are a real gauge of strength and fitness”. If you can’t manage a full press up goes for box press-ups instead. Beginners should start with twenty box press-ups and gradually make them harder by leaning forward. Work up to three sets of 20 box press-ups.

Test your flexibility

Most people can touch their toes easily. Do five minutes of jogging or dancing to warm up first. St with your back against a wall, legs out straight and toes pointing upwards, then lean forward to touch your toes. Hold the stretch for ten seconds and measure how far you are from your toes. If you are miles off, you may have tight hand strings, which can trigger back pain. Regular exercise soon improves your flexibility.

When you choose colors for a room, you a key piece for inspiration, it could be any piece – a rug, cushions or curtains – that may have a pleasing color combination and gives you several colors to work with. Based on this, choose one color, as a base color that dominates; then a second, and a third as an accent color. If you have three strong colors, such as deep brown, deep blue and turquoise, for instance, use toned – down versions of the colors in accessories, such as cushions or rugs keeping the bulk of the décor in a neutral coffee or cream, and the wood a walnut brown.

When using two colors you could turn on into an accent color and reverse the accent color in another connected space. If you are not very good with colors avoid using blue, red, and yellow together – they are meant more for super hero, not your living space.

Choose colors keeping with the style, size, and structure of your home. A room in red and gold may look great in magazine, but may make an apartment look cramped. Cooler limes, lemons or terracotta can open the rooms up instead. Save strong colors such as magenta for seldom used spaces, such as the end of a corridor. The safest bet is to go with colors of the same “family”, next to each other on color wheel or with colors that lie on opposite sides of the wheel.

Aromatic candles, diffusers, or plain candles to which aromatic oil has been applied around the base of the wick oil rubbed on to a light bulb, or oil applied on a ceramic ring placed on top of a bulb, pot pourri or a simple earthen wear diya with oil – try al these to help keep your house smelling special. You can even dab a tissue with essential oil and insert it behind the grill of the AC to spread fragrance in the room. Incense is good for your bathroom.

Open your home to the rains, even though things may get damp – the first smell of the rains is like balm to a blistered soul. Install the mosquito proof mesh on your windows if that’s what keeps you off from opening your windows during rainy seasons.