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JAMU

'Back to nature' is not merely a slogan in Java and Indonesia. The visible proof is the use of traditional herbal medicine of various type of 'medical plants', either from the leaves, the fruits, the roots, the flowers or the barks, etc.

These herbal medicine had been used since the ancient time up to now, it is largely consumed by people of different level; lower, middle and upper, in the villages and in the big cities.

The study of jamu had been conducted by Rumphius, a botanist as early as the year 1775 AD by publishing a book 'Herbaria Amboinesis'. A scientific research for jamu by the research center of herbal medicine in Bogor Botanical Garden, resulting a publication of a book 'Medical Book for Children and Adults', composed by E. Van Bent.

The first seminar about jamu has been held in Solo in 1940, followed by a Formation of Indonesia's Jamu Committee in 1944. In the 1966, a seminar on jamu was held again. In 1981, a book by title of 'The use of Medical Plants' was established to support the jamu industry in the country.

The method of using the jamu remains the same as the ancestors did. Some are consumed by drinking it and some are for outside application.

At present one could buy easily ready made jamu packed modernly in the form of powder, pills, capsules, drinking liquid and ointments. Of course there are still jamu shops, which sell only ingredients or prepare the jamu on spot as required by buyers. Some women are roaming the street to sell jamu, is a common view across the country.

The traditional methods of making jamu such as by boiling the prepared herbal ingredients (jamu godok) still prevail in Javanese society. The popular traditional tools of making jamu are still available in many Javanese houses such as; Lumpang (small iron Mortar), pipisan, parut (grater), kuali (clay pot), etc.

What kind of disease could jamu cure?
The reply is almost every disease, jamu could cure. There are various kinds of jamu to combat different kind of illness. In Principle there are two types of jamu; the first is jamu to maintain physical fitness and health, the locally popular are Galian Singset (to keep women body fit and slim) and Sehat Lelaki (to keep men body healthy). The second is jamu to cure various kinds of illness. Except the above, there are special jamu created with the purpose to maintain a loving family harmony. The popular products among other are Sari Rapet, which makes a women sexual organ in a good condition, as for the man the matched product is jamu Kuat Lekaki (strong man). The Javanese are also taking a great care to pregnant women during pre and postnatal period by producing the related jamu. There are also jamu for the babies.

The Herbs for Jamu
There are hundreds of herbs for jamu prescriptions, among other are:

Spices
Ginger (Zingiber Officinale)
Lempuyang (Zingiber Oronaticum)
Temu Lawak/ Wild Ginger (Curcuma Cautkeridza)
Kunyit/ Tumeric (Curcuma Domestica)
Kencur/ Greater Galingale (Kaemferi Galanga)
Lengkuas/ Ginger Plant (Elpina Galanga)
Bengle (Zingiber Bevifalium)

Leaves
Secang (Caesalpinia Sappan Hinn)
Sambang Dara (Rexco Ecaria Bicolar Hassk)
Brotowali (Tiospora Rumpii Boerl)
Adas (Foeniculum Vulgare Mill)

Fruits
Jeruk Nipis/ Calamondin (Citrae Aurantifalia Sivingle)
Ceplukan (Physalic Angulata Him)
Nyamplung (Calophylum Inaphyllu)

Barks
Kayu Manis/ Cinamon (Gijeyzahyza Glabra)

Flowers
Melati/ Yasmin (Jataninum Sunbac Ait)
Rumput Alang-alang (Gramineae)

It is worth to note that some jamu factories in Java are exporting its products. Besides the export of ready made jamu, 25 kinds of herbal plants and ingredients are also in the list of export to Europe, Australia, USA, Japan, etc.

No Side Effects
The people like to consume jamu due to :

* Availability in many places
* Comparatively cheap price
* No side effects



TRADITIONAL COSMETICS

The Natural Beauty of Woman
A Javanese woman is very much concern for her physical appearance to be always slim, beautiful with an alluring bright smiling face.

As a Javanese idiom says "Ngadi Sarira" to maintain the body to be always in perfect condition is of prime important. The way of life of a Javanese is greatly influenced by the royal culture. Not surprisingly that the art of "Keeping Beauty' is originated from the court palaces.

The Secret of a Princess Beauty
The Ladies of the Royal Families have a reputation to inherit the beauty of goddesses from paradise.

As told in the story of wayang (leather puppet) by the dalang (puppet master) , all parts of a princess body is always perfect and alluring: the beautiful black thick hair, a smooth skin, bright eyes, charming eye brows, eye lids and nose, bright reddish lips, white nicely teeth, wonderful built neck and shoulder, beautiful hands and arms, a waist like the one of a bee meanings slim and perfectly built.

The dalang with a clear deep voice, like in the poem reading adores the beauty of a princess with a thousands of words. It seems that all words of a complete dictionary are not enough to express of what a wonderful beauty a princess has.

The use of Traditional Jamu and Cosmetics
Nowadays, some secrets of this Karaton (Palaces) culture of "Ngadi Sarira" are known by many women from outside the Karaton walls. The Jamu is widely used to give an inner beauty, due to a good physical health.

Some of the products are consumed directly by eating it, for instance Kepel Fruit (a brown fruit of a chicken egg size), it's a natural deodorant. By eating it that would fragrant the odor of the body even the urine smells the fragrance of that fruit.

Jambu Mawar ( a kind of rose apple, mawar means a flower of rose) gives a fresh smell of breath. Some cosmetics are for outside application such as bedak dingin (cool powder) and lulur (scrubbing powder).

Beauty Care
Every woman is always proud of her hair – thick and shining, color and style. For natural shampooing, the ash of rice stalks work as a shampoo to clean the hair. After being washed by water, ingredients consist of
coconut milk, jeruk purut (a kind of citrus fruit smells like a lime ) and pandanus leaves are to be applied. It functions as a conditioner to clean the dandruff. The hair then washed by water again, to be dried while vaporizing with ratus fragrance.

Finally, a hair oil by the name of cemceman, made of coconut oil with pandanus , kenanga flower, jeruk purut etc. is applied.

Skin Care
For face caring, bedak dingin (cool powder) is applied. It's made from tendered rice with special ingredients, such as pandanus, kenanga flower etc.

For other parts of the body, lulur is applied, popularly known as mandi lulur (lulur bathing).

Lulur is also made from tendered rice, pandanus, some leaves of kemuning (with yellow color) and some medicinal roots. The lulur should stimulate the body to throw out the dead cells, replace it with new ones, stimulate blood circulation under the skin, smooth the skin and at the same time scents it.

Steaming the body
Steams of several boiled herbs are applied to ensure body freshness, including the woman organ. The steaming took about a ½ hour.

Producers
Besides the traditional cosmetics made by hand, in the country there are some big and well known manufactures of cosmetics, using modern machinery. These products are used widely across the country, even this cosmetics have been exported to many countries of the world.

(Suryo S. Negoro joglosemar)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
History of Meditation

Meditation has been around in recorded history for thousands of years. The history of Meditation dates all the way back to ancient times. There has been proof found in Indian artifacts of the history of meditation called, “Tantra,” that speaks of such practices, dating back 5000 years. Researchers suggest that primitive hunting and gathering societies may have been the ones to have discovered meditation and its many different states of consciousness while gazing into the flames of their fires. The history of Meditation has evolved over thousands of years, into a structured practice that people use daily.

One of the biggest proponents in the history of meditation is the Buddha. The Buddha is also known as one of the biggest meditation icons in both current and times past and has been around since 500 B.C.. The teaching of the Buddha became popular in the Asian continent. According to the history of meditation other separate countries and cultures soon adopted many different forms of meditation creating their own special ways of practicing it. Some of the most popularly used forms today are the Buddhist and Hindu-based Easter-style meditation.

After meditation hit the East, it took thousands of years for it to spread to Western societies. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century when it finally started to gain popularity in the West. Many researchers and professors in the 1960's and 1970s, learned of the multitude of benefits that meditation had to offer as they began testing the effects of it.

Meditation is a practice that helps people achieve balance both mentally and physically as well as emotionally. It is even used to treat depression, stress and anxiety. The deep rest that a person achieves through meditation can rid him or her of stress and enables that person to make better choices by allowing them to think more clearly. There have been reports of higher self esteem in people who meditate.
People have even used this practice in the deliberation, to help them quit smoking and to put a stop to alcohol and drug addictions. A person can even reduce blood pressure and greatly lower the symptoms of menopause and premenstrual syndrome. Meditation also helps to lower ones heart rate and blood pressure by slowing down ones breathing which lowers the amount of oxygen needed for the body. The thought process allows the mind and muscles to gently relax.

The history of Meditation has proven that this practice of the mind and body can help a person in a multitude of ways. You can practice this in the comfort of your own home or become involved in a local meditation group. No matter how you choose to incorporate meditation into your life style you will be sure to discover a fountain of benefits.

source articles http://www.project-meditation.org
Learning how to manage your stress is an essential element to managing your entire life. There will be things that will cause you to feel stressed and how you get over these things will determine whether or not you lead a quality life. For some people, they turn to drugs or alcohol. And when they do, their entire lives become a mess. Instead, you can learn how to effectively manage your stress and you will be able to manage your entire life without having to lose anything.

Make the decision now to do what you need to in order to make your life really work. Instead of focusing on whatever problems that you may have and feeling like life is overwhelming you, focus on the possible solutions that there are and feel the comfort of knowing that you will be able to overcome them.

LIFE IS MEANT TO BE ENJOYED, SO ENJOY IT!

Life is meant for us to experience joy and happiness and love. We do not have to focus all of our attention on those things that makes us feel bad or feel overwhelmed. Instead, we can look at all of the good things that we have in our lives and know that any problem that may arise will not defeat us in any way.

When you feel stressed out or like you are just focused on what is bad, change that. Make a conscious decision to not feel that way and instead feel good about yourself and your life.

Learn how to attract love, money, or happiness or all three in YOUR LIFE NOW! Go to http://www.successfulfather.com and SIGN up for the FREE newsletter and BOOKMARK the site and return as often as you can! You can attract the life that you truly desire! All you have to do is learn HOW!

Law of Attraction Secrets

Bryan Appleton is an investor/entrepreneuer who has dedicated himself to teaching others how to achieve their dream life. He is also a proud single father with one son. You can publish this article as long as you leave it intact and in full as well as keeping the url link clickable.

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