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Personal Development Worksheets are not developed for sitting on the shelves and getting dusty.

No. Certainly not.

And you cant properly gauge how many youll need to work through in order to shift and squeeze some of those old patterns of thoughts and behaviours into a new dimension.

So, where do you begin?

At the top. Definitely begin at the top of the list. But its perfectly okay to pick or choose a personal development worksheet halfway in the middle of the choices too. Its really up to you.

You could even refer to them as PERSONAL GROWTH WORKSHEETS or LIFE COACH WORKSHEETS. The name you call them is irrelevant to their purposewhich is personal development self-growth improving your life and all that juicy goodness.

When youre ready for an extreme personal makeover dive right into these free personal development worksheets. If you find yourself seeking the answer to the question: What is Personal Development? follow the link through.

And did you know? we have a BOOK with tonnes more PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES!You can purchase the book here (This link will take you to createspace for purchase).

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Have you ever wondered how you can increase your motivation to complete something? There are many different ways of increasing your motivational levels, but the most important thing to realise about motivation is that it fluctuates. It changes from situation to situation and from person to person. The best thing is to become aware of what really motivates you to achieving. The first place we start with is to identify your values because what you value most is what you are naturally motivated towards.

Download this personal development worksheet on How to Increase Your Motivation.

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Creative Responses to Difficult Times

Different situations/times appear in our lives and sometimes they can be difficult. An important part of personal development is to view the situation from different perspectives. When you become self-aware of how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your life you can then choose to expand your mindset to including new possibilities and creative responses. In order to cope well with difficult situations/times you need to build up a variety of different tools and techniques to manage them well. Answer the following questions to help expand your mindset and gain a different perspective.

Download the Creative Responses to Difficult Times Worksheet here.

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Self-Awareness Worksheet *NEW*

Self-awareness is the first step in making dynamic and positive changes in your life. Take some time to get to know your overall circumstances including your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. Use this free personal development worksheet to evaluate and check-in with how you feel on the following scales. And then I highly recommend using the Thought Awareness Worksheet and the Identifying Values worksheet to help explore more aspects of who you are.

Download the Self-Awareness Worksheet Here.

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How to Build Confidence **NEW!**

How to Build Confidence Personal Development Worksheet.

Have you ever wondered how you can increase your confidence? Well, look no further youre in the right spot. Dive right into Confidence Boosting 101 by following this link and then incorporating this free personal development worksheet to evaluate your current confident levels. After that youll find confidence boosting tips on the link above. Our confidence levels are constantly fluctuating so its a good idea to maintain an active awareness about confidence and change your thoughts and activities to increase confidence.

Download the How to Build Confidence Worksheet Here.

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Life Satisfaction

Before you begin to develop your Personal Development Plan How satisfied are you in life?

Lets start with this engaging personal development worksheet which encourages you to explore your level of satisfaction in life. How happy are you with your life right now? What would you like to improve?

Take a moment to evaluate your overall life perspective with this handy Life Satisfaction Worksheet.

Download the LIFE SATISFACTION worksheet here

This worksheet is particularly helpful if you are just beginning on your personal development journey and are unsure of what areas you would like to improve.

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Personal Development Worksheets on Managing Stress

In healthy doses stress can motivate us to achieve, but too much stress is detrimental to our health. There are many situations and events in life that can overburden us, but how can we begin to understand the stressors that weigh us down? In these personal development worksheets you will explore stress and with this knowledge you can gain balance in your life so you can achieve the success you desire.

Download the Stressful Mindsets Worksheet by Clicking Here

Download the Personal Development Worksheet Stress Diary

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Time Management Worksheet

Its not possible to manage time because time doesnt actually exist. It IS possible to organise your daily activities and make better use of the time thats available during the day. A good time management plan reduces stress and enhances productivity and efficiency.

Good time management is essential for success at school, work, with your family and in your business. This handy time management worksheet will help you organise your time and plan your day to be more productive and efficient.

Download the 3 Page Time Management Worksheet by Clicking Here.

Identify Your Values

You have a set of personal values that motivate you towards a certain mission in life. Your values, are what you believe are important, in the way you live. Values can range from family traditions, to more everyday values in work situations such as punctuality and reliability, and then there are personal values that are psychological such as self respect, kindness towards others and having a life purpose.

If your life focus is different than your core values you will feel dissatisfied and frustrated. Its important to ensure that your values determine your priorities.

Download the FREE Personal Development Worksheet on Identifying Values by Wyld Woman Coaching

Thoughts for Success

The ability to be consciously aware of your thoughts is an important tool in your personal development plan. In fact, you can not successfully transform your life without being aware of the thought patterns in your mind. Become more intimately of yourself by delving deep into your thoughts with this 10 PAGE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHEET.

Thought awareness is an essential personal development tool to improve your life. Inside your mind and your thoughts are the keys to whats hindering your success as well as what you can change in order to put your life back on track.

Positive thinking is an important tool for creating success in life, relationships and business.

Download the Thought Awareness Worksheet by Clicking Here.

Personal Development Worksheet on Goals and Dreams

What are your goals and dreams? What do you really want in life? This free personal development worksheet will take you on the next level of exploring what you are passionate about, where you can see yourself in ten years time and the level of income you desire.

Defining what you want is absolutely necessary. If you do not have a clear idea of what you wont be able to develop a successful action plan that aims towards your goals. Use this PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHEET on GOALS AND DREAMS to explore what it is you truly want.

Download the Personal Development Worksheet on Goals and Dreams

Develop an Action Plan for Success

Once youve identified where you are at and where you can to go its time to develop a plan of action so that all your behaviours are aligned at creating your goals.

In order to reach your goals what behaviours will you STOP, MINIMISE, KEEP DOING, do MORE of and which will you START?

Download the Action Plan Worksheet by Clicking Here.

If you enjoyed working with these worksheets youll love the BOOK!BUY THE ULTIMATE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT BOOKtoday!

The Ultimate Personal Development Workbook reveals valuable tools and techniques for you to consciously steer your life in the direction you want to go. As you actively involve yourself in these successful strategies youll uncover truths about yourself, identify personal tools in your toolbox and realise your full potential for creating a life you love.

With these dynamic personal development activities youll be fully active as a conscious creator of your life instead of feeling stuck or frustrated. You will:

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Personal Development Worksheets FREE

Everything that self hypnosis and hypnotherapy helps people with can be thought of as personal development.Conquering a habitorovercoming a phobiawill certainly enhance the quality of your life, after all. However, the sort of personal development we are talking about here is a more active and positive process of self-improvement. It is about achieving the things you do want, rather than getting rid of the things you dont want.

Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state of mind. Modern research has closely identified it with the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) state, most often associated with dreaming sleep. Interestingly, the time when we experience most REM is in the womb, suggesting that it is involved in laying down the essential templates that shape our behavior throughout our lives.

Self hypnosis, then, is a way of accessing this state of mind to lay down new and more helpful patterns of behavior. This is done throughdirect communication with the subconscious, the part of your mind that controls all of your habits and behaviors. Its the part of your mind that is always in charge. This is why you can change your behavior consciously for a while, but sooner or later your subconscious will reassert itself and those old and less effective habits will creep back in.

However, by updating the subconscious with new information, and through vivid mental rehearsal, it is possible to achieve profound and permanent change for the better. Once the subconscious has accepted this new information, self-improvement becomes a habit, something that you do almost automatically. Self hypnosis does this by bypassingthe critical conscious mindand delivering positive suggestions straight to the part of your mind that will make them a reality.

Change is not only possible, its inevitable! Many people feel that they are stuck with their current mindset and that their capacity for self-improvement has somehow been predetermined, as if it was fixed at birth like your eye colour. This is simply not true. Our skills, abilities and attitudes are constantly developing in response to our experience, just as our experiences are very often shaped by our skills, abilities and attitudes. It is a dynamic process.

On a physical level, it is now known that our brains lay down new pathways and make new connections according to our experience, literally changing its structure. This is something which happens throughout our lives. Self hypnosis is simply a way of taking control of this process and making it work for you.

Having said that, its also important to realize that were talking about changes in behavior and emotional reaction here, not fundamental changes in your personality. Hypnosis is not brainwashing, so you will still be you, only better!

Self improvement of all varieties is based on a core set of principles and skills. Our personal development self hypnosis CD's and MP3 downloads can help you to take control of your emotions, enabling you to act according to your intention, instead of just reacting to emotional triggers. They can help you to improve your attention span and your ability to relax, which in turn will improve your ability to think clearly and creatively, to set goals and solve problems. Our self hypnosis recordings can also help you to develop the resilience and motivation that is often necessary if youre going to meet your personal development goals.

Thehypnotic techniques and suggestionsused in our products are based on solid research into the best ways to achieve healthy levels of self-improvement. They put you firmly back in control of your own personal development, helping you to set and achieve your own goals.

Its important to stress that hypnosis is not magic, and its certainly not a miracle cure that will instantly solve everybodys problems! All personal development requires work and commitment. Just like any life skill, it requires practice. What hypnosis can do is improve the quality of your practice, setting your mind in the right direction and removing some of the unnecessary emotional baggage or limiting beliefs that can otherwise interfere with your quest for self-improvement.

Face to face hypnotherapy has many obvious advantages, not least the fact that it will be tailored to you as an individual. But hypnosis recordings can be very powerful and effective too, especially in the field of personal development. You can listen to our self hypnosis CD's and MP3 downloads as often as you need to, embedding these positive messages of self-improvement at the deepest levels of consciousness, where real and lasting change takes place.

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Personal Development | SelfHypnosis.com

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. ~ Carl Gustav Jung

Yesterday I was at a birthday party of one of my best friends, who just turned 30. One of the guests asked me what I currently do, so I told him Im building something in Personal Development

which earned me a blank stare from him! As the seconds ran by I could literally see him articulating the question: What is Personal Development?

So I was trying to find common ground by telling him Personal Development is a bit like Self-Help, but more proactive from my perspective. Just like Self-Improvement, which he had an understanding for. The fact that he obviously was lacking some real personal development of his own, got me into elaborating on the topic more and more, earning more and more interest from him

Personal Development is theconscious pursuit of personal growth by expanding self-awareness and knowledge and improving personal skills.[Tweet this!]

Those skills include my mind, my body, my spirit as well as my level of success in all areas of life, however I may define that. The ultimate goal of Personal Development for me is to be a self-realized human being. That means living consciously at my full potential and reaching real happiness in my life.

By progression I mean that there are essential steps to take when starting out with Personal Development. I believe thatin the process of personal growththere are specific milestones to reach, and that without tackling these, personal growth is not really possible or at least not complete.

Maybe you are still not convinced that Personal Development is for you and you may still ask Why? The reason is simple:

Life is just better when we have done work on ourselves.[Tweet this!]

And that includes our mental, physical, emotional, social and financial life. I think its fair to say:

Personal Development makes you happy.[Tweet this!]

You cant really argue with that goal

So how can you get started on your own journey of personal growth. Or if you have already started to consciously follow personal development, how can you get to the next level? During my now over 10 years work on that topic, I identified several of those milestones mentioned above.

There is the basic motivation to improve yourself. Its either coming from inspiration and you are looking to get better than you already are, or it comes out of desperation: something unpleasant challenges you to grow. For instance, what brought you here today?

One of the first things you need is something I would sum up as acceptance. Acceptance means to see your life / your situation as it really is and accept that. Stoprationalizing things you are truly unhappy about and tell yourself the truth. That may also mean you have to look at areas of your life where it really can be painful to accept the status quo. If you connect to the truth you have laid the most important basis to really grow.You have to know where you stand. From there you can move forward. Without that its just not working. Period.

I think the most essential things in Personal Development deal with how you look at the world and how you see yourself in the world, which then determines how you act in the world. Are you a victim or a winner? Do you see yourself as self-confident or not? Are you in control or not? Are you successful? Are you happy or not, and in what parts of your life.

Much of it is about making the unconscious conscious. Thats what this blog is really all about (and then to do the work). Its always the first part to become conscious of how we really work on the inside. Only then we can get control over it. For instance the idea from above of telling yourself the truth, acceptance, is just the same: to make the unconscious reality, that we may haveignoredbefore, conscious. Just that we can make progress now, while before it wasnt even on our radar in was just unconscious.

In psychology this is calledthe four stages of competence:

Quote from Wikipedia:

Makes sense. And in Personal Development we are talking about this process for our whole personality.During this process we make unconscious beliefs that limit us conscious (see my articleHow to Change Self-Limiting Beliefs). We take responsibility for ourselves and stop pointing to others for results that we are responsible for. (see Take Responsibility in Your Life). This moves us back to power again, since we are the one in the driving seat. We are response-able, which enables us to dream again, set a life-vision and set some exciting new goals for our life (see The Fastest Way to Set Motivating Goals).

We learn to get more energy (see How to Increase Your Energy) and how to use it intelligently. We get more self-awareness and improve our mental focus (see How to Develop a Laser-Sharp Mental Focus). We develop a personal development plan that will guide us to where we really want to go.

There are a lot of more things to improve in our own personal growth. But with those mentioned tackled, I think we start to lay a strong the foundation for Personal Development.

So, next time someone asks me What is Personal Development? I may just give him a link to this post.

And coming back to the question, what would you have said?What is Personal Development for yourself?

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What is Personal Development? - myrkothum.com

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now. Alan Lakein

Standing at the top of Mariners Ridge, I looked out at the sun setting across the ocean with a feeling of complete success and satisfaction.

Why you may ask? Because after spinning my wheels and wasting my time for years, I had finally cracked how to get my life together once and for alland success in my career, building my health and body, and even deepening relationships with friends and family finally was no longer just something I desiredbut were goals I had accomplished step-by-step.

It was there, feeling like I was standing on top of the world that I realized a few of the great lessons in my life.

First, that my life and time was precious, and I had to make the most out of every moment.

Second, that the solution to making the most of my life was having a clear plan and direction, so you make the most of every moment.

My heart filled with gratitude, as I realized how fortunate I was that a mentor had shared the secret of creating a personal development plan with me, and that I had been able to use this powerful tool and template to completely shape every aspect of my life.

If you want to follow along, download this (PDF)

If you dont know where you want to get to, it doesnt matter which way you go.

When you learn how to write your personal development plan, youll learn how to structure your thoughts as well.

When that happens, you will be amazed at the way your brain will subconsciously focus on what you want.

Because, frankly, it works. When you write down your plan youll get:

Lets break it down into exactly what goes into it

The personal development plan answers 3 questionsand has the exact structure that I learned from mentors and tweaked

Thats it.

Ok, we discussed the sections that go into a planwouldnt it be nice to see what it actually looks like?

Your Life Purpose, Your Dreams and Your Beliefs and Values those all go on blank pages, one page at a time. I like to write them our bullet style

For the goal sheet though, I like to have a matrix to help me see exactly where Im headed.

I like to go ten years out, but three or gives years is great too.

A typicaldownload this (PDF)for goals lookslike this:

For each box, answer these questions:

Grab your copy of this printable (PDF)for goalsand get started

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How to Write A Personal Development Plan For Your Career ...

Indigo represents intuition, perception, integrity, vision and service to humanity. It is the colour of wisdom, inner awareness, symbolic of the higher mind.It is representative of all that happens within and around us.

Indigo Views core focus centres on the development, education and enlightenment of people, without whom no change is possible. Human beings, their complexity and their development are at the core of everything that we do. Where there are people, there are skills to be taught, personal transformation to be experienced and an audience to be captivated!

The world and its people are evolving, changing and growing into new directions previously unimagined. How we live, do business, engage with others (personally and professionally) as well as the relationship we have with ourselves has taken centre stage.The world is changing faster than we realise!

Whatever our clients require, they are sure to get itand then some!Have a look at our website.Youre bound to find something that speaks to you and we will be very happy to address whatever needs you might have.

Steven has directed, coached, mentored and guided literally hundreds of students and professionals in the Performing Arts over the last fifteen years. He has also worked with corporate clients looking to develop in areas of self-improvement, awareness and personal growth. Wanting to expand these skills, he became a qualified Evolved NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) Life Coach, Time Paradigm Techniques Practitioner, Evolved Coach, Stress Biofeedback Practitioner, Evolved NLP Practitioner and Evolved NLP Coach and Evolved Hypnotherapist.

Indigo View is the bringing together of two worlds, both of which are key forces in Stevens passion: the creative world of performance as well as the developmental and philanthropic effects of business and personal coaching. No two people are the same and we all need to be with, work with, and have our paths understood by someone who understands that, says Feinstein. I feel that there is no separation between the creative or artistic benefits of the world of acting and the skills development or communications training of individuals and groups within the business sectors. Both worlds involve people and both worlds are, if aimed in the right direction, interested in bringing about change.

Acting and Vocal CoachCorporate Communications Facilitator and TrainerProducer, Theatre Director and Events ManagerNLP Life Coach

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Personal Development Coach | Johannesburg | Gauteng ...

What Is Personal Development?

Personal development is the process of assessing your skills and qualities, considering personal aims, and setting goals to lead a fulfilling life. This is a lifelong process, and there are many books, programs, and plans to guide someone who wants to improve the quality of his or her life through positive action.

What Are Some Practical Steps for Personal Development?

Personal development is about self-actualization, identifying life goals, and then becoming everything you are capable of becoming. Something as simple as organizing time more effectively is a big help, as it makes it possible to pursue other activities that are enjoyable and fulfilling, such as spending time with family or devoting more time to education. Managing time involves delegating workloads and making lists of things to do. Learning new skills also aids in development as a person.

How Does Learning a Skill Aid Personal Development?

Learning a new skill opens up new opportunities, such as the chance to apply for a better or more fulfilling job. Additionally, a wider knowledge base improves self-confidence, keeps the mind agile and alert, and stifles boredom. There are many reasons why someone may choose not to learn new skills, so part of the self-development process is seeking ways to overcome such obstacles. For example, many people may feel they do not have the economic freedom to pursue a new skill, but there are many ways to learn inexpensively, including purchasing used books and DVD learning aids from online sellers at low prices, and offering to do voluntary work in exchange for the chance to learn and develop required skills. One of the biggest barriers, particularly for adults with children, is finding time to learn something new. This is why time management is an essential part of any personal development strategy.

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Personal Development Products for sale | eBay

Fulfilling Your Dreams

Counseling is often thought of as a form of repair work applied to deal with something wrong. Few people recognize the potential person-centered counseling offers to improve your life, even when your life isnt broken. Whether your goals have to do with your education, your career, your relationships, or your sense of stability and control in your life, counseling can provide both guidance and support.

While counseling can certainly help resolve a range of serious problems in peoples lives, it may serve most effectively as a way of empowering yourself to become the person you dream of. If you feel youre not focused, that you self-sabotage, that youre not reaching out for a bigger, better life; the many forms of personal growth counseling could be just what youre looking for.

Going into counseling to improve your life skills can be a matter of simple training in technique, or it can be a matter of profound self-examination. Which you become involved in will depend on your goals, your personality, and more. Much counseling aimed at personal development goals can be less involved and intensive, because many counselors in this area are focused on practical changes in behavior and self-presentation.

Life coaches come in all forms and styles. Often a blend of career counselor, surrogate mom helping you sort your life into shape, and cheerleader, life coaches focus on finding the bits of your life that arent working quite right, the parts that are, and trying to improve the first while expanding on the second. Life coach counseling is focused primarily on where you want to go in your life. Goals are set, plans laid out, skills worked on. Some degree of self-examination is involved, but in a very goal-oriented, directed sense. Life coaching may ultimately lead you to choose personal growth counseling, as you determine you want or need deeper examination of your own nature.

One of the most common forms of personal growth counseling, career counseling is used by men and women, young and old, those just entering the job market, those looking for career changes, and those simply wanting to advance within their current careers. Career counselors focus on your strengths and weaknesses in the job market, your goals, and the options open to you. Career counseling is seldom the intense self-examination personal growth counseling can be.

Hypnotherapy can be a direct, goal oriented process aimed at dealing directly with minor problems, or it can be a supplemental form of therapy for those involved in more broad-reaching forms of counseling. Underestimating the value of hypnotherapy to support life change and self-realization is a mistake. An equal mistake, however, is to treat the process as a sort of magic wand which allows you to change your life without the examination and conscious exploration true change demands. Under most circumstances, hypnotherapy supports and augments other counseling functions, serving as reinforcement rather than as a fully developed form of counseling in its own right.

Perhaps the most traditional of the growth and development counseling forms, personal growth counseling involves a classic evaluation of your life, your goals, and the tools youve assembled to proceed in life. A good personal growth counselor, while future-oriented and focused on helping promote growth, takes the time to integrate past and present in the service of a better future. This form of counseling is often offered by classic psychiatrists, incorporating the techniques and approaches of life and career counseling into the more exploratory work done in traditional personal counseling.

Whichever approach to growth you choose, finding a capable and effective counselor for you can be a challenge. Try to put together a list of possible counselors, and several different approaches you would consider. Getting a referral from a reliable referral service can help. By making use of referral services you can ensure that potential counselors have been filtered for professionalism at least once before you make contact. Once youve got a good selection to choose from, interview them carefully and choose the one with whom youre most confident.

See the article here:
Personal Development - AllAboutCounseling.com

Life coaches motivate their clients to achieve specific, measurable goals.

Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Accredited personal development coaches, also referred to as life coaches, are professionals who specialize in helping people achieve specific goals and overcome obstacles to personal growth. Goals may be related to any area of personal development, including relationships, business, finance or health and wellness. To become a reputable personal development coach, it's crucial to complete an accredited training program and obtain a coaching credential.

Since there's no accrediting or regulating government organization for personal development coaches, anyone can say that they are a personal development coach. In an interview with CBS News, coach Jennifer Corbin, the president of Coach U, one of the largest coach training organizations, says that many people who provide coaching actually have no idea what coaching is -- some coaches become "certified" just from taking a three-hour course. A reputable coach training organization should be approved by the International Coach Federation, or ICF, which accredits around 200 institutions around the world. Around half of these organizations are located in the US. You can find a reputable training organization on the ICF's website.

Life coaches need to possess certain characteristics and skills and have the right personality for the job. Completing a training program can help you gain a basic knowledge of these skills, but you should already have some of these characteristics if you're thinking about becoming a coach. Coaches need to enjoy working with people and helping them solve problems. They need to have excellent communication skills, be good listeners, have a positive and upbeat outlook, want to make a positive difference in their clients' lives and have an interest in their own personal growth and development, says the UK-based coaching organization Noble Manhattan.

Although you can hang out your personal development coach shingle without any formal training at all, it's advisable to undergo coach training from a reputable organization to gain the necessary knowledge and skills you'll need. Coach training programs accredited by the ICF are offered in-person and through distance learning opportunities. According to the ICF, coach training should include a specific set of core competencies, including ethics, creating rapport with the client, effective communication, facilitating learning and demonstrating results, such as through goal setting and achievement. Coach training can last several months or years, depending on your desired level of expertise and aims of the organization.

In addition to training, you will need to complete a specific number of hours of direct client contact under the supervision of a certified coach and complete an examination to become a credentialed coach. The ICF offers three levels of credentialing based on the type of training and education you've completed. Becoming a credentialed coach is crucial for letting the public and your clients know that you have met certain professional standards. The ICF offers three coach credentials -- the Associate Certified Coach, or ACC, the Professional Certified Coach, or PCC, and the Master Certified Coach, or MCC.

Ashley Miller is a licensed social worker, psychotherapist, certified Reiki practitioner, yoga enthusiast and aromatherapist. She has also worked as an employee assistance program counselor and a substance-abuse professional. Miller holds a Master of Social Work and has extensive training in mental health diagnosis, as well as child and adolescent psychotherapy. She also has a bachelor's degree in music.

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How to Become a Personal Development Coach | Chron.com

DALLASTony Robbins doesnt like being called a motivational speaker. In fact, he hates it. He says that by the time someone comes to him for help, either through one of his seminars or books, the person is already craving change. He believes the key to successful transformation is energizing people so they are ready to make improvements. If your energy is low, nothings gonna happen, he says. So I create an environment thats like a rock concert.

His latest goal is to encourage people to challenge their thinking so they can live in a beautiful state, something he defines as a state full of happiness, joy, courage, decisiveness or anything that isnt suffering.

In the cover story of SUCCESS Magazines January issue, Editor at Large Michael Mooney visited Tony Robbins at his Palm Beach, Florida, home to talk about living in a beautiful state, motivating others, his relationship with fear, dealing with skeptics and more.

I dont teach people just to solve their problems. I help them solve what caused the problem in the first place.

Tony Robbins tells SUCCESS, January 2017 issue

Also Inside This Issue

SUCCESS Magazines January issue is all about the importance of leaving behind a legacy. We structured the issue around different articles that will help you create a life you can one day look upon proudly. We hope the content in this issue will motivate you to make the changes you desire to get your life on the ideal path.

In keeping with this theme, Jim McCabe, vice president and general manager of SUCCESS, also announces in the editors note the magazines decision to transition the audio CD bound into every copy of the magazine into a podcast format. The world and the way we consume our media has changed, and SUCCESS has adapted with it to expand our audience so all types of consumers can enjoy the wonderful content on the CD.

For full stories, pick up the January issue, on newsstands December 13. For more information about SUCCESS Magazine and additional personal development content, visit http://www.success.com.

AboutSUCCESSSUCCESSmagazine is a national newsstand publication and your guide to personal and professional development through inspiration, motivation and training.SUCCESSinspires 2 million readers a month, and has a total social reach of 5 million fans. SUCCESSmagazine was founded in 1897 by influential thinker Orison Swett Marden. It is owned byDallas-based SUCCESS Partners founded byStuart Johnson.

Related

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Personal Development Leader Tony Robbins ... - success.com

Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases."[2] Personal hygiene refers to maintaining the body's cleanliness.

Many people equate hygiene with 'cleanliness,' but hygiene is a broad term. It includes such personal habit choices as how frequently to bathe, wash hands, trim fingernails, and change clothing. It also includes attention to keeping surfaces in the home and workplace, including bathroom facilities, clean and pathogen-free.

Some regular hygiene practices may be considered good habits by a society, while the neglect of hygiene can be considered disgusting, disrespectful, or threatening.

First attested in English in 1677s, the word hygiene comes from the French hygine, the latinisation of the Greek () hugiein techn, meaning "(art) of health", from hugieinos, "good for the health, healthy",[3] in turn from (hugis), "healthful, sound, salutary, wholesome".[4] In ancient Greek religion, Hygeia () was the personification of health, cleanliness, and hygiene.[5]

Hygiene is a concept related to cleanliness, health and medicine. It is as well related to personal and professional care practices. In medicine and everyday life settings, hygiene practices are employed as preventative measures to reduce the incidence and spreading of disease.

Hygiene practices vary, and what is considered acceptable in one culture might not be acceptable in another.

In the manufacturing of food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other products, good hygiene is a critical component of quality assurance.

The terms cleanliness and hygiene are often used interchangeably, which can cause confusion. In general, hygiene refers to practices that prevent spread of disease-causing organisms. Cleaning processes (e.g., handwashing) remove infectious microbes as well as dirt and soil, and are thus often the means to achieve hygiene.

Other uses of the term appear in phrases including body hygiene, personal hygiene, sleep hygiene, mental hygiene, dental hygiene, and occupational hygiene, used in connection with public health. Hygiene is also the name of a branch of science that deals with the promotion and preservation of health.

Medical hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices related to the administration of medicine and medical care that prevents or minimizes the spread of disease.

Medical hygiene practices include:

Most of these practices were developed in the 19th century and were well established by the mid-20th century. Some procedures (such as disposal of medical waste) were refined in response to late-20th century disease outbreaks, notably AIDS and Ebola.

Home hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices that prevent or minimize the spread of disease at home and other everyday settings such as social settings, public transport, the workplace, public places etc.

Hygiene in a variety of settings plays an important role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases.[6] It includes procedures used in a variety of domestic situations such as hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, food and water hygiene, general home hygiene (hygiene of environmental sites and surfaces), care of domestic animals, and home health care (the care of those who are at greater risk of infection).

At present, these components of hygiene tend to be regarded as separate issues, although based on the same underlying microbiological principles. Preventing the spread of diseases means breaking the chain of infection transmission. Simply, if the chain of infection is broken, infection cannot spread. In response to the need for effective codes of hygiene in home and everyday life settings the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene has developed a risk-based approach based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), also referred to as "targeted hygiene." Targeted hygiene is based on identifying the routes of pathogen spread in the home and introducing hygiene practices at critical times to break the chain of infection.

The main sources of infection in the home[7] are people (who are carriers or are infected), foods (particularly raw foods) and water, and domestic animals (in the U.S. more than 50% of homes have one or more pets[8]). Sites that accumulate stagnant watersuch as sinks, toilets, waste pipes, cleaning tools, face clothsreadily support microbial growth and can become secondary reservoirs of infection, though species are mostly those that threaten "at risk" groups. Pathogens (potentially infectious bacteria, viruses etc.colloquially called "germs") are constantly shed from these sources via mucous membranes, feces, vomit, skin scales, etc. Thus, when circumstances combine, people are exposed, either directly or via food or water, and can develop an infection.

The main "highways" for the spread of pathogens in the home are the hands, hand and food contact surfaces, and cleaning cloths and utensils. Pathogens can also be spread via clothing and household linens, such as towels. Utilities such as toilets and wash basins, for example, were invented for dealing safely with human waste but still have risks associated with them. Safe disposal of human waste is a fundamental need; poor sanitation is a primary cause of diarrhea disease in low income communities. Respiratory viruses and fungal spores are spread via the air.

Good home hygiene means engaging in hygiene practices at critical points to break the chain of infection.[7] Because the "infectious dose" for some pathogens can be very small (10-100 viable units or even less for some viruses), and infection can result from direct transfer of pathogens from surfaces via hands or food to the mouth, nasal mucosa or the eye, 'hygienic cleaning' procedures should be sufficient to eliminate pathogens from critical surfaces.

Hygienic cleaning can be done through:

Hand hygiene is defined as handwashing or washing hands and nails with soap and water or using a waterless hand sanitizer. Hand hygiene is central to preventing spread of infectious diseases in home and everyday life settings.[9]

In situations where handwashing with soap is not an option (e.g., when in a public place with no access to wash facilities), a waterless hand sanitizer such as an alcohol hand gel can be used. They can be used in addition to handwashing to minimize risks when caring for "at risk" groups. To be effective, alcohol hand gels should contain not less than 60%v/v alcohol.

The World Health Organization recommends handwashing with ash if soap is not available in emergencies,[10] schools without access to soap[11] and other difficult situations like post-emergencies where use of (clean) sand is recommended, too.[12] Use of ash is common in rural areas of developing countries and has in experiments been shown at least as effective as soap for removing pathogens.[13]

Correct respiratory and hand hygiene when coughing and sneezing reduces the spread of pathogens particularly during the cold and flu season.[6]

Food hygiene is concerned with the hygiene practices that prevent food poisoning. The five key principles of food hygiene, according to WHO, are:[14]

Routine cleaning of (hand, food, drinking water) sites and surfaces (such as toilet seats and flush handles, door and tap handles, work surfaces, bath and basin surfaces) in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet reduces the risk of spread of pathogens.[15] The infection risk from flush toilets is not high, provided they are properly maintained, although some splashing and aerosol formation can occur during flushing, particularly when someone has diarrhea. Pathogens can survive in the scum or scale left behind on baths and wash basins after washing and bathing.

Water left stagnant in the pipes of showers can be contaminated with pathogens that become airborne when the shower is turned on. If a shower has not been used for some time, it should be left to run at a hot temperature for a few minutes before use.

Thorough cleaning is important in preventing the spread of fungal infections.[16] Molds can live on wall and floor tiles and on shower curtains. Mold can be responsible for infections, cause allergic responses, deteriorate/damage surfaces and cause unpleasant odors. Primary sites of fungal growth are inanimate surfaces, including carpets and soft furnishings.[17] Air-borne fungi are usually associated with damp conditions, poor ventilation or closed air systems.

Laundry hygiene involves practices that prevent disease and its spread via soiled clothing and household linens such as towels.[18] Items most likely to be contaminated with pathogens are those that come into direct contact with the body, e.g., underwear, personal towels, facecloths, nappies. Cloths or other fabric items used during food preparation, or for cleaning the toilet or cleaning up material such as faeces or vomit are a particular risk.[19]

Microbiological and epidemiological data indicates that clothing and household linens etc. are a risk factor for infection transmission in home and everyday life settings as well as institutional settings. The lack of quantitative data linking contaminated clothing to infection in the domestic setting makes it difficult to assess the extent of this risk.[18][19][20] It also indicates that risks from clothing and household linens are somewhat less than those associated with hands, hand contact and food contact surfaces, and cleaning cloths, but even so these risks needs to be managed through effective laundering practices. In the home, this routine should be carried out as part of a multibarrier approach to hygiene which includes hand, food, respiratory and other hygiene practices.[18][19][20]

Infectious diseases risks from contaminated clothing etc. can increase significantly under certain conditions, e.g., in healthcare situations in hospitals, care homes and the domestic setting where someone has diarrhoea, vomiting, or a skin or wound infection. It increases in circumstances where someone has reduced immunity to infection.

Hygiene measures, including laundry hygiene, are an important part of reducing spread of antibiotic resistant strains.[21][22] In the community, otherwise healthy people can become persistent skin carriers of MRSA, or faecal carriers of enterobacteria strains which can carry multi-antibiotic resistance factors (e.g. NDM-1 or ESBL-producing strains). The risks are not apparent until, for example, they are admitted to hospital, when they can become "self infected" with their own resistant organisms following a surgical procedure. As persistent nasal, skin or bowel carriage in the healthy population spreads "silently" across the world, the risks from resistant strains in both hospitals and the community increases.[22] In particular the data indicates that clothing and household linens are a risk factor for spread of S. aureus (including MRSA and PVL-producing MRSA strains), and that effectiveness of laundry processes may be an important factor in defining the rate of community spread of these strains.[18][23] Experience in the United States suggests that these strains are transmissible within families and in community settings such as prisons, schools and sport teams. Skin-to-skin contact (including unabraded skin) and indirect contact with contaminated objects such as towels, sheets and sports equipment seem to represent the mode of transmission.[18]

During laundering, temperature and detergent work to reduce microbial contamination levels on fabrics. Soil and microbes from fabrics are severed and suspended in the wash water. These are then "washed away" during the rinse and spin cycles. In addition to physical removal, micro-organisms can be killed by thermal inactivation which increases as the temperature is increased. Chemical inactivation of microbes by the surfactants and activated oxygen-based bleach used in detergents contributes to the hygiene effectiveness of laundering. Adding hypochlorite bleach in the washing process achieves inactivation of microbes. A number of other factors can contribute including drying and ironing.

Laundry detergents contain a mix of ingredients including surfactants, builders, optical brighteners, etc. Cleaning action arises primarily from the action of the surfactants and other ingredients, which are designed to maximise release and suspension of dirt and microbes into the wash liquid, together with enzymes and/or an activated oxygen-based bleach which digest and remove stains. Although activated oxygen bleach is included in many powder detergents to digest and remove stains, it produces some chemical inactivation of bacteria, fungi and viruses. As a rule of thumb, powders and tablets normally contain an activated oxygen bleach, but liquids and all products (liquid or powder) used for "coloureds" do not. Surfactants also exert some chemical inactivation action against certain species although the extent of their action is not known.

In 2013 the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) reviewed some 30 studies of the hygiene effectiveness of laundering at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 70C, under varying conditions.[24] A key finding was the lack of standardisation and control within studies, and the variability in test conditions between studies such as wash cycle time, number of rinses, etc. The consequent variability in the data (i.e., the reduction in contamination on fabrics) obtained, in turn makes it extremely difficult to propose guidelines for laundering with any confidence, based on currently available data. As a result, there is significant variability in the recommendations for hygienic laundering of clothing etc. given by different agencies.[25][26][27][28][29][30]

Of concern is recent data suggesting that, in reality, modern domestic washing machines do not reach the temperature specified on the machine controls.[31][32]

Medical hygiene pertains to the hygiene practices that prevents or minimizes disease and the spreading of disease in relation to administering medical care to those who are infected or who are more "at risk" of infection in the home. Across the world, governments are increasingly under pressure to fund the level of healthcare that people expect. Care of increasing numbers of patients in the community, including at home is one answer, but can be fatally undermined by inadequate infection control in the home. Increasingly, all of these "at-risk" groups are cared for at home by a carer who may be a household member who thus requires a good knowledge of hygiene. People with reduced immunity to infection, who are looked after at home, make up an increasing proportion of the population (currently up to 20%).[6] The largest proportion are the elderly who have co-morbidities, which reduce their immunity to infection. It also includes the very young, patients discharged from hospital, taking immuno-suppressive drugs or using invasive systems, etc. For patients discharged from hospital, or being treated at home special "medical hygiene" (see above) procedures may need to be performed for them e.g. catheter or dressing replacement, which puts them at higher risk of infection.

Antiseptics may be applied to cuts, wounds abrasions of the skin to prevent the entry of harmful bacteria that can cause sepsis. Day-to-day hygiene practices, other than special medical hygiene procedures[33] are no different for those at increased risk of infection than for other family members. The difference is that, if hygiene practices are not correctly carried out, the risk of infection is much greater.

Chemical disinfectants are products that kill pathogens. If the product is a disinfectant, the label on the product should say "disinfectant" or "kills" pathogens. Some commercial products, e.g. bleaches, even though they are technically disinfectants, say that they "kill pathogens" but are not actually labelled as "disinfectants". Not all disinfectants kill all types of pathogens. All disinfectants kill bacteria (called bactericidal). Some also kill fungi (fungicidal), bacterial spores (sporicidal) or viruses (virucidal).

An antibacterial product is a product that acts against bacteria in some unspecified way. Some products labelled "antibacterial" kill bacteria while others may contain a concentration of active ingredient that only prevent them multiplying. It is, therefore, important to check whether the product label states that it "kills" bacteria." An antibacterial is not necessarily anti-fungal or anti-viral unless this is stated on the label.

The term sanitizer has been used to define substances that both clean and disinfect. More recently this term has been applied to alcohol-based products that disinfect the hands (alcohol hand sanitizers). Alcohol hand sanitizers however are not considered to be effective on soiled hands.

The term biocide is a broad term for a substance that kills, inactivates or otherwise controls living organisms. It includes antiseptics and disinfectants, which combat micro-organisms, and pesticides.

In developing countries, universal access to water and sanitation has been seen as the essential step in reducing the preventable infectious diseases burden, but it is now clear that this is best achieved by programs that integrate hygiene promotion with improvements in water quality and availability, and sanitation. This approach has been integrated into the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6 whose second target states: "By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations".[34] Due to their close linkages, water, sanitation, hygiene are together abbreviated and funded under the term WASH in development cooperation.

About 2 million people die every year due to diarrheal diseases, most of them are children less than 5 years of age.[35] The most affected are the populations in developing countries, living in extreme conditions of poverty, normally peri-urban dwellers or rural inhabitants. Providing access to sufficient quantities of safe water, the provision of facilities for a sanitary disposal of excreta, and introducing sound hygiene behaviors are of capital importance to reduce the burden of disease caused by these risk factors.

Research shows that, if widely practiced, hand washing with soap could reduce diarrhea by almost fifty percent[36][37][38] and respiratory infections by nearly twenty-five percent[39][40] Hand washing with soap also reduces the incidence of skin diseases,[41][42] eye infections like trachoma and intestinal worms, especially ascariasis and trichuriasis.[43]

Other hygiene practices, such as safe disposal of waste, surface hygiene, and care of domestic animals, are important in low income communities to break the chain of infection transmission.[44]

Cleaning of toilets and hand wash facilities is important to prevent odors and make them socially acceptable. Social acceptance is an important part of encouraging people to use toilets and wash their hands, in situations where open defecation is still seen as a possible alternative, e.g. in rural areas of some developing countries.

Household water treatment and safe storage ensure drinking water is safe for consumption. These interventions are part of the approach of self-supply of water for households.[45] Drinking water quality remains a significant problem in developing[46] and in developed countries;[47] even in the European region it is estimated that 120 million people do not have access to safe drinking water. Point-of-use water quality interventions can reduce diarrheal disease in communities where water quality is poor or in emergency situations where there is a breakdown in water supply.[46][47][48][49]Since water can become contaminated during storage at home (e.g. by contact with contaminated hands or using dirty storage vessels), safe storage of water in the home is important.

Methods for treatment of drinking water,[49][15] include:

Personal hygiene involves those practices performed by an individual to care for one's bodily health and well being, through cleanliness. Motivations for personal hygiene practice include reduction of personal illness, healing from personal illness, optimal health and sense of well being, social acceptance and prevention of spread of illness to others. What is considered proper personal hygiene can be cultural-specific and may change over time.

Other practices that are generally considered proper hygiene include bathing regularly, washing hands regularly and especially before handling food, washing scalp hair, keeping hair short or removing hair, wearing clean clothing, brushing teeth, cutting finger nails, besides other practices. Some practices are gender-specific, such as by a woman during her menstrual cycle.

People tend to develop a routine for attending to their personal hygiene needs. Other personal hygienic practices would include covering one's mouth when coughing, disposal of soiled tissues appropriately, making sure toilets are clean, and making sure food handling areas are clean, besides other practices. Some cultures do not kiss or shake hands to reduce transmission of bacteria by contact.

Personal grooming extends personal hygiene as it pertains to the maintenance of a good personal and public appearance, which need not necessarily be hygienic. It may involve, for example, using deodorants or perfume, shaving, or combing, besides other practices.

Excessive body hygiene is one example of obsessive compulsive disorder.

The hygiene hypothesis was first formulated in 1989 by Strachan who observed that there was an inverse relationship between family size and development of atopic allergic disorders the more children in a family, the less likely they were to develop these allergies.[51] From this, he hypothesized that a lack of exposure to "infections" in early childhood transmitted by contact with older siblings could be a cause of the rapid rise in atopic disorders over the last 30 to 40 years. Strachan further proposed that the reason why this exposure no longer occurs is not only because of the trend towards smaller families, but also "improved household amenities and higher standards of personal cleanliness".

Although there is substantial evidence that some microbial exposures in early childhood can in some way protect against allergies, there is no evidence that humans need exposure to harmful microbes (infection) or that it is necessary to suffer a clinical infection.[52][53][54][55] Nor is there evidence that hygiene measures such as hand washing, food hygiene etc. are linked to increased susceptibility to atopic disease.[43][44] If this is the case, there is no conflict between the goals of preventing infection and minimising allergies. A consensus is now developing among experts that the answer lies in more fundamental changes in lifestyle etc. that have led to decreased exposure to certain microbial or other species, such as helminths, that are important for development of immuno-regulatory mechanisms.[56] There is still much uncertainty as to which lifestyle factors are involved.

Although media coverage of the hygiene hypothesis has declined, a strong collective mindset has become established that dirt is healthy and hygiene somehow unnatural. This has caused concern among health professionals that everyday life hygiene behaviours, which are the foundation of public health, are being undermined. In response to the need for effective hygiene in home and everyday life settings, the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene has developed a "risk-based" or targeted approach to home hygiene that seeks to ensure that hygiene measures are focussed on the places, and at the times most critical for infection transmission.[7] Whilst targeted hygiene was originally developed as an effective approach to hygiene practice, it also seeks, as far as possible, to sustain "normal" levels of exposure to the microbial flora of our environment to the extent that is important to build a balanced immune system.

Excessive body hygiene of the ear canals can result in infection or irritation. The ear canals require less body hygiene care than other parts of the body, because they are sensitive, and the body adequately cares for them. Most of the time the ear canals are self-cleaning; that is, there is a slow and orderly migration of the skin lining the ear canal from the eardrum to the outer opening of the ear. Old earwax is constantly being transported from the deeper areas of the ear canal out to the opening where it usually dries, flakes, and falls out.[57] Attempts to clean the ear canals through the removal of earwax can reduce ear canal cleanliness by pushing debris and foreign material into the ear that the natural movement of ear wax out of the ear would have removed.

Excessive application of soaps, creams, and ointments can adversely affect certain of the natural processes of the skin. For examples, soaps and ointments can deplete the skin of natural protective oils and fat-soluble content such as cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), and external substances can be absorbed, to disturb natural hormonal balances.[citation needed]

It is recommended that all healthy adults brush twice a day,[58] softly,[59] with the correct technique, replacing their toothbrush every few months (~3) or after a bout of illness.[60]

There are a number of common oral hygiene misconceptions. It is not correct to rinse the mouth with water after brushing.[61] It is also not recommended to brush immediately after drinking acidic substances, including sparkling water.[62] It is also recommended to floss once a day,[63] with a different piece of floss at each flossing session. The Effectiveness of Tooth Mousse is in debate.[64] Visits to a dentist for a checkup every year at least are recommended.[65]

Culinary hygiene pertains to the practices related to food management and cooking to prevent food contamination, prevent food poisoning and minimize the transmission of disease to other foods, humans or animals. Culinary hygiene practices specify safe ways to handle, store, prepare, serve and eat food.

Culinary practices include:

Personal service hygiene pertains to the practices related to the care and use of instruments used in the administration of personal care services to people:

Personal hygiene practices include:

Sleep hygiene is the recommended behavioral and environmental practice that is intended to promote better quality sleep.[66] This recommendation was developed in the late 1970s as a method to help people with mild to moderate insomnia, but, as of 2014[update], the evidence for effectiveness of individual recommendations is "limited and inconclusive".[66] Clinicians assess the sleep hygiene of people who present with insomnia and other conditions, such as depression, and offer recommendations based on the assessment. Sleep hygiene recommendations include establishing a regular sleep schedule, using naps with care, not exercising physically or mentally too close to bedtime, limiting worry, limiting exposure to light in the hours before sleep, getting out of bed if sleep does not come, not using bed for anything but sleep and avoiding alcohol as well as nicotine, caffeine, and other stimulants in the hours before bedtime, and having a peaceful, comfortable and dark sleep environment.

The earliest written account of Elaborate codes of hygiene can be found in several Hindu texts, such as the Manusmriti and the Vishnu Purana.[67] Bathing is one of the five Nitya karmas (daily duties) in Hinduism, and not performing it leads to sin, according to some scriptures.

Regular bathing was a hallmark of Roman civilization.[68] Elaborate baths were constructed in urban areas to serve the public, who typically demanded the infrastructure to maintain personal cleanliness. The complexes usually consisted of large, swimming pool-like baths, smaller cold and hot pools, saunas, and spa-like facilities where individuals could be depilated, oiled, and massaged. Water was constantly changed by an aqueduct-fed flow. Bathing outside of urban centers involved smaller, less elaborate bathing facilities, or simply the use of clean bodies of water. Roman cities also had large sewers, such as Rome's Cloaca Maxima, into which public and private latrines drained. Romans didn't have demand-flush toilets but did have some toilets with a continuous flow of water under them.

Until the late 19th Century, only the elite in Western cities typically possessed indoor facilities for relieving bodily functions. The poorer majority used communal facilities built above cesspools in backyards and courtyards. This changed after Dr. John Snow discovered that cholera was transmitted by the fecal contamination of water. Though it took decades for his findings to gain wide acceptance, governments and sanitary reformers were eventually convinced of the health benefits of using sewers to keep human waste from contaminating water. This encouraged the widespread adoption of both the flush toilet and the moral imperative that bathrooms should be indoors and as private as possible.[69]

Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene.[70] Despite the denunciation of the mixed bathing style of Roman pools by early Christian clergy, as well as the pagan custom of women naked bathing in front of men, this did not stop the Church from urging its followers to go to public baths for bathing,[71] which contributed to hygiene and good health according to the Church Father, Clement of Alexandria. The Church built public bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes near monasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, the popes situated baths within church basilicas and monasteries since the early Middle Ages.[72] Pope Gregory the Great urged his followers on value of bathing as a bodily need.[73]

Contrary to popular belief[74] and although the Early Christian leaders, such as Boniface I,[75] condemned bathing as unspiritual,[76] bathing and sanitation were not lost in Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire.[77][78] Soapmaking first became an established trade during the so-called "Dark Ages". The Romans used scented oils (mostly from Egypt), among other alternatives.

Northern Europeans were not in the habit of bathing: in the ninth century Notker the Stammerer, a Frankish monk of St Gall, related a disapproving anecdote that attributed ill results of personal hygiene to an Italian fashion:

There was a certain deacon who followed the habits of the Italians in that he was perpetually trying to resist nature. He used to take baths, he had his head very closely shaved, he polished his skin, he cleaned his nail, he had his hair cut as short as if it were turned on a lathe, and he wore linen underclothes and a snow-white shirt.

Secular medieval texts constantly refer to the washing of hands before and after meals, but Sone de Nansay, hero of a 13th-century romance, discovers to his chagrin that the Norwegians do not wash up after eating.[79] In the 11th and 12th centuries, bathing was essential to the Western European upper class: the Cluniac monasteries to which they resorted or retired were always provided with bathhouses, and even the monks were required to take full immersion baths twice a year, at the two Christian festivals of renewal, though exhorted not to uncover themselves from under their bathing sheets.[80] In 14th century Tuscany, the newlywed couple's bath together was such a firm convention one such couple, in a large coopered tub, is illustrated in fresco in the town hall of San Gimignano.[81]

Bathing had fallen out of fashion in Northern Europe long before the Renaissance, when the communal public baths of German cities were in their turn a wonder to Italian visitors. Bathing was replaced by the heavy use of sweat-bathing and perfume, as it was thought in Europe that water could carry disease into the body through the skin. Bathing encouraged an erotic atmosphere that was played upon by the writers of romances intended for the upper class;[82] in the tale of Melusine the bath was a crucial element of the plot. "Bathing and grooming were regarded with suspicion by moralists, however, because they unveiled the attractiveness of the body. Bathing was said to be a prelude to sin, and in the penitential of Burchard of Worms we find a full catalogue of the sins that ensued when men and women bathed together."[83] Medieval church authorities believed that public bathing created an environment open to immorality and disease; the 26 public baths of Paris in the late 13th century were strictly overseen by the civil authorities.[83] At a later date Roman Catholic Church officials even banned public bathing in an unsuccessful effort to halt syphilis epidemics from sweeping Europe.[84]

Modern sanitation was not widely adopted until the 19th and 20th centuries. According to medieval historian Lynn Thorndike, people in Medieval Europe probably bathed more than people did in the 19th century.[85] Some time after Louis Pasteur's experiments proved the germ theory of disease and Joseph Lister and others put them into practice in sanitation, hygienic practices came to be regarded as synonymous with health, as they are in modern times.

Since the 7th century, Islam has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene. Other than the need to be ritually clean in time for the daily prayer (Arabic: Salat) through Wuzu and Ghusl, there are a large number of other hygiene-related rules governing the lives of Muslims. Other issues include the Islamic dietary laws. In general, the Qur'an advises Muslims to uphold high standards of physical hygiene and to be ritually clean whenever possible.

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Hygiene - Wikipedia