Take your mind into this picture and relax!
health
Do we take ourselves too seriously
If you are a product of todays society, then you probably take good care of yourself. Drink the correct amount of water, eat clean, healthy food and organic food when possible. You probably spend the same amount of time exercising everyday as well as trying to get 8 hours of sleep every night.
If you are addicted to being healthy this can be an added stress, if at the end of each day you feel guilty because you have missed out on something from your routine because there was not enough hours in the day , it could be doing you more harm than good.
The body does like predictability, but instead of making your whole day a routine, my answer is keep the important things as the everyday routine like mostly 8 hours sleep, definitely drink enough water but when it comes to the same exercise daily here is where you can mix it up.
Use accidental exercise if you know you have something on after work , like walking to work or use the stairs all day. Stand up regularly if you have a desk job and stretch while breathing deeply.
Make sure you slot in a few things that you enjoy during the working week so you look forward to each day and make them simple things which don’t cost a lot and won’t harm your health.
Treat yourself to little things like a glass of wine on the weekends, read your favourite magazine in the supermarket for free. Spend at least 10mins when you get out of bed on your yoga mat, this will start your day positively, if you can spare more time sometimes, do yoga for longer. Swim in the ocean make time to be alone and enjoy your own company.
Be a little bit flexible and add variety to your week, you will find life a lot less serious and more to laugh about.
Laughter is probably the best medicine for you, and if your routine varies you will be a whole lot more relaxed about it and be more spontaneous and creative. Good luck with these changes and enjoy you because there is no one like you.
Be your best supporter!
Why wait for the pill?
Big news anti ageing pill soon to be available for human consumption. There is a lot of buzz around the develop of a pill which Professor Sinclair of the University of NSW has been working on. Boasting now about the effective results in just one week on old mice. In short the result is a 60 year old person can become as youthful as a 20 year old by taking this pill which would eradicate all ageing and age related illnesses. The pill is called NAD which stands for Nicotinamide mono-nucleotide, it works by improving the communication between the cells. We all produce this chemical naturally but by age 70 it looses 50% of its effectiveness.
But Professor Sinclair has stated by eating healthy with low calories daily and exercising our natural levels of NAD go up. Thats why we look better and feel better, when we are follow these guidelines.
So why wait for this pill which will probably be too expensive for the average person to buy and like all drugs will probably have some sort of side effects.
Lets just do what we know works and has now been proven by the great Sinclair and team of scientist, eating healthy, exercising and fitting that weekly yoga class, is keeping you younger in many ways. Lets be smart and take a step ourselves instead of the quick fix pills because honestly where is the satisfaction in that..
Beating the heat!!
Its never to early in the year to eat a mango, bring summer into your day, keep cool by eating a fresh, delicious ,cold mango. The mango holds the power to protect the body in many ways with its high levels of vitamin C and vitamin A, protein ,potassium. So you see the humble mango protects the eyes,helps the body absorb iron,strengthens the skin structure , boosts immunity and is a low GI food as well as being sweet and yummy!
Sexy Summer Skin
When you first fall in love, you have the WOW! factor, you look amazing and you feel fabulous.
The skin glows and your eyes sparkle, but unfortunately this cannot last forever. So we have to help the body to keep the love up look, below is a few ways of doing so.
Laughter is number 1: The feeling of a good belly laugh releases endorphines these help send wellbeing messages via the central nervous system, to the largest organ of our body which is the skin.
The skin works hard to eliminate toxins and creates a barrier for our internal organs so in return dry brushing in a circular motion towards the heart will help keep pores clean and skin supple.The lymph system is also effected by the circular dry brushing, this assists the lymphatic system in eliminating excess fluid that causes puffiness, cellulite and that grey unhealthy tinge.
Get some Vitamin D from the sun but don’t get burnt. Spend 15 mins in the sun without sunscreen in the early hours of the morning or late afternoon to get your dosage of Vitamin D. This will give you a lovely glow as well as warding of lots of diseases like heart disease, diabetes, depression, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.
Make sure whatever you use on your skin is as natural as possible, nasty chemicals lie hidden in a lot of creams for example some sunscreens have octyl methoxycinnamate which has been proven to disrupt brain and thyroid function. Another chemical in sunscreens is oxybenzone which disrupts the endocrine system and creates organ toxicity.
Yoga is a great motivator to all the organs of the body to eliminate toxins through the asanas, particularly the twists. As we move through our poses. Yoga creates a pure environment which makes us feel good through chemical release from our glands and the natural source of deep breathing enhances the oxygen levels within the body, this is a special tool to help make the skin glow.
As we know the skin is a mirror of the gut so lets eat clean from a rainbow of coloured fruits and vegetables which are full of antioxidants especially Vitamin C and A which promotes collagen and aides in repair.
Eat a good source of protein with each meal to keep cell renewal active and zinc levels up.
Drink heaps of filtered water daily as all the systems of the body require water for function.
Eat sauerkraut which is full of probiotics to allow gut bacteria flourish.
Drink apple cider to stimulate your enzymes to help break down food so you can absorb the nutrients efficiently.
Lastly hug and love your partners, children and animals, spread the love and feel the love in return.
Open Your Eyes !
When you take the time to step away from your computer screen or phone or Television set, you have a chance to invest in your health and wellbeing.
Three things you can do to alleviate stress or pressure from home and work :
1. Remove your shoes and walk through the sand or grass, feel the texture against your skin, let your mind wander into connection between the softness ,graininess,coolness or heat that you can feel.
2. Sit on a hill, over looking a valley, or sit a fence or wall over looking the water, anywhere there is height ,so you can feel the power of the universe as you observe its beauty. Feel the breeze on your face as you place your hand on your heart to let the beat echo through the palm of your hand.
3. Lie down on the floor, feel the hardness under your body, then travel through your body start at your head and soften or relax each body part, this brings complete awareness into just how much tension we are carrying around in our bodies each day. As you move on to each area of the body take a deep breath using your nose , exhale just as much air as you inhale slowly.
All these things are simple but can help rewire your brain bringing you into the moment, helping to reverse tension, stress and the nagging voice in your head that create scenarios to overwhelm and depress you. Do one or more daily of these activities, this will indeed help you see with fresh eyes the beautiful world in which we live and help revitalise your passion for living.
The 5th Chakra is called the throat chakra or Vishuddha.
The throat Chakra is situated between the cervical (neck) spine and the throat area. When this Chakra is open, we feel a sense of freedom to express ourselves, inner calmness and peace.
When it is unbalanced or blocked, our energy seems scattered , we may lack confidence or feel as though we can’t clear our throat. Sometimes people say, I feel like I have a frog in my throat, an uncomfortable uneasy feeling.
This is when we need to work on opening this particular Chakra.
The colour sky blue is connected to the throat Chakra and the physical areas of the body that are influenced by this chakra are
the Laryngeal nerve plexus, vocal cords, thyroid, parathyroid glands,larynx.
Asanas or poses to help free energy to the throat Chakra are:
1.cat/cow
2.hare
3.shoulder stand and head stand
4.fish pose.
Lets travel through the body one chakra at a time.
We will start the chakra journey at the head this is the 7th chakra. The most powerful of all chakras ,it is called
‘ The Crown’ we visualise the crown chakra as white because it represents all the lower chakra colours combined. This is the chakra (or energy centre) that connects us to pure consciousness , in other words all is revealed once we can enter into the crown chakra whenever we desire.
It is only truly accessible once all the lower chakras are in balance. This is the ultimate reason for yoga practice.
The crown chakra is also known as ‘Sahasrara’, once all the other chakras are in balance ,the way into Sahasara is through meditation.
There are two poses used in yoga which help bring awareness to Sahasara, they are
1. Cross-legged seated mountain pose, while in this position we use the yogic breathe and visualise the breath traveling from the base chakra through to the crown chakra.
2. Headstand while visualising the white light at the crown.
When we take the time to come to yoga, we move our bodies to the beat of our breath , dissolving all disruptions to our energy channels or chakra pathways.
Synchronising breath with yoga is the body drawing the mind into the spirit.
This is known as Samadhi. (Pure consciousness or complete contentment and Bliss!)
Ready to Create Sauerkraut.
A couple of easy steps that will have you creating your own fermented foods, whenever your heart so desires. Place your cabbage in a processor or chop it roughly by hand, you will need a quarter of a cabbage of any colour and type. Once chopped, you can either whizz the cabbage up again so it looks like the above picture or you can leave it in larger chopped pieces- the choice is yours! Boil 2 cups of water and wash out the jar you plan to use with some of the boiling water. Cool the rest of the water- once cooled, cover your cabbage with the remaining water. Next, seal the jar with a lid and place it near the window on your kitchen bench. give it a shake or stir everyday. Your Sauerkraut should be ready in about 3 to 4 days. It should smell sour and taste sour too. If any mould grows on it throw it out . After 3 or 4 days strain the remaining fluid off the cabbage and keep your finished Sauerkraut and the fluid you removed in the fridge. You can drink the fluid and eat the sauerkraut daily for the same effect as a probiotic- helping your body to build up good gut bacteria, helping you to naturally breakdown food efficiently. If you have not had Sauerkraut before start off with a small amount until your system gets used to it.
