Sunscreen ☀☂

Once shared by a friend, it touched my heart, opened my eyes and made my life a new start!

A few tips for life, I share with you, once changed my life and the way I think too. . .

Its my little chicken soup for the soul . . . doesn’t matter if you are a teenager, adult or old. . .

Enjoy this precious video &  pass it on, as I’d like to spread this message as life goes on. ☀☂

(the video takes a while to load sometimes… just hang in there yeah!)

A Symphony

From technology to human beings, everything today is measured by speed and efficiency. We aim to accomplish more by doing two or three things at once. But naturally we end up getting distracted. This distraction often comes at a price. Ouch!

John Freeman, editor of Granta and author of the forthcoming book, The Tyranny of E-mail, writes, “We will die, that much is certain; and everyone we have ever loved will die, too, sometimes – heartbreakingly – before us… Busyness numbs the pain of this awareness, but it can never totally submerge it. Given that our days are limited, our hours precious, we have to decide what we want to do, what we want to say, what and who we care about, and how we want to allocate our time to these things within the limits that do not and cannot change. In short, we need to slow down.”

Slow down right here and right now and give Freeman’s message a thought. He definitely has a valid point.

•     It’s scientifically proven that slower breathing is one of the simplest ways to better health. The Hindu mythology says that the length our life isn’t determined by the number of years we live but the number of breaths we take. Deep breathing lowers stress and reduces systolic blood pressure. It allows oxygen to reach the smallest airways in our lungs, (alveoli), where the oxygen exchange is most efficient. Quick, shallow breathing causes our bodies to release less nitrous oxide resulting our organs and tissues to be less oxygenated.
•     Ever wondered why French women are so slim? I saw a show on Opera once where she invited a French lady to disclose their secret for being so slim. Eat slower and you will eat less is what was revealed! There is a lag time between when the stretch receptors in your stomach signal it is time to stop eating and when your brain gets the message. We tend to over eat during this time lag because we either eat too fast or are busy being distracted by something else.
•      If you slow your intake, you will also savor your meals more. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island discovered that people who eat slowly consume 70 less calories per meal. Multiply that by three meals a day and you’ll drop 20 pounds over the next year. Boom- boom- boom!
•       Slowness won’t hurt your love life. Enjoy the moments in life together; make every moment a special one. Enjoy that long, lingering, teasing kiss.
•      Slowing down prevents accidents. It’s impossible to calculate the number of motorists killed or injured each year because they were in a rush.You actually save time, do better work and prevent more injuries by slowing down.
•       A more deliberate pace enhances your quality of life. There’s an old Chinese saying, “Man in hurry cannot walk with dignity.” A constant flurry of activity doesn’t present an attractive image. It creates stress and anxiety. It causes us to miss much of what is going on around us. As the philosophical quote states, the wise man is not hurried and the hurried man is not wise.
•      It’s good to churn some instant money from time to time by opting for some quick but risky derivatives available in the financial market, but it’s wise to play safe and have a slow and steady savings plan for our future/retirement. After all slow and steady wins the race.

We all have obligations and deadlines, of course. But hurry and extreme future-mindedness impoverish the present.

Deep down, most of us realize this. But it never hurts to be reminded!

Its Toxic!

Beep!Beep!Beep! -HIGH ALERT-Beep!Beep!Beep!

Gosh! Have you wondered how many toxins we are carrying within our body? I’m not talking about the biological waste /toxic here. I’m sure we all are aware of that one … but this is something that absolutely gobsmacked me. Check this out!

Our generation can’t even possibly think of living without mobile phones and laptops/computers. It feels strange to be without one. My friend told me once that he feels naked without his cell phone, handicapped without his laptop, zoned out without his TV and lost without his i-pod. Technolgoy has sure made life easier, entertaining and worthwhile, but its true that every coin as two sides.

These electronic life lines of our’s emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs).  On the other hand our body and mind is like a sponge. It absorbs anything and everything its exposed to. :(  These radiations have proved to be very harmful to us to an extent that they can increases stress levels in our body, cause head ache, migraine symptoms, speed up the aging process and the list can go on ….

Suggestion:

• Avoid carrying mobile phones in your pockets, or keeping them near your head while sleeping.
• Dont put a laptop directly on your lap for prolonged hours cos laptops emit heavy radiation and this causes damage to our reproductive organs.
• Keep a green leafy plant next to your laptop on your desk. Plants are able to absorb these radiations which saves you!
• Excercise and sweat it out.

Even perfumes and scented body lotions are readily absorbed by our skin and this adds to the toxic accumulation in our body.

Suggestions:

• Please do not put sooo much perfume that makes others suspect that you are trying to cover up for the 3 days shower you didnt take. 
• Try not using body lotions with very strong fragrance.
• Invest a little in some good quality make up. They seems to have a conscience.

Dont get fooled by the general notion that “bottled water” is the safest you can get. Just give it a thought. First of all, the bottle is PLASTIC. No matter what quality of plastic it is – it is still plastic and its very harmful for our comsumption. Secondly, imagine how many miles and countries this water would have travelled in trucks and vans to get to your retailer. In the process it is exposed to different weather conditions especially heat, by which the plastic chemicals slowly emulsify with the water properties making it toxic!   

Suggestions:

• Store water in glass containers/jugs.
• Tap water might be recycled and safe to drink in most countries. It might be cleaned and disinfected but it’s not detoxified. This is because corrosion  inhibitors are added to the water and we just seem to gulp it all down! Our body finds it very hard to get rid of these chemicals so it toxifies. It’s recommended to boil the water before consumption as it breaks down these elements and reduces its impact on our body.

 

 

 

 

Absolutely Positive++

Ever wonder why you feel so good and refreshed after a yoga class? “I tend to feel amazing, and I enjoy the calming effects” say some of my students.  Practicing yoga and meditation can affect your brain in a positive way. You can definitely notice a positive difference after attending a yoga session. Even the geeks, scientists,  researchers and my neighbors are now studying how yoga affects the brain.

Courtsey-TopNewsHealth.in

Studies have been made to prove that after one yoga session, the GABA levels in your brain increase. Anti-depressants (pills that about 27million Americans pop every day as Mentos) also work by boosting these GABA levels. Yoga seems to be the better choice for depression, anxiety and stress, since there are no side effects and many benefits for your mind, body and soul.

Hang on, before you start the guessing game, let me tell you pop freaks that GABA has nothing to do with Lady GAGA or her sister Lady GABA (just guessing ) .. Well to be precise GABA is one of numerous neurotransmitters in the brain that sends messages from one part of the brain to another. High GABA levels are associated with a calming, relaxing effect, whereas low levels are associated with anxiety and stress.

Courtsey-Thetakeaway.org

Yoga can improve your cognitive functions and memory by reducing the stress levels in your body. When you are stressed, your body releases cortisol, also known as the “stress hormone” into the blood stream, which uses up a lot of glucose in the body. This leads to a fuel deficit for your brain. Too much cortisol produces high amounts of free radicals which damages your brain cells. I know it says “free” here, but mind you it’s not something you want… please note the following words, it says “brain damage!!!”

Stress also causes physiological changes that impact the brain and body. 90% of the diseases are psychosomatic in nature. This means they all originate due to disturbances in the brain/mind. You end up using your dominant brain side for organizing thought patterns instead of using your whole brain power to make better decisions and enhance you performance and coordination. Practicing yoga can help retrain your brain and body connection to release old automatic thought patterns and negative habits. The goal is to have what we “think” and “do” to be aligned and function in pure balance.

Body movements can enhance, manufacture and balance the flow of energy in your body. Fast movements produce more endorphins = happiness, and slower movements stimulate the production of dopamine = adrenaline. This is all happening in the front part of your brain.

Yoga is a great way to balance both brain hemispheres at the same time. Eagle pose is a good example. By moving opposite arms and legs at the same time you stimulate, reactivate the whole brain. Basically you’re giving your brain a wake up call. As you do this, you encourage dopamine, while enhancing your ability to see things clearly. –Disclaimer- please continue to wear contacts or spectacles if you need to. I am not addressing myopia here. Your mind always tends to feel more at ease after a yoga class. Your thinking patterns are more positive and clear, your concentration and focus is greatly improved and your problem solving skills are enhanced. Hhmm…I think I am ready for a promotion already. Are you???

 

The RedBull in You!

Prana – Life energy or life power.

Prana – sounds familiar??? …. No, its not some electricity company nor is it some guy/girl who lived next door. Prana is an energy that circulates in the body and creates life. It is an innate energy that human beings can always gain access to.  It comes to us when we inhale, but it is more than just the oxygen we need to live… once again please do not let your imagination go wild just yet and confuse it with weed, hash, cocaine, or anything in that family!

Aristotle claims that the human being is an organism controlled by energy and that we are all part of a universal power that determines our physical and mental nature. Similarly, Albert Einstein refers to in his “theory of relativity” that everything is a timeless flowing field of constant information, and the body is a flowing organism that has achieved its power through millions of years of intelligence. This intelligence, our mind, watches over the constant process of transformation that takes place in each and every one of us, and this intelligence affects each cell in the body.

Ok coming back from our science class I’d like to continue that …..Prana is the link between body, soul, matter, and energy. It is a universal power, a pure flow of energy that maintains the activity in your body, mind and soul, while at the same time creating the movements in planets and stars. Yes you read it right… surprisingly it is the same energy that moves in the universe and within us. Prana is innate in all living things.

It is the same energy, vital force that heals us when we cut and bleed, bruise and swell. The same energy that replenishes the dead cells that you go and exfoliate at the beauty parlor every few weeks. Its the same energy that glues your broken bones together when you break your limbs while playing soccer or beating up your girlfriend’s ex boyfriend. Its the same energy that wonderfully takes the shit out of you. I mean literally speaking, the process of converting the food particles into smaller molecules…identifying and extracting the nutrition or nutrition like components, transporting this supplement to the entire body from head to toe and help eliminating the left over waste. For some of us, this could a life occupation!

But unfortunately with the high tech, material driven, fast paced rat race we are all voluntarily and involuntarily competing  in is killing this prana within us. An eye opener is the increase and evolution of so many diseases that were once upon a time rare or inexistent. There is an immense increase in chronic and mild illnesses which have become a part of our life not because our body is defective in some way but because of our lifestyle. No wonder medical science is minting money and donations are being made for researching medical solutions for diseases that haven’t even evolved.

We need to revive and unleash this energy to get life sustaining, money saving miraculous benefits that money cant buy! “Its priceless” – but this time its not Mastercard! Believe it or not, you will never have to dread botox or fly to Korea to look any younger. All you need to do is entice your prana. Relate to it, understand it. It  feeds on your undivided attention.

There are techniques to control this vitalizing power and set it into motion. The practice of yoga is the best possible technique proven. The more prana you transport around inside your body, the more balanced, strong, and positive you get. It maintains equilibrium and protects against imbalances and disturbances…. but at the same time this mysterious power of pure energy has an obvious higher purpose. Its a journey within you, a road less traveled, and a mind blowing experience!