This meditation uses words, images, and feelings to evoke a loving kindness and friendliness toward oneself and others. With each recitation of the phrases, we are expressing an intention, planting the seeds of loving wishes over and over in our heart.  Begin with yourself and gradually begin to include other people in your meditation, picturing each beloved person, recite inwardly the same phrases, evoking a sense of loving kindness for each person in turn.  Finally, include the difficult people in your life, wishing that they too may be filled with loving kindness and peace. This will take practice. But as your heart opens, first to loved ones and friends, you will find that in the end you won’t want to close it anymore.

So Let’s Begin~!

Change is inevitable. When we are stressed out, we lose the capability to detect subtlety in our everyday experience. Our consciousness becomes dulled and our senses fail to perceive subtle shifts and changes. We miss out on vital information and fail to perceive change in progress.

When we lose that subtle capability to detect change in progress, our everyday experience can become dominated by alternately being surprised by change and then reacting to it. Having missed the signs of change at the subtle level, we are forced to interact with change when it becomes a big, non-negotiable demand.

Live happier and healthier: A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine notes that, “People who tend to think positively may reduce their risk of dying from heart related conditions and stroke by over 55%!”

Better skin? A study from Colorado State University at Fort Collins found that eating an excess of food that spike insulin levels (cake, soda and white bread) as well as refined carbs and fried foods may stimulate hormones responsible for oil overproduction and clogged pores. Cut back on the junk foods for a zit and wrinkle free face.

Get more zinc and possibly more love: oysters are packed with zinc, a mineral that enhances the immune system. One large oyster supplies a day’s worth of zinc, which also repairs and maintains muscle tissue. Many people do not get enough zinc in their diets and may leave themselves at risk for lowered immune system. Oysters are also a classic aphrodisiac for both men and women. Eat organic and fresh oysters a few times a month!

A study published today and featured on CNN’s Eatocracy, says that food fraud is on the rise. This serious problem should be very concerning to consumers and the general public, especially you and me. Food fraud is described as intentionally misleading consumers on products purchased by diluting, replacing and watering down food ingredients without labeling the switch. Why is so bad? Consumers are not getting what they think they are paying top dollar for. Shockingly, more than 800 new products have been added to the list of fraudulent foods, a steep 60% rise from last year. That is staggering! Reactions from consumers scream outrage, but there are many steps you, as an individual, can do to decrease your risk of being duped into believing your meticulous efforts of reading labels, buying fresh, organic, natural, and healthy foods serve in the best interest of you and your family’s well being.

An up and rising superfood, Black Cumin, is getting more notoriety as a liver protecting, immunity defending, headache reducing, and chronic disease all-around-problem-solver. As part of the buttercup family, the black cumin seeds are dark, thin, and crescent-shaped when whole. Today, these seeds are popularly used as a seasoning spice in different cuisines across the world. The chefs love it due to their nutty flavor, but black cumin seeds also have a wealth of important health benefits. This black seed has been around for thousands of years and encases important medicinal oils that been used in Arabian, Mediterranean, African (especially Egyptian), Indian and East Asian countries. Sold mostly as a supplement, black cumin seed is also known by its Latin name, Nigella sativa. The oil is extracted, concentrated and packaged most commonly as gel cap.

When most people think of going to a yoga class, they think they need to be flexible.  I can’t tell you enough how many people will tell me that they could never take yoga, they’re not flexible enough.  Well, see that’s the problem, in order to become flexible you need to stretch.  Yes, there are some people who are just born flexible but most of us need to work on our flexibility daily. By increasing your flexibility you gain an increased range of motion in different joints.  If you lack flexibility, for example, you have a greater chance at having lower back issues (because your hamstrings are too tight), or your knees might give you trouble because you don’t have enough flexibility in the hips The thing is, if you practice yoga over time, the tight areas begin to open up and the poses that once seemed impossible are possible.

As the largest eliminatory organ on the human body and helps to detox the toxins away from the body, it is no wonder people obsess over the tone, tightness, color, age and health of the skin. From the forhead to the back of the lower legs, everything from expensive cremes, body butters, lasers, skin wraps and saunas are used religiously by people of all ages, in hopes that we obtain our perfect idea of outer, ageless beauty: Beautiful and glowing, cellulite and vein free skin.

The quality of our actions is rooted in our mental outlook.  Calm,  clear thinking gives rise to action which is creative, inspirational and  evolutionary.  On the other hand, stressed or reactionary thinking  yields action that is rife with friction, short sightedness and even  regret.  It may even do harm to ourselves and others.  That is why we  strive to take care of our mental well being, since our state of mind  directly impacts, and is in fact the basis of, our activity.

Forty ways that yoga facilitates better health, both as prevention and as treatment, that are supported by evidence! 

Yoga is an optimal way of keeping our body limber, strong and healthy. Practicing yoga twisting poses can play a role in maintaining the health of our bodies. Twists require the work of the abdominal muscles, spine, neck, shoulders and pelvis they help to bring movement to the spine, release tension along the spinal column, stimulate our organs, improve digestion, and help to strengthen the musculature of the upper back and spine. Each twist improves the strength and flexibility in all of these areas but also while compressing and stretching the mid-torso, where the adrenals, kidneys, gallbladder, liver, pancreas, spleen and stomach are located, stimulates their function, and the absorption, digestion, and elimination of the intestines. One of the great things about twisting poses is you don’t need to be flexible to get the benefits they give. By stimulating the internal organs, detoxification is inevitable.