Recently in Food for the mind Category

Shape magazine, together with Iams, announces a brand new initiative to help dogs and their owners become more fit and have a stronger bond. As most people truly enjoy the benefits their dogs bring to their lives, the leading active lifestyle publication has created a community-based program to further this enjoyment. The "Walk Your Dog, Make Life Better" program encourages dog owners to join or create dog walking clubs which promote healthy lifestyles and generate fun social contact. Through these clubs, owners are encouraged to lead active lifestyles, keep their pets healthy and happy, and raise money for the ASPCA(R) (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(R)).

 

The goal of this program is to connect dog lovers to benefit their social and physical health, and the health of their furry friends. This coming spring, the March through May issues of Shape will include expert advice delivering information to 6.0 million readers on how to maximize their time (and their bond) with Fido. In conjunction with this content, Shape will also launch a microsite dedicated to informing consumers about this program and how they can become involved.

The 'Walk Your Dog, Make Life Better" microsite on shape.com will offer dog owners the ability to show off their furry friends by uploading photos, chatting with other dog owners, and interacting with new friends in their local area to start their own clubs. Pet owners will also be encouraged to send customizable e-cards to their friends and family to spread the word. For each card sent, Shape will make a donation to the ASPCA(R).

Sabine Feldmann, VP/Publisher of Shape says, "This partnership with Iams is an exciting one for Shape, especially given the stress of the current economy. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide the free tools to create fun dog walking clubs to get moving and meet new friends without spending a dime. This program embodies what Shape is all about - leading the healthiest and most positive lifestyle possible."

"Iams is proud to partner with Shape and support the Iams Dog Walking Club as a way to promote a healthy lifestyle for dogs and their human walking partners," said Kris Parlett, Iams spokesperson. "We encourage everyone to join or start an Iams Dog Walking Club for an opportunity to spend more time with their canine companion. They can also visit www.iams.com to learn how Iams ProActive Health promotes seven signs of healthy vitality, providing premium nutrition to ensure a playful and active dog."

"The ASPCA is thrilled to work with both Shape and Iams to promote the health of our nation's pets and their families," said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. "The bond that Americans share with their four-legged friends is so strong, and taking the time to exercise and play with your pets - improving their quality of life - is one of the best ways to honor that bond."

SOURCE Shape magazine

Each day we have countless conversations with ourselves, and if we really listen to them, we discover that much of what we say to ourselves is critical, judgmental, and often unforgiving. We seem to expect perfection, and if we don't get it, we tend to make excuses and blame others, or we blame ourselves and add the burden of guilt to our assumed shortcomings.

Carol Messmer's new book, "Conversations with Self: Discovering the Power of Your Inner Voice" (published by iUniverse), provides the support so many people need at this time -- a support that comes from within. Messmer reveals how to foster the mental discipline that we need when fear and doubt are in charge of our thoughts, to release these fears, and then tune in to the beneficial information our minds are trying to deliver.

The examples and scenarios used in "Conversations with Self: Discovering the Power of Your Inner Voice," along with explanations of how to use the tools presented and references to current brain research, combine to create a picture of encouragement, hope, and personal power in facing what many of us consider to be a difficult and challenging time. No matter what the external circumstances may be, we have the inner resources to create lives for ourselves that are fulfilling and secure. Providing numerous and relevant real-life scenarios as examples, Messmer shows us how, without the interference of fear, we can leave behind feelings of helplessness and despair, and instead begin making the choices that have the best chance of meeting our needs today and in the future.

SOURCE iUniverse

Need help getting on the right track?  Why not make a healthy living plan? Thinking about it and writing it down are all you need to do to get started. Here's a good way to start with a plan outline from Healthy-Holistic-Living.com.

Look for the positive in every situation.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Be aware of my thoughts and feelings.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Eat a healthy diet.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Value myself and my creativity.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Exercise regularly.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Avoid alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Stay open to new ideas.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Get adequate rest.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Accept change willingly.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Express emotions appropriately.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Make decisions based on what I think is best for me.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Respect myself and others.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

Practice preventive health care.

Steps I will take to achieve this goal:

 

Source: Healthy-Holistic-Living.com

Money is tight these days, so people are paying close attention to how they spend their precious dollars. This can include eating at home more and canceling pricey gym memberships. In this new economic era, unrestrained spending is out. But don't allow tight times to compromise the health of you or your family. To help health seekers navigate the new terrain, the editors at Natural Solutions: Vibrant Health, Balanced Living magazine have published "31 Ways to Stay Healthy and Save Money" in their March issue -- on newsstands now.

"The things that keep us healthy are often the first to go when we clamp down on our spending," said Linda Sparrowe, Natural Solutions' editor-in-chief. "We can't stop paying the mortgage or the utilities, so we downgrade our healthy lifestyle expenditures to 'dispensable.'" Turns out that's not such a healthy idea. Uncertain times like these, Sparrowe says, create an inordinate amount of stress, which is reason alone to find a way to keep what keeps you sane. How can you do that without breaking the bank?

• Barter. Many service providers are willing to strike a trade. To keep a healthful practice, such as yoga classes or regular massages, offer valuable skills in trade.
• Strike a deal. Let a massage student practice on you for free. Offer to pay for a yearlong gym membership for a discount over the month-to-month price, or join budgets with a friend to hire a personal trainer who will let each person pay half the fee.
• Plan ahead when you shop. In addition to sale items, zero in on the store's private-label brand (for food and supplements), the bulk-foods section, and value packs of meat, poultry, and fish. Buy seasonal produce with a friend and take weekly turns chopping it to avoid expensive pre-cut produce.

SOURCE Natural Solutions

Participating in certain mental activities, like reading magazines or crafting in middle age or later in life, may delay or prevent memory loss, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st Annual Meeting in Seattle, April 25 to May 2, 2009.

The study involved 197 people between the ages of 70 and 89 with mild cognitive impairment, or diagnosed memory loss, and 1,124 people that age with no memory problems. Both groups answered questions about their daily activities within the past year and in middle age, when they were between 50 to 65 years old.

The study found that during later years, reading books, playing games, participating in computer activities and doing craft activities such as pottery or quilting led to a 30 to 50 percent decrease in the risk of developing memory loss compared to people who did not do those activities. People who watched television for less than seven hours a day in later years were 50 percent less likely to develop memory loss than people who watched for more than seven hours a day.

People who participated in social activities and read magazines during middle age were about 40 percent less likely to develop memory loss than those who did not do those activities.

"This study is exciting because it demonstrates that aging does not need to be a passive process. By simply engaging in cognitive exercise, you can protect against future memory loss," said study author Yonas Geda, MD, MSc, a neuropsychiatrist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Of course, the challenge with this type of research is that we are relying on past memories of the participants, therefore, we need to confirm these findings with additional research."

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Robert H. and Clarice Smith and Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Program and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Additional audio and video resources, including excerpts from an interview with Dr. Geda describing the research, are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog at: http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2009/02/09/exercise-your-brain-to-prevent-memory-loss/. These materials also are subject to embargo, but may be accessed in advance by journalists for

incorporation into stories. Please contact the AAN Media and Public Relations Department for the password to this post.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 21,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, restless legs syndrome, Alzheimer's disease, narcolepsy, and stroke.

SOURCE American Academy of Neurology

There are many ways in which we can help ourselves being a better person both physically and mentally, one such way and place that is helping us achieve this goal is The Center for Mind- Body Medicine.

Founded on the principle of teaching and empowering people to help themselves TCMBM's scientifically proven approach focuses in the interaction between the mind and body and the power of meditation and group support to help ourselves.
Find the medicine for your mind and body here.

Pic courtesy HaPe Gera on www.flickr.com

"Oh no! Rita is again down with fever and had a severe spasm last night",  was what a friend of mine told the other day, this is a common problem citied in most of the houses where the kids are totally on junk or cooked food. Now a day's kids are more prone to have unhealthy eating habits as parents themselves are least concerned about it and try to find an easy way out.
As a result kids tend to be more fussy and stubborn about what they eat and do not indulge into eating any type of healthy food, which they actually should be eating. The level of success of improving your child's diet depends a lot on the parent's confidence and persistence.
No child will willingly opt for raw veggies or fruits if an option like chips or pasta is given to him, it is the parent's conscious efforts to convince the child to enjoy the raw food and how beneficial it would be for him. For achieving this goal we as parents have to be convinced, because if we are ambivalent about making healthy changes in our lifestyle, we cannot expect our children do accept it readily.
The positive effect that diet has on the behavior, mental and physical conditions is unbelievable. After all it is we, who have to pave the way towards improving our children's quality and quantity of life. 

Pic courtesy superbez on www.flickr.com 

The phone rings and with trembling hand I pick up the receiver only to hear that I have lost the contract, yes this was the second contract tat I failed to get. I was really disturbed and depressed, and cursing myself, for not being able to crack it again. After a few days there was news that anew contract was to be tendered, but after two losses I had lost all hopes and could not gather the courage to enroll for another failure.
When a thought struck me, am I going in the right direction? Is it true that I really cannot do it or is it just in the mind? That was a turning point in my life; yes it was the mindset that needed a little over oiling and maintenance.
All we need to do is focus on the positive energies in you, reassuring yourself that everything around is good and beautiful. This is the positive healing method, a birth right of every individual that we fail to use. Just by keeping yourself in a positive vibration and focusing on your subject in the most natural state of wellness, we can motivate them to ease their resistance to their own wellbeing.
Be optimistic even in the worst of times and see yourself bloom like a flower in a garden giving fragrance to everyone around you and the calm feeling that it endues in you is so much more satisfying and beautiful

So you have stumbled upon this blog, as a matter of sheer of coincidence, but it actually might be what you are looking for, the answer to all your questions on healing and spirituality. One of the biggest problem with today's world is the quick fix mentality, yes it truly is. If we have any medical problem we immediately consult a doctor, or pop in a pill to give us instant relief, if we are tired and stressed out we take a nap or a nice bath and massage.
So what does this all depict we try and solve every problem at the surface level, that means just prima facie the question is answered, the underlying problem remains unsolved and this is a very shabby way of resolving any issue.
We must remember that each one of us is capable and unique in our own very special way; the only hindrance is that we are unaware of our abilities. It is not all that tough you see, if a little conscious efforts are taken in the right direction we can soon master ourselves towards self improvement.

Thank you God for the world so sweet
Thank you God for the food we eat
Thank you God for the birds that sing
Thank you God for everything
Most of us as children have learnt this prayer in our kindergarten and we used to religiously say it everyday, but are we still offering our prayers to God? Prayer works and it works for everyone whether black or white, we are all equal in his eyes.
 Prayer has magical powers, there is no specific time to pray and no hard core method of praying it just has to be with full heart, true faith, and clear mind. There should be no blockages when we are praying to the All Mighty he is there to take of us if we sincerely remember Him.
It has been proved scientifically that prayers can do wonders even in medical cases associated with activity of enzymes, growth rate of leukemia cells, healing of wounds, firing rate of pacemaker cells, mutation of bacteria, and germination of seeds.
Prayers are not only beneficial for ones own self, but also for others, whether we are there with the ailing person or not, distance does not matter God listens to us from any corner of the world. There is immense power in prayers; it gives us peace of mind and stability of body and thoughts.
Even doctors believe that if prayed with the patients before and after a surgery it has a positive effect on both the doctors and the patients and helps in a speedy recovery. So pray not only in time of need but regularly and feel the positive vibes in you and your environment.

Pic courtesy paumelia on www.flickr.com

The past is always reflected in your present day to day life. There is an old quote, “we learn from our mistakes”, and it is true as every person takes lessons from his experiences. But there are times when we cannot get over things so easily, we are entangled in the past so much that we refuse to see what the future has in store.
Life is not always a bed of roses, there are bitter as well as happy and pleasant occasions in our life, and each one teaches us something which we might overlook and keep thinking of all the negative effects it had on us.
To see an opportunity in every problem and to teach our mind to close the old chapter and begin a new one there is a comprehensive program, Clearing the Slate, that combines knowledge and healing of our minds. If interested in this program please click here.

Eating! We live to eat or we eat to live is something to be thought about, I think most of us live to eat. But are we sure whether we are eating the right type of food and in the right proportion, and are we keen to know all about a healthy diet?
Food affects not only our body but also our mind and the impact is such that the whole persona can change. So our aim should be to eat simple, fresh and healthy food, and avoid junk food as far as possible. Different foods have different vitamins and proteins and they should be consumed in the right way to get the optimum effect.
If you want to know more about the lin/www.foodandmood.org/Pages/mindmeal.htmlk between food and mood click here.

What kind of people are we? What kind of person am I? We are often searching for means to answer these questions.

'What's your sign?' had become quite a common means to get a fix on someone's personality or compatibility with one's own, at least in the days when Linda Goodman was reigning queen of the book stores. I remember teen days spent poring over 'The Libra Man' or the Aries ditto, just because the flavor of the month happened to be that particular sign. I don't know if my study brought me much insight into astrology, but it did give me a greater tolerance for different types of human beings in general. Linda Goodman made each sign appear as if they were the best for humanity, for this world. That's probably what the larger meaning of astrology is supposed to be, in any case - an abiding love and tolerance for one's fellow human beings.

In the world of management, two other ladies, Myers and Briggs, a mother-daughter team, acquired a fan following in the area of classifying personality into types. Inspired by the work of Carl Jung, Myers-Briggs' work led to Isabel Myers-Briggs creating the Myers Briggs Typology Inventory, which explored your personality type based on your own preferences. Take the Jung typology test to discover your own personality and the part extraversion or intraversion, intuition, judging, sensing, feeling, thinking and perceiving play in it.

After getting your personality report, you may be interested in knowing what kind of jobs and careers suit you, what it is like for people who live with you, and what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses. Find out more about your personality type and its characteristics, and whether these really fit your own self-image.

After this, you are bound to feel sorely tempted to make other loved ones undergo the personality test as well! Hope plumbing each other's psychic depths is fun. Don't get carried away. Remember the larger picture, etc.

What happens on journeys to healing environments? When you sink deep into a cool mountain spring, and the dirt and artifice of the city just seems to be slipping away? When you look up at the sky full of stars and the petty worries of your life become so minor? When you take breath after deep breath of pure, cool, mountain air, scented with flowers and herbs...

Take some time to savor these beautiful poems capturing the inner world of journeys and seekers. You may just be tempted to spend the next few days on your own special riverside or mountain journey.

Read some quotes of a modern day guru, Deepak Chopra,

On happiness:

“Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted.”

“It is the nature of babies to be in bliss.”

On health:

“We are not victims of aging, sickness and death. These are part of scenery, not the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being.”

“The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers.”

On aging:

“The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.”

“You can free yourself from aging by reinterpreting your body and by grasping the link between belief and biology.”

For more, visit his site at Chopra.com

The damaging effect of a negative approach to life, or call it negative thinking, as opposed to positive thinking, lies in the fact that such thought processes become a regular pattern or a habit, and that thoughts arising in your mind have the power to permeate all the cells of your body to propagate your negativity to develop matching biochemical changes. How does this happen?

This answer lies in mind-body medicine. Dr. Candace Pert's many published articles and book Molecules Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine, explain that in all functional disorders, or psychosomatic illnesses, that is, diseases or conditions (aches/pains) that you have brought on yourself or aggravated by your negative thinking, it is a certain set of bio-chemicals called neuropeptides, that carry your emotions to receptors located on cells throughout your body.

Besides this, neuropeptides also administer the functioning of all the seemingly automatic functions our body performs, breathing, digesting etc. So all negativity arising in our thinking system or our mind soon enough becomes known to and affects all our body cells.

In Dr. Pert’s words, these neuropeptides are the “biochemical correlates of emotion.” And the system of messenger molecules and receptors represents a “psychosomatic communication network” that is the physiological link between the mind, the emotions and the body.

Sadly, even in this age of information overload, mind-body medicine is still largely a vague term, not understood or perhaps, not believed by the masses. The result is an increasing trend towards psychosomatic illnesses, so much so that it is reported about 70% of all illnesses are psychosomatic, or caused by mental stress.

In an article titled Positive Thinking for Your Health, Michael Nudel and Eva Nudel, Ph.D, claim that “psychosomatic illnesses can worsen when given special attention. Instead of paying direct attention to pain or illness, every time a negative thought occurs, say something like, ‘It will be better than I think.’” 

Got the message? Think positive.

Research indicates that meditation is immensely useful to an individual’s well-being. Apparently, meditation influences our brainwave patters.

So what exactly are brainwave patterns? Our brains’ nerve cells constantly generate electrical impulses that rhythmically cause different patterns – these are known as brainwave patterns and are said to have a definite bearing on our thoughts, emotions and general state of well-being.

Meditation helps generate an alpha brainwave pattern, which implies a consciousness that promotes healing. Alpha brainwaves are slow, indicative of relaxation.

Brainwave patterns may be of type alpha or beta or theta or delta.

Beta brainwaves are more rapid, this pattern is indicative of normal waking consciousness which as we all know, implies concentration, alertness and cognition. The other side of course of beta brainwaves is anxiety and disharmony born of a necessity for too much concentration or focus. In excess, beta waves can cause disease.

Theta brainwaves are also associated with relaxation and the release of endorphins that are known to lessen our experience of stress.

The slowest brainwave pattern is delta, associated with dreamless sleep, a stage of immense relaxation yet with the potential of extreme alertness. It is believed that at some point in a delta brainwave the brain releases the human growth hormone, a hormone linked with youthfulness.

Brainwaves are measured by electroencephalograms. Learn more about this procedure on this page of Wikipedia.