Matt & Nat Vegan Leather Handbags

Posted on by Tammy

Looking for a new stylish handbag, but want an animal-friendly version? Well we recently discovered a company called Matt & Nat, offering handbags and wallets!

The company sells affordable and stylish designs for both men and women, and the bags are made from vegan leather. And taking it one more “green” step forward, the inside of the bags are lined using recycled water bottles. Our favorites are the Damon and Third.

The bags are also recommended by actress and vegan Olivia Wilde on her website Wilde Things – along with some of her favorite vegan recipes!

Eckhart Tolle CD: Music For Inner Stillness

Posted on by Tammy

“Music, like nature, bypasses the conceptual mind,” says Eckhart Tolle, and to help find our center, the best-selling author handpicked a new compilation of music for his latest CD, “Eckhart Tolle’s Music for Inner Stillness,” sequenced to center listeners in the present moment and what he calls, “the joy of being.”

The tracks include “A Thousand Whispers,” “The Song of the Universal Light,” and “Epiphany,” and artists such as Grammy-nominated Tibetan flutist Nawang Khechog, ambient composer and sound healer Alex Theory, and more.

You can preview these tracks and see other CDs and DVDs available form Eckhart in our SoundsTrue store.

Kirtan Kriya Meditation Reduces Stress & Inflammation

Posted on by Tammy

A UCLA study of 45 caregivers whose family members have Alzheimer’s and dementia found that 12 minutes a day of Kirtan Kriya Meditation showed a reduction of stress levels. Six months later, the researchers discovered why – there was a reduction in the biological mechanisms responsible for an increase in the immune system’s inflammation response.

Reporting in the current online edition of the journal “Psychoneuroendocrinology,” Dr. Helen Lavretsky, senior author and a professor of psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and colleagues found that of the 45 caregivers in the study, 68 of their genes responded differently after the meditation, which resulted in reduced inflammation, ScienceDaily reported.

In the study, the participants were randomly placed into two groups. The meditation group was taught a 12-minute yogic practice that included Kirtan Kriya, which was performed every day at the same time for eight weeks. The other group was asked to relax in a quiet place with their eyes closed while listening to instrumental music on a relaxation CD for the same time period. Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and again at the end of the eight weeks, the report stated.

“The goal of the study was to determine if meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral proteins that shape immune cell gene expression,” said Lavretsky. “Our analysis showed a reduced activity of those proteins linked directly to increased inflammation. This is encouraging news. Caregivers often don’t have the time, energy, or contacts that could bring them a little relief from the stress of taking care of a loved one with dementia, so practicing a brief form of yogic meditation, which is easy to learn, is a useful too.”

Lavretsky is a member of UCLA’s recently launched Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program, which provides comprehensive, coordinated care as well as resources and support to patients and their caregivers. Lavretsky has incorporated yoga practice into the caregiver program, ScienceDaily reported.

Three Ways to Repel Negativity (And Attract What You Want in Life)

Posted on by Tammy

By Jennifer Garza

When it comes to the law of attraction and manifesting our desires, negativity is the fastest way to sabotage our goals. Here are three ways we can stop the flow of negativity in our lives.

Resist the urge to vent.

We all vent – it’s a way to blow off steam after a hard day or an argument with a friend. It seems harmless. However, recent studies show that this urge can actually be hazardous to your health. The problem with venting is that once you start, it’s hard to stop, and gripes can quickly turn into rumination. According to research, rumination sustains or increases feelings of sadness, creates negative thinking, interferes with ability to solve problems, and decreases motivation.

TIP: Take a two-week no-venting challenge. You’ll be surprised how after a respite, you’ll notice that venting creates feelings of heaviness. During the challenge, find humor in your situations and laugh. Replace your urges to vent with gratitude for the good things in your life!

Focus on the positive.

Negativity attracts negativity. Ever notice how a day that begins badly usually gets worse? If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed your thoughts swing to the negative. Do an increased amount of negative situations actually occur? Maybe, maybe not. But situations are at least perceived more negatively.

For instance, instead of ignoring the rude person in line for coffee, you say to yourself “What a jerk. People are so inconsiderate.” This line of thought increases your “inconsiderate people” radar throughout the day. However, if you chose to say to yourself “Aw, poor guy probably had a rotten morning like me!” and smile, you might be surprised how your mood shifts. And your kindness may have the same effect on the gentleman who left his manners at home that morning.

TIP: For every negative situation, try to figure out what opportunity exists there. Is it an opportunity to learn or extend kindness? If you can’t find the silver lining, realize you can’t control everything and everyone and release the negative thoughts. Remember, research shows that persistent negative thoughts can contribute to depression.

Remind yourself that you are in control of your feelings.

You will have bad days – we all do. But when you feel blue, instead of blaming the weather or a loved one’s comment for your mood – decide to take charge. You may not be able to control your circumstances, but you can control your thoughts about the circumstance. Realize that no situation or person can make you feel badly unless you allow it.

TIP: Figure out what you’re telling yourself that is contributing to your negative frame of mind. Does one negative thought like “I feel stuck in my job right now” spiral into generalization like “I’ll be stuck in this crappy job forever?” Replace these generalizations with positive affirmations for the future!

Jennifer Garza, M.S., has a master of science in counseling and psychology. She is a former therapist and has taught life enhancement classes at venues including college campuses, state conferences and prisons. She is the author of the inspiration journal “365 Days to Happiness: Use Your Strengths, Thoughts, and Dreams to Manifest a New Life.” Garza has been featured in Natural Health magazine, AOL, BusinessInsider.com, Young Entrepreneur.com, and on FTNS radio. Visit her website at www.authorjennifergarza.com or connect with her on Facebook.

Three Easy Ways to Overcome Food Guilt

Posted on by Tammy

by Lindsey Smith

As much as I enjoy food now, I used to spend more time worrying how many cookies I was going to indulge in at a family outing than I did actually enjoying and savoring both the taste of the cookies and the time spent with family.

I felt ashamed for worrying and having to constantly think about food at events. I felt stressed about my weight and body. I felt upset that I couldn’t engage in quality time with people I love because I was fixated on whether or not I would give into the temptation of the dessert table. I was suffering from major “food guilt.”

People who experience food guilt tend to see food as black and white, good and bad, and calories in and calories out. We feel bad when we eat something we know we shouldn’t. We mentally stress about our food choices at home, at work, and at social gatherings. We think about what diet we can start next to overcome the cake and ice cream we had for dessert. Negative thoughts of food crowd our mind, making it hard to think about anything else.

But when it comes down to it, we need food to live. So how do we have our cake and eat it too? How can we start experiencing food in a new way in which frees us from the guilt we have been continuously hanging over?

Here are 3 simple ways to help you to stop stressing and start enjoying:

1.) Cook with Love: Anytime you are cooking up a dish, express gratitude and love during the entire process, from sautéing to chopping. You will be so filled up from the cooking process that you will take more time to enjoy your food and spend less time worrying about it.

2.) Eat with Love: Go into every situation you have with food with a sense of love and appreciation. Whether it’s a bunch kale or a few cookies, express the same sense of love by appreciating your food and where it came from, showing gratitude, and taking time to savor every bite.

3.) Love Others: Know that your friends and family are a sense of nourishment too! The more time you spend with people that love you, the more full you will feel. No cookie can do justice!

And remember, these small changes and shifts in mindset add up to big results! Start with one and work your way up!

Lindsey Smith, known as the “food mood girl” works with people who have a habit of looking to food for all the wrong nutrients: comfort, reward, fun and acceptance. Through speaking and coaching she motivates, equips and inspires people to sort out their relationships with food so they can live a healthy, balanced life. She is also the author of “Junk Foods & Junk Moods: Stop Craving and Start Living!” Connect with Smith via her Web site, www.FoodMoodGirl.com, on Facebook and Twitter @LindseySmithHHC.

Bruce Lipton on 2012 & Healing the Body

Posted on by Tammy

Science is showing us that before us there were five civilizations completely wiped out. We are now in the sixth, and “civilization as we know it is about to end … and a new one is about to begin,” Bruce Lipton recently told the crowd at Hay House’s “I Can Do It Toronto” conference. But it’s not exactly as it seems.

“The Mayans never said it was the end of the world,” Lipton explained. “It’s the end of the way we have been living in this world. The way we have been living has been destroying the planet from underneath us.”

Life cycles of civilizations are just like humans – they grow, develop and die out – and simultaneously while one is ending, a new one is beginning. Everything in the universe is always in a state of flux and movement. Nothing stays the same. Therefore, those with rigid beliefs, who resist change, are the ones who will experience challenges, he explained.

“When you see the world changing, don’t be afraid. Actually gravitate toward the change because life is sustained by change,” Lipton advised. “It’s a time to open up and say we must look at the world in a different way.”

Looking back 10,000 years ago, people saw the spiritual and material worlds as equally present and powerful, where one could not exist without the other. They also viewed the mind and the body as equally important. But as civilizations evolved, the focus began to shift more toward the material world, and the belief became the mind and body are separate. However, the good news is we are moving back toward spirit as science continues to evolve and disprove many of the theories once thought to be true, according to Lipton.

This culture is built on fundamental beliefs that science is proving wrong. For example, Newtonian Physics, based on Isaac Newton’s view that we could ignore the invisible world has changed. Now, Quantum Physics, shows the invisible is important because the universe is actually made up of energy, which Lipton referred to as “the field.” This field controls all matter – including human beings. With quantum mechanics, the mind is once again returned to the body, and we now realize it is what controls the body.

This means, if “you change your perception [mind], you change your biology [body],” Lipton explained.

Another misperception, or what Lipton called “Myth-Perception” was that our genes control our biology. This thinking made us victims of genes, but now science discovered epigenetics proving that we can change our genes, said Lipton.

“Epi means above, so the control of your genes is above them – your thoughts, your beliefs, your attitudes. You are not a victim of your genes,” he explained, sharing what he called “the secret of life,” which is that it’s actually our beliefs that engage the “switches” in our cells that affect our genetics.

“If you think you are going to get cancer, you can manifest cancer,” he said. “Cells respond to environment. The nervous system picks up signals, which is called perception, and then your mind interprets it. Two people can have the same perception but different interpretations.”

These interpretations are what lead to the changes in body chemistry, he noted. We are our own biologists. If we open our eyes and see someone we love, our brain releases dopamine and oxytocin and our cells grow beautifully … but if something scares us, and we are in a state of fear, our brain releases cortisol and histamine, and fear shuts down the growth of the cells, he explained.

“When you change your perceptions, you change your life. It’s your beliefs about life that is creating the life you have. When you take back control you can become that master of your own biology … it starts by changing the chemistry from your thoughts,” he noted.