“The Goddess in Every Girl: Develop Your Feminine Power,” by M. J. Abadie

Posted on by Tammy

Introduce the young girl in your life to her inner goddess with “The Goddess in Every Girl,” by M.J. Abadie, republished from its original release in 2002.

The book includes more than 50 activities, exercises and games to engage teen girls, including directions for keeping a Goddess journal, breathing exercises, relaxation exercises and meditations.

Abadie takes teens through historical information on the goddess and the rise of the patriarchy; astrological signs to help them understand themselves, friends, family and those around them; and even offers exercises on body acceptance.

The book is meant to help teen girls strengthen their confidence and acceptance of who they are and their feminine and goddess energy.

Simple Ways to Boost Metabolism

Posted on by Tammy

By Cathi Stack

A common block to weight loss for many individuals is a low functioning metabolism. We have all heard about our metabolism – and many have complained about it – but do we actually know what it is or how we can affect it?

A simple test of how well a person’s metabolism is working is to assess how he or she feels physically. If someone is energetic and feels good, then the metabolism is probably fine. But if they feel sluggish upon waking or have a tough time getting through the day without the help of caffeine or energy drinks, then a metabolism tune-up may be in order.

Keeping this in mind, here are a few ways to optimize the metabolism:

Drink pure, filtered water. Metabolism depends on water in the bloodstream to carry nutrients and oxygen to the cells of the body where they metabolize into energy and build new cells. Over 80 percent of the bloodstream is water.

An average of 2 liters, or 8 cups, of water is lost daily through breathing, perspiration, digestion, elimination and other bodily functions, and this needs to be replenished. This amount is an average, as body size, activity level and nutritional habits all affect how much water each individual needs on a daily basis. A good rule of thumb is for a person to drink half their body weight in ounces of water each day. Water also plays a very important role in fat metabolism. This easy and inexpensive tip is one of the key ways to increase metabolism.

Eat breakfast. A simple analogy would be to expect a car to take us to work in the morning without putting gas into it. If we don’t eat breakfast, we slow down our metabolism and send the body into “fat-saving mode.” The body thinks it is starving when we go eight to 10 hours or more without food.

Get enough sleep. The body does its best work of restoring, repairing and recharging (metabolizing) while we sleep. Nothing runs well if the batteries are drained.

Exercise. Muscle cells have more mitochondria than fat cells. When you strengthen your muscles, more mitochondria are created. More mitochondria equals more energy production, which is the same as saying a “better metabolism” or better fat burning.

Breathe deeply. Get more oxygen into the lungs and body. Metabolism requires oxygen, so deep breathing (relaxed and natural, not forced) is definitely one of the ways to increase metabolism. Practice taking a deep breath or two often throughout the day, and get outside around some plants (they give off oxygen) if you can.

Don’t starve. Most of my overweight clients go well into the day before they even eat for the first time. A comment I frequently hear is “but I hardy eat anything.” This is a metabolism in trouble for sure. Dropping calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day will signal to the body that a person is in starvation mode, and will slow down metabolism.

Eat smaller meals more frequently. Smaller, more frequent meals every three hours keeps the blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism. Also, do not eat after 7 p.m.

Beneficial Supplements. A few supplements to include are B-Complex, B-12, CoQ-10, ginseng and green tea extract. While supplements may help, know they will not take the place of a nutritious diet.

Deepak Chopra Launches New UpFront Membership App

Posted on by Tammy

Deepak Chopra joined together with Upfront, which offers an exclusive online community to influencers and their fans in an app and Web format, to launch his new Upfront app and Web community.

Not only will he be sharing exclusive content – including photos, videos, meditations and more – but Chopra will also be able to communicate directly with fans through Upfront.

“I’m just thrilled to have joined Upfront, and I’ll be communicating with you on a daily basis, hopefully with a daily inspiration, a meditation, uploading videos and audios as necessary – not overwhelming you but give you tips on health, success, relationships and higher consciousness,” he said in the introductory video. “It’s going to be an adventure, and as I travel the world, all over the world, I’ll be informing you of things that I learn and I’ll share them with you as well.”

Members will have access to photos, videos, SMS messages, emails, polls, phone calls and live-streaming events from anywhere in the world. While the app – available on both iPhone and Android devices – is free to download, there is a subscription fee to access the platform.

For $.99 per month, there is a Club membership that allows members to access any questions posted by Chopra, as well as his photos, and gives Chopra the option to contact via phone or text messages. The second level is Premium, for $3.99 per month, which adds on access to exclusive video content not available anywhere else, including behind the scenes, interviews and more. Finally, the All Access pass is $5.99 a month, and includes live webcasts and in-person events.

To view the membership levels and a video of Deepak, click here.

Book Review: Yoga Sparks: 108 Practices for Stress Relief in a Minute or Less

Posted on by Tammy

The benefits of yoga – and exercise in general – are enormous, but there are times when life gets busy and finding the time to get a class isn’t always easy. In her new book, “Yoga Sparks: 108 Easy Practices for Stress Relief in a Minute of Less,” author Carol Krucoff, a yoga therapist and fitness expert, offers quick and easy yoga exercises that can be practices anytime and anywhere.

“Yoga Sparks are simple, effective tools to help initiate or deepen a home yoga practice and take the benefits off the mat and into daily life,” Krucoff says in the book.

The exercises are perfect for beginners, looking to get started in yoga, or for the seasoned yogi who wants to extend their yoga practice into their day. Incorporating these practices into daily life – whether breathing exercise or simple postures – can ease emotional stress, increase physical strength and flexibility, and help the body to relax.

LaLicious Lip Butters

Posted on by Tammy

We love the all-natural bath and body line, LaLicious, with its scents like Sugar Kiss, Coconut Cream, Brown Sugar and Vanilla and Island Guava. They offer sugar scrubs, body oils, soaps and body butter, and now they added lip butters to their line-up of products!

Available in Sugar Kiss, Mint Kiss and Vanilla Kiss, they are formulated using natural oils and extracts and are paraben and petroleum free. They can be purchased separately for $12 each, or as a set of three for $25.

Spirituality is Good for Your Health, Research Shows

Posted on by Tammy

It doesn’t matter what religion or belief system a person follows, new research from the University of Missouri found that any type of spirituality enhances a person’s heath – particularly mental health!

“In many ways, the results of our study support the idea that spirituality functions as a personality trait,” said Dan Cohen, assistant teaching professor of religious studies at MU and one of the co-authors of the study. “With increased spirituality people reduce their sense of self and feel a greater sense of oneness and connectedness with the rest of the universe. What was interesting was that frequency of participation in religious activities or the perceived degree of congregational support was not found to be significant in the relationships between personality, spirituality, religion and health.”

The study used the results of three surveys to determine if correlations existed among participants’ self-reported mental and physical health, personality factors, and spirituality in Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants. Across all five faiths, a greater degree of spirituality was related to better mental health, specifically lower levels of neuroticism and greater extraversion. Forgiveness was the only spiritual trait predictive of mental health after personality variables were considered.

“Our prior research shows that the mental health of people recovering from different medical conditions, such as cancer, stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, appears to be related significantly to positive spiritual beliefs and especially congregational support and spiritual interventions,” said Cohen. “Spiritual beliefs may be a coping device to help individuals deal emotionally with stress.”

Cohen believes spirituality may help people’s mental health by reducing their self-centeredness and developing their sense of belonging to a larger whole. Many different faith traditions encourage spirituality, though they use different names for the process. A Christian monk wouldn’t say he had attained Nirvana, nor would a Buddhist monk say he had communed with Jesus Christ, but they may well be referring to similar phenomena, according to the study.

Spiritual interventions such as religious-based counseling, meditation and forgiveness protocols may enhance spiritually based beliefs, practices and coping strategies in positive ways, the authors note.

The benefits of a more spiritual personality may go beyond an individual’s mental health as well. Cohen believes the selflessness that comes with spirituality enhances characteristics important for fostering a global society based on the virtues of peace and cooperation.