en*light Life

No matter how hectic the holidays may be, having friends and family to celebrate with makes everything worth while. My godmother’s family (or my second extended family) is featured in the video below. The song was written by one of the talented daughters of this amazing family. Hope this video inspires the holiday spirit in you.

Also, there is also a special contest on their website. For a chance to win, visit: http://www.mistletoekisses.net/

“How to Be That Guy (or Gal)”
Scott Ginsberg, Author, Speaker

What are YOU known for? Do you even know? It’s time to find out. Based on his successful third book, How to be THAT GUY, Scott Ginsberg shares the many ways to help individuals and businesses maximize their visibility, credibility, uniqueness, authenticity and memorability in the eyes of customers and prospects. The practice lessons he will share include:

• How to create an unforgettable personal brand
• How to position your value and increase visibility to magnetize more business
• Ways to facilitate authentic, approachable word of mouth about you, your company and your ideas

Notes (from a talk based on his book):

-          First impressions are generated in seconds (vs. minutes as previously thought)

-          Personal Brand comprises of the following:

a.) what are you known for?

            b.) What are you known as?

-          Customers will choose to do business with you for 3 reasons:   

a.)    They have heard of you

b.)    They have heard of your company

c.)    You are someone they trust

-          Anonymity is the greatest barrier to success

-          Website & Web Presence is key to becoming that guy/gal

Website vs. Web Presence 

1.)       Choices – The “best choice” usually means the first hit on google

2.)       Competition – why you? Why is your competition attracting more attention than you?

3.)       Communication – Meebo (ability to have instant support –think website IMing)

4.)       Memorable Numbers: (think McDonalds “_ billions served”) – what numbers makes our company memorable (e.g., number of COBs…etc – people track the # to see where they are)

a.) What is your memorable number (e.g., Lambert’s Café is about how many rolls have been thrown

b.) revistiability – getting people to track your number (keep coming back to your site/location)

c.) memorability- numbers are anchors

d.) credibility – specificity is persuasion

5.)       Websites are like newspapers. (If it’s over 2 years old – no one is interested)

6.)       Enshrine your practice (see below)

7.)       Separate portals (for candidates, for clients)

-          Websites should be screaming here is what you are you looking for versus hey look

-          Ezine articles – great way to get your name out there

-          What word do you own? – Own a word that NO ONE ELSE owns – this is one way that people will come to you

a.)    Example: Book called Dickless Marketing: Focused on Jane Not Dick – example of creating a great name

-          Mind Share, not Market Share (who thinks of you first?)

-          Enshrine your practice (e.g., Katz’s Deli – enshrined booth from When Harry Met Sally) Other examples: since 1984; over 140 stores; news coverage; watch 20/20 click here (on website); zagat rated; quotes clients/NACCB members, etc)

-          Rather than a biz card, he has a philosophy card

Tip: If you sign up for Scott’s Blog, you can get his ebook 117 Phrases that Payses for free! Here is his blog site: http://hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com/

For more than five thousand years, the Vedic masters of India have taught that our essential nature is infinite, whole, and perfect. We have an innate impulse to grow and create health and fulfillment. To fully experience these gifts, the ancient sages offered that we embrace a holistic understanding of life that considers the whole person―the mind, body, and spirit. Rather than focusing on individual symptoms or aspects of our physiology, the body-mind can best heal itself using timeless tools that allow it to reconnect to its unconditioned self. Although the term “holistic medicine” is relatively new in the Western lexicon, the concept is ancient. Just as the planet’s ecosystems―including the oceans, atmosphere, land, plants, and animals―are interdependent, the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of our lives are intimately connected. When one system is out of balance, it affects the functioning of the whole.

(Continue to the full article here: http://www.chopra.com/namaste/september07)

The 400 Richest Americans
Secrets Of The Self-Made 2007
by: Lisa LaMotta

As kids, America’s richest entrepreneurs dreamt of curing patients, flying jets, writing plays and bagging base hits for the Chicago Cubs. Instead, they started hundreds of companies, employed hundreds of thousands of people and bagged $1.06 trillion.

Sure, there was some ducking and weaving. When asked for the next billion-dollar idea waiting to be exploited, Donald Trump replied, “If I knew, I wouldn’t tell.” Logging tycoon Tim Blixeth’s answer: “Stay tuned to 2008!”

One message came through loud and clear, though: It’s good to be the guy in charge–and the money’s nice too.

The top eight spots on the Forbes 400 belong to entrepreneurs, as opposed to well-paid corporate soldiers or the silver-spoon set. The combined net worth of the top eight hit $237 billion, or 15% of the whole pie. And of the entire list, 270 (or 68%) are self-made, up from 261 last year. Average net worth of all self-made members: $3.9 billion.

While their conquests run the gamut, from real estate and oil to media and technology, these billionaire-entrepreneurs also have a few things in common, according to our 20-question survey.

In the accompanying slide shows, 21 self-made members of the 2007 Forbes 400 list offer an exclusive, introspective and often playful peek into their best days, worst qualities and hardest lessons.

We also coaxed them into sharing their thoughts on how to invest $100,000 right now (a few said put it with them); luck’s contribution to their success (95%, says Kenny Troutt, founder of Excel Communications); and the pitfalls of leaving too much to the kids (money man Richard Rainwater says $50 million is too much, while $1 billion each works for supermarket and oil titan John Catsimatidis).

They even told us with whom they would most want to share a cocktail–two said “me.”

A healthy chunk admitted that they are impatient to a fault. (Patience might be a virtue, but it might not make you rich.) As for guilty pleasures, food was especially delicious–Sandy Weill, former head of Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ), goes for chocolate sorbet and pizza with jalapeños.

Then again, who’s got time for guilt when you’re worth $2.4 billion? Says media mogul Mort Zuckerman: “There used to be guilt associated with most of my pleasures, and now there is none.”

When it came to best days in life thus far, weddings and births took the cake–with one glaring exception. Casino kingpin Phillip Ruffin’s best day ever: Aug. 10, 2007, when he says he put “$1.24 billion into my checking account

Other answers were all over the map. Favorite books ranged from, yes, War and Peace to The Black Stallion; some even cited books they themselves had written. The group’s study-to-party ratio in college bounced around too–not least because a few didn’t go to college.

Great wealth doesn’t come without a few bruises, and the group was fairly forthcoming–even poignant–when it came to sharing hard lessons learned. Manufacturing titan Michael Heisley had to admit that “wealth is one of the most corrupting influences in my life.” Kenny Trout’s epiphany: “Money does not buy happiness.”

Of all the respondents, though, 86-year-old James Sorenson, the largest shareholder in Abbott Laboratories (nyse: ABT - news - people ) and a junk-food enthusiast, perhaps best captured the fundamental spirit of entrepreneurship. Asked for the hardest lesson he had to learn, he replied: “To spend my energy and resources investing in my own ideas, rather than those of other people. I need to drive my own vision.”

And that’s why he’s worth $4.5 billion.

Slideshow can be viewed at:  http://www.forbes.com/2007/09/19/secrets-self-made-ent-manage-cx_ll_richlist07_0920guiltypleasure_slide_5.html?thisSpeed=15000

Links to the full interviews: http://www.forbes.com/2007/09/20/citigroup-abbott-trump-ent-fin-cx_bn_richlist07_0920secrets_land.html

Are science and religion getting married? After centuries of fighting about who is right, quantum physics seeks to marry science and religion. What the Bleep? Down the Rabbit Hole explains some of the major concepts of Quantum Physics

Main points in Down the Rabbit hole…

·         Science tells us that we are a “lonely mistake in the world” that we are genetic mishaps that happened, and that we mutate via evolution.  We are alone in this lonely world in this lonely universe. The emphasis of alone, and separateness from the universe creates all the problems in the world. Quantum emphasizes that we are all one, and connected.

·         New paradigm – consciousness is real, and we live by our senses (sight, feeling, etc) to perceive reality; yet, we process 4 billion bits of information per second, and only “perceive” 2,000.. This suggests that there is more beyond our perceived reality. (So, shift your reality, and read on…)

·         Quantum mechanics – the belief that the world is not clockwork (machine), it is an organism that is interconnected and extends through space and time.  From a basic standpoint, how I think, affects the world. This makes the idea that a world view is important.

-          We can explain gravity, etc via traditional physics, however; at an atom –level the laws are different; thus, quantum mechanics comes in to explain at an atom level (See theories of superposition, entanglement, Bose – Einstein condensates, collapse of the wave function)

-          We are made of a unified field

-          What makes up things are ideas, information, and concepts.

-          The atoms of things never touch each other (atoms of a basketball never touch the atoms of the  ground)

-          Waves of information happen (and I won’t even try to explain this one – I’ll leave it to Dr. Quantum’s Double Slit Experiment:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc )

·         Thoughts and feeling effect physical reality. (Refer to Dr. Emoto’s study of water: http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/) http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-3632908240778323085) Makes you think, if this is what happens to water, and we are comprised primarily of water, then imagine how we are affected by thoughts.

http://www.youtube.com/v/EzMybuBMNVM

·         What you focus on is what persists in your life (e.g., victim mentality keeps you experiencing events that make you a victim)

·         The fundamental truth of unity, or Entanglement. There are different levels of worlds – the world we see through our eyes, our cellular world, etc). The theory of Entanglement states that at the subatomic level, we are united.

·         Our observation has a very direct effect on our world (what we experience).  Our observation consists of our senses, however; if we put out the intentions to change (e.g., becoming for fit), and focus on those intentions every day, and visualize, we can change (e.g., be more fit)

·         Creating a different pattern and perspective (A new you):

-          The frontal lobe of our brain allows us to change our mind (free will, inspiration, decision making). It is via the frontal lobe that we change our habits.

-          Memory and emotions get hard-wired together (love gets wired with memories of heartbreak, etc), which then effects how we perceive certain things, and can create our identity (e.g., victim).

-          Practicing changing our thoughts/beliefs creates new neuron pattern in our brain, which then makes it easier to adapt to a new outlook, habit, etc.  Quantum physics relates this to praying – holding a thought.

-          Change means leaving behind our identity (behavior) to become who we want to be (behavior modification)

·         Each cell is alive, and has a consciousness. Each cell knows if it needs more chemical stimulation (e.g., signals brain “I’m hungry”/need that kind of stimulation if hungry/ over-eater). This process facilitates our patterns (overeating, depression, etc.)

·         Addictions are driven by a lack of control of an emotional state. When we are addicted to our emotional state, the people we love are the people that sympathize most with our victimhood, etc.

-          We can become addicted to stress, so we won’t quit a job, etc.

·         A master  “seizes the day”

·         Sex (you just have to see this – your cells and sex/addictions).. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNbj8rqbRAk

·         Aging is a matter of improper protein production

·         Getting out of our traps – the universe brings teachings to our door that we if we listen, we can get into a place beyond our physicality, and start asking questions like “why am I here?” “what is my purpose?”. It is then we can live our full potential and live an extraordinary life, and advance spiritually. It can also change how we see ourselves, and feel about ourselves (e.g., from “I hate myself” to “I love myself”)

-          Thoughts create our reality

-          An enlightened person sees consequences for every action, and if he/she wrongs that will cause him/her to face it and resolve it

·         They touch upon God,  - that God is not outside of us, but a part of us. That we are connected by a “onemindedness”

·         Precognition, telepathy, etc. are examples of entanglement (marriage of spiritual and science)

This article is merely to review ideas discussed in What the Bleep, however, if you would like reference information that goes into these ideas into depth, please visit the following sites:

·         The Wikipedia for Quantum physics (http://www.quantiki.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

·         Entanglement video: http://www.youtube.com/v/ja0UUKbVlhA

·         What is Quantum Physics? http://www.jracademy.com/~jtucek/science/what.html

·         The latest news on Quantum physics: http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/quantum_physics/

·         Major theories:

http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/physics/quant/node1.html

http://www.hpwt.de/Quantene.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/3487/qp.html

·         http://www.thebigview.com/spacetime/

·         Video clips (this person has almost the entire movie here): http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=setnor

·         EFT: http://www.emofree.com/Articles2/what-bleep.htm

·         Unified Field Theory:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/everything.html

http://www.beotel.yu/~mmalovic/boblock

Today, Dr. Oz appeared on Oprah to discuss some of the most common food myths, and showed the journey of his digestion track via a pill cam. His talk was a summary of his series now appearing through Wednesday called The Truth About Food featured on BBC.

Dr. Oz debunks some of the myths about detox diets, benefits of water (guess what? water doesn’t do as much as you think it might..)  For a summary of the show, and the pill cam film follow this link: http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200709/tows_past_20070917.jhtml?promocode=incl20070917TD

Here is breakdown of the show series:

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD Episode Descriptions (All times are ET/PT) THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD: How to Be Healthy Premiere: Monday, September 17, at 8 PM What we eat can change our lives. How to Be Healthy follows nine fast- food junkies to an enclosure at a British zoo as they crunch their way through half a ton of raw fruits and vegetables in just 12 days. Join two truckers who have to swallow an unusual pill to get their internal traffic jams moving. Learn how the bacteria in the gut also enjoy our food, and how it can lead to windy side effects.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD: How to Be Sexy

Premiere: Monday, September 17, at 9 PM

This episode puts our volunteers’ bodies on the line to discover just what effect food can have on our sex lives. Is the way to a person’s heart really through the stomach? Can fruit and vegetables boost sperm quality and quantity? How might cheese help relieve the symptoms of PMS? And can you tell if a woman is attracted to you by the contents of her dinner plate?

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD: How to Feed Your Kids

Premiere: Tuesday, September 18, at 8 PM

In a warm-hearted look at children’s stubborn palates, this episode provides a guide on how to open kids’ minds and mouths to new foods. How did young Isaac break his broccoli boycott? Also, viewers will discover whether or not watching TV can trigger your child to put on pounds, and if sugar really makes kids hyperactive.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD: How to Be Slim

Premiere: Tuesday, September 18, at 9 PM

After trying every diet in the book, a family of dieters are about to give up until the latest nutritional science comes to their aid. Sit back as THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD reveals the foods that keep you feeling fuller for longer, how dairy products may hold the secret to reducing calorie absorption, and whether or not the speed of our metabolism really determines how fat we are.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD: How to Stay Young and Beautiful

Premiere: Wednesday, September 19, at 8 PM

In tonight’s fact-filled feast, discover how the mere color of some foods can fight the aging process. How to Stay Young and Beautiful reveals how eating tomatoes can help stop the progression of wrinkles, and looks at whether or not a stringent detox diet really does work. Our scientists also try to figure out if drinking two liters of water a day can give you younger, healthier-looking skin.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD: How to Be the Best

Premiere: Wednesday, September 19, at 9 PM

In this episode, a group of female vegetarian martial arts experts go back to eating meat to see if it makes them fitter and stronger. Also, get set to test whether the omega-3 in oily fish can give stressed-out cabbies a less taxing day, and whether or not firefighters in Montana are better placed to lick the flames after licking their lips over snacks rather than the traditional three meals a day.

To watch all the shows from the BBC Series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/flashapp/

Maintain a proper acid-alkaline balance to curtail colds and keep inflammation in check.

By Molly Siple, M.S., R.D. (with additional commentary provided by En*light Life)

What Is pH? A measure of acidity and alkalinity. From the French pouvoir hydrogene, pH describes hydrogen ion activity. A pH of 1 is the most acidic, 7 is neutral, and 14 is the most alkaline. Everything you eat or drink affects your pH balance.

Remember pH strips? They were handed out in grade school science class. Seeing the colors change was fun–if not as diverting as building a potato clock–but it was tough to comprehend how a funky little acronym could be such a vital key to good health.

“Paying attention to acid-alkaline balance is one of the most crucial ways you can affect your health status,” says Susan Lark, M.D., co-author of The Chemistry of Success: Six Secrets of Peak Performance. “It impacts immunity, digestion, bone strength, symptoms of joint disease, hormones, and the function of essential internal organs.” What’s more, a spoonful of alkalinity can also lessen the severity of colds, sore throats, and other winter woes.

The balance of acidity and alkalinity in your body allows essential chemical reactions to take place in cells and tissues.

Not all parts of the body are equal, pH-wise: For example, the stomach, with its fluctuating digestive juices, is more acid than the brain or blood, which are slightly alkaline (at about 7.1 and 7.4, respectively). The balances are maintained via various proteins, minerals, and kidney and lung functions. In addition, everything you eat or drink affects pH balance, for good or for ill. Even breathing regulates pH: Inhaling brings alkaline oxygen into the system, and exhaling removes acidic carbon dioxide.

To function properly, cells need to be slightly alkaline; most Americans, however, suffer from an abundance of acidity. Stress, medications, illness, and highly strenuous exercise promote acid production; so do many of the foods favored in the typical Western diet. Fatty, high-protein fast foods like cheeseburgers and french fries trigger the stomach to secrete extra amounts of acidic digestive juices. Refined flour and sugar (in this instance, the bun and ketchup) reduce to acid compounds once they’re metabolized. And that extra-large cola is extremely acidic. Considering that too much acidity is associated with many degenerative diseases, from colitis to rheumatoid arthritis, this “value meal” isn’t such a bargain after all.

Buffer Breakdown
Age is also a contributing factor. “Acid-alkaline balance is relatively easy to maintain when we’re young and our regulating mechanisms are in good working order,” explains Lark. “But with each passing decade, starting in our 40s or even earlier, the efficiency of our buffering systems begins to decline.” According to Lark, only 6 percent to 8 percent of the population produce naturally high alkaline levels well into old age; these people have excellent digestive function and lung capacity, and are more likely to be energized and healthy as the years go by.

To find out whether your system tends to be acid or alkaline, answer Lark’s questionnaire (below) or self-test your saliva or urine using pH test paper. If you’re troubled by over-acidity, rebalance your diet to include more alkaline foods.

“What a person eats can have a huge impact on pH,” says Lark. Limit your intake of animal products, refined flours, and sugars, and put more alkaline vegetables on the menu.

As macrobiotic instructor and chef Cynthia Briscoe advises, “The acid-forming foods are not just refined carbohydrates like white flour and sugar, but dishes that give you concentrated amounts of protein and fat.” She suggests reducing animal protein and increasing vegetable content by changing the format of a given meal. For example, instead of a grilled steak for dinner, prepare a salad topped with a few slices of the meat.

You’ll know when your natural balance has been restored because you’ll start feeling better. Briscoe recalls a student who after three days of classes and eating balanced meals, told her, “I woke up today with a happy little feeling in the middle of my stomach that I hadn’t felt for years!” Start thinking in terms of the acid-alkaline balance at mealtime, and see if that happy feeling is yours as well.

Are You Unbalanced?
To find out whether your system is generally alkaline or overly acid, you can have some fun running informal tests at home. One option is to use pHydrion litmus paper (available at healthtreasures.com), which turns color when it comes in contact with saliva. For greatest accuracy, take the test immediately upon awakening. Tear off an inch of the paper and place it on your tongue for about 10 seconds, then check the results against the enclosed color chart. According to nutritionist Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., a reading between 6.6 and 7. indicates acid-alkaline balance while a reading below 6.6 indicates over-acidity and a need to eat more alkalizing foods. (Appleton offers her own testing kit at nancyappleton.com.) Another option is plastic pH strips, which can be easier to read because the chemical reagent is affixed to the strips and tends not to bleed; find them at ph-ion.com.

When testing pH, keep in mind that readings can be affected by factors such as stress or any foods or liquids you’ve consumed. To offset these influences, test yourself several times over a week or two.

Because there are so many variables, Susan Lark, M.D., prefers to rely on personal health histories to identify over-acidity. The following yes/no questionnaire is condensed and modified from Lark’s book, The Chemistry of Success.

1. After consuming fried foods, red meat, fast food, colas, or desserts, I don’t feel my best.
2. I eat refined foods like white flour and sugar regularly.
3. I regularly take aspirin, antibiotics, or unbuffered vitamin C.
4. Vigorous exercise often leaves me feeling exhausted.
5. After an hour of work at my desk, I’m mentally and physically tired.
6. My muscles often feel stiff and sore.
7. I have a history of osteoporosis, arthritis, or gout.
8. I’ve already had my 50th birthday.
9. I frequently catch a cold or the flu.
10. I am especially susceptible to sore throats, canker sores, or food allergies.
11. I have frequent yeast infections/discharge/odor; urinary infections; cystitis

If you answer yes to five or more questions, you are quite likely to be overly acid. Even one yes could be an indicator, e.g., if you frequently catch a cold or the flu. (On the other hand, a true alkaline type could eat refined foods without suffering an acid backlash.)

Quick-Fix Home Remedy
If you develop a sore throat or come down with a cold–two conditions that are exacerbated by acidity–try this alkalizing at-home treatment from Susan M. Lark, M.D.: Create a mixture of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and potassium bicarbonate in a ratio from 4:1 to 8:1, depending on your tolerance for potassium. (Use baking soda alone if the sodium-potassium mixture causes intestinal discomfort.) In the acute phase of your illness, take 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture every one to two hours, and then decrease to three to four times per day for at least two days or until your condition is resolved. If you are also taking ascorbic acid (vitamin C), make sure it’s in a buffered formulation.
A note of caution: In the unlikely event that you over-alkalize, you may experience tingling in the extremities, insomnia, and muscle spasms. Discontinue the bicarbonate and take the juice of half a lemon in water or 1 or 2 teaspoons of cider vinegar to neutralize the alkalinity. Most likely you can restart the alkalizing treatment the next day at a lower dosage and less frequently; check with your doctor.

15 Ways to Alkalize

1. For breakfast, instead of orange juice, coffee, and a bagel for breakfast, have a slice of melon, herbal tea or a grain-based coffee substitute, and whole-grain toast.
2. At lunch, opt for bean or vegetable soup rather than tomato soup. (However, organic, uncooked tomatoes have an alkaline effect. It’s when you cook them, tomatoes turn highly acidic)
3. Add avocados to your diet (the pH Balance Diet developed by Dr. Young suggests even up to 2-3 per day)
4. Drink purified water (reverse-osmosis purification has highest pH), with pH drops or baking soda mixture explained above
5. Instead of an acidic vinaigrette, prepare a dressing using tahini and amino acids (a good subsistute for soy sauce): In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste), 1/4 cup water, and 1-2 tablespoons soy amino acids (flavor sparingly at first because of the natural salty taste), beating together with a fork. Stir in 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Another option is olive oil sprinkled with amino acids
6. If you feel like a burger, stick to soy meats.
7. Choose fish–it’s more alkalizing than red meat.
8. Iced ginger tea has the pleasing bite of a cola drink without the high acidity.
9. Replace dairy products with soy “dairy”. Yogurt (pH of 3.8 to 4.2) is one of the worst offenders. Yogurt with sugar-sweetened fruit may be even more acidic; once sugar is metabolized, it ends up as acid in your system.
10. To make a less acidic fruit salad, use guava, papaya, watermelon, cantaloupe, pear, banana, figs, and dates.
11. Avoid acidity triggers. Food sensitivities can bring about symptoms of over-acidity. Some common culprits include wheat, dairy, certain nuts, and seafood.
12. Say yes to alkalizing green drinks. The best on the market are by Innerlight
13. Go nutty with raw/sprouted, organic almonds/almond butter, & pumpkin seeds (Amber recommends the Go Nuts! brand at Whole Foods for extra flavor)
14. Choose cellular exercises such as re-bounding (for an article on the benefits of rebounding: http://www.needakrebounders.com/rebounding_endorsement.htm; and below is the cheapest high-quality rebounder that the editors of En*light Life found and use daily)
15. De-toxify! Use a de-toxifying system, preferrably one that detoxes the colon, liver, lymph, etc. (Tip: your local health food store should have options). 

What the Studies Say
Increasing pH lowers the risk of urinary tract infections and reduces symptoms of cystitis, according to a study published in The Journal of International Medical Research. In bladder infections, burning sensations occur when bacteria-laden acid comes in contact with the sensitive tissue. Highly acidic cranberry juice is commonly used as a remedy because it helps prevent the bacteria from clinging to the bladder walls. But study participants found symptom relief and some clearing of infection by taking 4 grams of sodium bicarbonate or citrate, an alkalizing agent, in a glass of water three times a day for two days (you can also use pH drops like the ones recommended below). To fight UTIs at home, Lark recommends taking 5 to 10 grams of buffered vitamin C per day in divided doses–and avoiding acidic foods–until the condition resolves.

Raising pH increases the immune system’s ability to kill bacteria, concludes a study conducted at The Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine in London. Viruses and bacteria that cause bronchitis and colds thrive in an acidic environment. To fight a respiratory infection and dampen symptoms such as a runny nose and sore throat, Lark suggests taking an alkalizing mixture of sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate. (See “Quick-Fix Home Remedy,” above.)

Alkalines protect you against osteoporosis. When the body becomes overly acid, it releases buffering minerals into the bloodstream, such as calcium taken from bones. In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers gave post-menopausal women alkalizing potassium bicarbonate and found that the subjects’ mineral loss from bone declined and that the rate of bone formation increased.

Adopting a more alkaline vegetarian diet can improve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, according to studies cited in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and it may help treat gout and Crohn’s disease. Also, alkalizing lowers the risk of kidney stones by making uric acid more soluble.

pH Power Foods Guide
Once you know which foods tend to be acidic or alkaline, you can make smarter choices whether you’re dining in or out.

Check out these Websites for more info:

http://acidalkalinediet.com/

http://www.phmiracleliving.com/

Recommended Products:
                

Wait, don’t wear hemp clothing? And trust the government to tell you what to buy? And people want to give you free stuff? This eco-friendly stuff is crazy!

Photograph by Felipe Buitrago
Beer for a better planet: Gordon Biersch provided free parking for participant’s in this year’s Bike to Work Day in May

By Diane Solomon

EVEN though industry and governments are going to have to make earth-shaking changes to cool things down, there’s plenty we can to do help. The basics of reducing our individual carbon footprints are to do what Henry David Thoreau said: “Simplify, simplify.” We’ll all live better with less-processed, packaged and industrially produced stuff carted here from across the planet.

Then there’s Wabi Sabi, Japan’s esthetic ideal: Less is more. If you aren’t using it, give it away or dispose of it responsibly. Before you purchase, be sure there’s room for it in your home. Buy local, buy less and reuse, repair, freecycle and recycle more. You may pay more for locally produced, fair trade and organic products, but it evens out when you buy less of everything else and reduce carbon intensive activities like driving. It’s not a coincidence that when you do things to save the planet you not only save money, but your life gets simpler, healthier and happier. Here are 50 tips: (For Full Article: http://www.metroactive.com/metro/08.15.07/50-ways-to-go-green-0733.html)

Day 3 – Transformation Day!

What an incredible, albeit, emotionally charged day! After a long day (from 8:30am thru 1:30am), the group of us were amazingly energized and excited. The energy level was insane as towards the end of the night we had a mini rave that ended with Tony and crew dousing audience members (and themselves) with water. It was like a big party at one point! Aside from all the fun, Tony guided us through some intense transformational exercises that targeted our limiting beliefs, which ultimately is designed to close the gap between what we desire/our goals, and obtaining results.

The major thrust of Transformation Day is to take a goal (e.g., mine was losing weight), and eliminate beliefs that get in the way (e.g., it’s too hard, “I can’t”, etc.). The idea was to eliminate the non-constructive beliefs and replace with positive beliefs. In order to facilitate the process of changing beliefs, we were guided through a visualization exercise that forced us to take a look at a future without accomplishing the goal. Going back to my example of losing weight/becoming healthier, my visualization was imagining myself consistently gaining weight over the course of the next few years and decade and seeing the end result – myself as severely obese – which was a very traumatizing experience. The point was to feel the consequences of not taking action towards a goal.

After the visualization exercise we were given an alternative - accomplishing goals. For example, mine was being model thin (hey, I can dream, right?), healthy, and full of energy. Now, think about this, do you think visualization of the consequences is effective? In my case, oh yeah! Robbin’s visualization exercise was so simple, yet effective. Imagining myself as fat was traumatic enough for me to do something about it. (Since attending the seminar, I have changed my eating habits, and when I do indulge a fatty treat, I only eat a couple bites.) Anchoring exercises followed the visualization exercise to further support change.

Major concepts covered today were:

• The pyramid of mastery:  7 areas of constant growth for an extraordinary life, which includes the physical body, which was the first layer, or most basic base layer for growth. 
  • We then scored these aspects of our life (physical body, relationships, career, finances, etc) on a scale of 1-10 to get a picture of where we are in each layer – the idea being that most of us are unequally focused on some areas and not others. The goals is strive for excellence in all areas in order to be whole.
  • Filling out a gap map to determine where and how much we full short in accomplishing our mastery areas
• The 3 pillars of an extraordinary life, and the fast track to results and personal mastery
• The importance of strategies to organize resources and consistently produce results; and the strategy types: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory.
• We even learned a few tips that are meant to establish more connection with a lover/partner, such as auditory location
•  The importance of standards. Specifically, raising your standards will change your life
• The 2 mm difference between excellence and outstanding
• Values – towards and away types, which might be in conflict

In Day 2 of Unleash the Power Within (UPW), Anthony Robbins focuses on getting you into a mindset of success. He does this by making you define your goals by really feeling and breathing them into your consciousness. Specific topics covered in UPW Day 2:

• Introduction to neuro-associative conditioning (Tony’s method to making you “feel” your goals and success.)
• The Ulimate Success Formula
• Power of beliefs
• 3 beliefs of lasting success (it must change now; I must change now; and I can change it now)
• Understanding that the past does not equal the future.
• 3 steps to lasting change
• The driving force behind change (The science of momentum)
  • Here, he brings back the example of the firewalk - once you take the first step, you are very motivated to take the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc step. In other words, once you have momentum, it’s easy to keep going
• Exercise: Finding your passion (What do you love? Hate? Are Passionate About? What You Really Want)
• Understanding Decision Making, and effect on change (from should to must)
• The power of team - by seeing everyone as part of your “team” makes you limitless
• Science of Achievement
• Art of fulfillment
• How proximity is power (who you surround yourself affects your standards,  and ultimately, influences who you become)
  • People’s lives are a direct reflection of teh expectations of their peer group
  • Peer = anyone that you are willing to alter your communication/behavior, etc. with in order maintain their respect or love
  • love your family, choose your peers
  • You can help millions of people, but only carry 4 on your back (take away message - there are only so many people that you can carry)
• How to build rapport via energy, tone, modeling, mirroring breathing/posture/gestures/handshakes, and eye contact
  • Tony also demonstrated how to use this in building attraction with someone you are interested in, as well as connecting within relationships

Other tidbits of wisdom:

• If you are trying to convince yourself you’re something you are not, you won’t be successul
• Manage your state by making your worst day, your best day
• Serve from the heart to light up other people’s day, which will turn, will light you up.
• Progress shows up in the form growth and contribution
• If you want to live an extraordinary life, you have to  STRETCH (beyond your comfort zone).
  • doing something outside of your comfort zone expands you mentally, physically, etc.
• Find something you care about more than yourself, and give to it every day

Overall, the point of Day 2 is get your thinking of what you want, and how to maintain the momentum needed to committ to change.