Every Person Should Listen to This Regarding Creativity

Meditation is worth it

“Prayer is when the mind is one-pointed and man talks to Infinity. Meditation is when the mind becomes totally clean and receptive, and Infinity talks to man.”

- Yogi Bhajan

I first learned Transcental Meditation when I was living in Los Angeles, CA in 1994. It is true that it can be very challenging to sit still and let your mind go crazy with a barrage of thoughts and not react to those thoughts and the feelings that are evoked. At first that was so hard for me.

As I've practiced more and more meditation over the past 16 years, I've found that it gets easier to sit with those noisy thoughts and feelings. Inevitably there will be a peaceful feeling after the meditation which is the reward.

During the time that I've been meditating, I have had increasingly more challenging life experiences that have developed, making meditating more necessary, more difficult and ultimately more fulfilling. Sometimes I skip meditation and then realize that is why I'm feeling so foggy and lost. Meditation makes everything in my life more vibrant and more peaceful. I feel more creative and more loving. I can see the people and experiences in my life from a higher perspective. When I practice my regular meditation, I'm more able to respond to life's challenges from a place of love and peace.

I recommend trying meditation to all ages. It takes discipline but the rewards are immeasurable.

Healthy Living Tips by Cara Sax

1. Always Eat Breakfast. Think of breakfast as putting a log on the fire. The fire is your metabolism. When you don't add logs to the fire, the fire fizzles out. Your metabolism is similar to that. When you don't add fuel (food) to your body, your metabolism slows down to protect the body from starving. When you wake up in the morning, you haven't eaten for quite a few hours so your metabolism has slowed down. When you eat a healthy breakfast, you are speeding up your metabolism to burn more calories for energy.

2. Exercise Everyday. That doesn't mean you have to go to the gym everyday, just move your body everyday. Use your stairs instead of a stairmaster, do some lunges while you are cooking, take a walk outside, drop down and do 15 push ups, even better, dance when you make dinner! Moving your body keeps your metabolism up so you are burning more calories throughout the day.

3. Downsize Your Dishes. Use a smaller plate . Portion sizes are out of control, they are triple the size of what they were 30 years ago. Most people will fill their plate no matter what size it is. If you use a small desert plate for dinner, you will eat less food at a sitting. Your plate will look full and you will get used to eating smaller portions. The same goes for cups and bowls. Children should always use a smaller plate so they get used what a portion should look like before its too late.

4. Make Veggies the Star of Every Meal. Add spinach to your morning eggs. Have a colorful salad or veggie pita for lunch. Saute your favorite veggies for dinner and serve them with a side of whole grain brown rice and a protein (beans, lean meat, or chicken) Vegetables should be the star of the meal. They should take up most of your plate. These amazing and healing plants are very low in calories, high in phytonutrients, and high in fiber.

5. Eat Whole Grains Daily. Whole grains have been proven to help people lose weight, control blood sugar, and ward off inflammatory conditions like heart disease. They are high in fiber and rich in phytochemicals to keep your body healthy and strong. Make sure you include brown rice, kasha, rolled oats, millet, and quinoa (to name a few) in your daily diet.

6. Drink water. Staying well hydrated can stave off sugar cravings and make you feel fuller at mealtimes. Enjoy clean unflavored water and eliminate sugary or artificial sugary drinks. Tap water is actually more regulated than bottled water so it may be better to drink filtered water from your tap. Invest in a Brita pitcher or water filtration system for your home. Use a refillable water bottle to reduce the number of plastic bottles that are so bad for the earth.

7. Accept and Love Who You Are. Most of us are not a size 2 and will never be no matter what we do. Don't compare yourself to others. Embrace your beautiful body and vow to keep it healthy and strong by nourishing yourself with whole foods, healthy relationships, and physical activity.

8. Eat with Self Awareness and Gratitude. Get to know yourself. Practice yoga and meditation or just breathing to quiet your mind and connect to your inner self. This will help you to really listen and feel what your body is telling you. Learn to distinguish between physical hunger and hunger for physical touch or something other than food. When you do this, you are able to replace unhealthy emotional eating with something more nourishing to the soul. Finally, be grateful to your body for all that it gives you. It is amazing and resilient and forgiving. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

Namaste,
Cara
carasaxhealth@aol.com
http://www.carasax.com/

Yoga is for me

This picture illustrates how I feel when I do yoga. The front figure is how I feel at the end of a class. Cleansed, lifted, light, strong. I'm very grateful for my yoga practice and teaching.

Amen.

Amy

It has almost been one year since I opened Heart Wisdom Yoga Studio in Danville, IL. Through this I have met some of the most amazing people. And I have learned so much about myself through teaching yoga. Phew! I don't even recognize myself. Thank you Danville, IL for this opportunity.

Peace & blessings,

Amy