Relaxation Exercises And Ridiculous Mental Conditioning

When Oprah Winfrey was interviewed by the legendary US television reporter Barbara Walters she was asked "what's the reason you put yourself on the line week after week, year after year, on the cutting edge of human emotion?" Oprah replied "Teaching people to take responsibly. I believe the secret to life is to take responsibility, once people grasp that I believe everything in their life changes. Once people understand it and live it, they are at cause for their life rather than living in effect and in reaction."

Public issues aside most people agree Bill Clinton was a very charismatic leader. Yet by his own admission in his autobiography he talks about painful acts in his childhood, anger and emotion that drove him to a better life. He hit a level of threshold where he was finally dissatisfied enough with his life to make changes. He was literally propelled forward to improve his life, and dream, and apply and learn the tools and strategies to assist himself and those around him. It's up to us to make a decision, to release all our negative emotions, to live in the present and to move into the future with improvement. The best thing about the past is that it's over.

Make a decision right now to release any old emotion you had with other people and move forward empowered. Put your shoulders back. Now stop and do something a little ridiculous. Float way up in the air in your mind, imagine you’re near a big ravine, put 100 singers down each side and hear them singing now. Hear the lightning coming down the side of the cliff. Feel the static electricity in the air. Now imagine a big puma in front of you, licking its lips. Now step inside the puma, feel the muscles and the strength and look way down the bottom, way off into the distance, so small it’s barely a speck, way down the bottom of the cliff is a person or situation you were facing. Hear the singers sing "Your Butt is Mine". Most of us don't feel good because we don’t do what could be described as "ridiculous mental conditioning".

Stop now and imagine a room in your mind, walk down the stairs, as you walk down with each stair releasing negativity and building up strength. At the bottom is a door. Open it. Inside is a beautiful garden. Imagine the sight, the sound, the feel and the smell. And in this garden are some people you need to meet. You need to have a conversation with them that goes something along the lines of "I forgive you". You may not be aware yet of the cords that still connect you to these people.

Now, stop and take two giant blades and drop them down and cut those cords and see the people fly off into the distance to go about their own growing. Now feel a pleasant feeling in your body. Lock this feeling in.

Consciously feel the release. Now visualize in front of you how you want to be, a more advanced version of you. Filled with whatever positive emotions you desire. Stop and imagine the qualities you need. Notice how does this new you look? Notice how his new you is feeling? Notice how this new you sounds? If you haven’t yet noticed then feel the strength from being around this new you. Notice how this new you stands and breathes. Now step into this taking on all the qualities of this new you. Make a commitment with this deepest part of yourself to take this new you around with you wherever you go.

What would this new you do? What would this new you stand for? What would this new you contribute? What would this new you be interested in? How will this you respond when you get off track? How will it feel when you live you life at this new standard? Step into this new you and feel the feelings in your body.

Decide to take your relationships to the next level. People love to talk about their own interests, learn to cultivate the art of being a good listener and people will like you - even if you have to sacrifice some of the conversational enjoyment for yourself to give to others. Watch the difference in your own life. People build up rapport with others by speaking at about the same speed and the same volume as the other person.

Consciously dwell on something that makes you feel strong. Clear your head. Adapt some positive characteristics of a role model. One of the best ways to gain confidence is to decide right now to have it, and embrace it.

Are You Successful?

Are you successful? What does that word mean to you? Unlimited wealth, “toys” as far as the eye can see, or family gatherings at your cottage on the lake?

Success is a state of mind, and I would like to help you Succeed! Below are some dynamic belief steps to follow.

S – Start believing in yourself and what you do!

Starting=beginning. If you wouldn’t have taken the risk and got on your bicycle for the first time, would you have the confidence that you do now as you mount your bike for a ride through town? This belief comes from within and turns your dreams and vision into reality!

U – Understand another's point of view.

You don’t know it all, so don’t appear to. Put yourself in their shoes and listen. Have empathy.
What does the other person want? What are they feeling? Block out your own feelings and the voice that has a response to their statements and truly “BE” with the one you are talking with. Don’t interrupt! Have you ever thought up the perfect response, so witty and smart, that it burst out of your mouth, only to stop the sentence coming out of the other person’s mouth. You missed them and possibly the sale or relationship.
Have you ever truly been understood? It is the best feeling in the world. When you put yourself aside to put the other person first, that is true sacrifice and success.

C – Confidence isn’t a feeling, it is an action. You need to have it, even when you just don’t feel like you can!

C – Collaborate , share your successes, be vulnerable and share your mistakes. Be real! You will become a people magnet. Surround yourself with people you admire. Look for like minded people, people who have what you want, who believe as you believe! Find out how they got to where they are and then do the same. Billionare Ross Perot paid millions to attract the brightest to his company. Be people smart.

E – Exercise your brain and body.

Read, read, read! Readers are leaders. Have you thought about that, it is true. The more you know, the more confident you feel and the more comfortable you feel collaborating with those who have what you want. Sound familiar?

Run, run, run! Keep your body in shape. Make a list of the people you admire, who have what you want? What do they look like? Do they exercise or take care of their outer body as well as their mind and soul?

E- Encourage others! Your friends, family, business partners all deserve to hear praise. Dig deep to find something they are good at or have done well, then say it, write it, sing a song to it, whatever, just acknowledge it to that other person!

D- Determine to be better than who you are and you’ll be surprised at who you’ll become! Use the bulldog determination like the tortoise and the Hare. Even the snail made it to the ark. Determine not to quit, creatively begin again and again, and again!
How hard are you going to work? How bad do you want it! It isn’t that hard, just…

Start believing in yourself.
Understand another’s point of view.
Confidence – do it and then feel it!
Collaborate with those who have what you want.
Exercise your mind, body and soul.
Encourage others.

Determine to be better than who you are and you’ll be surprised at who you’ll become.

"The Versatile Antioxidant Vitamin"

Slice an apple into half, and it turns brown. A copper penny suddenly becomes green, or an iron nail when left outside, will rust. What do all these events have in common? These are examples of a process called oxidation. If the sliced apple is dipped in a lemon juice, however, the rate at which the apple turns brown is slowed. It is because the Vitamin C in the lemon juice slows the rate of oxidative damage.

Since its discovery 65 years ago, vitamin C has come to be known as a “wonder worker.” Because of its role in collagen formation and other life-sustaining functions, Vitamin C serves as a key immune system nutrient and a potent free-radical fighter. This double-duty nutrient has been shown to prevent many illnesses, from everyday ailments such as the common cold to devastating diseases such as cancer.

The water-soluble vitamin C is known in the scientific world as ascorbic acid, a term that actually means “without scurvy.” We depend on ascorbic acid for many aspects of our biochemical functioning; yet human beings are among only a handful of animal species that cannot produce their own supply of vitamin C. Like these other animals, including primates and guinea pigs, we have no choice but to obtain this nutrient through food or our daily diet.

Vitamin C can enhance the body's resistance from different diseases, including infections and certain types of cancer. It strengthens and protects the immune system by stimulating the activity of antibodies and immune system cells such as phagocytes and neutrophils.

Vitamin C, as an antioxidant, helps reduce the activity of free radicals. Free radicals are by-products of normal metabolism which can damage cells and set the stage for aging, degeneration, and cancer. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that vitamin C is being used for cancer treatment. In large doses, Vitamin C is sometimes administered intravenously as part of cancer treatment.



Vitamin C prevents free radical damage in the lungs and may even help to protect the central nervous system from such damage. Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron. In this state, they're highly reactive and destructive to everything that gets in their way. Although free radicals have been implicated in many diseases, they are actually a part of the body chemistry.

As an antioxidant, vitamin C's primary role is to neutralize free radicals. Since ascorbic acid is water soluble, it can work both inside and outside the cells to combat free radical damage. Vitamin C is an excellent source of electrons; therefore, it “can donate electrons to free radicals such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals and quench their reactivity.”


The versatile vitamin C also works along with glutathione peroxidase (a major free radical-fighting enzyme) to revitalize vitamin E, a fat-soluble antioxidant. In addition to its work as a direct scavenger of free radicals in fluids, then, vitamin C also contributes to the antioxidant activity in the lipids.

Optimal health, however, requires a balance between free radical generation and antioxidant protection. One of the functions of Vitamin C is to get and quench these free radicals before they create too much damage.

However, there is research to show that vitamin C may act as a pro-oxidant. In other words, vitamin C, under certain conditions anyway, may act in a manner that is opposite to its intended purpose. This has raised concern among thousands of people who supplement their diets with vitamin C...but that's another story.

3 Ways To Inspire A Love Of Reading In Your Children

If your child is showing little interest in reading, there is hope. Sometimes moms and dads have to get sneaky, but you can still turn your child into a reader, even if he is reluctant about it.

1. The Early Bedtime trick.
One of my favorite ways to get my kids to read is something they hopefully will not figure out until they have kids of their own. Two words “Early Bedtime”.

You might be wondering how an increase in sleep can help your child to spend more time reading. Well, here's the trick. Set their bedtime for 45 minutes to an hour before they need their lights out.

Here's how our bedtime routine goes. The kids brush teeth and use the bathroom. Then I read them their stories. This is all done before their official bedtime. Then, I simply give them an option. I say “It's time for bed, now. Would you like lights out or would you like to stay up and read for a bit?”

Unless they are really tired, they'll always choose to read awhile. I do not have to beg nor manipulate them into reading. In fact, they think it's their idea and they have grown to love their chance for a 'late' bedtime. Then, I back off. I don't try to instruct them in any way, nor help them choose books. This is their time. They can choose whichever book they like and look at it however they like until I come in to kiss them goodnight and turn their lights out. Of course, if they want me to stay and listen to them read, I'm more than happy to comply. Try it. It works.

2. Summer reading incentives.
You can sign up for a summer reading program at pretty much any library in the country. If your local library does not have a summer reading program, then create one at home, with rewards for reading books. You can use a Monopoly (or Life) board and allow your child to move one space for each book he reads. Or if you want to have more fun, let him roll the dice each time he reads a book and have prizes available for passing certain points.

Make sure the rewards are something very desirable. If your child values time with you more than toys, then set a date together doing his favorite thing. If he values a certain toy, let him earn it. Or let him earn a chance to get out of his regular chores. Take him to his favorite restaurant. Just have fun with it and he will, too.

3. Read the book before you can see the movie.
This is a standard in our home. We won't go see any movie until we've read the book. Whether my husband and I read the book to the kids or they read it alone, each member of the family can go see the movie after the book is read. So, if your child is looking forward to seeing the next Chronicles of Narnia movie, the next Harry Potter movie or the next Lemony Snicket movie, they'll have to read the book first.

That’s it. Three easy ways to turn your child into a reader for life.

Appreciate Yourself And What You Have

A better life has been achieved when we are no longer trying to achieve a better life. It means that we are content, as we should be, with ourselves and what we have. To be anxious for more or to envy someone else's life or possessions is self-defeating. We are then in a constant state of frustration, always hoping and waiting for more happiness.

So what is important? Enough, not more.

"Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them." - Marcus Aurelius (121-180)

There is, here and now, much to appreciate. There is life itself with friends, family, and everything that is naturally before us. We just have to look around and take it in. Perhaps it is time to make a list of all the good things we have to grateful for.

Are there people in your life that you would miss dearly if they were not here? When you go for a walk don't you see, hear, and smell, many things to appreciate and feel nice about? Like the flowers, trees, birds, and the clouds in the sky. A caterpillar crossing the sidewalk or your neighbor waving. A cute pup or child enthusiastically enjoying that moment in life.

"Whether in favor or in humiliation, be not dismayed. Let your eyes leisurely look at the flowers blooming and falling in your courtyard. Whether you leave or retain your position, take no care. Let your mind wander with the clouds folding and unfolding beyond the horizon." - Hung Tzu-ch'eng (1593-1665)

It just makes good sense to be satisfied and at peace with yourself and others, and to enjoy life now.

Until next time, keep living your best life!

Be Happy! It's just a Matter of Mind

Though one could be infinitely happy by just enjoying the nature and family and all the human-made things, there are still millions of people who are unhappy. In the developed countries there is very fortunate circumstance of having both God-given and man-made things. Still majority of people there are unhappy. In the developing countries, where for millions there is a real scarcity of even basic needs, people seem to be happy. There are some people who are engaged in difficult tasks and in warfare, and even incarcerated in prisons, and are still happy! We have just discussed the factors of happiness. Millions of people have them, still they are unhappy. There are millions of others who don’t have them, yet they are happy!

You would realize that the mere availability and abundance of God given and human-made things is not enough. There is something else which should be right to be happy. Of course, it is our mind that must have right attitude towards and capacity to be happy.

Milton in Paradise Lost says,

'The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.'

One can give various examples of how mind can influence our body::

• Pavlov’s dog starts salivating at the sound of the bell without any food in sight.
• If we are tense we often get headache, backache, and spondylitis, etc.
• Heart attacks are directly linked to worry and tension.
• Right mental attitude helps in curing many bodily maladies.
• By self-talk, motivation, and positive attitude we can become happy and successful.
• Through hypnosis one can have command over another person’s mind and body.
• Through meditation one can have a healthy body and extra sensory abilities.

Mind has extra-ordinary powers and as far as happiness is concerned it has the ultimate power. We should, therefore, have a positive attitude towards life. Instead of concentrating on bad things in life and people, we should concentrate on redeeming features in them. We should not keep on thinking about past failures and bad experiences but be encouraged by our past success and good experiences. Similarly, we should not be unduly anxious about future as our anxiety is not going to have a positive effect, but we should plan and work hard for the future.

In whatever circumstances you are, you can never have total lack of God-given and man-made happiness. You cannot completely take away nature from somebody; you cannot take away all man-made things from somebody. Even if everything is taken, one’s family and friends are there. One’s precious body is there. And, even if you chain somebody securely in a dungeon, one’s mind is free. One is free to be happy in one’s mind! Mind is difficult to be mastered by oneself, but it is impossible to be vanquished by anybody, any authority, or whatever conditions or situations.

Abraham Lincoln has beautifully expressed it: “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

BE HAPPY!

5 Important Details Developing Rapport

Let us take a peak at the basics of developing rapport with others.

In a nutshell, what it takes is to ask questions, have a positive, open attitude, encourage an open exchange of communications (both verbal and unspoken), listen to verbal and unspoken communications and share positive feedback.

Here are important details on each step:

1. Ask Questions

Building report is similar to interviewing someone for a job opening or it can be like a reporter seeking information for an article.

Relax and get to know the other person with a goal of finding common ground or things of interest. You can begin by simply commenting on the other persons choice of attire, if in person, or about their computer, if online, and following up with related questions.

For example, in person, you could compliment the other person on their color choice and or maybe a pin, ring or other piece of jewelry and ask where it came from.

In online communications, you could compliment the other persons font, smile faces or whatever they use, mention that the communication style seems relaxed and ask if he or she writes a lot.

Then basically follow up, steering clear of topics that could entice or cause arguing, while gradually leading the person to common ground youd like to discuss.

2. Attitude

Have a positive attitude and leave social labels at home (or in a drawer, if youre at home). Many people can tell instantly if you have a negative attitude or if you feel superior. So treat other people as you would like to be treated. And give each person a chance.

3. Open Exchange

Do encourage others to share with you. Some people are shy, scared or inexperienced in communicating and welcome an opportunity to share. So both with body language and verbal communication invite an exchange. Face the other person with your arms open, eyes looking into theirs gently (not glaring or staring), and encourage a conversation with a warm smile.

4. Listen

Be an active listener. Dont focus your thoughts on what YOU will say next. Listen to what the other person is saying and take your clues from there, while also noting the body language.

For example, if the other person folds his arms and sounds upset, you may need to change the subject or let him have some space and distance; maybe even try approaching him later on and excusing yourself to go make a phone call (of head to the buffet table or somewhere to escape).

On the other hand, if the other person is leaning towards you, following your every word and communicating with your as if you were old friends, BINGO. Youve built rapport!

5. Share People like compliments

So hand them out freely without over doing it. Leaving a nice part of yourself like a compliment is a good memory for the other person to recall - numerous times. Thats good rapport. But do be sincere! False compliments arent easily disguised.