4 Tips For Beginning Meditation

Most of us have heard of the benefits of meditation but the "how to" part has eluded us. Meditation is really easy. All it takes is a little time and practice. The following is a few steps to basic meditation practices.

# 1Regular Daily Practice

First of all, decide once and for all you are going to commit to a regular daily schedule of meditation. Decide that this is an appointment that you will not skip. To make this resolve easier, pick a time that is right for you.

· Choosing early in the morning prepares you for what lies ahead during the day.
· Meditating in the evening helps you relax and get ready for the next day.
· You also want to pick a quiet place where you will be comfortable and won't be bothered.

#2 Posture

Meditation is an intentional practice. You always need to maintain a state of awareness and consciousness.

· Be sure to sit upright, get comfortable, and relax.
· You want your head up in an erect position.
· Breathe naturally.
· Close your eyes.

I personally, with my eyes closed, focus on the spot between my eyebrows and imagine a light in the center.

#3 Practice your Form of Meditation

If you already have meditation technique or mantra, then by all means go ahead and use it. If not then you need to find a good mantra that reflects your spiritual beliefs. A mantra is a sound a word or a phrase. For example, Om or maranantha are popular mantras used by many people worldwide. Christians generally prefer "Maranatha" because it means "Come Lord."

Mantras help with block out all the fleeting thoughts, restlessness.

#4 Ending your Meditation

When you are ready to end, become aware of how you feel, and what you are thinking. Just sit a little bit. You want to make an easy transition from your meditation state to your regular state. After that, you can go about your regular activities. You will feel great, refreshed, renewed and ready to face the world.

Practice these four tips and you will find that meditation comes naturally. It just takes a little time and a little patience to get started. But once you start, you find it was well worth the effort.

How Bad Do You Want to Be Healthy?

To become strong and healthy you need one main element, dedication. You have to decide that you want to stop slugging around, you want to start feeling energetic and you want to live a long healthy and vigorous life. Things won't happen to you that you don't make a conscience effort to create in your life. If you want to lose weight and feel good you have to stop looking at the scale, stop counting calories and start taking in food that is good for you. So load yourself up with all natural fruits juices and begin.

You have to constantly remind yourself of your goal, so if you have to tape them up in your bathroom mirror, do it. Keep reminding yourself of your goal. Then, start looking for vitamins and minerals in your foods. Start your day with a tall glass of orange juice or acai drinks, they are the best way to boost your mind and body into the "I want to feel good" mood. When you feel this way first thing in the morning you will start triggering this effect throughout your day. You will want to go workout and eat a healthier lunch and dinner.

I know it can be difficult for most people to work out so your best bet is to find a partner, friend or personal trainer to hold you accountable. If you work at an office that typically orders lunch, make sure you get yourself in the habit of making your own lunch, therefore you can control what you're eating. When you go shopping at the grocery store, make sure you do not go hungry or you'll buy everything high in fat. Living a healthy life, really and truly requires you to remember one thing, "how bad do you want it?"

Tips For Better Digestive Health in 2010

10. Eat slower. By eating slower, you'll chew your food better, which leads to better digestion. In addition, you'll consume fewer calories and you'll enjoy your food more.

9. Lose weight if you are overweight. If you're not overweight, make sure you maintain a healthy weight this year.

8. Try to reduce your fast food consumption. Plan ahead and pack a healthy meal when possible. If you have to eat fast food, most fast food places have "better" choices with fewer calories, less fat, or lower sodium.

7. Drink plenty of high quality filtered water. Do some research on bottled water vs. filtered water and decide which is best for you.

6. Try to increase your intake of organic food. Try to set a goal, maybe 20-25% of your food intake could be organic?

5. Reduce and effectively manage your stress levels.

4. Exercise regularly. Don't forget weight training in addition to cardio.

3. Pay attention to and manage any heartburn triggers such as caffeine, chocolate, peppermint, citrus juice, overeating, certain medications, and bed-time snacks.

2. Learn about and try some digestive enzymes.

1. And now the number one tip for better digestive health in 2010. Learn about and try some high quality probiotics. Hundreds of different species of bacteria live inside you, and some of these bacteria are "friendly" and some "unfriendly." Helpful bacteria are often absent from our diet, making it a good idea to include probiotic supplements for intestinal health and immune support. There is simply no single probiotic type or brand that is good for everyone so do some research and try a few different types/brands of probiotics. Personally, I take my probiotics in powder form because I have difficulty swallowing.

Origins of Fatigue

Fatigue is a huge issue in our fast paced world, where it is all too easy to "burn the candle at both ends", eat too many fast foods, live a sedentary life and ignore our built-in time clock (the circadian rhythm ). Sometimes, despite doing all the right things, we, however, can still be affected by persistent fatigue that can cause great disruption in our life. An investigation by the Working Group of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians has found that prolonged fatigue which lasts longer than 1 month is present in 5-20% of the population. Chronic fatigue, lasting greater than six months, is prevalent in 1-10% of the population whilst a further 0.2% to 0.7% is diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Whilst some types of depression are linked to fatigue, mild amounts of stress have actually found to be stimulating to our mitochondria function, which produces our cellular energy. High stress, on the other hand, can cause magnesium loss. Magnesium, zinc and iron deficiencies are both common causes of low energy production and should be investigated early in any corrective treatment, especially given that deficiencies of these minerals is present in around 60-85% of the US population. These minerals are readily available and could be tried before investigating other possible causes of your fatigue. Resveratrol, found in your favorite red wine, also has a stimulatory affect as CoQ10 and L-carnitine.

So what do you do if you have tried all of the stimulatory supplements without any resolve of your fatigue? My suggestion would be to investigate whether there are any underlying gut issues (such as bacterial overgrowth or candida) or problems with thyroid function. An overgrowth of candida albicans can frequently go undetected due to its often vague symptoms. A simple test - blood test or stool test - can detect the presence of candida overgrowth. This disorder can be treated effectively with the right natural health products and dietary intervention.

Similarly, an under functioning thyroid can also go undetected and untreated. This is largely due to the fact that borderline blood test results can still be considered as 'normal' by some practitioners. New evidence however suggests that subclinical hypothyroidism (where there is elevated thyroid stimulating hormone but normal thyroid hormone levels) is a common disorder found in 7-10% of people and can be responsible for a decreased production of energy in the mitochondria. It is therefore important to be treated for hypothyroidism, even if your results are viewed as 'borderline normal'.

I ask my patients to give me a score out of 10, to help me evaluate what their energy and fatigue levels are like. A score of 10 is equal to the amount of energy needed to perform all of one's daily activities and 0 is not enough energy to get out of bed. I consider that a consistently low energy level with a chosen score of 6 out of 10 or below is abnormal. Try keeping a diary of your energy levels. If you are feeling a little 'flat' and record energy levels of 6/10 or lower, you need to investigate why you feel this way. Don't put up with less than optimal vitality. Remember that your fatigue will have an origin or cause, which can usually be easily identified and rectified, when you receive the right advice.