Health 4 Thought

Goal Setting Tip #1 - Believe

“What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” (Napoleon Hill)

If we truly believe in our goals they will be far easier to achieve. Our goals need to have meaning and we need to be emotionally connected to them. Our habits are deeply ingrained and if we don’t truly believe that we want or need to change them, it won’t be long before we slip back into old routines. The ‘why’ is so important when you face struggles, so make sure it is strong enough to see you through to successful realisation of your goals.

Goal Setting Tip #2 - Break it Down

Rather than focusing on the entire year, break your goals down into manageable chunks of time. A 6-week exercise and nutrition plan will give you great results without being too daunting. This will keep you focussed and motivated, and allow for the occasional indulgence or slip-up, while ensuring you get results.

Goal Setting Tip #3 - Dare to Dream

While you need to truly believe in your reason for working towards a goal, sometimes it is important to suspend disbelief and allow yourself to dream big! We are told to keep our goals realistic, and while there is some merit in this on a purely practical level, it can often leave us selling ourselves short.

Don’t let your goals hold you back: dare to dream, and dream big!

Goal Setting Tip #4 - Plan

Write down all your resolutions or goals. Then look into each goal in more detail and determine what you actually need to do in order to be successful. You may realise at this point that you have bitten off more than you can chew - so prioritise! Better to focus on one or two more important goals and actually achieve success, than to spread yourself too thinly and not make a go of any.

Goal Setting Tip #5 - Visualise

Writing down your goals is the first step to making them real. Posting these goals up somewhere you can see them on a regular basis further increases your chances of success, as you are constantly reminded of what you want to achieve, especially if you have included a behavioural element to the goals.

Goal Setting Tip #6 - Take Consistent Action

No matter what, make sure you take regular action every day toward your goal. Now you have your plan, this is much easier - you are no longer ‘winging it’ but you have a clear strategy. This should mean you don’t feel overwhelmed and means that you know exactly what you need to do. And that really is the key - it is what you actually do, the action that you take, that makes the difference.

Goal Setting Tip #7 - Simple But Not Easy

The planning process will have already made you think about the details behind the goal and about the steps you have to take to get there. It is important to understand that it may be simple but it’s not necessarily easy, and that you are bound to face obstacles and challenges. Some of these you will navigate easily, others will be harder to overcome. Being prepared and ready for some hard work is really important.

Make next year your most successful year yet!

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Many people often misunderstand the Reiki or healing with energy. In this article we will be looking into 5 common myths about Reiki and how you can align yourself with the highest degree of healing.

1) Reiki Healing is a Cult or a Religion

This is completely wrong. Reiki is all about spirituality; there is nothing religious about it. There isn’t any Reiki church or a priest who gives sermons on it. The foundation of Reiki lies in its principles that have been laid out for its practicing students. These principles are not at all connected to religion but rather come from a Japanese Emperor. The ability to heal totally corresponds to the ethical code. Although Reiki principles aren’t usually communicated with the person receiving it, they might be in some cases. This communication fully revolves around the well being of the recipient.

2) The Reiki Practitioner Heals the Recipient.

No, not really. This can be explained easily, a person practicing Reiki is the one who pours Reiki energy or universal force of life onto the person receiving it so that they are able to heal their mind, body and spirit. The Reiki healing energy is passed on through the practicing individual and is passed on to the recipient. Here, the Reiki practitioner happens to be only a medium for the healing process. No one has the ability to heal you but yourself. The whole task of healing cannot be designated to someone else.

3) Reiki is a One Time Healing Procedure.

It would be very helpful if this were true. Although there are times that recipients get healed and cured with one short healing session. However, chances of that happening are very rare. Healing isn’t a one-time thing; it’s holistic, a process, and a path that you need to walk on to see results. To get worthwhile results and experience real changes, Reiki recipients are usually recommended to go through at least 3 to 4 sessions. Typically what clients do is they go through a few sessions, get a break, and come back again in a few months. However be the approach to the problem, the point remains the same, that healing is an ongoing process.

4) A Reiki Treatment Deserves to Be Free

Reiki is universal, it’s a divine art and complete life force energy - thus it should be free. However, it cannot be provided free of cost unless and until the practitioner himself offers it as a gift or for some charity purposes. When you are paying to a Reiki practitioner he should be completely prepared to offer the treatment. He must be eligible and have the skill and the ability to direct the Reiki energy for the purpose of your healing. In short, he must put in all the effort required to be a professional, well-equipped service provider. This is the reason why you should be paying for Reiki, just the way you pay for any other health service or surgery.

5) Healing Means Getting Cured.

Curing may be a part of the healing procedure. However, if you do get healed, it does not necessarily mean you’re cured. Healing is different than curing, in fact they are opposite in their approach towards wellness. Curing works by working on getting rid of the symptoms of the health condition and its physical causes, whereas healing directly attacks the main cause of the health problem. Reiki healing is all about spiritual, emotional and mental re-balancing and unblocking. It works on dissolving the root cause of the condition, which leads to alleviating the symptoms as on the whole.

1. Eat a healthy diet rich in minerals and anti-oxidants. Try to eat colorful vegetables and leafy greens. Limit the consumption of saturated fats, sugars, and red meats. Eat small amounts regularly. Remember, raw this the way!

2. Keep a consistent schedule to visit your primary physician. Seeing a doctor for a check-up every couple of months is highly recommended. Also, while you’re there, giving blood to those that need it is not only a good cause, but it can contribute to your health as well. A recent long-term study indicates that giving blood was found to be linked with a lower risk of cancers in men, with with a decreased risk each and every time one gives blood. While you’re there, you get a check-up for blood pressure and other health issues.

3. Get aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

4. Try your best to maintain positive thoughts. Stress and negative feelings create an unhealthy, acidic body.

5. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day. 75% of Americans or chronically dehydrated. Drinking plenty of water will increase your metabolism and reduce overeating. It can even reduce to risk of colon cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer.

6. If you drink alcohol, drink only a moderate amount of no more than 2 drinks per day.

7. Make sure to get at 7-8 hours of sleep per night. More or less can result in fatigue, high blood pressure, or hearth attach, and other harmful long-term health effects in the future.

Key Bonus!

8. Plan your diet and exercise routine, plan your life!

Michael Drewry is an avid health and nutrition journalist who instructs his patients on proper nutrition, exercise, and psychology to maintain a happy, healthy life. He reviews the best health products in the health and wellness industry and does a monthly recommendation. His latest topic is on the power of chelated minerals for health and longevity.

Visit: http://www.mineral-health.com

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You’re dealing with a health challenge. You’ve tried everything you can think of. And yet, the challenge persists. It’s a completely natural place to be, yet frustrating.

Why so natural? Simple. Here’s what you just said, “I’ve tried everything I can think of.” Typically, the things you think of first are those already either within, or very close to, your comfort zone. (Granted, they may not feel so very close at the time.)

Sometimes the solution you’re really searching for is very, very different from the old status quo. Despite your furtive poking around at the edges of your day-to-day world, you may not yet have stumbled into it. In these moments, the frustrated yet committed health seeker is likely to exclaim:

OK already! NOW WHAT???

It’s a great question! Let’s see why. We’ll explore the characteristics that make profound questions profound. And some simple ways to tweak your natural exclamations for better results.

Characteristics of a Great Question

1. A great question is packed with passion. Let the natural world know you’re passionate about your cause and you will be rewarded with better ideas.
2. It’s solution-focused. Your question, if answered, will yield results that shed new constructive insight. Notice that the question, “Why hasn’t this worked?” does not work under this guideline. All you’re likely to get in answer to that question is a bunch of validation of your fears about being a victim.
3. It’s specific. Our sample question could stand some tweaking here. The more specific the question you ask, the better answer you’re likely to receive. A simple change like “What one thing should I consider next?” or “What possibilities have I overlooked so far?” would make our sample question more focused.
4. It’s values-driven. Asking a question like, “Which relative can I hit up for money next?” misses the values mark for most of us. “How can I fund my healing journey?” is a much more productive question. It opens the doors to any number of integrity-rich creative solutions.

Here’s the process in a nutshell: Come up with a great question. Write it down. Sit with it. And then go on about your business. Allow the answer some time to percolate. Periodically refresh the question in your mind. Notice your random thoughts and connections over the next few days. Here’s a fantastic example of what could happen.

“Adam” and his aching hip.

I once knew a man named “Adam.” We met when he became my client at a new part-time job I’d accepted at a physical therapy clinic. In fact, he came in on my very first day.

Adam had hip pain, and he’d “tried just about everything.” No kidding. He really had! Physical therapy, movement therapy, stretching, acupuncture, herbs, supplements, sound therapy, you name it. And his hip still hurt, same as ever. I’m delighted to say that the approach we took together worked, and that Adam’s pain problem was resolved. Later, he told me this story.

“The week before our first therapy session together,” he said, “I was on a business trip. After the day’s work was over, I went to the hotel bar for a drink. There I was talking with the guy next to me, and he suggested I try something called St. John method neuromuscular therapy. I remembered the name.

“As I flew back, I remember thinking, ‘St. John therapy. Now where am I going to find someone who does that?’

“Shortly after I arrived home, the physical therapist phoned and told me she’d just hired a new practitioner who did something called St. John Therapy. She thought it might help me and wondered if I’d be willing to give it a try. Of course I said ‘yes!’ I didn’t even have to look! You found me.”

Adam had set a clear healing intention. He’d asked a great question and listened for the answer. Once the answer arrived, he had acted on it without hesitation. Adam was pain-free within just couple of weeks.

So how about this? Take out a pencil and paper. Write yourself your next great question!

Elizabeth Eckert coaxes, cajoles, and gently guides the creation of healing intent. She’s the founder of http://www.wordcures.com and author of Word Cures: How to Keep Stupid Excuses From Sabotaging Your Health. Align your whole self for health … starting today! Share “Arielle’s” real-life story: The power of positive healing intention

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If you’re wondering if doing more cardio will burn off the fat, the answer is definitely yes. But the way you do your cardio exercises has a lot to do with how effective it as as fat burning weapon. The most important tip I can give you on getting the most fat burning power out of your cardio work-out is that you need to increase the intensity of your work-outs.

Low intensity cardio work-outs might be great for endurance training, but they are not an effective method of getting rid of the fat. You need to increase your intensity. One of the most popular ways to increase the fat burning potential of your cardio work-out is known as high intensity interval training, i.e. HIIT.

While there are whole books devoted to HIIT, the idea, in a nutshell is to add a series of sprints to your regular cardio work-out. Do you job every morning? Try adding some sprints to your regular work-out. For example, after your warm-up, jog for a minute, and then sprint flat-out for 30-60 seconds. Spend the rest of your work-out alternating between jogging and sprinting in 30-60 second intervals.

If you aren’t a jogger, you can apply the same high intensity cardio techniques to walking, cycling (either lifecycle or your real bike), the Stairmaster or circuit training. So if you are a walker, alternate your regular walking pace with a much more brisk pace. Get your arms moving! Ideally, you want to stick to weight-bearing exercises using your whole body. So take advantage of gravity and stick with jogging, walking, stair running, and dancing rather than cycling and swimming.

Three to four cardio workouts each week done using high intensity intervals for about 20 minutes per work-out will make a big difference to how much fat you lose. But the best part is that you won’t just burn more fat while you are working out, the HIIT method will help your body continue to burn fat more efficiently for hours after you’ve done your cardio.

While high intensity cardio may be a great fat burning weapon, the best results are achieved by combining diet and exercise together. It’s your diet that really determines how much fat you’ll lose. If you are looking for a great easy weight loss plan to follow, then I recommend taking a look at Fat Loss 4 Idiots. The diet is simple, fast and easy to follow and you can lose as much as 9 pounds in 11 days.

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To get a flat stomach and to make that six pack show, you MUST integrate cardio exercises into your workout. These are the type of exercises that will burn the fat to the max and will wipe off the layer of fat located on top of your hard worked muscles. You can do crunch after crunch, but if you don’t burn the fat your muscles will never show.

Cardio exercises are the best way to increase your heart rate and metabolism and if you train using intervals, you can keep your body burning fat even hours after finishing your workout. These exercises are one third of the factors to have a flat stomach (the others being strength training with stomach exercises and dieting).

Choosing a Cardio Exercise for a Flat Stomach

Many people try to find the “best” cardio exercise, but in fact there is no “best” here that applies to all. Cardio exercises include running, rope-jumping, swimming, cycling, jogging, and even activities like tae-bo and aerobics. They all work in getting your metabolic rate up, and the choice will be based on what it feels good for you!

For example, my preferred cardio exercise is jogging on the street. I do it because I love jogging in the mornings when it is all quiet and it gets my body fired-on, but I know some people who hate the idea of running in the morning and that are much better training with an elliptical machine when they get back from work. It’s your choice.

What are the Benefits of Cardio exercises?

Cardio exercises are great for the body, besides the benefit of helping you burn a lot of calories, training regularly will prevent heart attacks, obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

Another great benefit is that it will help you reduce stress levels. Every time you feel stressed just go for a quick jogging session and you’ll see what I mean!

Other benefits include: helping you sleep better, reducing depression, increasing energy levels, increasing the lung capacity and helping you clear your mind.

Interval Cardio Training

You may have heard I talk about interval cardio in the site. Well that’ because it’s the best way to train with cardio exercises! Simply put, it means that we make our preferred cardio exercises in intervals of high intensity and low intensity. This will help giving an increased boost of metabolism and will keep us burning fat throughout the day.

Here’s an example of interval training with running:

You start off by jogging at slow pace for 10 minutes as a warm-up, to let your muscles prepare for the upcoming exercise. Then comes the challenging part, you need to run with your full capacity for 30 seconds, and then run at normal speed for 1:30 seconds. You don’t have to run at certain speed, just try to run at YOUR fastest speed for 30 seconds.

The other minute and a half will let you recover so you are able to then again repeat it 9 times. Finally, end your cardio training by jogging slowly for 10 minutes as a cool-down. Training with intervals is the best way to burn calories and lose weight fast. Just work your body slowly until you are able to complete an interval session.

Discover the secrets to get the flat stomach you want with The Truth About Six Pack Abs, and learn all about the best exercises and workouts to get a toned stomach.

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Aerobic means “with oxygen”. Physical workouts of lesser to medium intensity are known as aerobic exercises. These are based on rhythmic movements of the body and the rhythm is expected to continue till the moment you stop exercising. For instance, brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming are all aerobic exercises. Can you find out the rhythm? Most certainly you will….

Aerobic exercises increase the heart rate. This is how they help the lungs in optimizing oxygen. Thus they have three pronged benefit. It strengthens the heart against maladies. It helps the lungs with constant utilization of vital lung capacity and it peps up metabolism. The pepped up metabolism helps in burning calorie and losing fat subsequently. Here are three top exercises to lose weight.

Brisk walking- this is perhaps the most rudimentary and requires nothing but a nice pair of shoes. The idea is to use all the body parts. So even if it looks stupid, remember to move all the parts while brisk walking. This will include movement of your arms, shoulder and obviously legs. Another thing to take note of is to start shortening the stride as you get into the rhythm. This way the heart rate is pushed up quite a lot. Moreover, it is important to keep yourself hydrated so that you do not suffer a stroke.

Cycling- it should ideally be done with small intervals. The idea is to push the legs into a rhythmic motion very fast. It’s great for heart and lungs. For a little higher intensity, try it on less navigable roads; perhaps those which are laid with boulders.

Swimming- it is another one recommended to boost your cardiovascular ability. It is also ideal for people who have joint pain, muscle spasm or some kind of injury.

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Many people are often unsure as to what types of cardio workouts to burn fat that they should do. There are two ways of doing cardio. One is high intensity cardio and the other is low intensity cardio.

Both types of cardio will help burn fat but the question is which type is going to help you burn body fat more effectively.

Participating in high intensity cardio will burn glycogen, which is a type of energy that is stored as carbohydrates in your muscles and in your liver. Low intensity will burn off more body fat.

The problem with high intensity exercise is that your body is not capable of sustaining it for a long period of time. However the positive side is that when your body is depleted of glycogen, anything that you eat will be saved by your body as glycogen and not fat.

The problem with low intensity exercise is that you have to do it for long periods of time for it to work, and this can get very boring and time consuming. So what type of cardio workouts should you do?

The answer is to do both types. This is done through a method called interval training. This will give you the best of both worlds and it will increase your energy levels the more that you do it.

Interval training means that you do low intensity cardio for a certain amount of time and you add short bursts of high intensity cardio into the mix.

For example if you are doing low intensity exercise such as using a treadmill for 30-40 minutes, you can cut this time back to 20-30 minutes.

Start on the treadmill by going slow for around 5 minutes and then speed up as fast as you can for 30-60 seconds. After this quick burst of high intensity slow down again for about 4 minutes. Repeat this process until the time for your cardio session ends.

This method will not only burn body fat it will ensure that you continue to burn calories after you have stopped your training session, because of the added high intensity work.

Just like any other method of exercise, you should first consult your doctor to evaluate your capabilities. Do not jump into it head first. Take your time to build up the time you spend doing your cardio sessions

Introducing interval training into your exercise will give you great cardio workouts to burn body fat, and it will fill your body with energy, along with saving time.

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