Thursday, January 31, 2008

Inner Fitness

In the age of self-help, Western culture is wisely turning its attention to inner focus. What's going on inside of you has everything to do with what's going on outside of you. The top self-help gurus in the U.S. are overflowing with this message: Look to the inside for your answers. So are you up to the challenge? It takes great strength to actually stop and take a look at yourself from the inside out. Like running in a marathon, inner fitness will take more than a little work to get in shape. You'll need to approach this kind of inner fitness from physical, intellectual, and spiritual angles.

In hypnotherapy, we discover that physiology can help to lead states of mind. For instance, if you are slumped over, have a scowl on your face, and have your arms crossed in front of your chest, it's very hard to take a deep breath and very easy to feel lousy. However, if you stand up straight with your head raised, arms at your side (or even outstretched and open), with a big smile on your face, you instantly feel better! In fact, simply smiling will help lift any mood. So imagine what a practice like yoga can do for you! By easily positioning your body into yoga postures, you can help free up stagnant energy in your body and create movement in many areas of your life. I kid you not. And the more you practice, the more connected you become to your own source, your own groundedness. Yoga leads you from outward body fitness to inner awareness fitness.

Yoga effortlessly leads you into your intellectual fitness. When you begin to understand the mind-body connection, you can really begin your inner journey. What you think absolutely affects you and the world you live in. Your intellectual fitness has to do with your mindset, your attitude, and what you believe. Dr. Wayne Dyer has said, "You'll see it when you believe it," not the other way around. More and more therapists and healing professionals are incorporating this philosophy into their personal practices and into their professional practices, not because it's the "in" thing, but because it really works. And it ties in beautifully with our spiritual connection.

Most people on this planet believe in a higher power, something that is all-encompassing. Most of us can feel it, or just know it-a supportive power that threads through everything. When I think of spiritual fitness, I think of that common connection that we are all part of the same thing, the same source. It's not about a male, angry god who rewards or punishes, but a common source felt with your inner senses and your own understanding. Look to your inner sense of what spirit means to you and you'll always find exactly what you need in exactly the right timing.

When you look inward, time can seem to stand still, and you can ask questions like, "What does my life mean to me?" and, "What do I want it to mean to me?" In fact, asking those questions will lead you inside yourself to your inner guidance, if you weren't already there to begin with! So inner fitness is attained through many paths, but it all comes down to the only thing that is real: Now. As Rev. Dr. Louise-Diana teaches, being present in the now is ultimately entwined with your inner fitness. Life is lived in each present moment; a constant moment of inner fitness.

Kim Markison is a master hypnotherapist. Her lifelong path is to teach and show everyone how powerful and extraordinary they really are. To align with that path and purpose, she is creating unique, empowering hypnosis meditations for HypnoFreedom. Each one is designed for complete relaxation and stress relief, so no matter which one you listen to, you will always arrive at the center of your being to safely enjoy who you truly are.

Join our free teleseminar "Stress Relief Tips & Advice from the Experts", at http://www.hypno-freedom.com to listen to Dr. Reverend Louise-Dianas motivational advice in regards to relaxation and stress relief.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Markison

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Easy Weight Loss Tips

Excessive weight is definitely a top concern for many people as our culture has become very sedentary and much of our food is packaged with empty calories, so we are prone to obesity or excessive weight problems. Readers and consumers are always interested in weight loss regimens because it is estimated that as many as eight in every ten people experience health and fashion problems linked to obesity or excess weight. Here are some weight loss tips that will surely work for you if you decide it's time to get your own weight issues under control:

Consume about five servings of vegetables and fruits at a minimum each day. Such foods are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber which provides you with a sense of fullness that can help to keep you from over-indulging. Fruits and vegetables also naturally have lower calorie counts.

You may have thought that skipping meals would help lower weight. Think again. Skipping meals isn't a good idea because firstly, it can lead to ulcers, and secondly, you'll tend to eat more because of over-hunger during your next meal, so it basically defeats the purpose of skipping a meal in the first place. Instead, you should have about five to six very small meals throughout the whole day, instead of the usual three large meals. Eating more frequently will actually help balance calorie intake, regulate your blood sugar levels and keep your metabolism chugging along at a steady pace all day.

Take the time to learn how to read and interpret product labels especially on packaged food products that claim to be healthy. You'll often find that they are actually a lot less healthy than they claim because the food serving listed is much smaller than most reasonable people would eat. Or maybe an item is low fat, but has a ton of sugar in it.

Start fitting some regular exercise into your day. You'll keep your metabolism pumping away, actively working to burn calories and stored fats in the body. Such rigorous activities would also help you excrete toxins from the body through sweat. Enrolling to a gym and getting involved in physical sports are sure ways that the body can effectively and beneficially sweat it out. About 30 to 60 minutes of overall physical activity three to four times a week is what you want to strive for. If you are too busy to go the gym or get involved with sports, a half hour walk a few times a week would also do the trick. The idea is to get up and move and keep your body working efficiently.

If you're looking for a weight loss solution that is easy to follow, then be sure to take a look at Fat Loss 4 Idiots The program is simple to follow and comes with an online diet generator so you don't even have to think about what you need to eat. Just follow the plan.

For more diet tips, read Emma's article on How to Lose Body Fat You can also read more details about Fat Loss 4 Idiots at: http://www.squidoo.com/fatlossforidiotsdiet

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Martin

How To Calculate Weight Loss Percentage

Losing weight can sometimes be a very difficult task, requiring a large amount of energy and a lot of motivation. Knowing how to calculate weight loss percentage can really be a morale booster for your rough times because your actual results can only encourage you to perform more of the taken actions - like jogging, dieting or others.

It can also help you stay on track and not exaggerate with anything, as we do know that anything done in excess can harm your body. It can help you set goals and achieve them step by step.

But how do we calculate weight loss percentage? Is it a difficult math task? No way! It's a pretty basic formula. First of all you'll need to remember your initial weight. Secondly, you'll need your actual weight at this point. Now, the formula goes like this:

((IW-AW)/IW) * 100= weight loss percentage

In this formula IW is your initial weight and AW is your actual weight at this point. It's not as complicated as it initially seems: practically all you do is subtract the actual weight from the initial weight and divide the number obtained by your initial weight. Multiply the result with 100 and you'll get the exact percent.

Now you can see that it's pretty basic - but opening a lot of possibilities. For example, you can measure your weight once a week and create an Excel table which instantly calculates the weight loss percentage for you. This can really help you keep track of your progress and can be a real motivation booster as I previously mentioned.

With this you can also create a weight loss percentage graphic - actually drawing your progress at certain points.

Well, if you fully understood how this works, you can conclude that now you know how to calculate weight loss percentage. If not, try to re-read the article more carefully.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Flavius_Sirop