Why organic food?

Organic produce! Organic food! More and more organic food is becoming available in local grocery stores these days. The word "organic" means producing without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides.

Now, it does not mean that non-organic food is terribly bad -- the idea here is that our body is made to take only natural organic food; adding artificial agents in food confuses the body and mind since we are not made to consume anything beyond naturally produced by mother earth. Organic food is meant to be 100% natural with zero chemicals and zero growth stimulants and our body absorbs the fullest nutrients and abundant minerals quickly and naturally without stressing the digestive system. It helps keep immune system intact in the long run.

In addition to health benefits brought by organic food, organic produce and food is environmentally safe since it doesn't contaminate soil, food and air in contrast to non-organic food produced with chemicals, artificial stimulants and pesticides.

Some studies say that there's not much difference between organic and non-organic food; my take is that "much difference" needs to be defined better. Our body is fundamentally made to consume organic food and also organic food helps environment by means of less or zero contamination of natural resources. It's your call -- make a wise decision for healthy and happy living! Keep smiling and be happy!

Brisk Walk a day keeps the doctor away!

Just half hour to 45 minutes brisk walking every day brings lot many health benefits, from improving bone/joint strength to better heart health to relieving stress to weight control.

http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-2007/walking_numerous_benefits.html

Research has shown that brisk walking strengthens your heart better than running, by gradually increasing the heart rate. It's considered the simplest but powerful cardiovascular exercise.

Two important things to remember before walking are choosing the right light-weight shoe to roll the foot easily and making the right body posture while walking.

Choose the right walking shoe:

http://walking.about.com/od/prshoe/tp/Top-Walking-Shoes.htm

Follow the right walking posture for maximum benefits:

http://walking.about.com/cs/beginners/a/howposture.htm

Above all, take a friend with you to chat, who can match your pace. Brisk walking for 30 to 45 minutes a day will keep the doctors at bay -- have a long healthy life with healthy body and happy mind.

Keep smiling :)

Healthy habits for happy family!

We all want to cultivate healthy habits for happy living. In the current busy world esp. for working families, creating healthy habits becomes low priority for most families and that bites us in the long run. But how to create those habits?

Here are some easy steps that you can follow to build those habits such as doing exercise, spending time with kids, cooking rather than eating outside, eating raw fruits/vegetables, meditation and so on. 

The key to making any activity a habit is by doing it consistently at the same time every day for 21 consecutive days. 

Since you know a healthy habit has its formidable advantages, set a time for the activity so that you do it at the same time every day; push it to top priority and forget about everything else until you complete the activity. Don't time the activity until it becomes a habit (21 consecutive days). After you complete the activity, reward yourself. 

After doing it regularly at the same time for 21 consecutive days, it automatically becomes a habit. It's like waking up at the same time by setting an alarm -- after few days, it becomes a habit and your mind clock would wake you up at the same time without an alarm. It's that simple. You just need to tune your mind to completely focus on finishing the activity so that your mind doesn't wander thinking about several other tasks at the same time. Tell yourself that everything else is temporary and what you are doing is going to make you very happy. 

Remember, same time every day for 21 consecutive days. Your kids will follow you automatically without even advising them; they watch you and learn.  Wishing you healthy and happy living! 

Keep smiling :)

Eliminate Toxins for enhanced mind and body health!

Toxins get accumulated in our body and can cause diseases over a period of time -- they also affect your immunity, appetite, digestive system and metabolism. Toxins can be removed easily and naturally every day by just taking fresh Lime and Ginger. Today, we discuss couple of simple methods to cleanup toxins.

1. When you wake up in the morning and after you brush your teeth, warm 2 cups of water in a bowl and squeeze one full fresh lime in it. If one full lime is too sour for you, start with half piece of lime. You can squeeze  more lime if you want. Stir the water well and drink all of it -- avoid full contact with teeth; rinse your mouth with plain water after you are done. This will start scrubbing off bad toxins and foreign elements from your body -- wait for at least an hour before eating breakfast. You will feel lighter and energetic when you follow this every day.

2. After few days, you can start taking the above lime water with freshly grated Ginger -- grate Ginger after removing the skin; warm the water with ginger before squeezing fresh lime in it. Ginger acts as antibiotic and improves immunity along with lime. If you want, you can also add a tea spoon of honey. Ginger warms your body and Lime cools your body -- they together work well to stabilize the internal state of the body. Drinking this every day also tones your skin and removes bad elements on your skin keeping it healthy and young.

You will be healthier and happier taking fresh Ginger Lime water -- your body will build defense against germs. Be healthy and be happy! Whenever you feel stressed and have that grumpy feeling, close your eyes and take long deep breaths 4 times gently -- self massage your neck (front to back) and shoulders with full palm. Keep smiling!

Simple breathing exercise for stronger will-power in just 10 minutes!

Breathing is vital and essential for life as it delivers oxygen to the blood -- we don't stop breathing; even when your brain is less active while sleeping, breathing doesn't stop. It's that powerful.

Breathing exercise involves extending and controlling the normal breathing pattern to achieve steady mind, stronger will-power and endurance -- above all, it helps to relieve stress and said to have prevented chronic diseases. Controlled breathing can also reduce excessive abdominal fat.

Breathing exercise in Yoga is called Pranayama -- it's a Sanskrit word meaning "Controlling the life force". Prana means life force and ayama means extend or control. It's a very powerful activity and yet simple to practice.

Today, we will practice simple pranayama exercise that takes about 10 minutes or less. I strongly recommend that you do this exercise one to two times every day with empty stomach. The benefits are unimpeachable. Please remember not to time this activity and it's okay to exceed 10 minutes.

Step 0: Sit on the floor in criss cross applesauce position; you can use a yoga mat or blanket. As always, keep your back straight to increase the energy flow. If you can't sit in this position for any physical reason, you can sit on a high stool or chair with back straight. Relax your neck and shoulders. Flush your mind by turning off all your thoughts -- don't follow any new thought; let it fly away and disappear from your sight.

Step 1: At this point, don't do conscious breathing; let your body breath in a normal pattern; just close your eyes and feel the air going in and out. Do not time this activity. This step is to relax your mind and purify the front portion of your brain.

Step 2: Fold index and middle fingers of your right hand so that they touch the palm as shown in the image below -- this symbolic gesture is called Vishnu Mudra.

Close your right nostril with the thumb and close your eyes. Relax your body and keep the back straight. Inhale slowly through left nostril inflating the left lung to its maximum; hold it for 2 seconds and exhale completely. Repeat this 4 times and feel the energy flow in your body and the mind being cleansed. You may contract and relax your abdominal muscles when you inhale and exhale (optional).

Now, close your left nostril with ring finger and the little finger pressing against the ring finger. Inhale slowly through right nostril inflating the right lung to its maximum; hold it for 2 seconds and exhale completely. Repeat this 4 times. Remember to keep your eyes closed at all times.

Step 3: In the same Vishnu Mudra position (shown in the image above), close the right nostril with thumb and inhale through left nostril inflating the left lung to its maximum. Close the left nostril with the ring finger and release the thumb on night nostril; exhale completely through the right nostril. Now, inhale through right nostril inflating the right lung to its maximum; close the right nostril with thumb and release the left nostril to exhale completely. Repeat this 4 times.

Step 4: In the same vishnu mudra position, close your right nostril with thumb and inhale deeply through left nostril inflating the left lung. Hold it for 2 seconds and exhale briskly and forcibly multiple times, with each short gusty exhalation lasting for a second; repeat gusty exhalation in intervals to exhale completely. This single long inhalation followed by repeated hold-and-release gusty exhalation to clear nasal passages and cavities is called Kapalbhati. Repeat this 4 times on each nostril.

Just spend 10 minutes every day doing Pranayama and get blessed with lot many benefits that tones your body and mind. It helps prevent chronic diseases, prevents migraines, helps stop snoring, builds endurance, sharply increases your focus and clears your head and nasal passages.

This powerful breathing exercise can wake up everyone if you do it in middle of the night. :) So, please choose the time accordingly and make sure you do it with empty stomach. You can also contract and relax abdominal muscles as you inhale and exhale, after you become comfortable with this Yoga exercise -- breathing through abdomen helps to reduce excess belly fat. You will feel a big difference in your energy level throughout the day. Keep smiling and best wishes for a happy living!

Simple healthy food for better circulation!

What you eat affects both mind and body and thus eating healthy and smart is very important in our daily busy life. Today, we are going to discuss simple  healthy eating plan that would improve circulation in your body, keeping you more energetic through the day. Eating simple natural food from plants gives you most benefit -- our body is not made to consume processed food or otherwise what I refer to as Synthetic Food. They can cause long term problems. You don't have to be very strict on eating only 3 course meal; in fact, your body gets most when you spread out your intake throughout the day.

0. After you wake up and brush your teeth, drink one or two glasses of warm water with fresh lemon squeezed in it. This will help clean-up your system and take out any toxins from your body. You will feel a big difference in your body. Wait for 1 hour before eating breakfast.

1. Breakfast: I prefer Oatmeal with fresh honey or raw (brown) sugar. Add some walnuts and  about 4 dates -- Dates give you instant energy boost in a healthy way and that's what you need in the morning hours; walnuts have plenty of antioxidants. You can also drink a glass of fat free or 1% organic milk or soy milk.

2. Around 10:30 in the morning, have an apple and a banana. Remember, fruits have to be taken in empty stomach to get most of it. This improves circulation in your body and builds defensive mechanism against toxins and germs.

3. Around 11'o clock in the morning, have few almonds, walnuts or any other nuts you prefer -- please eat in small quantity. If you are eating peanuts (groundnuts), please have them with Jaggery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggery). This is good for you. Nuts also suppresses your appetite -- this can be the best time to take a brisk 20 minutes walk to refresh your system, helping both your mind and body. Take a friend with you to chat while walking.

4. Lunch: Based on your ethnic background and meal preference, you can have healthy meal with natural ingredients, preferably cooked straight from plants -- rice, wheat, lentils and other legumes with vegetables. This will give you balanced diet with Carbohydrates, Protein, Vitamins and Minerals. Remember, Lentils and Legumes have plenty of Protein -- no worries.

5. Around 2'o clock, eat a full orange and some grapes. This will boost your energy level and helps improve circulation. If you are still hungry, eat some nuts and that will suppress the appetite.

6. Around 4'o clock, have a nice cup of green tea. I prefer herbal green tea to boost your immune system. Try Organic Tulsi Tea -- http://www.organicindia.com/organic-tulsi-teas.php. Tulsi has plenty of medicinal benefits and it helps calm your mind. Green tea has plenty of antioxidants you need to maintain healthy cells in the body. You can add some honey if you want -- but, don't add milk or sugar.

7. Around 5:30, have a healthy natural snack like flax crackers, trail mix, crackers and organic cheese, and other healthy snacks you prefer. You can go for a quick bike ride with your friends or family.

8. Dinner -- keep it as light as possible like an organic natural whole grain bread sandwich or brown rice with steamed spicy vegetables or a veggie wrap. You can have a cup of warm milk (goat or soy milk).
Please leave at least 2 hours after you eat dinner, before going to bed.

As always, drink water -- don't take excessive water than what you can; you just need to obey your thirst. Since you get fluids from raw fruits and vegetables, there is no need to force yourself with plenty of other fluids. Take few sips of water here and there throughout the day. Brush your teeth before going to bed and after.

Sleep well and exercise well.
Be proud of yourself and remember, you are gifted to be a human being, having taken the highest form of life. Keep smiling and have a peaceful life! Everything is temporary except your soul -- it has to go back to where it belongs; show your love to everyone around you. :)

Give the day a happy and healthy jump start in just 5 minutes!

You can decide how you want the day to be. Here is a 5 minute capsule for healthy fresh start in the morning that will boost your energy even if you are waking up late and about to rush. Three steps in just 5 minutes!!!

Step 1: Do not jump off the bed when the alarm rings or when you are awake. Gently lay on your back and bend the legs so that the knees are up facing the ceiling or sky. Spread your arms on the side at shoulder level -- relax the arms; release any stiffness. Now, bend both legs to your right until the right leg and thighs (still knees bent) touches the bed as you as you turn your head to left -- gently inhale deep as you do this. Stay there for 4 seconds and gently come back to original position as you exhale. Repeat the same on the other side. Don't forget to inhale deeply and exhale with complete relaxation. Repeat this step 4 times.

Step 2: Come back to original position laying on your back with knees still bent pointing to the ceiling or sky. Turn your entire body left and gently get up by placing the right hand in front of your chest on the bed (palm on bed) and by pushing your hand down on the bed.

Step 3: Now you are in sitting position, still on the bed. Sit on edge of the bed with legs hanging down from the bed. Try to sit with back straight, but don't strain your body or do not make it stiff. Turn your head gently and slowly to the left as you inhale -- feel the stretch in your neck. Come back to original position as you exhale. Close your eyes when you do this and feel good health and energy flow in your body. Now, repeat the same on the right side; do not forget to inhale deeply and gently as your head turns and exhale as you come back to original position. Do this slowly and enjoy the feeling. Repeat this 4 times.

Keeping your back straight helps flow of energy through your body. If you have a sitting job at work, please make sure your back is straight at all times completely rested on the chair. Enjoy the day as you will have better energy level -- keep smiling and be positive. :) Everything is temporary except your soul!!!