Lower your Cholesterol Naturally – A List of foods

It is vital to understand why cholesterol can be dangerous before looking at a list of foods that lower it – after all, wouldn’t you rather know HOW we know which foods help lower cholesterol, than just a long list of ingredients?

High cholesterol is not dangerous by itself – only in a specific condition it becomes harmful; by understanding this, you can get to the root of the issue – and resolve it.

The condition is when free radicals come in contact with LDL cholesterol – causing the LDL cholesterol to oxidize.  Free radicals are unstable atoms – which bond with any nearby cell’s atom – causing the cell it bonded with, to become a free radical itself – making this a chain reaction.

When LDL cholesterol is oxidized, it stimulates white blood cells which capture any foreign cells and particles in the blood – this causes foam cells to form – which are designed to clean out the area; a toxic effect is then created causing inflammation and clotting processes to activate within the artery walls – hence slowly increasing blood pressure (because of plague built up in the arteries) and reducing blood circulation (which can cause stroke or heart attack).

So, how do you lower cholesterol with just a list of foods?

The key is to stop free radical damage in the body – to disarm free radicals, you need antioxidants; not just any antioxidant – it must be FAT SOLUABLE. Taking a 1000mg of vitamin C (an antioxidant) will not help your cholesterol because Vitamin C is a water soluble antioxidant, not a fat soluble one which can stabilize oxidized cells (cells are made from lipids, which are fats).

The fat soluble antioxidants are as follows; along with the list of foods that have the highest concentrations of each:

–  Astaxanthin (pink stuff found in Salmon – better taken in supplement form)

–  Zeaxanthin(found in Kale, Chard, Spinach – best in raw form)

–  Vitamin E(Asparagus, Avocado, Egg, Milk, Nuts, Spinach, Olive oil)

–  Beta-Carotene(Peppers, Lettuce, Kale, Spinach)

–  Coenzyme Q10(Red meats – liver, heart – cooking them too much can reduce the amount)

– Vitamin B6 – Niacin is a water soluable vitamin, but thanks to its flushing side effect, it is one of the most powerful supplements that can be taken to instantly lower cholesterol.

Is a list of foods really enough to lower cholesterol and improve your health dramatically? What about the damage already caused?

Taking antioxidant rich foods is powerful if you completely transform your diet and increase your intake of the above foods. However, to tackle this issue with full force you MUST do other things – like taking a food supplement.

Adding an antioxidant supplement to your diet will allow you to eat more concentrations of the antioxidants you need to actually reverse the damage already caused – yes, your body is powerful, and eating the right foods will get you a long way, but it may not be enough to reverse the damage already caused by free radicals – for that, you need an exercise program where you exercise 3-4 times a week; and at least for 30 minutes constantly where you are out of breath – what this does is push the blood to your extremities and increase general circulation, allowing faster and more than usual detox of the body, including plague build up.

One must understand that combining exercise with proper super-antioxidant supplementation is important to get the necessary benefits.

By Body , , , 11 Comments

How to be Happy – 7 Most powerful ways!

The question of how to live life to the fullest, or how to be happy has been around since the beginning of time; but is there really an answer to such a question? or a universal method that can be applied to every single community?

YES!

Its called the Seven Congregations (In Christianity), Seven Heavens (In Islam),  Seven Chakras (In Hinduism) and is present in most major religions and spiritual guidance books; oh and if your one of the sceptical types (or just not a New Age’r) – think of this as an allegory – a system the ancients built to transform lives.

Please note that this is a rough outline of the chakra system – so that you understand the basics before progressing to reading about them in more detail and how to overcome problems within each.

There are seven energy centers (or Chakras) in the human body; each of them having unique attributes associated to them (emotions, reproduction etc). Below is an image of the chakra system within the body; the symbols within the colours is Sanskrit writing for the name of each chakra.

chakra_1

The chakra system generally works from the bottom upwards; just like you build a house from the foundation upwards.

Root Chakra

The root chakra is the lowest chakra (red in image above) and is the only chakra pointing backwards, to your past.

The root chakra MUST be functioning with balance before you can move to the next chakra (become financially free, find love, keep promises); if not, like a building with no foundation, your chakra system will colapse which in physical terms is a nervous breakdown.

The purpose of this chakra is getting rid of toxins in the body; this includes both physical and mental toxins.

An example of a mental toxin is a belief system which is holding you back from getting where you want to go; a habit which is preventing you from reaching your goals.

An example of physical toxins is the waste you excrete when you go to the bathroom everyday; so if your constipated, this also shows that your “holding on” and not letting go of things physically and mentally. Can you imagine  the level of toxic waste build-up if you have not exercised and balanced this chakra? Think painful childhood memories? Painful school memories?

How to strengthen and balance the Root Chakra?

There are many ways to strengthen the root chakra. Some are:

– Forgiving and forgetting: Forgive the people in your past, and forget; expel them from your body. Any painful memories must be let go of; bad habits must be disposed.

– Physical: Do root chakra yoga asanas. This is basically yoga for the root chakra, ask your yoga instructor and he/she should be able to guide you. OR if you want a good set of Yoga Asana’s which you can view online, you can get the video from here. This video for the root chakra is highly recommended and does not exist anywhere else. This works similar to the effect you get when you run for a while, and your mood elevates and you become happier; except, its more targeted.

– Detox: Throw away all the things that you have been holding on to for years but hardly use; go to your drawers and throw away anything that you have not used in the past 30 days.

– Binaural Beats – Sound frequencies that tune into the right wavelength to stimulate the root chakra. This can be used for all the 7 chakras – Each chakra has a different frequency that stimulates it to become active.

Sex Chakra

The Sex chakra is located just 2 inches below your belly button; it is the chakra responsible for reproduction.

This not only includes sexual reproduction, but also reproducing wealth, health, anything you want! It is associated with creativity, food, expression, addictions and is often referred to as the center of self expression and joy.

This chakra is the chakra that “turns you on” speaking sexually and otherwise; therefore it is deeply concerned with our relationships to others, our motivation for our relationships and how much joy we bring to them.

It also has a strong connection with money; being able to become financially independent.

A weak sex chakra leads to physical manifestations of sexual impotence, bladder problems, diseases of the small intestine and lower back pain.

How to strengthen the Sex Chakra?

To strengthen the Sex chakra you can:

– Strengthen any chakras below; in this case, the root chakra (Note: this applies to all chakra’s; if you want to strengthen a chakra, work on strengthening all the chakra’s below it first)

– Become financially independent: This is important – before you can progress further, your ability to reproduce money must be strong, its that simple!

– Yoga Asanas for Sex Chakra – see www.meditation-mantra.org

Solar Plexus

The third chakra is often called the Solar Plexus; it is responsible for keeping what you have produced in the sex chakra (second chakra); so you produce money in the second chakra and learn to keep it in the third chakra. You keep your promises, your will, in the third chakra.

Self esteem is also held here, as well as beauty, health and wealth; anything you produce.

How to strengthen the Solar Plexus?

Signs of weak solar plexus (or third chakra) is low self esteem, not being able to keep promises, no self discipline, issues with your physical body – Naturally the way to strengthen this would be to target all the chakra’s lower than the solar plexus chakra, make them solid, and then:

– Practice increasing your will power: Write down 5-7 things that you must do that day but have been ignoring for some time now – this could be anything from cleaning out the wardrobe, buying a new vacuum cleaner etc – and then, DO THEM! Practice this regularly – This will increase your will power and strengthen your third chakra.

– Doing yoga asanas targeted for the third chakra are also important; search YouTube.com or go to www.meditation-mantra.org to get a series of all the chakra videos.

Heart Chakra

The heart chakra is ruled by emotions; love, hate, jealousy, life purpose, higher purpose, fulfilment etc. If the lower 3 chakra’s have been mastered, energy seeps into the fourth chakra; this is where you can have “mid-life crisis” and seek for meaning. This is not some hocus pocus crap; it is easily applied in practice – Bill Gates is a great example; He left Harvard university (root chakra) to realize his dream of creating (second chakra) DOS and reproducing it to every IBM computer in the world – He again disposed DOS (root chakra) to move onto windows further making billions and holding onto them (third chakra); then he created a charity foundation (heart chakra – to seek higher purpose and fulfillment from a deeper sense of love).

How can you strengthen the heart chakra?

– Water (master) all the chakra’s below to strengthen the heart chakra

– Carry out Yoga Asana’s for the heart chakra found at www.meditation-mantra.org – you can find sample videos on youtube.com under the user-name “yogomeditation”.

Throat Chakra

If we continue our example of Bill Gates – after he fulfils his fourth chakra, he will begin his journey for the 5th chakra – the knowledge chakra.

The knowledge chakra comes to life when you have everything in your life that you wanted – reason why wealthy people start taking dance classes, extra courses into something “different”, visiting unusual destinations, art classes, singing lessons – anything to seek higher purpose and meaning (but more developed than the heart chakra).

How can you strengthen the Throat chakra?

– Water (master) all chakra’s under the throat chakra

– Carry out Yoga Asana’s for the Throat Chakra found at www.meditation-mantra.org – you can find sample videos of these vidoes on youtube.com under the user-name “yogameditation”.

Third Eye

The sixth chakra is the Third eye Chakra – where you gain divine wisdom. Your ability to solve the most complex problems will become as simple as pressing a button. Many spiritual leaders have written countless books on the underlying methods of the universe; but this is useless to most people as you would need your first 5 chakra’s mastered before you would have a “thirst” for fulfilling this chakra.

Third eye represents non-judgement – Between right or wrong, light and day, ugly and beautiful, fat and thin etc. You will be able to see past and future as one, giving you the ability to see patterns and solve complex problems.

How can you strengthen the Third Eye?

– Strengthen all chakra’s below the Third Eye Chakra

– Meditation and focus on the third eye point

Crown Chakra

This is the only chakra which is actually outside the body, over the head – where do you think they got the Halo from?

There is nothing else to say about the crown chakra other than it is the chakra that connects you with the universe – as the Taoists say, to make your “light body”. This is pure enlightenment and where you have extraordinary abilities.

There are a few ways to strengthen the crown chakra like fulfilling all chakra’s below it, and meditation.

YES, but how do I apply this to my life?

Apply this to your life starting from the root chakra of disposing toxins and all the way up to the 7th – take it step by step. It is possible that some parts of some of your chakra’s are already developed to a certain extent, however there could be some weaknesses to them that might need strengthening in order to move your life forward – living your life to the fullest!

All chakras not only speak of healing in a spiritual sense, but also a physical sense. Physical illnesses are related to chakra imbalances that need correcting – heart disease with the heart chakra, sexual dysfunction with the second chakra – fulfill and learn to master them, and master your life!

It is also important to note that mastering your chakras creates rising levels of energy (chi/Parana) which can damage the nerves in your body and possibly kill you – this can easily be avoided by preparing the body for this kind of energy – by practicing chi kung (an ancient Chinese art)  to the point of excruciating pain.

By Mind, Spirit, Weight Loss , , , , , 2 Comments

How To: Clear Skin? Thicker Hair?

Beautiful Skin and Hair

I always hear people talk about wanting specific things about themselves improved; and the most common (apart from weight loss) is having clear skin and thicker hair.

Whether its clear healthy skin your after, or thicker hair; the root cause is the same; your overall health. Hair and skin are the first to be affected if the body is not getting enough nutritients or the mind is in stress (and anything in between).

What can you do to find the barriers to your health, or the root cause for your particular health concern? Let the following questions help you:

1. What percentage of foods do you eat that contain artificial products? You will be surprised how many foods contain this; if you really want your body to be a temple of health; you will have to work to monitor what you eat and remove foods that are chemically filled with artificial junk/preservatives.

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Eat Alkaline Foods with no preservatives

If you are on a high sugar diet; this can be very damaging to the body and weaken its ability to heal itself. If the body is weak, then processes such as producing hair and skin renewal are not a priority; the body then only focuses on keeping vital functions alive. Also see my article on Salt.

Drink herbal tea to detox your body from toxins that it holds onto; not just any herbal tea, search online for herbal teas that detox the kidney and liver as this purifies the blood and in turn purifies the organs and tissues (including the skin and hair).

2. How are you? How is your life? Are you happy? Have you been going through a lot of stress? Do you get ill often? (People who get ill often have weak immune systems; warning signs to work on your health).

Let go of all painful memories
Let go of all painful memories

Do you get time to yourself, to clear your thoughts? to forgive? (the act of forgiving itself is important for destressing) I suggest meditation for 15 minutes a day; The act of non-thinking is very healthy; people who meditate regularly have stronger immune systems, better health, leaving more energy (life force) for the body to work on secondary processes like keeping the skin toned and clear, growing thick youthful hair. Do you get where I am going with this?

This article should show you the importance of looking at a problem, from another level (if you want to solve it); and I leave you with one of my favourite quotes from Albert Einstein:

“You cannot solve a problem with the same level of mind that created it”

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How to use your mind to become sexy!

Your mind is the most underestimated part of you; you have used the power of your mind, to do many wonderful things (e.g. radiate love) as well as negative (such as cursing). But do you have any idea of the effects of the thoughts you think every day, have on your physical body?

Dr Masaru Emoto discovered that if different thoughts are directed at water, the water crystals undergo changes depending upon whether the thoughts/words are negative or positive. The crystals with positive thoughts directed at them had beautiful patterns, whilst the negative thoughts version had distorted uneven patterns.  This experiment has been repeated in various forms by different people, not only with water, but also rice (how fast it rots if given different thoughts/words). The end point here is that thoughts affect your body and your environment. There is even a legend of a tribe wanting to go through a thick rainforest; instead of trying to cut through the thick bushes and nettles, everyday they cursed the plants; the plants simply died and withered away.

You don’t have to believe the legend, but can you imagine the consequences of years and years of negative feelings/thoughts/situations that have caused you to damage not only yourself, but the people around you? Each time you say “I am an idiot” or “I am ugly”, you curse yourself without even realizing.



To become sexy/beautiful/handsome/hot/delicious


So how do you, become sexy?

Guess what?

You already are!

What?

Are you disappointed with my answer? Heard it before? Or think it’s some kind of crazy concept theory based philosophy?

 

Truth is, all life is beautiful; but we ourselves make it ugly. Beauty competitions, crazy teenage magazines with all these images of software edited photos, television shows feeding all types of crap into our heads, how can you not feel and become ugly? They all give you a dualistic view of beauty, you are either sexy or not, Fat or thin, Tall or short; Even a website I came across once about rating people’s looks out of 10. Do you realize how socially conditioned your mind has become?

Step one – Kill Dualistic Views

Step one; stop viewing yourself and others with the dualistic view of beauty/looks. Everyone has their potential of being the most beautiful in their own special unique way, you cannot judge into that. A person that may appear not so “attractive” may not be so because he/she is actually ugly, but actually a reflection of a deep rooted problem with their thinking patterns/vibrations and habits that are manifesting on their physical bodies (Even causing them to become ill more easily).

Step Two – Non Judgment


You always hear about people saying “don’t judge” but do you really know the real meaning behind this? Do you know what it means to practice NON JUDGEMENT beyond concept?

Judging causes a lot of thought pollution in your mind. It creates unnecessary troubles that everyone can do without.

Logically speaking, you are analyzing somebody/something based on your conditioned values and beliefs. As soon as you pass a judgment, you are saying that you are better or worse than someone. That something is good or bad. This in itself creates boundaries (do I really need to talk about problems that boundaries can bring?).

Practice non judgment. If you see something or someone you might disagree with, or make a judgment about (in your mind or out loud), then stop, and just let them/it be. It takes practice, but in time, you will begin to see the tension it removes from your thoughts.

To permanently fixing bad thinking habits, I come to my final step.

Step Three – Self Hypnosis


Hypnosis has been used for many years for a variety of different aspects in life. This is from physical body changes such as skin clearing, hair growth and anti aging, to changes in habits (such as stopping smoking and weight loss).  There is a lot of criticism on hypnosis when it comes to changing the body physically in any way; however it has been done before, over and over again. If you seek with an eye of a critique, you will find just that.

Self Hypnosis Mp3’s help you to reach a deep state of trance, and feed your mind the thoughts and changes you would like. This puts your mind in alignment with your goals. The reason to reach in a deep state of trance is to access the part of the brain that has no judgment as to what information comes in; so you can change your negative thoughts, and start moving towards a beautiful mind and a beautiful body.

There are hundreds of websites offering a variety of hypnosis mp3’s online; and it can be hard to find the best options. So I have done a little research and found two websites that have the best programs available. I have personally used programs from both websites and I find them both equally powerful.

Deep Trance Now– This site is by Dr Laura, who is a known clinical hypnotherapist. I found that her recordings are very high quality in terms of sound quality, voice, and all recordings use brain wave synchronization to enhance the deep state of trance. This technology is not used in any other hypnosis recordings I have found. Her recordings are also available in several different languages and she also does custom recordings. The website also gives free hypnosis downloads so you try before you buy your chosen topic.

Hyptalk Hypnosis – This site is run by Victoria Gallagher, a certified Master hypnotherapist. Her recordings are very soothing to listen to, and you can preview them before you buy. The advantage from buying here is that you can download the mp3 recordings instantly.

The reason I have included two different websites is that sometimes users get too bored from listening to the same recordings over and over again, they lose motivation to carry on. That’s why it helps to have a change in voice and even the wordings to keep you motivated.

Other ways

If you are not interested or simply unsure about using hypnosis, then it’s not the end of the world; there are many ways to reaching any goal. The aim is to firstly observe and become aware of your negative habits (smoking, over-eating) and negative thoughts (self sabotage, self hate) and then to attack them by flooding your life with change of habits and thinking. You can do this by hypnosis, meditation and continuous monitoring of your thoughts and habits.

I leave you with an old Taoist saying:

“Beware of your thoughts, for they become your words. Beware of your words, for they become your actions. Beware of your actions, for they become your habits. Beware of your habits, as they can seal your fate”

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