8 Simple Ways to Relax

• Rent a funny movie or visit a joke Web site. Laughter releases tension and helps put life back in perspective.
• Get moving! Who said you need quiet to relax? Pop in your favorite CD or turn to your favorite radio station and dance for a few songs. This will revitalize your body and mind and you'll be ready to face anything.
• Have you ever heard of the phrase "take 5?" Set aside 5 or 10 minutes to have "you" time. Try waking up a little bit earlier than the rest of the house and enjoy the quiet alone (or with a nice cup of tea).
• Clean your inbox daily. No, not your e-mail. Your mind. Buy yourself a notebook or start a computer journal. Every night jot down happenings, thoughts and things accomplished that day, or even your frustrations. When your mind is "cleaned up," it is easier to relax and fall asleep.
• Clean your inbox weekly. Yes, this time we mean the computer. At least once a week, read and answer your e-mails and file, archive or delete the stuff you don't need anymore. Clutter in the computer can clutter your mind, so let's clean it up.
• Do yoga. If you don't have time to join a yoga class at least once a week, then purchase a yoga video. Make time to do at least 15 minutes of yoga most days. This will help stretch and relax your muscles
• Take a bubble bath. Put on some soft music, light a candle and enjoy a nice warm bubble bath. If you don't want music, you can always take a book or magazine with you.

Being able to unwind and relax is one step toward a happier, healthier life. Don't be shy about being happy, pass it on to your friends and co-workers, they'll thank you for it.

10 Balanced breakfast to assist with mind & body function

An ideal, nutritious breakfast contains a balance of complex carbohydrates and protein. Think grains, plus dairy, plus fruits. Examples of balanced breakfasts are:

1. granola cereal, yogurt, a sliced apple
2. scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice
3. veggie omelet, bran muffin, fruit with yogurt
4. whole-grain pancakes or waffles topped with berries and/or yogurt, milk
5. whole-wheat zucchini pancakes topped with fruit, milk
6. french toast topped with fruit, orange juice or milk
7. low-fat cheese melted on toast with a piece of fruit
8. low-fat cream cheese on a whole-grain bagel, orange juice
9. peanut butter and banana slices on an english muffin, milk
10. For a breakfast-on-the-run smoothie, see "School-Ade."

8 Ways Meditation Can Change Your Life

1. Living With Kindness
No one deserves your kindness and compassion more than yourself. Every time you see or feel suffering, every time you make a mistake or say something stupid and are just about to put yourself down, every time you think of someone you are having a hard time with, every time you encounter the confusion and difficulty of being human, every time you see someone else struggling, upset, or irritated, you can stop and bring loving kindness and compassion. Breathing gently, silently repeat: May I be well, may I be happy, May I be filled with loving kindness.

2. Lightening the Load
In a stressed state, it is easy to lose touch with inner peace, compassion and kindness; in a relaxed state, your mind is clear and you can connect with a deeper sense of purpose and altruism. Meditation and medication are derived from the Latin word medicus, to care or to cure. A time of quiet calmness is, therefore, the most effective remedy for a busy and overworked mind. Anytime you feel stress rising, heart closing, mind going into overwhelm, just bring your focus to your breathing and quietly repeat with each in- and out-breath: Breathing in, I calm the body and mind; breathing out, I smile.
3. Letting Go of Me
Stillness is always there between the thoughts, behind the story, beneath the noise. What keeps us from experiencing our natural state of being is the habitual and ego-dominated monkey mind. Meditation enables us to see clearly, to witness our thoughts and behavior and reduce self-involvement. Without such a practice of self-reflection there is no way of putting a brake on the ego’s demands. From being self-centered, we can become other-centered, concerned about the welfare of all.
4. Dissolving Anger and Fear
We do not accept or release our negative feelings so easily; we are more likely to repress or disown them. But when denied they cause shame, depression, anger, and anxiety. Meditation invites you to openly meet these places, and to see how selfishness, aversion and ignorance create endless dramas and fears. Beneath these is a quiet stillness where you can get to know yourself; this is a wondrous and beautiful experience. Whether you practice for just ten minutes a day or longer does not matter. You are releasing your limitations, while opening to self-acceptance and awareness.
5. Awakening Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others. As you sit in meditation and watch your thoughts and feelings moving through you, so you can observe that who you are now is not who you were just a moment ago, let alone a day, a week, or a month ago. Who you, or someone else, was when pain was caused is not who you are now. When you experience your essential interconnectedness you see how the ignorance of this creates separation and suffering, so that forgiveness for such ignorance arises spontaneously.
6. Generating Harmlessness
Simply through the intent to cause less pain you can bring greater dignity to your world, so that harm is replaced with harmlessness and disrespect with respect. Harm is usually caused unintentionally, whether by ignoring someone’s feelings, putting yourself down, reaffirming your hopelessness, disliking your appearance, or seeing yourself as incompetent or unworthy. How much resentment, guilt, or shame are you holding on to, thus perpetuating harmfulness? Meditation enables you transform this through recognizing your essential goodness and the preciousness of all life.
7. Appreciating Appreciation
Take a moment to appreciate the chair you are sitting on. Consider how the chair was made: the wood, cotton, wool, or other fibers, the trees and plants that were used, the earth that grew the trees, the sun and rain, the animals that maybe gave their lives, the people who prepared the materials, the factory where the chair was made, the designer and carpenter and seamstress, the shop that sold it—all this just so you could be sitting here, now. Then extend that deep appreciation to everything and everyone in your life.
8. Being Aware
Awareness is the key to awakening. Through awareness you can see your monkey mind and all its mischief. Almost everything we do is to achieve something: if we do this, then we will get that; if we do that, then this will happen. But in meditation you do it just to do it. There is no ulterior purpose other than to be here, in the present moment, without trying to get anywhere or achieve anything. You are just aware of whatever is happening, whether pleasant or unpleasant. No judgment, no right or wrong. Simply being aware. Enjoy!