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The two questions I seem to get asked by new people the most are “What is Feng Shui?” and “How can Feng Shui benefit me?” After more than 17 years of working with Feng Shui you’d think I could spit out an answer to those two questions like a tape recording, but in fact I stumble around for an answer as much now as I did the first time I was asked. The reason is there’s no single, simple, answer; it depends a lot on how much the other person understands about Feng Shui. You have to give a little more explanation to a person who has just heard the term Feng Shui for the first time vs. somebody who has read an article or maybe even a book on the subject and still has some questions. So lets proceed with the first question, “What is Feng Shui?” assuming you are the person hearing about Feng Shui for the very first time.

Feng Shui is an environmental science, it is not a religion, and it is not a cult. Feng Shui is 30 centuries old, yes, that’s 3000 years, a thousand years before Christ, 1000 BC, originating in ancient China and has at least 9 know schools, or disciplines, that are being practiced today around the world. Feng Shui is a tool that you can use to bring balance and harmony into your life, it is not magic or voodoo or witchcraft. Feng Shui has evolved from eons of observation of the environment and how it relates to your life or life events. It connects the intentions you have to your surroundings and hence to your higher power. It allows you a better control over your life through your environment and helps you to achieve balance and happiness.

Feng Shui is relatively easy to understand and easy to apply, it is not mysterious or restricted or unavailable. Feng Shui is more spiritual in nature than intellectual or physical, although both physical and intellectual “cures” are used to connect you to the power behind Feng Shui. Feng Shui is not tied to a religion or really even to a culture; it is connected to universal principals and the laws of cause and effect that govern the universe. Feng Shui is not affiliated to any religious philosophy but relies on the same principles that underlie all of the great religions of the world. It allows us to connect to our inner self and to the higher power that governs us all. It allows you to manifest the intentions you have for your life. Using your higher power can be as personal to you as you want it to be. Feng Shui does not care what your convictions are, only what your intentions are, and in this sense Feng Shui it is a very equal-opportunity, opportunity.

With that said lets give a little more explanation of the structure of Feng Shui. Feng Shui cures are applied in nine “life event” categories, and uses your physical surrounds to gain control and achieve your intentions or goals in these categories. Your physical surroundings are most commonly your house, but you can Feng Shui a room, a desk, a work area, even your garden. The nine categories are organized in a certain pattern or map known as a Bagua and include Health, Prosperity, Knowledge, and six others. Each category or Bagua area has definite supportive and destructive symbols associated with it such as colors, shapes and the elements. The Feng Shui Practitioner uses these symbols in conjunction with the Bagua Map to balance a person’s environment thereby balancing their lives. The key to accomplishing this is to understand the relationships of the nine Bagua areas and properly apply the Feng Shui cures to clarify you intentions. In a sense, Feng Shui could be described as the ultimate goal-setting tool, with some extra bonuses attached.

So that’s kind of the tip of the iceberg so to speak of the Feng Shui world. There are numerous details and processes and practices that go along with these concepts. The new person can easily become overwhelmed when they first start to explore Feng Shui. But with a little patience and some good instruction it begins to clear up and become useful fairly rapidly. I have been associated with Feng Shui over 17 years now. I was initially expose to it at a two hour adult education seminar and since then have read many books and articles, communicated with countless other practitioners, achieved a Masters Rating and used Feng Shui as a source of income for about the last 15 years.

I initially used the techniques for myself and then shared the knowledge with some friends and family and then transitioned into becoming a Feng Shui Practitioner and Instructor. I now devote a good deal of my time to training new people to become Practitioners and Obtain a Feng Shui Masters Certificate so they can use their Feng Shui skills to help others and develop an income. You can find out more about Feng Shui and how it can benefit you on my website. Order the Free Report on what you should know before becoming a Feng Shui Master.

Is Feng Shui in your future?
http://www.hypertracker.com/go/mariesfengshui/ezart

I am a 4th generation healer and intuitive, who has earned Practitioner Level Certification in Yeun’s Energetics Academy as well as gaining the level of Feng Shui Master. I am a level 3 Reiki practitioner, an animal communicator, and intuitive reader. I have also spent over 20 years in corporate America as a Chassis, Occupant & Mechanical Packaging Designer and Supplier Support Specialist for the “Big 3″ domestic auto makers. All these gifts combined, allow me to offer many services utilizing my intuitive and healing gifts, as well as my design and organizational skills.

Say you had a stressful day at work, didn’t get enough sleep
the night before and as a result you’ve got a bad headache.
What do you do? It’s easy! You take good old Tylenol or other
over-the-counter medicine. And it helps! No more headache,
the world is bright again.

The next day you wake up with the headache again. This time
your headache is tolerable but dull and constant. It’s a good
thing you bought that medicine yesterday. Better take it before
headache gets more painful. If you take two pills instead of one
it might even work faster. Sounds like a logical thing to do,
right?

Wrong. All you did is blocked pain receptors that are involved in
transmitting signals between brain cells. That means the
headache is still there, your brain just stopped getting signals
about it. Instead of treating the cause you are treating the
symptoms.

In addition wildly known over-the-counter medicine like Tylenol
and Advil can be really harmful if misused. I was shocked to
find out that only 16% of people read the label completely.
Forty four percent of people (and that’s hundreds of millions)
read the label and knowingly exceed the recommended dose.
Are you one of those people?

If you experience headache more than two times a day, you’ve
got a problem. Popping painkillers like M&M’s may only lead to
rebound headaches. When you take the same medicine for the
long period of time your body becomes addicted to it. What
happens when medicine wears off? You get an even stronger
headache, which forces you to take more medicine…and more
medicine…and more medicine…It’s a vicious circle.

I’m not trying to tell you never to use painkillers again. They
can be really helpful sometimes, but they should not become a
part of your daily ration.

One more thing. ALWAYS read a label and pay close attention.
Some over-the counter medicine even if prescribed for different
things can contain the same active ingredients simultaneously.
In that case you will exceed maximum daily dose and do your
body more harm than good.

For example, Tylenol used for reducing headaches contains
acetaminophen. So does Maximum Strength TheraFlu, used for
fighting cold. If you combine those two medicines, you will most
likely overdose acetaminophen. Combined with bad diet, irregular
eating and drinking alcohol it will gradually destroy your liver.
The worst thing is that signs of liver failure on the early stage
are very similar to the common flu. Not knowing that most people
increase doses of flu medicine, killing their liver completely. And it
all starts with something as little as a tension headache and
weakened immune system.

So if you are suffering already from rebound headaches the only
thing you can do is to stop taking any painkillers at all. Replace
them with natural remedies.

Do you know that natural solutions often work faster and are
more effective than painkillers?

There are so many ways to choose from! Hydrotherapy,
aromatherapy, acupressure, massage, yoga and so on. Most of
these methods people have been using for centuries. If they
worked for millions of people before, they are guaranteed to work
for you. Treat your headache before it even starts and you will
save tons of money on the painkillers.

Arina Nikitina is the author of the best selling ebook “21 Ways to
Conquer Your Headache”. Learn natural proven ways to relieve
your headache faster than you’ve ever thought possible. To get
your copy of the ebook visit: http://www.stop-headaches.com

When obesity is looked at as a disease and not merely the result of poor decisions, a practice like gastric bypass surgery is a wise choice of treatment. Understanding obesity acknowledges that a cure is needed to correct the basic problem, not just hide it. The fact that gastric bypass surgery gives people a chance at a new routine illustrates why this surgery is becoming more and more accepted for Americans. In fact, gastric bypass surgery in Mexico is becoming common for Americans desiring to modify their life through weight loss.

Gastric bypass surgery involves changing the digestive tract, drastically lessening the amount of food an patient can ingest. The size of the stomach is greatly lessened so the person is physically limited from overeating. A positive gastric bypass surgery can help the individual lose one third of their body weight. With weight loss comes other bodily improvements to blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as a reduced risk of getting diabetes. On top of all the physical improvements are the emotional ones, including increased self-assurance and assurance.

The fact is that many Americans don’t sincerely consider gastric bypass surgery because the procedure can be very pricey. Fortunately, the possibility of weight loss surgery in Mexico is now a reasonable option for American people. Gastric bypass surgery in Mexico, in addition to other weight loss surgeries, are competitively rivaling their American counterparts. For patients serious about altering their lives through weight loss procedure, gastric bypass surgery in Mexico is a viable possibility.

You probably know that applying heat or ice to a painful joint can help relieve pain, but have questions about these simple techniques. Which one? Why? How often? How long?

The only time you must choose “ice” is during the first 48 hours after a sudden injury or surgery. Cooling the area causes the nearby blood vessels to constrict; there is less swelling, so there is less pain. Heat opens up the area’s blood vessels, improving the flow. Increased circulation brings oxygen and healing elements to the scene, while flushing away wastes: in with the good, out with the bad.

Use your ice/heat pack as often as you’d like; at least three times a day. Heat before activity warms up the joints, and ice afterward cools the inflammation from the friction in arthritic joints. Most packs can be frozen or heated; buy two. Keep one in the freezer, pop one in the microwave when you need it.

When trying to find relief from your daily arthritis pain, you can’t go wrong by experimenting here! Choose a large ice/heat pack that is pliable enough to cover and conform to your painful joint. Try it for 20 minutes (check your skin every 5 minutes!) If you feel better, then you’ve made the right choice! If not, try the other.

Take notes on what works. Make good use of low-tech, low-cost, low-risk, common-sense health habits that pay off in many ways!

Want to learn more? Visit www.knowyourbones.com to order “Making Sense of Arthritis Medicine: Manage Your Symptoms Safely” and discover relief that’s right for you!

About The Author

Stephanie E. Siegrist, MD is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon in her 10th year of practice, and author of “Making Sense of Arthritis Medicine.” She’s one of only 3% of U.S. orthopedic surgeons who are women! Dr. Siegrist strives to bridge the gaps that exist in today’s doctor-patient relationship with “Information Therapy!” Complete information about Dr. Siegrist, and the book, are available from her website www.knowyourbones.com.

Are you Telling Yourself It’s Too Hard to Lose Weight?

Telling yourself you have to “struggle with this weight issue for the rest of my life,” is as good as telling yourself there’s no point in trying. “Why bother? I’ll just gain it right back. It’s no use. I might as well eat more cake. Poor me. Life is hard.” You know the drill. Life’s a beach and then you die. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can change from talking trash to talking yourself right into doing what you say you want to do. Here’s how.

Stop the struggle by Stopping Self Talk that Supports the Struggle

You’ve heard it before — what you focus on is what you receive. Nowhere is that more true than in believing it is a struggle to stay healthy. Who would want to be healthy if it’s such a horrible chore? Yet, you’ve probably seen plenty of people who are fit, healthy and happy? You might even know a few. They seem to bounce when they walk. They’re animated, excited about life, and no, if you asked them, they probably wouldn’t say it’s a struggle. “What do you mean,” they’d ask? “Struggle? Nah, I love my life,” and they’d mean it.

Forget the notion that you have to struggle and eat celery sticks for dinner. It’s not true. Despite the fact that you’ve lost the weight many times in the past only to gain it right back, despite your belief that you can’t even look at food without gaining weight. All of those thoughts are just more beliefs that are keeping you stuck. What you focus on becomes your reality.

Stop Struggling with Your Appetites

I’m a prime example. I don’t struggle. Some days I eat a lot. Some days not so much. Some days very little. Yesterday I ate my usual breakfast and then, strangely, I just didn’t feel hungry all day. I felt different somehow. Not ill, but I just didn’t want to eat. “What’s up with this?,” I thought to myself, but I decided to just ride it out and see what happened. Well, I’m here to tell you that nothing happened. I lived to see another day. Nothing fell from the sky and the world didn’t stop spinning because I didn’t eat much yesterday. It was just another day.

Today I ate a few handfuls of malted milk balls. No big deal to me, but I know many of you are thinking, “I’d never be able to eat just some, I’d have to eat them all,” and that is my point. Telling yourself you can’t eat “some,” or as many as you want, but that you believe you’d be compelled to eat them all, no matter how many there are, is a strongly held belief that is keeping you stuck. I don’t believe that to be true, and so, for me it is not true.

Changing a Fundamental Belief with EFT

How do you change a fundamental belief? You start with basic EFT using it for every issue that pops up, even though they are seemingly not at all related. Use it for every worry, fear, doubt, and struggle. Use it on everything and those issues that do make a difference in your eating will start dissolving away. Try it. What have you got to lose but some weight?

Just what is EFT? It’s Emotional Freedom Training and it’s taking the world by storm as an easy, self administered practice to help reduce or eliminate the emotional issues that keep us stuck. Free information is available at EmoFree.com. I added EFT to my toolkit as soon as I learned it because it’s easy to learn, easy to use, and it’s very effective in helping people lose their weight by losing their emotional issues.

Remember those healthy folks I mentioned earlier? They don’t view how they eat or how much they exercise as a struggle. They believe they are fit and happy and that life is meant to be lived to its fullest. They are active because they want to be active, and they eat foods that make them feel great. They probably eat some of the things you won’t allow yourself to eat too. These are every day folks who have learned to feel good about themselves. None of them are perfect, despite the common belief that there is some “perfect” body, it’s just not true. Everyone has a wrinkle here, extra skin there. Every single one of us is flawed in some way or another. It’s what makes us unique.

Choose to Focus on Benefits, Rather Than Sacrifice

Everything worthwhile takes effort; having a baby comes to mind. All mothers will likely agree that childbirth has some negatives (weight gain, pain), but the ultimate reward makes it all worthwhile (yes, some women feel great while pregnant, but I wasn’t one of them). If that were not the case, all kids would be only children. Think about it.

What are the benefits to changing your self talk? You’ll start to want to fulfill your words with your actions. You’ll stop the pity part and start the feeling better about yourself party instead.

Changing from Negative Self Talk to Positive Self Talk

Starting from right now, go get a box of toothpicks or something small you can put in your pocket. Match sticks would work, marbles, small rocks or twigs from the yard. Something small enough you can carry it with you. Whenever you catch yourself starting to say something negative, “I don’t want to …, or, “I hate …,” or “I can’t …,” then say, “STOP,” and replace the words with something positive.

“I hate having to wash the … STOP … It feels good getting a chance to stretch and bend while I wash the car.”

Yes, it’s stiff and forced, at first. Anytime you attempt to change a behavior it will feel forced. Just allow yourself to learn to change your self talk, and that early discomfort with the process will pass. It will start to be fun to “catch” yourself. As soon as you start doing it, you’ll realize how often you’re been feeding yourself negativity, and you’ll also see how easily you can change that habit.

“I’ll never lose this weight STOP I’m feeling better about myself every day. I’m making progress toward my goal.”

Even if what you are saying feels like a lie, it’s better to say something positive than to continue feeding your negative words to your brain. Do this with anything negative you catch yourself saying or beginning to say, whether towards yourself or someone else, it doesn’t matter. Work on changing the pattern of saying negative things to yourself.

Feed Yourself Positive Messages

Start noticing how often you’re feeding yourself negative energy. Then, apply the STOP technique as soon as you realize you are doing it, you yell (to yourself) STOP, and immediately replace what you were saying with something else. Here’s what I mean:

Positive people tend to be happier people. I’m not suggesting you get a personality change, but I am suggesting, if you ultimately want to drop some weight and never see it again that you change your thinking from how much you’ll have to struggle to how much better you’re going to feel.

Considering learning and using EFT and the Stop technique to help make the change from negative to positive self talk. You can either hear it raining and think, “Great! Now I won’t have to water the lawn,” or, “Great! It’s raining and I wasted my time washing the car.” Rain happens. It’s not a good or bad thing except in how you represent it in your mind. Same with what we eat and what we do from day to day.

~~ Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of the free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

Get The Daily Bites: Inspirational Mini Lessons Using EFT and NLP for Ending the Struggle with Weight Loss.

The Mediterranean olive dates back 6000 years and was native to Iran, Syria and Palestine (Asia Minor). From there it spread to the Mediterranean basin. It is one of the earliest known cultivated trees. According to the Bible, an olive leaf was that which a dove brought back to Noah, as an indication the great flood waters were abating.

The olive tree thrives best in a sunny position and climate. A rocky subsoil suits it well. The trunk is knotty, hard, and gnarled, the bark smooth and ash colored. Olive wood is valuable for its durability and is crafted into many items such as gourmet cooking utensils. The olive tree experiences slow growth, but it lives very long. It is reported that the olive trees on Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, are over 2000 years old. It is commonly believed the Bible passage of “the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine,” refers to the olive tree. Olive leaves are silver grey-green, and possesses the health qualities of “olive leaf extract” which is pressed from them. Extracted from olive leaves is a bitter substance named oleuropein. In the 1960’s researchers reported that oleuropein lowered blood pressure in animals, this caused immediate medicinal interest in the olive leaf. There are new studies that indicate olive leaf extract may be a natural preventative against the common cold and flu.

The olive is believed to be a source of wealth for the Minoan Kingdom. Egyptians tombs dating back as far as 2000 BC have been proved to contain olives. The Greeks spread the usage of olives to the Romans who, in turn, spread it across their vast empire. The use of olive oil has been advocated by many religions and cultures. The early Greek Kings were anointed with olive oil. It was also used to anoint winning Olympic athletes. Across many cultures, olive oil is recognized for healthy benefits for both the inner and outward body.

Some research indicates extra-virgin olive oil is the most digestible of the edible fats. Olive oil also it helps to assimilate vitamins A, D and K in the human body. Benefits of consuming olive oil include slowing down the aging process and helps liver, bile, and intestinal functions. Olive oil is valued for its culinary attributes and organoleptic virtues, these being: flavor, bouquet or aroma, and color. Various grades of olive oil are derived from the time of pressing. Earlier pressings are regarded as better quality. Cold pressed olive oil is a pressing process requiring no heat or chemicals, which destroy vital nutrients. This olive oil is generally the best to use for cooking and healthy cuisine.

Olive oil has been extensively used in cooking and forms an integral part of the basic Mediterranean diet. It is a healthier substitute to butter. Strong and pungent flavored olive oils are great for frying fish or other items having a strong flavor. Extra virgin olive oil goes well with salads. A late harvest mission variety olive oil, which is mellow, can be used for baking cakes. Gourmet olive oil is a healthier and tastier substitute to other fatty cooking oils. The health benefits of cold pressed olive oil already have federal agency approval. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized marketing ads that say organic olive oil helps reduce the risk of coronary disease and disorders.
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Given below is a simple recipe for olive oil bread dipping sauce.

Bread Dipping Sauce

Servings : 2 - 4

Preparation time : 10 minutes

Ingredients:

cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced (Italian parsley is best)

1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced

teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon black pepper

teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed well

1/8 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Salt, if desired

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and sauté till it changes color. Add all the other ingredients and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Serve as a bread dip.

James Zeller writes for numerous gift related websites and blogs. Here is a selection of oil and vinegar gifts that he found, and a unique & creative collection of culinary gourmet gifts.