How to Get Focused: Four-Corner Breathing

An imbalance in your mental energy can leave you unable to focus.

Break the pattern, and you'll effectively return to the present moment -- and the task at hand.

"I call it changing your state," says Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D., psychologist, attention expert, and author of "Find Your Focus Zone".
One of Palladino's tried-and-true balancing practices is four-corner breathing, which combines the use of an outer focal point (a window, a picture frame) with deep, rhythmic breaths. Try this meditation to jolt yourself into high gear or settle a skittish mind.

It lowers adrenaline and releases stress, restores balance, and resets your attention, helping you focus.

Four-Corner Breathing How-To
1. Find an object nearby that has four corners -- a box, your monitor, or even this page.

2. Start at the upper-left-hand corner and inhale for 4 counts.

3. Turn your gaze to the upper-right-hand corner and hold your breath for 4 counts.

4. Move to the lower-right-hand corner. Exhale for 4.

5. Now shift your attention to the lower-left-hand corner. Tell yourself to relax and smile. Repeat 3 to 5 times, or as often as you like.

From Body & Soul

Stress Management Techniques Can Reduce Flu Stress

The mental and emotional stress caused by the presence of the new H1N1 influenza can be controlled, and there are steps you can take to reduce anxiety and improve your psychological and physical health during this outbreak, says Josh Klapow,the author of Living SMART: Five Essential Skills to Change Your Health Habits Forever.

He says coping is rooted in thinking clearly and balancing emotions so that a person can function normally at work, at home and elsewhere.

Klapow's TIPS for coping with swine flu include:

- Keep a cool head. "This flu is an enemy we cannot see, and the fear created by that is palpable. Don't let it carry you away. Stay calm, eat healthy, get enough sleep and strive for a routine balance in life," Klapow says.

- Maintain perspective. "This involves a lot of self-talk or coaching oneself," Klapow says. "Remind yourself often that swine flu is a very mild illness, and though some tragic cases occur, most people are not developing serious disease to the point where they have to go to the hospital."

- Take simple action. "Get a grip on your anxiety and stress by doing something. The small personal actions do work in terms of protecting you and the public from getting sick. This helps transforms worry into productive worry," Klapow says.

- Focus on facts. "Make sure the information that your hearing is credible and accurate, not rumors or misstatements about flu and disease," Klapow says. "It's like a reality check. If you get sick, remind yourself you might be sick for five to six days, and then you'll get better. This keeps anxiety from spiraling."

Get your copy of the book on Amazon.com

Learn To Manage Your Stress.

You Are What You Eat

One of the things you start to notice when you get into raw in a big way is that you get some verrry funny looks in the supermarket. Why? Well, the average trolley might contain a small collection of fruit and veg in amongst all the packaged cooked food staples. Yours, meanwhile, will be creaking under the weight of piles of fresh fruits and greens of numerous varieties - and not a lot else!

I remember the days when fresh foods used to be the supporting act in my shopping trolley and diet, secondary to the loaves of bread, packs of pasta, rice, potatoes, ready meals, dairy products and various synthetic 'treats'. But you know what? When you truly realize the meaning of the phrase 'You are what you eat' there's only one kind of shopping trolley you want, and it's the one that makes people look at you like you're off your trolley!

So next time you go shopping, remember that the foods you select to eat will literally become YOU. Your body cells are constantly being replaced, and they are built of whatever you choose to feed yourself. So the question is, do you want to be made of dead, denatured, processed non-foods or fresh, live essential enzymes, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and other vibrant, life-giving stuff?

What a lot of people struggle with when they get into raw foods is the sheer volume of fruit and vegetables you have to procure and eat. Convenience food didn't get its name for nothing: it doesn't weigh much or take up much space, and you can just tear open the packet and gulp it down in a few mouthfuls while on the hoof. Such food has had the fibre and water removed, while fresh fruit and veggies have these essential components intact, and this is why you have to get used to dealing with such large volumes when you make these foods the basis of your diet.

But guess what: your body needs these things that the food processors have deemed dispensable. They're not optional extras; not if you want to feel your best.

Before you get into raw food, you may throw a few spinach or lettuce leaves on a plate next to main attraction, the "real" food; now the entire head of lettuce or the whole bag of spinach becomes the main attraction of the meal, garnished with delicious dressings and any tasty bits and pieces you choose to throw in. This is the nutrition our bodies expect: water-rich fresh foods - pure and unadulterated.

That's not to say the body wants only these foods, but it is certainly happiest if at least 50% of what you eat is in this category. So next time you go shopping, load up your trolley in the fresh produce aisle and discover how you feel when you give your body what it really wants. Start gradually, take whatever time you need to work up to this level, and be warned: it will change your life!

by Sarah Best, the editor of Get Fresh! magazine

What CAN You Do About Stress?

The good news is that you can learn ways to manage stress.

To get stress under control:

- Find out what is causing stress in your life.

- Look for ways to reduce the amount of stress in your life.

- Learn healthy ways to relieve stress or reduce its harmful effects.

Learn To Manage Your Stress Right NOW.

Eat less, Live longer?

Despite many attempts by modern medicine to develop a drug or intervention that will turn back the clock, one method shows more promise than all the rest put together. It's not a magic pill you can swallow nor a treatment you can be given; it is the disciplined practice of calorie restriction with optimum nutrition.

There is a considerable body of scientific evidence suggesting that reducing calorie intake by 20-50% below the recommended amount, while meeting nutritional needs, is the best thing we can do if rejuvenation and longevity are our goals.

Many things, including stem cell therapy, human growth hormone, nutritional supplements and a variety of drugs, are claimed to be "anti-aging". But there is no reliable scientific evidence that anything besides calorie restriction is capable of retarding biological aging nor extending maximum lifespan.

It's clear the world of calorie restriction could benefit from learning about raw nutrition, but the reverse is also true.

Many raw fooders experience less than optimal health and energy because they consistently overeat.

So what, exactly, is the evidence that restricting calories makes us younger, healthier and longer-lived?

Get the issue of Get Fresh! magazine to find out.

Living a Raw Food Lifestyle = Low Stress Balanced Life

Way back in the 30's, a Doc by the name of Paul Kauchakoff did testing on the benefits of raw foods.

He observed, that after eating a 'traditional' meal, a persons white blood cells would increase, indicating stress on the body, while eating a meal of raw foods did not elevate the count.

He also discovered that foods that were altered also suppressed the immune system, indicating foods left in their natural state were assimilated into our systems much easier.

Many believe foods need to be cooked to kill bacteria and make it more digestible, but that's merely a learned behaviour. A few vegetables, as those in the cruciferous family, like broccoli, are a bit more difficult. But most foods do not become more digestible by cooking. Cooking foods actually create one more step in digestion, as the immune system needs to 'finish' the processing.

The best practice would be to eliminate processed, altered and cooked foods entirely from your diet.

That includes milk, as it is both pasteurized and homogenized. It also means removing white sugar and flour as both are processed.

For those finding difficulty in changing over, just begin by adding a small green salad to every meal, then slowly adding more veggies as your system begins to change.

Swith to raw living foods gradually. Your body will actually change your tastes for food.

Cooking also reduces the amount of bio-available vitamins and removes the antioxidants in the food. So you can double the amount of benefits by eating raw.

There's hardly a week that goes by that we are not told of yet one more contaminant in another of our 'Processed foods'. Buying local, and eating organically grown raw veggies is a great step towards better health.

For more info visit The Fresh Network