A Simple Shift That Makes You
Instantly More Attractive
By Rori Raye, Author of best-selling eBook Have The Relationship You Want and free newsletter.

If you’re spending a lot of time and energy thinking about a guy, you might be alarmed to hear that it makes you less attractive…even if he doesn’t even know you’re thinking about him! Here, Rori Raye shares a simple Tool that shifts you out of over-thinking and makes HIM start thinking about you.

If you’re at all like me, a predictable thing happens to you when you start dating a new man you like. At first, you’re all excited, there’s a spring in your step, and you feel all aglow. People ask you what you’ve done differently.

But then, as you get to know him and become even more interested and invested in him, something else happens. You start to think about him all the time, you begin to worry that you might mess things up, and you’re constantly wondering what he’s thinking about you. You talk about him with all of your friends, dissecting his every move. But there’s no harm in it, because he knows nothing about this - right? Wrong.

OVER-THINKING CHANGES YOUR VIBE

When you think about a man too much, several things happen. Emotionally, you become drained from all the analyzing. You have less energy for the other things in your life - the passions and people that made you the person he was attracted to in the first place.

At the same time, your self-esteem goes down. Why? Because you start hanging your self worth on whether or not things will work out with this one guy. You go from the carefree, spirited woman you are to a fearful, worrying creature. And it shows. Believe it or not, a man can sense when you’re doing all this internal acrobatics about him. Your thoughts affect your feelings and your mood.

But telling yourself to stop thinking about him isn’t so easy. You need a two-pronged approach: a way to stop yourself from focusing all your attention on one man too soon…and a Tool to boost your self-esteem so that you’re being your most attractive you.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T STOP DATING

Once you’ve found a man you think is a potential keeper, it’s tempting to clear out your calendar for him and not even consider other dates. But this is exactly what makes you become fearful and worried about whether he’s going to call and what’s going to happen next. Result: you can’t stop thinking about him, and he’ll pick up on the fact that you’re hinging on his every move.

That’s why you absolutely need to keep connecting with other men and going out on dates with them. When you do, you’re immediately taking the pressure off both you and the guys you’re seeing. It will stop you from over-thinking about any one man, which means you won’t have that clingy, fearful, unattractive vibe I talked about before. The fact that you’re on eHarmony means you have a fantastic Tool at your disposal to keep yourself from prematurely cutting off your options. Use it!

THINK OF YOURSELF AS THE PRIZE

Often, and especially when we meet a man we think could really be “it,” something inside us immediately starts to sabotage it. It’s what I like to call the “nasty voice,” and I’m sure you’re familiar with it - it’s that negative-thinking part of you that says you aren’t good enough to have all the love you deserve from a truly wonderful man.

Well, you do. And since I like visual Tools, I want you to think of your favorite dish. Let’s say it’s chocolate cheesecake. Think of everything you love about chocolate cheesecake and what makes it so wonderful. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that? Same goes for you. Now, whenever you are feeling overcome by feelings of inadequacy, I want you to immediately think of that dessert and say to yourself, “I am the chocolate cheesecake!”

I know this sounds silly, but believe me - it works. It’s so silly, that it will instantly lighten your mood and hence your vibe, so that you really do loosen up and become instantly more attractive. It’s similar to what happens when you’re walking down the street and you’re remembering that great kiss you had with your guy. Instantly, a smile washes over your face and people want to know: “What did you do differently?”

There are specific things you can do to raise your self-esteem that will make you irresistible to a man. To learn more, subscribe to Rori’s free relationship advice e-newsletter. You’ll discover a whole new way of relating to men that will make you feel better about yourself while you find the relationship of your dreams.

Renee Previews Her Heartland Spa Presentation

Songs2Share  | Myspace Video

Vitamin D The Sunshine Vitamin

Who know when I got my convertible that I was providing myself with plenty of Vitamin D. Just by popping that top and letting the sunshine light up my arms and face, I am getting 10% of my daily recommended dose of that most important vitamin. If the sun is shining, that top is down. There are days I have to run the heater but that’s ok. Baby has a real good heater.

How much sunshine do I need?

Different sources had different numbers the but the average was 10-15 minutes of Spring, Summer and Fall sun, three days a week is enough to give you the required amount of Vitamin D for your daily needs and store up enough to get you through the winter months when the sun doesn’t provide enough Vitamin D.

When you are soaking up your vitamins, don’t use sunscreen. It actually blocks the rays you need. Apply the sunscreen after you have been out for 10 minutes. That isn’t enough time to incur any damage but plenty of time to soak up that golden goodness.

What does vitamin D do for my body?

Vitamin D is important for strong healthy bones. It aids in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. This is why when you take a calcium supplement it will also contain D to insure you get the most from your supplement. Without this vitamin, you could develop diseases like rickets (a childhood bone disease) or Osteomalacia (adult rickets). The bones become soft, lose mineral content and the victim will suffer bone pain and muscle weakness.

There are now also studies that indicate that Vitamin D also helps in the prevention of osteoporosis, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer and several autoimmune diseases.

Groups at risk of vitamin D deficiency

There are things that can get in the way of absorbing the amounts of D you need. Some of them are…

1. Breast fed infants - Human breast milk does not contain all the vitamin D needed for infants. Since most infants are not exposed to direct sunlight they tend not to get enough. The most cases of nutritional rickets was found in breast fed african americans. #2 will shed some light on that problem. Doctors recommend that infants be supplemented with 400IU of vitamin D per day.
2. People with dark skin - larger amounts of pigment melanin result in darker skin. In the beginning, before we became mobile, people in warmer, sunny climates had darker skin to protect them from damage. Because they were in the sun for longer amounts of time, they were naturally endowed with enough pigment to protect them from harm and allow sufficient nutrients in. In the modern world, very few people are in there natural environment. People with darker skin, living in the northern cooler climates don’t get enough sun or strong enough sun to get their proper intake.
3. Older Adults - People age 50 and over are at increased risk. As we age, our skin cant synthesize vitamin D as efficiently and the kidneys are less able to covert D into its active hormone form. Well that bites, I’m 51. Guess I better put in more driving time with the top down.
4. People with limited sun exposure - like house bound people in northern latitudes, women who are covered for religious reasons and people like miners with occupations that keep them out of the light.
5. People with fat malabsorption - Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. It requires some dietary fat in the gut for absorption. People with liver disease, cystic fibrosis and crohn’s disease have a reduced ability to absorb dietary fat and may require supplements.
6. People who are obese or have undergone gastric bypass surgery - The problem here is that the skin still absorbs the D but greater amounts of subcutaneous fat hold on to the vitamin and alter its release into the circulation. Also gastric bypass is a problem because the part of the small intestine where vitamin D is absorbed is cut off.
7. Some medications such as steroids, weight loss drugs, cholestyramine for cholesterol lowering, and drugs for epileptic seizures can cause interactions and lower absorption.

Where else can I find Vitamin D?

Very few foods contain Vitamin D naturally. The best sources are fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel and fish liver oils. Beef liver, cheese and egg yolks also have a little.

Fortified foods provide most of the ingested vitamin D in our diets. Almost all of the United States milk supply is fortified with vitamin D. This makes sense since milk is a major source of calcium. You can also find it in fortified cereals, orange juice, yogurt and fortified margarine such as smart balance.

You can also take a vitamin supplement. These supplements are available in two forms. Vitamin D2 is manufactured by the UV irradiation of ergosterol in yeast and vitamin D3 is manufactured by the irradiation of 7-dehydrocholesterol from lanolin and the chemical conversion of cholesterol. Of the two forms, research is finding that the D3 could be more than three times effective as vitamin D2 for raising serum 25(OH)D concentrations and maintaining those levels.

Can I get too much?

Oh yes you can. You can’t get too much from sun exposure or from natural dietary sources unless you consume large amounts of cod liver oil. Toxic amounts is more likely to happen with supplements.

too much D can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, constipation, weakness and weight loss. In more serious cases, it can raise the levels of calcium causing confusion and heart rhythm abnormalities. Deposition of calcium and phosphate in the kidneys and other soft tissues can also be caused by excessive vitamin D levels.

So how much should I have?

Adequate Intakes (AIs) for Vitamin D

Where can I learn more?

Here are some links to help you learn more about Vitamin D.

Office of Dietary Supplements - Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet; Vitamin D
Oregon State University, Linus Pauling Institute, Micronutrient Research for Optimum Health, Vitamin D
Suite 101.com - Vitamin D Food Sources. Foods High in the Sunshine Vitamin. MayoClinic.com - Vitamin D
Wickipedia, The Free Encyclopedia - Vitamin D
WebMD.com - Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

Blueberries, The Power is in The BLUE!

Blue is the color of powerful anti oxidants, Blue helps reduce cardiovascular disease. Blue is the color that fights cancer, improves memory, aids digestion and improves your vision. Blue is the color of Blueberries.

Most of this little berries power is in a substance called Anthocyanin, the pigment responsible for the blue color. This along with an abundance of vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals make blueberries a super food. Here are just a few of the many health benefits.

1. The Highest antioxidant capacity of just about anything. Anti oxidants boost your immune system, reduce aging, and fight cancer.

2. Eating blueberries regularly can keep memory sharp and improve learning capacity and motor skills. They will help improve memory and concentration especially in people suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. They will even improve your mood. (who could possibly be crabby eating blueberries)

3. Blueberries are high in the fiber you need to keep away constipation and lower cholesterol.

4. The eyes have it. Blueberries have been found to slow down visual loss as well as fight macular degeneration, cataract and myopia.

When picking out berries, the darker blue the better. Choose berries that are firm, have a uniform hue and have a whitish bloom. Shake the container. If they don’t move freely, they may be soft or moldy. They should be free from moisture because water will cause them to decay.

Keep the cold and don’t wash them till you are ready to use them. To get the most of the nutrients, they should be eaten raw. Writing this made me so hungry I devoured a carton just now and they were sooooooooo good. You should have at least one serving a day. You can put them on your cereal, in yogurt, in a smoothie, in chicken salad (really yummy) or just eat them like I just did. They are high in the good stuff, low in calories and taste great. (and gluten free).

Want to learn more?? Check out these sites.

Women’s Fitness.net - Top 10 Health Benefits of Blueberries
Natural Health Ezine.com - Blueberries Health Benefits & How To Grow Blueberries in Your Own Garden.

Received this e-mail newsletter from The Pantry Lady.  She manages the organic foods co-op that I belong to.  Here information is good stuff.  Just passing it along to our readers.  Cheers ~ Roberta

Building Blocks of Health - Vitamin B9

What is it and How Does it Work?

Vitamin B9 also known ad Folic Acid or Folate plays an important role in the body by making new cells. It helps form the genetic material DNA and RNA which act as a blueprint for cell production.

During pregnancy when cell production is at it’s most rapid, Folic acid is essential for protecting the fetus from neural tube defects which can lead to disorders such as Spinal Bifida, brain tumors, cardiovascular problems, poor nerve development and limb defromities. In severe cases, lack of Folic acid can lead to anencephaly (mal-formation or lack of a brain). This is why it is very important for women who are or could become pregnant to take in at least 400 to 600 mcg of Folic Acid per day since cell growth starts at the moment of conception.

Some people use Folic Acid to prevent colon or cervical cancer. A deficiency of the vitamin makes the cells of the cervix more susceptible to viral attack which can lead to cancer.

Folic acid can also help prevent stroke or heart disease by clearing the body of excess homocysteine. By doing this, it helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In a recent study, people who consumed at least 300 mcg of folic acid per day had a 20% lower risk of stroke and a 13% lower risk of heart disease.

Can I get too little?

Oh yes you can. Symptoms for a folic acid deficiency include diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and a red sore swollen tongue. low amounts during pregnancy include the symptoms discussed earlier.

Some medications can interfere with the body’s ability to use this vitamin so check with your doctor. Also B9 supplements should always be taken along with B12 and B6 as these vitamins work together. B12 helps free the the folate for absorption.

Can I take too much?

In most cases no. B9 is a water-soluble nutrient so what your body does not use, it flushes away. However, folic acid will interfere with the action of anti seizure and anticancer medications. People with epilepsy should not take high doses of folic acid because it might cause seizures. Cancer patients should also avoid folic acid because the cancer drug blocks folic acid to starve cancer cells.

Where can I find it?

Folate is derived from the word foliage. Folate can be found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach. It is also found in broccoli, asparagus, seeds, liver and dried peas and beans. Folate is damaged by heat so don’t cook with too much water or heat. For best results, eat the vegetables raw or juiced for maximum benefit.

How much do I need?

Infants

• 1-6 months - 65mcg per day
• 7-12 months - 80mcg per day

Children

• 1-3 years - 150 mcg per day
• 4-8 years - 200 mcg per day
• 9-13 years - 300 mcg per day

Adults 13-up

• Men - 400 mcg
• Women - 400-600 mcg per day
• Pregnant women 600-800 mcg per day
• Nursing women 500 mcg per day

Spinach from our garden that Popeye would be proud of! 

More Information

For more information, please visit these sites

Lifeclinic.com - Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid) & Reduce Your Risk of Stroke with Folic Acid
WebMD.com - Folic Acid & Folic Acid and Pregnancy
TLC Cooking - How Folate Works
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Folic Acid Homepage

Mark Miller

Jeanne Kelly is a professional singer, conductor, and pianist who has worked for many years with major opera companies and symphonies in the Washington-Baltimore area, where she lives. In 2001, she was directing the Levine School of Music’s Arlington, Virginia, program when Dr. Gene Cohen approached her with an idea.

Dr. Cohen, who died in 2009, was one of the nation’s leading researchers on the effects that creativity can have on older adults and the aging process. He directed the Center on Aging, Health, and Humanities at George Washington University, where he was a professor of health-care sciences, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences.

Cohen helped to create a national movement around positive aging and argued against the old stereotype that aging leads inevitably to a decline in physical and mental capacit. His pioneering research demonstrated that life after 65 can be an important period of creativity and intellectual growth.

Encore chorales are made up of singers 55-plus. Some read music; some don’t. The goal of the groups is to sing, rehearse, perform, and have fun.

Cohen wanted to talk with Kelly about a new research project that would attempt to measure the impact on older adults of participation in a professionally run arts organization. He asked Kelly to help get the project started by forming several chorales for older adult singers that he could study. She’d need to start two new singing groups to join with a seniors’ chorale she already was directing at a local senior living facility.

Kelly formed the groups, which embarked on an ambitious and professionally oriented program of rehearsal and performance. Cohen’s research—conducted over a three-year period—focused on comparing the singing seniors with control groups that didn’t participate in similar activities.

The key finding: Sustained involvement in Kelly’s program resulted in a measurable, positive impact on overall health and longevity, doctor visits, medication use, falls, loneliness, and morale.

Meanwhile, Kelly—who was 51 herself when she first got involved in Cohen’s work—got hooked on arts programs for older adults. In 2007, she founded a not-for-profit organization called Encore Creativity for Older Adults to manage and develop the senior chorales. “I decided that I wanted to simply do art for older adults. We’ve expanded enormously since then, which tells me that people are retiring and they want sophistication, and that they want to carry on what they were doing in their careers or find something wonderful they have never done before.”

Jeanne Kelly

When Kelly first formed the chorales, the average singer’s age was 80, and many of them are still singing with Kelly 10 years later. Chorales have been formed in 10 locations around the Washington-Baltimore area, with singers ranging in age from 55 to 97. Encore Chorales are “no-cut”—anyone can join—but they’re dead serious about performance and professionalism. “Some have a background in singing, and some have never sung in their lives—someone at some point told them, ‘You shouldn’t sing.’ But if you teach someone to sing they will get it. We just seat them next to someone who is strong.” The chorales rehearse for two 15-week sessions each year; they give eight concerts in May and another eight each December. Their performing venues include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Encore Creativity for Older Adults also runs 206 camps for singers at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York and at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a dance-and-movement program in Arlington, Virginia. Most recently, Kelly launched a singing program designed for residents of assisted-living facilities. “I hated the idea of assisted living being a real dead end, especially artistically,” she says. “Many people are there because of mobility problems, and the program has had excellent results.”

“This post is republished with permission from Music After 50 (http://www.musicafter50.com), where it first appeared.”

Mark Miller writes the nationally syndicated newspaper column “Retire Smart,” and publishes Retirement Revised, featured recently in Money Magazine as one of the web’s top retirement planning sites. This article is excerpted with permission from Mark’s new book, “The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security” (Bloomberg Press, June 2010).

Over a week now I’ve had a strong desire to make dandelion wine again.  I sat down & drafted my little Dandelion Wine Incident memoir piece & will post it once it is revised and typed up.  Today I read about dandelion flower essence.  Wow!  That is just what I need to come back to balance. 

By Jordan Lite Mar 22nd 2010 12:53PM

Categories: Healthy Living, 30 Days to a Better You

Think your genes have sealed your fate? Not so fast: While heredity holds some sway over how long you live, there is plenty you can do to improve your chances, says Walter M. Bortz II, M.D., co-author of “The Roadmap to 100: the Breakthrough Science of Living a Long and Healthy Life.” Here are 10 questions to ask your doctor about how to live longer.

1. Do I have any control over my longevity? Absolutely. Most of what people think of as aging is really inactivity. The important differentiation is that you can do something about disuse, but you can’t do anything about aging.

Aging is not a disease. You can’t cure it, so you need a whole different way of thinking about it. I don’t think doctors have much to do with it. They want to fix things. Aging is not something to be fixed. It’s an energy issue, not a fix-it issue.

2. What are the proven strategies for a longer life? Long-living populations certainly do not have high-tech medicine. The recent Blue Zones series by National Geographic found commonalities between populations with high numbers of people over 90: exercising, relaxing, having spirituality or a belief system, having a purpose in life, prioritizing family, belonging to a community, drinking red wine in moderation, eating plant-based foods and stopping eating when 80 percent full.

It’s much more of a lifestyle issue. A recent study by Harvard University doctors found that smoking, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure were all associated with men dying before the age of 90, while exercising regularly — enough to break a sweat — was linked to living to 90 or older. Diabetes and obesity are largely linked to eating habits. And those men were in better physical and emotional shape than the ones who lived fewer years.

3. How big a role does genetics play in my lifespan? A number of us have done studies with twins. If genes were the master determinant, twins would die on the same day of the same disease. Genetics determine about 15 percent of the difference in longevity between people. So genes matter a little bit but not very much. It ain’t the cards you’re dealt; it’s how you play the hand.

4. What eating habits are associated with long life? It’s the standard high plant food, low animal fat emphasis. Mediterranean diets that are high in fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil have been shown to be better for lifespan than, say, meat-heavy diets. The National Cancer Institute found that people who eat lots of red and processed meat have a higher risk of death, especially from heart disease and cancer, than those who eat little meat.

5. Are there drugs or supplements I can take to live longer? There’s no way you can go down to Walgreens and buy a “don’t get old” miracle pill. Nobody has yet shown that antioxidants and vitamins do any good at all.

6. How can exercise help me live longer? Exercising turns on the good genes and turns off the bad ones. Research at the University of South Carolina found that men could reduce their risk of dying by an estimated 37 percent and women by 50 percent over an eight-year period just by becoming physically active.

The President’s Council of Physical Fitness recommends at least two and a half hours a week of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking or gardening. The most important step is the first step. Every successive step after that further helps.

7. Does too much stress shave years off my lifespan? Of course. The Greeks taught, “Everything in moderation.” When you’re stressed, you’re overexpressing your anxiety. Not only has research linked stress to worse immunity, but studies have found that people who experience prolonged stress die sooner than those who aren’t chronically anxious.

8. Will having sex help me live longer? Sex is good for longevity, too. A study in Wales showed that people who had good sex lived longer. Middle-aged men who had two or more orgasms a week were less than half as likely to die over the 10 years they were followed than other men. And a study at Duke University showed that more sex for men and better sex for women were associated with longer lives. Why would that be? It’s part of the quality of life.

9. What do relationships have to do with longevity? Obviously, people live longer if they’re in a social environment. A study that followed people 65 and up for 13 years found that those who volunteered, got together with friends and even ran errands saw just as much benefit to their lifespan as those who exercised. Other research has found that people who are socially isolated are less able to fight infection. When you stop being engaged, you withdraw from work, you withdraw from sex, you withdraw from reading magazines, and when you do that, your body goes into an inactive, boredom mode and you don’t do well.

10. Even if I manage to live a long time, am I doomed to lose my memory as I get older? There have been studies on supercentenarians, people over 110. Madame Jeanne Calment — the oldest living woman on record, who lived to 122 — didn’t have dementia. So if people over 110 don’t have dementia, does that mean it’s not an inevitable consequence? Certainly the incidence goes up: More than 5 million Americans 65 and older have Alzheimer’s, and by 2050, anywhere from 11 to 16 million Americans will, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. However, it’s not necessarily inevitable.

Your brain is a muscle, and it behaves just like one when used appropriately. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, and a study published last year by Columbia University doctors who followed around 2,000 elderly people for 14 years found that those who were physically active had a 29 to 50 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who didn’t move around, depending on how active they were. Some scientists believe having more education lowers your risk, and reading the newspaper regularly has been associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. Writing letters to the editor, running for public office, having a pet and reading good magazines all are ways of exercising your brain.

The saying “The teacher appears when the student is ready…” is oh so true.  The other month I ordered this book titled A Practical Guide To Vibrational Medicine Energy Healing and Spiritual Transformation by Richard Gerber, M.D..  It has a great chapter on light and colored light therapy which has interested me for years.  I am a practioner of tonations or colored light therapy. 

The other day we had a lunch guest and she started talking about energy healing, which she is now doing for a living.  She’s just recently added that to her other modalities.  We were talking about how all foods and drinks have vibrational properties that are transferred to the human body at consumption of these foods and drinks. 

She said “coffee” brings down a person’s vibration substantially.  You want your vibration to be as high as possible.  She went on to say every food has an effect on our vibrational auras and some foods increase our vibration.  When she left, I got into my book here looking for food information.  It does not contain that so I’ll ask her what title she’s reading and order that book.  I did find this great excerpt from the above mentioned book to share with you:

“…But our cells are fed also by a continuous stream of life-force energy.  We posses a variety of specialized energy-distributing systems that also support the cells and organs of our bodies.  These energy systems are affected by different factors that can enhance or inhibit the flow of life-force energy to the cells and organs of our bodies.  Among those critical factors are such things as our emotions, our relationships to others, our ability to give and to receive love, and even our relationship with God….” 

If you are on a quest for good health, great energy and the will to accomplish much, this is a great book.  ~ R