Choosing Your Mental Diet

Choosing Your Mental Diet

Have you ever given thought to the diet of your mind? Of course, our physical diet and our emotional diet are also diets of the mind, because they affect our consciousness. But let’s now consider the intellectual processes. How much information, how many facts is it necessary and healthy for us to ingest in a single day? It’s a good idea for a devotee to budget his reading, to choose and discriminate what he wants to make a part of himself through the process of mental digestion. We have to discriminate to the nth degree whether or not we will have the time and the capacity to digest everything that we desire to place in our minds. For instance, quickly reading an article in a newspaper might stir your mind and emotions. If it is not properly digested, it could conceivably upset your whole day. In the realm of intellect, the commonsense rule “Don’t eat when you are already full” also applies.

You may read a book of philosophy, and if you have time to digest it, well and good, but many people don’t and suffer from philosophical indigestion. They have read so many things and only digested a small part of what has passed through the window of the mind. Then again, it is one thing to digest something, and it is still another to assimilate it and make it a part of you, for when it becomes fully a part of you, you have a hunger and room for something more.

Many people come to lectures and then tune themselves out and simply benefit from the vibration created by the teacher and others in the room. They tune themselves out so that what is said is not absorbed consciously, but rather subconsciously. This is a good method for those who are still digesting material received from previous lectures. Another practice that makes for a very good mental indigestion pill is that of opening a spiritual book and allowing your eye to fall upon a random sentence on the page. Often you will find it will accent ideas that you are currently concerned with.

Just as you would participate in a seminar, gaining from the interpersonal relationships, so can you learn from the intrapersonal relationship established between your perceptive state of mind and the conscious and subconscious states of mind. When you awaken to the point where your inner mind teaches your personality, you are involving yourself in the “innerversity” of your own being. But this will not occur until you have balanced your physical and emotional bodies to the point where they are functioning at a slightly higher rate of vibration.

Add to your contemplative lifestyle a hobby or craft. Working creatively with your hands, taking physical substance and turning it into something different, new and beautiful is important in remolding the subconscious mind. It is also symbolic. You are remolding something on the physical plane and by doing so educating yourself in the process of changing the appearance of a physical structure, thus making it easier to change the more subtle mental and emotional structures within your own subconscious mind. Energy, willpower and concentrated awareness are needed for both types of accomplishments — hard work, concentration and concerted effort to produce an effective and useful change in either the physical substance or the mental substance.

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/lws/lws_ch-11.html

What are the benefits of sunlight?

What are the benefits of sunlight?

One of the major benefits of sunlight is that it helps fruits, vegetables, and grains to grow and be healthy. It also helps animals and us humans to grow and develop as well.
A definite plus of sunshine is that it gives you a healthy looking complexion. It will make your skin smooth with an irresistible healthy glow.
If you get regular exposure to sunlight, it will help protect your skin in the long run. That is because your body will build up a natural resistance to the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.
If you allow your skin to get moderately tanned, it will be more resistant to infections and sunburns than if your skin is not tanned.
The ultraviolet rays in sunshine act as a natural antiseptic. These rays can kill viruses, bacteria, molds, yeasts, fungi, and mites in air, water, and on different surfaces including your skin.
Getting some sun tends to help clear up different skin diseases such as acne, boils, athletes foot, diaper rash, psoriasis, and eczema.
Another of the main benefits of sunlight is that it stimulates your appetite and improves your digestion, elimination, and metabolism.
Getting your daily dose of sunshine will enhance your immune system. It increases the number of white blood cells in your blood. It also helps them to be better fighters in their mission to destroy germs.
Sunshine encourages healthy circulation. It also stimulates the production of more red blood cells which increases the amount of oxygen in your blood.
Sunlight is one of the most effective healing agents that exists.
Feeling down? One of the major benefits of sunlight is that it will soothe your nerves and boost your mood leaving you with a renewed sense of well-being. Sunlight increases the production of endorphins and serotonin in your brain which will definitely leave you feeling much better.
Getting enough sunlight during the day can help you sleep better at night. If you are exposed to natural light during the day, it will increase your melatonin output at night. Melatonin is a natural hormone made by our bodies. It enhances sleep and slows down the aging process.
The healing properties of the sun are excellent for people who are suffering from various diseases and ailments.
Sunlight helps to balance out your hormones. It may even help to relieve certain symptoms of PMS.
Sunlight improves the function of your liver and helps it to break down toxins and wastes that could lead to cancer and other diseases.
If you’ve got swollen, arthritic joints, sunlight may help lower your pain levels.
Sunlight is an effective treatment for jaundice.
According to some studies on the benefits of sunlight, exposure to the sun may decrease your risk of breast, colon, and prostate cancers.
Sunlight helps your body convert a form of cholesterol that is present in your skin into vitamin D. This results in lower blood cholesterol levels. Click here to read more about the benefits of vitamin D.
Other benefits of sunlight include the life-giving energy it gives to your organs and the way it helps to strengthen and vitalize your body.

http://www.natural-health-restored.com/benefits-of-sunlight.html

Red Bull give u STROKE

Just one can of the popular stimulant energy drink Red Bull can increase your risk of  heart attack or stroke. The effect was seen even in young people. The caffeine-loaded beverage causes blood to become sticky, a pre-cursor to cardiovascular problems such as stroke. One hour after drinking Red Bull, your blood system becomes abnormal, as might be expected from a patient with cardiovascular disease. Red Bull is banned in Norway, Uruguay and Denmark because of health risks.  Sources: •Reuters August 14,2008

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:  (mercola.com)
Energy drinks have been popping up all over supermarket and convenience store shelves in recent years, and have overtaken bottled water as the fastest-growing category in the beverage business. No less than 3.5 billion cans of Red Bull were sold last year in 143 countries. Yet questions regarding the safety of Red Bull, as well as other energy drinks, keep cropping up at regular intervals when yet another overzealous energy-addict keels over.

Do Energy Drinks Really Really Live Up to Their Name?
When you break down the contents of one of those eight-ounce cans, the primary ingredients are caffeine and sugar (in the form of glucuronolactone, sucrose and glucose). So the answer is yes, energy drinks will provide you with a quick burst of energy. However, this is not a lasting effect, and drinking several in a row will not turn you into a
flying superhero, no matter how hard their sinister marketing geniuses try to convince you otherwise.

According to the official website, Red Bull’s benefits include:
• Improved performance
•Increased concentration and reaction speed
•Increased endurance
•Increased metabolism
However, the effects of this energy drink will be similar to that of drinking a cup of coffee or a can of soda, in that when the effect wears off you’ll start feeling lethargic and will likely crave another can (or cup) to boost your energy once again.

As many of you likely know, it can become a vicious cycle.

According to the article above, the Austria-based company that created Red Bull warns consumers not to drink more than two a day of their wings-in-a-can, but I couldn’t find any references to that fact on Red Bull’s website. Only a statement that said you should compare your consumption to that of coffee, with one can of Red Bull equaling one cup
of brewed java.

The problem with that recommendation is the fact that no one really knows the net effect of chugging Red Bull like you would coffee. Coffee has caffeine, yes, but it doesn’t contain all those other artificial and energy-boosting ingredients, including no less than TWO artificial sweeteners (in addition to all the other sugar). Aspartame alone has been shown to have multiple neurotoxic, metabolic, allergenic,fetal, and carcinogenic effects. I don’t believe it is safe for anyone to drink and I wrote an entire book about it called Sweet Deception.

Do Energy Drinks Have Health Benefits?
Nutritionally speaking, energy drinks are comparable to carbonated beverages like soda in that they offer little of value to your body. Yes, there are traces of B vitamins in Red Bull, and it contains the amino acid taurine, but this cannot make up for the detrimental effects of caffeine and sugar. Although caffeine can certainly increase short term reaction speed, one major problem is that no one really knows how the combination of ingredients in Red Bull will affect your body. This is especially concerning since energy drinks are marketed toward people under the age of 30, and are especially popular among students and night clubbers who oftentimes drink several cans at a time.

Who Should Definitely Avoid Energy Drinks?
It is fairly self-evident that children should never consume these kinds of drinks, but due to the detrimental health impact of their contents, it would definitely be wise to avoid energy drinks if you:
• Are pregnant or lactating
•Are sensitive to caffeine
•Suffer from anxiety
•Suffer from high stress
•Suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome
•Have high blood pressure
•Are predisposed to cardiovascular disease
•Have any kind of blood clotting disorder
As lead researcher Scott Willoughby stated, Red Bull can be deadly when combined with stress or high blood pressure, as it can impair proper blood vessel function and raise your risk of blood clots.

Mix With Alcohol for a Potentially Deadly High Mixing energy drinks with alcohol, which is combining a stimulant with a depressant, has become an increasingly popular occurrence at bars. When mixed with alcohol, drinks
like Red Bull are instantly morphed into popular club drinks like “Vodka Bulls” and “Yager Bombs.”

The combined effect of these substances is unknown, but researchers say overloading your body with heavy stimulants and heavy depressants could lead to heart failure, and according to previous news stories about fatal outcomes from this deadly mixture, that’s not just a theory.

Countries like France and Denmark banned sales of Red Bull following several reported deaths of people who mixed it with alcohol. The Red Bull brand has even made it into the scientific literature. The journal Medicine, Science, and Law published an article in 2001 on the effects of alcohol and Red Bull combined with yet another stimulant: ephedra.
The result? Acute psychosis.

And in this month’s issue of the Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society, an Italian case study reviewed an incident of “postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) associated with a vasovagal reaction,” recorded in a young volleyball player after an excess intake of Red Bull.

They concluded:
“Considering the widespread use of Red Bull among young people who are often unaware of the drink’s drug content, this case report suggests Red Bull be considered a possible cause of orthostatic intolerance.”

Orthostatic intolerance is a condition in which a change from the supine position (laying down) to an upright position causes an abnormally large increase in heart rate (more than a 30 beats per minute increase, or a heart rate greater than 120 beats per minute within 10 minutes of sitting or standing up). POTS has also been proposed as a mechanism for symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, so if you’re suffering from chronic fatigue, drinking energy drinks is likely
NOT in your best interest, which is why I included it in the list above.

As for alcohol, I don’t recommend drinking it at all. It is well established that alcohol is a neurotoxin, which means it can poison your brain. You also need to be aware that consuming large amounts of alcohol — even wine — will increase your insulin levels,thereby accelerating your risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.

How to Increase Your Energy Without Energy Drinks.
If you’re drinking energy drinks for the reason most people do — to get more energy – know that there are far superior options than artificial energy drinks. Humans are not naturally sluggish or constantly tired. This lethargic state is something that many of us have brought on ourselves.

Your lack of energy is likely due to a combination of factors including:
• Poor food choices
• Low-quality food
•Stressful lifestyle
•Negative emotions
•Lack of sleep
•Lack of exercise

Increasing your energy levels, then, is as easy as remedying these factors by:
• Eating right for your nutritional type
•Increasing your intake of omega-3 fats
•Eliminating grains and sugars from your diet
•Releasing emotional stress and negativity with the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
•Sleeping when you’re tired
•Exercising

Date : 5, Sep 2008