What's even cooler is that during this study, there were 2 groups. One group was instructed to meditate twice a day for 20 minutes only and the other group went through health and life style education. And at the end of 9 years, the meditation group had a profound reduction in heart disease, far higher than the other group that only went through health/life style education.

These kind of studies are BIG. Instead of reaching for a bottle of pills, doctors might now recommend meditation as a preventative means for high risk patients. The full details are below in the article from the BBC.

It just goes to show how much meditation can affect a person's body, mind, and spirit. Drop a comment below and let me know if you've ever experienced a shift in health from meditation. Would love to hear your stories.

Meditation 'eases heart disease'

Heart disease patients who practise Transcendental Meditation have reduced death rates, US researchers have said.

At a meeting of the American Heart Association they said they had randomly assigned 201 African Americans to meditate or to make lifestyle changes.

After nine years, the meditation group had a 47% reduction in deaths, heart attacks and strokes.

The research was carried out by the Medical College in Wisconsin with the Maharishi University in Iowa.

It was funded by a £2.3m grant from the National Institute of Health and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

'Significant benefits'

The African American men and women had an average age of 59 years and a narrowing of the arteries in their hearts.

The meditation group were asked to practise for 20 minutes twice a day.

The lifestyle change group received education classes in traditional risk factors, including dietary modification and exercise.

Over 9 years, there were 20 events (heart attacks, strokes or death) in the meditation group and 31 in the health education group.

Dr Robert Schneider, lead author and director of the Centre for Natural Medicine and Prevention at the Maharishi University in Iowa said:

"At the end of the 9 years, 80% of the meditation group were still practising at least once a day.

"But there was very little change in the health education group.

"Their lifestyle was much the same in terms of diet and exercise - it's a very difficult thing to make those changes."

As well as the reductions in death, heart attacks and strokes in the meditating group, their average blood pressure was significantly lower (5mm Hg), and there was a significant reduction in psychological stress in some participants.

Dr Schneider said other studies had shown the benefits of Transcendental Meditation on blood pressure and stress, irrespective of ethnicity.

"This is the first controlled clinical trial to show that long-term practise of this particular stress reduction programme reduces the incidence of clinical cardiovascular events, that is heart attacks, strokes and mortality," he said.

Dr Schneider said that the effect of Transcendental Meditation in the trial was like adding a class of newly discovered drugs for the prevention of heart disease.

Click here to continue reading >>

Well, fear not. I stumbled upon this article that'll give you the tips and tricks that'll get you through any day. Even if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

There's some pretty neat stuff here, but I'd love to hear what you have to say about doing work when you don't feel like it.

Drop a comment below and give us your secret tips.

How To Remain Productive When You Feel Like Giving Up

From Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

Like most people, some mornings I wake up and feel less than enthusiastic about working. Sometimes, this feeling doesn’t stem from laziness or apathy, it’s a stronger power, a sense of futility and helplessness.

I know a lot of people look to my story of success as a source of inspiration and that is one of the greatest benefits I enjoy as a blogger, but – and I’m not afraid to admit it – I don’t always feel energized to pursue business and sometimes in my darkest moments, I even consider throwing in the towel.

This feeling is not so common for me now as I have lifestyle flexibility, a more stable income and a better mindset about work, but earlier on, it definitely was a problem. I want to explain how I overcome these moments (and still do the same thing now on occasion) to stay on track and how you can even have a productive day when you are not really feeling the mojo on the inside.

I expect you have felt similar feelings of despair or a lack of motivation at different stages of your business development, especially if you are yet to establish an income stream online that is sufficient for you to live off, or if you are right at the beginning and you have not seen one cent of return for the work you have put in.

Inspired or Dejected

Depending on your world view and personality style, when you hear of the success of others you may either feel inspired or dejected, and while it’s obviously more fruitful to look at other people achieving what you desire as motivation, as a fallible human, jealousy, depression and anger may be your initial responses.

Your mind is your greatest asset for success in business, but it can be just as strong a force of hindrance, sabotaging your efforts, destroying your work ethic and leaving you with no option but to return to the soul destroying job you promised yourself that you would never go back to.

How To Work When You Don’t Feel Like It

One of the characteristics I believe is at the heart of my success and the success of most entrepreneurs, is an ability to keep working in the face of failure and an ability to force yourself to be productive when you don’t feel like it.

Click here to read the rest >>

It's proof that age is just a number and no matter how old or young you are, there's tons of amazing things you can do. 65 is no longer the mandatory retirement age and in fact tons of people 65 and older are making huge goals, starting businesses, going back to school, and changing their lives.

I was at Tony Robbin's Unleash The Power Within a few months ago and was amazed when I saw an 80+ year old woman say she was here to change her life!

Check out this video and see for yourself. Drop a comment and let me know what you think of this new "ageism".

If this sounds a little ridiculous, it's not. Your body is designed to be a runner. From your skin to your big toe, your entire body is made to run.

But then why do people consistently injure themselves while training or running long distance? Sadly, it might have something to do with our obsession with the latest high-tech sneakers.

Check out this article from the New York Times on the beauty and brilliance of the human body.

And after you're done reading, feel free to stand in front of the mirror and admire yourself

The Human Body Is Built for Distance

By Tara Parker-Pope from the NYTimes.com

Does running a marathon push the body further than it is meant to go?

The conventional wisdom is that distance running leads to debilitating wear and tear, especially on the joints. But that hasn’t stopped runners from flocking to starting lines in record numbers.

Last year in the United States, 425,000 marathoners crossed the finish line, an increase of 20 percent from the beginning of the decade, Running USA says. Next week about 40,000 people will take part in the New York City Marathon. Injury rates have also climbed, with some studies reporting that 90 percent of those who train for the 26.2-mile race sustain injuries in the process.

But now a best-selling book has reframed the debate about the wisdom of distance running. In “Born to Run” (Knopf), Christopher McDougall, an avid runner who had been vexed by injuries, explores the world of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, a tribe known for running extraordinary distances in nothing but thin-soled sandals.

Mr. McDougall makes the case that running isn’t inherently risky. Instead, he argues that the commercialization of urban marathons encourages overzealous training, while the promotion of high-tech shoes has led to poor running form and a rash of injuries.

“The sense of distance running being crazy is something new to late-20th-century America,” Mr. McDougall told me. “It’s only recently that running has become associated with pain and injury.”

The scientific evidence supports the notion that humans evolved to be runners. In a 2007 paper in the journal Sports Medicine, Daniel E. Lieberman, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, and Dennis M. Bramble, a biologist at the University of Utah, wrote that several characteristics unique to humans suggested endurance running played an important role in our evolution.

Most mammals can sprint faster than humans — having four legs gives them the advantage. But when it comes to long distances, humans can outrun almost any animal. Because we cool by sweating rather than panting, we can stay cool at speeds and distances that would overheat other animals. On a hot day, the two scientists wrote, a human could even outrun a horse in a 26.2-mile marathon.

Click here to continue reading >>

But it doesn't end there. He's about to do something that 99% of all people would call extraordinary and highly dangerous: a polar race to the North Pole. He does some pretty crazy things (one of them involves a meat freezer and a rather interesting story about a shovel) just to complete his goal.

Check out the first part of this mini-movie on the story of Raymond Aaron and how one man could accomplish so much, jump all these hurdles, and bring so much positive change to the world.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Whether it's a polar race, a new business venture, a drastic life change, our lives are filled with adventure. But after watching this video, I want to know what you think:

Do you think what Raymond is doing is inspirational or just plain risky?

P.S. Stay tuned for part 2 of the movie to find out what happened to Raymond Aaron and this icy adventure.

“He who has health has hope and he who has hope has everything”

- Arabian Proverb -

And you better believe it. The world’s leading medical specialists are more and more saying how having a predominantly vegetarian diet has the potential of reducing a string of heart problems, fights cancer, helps induce fat loss and generally improve your health and wellness…

But there’s more to it than that.

My Journey To Healthy Living

My name is Mohana Gill and I was born in Burma, spent many years of my life in Melbourne, before settling down in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I was never an overtly unhealthy person – I enjoyed the multitude of foods available down under and especially here in Malaysia and was never really concerned all that much about what I put in my body.

I have three sons, Sanjeev, Anil and Rakesh. In our family food has always played a significant role. From the time they were babies food was always prepared  at home. My husband and the boys enjoyed a variety of food and were very discerning in their tastes.

Of all my children Sanjeev was the one who was most passionate about food and relished each and every meal. It was fun and heartwarming to see him devour food laid before him. During holidays from boarding school in Melbourne and later from University he would approach each meal with relentless fervour. Our many friends enjoyed taking him out because he would enjoy all genres of food, from hawker stalls to fine dining. I was constantly thinking of ways and means to satisfy his wide ranging appetite.

One day he told me “Mum you are a good cook, but for a gourmet palate like mine I need more exotic and exciting cuisines like venison, partridge and such”. So for me it was fun thinking of different things to feed him, be it in Burmese, Indian, Malaysian style or any other preparations.

One day at the age of 24, for spiritual reasons, he decided to become vegetarian, a strict vegetarian forgoing eggs, gelatin or any food item containing animal products. That was a very challenging time for me, I still wanted him to enjoy the variety of food that he was used to, but at the same time I had to make sure that the food did not have any animal products. I learnt to read labels in all the food items I bought and I realized that a lot of chocolate had lecithin, biscuits had egg white and a lot of food had gelatin.

Baby Steps: Experimenting With Ingredients

I started to experiment with different types of food and learnt to cook food free of animal products.

When I went to live in Australia, I would visit the markets, pick an assortment of vegetables that I was unfamiliar with and experiment. At the end of the day I was always rewarded with “That was tasty Mum”.

To add to this challenge very soon I was faced with yet another. My husband, a doctor began to take a keen and serious interest in healthy living and wellness. Although we had always cooked food I thought of as healthy, it now dawned on me that healthy food could be prepared without compromising taste and variety.

My second son Anil soon became a willing convert to a healthy lifestyle. Accordingly his food preferences changed. I ensured the food laid out on the table met with these high standards of nutrition, variety and taste. This was another phase in my life where I started to pay more attention to ingredients, method and flavor. I wanted the food to be exciting, interesting, tasty yet healthy. I discovered that all I needed was a little imagination, time, a little effort and love and the food was enjoyed by all. I hope that my youngest son Rakesh will follow the path of healthy living, wellness and longevity by adopting these ideas.

Vegetarianism, Taking The World By Storm

Globally, vegetarianism is on the rise, no longer exclusive to parts of Asia and the Indian subcontinent. This ‘green’ revolution has taken place subtly over decades and continues to gather momentum, its pace quickening into the 21st century.

Today the growth of vegetarianism is a matter of choice, primarily a decision based on health. Health researchers have long advocated a reduction in the consumption of meat with many going so far as to recommend a complete cessation of meat. It is widely accepted that there are a host of health benefits associated with meat reduction. Amongst these benefits are a reduction in cholesterol levels and consequently heart disease, reduction in blood pressure levels and reduced risk of cancer and diabetes. While these are just some of the more published benefits there are many others.

The definitive answer to optimal nourishment is the consumption of a variety of produce from the three main food groups i.e. fruit and vegetables, legumes, pulses and seeds and dairy. Each of these food groups and its components has a unique combination of nutrients that work together effectively in providing the mechanism for the smooth operation of the body.

The assortment of vegetables available at the markets of Malaysia to the bazaars of Turkey and beyond is bewildering. These vegetables present themselves with descriptive expression in hues of green, red, yellow and an unrelenting riot of colors. The rich colors and textures of vegetables nourish and protect the human body from not only common diseases and illnesses but are a defense against infection, as they bolster our immune system and fortify our body’s defenses.

Packed with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, they combine to offer us nature’s miracle anti-oxidant, far more potent than any single medication and completely without side effects.

Save The Vegetable, Save The World: The Environmental Benefits Of Crops

In terms of sustainability, the amount of land that we need to clear to grow vegetables is so much less than what is required to raise cattle.

Whereas a field of crops could feed a small village, the same field used to graze cattle could maybe only feed a fraction of that. What’s more, you have to consider the potential food that is wasted as you have to grow feed for the cattle to eat.

Did you know the total amount of grain that is consumed just to raise animals for food is enough to feed the less fortunate of this world?

Secondly, you don’t have as big a carbon footprint when you choose not to contribute to the resource depletion that is caused through the slaughtering of animals for food. It is becoming increasingly popular to choose to become a vegetarian because people object to the harsh treatment of animals that are slaughtered for food.

“A 400-page United Nations report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that cattle farming is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases. The production of cattle to feed and clothe humans stresses ecosystems around the world, and is assessed to be one of the top three environmental problems in the world on a local to global scale.” – [Wikipedia]

How Eating Vegetables Can Help You Live Longer

It has been documented that people who eat an entirely vegetarian diet, or for those who eat more vegetables have been shown to live an average of 10 – 15 years longer than those who do otherwise.

Additionally, the National Cancer Institute estimates that roughly one third of all cancer deaths may be diet-related.

Vegetables have been shown to:

• Reduce the chance of heart disease
• Reduce the chance of getting cancer
• Help people with diabetes

I feel we really need to take care of our bodies’ right from the beginning. Your body is like your home, the house that you live in.

If you build your house with good cement, bricks and mortar, it will stand strong for a long time. Similarly, whatever we put in our bodies, our bodies will become. All the health gurus are singing by the same tune, in that you need to increase your intake of fruit and vegetables.

Some ingredients that have been shown to fight cancer:

• Tea (green and black)
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Broccoli
• Onions
• Carrots
• Papaya
• And the list goes on and on…

Thumbs Up To Your Karma

When you choose to eat a vegetarian diet, you choose life - as nothing needs to die for you to get your meal. The amount of cattle that is slaughtered every month is astounding; at 4.12 billion pounds in the month of July!

In the bigger scheme of things, we’re only on this Earth for a short time and during this time, what do you want to be remembered by?

One Day May Be All You Need To Change Your Life

The question that is asked of me the most often is:

“Is vegetarian food hard to prepare and how do I start implementing it into my life?”

My answer is always the same in that vegetarian food is not difficult to prepare, it takes less time than meat dishes as meat requires more time to cook through, and you can have a full meal ready in less than 5 minutes.

And for those who need some help in implementing more vegetables in your diet, try the following 1 day meal plan, it’s easy to follow yet wonderful for your body:

BREAKFAST

•    1 glass of fresh juice: Any type will do, but try and add some vegetables such as celery or cucumbers blended in with your fruit juice as well.
•    1 bowl of cereal: Add berries or nuts into your cereal to give it a healthy kick. Use multigrain cereal for added goodness.
•    1 serving of papaya or banana

LUNCH

•    1 small bowl of fruits: A small bowl of apple cubes or pears before your lunch would be ideal
•    1 serving of salad with your normal meal: If you like eating pasta for lunch, try a wholegrain pasta with a side of salad. Reduce the serving size of the pasta to accommodate the added vegetables.

DINNER

•    Try the simple recipe below from my cook book Vegemania! (page 118)

Zesty Peppers & Garbanzo Beans

Garbanzo beans or chickpeas are the most widely consumed legumes in the world.

Ingredients

• 1 can garbanzo beans/ chickpeas
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 stalks celery, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium red and green bell pepper/ capsicum each cut into small pieces
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• Juice of one lemon, or to taste
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Chill the serving plates to keep your salad crisp longer
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the beans, celery, peppers and onion
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour over the bean and pepper mixture
4. Stir to combine and chill to serve
5. Optional garnishes: tomato-, cucumber.- and lemon wedges

Preperation time: less than 10 minutes!

The New Millenium of Wellness

In this new millennium, the key words must be wellness and healthy ageing. The population all over the world is ageing and more and more people are celebrating their hundredth birthday. However studies have shown that not all these people are ageing well.

The populations with the highest expectancy and longevity are those found in the Mediterranean and Okinawa, Japan. What is their secret? In the Okinawa study, it showed that it was the rich diet of fruits and vegetables that helped promote longevity. All current research has proven that persons with a rich diet of fruits and vegetables live longer and suffer less from chronic disease and disability.

“Thy food is thy medicine and thy medicine is thy food”

- Hippocrates-

It’s not that hard for you to take that first step in eating a better, vegetable and fruit filled diet, very much like I did so many years ago. With these baby steps, you can truly make a profound change in your life, or even the lives of your closest loved ones.

I’ve always said to my family and friends, ‘your fate is on your plate’ which to me delves straight to the problem yet highlights the solution all at the same time. It really is as simple as that, but you have to make the conscious decision for change…

And what better day to start than on this lovely day?

With that I leave you,

For healthy living, longevity and wellness,

- Mohana Gill.

Click here to download the FREE "Cancer Busting Miracle Foods" Special Report from Mohana Gill (comes with 5 cancer-smashing recipes that are fun and delicious) >>

Think about the last time you went grocery shopping. You probably saw signs like these all over the place: "99% Fat Free", "Low Fat", "Healthy Alternative", or "Non-Fat".

Unfortunately these signs aren't always true. In fact, they could be warnings that you should look further into their nutritional break up.

Find out how the biggest corporations are tricking you and the rest of the world with their creative math and need for profits.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video left me pretty miffed. What are your thoughts about this form of manipulation?

Yes, that means there'll be a lot of fun and excitement, but it also means there's going to be a long string of excessive eating.

So to prep you for this onslaught of food, here are 3 ways you can keep the weight off while maintaining a healthy and nutritious diet.

1. Eat Healthy Foods

If you're going to binge at least make it healthy binging (if that's possible). Check out this blog post for more on nutritious, yet delicious things you can eat that'll give you health benefits.

Some things that get covered: lime, parsley, and mint!

Click here to find out more >>

2. Shed the holiday weight you've gained as fast as possible

Statistically people only gain 1 pound each holiday season. But unfortunately that 1 pound stays and it keeps adding up throughout your life. So what might seem like a measly pound 1 year will turn into a giant pot belly when you're older.

Check out this video. It's not just for the holidays either. It gives you the 7 fundamentals to maintaining a healthy weight and how to lose weight if you have to.

Lose that holiday pound >>

3. Stop drinking soda pop!

Yeap, these innocent looking things can be deadly. Soda pop is actually detrimental to your health. In fact it hurts your teeth, your weight, can cause diabetes, and hurts the environment.

Sounds like a lot against pop. But if you don't believe me, then check out this article. You might find yourself opting for a nice water and lemon drink instead.

Why pop needs to be kicked out of your diet >>

For those who've never gone to one of Tony's events, they're incredible. And extremely exhaustive. You're basically jumping up and down and screaming for 4-days straight. Not to mention the long hours.

But it's worth it. Self-discovery aside, one of Tony's most important talks was surprisingly about health!

Most of the time, your health or diet are just side notes to the more important stuff like releasing negative beliefs or discovering your passions. But at Unleash The Power Within, Tony dedicated an entire day to just health and diet.

It was a pretty eye-opening speech. Not to mention a little gruesome. Images and videos of debeaked chickens and the disgusting conditions in which they live in sent quite a chill down all our spines. The information was packed and the value was more than enough to last a lifetime, but at the end of the day we were asked to do this 10-day challenge.

At first we all thought it was a little extreme.

But the funny thing now is that half the people at MindValley are doing this 10-day challenge. And even if you're not too keen on your health or figure it's not important enough. Think about it this way. If you want to change the world, fulfill your dreams, live your passions, and accomplish all your goals, you're gonna need energy and a lot of it. And where does that energy come from?

Your body.

If your mind is willing but your body is not, you're going to hit some obstacles. So why put yourself through unnecessary hardship and take care of your body and health. It's not as hard as you think and it'll give you a sense of achievement and power that will make any other goal of yours seem easy.

So if you want to set a new standard for your life and have energy flow into your mind and body, check out this 10-day challenge.

I can't put down every single detail and reason from the entire day but I can give you the most important takeaways from the 10-day challenge so that you can replicate it for yourself.

The 10-Day Challenge:

1. Practice deep breathing. It can be a breathing meditation or just simply take 10 deep breaths 3 times a day.

2. Drink half your body weight in ounces everyday.

3. Eat a diet of water-rich foods. Make this at least 70% of your diet.

4. Supplement your diet with essential fatty acids like Omega 3 and Omega 6. You can get these at any health store or even your supermarket.

5. Make your body more alkaline instead of acidic. This means eat lots of green vegetables. Like green veggies, almonds, avocados, lemons, and limes. And avoid the acid-forming foods like animal meats, dairy products, sugars, and caffeine.

6. Add fresh lemon to your water everyday to help boost your alkalinity.

7. Do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 3-5 times a week. Walk or swim or jog or even take an aerobics class. Don't forget to figure out your ideal heart rate = 180 - your age.

8. Drink water before and after your meals but never during.

9. Eat in a relaxed state and don't mix carbs and proteins together and have fruit on an empty stomach.

10. Exercise your mind: Show gratitude, think about positive memories and future visualizations.

11. Avoid processed fats, animal flesh, dairy products, and other acid addictions (alcohol, sugars, vinegar, nicotine, whites, and drugs)

I know all that seems a little intimidating but try it and see what happens. You might be surprised at the end of 10 days.

If you've done this before or are trying it, please drop a comment below and tell us exactly what you think about this diet or way of life.

Nobody likes to be told that they're unhealthy (least of all me) but at some point you have to come to terms with what you're doing to your body.

After all, it is a temple, isn't it?

So if you're ready to have a health check, then step up and take the How-Healthy-Are-You Quiz. While it won't give you a detailed medical opinion of your health, it'll give you a rough idea of where you stand on the health-o-meter.

After you finish answering these 7 short questions, scroll down to see your results.

It doesn't end here though. Next week, we've got a special treat for you guys (healthy or not) that's going to be really fun.

Your Scores!

If you said yes to only 1 to 3 questions...

...Then you're probably not getting enough fruits, plants, and grains and are eating too much high-calorie, high fat foods. But don't fret. All that's easily changed.

And if you think you'll never get used to the taste of spinach, whole-grains, and fruits, you'd be surprised. Try a healthy, well-balanced diet for just 2 weeks and you'll be surprised at what your body craves at the end.

If you said yes to 4 or 5 questions...

...Then you're on the right track to having a highly balanced diet. There are still a few things you could improve on but it won't be as hard as you think. Take the time to re-evaluate what your current diet is and where you can make improvements.

Try writing down everything you're eating everyday for 1 week and from there you'll be able to see what areas you can work on. And if you're not getting enough exercise, try walking to work, taking public transport, or even just going up the stairs instead of using the elevator.

If you said yes to 6 or 7 questions...

...Then you're pretty much on the path to perfect health. Of course there's always room for improvement but don't beat yourself up on it. You're already doing a great job.

Keep up the good work and maybe improve your health with some more exercise like running a half-marathon or even a 10-k. If you're already physically active, then think of delicious creative meals you can share with your friends and family so that they can get addicted to healthy living too.

Thanks for taking the quiz. See you next week with a healthy and fun treat that you're gonna want to share with your friends and family.