Simply Meditation

    Think back about what you have done over the last 24 hours. How many times did you laugh? How many phone calls did you make? How many times were you stressing because you were in a rush? What ever your walk of life more likely than not there is a lot of stuff going on, day in and day out. This is wonderful, it is what makes us alive. How about a moment of peace?

    Let me begin with my introduction to meditation. Growing up I'd heard the term and knew basically what it was. During my 3rd year at SRJC, I was in an Asian Philosophy class which went over a diverse background of various spiritual movements. Meditation is essential in many of those movements. I took a yoga class, which seems to go hand and hand with meditation, and surprisingly felt relaxed, strengthened and refreshed at the end. A few months later I was driving by a local Unitarian church which had a sign posted "Meditation 7pm Wed"

    So there I find myself walking down the aisles towards these 3 individuals I'd never met before. They were surprised and glad to see someone so young, and took a few minutes to explain a bit about what we were gonna do. We sat in a circle and began to focus on deep breathing and relaxing every bit of the body starting at the tips of the toes. Once he finished explaining, a gong he rang and there we sat for 60 minutes straight. Breathing in and breathing out. I remember listening to the cars driving by. It was beautiful.

    Nowadays I find different videos on YouTube by searching for things like 'air relaxation music' or 'peaceful mediation' etc. Then will meditate at home. I have found much relaxation from taking moments now and then to let myself unwind. After tough workouts or long days at a job I'd feel much better even after just 10 -20 mins of peacefulness. I would highly recommend taking a few minutes, put on peaceful music and removing distractions if possible, and just relax. You'll feel better, and will see a difference in your ability to handle whatever it is you do on a daily basis.

Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts on this.

Peace,

Andrew

Diets

Nutrition yum! A lot of people seem to think diet's are going to make you healthy, a goal should be to get the body performing exceptionally well. Then you can start to see the results you pursue. Listen to your cravings within reason.

    Most people need a mix of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and small amounts of fats, in nutritional terms.  However that is the scientific perspective and therefore it is limited.  Variety and higher quality food will boost you in so many ways.  My rule of thumb is, what would I eat if I were living in nature and without any artificially made ingredients.  While I can only ponder a day of living naturally, I suppose it would be somewhat like: wake up, munch some berries and maybe some plants.  Explore the plains a bit caveman style. Munch a bird if I were fast enough.  Then probably some random herbs or whatever was around.  This sounds silly and strange I know, but compare that to what you ate yesterday.  Now what seems a bit strange.

Refined sugars are so far from natural and should be avoided, it directly causes diabetes and many other health issues.  It is very difficult for you're body to break down, so you release high amounts of insulin to aid.  This depletes surrounding cells of nutrition using it to this high energy boost which lasts a short amount of time. Don't give up your favorite treat because of this, use it in moderation to keep yourself motivated towards your goals.

If getting in shape is your goal, the best diet i could think of is 6 balanced small meals throughout the day. Giving your body a constant source of energy rather than large meals which take a lot of energy to digest and that intense digestion is far less efficient in absorbing any nutrition in that food.

Focus on movement in whatever you're doing, by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, getting up and stretching every hour or so can help your body stay much more active. Also adding in short exercise periods like power walking or weight lifting, can help your health in leaps and bounds.

Be conscious of what you eat, what ingredients were in it, and how you feel after eating it. The most often the less processed the more your body will get out of it.

Thanks for reading.

Natural Remedies

When seeking to understand new concepts, I like to go to the basics where it all started. Growing up I disliked going to the doctor, dreaded shots and refused to swallow pills until I was older.  I remember disliking the way it made me feel.  I believe medicine has evolved from people learning that different herbs can relieve ailments and over time learning which do what.

After doing some research online I found some neat stuff.  I am no doctor, this is what I've read. I encourage you to do your own research and talking to a trustworthy doctor if you have any serious medical conditions.

Ginseng is a common herb that reduces stress, fatigue and increases general well-being. This is found in many energy drinks on the market, however these energy drinks also have a lot refined sugar which is not healthy as I will write about in the future. So I would recommend buying it from a local herb store and having it in a tea or growing it in your garden and learning which parts to use as with most of these herbs.

Echinacea can help shorten a cold or infection and lessen the symptoms. It won't prevent either of these, but if taken at the first sign of a cold it will stimulate your immune system.

Chamomile, a common tea can be used to treat an upset stomach or cramps. It's also helpful for ulcers and stress.

Goldenseal is an anti inflammatory and will help digestive problems as well as many other ailments.

This website is a great reference with much more detail about this stuff.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/herbal-remedies

I hope you enjoy and find something that helps you here.

Nutrition

Welcome to the new Fitness and Nutrition blog. This site will be various things I learn over my days on these topics. To begin, everyone has heard the saying "you are what you eat", but is that really true?

Of course it is not, we don't look like a bunch of cheeseburgers or pancakes walking around. However many ailments which you might see a doctor for could be fixed long before that visit.

By supplying your body with the right nutrition it can perform optimally, increasing your health overall. From the common flu to aching joints many things can be relived.