Shampoos, soaps, lipsticks, bubble baths, perfumes – we all have our favourites. They make us feel good, give our self confidence a boost and we can indulge a little without feeling guilty about putting on weight.

Unfortunately a lot of our favourite products contain lots of “nasties” which affect our health in adverse ways. Some chemicals in cosmetics are highly toxic and have been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Robin Adler has made it her mission to educate everybody about the dangers of  cosmetics and self care products. To get her free ebook entitled “Beautify Naturally – 10 Non Toxic Ways to a More Beautiful You” go to: www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/beautifynaturally

The history of using toxic chemicals in cosmetics goes way back. In ancient Egypt lead was used to make the colours look brighter. One of the benefits of the lead content of the make-up was the fact that it prevented ear, nose and eye infections which were very common and quite dangerous in those days.

Nowadays toxic chemicals are used because they are cheap and to a lesser degree also because we as consumers have come to expect a certain “behaviour” from our products. How would you feel about a shampoo that doesn’t foam or a soap or toothpaste that doesn’t produce any lather?

For the sake of our health we might have to make different choices. To find out more about the products you are using right now you can go to www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

One drawback of the site is that the assessment of the product can only be as good as the labelling. In a lot of countries cosmetic labelling requirements are not very strict so we really don’t know what exactly is in the products.

To listen to our interview with Robin Adler go here:

Don’t forget to get your free ebook here:

www.stretchyourmindandbody.com/blog/beautifynaturally

Robin’s blog is here:

www.toxicbeauty.com

One word of wisdom from Robin Adler: “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t put it on your skin!” I would even go further and agree with the person who said: “If you can’t eat it don’t put it on your skin”.

There are some good hints in Robin’s ebook. I would like to add that beautiful skin has a lot to do with nutrition, hydration and the amount of sleep you get. Natural cosmetics and skin care products are important and beautiful to use but if the basics are not in place the best product will not help your skin.

Make an effort to change one product at a time (when it runs out) and slowly eliminate all those toxins. Once you get used to the subtle, very complex and beautiful aromas of natural peronal care products and perfumes you will not want to go back to chemical products.

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com

We all know how important it is to take long, slow deep breaths. The  mental and physical benefits are great and yet most of us get so caught up in our everyday life, the stress and busy-ness of it all, that our breathing becomes shallow and much more rapid than is good for us.

When teaching my classes I find that a lot of my students have difficulties taking a full breath in and exhaling slowly and in a controlled manner. Often I observe people pulling their shoulders up to their neck when trying to use their lungs fully. Tension and tightness prevents the chest and ribs from moving the way they were intended to.

Jim Efthimiou has invented a very handy little gadget called the “breatheaeror” which takes the guess work out of learning to breathe deeply, effectively and to our full capacity. In case you are looking at the picture: it is the little gadget around his neck, not the large Olympic torch he is holding! Have a look at www.breatheaeror.com

We interviewed Jim on our blogtalk radio show – listen to the whole show to find out more. Jim has also made a very special offer for our listeners, if you buy one of the Breatheaerors together with his book entitled the “Energy Airflow Training Manual” you will get a free training T-shirt. Mention the code “symab” to get this special offer.

Listen to the show by clicking on the player below:

Jim used a great example in our talk – scuba diving. The more excited you are during your dive, the faster you breathe while under water and the quicker your tank empties and you have to come to the surface.

Now just for a moment imagine that the tank of oxygen is the life energy you have been given for your life here on earth – the faster you breathe the quicker it will be empty….

Slow your breath down and you will benefit in many different ways.

Till next time

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

It seems that the quest for happiness and fulfilment is as old as humanity itself.

One Buddhist blessing contains the words “may all beings be happy”. Happiness is an emotion and we are driven by emotions even so we would like to believe that we are such rational human beings. The Self Help Industry is booming, lots of people are aware that something is amiss in their lives but they just don’t know what. Nearly everybody seems to be searching for something. We live in a time of unprecedented wealth and technological advances that even our parents wouldn’t have dreamt of – at least in the so called developed world – and yet there seems to be increased unhappiness and more suicides than ever before.

One intriguing healing method is called the MEM or Mace Energy Method, named after Dr. Mace. My business partner Charly and I talked to Sherrie Hatfield who has been practising MEM for a number of years. You can find Sherrie and more information here http://www.themacemethod.com 

Want to go straight to the source? Dr. Mace’s website is www.macemethod.com 
Dr. Mace has written a fascinating book:

What makes the Mace Method of dealing with emotional issues so attractive?

(more…)

I came across this interview on blog talk radio. Carol Cumes has been living in Peru for the last 15 years and has created an amazing chakra garden. She has written a book about her garden. It is called Chakra Gardens:  Opening the Senses of the Soul.

In this interview she discusses also how you can create your own chakra garden regardless where you live. It doesn’t matter whether you have acres to play with or live in a small flat – you will be able to create something that gives you peace, harmony and enjoyment.

Listen to her interview here, it is well worth it:

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com

This week Charly and I interviewed Georgina Abrahams or “JD”. JD together with a team of other volunteers is the instigator and organiser of “Spiritfest” which is now in its 8th year. It will be happening again from January 7-10, 2010, in a National Park about 1 1/2 hours drive from the centre of Sydney. Each year Spiritfest has a theme and this time the theme is “creativity”.

Creativity is more important than ever before, nevertheless it has become more neglected and discounted than at any other time in history. Technology is king and creativity has been pushed aside and is seen as  a kind of luxury, an indulgence, something that is just for fun when we have nothing better to do. Yet I believe that creativity is the one thing that leads to new inventions, solutions and shifts in paradigm, no matter which field it is employed in. Just recently I saw a comment by a surgeon who said that she sings a particular song when washing her hands in preparation for an operation – the song has exactly the length of time required to wash your hands. She does not have to rely on clocks or alarms or anything else….she also said that she had to be creative each and every time she performed surgery because that was the nature of the work.

Listen to our interview to find out lots more about creativity and Spiritfest:

If you are interested in joining us  (I am hoping to be there) and want to find out all the details, download the 2010 brochure here

Till next time,

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com