New Year – time for joy and reflections

Share the love.  Be in your power!

"The greatest joy in life is giving... Give your love because it is the magnet to all the riches of life...  Your love, your joy, your positivity, your excitement, your gratitude, and your passion are the true and everlasting things in life.  All the riches in the world cannot even come close to the most priceless gift in all of creation - the love inside you!" --- from The Power

Five more days and 2010 will be gone forever.  The moment for reflection, to integrate experiences and learning points from the past year/s.  To appreciate all the blessings that crossed our path along the way and to prepare for the new dawn of another year.

We are grateful for what we have right now; the power of our health products; the customers and marketing executives whose lives are changed for the better; the support of our company and team; the trust and belief in our group; the unselfish efforts of our business mentors, partners and so much more. We celebrate our blessings, success and wishes that came true.  Our failures and shortcomings that taught us to be better and encourage us to change and adapt  more positive attitude so that we can feel the joy of sharing, the happiness, the love and power in our lives.

At  Royale Eagles MVP we resolve to  continue  sharing the gift of Health, Abundance,  Hope and the exciting Future in 2011 and beyond.  We resolve to light up the world beginning today, our New Year!

Yesterday is gone and we celebrate for having survived the struggles  we  have had.  We can rise above our predicaments and claim our  rights for a better tomorrow. Susan Dunn, a clinical psychologist, has observed that people who can bounce back after failure and figure out what needs to change to confront new obstacles without losing their nerve generally do these essential things:

·         Learn from experience.  Resilient people reflect on what happens to them -- good and bad -- so they can move forward without illusion.

·         Accept setbacks and losses.  Face the reality of what happens in order to get past it.

·         Recognize emotions.  Resilient people identify what they're feeling and express their emotions appropriately.

·         Keep time in perspective.  Past, present, and future are separate.  Don't mix them up (by letting what's in the past determine your choices in the here and now, for example).

·         Think creatively and flexibly.  Look for new ways to solve problems and face challenges.

·         Take care of yourself.  Resilience is based on good physical and mental health.  Get enough rest, eat sensibly, and spend time with people who support you.

·         Ask for help.  Resilient people don't try to do everything themselves.  Ask others for assistance, and learn how to do so graciously and effectively.

Royale Eagles MVP invites those  who wish to change their lives for the better to join us in our advocacy for:

·                No more struggling to get through the month

·                No more worrying about where to find money for your 
                children's education

·               No more frustration because you can't afford the things you want

We have a simple and powerful income generating system to make extra cash and passive incomes even on a part time basis. Abundance is achieved by simply enriching others lives to enrich yourself in return. The more people you help the greater you will earn and with the modern technology you can even do it wherever you maybe. Very minimal monetary investment  and no financial risk. Our team help you build your business organization with our duplicable system and tools to empower you to empower others in your organization.

You have gifts and talents, abilities and strengths that the world benefits from every day. Celebrate them. Believe that you add value to those around you. You do make a positive difference in the lives of many. I too would love to continue to make a positive difference in your life. I want to invite you to join the Royale Eagles MVP team for abundance! 

http://winaeagles.wordpress.com/join-now/

We wish you peace, joy, sensational health and abundant prosperity this new year  and always.  May your every dream come true in 2011... and beyond!!!

A better Place to be

By: Julie a Baeyens

 A towering tree at the crossroad of Session road and Magsaysay Avenue in front of Baguio Peoples Park is traditionally decorated as the city’s Christmas tree. Even though Baguio is otherwise known as the City of Pines, this particular kind of pine tree is rare in Baguio.  They could be in someone’s garden  or  indoors as ornamental plants but I only know 3 century-old of its type in Baguio.

This tree is called Norfolk Island Pine or Australian Pine, sometimes called as 'star pine’due to it’s  symmetrical shape  when young.  In nature it can grow as high as 60 meters  and 10 meters in diameter.  The wood of big trees can be used as timber for construction, furnitures and shipbuilding while the saplings are raised as outdoor or indoor  ornamental plants.

Yesterday, we visited the Quezon estate in Quezon Hill.  My friend pointed to a gigantic tree in front of the mansion and described it as the twin of the Baguio Christmas tree.  I commented that they could not be twins because it is much higher and bigger than the one downtown. My friend explained that perhaps because of the environment where they are planted.  Unlike its twin in the business district, it is not as polluted with enormous smoke belching everyday, not surrounded with tons of cement and wired with twinkling artificial lights every year.  Looking at the tree, I could not agree more.  Branches nicely spread out, the leaves are shiny and bushy.  It's twin downtown is smaller, blacken leaves and without luster. 

Many city people would go out to the outskirts of urban places, to the mountain or seaside to relax, for fresh air and food.  During our  family vacations we usually  go to a remote beach resort near the hundred Islands.  It is not so crowded  and we enjoy visiting the fisherman’s warf to buy fish.  The local fishermen use fishing nets and fish traps to catch their finds so many of the fishes would still be alive when they are brought to the dock. While we grown ups  take our time deciding which fish to buy, the children  would wander  around to pick sea shells and corals along the sea coast. We also like visiting  a coconut plantation in the island where we can drink fresh coconut water and  pick  mango, papaya, star apple, gayubano, sinegwelas, and other tropical fruits.  In Bataan, we experienced gathering Cashew in a small Island only accessible by boat.  The cashew fruits are attractive but are not so pleasant to eat as its seeds but they are edible.
  
Simple living does not always mean poor regardless of  where we live.  Living in the city or in the less develop areas  have both advantages and disadvantages.  Modern societies offer more comforts and conveniences but the cavemen have fresher air, water, food, space and less stress.  If you have the choice, where would you rather be?

I wonder if the animals in the zoos would prefer to be in the cages where they do not need to hunt for their food or in the wild where they have to fend for themselves but can run as much as they could. This Norfolk tree is obviously  content atop the hill where it is.

Infront of the Quezon Mansion is a century old tree, Norfolk Island Pine or Australian Pine which is among the only 3 known century trees of its kind in Baguio.  The other is in the center island crossroad of Session road and Magsaysay avenue in front of the Peoples Park which is decorated as the city’s Christmas tree every year.  The third one I know of is at the Afable’s compound. Read more

The Wonder of nature's "FRESH"

By: Julie A. Baeyens

I always enjoy gardening when I can.  Today is perfect because it had not rained for a couple of days so the garden is dry but the ground is soft enough for  weeding and digging.  It is a good day to cut the grass, the sun felt wonderful, only 19 °C with light fog.   I spent the whole day in the garden and had my lunch under the mango tree.  There are  still guavas (left by the typhoon) and oranges for snacks, they were sweet and crunchy, fresh from the tree.  I noticed that  the citrus trees were beginning to bloom, there were  new tiny flowers on the orange tree so I decided to smoke it to drive  the pests away.  Absolutely no pesticide in my garden, not even on the flower beds. I love  the fresh air, the fruits, the herbs and the flowers.  This  must be a  healthy day for me because I feel great after the whole day’s manual labor.

Have you ever wondered why  “Fresh…” is good for your health?  Doctors, Alternative medicine practitioners and therapists recommend fresh air, fresh running water, fresh fruits and vegetables for healing and wellness.  Why do we feel great after walks in the woods or along the beach?  When we do not feel well, we say, " I need fresh air."  This is what I found out,  it is not only the exercise we get  working out doors,  hiking or vacationing in the mountains and in the beach but also because of the abundance of ANIONS that we breath in at such places. 

 

Anions or Negative ions are created in nature with air molecules broken apart from sunlight, radiation, and moving air or water. Negative ions are odorless tasteless molecules that are breathed into our respiratory system. High concentrations of negative ions can be found in nature, in mountain forests, waterfalls, and beaches where people can feel energized and invigorated, which helps relieve stress, alleviate depression and boosts energy.  Fresh fruits and vegetables contain more anions, ideally eaten fresh.  Processed and preserved food contains more positive ions which are often times harmful to our body.  Negative ions are sourced out from the alkaline (good) foods while the positive ions from the acidic (bad) foods. Our body needs a certain balance of both ions to keep fit.

Health Benefits of Anion

Anion in air is like vitamin in food, greatly benefits people’s health and everyday routine, therefore, it is also being referred to as vitamin in air, which can facilitate body growth and disease prevention, the benefits are different to different organs.

*  To respiratory system: improves lung function. 30 minutes after anion intake, the lung is able to inhale 20% more oxygen and exhale 14.5% more carbon dioxide.

*  To cardiovascular system: significantly reduces blood pressure, improves cardiac muscle function and nutrition, facilitates the dilation of capillary vessel and the rise of skin temperature...Read more

Fountain of Health Secrets-Part 3

Simple Lifestyle, “Good Life” can kill you

    By:  Julie A Baeyens

“ If you were given the choice, how long would you choose to live?”

I was cleaning my bureau and found an old invitation card for a birthday party at McDonalds. It reminded me the several occasions of bringing and picking up my kids at McDonalds or Jollibee to attend their classmate’s birthday parties. The giant fastfood chains have done very well in enticing and wooing the children with their birthday party packages, mini play corners and kiddie happy meals in a box with the little toy in it. Once a child is invited to a party he/she would also like to celebrate his/her birthday in such places and the chain reaction continues.  Try to ask a child where she would like to eat out?

A few days ago, President Benigno Aquino III visited Baguio (his 1^st visit since he became president) specially to grace the newest branch of Jollibee. And now my teen age daughter is showing me an article Ad, “McDonald’s Slated to Offer Ultra-Cheap McWeddings.”  It is like an omen for me to write as I was about to do a research on simple living.

McDonalds and Jollibee are the biggest fastfood chains in the Philippines. They are considered luxury among the majority of the locals because a Big Mc meal is almost a day’s pay for the minimum wage earners.  The kiddie/happy meals are becoming the  children’s dream and for the minimum wage earners, it is a goal to be able to bring their kids to these fastfood  joints.  What they don’t know or have not considered  is that their being not able to afford  McDo  meals is great for their health.

We know that fastfoods are  bad foods and yet we patronize these establishments. We expose our children to these kinds of food even at their early age because it is what they want to eat or its because it is the fad and trend of the present. I heard a mother who said, “it is difficult to feed my son so I bring him to Jollibee, it is better for him to eat these junk foods rather than not eating at all.” Modern life brings us many conveniences and choices but also complications that even choosing our food calls for discipline and will power.

This fresh air gets boring sometimes.  How I wish
it had carbon monoxide for variation.

Speaking of choices in life, each of us determines how we live, what kills us and how soon.  Health problems that we inherit from our parents can be beyond our control but often times it is the cumulative effects of one’s lifestyle, what one does or don’t that determines a person’s ultimate fate.  Medical advances and surgeries had conquered some of the turn of the century diseases and their causes. But modern life  has  new ominous health concerns that undo most of the progress towards better health.  Foremost among them are: environmental pollution; sedentary lives encouraged by mechanized conveniences; abuse of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.  Eating patterns which put pleasing senses above the needs of the human body and finally there are also the psychological stresses and trauma of modern life.

According to Dr. Allan R. Magie, Ph.D.,M.P.H,  the major killers today are: Heart disease and  Cancer caused by years of abuse of the body.  Years of high-fat diet, obesity, lack of exercise, and heavy smoking and drinking along with adverse environmental conditions. Other causes of premature deaths are:  High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, emphysema and bronchitis. These diseases are not caught like a cold but are frequently the result of our ignorance or behavioral patterns and self indulgence.

He recommends that we have to learn to assume a much greater personal responsibility for our own health.  Collective action to deal with detrimental environmental influences over which we have little or no control.

The following are simple and sensible tips to achieve good health:

·         Eat three meals at regular times everyday and avoid snacks in between meals

·         Watch your diet – food supplements can help on our nutrition deficiency

·         Take time to get moderate daily exercise

·         Regular sleep (7 to 8 hours) at night- natural detoxification of our body are best achieved when we are in deep sleep and many more benefits

·         Restrict or eliminate the use of tobacco and alcohol

·         Maintain recommended weight- my iridologist says that most ailments depends on weight management

·         Avoid stress as much as you’re able to

A simple but sensible lifestyle is a great aid in postponing our funerals and live life to the fullest until we die.

Fountain of Health Secrets-Part 2

Exercise – our body is a case of use it or lose it

Our village now has a rough road linking it to the rest of the world and electric power
(the only developments since  my childhood days in the 50s)

“I was reading a physical fitness book when my 13-year old daughter suggested that I too must change my profile photo in Facebook with a cartoon character depicting my childhood.  Relating to her some of my childhood memories inspired me to complete this blog.  I grew up in a remote small village in the mountains of the Cordillera.  Life was so simple then.  People are like one family, where everybody knows and cares for each other. There was no electricity and no roads for vehicular traffic.  People walk mostly on barefoot to go places, to their daily chores in their rice fields, kaingins ( gardens in the mountain planted with corn, lentils, fruits and vegetables) and animal pastures that are usually farther from the village. Almost everything was done manually except from the help of Carabaos in plowing the fields.  The harvests were carried manually too and transported by foot up and down the hills across rivers and streams.  In my high school days, we have to walk 6 to 8 hours to town where the nearest High School was located heavy loaded with our 1-week food provisions. There was not a single hospital in the whole town and yet there were many Septagorians or more who were still fit to tend their fields.” 

Physical activity is a natural part of human life, like sleeping or eating.  Children do them naturally by rushing around but as adults, our capacity for exercise is gradually diminished by our deskbound jobs, transportation methods and the availability of home-based leisure activities such as watching TV or Computer and other modern technology activities.    As a result, it becomes necessary for us to take planned exercises such as going to the Gym, Aerobic classes and other sports. Whether we exercise naturally or planned, we must do them regularly to keep fit. Physical fitness enhances the  ability of our bodies to deal with our varied day to day tasks.  If we are physically fit, we can perform our tasks without ending exhausted. 

Good health and life itself requires activity, otherwise our body deteriorates.  We often hear that exercise is good for our health but do we really understand why and how?  Physical fitness makes our lungs, heart, blood and muscles work more efficiently.  Getting fit relieves tension and stress which boosts our mental and physical abilities.  All human activity depends on moving muscles. Strengthening the muscles improves the oxygen exchange in the lungs and more efficient expulsion of carbon dioxide.  The muscles also extract oxygen more efficiently from the blood. A fit muscle is capable to work for longer and produce more energy.  Our heart is of course a major muscle.  The effect of exercise is to train the heart muscle to be more elastic and more efficient to pump blood.  A heart rate that develops increased elasticity in the heart and greater oxygen uptake in the muscles is the basis of all exercises.

Recently the value of walking has been discovered.  Many doctors recommend patients to walk more instead of going by car. Walking also avoids many of the problems posed by more energetic exercise. However it does not do much for the flexibility of the joints and muscles so it should be combined with other exercises such as various stretching.

Exercise programs try to make the body work to its maximum rate of absorbing oxygen.  The exercise that uses large muscles groups such as arms and legs, running, cycling, rowing are those that give a training effect and so increase fitness. Running and jogging are undoubtedly the most popular forms of exercises and can be done anywhere and does not need much equipment other than  a well-cushioned shoes.. Aerobics- consist of movement to music and can be done alone or in groups.

Wellness Pyramid

Benefits of regular Exercise  that are performed for various reasons:

       Strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system

       Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the diseases such as  heart disease,  cardiovascular disease,  Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

       Weight loss or maintenance and for enjoyment

       Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries

       Honing athletic skills

       It also improves mental health, helps prevent depression, helps to promote or maintain positive self-esteem

       Augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which again is also linked with higher levels of self-esteem

If you are too busy to do some physical exercises, here is a funny way which you can do as often as you can do in your sedentary state:  “ If you laugh 100 times a day, it’s about the same as spending 10 minutes on a rowing machine.” – Dr. William Fry, Stanford University.

Sources: 

Health & Home magazine

The Reader’s Digest Family Guide to Alternative Medicine (1992). 1^st ed. Australia,Pty limited.

Fountain of Health Secrets

Part 1- Good Food, Eating for Health

“  Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”-Hippocrates, Father of Medicine

People who are health conscious or used to good health get so surprised when they find themselves ill. The reality is that everyone gets sick and there are no exceptions. The difference is that those who maintain their good health usually recover quicker and have less possibilities of contracting chronic diseases. Food as medicine is not new to us but we prefer to believe the paradigm   that medicines are the pharmaceutical, prescription drugs and pills that we take when we have ailments. 

Most doctors of the modern world have been trained to use only the pharmaceutical approach for the treatment of diseases. They do not tell us about food as medicine. The good news is that more medical doctors now are joining the crusade for better diet. Eating good food daily was the foremost remedy practiced by the Traditional Medicine System.

In traditional Asian medicine, doctors are paid to keep their patient well and are not paid if their patients get sick. Western cultures do the opposite.  We also tend to wait until we have symptoms of a disease, then we go to a doctor who often is able to treat the symptoms not the underlying causes.  So unless we enjoy getting sick and having to scramble to find relief, we should try the traditional way and stay healthy in the first place.


How many of us visit Nutritionists or  Alternative Health Practitioners for our health concerns? My guess is only very few, doctors who prescribe drugs that create more side effects than cure solutions are more popular in our  modern society. Alternative Health Practitioners and Nutritionists on the other hand recommend food for medicine, a diet based on unrefined and unprocessed foods which they refer to as ‘Wholefood diet.’ Wholefoods should not contain food additives and wherever possible, they should be organic foods.

Wholefoods are the good foods, no preservatives, colorings or flavorings and crops that are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,  meat from free-range poultry and  animals raised  without antibiotics or hormone supplements.  Our well-being and vitality greatly depends on our choice of food and the habit of eating for health.  The  above food experts say, “…getting the balance right is the first essential of healthy eating.  It is vital that the proportion of the various nutrients of the food we take is correct.  The body needs carbohydrates, fats and proteins in varying quantities plus vitamins, minerals and fiber to function well and to maintain itself.  People’s needs differ, depending on their age, way of life and metabolic rate but these are nutrients that everybody needs.” 

Balance Nutrition

Other food scientific research states that no matter how we spent or to what lengths we go through in shopping to preparation or raising our food will not make it to be good food if the proportion of the various nutrients is not balanced. Too much or too little of each nutrients can lead to poor health.  There is no need for sacrifices of not eating our favorite foods but we have to check the balance of our diet. Good nutrition balance is eating plenty of bread and cereals as much as fresh fruit and vegetables as we can eat and a  moderate amount of protein will give the nutrients our body needs  Hearty and wholesome meals, simply cooked or not cooked at all can be varied to include our favourites.  Good food  is only simple enjoyment without fuss, fads and extravagance.

If the doctors of today do not become the nutritionists of tomorrow, then the nutritionists of today will become the doctors of tomorrow – Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research

References:

Mindell, Earl. (2003). Goji: The Himalayan Health Secret 2^nd ed. Lake Dallas, Texas: VideoPlus, Inc.

 The Reader’s Digest Family Guide to Alternative Medicine (1992). 1^st ed. Australia,Pty limited.

Treating the Healthy Body to Prevent Illness

The fountain of youth

Don’t you think keeping the body healthy and disease-free is a good common sense?  Most of the time, we understand “treatment” as something we have to do when we have ailments and do not need when we are well.  The concept of WELLNESS is more than merely treating a disease.  It is also a prescription for healthy living.  Wellness is to maintain our strength and vitality; mind and spirit so that disease can not take them away from us. 

The Himalayan medicine system teaches that  the  most valuable medicinal plants are not those  that cures diseases but the most honored herbs are those that are taken when one is healthy and well.  This is to prevent disease/s from occurring in the first place and I think this makes a lot of sense.

The Western or Modern medicine is just the opposite.  Our doctors, hospitals, and drug companies would recommend medicine for treating diseases.  They have little interest in keeping us healthy because their livelihood depends upon our being sick.  The more often we get sick the more we would require their expensive services to put us back in good health.

According to Dr. Earl Mindel, a pharmacist; doctor in nutrition and a master herbalist, “a Himalayan healer would be saddened to hear of how our modern medical system has corrupted the healing arts in the name of financial profit.  He would be bewildered by our reliance on toxic chemotherapeutic agents, on risky surgical procedures, and on drugs that can have side effects exceeding any possible benefit.

Our closed-minded doctors might simply dismiss Himalayan medicine as primitive and unsophisticated.  The irony is that we are the primitive ones.  How sophisticated can we be when our modern society is plagued by cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, depression, sexual dysfunction, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and all types of degenerative and autoimmune diseases?  In the Himalayas, these conditions are virtually unknown.  To the contrary, these unassuming people are renowned for health and longevity unmatched anywhere on Earth.”

When we are well we are generally happy.  We think we are invincible and can do anything we want and don’t think about maintaining our good health until it deteriorates.  We  should maintain our gift of health and not to wait until we are or terminally ill to need health medicines. It is much simplier and enjoyable  to take in medicines to keep up our good health than to take medicines to treat a disease.   Himalayan medicine have  these to suggest:  Eat good food, exercise and enjoy the simple things in life.  My next article would be how to maintain good health.

Reference:

Mindell, Earl. (2003). Goji: The Himalayan Health Secret 2^nd ed. Lake Dallas, Texas: VideoPlus, Inc.