Oncologists Don’t Like Baking Soda Cancer Treatment

Oncologists Don’t Like Baking Soda Cancer Treatment Because It’s Too Effective and Too Cheap

by Get Holistic Health
Even the most aggressive cancers which have metastasized have been reversed with baking soda cancer treatments. Although chemotherapy is toxic to all cells, it represents the only measure that oncologists employ in their practice to almost all cancer patients. In fact, 9 out of 10 cancer patients agree to chemotherapy first without investigating other less invasive options.

Doctors and pharmaceutical companies make money from it. That’s the only reason chemotherapy is still used. Not because it’s effective, decreases morbidity, mortality or diminishes any specific cancer rates. In fact, it does the opposite. Chemotherapy boosts cancer growth and long-term mortality rates and oncologists know it.
A few years ago, University of Arizona Cancer Center member Dr. Mark Pagel received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of personalized baking soda cancer treatment for breast cancer. Obviously there are people in the know who have understood that sodium bicarbonate, that same stuff that can save a person’s life in the emergency room in a heartbeat, is a primary cancer treatment option of the safest and most effective kind.
Studies have shown that dietary measures to boost bicarbonate levels canincrease the pH of acidic tumors without upsetting the pH of the blood and healthy tissues. Animal models of human breast cancer show that oral sodium bicarbonate does indeed make tumors more alkaline and inhibit metastasis. Based on these studies, plus the fact that baking soda is safe and well tolerated, world renowned doctors such as Dr. Julian Whitaker have adopted successful cancer treatment protocols as part of an overall nutritional and immune support program for patients who are dealing with the disease. The Whitaker protocol uses 12 g (2 rounded teaspoons) of baking soda mixed in 2 cups water, along with a low-cal sweetener of your choice. (It’s quite salty tasting.) Sip this mixture over the course of an hour or two and repeat for a total of three times a day. One man claims he has found a cure for cancer using baking soda and molasses and actually successfully treated his own disease by using baking soda. 
When taken orally with water, especially water with high magnesium content, and when used transdermally in medicinal baths, sodium bicarbonate becomes a first-line medicinal for the treatment of cancer, and also kidney disease, diabetes, influenza and even the common cold. It is also a powerful buffer against radiation exposure, so everyone should be up to speed on its use. Everybody’s physiology is under heavy nuclear attack from strong radioactive winds that are circling the northern hemisphere.
Dr. Robert J. Gillies and his colleagues have already demonstrated that pre-treatment of mice with baking soda results in the alkalinization of the area around tumors. The same researchers reported that bicarbonate increases tumor pH and also inhibits spontaneous metastases in mice with breast cancer.
What is Baking Soda?
Baking soda is a white crystalline solid that appears as fine powder. It is also called cooking soda, bread soda and bicarbonate of soda. Its chemical name is sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate.
Baking soda is different from washing soda (sodium carbonate) although they share the same slightly salty and alkaline taste.
This widely used soda is commonly dissolved in mineral water and used as a leavening agent in baking. It works as a leavening agent by neutralizing the acidic components of batter. The neutralization releases carbon dioxide and leads to the “raising” or expansion of baked foods.
Baking soda has also been used to soften vegetable and to tenderize meat.
As a household chemical, baking soda is used as a cleaning agent. It is included in toothpastes for similar reasons where it serves as an antiseptic, acid-neutralizer, whitening agent and plaque-removing agent as well as a cleaning agent.
Other common personal hygiene products in which baking soda can be found include deodorants and shampoos.
Baking Soda and pH Medicine
The pH of our tissues and body fluids is crucial and central because it affects and mirrors the state of our health or our inner cleanliness. The closer the pH is to 7.35-7.45, the higher our level of health and wellbeing. Staying within this range dramatically increases our ability to resist acute illnesses like colds and flues as well as the onset of cancer and other diseases. Keeping our pH within a healthy range also involves necessary lifestyle and dietary changes that will protect us over the long term while the use of sodium bicarbonate gives us a jump-start toward increased alkalinity.
The pH scale is like a thermometer showing increases and decreases in the acid and alkaline content of fluids. Deviations above or below a 7.35-7.45 pH range in the tightly controlled blood can signal potentially serious and dangerous symptoms or states of disease. When the body can no longer effectively neutralize and eliminate the acids, it relocates them within the body’s extra-cellular fluids and connective tissue cells directly compromising cellular integrity. Conversely when the body becomes too alkaline from too much bicarbonate in the blood, metabolic alkalosis occurs, which can lead to severe consequences if not corrected quickly.
Jon Barron presents a way of looking at pH that opens up one of the major benefits of alkaline water:
Hydrogen ions tie up oxygen. That means that the more acid a liquid is, the less available the oxygen in it. Every cell in our body requires oxygen for life and to maintain optimum health. Combine that with what we know about hydrogen ions and we see that the more acid the blood (the lower its pH), the less oxygen is available for use by the cells. Without going into a discussion of the chemistry involved, just understand that it’s the same mechanism involved when acid rain “kills” a lake. The fish literally suffocate to death because the acid in the lake “binds up” all of the available oxygen. It’s not that the oxygen has gone anywhere; it’s just no longer available. Conversely, if you raise the pH of the lake (make it more alkaline), oxygen is now available and the lake comes back to life. Incidentally, it’s worth noting that cancer is related to an acid environment (lack of oxygen)–the higher the pH (the more oxygen present in the cells of the body), the harder it is for cancer to thrive.
Understanding this is important for two reasons: (1) it reveals one of the primary benefits of alkaline water–more “available” oxygen in the system and (2) it explains why alkaline water helps fight cancer.
How Baking Soda Can Help “Cure” Cancer
Basically, malignant tumors represent masses of rapidly growing cells. The rapid rate of growth experienced by these cells means that cellular metabolism also proceeds at very high rates.
Therefore, cancer cells are using a lot more carbohydrates and sugars to generate energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
However, some of the compounds formed from the energy production include lactic acid and pyruvic acid. Under normal circumstances, these compounds are cleared and utilized as soon as they are produced. But cancer cells are experiencing metabolism at a much faster rate. Therefore, these organic acid accumulate in the immediate environment of the tumor.
The high level of extracellular acidity around the tumor is one of the chief driving force behind the metastasis of cancer tumors.
Basically, cancer cells need an acidic environment to grow and spread rapidly.
Some cancer experts, therefore, believe that by buffering the tumor microenvironment with an alkalizing compound, the pH of tumors can be raised enough to starve them and stop their growth and spread.
Curiously, this rather simple solution to cancer has been proven right.
What is even more remarkable is that there is no need to cook up some fancy synthetic drug to lower the acidity in the immediate environment of the tumor. A simple, commonly obtained compound like sodium bicarbonate will do.
Obviously, it is desirable to deliver the sodium bicarbonate as close to the tumor as possible since its pH-raising effect is needed in the microenvironment of the tumor. Therefore, directly injecting sodium bicarbonate in the tumor site is considered a better solution than oral administration. However, oral sodium bicarbonate is just safer and can be readily used at home.
A 2009 study published in the journal, Cancer Research, is among the first to confirm that the alkalinizing effect of sodium bicarbonate can indeed stop cancer.
By injecting sodium bicarbonate into a group of mice, the authors of the study were able to determine how the growth and spread of cancer tumors were effected by raising the pH of the organ affected by the cancer.
The study results showed that baking soda indeed raised the pH and reduced spontaneous metastases in mice induced with breast cancer.
The researchers also determined that sodium bicarbonate works by raising the pH outside cells and not within cells. This is an important finding because it suggests that sodium bicarbonate does not interfere with cellular metabolism even as it makes the microenvironment unconducive for tumor growth.
Other findings from this study show that baking soda:

• Reduced the involvement of the lymph node on the transport of cancer cells
• Does not lower the levels of circulating tumor cells
• Reduced the involvement of the liver and, therefore, the spread of tumor cells to other organs
• Inhibit the colonization of other organs by circulating tumor cells

The Baking Soda Formula for Cancer
To make the baking soda natural cancer remedy at home, you need maple syrup, molasses or honey to go along with the baking soda.
In Dr. Sircus’ book, he documented how one patient used baking soda and blackstrap molasses to fight the prostate cancer that had metastasized to his bones. On the first day, the patient mixed 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 teaspoon of molasses in a cup of water.
He took this for another 3 days after which his saliva pH read 7.0 and his urine pH read 7.5.
Encouraged by these results, the patient took the solution 2 times on day 5 instead of once daily. And from day 6 – 10, he took 2 teaspoons each of baking soda and molasses twice daily.
By the 10th day, the patient’s pH had risen to 8.5 and the only side effects experienced were headaches and night sweat (similar to cesium therapy).
The next day, the patient had a bone scan and too other medical tests. His results showed that his PSA (prostate-specific antigen, the protein used to determine the severity of prostate enlargement and prostate cancer) level was down from 22.3 at the point of diagnosis to 0.1.
Another baking soda formula recommends mixing 90 teaspoons of maple syrup with 30 teaspoons of baking soda.
To do this, the maple syrup must be heated to become less viscous. Then the baking syrup is added and stirred for 5 minutes until it is fully dissolved.
This preparation should provide about 10-day worth of the baking soda remedy. 5 – 7 teaspoons per day is the recommended dose for cancer patients.
Care should be taken when using the baking soda remedy to treat cancer. This is because sustaining a high pH level can itself cause metabolic alkalosis and electrolyte imbalance. These can result in edema and also affect the heart and blood pressure.
One does not have to be a doctor to practice pH medicine. Every practitioner of the healing arts and every mother and father needs to understand how to use sodium bicarbonate. Bicarbonate deficiency is a real problem that deepens with age so it really does pay to understand and appreciate what baking soda is all about.

Sources: 
cancertutor.com
phkillscancer.com
drsircus.com 
drleonardcoldwell.com
drwhitaker.com

Dave Mihalovic is a Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in vaccine research, cancer prevention and a natural approach to treatment.

6 Ways To De-Stress

6 Ways To De-Stress (when you’re in the eye of the storm)

Everyone has stress but not everyone knows how to deal with it. De-stressing is important for one’s physical and mental health. Stress is proven to affect every major system in the body, whether it’s involving sleep patterns or resistance to infection. An individual’s mental health can be adversely affected as well, with stress as a catalyst for many different illnesses including depression and anxiety, according to the article titled “Why Stress Turns into Depression” by Alice Boyes, Ph.D., a contributor with Psychology Today and author of “The Anxiety Toolkit.”  
Most people want to de-stress but few know how to do it well. There are many different ways to relieve stress, as recommended by Madeline Vann, M.P.H., in the article titled “10 Tips to Help You De-Stress” and published in Everyday Health:

• Get moving: Numerous studies show that exercise lifts mood. The neural chemicals released also enhance a general sense of well-being. Exercise also helps to refocus mind and body. Note that this can be anything that gets an individual moving, from walking, participating in sports to playing with children, Vann wrote
• Get assertive: As much as some people don’t like to, saying “no” is a very important and effective stress relief technique. In order to relieve stress, it’s important to manage obligations and commitments at work, school and social settings
• Get connected: Social contact is vital to distract individuals from stressors and help people share their burdens, thus lowering stress levels, Vann said
• Get amused: She also believes that laughter reduces tensions and increases blood flow to the heart, providing both physical and mental benefits. Humor can also attract further social contact, contributing to stress alleviation
• Get centered: Yoga and meditation can help de-stress as well, Vann asserted. These practices calm the mind, center the thoughts and give clarity
• Get writing: Journaling is a process that many individuals use to de-stress and to clarify their thoughts. A journal can also help stressed individuals manage their feelings in a straightforward fashion

Vann also wrote about the negative coping mechanisms for dealing with stress, such as substance abuse, gambling, smoking and other actions that can make stress worse in the long run and hurt physical health. Even harmless activities — such as video games or exercise — can make the situation worse if overdone and detrimental to daily life. Therapy with mental health professionals can help develop healthy coping mechanisms that can last a lifetime. Addiction treatment specialists can also help with substance abuse and the underlying causes of the behavior.
Learning to de-stress is important to good mental health and key to living life with a sense of wellness and happiness. When individuals cannot maintain a functional stress response, they end up seeking treatment from professionals in places such as mental health treatment facilities, mental health residential treatment, anxiety and depression treatment, or a mental health rehabilitation center. These simple de-stressing tips and therapies can help keep individuals, even-keeled and calm, even in the eye of the stress storm.

Read more at http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/6-ways-to-de-stress/#lSMQjXzQkthrc4hF.99

Everyone has stress but not everyone knows how to deal with it. De-stressing is important for one’s physical and mental health. Stress is proven to affect every major system in the body, whether it’s involving sleep patterns or resistance to infection. An individual’s mental health can be adversely affected as well, with stress as a catalyst for many different illnesses including depression and anxiety, according to the article titled “Why Stress Turns into Depression” by Alice Boyes, Ph.D., a contributor with Psychology Today and author of “The Anxiety Toolkit.”  
Most people want to de-stress but few know how to do it well. There are many different ways to relieve stress, as recommended by Madeline Vann, M.P.H., in the article titled “10 Tips to Help You De-Stress” and published in Everyday Health:

• Get moving: Numerous studies show that exercise lifts mood. The neural chemicals released also enhance a general sense of well-being. Exercise also helps to refocus mind and body. Note that this can be anything that gets an individual moving, from walking, participating in sports to playing with children, Vann wrote
• Get assertive: As much as some people don’t like to, saying “no” is a very important and effective stress relief technique. In order to relieve stress, it’s important to manage obligations and commitments at work, school and social settings
• Get connected: Social contact is vital to distract individuals from stressors and help people share their burdens, thus lowering stress levels, Vann said
• Get amused: She also believes that laughter reduces tensions and increases blood flow to the heart, providing both physical and mental benefits. Humor can also attract further social contact, contributing to stress alleviation
• Get centered: Yoga and meditation can help de-stress as well, Vann asserted. These practices calm the mind, center the thoughts and give clarity
• Get writing: Journaling is a process that many individuals use to de-stress and to clarify their thoughts. A journal can also help stressed individuals manage their feelings in a straightforward fashion

Vann also wrote about the negative coping mechanisms for dealing with stress, such as substance abuse, gambling, smoking and other actions that can make stress worse in the long run and hurt physical health. Even harmless activities — such as video games or exercise — can make the situation worse if overdone and detrimental to daily life. Therapy with mental health professionals can help develop healthy coping mechanisms that can last a lifetime. Addiction treatment specialists can also help with substance abuse and the underlying causes of the behavior.
Learning to de-stress is important to good mental health and key to living life with a sense of wellness and happiness. When individuals cannot maintain a functional stress response, they end up seeking treatment from professionals in places such as mental health treatment facilities, mental health residential treatment, anxiety and depression treatment, or a mental health rehabilitation center. These simple de-stressing tips and therapies can help keep individuals, even-keeled and calm, even in the eye of the stress storm.

The 15 Best Quotes to Inspire You to Never Stop Learning

I used to think that school was the place to get an education. But I was wrong.
School is just part of your education.
We live in an Information Age where we can learn about almost anything in the world — as long as we have the willpower to. There’s bound to be a website, video or podcast that you can get access to for free (or close to free), where you’ll get the information you want.
So all we have to do is cultivate a burning desire to learn. I hope that these 15 quotes will help you to do just that:
1. “I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious.”
– Albert Einstein
2. “The person who knows HOW will always have a job; the person who knows WHY will always be the boss.”
– John Maxwell
3. “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
– Eric Hoffer
4. “If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”
– Benjamin Franklin
5. “Shall I tell you a secret of a true scholar? It is this: every man I meet is my master in some point and in that I learn from him.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. “Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”
– Daniel Boorstin
7. “Don’t let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.”
– Jim Rohn
8. “If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject.”
– Earl Nightingale
9. “Unless you do something beyond what you’ve already mastered, you will never grow.”
– Ronald E. Osborne
10. “The greatest enemy of learning is knowing.”
– John Maxwell
11. “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
– John Wooden
12. “What is a college? An institute of learning. What is a business? An institute of learning. Life, itself, is an institute of learning.”  – Thomas Edison
13. “That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.”
– Doris Lessing
14. “There is nothing new under the sun, but there are lots of old things we don’t know.”
– Ambrose Bierce
15. “The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks.”
– John Rooney

It’s over to you

Are you ready to learn something new?
You could enroll in a Udacity course, watch a Khan Academy video, sign up for a webinar, or read a book. The possibilities are infinite.
So let’s set some goals for the coming year, and embrace the privilege of becoming lifelong learners.

10 Signs It’s Time to Change Your Life

There is usually some catalyst (or several of them) that leads someone to the decision that some serious change is in order. Unfortunately, it is easy to live with these signs for a long time before even noticing what they are trying say. The key to understanding what is going on in our life is recognizing how we feel. If we are feeling anxious, discontent or bitter, it could be our body’s way of telling us it’s time to try something new.

Here are 10 signs it’s time to change your life:

1. You dread going to work more days than you don’t.

So much of our day and week is spent at work, that feeling dread when you wake up or as the weekend nears its end is a sure sign that something is not right. Take some time to figure out what it is about your day at work that you are dreading and devise a plan for changing it.

2. You are living in the past or dreaming about the future.

Staying focused on better times, whether it’s the past or the future, might be a sign of trying to escape the now. It is not uncommon to dream about a better life and dreaming can be good. It’s when the dreaming takes the place of doing that a problem exists.

3. People are constantly telling you to relax.

If the same message keeps appearing from friends and acquaintances alike, it might be time to figure out what is behind it. “You need to relax” is slang for “get over it” in today’s world. So when we hear it over and over again, we are probably holding onto something we need to let go of.

4. You are jealous of other people’s successes.

Jealousy is a sign of discontent with our life and has nothing to do with the other person’s accomplishment. It is hard to be happy for other people’s successes when we are feeling stuck in our life. It is time to ask ourselves what is the jealousy telling us.

5. You wake up tired.

Waking up tired is a sign of discontent, not necessarily with work but with life in general. It is hard to get proper rest with worry and angst in our lives. When we live in a constant state of tiredness, it can signify struggle and strife in our life. It also indicates we are tired of fighting and are ready to admit defeat. Instead of giving up, figure out what you can do to get back on track. Life is meant to be lived happy and happy isn’t tired.

6. You are antsy.

The feeling of the need to do something or go somewhere is a clear sign that creativity is being stifled, and something must change. The inability to be content and sit still can suggest there is something else you are meant to be doing. If you are antsy, it’s your job to figure out what your body is telling you.

7. You gossip.

Gossiping is a way of deflecting the work we need to do in our lives to someone else. It is avoidance at its best. When we find ourselves gossiping, it is important to ask what we are avoiding in our life and then realize that facing it is the best thing we can do.

8. Everyone seems to annoy you.

Having a hard time living by the “don’t sweat the small stuff” motto might indicate some extra angst and negativity around. Nitpicking and always finding something wrong with what everyone is doing is a hint that there are some underlying issues. The issues can be anything but it usually indicates an unhappiness with your life somehow.

9. You have a constant sense of foreboding.

Waiting for something bad to happen will eventually lead to something bad actually happening. The other shoe doesn’t always have to drop and to know that can go a long way. Stop the worry and the predictions and start focusing on what you are doing right now.

10. You keep thinking, “there has to be something more than this.”

Thinking there is something more or something bigger usually means there are new opportunities on the horizon. Be open to the things that are stirring up the passion and creativity and follow them. The destination will most likely be exactly what you need.
Deciding to make changes can be immediate but the change itself doesn’t always happen that fast. Don’t let that stop you from moving forward. Even the smallest of steps can help reduce the negative feelings and keep the motivation for change high.
The important thing is to do something right now, because your only options are to embrace change or accept things as they are.
Either way, it is important for us to pay attention to how we feel and do more of what makes us feel good.
“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ~ Joseph Campbell

6 Things That Happen When You Fall In Love

People say that love is a drug, and your body might agree when you understand what happens to your body when you fall in love. There are a lot of physiological changes in your mind and body that are normal for someone who is falling in love, but it can feel like you are going through puberty again with all of the chemical and hormonal changes that your body is experiencing.

This Is What Happens When You Fall In Love

You release pheromones

Pheromones are chemicals that have a faintly detectable scent. As a person falling in love, you often feel sexually attracted before you feel true, deep love. That initial spark of attraction is likely due to your inhalation of your partner’s pheromones.
Related article: 5 Things That Make A Woman Beautiful (Besides Her Looks)

Adrenaline

When you fall in love, your body releases a spike in adrenaline. The adrenaline rush gives you that feeling of butterflies in your stomach. This is a similar feeling you get when something ‘just doesn’t feel right.’ That gut feeling is a way for your body to tell you to pay close attention because something important is happening.
Related article: 5 Ways to Strengthen Your Gut Instinct
Obviously, falling in love and getting a gut instinct that something is wrong are very different emotionally. One is a happy emotion and the other one is a fear response. The tingling in your belly is a way for your body to tell you that something is about to change your life, either for the good or the bad.

Hormone level changes

Researchers studied the hormone levels of people who had fallen in love within the last 6 months and compared them to the hormones of people in long-term relationships or those who were single. They found ‘Cortisol levels were significantly higher amongst those subjects who had recently fallen in love, as compared with those who had not. FSH [follicle-stimulating hormone] and testosterone levels were lower in men in love, while women of the same group presented higher testosterone levels.’
The scientists explain that the research on the biological chemistry of falling in love is limited, and that they are unsure why the reverse levels of testosterone happen for men and women falling in love.

You increase serotonin

Your body and your brain undergo chemical changes that cement the new bond of love that you are forming with your partner. These changes happen when you fall in love as an evolutionary tool to help us to reproduce and sustain the population of our human species.


A joint study between the University of Pisa, Italy and the University of California at San Diego looked at the neurotransmitter serotonin and the brains of people who were falling in love. They found that the levels of a serotonin transporter were as high as they were in the brains of patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
No wonder you can’t quit your partner. 5-HT is the serotonin transmitter that you makes you obsessed about your partner. The scientists say that the increase in 5-HT ‘might mediate more enduring and ‘romantic’ forms of love, characterized by ‘obsessive’ pre-occupations about the partner and, consequently, a greater likelihood of bonding and faithfulness to the relationship.’
Related Article: 5 Ways To Increase The Serotonin In Your Brain

You increase your levels of other neurotransmitters

Dopamine and oxytocin are two other neurotransmitters that make you feel good. Oxytocin is such a strong naturally-produced pain-killer that it is given to women during childbirth. Increased levels of oxytocin is one thing that happens to your body when you fall in love. Oxytocin is often called the ‘cuddle hormone’ because it is also produced during intimate snuggle time.
Dopamine levels also increase when you fall in love. Dopamine is like a happy drug for your brain and it makes you want more of the good stuff. To get more dopamine, you want more love from your partner.

Your heart rate and breathing synchronizes to your partner’s

Does your heart beat only for your true love? That’s entirely possible because researchers at the University of California at Davis say couples who were connected to monitors measuring their heart rates and rates of respiration had heart rates that were in sync. The research also revealed that the couples breathed in and out at the same intervals.
The scientists found that women tended to adjust their heart rate and breathing to match that of their male partners, rather than the other way around. The researchers explain this as similar to the tendency of women to adapt to their partners’ preferences in a relationship and their tendency to have a higher capacity for emotional empathy as well.
The couples were a few feet away from each other and did not touch each other or speak. When couples who are in love have been separated from each other, their heart rates spike when they see each other again.

6 Ways To Turn Off Your Weight Gain Hormones

There are 7 different hormones that have been associated with weight gain, and once you understand how they work in your body, you can turn off their power to make you overweight.
The reasons we gain weight often can seem to be due to what is happening in our lives that cause us stress. Sometimes, even though we watch what we eat and exercise, we feel like our weight gain is out of control.
Let’s look further at 7 ways to work with your body to turn off your weight gain hormones and rediscover the body you were meant to have.

6 Ways to Turn Off Your Weight Gain Hormones

1. Eat plenty of protein

Ghrelin is made in the digestive system, and it is called the hunger hormone because it increases your appetite when your body needs energy to use. Being able to suppress the effects of ghrelin would help us to turn off this weight gain hormone.
Research published in the American Diabetes Association found that ‘Ghrelin administration stimulates GH secretion but also causes weight gain by increasing food intake and reducing fat utilization in rodents.’ The researchers looked at lean and obese people’s levels of this weight hormone. They found that ghrelin was found in lower concentrations in obese people compared to lean people.
To turn off your ghrelin hormone so you won’t gain weight, eat a diet high in protein and avoid high fat foods. Protein helps suppress ghrelin production in the digestive system to keep you from eating more and gaining weight.

2. Remove sugar from your diet

Sugar is sneaky because it shows up in many forms in many foods. Getting rid of it entirely can be a challenge in label reading. However, it may be the best thing you can do to turn off your weight gain hormone insulin.
Insulin is most closely associated with the disease diabetes, which affects millions of people worldwide. The pancreas produces insulin to help digest sugars that you eat. High levels of insulin in your blood can affect your likelihood of weight gain.
Insulin helps glucose to be absorbed by the cells and stored as energy, which is why you can gain weight when you have more sugar in your diet. Storing energy in fat cells is not what you need when you want to turn off weight gain.

3. Eat less dairy

Hormone free dairy products aren’t necessarily a safe means of avoiding extra hormones that can cause weight gain. The dairy industry has been responding to public pressure to provide hormone-free dairy products to consumers, based on research that shows that eating animal hormones may trigger early development in teenage girls and boys.
Nutritional and medical experts have realized that the milk that cows and other animals provide is meant to grow and raise their own young, not humans. Avoid these non-human hormones that can mess with your own.

4. Avoid soy products

Women undergoing menopause experience a natural decrease in the estrogen that their body produces now that they are no longer able to bear children. As a result of the decreased estrogen, body fat increases. Soy products contain phytoestrogen, which can block the human normal estrogen in the body.
Estrogen has a role in the production of leptin. Leptin is one of the most important hormones to turn off weight gain because it regulates satiety. Satiety is how satisfied we feel when we eat. If we don’t feel satisfied or sated, we will continue to eat, even if we don’t actually need to eat.
Researchers studying the role that estrogen has on leptin levels found that ‘In humans, serum leptin concentration was higher in premenopausal women than in men, and in postmenopausal women it was lower than in premenopausal women, but still higher than in men.’
Related article: This Is What Happens When You Drink Wheatgrass Every Day
The same researchers found that in premenopausal women, serum leptin levels were significantly higher in the luteal phase or the later part of their menstrual cycles. This research suggests that increasing estrogen levels through dietary changes could help increase the production of leptin, which can help turn off weight gain.

5. Reduce stress and caffeine intake

The stress hormone cortisol is released when we are frustrated, overwhelmed or feeling stuck. Stress eating is real and people who binge, especially on so called ‘comfort foods’ are likely to be engaging in a destructive pattern of behavior that will lead to weight gain.
Related article: How To Stop Emotional Eating In 3 Steps
Rather than allowing your stress to dictate when you eat, seek to reduce sources of stress in your life to reduce cortisol levels in your body. If work is overwhelming, delegate parts that someone else can handle. If your home life is stressful, sit outside in nature for 5 minutes while breathing deeply to relax and recharge.
Caffeine levels can also increase the level of cortisol that is being released in your body. Turn off the weight gain by reducing your caffeine intake and the hormone cortisol will be reduced as well.

6. Eliminate grains

Grain consumption has been linked to thyroid hormone production being slowed down. Reducing your intake of grains in your diet can help regulate your thyroid hormone levels and turn off weight gain.
The thyroid is one of the most important factors to consider when examining weight gain. Check with your medical professional to have your thyroid levels checked if you suspect that your weight gain is caused by a low-functioning thyroid gland.

Need a Life-Change? 5 Buddhist Quotes that Rock my World.

When I found my way to the teachings of Buddhism, I was tired.

I was tired of my mind and tired of my ego. I was tired of suffering and being alone, even amongst people. I was sick of running, of living in fear of everyone and everything, of judging myself and everyone else. I was oppressed and enslaved by the tyrannical nature of my own ego.

And I was ready for a revolution. Something deep within my soul was calling for change. A voice was speaking that I could no longer ignore.

I was desperate enough to do anything suggested to me to find some peace. My comfort zone was failing me fast, and my life was burning to the ground around me.

I was on a precipice between life and death, and I needed to be rudely awakened.

These are some of the words that b*tch-slapped me in the face early on, and still frequently serve as powerful reminders for me as to how I want to live this existence.

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” ~ Thich Nhât Hańh

The first time I read these words, they hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. I was well into my spiritual journey by this point and had developed a sense of separation from my mind. I had found the place of observer of my thoughts, and I was gaining a lot of insights to my own patterns and behaviors.

When I read these words, I saw it. I saw how over the course of my life this was exactly what I’d been perpetuating. I stayed in suffering for years—the self imposed kind—all because I was too fearful to step into the unknown territory where I might fail.

The moment these words permeated my psyche, I connected with the great Thich Nhât Hańh in a place of love and understanding. The knowledge that this great Buddhist master of loving-kindness and compassion understood how I felt blew my mind. It comforted me in ways which I had never known were possible. These words have become the driving force behind my desire to teach others that nothing grows in a comfort zone.

“The foundation of the Buddha’s teachings lies in compassion, and the reason for practicing the teachings is to wipe out the persistence of ego, the number-one enemy of compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama 

Realizing that ego and compassion cannot be present at the same time was and continues to be an eye-opener for me. Like I mentioned earlier, I was sick of myself and sick of being lonely and judgmental. Realizing all of these feelings were being fueled by an overgrown ego opened my eyes to the possibility of another way of living. Studying and practicing new behaviors, which were contrary to ego, was a path I had never known was available to me.

In the beginning, I had to practice hard, and it was extremely uncomfortable. Compassion didn’t come naturally to me after the years of dark suffering which built up defensive walls of ego around my soft inner nature. I had to work at uncovering my inherent compassion which was buried under years of egoic bitterness. And now, having uncovered my goldmine of compassion, I can tell you this: It’s a hell of a lot nicer place to live than a world distorted by ego. 

“Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” ~ Pema Chödrön

For me, this was, and remains, a straightforward reminder that I never have to be perfect. I just have to be present. I spent a long time in the prison of perfectionism, where I was ashamed of mistakes and flaws for fear of being unlovable. This belief causes much suffering because it forces us to deny and repress our own darkness. When we focus on others, and we only choose to see what we want to see, it is very easy to convince ourselves that everyone else has it all figured out. It seems as though they don’t struggle, they don’t have bad habits, and they have no darkness. This is false. It’s more nonsense created by the ego-mind, and perpetuated by society, to keep us disconnected.

It was when I faced my own demons, which I had been avoiding my whole life, and stared them in the face, that I realized the truth of the matter—without darkness light cannot exist, so if I want to celebrate my own inner light I must also accept with love and compassion my own inner darkness. With this acceptance naturally comes a connection with, and compassion for, others in their own darkness.

“The ego’s root feeling is that if I do not hold myself together there will be a falling apart into something chaotic and difficult. So there is anxiety, an energetic anxiety which is located in the body, in the whole energetic system of the body and interpersonal turbulence reminds us again and again ‘If I don’t keep it together, I will get in trouble’.” ~ Dalai Lama 

Once again, as I read these words, I was overcome with the feeling of deep connection. I felt as though His Holiness was reading my mind, as though he was peering inside me, into the deepest parts of me, where I was constantly telling myself I must keep it together, or else. My upbringing perpetuated this false belief in that crying and meltdowns were not really tolerated in our house—keep it together, or else. There wasn’t a ton of emotional expression either. So my ego ran wild with the thought that “I must keep it together, or I will not be loved. I must have all the answers. I must not look weak.“

I lived under this idea for decades, which caused me so much pain and suffering, and I didn’t know any of it was self-inflicted. I was incapable of vulnerability due to this belief. Recognizing this as a universal trait of the ego has ushered me down the path of emotional freedom, to where I have found strength in vulnerability. Free from ego I now celebrate and embrace the messiness of our human experience.

“To end the bizarre tyranny of ego is why we take the spiritual path, but the resourcefulness of ego is almost infinite, and it can at every stage sabotage and pervert our desire to be free of it. The truth is simple, and the teachings are extremely clear; but I have seen again and again, with great sadness, that as soon as they begin to touch and move us, ego tries to complicate them, because it knows it is fundamentally threatened.”  ~ Sogyal Rinpoche 

To end the bizarre tyranny of ego?! Yes! That was how I felt as I immersed myself in the teachings of Buddhism and Kriya Yoga. My ego had been tyrannical and I was officially revolting. For me, exploring the writings of these monks and hearing them discuss my problem of ego so freely and nonchalantly was like discovering buried treasure. I was like a kid in a candy shop reading words such as these. I finally discovered this place and this wisdom which showed me I was not alone in these battles! The tyrannical, destructive ego was not the hideous plague affecting only me as I had previously thought. It was in fact the plague of us all, and it was this realization which provided me with the biggest feeling of unity and relief I had felt in years.

Like Rinpoche says, I see when my ego is trying to complicate the simplistic teachings which I practice to remain free of its tyranny. This is a skill only honed through meditation practice and mindfulness. Practice keeps this skill sharp, thus I remain free. It’s now a game to me, a challenge to my competitive nature, to stay one step ahead of the skulking of my ego. I treat my ego as I would a wayward child who has just learned the art of manipulation. I embrace it with love, tolerance, humor, and compassion. Sometimes I entertain its whims, but deep down I know it’s always waiting to again gain the upper hand over my peace.

I do hope these words will be of benefit to you, dear readers, and I hope they find their way to those who need them, as they found their way to me when I needed them most.

Wherever you are, whatever you are dealing with, fear not. Take solace in the truth that you are never alone. The collective nature of all living beings is waiting for you to uncover your own inherent connection with all. It might be buried just under your ego, over there in the corner where the little voice in your mind is saying, “don’t look here.”

That’s exactly where you should look.

8 Secret Habits of Highly Successful People (That Most People Don’t Know About)

A lot has been written in the past about habits of highly successful people. But beside the obvious, there are secret habits highly successful people have which most people don’t really know about. Though very busy for instance, the president of the United States finds time to play golf, while many working dads hardly find time for a family dinner.
Similarly, there are many things these people do habitually to achieve more in little time. And somehow they are able to also maintain a healthy balance in their health and family life. Let’s take a look at some of these below:

1. They are Early To Rise and Early To Plan

The early morning hours are what I call, ‘think time’. Successful people know this, and they maximize it. For instance, they never check their emails first thing in the morning. This is the reason they don’t have hassled days nor do they appear rushed.
To be successful, take a while to think, plan, meditate and pray early in the morning. This way you start your day with a clear picture of what the day will look like. Keep it reasonably flexible, but keep it clear.

2. They Prioritize and Schedule their Work

Deadlines have a way of sifting your work and separating the trivial from the essential. Having deadlines set for each task has a way of reducing the lull in your brain when you consider all you have to do and helps you focus on a task per time.
Successful people understand this and they always work with schedules.
To practice this habit, you need to start prioritizing properly by asking yourself, “If I had just a year left to live, will I be spending time on the things I am doing today?” It works every time.

3. They find the Balance between Hard Work and Too Much Work

Work doesn’t get done if nobody is doing it. And if you have got a lot of work to do, it stands to reason that you have to work a lot.
Working hard is good. It is necessary for successful people to push themselves and to learn to cope with a little stress and discomfort. A little stress is necessary for peak productivity so long as it doesn’t become “distress”. Finding the balance is a function of our body systems and capability. Successful people understand this. They work hard, but they don’t do it to the point of breaking down.

4. They take Effective Breaks throughout the Day

One of the typical mistakes many people make when faced with a rather daunting volume of work is to push back their recess times till there is nowhere else to push it to. A survey has shown that employees who tend to take 17 minutes of break time for every 52 minutes of work are more productive.
Our minds ability to focus on a task is like a muscle. It wanes with time and constant exertion. What this means is that the longer we focus on a task without a break, the less we achieve.
Taking a break is one thing, but making it effective is a whole other story.
Most successful people make it a habit to do something different that doesn’t remind them of work during their breaks. They don’t spend their free time immersed in work. Richard Branson’s favorite sport for instance is kite boarding.
So, take a break before you break down. Take a walk, jog, go see some nature, grab a coffee or some chocolate. Watch a funny video or catch up with an episode of a movie if your break can take it.

5. They use Stress Deflectors

For many people, some soft music in the background of the working environment is all they need to overcome any volume of work and still not be stressed. For others, productivity comes to its peak when they work in a natural environment, like a garden. And when they can’t go all out to embrace nature, they put flowers and green plants in their offices or get a fish pond.
Do the same thing. Find out what helps you deflect stress and maximize it for success. This may be all you need to help you work better and achieve a lot more.

6. They Delegate and Team up

When you have done all you humanly can, you can only achieve a fixed amount. The simple reason is because you are human. To be successful usually means achieving an amazing lot in little time and this requires some insight into the art of teamwork.
Successful people are people that trust others to do what they cannot afford to do themselves. They pay people to do what they cannot do and they work with people who know what they do not know.
Bill Gates, doesn’t know a quarter of all the technical and administrative stuff that goes on in Microsoft. And he doesn’t do a lot too, he simply delegates effectively. He doesn’t have to know so much. He just has to know what he has to know.

7. They take Virtual Vacations and Lots of Sleep

Most successful people understand that it is necessary to have productive nights, if you are going to have productive days. And the productivity of your night is measured by how much sleep you get at night, seeing as the night is meant for mainly that.
It also helps to make sure that your sleeping time and the early hours of the morning coincide with a virtual vacation and a technology free period. Turn off your phone, no beeps from IM’s or emails.
This way you can actually rest while sleeping.

8. They are disciplined

Self-discipline is one of the qualities that greatly differentiates successful people from most other people. Success requires discipline and applying these tips will bring success. So you might want to explore ways of building your discipline levels.
Success doesn’t fall on people…generally success is cultivated. Do your best to cultivate these habits too. I hope you enjoy the process.

Why Sleep Deprivation is So. Not. Sexy.

Why Sleep Deprivation is So. Not. Sexy. (& 10 Ways to Tell if You Need More Sleep)

I started an early-morning wake up resolution this year, for 15 days.

Normally, I’m a hard-core night-owl and late riser (I am not going to tell you what qualifies as an early morning for me). The thing is, I’m a night person for work reasons, not party reasons. I’m a writer and my brain works better at night. Right now, for example, I’m writing this at 9:15 pm, and I’ll have to wrap up soon so I can squeeze in enough sleep before my self-inflicted early wake-up call.
I’m only about 10 days into this experiment, and, alas, I am seriously sleep deprived. I’ve been going to bed at a decent hour, and getting almost enough sleep, but apparently almost is not good enough. Throughout this process, I’ve been tracking all the weirdness that sleep deprivation has brought into my life, and it’s pretty fascinating.
These are the top 10 ways I can tell when I’m sleep deprived:

1) Absent-mindedness.
I was nearly late to an important meeting recently, because I left my house and drove entirely in the wrong direction. Since I live on a mountain, this required me to backtrack and go all the way back up and then down the other way, just barely making my meeting. I also caught myself leaving the oven on for way too long (an expensive and potentially dangerous mistake).

2) Eating crap food.
When I’m exhausted I find myself eating crap food. I figured out that this is because I’m too tired to cook (something I normally enjoy), so I end up heating Trader Joe’s pizzas in the oven (and leaving the oven on afterwards). Not that I have anything against the occasional frozen pizza, but I found myself mindlessly going through the motions and stuffing my face every night.
I checked out some “signs that you are sleep deprived” articles online, and sure enough, weight gain is on the list.

3) Dehydration.
I normally drink tea in the late morning, and then go about my writing. When I’m exhausted, however, I slam coffee. I’m also more likely to want wine in the evening to wind down and numb the general pain that is sleep deprivation, so I crowd out my normal water intake with other liquids.
Yuck.
Oh yeah, and I could see the (unfortunate) difference in my skin. Not. Sexy.

4) Moodiness.
This one is pretty obvious. I am not a happy camper when I’m sleep deprived. Physiologically the whole thing is no fun. And practically speaking, I’m pissed because I’m not as effective at work, I’m making stupid mistakes, and I’m taking on bad habits (see coffee and eating crap above). My body is also probably pumping out stress hormones as well, contributing to weight gain (thank god I’m only doing this for 15 days). And in general, my emotions are all over the place. Raging b*tch lunatic = definitely not sexy.

5) Spending more money.
Oh yeah, and I’m also cranky because I’m spending more money. When I’m too tired to cook, or even heat up pizza or make my own coffee, I buy stuff to eat and drink. Which is expensive. And, small, absent-minded mistakes, like forgetting to pay for a parking meter, can add up. Even worse, huge mistakes, like being late to an important meeting or having a car accident, can be disastrous both personally and financially.

6) Too tired to exercise.
I love my yoga practice. It’s a treat for me, and not something I have to drag myself to normally. But when I’m overly tired, I just want a glass of wine. And I want to watch TV, which I never do. My brain can’t even handle audiobooks. Which all probably leads to weight gain, because I’m eating crap at the same time. Last week, though, an Ashtanga yoga practice and meditation were parts of my commitment.
Unfortunately, because of the inner rage that sleep deprivation inspires in me, I dragged my butt through practice, hating every minute. Miserable. Torture. No fun at all.

7) Too tired to floss.
Ha! Gross!! I actually took a couple of huge naps recently, which is why I’m lucid enough to write this, but last week I was literally too tired to floss. It’s a 30 second exercise that I do every day without thinking. But as a sleep-deprived zombie, I just could not.
Talk about being expensive long-term. Dental health problems and health problems in general are expensive problems to have.

Why Sleep Deprivation is So. Not. Sexy. (& 10 Ways to Tell if You Need More Sleep)

I started an early-morning wake up resolution this year, for 15 days.

Normally, I’m a hard-core night-owl and late riser (I am not going to tell you what qualifies as an early morning for me). The thing is, I’m a night person for work reasons, not party reasons. I’m a writer and my brain works better at night. Right now, for example, I’m writing this at 9:15 pm, and I’ll have to wrap up soon so I can squeeze in enough sleep before my self-inflicted early wake-up call.
I’m only about 10 days into this experiment, and, alas, I am seriously sleep deprived. I’ve been going to bed at a decent hour, and getting almost enough sleep, but apparently almost is not good enough. Throughout this process, I’ve been tracking all the weirdness that sleep deprivation has brought into my life, and it’s pretty fascinating.
These are the top 10 ways I can tell when I’m sleep deprived:

1) Absent-mindedness.
I was nearly late to an important meeting recently, because I left my house and drove entirely in the wrong direction. Since I live on a mountain, this required me to backtrack and go all the way back up and then down the other way, just barely making my meeting. I also caught myself leaving the oven on for way too long (an expensive and potentially dangerous mistake).

2) Eating crap food.
When I’m exhausted I find myself eating crap food. I figured out that this is because I’m too tired to cook (something I normally enjoy), so I end up heating Trader Joe’s pizzas in the oven (and leaving the oven on afterwards). Not that I have anything against the occasional frozen pizza, but I found myself mindlessly going through the motions and stuffing my face every night.
I checked out some “signs that you are sleep deprived” articles online, and sure enough, weight gain is on the list.

Why Sleep Deprivation is So. Not. Sexy. (& 10 Ways to Tell if You Need More Sleep)

Via Erin McMorrow on Feb 14, 2016

I started an early-morning wake up resolution this year, for 15 days.

Normally, I’m a hard-core night-owl and late riser (I am not going to tell you what qualifies as an early morning for me). The thing is, I’m a night person for work reasons, not party reasons. I’m a writer and my brain works better at night. Right now, for example, I’m writing this at 9:15 pm, and I’ll have to wrap up soon so I can squeeze in enough sleep before my self-inflicted early wake-up call.
I’m only about 10 days into this experiment, and, alas, I am seriously sleep deprived. I’ve been going to bed at a decent hour, and getting almost enough sleep, but apparently almost is not good enough. Throughout this process, I’ve been tracking all the weirdness that sleep deprivation has brought into my life, and it’s pretty fascinating.
These are the top 10 ways I can tell when I’m sleep deprived:


1) Absent-mindedness.
I was nearly late to an important meeting recently, because I left my house and drove entirely in the wrong direction. Since I live on a mountain, this required me to backtrack and go all the way back up and then down the other way, just barely making my meeting. I also caught myself leaving the oven on for way too long (an expensive and potentially dangerous mistake).

2) Eating crap food.
When I’m exhausted I find myself eating crap food. I figured out that this is because I’m too tired to cook (something I normally enjoy), so I end up heating Trader Joe’s pizzas in the oven (and leaving the oven on afterwards). Not that I have anything against the occasional frozen pizza, but I found myself mindlessly going through the motions and stuffing my face every night.
I checked out some “signs that you are sleep deprived” articles online, and sure enough, weight gain is on the list.

3) Dehydration.
I normally drink tea in the late morning, and then go about my writing. When I’m exhausted, however, I slam coffee. I’m also more likely to want wine in the evening to wind down and numb the general pain that is sleep deprivation, so I crowd out my normal water intake with other liquids.
Yuck.
Oh yeah, and I could see the (unfortunate) difference in my skin. Not. Sexy.

4) Moodiness.
This one is pretty obvious. I am not a happy camper when I’m sleep deprived. Physiologically the whole thing is no fun. And practically speaking, I’m pissed because I’m not as effective at work, I’m making stupid mistakes, and I’m taking on bad habits (see coffee and eating crap above). My body is also probably pumping out stress hormones as well, contributing to weight gain (thank god I’m only doing this for 15 days). And in general, my emotions are all over the place. Raging b*tch lunatic = definitely not sexy.

5) Spending more money.
Oh yeah, and I’m also cranky because I’m spending more money. When I’m too tired to cook, or even heat up pizza or make my own coffee, I buy stuff to eat and drink. Which is expensive. And, small, absent-minded mistakes, like forgetting to pay for a parking meter, can add up. Even worse, huge mistakes, like being late to an important meeting or having a car accident, can be disastrous both personally and financially.

6) Too tired to exercise.
I love my yoga practice. It’s a treat for me, and not something I have to drag myself to normally. But when I’m overly tired, I just want a glass of wine. And I want to watch TV, which I never do. My brain can’t even handle audiobooks. Which all probably leads to weight gain, because I’m eating crap at the same time. Last week, though, an Ashtanga yoga practice and meditation were parts of my commitment.
Unfortunately, because of the inner rage that sleep deprivation inspires in me, I dragged my butt through practice, hating every minute. Miserable. Torture. No fun at all.

7) Too tired to floss.
Ha! Gross!! I actually took a couple of huge naps recently, which is why I’m lucid enough to write this, but last week I was literally too tired to floss. It’s a 30 second exercise that I do every day without thinking. But as a sleep-deprived zombie, I just could not.
Talk about being expensive long-term. Dental health problems and health problems in general are expensive problems to have.

8) Wasting time.
I mentioned watching TV earlier. I’d also find myself tumbling down the social media black hole way more often, and for longer periods of time. Probably while eating crap, drinking dehydrating liquids, not exercising, being grumpy, and certainly not working to earn money. Not pretty.

9) Accidents and injuries.
I mentioned leaving the oven on. Not cool. And expensive. I also hit my head the other day. In my own house. On a low beam that I manage to not run into every single non-sleep deprived day of my life. So uncool.

10) Insomnia.
Now this is a weird one. And let me tell you, it made me even more furious (see moodiness). When I am less effective during the day, and I can’t get my sh*t together, I am constantly behind the ball. I’d find myself unsatisfied with my day, thinking about things I had to do the next day, and stressing.
Normally, I go to bed satisfied and tired in a good way from a full day of productivity, or intentional rest, or some kind of general goodness. But last week, no. I was at that point where babies get if they stay up too long. They are literally too tired to sleep somehow. And they are pissed. Add a bunch of new worries about money and poor health, and this is a downward spiral, baby.
~
If any of this sounds familiar, you might be sleep deprived. What I found so fascinating about the whole thing was that all of these negative effects are totally linked together. Just like there are negative and positive feedback loops in nature, there seem to be similar patterns in life. Pull the thread of something that holds everything together, like sleep, and the whole sweater comes apart.
Get something simple like sleep right, and suddenly a lot of other things fall into place.
I know that we’ve developed a cult of busyness and a cult of toughness and all sorts of judgments around how basic self-care is somehow “weak.” However, I am of the opinion that walking around like a moody zombie, trying to perform in a fog, and then collapsing into crappy and food and drink and making exercise the enemy is probably not the way to go. It’s certainly not for me.
For those of us who think we simply don’t have time, let’s look at our priorities. If money, mental focus, exercise, safety, wellness, emotional stability, and feeling decent are on our list above sleep, as in, “I have to work, exercise, make money, and take care of things, I don’t have time to sleep! Sleep is for sissies and lazy people!” perhaps we have good reason to reassess. Once we see that all of these are connected, it makes sense to move some things around.
Perhaps try the opposite experiment from mine: 15 days of enough sleep, no excuses, no renegotiations. I’d love to hear what you find!

5 Things French Women Already Know About Sex and Seduction.

Is it just me or are French women a knowledgeable bunch? For instance, how about the following accomplishments:

How to eat rich food without gaining an ounce.
How to look glamorous when shopping for bread.
How to raise children who eat all their dinner.
How to make a four hundred square foot apartment look like the queen’s quarters.

Seriously, what the f*ck? Impressive, and they do it with such aplomb. But there is one more thing that French women are good at: sex and seduction.
My personal theory, for what it’s worth, is that the French have centuries of mastering indulgence behind them. They’re not afraid of the wicked, the sensual, the provocative, the delicious. Mainly, they’re artists of their own lives. And they’re not going to be stingy about what makes their soul sing.
While the rest of us are struggling with being polite, conservative and proper, the French assume that life is for living, not regretting.
I envy that. The desire to live in technicolor and in the moment has been a rewarding quest of mine, and I have stolen a page or two from French culture.
But let’s get to the nitty gritty. What do French women know about sex and seduction?
Comfortable in Their Own Skin.
My first encounter with a truly spectacular French woman was when I was in elementary school. She was my French language teacher. Parisian. I was also fresh to Canada from Europe, and I instantly warmed to her free-spirited energy. She was always dressed in something that suited her to perfection. She laughed from the heart. She was alive!
Even in her everyday role as our educator, she managed to seduce us all into learning French by being comfortable in her own skin. Her comfort was clearly evident in her movements, in the way she commanded space. Quite by accident, we all learned the French philosophy of ‘bien dans sa peau’: well in your own skin.
One day in class, when most of us were fidgeting and agonizing over some lesson, she stopped what she was doing at the blackboard and said in her adorable accent, “Why don’t you just relax? Get comfortable in your skin?”
I was old enough to understand that this was the charm she exuded, and to make a mental note for my adult self. Lesson one in seduction learned!
Seduction is almost always a word that’s used in association with sex. But actually, we use seduction unwittingly throughout our whole lives. It is part of every relationship and does not have to be sexual in nature.
I found out later that being at ease in one’s own skin puts a lover at ease. It is a very attractive quality in either women or men. Being at ease leaves us open. Openness and vulnerability are uber sexy. It allows for a lover to fall into us spiritually and emotionally long before they enter us physically.
Bien dans sa peau is a way to shed resistance to situations and simply flow. It will show in your smile, in your body language, in the way you approach your lover. And I can guarantee it will be appreciated.

Confidence.
Confidence is one of those tricky things that I think falls under the heading of fake it till you make it. A French girlfriend I once had explained this to me when I asked her how she managed to be so maddeningly confident while I fumbled around being shy and coy.
“Don’t be stuuupid!” she said. The word stupid is quite charming en-robed in a French accent, by the way. “I’m not always confident, I just tell myself that I am. And other times I really am confident. No one can tell the difference anyway,” she said with a wave of her hand.
I’m telling you, she pretty much drove me out of my mind in all her faux confidence.
I decided to try it out on boys, I mean, who knew, maybe they could tell the difference? No! They couldn’t tell the difference.
I worked on confidence until I was more aware of who I was and truly understood that confidence in bed is not about how much you know and more about self-belief. Practicing my friend’s theory, I noticed that my own confidence somehow rubbed off on my lover, which was good for me.
Throw all insecurity to the wind, tell yourself that you’ve got this covered; add that confident glimmer to your eye! What your mind believes your body will exude, and with some delicious practice, sex and seduction will be another life skill you excel at.

Sex Is About Freedom.
Would you agree that we’ve been sexually repressed for far too long?
I was raised to fear sex. It was all bad, no matter how you looked at it. Most conversations about sex with adults (the precious few that were had) centered on sin, pregnancy and disease. As an unknowledgeable teenager and later a curious adult, I found this incredibly limiting. I’ve always been very aware of my sexuality and being surrounded by puritanical adults only made me want to explore more.
Better for me, I think, would have been a healthy balance of honest information to keep me safe, with access to information about what is beautiful about sexuality.
Thank goodness for my voracious reading habit. The library had an erotica section that served as a foundation for my sexual education. Here I discovered Anais Nin, D.H. Lawrence, Sappho, Xaviera Hollander, and especially Emmanuelle by Emmanuelle Arsan. Oh la la!
Reading Emmanuelle led me to a continued love affair with French culture in general. My mind was opened to a completely different view of sex and seduction. Sex to the French, as I understood it, was an exploration of a fundamental human drive, like hunger, or love or thirst.
Nothing to feel guilty about. It wasn’t bad or good as such, it just was. There was nothing mindful in the way sex had been explained to me as a young adult. I find the French philosophy both freeing and empowering.
Equipped with the right information and a positive attitude towards sex, I believe that we can offer a sensual experience to a lover. It can only add to the confidence and ‘bien dans sa peau’ we’re already practicing.

Seduction Is Another Word for Appetizer.
Someone once told me that sex was never as good as the seduction before-hand. She wasn’t French. While I agree that seduction is a sweet part of life, I think she may have been having unfulfilling sex. Sex, or love making, should be like the decadent cream on top of a bowl full of sun ripened berries; both equally satisfying, although much different in taste and texture.
The moments, hours or days of seductive innuendos and sensual kisses that precede sex are what make it a sizzling encounter. Like heating a pan before introducing food to it, seduction opens our minds and bodies to touch.
That French girlfriend who taught me about confidence also taught me that waiting for something that our mind has already accepted as a possible treat is the only form of torture we should indulge in. Instant gratification, she said, is uncivilized.
She invited me to dinner to demonstrate her point. First she told me about what I would be allowed to eat when we got there. Of course she knew my preferences. That was days before the meal. No amount of begging to shorten the wait worked. Then daily calls about how it would taste, what spices would be used, how it would look. Then what she would wear, what she wanted me to wear. By this point I wasn’t sure what we were talking about…would there be only food?
The meal was preceded by wine and appetizers. “Seduction is the appetizer,” she told me. “Don’t ever forget it, or the meal will be just something to fill yourself on, not an experience, not a merging of energies between lovers, soulless.” All this information between feeding me the appetizers by hand.
There was no way in hell that I was going to forget that lesson!

Joie de Vivre!
Last but not least, I have learned from French women that life is to be lived joyfully. Whatever you do, do it with zest, life is short. But especially, offer sex, love and seduction from this place of joyfulness. The experience will be transformational. It’s the difference between eating a dry crust of bread and a warm, flaky croissant. And you’ll be sharing the best of yourself with your lover.
~