Looking at health and the body in a holistic way can start to open up in many multiple and unexpected ways.  The profound realization that all of the body’s systems is nothing less than a reflection of some very old principles, and these principles are at the foundation of a number of spiritual traditions.  It may be news to most drivers to discover that their nankang tires are a demonstration of the principles of desire and attraction, but it’s probably obvious to anyone who has spent time learning about the more vital aspects of nutrition.  The connection is not a new one, either.  Any object that serves as an extension of the body or the mind is a reflection of the body and the mind.  Hair and skin can demonstrate balance, and clothing expresses inner states, and vehicles for locomotion become larger versions of all of these things.  Just as the choice of scents one puts on one’s body can greatly influence mood and thought, the choice of tires on the car will surely influence speed and accuracy.  These subtle enhancements make a very palpable difference, and can even aid in survival.  The internal and the external do come together here in very profound ways, and harmony is always a possibility in any given moment.

Some holistic organizations, like Veritas, have people who are very familiar with car racing on their staff, and the connections between the car and the driver are already radically apparent.  The notion that a body cannot operate efficiently without balance, and a car has a better chance at winning a race with weld racing wheels is already apparent.  For others, the body is always a thing that holds a hundred metaphors, and the connections between machinery and fuel are part of the literature of holistic medicine.  There are also those who take things even further, making a mark in the world of racing by agreeing not to leave a mark in the form of a carbon footprint.  Ecologically-sound racecars sound like something from a very distant future, but there are examples that are already here, and already competing in races in this lifetime.  Everything that adorns a body and marks a vehicle becomes an outward expression of an inward state.  But those things that affect the core systems tie the inner to the outer in a very powerful way, suggesting that things are connected in ways that we still cannot possibly fathom.

Feul and Machines is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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Image by Jason Webb, on SchuminWeb, licensed by Creative Commons on 21 January 2005

     The cost of consuming is climbing. Purchasing medical insurance seems unattainable. Spending grocery funds wisely can save money. How can grocery funds be spent wisely? By not paying full price. Coupons can reduce grocery spending. Taking inventory of the food in stock at home can save money. Planning a weekly menu with simple fare and cooking aids is also easier on the checkbook. Saving money for medical insurance is the mark of a financially-responsible adult. Many adults are able to meet the day-to-day spending needs, but medical insurance requires the ability to pool savings.
    A traditional way to pool savings is to shop when grocery items are on sale. Coupons can reduce grocery bills. Coupons reduce grocery spending if they are limited to nearby stores. It does no good to save twenty cents on a grocery item, when it cost three dollars in gas to drive to that store sale. Take the advertised coupon to the local store. See if the store will match the sale. If a store advertises a coupon match, but does not honor their policy, write a letter or consult someone. Legal information on grocer coupon matching guidelines can be found by contacting a lawyer at this site http://www.swlaw.com. Try to purchase one item on the sale list. Store sales that advertise ten items for ten dollars may also apply that same sale to one item. Search for coupons that compliment home cooking. Often home-cooked meals can be stretched to two meals versus a one-time frozen dinner. Couponing for home-cooked meals is more cost-effective than purchasing frozen dinners, because it requires the consumer to consume items that are already in stock.
    Taking inventory of food items in stock in the home cupboard can reduce grocery spending. Make a weekly grocery list, then go to the store only once a week. Are there leftovers than can be eaten over the weekend, instead of pizza and soda? Only go to the store, once a week, when the inventory is depleted. If the inventory is well-chosen, perhaps grocery shopping can be stretched to every other week. Set a weekly grocery budget that does not accede fifty dollars. Gift cards can be helpful in this regard. Adding the budgeted amount to the gift card or charge card limits overspending. Bring fun and expectations to family meals. Prepare simple, home-cooked meals on specific days of the week. Mondays can be blueberry-lemon pancakes days with lemons from the decorative lemon-fruit tree in the backyard. Turning decorative food items and shelf warmers into delicious meals can save money for that medical insurance plan.
   Cooking at home is mystifying to many families without some practical aid. Investing in cooking aids can save grocery money. Invest in a Julia Child’s cookbook for tastier fare or look online for free recipes. Recipes that include beef substitutes’ fish or ground turkey are healthier and cheaper. Purchase a breadmaker. Baking bread with the ingredients that have been shelf-warmers up to now can save money spent on sandwich bread. Start a vegetable and herb garden, using natural pesticides. Vegetable and fruit co-ops are another good alternative. Investing in cooking aids is a resourceful way to cook on a budget.
    Limiting grocery spending can actually add enjoyment to meal preparation. Before there was no major medical insurance. Now there is a way to achieve medical coverage and the taste of fresh vegetables. Make grocery budgeting a priority.

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The 2010 New York City bicycle racing season started in March in Central Park and will continue over the coming months. Both Central Park and Prospect Park will be the hosts to numerous bike races this year. For those of you coming to New York City to participate in the bike races will need a centrally located hotel to stay, check out this site: for great accommodations.

More bike races will be held at Floyd Bennett Field, two at Kissena: Kissena Road Race and Kissena Velodrome, Grant’s Tomb, Governor’s Island, Bear Mountain State Park (Bear Mountain Spring Classic), and streets all around the city, like the Messenger and Alley Cat bike races or the Skyscraper Harlem Cycling Classic.

Don’t miss the New York’s ‘Five Boro Bike Tour’ , May 2nd, 2010 starting at 6:30am, opening ceremonies at 7:45am and the ride starts at 8am. The ‘Five Boro Bike Tour’ is the largest recreational cycling event in the United States and it happens every year on the first Sunday of May. There is expected to be well over 30,000 riders participating in this 42-mile ride around New York City. The route, which is closed to car traffic, will take riders through all five borough’s of the city, across five major bridges and finally, across New York Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry. This race is the best fun for serious cyclists of all skill sets and is very recommended.

The 2010 ‘Tour de Brooklyn’ happens on June 6th, registration opens May 14th and is a requirement. This will be the events 6th year of the 18 mile family friendly bike tour. It begins and ends in Williamsburg, with only a brief stop in Red Hook Park, where riders will receive a light snack and the opportunity to refill their water bottles (bring your own water bottles). The New York Police Department (NYPD) will escort the tour as a rolling parade. The ride may make a few stops as the NYPD escorts see fit. Be prepared to stop and ride with caution. Riders of all abilities and ages are very welcome to participate. Helmets are required for riders 14 years of age and under, this being in accordance with the New York State helmet law.

Spring Cycling Events in New York City is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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There are many different kinds of benefits you’ll discover from using your new personal spa.  There are immediate physical benefits that include increased circulation, and deeper sleep cycles, and there are also many mental and emotional benefits, too, and some of these of course are very subtle.  But you will get to experience them all, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to find and enhance the benefits that suit you best.  The most difficult part of it can be the selection, but with choosehottubsdirect.com, they make it easy.

Their choices are very wide, and the website is very user-friendly so you can get all the information you need to make a decision you’ll be happy with.  And you can also rest easy, because you’re working with a company where the customer’s needs come first, and their record of service is very high, basing their business reputation on positive word of mouth.  They depend on your satisfaction as much as you can depend on them for excellent service.  This saves you more time and energy so you can focus on your new lifestyle.

Depending on how your metabolism works, and how easy you take to suggestions, can be determining factors in how well certain relaxation techniques will work for you.  It’s certain, however, that you’ll find yourself enjoying more moments of relaxation than ever before when you start spending time in your hot tub.  You’ll have the chance to explore how you best relax, and can start to work with decreasing the time it takes to get to a calm state of being.  The hot tub can put you in the beginning stages of this process, and from there, you’ll soon discover, the deeper you go, the more there is to learn, and the more enjoyable it can be.

Hot Tubs & States of Relaxation is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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I’m an RN and a few years back, I managed to injure my back when I attempted to life a 350 pound patient off the floor. I had to take leave of work while I went through 4 months of physical therapy. I went back to work, but lifting was no longer required, but my back was sill bothering me. I even avoided bending over when ever possible. My husband and I recently moved to San Francisco and I thought this would be a perfect time to purchase and install a hot tub in our big back yard.

I’ve heard about the marvellous benefits that a hot tub provides and I’ve been checking out all the information on the Internet concerning the different types of hot tubs. My husband also suffers from diabetes, and not only will a hot tub benefit me, it apparently does wonders for diabetes type II. After much consideration, I finally went with choosehottubsdirect.com to be the company to provide me all that is necessary to get, install and help me maintain a hot tub.

My back has never felt better! And my husbands neuropathy has been greatly reduced. I also, recently, had foot surgery and my doctor recommended whirlpool therapy, and I told him about my marvelous hot tub and the foot jets, and he said that would be perfect. I didn’t have to be out of pocket for physical therapy or travel to a medical building, because my physical therapy was right in my backyard.

We invited a friend, who has Multiple Sclerosis, to come by and use our hot tub. At first she was leery, she told us her doctor thought it might be too stimulating, but we coaxed her in and adjusted the jets so we could all enjoy the gentle massage, she completely loved the hot tub! When she called us the next morning, she told us she had the best nights sleep ever. We also invited a friend, who has high blood pressure, over to use our hot tub, but he told us that due to his blood pressure, he’s not allowed to use the hot tub. I told him that we keep our temperature at 99 to 100 degrees and that I’m a Registered Nurse and I’ll check his blood pressure before and after he gets in. He agreed to try, once he was in the hot tub, I checked his blood pressure and it actually went down.

Both my friends now come by frequently to use our hot tub. My husband and I use it every night and our health has improved, our lives have improved and the best benefit of all is how happy and relaxed we are ever since we installed our hot tub.

Hot Tubs Offer More Than Just Health Benefits is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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Hot tubs are great for relaxing and for soothing aching muscles, it is important that the temperature is monitored for a tub or a spa that is too hot can become dangerous.  This is one of the most important general rules that new hot tub owners must follow.  For me the hotter the better, but this is not good as when I take a soak that is so hot, I feel a bit light headed when I am stepping out of the hot tub.  I have found it necessary to really stick to the recommended temperature and I always make sure that the thermometer is in working order.

In any home or backyard spa and hot tub, the recommended temperature should not exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit.  To sit in a tub that is hotter than this for an extended period of time will not only cause one to become light headed, but can lead to more serious physical consequences.  And if your children are going to be joining you for a relaxing soak, make sure to lower the temperature just a bit.  Kids have tiny bodies, so they heat up quickly.  Very young or very small children should never spend time in hot tubs.  And for older children, make sure that they never immerse their head under the hot water.

And while it may seem like a great way to ease aches associated with being pregnant, women who are pregnant should really just avoid soaking in a hot tub throughout their pregnancy.  The risks to the fetus from the high temperatures are just too great to take that chance.  Hot tub temperatures are a personal preference for most adults.  It is just necessary to practice common sense and to follow the recommended temperatures.  I have adjusted my own tendency to turn up the heat, and the result is that I can now get out of the tub, refreshed and rejuvenated, but not light headed and dizzy.  It is the perfect compromise.

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Having a hot tub can be a sensational thing, in every sense of the word.  They have a way of rejuvenating all the senses, and make a long and exhausting day melt away in just minutes.  For stress relief, along with many other healthy side effects, portable hot tubs are magnificent aids, and can help you to shift your perspective around.  It’s true that they probably don’t have magical powers, but they do work wonders on the body and soul, and that might be all the magic you need.

Being able to calm a busy mind is an excellent skill to have, and it takes a lifetime to master.  There are many different ways of controlling the mind’s continual chatter, and there are yogi masters and great spiritual leaders of all denominations who speak of how they’ve been trying all their lives to access calmness.  It’s not easy for anyone, then, and this is another reason why the hot tub is a pretty spectacular thing.  When your feet touch the warm water, and your body feels the heat and the motion of the jets, it’s not difficult at that moment to stop thinking, and rather easy to start focusing on the feeling of the water on the body.  It’s its own meditation, in many ways, and can be a very useful tool for further study.

There are, in fact, thousands of guided meditations that come from every spiritual tradition, and it’s not surprising, when we consider how water is viewed in different societies.  It’s a source of clarity, of purity, it speaks to the greater powers and pulls in the universe, and it’s used to wash things until they are transformed.  The essence of water is simply beautiful, and it’s a great beginning point as a subject of contemplation, which can lead to wonderul, calming results to mind and body.

Portable Hot Tubs and Water Meditation is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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Seems more and more I hear about about energy healing all kinds of schools and modalities and then the combinations there of. Some are ancient some more recent but based on ancient practices. The traditional Chinese Medicine system is based on Chi or sometimes written as Qi. This is a universal energy that flows through all things and connects all things together. This chi when flowing properly through the body creates a harmonious body. When the chi’s flow is interrupted in some way then problems occur, tumors grow, swelling occurs, disease takes hold etc. This imbalance in chi can also  create mental and emotional problems for people. Confusion, depression, anxiety, anger and melancholy. It is said that the basis for all disease and problems can be traces to the energetic origins. Sometimes other interventions are necessary along with doing energy work. One of the oldest modes of energy work is acupuncture, needles are placed into energy centers or points in the body thus effecting the flow of chi. The needles are used to increase, decrease and sometimes block the flow of the chi in order to create correct flow in the end. From acupuncture there came acupressure the same principles are applied but need;es are not used, instead fingers are used to apply pressure to the same points needs would be inserted into. Other forms include Riki. A school of energy work from Japan where the practitioner works with their hands to transmit energy to the client. Energy is sent from one hand into the body and received by the other hand. This connecting energy flow between the hands in the body aids in balancing the chi thus creating harmony and health. Many other schools exist where hands are placed on the body, clients are hypnotized, visualization etc. There are schools all over the world and teachers travel from best hotels South Africa to the heights of the Colorado Rockies to transmit their knowledge to willing students. Some people learn shamanic healing, core star, Riki, Tibetan, Thai, Chinese and more. The use of energy and traditional medicines is becoming more accepted. Sometimes the exact reasons for the improvement cannot be identified scientifically but it is cleat the client feels better and sometimes rashes have cleared up, tumors gone away and swelling gone down. It is all mysterious but certainly intriguing and worth a look into.

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One type of therapy in practice among the athletes today that is gain in popularity is cryotherapy.  This combines cryo (which is cooling) with thermo (which is heating) and the physiological changes and effects are quite positive.  When a body is cooled, the muscle and subcutaneous temperature drops, the skin decreases and the blood vessels narrow.  This serves to dull the effects of pain and reduces the swelling that will occur following an injury, as well as reducing any spasms that may also occur.  The heating of the body does just the opposite.  Temperature increases, and the blood flows more quickly, bringing nutrients and oxygen to the area that is in jeopardy.  The similar effect is that heating the body will also decrease the existence of muscle spasms and cramping.  To quickly alternate between the heat and the cooling causes the effect of pumping, increasing the circulation through forced measures.

This kind of therapy has been shown to influence performance on the field, the court or on the stage, in a beneficial manner.  The underwater jets in a hot tub, as in the ones found on choosehottubsdirect.com, provide a massage that has been shown to preserve the power in ones muscles for the next days performance.  Whereas those athletes that simply rested, had a reduction in power that was significantly inferior.  Lactic acid builds after working out or extreme physical activity and is the stuff responsible for sore, stiff muscles.  When the muscles are massaged, this acid does not have a chance to build up.  Again, when the athletes simply sleep or take it easy, the acid builds up and the muscles become tense.  Australian scientists have studied athletes and report that the cry/thermo hydrotherapy following performances, competitions or daily training, provides the athletes with a feeling of freshness mentality and lightness and more relaxed muscle tone.  Similarly the lactic acid is disseminated quickly when one alternates the temperatures in the shower, from hot to cold and back again.

Controlling Muscle Stiffness Through Cryotherapy and Hot Tubs is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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If you are looking for cheap hip surgery, affordable knee surgery, or any other type of surgical procedure, a new multi-million dollar industry has sprung up to help you locate just what you need. Medical Tourism is a business where experts are waiting to help you find the right surgeon with the best credentials as well as the hospital that has the most up-to-date and state-of-the-art equipment for performing your procedure. The agency will help you connect with medical staff, send records, and arrange your flight to the country where your surgery will take place. Countries like Mexico, India, Costa Rica, Hungary, and Thailand are coming to the forefront as alternatives to having a surgery in your home country where costs are soaring high. Patients are finding that this option is excellent as savings can be up to 60%. Additionally, the agency will arrange for you to have a vacation once you are discharged from the hospital, whereby you can explore the area you are in, still saving money in the process. Because many foreign hospitals allow you to have a family member or friend in your room, providing them with a cot or bed, you can travel with someone without having extra hotel costs while you are having your treatment. Afterwards, you have someone to travel with, which is the perfect reward after a hospital stay!

Medical Tourism:  The Way to Go is a post from: Elixirs, Food, Drinks, and More....

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