health and wellness

How Poor Are We?

One day a father and his rich family took his son to a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night in the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“Very good Dad!” replied his son.

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Yeah!”

“And what did you learn?”

The son answered, “I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, they have a whole horizon.” When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless.

His son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are!”

Our outlook on life depends on the way you look at things. What others may think as riches, others may want.

The most important things in life are your friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life. If you have these then you have something!

What Is Yoga?

To understand yoga, one must first realize that it is a sort of journey, if you will, as it is not a quick fix at all. In fact, it requires one to develop discipline, and there is hard work involved especially for beginners. The word yoga means “union” in Sanskrit - a language of ancient India where yoga originated well over 3000 years ago, and it is considered to be the oldest physical discipline in existence. Yoga, is a spiritual practice or discipline that helps the individual to unify ones body, mind, and soul. Yoga can be more accurately referenced to its Sanskrit word “asana”.  Asana, however, is only one part of the eight limbs of yoga.

Many people mistakenly think that yoga is just stretching. While stretching is certainly involved, yoga focuses on harmony between mind, body, and self-enlightenment which is attained through poses, breathing, postural alignment, relaxation and meditation in order to establish wellness, happiness, and a balanced approach to every area of life. If you stay with yoga long enough, you can discover a “spiritual awakening” or better put, “enlightenment”. You will find out that who you are, is not just a body, and not just the conversations in your mind. Yoga will open windows to things you have never experience before as it will take you beyond the mundane survival level and into a whole new appreciation of life.

While there are said to be four main paths (Margas) to yoga, its ultimate aim is to guide you through a spiritual healing or higher experience that it will literally change your life, your thought process, your attitude, your outlook and your awareness. Through steady practice, you will manifest less self-importance, less material attachment, a much higher level of happiness, and will evolve into a less judgemental state. It is the fundamental path in alleviating chronic daily stress, and to which leads to a longer, more meaningful, and healthier journey through life. You will gain profound wisdom and learn how your conscious and unconscious mind can either support or harm you. Ultimately, yoga is about transformation and is studied both on a physical and mental level uniting the individual with the supreme.

The Four Main Paths

• Jnana Marga - The path of Knowledge in which one learns to discriminate between what is real and what is illusory.
•  Karma Marga - The path of selfless work, and emphasizes spiritual practice to help the individual toward union.
• Bhakti Marga - The path of devotion to god, and encompasses chanting, spiritual reading practices, and worship.
• Yoga Marga - The path of control of the mind where all the activities of the mind and consciousness are studied and brought under control.

Others, highly recognized, have come to include the path of yoga and are:

• Raja Yoga - Involves mastery of the mind and senses in Samadhi; essentially the advanced aspects of Patanjali’s astanga yoga.
• Hatha Yoga - The yoga of the will which involves cultivating ones energy to arouse Kundalini primarily by means of asana and pranayama.
• Mantra Yoga - Involves reciting sacred syllables to reach perfection.
• Laya Yoga - Involves absorption in god to experience ultimate bliss.

references:
Sri Swami Rama (2008) The royal path: Practical lessons on yoga. Himalayan Institute Press; New Ed edition.
Zen Buddhism: A History (India and China) By Heinrich Dumoulin, James W. Heisig, Paul F. Knitter

Understanding Our Sticking Points 

We all know how hard it is once we’ve hit a sticking point. It can crush us emotionally and cause us to quit striving toward our fitness goals if we don’t know how to ward it off or move through and around it. This is a crucial point to be aware of, well in advanced, and to understand what to do when it happens. There are many that fall prey to its discouragement, but it is a part of any growth no matter what the arena. Trust me, I have been there, in the dumps, enough times until I finally learned what to do about it, and therefore, I will share with you some important tips to apply in order to have continued success in all your fitness goals.

Why The Sticking Points?

First of all, you must understand the body and how it works, and once you do, you will learn to appreciate the body’s operative mechanism even more. You must first realize that the body always wants to heal itself; it doesn’t want to be sickly, and believe it or not, it is not acting out against you - it merely does what it is told to do. The body is designed, and most happy, to be a fast mean running machine. It’s instincts are for the well being and to its survival based on the principles of our cave man era. Therefore, the body knows by instinct how to protect itself, to preserve itself, and how to heal itself. But the body also knows how to adjust itself to whatever demands, or lack thereof, it is placed under. The body gets use to these shifts very quickly, and thank God! If we were ill, and lay to rest, our body would immediately take over by instinct and begin to repair itself. Likewise, if we exercise or attempt to lose weight, the body will automatically adjust to its new demand and this is GREAT! But here is where the sticking points occur once the body has adjusted itself to this shift, and this is where you come in and use the mind to trick the body into doing whatever you want it to do. So next time you are upset with your body, or discouraged with its performance or outcome, look inside your mind for the answers on how to make the body respond to your demands once again. The body is the most fascinating machine to have ever walked the planet, but it’s the mind that houses its control. Simply put, the body hasn’t a mind and it only works on survival instinct or auto-pilot, if you will.

Don’t Let Sticking Points Rain On Your Parade

Have you ever noticed that when you start working out and making healthful shifts to your diet that your body responds amazingly quick, but then after about a month or so, all of a sudden, everything seems to come to a screeching halt? The scale may change a little or may even go up a pound (water retention) and you may just feel completely out of sync. Whatever you do, DO NOT STOP!! It’s like a child that doesn’t seem to be growing and then over night, literally, he springs up from nowhere. At that very moment, you can just hear their grandparents with such exclamation in their voices, “Oh my Goodness! Charlie’s grown like a weed since the last time I saw him a mere month ago!” What is happening is your body may not appear to be changing on the outside, but it is definitely making the changes inside, and this too is part of the necessary process in order to continue to make outward shifts appear. But what can we do to minimize and speed up these sticking points? A whole lot! So let’s get to it.

Tips On How To Work Through Our Sticking Points

As I have emphasized in the past, it is crucial to log everything in your daily journal. Write down the weights you chose, the reps, sets, rests, and the routine you are following. What you ate and drank etc.

After a month, completely change your entire routine. I could write a hundred ways in how to change a routine while still exercising the exact same body parts. It is endless, but crucial. But one must also understand the importance of what to do during that month on a particular routine: You must change each week using some form of ”progression” technique. This would include, as stated before, a heavier weight load, another set, perhaps more reps, or less rest periods. This is vital to your success, and including one or two of these techniques per week is optimal. Once the month is over and after having used progressive techniques each week during that month’s routine, it is time to change the program entirely, while always remembering, that with any routine, to apply one or all of the progressive techniques each week.

As far as weight loss goes, you also must do the same by shifting calories around often enough for your body to continue to respond. Give yourself a cheat day, or even two; every 10 or 11 days, and watch the weight keep coming off. Keep your body guessing, and it has no other choice but to respond. I hope this helps and good luck!

        -written by Angela Doss

A wonderful message for everyone to reflect on. We should try to do this more often - Sarah Brightman’s voice is majestic as usual.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) play an integral role to our health, but for which our bodies cannot produce. They are as important to us as vitamins and nutrients, and we need to ingest them from outside food sources in order to get them. The two main types of essential fatty acids are Omega-3 (from fish oils and some plant oils) and Omega-6 (from plant oils) while Omega-3 is notorious among Americans being the most deficient in. Some of the effects of its deficiency are the escalating concerns such as arthritis, diabetes, breast cancer, PMS and menopausal symptoms, low-energy levels, fatigue, skin conditions, mood swings and depression.

What Are Essential Fatty Acids?

Essential fatty acids are the “good fats” which helps raise your (High Density Lipoprotein) HDL “good cholesterol” while attacking your (Low Density Lipoprotein) LDL “bad cholesterol” and escorts it to the liver where it is broken down and excreted. Thus, the good fats attack the bad fats, and this is very important in an age when so many Americans are struggling to get their cholesterol down, and fight heart disease and obesity. Most Americans are Omega-3 deficient because of our over-processed diets, and one of the most common symptoms of Omega-3 deficiency is depression, among a host of other mental health problems. Since depression is so common among Americans this is why many people take St. John’s Wort, Prozac, and Ritalin. Many nutritional experts suggest that the deficiency lies in Omega-3.

Essential Fatty Acids For Weight Loss

So who tells you that cutting out fat is better for your health? Listen to this, fat is not your enemy. Essential fatty acids are actually your friend. Besides promoting well being, essential fatty acids make you look healthy by adding luster to brittle hair, strength to cracked nails, and healing to skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema.

If you want to drop those extra pounds and enjoy vibrant health, put an end to your fat phobia and add healthy fats back into your diet. I have seen dramatic and long lasting results in people who were tired of all the weight-loss roller coaster rides. Not only did they feel better with much more energy, they are slimmer as a result.

Omega-3 Fat Zappers

The key to vibrant health and successful weight loss is a balanced and nutritional diet. Below is a list of the best dietary sources for each of the healthy fats. Just remember, when processed or refined, the nutritional benefits of these oils are dramatically compromised. Therefore, high heat, light, and oxygen destroy EFAs, so when consuming food for their EFA content, try to avoid cooked or heated forms. Choose from salmon, mackerel, halibut, sardines, herring, nuts etc. Or supplement with 1 -3 grams of fish oil or flaxseed oil daily.

Omega-3s

• wheat germ oil (bottled or capsules)
• walnuts (raw nuts, bottled oil or capsules)
• pumpkin seeds
• purslane (dark, leafy green used throughout Mediterranean countries)
• flaxseeds or flaxseed oil (mix in your yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese)
• canola oil ( only used unrefined or cold-pressed brands usually found in health food stores)
• Hemp oil (a healthy mixture of both Omega3 and Omega-6)

Omega-6s

• pine nuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds (all raw)
• soybeans and safflower oils
• borage oil and evening primrose oil

Omega-9s

• virgin or extra virgin olive oil (1 -2 tablespoons daily)
• sesame oil (bottled oil)
• avocado (raw or bottled oil)
• peanuts, almonds, pecan, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia (raw nuts)

Food Tips

• Extra virgin oil or grapeseed oil are best to use for your cooking needs, as they withstand high heat well.
• Replace oily snack foods “bad fats” like potato chips and corn chips, with nuts and seeds.
• In many recipes calling for vegetable shortening, replacing the shortening with half as much virgin olive oil, and a very small pinch of extra salt, often yields similar results.
• Adding flaxseed and/or virgin olive oil to salads instead of supermarket salad oil is another healthy change.
• Replace hydrogenated fats (like margarine), cholesterol-based fats (dairy products), and polysaturated fats (common cooking oils) with healthy EFA-based fats whenever possible. For example, instead of margarine on your warm  vegetables, use flaxseed or olive oil with salt. (This tastes similar to margarine, as margarine is just hydrogenated oil and salt.)

Gym Exercise Terms are important to understand whether you will be working out in the gym or at home. Once understood, you will be able to follow almost any routine you are given. Some of the terms you may have heard of before or already know, while others you may not, so let’s cover them:

Exercise- An exercise is a particular movement for a particular muscle or muscle group, designed to create change in muscle growth and to become stronger. As an example; a sit up is an exercise designed to strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles.

Repetition- A repetition (rep for short) is a complete movement of an exercise from start position to mid position, and back to start position. An example of a repetition would be to perform a sit up which starts with lying on your back, then lifting yourself up to your knees, then lowering yourself back down to start position. That is considered one repetition. Usually, you will repeat the rep for a given amount of times to complete and entire set.

Set- A set is a specific number of repetitions performed of a particular exercise without resting. An example of a set would be to preform 20 repetitions of an exercise (like a sit up), without resting until you’ve completed all 20 repetitions. At that point it would be considered one set, and you would then be allowed to take a rest before you completed another set of the specific number of repetitions.

Rest- A rest is a pause between sets or exercises. Rests are important and are used to allow you the time to recover from a set or exercise so that you can continue to complete a full workout. The variance in length of rests also allow for a more challenging or easier workout depending upon your fitness goals. For instance, if you want a more challenging workout, shorter or fewer rests would be desired. If, however, you wanted a less challenging workout, resting longer with more rests would be desired. As you progress, you will want to challenge yourself in various different ways.

Workout- A workout includes all of the exercises that were meant to be performed on a given day. An example of a  workout might be training the lower body one day, and then completing a workout for the upper body on a different day. 

Routine- A routine is a specific combination of exercises and schedule that you will follow for a certain amount of time. An example of a routine would be a circuit training routine that would have you performing specific exercises, that followed a specific schedule each week for a certain amount of time. In order to progress and avoid sticking points, it is important to change your routine every 6 to 8 weeks.

Intensity- Intensity is the degree of difficulty of a workout program. There are numerous ways to establish this. Intensity can be achieved by increasing the number of repetitions, increasing the number of sets, increasing the load of weight, or by reducing the rest periods allowed between sets and between exercises. All of these basic intensity methods should be incorporated into your workouts on a regular basis. Switching around the types of intensity is vital t preventing from reaching a sticking point

Progression- Progression is key to making progress of any kind in your fitness endeavors. Whether it is in losing body fat,  becoming toned, or both; you must challenge yourself more each time in order to see results. An example of this would be if you can easily get through your circuit training routine while still using perfect form, you need to preform your workout using larger weights in order for your body to continue to respond. 

Toning up the back of the arms has always been a focus for women. Below are some wonderful exercises to firm up the triceps muscles in no time flat. Triceps are the large, three-headed muscle that runs along the back of the upper arm (hence, triceps). This is the muscle that starts to sag and jiggle more quickly on a woman after a certain age. No fear, we are here to rescue them once and for all! 

Overhead Triceps Extension -

Start- Stand in front of a mirror in order to achieve perfect form when doing this exercise. Hold a free weight dumbbell with both hands cupped around one end of the dumbbell (as shown), with elbows bent behind your head. 

Exercise- Begin to raise your arms straight up toward the ceiling so that your biceps are touching your ears. Pause and flex the triceps muscles at the top and lower back down to start position. Repeat the movement until you have completed all the repetitions for your set.

Caution- Maintain control of the weight at all times. Exhale as you extend the weight, inhale as you lower the weight.

Tips- Keep your elbow and biceps close to your head at all times, making sure the only movement is coming from the elbow joint. Keep concentration focused on the triceps muscles being worked.

Triceps Dip -

Start- Using a flat bench, place both hands, about four to six inches apart, at edge of the bench with knees bent and feet together on floor (as shown), with arms extended.

Exercise- Slowly lower your body as far down as possible by bending your upper arms, your bottom near the floor level, then lifting back up using your triceps muscles, and returning to start position. Repeat the movement until you have completed all the repetitions for your set.

Caution- Keep elbows in tight, don’t let them travel away from your body. This will ensure that the pressure stays on the triceps muscles where they belong. Do not allow yourself to use your feet to push back up. This is a triceps exercise, not a leg exercise. Exhale as you push up to start position, inhale as you go down.

Tips- This is a very effective exercise, keep concentration focused on the triceps muscles being worked.

Dumbbell Triceps Kickback -

Start- Standing with feet together, knees slightly bent, back parallel to the floor (as shown); hold the dumbbells in each hand at your sides, with palms facing in. Bend your elbows at your sides, while keeping eyes to the floor.

Exercise- Slowly extend your arms with the dumbbells up and out from behind you, making sure to keep your elbows locked tightly at your waist. Pause at the extension and flex the triceps muscles then return to start position. Repeat the movement until you have completed all the repetitions for your set.

Caution- Your elbows should act as a hinge for your wrist-to-elbow area. Simply put, the movement only takes place between the wrist to the elbow. The rest of the arm should always stay stable and locked to your sides. Exhale as you extend the arms, inhale as you return to start position. Keep your back flat and do not allow it to arch. Keep your spine in alignment to your body. Keep abs in tight. Maintain control of the weight, and never swing or jerk the dumbbells back; remember to always be kind to your joints!

Tips- You can perform these one arm at a time if you choose. This may help to alleviate any pressure to the lower back, and can also help to place more concentration on each triceps muscle at a time.

Dumbbell Triceps Skullcrushers -

Start- Either lying down on a flat bench or a stability ball, take a hold of a dumbbell with both hands cupped around one  end of the dumbbell (as shown); with elbows kept in tight, extend the dumbbell over your head, palms facing up. Your forearms and hips should be parallel to the floor, feet shoulder width apart and legs slightly bent.

Exercise- Extend the weight over your head toward the ceiling until your arms are fully extended and the dumbbell is center front of you and arms are perpendicular to the floor. Again, this is an exercise that should be performed within the movement between the wrist-to-elbows. The elbows should never leave its original position. Pause at the top of the movement and flex the triceps muscles. Slowly lower the the weight back to beginning position. Repeat the movement until you have completed all the repetitions for your set.

Caution- Maintain control of the weight never swinging or jerking through the movement. You must always remember to be kind to your joints; this is key. Keep your feet sturdy on the floor to prevent from rocking around. Exhale going up, inhale going down. Keep control of the movement and concentrate on the working muscles. Remember, that the elbows must be kept tight into the body.

Tips- When exercising triceps, you don’t need a lot of weight. Perfect form is much more effective. Once you master the form, you will feel your triceps working.

Elbows In  Push Ups

Start- To begin, one must understand the position in which to create for the triceps to take its central roll during this exercise. These are not that easy to perform since the hands are placed, and almost tucked, under the body while elbows are locked in at the waist. With feet off the ground and knees bent on the floor start with arms close together, and back kept straight.

Exercise- Slowly bend at the elbows and lower yourself to the ground so that your chest almost touches the floor, then drive back up to start position with arms extended fully. Repeat the movement until you have completed all the repetitions for your set.

Caution- Do not lock out your elbows at the top of the movement which may cause a jolt to the joints. Keep the tension on the triceps muscles. This can only work if you keep your hands under your body with elbows tight at the waist. Exhale on the way up, inhale on the way down. Don’t let your back arch. Keep abs in tight.

Tips- As you progress, you can eventually do these on all fours. This is an advanced movement though.

Please be sure to leave any concerns, questions or comments that you may have. I will be more than happy to reply. 

Making Home Made Jewish Matzo Balls have got to be the next best thing when accompanied with your home made chicken soup. I have spent many years among Jewish families, and I can tell you their chicken soup and matzo balls are in a league of their own. I have had the pleasure of traveling abroad, and having spent a considerable amount of time with them in the kitchen, and I am grateful to them for sharing part of their culture with me over the years. From my experiences spent in Israel, to years living in New York City; the best matzo balls are the ones that actually look homemade and not like the ones sold in jars at the grocery stores that are rock hard and perfectly round. No, these are fluffy and beautifully asymmetric in shape, making home the warmest and most comfortable place to soothe the soul.

The traditional way of making these wonderful matzo balls is using schmaltz (chicken fat) which is quite easily attained. Ideas for this, are using the chicken fat that rises to the top of your home made rich chicken stock. This is ideal. You do not have to make matzo balls in the traditional sense, and they can easily be substituted with vegetable oil or melted butter. Nonetheless, the key is in making them fluffy.

Ingredients Used

2 tablespoons of schmaltz (or butter)

5 extra large eggs

1/4 cup of vegetable shortening, softened

1/2 cup of fizzing club soda

2 tsp. of minced parsley

2 tablespoons of minced scallions

2 tsp. of sea salt

1 1/2 cups of matzo meal

ground pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

In a small frying pan over medium heat, melt schmaltz (or butter) and saute scallions for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.  In medium size mixing bowl beat eggs with a fork and then add matzo meal and the remaining ingredients along with the sauteed scallions. Be sure to mix well but gently. Cover bowl and refrigerate for one hour in order to thicken.

Bring an 8 to 10 quart pot of water to a boil. Pour a little vegetable oil on your hands to prevent sticking, and gently form  in golf-size balls, making sure not to squeeze them tightly or form them too smoothly. Remember, these will expand quite a lot during simmer. Once formed, using a slotted spoon, gently submerge them into the boiling water and immediately cover tightly. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes without opening the lid. Try not to peek! Once done, gently remove them from the water and place them center in large soup bowls, and pouring over them, piping hot home made chicken soup. Store the remaining balls in a covered container with some of the water they were cooked in.

Healing with the Angels is an inspirational and insightful way that can help you communicate and receive guidance from your angels within many areas of your life. I have been using Angel cards for four years now, and I often find myself buying them as gifts for loved ones. I am amazed at how useful they are and, most importantly, in their accuracy. Healing With The Angels, Author, Doreen Virtue, holds Ph.D., M.A. and B.A. degrees in counseling psychology and is a clairvoyant psychotherapist and metaphysician teaching people of all religious and nonreligious backgrounds how to hear, see, feel, and know their angels. Doreen has appeared on Oprah, The View, CNN, and Good Morning America and she teaches several ways for giving yourself and others an “angel reading” on an intuitive basis.

Using 44 angel oracle cards, its central focus surrounds healing messages from your angels giving you insight into areas of your life that you are wanting help and guidance with. All cards come with a “card meaning” and include a detailed description for better understanding; allowing one to receive the most from each reading. By simply asking your angels a question, your angel cards can lend you the insight you are seeking. Often if you don’t know how to ask, a simple question might be, “Please show my anything I need to know.” I like to quiet my mind first and surround myself in healing music, candles and incense. Angel Therapy teaches one to read with an open heart, allowing your angels’ messages to guide you in forms such as thought, idea, vision, dream, inner and outer voice or even a smell or taste. Often, your angels will give you signs that will appear in the physical world confirming and validating the messages given to you by your angels. Likewise, angel messages often come as an emotional or physical feeling. When life poses questions, lessons, challenges, or uncertainty, we can learn to work with our spirit guides for guidance.

It is better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all

          - Alfred Lord Tennyson

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.

         - Pearl S. Buck

There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

          - Mother Teresa

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

          - Bill Wilson

True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

          - Jason Jordan

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.

          - David Viscott

Let love be the sweet elixir that awakens your spirit and moves your soul to dance.

          - Unknown

Love is a sign from the heavens that you are here for a reason.

          - J. Ghetto

Perhaps love is the process of my leading you gently back to yourself.

          -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The way you love anything is to realize it might be lost.

          - G.K. Chesterton

The most difficult thing that you can do is to watch the person you love, Love someone else.

          - Unknown

It is better to break one’s heart than to do nothing with it.

          - Margaret Kennedy

If the universe has any purpose more important than topping a woman you love and making a baby with her hearty help, I have never heard of it.

          - Rabert A. Henlein Lazarus Long

Platonic love is like an inactive volcano.

          - Andre Pevost

No disguise can long conceal love where it is, nor feign it where it is not.

          - Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa Incense - Agarbatti Holy Ash 

One of the most wonderful ways to calm, relax and clear the mind is through the healing of Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa incense; an Agarbatti which is a holy ash. In all my days, I have never come across so powerful an incense. With its renowned and almost hypnotic approach, it’s no wonder it is commonly associated for its healing effects. It can easily be explained as having the unique ability to release the mind, body, and soul by making way for ones spiritual healing; and to which becomes extremely affective during meditation. The great Bob Dillon had been known to burn Nag Champa incense during all of his concerts.

Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa incense, the most popular used, is a special blend of natural herbs, resins, flowers and oils, hand-rolled to perfection. Its rich earthy fragrance enhances any environment. While it is mostly used for meditation, it is the quintessential incense that is used world wide in meditation centers, alters and sacred ceremonies. Mostly found in novelty or new age book stores, people from all over the world have used Sai Baba’s incense to reach a higher state of awareness and for other healing purposes.

Sai Baba - Light Master

Today, there are well over 50 to 100 million people that follow the Light Master and Spiritual Healer, Sai Baba. Described as “Godman” and “miracle worker,” Sai Baba believes “There is only one religion - The religion of love,” and states, “There is only one language - the language of the Heart.” “There is only one law - the law of Karma.” “There is only one God - He is Omni-present.” An Indian guru, religious leader, healer, and orator, Sai Baba teaches love and unity of all world religions, and asserts that people who follow him do not need to give up their original religion. Apart from teaching unity and equality of all religions, he places a particular emphasis on the role of women (especially mothers) in society. He has stated that mothers build society and is why he teaches respect for parents, especially for the mother. He states the level of a nation depends on their respect for women.

Life is a challenge, meet it!

Life is a dream, realize it!

Life is a game, play it!

Life is love, enjoy it!

                       - Sathya Sai Baba

There’s nothing quite like home made chicken soup, and the ways to making it are endless. Whether made with or without matzo balls, noodles or rice, one can always count on its goodness of “soup for the soul.” I like to occasionally include good recipes that enhance our quest toward wellness, and this one, by far, remains near the top of any good list no matter what year of the season as it will surely heal and soothe the soul.

In the past, I have written on how to make outstanding home made chicken stock which is vital to any good “soup for the soul.” You can refer back to it as needed. Again, I always make a point in refraining from cooking with commercial-bought stock since I like to control what becomes of my chicken stock and to which I know will be free of high sodium levels, additives and the likes. So to begin, I will list an assortment of ingredients that I use as the basics, and you can feel free to add any from the optional list based on your preferences. Since I love to occasionally switch up the ingredients myself and include a few of the optional ingredients, I too, don’t always make mine the same way every time; but one thing is certain, my rich chicken stock is the core to any way that I do ultimately choose to make it:

Basic Ingredients

• 6 large carrots, washed, peeled and diagonally sliced in 3/4 inch slices
• 5 or 6 quarts  Rich Home Made Chicken Stock
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• White tender poached chicken pieces cut or torn into bite sizes (about 2 or 3 chickens excluding the skin, as described in making the chicken stock recipe; or by using rotisserie chickens from the store)
• 1/4 stick of butter

Optional Ingredients

• 2 or 3 stalks of celery, cleaned, trimmed and diagonally sliced into 1/2 inch slices 
• 1 or 2 parsnips or turnips peeled and diced into cubes or thin slices
• 1/2 cup of thawed or fresh peas
• 1 cup of well-rinsed, trimmed and shredded spinach leaves or cleaned and trimmed scallions cut in 1/2 inch slices
• One of the following: Manischewitz egg noodle flakes, Ditalini pasta, white rice, wild rice, barley, or matzo balls

Cooking Directions

In a 12 or 14 quart stock pot, add stock, once fully defrosted (or your stock- if just made - once the thin layer of fat that rose to the top has been removed), and bring stock to an initial boil and immediately down to a simmer.  

In a 10 inch sauce pan heat to medium and add butter, once melted, add the vegetables of your choice (excluding spinach and scallions for later) and gently saute only until slightly tender, about 7 minutes. Cover and remove from heat.

In a separate large pot, cook the pasta or rice of your choice, drain and set aside.

If using the meat of carefully simmered or poached chickens as described in making home made rich chicken stock, gently remove from heat and allow to cool in order to remove the meat from its bones (reserve the bones for another batch of chicken stock for later use) and add the chicken meat to the simmering stock. If time is a factor, you can use the meat from a rotisserie chicken just the same. Depending upon how much soup you are making, you may want to use 2 to 3 chickens.

Add the sauteed vegetables along with the fresh spinach or scallions, if using, and add that to the simmering stock as well. Continue to simmer gently just until vegetables are perfect to your tender preference and add salt and pepper to taste.

To Serve

In a large soup bowl, add matzo balls, rice or pasta, if using, and ladle out soup, chicken with assorted vegetables, and pour into the bowl over the desired balls, rice or pasta and serve piping hot. This soup freezes well, so I have provided a larger recipe that any left overs can easily be preserved for later dates.

As we continue to move along, we will later address the idea of making homemade matzo balls at its very best!

Achieving your fitness goals is an incredible feat and reaps insurmountable rewards, but there’s no better place to start than in a journal. It is imperative to ones success and writing down and setting detailed goals, both short term and long term, is key. Include in your journal; daily exercise routine, log the reps, sets, and changes made to your routine. Each time you workout, focus on progressively adding more reps than last time, or completing an extra set; perhaps choosing a heavier weight, walking a 1/4 mile longer. Log the changes. Rate its intensity on a scale from 1 to 5, and watch the intensity become easier and easier each time. Log how long it took to complete the workout. This helps in gauging your progress. Give yourself a smiley face, maybe a gold star! Write to yourself and include how proud you are. Tell yourself ‘you can do it.’ Draw a bear hug when you do. Log your daily diet, and in detail write down what’s working and what’s not in order to fine tune your progress. This will help you in reaching your target much more quickly than you would ever imagine. It’s a diary that will become a part of your life and should include your moods, your feelings, your aspirations, your questions, what you ate, what you lost, the happenings in your life during the process, and everything else that comes to mind.

Where Do I Begin In My Journal?

Some very important tips before you begin in your quest to a healthier and more fit lifestyle should be in having someone taking a couple of pictures of yourself - front, and back. Include with them, your beginning body weight and body measurements. Measurements included should be your chest (across areola,) upper arms, waist (across naval,) hips (largest width, usually across and center of buttocks,) and upper thighs ( widest part.) Finding someone to help you with this can make things easier. Additionally, having your body fat measured can also be another good option to consider, and can usually be preformed in a variety of ways at your local gym or doctor’s office. Doing all of this ahead, will serve as an incredible motivator down the road in that you can paste the pictures with beginning date, along with the measured data into your diary to look back on every month or so. You will astound yourself and it will motivate you on your continued journey. Every three months, you should record and include those pictures and measurements too. 

Some Tips To Include In Your Journal

Everyone has different ways to keep motivated and reach success and it is advised to find what works for you. I myself like to keep a space on the right side of my journal just for motivational purposes such as quotes, reminders, scribbled cartoon drawings, or even pictures that I can paste in. Some ideas in using pictures can include someone you admire, a person you look up to or that you find ideal to your fitness goals. Maybe a picture of yourself back in college when you were 20 pounds lighter. Perhaps a picture of the Caribbean island where you’ll be vacationing this summer lying uninhibited in your bathing suit on the beach. A funny cartoon drawing that will make you giggle and keeps your spirits light during the process. Motivational quotes are huge to your success, and keeping a constant vigilance on positive thinking will see you there in no time flat.

Research shows that success rates are greatest when goals are written down front and center. Anthony Robbins, one of the great motivational speakers, says, “If your life is worth living, it’s worth recording.”