How To Stay On The Healthy Path Of Vitality

Often, spiritually guided, inspired moments in our lives end up being just…moments. In other words, despite your excellent intentions, you cleanse and then go right back to eating office cupcakes. You work out for a month and then stop moving at all. You plan to cut off a toxic relationship and then, in a moment of weakness, text that person you know is bad for you.

Why? The truth is that living a healthy, miraculous life—with vitality and grace—requires real commitment and a practice. Without it, even your most soul-directed intentions may falter.

The right tools make these moments more of a mindset and allow you to live your good intentions.

1. Practice radical forgiveness.
When we slip up, we often enter a cycle of guilt that sabotages our progress even more. What if you could learn to forgive yourself on the spot? Forgiveness is a choice you make. In an instant, you can shift from self-hatred and attack to self-love and compassion. Your simple decision to choose to forgive yourself will open the floodgates for peace to set in. Next time you judge yourself for falling off the healthy wagon, simply say, “I choose to forgive myself now.” Then relax into that commitment and let forgiveness take over.

2. “When in doubt, play it out.”

It’s easy to forget about the long-term consequences of small choices, especially when temptation (say, a jumbo frosted cupcake) is right in front of you. Instead of summoning every ounce of willpower to resist the urge, remember: When in doubt, play it out. That’s right. Play out the entire story from start to finish. You pick up the cupcake and eat the whole thing; then, in the heat of the moment, you eat another. Fifteen minutes later, you have a sugar headache that stays with you until the following morning when you feel hung over from the cupcake binge.

Whatever the issue, if you take the time to play out the entire scenario, you’ll be able to talk yourself out of making a mistake. The key is to think your way through the whole story. Not just the fun part where you get a sugar high off of the cupcake. Play the story all the way through to the end when you crash and burn. Your honesty and willingness to remember what is real will save you when you want to relapse into old behavior. This tool isn’t just for sugary temptations. Use it whenever you find yourself enchanted by something that ultimately is not good for you.
3. Do you have permission-giving thoughts?

Do you give yourself permission to do things that you know should be out of bounds for you? Whether it’s downing that extra drink, buying that dress on your maxed-out credit card, or eating fast food, giving yourself the go-ahead ultimately leads to bigger failures. Here’s how to flip that logic: Stop giving yourself permission to partake in the negative behavior. If you make a commitment to yourself that you no longer partake in that activity—“I don’t drink”—then you won’t wind up drunk on a Friday night when you wanted to stay sober. Each time you choose not to give yourself permission to do something negative, you make it easier to do something positive. Making good on your good intentions is a miracle.

5 Healthy Habits That Will Actually Change Your Life

Why do most people fail to stick to something challenging, like losing weight or getting in better shape? They don't start small. They immediately go all in.

They change everything, which pretty soon results in not changing anything.

Why going all in never works

The temptation to go all in is understandable. Take losing weight. Losing weight ishard. So we decide the only way to succeed is to adopt a complicated, comprehensive program of diet and exercise that requires significant changes.

And within a day or two at most that comprehensive program starts to feel oppressive. Sticking with every single change starts to feel impossible.

So we start slipping.

First we slip in small ways, like when we're running behind one morning and don't have time to cook egg whites so we gobble a couple of doughnuts in the car. Or our kid has a school event so we can't fit in our evening jog. Or we need to bring work home so we don't have time to stop at the gym.

And soon nothing has changed. We're back where we started. Well, not quite where started--now we also feel bad about ourselves for failing to stick with something we committed to doing.

Sound familiar?

Most comprehensive weight-loss programs work. Most comprehensive fitness programs work. The problem doesn't lie with the programs--the problem lies in the fact those programs require such major changes to our daily activities and lifestyles. It's impossible to make every change overnight. So when you miss a workout or screw up a meal it starts to feel like you're failing completely.

And soon our comprehensive program is in tatters and we think, "If I can't do it all, there's no sense doing any of it."

So we quit.

Here's a better approach. Don't immediately go all in. Don't waste your time adopting the latest trendy diet or the current fitness fad. No matter how incredible the program, go all in and you're incredibly unlikely to stick with it.

Instead, just start with making a few simple changes to your day. You'll lose a little weight, feel a little better, and then find it a lot easier to incorporate a few more healthy habits into your routine.

Building slowly over time will help you create a new lifestyle--in a relatively painless way--that you will be able to stick with.

So for now just make these five changes:

1. Drink a glass of water before every meal.

Everyone needs to drink more water. That's a given. Plus when you drink a glass of water before you eat you'll already feel a little more full and won't be as tempted to eat past the point of hunger.

2. Eat one really healthy meal.

Pick one meal. Just one. Then change what you eat. If it's lunch, eat one portion of protein that fits in the palm of your hand, a vegetable or fruit, and four or five almonds.

I know that's not a lot of food, but it's healthier than what you're eating now and, just as important, it lets you take small steps toward better controlling your portions at every meal.

Other examples: Pack a can of tuna and two apples. Or bring a skinless chicken breast and some cucumbers. Just make sure you prepare it ahead of time--that way you won't have to decide to eat healthy. You just will.

3. Use your lunch to be active.

It doesn't take 30 minutes or an hour to eat. So make your lunch break productive.

Go for a walk. (Better yet, find a walking buddy or do like LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner and have walking meetings.) Or stretch. Or do some push-ups or sit-ups.

It doesn't matter what you do as long as you do something. You'll burn a few calories, burn off some stress, and feel better when you climb back into the work saddle.

And you'll start to make fitness a part of your daily lifestyle without having to add to your already busy schedule.

4. Eat one meal-replacement bar.

OK, so most protein bars taste like flavored sawdust. But most are also nutritious and low in calories, and they make it easy to stave off the midafternoon hunger pangs you'll inevitably feel after having eaten, say, a light lunch.

Don't get too hung up on nutritional values; just pick a bar that includes 10 or 15 grams of protein (think protein bar, not energy bar) and you'll be fine.

Eating a midmorning or midafternoon meal replacement bar doesn't just bridge the gap between meals; it's an easy way to get in the habit of eating smaller meals more frequently, another habit you'll eventually want to adopt.

And, finally, a bonus habit to toss in once a week:

5. Have fun completing a physical challenge.

It would be great if you could consistently hit the gym four to five days a week, but if you're starting from zero instantly transforming yourself into a gym rat isn't realistic.

Instead, once a week pick something challenging to do. Take a really long walk. Take a long bike ride. Take a testing hike.

Just make sure you pick an accomplishment, not a yardstick. Don't decide to walk six miles on a treadmill; that's a yardstick. Walk the six miles to a friend's house. Don't ride 20 miles on an exercise bike; ride to a café, grab a snack, and then ride back home.

The activity should be based on an accomplishment; it's a whole lot more fun to say, "I hiked to the top of Bear Mountain," than it is to say, "I walked five miles on the treadmill at an 8 percent incline." Accomplishments are fun; it's like they're things you decided to do. Yardsticks are boring; it's like they're things you had to do.

Every time you complete a weekly challenge you will have burned calories, improved your fitness level, and reminded yourself are still capable of doing some really cool things.

Once you accept you are still capable of doing cool things--no matter how much you've let yourself go physically, it's true--you'll find all the motivation you need to make a few other positive changes.

And one day you'll realize you actually have gone all in ... and you didn't even notice.

5 Easy Ways to Cleanse Every Day

Cleansing is a popular term that unfortunately has little to no meaning these days because of how over used it is, but in it's truest sense cleansing is natural and important process your body goes through on a daily basis to rid itself of everything it no longer needs, everything that isn't supporting health and healing. Engaging in a yearly or seasonal cleanse is a great way to heal, rejuvenate and get your eating and lifestyle practices on track but daily cleansing is so much more important.

Learning simple practices you can use each day to help you naturally cleanse, can increase your energy and vitality while helping you to heal and prevent long term health problems.

Here are 5 easy practices you can put into place to Cleanse Every Day...

1. Drink Lots of Water Especially in the Morning

You may have heard this one many time before but that is because it is one of the best and easiest ways to stay your most healthy! Even if you feel like you are drinking enough water every day, chances are you aren't getting enough. Your body uses water to cleanse and flush toxins so when you aren't getting enough water, daily cleansing slows and toxins begin to build up in your tissues. To help your body to naturally cleanse drink lots of water every day and especially when you first wake up in the morning. Drinking water for the first hour after getting up in the morning helps your body flush toxins from the day before and will help to increase your energy levels throughout the day.

2. Take Time to Breathe Deeply

We release 80% of our toxins through our breath. Problem is most of us don't breathe deeply enough. Especially during stressful or busy times during the day your breathing becomes more shallow and many times you may be forgetting to breathe or holding your breath. This keeps toxins from being released and keeps them trapped inside your body. Taking 5 minutes each day to do some deep breathing is a great way to help naturally cleanse but also helps to release stress and center and calm you.

3. When you Eat is just as Important as What you Eat

Your body has a natural digestive rhythm that makes you a little hungry 1-2 hours after getting up, really hungry in the middle of your day when you are expending the most energy and moderately hungry a couple hours before you go to bed. When you follow this natural digestive cycle digestion begins to work optimally which means food is better digested and nutrients assimilated and toxins are naturally expelled. When you start eating out of whack with these natural digestive rhythms digestion begins to overlap causing digestion not to function as well, you begin to get less nutrients and more toxins stay in your body. By following your natural digestive rhythms digestion you will assist your body in naturally cleansing each day.



4. Clean Up Your Products

One of the biggest sources of health harming toxins that we bring into our body is through our personal care products and the products we use to clean in and around our home. Have you ever taken a look at the ingredients list in any one of the products you use on your body each day? You might be astonished to find a lengthy list of chemicals, many of which have been found to be harming to your health. Think of just how many products you use each and every day and how many chemicals that means are getting into your body. Making a switch to cleaner, greener and organic products is one of the best ways to help your body naturally cleanse. By limiting the number of chemicals you are bringing into your body you are helping to keep your body clean and naturally cleansed.

5. DeStress
Stress has an enormous impact on your health. On the inside of your body stress turns toxic. We live in a stressful world and living without stress is not possible, what is possible however is reducing the internal impact stress has on your body and health by using daily healthy stress management practices. Healthy stress management practices like yoga and meditation help to change the way stress is experienced inside your body decreasing its harmful toxic effects, Yoga and meditation can help detoxify your body and help to naturally cleanse your body each day. Raw Vitality offers a 30-day meditation program that comes along with both the 7 and 30-day Raw Vitality programs. If you are new to meditation or want to explore how meditation can help you to reduce stress and help naturally cleanse this is a great meditation program to explore. 

These daily practices are great ways to keep your health at its very best throughout the year. Yearly and seasonal cleansing are great ways to go more in-depth, to get your eating and lifestyle practices back on track, to cleanse, revitalize and to heal if health problems are present.

The Art of Living On Vital Energy

Have you ever wondered what it means to love yourself? Love is an acronym for Living On Vital Energy. When you tap into your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy resources, you are truly loving yourself and can live from a place of harmony and joy. It’s “normal” to feel stressed and out of balance when this energy is blocked. It’s “natural” and easy to be relaxed, creative and fully present in each moment when that energy is allowed to flow.

On a physical level we have life force energy that is moving through our bodies and keeping us alive. We tend to block this energy with the tension that comes from chronic stress in resistance to what is. We can reduce stress in our lives by learning to accept what is happening. We can also release the tension caused by stress to restore the natural flow of energy and create physical balance.

On a mental level, as creative beings, we create our reality with the energy of our thoughts. We have about 60,000 thoughts per day on average. If you think of thoughts as currency, and you were given $60,000 every day would you spend it on a lot of junk you don’t want? It’s important to be aware of how you are using the energy of your thoughts. Your imagination is a sacred corner of your mind. The only misuse of imagination is worry. If your thoughts are focused on what you don’t want then they are blocking what you do want. It is possible to train your mind to work for you rather than against you and develop mental wholeness.

On an emotional level we have loving energy. It connects us heart-to-heart. Fear (false expectations appearing real) blocks that energy. It’s important to pay attention to all of your feelings and emotions because they are letting you know if you are operating from a track of love or a track of fear. All of our pleasant or “positive” emotions come from love and all of our unpleasant or “negative” emotions come from fear. It’s the way your soul communicates with you. They are not bad or good, right or wrong; they are useful. If you put your hand on a hot stove you want to feel that pain. It’s telling you something. Move your hand! If you ignored what you were feeling you would get the consequences of a badly burned hand. When you learn the language of your soul you will be directed back to your natural state of emotional harmony.

On a spiritual level we have divine, universal energy. You are like a radio that is always plugged in to your source. However, it is up to you to turn the radio on, tune in to the right frequency and then listen. That is the value of inner silence. We tend to block this energy with doubt and by not listening to our intuition. By learning to be still and trust your intuition, you will experience spiritual freedom.

The creation of a balanced, fulfilling life is similar to building a home. First you need a plan. Then you must build a strong, stable foundation—this represents your physical self. From there you build a structure that sets boundaries and provides the framework through which you view the outside world—your mental self. Next you furnish and decorate this home in such a way that you feel good when you are there and it expresses who you are—your emotional self. Ultimately you move into your home, share it with people you love and it becomes a sanctuary in the world—your spiritual self. As you can see, if you leave out any one of these four parts you won't have a complete home. Likewise, if you don't pay attention to any one of these four aspects of yourself, you will feel like something is missing.

When you have a daily practice to remove blocks of stress, worry, fear and doubt you will have all the vital energy you need to be healthy, happy and fit all the days of your life. Take care of your body, mind, heart and spirit and you will discover what it means to love yourself. Share that love with others and it will transform your life.

"Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics." ~Albert Einstein

Invest in Yourself – 7 Steps to Optimal Health

Too often, I hear my friends talking about how they plan to start living healthier after the first of the year. But now, as we approach mid-May, many have put off their healthy-living goals to the point where they may be setting themselves up for failure: a 2009 study from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom found that more than 75 percent of New Year's resolution followers gave up. So who had the success stories? The people who broke down their goals into small, achievable steps.

Your life isn't an experiment or a fantasy. It's an investment in your future. You've heard it a million times: If you fuel yourself with junk and bad habits, you won't have the reserves to draw on for energy and good health. Consider each day an opportunity to invest in good habits, so you'll have stamina and great health to withdraw. You can't lose. Who wants to sit at home while the rest of the gang goes out to play?

And it's not just all about you. Do you want to be the parent or grandparent who sits on the sidelines, or the one who creates lasting memories for your kids or grandchildren by riding a bicycle right alongside them? Today, you can make your move so the dream of a long, active life becomes a reality.

But don't worry; you don't have to do it alone and you can get started any time of the year. I'm here to show you seven ways to push the reset button on your healthy habits - starting now. Even if you're already on a healthy track, there's always room for improvement.

1. Sleep It Off. Recharge your sluggish metabolism. A 2009 study from the University of Chicago found that people who don't get a full night's sleep are more likely to gain weight and have more difficulty losing body fat when they are dieting.

Sleep experts say the most effective way to improve your sleep is to stick to a regular bedtime and regular wake-up time, even on the weekends. Ideally, your bedroom should be dark, cool and quiet. And move distracting, light-generating electronics like computers and TV sets out of your sleeping zone.

2. Drink Smarter. Ditch the conventional wisdom that your daily fluid intake should only consist of water. Drink juice, green tea or coffee if you want to, but be mindful of the calories. A fizzy Vitamin-C powder added to water may satisfy a soda urge. And branch out - I'm a huge fan of freshly-juiced green drinks made from spinach and kale. Note: You are not allowed to knock it until you try it.

3. Lose the Hidden Pounds. We can't underestimate the importance of elimination. To keep your colon healthy, increase your fiber intake to 25 grams a day. I'm also a fan of probiotics for regularity and increased vitality. And downing a fiber drink (yes, those) can actually help your body break down the fat in fat cells.

4. Make It A 5-Veggie Day. EVERY day. And get creative with it. If the kale juice seems unappealing, steam them and add a splash of olive oil to a batch (or some collard greens), and you'll quickly change your tune. The darkest, leafy greens help keep your bones strong, so don't skimp.

5. Shrug Off Sugar. Every time I cut back on refined sugars, my energy level rises and stays there. It's easy to fall into the trap of grabbing a sugary snack for a quick boost, but the crash that follows is never fun. Simple substitutions like choosing a piece of fruit over a glass of juice or sparkling water over soda can do wonders for your mood, energy levels, and waistline: A study of more than 50,000 nurses found that women who had just one sugary soda or glass of juice a day weighed more than those who drank less than one a month.

6. Grab Different Grains. So many people have gluten sensitivities that wreak havoc on their digestive systems. Not every food that contains the word "wheat" is a great choice for everyone. Choose purer grain choices like steel-cut oat meal, quinoa and brown rice. And don't be afraid to mix it up a bit, instead of using bread for sandwiches, wrap your lunch up in large lettuce leaves. You'll love the crisp, fresh flavor.

7. Shake It Up. I rarely travel without a blender, because protein shakes are a cornerstone of my daily diet. I like the Hamilton Beech single serving blender that has a convenient travel lid, then I add a protein powder that's low in sugar and mix it with frozen berries, soy, low-fat, or almond milk, some flaxseed oil, and swap it out for at least one meal a day. Another option is to seek out a great local juice bar for your shakes, either way it's a delightful breakfast, post-workout snack, or sweet-tooth-satisfier.

Secrets of Eating Psychology

Most of us have been taught to believe that good nutrition is simply a function of eating the right food and taking the right supplements. Of course, this is true, but there’s more to the equation. What we eat is only half the story of good nutrition. The other half of the story is who we are as eaters. That is, what we think, feel, believe our levels of stress, relaxation, pleasure, awareness, and the inner stories that we live out all have a real, powerful, and scientific effect on nutritional metabolism.

Recent advances in the mind-body sciences have been proving what ancient wisdom traditions have been saying for eons – that the mind and body exist on an exquisite continuum, and profoundly impact one another.

So the good news is simply this: you can powerfully change your health and your nutritional status without changing anything you eat, but by changing you the eater. In my 30 years as a nutritional psychologist, I’ve seen so many profound breakthroughs in clients and students around weight, overeating, and a long list of health conditions when they began to practice some of the simple principles of eating psychology. Consider some of these key “secrets” that I think everyone should know:

1. Stress can put weight on – relaxation can take it off.

It’s fascinating how stress, fear, anxiety, anger, judgment and even negative self-talk can literally create a physiologic stress response in the body. This means that we generate more cortisol and insulin, two hormones that have the unwanted effect of signaling the body to store weight, store fat, and stop building muscle. Strange as it may sound, we quite literally change our calorie burning capacity when we’re stressed. What’s more incredible though, is that as we learn to smile more, ease into life and breathe more deeply, the body enters a physiologic relaxation response. In this state, we actually create our optimal day-in, day-out calorie-burning metabolism. So, you could be following the best weight loss diet in the world, but if you’re an anxious mess, the power of your mind is limiting the weight loss of your body. Far too many people adopt stressful weight loss strategies – impossible to follow diets, overly intense exercise programs, tasteless food, extremely low calorie meal plans – all of which can create the kind of stress chemistry that ensures our weight will stay put. It’s time to relax into weight loss.

2. Happiness is the best digestive aid.

Can you recall what happens when you eat during anxiety or stress? Many people report such symptoms as heartburn, cramping, gas, and digestive upset. During stress, the body automatically shifts into the classic fight-or-flight response. This feature of the nervous system evolved over millions of years as a brilliant safety mechanism to support us during life-threatening events. In the moment the stress response is activated, something very interesting happens – the digestive system shuts down. It makes perfect sense that when you’re fending off an angry gorilla, you don’t need to waste energy digesting your breakfast. All the body’s metabolic energy is directed towards survival. So, you could be eating the healthiest food in the universe, but if you aren’t eating under the optimum state of digestion and assimilation – which happens to be relaxation – you literally and metabolically are not receiving the full nutritional value of your meal.

3. Overeating – it’s simpler than you think.

Most people think they overeat because they have a willpower problem. “If only I could control my appetite, then I would stop being such a willpower weakling and start losing weight.” Well, here’s the good news – you don’t have a willpower problem. The problem for a majority of overeaters is that they don’t actually “eat” when they eat. What I’m suggesting is that we aren’t always fully present to the meal, aware of its taste, eating it slowly, or simply feeling nourished by the food. When this happens, the brain, which requires taste and satisfaction, misses out on a key phase of the nutritional experience. The brain literally thinks it didn’t eat, or didn’t eat enough. And it simply screams back at us – “Hungry!” So, you can dramatically decrease your overeating by increasing your awareness and presence at every meal.

4. Slower eating means faster metabolism.

One of my favorite nutritional questions to ask a client or student is “Are you a fast eater, moderate eater, or slow eater?” If the answer is “fast”, then it’s time for an overhaul. That’s because the act of eating fast is considered a stressor by the body. Humans are simply not biologically wired for high speed eating. So when we do eat fast, the body once again enters the physiologic stress response, which results in decreased digestion, decreased nutrient assimilation, increased nutrient excretion, lowered calorie burning rate, and a bigger appetite. The bottom line is that you can literally empower your nutritional metabolism simply by slowing down. What’s fascinating is that for many fast eaters, slowing down is quite a challenge. But try this – don’t just eat slow – eat sensuously, feel nourished by your food, and take in all the sensations of your meal.

5. Make sure you have enough Vitamin P – Pleasure!

Far too many people are taught to believe that pleasure is something frivolous. Well, it’s actually required by our biology. All organisms on planet earth, be they lion, lizard, amoeba, or human are programmed at the most primitive level of the nervous system to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Well, if you’re eating and not paying attention, the brain will drive you to seek more pleasure via overeating. What’s worse, if you’re stressed while eating, the excess cortisol in your system actually de-sensitizes us to pleasure – so you’ll need to eat more food in order to get the pleasure we are seeking. The bottom line is this: If you want more pleasure from food, you don’t need to eat more of the ice cream. Simply breathe, relax, de-stress, enjoy, pay attention, and the body will naturally experience the pleasure it seeks. And the great news is, since pleasure catalyzes a relaxation response, it actually fuels digestion and assimilation

6. Emotional eating – it’s not the enemy.

At our core, we are emotional beings – rich, complex, juicy, unpredictable feeling-filled creatures. We love, we celebrate, we laugh, cry, we break down, we rise up… So how could we NOT be emotional eaters? We love food. We love our favorite restaurant. We love how food makes us feel good. Some of us love cooking for others. Some of us are passionate about nutrition. It’s time to get over it – if you’re human, you will bring emotionality to the table. Once we embrace the reality that we’re genetically hard-wired for emotional expression, we can relax a little more. Underneath the quest to eradicate emotional eating from one’s life is often found a hidden desire to eliminate uncomfortable feelings. We strive for an impossible to attain goal that constantly leaves us frustrated and in failure. Yes, this thing called emotional eating can be very painful. But it’s not the actual problem – it’s a symptom that’s pointing to something deeper. It’s an alert mechanism from body wisdom that’s calling us to check in, and follow the flow of emotions within us to see where our soul is calling for more awareness and insight.

7. Get rid of toxic nutritional beliefs.

Finally, many of us have absorbed toxic nutritional beliefs that are as harmful and debilitating as any of the toxins in our food. Here’s what I mean: it’s surprisingly common for people to believe that “food is the enemy”, or “food makes me fat”, or “fat in food will become fat on my body” or “my appetite is the enemy” or “as soon as I have the perfect body, then I’ll finally be happy.” Such beliefs may seem harmless, yet they can create a relationship with food and self that’s filled with tremendous suffering and pain. Think about it – if “food is the enemy”, then we are constantly in a fight or flight stress response whenever we eat, or even think about food. Such a powerful stressor can cause all the problems of stress-induced digestive shutdown, decreased calorie burning capacity, and an inner life that’s seldom at peace. The question is: Is your relationship with food nourishing, or punishing?

Hopefully, you’ve noticed that there’s way more to good nutrition than simply the food itself. We bring all of ourselves to the table – our hopes, fears, thoughts, feelings, dramas, and dreams. And the more we include a well rounded nutritional profile – Vitamin R – relaxation, Vitamin P – pleasure, Vitamin S – slow, and Vitamin L – Love – the more we can literally nourish ourselves on every level.

Purifying Your Body of Toxins Can Lead to Optimum Health and Vitality

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? Do you wish you had restored vitality, a strong libido, more mental clarity, clearer skin, reduced weight, a stronger immune system and looked and felt healthier in every aspect of your being? Do you have symptoms such as unexplained fatigue, depression, lack of libido, sluggish elimination, irritated skin, allergies or low-grade infections, a distended stomach, menstrual difficulties and mental confusion? Have you ever considered that with a little effort you could reverse the signs of ageing?

Total body purification is a process that assists the body with battling the build up of toxins and poisons and helping it create a balance. Purification can open a door to optimal health and vitality, one which is oriented toward maximizing one's individual potential. First and foremost its a choice that allows us an opportunity to assume responsibility for the quality of our own "wellness" and make the conscious decision to accept a healthy lifestyle.

In addition to encountering highly stressful lives, our bodies are continually bombarded with over-processed foods and unhealthy fats that many of us eat, sugary and caffeinated liquids we drink and polluted air that we breathe. These poor habits can easily abuse the delicate working systems of our bodies and inhibit our systems' purification and evacuation pathways. This can then lead to the development of symptoms, such as hormonal problems, depression, fatigue, headaches, infections, digestive problems, loss of libido, allergies and muscular aches and pains. There is also overwhelming evidence that internal toxins and poisons, left to their own devices, can initiate cancer and other serious terminal and debilitating diseases that plague our 'modern' society.

Toxins and poisons can undermine our health and weaken our body's immune system, leaving us defenceless. At some point -- let's call it the "saturation point" -- our bodies begin to outwardly show the effects. It's usually at this time that we seek medical advice so we can label what's happening to us by giving our malady a name. We are generally prescribed drugs which have been tried and tested to cure our symptoms, but not the underlining cause of our ill health.

Purification is the natural process of neutralising and eliminating toxins and poisons from our bodies, which is essential for the maintenance of optimum health and vitality. Purification is therefore the single most powerful tool we can use to prevent and reverse ill health and disease. Along with personally-empowered wellness, you can provide yourself with an alternative to dependency on doctors and drugs, to complacency, to mediocrity, to self-pity, to boredom and to slothfulness.

Many wellness promoters see wellness as a philosophy that embraces many principles for good health and long life. To be well is to have empowerment, to take control of one's life and to walk the middle line; balance in all things in life is the key to contentment. Personal wellbeing is a mindset, a predisposition to adopting a series of key principles in various aspects of life that lead to high levels of optimal health and vitality in all areas of life. Personally-empowered wellness, however, is multidimensional, centred on personal responsibility and environmental awareness.

So how do we even begin to think about personal wellness amidst all the demands of our modern day lifestyles? We all know where to go if we are sick, but where do we go to get well? These days the "educated wellness seeker" is searching for luxury spa destinations that are able to offer wellness programs, which educate, motive and facilitate their purification journey.

Such is the power of purification that when combined with simple healthy dietary changes, exercise, spa treatments, yoga, meditation and a desire to achieve better health the opportunity to find optimum health and vitality is overwhelming. Many things that were previously thought to be impossible have recently become possible.

During a purification program, you can produce quite dramatic results. Given the opportunity, our bodies can develop new found energy levels, improved sleep patterns, a sense of peace and decreased bloating or fluid retention. We also have the opportunity to shed excess weight, leaving us with fewer aches and pains, more mental clarity and a real boost for our libidos.

The purification process leaves one feeling rejuvenated on all levels; it's a re-programming of our mental and physical systems. The beauty of a contemporary purification program is that it addresses the very core of our health problems, rather than just suppressing our symptoms.

If you elect to start today and empower yourself to make healthy lifestyle changes, you'll find yourself on the pathway to optimum health and vitality which lasts well into your autumn years. It's never too late to start a wellness lifestyle; it is open to all ages, all religions, people across the globe and it truly is a multicultural experience.

Kick out the free radical!