I should point out that it may not accurately be described as "burning calories", but your bodies can better metabolize the sugar that we consume, with the aid of one of our favorite spices! CINNAMON!
Researchers have shown that a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon with food helps metabolize the sugar up to 20 TIMES BETTER than food NOT eaten with cinnamon. How does this benefit us? Well, sugars that are not utilized through our everyday activities, including exercise, are stored away as fat. Fat is our bodies proverbial "72 hour kit", and is stored away, in case the body needs it for fuel at a later time. In most cases, we will always consume more calories than our bodies need to work, so we just keep adding to our fat stockpiles.
So, if this is the case, utilizing cinnamon in your diet will help to break down the sugars, and speed up the metabolism process used to convert sugars into energy. So, that means LESS fat stockpiles.
Does this mean that my Hot Tamales will metabolize faster than Mike and Ike's?
What? That's not the same thing?? Curses!!
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Now playing:
Bel Canto - Summervia FoxyTunes
Who would have thought that one of my cheapest yoga DVDs, ended up being one of my favorite? I have yoga vinyasa, taught by some of the world's leading yogis, including Cyndi Lee, Baron Baptiste, Rodney Yee, Michael Franti (with his yogi friends), among others.
Several months ago, I picked up a DVD at NPS (to find out more about NPS, go to my music blog http://unclezekesmusicemporium.blogspot.com/ , and you will more fully understand the type of store that it is), by Natural Journeys (a company that I had not heard of), entitled "Sacred Yoga: PURE TRANQUILITY" Practice Vinyasa Flow with RAINBEAU MARS. Now, maybe my two years of reading, studying and practicing yoga are not sufficient for me to know the work of Ms. Rainbeau Mars, but the name was foreign to me. If it weren't for the fact that the DVD had a $3.99 sticker price, as well as a possible discount of 40-50% (a common thing with NPS DVDs), I probably would not have made the purchase. As it was, I bought the disc.
As happens with many of my NPS discs, it sat for a while. Finally, a couple months ago, I pulled the disc out and tried out the vinyasa found on the disc. I was immediately drawn to the peaceful atmosphere created by the disc, even though the quality seemed rather low budget. It was recorded on the shores in Hawaii, where a platform was fitted along a lava rock shoreline, with the ocean waves breaking in the background. You also see the occasional traditional Hawaiian canoes passing by, in the background.
The other thing that sets this disc apart from all my other yoga DVD workouts, is the absence of many of the traditional yoga poses, including Sun Salutations, etc. This disc has one primary focus, which is preparing your body for meditation. Now, before some of you roll your eyes at the thought of meditation, please understand that meditation does NOT always involve the chanting of OM, or any other sacred mantras. Meditation can simply be a time set aside to sit in silence, where you allow yourself to focus on one particular thing, or as you become advance, NO particular things. The peace that stems from controlling your thoughts is one that is tough to describe. Just as your physical body needs to occasionally be purged of food and toxins (through special diets, or simple "fasting"), so does the mind need to be cleared of the clutter that bogs us down.
The other night, I was especially frustrated by a couple of situations in my personal and family life, and after realizing that I was on a particularly short fuse, I simply gave myself a "time out", and went into my room to engage in some yoga... something of which I haven't done in a while. I pulled out this Sacred Yoga disc, with Rainbeau Mars, and proceeded to do the stretches to prepare myself for meditation. This 30 minute workout features ONLY seated poses, and works to stretch your back, including your lumbar back (lower back), as well as your legs.
For anyone that has participated in any form of sitting meditation, you know that your back can begin aching, if you are not adequately prepared. And sometimes AFTER preparation. That is all part of the meditation process... overcoming discomfort, and focusing on other things. Not only did this series of stretches give me the physical relief that I needed, but it prepared me for a simple ten minute meditation. When all was said and done, I not only felt better (physically), but I was in a state of mental well being.
As a Letter Carrier, for the USPS, I need to regularly do yoga vinyasa, just to bring relief to my backaches that I occasionally feel. But the meditation, in addition to the vinyasa, brings a complete sense of inner peace, as well as physical peace.
In addition to the 30 minute yoga vinyasa, there is also a fifteen minute bonus guided meditation on this DVD, that takes you through the seven chakras, and gives you meditations for each.
For anyone remotely interested in the peaceful side of yoga, which is MY personal favorite, this DVD hits the spot. I just browsed www.naturaljourneys.com to get a picture of the DVD, and see that this disc is part of a four DVD set, as well as an individual disc. The individual disc was listed on sale, for the low, low price of $1.98. I wholeheartedly recommend this disc for those of you who need a little inner peace.
THE POWER OF BEING PRESENT
OBSERVE how the mind labels an unpleasant moment and how this labeling process, this continuous sitting in judgment, creates pain and unhappiness...
Eckhart Tolle
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Now playing:
No-Man - Truenorthvia FoxyTunes
