GROCERY SHOPPING FOR YOUR DIET

GROCERY SHOPPING FOR YOUR DIET

The first rule of shopping when you’re trying to lose weight is to shop with a list. This is extremely important, because you don’t want to fall prey to the natural instincts of wanting to grab those cookies that are there on that special display at the end of aisle four. Stick to that list faithfully, too.

Plan before you shop. Of course! If you didn’t plan, how could you have the list, right? You need to decide what your meals are going to be and what ingredients you will need to prepare them. Be sure to include portion sizes when planning your meals.

Don’t just plan for dinners. Remember, you will be eating several smaller meals per day, so include all the meals in your agenda.

When you first start shopping for your weight loss trip, it might be a good idea to take along someone to keep you in check as you stroll the aisles. This needs to be someone who knows your struggles with weight loss and who can support this journey with you.

They need to be your shopping police, so don’t blame them if they take those cookies back out of your cart. Remember, you want their support, so don’t blame them. Give them permission to keep you focused. You may also want to involve them in the planning process as well so they have a better idea of what exactly you are trying to accomplish.

We can’t stress this next point enough: EAT BEFORE YOU GO SHOPPING! It’s a well known fact that if you are hungry when you go to the grocery store, you will be more prone to making impulse purchases that aren’t good for you because it sounds so yummy!

Learn how to read labels. As we’ve said before, you have to avoid products that have ingredients that will be bad for your diet. Look at the fat content, the sugar content, the salt content, etc. Be sure that you are buying weight friendly foods that you will be able to eat and not have to worry about when they’re in your cupboard.

Avoid convenience foods. Even though they are easy to fix and taste pretty good, these types of foods often contain additional calories, fats, and carbohydrates that you just don’t need. If you find yourself drawn to the diet dinners in the frozen food section, be sure to read the ingredients before you buy!

You will always be better off if you prepare your meals yourself. That means plan to cook from scratch. If you think you don’t have the time, think again. We’ll give you some great recipes that you can either make ahead of time or that you can prepare in less than 30 minutes!

When you cook your own meals, you will have complete control over what you put into your food (salt, sugar, etc.) plus they will taste a lot better than convenience foods.

While it may seem painfully obvious, we can’t stress enough – don’t buy foods with empty calories. Those foods include chips, cookies, candy, etc. You don’t need the temptation, and they provide absolutely NO nutritional value for you at all, so avoid them like the plague!

No matter how good you eat, you will have to exercise in order to lose weight.

FORBIDDEN FOODS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

FORBIDDEN FOODS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

We can’t possibly cover all of the foods that are acceptable to eat when you are trying to lose weight. Common sense can tell you that French fries are a no-no and an apple is great.

What we’ve decided to do is concentrate on those foods that you SHOULDN’T eat. Of course, this could be a long list as well, so we’re going to touch on the worst and give you some possible substitutions.

Beverages

Stay away from anything with caffeine in it - don't forget that many sodas have caffeine. Caffeine has the same insulin-stimulating, weight-loss-inhibiting effect as aspartame. Unfortunately, this includes coffee. Stick to decaffeinated sodas, teas, and coffees.
Along the same lines, cut out any beverage that contains aspartame (Nutra Sweet), high fructose corn syrup, or refined sugar. Since you need to drink a lot of water in order to lose weight, try water with a slice of lemon or lime in it. It can be very refreshing and very satisfying!
Alcohol is a no-no in any weight loss plan. It’s OK to have a glass of wine with dinner, just don’t drink the whole bottle. There’s no better way to pack on the pounds than to drink excessive amounts of alcohol – even the ones that claim they have fewer calories. Moderation is the key with alcoholic beverages!

Boxed Pre-Packaged Foods

In general, you should stay away from a lot of these products. If the ingredients are not pronounceable, you should avoid them. In other words, anything with a lot of chemicals on the ingredient list are not going to be good for your diet.
White rice, while very filling, contains starches that can inhibit your weight loss. Stick to brown rice instead.
Pasta mixes are usually also not good because of the starches they contain. Stick to whole grain pastas instead. They taste just as good and are much better for you!
Breads
For the same reasons as pasta and white rice, white breads should also be avoided. Whole grain breads provide you with the carbohydrates you need and are less processed than the white breads. Be sure the bread you choose is made with whole wheat flour instead of just wheat flour. Believe me, it makes a difference.
If you love Mexican food, stick to whole wheat flour tortillas or corn tortillas when you choose your burritos, enchiladas, or soft tacos.
Canned and Jar Foods
Again, anything that is canned or jarred needs to be free of excessive chemicals. If the label contains ingredients with more than four syllables or are hyphenated, it won’t be good for your diet.
Chicken broth can be very fatty, so stay away. So are many soup mixes. The good news is that there are plenty of light or low fat choices out there. These are the ones you should choose.
Commercially-made tomato sauces or tomato based sauces contain ridiculously huge amounts of sugar and salt. A better choice is to make these sauces yourself where you can control what goes into it. We’ll have a recipe later in the book for you to do just that!
Do not eat canned fruit or canned vegetables. If it’s been canned, it’s been cooked thus it loses some of it’s most beneficial nutrients. They can also contain processed or refined sugars, so stick to fresh fruits and veggies instead.
If you have to have a little oil to cook your foods in, choose extra virgin olive oil over the vegetable or corn based oils.
Meats
Choose only lean meats to get your protein intake. It’s commonly known that you should try to stay away from red meats like beef. Of course, if you’re like me and love your steak, choose a lean cut and don’t make the portion any larger than your clenched fist.
Choose fresh fish instead of canned and be sure it’s of the lower fat variety. This includes salmon, tilapia, and cod. Don’t bread your fish either, broil it or grill it to get rid of any residual fat that might remain.
White meat chicken breasts are better than dark meat because the darker meat contains more fat. The same applies to turkey.
Tuna is always a good choice – even if it’s canned. Just be sure to get the tuna canned in water – not oil!

Dairy

Skim milk should be your first choice over whole milk or two percent. Avoid drinking too much milk, however, because it naturally contains some fats that can turn into unnecessary fat on you!
Unfortunately, cheese on a diet is also a big no-no. However, you can find low-fat or fat-free cheese in most grocery stores, so always pick these first. But use it sparingly!
Eggs are all right on your diet, but you’re better off to use only the whites instead of including the yolks. Egg substitutes are a great way to get your egg fix, so look for these in the store as well.
Fat-free sour cream is alright in moderation, but try to substitute with plain yogurt instead.

Vegetables and Fruits

Almost all fresh vegetables are good for you. It’s a generally accepted belief that you can eat all the vegetables you want and still lose weight. That’s pretty much true – as long as they’re prepared the correct way. It’s always best to steam veggies. You can also drizzle them with a little olive oil and bake them in the oven or – even better – roast them on the grill! Yummy!
Be careful of eating too many fruits that contain a lot of natural sugars like oranges and peaches. Because the sugar is naturally there, it’s not horribly bad for you, but you don’t want to overload on sugars because it can be converted to fat.
One big thing you must do when you decide that you want to lose weight is to immediately clean the cupboards and refrigerator getting rid of all the foods that can inhibit your diet. That means get rid of the chips, processed sugar, canned fruits, etc.
Don’t throw them away – give them to a local food bank. Believe me, they’ll be happy to get whatever you have to offer – diet friendly or not!
Once you do that, you get to go shopping! Don’t dread it! Just shop smart!

WHAT TO EAT (Weight Loss)

WHAT TO EAT

If you are trying to lose weight, choose food based on their weight-to-calorie ratio. You want to eat food that weighs a lot but has few calories and avoid food that is light in weight but hefty in calories.
Fruits and vegetables are the big winners in the heavy weight-low calorie department, according to Tufts University. They weigh a lot because of their fiber and water content and yet do not have many calories. For example, one cup of cantaloupe or 'melon' weighs 5.5 ounces but only has 56 calories. A cup of cooked spinach weighs six ounces but only has 42 calories.
Now, compare that to six cups of buttered popcorn that only weighs three ounces and contains 420 calories or, even worse, one ounce of potato chips that has 152 calories (if you ate four ounces, you would be inviting 608 calories to feel at home in your fat cells). That's what I call "small but terrible".
Most snack food doesn't weigh much but sure have a lot of calories. This means you can eat a lot of them without feeling full and without realizing it take in many excess calories that you don't need.
Most cookies weigh ½ ounce and contain 50 calories. Eat six cookies and you only have three ounces of weight but you've racked up 300 calories. 1.5 ounces of a chocolate bar contain 220 calories. A small croissant only weighs two ounces but has 230 calories.
According to the New Zealand University study, food that is light in weight but high in calories is probably the worse kind of food to eat if you are trying to lose weight. It's sort of like 'double jeopardy' - you are still hungry but you have already eaten many calories.
Choose lower-fat choices of the same weight food. There can be a world of difference between the caloric consumption of two people eating the same weight and type of food. How is this possible? Easy, if you consider the way the food is cooked or prepared.
Here are some examples (all of them weigh 3.5 ounces). Boiled potatoes have 62 calories compared to french fried potatoes with 328 calories. Sardines in tomato sauce contain 127 calories while sardines in oil have 372. Tuna flakes in water have 95 calories while tuna flakes in oil have 309. You get the picture.
Avoid the "light weight-high calorie" way of dieting. I know many people who don't want to eat regular sized meals because they think that if their stomach feels heavy, they are eating a lot of calories. Therefore, they think that by eating something light like crackers, they will lose weight.
What they don't realize is that just because a food is light doesn't automatically mean it contains few calories. One could easily eat nine crackers (420 calories) and still not feel full because nine crackers only weigh three ounces. Believe it or not but you could have a satisfying meal of ½ cup steamed rice, a cup of cooked spinach, a small piece of fish, and a cup of cantaloupe for less calories.
This complete meal would weigh a satisfying 18.5 ounces and only "cost" you 378 calories. By making the right food choices, you can cut down on unnecessary calories without starving yourself and feeling deprived.
You should also cut down somewhat on your carbs, but don’t cut them out completely! Because effective weight loss depends on exercise and activity, without some carbs in your diet, you won’t have the energy you’ll need to effectively burn off calories.
What you do need to do is begin with a “baseline diet” that dictates at least half of your calories come from vegetables, fruits, natural starches, and whole grains. The rest of your diet should consist of low-fat proteins like fish, chicken, and lean beef.
You need to balance out your carbs with your protein stay away from those carbs at night. Periodically, you want to take “carb-up” days to get your energy levels up.
When we talk about protein, many people wonder just how much is enough or how much is too much. In general, experts say you should eat 1 gram of protein for every pound of body weight per meal.
That might seem like a ridiculously large amount of protein, but remember, we’re talking about LEAN proteins. Plus, eating protein speeds up your metabolism and accelerates weight loss.
This might be a good time to talk about portion sizes. As a general rule of thumb, you should never eat a serving that is larger than your clenched fist. The good news about this is that you’ll be able to eat enough to get full without overdoing it.
Cravings might be the worst part about weight loss. Let’s say you love chocolate chip cookies like I do. If you’re craving a chocolate chip cookie, denying that craving will only make it stronger.
Instead of not having the cookie, go ahead, just don’t overdo it. Simply have one instead of three. You can indulge in your favorite foods as long as you keep it within reason.
Most experts agree that the traditional three square meals a day shouldn’t be part of a healthy diet. In fact, you should eat more meals every day. Doesn’t that sound like great news?!
The idea here is that you overeat when you are overly hungry. To combat that hunger, you should eat more meals with smaller portions rather than fewer meals with larger portions.
For women, it is recommended you eat five meals a day and for men, you should eat six. Try to make these meals a minimum of 2 hours apart to insure you don’t get too hungry.
The benefits will reveal themselves. By doing this, you are accomplishing the following benefits:
• Faster metabolic rate
• Higher energy
• Less storage of body fat due to the smaller portions
• Reduced hunger and cravings
• Steadier blood sugar and insulin levels
• More calories available for muscle growth
• Better absorption and utilization of the nutrients in your food

But you need to make sure you eat the right kinds of foods.

GETTING STARTED (Weight Loss)

Getting Started

You can lose weight in many ways. Sure you could go the supermodel route and starve yourself, but who wants to do that. There are a few things about dieting and weight loss that most experts agree upon in general.

First, you need to drink a lot of water. Most individuals don’t drink nearly enough water. Colas and coffee don’t count! Yes, you really should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day - maybe more, depending on your weight.
Water is a natural appetite suppressant. If you drink a full glass of water before beginning your meal, your stomach simply doesn’t hold as much food.

No, you will not gain weight from drinking a lot of water. It’s when you don’t drink enough water throughout the day, your body gets dehydrated. When it does finally get water, it holds onto it and stores it for a future need. That’s when we feel swollen, and bloated with water weight.

However, if you give your body enough water on a regular basis, it releases it naturally. Drinking enough water gives you the benefit of hydration and fullness.

You should always eat a balanced meal. This might be the one thing we learned in elementary school that we really can use in our adult life – the basic food groups.
Proteins and carbohydrates are essential to a healthy meal. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy in our diet, and proteins burn fat. At a bare minimum, each meal should consist of a protein and a carbohydrate.
DO NOT skip meals. One of the worst things we can do, in our attempt to lose weight, is to skip a meal. I’ve seen it countless times: Motivated to lose weight, an individual decides to eat just twice a day. But your metabolism needs the consistency of regular meals. With erratic eating schedules, the body thinks it’s starving. So, everything it takes in – it stores as fat to be used for energy.
Finally, exercise. You just can’t lose weight when you maintain a sedentary lifestyle. People who exercise live longer and feel better. And, they lose weight quicker. But, keep it simple.
Thomas Jefferson said, “The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best.”
It’s never too late to get in shape. We’ll give you a whole separate section on exercise, but you don’t have to join a gym and become the next famous body builder. There’s plenty of ways you can get enough exercise to aid in your weight loss efforts.
Of course, there is a simple formula to help calculate weight loss: consume fewer calories than what you burn every day. For example, if you consume 2000 calories per day and you burn 2500 calories per day, you will lose weight.
You might just say "Why don't I just cut down on my calories intake considerably, hence I don't really have to burn many calories to lose weight?" Well that would be starving yourself and is not a good idea at all. This will make you weaker, hungrier and you will eat quite a lot after.
Your body needs food and calories to get energy. You need to eat enough so as not to starve yourself and be able to burn these calories and more after. On the other hand, if you burn out the exact same amount of calories that you take, you will stay the same.
The secret to losing weight without going hungry is to make the right food choices. You need to choose foods that are low in calories but can satisfy your stomach so you don't become hungry.
We found a very interesting study that illustrates how the way we eat affects our weight. It was performed by New Zealand’s University of Auckland in 1999.
The researchers divided male participants into three groups. Each group was put on a diet with different fat percentages (their total daily calories were composed of 60, 40 or 20-percent fat) but no calorie limits. The men were told to eat as much they wanted from the food choices they were allowed.
As expected, the men eating the 20-percent fat diets lost weight because they were consuming fewer calories. Fat contains nine calories per gram compared to four calories per gram for carbohydrates or protein. Therefore, the more fat a food contains the more calories it will have. However, in spite of the lower calorie diet, the men in this group were not at all hungry.
What the researchers discovered was that the men in the low-fat group unconsciously compensated by choosing foods that weighed the same as the men in the higher-fat groups and, therefore, were not hungry.
What this suggests is that the weight of the food you eat may play a more important role than fat or calories in satisfying your hunger. In other words, you may not need to eat high-calorie or high-fat foods to feel full but your stomach has to feel the weight of a certain amount of food.
There are several other studies suggesting that people tend to eat the same weight of food daily, regardless of the fat or calories that the meals contain. It's almost as if your stomach has an internal scale with a pre-determined weight that has to be reached for you to be satisfied and not hungry.
This may explain the rationale behind drinking a glass of water or having a bowl of soup before eating to cut down on your appetite. It may also explain why people can go on a low fat diet and yet gain weight if the majority of their food choices come from starchy food that is highly processed and low in fiber.
You can eat many slices of fluffy white bread before you feel full while eating two slices of whole wheat multi-grain bread already makes you feel like you swallowed the whole loaf. Eating high fiber foods like oatmeal helps you eat fewer calories (seven ounces of oatmeal only has 120 calories) without going hungry.
So how do you choose the right foods?

THE RIGHT MIND SET (Weight Loss)

GETTING INTO THE RIGHT MIND SET

Believe it or not, there is a psychological factor that comes into play when you’re trying to lose weight. We like to compare it to the “rah rah” factor that you sometimes need to succeed in sports.

Look at your weight loss as your own personal sporting event. Just as you need to know the rules of the game as well as the basics of performing that game in sports, you also need the right information in your diet to make it effective.

When you have all the tools you need, you can become an excellent performer in almost anything you try in life. One of these tools is the right frame of mind. The right frame of mind will give you motivation, commitment, and the skills you need to overcome the obstacles that you might face along with temptations and distractions.

Think this sounds a little too “new age” for you? Think again! When you have the right psychology during your weight loss journey, you will make your weight loss fun, easier, more exciting, and be able to develop changes towards a healthier lifestyle that will stay with you forever.

Your mindset controls your behavior, actions, and thoughts. As people grow, they develop habits and associations that govern their life. Most of these habits are controlled by our sub-conscious and we are generally unaware of them. However, your subconscious could also sabotage your efforts – also while you unaware of them. This can be detrimental to your weight loss attempts.

The right mindset entails using various techniques and strategies to control your behavior by monitoring your thoughts and actions. When you obtain this mindset, you will be better equipped to replace the old habits and associations that formed your thinking in the first place with new and more positive habits that will enable you to lost weight and be happier while you do so!

Developing the correct mindset doesn’t occur overnight. It take a little bit of effort, but in the end, it is well worth the time you’ll spend doing so. You will have to regularly monitor your progress and behavior. Sometimes it will be easy – at other times, it won’t. The good news is that there are some easy ways to begin to put yourself into the right mindset.

1. Write your goals down – tell yourself what weight you want to get to. While you’re at it, write down any other personal goals you might have as far as your life in general. Since you’re undertaking something as huge as losing your extra weight, you may as well also focus your efforts on improving other aspects of your life while you have the motivation and drive.

2. Be specific about what those goals are. When you generalize your goals, you are trivializing them. Your goals ARE IMPORTANT. Make them important!

3. Assign yourself a deadline. You want to lose weight. You want to do it by Christmas, or your wedding, or the next class reunion. When you assign a deadline, you give yourself a goal to work for, and like we said, your goals ARE IMPORTANT!

4. Make those goals measurable and achievable. Don’t think TOO big or try to undertake more than what you are capable of. If you need to lose 100 pounds, don’t expect to do it in a few weeks. Give yourself enough time to do so in a healthy manner. You could also try to break the goals down into easier increments. Tell yourself that you will lose 10 pounds over the next month. Then tell yourself the same thing the next month. Eventually, you’ll reach that goal and feel the satisfaction of being lighter than you were before.

5. Focus on those goals everyday. Post them on your refrigerator. Write them in your date book. Put a reminder on the visor of your car. When you focus on your goals, you will keep them in mind all the time and when they are first and foremost in your mind, you will be well on the way toward achieving them.

6. Be committed to those goals – at all costs. There’s a reason why you want to achieve those goals. When you are committed, those goals become the focus of your mind and they will be much easier to realize.

The battle with our metabolism as we age can’t be denied. Our metabolism, which transforms our food into energy, slows down with each passing year. If we don’t adjust our eating habits and our exercise to compensate, we slowly add additional pounds. We may feel betrayed, but the reality is we’re going to have to change some habits in order to maintain our weight.
If you take things one step at a time, there are basic steps that can be adopted. Stop telling yourself, “I just can’t do it.” You can coax yourself into a new habit of healthy eating.

Developing a psychology towards weight loss will help you achieve you goals and realize success. Aim high, push yourself to become the type of person you want to be and live the life that you want and deserve. We are not given the power of dreams without the power and ability to achieve those dreams. It’s time to start – RIGHT NOW!

METABOLISM AND YOUR WEIGHT

METABOLISM AND YOUR WEIGHT

You likely know your metabolism is linked to your weight. But do you know how?
Common belief holds that a slim person's metabolism is high and an overweight person's metabolism is low. But this isn't usually the case. Metabolism alone doesn't determine your weight.
Rather, weight is dependent on the balance of calories consumed versus calories burned. Take in more calories than your body needs, and you gain weight. Take in less and you lose weight. Metabolism, then, is the engine that burns these calories and is the scale that regulates your energy needs.

Stated simply, metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. During this biochemical process, calories — from carbohydrates, fats and proteins — are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function.
The number of calories your body burns each day is called your total energy expenditure. The following three factors make up your total energy expenditure:
• Basic needs. Even when your body is at rest, it requires energy for the basics, such as fuel for organs, breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, plus growing and repairing cells. Calories expended to cover these basic functions are your basal metabolic rate.
Typically, a person's basal metabolic rate is the largest portion of energy use, representing two-thirds to three-quarters of the calories used each day. Energy needs for these basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren't easily changed.
• Food processing. Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body's energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn't easily changed.
• Physical activity. Physical activity — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — accounts for the remainder of calories used. You control the number of calories burned depending on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.

It may seem logical to think that significant weight gain or being overweight is related to a low metabolism or possibly even a condition such as under-active thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). In reality, it's very uncommon for excess weight to be related to a low metabolism. And most people who are overweight don't have an underlying condition, such as hypothyroidism. However, a medical evaluation can determine whether a medical condition could be influencing your weight.
Weight gain is more likely due to an energy imbalance — consuming more calories than your body burns. To lose weight, then, you need to create an energy deficit by eating fewer calories, increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity, or preferably both.

If you and everyone else were physically and functionally identical, it would be easy to determine the standard energy needs. But many factors influence calorie requirements, including body size and composition, age, and sex.
To function properly, a bigger body mass requires more energy (more calories) than does a smaller body mass. Also, muscle burns more calories than fat does. So the more muscle you have in relation to fat, the higher your basal metabolic rate.
As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight. Metabolism also slows naturally with age. Together these changes reduce your calorie needs.
Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight. This is why men generally have a higher basal metabolic rate and burn more calories than women do.

Your ability to change your basal metabolism is limited. However, you can increase daily exercise and activity to build muscle tissue and burn more calories.
Your metabolism influences your energy needs, but it's your food intake and physical activity that ultimately determine your weight.
Losing weight, like any task you undertake, requires that you have dedication and motivation to succeed. This means you need to get your head in the right place.

Moving Closer toward Spiritual Nirvana

Moving Closer toward Spiritual Nirvana

Every journey has an end and each undertaking you get yourself into has a goal to be achieved at the end. As you go through the process of spiritual empowerment, you do not only get yourself to experience freedom and independence but you move close to nirvana as well.

What is Nirvana?

Nirvana is said to come from a Pali word meaning, “blowing out”. Thus, this means that a person experiencing nirvana has blown out greed and hatred and is free from suffering. In Buddhism, Nirvana is said to be a state where a person achieves and experiences perfect peace of his own mind and frees himself from cravings, anger, and other afflictions. He also becomes at peace with the world, gives kindness and consideration to other people, and does not obsess with physical things anymore.

How Is It Achieved?

According to the Pali Canon, nirvana can be achieved in many ways. First, it can be achieved from insight and self-awareness alone or it can be achieved through understanding. Nirvana may also be achieved through the deeds and righteousness that a person has as well as the virtues, understanding, and consciousness. It can also be achieved with some effort and concentration or through the four foundations of mindfulness, which include the body, sensations, mind, and mental contents.

If you summarize all of these things, the path to spiritual empowerment, which ultimately leads to nirvana, is the same as the Threefold Training of Buddha, which included wisdom, mental development, and virtue. A person who is able to lead a life with the right speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration, understanding, and intention is sure to be able to reach the right path to enlightenment. When this happens, the person is not anymore attached to the material world and has found a different kind of happiness and contentment in their lives.

Striking the Balance between the Inner and Outer Aspects of Your Body

Striking the Balance between the Inner and Outer Aspects of Your Body

Being spiritually empowered brings us not only to awareness of ourselves but also of others and our surroundings as well. However, there are times when these concepts could clash, which is a reason why balance must be maintained between the two.

The Inner Aspects of the Body

An enlightened person becomes more fully aware of his own self, his body, his capabilities as well as the limitations and flaws. However, a person who is spiritually empowered is able to accept whatever weaknesses they have, work on it and make it a stepping stone for improvement and not as a hindrance.

The Outer Aspects of the Body

While there are needs in the body that has to be fulfilled, we must also remember the others that we have to think of as well. You may have experienced freedom and independence for yourself but this is useless when you see around you that the people are not having the same experience. This is a time when the principles that you wish to live by begin to clash

Striking a Balance between the Two

Usually, people who have experienced this freedom would also want to impart in others what they too have experienced. It is not enough to be able to feel happiness within one’s self but in the interaction with other people as well. This would ensure that person that he is not only working things for himself but also to his surroundings, thus creating a balance.

In addition, happiness felt within oneself is incomplete if the person finds that his surroundings could not give him the happiness and enlightenment that he had worked so hard to achieve. It is for this reason that these people also try to spread and teach what they know so that a balance between the happiness of the outside and inside aspects of the body is achieved.

Thinking and Growing Rich

Thinking and Growing Rich

The Law of Attraction has been found with many uses, including in the aspect of becoming rich. According to this law, your thoughts have an energy that can attract other circumstances in life. Although this has been dismissed as a part of pseudoscience, there are still many instances in our lives where we believe that the Law of Attraction takes place.

On Becoming Rich
The Law of Attraction says that if a person thinks of a specific goal in mind, feels, and knows as if it is already a truth, then things will start to follow and the universe will seem to conspire to make it a reality.

Many people believe that when they start to do the same in their want to become rich, they also become one. Of course, this event does not happen instantly. When you start to think that you are already rich, or are becoming one, your actions start to modify as well. You unconsciously do things that could actually make you rich and succeed in it which is why so many of us think that the whole world willed for it to become true when the truth is, it was actually more because of our own doings.

On Succeeding in the Endeavor
If you want to succeed, this should also be something you want to keep in mind. A person who believes in success would have self-confidence that could take him places. When a business associate or a client meets up with someone who possesses this quality, they also become confident in making a deal with the person because they can trust that person and they would believe that they could also bring them success.

In its simplest terms, the Law of Attraction works this way. A person who has positive energy is sure to attract positive energy as well and block out the negatives, guaranteeing success.

Understanding the Secret of the Law of Attraction

Understanding the Secret of the Law of Attraction

Did you ever know that spiritual empowerment had something to do with Quantum Physics? You may not believe it but it does. Here is why:-

A Quantum Physics Law

According to experts, the Law of Attraction traces its roots to Quantum Physics. However, many of those in the scientific community believe that this law already belongs to pseudoscience.

The Law of Attraction states that one can use his energy to his own advantage when he follows four principles:-

1) You must have specifics of what you want to achieve.
2) You must ask the world to give it to you.
3) You must think and feel that you have already gotten what you really want to have.
4) You must be prepared for its coming and let go of whatever connections that comes with it.
Thus, the law states that when you think of something as already happening to you, there is a big probability that it will truly happen to you.

How It Is Connected to Spiritual Empowerment

You already know that spiritual empowerment and enrichment is what you want to achieve. When you start to think of it as something that is already in you, you also start to act as if you already have that empowerment. Thus, your actions will help you work out what you need to do as things follow. Later on, you will never notice, that you have already reached what you want to achieve and you let go of the other things that is stopping you from achieving it.

When you are in your journey for spiritual enlightenment, it is important that if you feel and start to act the way an enlightened person should, you would also keep out any negative vibes. Because what you think would attract the energy around you, it is best to keep out negative thoughts from your mind to keep out negative energy as well.

Spirituality and Money – Understanding the Equation

Spirituality and Money – Understanding the Equation

When we try to achieve spiritual empowerment, it can be hard to go against all the temptations in the world. It can be hard to avoid indulging ourselves with what money has to offer. As they say, money makes the world go round and many times, we would forget that there are other forms of happiness in the world that no amount of money can buy. However, this is not the case for spiritual people.

When One is Spiritual

A spiritual person is more aware of himself or herself. The person is more aware of his surroundings and to the sufferings of the people. This is the reason why many of them are not after material richness. These types of people find more happiness and fulfillment in the little joys of life that money is not able to bring. Thus, they are able to have a different view and concept about money, what it can do to our lives and to the people surrounding us as well.

Their Views on Money

The use of money, of course, cannot be avoided. However, a person who has gained spiritual enlightenment only sees money as a means to an end and not as anything else. Those who want to do something to society work hard not for themselves but so that they could provide the needs of the people around them. They give out to charities and help other people in need without expecting to gain anything out of it.

Enlightened people do not chase after money. Instead, they accept it as it comes. Money is still needed to buy essentials but not for the things that could bring happiness. These people believe that they could get what they want out of money but it does not mean that all their happiness relies in it.

Learning from Life and Moving On

Learning from Life and Moving On

When you go through the process of spiritual development, it is not always a guaranteed success at the start. There are many times that a person will fail but it is in getting back up that he gets courage and determination to withstand whatever situation he has to face in the future.

If you are on this journey, it is very important to have the will to achieve your goal – of being independent, free, and empowered as well. It takes a little hard work to achieve this as well as some patience. Even though the path you will be taking will have some bumps ahead, you must bear in mind that everything will end soon enough and if you focus your mind to it, you should not notice that you have already reached your goal.

It is then important that each time you fail and make a mistake; you learn to accept that you also have some limitations in you. You cannot be perfect but you are trying to be the best that you can be. When you make mistakes, which are often inevitable at the start, it is normal to feel sad and a little depressed. However, this failure should not be a reason for you to sulk and even regress and go back to your old ways. Instead, you should use it as a stepping-stone so that you can move on further to your spiritual goal.

When you become successful in this journey, it should feel very pleasant and light. You have reached your goal because of all your hard work and your determination. Courage is also important so that you can bravely face your shortcomings and learn to accept it. Flaws are a part of who a person is and it cannot be avoided that he has one however, it should not be a hindrance as to why he could not move on to his goal.

Being Your Own Spiritual Coach

Being Your Own Spiritual Coach

It is not only enough to seek help from other people by using meditative and alternative therapies on your way to spiritual empowerment. It would help much if you were able to become the personal coach to your own self so that you can criticize easily if you make any mistakes.

Having an enriched and empowered spiritual life would mean that a person is able to accept one’s self, no matter the limitations he has. When you fail to accept that and tend to blame yourself for things because you are a weak person who has too little capabilities, then you should start to tutor yourself into forgetting that part. Keep in mind that you are in the road to spiritual empowerment, if you do not help yourself improve and accept things as they are, nobody else can help you in that aspect.

It is also important that you always remember the mistakes you have done in the past and take action from it instead of regressing and going back the other way. Do not forget that mistakes are what shapes a person and sometimes, they can be inevitable. One can always learn something from a mistake and when he does, he commits never to make the same action again.

However, you must also remember that a person learns and improves. You cannot always say that it is unavoidable to make a mistake because it can be – when it happens repeatedly. Making the same mistakes over again is a sign that you are not doing anything to help yourself improve and move a notch higher in terms of spiritual empowerment.

Become your own coach – you are the only person who can always accompany yourself and check for any mistakes that you might commit. You are also the only person who can bring yourself not ever to commit the same mistake again.

Spiritual Empowerment through Alternate Therapies

Spiritual Empowerment through Alternate Therapies

One can reach spiritual empowerment in many ways. The most common of these methods are through alternative therapies. Below are a few examples:-

Yoga

Yoga uses the mental as well as physical disciplines that originated in India. Most Yoga practitioners today use yoga as a form of exercise. However, this form of meditation may also be used to gain Moksha.

Moksha is the state where a person attains liberation and freedom from all worldly sufferings. It comes from a Sanskrit word that literally means release or to let go. At the end, the person is able to find his own identity called the Supreme Brahman. Doing yoga may also help a person have a stable relationship with himself while experiencing calm and peace.

Reiki

This method originated in Japan and means spiritual power from a Chinese loanword. Reiki originated with Mikao Usui after a 21-day retreat in Mount Kurama. Practitioners of Reiki aim to abide to its principles that include (in a translation):-
 Do not be angry
 Do not worry
 Be grateful
 Work with integrity
 Be kind to others

Reiki also makes use of a universal spiritual energy that could actually have a healing effect. Anyone can also gain of this energy but has to go through a process of attunement done by a Reiki master.

Er Mei Qi Gong

This type of practice believes that a unique form of matter called the Qi can be transmitted to others to provide healing and promote good health as well as help in spiritual empowerment. Some people even believe that they are able to develop their skills in clairvoyance and telepathy.

The choice of alternative therapy, if at all, would really depend upon you and in which practices you are most comfortable of doing. In addition, there are many other therapies that you could undergo aside from the ones listed here.

Enriching the Spirit – 5 Tips

Enriching the Spirit – 5 Tips

How does one make sure that he gets in the right path in becoming spiritually empowered? Here are some ways:-


1) Knowing Oneself

The first step to being able to empower one’s self and, later on, achieve freedom and independence is to know one’ self. It is very important that a person know his capabilities and limitations so that he knows what his role is in the community.


2) Understanding the World Around

Once the person has some idea on the things he may be able to do to the things around him, he would start understanding what is truly surrounding him. It is important that a person knows how the things he could do to his surroundings could also affect them.


3) Prioritizing Things

When a person is able to determine these things in his life early on, it is easier to be able to put priorities in life. For example, self is the foremost thing that needs to be taken care of, without it a person is not able to reach out to his surroundings and could not reach the freedom and independence he would want to achieve.


4) Sharing with Others

A person may be able to gain independence and freedom of his own but if he does not share what he knows to other people, this effort is deemed useless and it would not really make such a big impact. If a person shares what he learns, he is able to get a step closer in making the world better.


5) Continuing to Learn

A person who wants to enrich his spirit is one that does not give up easily, no matter the circumstances and no matter the aspect of life is involved. An empowered person would seek to learn more to make the world an even better place for his self and his surroundings.