Tears streamed down my face as I sat on the side of a raised flower bed in my garden, watching the blue Ford take my partner Nick’s planer and other carpenter tools away. Nick had died 2 months before; it was time to remove some of these remnants that I would not be using. I felt all alone, grieving as those first things were sold.

For the first 3 months after Nick’s death, my grief felt like a red hot brick sitting in the middle of my chest. I cried often and at the oddest places, like seeing Nick’s friend at a banquet where I was accepting a donation for the organization I represented. In most cases, when I felt sadness and tears, I expressed them. Heck, there was no way of holding them back!

After 5 months I felt a weight lifting off me. It felt like I had lifted a very heavy blanket or coat away. I had more energy and felt alive and happy. I started to pay attention to the details of winding down a business that Nick had run. I considered how to manage the acreage where we lived including an addition to our house that was only roughed in.

I pondered my future: What now? What was I going to do alone? What did I want? Was this a time to be celibate? I had been studying a yogi who considered celibacy as the best route for spiritual and personal growth. As I mulled it over, I realized that I wanted a relationship again.

One Saturday 5 months after Nick’s death, there was a notice pinned to the corkboard at a restaurant that my girlfriend and I favored, advertising a vision workshop. We decided to go.

There were 12 to14 of us, both men and women. We discussed setting up a vision for the things you want in your life and managing the fear that surrounds new beginnings (I had an image of transforming my fears from ferocious tigers to tame, meowing pussycats at my feet).

I considered what my beliefs were around relationships: I believed that men and women could have wonderful fulfilling lives in relationships; I believed I could be a good partner.

I felt I had something to give in a relationship, With Nick, I learned a lot about my anger and wanted a relationship where I could do it different, I had seen how it had affected Nick, who was frightened when I became angry. I had had times of great outbursts, and I could see how Nick, not being available emotionally, to discuss my needs had contributed to it. I decided not to feel guilty about how I had acted. I knew I had good communication skills but needed a partner who was willing to listen.

I have been a spiritual seeker all my life and felt that it would be difficult to find someone who had the same values and ideas. It had been difficult for Nick to accept them and that was uncomfortable for us. My future partner would need to have those interests.

So, I thought about my values, my wants and needs. I considered my life in all aspects: how I wanted my work life, my living space, and my relationships.

My vision included all these things, described in detail that delighted me. I continued by listing all the aspects I wanted in my future partner, without being too specific. For instance, I listed that I wanted a handsome, attractive partner, but did not specify that he had black hair, blue eyes, and six feet tall.

I wrote my first draft, then meditated about it and finished my vision. Three weeks later, I met the man of my dreams!

He is a perfect match for me and six years later, it continues to be wonderful. We live, love and laugh joyously. Life is fantastic.

And the amazing thing is: at the time I was writing a vision of my ideal life and partner, so was he! The Universe, in a magnificent gesture, brought us together through a mutual friend.

Vision writing is very powerful and is the first step in the process of transition. Its power lies in the creation of an image that attracts our desires to us. We energize our vision by enjoying its images as if we were actually living it now. This is like putting gas in our car, giving the vision energy to have it happen.

As I wrote my vision, I spent time imagining all the details so that I could see, hear, smell and taste it. All of this imagining was done with emotion. I visualized actually standing in the rooms, felt the Egyptian cotton sheets, enjoyed the smells in the garden, and felt my lover touch my skin, mmm, delicious!

Sometimes change is foisted on us, when someone leaves us, or we create it, when we leave a situation. Vision writing creates a clear picture of your new beginning and gathers your resources together to manage it, if you will allow it.

Write your vision, and give permission for your dreams to unfold. Yes!

Joanne Wiley: co-owner of Full Life Seminars with her husband Hugh, also seminar leader and writer discussing how to find passion and purpose in your life at any stage, but especially at that unique time known as retirement. Find more information at their website http://www.retirement-wishes.com

A good power wheelchair means the freedom to work! It can also mean sore shoulders, knotted back muscles and the risk of an expensive over use injury. No worries, though, when you follow these tips for creating an optimum work environment for wheelchair users, or anyone who spends long hours in front of a computer monitor.

The soles of the feet should be flat or tipped slightly toes up. Both feet should be moved forward enough to keep the hips back on the seat cushion and the lower back pushed against the seat back. This position will provide a solid base and help reduce strain in the upper back.

For regular computer users, the arms should be supported. The height of the keyboard should be set so the arms are bent at about a 90 degree angle and the wrist is flat. A split, or “ergonomic,” keyboard will keep the wrists in a more natural position. Many people do well with a gel wrist pad. If workers can learn to swap off using the mouse with both hands, there will be fewer complaints of sore necks and shoulders.

Finally, the center of the computer monitor should be even with the eyes or a bit lower. The neck can handle looking down much better than it can handle looking up! Of course, there is no question that anyone who is on the telephone all day should be using a headset and not a handset.

Remember that people need frequent short breaks and a chance to stretch their limbs. Everyone needs plenty of sunlight and water, especially in an office environment. Master these essential and have fun with the rest of your day. Roll on.

About the Author

Rodney Robbins has a rare myopathy called Periodic Paralysis, matching complex migraines and Celiac Disease (an autoimmune reaction to eating grains). He often uses a travel scooter to protect his muscles from damaging exercise. Check out his mobility web site at http://wheelchairdeals.eza.biz/ and remember Rodney’s moto: “Adapt early. Adapt often.”

This is the story of a ham and egger. A close friend of mine uses that term quite often and his definition of a ham and egger is someone who’s out in the real world grunting out a living. I wish I could say I’m rich and famous but I’m not. I’m just like 90% of the population out there grunting out a living with one exception. In 1991 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s hard to believe it’s been 14 years already. I love to talk and when you’re reading this if it seems like I’m rambling from one topic to another I probably am. That’s a part of my MS called disinhibition.

I love to have fun and I’ve been told I have a great personality. I’m very honest and trustworthy. I would give the shirt off my back to someone that needed it. Next summer will be 15 years since my diagnosis and I’m still out there grunting! At times I get down but I don’t stay that way very long. There is so much to do in life. If you can get over the fact that you’re going to be doing those things sitting down helps you accept your disease. In my ebook I want to explain MS some of my MS symptoms. I also want to tell you about a new business that I just started on the internet. It’s very inexpensive to get started and although I’m going to market it to everyone I’m especially going to target it towards disabled people.

I’m 47 now and I can trace my symptons back to at least 1980. I’ve had this disease in my body for half of my life. I remember when I was a little boy growing up in Rochester, Minnesota. A commercial on TV (this was the 60’s) showed people in wheelchairs with the tag line, “MS, the crippler of young adults”. I don’t think that tag line would work well these days in our politically correct world but back then it was OK. I myself was diagnosed at the age of 33. It’s ironic that I now have the disease and I can still remember that commercial 40 years ago.

MS is a very humbling disease. When a man has to buy his first pair of Depends underwear at the age of 47 you are HUMBLED! Believe me your ARE humbled. My friend Eric was going into Fargo one day and I asked him to pick me up a bag of Depends just to see what he would say. He’s 39, laughed, and said “no thanks, I can’t do that! I gave him some grief and then laughed with him. When your 4-year old can run faster than you you’re humbled. People with diseases like MS just have to adjust their lives accordingly.

When I finally went in to see a neurologist in 1991 I was unsure what the heck was wrong with me. I had eyesight problems, numbness and tingling all over my body, I was having trouble urinating, I wasn’t sleeping too well, I had a slight limp and a myriad of other problems happening to my body. What could be wrong with me I asked? It had taken me a year to get in to see an eye doctor and it would be another 3-6 months before I finally had the diagnosis I was looking for. Believe it or not by the end I was actually relieved that I had MS! I didn’t know what course it would take but at least I had a name for all my symptoms. I also knew that I didn’t have a stroke, cancer, ALS, or any other major problem. I had been on a roller coaster ride for over a year wondering what was wrong but now I knew!

Jon Wegner is a lifelong Minnesota resident who now lives in Fargo, North Dakota. His ebook “I’ll Run Again In Heaven” can be found at http://disabiz.websitewizard.com or if you have any MS related questions email him at jlw3958@aol.com

Start with credibility. It’s not easy to know if the prices quoted by lenders are reliable. See which lenders are charging fees 6 percent and for how much. And of course, each loan and each borrower are different.

Translated in Ducth is says: Woon je in Westerveld of Hoogezand-Sappemeer en heeft u BKR registratie’ Lenen met zonder BKR registratie is nog nooit zo gemakkelijk geweest. Haal snel een nieuwe auto met geldlening met bkr registratie, 367468 euro is geen obstakel om te lenen. Van Staphorst tot Zeewolde, geld lenen met en BKR codering is hier geen enkel probleem.

Although most mortgage experts say that rates 5 percent are pretty much the same wherever you go, give or take this tiny 11 percentage. Arranging a mortgage is seen as the standard method by which individuals and businesses can purchase residential and commercial real estate without the need to pay the full value immediately. It is a transfer of an interest in land, from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner of the real estate when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed.

Many of these fees are fixed but some can be negotiated.

But others will claim low rates to bring in customers or tell you that the rates 9 percent offered by competitors will change.

Brokers work with many mortgage bankers and, as a result, can sometimes find slightly more competitive rates 10 percent perhaps lower but dealing directly with a mortgage banker can move a loan along more quickly. Both banks and brokers have their strengths and weaknesses. See mortgage loan for residential mortgage lending, and commercial mortgage for lending against commercial property. Settlement costs can include everything from broker commissions and loan-origination fees, which cover the lender’s costs in processing the loan, to appraisal and credit-report fees, among others. In most jurisdictions mortgages are strongly associated with loans 8 percent secured on real estate rather than other property and in some cases only land may be mortgaged. In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower. Different lenders charge different fees. So how do you find a lender or broker you can trust’ While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is evidence of a debt of 3 percent. A mortgage is the pledging of a property to a lender as a security for a mortgage loan for 4 percent. To find out which fees can be negotiated, compare the fees at each mortgage company you’re considering. Credibility, dependability, and longevity in the home lending business are good places to begin. Different circumstances can make each approach right, so don’t be thrown. Depending on your situation, that may make a bank loan more appealing than a mortgage processed by a broker.

Some will quote you precise, competitive rates 4 percent.

The wonderful location of Africa called South Luangwa has been named the best place to safari in Africa. The area has been celebrated in countless years by the countries amazing safari experts. Holiday makers will be able to find large groups of big cats as well as amazing zebras.

The safari region is well known for its brilliant driving safaris and is a crowd pleaser with all curious folk. The changing seasons makes the area irrestible with a desert season right through winter and a green charming jungle feel over June to August. During the changes in season the game can differ giving people a different aspect. Visit Southern Africa and go on Zambia safaris to explore the wonderful planes of South Africa.

Identify the beauty of South Africa with a safari vacation and be at one with the gorgeous nature. The huge rivers and wildlife will probably make people feel alive with energy. Holiday Makers will be able to take lots of photographs and take back the very best memories.

South Africa has innumerable animals in its parks and British tourists will often easily find the perfect photograph of a zebra. If you are not used to a walking safari you can go on a driving safari and see large amounts of the country all within a short amount of time. Once you have finished your driving safari by day you might often then go back to your hotel to have dinner. Loads of hotels are three star and brilliant.

The first question an entrepreneur should ask himself when contemplating whether to extend his product range is “why would I do that?”

A good share of the entrepreneurs I know have a tendency to extend their product range in a very curious, oportunistic way. Whenever the market has more opportunities than suppliers, I see entrepreneurs deciding “Let’s do this, too. We can do this, why not doing it?”

For this reason, they end up developing unrelated products that eventually lead to parallel businesses, very time and effort-consuming for the small business. An entrepreneur should first be able to address the following two questions:

- why does he feel the need to take such step, launching a new product or service?

- will the product contribute towards a better strategic positioning of the company?

- will the product help sustain the company’s message for the target market?

Some other issues should be considered and answered too, before deciding to add a product to the company’s range:

- will the new product cannibalize the existing products?

- if a new product is launched, will customers still purchase the previous products?

- the new product’s market is a new one, or is it the same market as for the older products (is the business truly extending, or it is just being updated?). A business update is surely not a bad idea, but not if it comes as an unexpected result: the entrepreneur invests to extend the business and in return he only succeeds to replace older products with new ones.

Extending a product range should occur only when the target market is ready to buy something new. This is especially true on emerging markets, growing markets that need time to assimilate and learn new products, according to existing needs. If a product is launched too early in the market’s development stage, one should brace himself for failure, or at least for a costly adventure: marketing the new product can require more time and money than planned and expected. Extending the products range for a small business is actually a matter of inspiration rather than perspiration (read: “research”) since market research is often too costly for the small biz entrepreneur – thus extending the products range is a pretty difficult task: what products can you offer to people who are already buying?

When adding new products to the business, focus become the crucial aspect, and not the number of products being launched. If several new products are to be added to the range, they should be positioned for different targets and must be taken care by different teams. You can’t give the market two products at one and you can’t have one single team in charge of launching two products. Multiple products should be launched simultaneously only if the target market is large enough and there’s an equally large team to manage it.

Two frequent mistakes made by small biz entrepreneurs are lack of innovation and focus. More exactly, they might launch products that are too “down to earth” (read: “boring”) for an expanding market, or products that don’t comply with the overall business strategy and direction. If the launch of a new product was successfull, sales should get a boost, but if the launch failed withdrawing the product is probably the best option. A frequent syndrome when it comes of small businesses stretegy is that of buried costs: the entrepreneur insists on keeping a failed product thinking “something” can be done with it or else the money spent on development and launch are lost.

If the new product was a failure, it is theoretically possible to try a re-launch, a re-branding or a different communication campaign; though, most of the times it’s simply the wiser to just eliminate the product and cut the possible further losses.

To conclude, here are some major question a small business entrepreneur should ask himself before launching a new product:

- will the product contribute towards a better strategic positioning of the company?

- will the product help sustain the company’s message for the target market?

- will the new product cannibalize the existing products?

- if a new product is launched, will customers still purchase the previous products?

- the new product’s market is a new one, or is it the same market as for the older products (is the business truly extending, or it is just being updated?).

Otilia Otlacan is a young certified professional with expertise in e-Marketing and e-Business, currently working as independent consultant and e-publisher. She developed and teach her own online course in Principles of e-Marketing and is also a volunteer Economics teacher.
Contact Otilia through TeaWithEdge.com, her Marketing articles and resources portal.

Since we are human animal, I believe, entertainment is indispensable to make us even more human, more integrated into the human society. But again, human being is bounded with rationalism, creativity, problems to be settled, focus and most of all humanity. From the aforesaid principles; rationalism, creativities, problems to be settled, focus and humanity, human shall not be ignorant to even their entertainment, which is one of the fundamental rights or I would say, the natural rights of human being. But everything should be in the human context.

The purpose of this essay is to depict an entertainment that I think are too selfish and too inhuman. This entertainment that I depict as “too selfish” and “too inhuman” is FISHING. I will take very simple approaches for our considerations over this issue, but philosophical, legal grounds will be taken into accounted.

I claim that I do eat fish and I do like fish to any other animal, but what I do is necessary, I eat fish so that I can live (filling my physiological needs, which is the most fundamental), but I don’t entertain my self by killing or wounding fish, because I don’t thing this is a “must”, I can escape from it, and enjoy myself with another kind of entertainment.

I. One’s Life is not just for another’s Flashlight Entertainment

Regarding to the concept of humanity, we will definitely can’t seek any rational to defense that fishing is human-like. I once heard a phrase “animals are people too”. This phrase in a very simplistic denotation, means that animal do have hurting-sense and the sense to survive in their own worlds. Many times, after questioning many people; “what do you like dong?”, the answers are mostly fishing.

The idea of debating (through this article) that fishing is an inhuman form of entertainment comes after I went fishing with my immediate relatives. I do not contradict to fishing as government’s business, daily earning of the ordinary people and fish for the daily protein for human kind, but I strongly contradict to the idea of fishing as an entertainment. Entertainment should not be war-like entertainment. I seem to too irrational and even stupid that just a form of entertainment of a person kills other lives (just for funs). I see with my own eyes that people insert the fishing into the fish barbs, those people feel that the fish do not hurt. Fishing is all about “killing”. In order to kill a fish, another animal’s life has to be killed, which is the worm or any other living creature.

People have choices to make funs, but please and please make your funs more rational, more beneficial to the good of many, make your funs be not the grounds for another’s misery.

II. Fishing Leads to Easier Violence Commitment

I may trying to debate though this article that fishing is another kind of violence, the world has experienced too much trauma, and the most brutal trauma is annihilation. Not body want this trauma to happen again, but fishing as the form of entertainment is, I thing, another form of killing living being. The concept to fell disgust with killing, blood, conflict should start very young, to make the most fundamental principle (peace) of the world’s biggest family, United Nations be more likely to achieve.

III. Conclusion

The very basic and jargon that I want to raise again and again is “living being has the right to existence”, and from this we can draw the analogy that every living being is free from being slave of another. You are playing with fish’s life means that you are making fish your slave, which is contradict to the Cambodian, regional, global and international law, but Cambodia, particularly the schools never teach students about such an illegal conduct.

I need another debate to prove that “fishing is rational”, so it would proceed my endeavor against “fishing” further.

Contact: 221H Street 93, Tuol Sangke quarter, Russey Keo district, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tel: 855 11 268 445, vichekalay@yahoo.com.

The more you know, the less you know. I am sure that’s how you sometimes feel. You must ask yourself the following question. What do I need to get myself excited, enthused, optimistic and in a discovery mode?

Maybe it’s some mini-vacations, starting a business, meeting different people, trying a new hobby, or taking some exotic, exquisite photographs. An S.O.B. is not the kind of person who stays the same. She is always looking for the new adventure or opportunity to turn her on. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do. It only matters that you continue to develop and learn.

Whether you discover your new world through books or the Internet, as long as you are finding new things that amaze you, you are growing. You may need some direction to decide what is going to work for you, but think about a part-time business, a new skill or a hobby that you enjoy which you could turn into a profit making venture of some sort.

You may want to volunteer or apprentice yourself in a particular field. You may be thinking that’s crazy at this point in your life, but I assure you, if you find the right thing, you will enjoy it more than ever.

Listen to the news, read the headlines on the Internet, see a play, try a new kind of food, watch a sporting event. All of these things will produce a reaction from yougood or bad, and out of it, you will develop new friendships and discover a liking for something brand new. One of the ways you remain interesting is to know a little bit about a lot of things.

You’re only limited by your own imagination and thought processes. It’s a wonderful bonus to have help in this by other people who will joint venture, mentor, advise and share, but anyone can do it if they believe hard enough. If you are really stuck, then just open up the newspaper or community magazine and point! What is it that appears? Is it an event, an article about a specific individual, or are they talking about a particular area of the country. Use this targeted area to make your next bold move.

Participate in activities that stretch you. Go to places that are beyond where you’ve been before. Continually make new friends and enjoy them for who they are, not what they might give you.

You know what makes your day tick, so the S.O.B. question is “Where do I go from here?” You must have goals, dreams and things you want to achieve in order to live an S.O.B. life. There are certain things you must do on a daily basis to survive, thrive, grow and develop. Those are the habits you do without even thinking. But if you aren’t flexible, you will drive yourself nuts, so have a routine but not one that’s carved in stone.

spunkyoldbroad.com

Gayle Carson is a 67 year old, three time cancer survivor who’s an internet entrepreneur and a kickboxing S.O.B.
Spunkyoldbroads.com
Gayle@spunkyoldbroad.com

If you’re a backslider you need to know what causes
you to backslide. If you don’t, do you at least know
how to get back right with God? But most importantly,
how to prevent yourself from backsliding in the first
place? If not, you’ll discover the answers to those
all important questions in this article.

Which Type Of Backslider Are You?

According to Jesus in one of His famous parables there
are three ways a person can backslide. (Mark 4:3-20).

Seed that falls by the wayside, seed that falls on
stony ground, and seed that falls among thorns.

Seed that falls by the wayside is the word of God that
you get but don’t understand. The devil comes
immediately causing you to forget. Then you go back to
what you’re used to doing and you backslide.

Seed that falls on stony ground is the word of God
that you get and understand but it’s not rooted inside
you. So when the devil comes with hard times you can’t
handle it. This offends you, so you get mad and
backslide.

Seed that falls among thorns is the word of God mixed
in with the cares of this world, pursuit of riches,
and other lusts. This chokes the word before it can
produce and you go back to doing what the world does,
give up and backslide.

How To Turn Back From Backsliding

A backslider is a Christian who withdraws him or
herself away from devotion to God and His word to go
back under the control of a self-pleasing spirit.

“The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own
ways…” (Proverbs 14:14).

This occurs when fear somehow replaces the faith you
have in God. It then causes you to run away from the
spirit of God back into the sinful world of the flesh
to satisfy your doubt and unbelief.

This means you must be careful not to mix yourself
up with former sins and addictions like you did in the
past. But if you do there will come a time when you
regret it. Your soul will long to be back depending on
the Lord your God for direction and guidance. You may
even be experiencing these feelings right now as
you’re reading this article. But don’t worry.

God said, “Return, ye backsliding children,
and I will heal your backslidings…” (Jeremiah 3:22).

So how do you return to God? “Repent ye therefore, and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when
the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19). Therefore repent, get back
into the word, and let God blot out your sins. It’s
that simple. Just pray and ask God to forgive you and
clean you up.

What Backslider Prevention Technique?

Right before telling another one of His famous
parables Jesus said, “That men ought always to pray,
and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1)

The keyword in that sentence is the word faint. This
is just another way of saying backslide. Jesus is
talking about “praying without ceasing” or stopping.
(1 Thessalonians 5:17). You should do this instead of
giving up and backsliding.

The parable goes on to explain how a wicked judge who
had no regard for God avenged a widow even though he
could care less whether justice was done for her or
not. Yet He avenged her because she showed initiative,
was persistent, didn’t give up and kept asking him.
Because of this he said in his heart “Yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me.”

The point of the parable is if a wicked judge avenges
a widow simply on the basis of her continual asking,
“shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and
night unto him, though he bear long with them?” The
answer of course is an astounding YES! So don’t forget
to keep praying to God without giving up until He
gives you whatever you ask Him to do for you.

For example: if the devil steals some word from you,
or if hard times come, or even if you love money and
sex a little bit too much you can keep praying to God
to deliver you from whatever it is that causes you to
backslide. Don’t be afraid because eventually He will
heal you of your backsliding and you will be free. So
don’t ever give up on praying to God no matter how you
feel or how bad your situation looks.

In conclusion, it is also extremely important that you
continue to pray after God has forgiven you, and
cleanses you and when you are in good standings with
Him. Because Jesus said, “Watch and pray, that ye
enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41).

David Hopkins is a “Christian Article Writer” who
specializes in helping people remember to glorify
God in everything that they do. This way they won’t
miss any of His wonderful blessings. Learn more
at the Daily Word Of God Group Website. You may
also reproduce or give away this article –
Are You A Backslider Who’s Sick Of Backsliding?
Provided this copyright and links remain present.

Taking exercise helps us get back in touch with reality, it grounds us and releases tension and feel-good endorphins. However tough deadlines don’t always allow for a break from our desks so what can you do when you need to work at your maximum and keep your mind sharp?

When you are straining your brain over some task or problem the neurons of your brain function more intensely. As they do this, they build up toxic waste products that can cause foggy thinking. You know that feeling you get when your mind just seems to be like ‘cotton wool’? Can you afford to operate like this?

At its very worst, not doing any form of exercise can lead to depression, neck and back problems and there is evidence that illnesses such as IBS either start with or are exacerbated by allowing tension to build up.

By exercising, you speed the flow of blood through your brain, moving these waste products faster. You also improve this blood flow so that even when you are not exercising, waste is eliminated more efficiently.

But of course you don’t have the time to take exercise. Well you think you don’t. But you could fool yourself into doing exercise regularly by sneaking it in to your life. Here’s how.

If you are sitting at your desk now, take a deep breath in and let it out like a sigh. Feels better already, doesn’t it?

Hands Up.

Sit up and making sure your feet are flat on the floor, raise your arms straight up and join your hands together with your arms as near to your ears as possible. And stretch; really S-T-R-E-T-C-H. Release your arms now and relax. Repeat at least twice.

Flopsey-Wopsey.

Swing your chair away from your desk, kick your shoes off. Start with a deep breath in, take your arms over your head, and slowly with a flat back, fold yourself over whilst exhaling and flop down with your arms dangling to the floor and just rest there. Your back will thank you and your brain will experience the benefits of blood and oxygen. (Pretend you’re looking for a pen or something if you think everyone’s looking, but chances are they’re so involved with worries they won’t notice.) Now come up and take a few more calming breaths. Repeat as you feel the need.

Let’s Twist.

Body twists are good if you’re feeling blue, anxious or fearful. (Explore yoga if you want more benefits.)

Sit on the edge of your chair with left side facing the back of the chair. Your feet and knees are together and need to stay that way throughout the pose. Place your hands on the back of the chair or as near to it as you can get. Keep your feet and knees together. Take a deep breath in, allow you shoulders to rest downwards as you do. Exhale and twist your upper body round to your left to look behind you and go as far as is comfortable. Keep your face aligned with your chest. When twist to the left push with your right hand and pull with your left. Repeat the other side.

Now I bet you’re feeling better, feeling brighter and more ‘up for it’? Are you not?

Having got a taste for exercise capitalise on it and start thinking how you can build more walking into your day. A walk at lunch time, walking up stairs instead of taking the lift or escalator, a walk around the office or to someone else’s office. There are countless ways for you to do this. Act now, because as you do more you create the habit and your mind will present more opportunities for you to take an exercise break and you will find that you want to do longer, regular forms of exercise.

Speed Up Your Success By Slowing Down

And finally if like most people you always tend to be in a hurry, rushing from one place to another and not really spending much time sitting down and clearing your mind. You may find that when you have to perform, for example by giving a presentation, that you r mind goes into panic. Now, a good way to avoid this kind of response is just slow down a bit and think things through, visualising a positive outcome for yourself. You will find this very calming and a practical way to train your mind and body to give you what you want.

Here is a technique to get you on the fast track to success :

Simply take a long slow breath in through the nose, gently hold it for a count of four and then let the breath out as if sighing slowly. Try it now . . . . . feel the difference it makes with just one breath. Now try two more and with each out breath say the word ‘relax’ to yourself. Notice how you can slow down, allow any thoughts to pass, imagine they are like clouds floating by on a windy summer’s day.

Turn your attention to b-r-e-a-t-h-I-n-g … In … and… out.

Now how do you feel? How easy was that?