“We know it only takes one critically short telomere to make a cell die, so it’s clear that the more really short telomeres a person has the faster problems will develop.” ~ Carol Greider

We talk a lot about longevity in our house and are fascinated with the concept of living the longest, healthiest life possible. Longevity is foremost in our minds when we choose the foods we eat, the water we drink, supplements we take, thoughts we think, words we say, the air we breathe, and virtually every aspect of our lives. We often ask each other, “Is this the most life-affirming choice we can make at this moment?” Some people may find this extreme but it works for us.

Recently we were asked to be part of a study that checks the length of our telomeres to see what our “real” ages are. In very simple terms, telomeres are the small pieces at the ends of all DNA strands that keep them from unraveling. The telomeres shorten a little bit each time the DNA replicates. So you can imagine that over years of DNA replication, telomeres get shorter and shorter.

By taking a blood sample, extracting the DNA and measuring them, you can then compare them to the telomeres of other people in all age categories. This will help you determine if you are slowing down or speeding up your aging process or if you are staying in the range for your age category. It is the most objective and quantifiable test to determine the real age that I am aware of.

So, how did we do?  Are our health and lifestyle choices really making a difference?  Is our fascination with longevity paying off?  Has all this work been worth it?

You bet it is!

My test results came back verifying that my telomeres are the length of someone in their mid to late twenties. Not bad for someone turning fifty this year. I basically cut my age in half! I’m doing a happy dance and drinking a green smoothie to celebrate. And Peter? Well, Peter doesn’t reveal his real age but he is a senior citizen according to the calendar. However, according to his telomeres, he is only 35 years old. WOW!

This is amazing verification that what we are doing is adding years and vitality to our lives. Whether we live another ten or one hundred years, we are happy that we will be living the most vibrant and healthy lives possible. We agree that quality of life is of utmost importance to us. So, if it takes a little extra thought and effort, we feel it is worth it. And it seems our telomeres agree.

How about you?

Are you making the most life-affirming choices possible? Is a vital and vibrant life important to you? Do you enjoy being fully awake and alive? The choice is yours.

For more, you can also read “The Immortality Edge: Realize the Secrets of Your Telomeres for a Longer, Healthier Life” to learn more about telomeres and how you can preserve yours!

A daily green smoothie is essential for optimal health, but seems to be only a recent trend. If you had randomly asked people 5-10 years ago if they’d tasted one of these smoothies, or even knew what a green smoothie was, you’d have most likely received a revolting look paired with a resounding no.  However, these smoothies are becoming quite common households today. I got my favorite super greens amazon from Naked Nutrition. Adding fruits and vegetables into a blender just creates something magical that can’t be mimicked.

Lifestyle Changes

We started to learn about making smoothies. And we continually found ourselves being guided to an amazing person named Victoria Boutenko.  Victoria has an extensive background in the field of green smoothies. Doctor Anne Wigmore and her research inspired her. Victoria moved to the United States from Russia in 1990 with her family. Shortly after moving to the States, Victoria noticed that her family was becoming ill with various ailments, varying from diabetes to asthma to arthritis. She knew then that they needed a change. And, she started to look into holistic alternatives.

In 1994, she changed her family’s lifestyle and eating habits by switching them to a 100% raw food diet. She quickly noticed that their health started to improve, and they were happier. When her family was feeling better, she noticed that something was still missing from their dietary needs.

Through the study of the diets of chimps, she discovered that they ate more green leaves than we do. Primates tend to feed on greens and fruit.

Victoria then developed an amazing mixture for green smoothies. She combines the perfect balance of fruit and greens with water in a blender to make a healthy smoothie that is sure to please. She adds greens like chard, collards, kale and spinach, while the fruits include coconut, mango, berries, apples, bananas and more.

A Guide for Wellness

In her book titled “Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Toward Natural Health”., she has over 200 recipes along with questions that are on most people’s minds about green smoothies. The first 10 chapters of the book talk about things like: Blending versus Juicing, Making Smoothies for Our Children, and The Importance of Rotating Greens in Your Smoothie. The second half of the book is devoted entirely to delicious smoothie recipes including Green Smoothies for Pets, Green Smoothies for Body Care and Savory Green Smoothies and Soups.

Victoria also wrote a new book titled “Green for Life: The Updated Classic on Green Smoothie Nutrition”, click here.

Here’s one of our favorite (delicious) smoothie recipes

• 2 oz. Lemon juice
• 2-3 Pitted dates
• 1 Apple
• One Banana
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups parsley (depending on how strong you want it

Blend well and you have this sweet and tasty treat!

Whether you’re just getting started with smoothies or are an experienced emulsifier, join in the conversation below!

Tomatoes are one of nature’s most versatile fruits. They can be used in a multitude of heart healthy recipes, but did you know that they have many other not so well-known health benefits? Nutrition (and Tomato Expert) Tyler Tolman explains a bit more about the amazing tomato and why it should be on our shelves:

The American Heart Association promotes Tomatoes for a healthy heart. Tomatoes also have 4 chambers and are red just like the Heart. I once read an article that stated just the smell of a garden-fresh tomato can start a process of clearing arterial plaque from the body… Wow. That’s awesome!

One serving (one cup) of red, ripe, raw tomatoes are a good source of Vitamins A, C, K, folate, and potassium. Tomatoes also provide thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper.

When European explorers first brought tomatoes back from the new world they called them “Love Apples”. At this time many people believed they were poisonous because they are related to the nightshade family and in fact, the leaves and roots are poisonous – but the Tomato itself is quite a different story.

Tomatoes are well known for their ability to protect the heart with their concentration of Lycopene, they also lower bad cholesterol and because of their 9,000+ phytonutrients. They are also a great support to the immune system.

Tomatoes’ lycopene also makes skin less sensitive to UV light damage, one cause of fine lines and wrinkles.

According to the Harvard University Medical School, 72 different Studies show that when eating 10 servings of tomatoes per week you cut the risk of Prostate Cancer by 50%! By adding tomatoes to your diet, you’re also reducing the risk of stomach, lung, breast, colon, mouth or throat cancer as well.

One of my Favorite Snacks

Get some Sunbread or Essene bread (sprouted bread)
Cut a few thick slices of tomato over some spinach.
Add avocado, a little purple onion and some Bragg’s Amino’s. YUMMMMY!!

Give it a try. I know it will keep you and your family kickin’ a little longer.

Now for some personal Stuff

One of the coolest experiences I’ve had was sitting with a group of people after 7 days of Juice fasting. We each had 1 tomato each with our own plates and knife. Each of us sat there and cut the tomato into small pieces like little wedges, then we put just a dab of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled salt on it. We sat around talking about how amazing it was going to be to eat for the first time.

A lot of people are unaware that we are not just a physical body, but we have a mental body, emotional body, and even etheric (energy body) and we were about to feed all of them.

So we sat there and thought about where the tomato came from, what it might affect within us and the travel it may have gone through to get to this point. Then we smelled it (I mean really sat there and smelled it) Now our Salivary glands are flowing with anticipation, then we each had a little chat about what we were grateful for and then we slowly started to offer each piece of this tomato into our Temples (bodies :0) Wow, the flavor was amazing!! I felt feelings of Love, bliss, joy and orgasmic big bangs going on in my brain! We all looked at each other like OMG!

Long story short, we could barely finish each piece.! ‘Really? Are you kidding me. 7 days of juice and your FULL from one tomato?’

Final Thought About Tomatoes

I’m reminded of a story in The Bible, (don’t quote me, I’m just going by memory) it says Christ was preaching and many people gathered, when it came time to eat they gathered the Bread and Fish and realized there were only a small number of baskets and they would not be able to feed everyone. Christ said give me the Loaves and Fish and I will break bread and every person shall eat and be full… I really think that he showed them how to feed not just their physical body but their entire BEING.

Anywho, Eat a Tomato!

Positive Affirmations Work

We all have our own self talk, and the truth is that it is not always positive. We’re affirming statements about ourselves and the condition of our life with every thought and word we speak. This is a daily habit that we practice subconsciously. To some degree, we are all using positive affirmations every day.

Turn Affirmations into Beliefs

As we begin to think about specific thoughts, over and over again, they become beliefs. We speak about these beliefs to others and even create the stories we tell from those beliefs. Soon enough, these beliefs become reality – and, the more we think and speak about them the realer they become. The condition of our health, wealth, relationships, etc. depends upon our habit of perception.

When we change the perception of ourselves and our life to a more positive view consistently, our life TRANSFORMS. We are crafting ourselves and our future by the words we speak every single day. Instead of waiting for a miracle to come along and change our life, we need to take charge and start changing it right now.

This may seem unrealistic to some, but practicing positive affirmations is life-changing. It’s simple, and it’s free, it just takes commitment and dedication. It starts with taking conscious control of our thoughts and habitually transforming self destructive, negative thoughts into positive affirmations.

Positive Self Talk

An affirmation is simply positive self talk or a statement we say about ourselves or our life phrased in the present tense as if it were true. When you find yourself caught in a negative thought pattern, just stop and immediately replace it with an opposite statement.

For example:
• “I need to lose weight.” Becomes “I can release weight easily.”
• Or, “I can’t afford that.” Becomes “I can find a better deal.”
• “I can’t save money.” Becomes “I can easily save money.”
• “I’ll never meet the right partner.” Becomes “I am open to finding the perfect mate.”
• “I look horrible. I hate myself.” Becomes “I love myself unconditionally.”

As a mom, I have PBS on for my daughter. While I am writing this I hear, “When something seems bad, turn it around. Find something good.” on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Yes, it is really that easy. It’s all about shifting focus from the negative to the positive. Even if it is small steps at a time. When you make it a conscious habit, you begin making bigger and bigger changes over time.

“The most crucial aspect of positive affirmations is your feeling. When you say the affirmation pay attention to what ‘feelings’ are coming up.”

Make a positive change

Affirmations work to help us change. In fact, they make change easier. They are the seeds we plant that eventually bloom – the more we take care, the better the yield. Often times we think that action will solve our problems, and while the action is critical to change, alone it will not provide real, lasting change.

For the best results, you must first get into an agreement in mind and then follow with action. Having a positive outlook is vital to reaching your goals. Sometimes, when we start, we are so far from our goal that it is not easy to maintain a positive perspective. That is why positive affirmations are imperative. They are the catalyst for change.

Positive affirmations are so simple that they can be overlooked

In fact, they are defined as simple, positive phrases that an individual repeats to themselves, with full belief that it is the case, whether presently true or not. The purpose of repeating affirmations is to build a sense of self-confidence. You use these phrases to tell yourself what you want or where you want to be in the future. Even if you do not currently believe the phrase at the moment, with practice you will.

Feeling Your Mantra

The most crucial aspect of positive affirmations is your feeling. When you say the affirmation pay attention to what “feelings” are coming up. Your feelings are your emotional guidance system and are your indicators to where you are in regards to your affirmation or statement of intention. The better you feel about each statement the closer you are to achieving it. You want to feel good about it deep inside. Most people give up and go back to old ways before they see change. However, the strong and determined individual will prevail. Ultimately it comes down to this basic question, “How much do you want to change?”

“I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, every day until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action.” – Og Mandino

Remove Negative Thoughts

Positive affirmations remove negative thoughts and replace them with more positive, good feeling ones. An easy way to see affirmations working in your life is to create a list of areas in your life that you’d like to see improve. Write down the thoughts and beliefs you have about each area. When you ready, begin writing more positive statements. Even if you need to take small steps and write a series of positive affirmations until you reach your goal – that’s okay. Everyone is different, and you know yourself best. When you feel really good about a particular affirmation you’ll begin to see the results in your outer world.

Put Them to Work for You!

Many times people get excited about affirmations and want to use them but have a hard time coming up with their own, so they give up. These are the exact people that need them the most. Typically, when a person has trouble coming up with a list of positive affirmations it is because they have extremely low self-esteem and have trouble seeing anything positive about their lives.

Follow the Leaders

If you are new to positive affirmations the best place to start is following the leaders like Louise Hay. She has phenomenal simple affirmations that will help you without having to write your own. Choose her affirmations that resonate with you. Louise Hay is a truly inspiring woman and has blessed and changed the lives of millions. She is the founder of Hay House and is one of the top motivational authors in the world. I personally have her books, DVDs, affirmation cards and iTunes apps. I love all of her products, but especially the apps because they are so handy and I can access her material right from my phone.

Affirmations Work!

I’ve been using affirmations for years now to transform my life, and I would also be happy to help you. Please feel free to comment below about the area in your life that you’d like to see more abundance. I’ll help you craft the perfect affirmations. I feel my purpose here is to help others change their lives and overcome obstacles to living their best life. I’d also love to hear from you if positive affirmations have changed your life. I love connecting with like-minded individuals, and I love hearing others success stories.

For me personally, affirmations have helped me to release weight (a lot of it too), overcome depression, dramatically increase my income, live my passion, improve all of my relationships, have a natural, drug free childbirth (my proudest accomplishment by the way), conquer panic attacks, and love myself more. My list could go on and on. So, when someone tells me that positive affirmations do not work, I know that they just aren’t truly making them a conscious daily habit.

 

Final Thoughts

I’ll be writing more about the benefits of positive affirmations and specific ways to make the most of them next week. Please do post your comments below – I am looking forward to hearing about your journey and success!

PS: You can also quickly find simple positive affirmations by category here.

“Flying first class is always more comfortable, but not everyone can afford it. The good news with life is that anyone can fly first class.”

Life is a spiritual journey, and we are all Spirit-travellers.

Our journey begins when we are born and life unfolds in front of us through our experiences.  We all have the same destination – the return to the source; that is, we all want to attain the Salvation peak of the soul.  What makes life unique is how we arrive at our destination.

An “airplane metaphor” is the best way to explain life’s journey.  We have the choice of how to fly to a certain city, state, or country.  No matter which class we choose, we will reach the same destination.  Flying first class is always more comfortable, but not everyone can afford it.  The good news with life is that anyone can fly first class.

The question that arises here is: Are we ready to upgrade to first class in life?

Although it may demand a lot on our part, it is really worthwhile. When one travels through fear and negativity, it goes against nature. It really prevents you from shining like the sun, and instead, you remain among the dark clouds. Living life in fear costs you a lot. It puts your personal relationships at stake, it’s a threat to your health, and attacks your creativity.  It simply costs you your LIFE.

Often times, people have experienced whatever they have feared the most.  This is because their focus was on the things they did not like and not on the things that they deeply cherished.  Every now and then, we feel that we have to fight against the energy which is on the outside but the real fact is that the enemy is within us and we need to conquer it with love.

Travelling first class in life, on the other hand, guarantees a whole package of excitement.  When you are on that path,  you get to meet fellow travelers of like minds – people with the same values.  This confirms the amazing reasoning behind the law; like attracts like.  Those generous souls are full of life and they really live out loud. The moment you make the decision to travel first class, you unlock the amazing gifts attached to it.  Life will still have those peaks and valleys, but we will have to muster the courage to cross all of them with a never say die attitude, finding it easier than ever to achieve victory.  You are always taken care of by the universe, sometimes in surprising ways. You will stand in awe at what life has to offer.

How to upgrade your life’s journey

You will have to change your perception from head to the heart, from fear to love, from NO to a BIG YES, from negative to positive and eventually from ME to US.

It starts with positive thinking.  Thoughts become things!  We need to allow only positive thoughts to occupy our mind as we tend to materialize those things in life.  Positive thinking leads to positive actions.  Life appears as a catalog to us and we just have to flip over it and choose whatever adventure we want to experience.  The most important task along the journey is the GRATITUDE PROCESS.  The more grateful we are to live, the more life will amaze us.  Gratitude simply attracts more of what we have and want in life.  Another essential tool at our service is our visualization ability.  Life can be phenomenal if you choose to visualize life as being heaven on earth and break all the limits.

When you choose to fly First Class, you begin to praise life as you go along, sending love and light to everyone you encounter.  While you may come into contact with negative people – instead of adopting their negativity, you will spread your light, touch their hearts, and eventually make the crowd follow you. You will open your heart and the hearts of others to the abundance of available energy that surrounds us all.

What class are you traveling today?

Make a decision today to have a first class life. Avoid living as a victim and instead be the hero of your own life. Whenever you find yourself being fearful, thank it for protecting you and then release it. Notice all the first class miracles around you and if anyone asks you how it’s going? Reply with ‘FIRST CLASS!’

Fly first class and be a first class version of YOU. Reality is always what you decide it to be and it is never out of control. SHINE ON!

Celery is a food that we all know and love. We use it in a variety of summer salads, as well as in soup recipes, and much more. But did you know that celery carries with it a multitude of health benefits? Tyler Tolman shows us the mind-blowing benefits of this crunchy low-calorie snack!

People with Crohn’s Disease, IBS, and many other digestive issues could benefit greatly from eating celery.

Have you ever noticed that celery looks like our bones? If you cut a whole stalk, it also looks like the insides of a bone. Besides, it is high in natural sodium, which is the catalyst for making bones.

Let’s think about it for a second, you can take coral calcium off the ocean floor and sell it as pills, or you could recognize that the coral got there by the sodium content in the water and sunshine in the first place. 2 major building blocks for your body making calcium.

The body needs sodium and sunshine to produce strong bones, something celery has both of!! That’s right–this veggie has sodium and sunshine!

The History

There is evidence of celery being used as a medicinal plant in ancient Egypt. There’s also evidence that ancient Greek athletes were awarded celery leaves to commemorate their winning.

Hippocrates described celery as a nerve re-builder and soother and said “let food be thy medicine”

Fresh celery is an excellent source of vitamin-K. Vitamin-K helps increase bone mass by promoting osteopathic activity in the bones. It also has established role in Alzheimer’s disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in the brain.

Recent research has brought knowledge about celery’s anti-inflammatory health benefits, including its protection against inflammation in the digestive tract itself. This means that people with Crohns Disease, IBS and many other digestive issues could benefit greatly from eating celery.

This veggie also decreases the risk of oxidation damage to body fats and risk of oxidation damage to blood vessel walls. (it strengthens the circulatory system ;0)

As far back as ancient Rome, celery was considered an aphrodisiac. Today, scientists know that celery contains androsterone, a pheromone released by mens’ sweat glands that attracts females.

Famed Italian lover Casanova made sure to include lots of celery in his diet to keep up his stamina. (Apparently good for different kinds of bones)

So you can snack on it raw or do what I do and add Almond Butter or mix it in with a Green Smoothie:

For an amazing green smoothie that my wife and baby have every day for breakfast, simply mix these ingredients in a blender:

1 cut apple
2 sticks celery
½ avocado
¼ cucumber
a big handful or two of greens (spinach, kale, silverbeet etc)
2-3 bananas
5-7 dates
Then add ¼- ½ of the pitcher with water and blend till Silky Smooth :0)”

Have you stocked your fridge with this life-giving resource?  Let us know in the conversation below!