Fast Food Farce

It's time for some lighter fare :)



Most restaurants down the street are going to serve you food with lots of added sugar, polyunsaturated fat, trans fat, MSG, and lots of other nasty additives, so beware



Try to figure out what all this is for

Try to see the world beyond your front door



Did you see what you just ate

Wake up before it's too late :)



Thanks to Barenaked Ladies for writing and performing the song and to Yahoo Music for providing free access to the video.



"Pinch Me"

Invitation to Share Your Rituals

Dear friends,

At this moment I'm sitting in one of my favorite Seattle coffee shops, my bagel finished, hot tea still at my side. It's a windy and cloudy day here... a perfect opportunity to snuggle up and write to you! I hope this first day of June (or whenever you happen to read this) finds you well with a smile resting gently between your ears!

I'm writing to invite you to share with me a little sliver of your life. Lately I've been thinking about rituals. More specifically, I'm curious about rituals that encourage healthy living - rituals that nourish our bodies, minds, hearts, souls and relationships. I would like to have more of these rituals in my life and so I'm turning to you to learn from you.

Are there any activities, behaviors or ceremonies that you perform regularly?

Perhaps you say a prayer before eating, go to the gym 2 days a week, meditate in the mornings before you begin your day, enjoy a day of silence once a month, eat only raw foods on a certain day, wash the dog with your child every Sunday, have a family meeting, take yourself out on a date, attend a religious service, take a deep breath before getting out of the car, the list could go on and on.... that's where I want your help!

I consider a ritual for healthy living to be an activity or behavior that someone performs regularly for the purpose of bringing value to ones well-being. It could really be anything!

If you have a ritual that you perform, be it big or small, I would be so honored if you would share it. You can describe it or tell a story about it. Whatever feels most comfortable to you. I will collect these rituals and once it seems like I'm done hearing from people I'll send out another email, sharing all the rituals I have received so that you can benefit from each other's rituals for healthy living.

Thank you so much for your participation (which includes just reading this email). And please feel free to forward this message onto others whom you think have a ritual to share. Rituals can be sent to me at openingspace@gmail.com

With love and gratitude,
Ashley

Benefits of Regular and Moderate Exercise

Benefits of Regular and Moderate Exercise
What are the benefits of regular exercise? It promotes self-discipline and has a positive impact how people perceive their life. Exercise helps in lifting our spirits and getting us out of any depression. For first timers, it can be done for 15 minutes for 2 to 3 days a week. The time can be increased once our body gets tuned up for it.

Don’t ever force our body! If it gets hurt, then stop. We can take a break from exercising for a few days and then can start again but we need to start from day 1.

Here are some moderate and regular exercises can be done:

Walking
Make use of the surroundings. We can walk with our dog, with partner or child. We should encourage our family to do the walking exercise daily. It will burning body calories while enjoying the surroundings and getting enough sunlight that is also good for our body.

Yoga
Yoga is one effective exercise that energizes not only our body but also our soul. A five-minute yoga exercise can perk us up and recharge our body with the energy.

Sports
Play basketball, football, baseball, tennis or badminton. Many doctors have recommended sports as an effective way to stay fit and healthy. Sports can also be done in moderation. Do not take it seriously. Shooting basketball with a friend is one moderate exercise that is also considered a sport.

Join exercise programs at work

Exercise while doing household chores
Gardening, raking leaves, lawn mowing, doing the laundry, vacuuming and car washing are effective moderate exercises at home. Make use of these chores to sweat and burn calories. Instead of using machines and gadgets to perform these chores, why not do it with our hands and lose some fats?

Making exercises as part of our daily routines will surprise us of how much calories we will lose. Doing these moderate exercises of the same amount every day can burn 150 calories up to 1,000 calories a day.
Benefits of Regular and Moderate Exercise

Farmers Markets

Most of us in the U.S. grew up on food from grocery stores and most food is still sold there. But the plant foods offered at these stores are typically sprayed with pesticides and herbicides and harvested green and the meats are from caged and penned animals fed unnatural diets that make them sick and require antibiotics. These foods are then shipped hundreds or thousands of miles to reach the store. Much of the food has preservatives added, or is pasteurized, or irradiated to keep it from spoiling. Much of it is heavily processed and packaged in plastic. Is that good for our health? Is it good for our environment and natural resources?


With rising fuel prices and increasing health problems, many people are beginning to recognize the value of local healthy foods, whether grown at home or at local farms. As a result, farmer's markets are booming in the U.S. They offer foods that are locally produced. The vegetables are usually organic, harvested when ripe, and very fresh. The meats and dairy are often from pastured animals fed a natural diet. An effective and appealing alternative to industrial foods.


Here's some additional photos I took at a local farmers market. The photos can be viewed individually, by clicking on the photo miniatures, or as a slideshow, by clicking on the "Slideshow" link on the upper right side of the page.

Another local option for good food is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), where you periodically receive a variety of farm produce and in some groups you can actually participate in the farming. Here's a description of one of the largest community supported farms in Texas, Home Sweet Farm.

CSA farming video - featuring Home Sweet Farm


Happy food hunting and gathering ! :)

Add Your Pictures to the Sidebar

The 5 pictures that appear at the top right side of the website are automatically generated from a list of pictures that have been tagged "healthylivingrituals." You can add your pictures to this group.

You must be a member of flickr.com to participate.

1. Find any pictures that you consider to be related to "Rituals for Healthy Living." You get to decide what fits into that category. If it relates to rituals in your life, that counts!
2. Upload them to flickr.
3. Make sure they are marked as public.
4. Add the tag "healthylivingrituals"

That's it. Your pictures should appear on the front page within a day (keep refreshing until you see one of your pictures).

Thank you for helping to add beauty to this site and for sharing your photographic eye!

Submit Your Stories and Rituals

Please share the rituals that you value in your life, experiences that help keep alive your sense of well-being. You can also share stories about your efforts to adopt a new ritual or the ways you are experimenting with some of the rituals other people have shared here.

Please email your submissions to openingspace@gmail.com. Indicate how you would like to be referenced

1. Would you like for your name to be posted or be anonymous?
2. Do you want your first and last name or just first?
3. Do you want to provide a link to a website of yours or an email address?

If you have a picture to illustrate your offering, include that as well. You may also indicate what categories you feel your ritual belongs to (or you can leave this for me to do!).

Thank you for offering to share your experiences. May we each continue to learn from one another, deepening our experience of being alive.

Ashley