I say all of the time that if you arent focusing on self development, you are just sitting on the sidelines of life.

So the question becomes, are you happy with your life? Regardless of how you answered, you have the power to make your life better than it is today.

The power to do so lies within each of us. All you need is a little nudge to get started. Because of this, I have compiled a list of 20 self improvement tips for you to start making a part of your everyday life.

Why 20 self improvement tips and not 3 or 5? The reason is because everyone will start with what they feel most comfortable with first. If I were to only list 3 tips, some people might not be interested in trying any of them.

But with 20 self growth tips, chances are you will find something to start with to improve your life. From there you can move on to another tip and another, and so on.

The great thing about this list is that all of the tips I list to better your life are easy to start doing. It wont take you weeks or months to begin applying them into your daily routines.

So what are you waiting for? The first step to your best life begins now!

The first self improvement tip is learning to love yourself. Unfortunately for many, this is easier said than done. You have to learn to accept who you are and that you are beautiful just the way you are. Youre not supposed to look like Brad Pitt or sing like Adele. You are supposed to simply be you.

All throughout our daily lives we have others put us down for who we are, what we wear, or what we believe in. They are against you. You need to be for you. If you are against you, there is no hope of living an amazing life. Learn to become your own ally and not your worst enemy.

Tell yourself how special you are every day. It may be hard at first, but as time goes on, it will become easier. Learn to recognize what talents and qualities you have that are special and believe me, we are all special in our own way.

For me, this tip was tough. I started out looking in the mirror and telling myself how great I was. It felt weird. I didnt believe it. But a funny thing happened. After doing this day after day, I did begin to believe it. It felt good to say and soon I was excited to do this step.

It has had a major impact on how I see myself and carry myself. I encourage you to follow through on this tip and experience the power of it.

I make it a point to exercise a few times a week. When I do, I feel great. Working up a sweat and lifting weights makes me feel good about myself and improves my mood. Not surprisingly, when I am busy and cant make it to the gym, I find I am less motivated in general and my mood sours.

If you go to the gym and dont feel anything, I encourage you to lift heavier weights, to put yourself beyond your comfort zone. Many people go light either because they dont think they can lift as much as they really can or because they fear they will get big and bulky.

I am here to tell you that you can lift more than you think and you wont get big and bulky, unless it is in your genes or you are taking some artificial supplement. Ive been lifting heavy weights for 15 years. I am nowhere near big and bulky.

When you lift heavy weights, your body exerts more effort and you release more endorphins into your system. This is what makes you feel better and improves your mood. When you just go through the motions, you body doesnt respond because it isnt being worked.

With this said, if you are brand new to lifting weights, definitely go light to start so that you dont injure yourself.

If you are going to work out, you might as well eat well too, right? I find when I am working out, I eat better. When I stop working out, I eat poorly. Its a simple cycle really. I lift weights, I feel good about myself, I eat well and the cycle repeats.

Most times you are feeling like crap because you are eating highly processed, sugary foods. Try to eat healthy just for a week. Limit your sugar intake and eat more natural foods like fruits and vegetables.

The first day or so might be hard, but give your body time to adjust and you will be amazed how much better your life will be. That drop off of energy in the afternoon you always experience will no longer happen. You wont wake up tired any longer. You just have to give yourself a few days to adjust.

For me, I started out with a goal of just eating more fruits and vegetables. I didnt have a set goal, other than to figure out how to increase my consumption of these foods.

I added a banana to my breakfast and I put some shredded spinach into my eggs. I was scared at first, but you really cant taste the spinach.

For snacks, I would eat an apple. At lunch and dinner, I would add in more vegetables. I dont think I am anywhere need what the food pyramid calls for with these food groups, but this strategy works for me.

Just play around with it and figure out what routine works best for you. Even if you just make it a point to drink water instead of soda and skip out on a doughnut for an apple you will be doing yourself a world of good.

We are all creatures of habit. We follow the same routines, day in, day out. This makes life easier for us, but also makes us lazy. To spice things up, you need to change your habits. Im not talking about refraining from brushing your teeth, but maybe brush with the opposite hand.

Instead of taking the same way to work every day, try a new way. Make Tuesday nights family night. Find simple ways to change things up in life.

The more you can do this, the more you keep your mind and body on its toes and it has to keep learning. Going back to the exercise point above, its the same idea. If you never increase the weight you lift, your body adapts to the exercise and is no longer being challenged and not growing.

Another great way to change your habits is to start your days off right. Learn how to master your mornings and you will see a positive impact on the rest of your day.

Little daily self improvement goes a long way towards achieving success in life. It doesnt seem like it at the time, but these small changes compound and add up over time.

While you change your habits, you should also focus on setting goals for yourself. Where do you want to be in one year, or three or five years? Dont just write them down, but visualize these goals. Make the goals a part of you.

I have some long term goals for myself. Ive gotten so good at visualizing them that I can see specific details. For example, when I was visualizing my dream house, I could see blades of grass when I closed my eyes and thought of the house and yard I wanted to own.

Dont get upset if you cant do this right away. Start small and just begin to visualize.

The key to setting goals is making them manageable. I used to set annual goals and would fail miserably. I started to break them down into smaller, monthly goals instead.

For example, if my goal was to save 25% of my income this year, I would divide this amount by 12 and my monthly goal would be to save this amount.

If I were trying to pay off my debt, then I would have an amount I would want to pay off each month to hit my annual goal.

By focusing on the shorter time frame, my goal never got lost in the day to day of life.

Newsflash you are going to fail. You are going to fail many times in life. Failing is OK. In fact, you should embrace failure. When you stretch beyond your comfort zone, you are growing as a person. It is only natural that you will fail. Dont fall for the lie that failing is bad.

Think about failing when you were little. As a toddler, we have to learn to walk. If you ever watch a toddler learning to walk, she falls down many, many times. In other words, she fails countless times. Why is a child failing to learn to walk OK but you failing to learn a new skill as an adult a bad thing? At the end of the day it is still failure.

Dont believe the lie that failure is a bad thing. It is only a bad thing if you never learn from it.

Be willing to try new things, give it your best shot and if you fail, take the time to step back. Reflect on the reasons that led you to fail and try again. As you progress, you are growing as a person.

This is my favorite of the tips to improve yourself. You need to know who you are and what you stand for. In other words, you need to create a personal mission statement. Dont mull over creating the perfect mission statement here. Just come up with something that identifies who you are and what you are about. As time goes on, you can modify it.

My mission statement talks about being a healthy person that always looking for the positive in life. Again, nothing complicated and there is room for improvement, just like with life.

If you need help with creating your personal mission statement, click here.

The next of the self improvement tips is that you need to be thankful for all that you have. Why are so many people living in debt? Because they are chasing happiness. They think that happiness comes from things. They dont realize that happiness comes from within.

Its the same with the quote success leads to happiness. It doesnt. Happiness leads to success. Be happy with all that you have. Odds are you have it better than the majority of people.

Try to take a few minutes at the end of each day and think back on what happened and acknowledge the positive things in your life and be thankful for them.

They dont need to be important events either like scoring a raise at work. They could be as simple as getting to run around outside with your kids. Whatever it is, large or small, important or seemingly unimportant, be thankful for it all.

The more you do this, the easier they will be to identify.

Learning a new skill breeds confidence in ourselves. When we learn something new, we get excited and are eager to learn more. This increases our self confidence and we grow and want to learn more. Its a cycle that fuels itself.

So what is it that you have always wanted to learn but always put off? Write a short list of things and then start working on learning those new skills.

Dont be fearful of how difficult it may be. You can easily learn new skills on the internet watching videos, taking free courses or workshops at community colleges and stores, or by reading some books.

If you are an introverted person, challenge yourself to be more social. Im not suggesting you try to change yourself from being an introvert, but having social confidence is a great skill to have.

Challenging yourself is a great tool when it comes to self development. By learning new things, you grow as a person.

How will you find time to learn those news skills you wrote about above? Easy, stop wasting time. I bet you could easily carve out a few hours in your day to learn a new skill. Its all about shifting things around. Most notably, stop watching so much TV! Studies show that too much TV watching is harmful to our health.

How do you stop watching so much TV? For some, you will have to take drastic measures, like canceling your cable. For others, delaying the show works. Delaying is what works for me.

My wife and I have a DVR. We set up the DVR to record all of the shows we want to watch. Surprisingly, we never watch half of the shows on the DVR. Not because we watch other shows, but because we really arent that interested in watching them.

Take some time to understand how you waste time and become more productive with your time. Read more. Learn about something new. Spend more time with loved ones. These are self growth activities that will lead to happiness and success.

Reading stimulates the mind. Do you know how many books I read two years ago? Zero. That falls in line with the numbers from 2015 that show 27% of Americans didnt read a single book.

This year so far, Ive read 5. How do I find the time to read? Simple. I turn off the TV 30 minutes before bed and read. I dont miss anything important on TV and it helps me to prepare for a good nights sleep.

To get started reading and to stick with it pick out some books in niches that interest you. If you like mystery novels, then search out some short books in that niche. You can also check out my resources section for a list of my personal favorites.

The goal isnt to read as many books as you can, but rather to get into the habit of reading. If it takes you two months to read a book, then so be it. The goal is more about reading than the number of books you can complete.

Along with learning new skills and reading, you should fill up your new found free time by meditating for 10 minutes per day. Some may think that meditating is a waste of time, but I find that clearing my head of all of my thoughts and just being present has a huge effect on my mood and happiness.

There are various forms of mediation, so you are sure to find one that is right for you. As you start out with meditation, take things slow. For some people (myself included) it took some time before I was able to clear my mind and really get good at meditating.

What ended up sticking for me was starting off very slowly with a short amount of mediation time and making my sessions longer as I improved.

For more tips for beginning meditation, check out this post.

Once you get the basics down regarding meditation, you will be amazed at the positive impact it has to improve your life. It quickly resets your mind and emotions and you come out of a mediation session feeling fresh and revived.

I mentioned in a previous tip about learning to love yourself. You will always have critics, including yourself. You need to learn to deal with any negative thoughts and emotions you have.

At first, you may find this difficult to do. But over time, controlling your thoughts will become easier.

Understand that negative thoughts will always be with us. They create a problem when we allow them to fester inside and ruin our day. So there was bad traffic this morning. Instead of letting it fester inside and taking that anger out on others, learn to brush it off. Dont allow it to ruin your entire day. Its a day you will never get back.

The same idea applies when others are rude or short to you. You dont know what is happening in their life. Maybe they got into a car accident. Maybe they are getting divorced.

Most times that arent angry at you, they just take it out on you because they havent dealt with the issue effectively enough. Dont let their actions ruin your day.

You will fail. You will struggle. Life will be hard sometimes. But you have to keep pushing through. This builds character. When you push through a hard time, the next hard time you encounter will be easier to get through. Why? Because you proved to yourself that you can get through anything.

That belief is a huge part of daily self improvement.

Another tip to help push through tough times is to take it one day at a time. Too many times we go through a rough patch and think this is what our life will be from now on. This isnt the case.

Take things one day at a time, and try to focus on the positive things from that day. In time, the tough times will pass.

As mentioned above, part of pushing through tough times is all about accepting change. Nothing in life is forever. Things are constantly changing. We age every day, the seasons change every 3 months. Its part of life. The sooner you can accept that change happens, the sooner you can begin to be the best you possible.

While it isnt always easy to accept change, the sooner you do, the happier you will be.

Along the same lines of accepting change is also learning to accept the past. What is done is done. Nothing you can do now will ever change the past. Its part of history. The only thing you can do is learn from the experience and move on, push forward. Forgive and move forward.

If you cant learn to do that, you will never become the best person you can be. You will be focusing on the wrong things, the things you cant change instead of the things you can change.

Let go of the past and focus on the good things you have now and the great things in store for your future. Your past made you who you are today, but it doesnt have to define who you will be in the future.

Part of self improvement is giving without obligation. When you give, be it food, time, your money, you show that the world is a decent place. You also increase your self-esteem and feel good about yourself and the world in general. Learn to pay it forward.

Note that I mentioned giving your time in addition to money. Volunteers are always needed to help out. Dont think for a second that you cant afford to give. You have the most valuable asset of all to give, your time.

We all have those we look up to. Find a mentor who is successful at what you want to do and learn from them. Many successful people are more than willing to help out those who ask for help and are happy to take you under their wing.

By doing this, you will get great insight into what traits and habits make a person successful and what things you might be doing now that are holding you back.

Just be certain you work hard. While many people are willing to mentor, they dont want to feel like you arent trying. So be sure to give all you can so you can learn everything you can.

Of all the tips to improve yourself I list, this is the one that is the toughest to begin using.

The old saying, you are the company that you keep, is true. If you are always hanging around with unmotivated people, you too will be unmotivated to succeed in life. On the other hand, if you hang around with successful people, you too will find success.

I have personal experience with this. I knew of a person in college. When I visited them over the summer, they were lifeless and uninterested in doing anything. It turns out all of her close friends at home were just skating by in life. Many of them dropped out of high school.

But when she was in college, with people that were motivated to become something in life, she was inspired, successful, and the life of the party. After college, she moved back home, isnt using her degree and is just skating by.

The theme was her friends. The company she kept dictated how she was as a person. She finally got the courage to move away from home and her life changed. She got a great job in her field, met a great man, and now is Vice President of the company and has an amazing family.

Are there people in your life you would be better off no longer spending time with? I understand that pushing people out of your life is hard, but it is your life and you need to do what it best for you, regardless of how difficult it may be.

At the end of the day, reflect on what happened. Was it a good day? Even if bad things happened, find ways to spin them into something positive. In other words, dont let the negative thoughts take root in your mind. Be thankful for all that happened to you today and vow to be an even better person tomorrow.

Start out noticing big things that happened since they will be the things in the front of your mind. But dont overlook the little things like the amazing weather, the person that let you go ahead of them in line, etc. All of these things are things to be thankful for.

When you do this, you remember things that happened, that in the moment seemed insignificant. But these events had an impact on your overall day. By reflecting on them, you keep them in the front of your mind and can use them to improve yourself.

If you can follow these 20 self improvement tips, I am confident that you will become a better, more confident person in life. What have you got to lose other than how your life is now? Isnt a better life worth the risk?

As I mentioned at the start of this post, take your time with these tips and cherry pick a few here and there to start with. Dont overwhelm yourself by trying to tackle every tip at once. That is a recipe for failure.

Start small and slow and build other tips into your daily life as the weeks progress. Before you know it, you will start to see a change for the better. This will motivate you to keep pushing forward, improving yourself and improving your life each and every day.

Youll come to find you have more energy, are happier and are more successful, all thanks to a few self improvement tips.

Read this article:
20 Self Improvement Tips That Will Change Your Life ...

Rainer Binder/ullstein bild via Getty ImagesA Rajneeshee meditation service.

If you build it, they will come. And come they did.

In 1981, a hoard of outsiders descended upon a sleepy Oregon town, all dressed in red and preaching free love. From nothing, they built everything, creating their own sustainable town in a desert plain. A town that would find itself at the center of mayhem, when the devoted followers of Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh would carry out the largest bioterror attack that the United States had ever seen.

Several years before the mass influx of cult members, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was the target of an assassination attempt. After a knife was thrown at him, as he was preaching to his followers, he realized it was time to leave India. The ashram at which he had cultivated his spiritual movement, run with his particular brand of capitalism, meditation, ethnic and dirty jokes, and open sexuality, was no longer safe for the over 30,000 Rajneeshees who visited it every year.

So, he turned to his most trusted advisor, the young and devoted Sheela Birnstiel, known as Ma Anand Sheela. Find him a place, he asked her, where he could lead his movement free from judgment, where his followers could live in peace, and where he could build his utopia.

With her husband Marc Silverman, Sheela began searching for a place and before long she had found it. A 64,000-acre plot of land, a patch of desert in the northwest area of the United States. Together, the Rajneeshee pooled their finances, uprooted their lives, and moved halfway around the world to their ranch, which they named Rajneeshpuram, in the heart of Antelope, Ore.

Matthew NAYTHONS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesBhagwan Shree Rajneesh arriving in Oregon.

For most of the followers, it was their first time in the states. Half of them didnt even know where Oregon was, let alone where the tiny town of Antelope fell within it. But Sheela knew, as soon as she saw the plain, that isolated or not, this was the utopia Rajneesh had dreamed of.

It was so clear we had reached the promised land, she said in an interview for the the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country. It was the Shangri-la that everyone dreamt of.

When they arrived, the land was effectively a desert, a flat wasteland of brown dirt. Sheela rallied the Rajneeshee, urging them to band together and create the utopia that Rajneesh expected. When he arrived in several weeks, she wanted everything to be perfect.

Wikimedia CommonsAn aerial view of Rajneeshpuram commune, in Antelope.

And so, the Rajneeshee built it. They built it from the ground up power, plumbing, roads. Then a shopping mall, an airport, a pizza parlor and a 10,000 person meditation building. They even had their own zip code. An environmentally sustainable farm followed, complete with solar power, irrigation, and check dams. They turned the desert green, bringing wildlife back to the plains, and created a lush oasis.

From the wasteland that was the Oregon desert, the followers of Bhagwan Rajneesh built their own Shangri-la.

They should have offered us a Nobel prize, Sheela said.

NetflixRajneeshs right hand woman, Ma Anand Sheela.

In interviews conducted years after the cult had faded from the spotlight, it is abundantly clear that while the Rajneeshee followed Bhagwan Rajneesh, the true mastermind behind the group was Sheela. Reports indicate that Rajneesh was obsessed with the finer things in life, becoming the owner of the worlds largest collection of Rolls Royces, and indulging in multi-million dollar jewels. He would take money from his followers, donations to his cause, and use them on himself.

Sheela, on the other hand, was power hungry. Not concerning herself with material things, Sheela threw herself into building her utopia, her Shangri-la, her town in the desert, touting a belief in Rajneesh, but embodying the spirit of a leader herself.

While the Rajneeshee were preparing for their mystical leaders arrival, and Sheela was driving them into excess, the native residents of Antelope were becoming restless.

Theyre invading, said one local. Maybe not with bullets, but with money and, um, immoral sex.

Antelope was a small community, of about 40 people. Most were hunters and ranchers, who had lived in the town their entire lives. They were, for the most part, conservatives. Given its secluded location, the people of Antelope werent used to outsiders.

They especially werent used to 7,000 of them, all dressed in red, playing music and preaching free love and open sexual relationships. Before long, their welcoming, albeit hesitant, attitude had turned completely volatile.

Francois LE DIASCORN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Rajneeshees doing morning exercises in Antelope.

A hunting magazine declared open season on the Rajneeshee, and locals began referring to them as Red Vermin, or Red Rats. Not helping the situation was the fact that the Rajneeshee had taken to patrolling the perimeter of their commune with machine guns and armored cars.

As the locals hatred toward the Rajneeshee built, so did the Rajneeshees hatred of the locals. Eventually, the Rajneeshee overpowered the residents of Antelope, and several other towns, promptly renaming it Rajneesh.

When Sheela announced that the Rajneeshee had plans to build a city on a mountain, in 1984 the state intervened, denying the permits. In retaliation, Sheela announced plans to place Rajneeshee in the state legislature, bussing in several thousand homeless people from nearby areas to vote for her appointee.

Her plan failed, as the state wouldnt let the homeless people vote, but Sheela was undeterred. If her people couldnt vote, she would make sure no one could.

As the election loomed closer, Sheela drew a small group of people into her inner circle and turned one of the buildings on the compound into a bio-lab. There, she and her team created a deadly toxin, which they called salsa a liquidy brown sludge contaminated with toxic levels of salmonella. Over several weeks, the cult contaminated 10 local restaurants with their salmonella salsa, spraying it on salad bars, the salsa bars of taco restaurants, fruits, vegetables, and even dumping it in water.

Matthew NAYTHONS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesMembers of the Oregon commune, welcoming new members into their community.

The result was a state-wide epidemic, the largest bioterror attack that the United States had ever seen. Over 700 people fell ill, 45 were hospitalized, and though no one died, it could have been much worse. When investigators later raided the compound, they found the makings of Salmonella typhi, typhoid fever. Had their plans escalated, it would have been disastrous.

The outbreak of salmonella was originally attributed to workers mishandling the food. However, several legislators became suspicious of Sheela and her relentless patriotism for her commune. Though they had no evidence, they believed she could have been involved in what they were now calling an act of bioterrorism.

In response to the allegations, thousands of people turned out to vote against Rajneesh and his followers, determined to push them back to the limits of their commune, and possibly farther away than that. To everyones surprise, within a year, Rajneesh himself was ridding himself of the commune, and fleeing the U.S. altogether.

One of the restaurants that Ma Anand Sheela and the Rajneeshee contaminated with their salsa.

In 1895, after pleading guilty to entering the country without a visa, Bhagwan Rajneesh fled the commune. He called his followers a gang of fascists, openly blaming Sheela for the bioterrorism attack. It wasnt until then that the government conducted a full investigation and realized the extent of the crimes that Sheela was planning.

Within the compound, there was evidence of several more biological weapons, and a detailed plan to assassinate Charles Turner, a U.S. attorney in Oregon. As hundreds of the Rajneeshee fled, others simply wondered how the peaceful, loving, expressive group they had joined had gone so wrong.

Armed with the evidence from the compound, Ma Anand Sheela was arrested and brought to trial. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her crimes but released after 39 months.

Ma Anand Sheela claims, to this day, from her home in Switzerland, that she acted at the behest of Rajneesh, that she was in love Rajneesh, and that everything she did was in the interest of Rajneesh. Interviews show a woman desperate to be understood, unrepentant for her crimes, and steadfast in her belief that in the end, everything she did was done with the best of intentions.

This whole thing is a big living opera, she said. Sheela a soprano, Bhagwan, a tenor. Operas are, in the end, always tragic, but there are so many facets, so many dimensions. People of Oregon, think yourselves lucky that this opera came your way.

Next, check out these five insane cults from around the world that are still active today. Then read about the Chldren of God, a cult that encouraged sexual abuse of children.

The rest is here:
The Cult Of Rajneesh And The Largest Act Of Bioterrorism In U ...

Photo Zig Ziglar, who wrote more than two dozen books with total sales well into the millions. Credit Ziglar, Inc., via Associated Press

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude. Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile and a grateful heart. There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.

Be grateful. Believe. Try.

Zig Ziglar said so, over and over and over, and he made a fine living doing it. For more than 40 years he traveled the nation and the world as a motivational speaker, stirring corporate groups with his distinctive blend of sound-bite optimism, country wit, Christian faith and good-natured nudging for people to see the bright side of life. The Ziglar Way, he called it.

When I leave, Mr. Ziglar said in an interview late in his life, we want to be sure to leave all of the messages that we can.

Mr. Ziglar, who died on Wednesday in Plano, Tex., at 86, left many, many messages. He reached people through more than two dozen books with total sales well into the millions; through his children, who have helped run his company; through cassette tapes and later podcasts; and of course through his personal presentations. At his busiest, he said, he spoke 150 times a year, and well into his 70s he was speaking 60 times a year. His fee was $50,000 a speech, plus expenses.

He had a formula: Prepare extensively every time, be funny (Every seven to nine minutes Ill have them laughing), and frequently reinforce the broader message (I make certain that every five minutes Im giving them a concept, an idea, a process, a hope builder).

He told a story about a woman in Alabama who he said was bitter about her job and angry with her co-workers. He advised her to write down whatever positives she could thing of the solid paycheck, the benefits, the vacation time and then stare into the mirror and say how much she loved her job. Six weeks later, he ran into her again.

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Zig Ziglar, 86, Motivational Speaker and Author - The New ...

Welcome to Lotus Yoga, a community-based yoga studio located in the heart of Riverside. Yoga is an ancient path to radiant health, spiritual growth and well being. Its origin has been traced back over 5,000 years to ancient India, and the practice of yoga combines a series of energizing postures with deep concentration, focused breathing, mindful living and meditation. Yoga reduces the blood pressure, lowers the heart rate, calms and soothes the mind, counters depression, improves balance and sleep, and decreases joint and muscle pain. The benefits are proven, limitless and life-changing. Our mission is to promote health, wellness and community in a warm, inviting and stress-free environment. We offer yoga classes suitable for all ages, sizes, shapes and fitness levels with a focus on mindful breathing, quiet reflection, deep relaxation, increasing flexibility and building strength. We also offer private classes, workshops and classes in mindfulness. If you have any additional questions, please send us a message on ourContact Us page or reach out to us directly at:bethany@lotusyogajax.com/904.704.3298bonnie@lotusyogajax.com/904.891.6537

We are located at 869 Stockton Street, Suite 7, Jacksonville, FL 32204

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Lotus Yoga

Water exercise is a great work out for all ages with the water environment providing support and resistance an excellent way to achieve injury free, effective exercise results.

A program full of variety which, depending on the class, achieves a cardiovascular workout, resistance training or muscular conditioning or a combination of these !

Classes conducted using aquatic exercise and and therapy equipment.

Active Aqua Energetic aerobic exercise that gets your heart pumping

Fit n Tone Combination class of aerobic exercise, plus core strength & toning

Aqua Energy A full-on, flat-out workout to start the day on the right foot

Mature Movers Youre not oldyoure fit ! Aerobic exercise with all over toning

Hydrotherapy The union of aquatic exercises and physiotherapy to aid pain management, fall prevention and enhance rehabilitation and recovery; run by qualified physiotherapist

Mums & Bumps A great workout for those with a precious bundle on board

Aqua Play n Learn ** NEW & FREE ** A gentle introduction to aquatic education to enjoy with your baby (3-18m); run by qualified instructor

Broga Yoga for brothersmen only, so man up, turn up, stretch, fart and go for it. Bring your old sports injuries and physical tightness and see how you can live easier. Never done yoga before ? Neither has the bloke next to you, so bring him along too.

FREE Child Supervision Provided on site at Mansfield Aquatics for selected classes !

No booking required just turn up ! Please arrive 5 minutes before class to ensure classes start on time. Change rooms and showers provided.

Enquiries and to buy a pass:pool@mansfieldaquatics.com.au or 03 5779 1857.

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Aqua Aerobics - Mansfield Aquatics

Vegan Recipes

Heres a taste of the irresistible vegan dishes youll find in our recipe library. Be sure to check out The Full Helpings vegan cooking hacks to make the most of your time in the kitchen.

In addition to not eating meat, poultry or fish like vegetarians, vegans also avoid other animal products and by-products like eggs, dairy products and honey and foods that contain these products.

Whats the benefit? A plant-based diet is so good for you. Vegans typically consume less saturated fat and cholesterol and more fiber and phytochemicals than standard diet followers. Add positive links between veg-based diets and lower levels of diabetes, obesity and more, and youve got a way of eating worth cheering for.

The key to a nutritionally sound vegan diet is variety. A healthy and balanced vegan diet includes fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes. Below are some tips to help you navigate shopping and meal planning.

Reputable sources for detailed information on a complete vegan diet include The Vegetarian Resource Group, Mayo Clinic and Oldways Vegetarian and Vegan Food Pyramid. Be sure to check in with your health-care provider before starting any new diet.

Sure you know to avoid animal products, but sometimes, foods you wouldnt normally associate with animals contain their by-products. Watch for:

In addition to food products, cosmetics and soaps can also be derived from animal products. Check labels carefully.

Animal-derived ingredients are commonly found in supplements, so look for capsule and softgel products that say vegi-caps or highlight plant-derived sources on the label. Or ask a Whole Body team member for help. Here are some things to watch for:

In addition to the foods listed above, these products can make vegan cooking and eating easier:

Continue reading here:

Vegan | Whole Foods Market

Looking at 8 clinical trials and a dozen of other studies on vegans we take a look through time at what changes you can expect and when as well as some hurdles and myths. Part 2: https://youtu.be/HAaK--L9tDk- Links and Sources -https://www.patreon.com/mictheveganhttps://www.facebook.com/mictheveganhttps://www.instagram.com/micthevegan - @micthevegan

My Whole Food Vegan Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wofs3...

Milk and Hormone Manipulation:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

Inflammation Response After Egg and Sausage Meal:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Beyonce Diet Gas Article:http://fusion.net/story/126602/i-ate-...

Increase Bean Consumption Symptoms Study:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Discomfort Stopped after 24-48 hours study:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Legumes and Survival:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

Vegan Gut Type:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Enterotypes and Foods:https://fhs.mcmaster.ca/chanchlani/do...

Vegan Gut / TMAO Study:https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

Vegans More Regular Poopers Oxford Study:https://www.cambridge.org/core/servic...

3 Week Artery Clearing Dietary Trial:http://dresselstyn.com/JFP_06307_Arti...

Vegan Protein Levels Are Higher Study:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/...

12 Weeks Diabetics Gone Vegan Trial:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...

14 Week Obesity Weight Loss Vegan Study:http://tinyurl.com/hd3qvb2

16 Week Vegan Migraines Study:https://thejournalofheadacheandpain.s...

16 Week Office Worksite Study:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

22 Week Vegan Diabetes Trial:http://the-physicians-committee.org/s...

22 Week Workplace Vegan Trial - Productivity, etc.:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

24 Week Vegan Keto Dietary Trial:http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/2/e0...

Vegans 16% less cancer:http://tinyurl.com/zrpbatf

Vegan Less Mortality: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai...

Vegan Diabetes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Vegans 10% less Hypothyroidism: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...

Vegan 63% less Hypertension: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Vegan Less Heart Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Originally posted here:

How Your Body Transforms On A Vegan Diet - YouTube

English[edit]Etymology[edit]

Clipping of vegetarian or vegetable, 1944[1]. Coined by Donald Watson of the Vegan Society and first appeared in The Vegan News[2].

vegan (not comparable)

Fruits, vegetables and seeds are vegan but meat and horse-riding are not.

He eats a completely vegan diet.

This chocolate cake is vegan.

This person is not vegan as they eat eggs and wear leather.

Yesterday I went to a vegan party.

She is interested in vegan philosophy.

relating to vegans or veganism

vegan (plural vegans)

supporter of veganism

We should all consider carefully what our Group, and our magazine, and ourselves, shall be called. 'Non-dairy' has become established as a generally understood colloquialism, but like 'non-lacto' it is too negative. Moreover it does not imply that we are opposed to the use of eggs as food. We need a name that suggests what we do eat, and if possible one that conveys the idea that even with all animal foods taboo, Nature still offers us a bewildering assortment from which to choose. 'Vegetarian' and 'Fruitarian' are already associated with societies that allow the 'fruits'(!) of cows and fowls, therefore it seems we must make a new and appropriate word. As this first issue of our periodical had to be named, I have used the title "The Vegan News". Should we adopt this, our diet will soon become known as a VEGAN diet, and we should aspire to the rank of VEGANS. Members' suggestions will be welcomed. The virtue of having a short title is best known to those of us who, as secretaries of vegetarian societies have to type or write the word vegetarian thousands of times a year!

veganm

Borrowed from English vegan.

vegan (comparative veganer, superlative am vegansten)

Comparative forms of vegan

Superlative forms of vegan

Borrowed from English vegan.

veganm (definite singular veganen, indefinite plural veganer, definite plural veganene)

Borrowed from English vegan.

veganm (definite singular veganen, indefinite plural veganar, definite plural veganane)

veganm (plural vegans or vegan)

veganc

See the original post:

vegan - Wiktionary

PeopleJohannSebastian Bach (16851750)

An enormously influential German composer whorose to prominence in the early 1700s.Best known by his contemporaries as an organist, Bach also wrotean enormous body of both sacred and secular music that synthesizeda variety of styles and in turn influenced countless later composers.

An English philosopher and statesman who developed the inductive method or Baconianmethod of scientific investigation, which stresses observationand reasoning as a means for coming to general conclusions. Baconswork influenced his later contemporary Ren Descartes.

An Italian politician who ventured into philosophy toprotest the horrible injustices that he observed in various Europeanjudicial systems. Beccarias book On Crimes and Punishments (1764)exposed these practices and led to the abolition of many.

A Czech educational and social reformer who, in responseto the Thirty Years War, made the bold move of challengingthe necessity of war in the first place. Comenius stressed toleranceand education as alternatives for war, which were revolutionaryconcepts at the time.

A French philosopher and scientist who revolutionizedalgebra and geometry and made the famous philosophical statementI think, therefore I am. Descartes developed a deductive approachto philosophy using math and logic that still remains a standardfor problemsolving.

A French scholar who was the primary editor of the Encyclopdie,a massive thirty-five-volume compilation of human knowledge in the artsand sciences, along with commentary from a number of Enlightenmentthinkers. The Encyclopdie became a prominent symbolof the Enlightenment and helped spread the movement throughout Europe.

American thinker, diplomat, and inventor who traveledfrequently between the American colonies and Europe during the Enlightenmentand facilitated an exchange of ideas between them. Franklin exertedprofound influence on the formation of the new government of theUnited States, with a hand in both the Declarationof Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

A German author who wrote near the end of the Aufklrung,the German Enlightenment. Goethes morose The Sorrows ofYoung Werther (1774)helped fuel the Sturm und Drangmovement,and his two-part Faust (1808, 1832)is seen as one of the landmarks of Western literature.

A French feminist and reformer in the waning years ofthe Enlightenment who articulated the rights of women with her Declaration ofthe Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791).

A Dutch scholar who, like Czech John Comenius,lived during the Thirty Years War and felt compelledto write in response to it. The result, a treatise on war and internationalrelations titled On the Law of War and Peace (1625),eventually became accepted as the basis for the rules of modernwarfare.

A German-English composer of the late Baroque period whose Messiah remainsone of the best-known pieces of music in the world. Handel was anactive court composer, receiving commissions from such notablesas King George I of England, for whom his Water Music suitewas written and performed.

A philosopher and political theorist whose 1651 treatise Leviathan effectivelykicked off the English Enlightenment. The controversial Leviathan detailedHobbess theory that all humans are inherently self-driven and eviland that the best form of government is thus a single, all-powerfulmonarch to keep everything in order.

A Scottish philosopher and one of the most prominent figuresin the field of skepticism during the Enlightenment.Hume took religion to task, asking why a perfect God would evercreate an imperfect world, and even suggested that our own sensesare fallible, bringing all observations and truths into question.Humes skepticism proved very influential to others, such as ImmanuelKant, and was instrumental in the shift away from rationalistthought that ended the Enlightenment.

American thinker and politician who penned the Declarationof Independence (1776),which was inspired directly by Enlightenment thought.

A German skeptic philosopher who built on DavidHumes theories and brought the school of thought to an evenhigher level. Kant theorized that all humans are born with innateexperiences that then reflect onto the world, giving them a perspective.Thus, since no one actually knows what other people see, the ideaof reasoning is not valid. Kants philosophies applied the brakesto the Enlightenment, effectively denouncing reason as an invalidapproach to thought.

Generally considered the founder of the Aufklrung,orGerman Enlightenment,who injected a bit of spiritualityinto the Enlightenment with writings regarding God andhis perfect, harmonious world. Also a scientist who shared creditfor the discovery of calculus, Leibniz hated the ideaof relying on empirical evidence in the world. Instead, hedeveloped a theory that the universe consists of metaphysical buildingblocks he called monads.

An English political theorist who focused on the structureof governments. Locke believed that men are all rational and capable peoplebutmust compromise some of their beliefs in the interest of forminga government for the people. In his famous Two Treatisesof Government (1690), he championedthe idea of a representative government that would best serve allconstituents.

The foremost French political thinker of the Enlightenment,whose most influential book, The Spirit of Laws, expanded JohnLockes political study and incorporated the ideas of a divisionof state and separation of powers. Montesquieus work also venturedinto sociology: he spent a considerable amount of time researchingvarious cultures and their climates, ultimately deducing that climateis a major factor in determining the type of government a givencountry should have.

A genius Austrian composer who began his career as a childprodigy and authored some of the most renowned operas and symphoniesin history. Mozarts music has never been surpassed in its blendof technique and emotional breadth, and his musical genius placeshim in a category with a select few other composers.

An English scholar and mathematician regarded as the fatherof physical science. Newtons discoveries anchored the ScientificRevolution and set the stage for everything that followed in mathematicsand physics. He shared credit for the creation of calculus,and his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica introducedthe world to gravity and fundamental laws ofmotion.

English-American political writer whose pamphlet CommonSense (1776)argued that the British colonies in America should rebel againstthe Crown. Paines work had profound influence on public sentimentduring the American Revolution, which had begun just monthsearlier.

A French economist whose Tableau conomique (1758)argued against government intervention in the economy and inspiredScottish economist Adam Smiths seminal Wealthof Nations (1776).

An eclectic Swiss-French thinker who brought his own approachto the Enlightenment, believing that man was at his best when unshackledby the conventions of society. Rousseaus epic The SocialContract (1762) conceived of a systemof direct democracy in which all citizens contribute to an overarchinggeneral will that serves everyone at once. Later in his life,Rousseau released Confessions(1789),which brought a previously unheard-of degree of personal disclosureto the genre of autobiography. The frank personal revelations andemotional discussions were a major cause for the shift toward Romanticism.

An influential Scottish economist who objected to thestifling mercantilistsystems that were in place duringthe late eighteenth century. In response, Smith wrote the seminal Wealthof Nations (1776),a dissertation criticizing mercantilism and describing the manymerits of a free trade system.

A Dutch-Jewish lens grinder who questionedtenets of Judaism and Christianity, which helped undermine religiousauthority in Europe. Although Spinoza personally believedin God, he rejected the concept of miracles, the religious supernatural,and the idea that the Bible was divinely inspired. Rather, he believedthat ethics determined by rational thought were more important asa guide to conduct than was religion.

A French writer and the primary satirist of the Enlightenment,who criticized religion and leading philosophies of the time. Voltaires numerousplays and essays frequently advocated freedom from the ploys ofreligion, while Candide (1759),the most notable of his works, conveyed his criticisms of optimismand superstition into a neat package.

Another name for the German Enlightenment.

A system of faith to which many of the French philosophes andother Enlightenment thinkers subscribed. Deists believedin an all-powerful God but viewed him as a cosmic watchmaker whocreated the universe and set it in autonomous motion and then neveragain tampered with it. Deists also shunned organized religion,especially Church doctrines about eternal damnation and a naturalhierarchy of existence.

A trend in European governments during the later partof the Enlightenment, in which a number of absolute monarchs adopted Enlightenment-inspiredreforms yet retained a firm grip on power. Frederick the Great ofPrussia, Maria-Theresa and Joseph II ofAustria, Charles III of Spain, and Catherinethe Great of Russia are often counted among these enlighteneddespots.

A revolution in France that overthrew the monarchy andis often cited as the end of the Enlightenment. The French Revolutionbegan in 1789 whenKing Louis XVI convened the legislature in an attempt tosolve Frances monumental financial woes. Instead, the massive middleclass revolted and set up its own government. Although this newgovernment was effective for a few years, internal dissent grew andpower switched hands repeatedly, until France plunged into the brutallyviolent Reign of Terror of 17931794.Criticssaw this violence as a direct result of Enlightenment thought andas evidence that the masses were not fit to govern themselves.

The name given to the bloodless coup dtat in Englandin 1688, whichsaw the Catholic monarch, King James II, removed fromthe throne and replaced by the Protestants William and Mary.The new monarchs not only changed the religious course of Englandand the idea of divine right but also allowed the additional personalliberties necessary for the Enlightenment to truly flourish.

One of the cornerstones of the Enlightenment, a philosophystressing the recognition of every person as a valuable individualwith inalienable, inborn rights.

The economic belief that a favorable balance of tradethatis, more exports than importswould yield more gold and silver,and thus overall wealth and power, for a country. Governments tendedto monitor and meddle with their mercantilist systems closely, which Scottisheconomist Adam Smith denounced as bad economic practicein his Wealth of Nations.

The general term for those academics and intellectualswho became the leading voices of the French Enlightenment duringthe eighteenth century. Notable philosophes included Voltaire,the Baron de Montesquieu, and Denis Diderot.

Arguably the foundation of the Enlightenment, the beliefthat, by using the power of reason, humans could arrive at truthand improve human life.

Another fundamental philosophy of the Enlightenment, which declaredthat different ideas, cultures, and beliefs had equal merit. Relativismdeveloped in reaction to the age of exploration, which increasedEuropean exposure to a variety of peoples and cultures across theworld.

A movement that surfaced near the end of the Enlightenmentthat placed emphasis on innate emotions and instincts rather thanreason, as well as on the virtues of existing in a natural state.Writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and JohannWolfgang von Goethe both contributed greatly to the developmentof Romanticism.

Gathering places for wealthy, intellectually minded elitesduring the years during and prior to the Enlightenment. The salonstypically held weekly meetings where upper-class citizens gatheredto discuss the political and social theories of the day.

A gradual development of thought and approaches to thestudy of the universe that took place from approximately 1500 to 1700 and pavedthe way for the Enlightenment. Coming from humble beginnings withbasic observations, the Scientific Revolution grew to a fever pitchwhen scientists such as Galileo Galilei, RenDescartes, and Johannes Kepler entered the sceneand essentially rewrote history, disproving Church doctrines, explainingreligious miracles, and setting the world straight on all sortsof scientific principles. The result was not only new human knowledgebut also a new perspective on the acquisition of knowledge, suchas the scientific method.

A political idea, developed by John Locke andthe Baron de Montesquieu,that power in governmentshould be divided into separate branchestypically legislative,judicial, and executivein order to ensure that no one branch ofa governing body can gain too much authority.

A philosophical movement that emerged in response to rationalism andmaintained that human perception is too relative to be consideredcredible. David Hume brought skepticism into the spotlightby suggesting that human perceptions cannot be trusted, and then ImmanuelKant elevated the field when he proposed that humans are bornwith innate experiences that give shape to their own, individualworlds.

An idea in political philosophy, generally associatedwith John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau,stating that a government and its subjects enter into an implicitcontract when that government takes power. In exchange for cedingsome freedoms to the government and its established laws, the subjectsexpect and demand mutual protection. The governments authority,meanwhile, lies only in the consent of the governed.

Literally meaning storm and stress, the name given toan undercurrent of the German Enlightenment duringwhich German youths expressed their angst by rebelling against thepleasant optimism of the time. Influenced partly by JohannWolfgang von Goethes The Sorrows of Young Werther,participants in the Sturm und Drang movement harboreda depressed, more archaic idealism. Though it revealed a decidedone-sidedness of the German Enlightenment, the movement did notsustain itself for very long.

A brutal, destructive conflict in Germany between 1618 and 1648. TheThirty Years War began when Bohemian Protestants revolted out ofa refusal to be ruled by a Catholic king. The battle would eventuallyspread throughout Germany and involve many other countries on bothsides, resulting in the death of nearly a third of the German populationand unfathomable destruction. Enlightenment thinkers such as JohnComenius and Hugo Grotius reacted against the warwith treatises about education, international relations, and the natureof war itself.

Continued here:
SparkNotes: The Enlightenment (16501800): Key People & Terms

Buddhism is the practice of Buddhas teachings, also called Dharma, which means protection.

We need to practice Buddhas teachings because there is no other real method to solve human problems. For example, because modern technology often causes more suffering and dangers, it cannot be a real method to solve human problems. Although we want to be happy all the time we do not know how to do this, and we are always destroying our own happiness by developing anger, negative views and negative intentions. We are always trying to escape from problems, even in our dreams, but we do not know how to liberate ourself from suffering and problems. Because we do not understand the real nature of things, we are always creating our own suffering and problems by performing inappropriate or non-virtuous actions.

By practicing Buddhas teachings, living beings are permanently protected from suffering.

Today we can see many different forms of Buddhism, such as Zen and Theravada Buddhism. All these different aspects are practices of Buddhas teachings, and all are equally precious; they are just different presentations.

Citation (MLA): Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Modern Buddhism. Glen Spey: Tharpa Publications, 2013.

More here:
What is Buddhism? KMC New York - kadampanewyork.org