Dear Doctor: I am recovering from a bout of diverticulitis. What are my chances of having another round and how can I avoid later episodes? Does the onset increase my risk of serious ailments such as cancer?

Dear Reader: Diverticula are sac-like protrusions from the colon wall. If you were to look inside the colon, diverticula would appear as holes within the colon wall, leading to a bulging sac coming from the intestine. In the United States, diverticula almost always occur near the end of the colon in an area called the sigmoid colon. Chronic pressure in this area from poor intestinal motility, or contractions, leads to the formation of these outcroppings. Diverticula are quite common in the Western world. In one set of screening colonoscopies conducted in 624 patients with an average age of 54 42 percent had diverticula. Note that the likelihood of diverticula increases with age.

The presence of diverticula is known as diverticulosis. Inflammation of the diverticula is known as diverticulitis. The latter occurs when increased pressure within a diverticulum leads to a perforation through which bacteria leave the intestine, causing infection. The infection can become so severe that an abscess develops.

Diverticulitis is more prevalent among people with a low-fiber, high-fat diet that includes a lot of red meat. It is also more common among people who are obese, have little physical activity and smoke cigarettes. A common myth, and one I learned in medical school, was that nuts, seeds, corn or popcorn could become trapped in a diverticulum and lead to diverticulitis. A 2008 study not only disproved this myth, it found that the opposite was true among men ages 40 to 75.

A first-time episode of diverticulitis can mimic many of the same symptoms as colon cancer. So unless you've had a colonoscopy in the last year, you should rule out cancer by having a colonoscopy, preferably six to eight weeks after a bout of diverticulitis. One study found that 2.8 percent of people who had a follow-up colonoscopy were then diagnosed with colon cancer. This rate rises for those who have had an abscess related to diverticulitis.

After the first attack of diverticulitis, the likelihood of a second attack is about 33 percent; the likelihood of a third bout after a second bout is also about 33 percent. To help prevent another attack, you need to get the gut moving. That is, increase fiber in your diet. If you can't do this simply by increasing your consumption of high-fiber vegetables, fruits and nuts, then a fiber supplement is in order.

Exercising also will decrease the risk of another attack of diverticulitis. Because diverticulitis occurs more frequently in obese people, losing weight may also decrease your chance of another attack. Decreasing the amount of red meat and fat in your diet may lessen your chances as well.

Nationwide, the incidence of diverticulitis is increasing, especially in people ages 18 to 44. Some of the increase could be attributed to better diagnosis, but the rise is also emblematic of our unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle.

Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o Media Relations, UCLA Health, 924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA, 90095.

Continued here:
Incidence of diverticulitis emblematic of unhealthy lifestyles - Hanford Sentinel

PUBLISHED: 11:55 03 August 2017

Sophie Day

Anytime Fitness staff James Ducket, sales manager, with Drew Davis in front of the unit that will be transformed in the 24-hour gym

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Anytime Fitness has started a 450,000 refurbishment of Unit 9, in St Benedicts Court, to give users the opportunity to work out at their convenience, and it is hoping to have the doors open to customers in October.

The unit, which has been empty for three years, is set to feature a large studio, free weights area and a cardio section.

Drew Davis, manager, said: We are stripping the entire unit back to a shell, knocking out walls to open up the space, installing private bathrooms for members, creating a studio and totally refurbishing the place to a very high quality.

The gym is also planned to include a range of weight machines, private showers and a dry room.

Mr Davis said: As a 24/7 club, members will be able to come and work out any time they like, 365 days a year. Well have premium equipment, an excellent weights area and a studio with instructor-led and virtual classes.

Anytime Fitness prides itself on creating a community and, having done our homework, its clear that Huntingdon already has a real community feel about it, so were confident were a perfect fit.

Were excited about the challenge. Theres real demand for around-the-clock health and fitness, and its already clear by the number of membership applications that theres real interest in our opening.

The opening of the gym, which will create six new jobs, will provide fitness facilities for a maximum of 1,500 members, which, the firm says, will help to avoid overcrowding.

It is expected that the gym will be staffed between the hours of 9am and 9pm during the week and between the hours of 10am and 4pm on weekends. Access outside of those hours is gained via a secure key fob system.

It is also expected that a timetable of group classes will take place within staffed hours.

For more details about joining Anytime Fitness call 01480 260247 or log on to anytimefitnessclub.com/huntingdon.

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Health and fitness chain begins work on new Huntingdon gym - Hunts Post

A fitness entrepreneur is expanding his business for the second time in a year after opening a new gym at the regions biggest business park.

Former PE teacher Chris Hartley first launched his health and fitness business Cobalt Fitness six years ago, as a one-man band keen to get the people of the North East fighting fit.

Now Mr Hartley has opened a second training facility, an additional unit of 3,000sqft to add to the 1,000sqft of space he already had, with the new facility fully equipped with the latest technology alongside a cafe, shower and changing facilities.

Cobalt Fitness has grown from a fledgling start-up to a successful business and community with well over 100 members, and nine employees providing services tailored to ensure every member achieves their weight loss, body sculpting or fitness goals.

The team now includes five trainers, a nutritionist, two sports masseurs and a web designer.

The new training venue is the final element in the current Cobalt Fitness package, offering a program of classes including one-to-ones, weight loss programmes, 28-day shreds, boot camps, kids fitness sessions and group participation events and challenges.

Mr Hartleys background includes formative years as a PE teacher and then working for the NHS with overweight children and families which inspired him to gain fitness qualifications.

When funding for his NHS role came to an end it was the opportunity he needed to go it alone and launch Cobalt Fitness.

Last year his partner Luisa Dorward joined the team to follow her dream to become a fitness trainer, turning her hobby into a career. She completed fitness instructor training whilst working full time at Utilitywise on Cobalt .

Mr Hartley said: Seeing the visible change is priceless my clients. For me seeing people become fitter, stronger, healthier and more energetic is what I live for.

Its easy for me to change somebodys body and shape when people are ready to make lifestyle changes. Not just implementing short changes but by also supplying behavioural strategies, meal plans and support to keep our clients on the right track.

I feel honoured to have such amazing support by our clients, its crazy how far Cobalt Fitness has come. I am delighted with the growth the business has seen and with the hundreds of success stories we have achieved together so far.

My passion has always been helping people as theres no better feeling than when you help someone achieve their goals. Working for NHS made me realise what I was meant to do with my life. I wanted to test myself and push my skills to working with adults, which is how Cobalt fitness came about.

I am passionate about helping people change their lives for the better, in getting healthy and staying that way, we dont just focus on exercise we offer a whole package including nutrition, home work outs, challenges and ensure members look after their physical and mental wellbeing.

Amy Carroll, events and communications manager at Cobalt Park, said: Cobalt Fitness is a great local facility for the park. Many Cobalt staff go to the morning and afternoon sessions which take place on our doorstep so are super-convenient.

Link:
Former PE teacher opens second Cobalt gym in two years as health and fitness venture takes off - ChronicleLive

Once the top maker of smart, wearable devices, Fitbit has been struggling for the past year as the market for its fitness tracking gadgets appears to plateau. On Wednesday, the company set a date for the next version of its product, a smartwatch built from the seeds of another pioneering wearable maker that ran into difficulty, Pebble.

Fitbit CEO James Park says his company's new smartwatch will be available in time for the holiday shopping season. "We're excited for the launch," Park says. "There's a lot of attributes to it that differentiate us from the competition out there."

The CEO isn't ready to reveal exact specifics yet, though Fitbit says the upcoming device will have multi-day battery life, GPS tracking, water resistance, a focus primarily on health and fitness functions, and come at an "attractive" but still undisclosed price. That suggests it will cost in the range of Apple's $269 to $369 entry-level watch models, as opposed to higher-end models at $549 and up or some of the newer luxury smartwatches that cost $1,000 plus and run Google's (googl) Android Wear software.

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The debut will come after Fitbit's sales from its traditional fitness trackers have fallen significantly and Apple retooled its watch to target more health and fitness functions. On Wednesday, Fitbit said its second-quarter revenue had dropped 40% to just $353 million on sales of 3.4 million devices, a little more than half what it sold a year ago.

Earlier this year, Fitbit fell to third place overall for the first time in the wearables category, according to market tracker International Data Corp. Chinese gadget maker Xiaomi tied with Apple (aapl) to ship the most wearables.

Still, the second quarter sales were a little better than Wall Street analysts expected and shares of Fitbit, which had lost 63% over the past year, gained about 5% in after-hours trading.

The upcoming Fitbit (fit) smartwatch will run third-party apps, although it may take some time for a robust market to develop, Park said. At least initially, only a limited number of selected partners will be able to provide apps, Park says.

"That's reflective with our overall company strategywe're a health and fitness-focused brand," he says. "Our partner strategy and our app strategy will probably reflect that a little bit in the beginning."

Fitbit will distribute a software developer kit to allow more companies to create compatible apps over time. "It will be really exciting and interesting to see how the developer community, primarily initially from Pebble, reacts to the tools," Park says. "I think developers are going to be surprised and excited by the ease of use and simplicity of the developer tools."

Fitbit built a technology foundation for its new device over the past year or so, paying a total of $54 million for assets from failing smartwatch makers Pebble and Vector, and mobile wallet startup Coin.

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Fitbit Dishes About Upcoming Smartwatch - Fortune

Anthroposophy is a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world that is accessible by direct experience through inner development. More specifically, it aims to develop faculties of perceptive imagination, inspiration and intuition through the cultivation of a form of thinking independent of sensory experience,[1][2] and to present the results thus derived in a manner subject to rational verification. Anthroposophy aims to attain in its study of spiritual experience the precision and clarity attained by the natural sciences in their investigations of the physical world.[1] The philosophy has double roots in German idealism and German mysticism[3] and was initially expressed in language drawn from Theosophy.

Anthroposophical ideas have been applied practically in many areas including Steiner/Waldorf education, special education (most prominently through the Camphill Movement), biodynamic agriculture, medicine, ethical banking, organizational development, and the arts.[1][4][5][6][7] The Anthroposophical Society has its international center at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland.

Modern critics, particularly Michael Shermer, have termed anthroposophy's application in areas such as medicine, biology, and biodynamic agriculture to be pseudoscience.[8][9] Anthroposophy has also been termed "the most important esoteric society in European history."[10][11]

The early work of the founder of anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner, culminated in his Philosophy of Freedom (also translated as The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity and Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path). Here, Steiner developed a concept of free will based on inner experiences, especially those that occur in the creative activity of independent thought.[1]

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Steiner's interests turned to explicitly spiritual areas of research. His work began to interest others interested in spiritual ideas; among these was the Theosophical Society. From 1900 on, thanks to the positive reception given to his ideas, Steiner focused increasingly on his work with the Theosophical Society becoming the secretary of its section in Germany in 1902. During the years of his leadership, membership increased dramatically, from a few individuals to sixty-nine Lodges.[12]

By 1907, a split between Steiner and the mainstream Theosophical Society had begun to become apparent. While the Society was oriented toward an Eastern and especially Indian approach, Steiner was trying to develop a path that embraced Christianity and natural science.[13] The split became irrevocable when Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society, began to present the child Jiddu Krishnamurti as the reincarnated Christ. Steiner strongly objected and considered any comparison between Krishnamurti and Christ to be nonsense; many years later, Krishnamurti also repudiated the assertion. Steiner's continuing differences with Besant led him to separate from the Theosophical Society Adyar; he was followed by the great majority of the membership of the Theosophical Society's German Section, as well as members of other national sections.[12][13]

By this time, Steiner had reached considerable stature as a spiritual teacher.[14] He spoke about what he considered to be his direct experience of the Akashic Records (sometimes called the "Akasha Chronicle"), thought to be a spiritual chronicle of the history, pre-history, and future of the world and mankind. In a number of works,[15] Steiner described a path of inner development he felt would let anyone attain comparable spiritual experiences. Sound vision could be developed, in part, by practicing rigorous forms of ethical and cognitive self-discipline, concentration, and meditation; in particular, a person's moral development must precede the development of spiritual faculties.[1]

In 1912, the Anthroposophical Society was founded. After World War I, the Anthroposophical movement took on new directions. Projects such as schools, centers for those with special needs, organic farms and medical clinics were established, all inspired by anthroposophy.

In 1923, faced with differences between older members focusing on inner development and younger members eager to become active in the social transformations of the time, Steiner refounded the Society in an inclusive manner and established a School for Spiritual Science. As a spiritual basis for the refounded movement, Steiner wrote a "Foundation Stone Meditation" which remains a central meditative expression of anthroposophical ideas.

Steiner died just over a year later, in 1925. The Second World War temporarily hindered the anthroposophical movement in most of Continental Europe, as the Anthroposophical Society and most of its daughter movements (e.g. Steiner/Waldorf education) were banned by the National Socialists (Nazis);[16] virtually no anthroposophists ever joined the National Socialist Party.[17]:250

By 2007, national branches of the Anthroposophical Society had been established in fifty countries, and about 10,000 institutions around the world were working on the basis of anthroposophy.[18] In the same year, the Anthroposophical Society was called the "most important esoteric society in European history."[10]

Anthroposophy is an amalgam of the Greek terms (anthropos = "human") and (sophia = "wisdom"). An early English usage is recorded by Nathan Bailey (1742) as meaning "the knowledge of the nature of man."[19] Authors whose usage of the term predates Steiner's include occultist Agrippa von Nettesheim, alchemist Thomas Vaughan (Anthroposophia Theomagica), and philosopher Robert Zimmermann.

Steiner began using the term in the early 1900s as an alternative to the term theosophy (divine wisdom), a term central to the Theosophical Society, with which Steiner was associated at the time, and to a long tradition of European esotericists. Steiner probably first encountered the word "anthroposophy" in the work of Zimmermann, some of whose lectures in the University of Vienna he had attended while a student.[20]

Anthroposophical proponents aim to extend the clarity of the scientific method to phenomena of human soul-life and to spiritual experiences. This requires developing new faculties of objective spiritual perception, which Steiner maintained was possible for humanity today. The steps of this process of inner development he identified as consciously achieved imagination, inspiration and intuition.[6] Steiner believed results of this form of spiritual research should be expressed in a way that can be understood and evaluated on the same basis as the results of natural science:[4] "The anthroposophical schooling of thinking leads to the development of a non-sensory, or so-called supersensory consciousness, whereby the spiritual researcher brings the experiences of this realm into ideas, concepts, and expressive language in a form which people can understand who do not yet have the capacity to achieve the supersensory experiences necessary for individual research."[21]

Steiner hoped to form a spiritual movement that would free the individual from any external authority: "The most important problem of all human thinking is this: to comprehend the human being as a personality grounded in him or herself."[21] For Steiner, the human capacity for rational thought would allow individuals to comprehend spiritual research on their own and bypass the danger of dependency on an authority.[21]

Steiner contrasted the anthroposophical approach with both conventional mysticism, which he considered lacking the clarity necessary for exact knowledge, and natural science, which he considered arbitrarily limited to investigating the outer world.

In Theosophy, Steiner suggested that human beings unite a physical body of substances gathered from (and that ultimately return to) the inorganic world; a life body (also called the etheric body), in common with all living creatures (including plants); a bearer of sentience or consciousness (also called the astral body), in common with all animals; and the ego, which anchors the faculty of self-awareness unique to human beings.

Anthroposophy describes a broad evolution of human consciousness. Early stages of human evolution possess an intuitive perception of reality, including a clairvoyant perception of spiritual realities. Humanity has progressively evolved an increasing reliance on intellectual faculties and a corresponding loss of intuitive or clairvoyant experiences, which have become atavistic. The increasing intellectualization of consciousness, initially a progressive direction of evolution, has led to an excessive reliance on abstraction and a loss of contact with both natural and spiritual realities. However, to go further requires new capacities that combine the clarity of intellectual thought with the imagination, and beyond this with consciously achieved inspiration and intuitive insights.[22]

Anthroposophy speaks of the reincarnation of the human spirit: that the human being passes between stages of existence, incarnating into an earthly body, living on earth, leaving the body behind and entering into the spiritual worlds before returning to be born again into a new life on earth. After the death of the physical body, the human spirit recapitulates the past life, perceiving its events as they were experienced by the objects of its actions. A complex transformation takes place between the review of the past life and the preparation for the next life. The individual's karmic condition eventually leads to a choice of parents, physical body, disposition, and capacities that provide the challenges and opportunities that further development requires, which includes karmically chosen tasks for the future life.[22]

Steiner described some conditions that determine the interdependence of a person's lives, or karma.[23][24]

The anthroposophical view of evolution considers all animals to have evolved from an early, unspecialized form. As the least specialized animal, human beings have maintained the closest connection to the archetypal form;[25] contrary to the Darwinian conception of human evolution, all other animals devolve from this archetype.[26] The spiritual archetype originally created by spiritual beings was devoid of physical substance; only later did this descend into material existence on Earth.[27] In this view, human evolution has accompanied the Earth's evolution throughout the existence of the Earth.

The evolution of man, Steiner said, has consisted in the gradual incarnation of a spiritual being into a material body. It has been a true "descent" of man from a spiritual world into a world of matter. The evolution of the animal kingdom did not precede, but rather accompanied the process of human incarnation. Man is thus not the end result of the evolution of the animals, but is rather in a certain sense their cause. In the succession of types which appears in the fossil record-the fishes, reptiles, mammals, and finally fossil remains of man himself the stages of this process of incarnation are reflected.

Anthroposophy took over from Theosophy a complex system of cycles of world development and human evolution. The evolution of the world is said to have occurred in cycles. The first phase of the world consisted only of heat. In the second phase, a more active condition, light, and a more condensed, gaseous state separate out from the heat. In the third phase, a fluid state arose, as well as a sounding, forming energy. In the fourth (current) phase, solid physical matter first exists. This process is said to have been accompanied by an evolution of consciousness which led up to present human culture.

The anthroposophical view is that good is found in the balance between two polar influences on world and human evolution. These are often described through their mythological embodiments as spiritual adversaries which endeavour to tempt and corrupt humanity, Lucifer and his counterpart Ahriman. These have both positive and negative aspects. Lucifer is the light spirit, which "plays on human pride and offers the delusion of divinity", but also motivates creativity and spirituality; Ahriman is the dark spirit that tempts human beings to "...deny [their] link with divinity and to live entirely on the material plane", but that also stimulates intellectuality and technology. Both figures exert a negative effect on humanity when their influence becomes misplaced or one-sided, yet their influences are necessary for human freedom to unfold.[1][4]

Each human being has the task to find a balance between these opposing influences, and each is helped in this task by the mediation of the Representative of Humanity, also known as the Christ being, a spiritual entity who stands between and harmonizes the two extremes.[4]

The applications of anthroposophy to practical fields include:

This is a pedagogical movement with over 1000 Steiner or Waldorf schools (the latter name stems from the first such school, founded in Stuttgart in 1919)[29] located in some 60 countries; the great majority of these are independent (private) schools.[30] Sixteen of the schools have been affiliated with the United Nations' UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network, which sponsors education projects that foster improved quality of education throughout the world.[31] Waldorf schools receive full or partial governmental funding in some European nations, Australia and in parts of the United States (as Waldorf method public or charter schools).

The schools have been founded in a variety of communities: for example in the favelas of So Paulo[32] to wealthy suburbs of major cities;[32] in India, Egypt, Australia, the Netherlands, Mexico and South Africa. Though most of the early Waldorf schools were teacher-founded, the schools today are usually initiated and later supported by a parent community.[33] Waldorf schools are among the most visible anthroposophical institutions.[33][34]

Biodynamic agriculture, the first intentional form of organic farming,[34] began in 1924, when Rudolf Steiner gave a series of lectures published in English as The Agriculture Course.[35] Steiner is considered one of the founders of the modern organic farming movement.[36][37]

Steiner gave several series of lectures to physicians and medical students. Out of those grew a complementary medical movement intending to "extend the knowledge gained through the methods of the natural sciences of the present age with insights from spiritual science."[38] This movement now includes hundreds of M.D.s, chiefly in Europe and North America, and has its own clinics, hospitals, and medical schools.[1]

One of the most studied applications has been the use of mistletoe extracts in cancer therapy,[39] but research has found no evidence of benefit.[40][41]

In 1922, Ita Wegman founded an anthroposophical center for special needs education, the Sonnenhof, in Switzerland. In 1940, Karl Knig founded the Camphill Movement in Scotland. The latter in particular has spread widely, and there are now over a hundred Camphill communities and other anthroposophical homes for children and adults in need of special care in about 22 countries around the world.[42] Both Karl Knig, Thomas Weihs and others have written extensively on these ideas underlying Special education.[43][44]

Steiner designed around thirteen buildings in an organicexpressionist architectural style.[45] Foremost among these are his designs for the two Goetheanum buildings in Dornach, Switzerland. Thousands of further buildings have been built by later generations of anthroposophic architects.[46][47]

Architects who have been strongly influenced by the anthroposophic style include Imre Makovecz in Hungary,[48]Hans Scharoun and Joachim Eble in Germany, Erik Asmussen in Sweden, Kenji Imai in Japan, Thomas Rau, Anton Alberts and Max van Huut in the Netherlands, Christopher Day and Camphill Architects in the UK, Thompson and Rose in America, Denis Bowman in Canada, and Walter Burley Griffin and Gregory Burgess in Australia.[49][50]

ING House in Amsterdam is a contemporary building by an anthroposophical architect which has received awards for its ecological design and approach to a self-sustaining ecology as an autonomous building and example of sustainable architecture.[51]

Together with Marie von Sivers, Steiner developed eurythmy, a performance art combining dance, speech, and music.[52][53]

Around the world today are a number of banks, companies, charities, and schools for developing co-operative forms of business using Steiner's ideas about economic associations, aiming at harmonious and socially responsible roles in the world economy.[1] The first anthroposophic bank was the Gemeinschaftsbank fr Leihen und Schenken in Bochum, Germany, founded in 1974.[54]Socially responsible banks founded out of anthroposophy in the English-speaking world include Triodos Bank, founded in 1980 and active in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain and France. Cultura Sparebank dates from 1982 when a group of Norwegian anthroposophists start to grow the idea of having ethical banking but only in the late 90s the bank starts to operate as a savings bank in Norway. La Nef in France and RSF Social Finance[55] in San Francisco are other examples.

Bernard Lievegoed, a psychiatrist, founded a new method of individual and institutional development oriented towards humanizing organizations and linked with Steiner's ideas of the threefold social order. This work is represented by the NPI Institute for Organizational Development in the Netherlands and sister organizations in many other countries.[1] Various forms of biographic and counselling work have been developed on the basis of anthroposophy.

There are also anthroposophical movements to renew speech and drama, the most important of which are based in the work of Marie Steiner-von Sivers (speech formation, also known as Creative Speech) and the Chekhov Method originated by Michael Chekhov (nephew of Anton Chekhov).[56]

Anthroposophic painting, a style inspired by Rudolf Steiner, featured prominently in the first Goetheanum's cupola. The technique frequently begins by filling the surface to be painted with color, out of which forms are gradually developed, often images with symbolic-spiritual significance. Paints that allow for many transparent layers are preferred, and often these are derived from plant materials.[17]:381382, 1080, 1105

Other applications include:

For a period after World War I, Steiner was extremely active and well known in Germany, in part because he lectured widely proposing social reforms. Steiner was a sharp critic of nationalism, which he saw as outdated, and a proponent of achieving social solidarity through individual freedom.[1] A petition proposing a radical change in the German constitution and expressing his basic social ideas (signed by Herman Hesse, among others) was widely circulated. His main book on social reform is Toward Social Renewal.[1]

Anthroposophy continues to aim at reforming society through maintaining and strengthening the independence of the spheres of cultural life, human rights and the economy. It emphasizes a particular ideal in each of these three realms of society:[1]

According to Steiner, a real spiritual world exists, evolving along with the material one. Steiner held that the spiritual world can be researched in the right circumstances through direct experience, by persons practicing rigorous forms of ethical and cognitive self-discipline. Steiner described many exercises he said were suited to strengthening such self-discipline; the most complete exposition of these is found in his book How To Know Higher Worlds. The aim of these exercises is to develop higher levels of consciousness through meditation and observation. Details about the spiritual world, Steiner suggested, could on such a basis be discovered and reported, though no more infallibly than the results of natural science.[6]

Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge, to guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the universe. Anthroposophists are those who experience, as an essential need of life, certain questions on the nature of the human being and the universe, just as one experiences hunger and thirst.

Steiner regarded his research reports as being important aids to others seeking to enter into spiritual experience. He suggested that a combination of spiritual exercises (for example, concentrating on an object such as a seed), moral development (control of thought, feelings and will combined with openness, tolerance and flexibility) and familiarity with other spiritual researchers' results would best further an individual's spiritual development. He consistently emphasised that any inner, spiritual practice should be undertaken in such a way as not to interfere with one's responsibilities in outer life.[6] Steiner distinguished between what he considered were true and false paths of spiritual investigation.[58]

In anthroposophy, artistic expression is also treated as a potentially valuable bridge between spiritual and material reality.[59]:97

A person seeking inner development must first of all make the attempt to give up certain formerly held inclinations. Then, new inclinations must be acquired by constantly holding the thought of such inclinations, virtues or characteristics in one's mind. They must be so incorporated into one's being that a person becomes enabled to alter his soul by his own will-power. This must be tried as objectively as a chemical might be tested in an experiment. A person who has never endeavored to change his soul, who has never made the initial decision to develop the qualities of endurance, steadfastness and calm logical thinking, or a person who has such decisions but has given up because he did not succeed in a week, a month, a year or a decade, will never conclude anything inwardly about these truths.

Steiner's stated prerequisites to beginning on a spiritual path include a willingness to take up serious cognitive studies, a respect for factual evidence, and a responsible attitude. Central to progress on the path itself is a harmonious cultivation of the following qualities:[61]

Steiner sees meditation as a concentration and enhancement of the power of thought. By focusing consciously on an idea, feeling or intention the meditant seeks to arrive at pure thinking, a state exemplified by but not confined to pure mathematics. In Steiner's view, conventional sensory-material knowledge is achieved through relating perception and concepts. The anthroposophic path of esoteric training articulates three further stages of supersensory knowledge, which do not necessarily follow strictly sequentially in any single individual's spiritual progress.[61][62]

Steiner described numerous exercises he believed would bring spiritual development; other anthroposophists have added many others. A central principle is that "for every step in spiritual perception, three steps are to be taken in moral development." According to Steiner, moral development reveals the extent to which one has achieved control over one's inner life and can exercise it in harmony with the spiritual life of other people; it shows the real progress in spiritual development, the fruits of which are given in spiritual perception. It also guarantees the capacity to distinguish between false perceptions or illusions (which are possible in perceptions of both the outer world and the inner world) and true perceptions: i.e., the capacity to distinguish in any perception between the influence of subjective elements (i.e., viewpoint) and objective reality.[6]

Steiner built upon Goethe's conception of an imaginative power capable of synthesizing the sense-perceptible form of a thing (an image of its outer appearance) and the concept we have of that thing (an image of its inner structure or nature). Steiner added to this the conception that a further step in the development of thinking is possible when the thinker observes his or her own thought processes. "The organ of observation and the observed thought process are then identical, so that the condition thus arrived at is simultaneously one of perception through thinking and one of thought through perception."[6]

Thus, in Steiner's view, we can overcome the subject-object divide through inner activity, even though all human experience begins by being conditioned by it. In this connection, Steiner examines the step from thinking determined by outer impressions to what he calls sense-free thinking. He characterizes thoughts he considers without sensory content, such as mathematical or logical thoughts, as free deeds. Steiner believed he had thus located the origin of free will in our thinking, and in particular in sense-free thinking.[6]

Some of the epistemic basis for Steiner's later anthroposophical work is contained in the seminal work, Philosophy of Freedom.[63] In his early works, Steiner sought to overcome what he perceived as the dualism of Cartesian idealism and Kantian subjectivism by developing Goethe's conception of the human being as a natural-supernatural entity, that is: natural in that humanity is a product of nature, supernatural in that through our conceptual powers we extend nature's realm, allowing it to achieve a reflective capacity in us as philosophy, art and science.[64] Steiner was one of the first European philosophers to overcome the subject-object split in Western thought.[64] Though not well known among philosophers, his philosophical work was taken up by Owen Barfield (and through him influenced the Inklings, an Oxford group of Christian writers that included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis).[65]

Christian and Jewish mystical thought have also influenced the development of anthroposophy.[66][67]

Steiner believed in the possibility of applying the clarity of scientific thinking to spiritual experience, which he saw as deriving from an objectively existing spiritual world.[59]:77ff Steiner identified mathematics, which attains certainty through thinking itself, thus through inner experience rather than empirical observation,[68] as the basis of his epistemology of spiritual experience.[69]

Steiner's writing, though appreciative of all religions and cultural developments, emphasizes Western tradition as having evolved to meet contemporary needs.[13] He describes Christ and his mission on earth of bringing individuated consciousness as having a particularly important place in human evolution,[1] whereby:[4]

Spiritual science does not want to usurp the place of Christianity; on the contrary it would like to be instrumental in making Christianity understood. Thus it becomes clear to us through spiritual science that the being whom we call Christ is to be recognized as the center of life on earth, that the Christian religion is the ultimate religion for the earth's whole future. Spiritual science shows us particularly that the pre-Christian religions outgrow their one-sidedness and come together in the Christian faith. It is not the desire of spiritual science to set something else in the place of Christianity; rather it wants to contribute to a deeper, more heartfelt understanding of Christianity.

Thus, anthroposophy considers there to be a being who unifies all religions, and who is not represented by any particular religious faith. This being is, according to Steiner, not only the Redeemer of the Fall from Paradise, but also the unique pivot and meaning of earth's evolutionary processes and of human history.[4] To describe this being, Steiner periodically used terms such as the "Representative of Humanity" or the "good spirit"[71][72] rather than any denominational term.

Steiner's views of Christianity diverge from conventional Christian thought in key places, and include gnostic elements:

Rudolf Steiner wrote and lectured on Judaism and Jewish issues for much of his life. In the 1880s and 1890s, he took part in debates on anti-semitism and on assimilation. He was a fierce opponent of anti-semitism and supported the unconditional acceptance and integration of the Jews in Europe.[74] He also supported mile Zola's position in the Dreyfus affair.[74] In his later life, Steiner was accused by the Nazis of being a Jew, and Adolf Hitler called anthroposophy "Jewish methods". The anthroposophical institutions in Germany were banned during Nazi rule and several anthroposophists sent to concentration camps.[75]

Steiner emphasized Judaism's central importance to the constitution of the modern era in the West but suggested that to appreciate the spirituality of the future it would need to overcome its tendency toward abstraction. Important early anthroposophists who were Jewish included two central members on the executive boards of the precursors to the modern Anthroposophical Society,[76] and Karl Knig, the founder of the Camphill movement. Martin Buber and Hugo Bergmann, who viewed Steiner's social ideas as a solution to the ArabJewish conflict, were also influenced by anthroposophy.[77]

There are several anthroposophical organisations in Israel, including the anthroposophical kibbutz Harduf, founded by Jesaiah Ben-Aharon. A number of these organizations are striving to foster positive relationships between the Arab and Jewish populations: The Harduf Waldorf school includes both Jewish and Arab faculty and students, and has extensive contact with the surrounding Arab communities. In Hilf near Haifa, there is a joint Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten, the first joint Arab-Jewish kindergarten in Israel.

Towards the end of Steiner's life, a group of theology students (primarily Lutheran, with some Roman Catholic members) approached Steiner for help in reviving Christianity, in particular "to bridge the widening gulf between modern science and the world of spirit."[1] They approached a notable Lutheran pastor, Friedrich Rittelmeyer, who was already working with Steiner's ideas, to join their efforts. Out of their co-operative endeavor, the Movement for Religious Renewal, now generally known as The Christian Community, was born. Steiner emphasized that he considered this movement, and his role in creating it, to be independent of his anthroposophical work,[1] as he wished anthroposophy to be independent of any particular religion or religious denomination.[4]

Anthroposophy's supporters include Pulitzer Prize-winning and Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow,[78] Nobel prize winner Selma Lagerlf,[79]Andrei Bely,[80][81]Joseph Beuys,[82]Owen Barfield, architect Walter Burley Griffin, Wassily Kandinsky,[83][84]Andrei Tarkovsky,[85]Bruno Walter,[86] and Right Livelihood Award winners Sir George Trevelyan,[87] child psychiatrist Eva Frommer[88][89] and Ibrahim Abouleish.[90]Albert Schweitzer was a friend of Steiner's and was supportive of his ideals for cultural renewal.[91]

Though Rudolf Steiner studied natural science at the Vienna Technical University at the undergraduate level, his doctorate was in epistemology and very little of his work is directly concerned with the empirical sciences. In his mature work, when he did refer to science it was often to present phenomenological or Goethean science as an alternative to what he considered the materialistic science of his contemporaries.[11]

His primary interest was in applying the methodology of science to realms of inner experience and the spiritual worlds (Steiner's appreciation that the essence of science is its method of inquiry is unusual among esotericists[11]), and Steiner called anthroposophy Geisteswissenschaft (lit.: Science of the mind, or cultural or spiritual science), a term generally used in German to refer to the humanities and social sciences;[92] in fact, the term "science" is used more broadly in Europe as a general term that refers to any exact knowledge.[93]

[Anthroposophy's] methodology is to employ a scientific way of thinking, but to apply this methodology, which normally excludes our inner experience from consideration, instead to the human being proper.

Whether this is a sufficient basis for anthroposophy to be considered a spiritual science has been a matter of controversy.[4][94] As Freda Easton explained in her study of Waldorf schools, "Whether one accepts anthroposophy as a science depends upon whether one accepts Steiner's interpretation of a science that extends the consciousness and capacity of human beings to experience their inner spiritual world."[95]Sven Ove Hansson has disputed anthroposophy's claim to a scientific basis, stating that its ideas are not empirically derived and neither reproducible nor testable.[96]

Carlo Willmann points out that as, on its own terms, anthroposophical methodology offers no possibility of being falsified except through its own procedures of spiritual investigation, no intersubjective validation is possible by conventional scientific methods; it thus cannot stand up to positivistic science's criticism.[4] Peter Schneider calls such objections untenable on the grounds that if a non-sensory, non-physical realm exists, then according to Steiner the experiences of pure thinking possible within the normal realm of consciousness would already be experiences of that, and it would be impossible to exclude the possibility of empirically grounded experiences of other supersensory content.[6]

Olav Hammer suggests that anthroposophy carries scientism "to lengths unparalleled in any other Esoteric position" due to its dependence upon claims of clairvoyant experience, its subsuming natural science under "spiritual science", and its development of what Hammer calls "fringe" sciences such as anthroposophical medicine and biodynamic agriculture justified partly on the basis of the ethical and ecological values they promote, rather than purely on a scientific basis.[11]

Though Steiner saw that spiritual vision itself is difficult for others to achieve, he recommended open-mindedly exploring and rationally testing the results of such research; he also urged others to follow a spiritual training that would allow them directly to apply the methods he used eventually to achieve comparable results.[6] Some results of Steiner's research have been investigated and supported by scientists working to further and extend scientific observation in directions suggested by an anthroposophical approach.[97]

Anthony Storr stated about Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy: "His belief system is so eccentric, so unsupported by evidence, so manifestly bizarre, that rational skeptics are bound to consider it delusional.... But, whereas Einstein's way of perceiving the world by thought became confirmed by experiment and mathematical proof, Steiner's remained intensely subjective and insusceptible of objective confirmation."[98]

As an explicitly spiritual movement, anthroposophy has sometimes been called a religious philosophy.[99] In 2005, a California federal court ruled that a group alleging that anthroposophy is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes did not provide any legally admissible evidence in support of this view; the case is under appeal. In 2000, a French court ruled that a government minister's description of anthroposophy as a cult was defamatory.[100]

Anthroposophical ideas have been criticized from both sides in the race debate:

The Anthroposophical Society in America has stated:

We explicitly reject any racial theory that may be construed to be part of Rudolf Steiner's writings. The Anthroposophical Society in America is an open, public society and it rejects any purported spiritual or scientific theory on the basis of which the alleged superiority of one race is justified at the expense of another race.[104]

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Anthroposophy - Wikipedia

CHRISTINA D'ADAMIO

Last updated13:56, August 4 2017

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Not all movement is good movement when it comes to weight loss.

If you want to maximise your workout and lose weight faster, you might want to rethink your workout routine.

We consulted with DrLuiza Petre, board-certified cardiologist and weight management specialist, to get you the worst exercises for fat loss (and what to do instead).

It's important to remember that not all exercises lead to weight loss.

MURRAY WILSON/STUFF

CrossFit isn't for beginners. If you're not in tip-top shape, it's best to opt for a less intense workout.

"While weight loss is an awesome side effect of working out, exercise can benefit your brain, your mood, and your overall health, too," Petre says.

READ MORE:* 'Dramatic' weight loss possible without counting calories* Why is exercise useless for weight loss?* Expensive meal plans not needed for weight loss* 10 best exercises for weight loss

Extended cardio sessions can lead to muscle loss if they're not balanced with strength training.

"However, not all movement is good movement when it comes to weight loss. While I encourage all types of fitness for more reasons than just weight loss, if your focus is dropping pounds, you should know that not all forms of exercise are as effective for weight loss as others.

"In fact, there may be more bad exercises than good ones when it comes to losing weight and building muscle."

Instead, give strength training a chance. The not-so-simple workout can do wonders for your fat loss plans.

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Yup, they're great abs. Nope, you're not getting them by doing 500 crunches a day and nothing else.

"If you do any kind of strengthening or toning exercises to stay healthy and to remove inches, I encourage all efforts, for more reasons than just weight loss," she adds.

"But if your number one goal is weight loss, you may want to reprioritise your workout schedule. And most importantly, if you are doing an exercise that causes you real pain, your body is trying to tell you 'STOP!' But do not go to the other extreme and completely neglect strength training."

That being said, if you want to slim down, don't put your body through stress just to reach your goals.

ALTER EGO

An average 68kg person will burn only 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga.

"The key to all weight loss goals, and health improvement at the same time, without bringing your body to the risk of injury, is balance," Petre says. "Start with a good, healthy balance of strength training and a bit of cardio to build your endurance so you can continue shedding pounds and reach your goals."

WORST: CROSSFIT

"CrossFit-style workouts are exploding in popularity around the world and are often promoted as the best way to get in shape and improve health," Petre says.

MARY FITZGERALD/STUFF

Boot camp: A great way to share the pain and shed the pounds.

"I don't want to be controversial, but if your goal is to lose weight and improve health, CrossFit is the number one exercise you should avoid. It's too intense for many people, and often includes high-risk activities."

"The number one rule about losing weight through exercise is that you can't exercise to lose weight if you're injured," she adds.

"If you're a fit, active, and athletic individual, CrossFit might be the best workout for you, but if your body is not already in top shape, don't unnecessarily risk injury. You're likely to lose more weight if you combine a healthy diet with a moderate exercise program that's more sustainable."

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Lifting weights has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate, which means you continue to burn calories after working out.

WORST: YOGA

"Yoga represents the polar opposite to CrossFit, but this doesn't mean that it will shed those layers of fast food on the body," Petre says. "In fact, a 150-pound [68kg] person will burn only 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga, compared to 311 calories for an hour of walking at 3mph [4.8kmh]."

"Increasing your physical activity is a good first step towards losing weight," she says. "It's true that yoga can help you gain strength and tone up, but if you aim to shed pounds, you want to work as much of your body as possible to lose weight and stimulate your metabolism."

WORST: EXTENDED CARDIO SESSIONS

"If you're only doing cardio and not balancing with strength training, it can lead to muscle loss, which is not ideal," Petre says.

"Strength training builds lean muscle mass, which increases both your metabolism and decreases fat. The more muscle you build, the more calories you burn on a day-to-day basis."

"From a cost-benefit angle, extended low-effort exercise, such as steady state cardio, can burn more fat in relative terms, but not in absolute amounts," she adds.

"What counts the most is your overall calorie expenditure, not the fuel source. But before you switch to high-intensity training, remember that this type of exercise is not without a risk of injury. Preserve muscle mass by keeping your cardio workouts to approximately three 30-minute sessions per week."

WORST: PILATES

"Pilates, like yoga, has a lot of health benefits that will help you live better, ranging from improved flexibility and balance to deeper relaxation, but fast fat burn is not one of them," Petre says.

"Because it helps you gradually build and strengthen your muscles, it can be a great way to prevent getting injured while training. However, you need to do heavy compound weightlifting on the big muscle groups along with cardio to maximise fat loss, and Pilates does not incorporate either type of exercise."

WORST: SPOT REDUCTION EXERCISES

"Many people want to lose fat from one specific part of their bodies," Petre says. "But, due to human genetics, we cannot pick and choose areas to burn fat from. This means that if you wish to trim down your midsection, performing only abdominal exercises is not going to give you the results you want.

"The same is true for every other body part and muscle group. Why? Because the only thing exercises target is your muscles, not the fat that is covering the muscles.

"You can lose that fat only by creating caloric deficit through a combination of diet and exercise. In other words, you should consume less calories than you burn, forcing your body to burn your own stored body fat for energy instead."

BEST: TABATA

"Tabata is a dream come true for anyone whose biggest excuse for skipping a workout is lack of time," Petre says.

"It's designed to be just a few minutes of high-intensity interval training that consists of 20 seconds of hard effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times.

"The best thing about Tabata is that you can perform these short trainings with your own body weight in the comfort of your own home. Simply pick four exercises, such as jump rope, squats, squat jumps, and mountain climbers, then do each for 20 seconds as hard and fast as you can.

"It will raise your heart rate, pump up your muscles and increase your fitness level."

BEST: BOOT CAMP

"You'll definitely lose extra weight and boost your cardio fitness with this type of training," Petre says.

"Boot camp training takes the military workout out of basic training and into gyms and homes everywhere. Typical boot camp workouts combine intense aerobic exercise with muscle building, resistance exercises, and challenges that boost flexibility and coordination.

"These workout programs are so popular because they work every muscle group, don't require any equipment, and can be done anywhere. Daily boot camp training burns fat and builds muscle, therefore increasing weight loss and supporting maintenance of a healthy weight."

BEST: STRENGTH TRAINING

"If weight loss is a goal, incorporating strength training into your routine is essential," Petre says. "The key to shedding pounds is a strong foundation, and the best way to build muscle is with weights.

"Lifting weights has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate, which means you continue to burn calories after working out. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. By increasing your base metabolic rate [BMR]and burning more calories at rest, you also increase your calorie deficit, which is necessary for weight loss.

"While it's true that cardio-only routines get your heart working harder and help your body burn calories, strength training is what will give your weight-loss goals that extra boost," Petre adds. "This doesn't mean that cardio training should be completely ignored.

"Weight lifting, cardioand your diet combine to make your body burn fat for fuel instead of muscle. Practice these types of training three times a week to burn around 1 to 1.5 pounds of fat per week."

BEST: HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING (HIIT)

"High-intensity interval training is a form of exercise characterised by periods of hard work followed by brief periods of recovery or rest," Petre says.

"You can perform it using various cardio formats, gym equipment, and weighted or bodyweight exercises. When you do high-intensity interval training, your body and metabolism function at a higher rate of burned calories for hours afterwards. It means you're burning calories while watching your favourite TV show in the comfort of your home.

"According to the American College of Sports Medicine, this type of workout routine tends to burn anywhere from 6-15 per cent more calories compared to other training methods, thanks to the calories you burn after you exercise.

"High-intensity interval training can be performed up to fourtimes per week. The only downside is that it takes your body quite a bit of time to recover, and you can physically only do it for 20-30 minutes at a time before you become too exhausted to continue.

"If you listen to your bodyand pay attention to results, this type of workout will take your training to the next level."

BEST: STRENGTH-BASED CIRCUIT TRAINING

"Compared to traditional strength training, strength-based circuit training will help you lose more fat while still building muscle," Petre says.

"Since you're performing high-intensity movements with short rest periods, you will also get the added benefits of metabolic conditioning. It's slightly less intense than HIIT or Tabata as it's less about short bursts of maximum effort and more about completing quality exercises with good form over a longer duration set.

"Strength-based circuit training is very effective at helping burn fat," adds Petre. "It provides both strength and cardio benefits, it takes less time than a normal strength workout, and focusing on the entire body in a single workout maximises calorie burn and movement function."

- This story original appeared at Rodalewellness.com.

-MCT

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The five worst exercises for fat loss - and what to do instead - Stuff.co.nz

What is the best way to live a happy and successful life? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

Answer by Katherine Killoran, who learned about life and living from medical school and my cancer diagnosis:

Establishing healthy habits is a good start. When you feel well, it's easier to be happy, successful and get the most out of life. Often diet and exercise are the first things that come to mind when thinking of healthy habits. There is an avalanche of opinions on what is a healthy diet. I think it depends on the individual both regarding personal preference as well as metabolism. But whether your diet is vegan, vegetarian, paleo, Mediterranean or labeled something else, it comes down to real food. Cook for yourself with quality ingredients and eat at home. Enjoy your food, and if possible share with others. You will undoubtedly be healthier and happier.

I always thought I had a reasonably healthy diet until I was diagnosed with cancer and considered more carefully what I was eating. I feel better and am happier when I eat real food that I cook at home. Maybe it's age; maybe it's because I am more aware, but my body lets me know when I don't eat well. I do enjoy cooking and strive to eat a wide variety of vegetables every day. I think most of the food we cook at home is delicious, so I am not sacrificing anything to eat well.

Get some exercise. Exercise reduces depression and increases pain tolerance. Do it outside if you can. Being outside makes you happier and also helps reduce depression and anxiety. Make sure it is an activity that you like. The more it feels like work, the less beneficial it is for you and the less likely you are to do it. Sweat. The harder you work the less time you need to put in.

I am an exercise addict. I tend to go overboard. I can count the days during chemotherapy that I did NOT exercise on one hand. It, for sure, helped me feel better during a time when feeling crappy was the norm. I continue to enjoy being active and have added high-intensity intervals to my various activities - swimming, biking, running, and lifting weights. It's hard to know for sure, but I am confident it has improved my speed, strength, and overall level of fitness.

Sleep. While not everybody needs a full eight hours of sleep every night, most people need more than six. No surprise, when you are well rested, you think and perform better, which helps you accomplish more, be happier and more successful.

Stress and lack of sleep were major issues for me. One week after I was diagnosed with cancer, when my priorities were put in place by necessity, I was sleeping better than I had in several years. I think anxiety and lack of sleep contributed to my diagnosis in the first place. But even with a recent cancer diagnosis, better sleep helped me to happier.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, diet, exercise, and sleep, everyone knows that. However, it's your relationships that may the most important. At least that's the conclusion from the Harvard study of adult development. This study started in the 1930s and is still going on today more than 75 years later. It followed 724 men from two very different backgrounds. One group was composed of Harvard students, and the other was poor, underprivileged, boys from Boston's inner-city.

Some of the original participants are still alive today in their 90s, and the study is now following the children from the initial group. This study tracked these men interviewing them, reviewing their medical records, talking to their wives and families to determine what factors resulted in health, happiness, and longevity. It wasn't money, success or a healthy cholesterol level at age 50 that best predicted good health and happiness at age 80. Instead, it was how satisfied the men were with their relationships. Being more socially connected to family, friends, and community led to happier, healthier people who lived longer. Robert Waldinger is the current director of the study; you can listen to his TED talk here.

Another example of the remarkable power of relationships and community on health and longevity is known as the Roseto effect. Roseto is a small town in Northeastern Pennsylvania. In the 1960s, a local doctor realized there was an exceptionally low rate of heart disease in Roseto -- virtually non-existent compared to some of the surrounding towns.

The inhabitants smoked cigars, drank lots of wine, ate meatballs, sausage, and plenty of cheese, while being exposed to potentially toxic gasses and dust in the slate quarries, not exactly the usual recipe for good health.

However, the community was very close knit. The was no crime; people supported each other, meals were a reason to get together and celebrate. There was a strong work ethic with everyone in town working toward a similar goal, a better life for their children. Their children did go on to have more material things and traditional success but not necessarily a better life. As the supportive community began to break down the rates of heart disease and premature death increased, equalling the rates of the surrounding towns.

The people of Roseto were Italian immigrants. Their lifestyle, with an emphasis on close, supportive relationships, appears to have protected them from chronic disease and is similar to the way of life along the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean diet is considered to be one of the healthiest in the world. A British cardiologist, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, is making a film about Pioppi, Italy called the Pioppi protocol. Pioppi is on the Mediterranean, and it's inhabitants are among the world's healthiest, often living into their 90s. In his film, Dr. Malhotra contends that it is the Mediterranean lifestyle, not just the diet that cultivates good health, happiness, and longevity. People eat well, savor and enjoy their food. They are social and connected to their community. They spend time outside, moving, engaged in activities they enjoy.

Take care of yourself. Eat well. Move daily. Get enough sleep. Maintain and nurture your relationships. In doing so, you will inevitably increase your energy and enjoyment from life. When you take care of yourself, not only do you have more energy which will give you more time to focus on success, but you feel well, so you are better equipped to enjoy the time you have.

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Diet, Exercise And Sleep Are Great, But One Thing Will Improve Your Life Even More - HuffPost UK

Recently, Naveen Jain discovered that he was pre-diabetic. In response, his doctor recommended that he cut down on carbohydrates and starches, such as potatoes, bread, and rice. After several weeks of consuming primarily legumes and lentils, Jain's blood glucose levels were static; as a stool sample analysis later revealed, he actually needed to eat more carbohydrates, not fewer.

Jain received this advice after taking a microbiome test, a service from his new company, Viome, which offers to sequence bacteria in the digestive tract to get a better picture of one's overall health. Based in Bellevue, Washington, Viome combines the results of a simple stool sample with artificial intelligence to make custom suggestions for a user's diet and lifestyle, and potentially flag if the person's at risk for certain illnesses. Indeed, a growing body of research suggests that microorganisms in the human gut may play a critical role in health and disease, and it's a trend that startups are hungrily seizing on.

Earlier this week, Jain's business confirmed that it had raised $15 million in funding, in a round led by the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, with participation from Bold Capital Partners. In total, Viome has raised $21 million in funding; it generates revenue through the sale of beta tests to thousands of customers, according to Jain. The company operates on a subscription model, charging $595 annually for two tests, or $59 per month. Users send their stool samples to the company's lab, and can also conduct at-home blood and urine tests.

"How we respond to what's happening inside of our gut is the key to understanding aging and health, and the prevention of chronic diseases," Jain tells Inc. in an interview. The company has 45 employees, four of whom are licensed physicians.

Viome is also the first official venture to emerge from BlueDot, the innovation factory that Jain founded back in 2015.

Ambitious though this latest endeavor may seem, it's nothing new for Jain. The billionaire entrepreneur is best known for having launched InfoSpace, the search behemoth that contributed in part to the dot-com bust of 2000. Jain has since gone on to start companies including Intelius, a public-records database, as well as Moon Express. The latter is the first private venture to win government approval to launch a rocket to the moon. He wants to mine the surface for materials such as iron and manganese, as well as gold and other precious metals. The interim goal, Jain explains, is to win the coveted Google Lunar X Prize for missions in 2017; at present, he says, the startup is on track to launch its lunar rocket by December.

The ultimate goal, though, is even loftier: "I'm thinking about what the best thing is I can do to help humanity," Jain says. "Saving humanity from extinction is the goal for Moon Express, and eliminating chronic diseases is the goal for Viome."

Still, the health care business is an expensive one. Jain notes that Viome's profit margins are incredibly slim, so the startup is generating very little money. Over time, it aims to drive down the cost of tests to as low as $10--or free--at which point he said it would generate sales off of the recommendations it makes, instead.

To be sure, many analysts are skeptical of microbiome testing. Viome does not, at present, have FDA approval. Therefore, it's A.I.--however smart--can make recommendations only about diet and exercise, not about medical issues. (Jain insists that the business doesn't need FDA approval for what it's offering at present, thoughhe affirms it will seek this down the line when it begins work to diagnose and cure diseases.) Some scientists doubt that the tests will have the ability to detect illnesses, or make the kinds of recommendations their creators have promised.

"The enthusiasm of their manufacturers simply goes well beyond where the science is right now," noted Rob Knight, the leading microbiome researcher and professor at the University of California, San Diego, in an interview with Technology Review. And Adam Drewnowski, a professor of nutritional sciences in the University of Washington's epidemiology department, says there's little hard science to show that the microbiome in fact influences specific conditions. "It's very new and very controversial," he told Inc. "There are some very interesting links that are currently being established. But to [suggest] at this point that microbiome imbalance causes something like Alzheimer's, I would think, is something of an overstatement."

Meanwhile, Viome faces competition from other microbiome startups, such as San Francisco-based uBiome, which is either fully or partially covered by most health insurance companies. (Viome does not work with any health insurers.) UBiome makes the SmartGut test kit, which costs $89.

What sets Viome apart, Jain says, is the technology it's using to the power the kits. The company pays to license information from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, which analyzes RNA, or ribonucleic acid, to identify species and strains beyond bacteria, including viruses, yeast, mold, and fungi.

Jain is well aware that he's no expert in medicine. "I'm not reinventing the wheel," he explains. "I'm simply making [this technology] available to the consumers that can help and benefit society."

The entrepreneur adds that he spends roughly 60 percent of his time focusing on Viome, and the other 40 percent he splits between operations at Moon Express--preventing human extinction, that is--and at Singularity University, where he is a board member.

Read more here:
When He's Not Charting a Course for the Moon, This Entrepreneur Is Planning Big Things for Your Gut - Inc.com

Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: Awakened One), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries bce (before the Common Era). Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia, and during the 20th century it spread to the West.

Ancient Buddhist scripture and doctrine developed in several closely related literary languages of ancient India, especially in Pali and Sanskrit. In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have gained currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the form in which they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions occur in special circumstancesas, for example, in the case of the Sanskrit term dharma (Pali: dhamma), which has meanings that are not usually associated with the term dharma as it is often used in English. Pali forms are given in the sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are reconstructed primarily from Pali texts and in sections that deal with Buddhist traditions in which the primary sacred language is Pali. Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist traditions whose primary sacred language is Sanskrit and in other sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts were translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such as Tibetan or Chinese.

Buddhism arose in northeastern India sometime between the late 6th century and the early 4th century bce, a period of great social change and intense religious activity. There is disagreement among scholars about the dates of the Buddhas birth and death. Many modern scholars believe that the historical Buddha lived from about 563 to about 483 bce. Many others believe that he lived about 100 years later (from about 448 to 368 bce). At this time in India, there was much discontent with Brahmanic (Hindu high-caste) sacrifice and ritual. In northwestern India there were ascetics who tried to create a more personal and spiritual religious experience than that found in the Vedas (Hindu sacred scriptures). In the literature that grew out of this movement, the Upanishads, a new emphasis on renunciation and transcendental knowledge can be found. Northeastern India, which was less influenced by Vedic tradition, became the breeding ground of many new sects. Society in this area was troubled by the breakdown of tribal unity and the expansion of several petty kingdoms. Religiously, this was a time of doubt, turmoil, and experimentation.

A proto-Samkhya group (i.e., one based on the Samkhya school of Hinduism founded by Kapila) was already well established in the area. New sects abounded, including various skeptics (e.g., Sanjaya Belatthiputta), atomists (e.g., Pakudha Kaccayana), materialists (e.g., Ajita Kesakambali), and antinomians (i.e., those against rules or lawse.g., Purana Kassapa). The most important sects to arise at the time of the Buddha, however, were the Ajivikas (Ajivakas), who emphasized the rule of fate (niyati), and the Jains, who stressed the need to free the soul from matter. Although the Jains, like the Buddhists, have often been regarded as atheists, their beliefs are actually more complicated. Unlike early Buddhists, both the Ajivikas and the Jains believed in the permanence of the elements that constitute the universe, as well as in the existence of the soul.

Despite the bewildering variety of religious communities, many shared the same vocabularynirvana (transcendent freedom), atman (self or soul), yoga (union), karma (causality), Tathagata (one who has come or one who has thus gone), buddha (enlightened one), samsara (eternal recurrence or becoming), and dhamma (rule or law)and most involved the practice of yoga. According to tradition, the Buddha himself was a yogithat is, a miracle-working ascetic.

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Buddhism, like many of the sects that developed in northeastern India at the time, was constituted by the presence of a charismatic teacher, by the teachings this leader promulgated, and by a community of adherents that was often made up of renunciant members and lay supporters. In the case of Buddhism, this pattern is reflected in the Triratnai.e., the Three Jewels of Buddha (the teacher), dharma (the teaching), and sangha (the community).

In the centuries following the founders death, Buddhism developed in two directions represented by two different groups. One was called the Hinayana (Sanskrit: Lesser Vehicle), a term given to it by its Buddhist opponents. This more conservative group, which included what is now called the Theravada (Pali: Way of the Elders) community, compiled versions of the Buddhas teachings that had been preserved in collections called the Sutta Pitaka and the Vinaya Pitaka and retained them as normative. The other major group, which calls itself the Mahayana (Sanskrit: Greater Vehicle), recognized the authority of other teachings that, from the groups point of view, made salvation available to a greater number of people. These supposedly more advanced teachings were expressed in sutras that the Buddha purportedly made available only to his more advanced disciples.

As Buddhism spread, it encountered new currents of thought and religion. In some Mahayana communities, for example, the strict law of karma (the belief that virtuous actions create pleasure in the future and nonvirtuous actions create pain) was modified to accommodate new emphases on the efficacy of ritual actions and devotional practices. During the second half of the 1st millennium ce, a third major Buddhist movement, Vajrayana (Sanskrit: Diamond Vehicle; also called Tantric, or Esoteric, Buddhism), developed in India. This movement was influenced by gnostic and magical currents pervasive at that time, and its aim was to obtain spiritual liberation and purity more speedily.

Despite these vicissitudes, Buddhism did not abandon its basic principles. Instead, they were reinterpreted, rethought, and reformulated in a process that led to the creation of a great body of literature. This literature includes the Pali Tipitaka (Three Baskets)the Sutta Pitaka (Basket of Discourse), which contains the Buddhas sermons; the Vinaya Pitaka (Basket of Discipline), which contains the rule governing the monastic order; and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (Basket of Special [Further] Doctrine), which contains doctrinal systematizations and summaries. These Pali texts have served as the basis for a long and very rich tradition of commentaries that were written and preserved by adherents of the Theravada community. The Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions have accepted as Buddhavachana (the word of the Buddha) many other sutras and tantras, along with extensive treatises and commentaries based on these texts. Consequently, from the first sermon of the Buddha at Sarnath to the most recent derivations, there is an indisputable continuitya development or metamorphosis around a central nucleusby virtue of which Buddhism is differentiated from other religions.

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The teacher known as the Buddha lived in northern India sometime between the mid-6th and the mid-4th centuries before the Common Era. In ancient India the title buddha referred to an enlightened being who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering. According to the various traditions of Buddhism, buddhas have existed in the past and will exist in the future. Some Buddhists believe that there is only one buddha for each historical age, others that all beings will become buddhas because they possess the buddha nature (tathagatagarbha).

The historical figure referred to as the Buddha (whose life is known largely through legend) was born on the northern edge of the Ganges River basin, an area on the periphery of the ancient civilization of North India, in what is today southern Nepal. He is said to have lived for 80 years. His family name was Gautama (in Sanskrit) or Gotama (in Pali), and his given name was Siddhartha (Sanskrit: he who achieves his aim) or Siddhatta (in Pali). He is frequently called Shakyamuni, the sage of the Shakya clan. In Buddhist texts he is most commonly addressed as Bhagavat (often translated as Lord), and he refers to himself as the Tathagata, which can mean both one who has thus come and one who has thus gone. Traditional sources on the date of his deathor, in the language of the tradition, his passage into nirvanarange from 2420 to 290 bce. Scholarship in the 20th century limited that range considerably, with opinion generally divided between those who believed he lived from about 563 to 483 bce and those who believed he lived about a century later.

Information about his life derives largely from Buddhist texts, the earliest of which were produced shortly before the beginning of the Common Era and thus several centuries after his death. According to the traditional accounts, however, the Buddha was born into the ruling Shakya clan and was a member of the Kshatriya, or warrior, caste. His mother, Maha Maya, dreamt one night that an elephant entered her womb, and 10 lunar months later, while she was strolling in the garden of Lumbini, her son emerged from under her right arm. His early life was one of luxury and comfort, and his father protected him from exposure to the ills of the world, including old age, sickness, and death. At age 16 he married the princess Yashodhara, who would eventually bear him a son. At 29, however, the prince had a profound experience when he first observed the suffering of the world while on chariot rides outside the palace. He resolved then to renounce his wealth and family and live the life of an ascetic. During the next six years, he practiced meditation with several teachers and then, with five companions, undertook a life of extreme self-mortification. One day, while bathing in a river, he fainted from weakness and therefore concluded that mortification was not the path to liberation from suffering. Abandoning the life of extreme asceticism, the prince sat in meditation under a tree and received enlightenment, sometimes identified with understanding the Four Noble Truths. For the next 45 years, the Buddha spread his message throughout northeastern India, established orders of monks and nuns, and received the patronage of kings and merchants. At the age of 80, he became seriously ill. He then met with his disciples for the last time to impart his final instructions and passed into nirvana. His body was then cremated and the relics distributed and enshrined in stupas (funerary monuments that usually contained relics), where they would be venerated.

The Buddhas place within the tradition, however, cannot be understood by focusing exclusively on the events of his life and time (even to the extent that they are known). Instead, he must be viewed within the context of Buddhist theories of time and history. Among these theories is the belief that the universe is the product of karma, the law of the cause and effect of actions. The beings of the universe are reborn without beginning in six realms as gods, demigods, humans, animals, ghosts, and hell beings. The cycle of rebirth, called samsara (literally wandering), is regarded as a domain of suffering, and the Buddhists ultimate goal is to escape from that suffering. The means of escape remains unknown until, over the course of millions of lifetimes, a person perfects himself, ultimately gaining the power to discover the path out of samsara and then revealing that path to the world.

A person who has set out to discover the path to freedom from suffering and then to teach it to others is called a bodhisattva. A person who has discovered that path, followed it to its end, and taught it to the world is called a buddha. Buddhas are not reborn after they die but enter a state beyond suffering called nirvana (literally passing away). Because buddhas appear so rarely over the course of time and because only they reveal the path to liberation from suffering, the appearance of a buddha in the world is considered a momentous event.

The story of a particular buddha begins before his birth and extends beyond his death. It encompasses the millions of lives spent on the path toward enlightenment and Buddhahood and the persistence of the buddha through his teachings and his relics after he has passed into nirvana. The historical Buddha is regarded as neither the first nor the last buddha to appear in the world. According to some traditions he is the 7th buddha, according to another he is the 25th, and according to yet another he is the 4th. The next buddha, Maitreya, will appear after Shakyamunis teachings and relics have disappeared from the world.

Sites associated with the Buddhas life became important pilgrimage places, and regions that Buddhism entered long after his deathsuch as Sri Lanka, Kashmir, and Burma (now Myanmar)added narratives of his magical visitations to accounts of his life. Although the Buddha did not leave any written works, various versions of his teachings were preserved orally by his disciples. In the centuries following his death, hundreds of texts (called sutras) were attributed to him and would subsequently be translated into the languages of Asia.

The teaching attributed to the Buddha was transmitted orally by his disciples, prefaced by the phrase evam me sutam (thus have I heard); therefore, it is difficult to say whether or to what extent his discourses have been preserved as they were spoken. They usually allude to the place and time they were preached and to the audience to which they were addressed. Buddhist councils in the first centuries after the Buddhas death attempted to specify which teachings attributed to the Buddha could be considered authentic.

The Buddha based his entire teaching on the fact of human suffering and the ultimately dissatisfying character of human life. Existence is painful. The conditions that make an individual are precisely those that also give rise to dissatisfaction and suffering. Individuality implies limitation; limitation gives rise to desire; and, inevitably, desire causes suffering, since what is desired is transitory.

Living amid the impermanence of everything and being themselves impermanent, human beings search for the way of deliverance, for that which shines beyond the transitoriness of human existencein short, for enlightenment. The Buddhas doctrine offered a way to avoid despair. By following the path taught by the Buddha, the individual can dispel the ignorance that perpetuates this suffering.

According to the Buddha of the early texts, reality, whether of external things or the psychophysical totality of human individuals, consists of a succession and concatenation of microelements called dhammas (these components of reality are not to be confused with dhamma meaning law or teaching). The Buddha departed from traditional Indian thought in not asserting an essential or ultimate reality in things. Moreover, he rejected the existence of the soul as a metaphysical substance, though he recognized the existence of the self as the subject of action in a practical and moral sense. Life is a stream of becoming, a series of manifestations and extinctions. The concept of the individual ego is a popular delusion; the objects with which people identify themselvesfortune, social position, family, body, and even mindare not their true selves. There is nothing permanent, and, if only the permanent deserved to be called the self, or atman, then nothing is self.

To make clear the concept of no-self (anatman), Buddhists set forth the theory of the five aggregates or constituents (khandhas) of human existence: (1) corporeality or physical forms (rupa), (2) feelings or sensations (vedana), (3) ideations (sanna), (4) mental formations or dispositions (sankhara), and (5) consciousness (vinnana). Human existence is only a composite of the five aggregates, none of which is the self or soul. A person is in a process of continuous change, and there is no fixed underlying entity.

The belief in rebirth, or samsara, as a potentially endless series of worldly existences in which every being is caught up was already associated with the doctrine of karma (Sanskrit: karman; literally act or deed) in pre-Buddhist India, and it was accepted by virtually all Buddhist traditions. According to the doctrine, good conduct brings a pleasant and happy result and creates a tendency toward similar good acts, while bad conduct brings an evil result and creates a tendency toward similar evil acts. Some karmic acts bear fruit in the same life in which they are committed, others in the immediately succeeding one, and others in future lives that are more remote. This furnishes the basic context for the moral life.

The acceptance by Buddhists of the teachings of karma and rebirth and the concept of the no-self gives rise to a difficult problem: how can rebirth take place without a permanent subject to be reborn? Indian non-Buddhist philosophers attacked this point in Buddhist thought, and many modern scholars have also considered it to be an insoluble problem. The relation between existences in rebirth has been explained by the analogy of fire, which maintains itself unchanged in appearance and yet is different in every momentwhat may be called the continuity of an ever-changing identity.

Awareness of these fundamental realities led the Buddha to formulate the Four Noble Truths: the truth of misery (dukkha; literally suffering but connoting uneasiness or dissatisfaction), the truth that misery originates within the craving for pleasure and for being or nonbeing (samudaya), the truth that this craving can be eliminated (nirodhu), and the truth that this elimination is the result of following a methodical way or path (magga).

The Buddha, according to the early texts, also discovered the law of dependent origination (paticca-samuppada), whereby one condition arises out of another, which in turn arises out of prior conditions. Every mode of being presupposes another immediately preceding mode from which the subsequent mode derives, in a chain of causes. According to the classical rendering, the 12 links in the chain are: ignorance (avijja), karmic predispositions (sankharas), consciousness (vinnana), form and body (nama-rupa), the five sense organs and the mind (salayatana), contact (phassa), feeling-response (vedana), craving (tanha), grasping for an object (upadana), action toward life (bhava), birth (jati), and old age and death (jaramarana). According to this law, the misery that is bound with sensate existence is accounted for by a methodical chain of causation. Despite a diversity of interpretations, the law of dependent origination of the various aspects of becoming remains fundamentally the same in all schools of Buddhism.

The law of dependent origination, however, raises the question of how one may escape the continually renewed cycle of birth, suffering, and death. It is not enough to know that misery pervades all existence and to know the way in which life evolves; there must also be a means to overcome this process. The means to this end is found in the Eightfold Path, which is constituted by right views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditational attainment.

The aim of Buddhist practice is to be rid of the delusion of ego and thus free oneself from the fetters of this mundane world. One who is successful in doing so is said to have overcome the round of rebirths and to have achieved enlightenment. This is the final goal in most Buddhist traditions, though in some cases (particularly though not exclusively in some Pure Land schools in China and Japan) the attainment of an ultimate paradise or a heavenly abode is not clearly distinguished from the attainment of release.

The living process is again likened to a fire. Its remedy is the extinction of the fire of illusion, passions, and cravings. The Buddha, the Enlightened One, is one who is no longer kindled or inflamed. Many poetic terms are used to describe the state of the enlightened human beingthe harbour of refuge, the cool cave, the place of bliss, the farther shore. The term that has become famous in the West is nirvana, translated as passing away or dying outthat is, the dying out in the heart of the fierce fires of lust, anger, and delusion. But nirvana is not extinction, and indeed the craving for annihilation or nonexistence was expressly repudiated by the Buddha. Buddhists search for salvation, not just nonbeing. Although nirvana is often presented negatively as release from suffering, it is more accurate to describe it in a more positive fashion: as an ultimate goal to be sought and cherished.

In some early texts the Buddha left unanswered certain questions regarding the destiny of persons who have reached this ultimate goal. He even refused to speculate as to whether fully purified saints, after death, continued to exist or ceased to exist. Such questions, he maintained, were not relevant to the practice of the path and could not in any event be answered from within the confines of ordinary human existence. Indeed, he asserted that any discussion of the nature of nirvana would only distort or misrepresent it. But he also asserted with even more insistence that nirvana can be experiencedand experienced in the present existenceby those who, knowing the Buddhist truth, practice the Buddhist path.

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