"Shoppers perceive organic to be healthy, tasty and are deciding that it is worth the money.The organic message is becoming better understood, and all the evidence we see is it is increasing partly because of the young audience coming into the market.

"2015 predicted the market was mostly wealthy, older people, but we found 65 per cent of them had come into the market since 2009 after the recession.

"The young people are engaged with food, the environment and health. Also, Brexit is an opportunity for farmers to exploit, because we are quite successful in exporting, especially in dairy."

Thomas Bourne, who represents a large group of organic farmers as a business development consultant at the Carswell Group in the south west, told The Telegraph: "Young people are a large and growing part of the consumer base with, often, a larger disposable income, and they are more digital savvy, more noisy online, more vocal and more connected via social media."

Read the original here:

Young shoppers drive organic food sales to a ten-year high - Telegraph.co.uk

Movie and theater actor Billy Crudup, who appears in two Oscar-nominated films this year, said he began practicing meditation after suffering from panic attacks, three of which occurred on stage during performances.

Its such an uncomfortable experience, Crudup told ABC News Dan Harris during an interview for his live-stream/podcast show, 10% Happier. And I took the approach that I took with everything before that which is Im just going to muscle through this and thats just no bueno for very long so I had to start figuring out some other ways to get some help.

Download and subscribe to the "10% Happier" podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music and TuneIn.

One of the first times Crudup said he experienced a panic attack was while he was having a latex mold of his face made for a role. He then said he experienced them during performances for Tom Stoppards trilogy of plays called The Coast of Utopia and again while doing a monologue for the off-Broadway play, Metal Children.

Ive never had that level of anxiety where I couldnt cope with it, he said.

When he was first starting out as an actor, Crudup said he felt a huge burden to take the craft seriously and became frustrated with not being able to find inspiring roles. He even asked Matt Damon for advice.

And he [Damon] said, Why dont your write something, Crudup said. And I said, Dude, Im going to kill you. The first thing you wrote you got an Oscar for, OK? I dont know how to write. I dont have any -- Why dont you just start welding or something.

As time went on, Crudup said the pressure to be ambitious and successful kept building. He equated the feelings of anxiety with a story he told of when he was a young boy and his father took him deep sea fishing off the coast of North Carolina.

I had always imagined I guess that once you got past the breakers, it was calm out there, and I was deeply disappointed and incredibly nauseous when I discovered that the swells continue throughout the entire ocean and forever and thats sort of how I felt when I arrived at my adult life, Crudup said. I had all the trappings of success in adulthood. I had responsibility, I had artistic agency, I had money, I had friends, I was in relationships, and my family was close to me and supported me, but there was an underlying sense of disease, and that was confusing to me.

Crudups ex, Weeds actress Mary-Louise Parker, first introduced him -- and then later their son, William Crudup, now 13 -- to meditation. Crudup also sought help from renowned Buddhist psychiatrist and author Dr. Mark Epstein and legendary Buddhist meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein. It was through their influences and others that Crudup says he started practicing mindfulness meditation as a way to triage anxiety.

I grew up hearing a lot about my gut, and go with your gut, your instincts are always right, Ive come to believe that its probably not as useful as it sounds, he said. Having to let go of that idea, and that your gut might actually lead you in a direction thats not helpful to you sometimes, has been an interesting exercise.

Now that his son meditates, Crudup said they talk about it and sometimes meditate together, although he said his practice today is still in its infancy.

Im terrible at it, he said. [But] when I can catch myself, I count it as a complete triumph, but it comes from a ton of work.

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Actor Billy Crudup says he turned to meditation after suffering panic attacks on stage - ABC News

Men's Health

I Tried Luxury Meditation Classes and Here's What Happened Men's Health It would be easy to call Inscape the SoulCycle of meditation. First of all, it's located in Manhattan's Flatiron neighborhood which has become something of the city's boutique fitness district with sweat-inducing luminaries like Barry's Bootcamp and ...

Excerpt from:

I Tried Luxury Meditation Classes and Here's What Happened - Men's Health

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Imagine setting out for the day to explore the great outdoors free of technology, cars, crowds, conversation, work tasks, and more, only tostumble upon an alluring littlehobbit-like house in the middle of the forest, justbegging for you to slip inside and simply sit. Its asking you to just be. It sounds like something out of a film, except theres a real life project making a meditation fairytale come true.

Called Gapahuk, the project involvestinymeditation shelterswithin a forest garden that provide protection and a place to relax for hikers exploring the Lithuanian forests. These spacesoffer the opportunity for people to find solitude within and harmony in theenvironment, and toreconnect with nature. A stone pathway winds throughout the garden, inspired by a Lithuanian fairytale about serpents.

The project, part of a larger Meditation Garden created byBjrndal Arkitektstudio,which won the American Architecture Prize 2016, was built during theHuman Birdhouse Workshop in Lithuania last August. The team cleared out a portion of forest, shaped pathways in and around the garden, installed two fireplaces with sitting areas in front of the shelters, and added Holy stones to the siteas totems of masculine and feminine origin, one of them symbolizing the head of a serpent. The other is used for sacrificing ceremonies. The amphitheater seating, constructed with logs hammeredinto the ground, was designed to be used for small performances or poetry evenings in the Meditation Garden.

Courtesy of: v2.com

The team chose the location for the Meditation Garden to encourage visitors to dive in to the mystical surrounding.

A press release for the project explains:

The site was next to the swamp. The swamp has low sounds, invisible creatures, and unknown depth, hidden passages used by Lithuanian witches in the past and by partisans during war. It attracts and frightens at the same time. The swamp is very different when fog is going down, and when sun shines upon it. To have the opportunity to sit and meditate in the shelter and to explore the swamp and the growing forest gives an unforgettable experience by connecting with the most magical landscape. Swamps as landscape are frequently used in Lithuanian fairytales, needless to say this fact added a unique mysterious feature on the whole project.

The project was created on the property offamous Lithuanian children books author, poet, and film/theatre director, Vytautas V. Landsbergis. The team aimed todesign and build architecture that paid tribute to Constructive Shamanism.

Such a style brings together architects, builders, and spiritual practitioners to expose and dive deeper into the connections between humans and nature. The end result is a design that is dominated by Lithuanian mythology. Visitors of the Meditation Garden participate in spiritual ceremonies, and sing mantras around a bonfire.

The press release explains:

The project was filled with mythological and folk images. Singing mantras and polyphonic songs around bonfire, participating in spiritual and in tea ceremonies were creating strong bonds between team members. Also, it endowed a meaningful embracement of Lithuanian innate connection with nature and folklore and brought the full load of mystical meaning to the project.

Gapahuk by Bjrnadal Arkitektsudio

Gapahuk by Bjrnadal Arkitektsudio

Gapahuk by Bjrnadal Arkitektsudio

Gapahuk by Bjrnadal Arkitektsudio

Gapahuk by Bjrnadal Arkitektsudio

Wouldnt it be awesome if we had these throughout parks and forests?

Your life path number can tell you A LOT about you.

With the ancient science of Numerology you can find out accurate and revealing information just from your name and birth date.

Get your free numerology reading and learn more about how you can use numerology in your life to find out more about your path and journey. Get Your free reading.

Read more:

Tiny Meditation Huts Encourage Hikers Reconnect With Nature - Collective Evolution

If meditation is supposed to help with stress, then it really shouldnt be a surprise the practice is trending in DC. Though the concept of meditation has been in use for ages, its only recently that its been neatly packaged into boutique studios that seem to be popping up all over our city.

If third times a charm, I think we can officially say that boutique meditation studios are a thing in DC now. First, there was Just Meditate in Bethesda, which opened in November with $22 group meditation classes. Then Recharj, a power nap and meditation boutique opened downtown in December. Next week, Take Five Meditation is opening in Dupont with 30 and 45 minute meditation classes for $20 to $30 for a drop-in.

While it was probably only a matter of time before other industries caught on to the business strategy of boutique fitness gymswhy have clients pay $50 to $100 for a monthly membership when you could get $20 to $30 per class out of them?meditation is an interestingevolution of the trend. And the trend isnt just in DC, eithermeditation studio MNDFL opened in New York City 2015andInscape followed this fall.

So whats with all the meditation studios? Its impossible to say that the operators of each of these chains could have predicted the high levels of stress that Washingtonians and Americans at large would be under throughout the 2016 election and under the new administration in 2017. Nonetheless, you cant deny that the timing is pretty perfect: While Washingtonians are running to their therapists with new anxieties, their therapists are preaching self care. And where better to achieve self-care then ina highly branded, aromatherapy-scented, $30-a-pop meditation class?

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Continued here:

Boutique Meditation Studios are Officially a Thing in DC Now - Washingtonian.com

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- Cardiac patients at CHI St. Vincent are taking advantage of a program that aims to help patients return to a productive lifestyle quicker.

Walking towards session number 31 seemed almost impossible for cardiac patient Tangela Harris-McClendon.

"I'm like oh my god are they serious? I can't do all this."

Harris-McClendon is lifting weights now, but tackles just about every machine in this room.

CHI St. Vincent's cardiac and pulmonary rehab program has changed Tangela's outlook not only physically, but mentally as well.

"Having all that major surgery, I did not want to end up back where I was at," Harris-McClendon said.

In September, she had surgery for mitral valve repair.

She says she was tired all the time and just didn't feel like herself.

"Like it felt like I wanted to faint, but it never happened. and I would feel like that sometime."

After surgery, doctors recommend cardiac patients like Tangela to go through cardiac rehab.

The rehab is a medically supervised program, that patients attend a few times a week. Harris-McClendon works with exercise physiologist Brian Frane, who helps cardiac patients get strong again.

"The majority of them can barely make one to two minutes walking. By the time we're done with the program, 20-30 minutes at a brisk walking pace," Frane said.

during her excercise nurses are monitering for any abnomalities in her heart rate or rhythms.

They also offer nutrition counseling, risk factor assessment and a modification plan along with educational classes related to coronary artery disease.

"It's your health," said Harris-McClendon. "It's best to come so you can get better."

Once patients graduate from the program most of them get a membership so they can keep up the work they started after surgery.

Harris-McClendon is expected to graduate soon.

More here:

Program Helps Cardiac Patients to Bounce Back - KARK

AHMEDABAD: Just 73 days before transfer of power and partition of India into two countries, India's cabinet secretary HM Patel and financial advisor Chaudhuri Mohammed Ali submitted the document 'Administrative Consequences of Partition'. It was a roadmap for dividing government assets and liabilities between India and Pakistan.Patel and Ali bore the burden of dividing a huge, emotionally charged subcontinent. This task was far more complex than any military operation. Few have heard of these men and the real story behind the Partition. On Thursday, the story told by thousands of pages of an official documents reached the Sabarmati Ashram Daughter of late HM Patel, former National Dairy Development Board chairman Amrita Patel has donated to the Ashram these crucial cabinet papers related to India's Partition. Amrita wanted this defining moment in India's history be made accessible to researchers."I donated these documents to the Ashram because they have the expertise to manage archives," Amrita Patel said. "These papers contain HM Patel's speeches, Partition papers, the making of the Sardar film and papers related to it when he was in government. This is a treasure trove for any researcher or historian."Apart from the Partition papers, there are reams on the production of 1993 movie called, 'Sardar'. The film, produced by HM Patel, is based on Sardar Patel, his role in integrating 500 princely states.In the 1970s, HM Patel was with the Swatantra Party for a while and was the finance minister in the Morarji Desai government. In fact, he led the demonetization drive during Morarji government, nationalization of the LIC, and opened the country to foreign investments. Later HM Patel was the home minister in the short-lived Charan Singh government.Sabarmati Ashram director Tridip Suhrud said that every body associates the Partiti...

News Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/history-donated-to-sabarmati-ashram/articleshow/57319954.cms

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History donated to Sabarmati Ashram - NYOOOZ

We are so pleased with living on the Palouse.

One important amenity is water aerobics at the Pullman Aquatic Center near Pullman High School. We go faithfully three times a week. (There are three morning classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday - one in the lap pool, the other two the warm pool). And 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. classes on Tuesday and Thursday.

With age our bodies have lost strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. All of these are addressed during the fun class. The instructors keep us moving. It's a workout - as much or as little as you like. We even go 30 minutes early to warm up in the exercise room. That's an option, too. There is no fear of falling and lifeguards and our pool pals don't let us drown. Water aerobics is gentle on the body and offers continuous resistance.

We're relative newbies (less than two years) but our star has been coming since the week the center opened over 20 years ago. And she's 86. Who knew? Not us.

Drop in the first time free. Try it a few times for very little (no extra cost for the classes) or join. This is a wonderful return on our taxes.

Try it. Your body will like it for sure. So will your doctor as your numbers improve. The changing rooms are great and the water is hot. All sizes and ages welcome. Call them at (509) 338-3290.

About half of us come across the border from Moscow - it's that good. We laugh a lot, tell stories and even get together for lunch now and then. The workout has been very good for us - feel better than we have in years. Hope to see you in the pool.

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Letter: Water aerobics and fun - Moscow-Pullman Daily News

SWIMMING: A swimming pool is not just about laps or fun, WIRAC is used for some serious fitness sessions.

Cynthia Hoffman is one of the regulars at aqua aerobics and is at WIRAC five times a week.

She comes for either morning or afternoon sessions depending on commitments in her role as a mum, school chaplain and an administration officer at two kindergartens.

"I got involved in the 10-week Get Active Program which meant I was doing two days of fitness work at WIRAC each week, she said.

"I now come five days a week. I joined up at WIRAC after Get Active Program instructor Anne Kane said to build on what we were doing.

Hoffman has been following her daily aqua aerobics regime since December.

"Aqua aerobics is the highlight of my day, she said.

Each session is 45 minutes and we have three or four different instructors.

"I enjoy the variety of instructors and their different personalities. It is the best form of exercise in hot weather.

"You don't feel like you are working out until you get out of the pool.

She admits she isn't a lap swimmer but does a bit of swimming when at WIRAC.

Hoffman has a Certificate IV in fitness so knows the principles of keeping fit.

"I am a diabetic so aqua aerobics helps reduce my blood sugar level, she said.

"My general health is better, absolutely.

Today's article is the third of nine on swimmers who head to WIRAC for different reasons ranging from expectant mums to cross trainers and squad swimmers.

With the writer on holidays next week, the fourth in the series will be on Friday week.

Link:

Get fit with aerobics at WIRAC - The South Burnett Times

Who wouldnt be a fan of vegan soul food? Take the cruelty to animals out of shrimp and grits or fried chicken and you get all the taste with none of the guilt. Foodies everywhere are opting for plant-based fare as more people change their minds about the proper treatment of animals, not to mention meats contribution to environmental destruction and its damage to our health. The word is getting around, and the proof is in the (banana) puddingcheck out this lengthy list of vegan-friendly soul food restaurants around the country.

Chef Michelle Grandy has joined the conversation with a vegan soul food cookbook titled Ohhlicious. She has spent years uncovering plant-based food flavors and perfecting recipes that mimicked her grandmother Gussies cooking. Now, you can get your hands on these special vegan culinary secrets!

Grandys gradual transition from eating animals to going 100 percent plant-based involved years of learning about health, food ingredients, and cruelty to animals within the meat industry. The final step occurred during a flight from Washington, D.C., to San Diego, as she read a pro-vegan book and finally decided to make the switch. She had suffered from a chronic lung disease her whole life, but after three months of clean eating, she was no longer dependent on prescription asthma medications. Grandy credits her vegan lifestyle with healing the asthma that doctors insisted was incurable.

Ready to try some vegan soul food? Here are two of the scrumptious recipes from the Ohhlicious cookbook:

1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar 4 cloves garlic, minced 4 Tbsp. tamari or soy sauce 1 bunch collard greens (about 12 leaves), stalks discarded and leaves preserved in large pieces 1 Tbsp. coconut oil 1 pkg. Beyond Meat Beefy Crumble 1 large onion, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 2 medium carrots, chopped 1 jalapeo, seeded and diced 1 tsp. basil 1 tsp. thyme Pepper, to taste 1 cup vegetable broth 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped 1 cup cooked brown rice, wild rice, or quinoa

Makes 6 servings

Adapted from Ohhliciouscookbook

3 Tbsp. vegan butter 1 tsp. yellow mustard Pepper, to taste 23 drops Tabasco sauce 3 Tbsp. flour 2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk 2 cups Follow Your Heart Cheddar Shreds 1 16-oz. pkg. elbow macaroni or pasta of choice, cooked 1 cup Cashew Cheese Sauce 1 cup Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds Panko breadcrumbs and paprika, for garnish

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Adapted from Ohhliciouscookbook

Have you been thinking of going vegan? Order a free vegan starter kit to help you make the transition!

I Want a Vegan Starter Kit!

Read more here:

Chef Reveals Her Vegan Soul Food Secrets in New Cookbook - PETA (blog) (press release)