By Anne M. Mozingo

PORTSMOUTH Stress used to be the chaotic state of mind that plagued some adults who were juggling multiple responsibilities with very few hours a week to themselves. Today, stress is the norm for practically everyone in the United States, including children.

And its a killer. Daily stress gone unchecked is as important a risk factor as hypertension, diabetes and smoking when it comes to the number one life-threatening disease in the United States cardiovascular disease. And take that rushed, trapped feeling one step further and there are an array of anxiety disorders, a mental health condition that racks the nervous systems of more than 40 million adults in the United States between the ages of 18 and 54, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

But there is a solution that people worldwide are turning to. And its not the latest drug or new-age technique. It is called Transcendental Meditation, an ancient practice that originated in India. Those who commit to two 15-20 minute sessions of TM daily say it calms the mind and offers immense rewards for the body as well.

If anything significant happens in the mind, something significant is going to happen to the body since the mind and body are almost like one, said Joan Rist a TM teacher in New Hampshire and Maine. The mind settles down and the body gets this deep rest, and the rest is what is needed to get rid of this deep-rooted stress in our culture. Stress is the black plague of the 21st century. It impacts our health and our well-being. It impacts everyone. So if we can get rid of these deep rooted stresses we can improve our well-being and live life more with enjoyment of our full potential.

Times have changed since the first surge of Americans learning TM in the 1970s, when people wondered if TM was affiliated with a religion or a cult. Today, with more than 700 scientific studies exploring the impact TM has on those who practice, interest in TM is on the rise as TM is considered a mainstream form of self-care.

What is meditation? Is it a way to relax or a way to promote health, vitality and longevity? Is it a means to develop creativity, increase the meditator's IQ and obtain peak mental performance? Or is it a path to inner peace and enlightenment? Actually, Transcendental Meditation is a way to attain all of these possibilities and much, much more, said Bill Rist, who met his wife, Joan, in the mid-seventies in California, where they both were teaching Transcendental programs. The two have been teaching various advanced programs around the country for the past 40 years.

And with daily stress practically a badge of honor in this culture over the past decade, these teachers are doing their part to offer instruction on the TM technique to help improve the lives of many in a myriad of ways.

We have had an increase in people coming to learn TM to gain peace of mind, get relief from stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, (post-traumatic stress disorder), attention deficit disorder and some people learn TM because they want to realize more of who they are deep inside, they want to reach their full potential, said Bill Rist. We actually have people come who want to have better personal relationships, and limit the over-reactionary behavior with their bosses and family, but more than anything, it is anxiety that brings people in.

Transcendental Meditation continues to gain popularity because it is commonplace for both doctors and therapists alike to practice TM and recommend it to their patients. The American Medical Association conducted its own research on high blood pressure and the effects of various forms of meditation and concluded that TM is the only technique that works to reduce high blood pressure. Similarly, The American Heart Association in 2013 studied alternative and complimentary medicines impact on hypertension and today recommends TM as part of a treatment plan for those with blood pressure exceeding 120/80.

Unlike some alternative therapies that require a lot of time and effort to gain a cumulative impact, there is no learning curve at all with TM, said Joan Rist.

We are hard-wired for the mind to move from an active state to a less and less active state. In that moving the body settles as well. On the very first day a new meditator will almost always say they feel very relaxed, said Joan Rist. We have people who are not able to relax until they start TM. They start enjoying a relaxed state from the very first meditation, which is why it is so wonderful to teach this because it does not take years to get results.

Researchers conducted brain wave exams (EEG) on new and long-term meditators and found the longer a person practices TM the more cohesive their brain wave patterns become, which means all parts of the brain work together. This global coherence with alpha wave patterns, which are associated with restfulness and creativity, were found in those who had only been practicing TM for two weeks. And over time, these coherent brain wave patterns were found when the meditators were active as well, not just when the person is meditating. This EEG evidence, Bill Rist said, reveals what regular meditators experience as life with more emotional balance, creativity, improved memory, focus and learning capabilities.

I could not imagine starting my day without the focus I get from my morning meditation, said Joan Rist. And who doesnt want to recuperate from stressful situations more quickly? TM is now being taught to the young cadets at Norwich University to see if they are more resilient in active duty rather than waiting until they come home from war with PTSD. A four-year study is under way now. Its brilliant.

Every weekend either in Concord, Portsmouth or Portland, the Rists offer a one-hour Introduction to Transcendental Meditation workshop, which covers the benefits gleaned from the hundreds of studies in the past 40 years. TM settles the mind, Bill Rist told a group attending his workshop last week in Portsmouth, from the active state to a much deeper state of awareness, then transcends any activity at all. Four subsequent classes will offer these students the practical details of sitting down in two 15-20-minute meditations a day, calming the mind from its active state and thereby providing the body a powerful rest and preparing the meditator for the day or the evening. At the first class, the students will receive a mantra, which is a sound chosen by the teacher that comes from the ancient Vedic tradition. It is a pleasant sound that has no meaning and enables the meditator to settle the mind, giving them something to ride inward on, said Joan Rist.

If the sound had meaning it would keep us on the surface. The mantra has a healthy influence on the body and mind, yet it is only a vehicle, it is not an end in itself. It settles the mind, the mind loves to have less and less activity, said Joan Rist.

For four decades Bill and Joan Rist of Concord have been teaching the TM technique first brought to the United States in the 1950s and made popular by the Beatles in the 1960s, when the band traveled to India to learn from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi himself. But today there are many famous meditators in the United States, including Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos, Candy Crowley, Arianna Huffington, and Hollywood director David Lynch, who has been practicing TM daily for 40 years and started a foundation to raise money to provide inner city children with TM in their schools. The biggest project is in San Francisco, where 14 middle and high schools meditate together twice a day and call it quiet time.

Lynchs goal to get as many children as possible meditating has really kicked off in South America, where the education director in Brazil wants to offer TM to students nationwide, said Joan Rist. TM helps kids learn. Children with ADHD can learn TM. Its easy, effortless and natural and they find their grade-point averages go up. When we practice TM regularly, it impacts our health. It changes everything. Stress is the number one enemy of learning. So when kids, or adults for that matter, learn TM they enjoy this transcending process and the quiet we get from meditating becomes cumulative, we bring a little bit more each day into the active mind, which changes our ability to focus, be creative and reach our potential.

For information on Transcendental Meditation, visit http://www.TM.org.

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Transcendental Meditation helps get rid of stress - News ... - Seacoastonline.com

Trying to tone up and get fit is always a challenge.

Many of us promise ourselves every Monday to start the diet and vigorous gym routine to no avail.

Sometimes, the pressure we put on ourselves to stay dedicated can leave us slightly disappointed when we don't achieve the results we set out to get, leaving us beating ourselves up needlessly.

One way many of us decide to lose a few pounds is by using an exerciseDVD as it's cheap and you can work away from the comfort of your own home - the dream.

Antonella The Uncensored Reviewer did just that and the results are simply hilarious.

Reviewing Charlotte Crosby's 3 minute Belly Blitz, Antonella told followers of her predicament in being absolutely 'knackered' after the workout.

Her honest account and slightly er, coloured language will surely have you CRY laughing.

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This woman's excercise review will make you wheeze laughing - Her.ie

Ten minutes before the evening aerobics class even begins, the music is blasting and a half dozen women dance and clap in rhythm.

Leader of the pack is 75-year-old Gracie Perkins.

For a decade Perkins has taught this rhythmic aerobics class for seniors at BREC's North Sherwood Forest Community Park, dancing hard for an hour every Tuesday and Thursday. And she barely breaks a sweat.

"She's the fountain of youth," says Brenda Summers, 50, a regular participant. "She makes you want to be better."

When the class officially starts, the room is full, and Perkins grabs a stack of CDs next to the boom box. The ageless, constantly smiling Perkins wears a pink T-shirt slightly off her shoulder, her short, dark hair highlighted with brassy tones.

"Where y'all want to go?" Perkins asks the room while searching through the music. She puts on Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," and the women know all the moves. They mimic jumping rope, then spin around.

Most of their routines involve a few easy-to-learn steps repeated in all four directions. The moves matter less than the idea of getting moving, Perkins says.

"Youre not concerned about making mistakes," she says. "Were concerned about fitness for life. We get vigorous."

They dance to classic songs from the 1960s and '70s and modern pop songs, just taking breaks to swig water, towel sweat out of their eyes and prepare for the next song.

Can't see video below? Click here.

"I love what I'm doing," says Mattie McClain, 67, who has done aerobics for 15 years nine with Perkins. "It keeps you feeling young and living longer. And it keeps you happy."

Trained as a health and physical education teacher, Perkins teaches them that while working out is about looking good, it is primarily about cardiovascular health and getting the blood flowing.

"Its all about cardio, from the inside to the outside," she says.

Born in Baton Rouge, Perkins helped create the Southern University Dancing Dolls, becoming the celebrated troupe's first director and choreographer. She taught in Kansas City and Seattle but settled back home in Baton Rouge. She's been teaching aerobics since the workout craze first hit more than 30 years ago.

She has always been energetic and active, says Perkins' niece Shari Poydras, 50, who attends the class.

"This is her all the time," she says. "I don't think she would be herself without it."

The members of the class perform their routines at fitness fairs all over the parish and have even shown off their moves at a Southern University football halftime show. Sometimes they take trips together.

"Theyre about having fun," Perkins says. "We love it, and whats amazing about it is we love each other. This is what we need."

Later in the class, the women grab small plastic platforms and hoist 2-, 3- and 4-pound weights to step up and down to the Motown hit "Please Mr. Postman." In most classes the women take 8,000 to 10,000 steps, says Theresa Charles, 64, who wears a pedometer.

The class winds down with stretching and balance exercises, and Perkins incorporates mental drills in which she calls out a time 12 o'clock or 6:30 and the class has to move their arms like the hands on a clock face.

But they love to dance, and, not counting the pre-class warm-up, they move for at least an hour.

"We live to dance. We dance to live," Perkins says. "Whenever we go someplace, thats our motto, we dance to live. Life is beautiful. Love it. Have fun."

Follow Kyle Peveto on Twitter, @kylepeveto.

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Dancing to live: In Baton Rouge, these seniors workout to Michael Jackson, other classics - The Advocate

"The Museum Workout" is a lively workout at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, staged amid some of the worlds masterpieces. (Feb. 17)

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Fine Art Meets Sweaty Aerobics | | iosconews.com - Iosco County News Herald

New York Times

Eco-friendly, Nontoxic and Vegan: It's a Condom New York Times But on this morning, the clerks had gathered to learn about an unusual new item on the shelves: nontoxic, eco-friendly vegan condoms. Meika Hollender, the co-founder and co-chief executive of Sustain Natural, addressed the crowd and showed off her ...

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Eco-friendly, Nontoxic and Vegan: It's a Condom - New York Times

Using nuts, soy and seasonings ranging from sriracha to Old Bay, home cooks and caterers alike brought their creamiest, cheesiest entries to the Vegan Mac and Cheese Smackdown.

Organizers estimated as many as 3,000 attendees came out for the second annual event, held Saturday afternoon at Baltimore City Community College, to sample from 28 cooks. The cookoff was part of the inaugural Baltimore Vegan Weekend, a series of events throughout the city celebrating vegan cuisine.

The event drew both repeat and new contestants, as well as a number of first-time attendees.

The people's choice winners from last year's smackdown, who call themselves Flying Pig Labs, returned with a slightly modified recipe. Wife and husband P. Jeanie and Doug Ciskowski of Southern Maryland have been vegans for 30 and 17 years, respectively. Jeanie entered the contest last year after spending about a month developing her recipe.

"You need a smooth-melting cheese and a sharp flavorful cheese," she said. She uses Daiya, a brand free of dairy, gluten and soy, to achieve the creamy texture, and her own cultured cashew cheese for the sharp, cheddar-like punch.

This time she used a bit more cashew cheese in her bid to defend the couple's title.

Other contestants, like Rebecca Daniels-Smith of Prince George's County, were entering for the first time. Daniels-Smith went vegan about 18 months ago and has worked on a perfecting a simple white cheddar-style mac and cheese over that time. Her entry, VGGF (Vegan Geek's Gluten Freeks) centered on gluten-free macaroni and Miyoko's Kitchen cashew cheese, a vegan mozzarella.

"I found this vegan mozzarella cheese, and it became like the holy grail of all recipes because you can do anything with it," Daniels-Smith said.

A panel of judges picked their favorites in eight categories, including best-from-scratch, most-like-grandma's and gluten-free.

Saturday's event marked the second time Pep Foods Inc., a local vegan collective, and Baltimore Vegan Drinks hosted the mac-and-cheese cookoff, which attracted more than 1,000 people in 2016.

Brenda Sanders, one of the event's organizers, attributed the event's growth to the allure of the vegan lifestyle.

"Folks are just ready to try something different. People are ready to get healthier, people are ready to change what they've been doing and do something a little different," Sanders said. "This whole health movement is really picking up steam in Baltimore right now."

The vegan lifestyle was new to Kevin Braughton, 43, who attended the event with his children Holly, 8, and Alec, 6. They adopted veganism as a family at the start of the year.

Braughton, a Severna Park resident, said the transition to vegan eating has been easy.

"Once you get over the first two times, 'Gosh, I wish I had a cheeseburger,' you begin to realize how much other food is out there and how enjoyable it is," he said. "And the more you eat it, the more you end up craving that rather than some of the old stuff."

Longtime vegetarians, like Howard University student Rachel Kenlaw, turned out for the smackdown, too. Kenlaw, 21, was raised on a vegetarian diet and said she eats mostly plant-based foods now.

"This excited me because everyone likes mac and cheese, and I'm starting a health and wellness-type blog because of the position I'm in at my school, and I was like, this is the perfect place to try some new things out," she said.

She tried eating meat for a few years, she said, but switched back to a mostly plant-based diet in college.

"I saw how my body reacted to [a plant-based diet] and I was healthier and I was actually getting sicker when I was eating meat," she said.

Baltimore's Vegan Weekend kicked off Friday with an informal restaurant crawl, and included events to celebrate vegan cuisine. After the mac-and-cheese competition, Pep Foods and Baltimore Vegan Drinks were scheduled to host an after-party at Thrive Baltimore, Pep Foods' new event space and community resource center.

Events continue Sunday . Five restaurants, Harmony Bakery and Cafe, Land of Kush, NuBohemia Cafe, One World Cafe and Red Emma's Coffeehouse and Bookstore, are hosting vegan brunches. And Paulie Gee's Pizzeria and Bar will also host a vegan pizza fest from noon to 4 p.m. The Hampden restaurant will serve at least 12 specialty vegan pizzas, plus appetizers and desserts.

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Second annual Vegan Mac and Cheese Smackdown grows in ... - Baltimore Sun

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Leilani Munter's funding for her car -- a project she has been working on for five years -- is led by A Well-Fed World, a nonprofit that responded after she gave a speech for winning an award as vegan athlete of the year.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Leilani Munter will return to the racetrack for the first time in two years when she competes Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

For the environmental and animal-rights activist who races cars, Munter will compete in the Automobile Racing Club of America season-opening race thanks to sponsorship that she views as a product of several years of work, with the purpose of looking ahead to her advocacy work.

Munter will drive her "vegan-powered" car, which has sponsorship from a collection of nonprofits, to promote a plant-based diet. In addition to the car, the funding will also support a tent that will give away vegan food samples for four days during the Daytona race weeks.

"When I'm going to vegan festivals or clean-energy events, it's preaching to the choir," Munter said Wednesday at the track. "I'm standing there talking to a bunch of people who already get it. ... For me, I always feel like I'm making the most difference being at the track.

"This one, giving out the food, will probably be the greatest impact I will have."

Her funding for this car -- a project she has been working on for five years -- is led by A Well-Fed World, a nonprofit that responded after she gave a speech for winning an award as vegan athlete of the year.

"I was starting to give up on the vegan car," Munter said. "I was like, 'You know, I have emailed all the people I know, I have been talking about it for years, and it's just not happening. Maybe it was just too soon to try to do something like this.'

"Then, just giving that 10-minute acceptance speech, I got the call two or three weeks later."

Among the athletes who will be at Daytona over the next week to support the cause is former NFL player David Carter, and one of the chefs will come from a vegan food manufacturer.

"We're serving the kinds of foods race fans are going to find at the track," Munter said. "I'm not going to show up with kale. I'm showing up with vegan chicken wings and meatballs -- stuff they would expect to find at the race track. ... We're not going to open minds if we're not putting food in their mouths.

"That is the moment where people change."

Every time I sit in the race car, a little part of me is thinking, 'This could be the last green flag that I take. This could be the last time that I sit on the starting grid.'

Leilani Munter

Getting people to change is why the 43-year-old Munter still races. She has competed sporadically in developmental leagues in both stock cars and IndyCar over the last several years as she devotes time to her causes.

Her most recent races have included promotion of documentaries "The Cove" and "Blackfish." Earlier this year, she was banned from SeaWorld property after the park called the sheriff while she was standing outside the gates with flowers and a sign mourning the death of killer whale Tilikum.

Munter, who spent nearly four years dedicating most of her time to the climate crisis and mass-extinction film "Racing Extinction," where she drove a Tesla, said she doesn't worry that her activism or news of her SeaWorld ban could turn away sponsors. She also knows that her activist-themed sponsorship isn't designed for longevity. She has competed in just eight ARCA races since 2010, having finished as high as 12th twice -- at Chicagoland Speedway and Kansas Speedway in 2014. Both those races came with the Venturini Motorsports team, which she will race for on Saturday.

"These were all nonprofits [sponsoring me these races]," Munter said. "They don't have multimillion-dollar budgets where they can run a full season. I never really expected any of them to turn into a full season.

"That comes with the territory of me being an activist and wanting my car to carry these cool messages. ... You work really hard, you get the car on the track, you get one race and then you're starting over again."

Because of that, Munter knows Saturday could be her final race. But she never knows, as her activism continues.

"Every time I sit in the race car, a little part of me is thinking, 'This could be the last green flag that I take. This could be the last time that I sit on the starting grid,'" Munter said.

"I savor every moment. ... It's been two years since I've been in a car. It could be never that I'm in a car again."

Link:

Leilani Munter 'vegan powered' for her ARCA return - ESPN

Women's Health

'I Tried Going Vegan For A WeekHere's What Happened' Women's Health As food trends go these days, going vegan is about as cool as you can get. Not only does eating a diet of just plants promise to lower your cholesterol and make your skin look positively glow-y, but its devotees carry a certain aura of righteousness ...

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'I Tried Going Vegan For A WeekHere's What Happened' - Women's Health

SATURDAY, FEB. 18, 2017, 3:34 A.M.

By Eve Glazier, M.D., , Elizabeth Ko and M.D. Andrews McMeel Syndication

Dear Doctor: One of my resolutions for the new year was to become a vegan, and now my girlfriend is saying Ill have to take supplements to get enough vitamin B12. Why cant I get B12 in my diet, and what will happen if I fall short?

Dear Reader: Your girlfriend has done her homework vitamin B12 is a nutrient that is essential to human health. And while it occurs naturally in a wide range of animal foods, B12 is not found in any plant foods. As a vegan, youre now going to have to rely on supplements to be sure you get enough B12.

Why is it so important?

Vitamin B12 is a bit of a workhorse. Not only does it play a key role in the proper functioning of the brain and the nervous system, its crucial to the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. As though that wasnt enough, B12 also aids in DNA and RNA synthesis, and is involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Research shows that B12 also has a hand in maintaining mood and memory.

The body does not store B12, so you need to ingest it every day. Beef liver and clams have the highest concentrations of the nutrient. It is also present in varying quantities in red meat, eggs, poultry, shellfish, milk and milk products. Many breakfast cereals and some dairy products are fortified with B12. For vegans, there are non-dairy milks, meat substitutes and nutritional yeast products to which B12 has been added. Dietary supplements are widely available.

What happens when B12 is in short supply?

Considering all the roles the nutrient plays in health and well-being, the list of symptoms is long and sometimes quite serious. People with a B12 deficiency may feel weak and tired, the result of the vitamins role in producing the red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. Since B12 helps maintain the protective sheath around your nerves, a lack of the vitamin can lead to strange sensations like numbness or tingling, as well as problems with balance or walking. Mood and memory may also suffer.

In extreme cases, B12 deficiency can lead to megaloblastic anemia, a blood disorder in which the red blood cells produced in the bone marrow are unusually large, malformed and immature.

And while your girlfriend is right about your need for vigilance in getting enough B12, she may do well to examine her own B12 status. Recent studies suggest that up to 40 percent of the population, vegan or not, may be flirting with B12 insufficiency. Due to physiological changes associated with aging, the elderly are at increased risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. Individuals who have undergone weight-loss surgery must also make a special effort to get enough of the nutrient.

As for you, a newly minted vegan, we recommend that you seek professional advice, preferably from your family doctor, to be certain that you forge a wise nutritional course.

******

Eve Glazier, M.D., MBA, is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health. Elizabeth Ko, M.D., is an internist and primary care physician at UCLA Health.

******

(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.)

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Vitamin B12 deficiency possible with a vegan diet - The Spokesman-Review

Written by PETA | February 15, 2017

To us, the people who run 3 Brothers Vegan Foods are culinary heroes. They perform the noble task of shipping vegan pizza to the hungriest pizza lovers nationwide. This delivery service will be a game-changer for you.

More and more people are learning that cows produce milk for the same reason that humans doto nourish their young. Calves on dairy farms are taken away from their mothers when theyre just a day old and fed milk replacers (including cattle blood) so that their mothers milk can be sold to humans. With so many delicious vegan cheeses available now, switching to cruelty-free options is a cinch.

3 Brothers pizzas are made to order and promptly frozen. You can store them in the freezer for up to six months in their original packaging. The companys delectable Margherita pies are available in packs of two, four, or six and are ready to heat and eat on delivery. Check out all the pizza collections here and note that you can also get a variety pack of four pies.

The Seitan Buffalo comes with seitan, buffalo hot sauce, and vegan homemade blue cheese.

The Works is topped with vegan meatballs, seitan sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and soy pepperoni.

The Bianca features cashew ricotta cheese, cashew buffalo cheese, and spinach.

Vegan Bianca Pizza

A post shared by Besart Astafa (@3brothersveganpizza) on Dec 4, 2016 at 4:20pm PST

The Backyard BBQ features grilled tofu, red onions, and cashew cheese.

For shipping purposes, 3 Brothers ships on Monday and Tuesday. Any orders placed after 1 p.m. on Tuesday will ship the following Monday. Pizzas arrive in recyclable, oven-safe, and microwave-safe containers and are encased in an insulated cooler bag with ice packs.

Want to learn more about the reasons why people are making the switch to dairy-free choices? Check out these 18 images that big dairy doesnt want you to see.

Have you been thinking about going vegan but havent taken the plunge? Order our free vegan starter kit to help you make the switch!

I Want a Vegan Starter Kit!

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Animals are not - PETA (blog) (press release)