The greatest thing about meditation is that it can be done anywhere, by anyone, at any time. It has been around for hundreds of years, practiced by millions of people worldwide. There are a variety of techniques that can be practiced by anyone.

The whole purpose of meditation is to help you focus on yourself and connect with your inner spirit and being. Through meditation all situations, problems, and dilemmas become much simpler and the mind is more focused on peace, relaxation, and positivity rather than all the torment we put our bodies and mind through on a daily basis. Ever wish you could take control of all those loud, stressful, negative feelings, insecurities, emotions, and noises in your head? How good would you feel if you could reconnect with yourself in a few moments of silence, and then be able to handle any and all of life’s tasks with ease?

Meditation is simply a practice of focusing your total attention on a particular object or scene, generally something simple, like a word or phrase, a candle flame, a flower, the ocean, a sunset or sunrise, the sky, or just the simple sound of your own breath. In everyday life your mind is constantly processing a barrage of sensations, vibrations, visual impressions, thoughts, feelings, the connection with your body and all its movements internally and externally. When you meditate you narrow your focus, limit the stimuli bombarding your entire nervous system, and calm your mind in the process.

There are many different ways that meditation can be performed. While sitting is the most common, meditation also be performed standing, walking, lying down and in movement, for example tai chi. There are many different levels to meditation; daily patience and practice can reap the most benefits. When we meditate regularly for weeks, months or years we develop and generate an immense amount of energy that accumulates in our bodies. One can only describe this energy by experience.

Once you start to meditate, you may notice the mind wandering uncontrollably in different directions and you may at times feel uneasy, frustrated, or confused. This is a signal showing you how out of control you’ve allowed yourself to become and how disconnected you are from yourself. Practice is the key to controlling it all efficiently.

You can begin by meditating only 5 minutes daily and slowly graduating to more time as the process becomes comforting and relaxing. When sitting meditation, the back should always be erect, straight not slumped over, and your legs in an Indian position on the floor or cushion. If you cannot sit like this, try sitting in a chair or lying down palms facing up, legs uncrossed. Wear loose clothing so the body can breathe without restraints.

Begin by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths – they are not to be forced, just natural breathing is fine. Once you’ve taken a few deep breaths, notice how that feels and let your body adjust to its comfortableness. There may be a lot of mixed feelings or uncertain thoughts if you are doing it right or wrong. Try to keep focused on the particular task at hand and every time you realize you’re not focused, try to catch yourself and channel your thoughts to breathe.

You can now let your mouth open, relax your jaw and repeat a word or phrase that you can focus on for the entire period of your meditation. Or you can just focus on the vibration of each breath you take, or picture a dream spot you’d love to be at one day, or a beautiful flower, or the sky, the sun, or the ocean. You can also imagine a mountain of warm honey trickling down on you from the top of your head to the soles of your feet; as it slowly moves down your body, the warmth relaxes every part of your body bringing you comfort and security.

Once you feel that you are relaxed and refocused, open your eyes take a few deep breaths, move your body slowly, and you will notice over time that all the tasks you have ahead will be much easier and your life less stressful.

Image: ePi.Longo

What did you eat today? Do you remember? Did you feel anxiety afterwards? How did it taste?

Did you eat on the go or did you sit down? Did you eat nutrient-packed foods?

Are you ready to change your life by being able to answer all these questions and always feel satisfied with the answers?

You know the cliché: You are what you eat is more accurate than ever! It is also true that it can be difficult to change learned behaviors, your taste buds, and your pleasures. There is a price to pay in order to be able to enjoy freedom, health and a lifetime of it. But it is well worth it!

The thing that feels good is that you feel a difference in your Energy, Body, and Soul. That is a positive experience in itself. It is hard work to change everything at once, so allow yourself to change one thing at a time instead. It will not only feel good to do something for yourself, but when the results start appearing, it brings Joy and Excitement!

Here are a few simple things to begin with:

• Drink your water! Make it accessible and easy to remember. Write sticky notes and fill up your reusable water bottles the night before you go to bed … I add lemon, oranges, or fresh berries to give it a little boost!

• Eliminate sugar. Give yourself one day per week to enjoy your favorite sweets, if that works for you. Enjoy that moment thoroughly and choose your foods with conscious care and love for what you put inside of your precious body.

• Sit down and eat. Enjoy mouthfuls. Taste the new food. Do not rush.

• Select produce, fruits, nuts, beans and lentils, and lean meat over fatty meats and processed foods. Taste new flavors. Be open to a whole new culinary experience.

Make a simple small change one week at a time, or even every two weeks. Focus on one thing. Water. Investigate. Experiment. Change. Select. Taste.

Choose what you want your future to look like, and start to change now.

Your whole life experience can change once you just start eating properly. It requires willpower and self-respect to move forward with change, and by reading this you have already made a new decision. One thing at a time. One day at a time.

Image: Steve Garner

However, my upper body (core?) still seems too narrow and almost childlike to look at. I have a small bust also. Is there a way to broaden my upper body without losing size in my bust and without goofing up and turning what little body mass I have into unhealthy looking/skinny muscle? If that makes sense. I wish to look more womanly. – Angela

A: Hi, Angela! I have to say that I am not 100% clear on what the problem is. Let’s see: you don’t want to lose weight, but you want to look toned, but not too fit – am I getting it right?

Well, as I also have a small sized bust, I think I understand what you are getting at. No, you cannot grow a bigger bust. You can train your pecs a little so that the bust gives the ILLUSION of being bit bigger, but unfortunately, as you lose fat tissue on the body, usually the boobs get smaller. I know. Sad story as we don’t have a lot, anyway. Haha.

To give the illusion of a “bigger” upper body, I think you should not be afraid to build some muscle. It is hard for us girls to do that, anyway, but giving the body symmetry is the trick to the illusion. It sounds like you are healthy, and in a healthy shape, and if you want to build a little upper body, focus on body weight exercises like push-ups, dips from a bench or chair, etc. Also, what you can do is add some protein (instead of carbs) to your diet, and you will see a difference, albeit slight, in body mass.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Do you have a question? Don’t be shy – ask it here!

I recently asked holistic nutritionist Kitty Martone for tips on juicing and blending. What’s the difference, and is one better than the other? Check out Kitty’s expert advice and recommended brands:

Juicing & Blending are two different animals.

Blending is preferred because it’s the whole vegetable, fiber and all, plus minimal damage to the vegetable compared to being juiced. However, you can’t get as many minerals because you get full on all that fiber so fast.

Juicing is awesome for concentrated mineral uptake in large volume.

So I do 1 green smoothie (blended) in the morning and 2 to 3 quarts of veggie juice throughout the day (pre-juiced).

I have a Vitamix blender that you could probably run over with your car and it would still work – love it.

I also have an Omega Upright 350 Masticating juicer. It literally chews the vegetables up and there is less damage and it yields a bit more juice than the ones that spin like the Breville and the Jack LaLanne. These juicers ‘damage’ or oxidate the juice more by spinning the vegetables.

The best option is the Norwalk juicer. This presses the juice and is 100% not damaged. However, it’s really pricey and really high maintenance. That being said, I had a Jack LaLanne for 2 years and loved it.

For a person who’s just starting, I say just get the damn juice in you! But when you’re getting particular and good at it, then a masticating juicer is best. In my experience and preference.

Thanks, Kitty!

Image: gadl

I wish there was a Perfect Workout! This is what every single class, gym, trainer, DVD, gnome, diehard, gadget sells. The Perfect Workout.

In theory it’s the Perfect combination of a few movements put together with Perfect timing at a Perfect pace … well, you get what I’m saying. It’s pretty tricky to define what constitutes this Perfect way of packing all the good things into a short and effective period of time. Commercially, though, it sells on the notion of that there is in fact a perfect ONE size fits ALL. This, however, is far away from any conceivable truth.

I was prompted to write this by two things. One lady asked me how many calories a specific DVD burned. Also, I have been doing these fun little Reluctantly Healthy segments with my client Judy Greer for Yahoo and they have definitely got different styles of attention.

As a professional and as someone who has the safety of all types of people exercising in mind (being mindful of this is a clear responsibility in our field), I can define the Perfect Workout through my own eyes and hope that you will leave this blog with a little bit more awareness. As always, question everything, even what I say – it is GOOD for you!

The Perfect Workout is the one that CORRESPONDS to your exact, individual needs and goals. Period.

If you are a 300-pound, 50-year-old man, your workout needs and requirements are CLEARLY going to be different than 130-pound, CrossFit, 20-year-old power girl.

I know this is Fitness for Dummies, but aren’t we all sometimes victims to actually believing that there are shortcuts, magic pills, gadgets, and combinations that WILL get us there FASTER? Yes!! Even I get duped into doubting sometimes … but I fight it.

So, in essence: the moment you decide to actively educate yourself about what you need, and why, you are moving closer the reality of Your Perfect Workout!

Nevertheless, here are a few workouts that I really LIKE the set-up, response, combination, and effectivity of:

• Bendable Body: A flexibility workout that targets ROM (range of motion), joint mobility, core stability and postural health and strength. Foundational training that most people need!

• Barry’s Bootcamp: Intense tread running (you really are born to run!) and traditional resistance training in intervals.

• Metabolic Conditioning or MetCon: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) at its best. Full body training at a fast pace!

• Swimming: Great cardio moving the WHOLE body, and being in the water has rehabilitory effects! Transformative!

• TRX: LOVE the suspension workout for the whole body and you can just put it up in a tree and do resistance training with focus on the core, anywhere!

Let me know what workouts you like for your body and how it makes you feel! It can be great to try and do something new and just get fresh ideas!!

I try my best to live a positive life. It’s probably partially because I’m born with a sort of (some would say annoyingly) happy disposition. But also because I choose it. I choose it every day.

Yes, I get pissed off like anyone else. I get tired, anxious, insecure, and fall flat on my face in so many ways. But I have made a conscious choice to get up again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it works, I also credit myself for the good. When it doesn’t work, I know I might need some help, some extra love, or to let myself be low.

My cultural heritage is one of Eastern Bloc melancholy and Scandinavian introverted emotion. In Sweden we have our famous Jante Lagen, which is like an unwritten law that states that One should not think One is different from anyone else, and shouldn’t stand out. Sounds dazzling, doesn’t it?!

When I was old enough to come to terms with what was hurting me in my life – my own way of thinking – I decided to make a change. I wrote my own law for myself. Cliché or not, every day is a gift. Every person you meet has a special gift and is beautiful.

People feed into negative behavioral patterns for reasons we don’t have to take into account, but one thing I know for sure:

Everyone can make the choice to be loving and kind hearted. Everyone can choose to come from a place of gratitude and understanding.

All of us are not equally blessed with material means, physical looks, health, freedom. When we do have a fraction of it, why not celebrate it?!

I was inspired to write this because I experience people every single day. It’s my job. I have clients in all areas of life. I meet millionaires and people of simple means, hardcore go-getters and those who are happy with the little things in life. And what it continues to teach me is that everyone just wants to be loved. Everyone has a need to be accepted the way they are.

The more Love I extend to my surroundings, the more power it seems to gain, and it gives right back. It spreads like rings on water, and inspires more of the same. Why would there even be a question which one you would choose?!

Try this audio meditation to get you on the path towards an open heart and mind:

Image: Dyanna

A: Hi, Tiffany. Yes, of course – there are three little things you can do!

1) Throughout the day, you should stop and get out of your chair, stretch your arms up over your head, and do a little back bend. Then stretch your neck, adjust your posture, and sit down.

2) Another exercise it to push away from your desk, place your hands on your thighs, and take a few full breaths to actively activate your diaphragm, which affects your posture as it is attached to both ribs and spine.

3) The third thing you can easily do throughout the day for your posture is to reach your arms out in front of you and pull them back like you are rowing. Do this while balancing on one leg and extending your other leg out in front of you. Make sure you are using mid-back muscles and pelvic floor and stabilizing muscles.

Do you have a question? Don’t be shy – ask it here!

Because the body quickly gets accustomed to it, there are a few rules you should follow in order to achieve the best effect. In order to improve at all levels, it is important to always subject the body to new degrees of difficulty and challenge, whether physical or mental.

Consider the following if you want to achieve the best results from your training:

• Combine aerobic (oxygen-needing) and anaerobic (non-oxygen-needing) exercises in a single program. Aerobic activities exercise the heart, while anaerobic exercises are most often used to strengthen the muscles.

• Change stimuli and increase resistance, which can mean that you increase how heavy the weights are, the number of repetitions, the number of sets, or the pace of a workout. A maximum set means that you exercise until the muscles can’t take any more because they have too much lactic acid buildup.

• Exercise regularly, three to six days a week.

• Get enough rest.

• Enjoy what you’re doing.