World’s Best Home Garden ….?

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Is this Britain’s most immaculate garden? Pensioner spends 30 HOURS A WEEK tending his lawn which is cut to exactly 5mm

‘It’s my pride and joy’ reveals self-confessed ‘gardening geek’ Stuart Grindle
Lush lawn is cut twice-a-day three times a week says the green-fingered gardener
The award-winning 70-year-old has spent 30 years crafting the former veggie patch into a floral paradise
Gardening widow Anne says she is allowed to step on the hallowed turf but son was told ‘no ball games allowed’
Mr Grindle claims his garden is a full time job getting him up at the crack of dawn

Do you want a lawn like this? Well, it’s easy – in theory. You just need to spend 30 hours a week gardening and do it for 30 years!

That’s how long 70-year-old Stuart Grindle has spent turning a former vegetable plot into the picture of perfection it is today.

Mr Grindle mows his lawn six times a week and keeps the grass cut to an impressive 5mm. He was so determined to protect his precious grass that he even banned his son Jonathan from playing football on it when he was a boy.

Anne and Stuart Grindle stand on the hallowed turf, proudly showing off their immaculate garden at their home in Rotherham, Yorkshire

Stunning blooms, neat borders and vibrant shrubs dot the stunning green lawn

Mr Grindle is a former winner of the Doncaster In Bloom Best Garden competition

Dedicated Stuart, who is a retired joiner and lives with his wife Anne, 69, said: ‘It is my pride and joy, most people probably only get out the lawnmower once a week but I cut my lawn twice-a-day, three days a week.

‘People think it’s astroturf because it’s cut to 5mm long and in such good condition. That’s down to watering it and cutting it often.

‘I suppose I am a bit of a golf and gardening geek. Anne is a bit of a golf and gardening widow.’

The 70-year-old has spent 30 hours a week for the last 30 years tending his magnificent blooms and bushes

The self-confessed ‘gardening geek’ mows his lush green lawn SIX times a week to exactly 5 mm

In an effort to encourage her husband from his haven, Mrs Grindle rings a bell to grab his attention.

Mr Grindle added: ‘She has a little bell she rings when she wants me to come in from the garden.

‘It’s not unknown for me to go out at 9am or even earlier. When I entered competitions and when I was preparing for the open garden day I was out there at 7am.

‘I’ve managed to play golf twice in the past week but you know there’s still work to be done when you get home – thankfully it’s light until nine o’clock at the moment.’

Anne Grindle has to catch her husband’s attention by ringing a bell to summon him away from his haven

Mr Grindle transformed the former vegetable plot into a floral paradise and threw open his garden gates to raise money for charity

Mr Grindle added: ‘I have spent 30 years getting it to this state and I can put in 30 hours a week. It’s a full-time job.’

Wife Anne confirmed that she was allowed to walk on the hallowed turf, but said Stuart had banned his son Jonathan from playing football there when he was a boy.

She said: ‘There were no ball games allowed, Stuart always said there was a cricket field and a football field up the road he could use instead.’

Stuart, a former winner of the Doncaster In Bloom Best Garden competition, said aside from the lawn, his large-leaved hostas were his most prized feature, because of the wonderful colours of the leaves.

Source….www.dailymail.co.uk

Natarajan

Sir Donald Bradman: Living in the shadow of The Don’s fame….

July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

PHOTO: Sir Don’s disinterest in the public gaze has trickled down to Tom, John and Greta Bradman. (Tony Lewis)

The effect of Sir Donald Bradman’s fame has filtered down through the family tree. Now, for the first time, members of the notoriously private family have spoken about how the spotlight has influenced their lives.

Throughout the world’s greatest Test batsman’s life, he shunned most media requests and denounced the hero-worshipping which came with his fame.

“Some people are fascinated by fame and it just draws people to be part of it, and there’s absolutely nobody who ever lived who could enjoy that process less than my dad,” his son John said.

This distaste for the public gaze is a characteristic that has trickled through subsequent generations.

John Bradman was deeply affected by the relentless attention paid to him as son of ‘The Don’.

“When people would come up to him as a child quite often the first question would be, ‘and are you going to be a sportsman like your dad when you grow up?’,” John’s daughter Greta Bradman said.

John decided the best way to cope with the associated fame was to change his name.

“[It wasn’t] to pretend I was somebody other than who I was but simply to say ‘people, please give me a break’,” John told Australian Story.

In his early 30s John Bradman became John Bradsen, a pun on the ‘son of Bradman’ with a nod to Norway, where he had spent some time as a young man.

“John felt he was not his own person, that people saw him as Don Bradman’s son, and it was crushing him,” John’s former wife and Greta’s mother Judith Bradsen said.

According to Ms Bradsen, it worked.

“People did not know. I did not ever, ever get a Bradman question all through the time I was teaching as Bradsen,” she said.

Even though he raised the possibility of a name change with his father when he was 18, John said it was a tough decision to make, as he knew Sir Donald would find it difficult.

“My father wrote some letters to a friend in which he expressed his anguish over my changing my name which reflected the fact that it must have been difficult for him,” he said.

Next generation steps into the limelight

Greta Bradman, The Don’s granddaughter and John’s daughter, is now a soprano singer and on the cusp of international stardom herself.

Greta told Australian Story her grandfather’s great love of classical music helped shape her interests as a child.

“My Grandpa was hugely into music. He composed music,” Greta said.

“He also had a very large record collection and he was really interested in certain soprano and certain conductors.

“He and I would sit and listen to his record collection and talk about it.”

In the past year Greta has been fostered by conductor Richard Bonynge.

“She should be singing in Covent Garden because I’ve heard many singers there who are not as good as she is,” Bonynge told Australian Story.

“She’s a one off as far as I’m concerned. She’s very special.”

But it is a path Greta has been reluctant to travel because of the shadow fame has cast over her family.

Bradman childhood and Sir Donald as a grandparent

Greta and her brother Tom Bradman’s childhood was a happy one.

They enjoyed a close relationship with their grandparents, going to their house every day after school and having dinner with them once a week.

The Australian Story team reveals candid and untold stories from inside the family fortress of the notoriously private cricket legend.

“My grandparents were amazing after school carers,” said Tom Bradman.

Lady Jessie Bradman played a pivotal role in their upbringing.

She would bring crayfish for lunch every Saturday and play endless games with the children.

“My grandma had this long, long grey hair that she’d have usually tied up in buns and we’d play witches, she’d let her hair right down,” Tom said.

But even as a child Greta could see the toll fame took on her grandfather.

“Grandpa wouldn’t come to school concerts and things like that because he really just wasn’t comfortable with people staring at him,” she said.

“He didn’t want anything to be different for me.”

According to Greta, Lady Jessie helped him through many public appearances.

“She was so good at conversing with people and keeping the conversations sort of light and keeping grandpa feeling really comfortable because he, socially, I don’t think was quite as fluid in his conversation as she was.”

Full circle name change

As Tom and Greta grew older, Sir Don’s health was failing and John Bradman and his new partner Megan were about to give birth to their son Nicholas

It was then John began to think seriously about the possibility of changing his name back to Bradman.

Tom said for years they had enjoyed “the gift of anonymity” but that it was time to change back.

“When I told him [we were changing our name back to Bradman] he just smiled and said — you know, don’t do it for me,” John said.

“The period of its effectiveness had somehow come to a close,” Tom said.

“We were ready to assume our family name.”

“My grandpa was truly tickled pink,” Greta said.

Don Bradman being asked for an autograph by nine-year-old Rick Scheeren in 1963.

source…..

Australian Story

By Belinda Hawkins and Wendy Page

http://www.abc.net.au

Natarajan

” How to Overcome Your Fear of Flying ….” ?

July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

A full 40% of Americans don’t like to fly.

It makes sense if you think about it: hurtling across time zones in a metal tube at the height of Everest isn’t something our ancestors evolved to face. We get by on white knuckles, a Xanax, or a pre-flight pit stop at the terminal bar.

But about 3% of us are grounded, refusing to fly at all, even if it means being left out of family vacations, spending multiple days on interstate freeways, or never seeing Paris in the springtime.

Fear of flying can grow from many different roots—particularly harrowing turbulence, knowing someone who was in a plane crash, learning to be afraid as a child from a fearful parent, or media images of crashes, hijackings, or terrorist attacks.

So what to do to keep fear at bay? Here are 5 tips to deliver you safely and sanely from jetway to jetway:

Learn About the Physics of Flight

Learning accurate information is the quickest way to calm your fears. There are a number of extensively detailed and very reassuring websites available explaining how airplanes work, so I won’t reinvent the wheel—an online search will land you on an explanation that works for you. But here’s a quick primer on some common fears:

Falling out of the sky, The plane cannot fall out of the sky any more than you could fall out of a swimming pool of water. Air has mass, just like water. It is also continuous and secure, just like water. Indeed, you’ve never walked down the street into an “air pocket” where you suddenly couldn’t breathe. Such it is at higher altitudes as well. Therefore, picture the airplane “swimming” through supportive, continuous air, much as you would swim through water.
- Engines failing, First of all, planes are well-maintained and checked regularly—much more often than you would ever think of checking your car engine. Second, there are multiple engines, and even if one goes out, pilots can often re-start it, just as you might restart a car engine. Third, in a worst-case scenario, even a commercial jetliner can glide—inelegantly, but glide nonetheless—to an emergency landing.
- Turbulence, Turbulence isn’t a problem for planes any more than bumps in the road are a problem for cars. Think of the last time you drifted onto the rumble strip on the highway—those bumps are no more than tiny striations in the concrete, but they cause a major vibration that says “wake up!” Likewise, little ups and downs in the air can have a deceptively big effect. Turbulence is so routine that the plane can often handle it on autopilot, much like cruise control is sufficient for normal bumps in a road. It feels scary, but the biggest danger with routine turbulence is getting coffee on your laptop.
- Some crazy guy trying to open the door during flight. Even if the doors weren’t locked (which they are), opening the door during flight is physically impossible due to the difference in air pressure inside versus outside the plane. So let the crazy guy go to town on that door. At least he’s not telling you about his conspiracy theories while you’re trying to sleep.
Tip #2: Keep the Movie Rolling

You may have a preconceived flight tragedy movie in your mind that plays over and over when you have to get on a plane. I’d be willing to bet it ends at the most terrifying moment.

For example, let’s say you’re frightened of the plane crashing into the ocean. You picture it happening and freeze frame at the most horrifying image. Instead, keep the movie going until you’re safe. Picture the flight attendants deploying those yellow slides, then sliding into a raft. Then picture a helicopter or rescue boat arriving, heading to land or a military carrier, and getting checked out at a hospital, if necessary. And then? And then you’d go home.

Keep your imaginary movie rolling until you picture yourself safe. You’ll feel better knowing that even in the unlikely event your fear comes true, it doesn’t end with the scariest moment.

Tip #3: Don’t Confuse Possibility with Probability

Images of US Air 1549 floating in the Hudson River, the Asiana crash at SFO, and of course, September 11, are rightfully seared into our collective memory. However, the detailed media coverage of these tragedies makes us perceive that crashes, hijackings, or terrorist attacks are common and likely to happen.

This is called overestimation of threat, a common misstep of the mind. We misjudge the potential for catastrophic consequences based on highly visible, but extremely rare, outliers. We confuse possibility with probability—a crash is possible, but it’s definitely not probable. Crashes make the news precisely because they are rare.

Specifically, in 2012, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association for the airline industry, recorded just 1 accident per 5 million flights on western-built jets. Even if you’re on that one-in-5-million flight, of all passengers involved in U.S. plane crashes from 1983-2000, a full 96% survived.

Tip #4: Tune into What’s Going on Around You

Take a page from the mindfulness book to root yourself in the safe, present moment. Keep yourself from spiraling into imaginary worst-case scenarios by looking around you and describing what you see. Look at each person who files past you down the aisle, describing them without judgment. Describe the interior of the plane. Look internally as well—scan sensations but don’t interpret them.

“My heart is beating quickly” is fine but stop short of “and that means I’m going to have a heart attack.” Absorb yourself in what is, and you’ll have less room for hypothetical what ifs.

Tip #5: Use Good Old-Fashioned Distraction

Virgin America today announces its new summer menu and partnership with Dean & DeLuca.

To get your mind off a racing heart or catastrophic imaginary thoughts, tune outward, not inward. Soothing music works for some, but for others it reminds you that you’re trying not to be nervous. So rather than trying to soothe yourself, which can feel too “therapeutic,” engage yourself with a riveting movie, captivating book, or addictive app.

Plan ahead and bring something you’ve really been wanting to read or watch so you’re not limited to in-flight entertainment or whatever’s in the airport bookshop. And although the research says distraction doesn’t help you get used to flying; I say do whatever gets you through to baggage claim. Remember, zero judgment.

Test out these 5 tips, and after a while, you might even like to fly. As for liking airline food or baggage fees, well, we’ll leave that to the crazy guy trying to jimmy the door.

Source… ELLEN HENDRIKSEN, QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS in www.businessinsider.com

Natarajan

Natural Remedies for Arthritis ….

July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Effective Remedies Against Arthritis

Arthritis is a type of joint disorder that involves inflammation of a single joint or several joints. The disease plagues approximately 350 million people worldwide, with osteoarthritis being the most common type. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, with over 20 million people affected by it.

Arthritis can be triggered by severe bouts of inflammation, which occurs when chemicals are released from the body into the bloodstream or damaged tissue areas. The chemical release eventually aggravates the nerves, which results in a great deal of pain. Rheumatoid arthritis can even cause disfiguration of the hands.

We’re going to discuss 13 various tips to help alleviate the discomfort and take preventative measures against the disease. Before we jump to the remedies department, it’s crucial to get better acquainted with the different types of classes and symptoms attributed to the painful joint disease.

Editor’s Note: The remedies listed here are NOT a substitution for medical treatment. Please consult with your doctor if you think you are experiencing symptoms.

Classes of Arthritis:

Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Septic arthritis
Ankylosing spondylitis
Gout and pseudo-gout
Still’s disease

Symptoms of Arthritis:

Redness
Joint stiffness
Loss of joint function
Joint swelling
Joint pain
Muscle stiffness
Fatigue/loss of energy
Fever
Chills
Headaches
Loss of appetite

Here Are 13 Natural Remedies to Prevent Against Arthritis:

1) Exercise – You must keep mobility in your joints by regularly exercising. Exercising will help control the excess pressure and strain that inflames the joint. It will also help strengthen the muscles that support the joint, and provides keeps your joints fully lubricated. Always warm up properly before performing any stretching exercises. It’s also a good idea to follow a healthy diet, and go for a walk every day.

2) Massage – There’s nothing quite as soothing for your aching joints and muscles like getting a massage. Massaging with mustard oil might seem a bit out of the ordinary, but it works. The oil helps to reduce joint pain and inflammation. You can prepare the homemade mustard oil mix as follows:

Directions:

Heat a little mustard oil until it becomes slightly warm. Onion juice may be added if there is swelling.
Rub the oil gently over the painful joint or joints, before covering it with plastic wrap.
Apply warm towels to the swelling joints, and repeat on a daily basis, or until swelling goes down.

3) Epsom Salt – Magnesium relaxes the muscles and nerve endings, which become aggravated with the inflammation. Dunking your hands in a bowl of water with Epsom salt, can help alleviate the discomfort. It’s also a great source of magnesium, which regulates the pH balance levels in the body. The salt keeps the pH levels low, to prevent inflammation. Here’s how to prepare an Epsom salt mixture:

Directions:

Fill a large bowl with warm water, and a half cup of Epsom salt. Make sure you stir the bowl.
Dunk your hands or affected joints into the bowl. Alternatively, you may want to fill a tub with warm water and add 2 cups of Epsom salt to allow more room for larger joints, such as the knees.
Keep your joints soaked for approximately 15 minutes. Perform daily.

4) Turmeric – Turmeric helps to reduce painful swelling and joint inflammation. The dark yellow spice promotes healthy functioning of the joints, keeps your immune system well-protected, and improves digestion. It’s also excellent for reducing pain among people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. The yellow powder can even be mixed together with green tea, and here’s the delicious recipe:

Directions:

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of honey for a little flavoring

5) Increase Your Magnesium Intake – Magnesium is essential to absorb calcium, which strengthens the bones. Magnesium supplements can relieve pain and rebuild bone tissue. Eat more foods that are high in magnesium, such as beans, nuts, whole grains, dark leafy greens, and fish. Magnesium oils and supplements can be purchased at any local health store. It’s important to maintain high bone density to thwart off the pains.

6) Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Extra virgin olive oil acts like a natural aspirin to help heal painful joints. The oil contains the inflammatory enzymes COX-1 and COX-2, which helps lubricate your joints, and provides you with instant pain relief. You can either rub a bit of the olive oil on the affected joints or consume 2-3 teaspoons of it.

7) Ginger – Ginger can reduce swelling and stiffness in joints due to the high anti-inflammatory components found inside. Eating raw ginger on a regular basis can help to alleviate pain by improving blood circulation. Ginger may be added to green tea to create a great healing solution. Here is an easy recipe you can make if you don’t enjoy the taste of raw ginger:

Directions:

Fill a bowl with 6 teaspoons of dried ginger, 6 teaspoons of caraway seeds, and 3 teaspoons of black pepper. Mix well.
Consume half a teaspoon of the mixture with a glass of water after each meal.

8) Fish Oil – The popular fish oil supplement is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, which are used to combat arthritis. The fatty acids also boost your immune system, fighting off swelling or achy joints. Fish oil also improves your cardiovascular system, and helps to prevent blood clots. Cold water fish should be added your dietary plan, but if you don’t enjoy eating fish, a capsule of fish oil will suffice.

9) Cayenne Ointment – The capsaicin of the cayenne pepper acts as a natural dopamine to block out pain signals from the neurological system. It disrupts the Substance P, which transmits pain signals to the brain. Cayenne ointment may be applied to the joints to relieve the pain. You can prepare your own treatment with these easy-to-follow instructions:

What You Will Need:

3 tablespoons of cayenne powder
1 cup of grapeseed oil (or any other oil like almond, olive, jojoba)
1/2 cup of grated beeswax
A glass jar with a tightly fitting lid
A double boiler

Directions:

Mix 3 tablespoons of cayenne powder together with a cup of your oil of choice.
Heat the oily mixture in a double boiler for 5-10 minutes on a medium heat.
Stir in a half cup of grated beeswax until the substance has fully melted down, and that everything is blended together.
Keep the cayenne mixture chilled in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, and then whisk together. Repeat the step for an additional 10-15 minutes.
Pour into a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid in the refrigerator, and apply daily.

10) Cinnamon – The anti-microbial, anti-cancer, and antioxidant properties contained in cinnamon, helps repair damaged tissues and increases bone density. The powerful spice is an ideal wonder drug for people suffering from Osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Cinnamon blends well with honey, and helps soothe the discomforting areas. Mix a half teaspoon of cinnamon powder with a tablespoon of honey, into a cup of warm water or add the combination to your tea. A honey cinnamon paste can be made, and massaged gently over the painful areas.

11) Peppermint Eucalyptus Oil Blend –Peppermint and eucalyptus oils, when combined, offer a soothing sensation to the achy arthritic joints. Here’s how to prepare the mixture:

What You Will Need:

5-10 drops of Eucalyptus oil
5-10 drops of Peppermint oil
1-2 tablespoons of carrier oil (olive, almond, grape seed, etc.)
A small dark glass bottle

Directions:

Blend 5-10 drops of eucalyptus and peppermint oil together, and then add 1-2 tablespoons of carrier oil to the mixture.
Carrier oil dilutes the essential oil, to prevent skin irritation.
Keep the concoction stored in a dark glass bottle, far away from direct sunlight.
Rub the mixture gently onto the painful joints.

12) Cherries – Cherries are excellent resources for magnesium and potassium, both vital components for treating joint discomfort and pain. The potassium acts as a natural anti-inflammatory. Make sure you eat a handful of cherries per day to keep the inflammation away! You can prepare a homemade cherry syrup by boiling a few cherries in water for a couple of minutes. Once the water thoroughly boils, it will form into a sweet tasting syrup.

13) Juniper Berry Tea – Juniper berries are used to treat arthritic pain, nerve pain and gout. They contain the powerful anti-inflammatory compound known as terpinen-4-ol. Pregnant women should not drink the juniper tea because it can lead to miscarriages. Here’s how to prepare the juniper tea:

What You Will Need:

1 tablespoon of dried juniper berries
1 cup of fresh water
A Teaspoon of Honey

Directions:

Place a tablespoon of fresh juniper berries into a cup of boiled water. Add a teaspoon of honey to increase the flavor.
Pour the boiling water over the berries, and allow them steep for 20 minutes before straining.
Drink the tea twice per day.
(H/T: everydayroots.com & top10homeremedies.com)

Source….www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

4 Ways to Increase Your Productivity at Work….

July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Prioritising tasks and effective time management is the key to success, says Pardeep Goyal.

It may sound unpractical, but it’s true.

Earlier I’d work 12 hours a day, and my productivity was average.

Now I work for 8 hours a day, and my productivity is 1.5 times more than before.

I left my job last year to work full time on my start-up.

I worked harder than ever and dedicated all my time to building our product and marketing it online.

Sometimes, I would work continuously for 4 to 5 hours.

Slowly I realised that my productivity was not increasing proportionally to my increased working time.

I experimented a lot with my time in the last one year.

#1 Experiment: Pick up work and finish it

My first start-up was a total mess, and unorganised.

I was working on design, product architecture, and online marketing.

There was so much to learn about start-ups.

So I would pick the most terrifying, imposing task and subsequently spend hours and hours on it, until it was finished.

I remember that I finished product deployment on AWS (Amazon Web Services) in just three days, without any clue about cloud computing.

I spent about 12-14 hours daily in order to accomplish the AWS task.

This experiment looked like it was working, but it delayed other important tasks like design and marketing.

I realised that AWS deployment was not worth spending 36 to 40 hours on.

I don’t know how much time I spent actually working on AWS, considering I was worrying about design and marketing the whole time.

2 Experiment: Time segmentation for each task category

My next experiment was to allocate a time window for each category.

I divided my day into three segments, and decided to work on one type of task in each segment.

In the morning, I was a designer, spending 3 to 4 hours on creating User Interface/User Experience.

In the afternoon, I was a tech architect, learning and implementing technology, occasionally coding and fixing defects.

In the late evening, I was a digital marketer, promoting our product online.

This experiment improved my overall productivity and allocated equivalent bandwidth to all my work. But I was still spending 12 to 14 hours daily in front of the computer.

I found myself wasting time on unnecessary websites and phone calls. I had to optimise my sitting time.

#3 Experiment: Reduce computer screen time

I loved this experiment.

The idea was simple, do not sit in front of the computer if you don’t know what to do.

Put your system to sleep and plan what to do for the day.

Pick one task that needs the computer, complete the task and put your system back to sleep.

I reduced my time on social media, e-commerce websites, and unfocused reading.

I saved 2 to 3 hours each day, that I started utilising on offline activities like playing with my kid, household work and reading books.

I found myself more energetic and effective in doing online work.

#4 Experiment: Become early riser and short work sitting

I have never been an early riser in life.

Even in my school days, I’d do my work till late at night.

I never woke up early, not even on exam days.

I had continued working till late night, and that was having adverse effects on my health, sleep, and mind.

I was occasionally distracted by my family because I was working from home.

The solution was to wake up early and finish the most important work before my kid woke up.

At the same time, I shortened my sitting time to 90 minutes to 120 minutes.

I started taking breaks of 60 minute to 90 minutes in between each sitting.

This schedule increased my productivity significantly, and I reduced my working time.

Below is my working schedule for your reference.

6:00 am: Wake up

6:30 to 8:30: Focused work (Writing)

8:30 to 10:00: Yoga, Breakfast, Bath

10:00 to 11:30: Focused work

11:30 to 1:00: Break

1:00 to 2:30: Focused work

2:30 to 3:30: Break

3:30 to 5:30: Focused work

5:30 to 8:00: Family time and phone calls

8:00 to 10:00: Unallocated buffer time

10:00 pm: Sleep

My computer screen time is maximum 7 to 8 hours and family time is minimum three hours.

I am still experimenting with my time schedule. I feel there is still scope for improvement.

I would love to know how you are improving your productivity.

Lead image used for representational purposes only. Credit: hatalmas/Creative Commons

Pardeep Goyal

Source…www.rediff.com

Natarajan

6 Tips for You to Stay Fit….

July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

The keys for attaining good health and a fit body are quite simple. All of you have to do is take care of good nutrition, physical activity, sufficient sleep and rest, meditation and conscious breathing.

Constant travel for work coupled with never ending long and tiring commutes to the office, work pressure, unhealthy diets high in saturated fats, sugar, food with high sodium content and a sedentary lifestyle, all combined together pose serious health challenges like obesity. It can also play host to complications like hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and more. In the long run, if this kind of lifestyle is not altered these will turn into life threatening and life shortening disorders!

But, the good news is that despite these challenges, one can maintain one’s weight and achieve a healthy and fit body by adhering to a sensible eating pattern with a variety of natural, wholesome foods and most of all by staying active, physically and mentally.

Diet and nutrition

The best insurance for healthy eating is maintaining a diet that has a balance of fruits, veggies, salads, millets, whole grains, nuts, pulses, sprouts, seeds, low fat milk, soy milk, tofu etc. These foods have detoxifying, healing and regenerative properties and are rich in antioxidants and elements needed to keep you nourished.

Exercise

Any physical activity like walks, swimming, yoga, gym workouts etc helps to keep one energised, well oxygenated and improves strength, stamina, flexibility, immunity and metabolism.

1. Avoid snacking on junk foods

Instead, make sure you eat a wholesome breakfast before hitting the road and carry a fruit that can be munched on in between. Choose steamed foods like idlis or toasted sandwiches and stay away from all fried foods, aerated drinks, milk shakes, fruit juices, desserts and any kind of sweets.

2. Keep dry fruits handy

These are nutritious and will keep hunger at bay. A few almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, dates and figs are ideal.

3. Do neck rotations, shoulder shrugs, arm rotations etc. in between travelling

These can be done when you take a break from driving, between meetings and even in an aircraft. These exercises work wonders especially for long flights as they keep your blood flowing even when you’re sitting in one place for a long time. While sitting at a traffic signal or in the plane extend your legs, keep your toes pointed and rotate your ankles clockwise and anti-clockwise. Shoulder rotations are also recommended to ease away the muscle tension.

4. Walk a lot

A brisk walk daily is an effective way to do some cardio without hitting the gym and can be an invigorating experience as walking is an exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime.

Take a brisk walk everyday and you are sure to be on the way to better health and vitality. Walking also helps you enjoy the freshness of nature with the added benefit of relaxing your mind and simultaneously getting rid of stress.

Here’s a quick tip, whenever possible, use the stairs instead of elevators.

5. Exercise

Simple exercises like leg kicks, squats, lunges, chair dips, push ups, ab crunches and a few yoga stretches like suryanamaskar, bhujangasan, dhanurasan, sethubandhasan and naukasan are possible to do in your room.

These help to boost flexibility as well as stamina and strengthens the core and back muscles.

Pranayam or breathing exercises like chanting Om, kapalbhati and anulom-vilom should be done at regular intervals throughout the week. These revitalise your body and alleviate stress and tension after a long day.

6. Drink plenty of water

Keep yourself well hydrated. This can include water, herbal/green teas/coconut water (depending on their availability).

Health, wellness and fitness certainly do not require extreme or rigid measures. All they need is proper planning, consistency and regularity. These are the key factors for a healthy mind and a well toned body. Incorporate the above mentioned simple strategies to reinforce complete and total wellness and enjoy a healthy and stress free life.

Photograph: pexels.com

Source….www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Message for the Day…”What is the Permanent Address of God …” !!!

July 27, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Sathya Sai Baba

The Lord’s abode is described in various ways as Vaikuntha, Kailasa, etc. All these are fanciful names. Which is the abode of God? The Lord told Sage Narada: “I reside wherever My devotees sing My glories.” The Lord dwells in the hearts of devotees; this is His main address. All other places are ‘branch offices!’ Any message addressed to the Divine as Indweller in your heart is bound to reach God. What is meant by Ekadashi? It should not be regarded as some special place or time. The form of Ekadasa Rudra is made up of the five organs of perception, the five organs of action and the mind. Rudra is a resident of the human body, which is full of numerous divine potencies. Remind yourself, today and every day that these special potencies, including the Divine Himself dwell deep within your heart.

How Brooklyn girl Chanie Gorkin’s poem became a global sensation….Just Read it…

July 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Across the seas … teenager Chanie Gordon is “overwhelmed” by the global reaction to her school assignment. Picture: Thinkstock Source: ThinkStock

A HASIDIC girl from Brooklyn, New York, wrote a clever poem that spread like wildfire online and became a hit after it was posted on a wall in London.

Chanie Gorkin, in eleventh grade at the all-girls Lubavitch high school Beth Rivkah in Crown Heights, jotted down the lines for a class assignment last year and then published it on PoetryNation.com.

What happened next is remarkable.

Zachery Stephenson, the events manager at the Nambucca bar on Holloway Road in North London had tacked the poem on a wall, after his cousin in New York had forwarded it in response to a negative Facebook post, US ABC News reports.

There it was seen by Ronnie Joice, who was feeling a “bit worn out” after a day of meetings about a prospective job.

The poem, which at first appears to be a bleak outlook on a bad day, contains a surprise. The ending instructs the reader to go back and re-read from the bottom to the top, which completely reverses its meaning.

Class assignment … the Beth Rivkah High School in Crown Heights, where Chanie Gorkin wrote her poem and is in 11th grade. Picture: Google Streetview Source: Supplied

Mr Joice was so taken with the clever poem, he photographed and posted it to Twitter, which resulted in thousands of shares on social media.

The uplifting poem — ironically titled “Worst Day Ever?” — has since been translated into multiple languages, including Hebrew, Chinese and Russian. Her father, Baruch Gorkin, posted some of the translations to his Facebook page.

Chanie’s brother, Shimon Gorkin, proudly posted: “That’s my sister!”

Chanie’s mother, Dena Gorkin, confirmed to ABC News that her daughter wrote the poem. She also said Chanie was away at summer camp and unavailable for comment, but Mrs Gorkin has been telling her daughter about the reaction to the poem and “she’s quite overwhelmed.”

One of the major tenets of Hasidic philosophy is that the mind rules over the heart, that we are able to channel our emotions to the positive … that there is God in everything, and it is part of our mission in life to look for the good, and to find it and to spread it,” Mrs Gorkin said.

So, when Chanie was given the assignment to write about her worst day ever, she used her writing skills to turn the question around.

The Worst Day Ever, by Chanie Gorkin

Today was the absolute worst day ever

And don’t try to convince me that

There’s something good in every day

Because, when you take a closer look,

This world is a pretty evil place.

Even if

Some goodness does shine through once in a while

Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.

And it’s not true that

It’s all in the mind and heart

Because

True happiness can be attained

Only if one’s surroundings are good

It’s not true that good exists

I’m sure you can agree that

The reality

Creates

My attitude

It’s all beyond my control

And you’ll never in a million years hear me say

Today was a very good day

Now read it from bottom to top, the other way,

And see what I really feel about my day.

Source….www.news.com.au

Natarajan

Message for the Day…” Any Time and Anywhere, if Mind Desires Meditate on God…”

July 26, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

Sathya Sai Baba

There are no limitations of time or space for the establishment of oneself in the contemplation of the Omnipresent Lord. There is nothing like a holy place or a special time. Wherever the mind revels in contemplation of the Divine, that place is holy! Whenever it does so, that moment becomes the auspicious moment! Ancient sages and scriptures also revealed to us that for meditation on God, there is no fixed time or place. Hence anytime and anywhere your mind desires, meditate on the Lord! The world can achieve prosperity only through disciplined souls whose hearts are pure; they represent the salt of the earth. In an attempt to promote the welfare of the world, from this very minute, everyone should pray for the advent of the noble and holy, and try to deserve the blessings of the great. Every day you retire, recall these thoughts, and try to forget the sufferings of the day.

Image of the Day… First Ever Look at Pluto’s Night Side…

July 25, 2015NatarajanLeave a comment

First-ever look at Pluto’s night side

New image just released! A stunning snapshot of Pluto’s night side. The halo is from sunlight shining through the dwarf planet’s hazy atmosphere.

As New Horizons sped away from Pluto, it looked back toward Pluto and the sun and captured this image of the dwarf planet and its hazy atmosphere. Image taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft around midnight EDT on July 15, when the craft was about 1.25 million miles (2 million kilometers) past Pluto. Via NASA / JHU-APL / SWRI. New Horizons spacecraft.

Here’s something no one on Earth has ever seen before. NASA released this new image today (July 24, 2015). It’s the night side of Pluto with the hazy atmosphere scattering light from a distant sun.

This is the first view of Pluto, a Kuiper Belt Object and a dwarf planet seen from the night side.

The diagram inset below shows what was revealed. A layer of hydrocarbon haze stretches up to 80 miles ( into the atmosphere and is believed to be responsible for the planet’s reddish color.

Image via NASA / JHU-APL / SWRI. New Horizons spacecraft

Bottom line: New image just released! A stunning snapshot of Pluto’s night side. The halo is from sunlight shining through the dwarf planet’s hazy atmosphere.

Source…..www.earthsky.org

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