6.Feel how your body feels

7.Don't try to alter your breathing, it will change naturally as you sink deeper into experience

8.If thoughts slip into your mind, gently bring your awareness back to your breathing

This is all you need to do to relax your body and mind. It's THAT simple. To really benefit you need to practise this 'breathwork' on a daily basis.

After a few days of using this simple technique, you should begin to feel rejuvenating powers of true relaxation.

After a few months - broader benefits will become apparent - improved health, improved relationships, better concentration and memory.

But don't stop there! With practice, it is possible to achieve this feeling of peace and calm at any time, enabling you to remain focused and composed even under pressure. Staying calm in a stressful situation is like having night vision when lights go out - you have a great advantage!

(c) Copyright Kim Beardsmore

The Virginia team collected three years of exercise data on more than 2,200 men enrolled in Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. At outset of study, none of men had been diagnosed with dementia or conditions that would prevent them from walking (such as stroke or Parkinson's disease). Over course of several years, two follow up examinations were conducted to assess neurological health.

Almost 160 of men developed dementia during study period. Researchers found that men who walked between a quarter mile and one mile per day had a lower risk of dementia than those who walked less than a quarter mile each day. But in case of this study, more was clearly better because men who walked less than a quarter mile per day had nearly TWICE risk of dementia compared to those who walked more than two miles each day.

------------------------------------------------------------ Walking cholesterol down ------------------------------------------------------------

What is it about taking a daily walk that might prevent cognitive decline and dementia? It could have something to do with cholesterol's association to Alzheimer's disease. Previous research has suggested that high cholesterol levels may increase level of a certain protein that is abnormally processed by people with Alzheimer's disease. This abnormal processing sets off a chain reaction that causes a peptide to accumulate and form tangles that can kill brain cells.

A Georgetown University Medical Center study showed how high cholesterol levels significantly increase rate at which these tangles are formed. In addition, researchers concluded that high cholesterol also increases production of a different protein that transports cholesterol out of cell. And while that's a normal function, in this situation it results in an unfortunate increase of free cholesterol, which has a toxic effect on nerve cells.

Of course, daily exercise is one of best and safest ways to control cholesterol levels. Neither Harvard nor Virginia researchers speculated on why regular exercise through walking might have helped prevent cognitive decline and dementia, but it seems likely that reducing cholesterol levels may have come into play.

Pauline Robinson is a Nutritional and Metabolic Bio Typing Consultant for HealthSmart Nutrition

For Metabolic Bio Typing info go to www.air-water-nutrition-healthsmart.com