The Mediterranean DietWritten by Ruth Polak
The Mediterranean Diet is now recognized as one of healthiest in world consisting as it does of large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, salads,nuts,seeds, omega-3 rich oily fish, olives and olive oil and being comparitively low in dairy products and red meats.The people of Mediterranean region, particuarly Greece and Spain, are very fortunate to live in an area where naturally healthy food is readily and cheaply available. The incidence of heart disease and cancer are lower here than anywhere else in western world and experts now believe this is due in great part to what has become known as Mediterranean diet. Modern farming techniques and world wide transport has changed most peoples diets dramatically in past centuary and it is now widely believed that such changes have had an exteremely detrimental effect on our health. Fortunately impact of these developments has not had such a catastrophic effect in Mediterranean regions where to a large extent traditional diets are still followed. Of course with advent of Globalization and MacDonald's! this is sadly changing. However we can all learn alot form what has become known as Mediterranean diet and by adopting it,vastly improve our health and longevity. The foods that grow natuarlly and abundantly in that region and have always formed a part of local diet are as follows:- Olives, avocados, oranges, lemons, garlic, wild asparagus, walnuts, almonds,tomatoes, artichokes, figs, pomegranates, cherries, strawberries, grapes, plums, spinach,broad beans,peppers along with many other of more common fruits and vegetables. These provide large amounts of vitamins, minerals and fibre along with a wide variety of antioxidants and phytochemicals, importance of which scientists are only now beginning to recognize as they discover more and more healthful benefits of including these elements in our diet.
| | Hypnosis and Ultradian Rythym - A way to relaxWritten by Alan Crisp
Hypnosis and Ultradian Rythym – a natural strategy for relaxation and healingPressure of modern-day life So many people these days are under so much pressure to perform in one way or another and under so much strain from just everyday living in a fast paced and highly stressed modern world. It is little wonder then that some people turn to relaxation therapy as a way to slow down madness and to allow them time to catch their breath. In fact what they are doing is a natural and necessary process of human condition,that becomes for those who want to reduce stress, like a kind of pressure release valve, or a time-out to re-focus and perhaps change direction, or fine tune what we are doing. A new thought Ernest Rossi, an American psychologist studying minds activities, found that when a person is not under any pressure to do anything during day, they remain in a conscious state for about 90 minutes and then move into a trance like state for about 20 minutes, and this cycle is maintained, as long as there is no direct pressure to anything in particular. This trance time, is like a kind of day-dreaming, or a ‘time-out’ to just catch up with whatever they’ve been concentrating on or doing consciously. It is also interesting that this cycle, which Rossi called ‘Ultradian Rhythm’ also applies to animals. In considering its application in my field of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy, I realise that we can utilise this natural cycle to help us make best use of our time when learning, studying, or making an important decision. If we work consciously at task in hand for about 90 minutes, and then take a time out to relax and just let our mind wander, daydream, let thoughts just float past without trying to concentrate on or understand them, then this may help us to reach a speedy and useful resolution to whatever we are attempting to achieve.
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