Things to Stop Doing and Start Doing for Yourself

5 Things to Stop Doing and Start Doing for Yourself

Being is a sense of feeling about who you are rather than making changes because you perceive yourself as imperfect

There is a madness in men and women today and it's spilling over to our children too. This madness is our constant need for change — with our relationships, our jobs, our possessions, our education, and our status in life. Striving for something better and never resting until that something is achieved is a modern disease. Competitiveness causes anxiety and stress, ensuring we constantly perceive a state of lack within ourselves and are never satisfied. We are constantly doing, but what if instead we chose to be?

Being vs. Doing
Being is a sense of feeling present to exactly who you are in this moment, rather than doing something to try and make improvements because you perceive yourself or your life as imperfect. It may seem hard at first to make the switch, but the rewards will far outweigh the effort required.

Here are seven ways that you can start being today

1. Decide what is most important to you: Do you live life according to the plans or expectations of others? It might be your parents who decided what path your life should take, or it may be your culture's expectations that you feel obligated to live up to. In order to truly live your being-ness, you need to decide what is most important to you in life and take steps to honour those things. Along with that comes no longer doing the things you think you should do. In this way, you are acting more in alignment with who you are, with your being-ness and not doing what conflicts with your highest values.

2. Choose to be happy in each moment: Many people believe happiness is something that comes from external sources — a job or career, upbringing, finances or partner. I disagree. Happiness is a choice that comes from within. It is a decision you can make from moment to moment. This is living truly from a sense of being. If you expect happiness to be delivered to you by others or an act of serendipity, you'll find yourself pretty unhappy when those expectations are not met. What can you find in this moment to be happy about?

3. Honour your strengths: When you are living your life focusing on your strengths, you are living in being. What you are good at — your strengths — comes naturally to you. The activities you struggle to grasp or never really achieve mastery of are examples of doing that just don't work. Stop telling yourself that you need to be good at everything and focus instead on what lights you up.

4. Reside in the present with an open heart: When you are present to each moment in your waking life with an open heart, you notice the colours, smells, textures and other nuances of life that you would otherwise miss if you were busy worrying about the future. When you move your focus from your head to your heart, you open up a whole new way of being that is centered in love, enjoyment, forgiveness and understanding.

5. Stop beating yourself up over past mistakes: The past is in the past and that's where it needs to remain. There is no value in regret, guilt or shame. Acknowledge that whatever happened is over. Reliving past events and beating yourself up does nothing but bring those problems into the present, keeping the energy of them alive. Similarly, if you believe your best times were in the past, you need to let that belief go. Give yourself permission to create new adventures and achievements from a sense of being vital and alive.

How You Can Get Glowing Skin By Just Eating Healthy

How You Can Get Glowing Skin By Just Eating Healthy

So here is the truth! We spend a lot of time and money to look beautiful. Investing in the latest facials for our skin, which we meticulously plan during the weekend to pamper ourselves. But skin care regimes alone cannot solve the underlying skin issues. "If one really yearns for a spotless glowing skin, then you need to focus your attention on what is on your plate. What is that you consumed throughout the day", informs Fitness Consultant and Nutritionist, Shirin Kapadia who talks about dietary changes one should make to get that glowing skin naturally.

Consume Good Fats

To start off, one usually avoids fats, with the fear that it would lead to weight gain. But that is only the half-truth. So let’s start with understanding a bit about the various fats, saturated fats and unsaturated fats and trans fat (this one, is known on food labels for baked and fried goodies sold over the counter). This is the worst kind of fat that you need to completely avoid by all means. This type of fat, known as hydrogenated fat, is usually used for frying, or as an ingredient in processed foods. 
Trans fats are particularly harmful because they lower the levels of good cholesterol and raise levels of bad cholesterol. Trans fats can be formed when oil goes through a process called hydrogenation, which makes the oil more solid (known as hardening). They can be found in some processed foods such as biscuits and cakes, where they are sometimes used to help give products a longer shelf life.

Transfat – Completely avoid

•    Baked foods such as cookies, cakes, Pizza ,pie crusts 
•    Snacks such as tortilla chips etc bought off the shelves
•    Fried foods (French fries, vada pav, fried chicken etc)  
•    Margarine

Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature e.g. your butter, margarine and ghee falls into this category (Ghee being an exception and I never recommend eliminating this from your diet for its advantages). Usually fries, cakes, biscuits are made from these fats and are the ones you want to avoid. Simply because these won’t leave you with a wonderful skin, but may result in pimples and acne, not to mention excess weight gain due to high intake with the wrong kind of fat.

Saturated fats  - Restricted intake recommended

•    Animal sources: Coconut, palm and palm kernel oils  
•    Plant sources: Beef, poultry, whole-fat milk, cheese and butter

Unsaturated fats are of two types: the monounsaturated and the polyunsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats can have a positive effect on your health, when eaten in moderation. Monounsaturated fats can help reduce bad cholesterol levels in your blood, which can lower your risk of heart diseases and stroke. They also provide nutrients to help develop and maintain your body’s cells. Oils rich in monounsaturated fats also contribute Vitamin E to the diet. Olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sesame oil fall under this category. In addition to these other sources include avocados, peanut butter, and many nuts and seeds. So if you’re looking at achieving an afterglow on your face, and shine in your hair, then good fats is definitely the way to go.

Healthy fats to be consumed in moderation

•    Handful of almonds, walnuts, macadamia
•    Avocados
•    Cheese
•    Fatty fish
•    Virgin olive oil 
•    Chia seeds
•    Coconut and Coconut Oil
•    Full fat yogurt

Drink plenty of water

Another simple and extremely effective manta for achieving a glowing skin is to drinking plenty of water throughout the day.an average of 2 liters to 2.5 liters is sufficient for an each individual on an average but there is no set rule to follow this number. Also, it’s a good idea to replace all non-water beverages (tea/coffee/alcohol/aerated drinks etc.With water into two times the quantity consumed. Introduce more liquids such as nimboo pani without the sugar of course and very limited salt and coconut water, which are very low in calories and can be very beneficial, especially for those with acne or other blemishes on the surface of the skin, also moisturizes the skin from within and contains essential electrolytes that are present in the human body. These include: calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium and sodium.so drink up and your skin will thank you for it.

Get that body moving

It's a known fact that exercise is great for your heart, lungs, and mind. But there’s another reason to get moving. Regular exercise is one of the keys to healthy skin. Most of the times we tend to focus on the cardiovascular benefits of physical activity, but leave out the fact that anything that promotes healthy circulation also helps keep your skin healthy and vibrant. By increasing blood flow, exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them vital. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the working cells throughout the body, including the skin. And it’s also a fact that the skin is indeed the largest organ in our body.

Exercises as per your choice (at least 150 minutes a week or half hour for 3 days a week)

•    Yoga  
•    Zumba
•    Pilates  
•    Aerobics
•    Cardiovascular activity and weight training
•    Playing a sport you enjoy,such as (tennis,cricket,badminton,football etc)