"See the joy of giving"

Meet Narayanan Krishnan. Narayanan brings hot meals and dignity to India's homeless and destitute - 365 days a year - through his nonprofit Akshaya Trust. Since 2002 he has served more than 1.2 million meals.

It's been a long time since we posted on the blog (blame summer sunshine and workplace busy-ness) but I stumbled across this video today and was so inspired! I think this is the perfect first post for 2011.

With all the craziness going on in the world at the moment watching something like this reminds me that there IS something I/we can be doing to help our fellow humans....

A bit of Monday inspiration and something to make you think!

Preparing Healthy Holiday Food

Here are some tips from the Environmental Working Group on how you can prepare your delicious holiday meals with your family's environmental health in mind. Just follow these simple tips as you shop, cook and eat together:

• Choose food low in added chemicals and pollutants 
• Use non-toxic cookware
• Store and reheat leftovers safely

CHOOSE FOOD LOW IN ADDED CHEMICALS AND POLLUTANTS

Food can contain ingredients we don't want to eat - from pesticides to hormones to artificial additives to food packaging chemicals. 

Some simple tips to cut the chemicals:

• Buy organic when you can (and can afford) – even if you can’t afford the ‘expensive’ organic food at the supermarket try getting your fruit and vege at farmers markets etc. Organic produce is grown without synthetic pesticides (I prefer my dinner without, thanks!). Organic meat and dairy products also limit your family's exposure to growth hormones and antibiotics.
• Cook with fresh foods, not packaged and canned, whenever you can. Food containers can leach packaging chemicals into food, including food can linings that leach the synthetic estrogen bisphenol A into food. Instead, head for fresh food or prepared foods in glass containers. Pick recipes that call for fresh, not canned, foods.

Recipe in Extra Curricular

We are excited that our homemade 'Summer Gel Masque' recipe features in the 'Holiday Activity' booklet that comes with the fourth issue of Extra Curricular magazine.

Surely “natural” means natural?

Over the past few weeks, I have been speaking with customers and this is a statement I hear all the time. "surely natural means natural? Doesn't it?

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact most of the "natural" products we consume or put on our bodies are not natural at all and many contain harmful and often dangerous chemicals.

The dictionary definition of natural is:

1. Present in, or produced by nature or;
2. Of, relating to, or concerning nature.

This is fairly self-explanatory, however in New Zealand there are no regulations as to what percentage of a product, food or drink has to be "natural" in order to make these claims.

This means that product can be called ‘ABC Naturals” and have a product that is ‘made with natural ingredients’ and yet still be littered with chemicals. In fact, the natural products industry is largely self regulated - which means each industry decides what they deem natural to be.

In the cosmetic industry specifically, we see many natural brands actively promoting themselves as a "natural alternative" to chemical skincare brands - a closer look at these "natural" products reveals they actually use some of the same synthetic chemicals themselves.

And it doesn’t stop there - not only do natural skincare brands fail to disclose the chemicals they use in their products, but what about the chemicals used to grow the plants or the chemicals used to extract the "natural" ingredients - we virtually have no idea what toxic chemicals have been used.

Not only should we look at ingredients, we also need to look at how and where our products are being manufactured. It all begins in the fields or paddocks where the plants are grown, then the factory where the natural extracts, oils, juices or foods are processed or extracted, then finally the finished product.

So, we would assume that when we purchase “natural” or “organic” products that we are purchasing the assurance that these checks have been made and we are safe to consume/use the product – right? Wrong? Until there are regulations and standards in New Zealand around the use of the words “Natural” and “Organic” we are always going to be taking a gamble when we purchase. When we are at the supermarket or local shop we can’t be expected to know the background of every ingredient – we need to be able to trust our suppliers that if they say a product is “natural” or “organic” – it is!

We need to know with confidence that at each of these stages, no toxic or potentially harmful ingredients have been added or used to these foods or products.

This is one of the reasons I LOVE certified organic products - it means that each step has been independently audited. The farmer growing our plants uses organic principals, which supports the soil, the factory processing ingredients uses safe methods and then the producers supply healthy, safe, nutritious products.

With the availability of so many certified organic products both local and imported, it allows us to trust not only the items we are purchasing but also the suppliers that provide them.

A guide to a better life

I just received this as a 'FWD' email. I normally just delete them but this one was really inspiring and touching.

Randy Pausch died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, but gave a lecture and wrote a book 'The Last Lecture' before then, one of the bestsellers in 2007. What a legacy to leave behind… In a letter to his wife Jai and his children, Dylan, Logan , and Chloe, he wrote this beautiful "Guide to a better life" for his wife and children to follow.

May you be blessed by his insight.

POINTS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE 

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
22. Put GOD first in anything and everything that you think, say and do.
23. GOD heals everything
24. Do the right things
25. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
26. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
27. The best is yet to come
28. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
29. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
30. If you know GOD you will always be happy. So, be happy.

While you practice all of the above, share this knowledge with the people you love, people you school with, people you play with, people you work with and people you live with. Not only will it enrich YOUR life, but also that of those around you.

From Wikipedia:
Randy Pausch was an American professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pausch learned that he had pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and in August 2007 he was given a terminal diagnosis: "3 to 6 months of good health left". He gave an upbeat lecture entitled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon, which became a popular YouTube video and led to other media appearances. He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme, which became a New York Times best-seller. Pausch died of complications from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008.

Revealed... the 515 chemicals women put on their bodies every day

I was looking through some of my saved links the other day and I came across this article that was published the UK's Daily Mail in November 2009 - it's an oldie but it's a goodie so I thought I'd share it.



It's really easy for us push any thoughts of chemicals in our favourite skin, hair and body care products to the backs of our minds as the more we know, the scarier it is. However, I think it's important that we, as the average consumer, really sit up and start to take notice of exactly how many chemicals we are using daily. I heard someone speaking the other day and they mentioned that women use up to 22 products every day in a morning before they start their day. Sound ridiculous? Lets think about potential products we might use:

Shampoo, Conditioner, Hairspray, Toothpaste, Cleanser, Toner, Moisturiser, Foundation, Powder, Eye Makeup, Mascara, Lipstick, Perfume, Body Moisturiser, Deodorant....

That is 15 off the top of my head. In light of this, have a read of the article from the Daily Mail:

Women and beauty products - it's a love affair that's been going on for centuries. And no wonder. There's nothing like a new lipstick or favourite perfume to make us look and feel good. Or so we thought... 

In fact, according to a new report, most of our favourite cosmetics are cocktails of industrially produced and potentially dangerous chemicals that could damage our health and, in some cases, rather than delivering on their potent 'anti-ageing' promise, are causing us to age faster. 

Research by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, found that the average woman's daily grooming and make-up routine means she 'hosts' a staggering 515 different synthetic chemicals on her body every single day.

Next time you think you might want McDonald's....

These pictures don't really need a long written description. Basically, artist Sally Davies decided to photograph one McDonald's hamburger and fries every day for 137 days.

This is Day 1:

And this is Day 137:

Hmmmm.....I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Original article found on Good