This is it, TV Detoxers! We’re coming to the end and this is the last check-in of The 2010 TV Detox. Let’s review our challenges and successes and gear up for the weekend as we wrap up this new year’s resolution alternative.

Let’s hear how you did this week, TV Detoxers!

For me, if you’ll remember from last video I said my intention was to detox ALL of my TV time. It was… interesting. If you have 1:05 minutes, I vlogged it on YouTube:

If you’re using Internet Explorer, you may see a white box rather than the video. I’m looking into how to fix this but for now, please access the video directly from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uZB_zH-abw.

Special thanks goes to Emmanuel Lopez – Motivatorman for contributing his creative content consultation, video production and original music score for this video! Please visit http://motivatorman.com/ to learn more about Emmanuel’s varied talents as an award-winning illustrator, motivational specialist and social media consultant.

For all of you readers out there:

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Do you believe in the healing powers of nature? Do you believe we have the right to choose what we put into our bodies?

Last week, raw food advocates celebrated a major victory here in Canada with the acquittal of Michael Schmidt, Ontario dairy farmer and milk co-op owner, who was charged with selling and distributing unpasteurized (raw) milk.

In Canada, it’s legal to consume raw milk. Basically, anyone who owns a cow has the  choice whether or not to kill harmful bacteria (along with the beneficial micro-organisms and enzymes) through the pasteurization process before they drink it. You become an outlaw when you sell it to others for consumption.

The raw milk vs. pasteurized controversy rages but when you sift through the research, you’ll find there are benefits and risks to consuming both raw and pasteurized milk.

(Randolph Jonsson has created a well-written and thoroughly researched website dedicated to enlightening folks about raw milk. He proudly announces his passion for raw milk and yet manages to present the information in an objective and respectful manner.)

For the pro-choicers out there, Mr. Schmidt’s case is a legal loop hole gone right.

From healthzone.ca:

Art Hill, professor and chair of the University of Guelph’s Department of Food Science, said the ruling, which provides a legal way for Ontarians to consume raw milk and for farmers to sell their farm-fresh product, will likely prompt changes in the dairy industry.

“This ruling signals that it is time to create a system where the sale of raw milk is legalized, but controlled,” said Hill. “We have to work now at finding ways to make raw milk available as safely as we can.”

Hill noted the sale of raw milk is not uncommon in other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom. About half of U.S. states have legislation that allows consumers access to raw milk, either directly from farms or at grocery stores.

Mr. Schmidt fought the law and won because he runs a cow-share program which essentially entitles consumers part-ownership in the cows he raises and milks. The article says that current legislation fails to account for this instance; however, health ministries in Canada have said they may appeal the decision down the road.

Agencies like Health Canada are against legalizing the sale of raw milk because of the potential risks of food poisoning from pathogens like salmonella. Proponents say that not all raw milk is created equal; that in hygienic, knowledgeable farms, the risks are minimized and the health benefits (as well as the taste) are incomparable to processed milk.

Mr. Schmidt and his supporters were pleased with the court’s ruling. Not only did it save his farm and business, but according to the Ontario farmer, this win was for the freedom to choose what we consume. (Source: YouTube)

What do you think: Is this a step in the right direction? And, just for curiosity’s sake, do you drink raw milk?

Healthy living is much more than nutrition and exercise (as we saw in last week’s post, “What is Balanced Living?“). Today’s holistic health article, contributed by Shireen Qudosi of The Logical Native, covers the importance of “being green”.

With our global emphasis on green and sustainable living, many people are actively doing their part to engage in “green acts”. Whether it’s recycling, toting reusable grocery bags, there are a number of ways to engage yourself in balanced living.

Seeing Differently

Step 1 to realigning your lifestyle using eco-principles is to begin seeing differently.  See your entire existence as emerged within eco-living, rather than you as an individual acting out green acts.

Stuart Haygarth would have taken this advice literally, inventing a sustainable eye glass chandelier that uses 620 pairs of discarded lenses to form a globe-like chandelier.  For the designer, perhaps his living art is not only an example of using creativity to craft lifestyle choices, but also symbolizes the visionary work we can accomplish if we begin to see a little differently.

Turning a Domestic Green Leaf

Turning over a green leaf begins with ourselves, in how we think and then in how we carry out those thoughts.  Once we have internal balance, our focus can shift smoothly to an external balance.  And while you may not be able to go save the rain forest, you can begin by changing how you view your home.

View your home as an eco-habitat in itself, and once you perceive your home this way, you’ll treat it with more green care.  The simplest way to begin thinking this way is to look at what toxic elements could be in your home – perhaps in your vacuum cleaner, carpet, paint, whether you have energy-efficient appliances, or even checking to see if the plastics you use to cook and eat with are made with toxic chemicals.  It’s really very simple and just takes a small effort in reprogramming how you think.  Once you shift how you think, your new thought patterns become healthy lifestyle habits.

The Mind Body Equation

Equally as important as your home is another vessel that you inhabit daily – your mind and body.  These two are just as relevant in your eco thinking as your actions. When it comes to eco thinking, your habits aren’t just about what products you use or what daily habits you have that save that extra little bit of energy or water.  It’s about how you think.

Eco thinking is about harmony with one’s environment. And one of the most important things that should be in a harmonious state is our central selves.  If we cannot achieve this, then in essence our eco habits are just frustrated (but not natural) extensions of ourselves.  Achieving an eco balance internally through meditation, exercise, and intellectual stimulation is the simple solution to turning a truly balanced green leaf.

Shireen Qudosi is a freelance writer at Babel Fish Communications. Follow her on Twitter @ShireenQ or email her at shireen.qudosi [at] hotmail [dot] com.

Who wants to live longer? This green detox blender meal is souped-up with powerful, age-defying antioxidants and phytochemicals!

The nutrients found in green cabbage and POMx Tea pack a powerful assault to disease and age-causing free radicals. Studies have shown that both these ingredients have cancer-fighting abilities. (Click here to access POMx studies which say it has more antioxidant potency than red wine, green tea, grape and acai extracts.)

The POMx Teas come in 5 flavours, I chose the delicious pomegranate blackberry for this green detox drink and just enough of it to lend the slightest hint of blackberries to this POMWonderful health concoction!

POM-Powerful Cabbage Detox Drink

Makes: 1-2 servings (4 cups)

Ingredients

• 2 cups green cabbage, chopped
• 2 stalks celery
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 apple, quartered and cored
• 3/4 cup POMx Pomegranate Blackberry Tea
• 1 cup filtered water (or to desired consistency)
• 1 tbsp almond butter

Preparation

1. Blend ingredients.
2. Pour and enjoy!

If you’re as much of a fan of POMx Teas as I am, join them on Facebook! And stay tuned for an upcoming review on their Pomegranate Lychee Green POMx Tea.

We’re finishing up week 3 of our New Year’s resolution alternative, The 2010 TV Detox. It’s time to look back over the week and assess our results, celebrate our successes and rev up for the final week!

How did you do this week, TV Detoxers? Please leave a comment and share your challenges and successes with the community. Perhaps we can help you out or your challenges may help someone else.

This past week for me was much like my last week’s report. If you have 1:09 minutes, I vlogged it on YouTube:

If you’re using Internet Explorer, you may see a white box rather than the video. I’m looking into how to fix this but for now, please access the video directly from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B275XgxZeek.

Special thanks goes to Emmanuel Lopez – Motivatorman for contributing his video production and creating an original music score for this video! Please visit http://motivatorman.com/ to learn more about Emmanuel’s varied talents as an award-winning illustrator, motivational specialist and social media consultant.

For all of you readers out there:

Read the rest of this entry

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“It’s all about moderation and balance.” We hear that a lot, don’t we? But what does that mean? In this post we investigate the definition of the ever so elusive and attractive `balanced living’.

So far on Live Lighter, when we talk about balanced living, we’ve meant attending to our health in all areas of our life: body, mind and soul. But this definition falls short. Real short.

Or so I found out after reading The Law of Attraction: Making It Work For You by Canadian authors, Deborah Morrison and Arvind Singh. (Click here for the authors’ Facebook fan page.)

The Law of Attraction has been described and popularized in the hit movie, The Secret. However, many critics have suggested that the movie message is misdirecting and only skims the surface of how this Universal Law really works.

This is where Ms. Morrison and Mr. Singh come in. They clear up many of the misunderstandings resulting from The Secret and provide practical exercises to integrate the concepts of prosperity into every aspect of your life.

It’s their definition of `true prosperity’ that hit me like a brick: they’re describing the end result of balanced living!

The authors contend that true prosperity is composed of the manifestation of abundance in 5 key elements of your life:

1. Physical
2. Intellectual
3. Emotional
4. Social
5. Spiritual

If you’ve ever wondered why you feel unhappy or that there’s something missing in your life, despite having much to be grateful for, then the following excerpt from The Law of Attraction: Making It Work For You may be as revealing for you as it was for me: Read the rest of this entry

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Life happens and our good intentions of living a healthy lifestyle often tend to fall to the wayside. What if you could break free from the daily grind, visit a tropical island and instead of the vacation blues, you return home revitalized and armed with a new, healthy routine?

This is what Retreat to Healthy Living in Barbados aims to do. Surrounded by the untouched Caribbean island of Barbados, retreat-goers will embark on a 7-day transformational journey with the assistance of various health & wellness practitioners and the inspiring, 2-time Olympic gold medalist, Catriona Le May Doan.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the demands of life and when we are, it’s hard to break out of our old, destructive patterns. According to the press release:

Those participating in this exclusive women’s health retreat, surrounded by relaxing, pristine Barbados, will be primed for learning new, constructive ways of dealing with stress. Between varied engaging outings, like island tours, experiencing Barbados culture and delighting in scrumptious, healthy cuisine, health practitioners will teach participants how to live a healthy lifestyle and achieve remarkable fitness success.

Women, the nurturers of the world, are especially vulnerable to neglect in the self-care department. Ms. Le May Doan reminds us in the press release, we’re usually too busy taking care of others that we either forget or simply run out of time to take care of ourselves.

As a successful athlete, mother, wife and entrepreneur, Catriona lends a unique perspective to the retreat itinerary. And she’s pumped for this health & wellness retreat!

She says, “…not only do we plan to have a lot of fun in Barbados while we’re there, we’ll also learn how to stay healthy, achieve individual goals and have plenty of energy left over for others!”

A Vacation for Learning, Motivation and FUN!

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Did yesterday’s post, Is TV Killing You?, renew your intention of detoxing your TV time for the month? We’re just finishing up week 2 of The 2010 TV Detox and it’s time to look back and see how we did!

How was this week for you in your TV detox? Did you adhere to your prescribed limits? How are you feeling about it? Please share your experience in the comments!

As for my challenges and successes this week…

To be absolutely honest, I have mixed feelings when I report to you that I was challenge-free this week! I’m happy that my TV detox has been easy so far and yet I know that we grow from our challenges.

Perhaps I set my limits too low? Or I miscalculated just how much I watched the old boob tube when I was creating my TV detox plan?

As for weekly successes, I’ve had a wonderfully stress-free but highly productive week! Not only in business but in my personal time, too. I was so engaged in my other personally fulfilling activities, I didn’t even miss TV. And if I want, I’m still able to watch 3 TV shows and 2 movies over the weekend!

Whoo Hoo!

Since challenges are so important, if you had any this week, would you kindly share them with us? And your solutions, too! Others can learn from them and if you didn’t find a solution, we might be able to help you. At the very least, let’s celebrate your successes!

There’s a rumour going around: electrical gadgets emit harmful radiation which affect our health. Since we’ve been doing The 2010 TV Detox here on Live Lighter, Emmanuel (movie & TV lover), asked that we finally settle this dispute in a post. Here it is!

Like chemicals, electromagnetic radiation occurs naturally as well as from man-made products. We receive radiation from the sun, earth, our own bodies and of course, all our electrical devices.  It’s all around us!

What is radiation exactly? Click here to find out.

From the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA):

Man cannot escape exposure to some radiation. We are surrounded by natural radioactivity in the earth and by cosmic rays from outer space. This is called background radiation and cannot be controlled. We are also exposed to manmade radiation, which can and must be controlled.

There are different types of radiation along the radiation spectrum, some more harmful than others. According to RADTown U.S.A. the radiation that comes from x-ray machines are “a form of ionizing radiation, which is capable of removing electrons from atoms and damaging living cells and the DNA of those cells.”

Man-made non-ionizing radiation includes: lasers, televisions, computer monitors and wireless technology. However, televisions and computer monitors that use a cathode ray tube (CRT) can potentially emit low-level x-ray radiation.

So easy enough, to reduce your exposure to harmful radiation from your TV or computer, buy flat screens!

But wait, that’s not all…

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As we move into a more sustainable future, we’re discovering what the ancients have known for a long time: nature is beautiful, powerful and perfect. Today’s fascinating article is about bio architecture and was contributed by Shireen Qudosi of the Qudosi Chronicles.

Several decades ago, a few creative thinkers started redefining the traditional idea of home.  From coast to coast, people started looking at their environment and began building with eco-inspired homes.

Hawaii’s famous Onion House is one popular example of a creative idea, now a national landmark and a beautiful testimonial to shift toward bio-architecture. Designed in tune with the curves of an onion, with a layered feel that mirrors the lucid skins of an onion, the house is a beautiful demonstration of the possibilities when nature is a design icon.

Further down south in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, the Shell House takes the idea literally by designing a house that looks like a magnified shell.  Senosian Arquitectos has the same idea with their design called “The Nautilus”.  This Mexico-based design firm went beyond a shell exterior and designed an entire home patterned after a shell with a winding organic interior.

Nature is the Best Designer

A student of the world’s best designer, bio-architecture seeks to emulate the principles in naturally occurring constructions.  In studying the natural principles of the most long-held designs, this form of aesthetic design looks at fundamental shapes in nature – the most recognizable being the seashell.

The seashell is the best representation of a math-centric natural element that shows why nature is the best designer.  Encompassing the Fibonacci Sequence, or “the Golden Ratio”, a seashell shows perfection in proportion that has been the foundation for some of the greatest designs, including the Parthenon, and by some of the greatest minds, including Leonardo Da Vinci.  The pattern has also been replicated in some of the world’s most cherished poetry by regulating rhyme and meters, as well as in music, such as Beethoven’s Fifth and many of Mozart’s sonatas.

The term “bio-architecture” is also often referred to as “organic architecture”, a thinking that has gained popularity with the rise in eco-awareness.  A shift toward green thinking took bio-architecture a step further and had creative-minded people thinking of how building could merge with the environment as well as reflect it.

Working with the Environment

Bio-architecture can not emulate natural designs, but can become a part of natural constructions.  Rather than create jarring buildings jutting out of plains, this type of architecture looks to emerge as a part of natural settings such as mountains, caves, and wooded areas, as well as present a home that uses resources wisely by cutting utility costs.

Even though these newer designs are based on older shifts toward innovative thinking, the earliest and most architecturally stunning design is still the pyramid.  First built in 2700 BCE, pyramids reflect that most natural and easily recognizable natural element, the sun, by building a structure that represents the descending rays of light. These ancient structures are still being replicated today with the Louvre and Kazakhstan’s Palace of Peace and Reconciliation.

Bio Architecture: Designing with Nature in Mind is written by freelance writer Shireen Qudosi.  Follow her on Twitter @ShireenQ or email her at shireen.qudosi@hotmail.com