Adopting a Holistic Approach for a Healthy Life

“Holistic living is a dedication to a lifestyle of balance and health” as per Dr. Linda Mundorff in her book `Take Control: A Guide to Holistic Living’. She is a traditional naturopath who believes that holistic living involves making time for your family and getting along with others. Adopting a holistic approach for a healthy life requires you to give importance to relaxation and spirituality. You need a commitment to a healthy diet, as per Dr. Linda Mundorff, to stay active throughout the day. She points out that there are several methods to go about this holistically. Dr. Maya Paul, writing for Helpguide.Org says, “Think about planning a healthy diet as a number of small manageable steps rather than one big drastic change to set you up for success. If you approach the changes gradually and with commitment, you will have a healthy diet sooner than you think.” Dr. Paul is a Health & Spirit Coach. She suggests three steps: • Simplify – Think about your diet in terms of color and freshness rather than being too much concerned about counting calories and checking portion sizes. • Start Slow – Make slow changes to your eating habits. It is not realistic to make your diet a healthy one overnight. Changing everything all of a sudden will have a negative impact and you may start hating your new eating scheme. • Whatever change you decide will matter – You do not need to be perfect and get rid of foods that you like or enjoy to get to a healthy diet. The ultimate objective is to feel good and get more energy and not to get bogged down or make your life miserable by making strict or difficult choices. The healthy food choices that you make should count and you can be happy with them. Alena Bowers, writing for Live Strong Magazine, says “Certain basics of nutrition must be met daily to eat a healthy diet.” The Help Guide website has suggested that you start to simplify your eating habits as earlier suggested by Dr. Maya Paul. Alena Bowers is also the author of `Alter this’. She is an educator and yoga instructor. She recommends that you start to implement healthier ways to eat on a gradual basis. You can start by serving smaller portions on your plate. You can chew slowly and be conscious of what you are eating rather than concentrating on the television or other people talking when you are eating food. Prema Scott Key writes in her book, “The Journey to Radiant Health”, that there are many holistic exercise methods to be tried. They are Yoga, Tai Chi and the Eastern Martial Arts as they incorporate the mind, body and the spirit. `Yoga’ actually means `Union’ in Sanskrit. The idea is to let you feel the unity within. Prema Key writes that “you can experience more endurance and enjoyment in life by becoming disciplined in holistic living”. Healthy eating is not just about a nutritional philosophy or depriving yourself of the foods you like. It is about beginning to feel good and have more energy to stabilize your mood and keep your body as well as mind healthy. To read more on adopting a holistic approach for a healthier life, you may go through these articles listed below.

Best Treatment for Oily Skin

You may feel that you are not finding a decent solution to remove the greasy look from your forehead and chin when you have oily skin. This is a condition that is often inherited from previous generations in a family. During the teen years, changes in hormone levels could cause skin to turn oily and result in acne outbreak. The best treatments for oily skin can be found at home. Cleaning your face in the morning and at night with a cleanser is probably the single most effective way to manage oily skin. You can use a gentle cleanser as harsh soaps can stimulate the skin to generate more oil. Like cleansers, toners that contain salicylic acid are most effective for oily skin. Oily skin can result from several factors. Genetics and family history can affect the make-up of the skin. Others may have a glandular condition that causes excessive generation of sebum by the sebaceous glands resulting in greasy skin. People in the past have adopted these treatments for oily skin:  Washing the face at least thrice a day.  Tomatoes have been used for their astringent and cooling properties. As tomatoes are rich in Vitamin A and C, they are helpful for reducing acne and getting rid of excessive oil from the skin. There are many anti-oxidants in tomatoes for them to be a popular treatment for oily skin. You have to cut the tomatoes in halves and rub those halves on the affected portions of your skin.  You have to apply make-up at least ten minutes after washing your face and not before because it will not allow the cosmetics to go down through the pores of the skin to create more blackheads and acne. Oily skin can be treated at home. These are the steps you have to take towards treatment for oily skin:  Keep your skin clean – The skin looks dirtier when it is oily. It is important for you to keep the skin clean by washing it at least thrice a day. The glycerine variety of soaps is effective like Pears.  Try Aloe Vera – Aloe Vera gels absorb oil and clear out pores. Dab the gel on to your face at least thrice a day after washing and then let it dry. Keep the gel in the refrigerator for the cooling effect.  Wipe with Astringents – Wiping the oily portions of your face with acetone or alcohol spirits can help in degreasing your skin.  Paper Facial Tissues – They can help soak up excess oil very fast. There are oil absorbing tissues that you can buy at the cosmetics stores.  Almond Honey Scrub – You can mix a small quantity of ground almonds with honey and gently massage or scrub the paste on to your skin with a hot washcloth and rinse thoroughly.  Use water-based cosmetics – If you cannot live without make-up or foundations, you can choose water-based products over the oil-based types and you can select spot concealers than coating your entire face. Try to use gel blushers or powders instead of cream foundations for oily skin. Blotting paper could be a great option for removing excess oil from your skin and the paper does not dry out your skin. These papers are lightly powdered for oily skin to reduce the shine further. Applying masks and clays to the skin also helps draw out oils and cleanses the pores. But excessive use can dry out the skin. They have to be applied only on the problem areas and that too, not frequently. You have to remember that there is no way to completely prevent oily skin. You can watch your diet too. A reduction of fish and iodized salt in your diet is recommended for oily skin treatment.

Maithili

Maithili is a language of India that is spoken mainly in Bihar. There are forty five million people speaking this language in the Eastern State of Bihar and in the Terai region of Nepal. Maithili is a member of the East Indian group of Indo-Aryan languages. It has been given official status in India and is used as a medium of education and also as an official government language. It is the sixteenth most spoken language in India and the fortieth most spoken language in the world. As it is part of the language family of the Indo-Aryan group, Maithili is linked with all the people living in the eastern regions of India. Numerous speakers of Maithili are there in Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal and Maharashtra. It is the second state language of Nepal. Expert linguists have separated this language from Hindi which belongs to the same Indo-Aryan family. Few scholars claim it to be a dialect of both Bengali and Hindi languages. A census report taken out recently has categorised Maithili as a source of origin for the Hindi language. In 2003, Maithili was accorded the status of an independent language through its addition in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It was declared as an official language. This step was taken historically so that the language could be used widely in the areas of academics and all other official functions. It took some time for the language to be granted an official status as people always thought Maithili to closely resemble Hindi. In the earlier days, Maithili had been the language most widely spoken by the people of high castes like Brahmins. Today, a Maithili Academy has been set up to train people regardless of the castes or classes. Now, Maithili has its speakers among all the classes and castes. It is a common scene when you find usage of the Maithili language in households and city halls. Maithili had become a language of the masses. It has spread through magazines and television programs. It has gained so much popularity that it is now being used in the academic curriculum of universities. Maithili linguistics is being taught at the Patna University and also Mithila University in Darbhanga. Dictionary and grammar books have been introduced in schools too. History Maithili language has a rich history behind it. The term has been taken from the word `Mithila’ which is a famous state in the ancient period of India. It was the name of the ancient kingdom of Raja Janaka, father of Sita. It also happens to be one of the names of Sita, Lord Rama’s wife. The history of Maithili literature is more than a thousand years old whereas that of Hindi literature has a history of barely two hundred years since Bhartendu Harishchandra. In his book `Alphabetum Brahmanicum’, an Italian scholar, Amaduzzi, has mentioned Maithili language around 1770 AD. The modern period of Maithili began with the advent of the Maithili Theatre by Shri Kaushal Kumar Das in 1982. Literature Maithili has quite an illustrious history of its literature. A well known poet is Vidyapati. It is because of his efforts that Maithili has achieved its status from its modest origins. His poems had a major influence on the Maharaja of Darbhanga who did a lot to bring it to the status of an official language and made it comprehensive to the masses. The earliest work in Maithili is `Varna Ratnakar’ by Jyotirishwer Thakur around 1225 AD. The language got literary prominence in the medieval period when Maithili scholars like Chandeshwar, Vachaspati and Shankar wrote many works in the language. The famous scholar Vidyapati wrote many famous songs in the Maithili language in Nepal in the Bhakti form of poetry. Vidyapati was an eminent literary figure in Maithili. He is responsible for elevating the status of Maithili language from a common people’s language to one used for official work in Bihar. He managed to replace Sanskrit with Maithili. Many writers started writing in Maithili on the subjects of humour and satire. Dr. Hari Mohan Jha brought about important changes in the ancient Mithila culture. His renowned work, ‘Khatar Kaka Ke Tarang’ is regarded as a major work in the modern Maithili literature. After Maithili was accepted by the Sahitya Academy, many writers have won literary awards almost every year. Many scholars opine that Siddhacharyas formed a prototype of Maithili during the ninth century when they composed `Charyapada’. Since then, the language has progressed and many works have been found. Prototype forms and words are also found in `Prakrit Paingalam’ and other Sanskrit works written by scholars of Mithila who were under the influence of the native people. In the fourteenth century, Kavi Shekhar Jyotireshwar Thakur used a form of Prototype Maithili and this is one of the oldest prose works in any of the languages of North Eastern India. Vidyapati also used the language in his dramas, `Kirtilata’ and `Kirtipataka’. He also composed many poems describing the love of Radha and Krishna in his `Padavali’ that is written in the Maithili style of the medieval ages. He also influenced Nepali, Oriya and Manipuri literature during the medieval period. His influence has been seen right up to the modern period in the Shyam Sangeet of Rabindranath Tagore. Maithili has also survived from the courts of the kings of Nepal during the Malla period. Several dramas and anthologies of lyrical poems in Maithili come from this period in Nepal. Ankiya Natak’s dialogue and songs were composed in Maithili during the period of Shankardev and Madhavdev in Assam. In the modern days, several writers have produced literary writings in genres like poetry, plays, dramas, critical reviews and epics representing the culture, history and linguistics. Maithili holds a good collection of oral literature in the form of folk tales in prose, ballads and songs. Script Maithili was generally written in the script known as Mithilakshar or Tirhuta which was developed from the Brahmi script during the first century. It had similarities with the Bengali script. It is based on the Sanskrit grammar of Panini. Today, Maithili language uses the Devanagiri script. A lot of effort is being put in to preserve this script. A digital version is also being compiled to encode the script in the standard Unicode. A proposal has been put forward to implement this. There are three modes of writing in the Maithili language. They are Devanagiri, Mithilakshar and Kaithi. During the last one hundred and fifty years, foreign scholars like Colebrooke (1801) and Kellog (1893) have studied Maithili’s grammar, lexicography and comparative linguistics. These scholars along with the Indian linguists like Rahul Mahapandit Sankrityayan have been successful in turning Maithili into a fully fledged independent language that has originated from Sanskrit Prakrit. There were earlier attempts made by Sir G. Grierson to publish the grammar of the language in 1880. He did work on the vocabulary of the language in 1882 and Bihar peasant life in 1885. In 1946, Pandit Deenbandhu Jha wrote a book on grammar and published a Maithili dictionary. In 1973, the Institute of Advanced studies in Shimla published an incomplete dictionary of the language compiled by Dr. Jayakant Mishra. Royal Nepal Academy has also published a Maithili-Nepali-English dictionary under the guidance of Dr. Y. Yadav. Dr. Subhadra Jha has written on the formation of Maithili language in 1958. Professor Radhakrishna Chaudhury has written the `Survey of Maithili Literature’ in 1964. Dr. Jayakant Mishra has written the `History of Maithili Literature’ in 1968. In the same year, Pandit Govind Jha has written on the `Origin and Growth of Maithili’ and he has also compiled a Maithili-English dictionary in the recent times. Dialects Maithili language has many dialects. The diversification in these dialects has come about due to its geographical locations as well as the caste differences. Some of the dialects are Standard Maithili, Eastern Maithili, Jolaha and Central Colloquial Maithili. A distinct characteristic of these Maithili dialects is the easy comprehensibility among the people who speak them. The main reason is the presence of many similar sounding words in all the dialects. Almost ninety per cent of the words are shared between Brahmin and non Brahmin dialects. Maithili falls in one of the three dialects of the Bihari language along with Magahi and Bhojpuri. Maithili is widespread in the Northern region of Bihar, east of river Gandak. It is also spoken in parts of Southern Bihar. Preservation of the Language Just like Kashmiri, the Maithili speakers themselves do not take much pride in the daily use of the language. There are no daily newspapers published. Even magazines and periodicals are very few in print. The Hindi language purists who hate Maithili do a lot of damage through the apathetic state government. The language has been derecognised at the civil service examinations level. There is no unity among the Maithili speakers themselves. There is too much of consideration for petty squabbles like caste, religion and the big gap between the lower strata of the society and the elitists. People forget that Maithili belongs as much to the Dalits and Muslims and those people belonging to the lower cadres and castes in life as it belongs to the people of the upper castes. It is encouraging to note that the Dalits and the lower castes have preserved these Loris, Nayaks and Rayaranpaals and have memorised them. They have been able to maintain them traditionally down the ages. These traditions have played a great role in the preservation of the Maithili language.

Tablets have become Personal Computers of Convenience

Though laptops or net books are quite common in today’s society, Tablet PCs are fast becoming the new age personal computers for their convenience, portability and functioning. When we analyse the tablet personal computer market in the United Kingdom, we realize that the entire market is dominated up to almost ninety five per cent by Apple with their iPad and iPad2 as per the latest market research. The latter was introduced just a few months back in the UK market. This is not at all a surprise as there are only a handful of other Tablet PCs that are available in the UK market as per Techradar UK. There is a hint of competition in the air to Apple with a recent launch of Windows 7 Tablet PC in UK. Samsung has also entered the market with its 7” Galaxy Tab in UK. Some analysts are predicting that in the next few months, new Android based Tablet PCs are likely to hit the UK market before Christmas this year. The Android Operating System Tablet PCs make up a very small percentage of the total global market. An Android Tablet PC is a wireless personal computer that is little bigger than a cell phone and a little scaled down than a net book. iBUY247 is a popular seller of all brands of Tablet PCs in UK. Their current popular brands in Android Tablet PCs are the ib701, PCX5A and PC ZT-180. Acer also has come out with its Android Tablet PC for UK’s hi-tech gadget market. The model is Iconia Tab A500 with specifications of 1GHz dual core processor and nVidia GeForce video graphics processor with ultra low power consumption. But, it is more expensive than Apple iPad2. iBUY247 is also selling Windows-based Tablet PCS with models like PCX9, P10P and N737i being the popular ones. In addition, the other brands that are available in the UK market are the `Winslate 1’ that is with a display of 1024x600 pixels and `Winslate 2’ which is an ultra thin capacitive tablet at only 14mm, offering a high screen resolution of 1280x720 pixels. The WinPad Ultra is the biggest in rugged design for portable Windows Tablets. With screen sizes of 7” or above and sufficient processing power, Tablet PCs offer a computing experience with functions that are comparable to net books with a growing number of applications.

Le Lac des Cygnes - Swan Lake - The Original Score

Le Lac des Cygnes Swan Lake Piotr Tchaikovsky Antal Dorati Minneapolis Symphony

It does not happen on many occasions that an original score of a well known musical opus remains obscure to the world. It has happened in the case of the original score for Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet. Today, Swan Lake has come to be recognised as the queen of all traditional ballets, no one realises the tumultuous time it had during its earlier years, forcing the composer to keep, revising it neurotically. It all began in 1875, when the director of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, V. Begitchev, commissioned Tchaikovsky to write a score for a ballet and the libretto was provided by the director himself in collaboration with Vasily Geltzer. The story is actually inspired by a German fairy tale and it got Tchaikovsky attracted to it. Tchaikovsky composed feverishly, giving an almost symphonic stature to the score for the ballet and when it was finished, the entire staff of the Bolshoi Theatre felt that it was too orchestral and difficult to perform. The first performance took place on 4th March 1877 and it turned out to be a dismal affair; even the audience not showing too much enthusiasm. The production did not include tasteful and imaginative choreography to match this kind of a symphonic score. The management of the Bolshoi Theatre then decided to tell Tchaikovsky that some sections of the score for the ballet were not danceable at all. They wanted to interpolate dances from other ballets in a similar fashion to how some productions in the earlier part of this decade have inserted Tchaikovsky’ First Winter Dreams Symphony into a ballet arrangement for Snegurochka or the Snow Maiden. So, Tchaikovsky’s original score for Swan Lake collected dust till 1883 and a performance was given at the Maryinsky Theatre at St. Petersburg with revisions and deletions edited by the composer. Another performance also resulted in a disaster. Tchaikovsky never had the fortune of watching his great opus performed as he intended any time after that. The ballet was first appreciated in 1901 when Alexander Gorsky produced it for Bolshoi Theater and took up the challenge admirable, albeit eight years after the composer had long left his earthly abode at a young age of fifty three. He died of cholera. This performance gave the ballet its immortality. What we see choreographed today is the version stamped by the artistry of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, whose partnership finally saved Swan Lake from extinction. Antal Dorati with Minneapolis Symphony and Mercury Recordings presented the first recorded score of this famous ballet. It deserved a world premiere merit at the time it came out in December 1954. The performance was recorded in the Northrop memorial Auditorium at the University of Minnesota with a single Telefunken microphone hanging fifteen feet above, slightly behind the head of Mr. Dorati. The orchestra was arranged in a normal concert performance set up to achieve a natural balance among the featured solo instruments and the orchestral ensembles. This recording can be considered as an important milestone in the disc literature of this ballet master work.

Ten Soups that are Ideal when Dieting

When you are dieting, you can safely think in terms of soups. There are many delicious soups that you can concoct to lead a healthy life. Tiffany Tse is a Lifestyle writer with a focus on healthy living. She writes regularly for Shape Magazine. She firmly believes that soups can provide ample nutrition when you are dieting. She has compiled eleven ideal soups for people to eat regularly when they diet. 1. Lentil Chili Soup – This is a healthy stew and the fiber rich lentils that are low in fat keep the calorie count in control. Spice could be added with a little dash of chili powder. This recipe is provided by Maris Callahan who is a writer for `Diets in Review’. 2. Mushroom and Barley Soup – You can use nutty grains of barley to get that chewy texture and mushrooms would be able to satisfy as a low calorie treat. This is one of Tiffany Tse’s favorite dieting soups. 3. Red Pepper Bisque – You can shop for crisp and sweet bell peppers and yellow onions. Liquefy them into a colored puree. This will be full of antioxidants and the concoction can turn into a healthy meal with an addition of mixed greens and whole grains. This recipe is also provided by Maris Callahan from `Diets in Review’. 4. Chicken Zucchini and Potato Soup – Good chunks of potato, chicken breast and zucchini make up this stew and it is ideal for a cold day. The vegetables make this stew a filling one. This recipe was taken by Tse from Chris Powell who is a trainer from Extreme Makeover. 5. Crème de Tomate – This is a simple one and must have been made numerous times at home. It is better to make fresh at home than rely on the canned soups. You can chop, roast, simmer and blend the tomatoes to give that silky mélange touch with the combination of onions and red peppers. The recipe remains one of Tse’s top few when dieting. 6. Turkey Rice Soup – When you want to make use of some leftovers, brown rice and turkey cooked in chicken broth with some frozen mixed vegetables can give you a “mouth watering, robust gumbo” as per Tiffany Tse. 7. Spaghetti Squash Noodle Soup – This a low carb combination with strips of spaghetti squash noodles mixed with onions and potatoes. Cook the spaghetti squash and then bake it. Prepare vegetables in a pot and heat with olive oil. Add the squashed noodles and cook for about ten minutes. This recipe was supplied to Tse by `Veg Obsession’. 8. Chicken and Dumplings Soup – This is usually high in calories and sodium but can be turned into a healthy recipe with many nourishing vegetables for a stew and whole wheat pastry flour for the crisp dumplings. This recipe has been provided by the `Gracious Pantry’. 9. Moroccan Chickpea Stew – Tender chickpeas will give this stew a nutritious pep. The chickpea nuggets will be full of protein and fiber and can serve as a filling addition to any meal. Cook the chickpeas in tomato sauce and let it boil. You can add frozen spinach and noodles to the stew. The recipe has been provided by `Gluten Freedom’. 10. Minestrone – This soup is low in carbohydrates and calories. It is made with potatoes, corn, carrots, tomatoes, white beans and lentils. As with the Crème de Tomate, this soup will provide you with lycopene. It will add fiber, protein and iron to your diet. This combo has been supplied to Tiffany Tse by `Young Married Chic’. You may read more for details on how to make these soups for a healthy diet in these articles listed below. http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/10-healthy-soups-fill-you-not-outrovided http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/7-healthy-soups-to-fit-your-diet.html#b

Hashimoto Thyroiditis

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune and chronic lymphocytic disease in which the thyroid gland is attacked by numerous cells and antibody influenced immune processes. They cause primary thyroidism. This is one of the first auto immune diseases to be recognised. This is a condition where the immune system attacks the thyroid which is a small gland at the base of your neck below the Adam’s apple. This gland is a part of the endocrine system that produces hormones which coordinate many activities in your body. The inflammation that results from Hashimoto’s disease leads to an underactive thyroid gland or hypothyroidism. It affects mostly middle aged women. Treatment is prescribed by way of hormone replacement and it is an effective process. This disease progresses slowly over the years and causes thyroid damage and that leads to a drop in the thyroid hormone levels in the blood. The symptoms are those of hypothyroidism or an underactive thyroid gland. Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism • Fatigue and sluggishness • Increased sensitivity to cold • Constipation • Pale, and dry skin • A puffy face • Hoarse voice • Unexplained weight gain — occurring infrequently and rarely exceeding 10 to 20 pounds, most of which is fluid • Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your shoulders and hips • Pain and stiffness in your joints and swelling in your knees or the small joints in your hands and feet • Muscle weakness, especially in your lower extremities • Excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia) • Depression

How do you find Tigers in the Indian Parks?

Seven years ago, I went excitedly to the Corbett Park in India with every expectation of coming across at least one tiger during my stay there for three days. I came back disappointed for I saw none. There were pugmarks at some places or were they? Forget Corbett! There have been similar people like me coming back disillusioned from many a national park in India without sighting a tiger. The tiger tales of Corbett have remained just legends and nothing more than that. The poachers have left nothing much for the coming generations. The actual number of tigers is falling rapidly in India. One of my friends has recently sighted a tiger in Nagzira and the Koka Forest. Elsewhere in Ranthambore, big cats were sighted in Rajasthan. Was I plain unlucky or the others are smarter than me? India has always been famous for the Taj Mahal and the Bengal Tiger. The Taj Mahal is easy enough but the Bengal Tiger is pretty elusive. Sooner than you expect, this magnificent tiger will probably disappear from the face of the planet Earth. In the world, there are not more than three thousand tigers left. This may be hard to believe but it is true. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were almost one hundred thousand tigers in India. Do you want to know what that figure has come down to as of the present? It is one thousand seven hundred and six tigers left as per the 2011 tiger census. The bloody British/Nawab/Rajah hunting expeditions, the evil poachers and the encroachment of people into the animal habitats have collectively taken their toll on this now rare species in India. Who is going to do anything about this and will it be done fast? High hopes. The coming generations in India will only be able to see tigers in tiger tale books and this animal will join the myth and folklore species. Coming to grips with the current situation, if you are planning a vacation to look out for tigers, perhaps Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan may be the place to go for. You may be able to catch a face to face situation with the about-to-be-extinct big cats. Will any poacher or any Wildlife Preservation Organizations raise up their arms to answer ‘Yes’ for the tiger being declared as an endangered animal in India? In the pre-independence era, tiger hunts were considered fashionable with the British officers and the elite of the Indian society. They perhaps still are with the Bollywood eunuchs. These hunts provided entertainment for the Maharajas. Even after independence, hunts were organized when the Royalty visited. Do you believe that? One specific extravagant hunt was organized in 1961 by Maharani Gayatri Devi for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip when the royal couple visited Jaipur. It took twenty five years for an independent nation to initiate a nationwide ban on tiger hunting. The Wildlife Protection Act came into being in 1972. It became illegal to hunt tigers or take ownership of their body parts. The Tiger Task Force was set up in 1973 and, at first; nine forests were declared as tiger reserves. Nowadays, families do not need to play rough to view the tigers as there are several resorts and hotels that have come up as a result of the tiger tourism awareness. Vanyavilas which has been developed by the Oberoi group is about one hundred and eighty kilometers from Jaipur. It was the hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Jaipur and it means `forest resort’. It has been included in Travel and Leisure’s listing of the top hundred hotels in the world. Vanyavilas is a good foil for a decent jungle safari. The guests can stay in luxury tents in this huge resort which is surrounded by landscaped gardens. The guests get to sleep in the tents. They will get to see not only the tiger if they are lucky but about over two hundred species of birds that include the crested honey buzzard, serpent eagle and the Pariah Kite. Visitors have to remember that the Forest Department which is responsible for the conservation of wildlife has put a limit on the number of people touring the Ranthambore National Park on a daily basis. The place which brought back my belief that tigers do exist and can be spotted in India was Tadoba Reserve near Nagpur in Maharashtra. I have seen five tigers spread across four days in a span of two successive years which involved two visits to the park. Tiger sightings have been quite frequent during the months of May and June when they come to the lakes to cool themselves down. So, before it becomes too late, see the tiger for real before the hunters, poachers and villagers eliminate them with their greed to possess and destroy.

Ten Most Likely Causes of Low Back Pain

1. Sprains and Injuries – A simple sprain of a muscle or a ligament while lifting something heavy or after an awkward twisting movement could give us low back pain. Injuries to the back with trauma or fracture will also result in low back pain. 2. Awkward Seating – An improper seating position during the day while we are at our workstations may also result in low back pain. 3. Sleeping Position – Low back pain can result by a wrong sleeping position or the kind of mattress that we are sleeping on. 4. Pregnancy - The expanding uterus will shift the center of gravity and stretch out the abdominal muscles resulting in the weakening of the muscles, changing of the posture and straining of the back. 5. Menstrual Periods – Women, during their menstrual cycle, will experience intense low back pain as the uterus contracts and presses against the surrounding muscles. 6. Obesity – Carrying the bulky weight is a common cause of back pain. 7. Degenerated Discs – Back aches may result from deterioration in the disc condition of the spine. 8. Herniated Disc - A spinal nerve may become trapped when the disc ruptures and presses outward, straining the lumbar spine. Some spinal nerves could be pinched to give us continuous pain. 9. Arthritis – A common cause of back ache in elderly adults is arthritis of the spine. It feels worse when they lie down to sleep. 10. Cervical Stenosis - It is a tightening of the spinal cord that can result in considerable back pain.

Garlic supports Healthy Dieting

The health magazine, `Health.am’, has reported research that has been done at the Weizmann Institute in Israel showing that garlic has been recognized for its health benefits such as preventing heart ailments, diabetes and cancer. Researchers are also endorsing the fact that garlic supports healthy dieting and helps in the reduction of body weight. It contains that vital compound called allicin that suppresses appetite and helps people in losing weight. Allicin has been known to reduce the blood pressure, triglyceride and insulin levels in the animals tested in the laboratories. These animals were fed a diet that was rich in sugar. It has been published in a study in the American Journal of Hypertension that animals that had developed high levels of insulin, blood pressure and triglycerides had their levels reduced by the intake of allicin. It went on to control their levels. During the research, rats were also fed allicin and observed for few days. They did not gain weight but the rats in the other group that were not fed the garlic compound did gain weight. Diana Herrington, Author of `Eating Green and Lean’, writing for the Care2 Magazine, says that “Garlic acts as an appetite suppressant as it gives the brain signals of satiety when it is eaten.” A person with the daily dose of garlic would be inclined to eat less during the day. Garlic has also been known to increase the metabolism rate of our body. The American Journal of Hypertension states that garlic stimulates the nervous system to release the adrenaline hormone which increases the rate of metabolism. This high rate of metabolism can help a person to burn more calories and eventually lose weight. Garlic can be used widely in the daily diet towards weight loss. It can be used in the dishes cooked or it can be used in the salads. Garlic bread also can be eaten along with other garlic products to keep your weight in check and reduce it gradually. It is popular because it is economically priced and easy to find in the food markets. As per the American Journal of Hypertension, garlic has also been considered herbal drug. It has been used in many civilizations as a cure for common cold, influenza and even the plague. Garlic has also helped to make the body more resistant to various allergies. It helps loosen and release the plaque from the walls of the arteries. It has also been considered as the best option to eliminate parasites like pin worms from your body. Garlic is packed with many nutrients and vitamins. Garlic may have been called the `stinking rose’ in the world but it is known for more than its odor. It is an aphrodisiac and is very beneficial for your health. Garlic gets its odor properties from a sulphur compound. These compounds are known for their pungent odors. To read more about the benefits of garlic as a supplement for healthy dieting, you may explore http://www.health.am/weightloss/more/garlic-for-weight-loss/.

Dopamine

Dopamine is a compound which is present in the body as a neurotransmitter and a precursor of substances such as adrenaline. It is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. It plays an important role in the brain and the body. Its name is derived from its chemical structure. It is an amine synthesised by removing a carboxyl group from a molecule of its precursor chemical L-DOPA. It occurs in brain cells and adrenal cells. In the brain cells, it is transported to synaptic locations and packaged into vesicles for release that occurs during synaptic transmission. After its release, the dopamine that is free is either reabsorbed into the pre-synaptic terminal for reuse or it is broken down by the enzymes like monoamine oxidase or COMT. It produces a variety of degradation metabolites whose end products are eventually excreted in the urine. Our brain includes numerous dopamine systems and they play an important role in behaviour hat is reward motivated. Most rewards increase the level of dopamine in the brain and many addictive drugs increase dopamine neuronal activity. Other systems that are affected by dopamine are the motor control activities that control the release of several hormones.

Spending an Italian Vacation in Rapallo

Rapallo has become a resort town in the Province of Genoa in Italy. You will find many hotels and restaurants crowding the bay to the south of the town. When the rainy season recedes, many tourists visit this section of the Italian Riviera each spring. This was a backwater area and many people came for the extra ordinary beauty of the bay here. This was one of the favorite spots of Ezra Pound. He wrote most of his Cantos here in the nineteen thirties. Pound always found rest here in his hectic career. He eventually settled down in the close by village of St. Ambrogio. Rapallo also featured in the regular vacations for D.H. Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway. This resort is well known for its large marina and its castle which is now open for exhibition. The landscape here is magnificent and the Mediterranean offers splendid vistas. This is almost a postcard town. It is a seaside resort where you can relax and forget the bustle of heavily crowded places. The town is on the Gulf of Tigullio with pines rising from the hills that are behind the town. You get a great view from the beautiful Sanctuary of Our Lady of Montallegro which is at a height of over six hundred meters in the hills. The main street in Rapallo is an esplanade between the shore and the hotels. Fishermen are always busy at the rocks that are below the walkway. If you stay in any hotel, you can view the whole bay. You will find a statue of Cristoforo Colombo with the palm trees surrounding it. There is a long white pier that juts into the bay. There will be ferries going in and out of that bay. Below your hotel balcony, you can hear the waves smash against the stone walls of a castle that was built in the sixteenth century to safeguard the town from the attacks of the pirates. This castle is lit by orange floodlights in the night and it looks great against the dark sky. There are several pizzerias for you to dine in. You can select from many restaurants along the esplanade. There are people frequenting these restaurants till quite late in the night. The Farmer’s Market is held on most weekdays and you will see quite a range of fresh fruits and vegetables. Its Historical Center has been renovated. The well known hotels are Lido, Excelsior Palace, La Villa Manuelina, Rosa Bianca and Framon Grand Hotel Bristol. You can also rent a villa for about five hundred dollars a week. The nearest connection place is Genoa. Rapallo is connected by many trains from Genoa. You can reach Rapallo by train, car or boats. If you reach Rapallo by a boat, you will be able to see the breathtaking waterfront. You can take a boat trip to Portofino. During summer, Rapallo becomes a very important summer vacation town on the Ligurian Riviera. During winter, Rapallo tends to become very windy.

My Childhood Brands

When I look back at my childhood days, I recall people less clearly than things. I remember erasers, called rubbers, with fragrance made of opaque rubber, particularly an inexpensive eraser Sandow. There were so many soaps that the pages of middle-class India in the nineteen sixties may be written in soap and detergents. The only detergent that has survived as a brand from then is Surf. The word 'detergent' was not used back then. Surf was detergent as it became the generic word for all powdered soaps that came in a box. No one had heard of Rin and Nirma. Red Lifebuoy just could not be overlooked. Hamam and the green Cinthol were the bars to bathe with except for people with higher aspirations who purchased Moti, a fat round soap that was rather large for small hands or perhaps Pears which was considered posh; any household that used Pears regularly was not deemed middle class. Classes in society were distinguished for buying crates of Coca Cola rather than individual bottles. Cans had not been introduced in the market then. The classes were also separated from their children reading fudgy Commando comics versus the illustrated classics or the TinTin comic books. The midpoint was Tarzan and Batman comics. Other from soaps, our childhood was outlined by toothpaste. Almost everyone used Colgate and that has not changed much even today. For a while, Binaca Green was real competition, thanks to Ameen Sayani’s Binaca Geet Mala. There were diversions in the form of old men with a giant single-stringed instrument that looked like a bow called 'ektara' and made a deep thrumming sound which was amusing for about five minutes before you realized that it was the only sound it could make. Summer always brought the `gannawala’ or the sugar-cane man who kept his cart outside the house and ran giant canes, sometimes six at a time, through the press. Then he would double those husked sticks and run them through again. The juice ran through a sieve into an aluminium vessel. In ice creams, Kwality was leading the pack with Havmor’s Tutti Frutti also widely popular. There were no signs of London Dairy, Haagen Dazs or Baskin Robbins. The Vadilals were not born yet. Apart from ice cream, Orange bars, HMV records, Godrej refrigerators, Bond paper, Cadbury's Fruit & Nut were those brands that you simply could not ignore. Wrigley's Spearmint, Quality Street and Kraft cheese were the goodies that resulted as gifts from returning family members who travelled abroad. At home, Kathiawar Stores still gave us the blue tin boxes of Britannia’s ginger biscuits. Not many elders have forgotten that taste. It still lingers in their mouth. For tennis lovers, nothing was more appropriate than a can of Dunlop tennis balls. Unlike Indian tennis balls, these were seal packed in pressurized containers and when you pulled the metal tab, there was a whoosh. For kids at school, there were geometry boxes by Staedtler, table tennis bats from Butterfly, Bic ballpoint pens and Parker 45 pens. Their parents used Cherry Blossom or Kiwi shoe polish to keep their shoes shined at all times. The polish scene still finds these two brands quite the strongest even today.

Native American Spirituality

There are over five hundred tribes of Native American Indians spread all over North and South America. For this reason, the Native American religions are varied. But there is a common ancient prayer that they bless each other with. The prayer is, “May you always walk in beauty”. There is one common bond of spirituality in all the tribes. The link is the harmony between nature and man. The beliefs and the rituals make up an essential part of their daily lives. The religion and spiritual ideologies of Native Americans have developed over the centuries from hunting principles, taboos, animal symbolism and belief in spirits passed down the ages as verbal history lessons from family to family along with their traditions. Ceremonies play a very important role in Native American religions. They do not hold rituals and myths as two separate things. The ritual is firmly laid out and the myth is undefined. Most of the ceremonies were adapted in local communities, utilizing traditions and sometimes borrowing customs from the other tribes to suit their local needs. They were always anticipating adapting to the ceremonies that would teach them how to face the difficulties that they encounter in their daily lives. As these traditions and customs developed through the ages, they were always overhauled and made to evolve with new purpose and meaning. Dances are an important part of the ceremonies. There is a rain dance, a crop dance, a harvest dance and a spirit dance. There are rituals for life cycles. There are rites when a toddler takes his first steps in life. When a female grows up, there is a puberty rite which is very important for all the tribes. It is also called the `Sunrise Ceremony’ that takes place during the summer after a girl gets her first menstruation cycle and becomes a woman. The Native American religion is closely associated with nature. The local surroundings are given a symbolic meaning. Natural objects are given importance and inspiration is taken from them making their presence sacred. Ceremonies and rituals that involve these natural objects are indicators of individual and tribal prosperity. These common features bring all the tribes together. Some rituals require a priest to officiate. The priest offers his services through visionary interactions and interpretations. Like four seasons of the year and four parts of the day, four is a sacred number for the Native Americans. Songs and prayers are also composed for quartets. The ceremonial ritual dance always moves clockwise. The rites will always last for four consecutive nights. The main theme that is underlying in Native American religions is the respect given to Mother Earth and the co-existence of man with animals and nature.