New Update

Hello,

It has been a while since I have updated this blog. My appollogies to those of you who follow me. I have been working on a revision of my website (relaxationmedia.com) and as a result studying a lot about how to create a website using Joomla. It is a really good way to manage a site and there is a plethora of on-line information to help reduce the learning curve.

In any case, I will continue posting here and hope you will comment about the topics presented to help all of us share in knowledge of how to have a happy and healthy life.

The Worst Birthday Present

Recently my friend Ryan turned 40. While for most people this is a big event a bigger one was lurking around the corner waiting for him.

Ryan has been married for 15 years. He and his wife, Maria, have two children. Abby is starting school this September and Peter, who is in the third grade. Ryan was hoping for an uneventful birthday. Maybe he would watch a movie at home and enjoy dinner with his family. However what he got was much more dramatic.

Five years earlier Maria had been diagnosed with stage IIB breast cancer. She had surgery and chemotherapy and had shown no sign of recurrence. While she had not regained her full strength in the last five years she was doing much better and in some ways actually had made great strides in her health. The day before Ryan's birthday she had her bi-annual checkup and to their surprise, cancer was found in her other breast. At first this was a shock as you might well expect. But Maria's drive to stay healthy and raise her children to adulthood has helped Ryan to understand this is a fight they will face their entire lives and that a diagnosis is not a termination notice. They are now forging their plan for the long term.

A few weeks later Maria contacted one of her friends who is also a cancer survivor and was shocked to find out that her cancer had spread through out her entire body. Never the less, her friend, Shiori, who also has young children, remains upbeat and happy to greet every day she receives.

These women and the millions of cancer survivors like them are a testament to all of us that having the fortitude to push on through difficult times and seemingly impossible odds is a special gift more of us should strive to be worthy of.


The Courage that we all prize and seek is not the courage to die decently, but to live (man)fully.
-Thomas Caryle Proflies in Courage by: John F. Kennedy Scottish author, essayist, & historian (1795 - 1881)





You can find more stories of hope here.

Help for Caregivers

If you or someone you know is a caregiver. You know the tremendous amount of mental, physical and emotional effort required to perform these unceasing duties. Many experts claim that caregivers need extensive support networks and assistance as well if they hope to keep their sanity and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Recently the Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) has posted a caregivers stress check. You can find it here. This 8 question assessment helps to pinpoint your concerns and then provides links and resources to help you get help. If the illness your loved one is afflicted with is something other than Alzheimer's, the resources can give you a good idea of keywords to google so you too can get some support. Additionally the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) has resources for caregivers here.

As caregivers we often feel that we have to go it alone and find ourselves in isolation. However, there is help out there and you only need take a little time to find it. If you need help in finding additional resources to help you as a care giver please contact me by leaving a post in this blog or checking my profile for contact information.

10 Great Reasons to buy Relaxation Media DVDs

War, politics and the financial crisis are all weighing heavily on us. If we are going to survive these stresses in addition to the ones that grip us on a personal level everyday we need to find ways to relax and clear our minds. One excellent way to do this is by controlling your environment, even if only for a short time. Relaxation Media DVDs are designed with this concept in mind. Our videos are not only sanity savers but also healing helpers. Whether you take 10-20 minutes to enjoy a scene from the great outdoors or let the DVD play continuously on your TV or computer you will find yourself being calmed and at the same time energized, improving your ability to handle the next crisis. Here are 10 additional reasons to buy and use our DVD to help balance your life.

1. Our DVD, Wide Open Spaces has outstanding views of some of the most beautiful places in the western United States.
Our DVD features scenes from Lake Tahoe, Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons captured through the day starting at sunrise and concluding at dusk.


2. Re-connect with nature.
Whether you are unable or too busy to get out and experience the magnificence of nature our DVD gives you a real sense of the outdoors because we use longer, wider shots that allow you to choose what you want to see and provides a different experience on each viewing.

3. Helps to speed recovery from illness.
Experts agree that the greatest medicine for any illness is the power of positive thinking. Our DVD helps you to clear your mind and focus on healing.

4. A great gift.
Do you know someone who longs for the outdoors or a new way to experience their home theater? Someone who can not get out to the park or is home bound? Why not give them an experience instead of just a gift?

5. Create a great natural atmosphere in any room of your house.
What better way to enjoy the enormity of nature in your own home or office than playing our DVD to create positive wholesome ambiance?

6. An excellent tool for meditation and exercise.
Whether you are practicing yoga, running on a treadmill, doing aerobics or meditating you will feel more relaxed and focused by performing a soothing environment like the one provided by our DVD.

7. As green as it could possibly be.
Our DVD cases are made from recycled materials. The paper inserts are also recycled and we use soy based inks. You can also purchase a download able version of our program which obviously is 100% green.

8. You will feel better.
Our programs are designed to help you to relax and improve the three pillars (mental, physical and spiritual) of you health holistically. We do this by producing a product that engulfs you in the experience and lets you focus inward rather than on the video. Creating a new experience in using your TV and DVD player.

9. A cheap vacation.
Take a virtual vacation any time you want. Just pop in our DVD and you are in one of the most relaxing locations you could imagine. Drink in the scenery and atmosphere created right before you.

10. Help out some really cool guys.
Our mission is to help people like you to live a more enjoyable, balanced and fulfilling life. By purchasing our DVDs you can show your commitment to these same principles.

Bonus-
Now through January 1, 2009 our DVD, Wide Open Spaces, is on sale for only $14.99 (a $5.00 savings!). Follow this link and become a member of Relaxation Media to take advantage of this great deal for you and someone you care about.

Don't Have a Blue Christmas - 3 Ways to Spread Holiday Cheer

As the holidays approach and the financial crisis continues on there is a good chance that someone you know will be feeling lonely during this year's holiday season. I recently saw this article about the ill affects to health that loneliness causes.

Instead of letting depression and sadness set in do these three things to make the holiday season a happy and fulfilling time.

1- Volunteer: Work a soup kitchen for the holidays, get involved with you local food bank, homeless shelter and/or Toys for Tots program. You will be glad you did.

2- Build your social skills and get out there and meet people. Recently, I have been teaching some company directors the benefits of social interaction and was surprised to find that even these highly successful people are really shy in social situations. We have been using "How to Work a Room" by Susan RoAne as a way to become aware of and have more control in social situations. Her blog is here.

3- Rekindle old friendships: One of my mentors says that a relationship is as strong as its last interaction. So who are some friends you have not spoken with in a long time. Why not drop them an e-mail or give them a call. I recently re-established friendships with some old friends I had not spoken with for several years. Although they had moved, gotten married and in some cases even left the country, I was able to find them through key word searches and social networking sights like face book. Now we keep in touch on a regular basis and you can do it too.

So don't sit idly by feeling sorry for yourself. Look for what is good in your life (The answer is not nothing!)and take some action to spread that gift around you will be glad you did.

Don't Panic

The housing slump, the stock market crash and people loosing their jobs left and right have made it is easy tfor all of us to panic and throw in the towel. Now is NOT the time to do that. Instead it is a time where cooler heads prevail. You may know that more millionaires were made during the Great Depression than at almost any other time in history. Why? Because those who made a fortune saw opportunity in a depressed market. They did not panic. They looked for the silver lining while most other folks saw the black cloud.




So how can you find your success in these troubling times? Well, there is not a one size fits all solution. Instead what needs to happen is stepping back, clearing you mind and looking around you see your situation from a new prospective. Doing this, you will find there are several opportunities out there for you. I know it is easy to say but there is a evidence of this working everyday. After all, why during one of the darkest week in Wall Street history, did Warren Buffet pour $5Billion in the investment bank Goldman Sachs? He knows times will get better. Yes, times will get better for you too.

So, to succeed now you need to have a clear head and open eyes. You need to take some time to create your options and devise a plan to seize them. And you can't do that with you head full of worries and troubles.

Invest in yourself and a tool that will help you to clear your mind. Relaxation Media's Wide Open Spaces is a program you can put on your TV to help you focus your thinking, discover new possibilities and have the courage to take action in a way that will have you winning through the crisis at hand rather that being swallowed up in it.

The Spirit of Humanity

Everyday we are inundated with news of death and despair, war, conspiracy and predatory behavior. Sometimes, however, we are reminded of the warm hearted spirit of humanity and the power of people to do good. It may be something as small as kind words from a colleague or an offer of assistance from a friend. It may be something monumental like an international rescue of disaster victims or the heroic actions of a few against the many.

Two artistic works from members of my own family last month served as reminders that there is good all around us just waiting to be (re)discovered. My five year old daughter, Ayn, is so full of energy she can hardly contain herself. Her zest for life is apparent in everything she does whether she is singing in her loudest voice, dancing around the house, reading a story to her dolls or running to the door to greet me as I come home from a long and busy day at work. Her passion for life fills the heart of every one around her. Last month Ayn won an art contest and while she is no Picasso, she does emit a passion and energy level in her art I have rarely seen. Her drawings remind me that there is plenty of good in this world.




My grandfather will be 87 years old this year. He is a veteran of WW II. He is also the patriarch of our family. He has deep rooted moral values and an unfaltering ability to do what is right. He recently had a poem published which sent ripples all the way across the pacific ocean from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives, to Tokyo, Japan, my home. Here is his poem.

Sunrise (2008)

I saw the sunrise today It reminded me of the birth of a child
Who like the sun Would be here for but awhile
As it ascended in the skies above
It brought thoughts of my childhood
And those I love
And as the sun peaked in its daily flight
It made me aware of the joys of life
And as it traveled its westward way
It assured me advancing years are of no dismay
And as it descends into the golden west
This child, like the sun, will welcome God’s rest.
Now the sun is beyond the sea Leaving only its rays for me.
And as darkness settles in and night enfolds
It’s like the journey of life
Has now been told.

- Robert W. James

So here we are in a world that many say is so dark and dangerous yet the rays of hope seem imminently more powerful. Who in this world has done something recently that inspires you? Slow down and look around and find the power of the human spirit that feeds your heart and mind.