Flaunting sex appeal is a way of life in Italy.  But now there is a rebellion.  60% of the Italian TV audience is made up of women!  The Italian media is presenting vulgar images of women with silicone lips, breasts and thighs and call this beauty.

Italian women are now protesting the culture of sexism that is being promoted on Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s  three television stations ( for those who didn’t know he runs the media as well!!)

Barely clad sexy women who are known as the “veline” are a special feature of the entertainment empire that has made Berlusconi one of the world’s wealthiest men. 

Lorella Zanardo - a Milan businesswoman has dedicated a tremendous amount of time to raise awareness about how Italian television views women’s bodies.  Her documentary Il Corpo Delle Donne has received worldwide media coverage with nearly one million views.

When Lorella Zanardo takes her 25 minute video around to schools she asks girls what it is they want to be when they grow up.  For girls between the ages 16 to 17 the answer is often to be a “velina”.

In this short video Lorella asks the question to all women ” who are we?”, ” what do we want?” and ” why aren’t all Italian women in the streets protesting against the way they are being represented?”

Why indeed?

If we as women are to empower ourselves, if we want to change the way we are viewed then we have to accept taking some responsibility in making those changes.

Refuse to be part of the industry that promotes a distorted view on what women should look like.  This is not to say that we should not work towards looking  our absolute best.    But there is a vast difference between working on maintaining a healthy body both on the inside and  out and subjecting oneself to ridiculous amounts of plastic surgery to live up to an ‘image’ of beauty that has been determined by the media.

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Sometimes life throws us curve balls that are unforseen and it is during these times that we can easily lose our faith, hope and passion.    Experience has served to teach us that during these especially challenging times we need to find that which inspires and motivates us.

The the words from Patrick M Power’s Everyday Wisdom  is sure to re-ignite your belief  in your dreams and aspirations.  The underlying message in this video is to believe in your potential and that basically there are only two things that create your dreams:

1.  Your choices

2. Your committment to those choices.

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Learn to empower yourself through realizing that the power to create your life is already within your grasp.  There is nothing phenomenal about this process, in fact  it’s really quite simple.

As humans we have a tendency to make things so very complicated and some of us have underlying beliefs or ideas that the key to self empowerment is ‘out there’ somewhere in the unknown and we have yet to discover it.

In the coming weeks I will begin to outline a simple process in the form of steps to help you empower yourself.

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You can’t imagine how you can empower yourself through smarter shopping?  Easy! 

It seems that every time you turn the television on to watch the news or whenever you pick up a newspaper or magazine there is a message that gets thrown in our faces about the ever-increasing prices of food.

And the way the media delivers this information to us is in such a way as to make us feel as if we are not empowered to do anything about it. 

I hardly watch the news as a rule, however this evening I was visiting with a relative who was watching the evening news and it seems that the supermarket giants ( namely Woolworths and Coles here in Australia) have the consumers right where they want them – or so it seems.

Consumers are paying ‘through the nose’ prices and as the media conveys this message is do so as to make consumers feel they have absolutely no control over this situation and are not empowered to do anything about it.

Fact is as consumers we have an opportunity here to take back our power from these giants who seemingly have us where they want us – in their supermarkets paying more for less.

I grew up in the sixties where it was quite common to go to the local grower for our produce, get the milk delivered from the milkman and the bread delivered daily to your doorstep.  We would go to the butcher for meat and the fish market for fish and in the late 70’s I used to go fishing down to the George’s River which wasn’t far from my home.

The consumer today still has many choices available to them to save money on the average grocery bills and all it takes is a little time and a little effort.

Here are some ideas that you may want to consider which will both save you money on your family grocery bills and make you feel as if it is YOU who is in charge and not a victim of the supermarket giants.

• There are many local growers of fresh produce that take their products to the local markets.  All you need to do is find out where and when these markets are held.  Being local, their produce is remarkably fresher than the stores as it is usually picked the day before or just a couple of days prior to selling. 

These markets quite often have more than just fresh produce .  In fact you may find some that have almost everything you can get in your supermarket and most of them at bargain prices!

• Support your local small businesses like the local butcher and bakeries. 

• Find other clever ways to save money on food by learning to make some basic things yourself such as mayonnaise dressings, salad dressings, sauces, pickled foods and even baby foods.  These are costly items in the store and you can make them in less time than it has taken me to write this post for a fraction of the price and minus all the unnecessary sugars, salts and preservatives.

• The latest craze at the moment in shopping without spending a cent is known as ’swap shopping’.  People feel so empowered when they can take an item or items they no longer want or need and swap them for items they do want.  These are being conducted in all areas and is suprising successful – particularly women’s fashion.  Can you imagine how many happy husbands are out there now when their wives come home from a day of clothes swapping shopping and haven’t spent a cent?

It seems to be easier to head down to the one huge store where everything you want is under one roof  and it takes a courageous person to stand up to the supermarket giants and  decide to embark on making that extra effort to discover clever and creative ways to save money.

The money you save is yours and this gives you a sense of  empowerment and control over your money and finances.

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Some of the best goal setting tips are not a set of complicated instructions, do’s and dont’s, but rather realistic and basic steps that are easy to achieve.

Though we may not realise it, we set goals every day of our lives.  Most of us have a daily and weekly set of goals. And we have these to ensure we get things done and tick them off when we have achieved them or carried them out.

More than a decade ago I spoke to a female health practitioner and discussed how I didn’t feel I was getting things done.  But what was more disturbing for me was that I felt overwhelmed and had too much to do all at once.

She taught me the value in making the effort to purchase a diary that would easily fit in my handbag and organise in order of priority my daily list and weekly list.  I would break the weekly goals up throughout the week so as to not feel overwhelmed.

Each day I would draw a red line through each goal I achieved throughout the day even if the aim for that day was to make an appointment, follow-up a call or email, go to the post office to pay a bill or do the shopping.

At the end of each day I would view my list and notice just how much I did accomplish.  At the end of the week I would view the entire week’s list and be astounded at just how much I was getting done. 

Charting my progress enabled me to actually see how much I was in fact completing and gave me the confidence to set larger  and more long-term goals. 

Goal setting is helpful  with both short-term as well as  long-term focus and motivation.  Most of us have goals in our minds – we have an ‘idea’ of what we want , however in order to realise those ideas we hold in our mind we need to set clearly defined goals so that we can monitor our progress. 

However the most basics and more important steps of goal setting involve deciding what you really want to do or what to achieve, then breaking down the goals into manageable targets whilst maintaining a realistic time frame. 

Consider the following pointers to help you establish your goals:

• It’s a good idea to set short-term goals first and then write down your long-term goals
• Set a realistic time frame for your goals
• Start with a daily or weekly goal as this will give you a sense of achievement and accomplishment
• Once you have set your goal begin to think about what action you will or can take towards that goal e.g. you may want to be a beauty therapist.  Consider some of the things you may need to do to achieve this. 

You will need to consider several things if this is the case.  Getting a trainee-ship in the industry would be helpful.  Attending an accredited course and undertaking study would certainly be required.    If the course requires fees you would need an action plan of how you afford to pay for it.    You may need to consider working part-time – hence requiring you to look for employment. 

This is what is considered taking action.  In saying this ,it is amazing to notice that as you move towards your goal with a plan of action, you set your self in alignment with what you desire.  It is highly probably that opportunities to meet you goal present themselves to you without a great deal of effort on your part.  And that is because you have set yourself on a particular path and things begin to show up out of nowhere.

This is called or known as ‘raising your vibration’.  As a result of your conscious decision to move toward your goal by taking action and steps toward it, your personal ‘energy’ shifts taking it to another level – a level where ‘like attracts like’ and more of what you want starts showing up in your life.
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How to Know if Fear Has Infiltrated Your Body

Have you ever felt suddenly anxious or “on edge” and didn’t know why? There are many reasons why we might feel fearful at different times. We get scared about things like physical danger, accidents, natural disasters, and so on. These are all situations where fear can be helpful because it triggers the “fight or flight” response, which floods our bodies with adrenaline and prompts us to defend ourselves or flee the danger.

Unfortunately, there are also plenty of other situations where the fight or flight response is unnecessarily triggered and we end up feeling threatened and defensive even when there is nothing harmful about the present moment.

For example, we often fear job interviews, public speaking engagements, social gatherings, sports and other performance activities, doctor and hospital visits, and more. These situations are not physically threatening yet our bodies often react to them as if they were.

Have you ever struggled with irrational fears like these?

Even though they may seem irrational, they actually have a simple cause: your thoughts. When you are faced with a situation that you feel unprepared to handle, your thoughts begin racing with horrible possibilities. Your thoughts in this moment might sound something like this: “I can’t give a speech in front of people, what if I mess up? I’m no good at sports; I’ll only embarrass myself if I try to play. I don’t want to go to the doctor; what if he finds something awful?” As these thoughts race through your mind they trigger the fear response and your body begins reacting as if you were in actual physical danger.

Physical and Emotional Symptoms of Fear

When fear begins infiltrating your body, you will notice some unmistakable signs and symptoms. These signs include tightening of your muscles, especially in the neck, shoulder and back area; you may also feel a tightening or queasiness in your abdomen; tightness or pressure in the chest, shortness of breath, pounding heart, restlessness, and muscle weakness or shakiness in the arms and legs.

Beyond the physical sensations you may also notice negative emotions like defensiveness, irritability, frustration, anger, aggression, sadness, and helplessness. Continuously being faced with fearful situations can also lead to more serious physical and emotional problems such as insomnia, depression, appetite changes, weight loss or weight gain, and paranoia.

So, what can you do when you feel overwhelmed by fear?

Positive self-talk is one way to begin shifting your thoughts from fearful to calming. Rather than worrying about negative things that could happen, you might soothe yourself by saying things like, “There’s nothing to be afraid of; it will all work out fine; I believe I can handle anything; all is well.” Even better, intend to do everything you can to encourage a positive outcome for the fearful situation. You could practice giving a speech repeatedly until you feel more comfortable, or visualize the doctor giving you a clean bill of health.

When you change the thoughts that are triggering your fear response, the fearful feelings subside.
Alternatively download the new Free ebook – 22 Powerful Tools To Transform Your Fear Into Happiness, Peace and Inspiration. Click Here!
Crammed full of valuable tips, exercises and ideas – it could be the most important ebook you read this year.

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Fear and fearful thought patterns like anything else are purely habits that we’re taught as children and something we develop as we grow into  adulthood.  And this thought pattern like any other negative thought pattern can be changed  or expelled in various ways.

“ Fear runs much of the world, spurring on endless activity.  Fear of enemies, of old age or death, of rejection, and a multitude of social fears are the basic motivators in most people’s lives.”

“From the viewpoint of this level, the world looks hazardous, full of traps and threats.  Fear is the favored official tool for control by oppressive totalitarian agencies.”

“The proliferation of fears is as limitless as the human imagination;once Fear is one’s focus, the endless worrisome events of the world feed it.  Fearful thinking can balloon into paranoia or generate neurotic defensive structures and, because it’s contagious, become a dominant social trend.”     David Hawkins in Power vs Force

Using Sound to expel fear

Sound therapy is  powerful in turning feelings of fear into feelings of peace and joy.  And this is because music has such a positive effect on our minds as well as our bodies.  This is due to the fact that music stimulates the positive emotions and it raises our vibration. 

Always choose music that has uplifting tones such as tones that are offered by instruments such as the harp, flute, guitar, piano or violin.  Pay attention to what makes you ‘feel good’.  This is a clue as to knowing if you’re on the right track or not. 

Have you ever walked into a store or restaurant and noticed the background music?  There are some fashion clothes stores that have aggressive music that sends me running out of the store.  And then I’ll walk into a candle shop and the music is calm, serene and uplifting.  It often makes you want to spend hours just browsing. 

Just pay close attention next time you are in stores and how they impact whether or not you buy something  and in particular how it   ’makes you feel’.  The results will astound you!

Sound medicine is an effective way to  heal and soothe the body as well as  access higher realms of consciousness.

Sound healing is natural . Have you ever had the experienced attempting to pacify a crying baby by singing to it and then resorting to humming to it and finding that the baby calmed down and fell asleep?  I have this experience with my grandson of four months old.  He has a habit of fighting his sleep but when I take him in my arms and hum he immediately settles and eventually falls to sleep.

“The effects of my Sound Medicine has been measured by Kirlian photography and the effects of my sacred music has been measured by a long-time student of Dr. David Hawkins, who measures degrees of consciousness.”

Sound Medicine Healing with Misa Hopkins

Solfeggio Frequencies were used in the Ancient Gregorian Chants.  In the book  Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse by Dr. Leonard Horowitz he describes these powerful frequencies that were rediscovered by Dr. Joseph Puleo. 

The Six Solfeggios Frequencies are:

1. UT 396 Hz Liberating Guilt and Fear
2. RE 417 Hz Undoing Situations and Facilitating change
3. MI 528 Hz transformation and Miracles ( DNA Repair)
4. FA 639 Hz Connecting/Relationships
5. SOL 741 Hz Awakening Intuition
6. LA 852 Hz returning to Spiritual Order

” Binaural Beats” works by introducing two different tones that are very close in frequency ( a different one in each ear). As your brain picks up these tones it creates a “pulse” that sparks off a different brain wave frequency. 

If you’re feeling frightened your brain is in the beta state which is the state related to waking consciousness.   So if you would listen to an audio that stimulates the alpha or theta states you begin to feel calmer and quieter thus dissipating the fear simply because your brain has just shifted to a new frequency.

What is astounding about the binaural beats is that they can make big changes in a relatively short time.  The benefits of exposing yourself to the repeated sounds of the binaural beats is that with time you will be able to slip into that alternate state relatively quickly.

Chanting a mantra has a similar effect on your brain waves as the binaural beats.  A mantra is simply a short work or phrase that you recite like ” peace be still” while sitting quietly with your eyes closed and repeat over and over again.In doing this you place fearful thoughts out of your mind and shift your brain waves to a more relaxed frequency ( alpha state) and calms you down.

So next time you are experiencing fearful thought patterns try one of the sound  therapies above and notice how your feelings of fear dissipate and transform into feelings of peace, joy, serenity and inspiration.

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The benefit of meditation exercise are countless but before I begin to outline them let us investigate where this ancient art began.

Where is all started:

To exactly find a point in the history of mankind where meditation began would be difficult.  Suffice to say that it would have commenced many millennia ago.  However what we do know is that meditation began in ancient civilizations.

Many Hindi scholars from India wrote about meditation and these are better known as the as the Vedas and the Yoga Sutras which were written by Patanzali.

And then of course there was the meditation of Siddhartha Gautama ( Buddha).  The East has practised meditation for countless centuries and though the Western world caught on it really wasn’t until the mid 20th century that meditation began to be so popular in the western world.

The benefits of meditation:

• Helps you to relax quickly
• Improve concentration and clarity of mind
• Reduces anxiety
• Helps you gain a general sense of well being
• Assists in restoring health
• Raises tolerance levels
• Increases creativity
• Brings out the inherently ‘content and happy person’ from within
• Helps to create within you an inner peace and happiness
• Assists in both mind and body healing

How to mediate for beginners:

One of the most common errors we can make when learning about ‘how to meditate correctly’ is not to  try too hard. I spent over three decades searching for the ‘best ways’ to meditate and during that search I  attended meditation classes, read books, purchased guided meditation CD’s and tapes, DVD’s and videos all in my extraneous effort to learn the most effective way to meditate.

Fact is that it was not until a couple of years ago that I discovered that the simplest and most effective way of mediating is to ‘ relax and breathe.  Breathing is the most important part of meditating and this needs to be performed accurately.  I call it the  2 step method that with practice anyone can get down to an art.

Step One:

Inhale through your nose and allow your diaphragm to expand while you exhale through your mouth.  In breathing this way, you slow your heart rate down and place you in a much more relaxed and calmer state.  This breathing method also helps to improve your concentration.

Step Two:

Now while you are breathing, inhaling and exhaling as described in step one focus your attention on your breathing.  Focus on the ‘feeling’ of the air that passes through your nose that fills your lungs and expands the diaphragm.  Focus on the sensation. 

Getting the most out of your meditation sessions:

Meditation is an art that like anything else demands practise on a daily basis, perseverance and above all else requires that you are patient in allowing the results of your meditation to come through. 

As a music teacher I often set out on paper for any new students a set of guidelines to optimize their practise sessions.  The key being ‘daily’ and then a list of ways that their practise time is effective i.e that they get the most of out their practise sessions.

Meditation is done in much the same way.

Meditate in a quiet area where you know you will not be disturbed or distracted for the duration of your meditation practise.

Always meditate in the same room if possible and preferably avoid being in a very cold or very hot environment.  It is difficult to concentrate if your environment is uncomfortable.

Take your shoes off and wear loose comfortable clothing.

Dawn is known to be the most effective time of day for meditating.  So if at all possible meditate first thing in the morning, but if this isn’t possible at least attempt to meditate around the same time each day.  This aids in establishing a routine.

Learning meditation on your own without any guidance can be a little overwhelming so continue to research meditation so that you can get the most out of it.  For absolute beginners, guided meditation is by far one of the simplest and easiest way to start and the learner will not feel so isolated.

To this day meditation is still the greatest method to achieving  inner peace and well being and is being recommended by many health practitioners both in the alternative fields as well as in the orthodox such as general practitioners and specialists.

How do you empower yourself through weight loss?

Quite simply any action you take to direct and control your life or a situation in your life  begins to empowers you. When you make deliberate choices to improve your life, to take positive action or steps to make changes where your health is concerned, and in this case the choice to lose weight, it rids you of the old thinking patterns that kept your weight on in the first place.

Dr Wayne W Dyer talks with Ellen DeGeneres about his new book ‘Excuses Be Gone’ and also shares his own personal experience about his own  ‘excuses’  about the excess weight he was carrying around- some 15-17 extra pounds of extra weight.

And Dr Dyer initially made all kinds of excuses for why he had this extra weight.  He considered it to be ‘ man weight’ or the ‘age factor’ ( something that happens as a result of being a certain age).  Dr Dyer continued to keep this weight until he began to challenge those underlying thoughts and beliefs that he had about his excess weight.

Dr Dyer outlines that we use many excuses for our choices such as:

• I’m too old
• I’m too fat
• It’s going to take a long time
• I’m too scared
• It’s going to be difficult

This is just a pattern of thinking that is so ingrained into our psyche that it is difficult ( but not impossible) to change or re-program our thinking.

If our thinking affects our life then ” what we think about expands”.  So the key here is to make better choices in what we think! 

I have been on the journey to lose weight and it is all of the above as Dr Dyer mentioned.  It’s difficult, its a lot of work, it’s effort, it’s about being consistent, disciplined and very focused.  Most of us are in the ” hurry up brigade’ and want to lose it right now and without it costing us anything. 

In putting in a substantial effort and being consistent with lifestyle changes as well as changing our thinking ( and this includes getting rid of all the excuses that we can’t do it and replacing it with why we can and the benefits of it) then we become empowered. 

Begin your journey today and empower yourself through weight loss!

When we get one of those days where we think we have been dealt a raw deal and feel  unmotivated and unable to ’snap out of ‘ feeling sorry for ourselves or depressed,  take a moment to look into the life of a woman who from birth had to face insurmountable obstacles and challenges that in spite of them became one of the worlds most inspirational women.

At  the age of 4 Wilma Rudolph’s life became nothing short of an uphill battle when she contracted polio – a disease that affects the central nervous system and left her crippled.  Doctors said that Wilma would never walk . 

Determined that nothing would stop her and with the support of her family not only did Wilma walk but she ran!

In 1955 when she was just 16 years of age she qualified for the Olympics that were held in Melbourne Australia and went back to the USA with a Bronze medal.  In 1960 she headed for the Olympics in Rome where she took home 3 gold medals and broke world records. 

Wilma Rudolph set world records, was named female athlete of the year in 1960 by the Associated Press,  was hailed the fastest woman in history in 1960 and inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame  in 1994.

Apart from her sporting achievements  Wilma broke through gender barriers on the track and field where it was once dominated by males.

 Wilma Rudolph’s  inspirational life serves to remind us that if we have enough determination and will power NOTHING can stop you from chasing your dream. 

Wilma not only one of the world’s most inspirational women, but a legend and a hero.