Neck Ache - Pilates

http://www.videojug.com/film/pilates-how-to-prevent-and-relieve-neck-ache-2

1. Shoulder Lifts - sit on a chair feet flat on the floor, knees together. Let your arms fall to your sides. Repeat the following six times: inhale and lift your shoulders up to your ears. Exhale and let your arms relax again not letting your shoulders roll forwards.



2. Head Rotations - sitting on the chair, inhale. Exhale as you rotate your neck to one side. Inhale. Exhale as you return your neck to the centre. Inhale. Exhale as you rotate your head to the other side. Inhale. Exhale as you return your head to the centre. Repeat this 4 four more times - 3 times on each side.



3. Neck Stretch - relax arms to the sides, imagine holding a heavy shopping bag in one hand. Inhale: stay; and as you exhale, tip your neck away from the arm with shopping. Inhale: stay, exhale: return to centre. Now transfer the shopping bag and repeat. Repeat this 4 more times - 3 times on each side.



4. Chin Nods - rest hands on thighs and look ahead. inhale, and as you exhale, gently lengthen the back of the neck and lower the chin down. Inhale and bring the chin to neutral, and exhale to start it again. Do this 5 times.

Lower Back Ache Pilates

http://www.videojug.com/film/pilates-how-to-prevent-and-relieve-lower-backache

1. Breathing - Lie down with you legs bent and feet hip distance apart, 6 deep breaths


2. Pelvic tilts - Inhale, and when you exhale, tilt the pelvis towards you. 6 deep breaths & tilts


3. Leg lifts - Flatten lower back into floor. i)Inhale. ii) Exhale as you gently lift one foot up. iii) Inhale as you lift the other foot up. iv) Exhale as you put one foot down, v) Inhale as you put the other foot down, vi) Exhale to relax. Repeat 3 times.


4. Hamstring stretch - Sit on a balance ball, push hips back and stretch legs out, rest hand on thighs. Keep neck aligned, bend forward with your hands on your legs 3 deep breaths. flex feet back and hold for another three breaths. sit back straight.


5. Back Stretch, Backwards: Sat on a balance ball, legs bent, walk feet out a bit further, put hands behind head, tilt pelvis forwards and curl the spine down over the ball, relaxing neck to finish. Take three deep breaths, relaxing more as you breath out. Return to sitting.


6. Back Stretch, Forwards: Kneel over the ball and fold yourself over it, relaxing your arms and extending your legs, stay for 3 deep breathes. Roll back up to kneeling.

SEED: Bringing Back the Feminine into Society

"Have you ever been telling a story to a group of women, and they begin nodding their heads, saying how similar things have happened to them?As each woman begins sharing her experiences, an energy gets created that spreads around the group like wildfire. Whether the discussions are about our lovers and husbands, our health, our beliefs, our kids, our work, or how we want to create value in our local and global community, we women empathise, connect, and resonate with each other."

Join the Seed Community today! Seed is a women's network in the UK founded by Lynn Franks. She is an inspirational women bringing femininity back into the world.

http://www.seednetworkingforwomen.com/

Acts of Kindness to Make the World a Better Place

"Once Upon A Time there was a little girl who believed in the magic of her own imagination. Her parents were wise and caring adults who encouraged the little girl to follow her pixie-dusted dreams. "

Inspirity: I was contacted today by Terry Grahl, an award-winning interior decorator whose mission is to give hope to 'at risk' women and children.

''When I realized I had a purpose that extended beyond clients homes, I was excited and scared. I had a vision of what I really wanted to do with my life, but I didn't know how, let alone believe 100% that the dream I'm living today could be accomplished by a once shy insecure girl! "

"Even more amazing to me was that I had found my true calling. I wanted to use all of my talents and skills to provide refuge, solace, and hope to people in need. Terry's Enchanted Cottage ultimately became Enchanted Makeovers a organization that changes shelters for women and children into places of peace and possibilities. (Not just where basic needs are met, but spiritual needs for hope and beauty also).

I organize dozens of volunteers to clean, repair, paint, gather new goods and monetary donations for each makeover. Some require major construction work, other mainly cosmetic facelifts. Enchanted Makeovers have been featured in several national and international magazines and have won many prestigious awards. Even a glimpse appearance on the Oprah Show.

Today, transforming the shelters that save people’s lives into beautiful sanctuaries that heal their spirit is my vocation.
Please join me in bringing blessings to those in need."

"Enchanted Makeovers is an organization that transforms shelters for women and children into places of peace and possibilities. (Not just where basic needs are met, but spiritual needs for hope and beauty also).

Learn more about how you can become part of our team and with your help we can make a difference."

http://www.enchantedmakeovers.org/

Desperate housewives?

Lucy Cavendish was raised on feminist literature and yearned to be a career woman. But as a new book calls for a return to the values of home and hearth, she asks how 'housewife' became a term of abuse

"The truth is, I feel better when the house is clean and organised and the kids' clothes are folded and in their drawers. I like to put a pot of steaming casserole on the table for my partner when he comes home from work. On a day when I'm not working and the kids are at nursery, I go for a ride, or walk the dog, or pop round for coffee and a cake at a friend's house. Life is so much less stressful. I find I rather like wearing an apron. I have a "baking" cupboard, although I am still not very good on cakes. But the kids like making them so, some afternoons, we get floury and pour everything into a mixing bowl and then eat it.

The children are happier. My partner is happier. The dog is happier and I am happier. If I'm feeling particularly daring, I might even open a bottle of wine at lunchtime and invite people round. It's so much more relaxing than working. And who decreed that we should all work so hard that we forget how to enjoy life?
I think women are redefining things. Working hard, being successful and beating men at their own game now seems tiring and boring and, at the end of the day, not necessarily fulfilling. It's much more fun to have freedom: the freedom to be at home, to play with the kids, to walk a dog, to make my own decisions about my life.

Being a housewife is no longer the dead-end job it was, and it's also not for ever. As their children get older, many women I know intend to start up some sort of small business. The internet has made this perfectly possible. Others intend to retrain as family therapists, teachers and such like. Some are doing extra-curricular courses in art, ceramics, philosophy."

Read the full Independant article here

Happy Housewives, By Darla Shine

Click on book to buy from Inspirity's Book Clinic

10 golden rules for happy housewives
By Darla Shine

Article in Junior Magazine

Calling all stay-at-home mothers! It's time to stop apologising and feel proud of the great job you're doing, says Darla Shine.

"What do you do all day?” is the question all stay-at-home mothers dread. Here's how I would like to respond. “Hi, I'm Darla, full-time mother for now, but I used to be a television producer and one day, I plan to return to work.” Perhaps it would make me feel better if everyone knew I had a successful career before I became a stay-at-home mother. ..."


"...I couldn't cope at first. I hired cleaners, babysitters and recruited anyone and everyone to help me take care of my babies. My mother called me a spoilt lazy brat and tried to convince me that I was lucky to be in a position to look after my children. But I just ignored her. She was just a housewife anyway, what did she know about life?

The I got the ultimate wake-up call when I found a lump in my breast. Thinking I would die, deservingly so since I was such a rubbish mother, I prayed to God. I vowed never to take my life for granted again. I swore that if I survived, I would become the best mother and wife I could be. After all, is there anything more important than family? Thankfully, I did not have cancer, but that harmless cyst was certainly a gift.

It made me realise that I had to snap out of it. My mother was right. My generation don't know how lucky they are. The time has come for us to admit that feminists were wrong. There's too much pressure on women to have it all. Something has to give. It's either our career, children, marriage or sanity, but something has to go on the back burner. A couple of years ago, I attended a black-tie function with my husband. At this party, packed full of high-powered executives, I found that no one wanted to talk to me. One particularly rude woman actually turned her back on me after I told her I was at home with the children. Another lady had the gall to say, “How sweet” when I told her I was a housewife. I think the anger and frustration I felt that night forced me to prove myself. I wanted to show everyone that I was more than “just a stay-at-home.” But why did I feel this way? Clearly, the word 'housewife' has an negative stigma attached to it.


People seem to think stay-at-home women are slobs who spend the whole time slumped on the sofa, watching daytime TV, eating chocolates and wearing slouchy tracksuits and slippers. What a damaging cliché. Well, not any more. I say, lift up your spatulas girls and start demanding the respect you deserve with my definitive 10-point plan to help you become a happy housewife and mother... "


Read the 10-point plan here

Yoga Eye Exercises

7 Eye Exercises

The yoga practitioners attach special importance to eye exercises, for two reasons.

Firstly, a lot of eye problems in later life are due to a loss of tone in the eye muscles. These muscles become rigid, and this loss of elasticity reduces the ability of the lens of the eye to focus at different distances. It also causes the eyesight to become weaker. These exercises tone the eye muscles up and keep them elastic. If you already have eye problems when you begin these exercises, you will find your eyesight improving after a few months.

Secondly, any eye tension present will tend to produce a general feeling of tension, due to the eye's connection to the brain via the optic nerve. What happens is that eye tension produces an increase in the nerve impulses in the eye muscles. This increase in nerve impulses travels along the optic nerve and bombards the brain, causing a general feeling of tension and anxiety. The eye exercises will reduce tension in the eye muscles, as well as reduce general tension.

This article was inspired by N.M x

Shiatsu Self Massage

Click Picture for Larger Image

Banoffee Pie Recipe

1. Blend 300g of plain digestive biscuits in a food processor.
2. Melt 175g butter (in a non stick/heavy based pan), and then add the crushed biscuits. Brown for 3-4 minutes.
3. Pour the biscuit into a greased & lined 23x7cm cake tin(with loose base)/cheesecake tin and press down firmly to make the base of the pie. Tip: try using a potato masher to press it down! Refrigerate.
4. Melt the 175g butter and add one tin of sweetened condensed milk; cook gently, stirring continuously until it becomes a thick sauce. Pour sauce over the biscuit base. Refrigerate.
5. After an hour, take the cake tin out of the fridge and prise the pie base out of the tin and set on a serving dish. At this point you will find it useful if you had a cake tin with a removable base, and you will regret it if you didn't grease the tin as it will be hard to remove the pie.
6. Chop two good sized ripe bananas over the top.
7. Whip 300g of double cream and spread over the top, covering all the bananas (or they will go black) and refrigerate for at least an hour - the longer the better!
8. Optional: dust with cocoa powder and top with chopped bananas
9. It is now ready to eat! :)

Pilates - The Essentials

http://www.videojug.com/film/pilates-the-essentials





Pilates: How To Prevent And Relieve Lower Backache
Pilates: How To Achieve Great Abdominals
Pilates: How To Get A Perky Butt
Pilates: How To Tone Your Legs
Pilates: Five Invigorating Exercises Using A Balance Ball
Pilates: How To Tone Your Arms
Pilates: Balance Ball Workout
Pilates: Exercises For Women With Bigger Breasts
Pilates: How To Strengthen Your Back
Pilates: How To Warm Up And Cool Down
Pilates For Intermediates: How To Tone And Lengthen Your Legs
Pilates: How To Prevent And Relieve Neck Ache
Pilates: Scissors
Mind And Body
Pilates For Intermediates: Balance Ball Workout - Part 1
Pilates Intermediate: A Total Body Exercise Band Workout Part 2
Pilates For Intermediates: Strengthen And Shape Your Abs
Pilates For Intermediates: Band Workout - Part 1
Pilates: Breathing

This article was inspired by A.M x

What Season Are You?

Find out what season you are! Your face, hair and eyes determine what season you are, and therefore which colours suit you best. Here are some websites to help you find out why you have always been drawn to particular colours, and why you stay away from other ones...

http://www.chickjunk.com/colors-of-the-seasons/

http://www.beauty-and-the-bath.com/Season-Color-Analysis.html

http://www.colormebeautiful.com/seasons/index.html

http://members.tripod.com/trepanrr/color_analysis_test.htm

http://www.style-makeover-hq.com/seasonal-color-analysis.html

Personal Online Colour Analysis By Scarlet Pixel

Imperfectly Natural Woman, Janey Lee Grace

Imperfectly Natural Woman



If you're into living a natural lifestyle but don't do attachment parenting, nor believe in homeopathy - here's the books you need!

An imperfectly natural lifestyle - choose what you wish and how far you wish to take it... natural cosmetics, natural cleaning products, natural remedies - this book has it all, whats more, it has an online FORUM!

It has a daughter book, called Imperfectly Natural Baby & Toddler, and if the idea of having a cupboard full of herbs and oils appealed to you but didn't know where to start, read this!

SISTERS Magazine

A Muslim Women Magazine for fabulous Muslim women!

This is a refreshing magazine, filled with inspiration, self development, family features, world news, personal accounts, recipes and fashion! A must for every sister!

SISTERS Magazine

Missus Smarty Pants - Wardobe Organisation & Style!

Missus Smarty Pants

One of FlyLady's kindred - Missus Smarty pants will show you how to have the perfect wardrobe - simply because your wardrobe contains things that you never wear, or don't go with anything else and needs a GOOD PURGE! Identify what items of clothing you are missing, and what type of clothes suit your body, and create your perfect wardrobe with well fitting clothes.

Subscribe to her site and she will tell you the latest about what's hot & what's not in accordance to your body type. Once your wardrobe is in order, then taking your clothes out the night before (ala FlyLady) will become a breeze!