Is This The Future of Sports Performance Drinks and Muscle Mass Optimizers Smart Waters and Diet Shakes?

Sports Performance beverages and Sports Supplements have exploded in popularity over the last decade. You can find sports drinks in every retail food store in the country. Gas stations have energy drinks sitting by the cash register. Once confined to the fringes of the food and drink market, functional beverages have vaulted to the front of the line. Sports Supplements have become big business, with Fortune 500 drink manufacturers—once solely known for making sodas—leading the charge.

The recent sales surge of nutrient-enhanced waters as well as Sports Supplements and energy drinks belies one fact: while these products are relatively new, the concept of functional beverages is as old as time. Sports Performance Supplements—defined as supplements that provide more than enhanced health and flavor—have been a revered staple in every civilization. The unfortunate truth is this: today’s mass-marketed Sports Performance Supplements have little in common with the healthy foods our ancestors consumed.

Where Sports Supplements are concerned, we’ve lost our way. Time—and greed—have ruined the best of intentions.

Perhaps the most interesting twist in the evolution of Sports Supplements is how they came to be. Thousands of years ago, “Super foods” existed.

And there’s the rub. When compared to what passes for Sports Performance Supplements today, even the nutrient-enhanced waters, sports drinks and energy drinks—it’s easy to see we’ve lost our way.

The Right Minerals and electrolytes are defined as substances, usually minerals, which contain free ions that make them electrically conductive. Our bodies are finely tuned electrical systems, and electrolytes are depleted when you perspire. It’s important for anyone who leads an active lifestyle to replace those electrolytes.

However, you want to make sure you are replacing them with the right electrolyte minerals. The minerals in Organic Sports Performance Supplements are bound to organic substances in the superfood itself and they are literally a part of it. Contrast this with minerals taken from rocks or are found in their salt forms, which are inorganic and not bound to any organic substance. Research proves these inorganic minerals are not the best form of electrolytes for the body since they are not a normal part of our food chain.

Learn more about professional strength Organic based Sports Performance Supplements here.

Author – Glen B. Stewart 

Yoga is a Lifestyle not Just a Proven Form of Stretching Your Muscles and Feeling Energized

Yoga is a proven 5,000 year old way of healing and transforming the Body, Mind and Spirit

Yet with 5,000 year old track record, Yoga is a very unique experience to each and every Yoga Practitioner.

There are 18 formalized Yoga Styles globally. And in addition, there are countless adaptations to the 18 standardized ways of teaching Yoga. Some of these Yoga offsprings come in the form of a base of a classical form with a few personalized additions. This this “new” way becomes known by a different name suitable to the new Yoga instructor.

Yoga has blossomed from very classical teachings – especially in the Western World. This has happened primarily because of the demographics of the Western Yoga students of today. Most in the Western World do not worship “Krishna”. As a result many of the ancient teaching relating to Hinduism have been simplified to just include “Asana” terminology.

In addition some Yoga schools have carried forward the ancient form of natural based healing called Ayurveda Healing. Other Yoga Schools  have simplified to just their chosen Yoga Poses or “Asanas”

Here is an article written on the behind the scenes world of being a Yoga Practitioner as a Lifestyle….

Published in The Guardian:

“It’s meant to be spiritual, you know”

“Disco yoga? Laughter yoga? It’s more popular than ever before – but these days yoga is a lifestyle choice rather than a serious practice.”

Is there anyone who hasn’t tried yoga? Classrooms, gyms, studios and church halls are groaning with yoga devotees from Los Angeles to New York, from London to Sydney and more recently from Tokyo to Shanghai and Seoul. Movie stars, models, designers and television personalities have “found” yoga. We read about it endlessly (and inaccurately) in the media, snap up celebrity DVDs and books, go on yoga courses and retreats, not to mention taking it up as a career option (it used to be a vocation) along with the essential props of branded belts, blocks, mats and clothing, an organic diet and an ecologically conscious lifestyle which can be picked up and put down as easily as getting in and out of your 4×4.

So ubiquitous is yoga, and in so many forms, that we now have the British Yoga Championships, devotees of which are attempting to get yoga “recognised” as an Olympic sport. And one of the reigning British yoga champions has been doing yoga for only two years.

Pushing the Olympic dream forward is the Bikram school of yoga, founded by Bikram Choudry, who was always more of an athlete than an athlete. His system of the same 26 poses performed in a room heated to 41C was devised originally to restore his own health after a gymnastics accident at 20. Now, thanks to a nine-week teacher-training course and 840 studios world-wide, Bikram is claimed to be the fastest-growing yoga system in the world.

So I feel like a grumpy old woman as I clock up not two but 30 years of yoga practice, as well as a teaching qualification that took two years’ study of anatomy, philosophy, history and teaching practice. I despair at the idea that we now want to turn a 5,000-year-old spiritual system, seen in the words of the founder of Viniyoga, TKV Desikachar (an Indian guru who is still teaching today) as “the discipline of controlling the mind, rooted in ancient Vedic texts”, into a competition on a par with figure skating and gymnastics.

I feel even more depressed to hear that the egregious spread of any number of types of yoga has extended back to India itself, the home of yoga, where fashionable girls in Mumbai are taking it up for the first time because “Madonna does it”.

Power yoga classes, the Californian way, seem to have become a platform for both teachers and pupils to show off toned torsos as well as to perform and impress with their fabulous ability to bend and contort the body into ever more demanding positions. What happened to inquiry and the acquisition of wisdom? What happened to the teaching of BKS Iyengar, who suggested that all you need for yoga practice is a mat and some space in the shade?

No longer does the aspiring yogi have to choose from acknowledged schools such as Hatha, Iyengar, Sivenanda, Ashtanga or Kundalini – the Bhagavad Gita (regarded as a sacred text by the majority of Hindu traditions) actually names 18 different kinds, each with its own emphasis. Today, due to the proliferation of yoga across the western world, teachers with only a few weeks or years of knowledge are offering a plethora of new permutations, some of which have strayed a very long way from the original systems.

Today you can choose from any number of “yoga fusions”, among them power chi yoga (a combination of tai chi and Ashtanga yoga), Sport yoga (aerobics and yoga), Fitcamp Fusion (yoga and pilates), weight loss yoga, disco yoga and laughter yoga (the latest hot trend from Los Angeles) – and that’s not a joke. I could go on.

“In the 60s, we didn’t know anything about yoga and we accepted all things oriental with blind faith,” says Peter Blackaby, a distinguished teacher with a practice in Brighton. “But after 40 years yoga has flowered and, yes, diversified and some of it is mad. Absolutely mad.”

Indeed, some teachers think that if they throw in some pseudo-science, a bit of Sanskrit, some chanting but little instruction, then that is all right. In one class in LA they even played bagpipe music and I wondered if they thought that it was Indian. And remember the woman who came back from India some years ago practising a yoga that involved not eating, just breathing?

“There is such a thing as intelligent yoga,” says Blackaby. “It’s about letting go, unravelling muscles only where you need to. There is nothing mindless or sleepy about it. ”

“For this article, I went recently to a so-called Ashtanga class in central London with a friend who is happily caught up in a passion for yoga. I have been to classes all over the world, in chilly church halls, mouldy basements, Zen gymnasiums, hotel spas as well as on distant beaches and in shaded gardens.

I have woken at dawn and driven from London to Oxford for regular classes and workshops. I have tried classes in Thailand, New York, Los Angeles, Paris and Shanghai. I have done days of yoga, three- and five-hour sessions and 40-minute bursts; classes where “gurus to the famous” presided and joss sticks were burned; where there was Sanskrit chanting, mystic breathing, and yogic jumping. I have done classes on my own and classes with up to 100 people.

In the Ashtanga class I tried, the pupils were packed in so tightly that the teacher couldn’t possibly see whether we were unravelling or not and she had no assistant. (It appeared to be more about making money than sharing knowledge.) She had what I call an Ashtanga body – taut and defined – and she started the class with an extremely advanced set of breathing exercises that are potentially dangerous. We then progressed to the familiar, tiresome routine of endless down-dogs, up-dogs and chatarangas that seem typical of many of today’s classes; repetitious poses that merely add up to callisthenics with absolutely no attention paid to the very stiff who were trying to go much further than their capabilities allowed.

Rarely do I go to a class (except those with my own teacher, Chloe Fremantle) in which upside-down poses (headstand, shoulder stand and variations), let alone a series of thoughtful floor poses (twists and balances), are taught or the individual is considered. It is all about pumping people up, rather than bringing them down into a calm, mindful place – despite ending the session with a bit of chanting (Sanskrit? Hindu? Tibetan?), to add a touch of random spirituality.

“In 1976, studying with Iyengar in India, we were told that we were very lucky to be learning yoga because it was something that was only for high-class, spiritual Indians,” says teacher and yoga book author Mary Stewart. “Nowadays yoga has been dumbed down. Publishers demand a ‘celebrity’ on the book or magazine cover even if they don’t know how to do the poses,” she says. “And I was asked to include a 10-minute programme presumably because no one these days is thought to have the attention span to do it for longer. In 1983, I was told that the word yoga could not be used, if the book I was co-writing was to sell in middle America.”

Stretch and Relax (the title that was chosen, and her first of six books on yoga) has sold for more than 20 years. Today anyone can write a yoga book and, worse still, sacred chants, costumes and rituals have been ambushed and taken up without conscience.

And this is the same yoga that Carl Jung described as “the spiritual achievement of the East, one of the greatest things the human mind has ever created”. What would he say about Geri Halliwell’s video? Would he be disenchanted to know that the desire for money and fame has corrupted Indians as well as westerners, many of whom have played along with what they think westerners want, both in India and, particularly, in guru-friendly California, branding their schools and systems for the rewards of money, status, cars and jewellery.

“Beneath the bogus spirituality and superficiality of some of the yoga around,” says Stewart, “there is a yearning among generations all over the world for something deeper and more meaningful.” I agree.

Yoga that is about strength and competition misses the point and inevitably ends up with injury and disillusion. Poses should be beneficial, not detrimental, as we strive for balance and the ability to sit and meditate with ease. The practice is about grounding and releasing; it involves effort but not push and struggle.

With or without Olympic yoga, there are people who will take yoga onwards and who realise the deep significance and power of its roots. “How can I say what is good and bad?” said the great Iyengar, recently interviewed about the way yoga is going. “People will find what they are looking for.”

That seems to say it all.

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The author was on point in many ways in terms of Yoga as a lifestyle. Transparently speaking, if you interview 100 Yoga Instructors, you will have 100 very sacred yet very individualized experiences. Yoga, unless taught in a standardized format such as the globally famous Bikram Yoga Franchise, can indeed vary widely in terms of Yoga Practitioner experience. And this can vary from Yoga Teacher to Yoga Teacher within the same Yoga School.

Yoga in this sense is like Martial Arts self defense instruction. In martial arts there are over 1,200 distinct styles globally as of the mid 1970′s. Bruce Lee was known to experience all of these before he set forth to sculpt his own “Highly Simplified” from called “Jeet Kune Do”. I am mentioning this because many contemporary Yoga styles such as Power Yoga, are essentially adaptations of more classical Yoga teachings.

In the end just as “No Man Is An Island” – no 1 form of Yoga is everything for everyone. And in the same vein, clearly not everything there is to possibly experience. Having shared that – I personally take part in Bikram Yoga when I am wanting to be part of that experience for a session, and my own form of “Sports Yoga” for the intense muscle building poses specifically for sports. I also combine my globally acclaimed Energy Healing Meditations with Bikram Yoga for optimized healing when needed.

Namaste -

 Glen
Glen B. Stewart
Master Trainer and Acclaimed Author

Ayurveda Mastery Academy for Breakthrough Healing Diet and Healing Supplementation

Author – Glen B. Stewart

Surviving Deadly Rectal Cancer – How The World Sadly Lost Actress Farrah Fawcett and How to Survive Cancer Using Energy Healing and Distance Healing

This Article on Surviving Cancer was written several years ago on my globally acclaimed “Mankind 2.0″ blog.

The alarming Cancer rates in the World today prompted me to repost it for the benefit of cancer stricken people globally.

“To Farrah ~”

I was floored today with the shocking news that famous Hollywood actress Farrah Fawcett is incredibly condition with deadly rectal cancer. Reportedly she has tried an alternative therapy in Germany but this cancerous condition has threatened her yet again.

As my global readers know I am a holistic health researcher and not an allopathic doctor.

In the traditional practice of holistic medicine – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In a crisis situation such as this there is another alternative that can provide assistance even in dire times of need. While this particular traditional therapy is not a panacea for everyone or every condition, Farrah Fawcett currently needs all the help she can get.

The particular holistic practice I am speaking of is called Reiki, Energy Healing and in this case Distance Healing. Energy healing has roots that date back to the ancient Atlantean civilization over 25,000 years ago. In the 1800’s energy healing was rediscovered by the Japanese and coined the term Reiki.

Energy healing is transmitted from one human to another through focused positive intentions and a connection to the divine. It can be applied through hands-on therapy by a certified Reiki Master. At a higher level it can also be applied to anyone anywhere on the globe through focused healing connection to the divine from experienced Reiki Master.

In my book “Visions Of A Champion” on Amazon.com I thoroughly cover this forward thinking and life transforming practice of energy healing.

For now I ask all of my global readership to inherently trust the unlimited power of their subconscious mind. While this post cannot completely cover such an advanced holistic therapy, trust in the fact that everyone can attract a healing difference using the powers of the Law of attraction.

With this in mind let’s gather together globally and make a life-saving difference to such wonderful and cherished human beings as Farrah Fawcett truly was – in your own family.

Let’s apply that Cancer Survival mindset to the sacred cancer stricken members of your family.

1) Sit comfortably with your feet touching the floor your back straight and your hands lying comfortably palms up in your lap. Have your thumb touch your middle finger on both hands.

2) Have the tip of your tongue touch the top pallet on the inside of your mouth.

3) Begin relaxing by breathing deeply into your nose and peacefully exhaling away all stress and daily thoughts.

4) Imagine your mind, body and conscious spirit being as peaceful as a silent pool of water on a truly glorious day.

5) Picture yourself connecting to the spiritually divine with a beautiful healing white light coming down through the top of your head.

6) Also picture the divine responding to your feeling intentions and sending your Cancer stricken family member a peaceful white light of healing energy flowing throughout their entire body.

7) Now picture yourself sending this beautiful healing white light gently and reassuringly to your Cancer stricken family member as she lies comfortably in their bed.

Feel the healing energies from the divine cascading down throughout your body.

9) Now experience the God-given beauty of sending this beautiful healing experience to your Cancer stricken family member and picture it flowing life-giving healing energies throughout their body.

10) Trust your subconscious mind and it’s divine ability to heal her and be part of this healing miracle together with them.

11) Imagine these energies slowly healing their thoughts and stresses and calming their mind to receive this miracle of healing.

12) Now imagine healing energies slowly and peacefully traveling down their spine and sending vibrant healing energies to all of the corresponding organs.

13) Spend several minutes bathing their spine is beautiful miracle of healing energy.

14) Next, languidly send these healing energies through their digestive tract for several minutes and finally sending these healing energies to their Cancer stricken area.

15) Spend the next 10 minutes or so manifesting this incredible healing energies to the Cancer stricken area.

16) Finish with sending healing energies flowing throughout their entire body through your blissful and healing connection to the divine spirit.

17) Close the miracle of energy healing your cherished family member with the reassurance of peaceful divine healing solitude to yourself and them.

18) Spend a few moments peacefully basking in one of the most precious moments you’ll ever experience as a caring human being on planet Earth.

Discover the divine gift of Healing Cancer using Energy Healing and Distance Healing.

Pick up a copy of “Visions Of A Champion” on Amazon.com today.

Godspeed Farrah ~

- Glen

Glen B. Stewart

Master trainer and globally acclaimed author

Other Alternative Healing, Weight Loss, Health, Fitness and Sports Performance related sites of mine you mat be interested in:

Ayurveda Mastery for Cancer Survival and Incredible Health Transformation as well as Breakthrough Diet and Healing Supplementation

Diet Of A Champion – Leading Edge Sports Nutrition, Sports Performance Drinks and Sports Performance Diet Secrets

Executive Fitness Mastery for Breakthrough Executive Performance Transformations

Visions Of A Champion for Sculpting World Champions using Breakthrough Diet, Fitness and Mental Training Secrets

Author – Glen B. Stewart

Energy Healing Secrets for Everything from Sports Injury and Sports Rehabilitation to Fighting Cancer as Well as Insomnia and Depression part 3

“In trying to envision yourself healthy, you need not view realistic representations of the ailing body part.  Instead, imagine a virus as tiny spots on a blackboard that need erasing.  Imagine yourself building new, healthy cells or sending cleaning blood to an unhealthy organ or area”

“If you have a headache, picture your brain as a rough, bumpy road that needs smoothing and proceed to smooth it out.  The point is to focus on the area you believe is causing you to feel sick, and to concentrate on visualizing or imaging it to be well.  The more clearly and vividly you can do this, the more effective the technique becomes”

Another method for banishing pain was developed by Russian memory expert, Solomon V. Sherehevskii, as reported by Russian psychologist Professor Luria.  To banish pain, such as a headache, Sherehevskii would visualize the pain as having an actual shape, mass and color.  Then, when he had a “tangible” image of the pain in his mind, he would visualize or imagine this concrete picture slowly becoming smaller and smaller until it disappeared from his mental vision.  The real pain disappears with it.

Others have modified this same technique and suggest that you imagine a big bird or eagle taking the concrete image of the pain away.  As it flies over the horizon, see it becoming smaller until it disappears from your view.  The actual pain will disappear with it.

“Life’s blows cannot break a person whose spirit is warmed at the fire of enthusiasm” – Norman Vincent Peale

Of course, the effectiveness of this imaging technique depends on the strength of your desire to improve your health and your ability to visualize well.  But there is no harm in trying it, because unlike drugs, creative visualization has no side effects.

Practice any of these visualization techniques three times a day for one week and observe your health improve.

Creative visualization and success in Sports

“Success means never letting the competition define you. You are the only one who should define yourself!” Chappell

Let me guess.  You are grinning like Michael Jordan upon reading the title of this chapter, right?  Sure, every athlete on earth wants to be successful, wants to be somebody that others can look up to and emulate.  More often than not, if you are successful in sports, you learn how to pursue your dreams and live life to the fullest.  You also have the greater responsibility of “paying forward” everything that you have accumulated. There is nothing wrong with hankering for success.  It only becomes a mistake if you let it go to your head and allow it to make you an arrogant fool.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away” – Author Unknown

In whatever type of sport you choose, success is the mark of excellence.  It is the distinction which separates you from ordinary individuals.  It is the delineation between the mediocre and the best.

If you want to be an amazing success in sports, follow these tips:

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future” – Victor Hugo

Pay close attention to the thoughts in your mind.  Try to distinguish whether the thoughts are mostly reflecting optimistic or pessimistic views.  Are you happy with what you’ve discovered?  If your often-repeated thoughts are constructive, well and good.  If not, don’t fret.  It’s not the end of the world yet.

“Raise the Bar of Your Commitment so High that Excuses can’t Jump Up and Pull You Down”

Review what you have learned earlier.  Like attracts like.  If you think of breakdowns in the workplace or at home and a miserable life every day, that’s what will come to you.  Again, your predominant thoughts are the key to success or failure.  Use this knowledge consciously and in a positive way.

Unlike most people, you already know that creative visualization is a portal to success.  Use it to your advantage.  Utilize certain traits of characters and skills that you have such as faith in yourself and in your abilities.  Add to these limitless patience, perseverance, powerful concentration, willpower, intense discipline and strong ambition.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be” – Sheehan

Success is within your grasp, if you believe it to be so.   What you imagine is the seed of what you will experience.  Every success in sports starts in YOUR mind.  The mental images you have attract the corresponding situations and circumstances into your life.  Believe that you can impress the detail minded coach. Trust your potential to be selected on the “All Star Team”.  Carry on in completing the seemingly insurmountable workouts with passion.  Do your road work without hesitation.  Use your passionate desire to Win – to bring out the best in every situation.

By following the tips given above, you will find out what your true goals and abilities in sports really are.  You will have more more satisfying and rewarding experiences to be sure.  Make the necessary focused changes in your life.  Do not be afraid to prune the unwanted aspects because it will ultimately help you attain your goal of being a successful athlete.

They did it — and so can you!

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” - Paolinetti

- Glen 

Glen B. Stewart 

Master Trainer and Acclaimed Author

Author – Glen B. Stewart

Energy Healing Secrets for Everything from Sports Injury and Sports Rehabilitation to Fighting Cancer as Well as Insomnia and Depression part 2

The Simontons also noticed that those who got cured had a distinct personality.  They all had a strong will to live and did everything to get well.  Those who didn’t succeed had resigned themselves to their fate.

While the Simontons were exploring the motivation of cancer patients, they were also looking into two interesting areas of research at that time: biofeedback and the surveillance theory.  Both areas had something to do with the influence of the mind over body processes.   Stephanie Simonton explains in her book The Healing Family:

In biofeedback training, an individual is hooked up to a device that feeds back information on his physiological processes.  A patient with tachycardia, an irregular heartbeat, might be hooked up to an oscilloscope, which will give a constant visual readout of the heartbeat.  The patient watches the monitor while attempting to relax…when he succeeds in slowing his heartbeat through his thinking, he is rewarded immediately by seeing that fact on visual display.

The surveillance theory holds that the immune system does in fact produce ‘killer cells’ which seek out and destroy stray cancer cells many times in our lives, and it is when this system breaks down, that the disease can take hold.  When most patients are diagnosed with cancer, surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy are used to destroy as much of the tumor as possible.  But once the cancer is reduced, we wondered if the immune system could be reactivated to seek out and destroy the remaining cancer cells.

“There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that once, unleashed, can make any vision, dream or desire a reality” – Anthony Robbins

The Simontons reasoned that since people can learn how to influence their blood flow and heart rate by using their minds, they could also learn to influence their immune system.  Later research proved their approach to be valid.

“Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.” – Abraham

For instance, according to the Time-Life Book The Power of Healing, “chronic stress causes the brain to release into the body a host of hormones that are potent inhibitors of the immune system”.  “This may explain why people experience increased rates of infection, cancer, arthritis, and many other ailments after losing a spouse.”

Dr. R.W. Berthop and his associates in Australia found that blood samples of bereaved individuals showed a much lower level of lymphocyte activity than was present in the control group’s samples.  Lymphocytes are a variety of white blood cells consisting of T cells and B cells, both critical to the action of the immune system. T cells directly attack disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and toxins, and regulate the other parts of the immune system. B cells produce antibodies, which neutralize invaders or mark them for destruction by other agents of the immune system.

“Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure” – Napoleon Hill

The Power of Healing concludes: “The idea that there is a mental element to healing has gained acceptance within the medical establishment in recent years.  Many physicians who once discounted the mind’s ability to influence healing are now reconsidering, in the light of new scientific evidence.  All these have led some physicians and medical institutions toward a more holistic approach, to treating the body and mind as a unit rather than as two distinct entities.  Inherent in this philosophy is the belief that patients must be active participants in the treatment of their illnesses.

Using positive visualization for minor ailments and injury

“Believe in the impossible, hold tight to the incredible”

Today, many scientific breakthroughs have proven that minor infections and viruses may be healed, or at least lessened in severity by employing mental techniques similar to those used by cancer patients who have successfully shrunk tumors through positive imaging or visualization.

“Visualize in your mind the perfect solution without knowing what it is! Visualize the challenge being over and being peaceful with everything around you. Don’t tell Spirit how to solve it. Instead, visualize it as being finished” ~ Kryon

The theory is that creative visualization can create the same physiological changes in the body that a real experience can.  For example, if you imagine squeezing a lemon into your mouth, you will most likely salivate, the same way as when a real lemon is actually being squeezed into your mouth. Einstein once declared that, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

In the 1985 World Conference on Imaging, reports OMNI magazine (February 1989), registered nurse Carol Fajoni observed that “people who used imagery techniques to heal wounds recovered more quickly than those who did not.  In workshops, the same technique has been used by individuals suffering from colds with similar results.”  The process has been hailed as a positive breakthrough and is currently being used by more enlightened doctors, according to OMNI magazine.

Visualize that part of your body which is causing the problem.  Then erase the negative image and instead picture that organ or part to be healthy.  Let’s say you have a sinus infection.  Just picture your sinus passageways and cavities as beginning to unclog.  Or if you have a kidney disorder, imagine a sick-looking kidney metamorphose into a healthier one.

Read “Energy Healing Secrets for Everything from Sports Injury and Sports Rehabilitation to Fighting Cancer as Well as Insomnia and Depression part 3″ Here

Author - Glen B. Stewart

Energy Healing Secrets for Everything from Sports Injury and Sports Rehabilitation to Fighting Cancer as Well as Insomnia and Depression part 1 

Your mind can help with sports injury

“When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you” – Lao Tzu

Did you know that it is only recently that medical doctors have accepted how important the power of the mind is in influencing the immune system of the human body?  Many decades passed before these men of science decided to test the proposition that the brain is involved in the optimum functioning of the different body systems. Recent research shows the undeniable connection, the link, between mind and body, which challenged the long-held medical assumption.

A psychologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Lean Achterberg, suggests that emotion may form the link between mind and immunity. “Many of the autonomic functions connected with health and disease,” she explains,” are emotionally triggered.”

Exercises which encourage relaxation and mental activities such as creative visualization, positive thinking, and guided imagery produce subtle changes in the emotions which can trigger either a positive or a negative effect on the immune system. This explains why positive imaging techniques have resulted in dramatic healings in people with very serious illnesses, including cancer.

“Minds are like parachutes – they only function when open” ~ Thomas Dewar

OMNI magazine claims (February, 1989), in a cover article entitled “Mind Exercises That Boost Your Immune System”:

“As far back as the Thirties, Edmund Jacobson found that if you imagine or visualize yourself doing a particular action – say, lifting an object with your right arm – the muscles in that arm show increased electrical activity. Other scientists have found that imagining an object moving across the sky produces more eye movements than visualizing a stationary object.”

One of the most dramatic applications of imagery in coping with illness is the work of Dr. Carl Simonton, a radiation cancer specialist in Dallas, Texas. “By combining relaxation with personalized images,” reports OMNI magazine, “he has helped terminal cancer patients reduce the size of their tumors and sometimes experience complete remission of the disease.”

“Some people are so afraid do die that they never begin to live” – Henry Van Dyke

Many of his patients have benefited from this technique.  It simply shows how positive visualization can help alleviate – if not totally cure – various diseases including systemic lupus, migraine, chronic back pain, hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure, hyper-acidity, etc.

However, individual differences have to be taken into consideration when discussing each patient’s progress.  It’s understandable that individuals have varying abilities to visualize or create mental images clearly; some people will benefit more from positive-imagery techniques than others.

Nevertheless, if visualization can help people overcome diseases, it could possibly help healthy individuals keep their immune system in top shape. Says OMNI magazine: “Practicing daily positive-imaging techniques may, like a balanced diet and physical exercise routine, tip the scales of health toward wellness.”

“Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them” – Anonymous

The Simonton process of visualization for cancer

Dr. Carl Simonton, a radiation cancer specialist, and his wife, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, a psychotherapist and counselor specializing in cancer patients, have developed a special visualization or imaging technique for the treatment of cancer which is now popularly known as the Simonton process. Ridiculed at first by the medical profession, the Simonton process is now being used in at least five hospitals across the United States to fight cancer.

“There are two ways to live your life – one is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle” – Albert Einstein

The technique itself is the height of simplicity and utilizes the tremendous powers of the mind, specifically its faculty for visualization and imagination, to control cancer.  First, the patient is shown what a normal healthy cell looks like.  Next, he is asked to imagine a battle going on between the cancer cell and the normal cell.  He is asked to visualize a concrete image that will represent the cancer cell and another image of the normal cell.  Then he is asked to see the normal cell winning the battle against the cancer cell.

One youngster represented the normal cell as the video game character Pacman and the cancer cell as the “ghosts” (enemies of Pacman), and then he saw Pacman eating up the ghosts until they were all gone.

“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting” – Buddha

A housewife saw her cancer cell as dirt and the normal cell as a vacuum cleaner.  She visualized the vacuum cleaner swallowing up all the dirt until everything was smooth and clean.

Patients are asked to do this type of visualization three times a day for 15 minutes each time.  And the results of the initial experiments in visualization to cure cancer were nothing short of miraculous.  Of course, being medical practitioners, Dr. Simonton and his psychologist wife were aware of the placebo effect and spontaneous remission of illness.  As long as they were getting good results with the technique, it didn’t seem to matter whether it was placebo or spontaneous remission.

“Everything That I Have Done For You – You Can Do For Yourselves” ~ Jesus Christ

 Read “Energy Healing Secrets for Everything from Sports Injury and Sports Rehabilitation to Fighting Cancer as Well as Insomnia and Depression part 2″ Here

Author – Glen B. Stewart

Sports Visualization To Enhance Sports Performance and Visualization Tips For Enhancing Your Lifestyle part 3

Your mental state

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” – Albert Einstein

Many people have found that being in a relaxed state is helpful, perhaps even essential for this process. You could use a relaxation technique such as meditation. This helps the brain produce alpha waves. I will discuss positive sports meditation later in this book.

The sports visualization process

“The man who has no imagination has no wings” -  Muhammad Ali

Writing sports goals does seem a bit long, but now that it’s all ready, your daily sports positive visualizations will go smoothly and be more effective.

1 – Relax

Sit comfortably, spine erect feet on the floor. Close your eyes and quiet all other thoughts. Breathe deeply through your nose. Melt away stress and mental conflicts with ever breath.

2 – Visualize

Using vivid winning pictures, images, and written notes that you have gathered, imagine the win you desire as if it was already realized in the here and now.  Enjoy the positive feelings. Note your physical sensations related to your feelings. Remember that these positive feelings come from anticipation of something that is on its way to your reality, not just idle dreaming. The physical support of winning pictures and written notes will help keep you from getting distracted, but if you do find your attention wandering, just bring it back gently.

Do it for about ten to fifteen minutes once or twice a day. One ideal time is just after you wake up, because you are likely to be in an alpha state then. Another good time is just before you go to bed. Here too, the alpha state will be easier to attain. Moreover, you can reinforce the effect by instructing your subconscious mind to continue working on this question while you are sleeping.

3 – Let go

Yes, when you’ve finished your visualization, just let go of the whole thing and turn you attention to your daily activities. If you have a spirit of serenity, as discussed earlier, this will not be difficult.

4 – Take some kind of specific action

“Ideas without action are worthless” – Harvey Mackay

You can do this at any time of the day. Do something concrete related to your winning desire. Want to compete in the Olympics? Do an Internet search on the country you want to compete at, clean out your clothes closet to make room for the new team clothing, start taking specific sports training for your chosen sport. You do not need to spend money at this time, and stretching your budget would be unreasonable and putting the cart before the horse. But doing something, even a symbolic gesture, will show that you mean business to yourself.

“Take Trash Talk Like Water off a Canvasback Drake – Fastest Duck in the World…” – Glen B Stewart

If you have negative thoughts at any time, throw them out the door, as you would to a cat that was showing too much interest in the fish you’re having for dinner. It’s understandable to have negative thoughts, just as it’s understandable that your cat will take advantage of a lack of vigilance on your part, but you’re not going to let either of them get the upper hand.

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever” ~ Lance Armstrong

However, if this process causes a great deal of anxiety, or if you find yourself forgetting to do it altogether, there is likely to be a subconscious conflict that has not been resolved, and you would do well to re-examine your beliefs, with outside help if necessary.

What is an emotional guidance system?

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going” Jim Ryun

……and how will it spur the process of turning my championship thoughts into reality?

The emotional guidance system is an illustration which helps you understand what you are thinking and consequently, feeling strongly about.

The Emotional Guidance Illustration

“I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk. I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy. If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results” – Author Unknown

You know that thoughts cause feelings, right?  Read the headlines on the papers and if you saturate yourself with articles reporting about terrorist activities, genocide, hate crimes, poor political will or government inefficiencies, you will feel depressed, angry and desperate.

On the other hand, if you surround yourself with good news like astounding human interest stories, inspiring real-life tales and amazing sports feats or discoveries, you will be upbeat, projecting a certain glow sure to be noticed by people around you.

“It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives” ~ Tony Robbins

What the emotional guidance system does is to classify your feelings into two categories: the good and the bad.  As you can see in the illustration, good feelings include hope, belief, abundance, prosperity, passion, love, enthusiasm and joy.

“Reputation is what others think about you, character is who you really are, therefor be more concerned with character than reputation”

Bad feelings, on the other hand, are comprised of despair, pessimism, fear, guilt, jealousy, hatred, anger and shame.  Knowing your feelings will help you act in a way that is in alignment with your desired goal.

“There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don’t. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living” – Unknown Author

In the case above of the good and bad newspaper articles, what do you think should be done?  Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to disregard the negative news and focus solely on the good news.  What you should do is to celebrate the worthy sports write-ups and spread them to other people. Like a pebble being tossed into a pond, this will create a ripple effect with you own thoughts.

“I always turn to the sports page first. The sports page records people’s accomplishments; the front page nothing but man’s failures”  – Earl Warren

For the bad news, consider taking positive action. Instead of lamenting about the war on terrorism, support peace campaigns and worthy Non Profit causes.   Do not allow sports stereotypes like “Steroid User” to hinder you from reaching your goals of winning.  Dissolve it with the power of sports visualization and positive gestures.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever” – Gandhi

Always find ways to be in or around a positive force.  If possible, be the source of positive feelings yourself.  Start a sports gratitude journal.  At the end of the day, list all the things that you are thankful for, no matter how trivial they may seem.  You do not need earth-shattering miracles to jolt you into a positive mindset.  Little acts of kindness like inspiring a little child in sports are what really matters.

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong” Joseph Chilton Pearce

The universe merely corresponds to the nature of your inner feelings. Always remember this: What positive winning thoughts you think, what you feel and what manifests are always a match.

Winning in sports can be absolutely phenomenal, and it should be. By now, you have become familiar with the specific steps for creative sports visualization.

Why do Athletes commonly fail to manifest what they visualize in sports?

“Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent” – Calvin Coolidge

Why indeed?  There are several possible answers to this important question.

Belief that winning is nothing more than luck…

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus” — Bruce Lee

If you continuously allow yourself to be in this state of mind, then you will end up with nothing great.  You will remain at a lower level and perform mediocre sports performances.  I can’t emphasize strongly enough that “luck” depends on you and your sports preparation.  Do not be fooled by people who say that they achieved their greatness in sports simply because of “good luck”.

Not being able to change their thoughts

“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win” – Zig Ziglar

This is a great tragedy.  Recall that your thoughts turn into reality.  If you always find yourself dwelling on the negative side of life saying, “I can’t play like that”, “I am not ready to let go of (insert name of bad experience)”, “I am so depressed”, “I can’t seem to lose weight”, etc, then that is what you’ll get.  NEGATIVITY!

“Remember Only Greatness – The Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Passion and Dreams – of Champions” – Glen B. Stewart

It is part and parcel of human nature to focus on the negative aspect of life.  This habit is a defense mechanism to protect you and help you cope with negative events, but too much focus on the negative side activates your fight-or-flight response and ends up causing excessive stress and reduces your ability to cope.  So, in order to harness this ingrained reaction you must focus on the positive end of the spectrum.

“It’s a lot easier for an organization to adopt new words than it is to actually change anything. Real change is uncomfortable. If it’s not feeling that way, you’ve probably just adopted new words” – Seth Godin

The moment you catch yourself starting to think of bad feelings, stop right then and there.  Command your brain by saying “STOP” out loud.  Change your mindset to a positive one.  Say “The win is coming”, “The day will turn out perfectly well” and “I’m dropping off pounds and losing excess inches of flab slowly but surely”.  This may take some time getting used to, but once you’ve developed the habit, it will come easily upon command.

Wasting attention on superfluous things – Instead of on Winning…

“Success is about having, Excellence is about being. Success is about having money and fame, but Excellence is being the best you can be” — Mike Ditka

More often than not, the initial desires that popped into your mind would be those that involve immediate gratification, material things like a wad of cash, flashy cars, prestige and fame. While they are not inherently bad, they are not what it is going to take to Win in the first place.

- Glen

Glen B. Stewart

Master Trainer, Author “Visions Of A Champion”

Author – Glen B. Stewart

Sports Visualization To Enhance Sports Performance and Visualization Tips For Enhancing Your Lifestyle part 2

Specific steps for Sports visualization

Preliminary Preparation

Know precisely what you want

“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped”

- Anthony Robbins

First of all, it may sound obvious, but you have to know what you want to achieve in sports. Many people don’t, and go through life feeling dissatisfied, but much more conscious of what they don’t want than of what they actually want.

“Once we take our hands off the past and let it go, we can then use our hands to sculpt and shape our ideal future”

So now you are going to think about what you really do want, not just in a fuzzy dream-like manner, but in as concrete a way as possible. It’s also important to make sure that this is your desire and not someone else’s, or what you think others expect of you. Sports product advertisers are masters at creating desires, and making us think that we can’t be happy unless we have whatever they are promoting.

“I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary” -  Lou Holtz

Sometimes our subconscious desires do not match our conscious ones. This is more difficult to discern, but if you consistently experience failure or feel blocked in areas where you feel that your desire to succeed is strong, there is a great chance that your subconscious mind has a different view of the matter. It may adhere to certain beliefs, perhaps left over from childhood, that you have consciously rejected, but that are still there under the surface.

Decide specifically what you want to visualize first

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!” – Yogi Berra

You will most probably have a list of several or even many desires after completing the above step. If you are new to the visualization process, it would probably be better to start with something that is not too difficult or that does not take too long to attain. It’s like physical exercise – you aren’t going to start by running a marathon – you have to train for it.

I would also suggest that you choose just one thing and concentrate on it, or at least don’t make your list too long; it will be more difficult to focus on several things.

Prepare the Details for Your Sports Visualization

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”

Desires are often directed at things that we want to have or in our case, Win.  And somehow we think that if we can just have “this super sports drink”, then we will be able to do something else, and then that will prove that we are this or that.

“Sometimes even eagles need a push.. to take a risk”

But in fact, the reverse is closer to the truth. If we can see ourselves as already being a certain way, then we can do whatever needs to be done in order to have the thing we desire.

Martial Arts black belts doing astonishing brick breaking demonstrations are a great example of “Already Doing the Feat”.

“Anything is possible. If you can dream it, you will become it. If you can imagine it; you will create it. If you dream of flying; so you will”

So as you prepare your visualization session, write down what you desire to “Already have Won” first. What kind of person do you need to already be for your winning desire to materialize? Think of all the qualities involved in your desired winning situation, and write them down.

Then think of the things you are going to do

Remember – Visualize already Being The Winner” in this exercise.

“If everything seems under your control, you are just not going fast enough” -

Mario Andretti

The word “visualization” refers to what we can see, and of course you want to have visual cues. Find pictures of what you want, or draw one yourself. Create a picture in your mind, and describe it in writing. Make it vivid, colorful, attractive and detailed. You can add to this picture during your visualization sessions, but this will serve as a basis. But don’t forget the other senses. What will you hear when you attain what you desire? Perhaps the thundering roar of the crowd, or the “clean wind” in the sails of your yacht? What pleasant smells are waiting for you? The taste of champaign being sprayed on you? What will You touch, smell, hear or even taste? Write these down too.

“Success is what you attract by the person you become” – Jim Rohn

Remember, you want to create vivid pictures related to being and doing as well as having. The being part may work better with auditory images, such as “Great Job! from your coach. Or the stadium coming alive with your victory.

Winning Beliefs

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” Albert Einstein

As mentioned above, it’s important that your beliefs be consistent with your desire to win. In general, there shouldn’t be a conflict of values – you want to be sure that you think that what you want is good, both for you and for those around you. Or that you are worthy of winning. Or your religion would not approve…

Why not?

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided” ~Tony Robbins

You also need to believe that what you desire is actually attainable, at least theoretically, even though you don’t yet see how it can come about for you. You will necessarily be stretching your belief limits, because you don’t yet have the thing you desire, and you want to be careful not to stretch them too far, or they might snap in you face like a rubber band. This is why the choice of what you want to visualize is so important, especially when you are starting out. Each success will increase your confidence in the process, and you can gradually become more daring.

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure” – Sven Goran Eriksson

The highest level of belief is expectancy, that is, you just know that it will happen. It’s easier said than done, especially at first. But just doing the process is an expression of your positive expectation. Don’t waste time wondering whether you have the right degree of expectation, just imagine that you do. This is visualization, right? So visualize yourself expecting it to happen.

Winning Emotions

“Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it” ~Bill Cosby

Emotion plays a crucial role in this process. If you really expected something wonderful to happen to you, you would naturally feel good about it. So if your visualization has no passionate emotional content, your subconscious will say “Ho-hum”, and the Universe will say “Who are you trying to kid?” Well, they may not actually say that, but would you believe someone who told you about an extraordinary event in a monotone voice? Probably not.

“As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision” -  Helen Keller

So as you picture the desired result in your mind, as you convince yourself that this is going to happen, let the appropriate emotion come. It might be quiet contentment, or breathless excitement, or just loads of fun. This should be pretty spontaneous, and if you have a lot of trouble with this part, there may be something that needs adjusting in your above preparation. It could be a subconscious conflict, or perhaps your reasons for wanting it are not really very strong.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow” – Melody Beattie

The emotion of winning gratitude ought to be present. Gratitude to whom, you may ask? First of all, to God or the Universe, or if you don’t believe in them, then gratitude to your subconscious mind and to all those who helped you come this far on your path in sports. Gratitude implies a sense of connection. You probably already have that. If you do feel uneasy with the idea of gratitude, then you might have self-esteem issues and doubt whether you really deserve to receive what you desire. As long as this is present, one way or another you (or rather your subconscious mind) will manage to sabotage the process, until you change that belief.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” – Albert Einstein

The final emotion is a sense of serenity. This is an outflow of your expectation that positive results will come. How unfortunate for you if stomping your foot and demanding immediate results worked for you when you were a child! They won’t work here. They are the contrary of confidence and a spirit of cooperation. You cannot bully the Universe, or your subconscious mind, for that matter.

Read “Sports Visualization To Enhance Sports Performance and Visualization Tips For Enhancing Your Lifestyle part 2″ Here