Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Don't Forget Your Sunscreen!

As summer begins, and the temperatures begin to soar, we thought today would be a great time to post some information on another great product from Isagenix. 


Isagenix Sunscreen! 


Below this article you will also find that we have attached a link to the Canadian Cancer Society, with a few tips regarding sun awareness.
It is estimated that in 2011, there will 79,700 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed in Canada alone.  Please take some time to review these tips..

Enjoy the sun, play safe, and don't forget your sunscreen!


The beach is just around the corner and while your mind may be focused on getting your body ready for fun in the sun, it’s actually more important for you to make sure you’re fully prepared for the sun’s wrath on your skin.   

Maybe you take the easy approach and go for the most affordable sunscreen or the one that’s SPF 50.

Really, sunscreen is more than just a number. Understanding the various ingredients and their effects on your skin is essential to garnering the best protection possible, beyond just avoiding the discomfort of a sun burn.

Keep this in mind: According to the Mayo Clinic, prolonged exposure to the sun’s UV rays is one of the leading risk factors for skin cancer.

So, take another peek at the sunscreen that’s been hibernating in your cabinet and consider the following. They could make a big difference in the long run.

Get Rid of Harsh Chemicals

Protecting your skin is important, but not at the cost of subjecting it to harsh chemicals like avobenzone, para-aminobenzoic acid (also known as PABA) and oxybenzone. There’s a reason those ingredients are hard to spell. Some of the ingredients included in common sunscreens have been linked to cell damage—the exact opposite effect you want to have on your skin when you’re trying to protect it.

But doesn’t the American Academy of Dermatology recommend choosing a sunscreen with avobenzone? Yes, but it wasn’t long ago that all the major sunscreens on the market also contained PABA. For experts in the field of dermatology field, that’s a really bad, four-letter word. Para-aminobenzoic (PABA) has been stricken from all reputable sunscreens because of its links to cell damage.

Isa SunGuard uses all-natural protecting ingredients to block UV rays from penetrating your skin. Why worry about what you’re spreading onto your body when you’re trying to keep it safe? Instead, choose the natural SPF-30 zinc oxide and titanium dioxide of Isa SunGuard to give you peace of mind.

Moisturizing Yet Waterproof Formula

Plus, who wants dry skin when you’re trying to relax at the beach? Now you don’t have to sacrifice the softness! Thanks to the moisture-rich combination of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide in Isa SunGuard, you can protect your skin (even while enjoying activities in the water) and keep it smooth and moisturized at the same time.

The soothing ingredients of aloe vera, green tea and chamomile helps nourish all types of skin no matter the harsh conditions, meaning your skin will stay refreshed while blocking out harmful UV rays. All that without the greasy feeling or harsh smells that usually come with those mass-market sunscreens.

Part of a Complete Skin Care Line

Applying sunscreen really should be a daily habit. While other sunscreens are often stand-alone products, Isa SunGuard fits into a whole regimen meant to nourish and protect your skin. By using Isa SunGuard in your daily routine, it will actually complement the IsaDermix® line of skincare products like Moisture-Rich Day Cream, Anti-Aging Treatment Toner and Gentle Cleansing Gel™, which deliver proven results for people who want to keep their skin looking – and feeling – as young as ever.

Not only that, but when you use Isa SunGuard in conjunction with the complete line of Isagenix Nutritional Cleansing and Replenishing products such as the Ageless Essentials™ Daily Pack and IsaWATER™ Alkalized Concentrate, you’re getting the optimum combination available – both inside and outside of your body.

Visit IsaSunGuard.com to learn more about the benefits of wearing a healthier sunscreen.




Don't forget to check out this link:




Sunday, May 29, 2011

Life Lessons

Although we decided to jump in "feet first", there was a lot of "inner" fear surrounding the development of this site. 
I received this newsletter in my inbox today. It has inspired me and helped me realize that it is okay to follow my heart and use those "courage muscles". Enjoy!
~Diane


Life Lessons

This week's newsletter is one I run every year around this time.  It's for students who are graduating (and for us adults who need a reminder about what really matters in life).  I hope it inspires you to stand tall, express your talents boldly, or to take a risk to live a more authentic life.  Here are the seven lessons:

1.  Spend more time on the who rather than the what. What you do will always be less important than who you become. Knowledge is great but it will never take you as far as your courage, your integrity, your reputation for someone who keeps his or her word, or your commitment to be of service to others in an important way. As you go through life, you will face challenges and obstacles.  When you do, get in the habit of asking yourself the following three questions:
  • How can I grow from this experience?
  • What qualities of character am I being called to develop? 
  • How can I use this event to make me a better person? 

2. Follow your heart. Pay far more attention to what you think than what everyone else thinks.  The most important relationship you'll ever have is with you. When I think about the regrets I've heard from adults over the years, the biggest ones always have to do with listening to everyone else but themselves. Start now. Make your own rules and follow them. At the end of your life, the most important person you'll have to answer to is you.

3. Develop a strong "maverick muscle." Be willing to bend the rules, learn how to disappoint others gracefully, get comfortable with people not liking you, and always strive to be an original thinker. I have a little sign in my office that says: "No Guts, No Glory" and I use it to remind me to go against the grain whenever necessary.  Allow yourself to be the unique spirit that you were meant to be.  Trust me.  Your willingness to rock the boat will set you apart from 95% of the people you meet throughout your life.

4. Build your courage muscles. Starting tomorrow, practice doing one small thing a day that frightens you. Learn to water ski, ask someone out on a date, go for that promotion you keep dreaming about, or learn to dance. Small acts of courage strengthen your ability to take even bigger leaps later on like deciding to write your own book or run for political office. If you really want to build your courage muscles, take a public speaking course.  Twenty years ago I allowed someone to drag me to a Toastmaster's Meeting - an international speech club - and it changed the course of my life forever.  Courage builds confidence and confident people rarely settle for less.

5. Don't go to the hardware store for milk. When you're excited about doing something new, make sure you turn to those people who will encourage you to take a chance - the ones who believe in you rather than those who tell you why an idea won't work. Surround yourself with positive people - the kind of people who challenge you to reach beyond your fear rather than play it safe. There will always be people telling you why an idea is risky, or why you can't do something. That advice is usually based on the mistakes they've made or the chances they didn't take because they were afraid. Always remember this: Someone's past does not equal your future. When faced with a naysayer, smile, say thank you, and turn around. Stick with positive people who believe in you. Remember, if you needed milk, you wouldn't go to the hardware store.

(By the way, you're mom was right. You do become who you hang around with. Choose your friends wisely)

6. Live by this mantra: Where there's a will, there's a way. Don't give up, especially when things get hard, and don't ever let anyone or anything put limits on you.

7. Stay connected. Your use of technology - email or texting, for example - will never replace the value of a live connection with someone. Every now and then pick up the phone and call a friend or visit a loved one rather than send an email or text message. Too often I've seen technology draw a wedge between people. When we come to the end of our lives, it's who we loved and who loved us that matters most.  Make "in-person" time a priority.

Finally, at the time you were born you were given an amazing gift - a gift that most of us forget about as we grow older. It's the power to design your own unique life. You are an artist. The canvas is your life. From this moment on, take ownership of this gift and use it wisely. If you do, your life will become an extraordinary work of art. Congratulations!
Courtesy of: CHERYLRICHARDSON.COM



3 Reasons IsaLean® Shakes are Better Than the Rest




Maybe someone’s asked you this question: “Why are Isagenix® shakes better than the rest?”

Really, the answer comes down to our commitment to provide the highest quality of ingredients, regardless. That’s what we mean by “no compromise.”

So, what does that look like in our IsaLean Shakes? Here are the reasons why Isagenix has the advantage over the rest of the protein shakes on the market:
  1. Complete, full-meal replacement. Unlike many other shakes out there that require milk in order to create a true meal replacement option, you don’t need milk for IsaLean Shakes. And, the shakes do their job. The calories are controlled and your body gets what it needs without having to worry about your muscles suffering due to lack of nutrition.
  2. Contain the right amount of protein. In order to trigger a protein synthesis response, your body needs at least 20 grams of protein. Many shakes offer less than half of that! IsaLean Shakes include 23 grams of protein. Plus, if you’re looking for even more, you can add a scoop or two of our pure, undenatured whey protein IsaPro® for a boost.
  3. Affordable per-meal cost. At just $3.64 per meal, or $2.78 for the Preferred Customer and Associate price, you’re replacing a meal for less than what you could get at the fast food joint nearby. And, since IsaLean Shakes only require water (which is FREE) unlike some shakes that need milk, factoring the cost and the savings to your grocery bill are a cinch!
…the list goes on! Take a look at this flyer to check out even more reasons why Isagenix has the advantage with our no-compromise products such as IsaLean Shakes.


Article courtesy of Isagenix: https://www.facebook.com/notes/isagenix/3-reasons-isalean-shakes-are-better-than-the-rest/10150183852143234

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Meditation and Aging


How meditation might ward off the effects of aging

A study at a US Buddhist retreat suggests eastern relaxation techniques can protect our chromosomes from degenerating

Interior of Great Stupa of Dharmakaya at Shambhala Mountain Center
The Shamatha project took place at Shambhala Mountain Centre in Colorado, USA. Photograph: Blaine Harrington III/Corbis
High in the mountains of northern Colorado, a 100-foot tall tower reaches up through the pinetops. Brightly coloured and strung with garlands, its ornate gold leaf glints in the sun. With a shape that symbolises a giant seated Buddha, this lofty stupa is intended to inspire those on the path to enlightenment.
Visitors here to the Shambhala Mountain Centre meditate in silence for up to 10 hours every day, emulating the lifestyle that monks have chosen for centuries in mountain refuges from India to Japan. But is it doing them any good? For two three-month retreats held in 2007, this haven for the eastern spiritual tradition opened its doors to western science. As attendees pondered the "four immeasurables" of love, compassion, joy and equanimity, a laboratory squeezed into the basement bristled with scientific equipment from brain and heart monitors to video cameras and centrifuges. The aim: to find out exactly what happens to people who meditate.
After several years of number-crunching, data from the so-calledShamatha project is finally starting to be published. So far the research has shown some not hugely surprising psychological and cognitive changes – improvements in perception and wellbeing, for example. But one result in particular has potentially stunning implications: that by protecting caps called telomeres on the ends of our chromosomes,meditation might help to delay the process of ageing.
It's the kind of claim more often associated with pseudoscience. Indeed, since researchers first started studying meditation, with its close links to religion and spirituality, they have had a tough time gaining scientific credibility. "A great danger in the field is that many researchers are also meditators, with a feeling about how powerful and useful these practices are," says Charles Raison, who studies mind-body interactions at Emory University in Atlanta. "There has been a tendency for people to be attempting to prove what they already know."
But a new generation of brain-imaging studies and robust clinical trials is helping to change that. Scientists from a range of fields are starting to compile evidence that rather than simply being a transient mental or spiritual experience, meditation may have long-term implications for physical health.
There are many kinds of meditation, including transcendental meditation, in which you focus on a repetitive mantra, and compassion meditation, which involves extending feelings of love and kindness to fellow living beings. One of the most studied practices is based on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, or being aware of your own thoughts and surroundings. Buddhists believe it alleviates suffering by making you less caught up in everyday stresses – helping you to appreciate the present instead of continually worrying about the past or planning for the future.
"You pay attention to your own breath," explains Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist who studies the effects of meditation at Massachusetts general hospital in Boston. "If your mind wanders, you don't get discouraged, you notice the thought and think, 'OK'."
Small trials have suggested that such meditation creates more than spiritual calm. Reported physical effects include lowering blood pressure, helping psoriasis to heal, and boosting the immune response in vaccine recipients and cancer patients. In a pilot study in 2008, Willem Kuyken, head of the Mood Disorders Centre at Exeter University, showed that mindfulness meditation was more effective than drug treatment in preventing relapse in patients with recurrent depression. And in 2009, David Creswell of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that itslowed disease progression in patients with HIV.
Most of these trials have involved short courses of meditation aimed at treating specific conditions. The Shamatha project, by contrast, is an attempt to see what a longer, more intensive course of meditation might do for healthy people. The project was co-ordinated by neuroscientist Clifford Saron of the Centre for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis. His team advertised in Buddhist publications for people willing to spend three months in an intensive meditation retreat, and chose 60 participants. Half of them attended in the spring of 2007, while the other half acted as a control group before heading off for their own retreat in the autumn.
It sounds simple enough, but the project has taken eight years to organise and is likely to end up costing around $4m (partly funded by private organisations with an interest in meditation, including the Fetzer Institute and the Hershey Family Foundation). As well as shipping laptops all over the world to carry out cognitive tests on the volunteers before the study started, Saron's team built a hi-tech lab in a dorm room beneath the Shambhala centre's main hall, enabling them to subject participants and controls to tests at the beginning, middle and end of each retreat, and worked with "a village" of consulting scientists who each wanted to study different aspects of the meditators' performance. "It's a heroic effort," says neuroscientist Giuseppe Pagnoni, who studies meditation at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy.
Many of the tests focused on changes in cognitive ability or regulation of emotions. Soft white caps trailing wires and electrodes measured the meditators' brain waves as they completed gruelling computerised tasks to test their powers of attention, and video recordings captured split-second changes in facial expressions as they watched images of suffering and war.
But psychologist Elissa Epel, from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), wanted to know what the retreat was doing to the participants' chromosomes, in particular their telomeres. Telomeres play a key role in the ageing of cells, acting like a clock that limits their lifespan. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres get shorter, unless an enzyme called telomerase builds them back up. When telomeres get too short, a cell can no longer replicate, and ultimately dies.
It's not just an abstract concept. People with shorter telomeres are at greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression and degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. And they die younger.
Epel has been collaborating with UCSF's Elizabeth Blackburn, who shared the 2009 Nobel physiology or medicine prize for her work on telomeres, to investigate whether telomeres are affected by psychological factors. They found that at the end of the retreat, meditators had significantly higher telomerase activity than the control group, suggesting that their telomeres were better protected. The researchers are cautious, but say that in theory this might slow or even reverse cellular ageing. "If the increase in telomerase is sustained long enough," says Epel, "it's logical to infer that this group would develop more stable and possibly longer telomeres over time."
Pagnoni has previously used brain imaging to show that meditation mayprotect against the cognitive decline that occurs as we age. But the Shamatha project is the first to suggest that meditation plays a role in cellular ageing. If that link is confirmed, he says, "that would be groundbreaking".
So how could focusing on your thoughts have such impressive physical effects? The assumption that meditation simply induces a state of relaxation is "dead wrong", says Raison. Brain-imaging studies suggest that it triggers active processes within the brain, and can cause physical changes to the structure of regions involved in learning, memory, emotion regulation and cognitive processing.
The question of how the immaterial mind affects the material body remains a thorny philosophical problem, but on a practical level, "our understanding of the brain-body dialogue has made jaw-dropping advances in the last decade or two," says Raison. One of the most dramatic links between the mind and health is the physiological pathways that have evolved to respond to stress, and these can explain much about how meditation works.
When the brain detects a threat in our environment, it sends signals to spur the body into action. One example is the "fight or flight" response of the nervous system. When you sense danger, your heart beats faster, you breathe more rapidly, and your pupils dilate. Digestion slows, and fat and glucose are released into the bloodstream to fuel your next move. Another stress response pathway triggers a branch of the immune system known as the inflammatory response.
These responses might help us to run from a mammoth or fight off infection, but they also damage body tissues. In the past, the trade-off for short bursts of stress would have been worthwhile. But in the modern world, these ancient pathways are continually triggered by long-term threats for which they aren't any use, such as debt, work pressures or low social status. "Psychological stress activates these pathways in exactly the same way that infection does," says Raison.
Such chronic stress has devastating effects, putting us at greater risk of a host of diseases including diabetes, cancer, heart disease, depression – and death. It also affects our telomeres. Epel, Blackburn and their colleagues found in 2004 that stressed mothers caring for a chronically ill child had shorter telomeres than mothers with healthy children. Their stress had accelerated the ageing process.
Meditation seems to be effective in changing the way that we respond to external events. After short courses of mindfulness meditation, people produce less of the stress hormone cortisol, and mount a smaller inflammatory response to stress. One study linked meditators' lower stress to changes in the amygdala – a brain area involved in fear and the response to threat.
Some researchers think this is the whole story, because the diseases countered most by meditation are those in which stress plays a major role. But Epel believes that meditation might also trigger "pathways of restoration and enhancement", perhaps boosting the parasympathetic nervous system, which works in opposition to the fight or flight response, or triggering the production of growth hormone.
In terms of the psychological mechanisms involved, Raison thinks that meditation allows people to experience the world as less threatening. "You reinterpret the world as less dangerous, so you don't get as much of a stress reaction," he says. Compassion meditation, for example, may help us to view the world in a more socially connected way. Mindfulness might help people to distance themselves from negative or stressful thoughts.
The Shamatha project used a mix of mindfulness and compassion meditation. The researchers concluded that the meditation affected telomerase by changing the participants' psychological state, which they assessed using questionnaires. Three factors in particular predicted higher telomerase activity at the end of the retreat: increased sense of control (over circumstances or daily life); increased sense of purpose in life; and lower neuroticism (being tense, moody and anxious). The more these improved, the greater the effect on the meditators' telomerase.
For those of us who don't have time for retreats, Epel suggests "mini-meditations" – focusing on breathing or being aware of our surroundings – at regular points throughout the day. And though meditation seems to be a particularly effective route to reducing stress and protecting telomeres, it's not the only one. "Lots of people have no interest in meditation, and that's fine," says Creswell. Exercise has been shown to buffer the effects of stress on telomeres, for example, while stress management programmes and writing emotional diaries can help to delay the progression of HIV.
Indeed, Clifford Saron argues that the psychological changes caused by the Shamatha retreat – increased sense of control and purpose in life – are more important than the meditation itself. Simply doing something we love, whether meditating or gardening, may protect us from stress and maybe even help us to live longer. "The news from this paper is the profound impact of having the opportunity to live your life in a way that you find meaningful."
For a scientific conclusion it sounds scarily spiritual. But researchers warn that in our modern, work-obsessed society we are increasingly living on autopilot, reacting blindly to tweets and emails instead of taking the time to think about what really matters. If we don't give our minds a break from that treadmill, the physical effects can be scarily real.

How to Best Use Cleanse for Life


Tips for Your Cleanse Day Success
Bathing suits, shorts and tank tops are just around the corner— but don’t fret! You have one powerful secret weapon in your back pocket: Cleanse for Life®.
Unlike the other “super juices” out there that try to tout their one-berry wonder, Cleanse for Life harnesses some of nature’s most rare and potent plants and minerals to create an elixir that packs a healthy, refreshing punch. No diuretics; no stimulants; just the best, most effective parts of plants such as bilberry, Aloe vera inner filet leaf gel and ashwagandha. That translates into the best cleanse drink on the planet. No compromise necessary!
So, what’s the best way to take advantage of this life-giving nectar of nature? Take a peek at the tips we’ve received from experienced Isagenix Associates who have discovered the energizing benefits of a Nutritional Cleansing and Cellular Replenishing lifestyle.
5 Cleanse Day Tips for Success
  • Bring Your Cleanse On-the-Go. Summer vacation or business trip on the calendar? Don’t skip your Cleanse Day; order a canister of Cleanse for Life powder instead! The canister contains the same amount of Cleanse for Life, just without the liquid. Add two well-rounded scoops to your purified water and you’re good to go.
  • Cleanse Every Day. You don’t have to wait ’til your next Cleanse Day to replenish your body with essential vitamins, minerals and energizing adaptogens. Try Everyday Cleansing. With just 1-to-2 ounces of the Cleanse for Life liquid in the morning and evening or one well-rounded scoop of the powder in 2-to-4 ounces of purified water twice daily, you’ll get the healthy benefits of this delicious drink every day.
  • Snack Healthy. On Cleanse Days, make sure you have your IsaDelight Plus™ andIsagenix Snacks!™ handy.Enjoy two to four green-tea enhanced, antioxidant-rich IsaDelight Plus and fire up your fat-burning potential along with a few Isagenix Snacks! to curb your appetite thanks to the chromium included and you’ll be on the pathway to health success in no time.
  • Try Ionix® Supreme and Cleanse for Life Together. Really, it’s okay to mix this dynamic duo! In fact, mix two scoops Cleanse for Life powder with 1 scoop of Ionix Supreme powder in an IsaShaker™ full of water and enjoy it as your first cleanse of the day. You’ll be amazed by the fruity flavor and energizing kick.
  • Cleanse with a Friend. Whether you need the extra support or just want someone to bounce your ideas off of, it’s one of the best ways to stay on track.
So what are you waiting for? Get that Cleanse Day on the calendar now and find a friend to join you in your quest for better health. Your body (and your swimsuit!) will thank you.

Article courtesy of:http://www.isagenixnews.com/how-to-best-use-cleanse-for-life/