Here is something what made me smile – perhaps you like to smile as well…?
Archive for June, 2010
AFFIRMATIONS PART 3
PART 3
Affirmations are so simple and yet so effective. An affirmation is a statement, often repeated in our heads—that’s it. There isn’t much concentration or focus required. The affirmation’s power, however, lies in its ability to re-shape our thinking and perspective drastically and quickly. Here are 4 ways affirmations can help you
1. Affirmations quiet our ego’s mental chatter
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to many of the difficulties and complexities we face is mental chatter. It is this constant stream of thinking and ideas that distracts us from being able to focus on what we want—be that stillness and serenity or a specific goal. Mental chatter is the voice in the head that screams, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” or “I’m ugly. I’m fat.” Affirmations soothe this wailing like a pacifier to a baby. In moments of fear, panic, or anxiety, repeating to yourself, “I can do this! I can do this!” or “I am beautiful. I am attractive,” is incredibly powerful at helping you do an emotional 180.
2. Affirmations can begin to transform our thinking instantaneously
When we are focusing on “I can do this,” instead of nerves and jitters, we have immediately taken control of ourselves. When we are in control, we immediately feel at ease. Sigh! When we feel powerless is when our fears and worries tend to spiral out of control. Instead of focusing on the fear, saying affirmations gives us a new focus. It is the same concept as women doing deep breathing when they are giving birth—it gives them something else to focus on than the pain they are feeling. A slight change in focus can and does make a world of difference. This tiny little mental trick is a powerful one.
3. Affirmations put us in the driver’s seat
Affirmations can transform our lives by giving us a sense of power and control. Often it doesn’t take much to remind us of how powerful we are. Simply saying, “I am calm. I am cool. I am collected,” before a job interview can take us from nervous to confident in no time.
4. Affirmations can be effective when change is most difficult
True change comes in this manner: first our thoughts, then our words, then our deeds. First we get an idea like, “I’m tired of being overweight.” This gains momentum and turns into saying things like, “I am going to go to the gym 3 times this week.” What follows? Three trips to the gym. The problem arises when our thoughts still want to be couch potatoes. Stating affirmations like, “I go regularly to the gym. I exercise. I workout,” can shape our reluctant thinking. When change seems hardest, that is a sign that one needs to be using affirmations constantly to help change their lagging thinking. As you know, if you hear something often enough, you will start to believe it.
For more information on how to use affirmations to transform your life visit Transform My Life With Affirmations!
John Assaraf
TEA CULTURE
At an organic tea garden in India’s Darjiling region, Camellia sinensis leaves are plucked by hand, as they have been since the British began widespread tea cultivation in the 1830s. Producing around two billion pounds (900 million kilograms) a year, India is the globe’s largest tea grower.
Here is more on tea. My passion for drinking tea led me to research and I found fascinating material I would like to share here from time to time. See for yourself and let me know what you think. It is so inspiring to learn more about the cultures of the world.
Part 1
Indian tea culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The cultivation and brewing of tea in India has a long history of applications in traditional systems of medicine and for consumption. The consumption of tea in India was first clearly documented in the Ramayana (750-500 BC). Research shows that tea is indigenous to eastern and northern India, and was cultivated and consumed there for thousands of years. However, commercial production of tea in India did not begin until the arrival of the British East India Company, at which point large tracts of land were converted for mass tea production.
Today, India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, though over 70% of the tea is consumed within India itself. A number of renown teas, such as Darjeeling, also grow exclusively in India. The Indian tea industry has grown to own many global tea brands, and has evolved to one of the most technologically equipped tea industries in the world. Tea production, certification, exportation, and all other facets of the tea trade in India is controlled by the Tea Board of India.
India produces and consumes more tea than any other country in the world, except for China, including the famous Assam tea and Darjeeling tea.
The cultivation and brewing of tea in India has a long history of applications in traditional systems of medicine and for consumption. The consumption of tea in India was first clearly documented in the Ramayana (750-500 BC). For the next 1000 years, documentation of tea in India was lost in history. Records re-emerge during the first century AD, with stories of the Buddhist monks Bodhidharma and Gan Lu, and their involvement with tea.
Research shows that tea is indigenous to eastern and northern India, and was cultivated and consumed there for thousands of years. Commercial production of tea in India did not begin until the arrival of the British East India Company, at which point large tracts of land were converted for mass tea production.
Today, India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, though over 70% of the tea is consumed within India itself. A number of renown teas, such as Darjeeling, also grow exclusively in India. The Indian tea industry has grown to own many global tea brands, and has evolved to one of the most technologically equipped tea industries in the world. Tea production, certification, exportation, and all other facets of the tea trade in India is controlled by the Tea Board of India.
I will continue to write here about tea occasionally. What would you like to find here? Do you have a “Tea Story” you like to share? You are invited to share it here.
TEA OR DISH-WASHING-WATER?
Part 1
The other day I was talking to my tribal friend Steve in Canada. You know how it goes we talked first business but after a while we ended up talking about tea.
Have you ever been to a restaurant – assuming you like to drink black tea – and ordered hot tea? What did you expect? What you get usually is a small pot of little more than lukewarm water and a teabag with some black stuff in it. You put that baggy in the teapot and after a while you pour yourself a brownish brew in a cold cup, dropping the temperature even more. Drinking it without any sweetener, milk or lemon is almost impossible because it tastes like heavily used dish-washing-water.
It is so easy to make a great cup of tea just need to know how to do it.
For a good cup of black tea take boiling hot water, pour it over the tea in a strainer or the teabag, and let the tea steep for 3-5 minutes. The longer you steep the tea the more bitterness will be in your cup of tea, and has nothing to do with good flavor. Important is that you move the strainer or the teabag in and out of the water draining the water out several times to get all the antioxidants in your brew.
The flavor of black and green tea depends on many factors. What you usually buy in cheap teabags is ground waste material from the production of higher quality teas.
No matter how expensive the tea you buy,
if you brew it wrong, it’s awful.
This is a lesson many beginners learn the hard way. Most people who claim that they “don’t like the taste” were repelled by an incorrectly brewed tea. This can create a terrible misconception that can last a lifetime… and can also be easily avoepided with better brewing techniques.
Most restaurants, cafés and households that serve tea try to cut corners by simply throwing all teas into the same temperature water and serving visitors without any direction. This makes about as much sense as opening a premium wine bar and serving white wines at room temperature, or opening a prime steakhouse and serving all steaks well done.
Steeping good tea does not take a PhD, but it is also not as simple as chucking it into boiling water and letting it stew. There are easy ways, however, to steep the perfect cup. In fact, there are nearly as many brewing methods as there are teas.
The trick to steeping tea correctly comes in five parts: water, weight, temperature, time and equipment.
So far for today – we will have more on water, weight, temperature, time and equipment next time. There will be an extra post on Green Tea, the science behind it and more. Preparing tea can even be celebrated in a ceremony. Have you ever heard of the Japanese “Tea Ceremony”?
I would love to hear from you, what are your experiences with tea, tea brewing, your tips and tricks.
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