Can Angels Help You Have A Personal Rebirth This Easter?

Easter is known as the holiest festival in the Christian calendar. It also gives us all, whether Christian or not, the opportunity to renew our personal faith, as we witness and experience our personal “crucifixions” and “resurrections” in our own lives.

These periods can be both challenging and deeply painful, but help is at hand. Your angels are there to guide and assist you.

Angels, from the Greek word angeloi, are messengers, conveying messages from the Divine Mind of the Creator to you, the created. Their ultimate mission is to bring you peace. So if you are facing a challenging time, know you have a team of loyal supporters who are here to help you move to the other side of it and rise again.

If you have doubts about the existence of angels and their ability to help you, put it to the test. Ask them to help you and see what happens!

Step One: Be clear about what you want help with.

We all have free will, and so by Universal Law angels can only help you if you ask for their help. All you have to say (out loud or in your head) is, “Angels, please help me with …..”, and they will hear your request.

Remember though: add to your requests that you want for this or something better to happen. That allows your angels to use their creative abilities to bring you something even better than you have imagined.

Step Two: Detach from your desires

Having made clear requests to your angels, your next step is to let go of those requests completely.

This attitude of total detachment declares, “I place this situation totally in your hands and allow you to heal it in whatever way is for my highest good and in alignment with the Higher Purpose of this situation.” The more you can surrender your expectations of what you think should happen and how it should work out, the easier you are making things for your angels.

Step Three: Be open to guidance from your angels

Angels will communicate with you through your subtle inner senses and feelings, through synchronicities and repetitive ideas and feelings. Coupled with all angelic guidance is the gut feeling of sense of “Yes, this is right.”
There are four main avenues of angelic communication: clairvoyance (seeing), clairsentience (feeling), clairaudience (hearing) and claircognizance (ideas in the mind). We are all able to receive messages in each of these ways, but often we favour a particular one.

All angelic guidance will be positive, empowering and for the highest good of all. When you take the recommended steps, it always feels good and right.

Step Four: Quiet Time

Your mind wants to be active all the time, leaping from one thought to another. This is especially so when you are feeling stressed or worried about an issue.

To receive your angels' guidance, you will need to take some time every day to relax and quieten, and preferably to meditate.

Step Five: Take Time Out in Nature

Being outdoors in nature automatically changes your perspective and improves your mood; you are more open, relaxed and able to think clearly. Your angels can readily take advantage of this more receptive state to transmit guidance.

Brisk walking or jogging is even better as it makes you breathe in a way that opens you to your angels' transmissions.


Step Six: Take action on your guidance

The more you are attuned to your subtle inner senses, the easier it is to receive angelic guidance. Whatever the form of the message, the content will be repetitive, and it is very important that you do act upon it. The more you do act in alignment with your angels’ messages, the more you will get to trust them.

As we move, with our angels help, from our personal crucifixions to our resurrections we really feel that we have been re-born. Often the symbolic three days is the time that it takes us to move to a place where we really are able to see the situation with new eyes. To get to this place, all we have to do is surrender our limited thinking into the hands of our angels, and they will guide you.


Sarah Alexander is an Angel Therapy Practitioner for more inforamtion see: www.angelic-inspiration.co.uk and www.sarah-alexander.co.uk

You can hear more interviews with Sarah on PASSION for the PLANET

How a Haystack can help heal your back

Got bad back? Go crawl in a haystack

Hay, water, a large plastic bag and a wooden platform – this the modern way of having a hay bath.

100s of years ago when famers in the Tyrolean Alps had a sore back after a hard day in the fields they would crawl inside a hay stack, lay down and wait for the healing powers of the meadow herbs and the heat generated within the stack, to heal them.

However for those of us without a handy hay stack in the back garden there is an alternative – a hay bath. tried one at the Wiesenhof Hotel in Pertisau in Tyrol, Austria.

You lie on a wooden platform in a large bath. But rather than lying in water, you are actually floating on top of a large plastic bag filled with water – so it’s a watery sensation without the wetness. You are then covered in damp hay, which is considerably less prickly than dry hay. A damp sheet is wrapped around you and a number of towels and blankets keep you warm.

Once you are ready the platform is lowered away and you “float” in the encased water. There is a feeling of weightlessness and the mind and body begin to relax as the water heats up from 38 degrees to around 41 degrees.

For the next 25 minutes you lie floating in a bed of warm hay and meadow herbs. It’s quiet. It’s comforting. It’s relaxed. You’ll probably fall asleep.

The heat encourages you to sweat and the herbs help pull out toxins. The combination causes the muscles to relax and spasms to reduce.

I was quite disappointed when my time was up – I would happily have stayed there for much longer, cocooned in the warmth and breathing in the light scent of cut grass and wild flowers.

Like the majority of treatments at the Wiesenhof, the hay bath uses a local resource. The hay is grown in the mountain meadows and is cut by hand before being dried. Along with mineral salts and Stone Oil it’s a treatment that is unique to the local area and steeped in tradition.
So next time you mow the lawn remember that grass is good for more than just sitting on.


You can hear more about the natural treatments at the Wiesenhof in Tirol, Austria on PASSION for the PLANET

And Now The Science Bit

When I was primary school age I was asked by a grown up what I'd like to do when I grew up. I said I'd really like to be an astronaut, but that the first manned missions to Mars where planned for the early 1980s, and I wouldn't be old enough to make it through training in time to be part of it, and pulled out my set of full colour illustrated science encyclopedias to support squishing that dream.

Of course chasing that Red Planet ambition would have been fruitless for a different reason, by the time we actually get there I'll be too old, or dead. When I think about that, part of me can't help but be disappointed. Not because I didn't get to be an astronaut, not because I'll never get to go to Mars, but because there's a good chance I won't get to see someone else do it. I can't help feeling NASA has let that little boy down.

Of course it's not NASA's fault. If they had the funding they'd be scooting around the solar system in craft like the Antares from the recent TV series Defying Gravity.

And the truth is that the world's space agencies are doing amazing things, like Cassini. Cassini is a small spacecraft in orbit around Saturn.

Perhaps you've already seen the Pac-Man picture from Cassini [below]. This is an image of the tiny moon Mimas, which orbits Saturn. Cassini measured temperature differences across the moon's surface and produced a map that looks just like the 1980s Pac-Man video game icon. At the moment, the boffins aren't sure why Mimas should display such variations. They speculate that it could be related to the diversity of textures in the surface materials. Apparently some textures may retain heat better than others.

It's an amazing picture, and it's incredible that we've got a spacecraft the size of a big bus to Saturn, and it's brilliant that we're learning more about our universe. I think even primary school age me approves.

For fact boys:
Cassini is a joint venture between the US space agency (Nasa), the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
Its mission was recently extended through to 2017.
Mimas is about 400km (250 miles) across.

For little boys:
Mimas has a distinctive scar called Herschel Crater which makes it look like the "Death Star" from the Star Wars movies.

AUDIOBLOG: 40 Millions Brits Are Sleep Deprived [Dr Neil Stanley]

Every Monday, an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

This week, Dr Neil Stanley. As you read this, two thirds of the UK population is tired. About 40 million of us are suffering from a form of sleep deprivation, and it's not good for us.

CLICK FOR INTERVIEW.

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at www.passionfortheplanet.com

Divorce EU Style

IF EU ROMANCE GOES WRONG
Nina Maria Potts, Brussels Bureau

With more citizens of EU member states taking advantage of opportunities to live and work in a different country, mixed nationality marriages are more likely.

But if things go wrong and you're married to someone from another country, divorce isn't easy. Which is why the European Commission wants to use a treaty provision that has never been tested before...

CLICK TO LISTEN TO REPORT.

FSN is PASSION for the PLANET's award winning news partner, providing global news from bureaus worldwide.

You'll find more world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

To listen to hundreds of interviews go to http://www.passionfortheplanet.com/.

The Work You Were Born To Do

How do you build a successful business around the work you love without selling out?

The majority of people work for pay and believe that is their lot.

But I believe that each of us has a unique work, what I call “the work you were born to do”, which is born out of your deepest self rather than your personality.

I know you can be paid to do that work, but being paid is not your primary motivation for that work. Love and creative expression are. As Kahlil Gibran expressed so beautifully, “Your work is your love made visible.”

Sadly, most people experience a split, believing you can work for money doing something you don’t love, or you can work doing something you love, but you can’t or shouldn’t expect to be paid for it.

Many believe they can work for love or money, but not both. Too few people ever reach the blessed place of working for love and receiving an abundance of money for doing that. I think you can.

Your artistic, spiritual, creative side can happily co-exist with your business mind and your entrepreneurial skills. You can be in touch with Heaven and take that out to the marketplace.


Remember; the work you love is an act of love and generosity from the heart of you. You are inspired. You are a conduit to bring something precious from another realm into this earthly realm. William Blake once said, “Eternity is in love with the creations of time.” I believe this to mean that you are actively inspired and encouraged by angels, muses, guides, whatever you believe in, to show up in this life with your ideas, talents and gifts. This will bring you joy.


Then start to become intelligent and wise about how you can generate income from your talents. I believe that your talents in some way brighten and uplift the world, and are an act of generosity.

However – watch out! It’s easy to get in your own way:

1. Guilt – you feel guilty about asking for and taking money from people for doing what comes easily and naturally to you. The protestant work ethic promotes suffering in work, not joy. The work you love can be easy, it can just flow naturally from you, and you can be open to receive money from your gifts.

2. Righteousness – I meet many people who have an edge of righteousness and secretly feel superior because they don’t earn much money. “Look what a wonderful person I am because I don’t make much for myself.” I believe true spirituality doesn’t call for self-sacrifice, but is an invitation to open to true abundance. Release your judgments on money so you can receive it graciously.

3. A receiving block – to receive means valuing yourself, requiring you to show up and give your authentic best in return for being paid. Receiving completes the circle of giving, but calls you also to be competent and professional and to embody a level of maturity.

4. Lack of knowledge and skill – it is one thing to know that a great website can generate you interest and income, it is another to know how to create a successful website and how to generate traffic to visit it.

5. A fear of loss of integrity – that when you earn money from what you love, you will start making it all about the money and lose your heart and integrity. When you come from the intention of love, you will always have integrity.

6. An unwillingness to show up to being seen and known and to market yourself. Being under-known is one of the reasons most people don’t generate enough income from doing what they love. The people whom you can serve don’t know about you, you are invisible to them. Many people fear being rejected so they don’t show up. But you can find a professional centre within you, where you commit to showing and are less concerned with acceptance or rejection and more committed to showing up authentically to be of service.

Your own work and your own inspired business can be your highest spiritual understanding demonstrated. Indeed, never has there been more need and more opportunity to be successful through authentically sharing your own unique gifts with the people who can most benefit from them.

DOWNLOAD AVAILABLE
To discover the work you were born to do and become an inspired entrepreneur, you can download your free copy of a nine-part programme now at: http://www.inspired-entrepreneur.com/


You can hear Nick Williams on PASSION for the PLANET radio, or listen to his interviews [and hundreds of other interviews] on demand at http://www.passionfortheplanet.com/.

Aerobics Makes You Fat

Is your aerobics class making you fat?

Aerobics classes seem like hard work and make us feel out of breath – so we believe they must be burning calories and making us slimmer.

But the science says this isn’t true. They could actually be making us fatter!

Cardiovascular exercise, like aerobics, works the big muscles of the body, for example the legs. In turn the heart works harder to pump more oxygenated blood to the muscles. And this means the lungs have to take in more air to provide this oxygen. This is why you feel out of breath.

The bad news is that while this may feel exhausting, the calories it burns are pretty pathetic. A full hour of aerobics will burn around 540 calories – that’s 50 calories less than a coronation chicken sandwich and a skinny latte.

But that may not be enough to help you lose weight. “Once you start exercising your body is likely to ask for more food, and you could easily find yourself eating more than you are burning,” explained Dr Nick Krasner, sports and family doctor.

But it gets worse. “Aerobics could actually be breaking down important lean muscle tissue as the body struggles to generate energy. Your internal organs are made of muscle so the last thing you want to do is start damaging these. And if you lose muscle your metabolism slows – in other words you’ll burn less calories on a day to day basis,” explains Zana Morris of Educogym in Harley Street, “So, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.”

The loss of lean muscle tissue can lead to the classic yo-yo dieting situation where you lose weight and look slimmer but as soon as you slacken off from the diet and the exercise the pounds pile back on again and you are bigger than when you started! This is because you have less muscle and so your metabolism is slower and you are burning fewer calories.

And it doesn’t stop there. It can also lead to hormonal changes. Exercise causes an increase in hormones, such as cortisol and growth hormones, according to Harley Street anti aging expert, Dr Jeya Prakesh.

And there’s evidence that there’s a link between an excess of cortisol and fat storage.

Cortisol is a stress hormone. It’s designed to prepare our bodies for 'fight or flight'. To do this, we need a ready supply of energy. Cortisol provides this by raising our blood sugar by producing new glucose (sugar) from protein and fat in the liver. And as we know, raised blood sugar stimulates the release of the hormone, insulin, and this can lead to fat storage. Studies at Birmingham University have shown that the roll of fat some of us store round our middle can actually manufacture cortisol, thereby promoting ongoing obesity (and the potential for type 2 diabetes).

So if aerobics could make you fat – what can you do to slim down without burning muscle? And how can you be sure the weight will stay off?

“The answer seems to lie in lifting weights – the trouble is many people believe that if they start doing that they’ll end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger,” says Dr Krasner. “So unfortunately this puts a lot of people off doing the exercise that would get them the results they want.”

“Resistance exercise, in other words lifting weights or working out on weight machines, builds up lean muscle tissue and boosts your base metabolic rate. With a higher BMR it is easier to maintain your shape as you’ll consistently burn more calories. This helps stabilise your weight even if you miss the odd workout or succumb to the temptation of a slice of cake!” says Zana Morris.

And even better you can do it in 20 minutes, rather than an hour in the cardio-studio. “By focusing on one muscle group at a time, working at a high intensity and pushing out just a few extra reps, even when you feel you can’t, you burn fat and build muscle – which is exactly the combination you want. And it will help to protect and strengthen your internal organs,” continues Zana.
An hour of aerobics or 20 minutes of weights? I know what I’d choose.

For more information about Educogym visit http://www.educogym.com/ .

This article is taken from a series of interviews on PASSION for the PLANET radio (http://www.passionfortheplanet.com/ .

To hear interviews with Zana Morris on demand, register for free here.

AUDIOBLOG: Post Conflict Reconciliation [Phil Vernon]

Every Monday, an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

This week, Peace Building. As a conflict within a country comes to an end and peace treaties are signed and politicians shake hands with former enemies what happens to the people – how are they reconciled when they have lived through such horrors? Phil Vernon is from peace building NGO, International Alert.

CLICK FOR INTERVIEW.

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at www.passionfortheplanet.com

SPORT RELIEF

Friday 19th March 2010. And across the United Kingdom millions of people will in some way take part in Sport Relief. At one end of the scale, there’s an evening of celebrities making fools of themselves, at the other there are 5 year olds going to school dressed up for their favourite sport. All to raise money to help vulnerable people in the UK, and in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure have got a lot to answer for. Except Live Aid wasn’t the start of televised fund raising. The BBC’s Children In Need evenings started in 1980 [Live Aid was 1985], and telethons have been a fixture on US TV since the mid 1950s. And they work. Two years ago on the main night of Sport Relief more than £19.5million was raised.

If you’re dressing up, running, swimming, or just watching, well done. We hope you crack that £20million.

EU Criticises UK Deficit Plans

EU Criticises UK Deficit Plans
Olly Barrett, London Bureau

The European Union has criticised the UK over uncertainty about its plans to cut its budget deficit.
A European Commission report also says the UK government's deficit cutting proposals will see it miss EU targets and break EU rules.


The Labour government says cutting spending more quickly would harm economic recovery. But the EU report has given ammunition to opposition parties ahead of a UK general election.

CLICK TO LISTEN TO REPORT.

FSN is PASSION for the PLANET's award winning news partner, providing global news from bureaus worldwide.

You'll find more world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

To listen to hundreds of interviews go to http://www.passionfortheplanet.com/.

Secrets to Successful Sustainability Initiatives

The Secrets to Successful Sustainability Initiatives

If you’re feeling frustrated after Copenhagen and ‘Climategate’, take heart. Your actions can help tackle climate change while making your company - and career - stronger and more successful.

I know this because as part of the research for my new book, Climb the Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable, my co-author Shari Aaron and I spoke to over 80 sustainability specialists - from organizations including Hewlett Packard, Royal Mail and the London School of Economics - who successfully changed their organizations from within.

Our research revealed that all sustainability strategies are underpinned by the same six maxims which can help guarantee success - whatever your level or industry. These principles are described in much greater detail in the book, but you can read a sneak preview below.


1) Get the mindset. Believe in your own power, and you can make a difference. At the Phelps’ Group, Kristen Thomas’ idea to swap disposable dishes for reusable ones started a green tidal wave that ultimately led to her company becoming the largest private solar power installation in their area.

2) Make the business case. A business case which demonstrates how your sustainability initiative can add business value will show colleagues you’re no hemp-wearing hippie but a business savvy, strategic thinker who understands the new marketplace dynamics. Doug Shaw’s mobile handset recycling scheme at BT Wholesale delivered £3 million in cost savings whilst generating cash for charity and increasing recycling. It also kept customers happy as a survey had found customers cared about these issues.

3) Get colleagues on your side. From using peer pressure to change behaviour to giving people the freedom to develop their own solutions, engagement is vital. Dr Paul Toyne from Bovis Lend Lease formed sustainability action groups across the company, asking directors to recommend people to ensure top level buy in. This meant new initiatives were embraced as solutions came from within.

4) Have 2-way conversations. It’s crucial to communicate your messages effectively and that means making it real and relevant. Coral Rose persuaded fabric buyers at Walmart to use organic cotton by giving them a packet of kitty litter which was the equivalent weight of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used to grow cotton for a single conventional t-shirt. The result? Wal Mart is now the largest user of organic cotton in the world.

5) Work together. From working with others in your company to competitors, customers, suppliers, NGOs and government, collaboration can reap great rewards. For example, in Scotland, Boots has teamed up with another company to share deliveries. The initiative has save 6,000 delivery miles a week and 150,000 litres of fuel per annum – reducing costs and the company’s carbon footprint.

6) Make it part of the culture. From making an action plan to making targets personal and part of everyone’s job, the most successful organisations are those who have made sustainability an everyday part of business thinking. Randy Boeller, from HP US, has seen how an integrated approach reaps real business rewards. Take packaging for example. The carbon footprint of getting a product to the consumer can be four times as much as processing the raw materials for that packaging. This means that a lighter, but more environmentally-intensive material could be the better choice overall, demonstrating why you have to look at sustainability at every level to make the most intelligent decisions.



More about the author:
Amy Fetzer is a journalist and sustainability consultant.

Her book, Climb the Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable, gives readers the tools to set their workplaces and careers onto more successful and sustainable paths.

Amy’s work focuses on creating engaging communications, from environmental white papers to workshops, that inspire, entertain and inform.

Amy studied Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey for a Masters degree.

Amy’s clients range from the BBC, Green Futures and The Guardian to Hewlett Packard, Sodexo, The Sunday Telegraph and My Weekly magazine. To find out more, please visit: www.climbthegreenladder.com

I Am In A Freezer, Wearing A Bikini

I am in a freezer, wearing a bikini.

Its -110 degrees, I am in a large freezer with windows, and I’m wearing a bikini. You would be forgiven for thinking I have taken leave of my senses.

However, I am actually doing this for my health.

I am at the Alpen Med Lamm wellness hotel in Seefeld, Tirol in Austria where they have a cryo-chamber . It’s not for freezing you after you die – but rather freezing you while still alive. Fortunately the maximum time you’ll spend in there is 4 minutes so there’s no chance of turning into an ice-pop.


The idea behind the treatment is that it cools (very rapidly) all the capillaries near the surface of the skin, as they cool they contract. Then when you step out into normal room temperature they expand again; faster and larger than before. This pushes more blood and therefore oxygen round the system helping to heal damaged areas and improve muscle function.

Many sports people visit the cryo-chamber to help heal injuries and improve performance and while I was there the Austrian National Football team were also using the chamber. It has been shown to help ailments like fibromyalgia and arthritis. It doesn’t claim to cure them, but it does claim to help reduce the symptoms and the associated pain.

The weird thing is minus 100 degrees C doesn’t actually feel as cold as you’d imagine. I was expecting my entrance into the freezer to feel like walking into an ice wall, I was expecting my skin to freeze and to be screaming for mercy within seconds. Although it’s certainly cold, it’s actually not as unpleasant as a cold, damp, “get into your bones” day in the UK. And once you step outside of the chamber, there is this lovely rush of warmth that wells up through your body.

To get the best results you really need to use the cryo-chamber twice a day for a week. One burst of blood and oxygen is helpful, but clearly a number of treatments will give your body the biggest benefits. Fortunately there is plenty to occupy your time between sessions.

The Alpen Med Lamm has a well equipped gym, exercise classes and outdoor activities like Nordic Walking, plus a pool, Jacuzzi and a range of health and beauty treatments from sports massage to TENS to cupping, from seeweed baths to relaxing soft pack treatments. So there are plenty of ways to reward yourself for being such a brave little icicle.


If you still need a bit more pampering then their first rate restaurant and well stocked cellar will probably do the trick.

You can hear more about the Alpen Med Lamm and the health benefits of their cryo-chamber on PASSION for the PLANET or go to www.passionfortheplanet.com

AUDIOBLOG: Red Squrrels [Joshua Perry]

Every Monday, an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

This week, Red Squirrels. Joshua Perry is Director of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

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You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at www.passionfortheplanet.com

Generating Your own Energy - HYDROELECTRICITY

Generating Your own Energy - HYDROELECTRICITY.

Generating your own renewable energy is becoming more popular and cost effective.

There are 7 key options: wind turbines, solar water heating and solar electricity, ground source and air source heat pumps, wood fuelled heating and hydro power.

In this last in the series we take a look at hydroelectricity in more detail.


HYDROELECTRICITY SYSTEMS generate electricity from running water - usually a small stream. Small or "micro" hydroelectricity systems can produce enough electricity for lighting and electrical appliances in an average home.

Hydroelectricity systems are also called hydro power systems or just hydro systems.

Hydro power systems use running water to turn a small turbine which generates electricity. The faster the water flows and the more water there is, the more electricity can be generated.

The amount of electricity a system actually generates depends on how efficiently it converts the power of the moving water into electrical power.

Hydropower is not suitable for every home but for those homes that do have access to the appropriate water supply there are a number of benefits;
• Cut your carbon footprint: hydroelectricity is green, renewable energy and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide or other pollutants
• Cut your electricity bills: hydroelectricity is free, so once you've paid for the initial installation you'll reduce or even eliminate your electricity bills
• A lower cost option: installing a hydro system can be expensive, but in many cases it's less than the cost of getting a connection to the National Grid
• Cheap heating and hot water: a hydro system may generate more electricity than you need for lighting your home and powering your electrical appliances - so you can use the excess to heat your home and your hot water too

Various grants of up to £2500 are also available to encourage home owners to generate their own power.

If generating your own power is something you’d like to explore further then The Energy Saving Trust website (www.energysavingtrust.org.uk) has a simple questionnaire to help you narrow down your options.

You can listen to PASSION for the PLANET RADIO and hear interviews on demand at PASSION for the PLANET.

GM Potato for Europe Causes A Stir

Enviromentalists Against GM Potato
Nina Maria Potts, Brussels Bureau

A German- genetically modified potato has been given the chance to enter European fields for the first time. After more than a decade of legal wrangling, the European Commission says it took the decision based on scientific grounds, in a move that has enraged environmentalists and delighted the biotech industry.

CLICK FOR REPORT.

FSN is PASSION for the PLANET's award winning news partner, providing global news from bureaus worldwide.

You'll find more world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

To listen to hundreds of interviews go to www.passionfortheplanet.com.

How I became obsessed by a dirty Malteser and lost 7lbs

I can’t take my eyes off the Malteser lying on the floor of the train carriage. All my brain can think is how much I’d like to eat it.

I am on week two of The BeautifulBreak Detox. I haven’t had any chocolate for 10 days and I am becoming obsessed.

Fortunately I have a little bag of delicious healthy treats to prevent me from doing something daft – like eating that damn Malteser.

The BeautifulBreak Detox is designed to help cleanse the body, flush out toxins, reduce stress on the digestive system and re-alkalise the body. Most of us have sluggish digestive systems, our bodies are acidic (which can lead to a range of health issues), we’re dependent on caffeine or nicotine and crave sugary or salty foods.

None of these are great for feeling your best.

The trouble is, detoxing always sounds so difficult – and a bit painful. But as detoxes go this is really very easy. They provide all the food for you – the meals, the snacks, drinks and even daily treats known as “detox temptations”. These are a selection of fruity flapjacks or little fruit cake balls – delicious.

In addition you do a lot of sweating.

Five times a week I head to BodyWorksWest for my wrap. Naked, apart from a pair of those “oh so flattering” disposable pants, I lie down on a damp sheet and the practitioner, Ilona Wesle, surrounds me with temperature controlled hot water bottles and then wraps me up in layers of blankets and towels until I look like some sort of fat Egyptian mummy, with just my face poking out at the top. And there I stay for about an hour – sweating in places I didn’t even know I could sweat. I sweat so much I begin to wonder if one day she will unwrap me and I will have completely melted!

The wraps are designed to increase peripheral circulation and stimulate the metabolism to eliminate waste products and toxins. According to Ilona, this is not just good for your health, it can also help to reduce cellulite. A definite bonus.

During the first few days I found the food very bland and longed for some flavour, but within less than a week my taste buds had adjusted and each meal was tasty and bursting with flavour. It just goes to show how so much salt in the diet and in the body can affect how we taste and experience our food.

After three weeks, my skin is softer and smoother, my stomach is flatter, I’ve lost nearly 7lbs and my thighs are cellulite free.

It’s one of the easiest detox plans I’ve tried – the wraps may be time consuming but they are also an excellent excuse to relax and meditate, sleep or enjoy an audio book. The food is tasty and well thought through with plenty of variety (the Thai green curry was my favourite), and the detox temptations are delicious. They are so good I’d happily eat them even when I am not on health kick.

And, despite my obsession you’ll be pleased to know I didn’t succumb to any dirty Maltesers!


You can hear more from Ilona Wesle from Beautiful Break Detox on PASSION for the PLANET.

AUDIOBLOG: Enrico Ducrot [Eco Luxury]

Every Monday, an interview heard on PASSION for the PLANET.

This week, Eco Luxury. It's a new project from Italian global tour operator Enrico Ducrot – he seeks to promote tourism that combines luxury with environmental credentials.

CLICK FOR INTERVIEW.

You can hear more interviews on air and on demand at www.passionfortheplanet.com

Generating Your own Energy – WOOD FUELLED HEATING SYSTEMS

Could you generate heat for your home from waste in your garden?

If you have plenty of wood – then the answer is yes.

There are seven main ways to generate power at home: wind turbines, solar water heating and solar electricity, ground source and air source heat pumps, hydro power … and wood fuelled heating.

Today, in number six in our series on renewable energy generation at home we’ll take a look at using wood.

WOOD FUELLED HEATING SYSTEMS generally burn wood pellets, chips or logs to power central heating and hot water boilers or to provide warmth in a single room.

There are two main ways of using wood to heat you home:
• A standalone stove burning logs or pellets to heat a single room. Some can also be fitted with a back boiler to provide water heating as well

• A boiler burning pellets, logs or chips connected to a central heating and hot water system

Log burning stoves and boilers have to be filled with wood by hand. Some pellet and chip burners use automatic fuel feeders which refill them at regular intervals from fuel storage units called hoppers.

The benefits of wood fuel heating are;
• A low carbon option: the carbon dioxide emitted when wood fuel is burned is the same amount that was absorbed over the previous months and years as the plant was growing. As long as new plants continue to grow in place of those used for fuel, the process is sustainable. There are some carbon emissions caused by the cultivation, manufacture and transportation of the fuel, but as long as the fuel is sourced locally, these are much lower than the emissions from fossil fuels.

• A good use for waste wood: burning wood can be a convenient means of disposing of waste that might otherwise be sent to a landfill site.


Various grants of up to £2500 are also available to encourage home owners to generate their own power.

If generating your own power is something you’d like to explore further then The Energy Saving Trust website has a simple questionnaire to help you narrow down your options.

And you can hear more about renewables on PASSION for the PLANET

World's Oldest Barber

Guinness Book Barber
Nathan King, New York Bureau

Many people go on working past retirement age, but in the small town of Vails Gate in upstate New York, Antonio Mancinelli is a trail blazer. Mancinelli has been plying his trade for so long, he has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Nathan King reports from New York.

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