Your Happiness Factor

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Basil - The Royal Herb The name of the herb "basil" comes from the Greek word meaning "king" or "royal", reflecting how the herb was valued.   The French sometimes call basil " l'herbe royale " too.  In Italy, basil was symbolic of love and it was sometimes used as an aphrodisiac.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The English botanist  Culpeper  cites one "Hilarius, a French physician" as affirming it as common knowledge that smelling basil too much would breed scorpions in the brain.  And  basil did represent hatred in ancient  Greece. But, t here are many much nicer rituals and beliefs associated with basil.   In  Portugal , a dwarf bush of basil is traditionally presented in a pot, together with a poem and a  pom-pom , to a sweetheart,   In Mediterranean countries, a pot of basil on the window sill denoted that an unmarried girl lived in the house.  Scientific studies  have suggested that com

A Lakota Peyote Healing Song by Robbie Robertson YouTube is full of music that claims to be Native American from North America and usually it isn't. It may be quite beautiful music but it is not what it claims to be. And in my view it does not have the same power.  This is authentic, beautiful and powerful Singer, song writer and guitarist Robbie Robertson was born Jaime Robert Klegerman in 1943, in Toronto, Ontario. He was born to a Jewish father and a Mohawk mother and took his stepfather's last name after his mother remarried. He had his earliest exposure to music at Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation , Ontario where he spent summers with his mother's family. He is best known for his membership in The Band. Here is a translation of the words

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Now I’m an only child. There lots of advantages to being the only one – lots of encouragement and love was focused on me. But there also disadvantages. One of the main ones for me was that I didn’t really learn fully how to share, with goodwill, until I was quite grown up. And that can present lots of issues in forming good and stable friendships and relationships Some small children share without being asked and without any further intervention from anyone else. But, learning to share can be hard for most children. And certainly it can be hard when you have no siblings. Young children tend to think about themselves and what they want or need for survival. Thinking about the needs of others is the beginning of learning to share. You can’t expect two- and three-year-old children to share. They are still working out how to meet their own needs. By age four, many children will share some of their things. By age six or seven, children begin to unders

Everyone smiles in the same language. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Smiling Makes You Beautiful! I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. -  Author Unknown  Research has shown that smiling makes you feel better.   Not only that, smiling boosts your immune system. So if you are feeling down - the weather is rotten, you feel chilly and you don't want to catch that cold, smile and smile again.  It will help you to get through the day!   Smiling helps you feel less stressed too and it actually seems to lower blood pressure!  The muscles you use when you smile help your face to look younger.  A smile makes everyone and anyone look more approachable.  So take your confidence and your smile and make friends - smile and most people will smile back!  You can, make someone's day with a smile. I started with a quote so I'll finish with one too!  No one knows who wrote this.  It is just someone's anonymous gift to the world.  And whoever you are

Friday Quotes - On Dieting And Just For Fun Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever. Anon. I'm allergic to food. Every time I eat it breaks out into fat. Jennifer Greene Duncan I keep trying to lose weight... but it keeps finding me! Anon . Avoid any diet that discourages the use of hot fudge. Don Kardong Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake. Anon. I'm not overweight. I'm just nine inches too short. Shelley Winters Rich, fatty foods are like destiny: they too, shape our ends. Anon The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet book - how not to eat what you've just learned how to cook. Andy Rooney In the Middle Ages, they had guillotines, stretch racks, whips, and chains. Nowadays, we have a much more effective torture device called the bathroom scale. Stephen Phillips When we lose twenty pounds..

How to get an Office Workout (With A Little Dignity) No, not that - join Sarah and Wendy from Diet.com below as Wendy demonstrates some easy exercise moves you can do while at the office. Learn how to tone your abs, glutes, core, and more right from the comfort of your desk! Get in some office fitness with this "how to get an office workout" video. http://www.diet.com/videos/   Related articles Coffee Break Learning - What is Philosophy? Absolutely Fabulous - I'm So Beautiful Friday Quotes - Inspiration from Strong Women Are you happy?

7 Tips For A Good Night's Sleep Dr. Gail Saltz is a psychiatrist with New York Presbyterian Hospital.  In this recent post she writes about the stress of modern and the toll it might take on our sleeping habits.  But as she says... "Sleep is tremendously important, affecting both physical and mental  health . Lack of deep, restorative sleep can lead to mood alterations, depression, hunger and fatigue. A lack of concentration means work performance suffers. Irritability means relationships suffer. It’s no wonder that sleep deprivation is used as a means of torture." She doesn’t advocate taking sleeping pills for sleep problems that are likely temporary and related to the life you are living. Instead she provides seven tips for getting a good night's sleep and you can find them at this link http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/27575448/ns/today-today_health/t/tired-counting-sheep-tips-good-rest/#.UDT-5MFlSmI Dr. Gail Saltz is a psychiatrist with New York Presbyteria

Summer is often a time for travel and here  not-for-profit executive Courtney Spence answers the question "What Have You Found Most Rewarding About Traveling to New Places?" She notes how the art and journey of traveling has helped her find breakthrough moments in her life. As she points out the trips do not need not be exotic - it is about the experiences that make a trip and leave a positive and inspirational impact on your life.  As Founder and Executive Director, Courtney Spence leads the organization, Students of the World. It sets out to empower college students to use film, photography, and journalism to tell stories of global issues and the organizations working to address them. Meanwhile if you are serious about personal development, particularly personal development and your career, I think you will find our new programme interesting. It is at this link   http://gettingtherewithwisewolf.com/ Wendy Mason is a career coach working mainly with mana

I am of the generation of women that grew up believing life really was too short to stuff a mushroom.  Here is a really cool little video showing that we were wrong. Chorizo stuffed mushrooms - the easiest stuffed mushrooms recipe ever. In under 5 minutes, watch as a lovely appetizer is prepared. 

Elvis Presley died 35 years ago today. My mother was already in her late forties when Elvis came to prominence around 1956.  She bought just one record by Elvis - it was an "ep" (vinyl extended play) with four gospel songs on it.  This is the one she loved and so do I.  Thanks Elvis - wherever you are!

Choosing a mate - are you a Mummy's Boy or a Daddy's Girl? Now we have talked about this for years.  But recent research has shown that we really do appear to choose a mate that looks like our parents. Girls look for a boy that looks like dear old Dad.  And boys don't realize that their dream woman actually looks like their lovely Mum.   Cognitive psychologist, David Perrett, of the University of St Andrews has studied what makes faces attractive to us.  He has developed a magick, morphing computer programme that can adjust faces over and over again until he gets what he wants. He asked students to decide among his images of faces, which they fancied most.  What they didn't know was that the images he has showed them included their own face morphed into the opposite sex.  And that seemed to be the face that students preferred.  This suggests that we find our own faces attractive because they remind us of the faces we saw most in our childhood - Mum and

(Photo credit: ZORIN DENU ) When You Feel Angry - Anger Management Feeling angry or having someone become angry with you makes you feel unhappy! But anger is a natural feeling and it affects everyone. Anger usually arises because you believe someone has acted against you or something you care about or believe in! It doesn’t have to be real – you just need to believe that it exists! It comes about in three main ways; Someone or some thing gets in the way and stops you achieving a goal or something you care about from happening Someone or some organisation breaks your personal rules. For example, ‘I've worked for them for years and now they want to get rid of me!’ Or, for example, believing that the government or an organisation s behaving unjustly Your self esteemed feels threatened or you feel a lack or respect to you or to a group that you belong to. Mild anger can be expressed as annoyance or irritation. Anger about institutions or injustice c

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Organisational skills for Uni or College If you have a family member going off to college this fall, they might find these basic but key tips on how to organise yourself for study  very useful. Organise your space Make sure the space is big enough to work. You will need: a writing surface where you can spread out your papers, books and files space for a computer bookshelves for books light so you can read without straining your eyes make sure that your computer is at a right angle to the window so light does not reflect on the screen You will probably need a computer for your studies. This means that you also need to consider Health and Safety factors such as ensuring that you have appropriate furniture and lighting. Organise your paper files work on A4 hole punched paper rather than shorthand notepads and small books - you will find this makes it easier to file your notes use a different coloured A4 ring file for each subjec

    Ancient Egyptians  regarded the pomegranate as a symbol of prosperity and ambition. In  India 's ancient  Ayurveda  system of medicine, the pomegranate has been used as a source of traditional remedies for thousands of years.  Today,  it is regarded as a super food and certainly  research has shown that pomegranate juice may be effective in reducing  heart disease  risk .   I love pomegranates, so here is a lovely recipe for a pomegranate mojito. It includes fresh pomegranate juice, rum, pomegranate liqueur, fresh lime juice and mint. And Milawna explains how to muddle mint which was new to me! The ingredients are combined into a refreshing and antioxidant-rich cocktail   Presenter and expert: Milawna Renay Hammer.  Milawna is a professional bartender at Tap Tap in Miami Beach, Fla.  Contact: www.taptaprestaurant.com   Filmmaker: Paul Muller Wendy Mason is a career coach working mainly with managers and professionals who want to make that jump to senior level